Displaying items by tag: Russia
Russia 'Biggest Obstacle' To Ukraine Peace (Lithuanian FM)
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius says Russia represents the biggest obstacle to the peace process in Ukraine, as it misleadingly represents itself as a “neutral party” in the conflict. “Perhaps the greatest obstacle in this [Ukrainian peace] process is that Russia is positioning itself as a neutral party while it is an active participant of the conflict, although officially they are not being treated as such,” Linkevicius said on November 5 in an interview in Prague with Current Time TV, the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.
Linkevicius said Moscow tells separatists in Ukraine that "you need to reach agreement, and we will help, while exactly the opposite is happening on the ground.” Ukrainian armed forces have been fighting Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in a conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people since April 2014.
Moscow has repeatedly denied that it has provided weapons, training, and personnel to support the separatists. However, independent observers, journalists, and official monitors, have gathered a substantial body of evidence to the contrary.
NATO and European Union member Lithuania, which has an ethnic Ukrainian population of some 44,000 people, has expressed strong support for Ukraine in its battle against Russia and has sent military equipment to back Kyiv’s efforts in the war.
Four-party talks -- with Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany, and known as the Normandy format -- have sought to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
"These Normandy [format] talks and a search for a compromise are on everyone's lips. I understand that it is very difficult to do all that, but I felt current [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr Zelenskiy's] sincere intention to resolve this issue. It is hard to say, though, how successful he will be,” Linkevicius said.
Washington Ally
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystayko on November 1 said the timing of a four-way summit aimed at resolving the conflict depends upon Russia. Prystayko's statement came after he voiced hope on October 29 that Zelenskiy would meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, soon for peace talks under the Normandy format.
Putin on October 30 said he was ready to have a meeting with the leaders of Ukraine, France, and Germany. But he added that such a meeting "needs to be well prepared and produce specific results that will help the settlement."
Lithuania remains a close ally of Washington and is temporarily hosting some 500 U.S. soldiers in the Baltic nation to help bolster NATO's eastern flank near Russia's borders. Russia has accused NATO of destabilizing Europe by moving troops closer to its borders.
Pray: for a resolution to this long-running dispute to be achieved diplomatically.
Pray: for an end to the bloodshed.
Pray: for wisdom, honesty and openness to compromise - for those involved in the summits and negotiations.
Pray: that Russia will be transparent in accounting for its involvement in the conflict.
Russia: election results hit ruling party
After the elections on 8 September, the ruling party’s majority in Moscow has decreased dramatically (26 seats out of 45, down from 40). This follows two months of intense protest, denouncing the authorities' decision to ban opposition and independent candidates from standing and calling for free and fair elections. The rallies gathered tens of thousands of people; thousands were detained by police, and several protesters have been sentenced to jail terms for ‘using violence against law enforcement’. Experts believe the backlash against Putin's grip on power is getting stronger, and that protest voting will be strong in the 2021 elections which will determine the political future of Russia. Pray for a wave of truth, humility and justice to flow over the nation in the coming months and years.
Iraq: who is behind attacks?
Recently there have been four attacks on weapons storage facilities belonging to Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) militia. Some factions of the PMU are believed to be Iran proxies, which might explain why there have been accusations of possible US and Israeli involvement. The latest attack took place even though prime minister Mahdi had closed Iraqi airspace to all unauthorised flights of drones, spy planes, jets and helicopters; including the US-led coalition. With Israel being suspected of organising these attacks, some claim that the United States and Russia have allowed them to do so. Iraq’s president said his country does not want to become a battleground for other countries at the expense of its people. ‘Iraq's interest comes first, and the nation will not allow others to turn it into a land for competition.’
Russia: protests challenge Putin’s dominance
President Putin’s heavy-handed politics ahead of September elections have caused street protests for weeks. Russians are airing an array of grievances over economic stagnation and the Kremlin’s geopolitical isolation. Putin has turned Russia into a powerhouse to be reckoned with for foreign policy makers, but living standards have fallen five years in a row. The 50,000 protesters who converged a mile from the Kremlin recently proved that a movement that started with protests over candidates being refused to register for municipal elections has turned into a platform for a wide swathe of political concerns - local and national. Average Russians are experiencing poverty, consumer borrowing has increased almost 50%, and food chains have introduced consumer loans for shoppers, allowing families to put food on the table. Putin’s popularity is low, and social media have shown images of police beating generally peaceful protesters and detaining 2,000+ demonstrators. See
UN condemns 'international indifference' to Syria
The UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet says that those responsible for airstrikes targeting Syrian civilians could be charged with war crimes, calling it ‘a failure of leadership by the world's most powerful nations’. Since late April 400,000 have been displaced and over 730 civilians killed by Syrian and Russian attacks on militant-held Idlib where three million still live. The airstrikes on schools, hospitals, markets and bakeries killed over 103 civilians in just ten days, including 26 schoolchildren killed in their classroom seats. Ms Bachelet added, ‘These are civilian objects, and it seems highly unlikely, given the persistent pattern of such attacks, that they are all being hit by accident. There is an international indifference to the rising civilian death toll caused by a succession of airstrikes.` Both the Syrians and Russians deny targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure.
Arctic Circle: unprecedented wildfires
The Arctic region’s hottest June ever has brought its worst wildfire season on record. Huge blazes in Greenland, Siberia and Alaska are producing plumes of black carbon smoke that can harm humans and other animals by entering the lungs and bloodstream. Wildfires also play a role in global warming as underlying peat catches fire emitting as much CO2 in June as Sweden emits in a year. Russia's forestry agency reported black noxious fumes covering entire cities. The fire areas in Siberia are larger than Massachusetts, as eleven of forty-nine Russian regions burn. Greenland’s blaze came as the vast ice sheet melt started a month early. Alaska stated that 400 fires have been reported. Such fires can last months. Currently blazes are only controlled when they threaten settlements. On 1 August the BBC reported that Russia is sending soldiers to fight Siberia’s 7.4 million acres of fires.
Putin Signs Law Suspending Russia's Participation in INF Treaty
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed legislation that suspends the country's participation in the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty between Moscow and Washington.
The law, which was backed by parliament last month, was published on the government portal for legal information on July 3.
In February, the United States suspended its participation in the 1987 INF Treaty, with Washington and its allies accusing Russia of deploying a missile system that violates the pact.
Russia, which denies the allegation, later followed suit. Moscow accuses the United States of breaking the accord itself, a claim rejected by Washington.
The INF Treaty was the first of its kind to eliminate an entire class of missiles.
It banned the United States and Russia from developing, producing, and deploying ground-launched cruise or ballistic missiles with ranges of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers.
Based on reporting by Reuters and TASS
Pray: That parties to this agreement will return to the negotiating table.
Pray: For a new treaty to be brokered and an end to the production of these and other nuclear missiles.
U.S. Envoy Demands Russia, 'Forces It Backs' Immediately End Fighting In Ukraine
The U.S. charge d’affaires in Kyiv has condemned Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine after reports of deadly attacks on medical personnel and called on Moscow and the “forces it backs” to end the fighting “immediately.”
“Attacks by Russia-led forces on medical personnel show a complete lack of respect for human life, international standards, and the Minsk agreements," William B. Taylor said on July 2 in a statement on the embassy's Facebook page.
“We call on Russia and the forces it backs to end the fighting immediately, protect civilians and humanitarian personnel, and withdraw armed forces and weapons,” he wrote.
Taylor is the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who was brought back to serve as charge d’affaires in Kyiv last year.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry on July 1 said one of its soldiers was killed after Russia-backed separatists opened fire at a medical vehicle in the eastern region of Donetsk.
The ministry said two other servicemen -- a soldier and a military physician -- were injured in the anti-tank-missile attack on July 1. Officials said that the medical specialist died later from wounds at the hospital.
The Defense Ministry said on July 2 that separatist fighters violated a cease-fire 25 times in a 24-hour period, using 120- and 82-millimeter mortars that are banned under the Minsk peace agreements.
The ministry said Ukrainian armed forces had killed three separatists and wounded five others.
Separatists in Donetsk said one of their fighters had been killed and another one wounded by Ukrainian armed forces.
Since April 2014, some 13,000 people have been killed in fighting between Kyiv's forces and the separatists who control parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Cease-fire deals announced as part of the Minsk accords -- September 2014 and February 2015 pacts aimed at resolving the conflict -- have contributed to a decrease in fighting but have failed to hold.
A new cease-fire agreement was reached on March 8, but both sides have accused each other of repeated violations since then.
On July 1, Ukraine's embassy to Britain posted on Twitter the photos of the nine Ukrainian soldiers it said were killed by "Russia-led forces in occupied Donbas" in June, referring to the areas under separatist control.
With reporting by Interfax for Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Pray: For a lasting cease-fire agreement.
Pray: For a long term negotiated resolution to the ongoing conflict.
Pray: That Russia would withdraw its support and involvement with the separatist forces.
South Korea: jets fire at Russian aircraft
South Korean F-15 fighter jets, sent to intercept a Russian surveillance plane, fired 360 machine-gun rounds to prevent it from entering the airspace over the disputed Dokdo/Takeshima islands, occupied by South Korea but claimed by Japan. Russia denied violating the airspace, saying two of its bombers carried out a planned drill with China over ‘neutral waters’, and denied any warning shots were fired by South Korean jets. Russian and Chinese bombers and reconnaissance planes have occasionally entered the zone in recent years, but now Japan has confirmed that its military has also deployed fighter jets in response to the Russian incursion. Because it claims sovereignty over the islands, Japan's government said that Russia had violated its airspace. It also said that South Korea's response was extremely regrettable.
Global: post-G20 foreign bribery unchecked
China, Mexico and Russia are just some of the countries represented at this year’s G20 summit which are failing to enforce their laws and promises against corruption, and in particular foreign bribery. International bribery is one of the many ways in which corruption heavily impacts sustainable development and economic growth. It hinders fair access to markets as well as progress on today’s most pressing issues like education, healthcare, gender equality and the climate crisis. To make economic development work for all, anti-corruption should be mainstreamed into every decision and policy. G20 governments must enable clean contracting provisions, publish open registers of beneficial owners of companies, and create strong whistle-blower protection. G20 leaders must focus on implementing their commitments and not feel tempted just to keep making more promises.