Author: Steven Sahiounie

Taking control of strategic foreign assets in Russia will enable Moscow to respond effectively to the potential confiscation of Russian companies’ property abroad, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Tuesday allowing for the temporary takeover of foreign assets deemed critical for the country’s energy security. The Federal Property Management Agency was ordered to establish external control of the Russian subsidiaries of Finnish energy company Fortum and Germany’s Uniper. According to Peskov, the two companies’ assets were placed under the agency’s administration as soon as the decree was signed by the president.…

A failure by the US to raise its debt ceiling would lead to an economic and financial crisis in the country, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has cautioned, urging lawmakers to act and not wait “until the last minute.”  The debt ceiling is the maximum amount the US government is legally authorized to borrow to meet its obligations. Yellen warned during a meeting with business executives from California on Tuesday that a default would result in job losses and push household payments on mortgages and credit cards higher. The Treasury secretary insisted it was a “basic responsibility” of Congress to increase or suspend the…

It is noted that the Ukraine issue was touched on very briefly The presidents of the Republic of Korea and the United States, Yoon Suk-yeol and Joe Biden, did not discuss South Korean weapons supplies to Ukraine during their talks in Washington, the Yonhap news agency reported on Thursday, citing a South Korean presidential official. “The Ukraine issue was mentioned very briefly. We talked about how we’re increasing humanitarian aid, financial contributions and non-military support while watching the war conditions in Ukraine,” the official said. According to him, Seoul has maintained a policy of sending non-lethal aid only to Kiev. “We said…

According to the lawyer, Pavel Dobryansky will be deported to Russia as he has no visa The district Court of the Japanese city of Asahikawa (the Hokkaido prefecture) sentenced Pavel Dobryansky, third mate of the Russian trawler Amur, which collided with Japan’s Hokko Maru No. 8 fishing vessel in May 2021, to three years in prison with a stay of sentence for five years on Thursday, a source in the Russian Consulate General’s Office in Sapporo told TASS. “He was found guilty. The court sentenced him to three years in prison with a stay of sentence for five years. In…

Maria Zakharova also stressed that representatives of Western countries, by openly demanding that the Russian side suffer the maximum possible losses, “once again are loudly confirming their direct involvement in the conflict” The West is no longer hiding that it is really behind the planning for Ukraine’s much-vaunted counteroffensive, and will pull out all the stops to ensure its success, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Thursday. “The West openly states that it will do everything possible to make the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian armed forces, which is planned for the near future, a success. That…

A Zoopark artillery reconnaissance system detected the enemy’s mortar squad in the area of the settlement of Novomikhailovka, Gordeyev said, adding that it was eliminated The team of the Buk anti-aircraft missile system of Russia’s Vostok (or East) group of forces has repelled three attacks by American HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) of the Ukrainian armed forces in the Zaporozhye direction, destroying nine missiles, chief of the group’s press center Alexander Gordeyev told TASS. “In the Zaporozhye direction three missile attacks from HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems have been repelled. The team of the Buk anti-aircraft missile system destroyed…

The Turkish president earlier cancelled all his public appearances that were scheduled for Wednesday Turkish vice president Fuat Oktay on Wednesday said the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in a “very good” condition. “The condition of our president is very good. We are in regular contact. He has a slight cold,” the vice president said during the grand opening of a train service. The Turkish president earlier cancelled all his public appearances that were scheduled for Wednesday. He also canceled a trip to Mersin that was planned for April 27, where he was going to attend a fuel delivery…

The ministries of finance, agriculture, interior, health, science, technology, and transportation were all dismissed on Wednesday. Following the first debate on the government’s health reform, Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced Wednesday that his dismissal of the ministers of finance, agriculture, interior, health, science, technology, and transportation, and the appointment of new ministers to the cabinet to “accelerate changes” in the republic. After Petro announced that he had lost his majority coalition in Congress, two sources told Reuters on Tuesday that the president requested his cabinet ministers resign ahead of reshuffle. Petro’s decision came after deep disagreement emerged in Colombia’s House of Representatives when the debate on…

Although al-Burhan has agreed to meet with the RSF’s Daglo amid an extension of the ceasefire timeframe, no location has been specified for the meeting to take place. South Sudan’s Acting Foreign Minister, Deng Dau Malek, confirmed on Wednesday that Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has agreed to speak with the RSF General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo or Hemedti, but no location has been specified. According to the South Sudanese foreign ministry on Monday, President Salva Kiir contacted both parties to extend the 72-hour ceasefire beyond Wednesday to make way for peace negotiations. Malek told Sky News Arabia that al-Burhan was requested to hold…

Per the NYT, Ukraine is preparing up to 12 Ukrainian combat brigades consisting of around 4,000 soldiers each for a counteroffensive against Russia in May. Supreme Allied Commander Europe and Commander of the US European Command Christopher Cavoli confirmed on Wednesday that over 98% of the tanks and combat vehicles promised to be given by the US and its allies have already been delivered to Ukraine for its counteroffensive. During a House Committee on Armed Services hearing, Cavoli said: “We sat down with the Ukrainians … and we calculated the amount of material they would need for this [counter]offensive. We checked it…