by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Vladimir Putin (center)
Moscow : Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday announced that Russia will suspend its participation in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in a mirror response to the US’ decision.
“We will proceed as follows. We will come up with a tit-for-tat response. American partners have announced the suspension of their participation in the treaty, and we are suspending it as well,” Putin said at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, according to a Kremlin transcript, Xinhua reported.
The US administration announced on Friday that the US is withdrawing from the INF Treaty with Russia within six months, starting from February 2.
Noting that the US has begun developing and manufacturing weapons, Shoigu proposed to develop new arms including ground-based complexes of hypersonic medium-range and shorter-range ballistic missiles. Shoigu’s proposal has Putin’s support.
“They announced that they (the US) are engaged in research and development work, and we will do the same,” Putin said.
The president requested more information on the execution of Russia’s state defence programmes, including the Dagger hypersonic air-launched ballistic missile, the Peresvet combat laser systems, the newest Avangard hypersonic missile defence system and the Sarmat missile.
He also noted that some countries are starting to deploy weapons in space, saying that it is necessary to come up with certain plans to counter this “possible threat.”
Despite the retaliatory measures, Russia will not be dragged into an arms race, Putin said.
“I want to draw your attention to the fact that we should not and will not be drawn into an expensive arms race,” he told the ministers.
The INF Treaty was signed in 1987 between the then Soviet Union and the US on the elimination of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles.
Moscow and Washington have been accusing each other of violating the agreement in recent years amid increasing tensions.
In October, US President Donald Trump said Washington would pull out of the INF Treaty on account of Russia’s alleged breach of the agreement, a charge which Moscow has repeatedly denied.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Vladimir Putin
Sochi (Russia) : Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that his country is ready to further strengthen coordination and cooperation with China to safeguard and promote common interests and global peace and development.
Russia applauds the high level of comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, said Putin when meeting Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Xinhua news agency reported.
“All the consensus reached between the two presidents is being implemented,” said Putin, adding that his country is willing to make joint efforts with China to maintain close contact at all levels and deepen practical cooperation in all fields.
Meanwhile, he stressed that the two countries should further enhance coordination and cooperation to safeguard and promote the common interests of the two countries as well as the global peace and development.
Putin also expressed deep appreciation and heartfelt thanks for President Xi Jinping’s participation in the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in September.
Yang, also Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, said the two Presidents had made in-depth exchange of views on further developing the China-Russia relations and the international situation and achieved important consensus during the 4th Eastern Economic Forum.
“Together with Russia, China is willing to fully implement the consensus reached between the two presidents, especially enhancing the practical cooperation in the fields of energy, agriculture, science and technology, and innovation,” said Yang, suggesting that the two side should properly arrange high-level exchanges and celebration activities next year to mark the 70th anniversary of China-Russia diplomatic ties.
Yang said it will be a good opportunity to promote the bilateral relations to score new achievements for greater benefits of the two peoples and people around the world.
At the invitation of the Russian side, Yang arrived in Russia’s Black Sea coastal city of Sochi to attend the 15th annual meeting of Valdai on Wednesday.
The Valdai International Discussion Club founded by Russia holds its meeting each year to provide a platform for the exchange of views for politicians and scholars from across the world.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
S-300 missile systems
Moscow : Russia has delivered to Syria S-300 air defence systems to improve safety of its military personnel deployed in the country, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has said.
“We have completed the delivery of S-300 systems. This includes 49 pieces of equipment: lighting locators, basic detection systems, control vehicles and four launchers,” Shoigu said on Tuesday during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and members of the Russian Security Council, according to a Kremlin transcript.
The delivery was completed on Monday, which was part of measures aimed at strengthening air defence systems in Syria and the protection of Russian military personnel, the minister said, Xinhua reported.
In addition, the electronic warfare system in Syria was significantly strengthened and the delivery of equipment of the unified control system has also begun.
The Defence Ministry has started training the selected personnel and specialists to use the S-300 systems, which will last for three months, Shoigu said.
On September 17, a Russian Il-20 surveillance plane was mistakenly downed by Syria’s S-200 system when it was preparing to land at the Russian Hmeymim air base at a time when four Israeli jets were conducting an airstrike in the vicinity.
Last week, Shoigu said that Moscow will strengthen Syria’s air defence by providing it with modern S-300 missile systems and identification friend-or-foe (IFF) devices within two weeks.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Summit, Events, Social Round-up, World
Seoul : Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday invited North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for a summit to discuss urgent issues, the media reported.
Putin expressed his readiness to hold a summit with Kim at an “early date” in a message sent on the occasion of North Korea’s liberation, coinciding with the 73rd anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II, North Korea’s state news agency KCNA reported.
“I affirm that I am ready to meet you at an early date to discuss urgent issues of bilateral relations and important matters of the region,” Putin said.
Earlier in May, the Russian President invited Kim to the Eastern Economic Forum in the Russian coastal city of Vladivostok between September 11 and 13, but Pyongyang was yet to respond.
Putin also invited his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in, Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the forum.
If Kim and other leaders decided to attend, it would be an unprecedented international gathering in which leaders from five of the six countries that have been working on nuclear disarmament meet.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Washington : US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that his controversial meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin was even better than the annual NATO summit in Brussels, at which he demanded a greater contribution to defense funding by America’s allies.
“While I had a great meeting with NATO, raising vast amounts of money, I had an even better meeting with Vladimir Putin of Russia,” Trump said on his Twitter account.
“Sadly, it is not being reported that way – the Fake News is going Crazy!” he added with his usual disparaging reference to media that crtiicize his government.
The president’s tweets came after receiving massive criticism in the United States, even from his own Republican Party, for his questionable meeting with Putin this Monday in Helsinki.
In a joint press release with Putin, Trump put in doubt the conclusions of US intelligence services that the Kremlin had interfered in the 2016 presidential election to benefit him and undermine the chances of his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.
For several months the CIA and FBI intelligence agencies have said they have proof that Russia tried to interfere in the election, though they dismiss the possibility that it could have influenced the final result, which showed Trump defeating Clinton and taking over the White House.
Despite those reports, Trump told a press conference Tuesday that he didn’t see “any reason” why Russia would have wanted to meddle in the American electoral process, and said that “President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial” and had convinced him of his innocence during their summit in Helsinki.
Trump’s support of Putin has set off an endless wave of condemnation in the US, including that of former CIA directors Michael Hayden and John Brennan, and House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan.
—IANS
