By Nat South for the Saker Blog Part 1 This article focusses on the new build programming and commissioning of ships and boats in 2021 and 2020. It provides an insight into the significantly less visible part of the Russian Navy and its ongoing modernisation programme. Russian support vessels are the backbone of any of the Fleets and the Caspian Flotilla, since they underpin the combat ships and submarine operations
By Francis Lee for the Saker Blog PART 1 It might be a good idea to start with some theoretical clarifications. Firstly, nationalism should not be confused with national sovereignty. Nations which are effectively ruled by outside agents – from Greece to Honduras – are not sovereign; they are colonies or vassals of some larger agency. And since they are not sovereign, the cannot be democratic, since decision making, and
Interview: 27 December 2021 22:40 (Note: This transcript is currently partially complete and will be posted as it becomes available) (Update: This transcript is now complete) Vladimir Solovyov: We are like three-winged birds. The Russian Foreign Ministry operates on three fronts: on the first one, it communicates with our American partners, the second one is NATO, and the third are the Europeans, no matter what they call themselves (the OSCE
Original link: http://middleeastobserver.net/saudi-expert-defends-intensified-bombardment-in-yemen-ansarullah-vows-painful-response/ Description: During a recent political talk show on RT Arabic, Saudi military expert Mohammad al-Qabibaan defended the recent intense escalation of the Saudi-led coalition’s bombardment campaign in Yemen, describing the relentless airstrikes of recent weeks as “successful operations” designed to force the Houthi Ansarullah movement to sit down at the negotiating table. For his part, Nasr al-deen ‘Aamir, a representative from the Sana’a-led Media Ministry, said that the
Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova 💬 Kleptocrats have stolen $100 billion of government money. Oh, I forgot one important detail – in the United States. Who said this? No, neither Vladimir Solovyev, nor Dmitry Kiselev, nor Margarita Simonyan. US Secret Service Coordinator Roy Dotson made this statement. In his words, the US allocated money to counter pandemic-related unemployment but, as you might have guessed, these funds did not reach the
By Thorsten J. Pattberg for the Saker Blog Deceit is the giving of false advice. The false advice is concocted to put a rival at a disadvantage and send him down a perilous path of defeat and humiliation. The deceitful person knows for a fact that his advice is dishonest. Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger The Austrian-born bodybuilder, movie actor and former governor of California, Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger, once described the deceitful
Original link: http://middleeastobserver.net/sunni-lebanese-sheikh-within-10-years-our-axis-has-shifted-global-balance-of-power/ In a recent interview published on the Islam asil YouTube channel, Sunni Lebanese Sheikh Ghazi Yusuf Hunayna stated that ‘within only 10 years, the Resistance Axis managed to shift the global balance of power’. The ‘Resistance Axis’ referenced here by Sheikh Hunayna broadly refers to a strategic anti-Israel/anti-US imperialist alliance composed of, but not limited to, Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Iraq’s Hashed al-Shaabi, Yemen’s Ansarullah, and various Palestinian armed
By Noel Monteiro for the Saker Blog Many comments have been written about Russia’s proposals to Nato, for a new defense framework in the west of Russia, and the Saker website has done a very good job of portraying it all from the Russian viewpoint, including the whole series of comments on/about Russia’s unambiguous and bluntly hard-worded proposals. There is no doubt, that the meaning of the words used, can
Military superpower Russia, having had enough of U.S./NATO bullying, is now dictating the terms of a new arrangement. By Pepe Escobar posted with permission and widely cross-posted Coming straight from President Putin, it did sound like a bolt from the sky: “We need long-term legally binding guarantees even if we know they cannot be trusted, as the U.S. frequently withdraws from treaties that become uninteresting to them. But it’s something,
At the time of posting this is still ongoing. Mr. Putin takes the podium at time marker 36:58 and proceeds directly to Q&A. A transcript will be available but will take some time. Update: Completed after 3 hours and 56 minutes. The president fielded the questions of 44 people, focusing on both domestic and international issues. Please follow the written transcript here.
This video describes the status of the negotiations on the JPCOA but is broader than that. It also demonstrates how the USA negotiates. 0:00 Intro 1:20 What has been achieved, why hasn’t there been a restoration of the nuclear deal yet? 9:02 US and Europe want to keep sanctions in place 16:36 Who is being constructive vs obstructing the talks? 20:25 Why should Iran even resume talks? 29:10 Does Iran
Between the complex internal dynamics of the Taliban and the western trick of conditional aid, it is the Muslim world that must act to save Afghanistan By Pepe Escobar, posted with permission and cross-posted with The Cradle Afghanistan was at the heart of the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers representing 57 nations at the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). It was up to Pakistani Prime Minister
20 December 2021 16:56 Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov’s interview with Interfax News Agency, December 18, 2021 Question: Are our proposals to the United States and NATO regarding security guarantees an ultimatum to the West, the last attempt to reach out to them or a final warning to make them stop? Sergey Ryabkov: We do not speak in the language of ultimatums with anyone. We have a responsible attitude towards
By Chris Faure for the Saker Blog The hot question among a number of hot questions is: What will China do? Is there clarity? I would argue yes there is .. some. The paradox is that West pushes for terms of a new partitioning of the world (democracy summit, unending belligerence, cynical, and hypocritical paranoia), while Russia and China expect terms of surrender. According to China, there has to be
By Thorsten J. Pattberg for the Saker Blog Have you ever sucked on plastic? Sure you have. It has no smell. Astroturfing is big corporations or the government replacing organic stuff with synthetics and nature with replicates. The Age of Plastic As a propaganda technique, astroturfing evolved alongside the age of plastic. The age of plastic started latest with the introduction of plastic bags in 1965, earliest with the first
By Dmitry Orlov and posted with permission Just yesterday Russia Foreign Ministry published a couple of documents that people have been struggling to interpret ever since, to little useful effect. I would like to offer my own explanation of what these documents mean, which will probably differ a great deal from most other explanations you are likely to hear. Time will tell how close they are to the truth; for
This document is in six sections. The first is a preamble. It is from ColonelCassad and is a machine translation. This would form a necessary overview and is a description of the current situation. The second is Russian Deputy FM Ryabkov’s special video briefing in Moscow and contains some incisive Q&A The third is a short press release The fourth is a proposed draft treaty between the Russian Federation and
By Pepe Escobar, posted with permission and cross-posted with The Cradle Vladimir Putin got straight to the point. At the opening of his one hour and fourteen minute video conversation with Xi Jinping on 15 December, he described Russia-China relations as “an example of genuine inter-state cooperation in the 21st century.” Their myriad levels of cooperation have been known for years now – from trade, oil and gas, finance, aerospace
Washington hawks float expelling Russia from SWIFT but Moscow’s budding geo-economic alliance with Beijing will keep the money flowing By Pepe Escobar posted with permission and cross-posted with AsiaTimes Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin spent an hour and 14 minutes in a video conversation on Wednesday. Geopolitically, paving the way for 2022, this is the one that really matters – much more than Putin-Biden a week ago. Kremlin press secretary
