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US Launching Comprehensive Review of Bilateral Cooperation With Georgia

Sputnik – 24.05.2024

WASHINGTON – The US is launching a comprehensive review of bilateral cooperation with Georgia over the passing of a “foreign influence” law in the country, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

“I am also launching today a comprehensive review of bilateral cooperation between the US and Georgia. It remains our hope that Georgia’s leaders will reconsider the draft law and take steps to move forward with their nation’s democratic and Euro-Atlantic aspirations. As we review the relationship between our two countries, we will take into account Georgia’s actions in deciding our own,” Blinken said.

Additionally, the US is implementing a visa restriction policy on Georgian officials, and their families, who are responsible for facilitating passage of a foreign agents law that could derail the country’s path to join the EU, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a press release.

“In response to these actions, the Department of State is implementing a new visa restriction policy for Georgia that will apply to individuals who are responsible for or complicit in undermining democracy in Georgia, as well as their family members,” Blinken said.

On Saturday, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili vetoed the foreign agents bill that had been adopted by the country’s parliament last Tuesday. The parliament needs a simple majority to override the veto.

May 24, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , | Leave a comment

China warns US against Taiwan visits

RT | May 23, 2024

US lawmakers must end any visits to Taiwan and adhere to the One-China policy, or be ready to face the consequences, Beijing’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, said during a press conference on Thursday.

His comments came in response to a statement by the chairman of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul, who announced on Tuesday that he would not be deterred by China’s threats and would lead a US delegation to Taiwan, which he called a “dearest friend and partner and ally” of Washington, at the end of the month.

Beijing considers the self-governing island to be an inalienable part of China, and has been pushing towards a peaceful reunification, vehemently condemning any separatist movements that seek Taiwanese independence.

Wang said Beijing firmly opposes any form of “official exchanges” between Washington and Taipei, and urged US representatives against interfering in the island’s affairs in any way and under any pretext.

He added that the warning extends to the US Congress, whose representatives are an “integral part of the US government” and should therefore abide by the One-China policy officially acknowledged by Washington and only maintain cultural, commercial, and other unofficial relations with the island.

If Congress members do visit Taiwan, Wang warned that it would be interpreted as a “serious violation” of the One-China principle, an attempt to damage China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and a “seriously wrong signal” for Taiwanese separatist forces.

“If the US insists on its own way, it must be fully responsible for the consequences,” Wang stressed.

Meanwhile, the Chinese military announced on Thursday that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has kicked off a series of joint drills near Taiwan to serve as “punishment” for separatist forces seeking independence and as a “stern warning” against any external forces aiming to interfere in China’s internal affairs.

The exercises are said to involve the PLA’s army, navy, air force and rocket force, all of which will carry out drills in various areas around Taiwan, focusing on combined sea-air combat-readiness patrol, battlefield control and joint precision strikes.

May 23, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , | Leave a comment

Half of Moldovans Say Gov’t Policy on Gagauzia Wrong, Over 50% Distrust NATO – Poll

Sputnik – 23.05.2024

CHISINAU – Half of Modova’s residents consider the government’s policy toward the autonomous region of Gagauzia wrong, while more than half do not trust NATO, Moldovan social research company IMAS found in a fresh survey published on Wednesday.

Asked what they thought of the policy of the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) toward Gagauzia, 50% or respondents said it was wrong, 29% said it was right and 21% said they could not answer the question.

Respondents were also asked to evaluate their level of trust in various international institutions, including the World Health Organization, NATO, the European Parliament, the European Union, World Bank, the UN and others. Speaking of NATO, 18% said they had “little” trust, 42% said they had “no to very little” trust, 21% said they trusted the military alliance and only 9% said they trusted it a lot. Additionally, 2% of Moldovans said they they’d never heard of NATO and 8% said they could not give an answer.

The poll was conducted among 1,088 people from May 2-19 with a maximum margin of error of 3%. Its results were broadcast live on the Realitatea website.

Gagauzia, where most people speak Russian as well as Gagauz, a Turkic language, declared independence from Soviet Moldova in 1990 but was integrated into the newly-established Republic of Moldova in 1994. The Gagauz people are Orthodox Christians of Turkic origin. Gagauzia has traditionally favored rapprochement with Russia, while Chisinau has set a course toward European integration.

According to the country’s constitution, Moldova has neutral status, but from 1994 it has been cooperating with NATO, and with the accession to power of PAS, which is informally led by President Maia Sandu, military exercises involving the US, the UK, German and Romanian military have become more frequent. Sandu has told local media that Moldova should continue discussing rapprochement with NATO, as this allegedly helps strengthen the country’s defense capabilities.

May 23, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , , | Leave a comment

Dubious Eagle: Why Has Pentagon Pumped $756 Mln Into Hypersonic Missile That Doesn’t Fly?

By Ilya Tsukanov – Sputnik – 22.05.2024

The US Army has been teasing the deployment of its ground-based Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) system since 2021, with the system touted as the Pentagon’s first nearly operational hypersonic missile amid development delays and cancellations plaguing nearly a dozen similar projects for and by the Army, Air Force, Navy, and DARPA.

The US Army has awarded Lockheed Martin another $756 million for its delay-plagued LRHW “Dark Eagle” program, with the contract involving the provision of battery equipment, unspecified logistics, systems, and software engineering support.

In development since 2017, the LRHW’s $41 million apiece truck-launched missiles are expected to be able to accelerate to speeds up to Mach 17, and boast a 3,000 km operational range. The system uses the common All Up Round (AUR) munition also used in the Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) program.

But like other US hypersonic missile efforts to date, Dark Eagle has become a somewhat “Dubious Eagle” after a string of testing issues. The Congressional Research Office has counted at least five failures to date:

  • In October 2021, an LRHW test failed when the Common-Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB) did not deploy.
  • In June 2022, the complete LRHW missile system suffered another test failure.
  • A scheduled LRHW test was canceled in October 2022 to “assess the root cause” of the June 2022 failure.
  • In March 2023, a scheduled test launch from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida was scrapped.
  • A second planned test at Cape Canaveral was canceled in September 2023, followed by an Army statement that it would not be able to meet the goal of deploying Dark Eagle in the current fiscal year.
  • A November 2023 review by Army and Navy acquisition execs blamed the delays on unspecified “problems” with the Lockheed-made launcher, and said the issues would take “months” to iron out.

The poor track record of US hypersonic missile programs to date has been surprising, given the tens of billions of dollars in research and development funding lavishly doled out by Congress in annual defense budgets – which typically outpace the defense spending of all of Washington’s major adversaries combined.

Last month, veteran Russian defense observer and missile expert Dmitry Drozdenko told Sputnik that the reason hypersonic weapons are so difficult to develop comes down not to the ability to accelerate vehicles to hypersonic speeds (which has been possible since virtually the dawning of the missile age), but creating materials that can withstand the ultra-hot temperatures hypersonic missiles encounter during flight – when they are covered by clouds of plasma. The USSR was leagues ahead of the US in the study of plasma physics during the Cold War, with Russia inheriting this invaluable knowledge and putting it to good use to field its first-in-the-world hypersonic missiles.

“Technologies are developed by people,” Drozdenko explained. “Money is one means of developing a technology, but it can happen that a technology is created with a minimum amount of funds. It can turn out that you have a lot of money, but the technology doesn’t work out. Therefore, money is not the main thing here. The main thing is people, and having the appropriate academic knowledge,” the observer said.

May 22, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , | Leave a comment

Possible Broader Plot Behind Slovak Premier’s Shooting

By John Leake | Courageous Discourse™ | May 21, 2024

As I noted in my post last week about the man who shot Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, Who Is Juraj Cintula?

It seems to me that no apparent political group affiliation does not necessarily mean that Cintula was not influenced or directed by someone else. Cintula’s online political rants in which he expressed strong emotions and shifting opinions could have flagged him as man who could be approached and influenced by an agent serving powerful interests. In this hypothetical scenario, Cintula may have fallen under the influence of an agent who presented himself under false pretenses.

This morning I noticed a Bloomberg report published on Sunday stating the following:

The Slovak police said they’re investigating the possible involvement of more people than just a “lone-wolf” shooter in the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Government officials initially said that a single perpetrator with a political motive was responsible for the May 15 attack. On Sunday, authorities said that cooperation with domestic and foreign intelligence services had led to a broadening of the probe, to include a version in which a group – which wasn’t identified – may have been linked to the crime. …

A potential broader assassination plot is supported by the fact that the assailant’s social media communications were erased by another person about two hours after the shooting, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj-Estok told reporters on Sunday.

Based on that development, “we added a version that it wasn’t only a lone-wolf attacker, but that the crime may have been conducted by a certain group of people,” he said, declining to give more details due to the sensitive nature of the case.

This seems to be consistent with my hunch that Cintula’s social media activities could provide a valuable lead to co-conspirators, who probably approached him after reading his social media posts.

May 21, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | Leave a comment

Is the West Fanning Euromaidan-Style Public Protests in Georgia?

By Ekaterina Blinova – Sputnik – 16.05.2024

The US, EU and NATO have slammed the newly-passed foreign agents law in Georgia, while the foreign ministers of Iceland, Lithuania and Estonia took part in protest rallies against the legislation in Tbilisi. Sputnik’s pundits called these actions foreign meddling in Georgia’s affairs.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis expressed support for the “European” aspirations of Georgian protesters at a protest rally in Tbilisi on May 15.

“In a democracy, the government owes it to you, the Georgian people, to follow the direction your moral compass is showing,” Landsbergis told the crowd. “I am speaking out because I am… on the side of a European Georgia.”

But Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, the secretary-general of the ruling Georgian Dream party, called their actions hostile and aimed at dividing Georgian society.

“This is not friendship, this is enmity, this is an attempt to deepen polarization in our country,” Kaladze told the Rustavi 2 TV channel. “Could you imagine our minister of foreign affairs going to Yerevan and speaking at an [Armenian] opposition rally?”

Direct Foreign Interference in Georgia’s Affairs

It was not the first time that Lithuanian officials have fanned public protests in a foreign state, according to Dr. Eduardas Vaitkus, Lithuanian politician who was an independent candidate in the 2024 Lithuanian presidential election.

“This is direct interference in the internal affairs of the sovereign state of Georgia,” Vaitkus told Sputnik.

Vaitkus cited earlier precedents for Lithuania’s meddling in the domestic affairs of Ukraine and Belarus. Vilnius has spent millions of euros supporting Belarusian self-declared opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, backed by the West, who advocates for a coup d’etat in Minsk.

He recalled that the Lithuanian foreign minister’s grandfather, then-European Parliament member Vytautas Landsbergis, was spotted during the 2013 Euromaidan events in Kiev calling for a wider revolt in Ukraine.

“Unfortunately, this is the position of the Lithuanian state. My opinion is that traitors in our state are leading Lithuania in a way that creates a threat to all residents of Lithuania,” Vaitkus said.

The politician condemned the Lithuanian government’s “double and triple standards” in its unwillingness to recognize the will of the Crimean people to reunite with Russia — while rushing to embrace the self-declared independence of Kosovo alongside the West.

“Politics must have moral values. And [the Lithuanian government] demonstrates that duplicity is its main imperative in foreign policy,” Vaitkus said.

Russian Senator Konstantin Dolgov believes that Vilnius’ political agenda is not independent, but is dictated from the West.

“What can you expect from Lithuania and Estonia? These are countries that have long lost their independence and have become ‘appendages’ of Washington and Brussels,” Dolgov said, arguing that foreign ministers Iceland, Lithuania and Estonia could be sent by their Western patrons to fan unrest in Georgia.

Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Dmitry Polyansky noted that the foreign ministers’ presence at Georgian protests is reminiscent of US and European politicians’ conduct during the 2013-2014 Euromaidan unrest in Kiev.

US Trying to Exert Pressure on Georgia as Its Hegemony Wanes

The US, EU and NATO have criticized the newly-passed foreign agents bill in Georgia, with US Assistant Secretary of State Jim O’Brien announcing on May 14 that Georgian MPs could be subjected to sanctions for “undermining democracy”.

While attacking the bill, which obliges Georgian media and NGOs to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive over 20 percent of their funding from abroad, US policy-makers avoid mentioning that the Georgian legislation is reminiscent of the US’ own Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

FARA requires individuals acting on behalf of foreign governments, organizations or persons foreign to the US to register with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and to disclose their relationship, activities, receipts, and disbursements in support of their activities.

Under to US law, such individuals are described as “foreign agents” while the FARA Unit of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section (CES) is responsible for the Act’s enforcement.

The fierce US opposition to the Georgian bill under the guise of the “protection of democracy” and sanctions threats is an attempt to keep Tbilisi in line with the collective West’s agenda, according to Tiberio Graziani, chairman of Rome-based think tank Vision and Global Trends.

“The so-called defense of democracy, as promoted and implemented by the US-led West, falls within the context of the hybrid, cognitive and psychological war against those countries considered enemies, for geopolitical and geostrategic reasons,” Graziani told Sputnik.

“Any [country] that attempts to operate and act in the international context to responsibly promote the defense of its national interest is demonized by the US. Examples of this practice include, just to give a few examples, the so-called color revolutions,” he continued.

The US is believed to be behind a series of color revolutions in the former Soviet Union, including the Rose Revolution in Georgia in 2003, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine in 2004, the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan in 2005 and the failed Jeans Revolution in Belarus in 2006.

According to the expert, the threat and use of sanctions against foreign politicians pursuing national sovereignty constitutes a form of long-term US hybrid warfare.

Now that the world is becoming multipolar, the US is feeling the loss of its role as hegemon and could act irrationally with dramatic consequences for the rest of the world population, Graziani warned.

May 16, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In Slovakia, the lone gunman strikes again

By Stephen Karganovic | Strategic Culture Foundation | May 16, 2024

The “lone gunman,” that cartoonish figure that for the last several decades – at least since November 1963 – has regularly framed most high-profile assassinations, has struck again, this time in disobedient Slovakia. He always pops up whenever his presence is required to warn misfits and discipline even team players who are inattentive to their tasks.

The assassination attempt on the Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico fits that pattern. Fico’s political record going back for decades may have provoked a measure of distrust in globalist circles. However, his electoral victory and return to power in the fall of last year probably would have been treated as a manageable challenge had Fico been rotten enough to act as his colleagues routinely do, saying one thing before elections and doing the opposite afterwards.

He has, instead, turned out to be a man true to his word, certainly quashing any rumours that he had ever been recruited as one of WEF’s Young Leaders. At a critical juncture for the globalist string-pullers, when being a cooperative team player is considered de rigeuer, he chose to go off the beaten path with other outcasts like Victor Orban and to champion old fashioned values, such as Slovakia’s national sovereignty.

Fico however did not just insist on Slovakia’s sovereignty, which would have been bad enough, but also on other despised notions, equally discredited in present-day Europe: Statehood, Nationhood, Religion, and Family. It is his adherence to those values, once the cornerstone of the European civilisation before its cultural implosion, that made Fico a lone gunman target.

But to these shortcomings several other, no less bothersome and also potentially life threatening faults, should be added. Over the last several months, as Project Ukraine was turning into a shipwreck, Fico defiantly refused to allow military aid for the Kiev regime, called for cancelling anti-Russia sanctions, and repeatedly expressed the prohibited notion that Ukraine will be defeated.

As if that were not enough, there is more. In a long-forgotten tragedy in 2006, a Slovak aeroplane mysteriously crashed whilst flying back from Kosovo. On board, in addition to Slovak peacekeepers, there was a most interesting cargo. Slovakian specialists and forensic experts were involved in the exhumation of several mass graves in Kosovo where Serbian victims had been buried and they were bringing the evidence back home. It turned out that many of those victims exhibited thorax incisions which strongly suggested that they had been used as unwilling organ donors by Albanian traffickers. Readers whose memory is still unimpaired will recall the controversy about human organ extraction and trafficking in Kosovo that raged at the time, culminating in the incriminating 2010 report on this topic submitted to the EU by Swiss investigator Dick Marty.

The Slovak team handed a set of the evidence it had unearthed to NATO, of which Slovakia had by then become a member. But just to make sure that their findings would not disappear in some NATO black hole, they took the precaution of carrying an extra set home with them. That evidence was on board the aeroplane that inexplicably crashed and it perished along with about 40 Slovak personnel whose mouths concerning their gruesome findings in Kosovo were thus forever sealed.

As custom ordains in such situations, a hasty and superficial investigation was conducted by Slovak authorities, its conclusions were declared a state secret, and then sealed.

Five years ago, the 2006 plane crash again was in the limelight as new evidence emerged that the event may not have been an accident after all because of an explosive device that was placed on board. The Slovak parliament opened an inquiry into the matter which Robert Fico wholeheartedly and publicly supported.

In addition to his more recent gaffes, that also must have been a huge strike against him.

Predictably, responsibility for the shooting was instantly attributed to a lone individual who allegedly bore Fico a political grudge and decided to kill him. How that risible, Jack Ruby-type explanation will pan out, we may soon see as Slovakian authorities press their inquiry.

But irrespective of what Slovakian investigators uncover and how much of it their NATO overlords allow them to publish, certain preliminary conclusions about this ghastly attempted murder may still be drawn. Based on the totality of past experience, these conclusions are bound to be ultimately corroborated and will most certainly withstand the test of time.

The gangster hit on the Slovakian Prime Minister will have had its intended effect whether he survives or not. It was an intimidatory message sent loud and clear to all concerned not even to think of challenging the rules based order. The nature and reach of the “rules” as pertaining to them was made starkly clear the other day in Slovakia. As the position of the collective West crumbles, all European leaders who might be thinking of flip-flopping or asserting their nations’ interests in preference to obediently following orders have been put on notice. If Robert Fico was vulnerable, so are they. And this applies not just to pathetic excuses for national leaders who are presently in office, but also to those aspiring to replace them. More widely, the attempted murder of Robert Fico sends a message to outstanding non-political public figures of many profiles, such as Archbishop Vigano, whose bold statements, coherent analyses, and compelling appeals to the public threaten to collapse the manufactured consensus.

May 16, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , | Leave a comment

Russia’s Belousov, Shoigu to Take Part in Informal Putin-Xi Meeting – Kremlin Aide

Sputnik – 14.05.2024

MOSCOW – Andrei Belousov, the candidate for the post of Russian defense minister, and newly-appointed Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu will participate in the informal meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters on Tuesday.

The informal Putin-Xi meeting will take place on May 16 during the Russian leader’s visit to China. Other members of Russian government, including acting Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and acting Finance Minister Anton Siluanov will participate in the meeting.

“We invited, naturally, the new defense minister, Belousov, to participate in this program, who, together with Lavrov and me, will participate in this meeting on the evening of May 16 that will be held in the very narrow format. Also, in continuation of our contacts with Chinese colleagues, we included Security Council Secretary Shoigu in the delegation — he should be a part of 1+4 [meeting],” Ushakov said.

“Most likely, the main and most important issues of foreign policy cooperation will be discussed during the informal meeting of leaders, which will take place at the end of the first day of work,” the official shared.

The mutual visits of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping confirm the priorities of bilateral relations, the aide noted.

“This tradition is a clear confirmation of the high level of bilateral relations, the priority attention paid by both sides to the Russian-Chinese partnership. And this certainly also reflects the relations that have developed between the two leaders of our states,” he told reporters.

The cooperation between Russia and China is developing in all areas, and this partnership is a paragon of interstate relations, Ushakov emphasized.

“Today, cooperation is steadily developing in all areas, and as our leaders have repeatedly stressed, and, above all, [Chinese] President Xi, this partnership is a paragon of interstate relations in the 21st century,” he said.

The partnership between Moscow and Beijing also demonstrates resistance to any external pressure and is one of the stabilizing factors in international affairs in general, the official added.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang to visit Russia this summer

The Kremlin aide also mentioned that Moscow and Beijing are cooperating in high-tech industries as well, including in creating a lunar station and drafting projects related to nuclear power plants.

“I have already mentioned that our governments [Russia and China] actively cooperate, the main thing is that the governments meet regularly. The visit of the head of the Chinese government is already scheduled for this summer,” Ushakov said.

“We note Beijing’s balanced position on the Ukrainian crisis, Beijing understands the true causes of its occurrence,” he noted.

China also emphasizes that without Russia it is counterproductive to discuss anything in the context of the Ukrainian crisis, the official added.

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping will discuss international cooperation, including within the UN and BRICS.

“There will be an in-depth exchange of views on cooperation in various international organizations and structures, including the UN, where Russia and China stand in solidarity on almost all topics of the UN agenda. Naturally, cooperation between the two countries within the framework of BRICS will also be touched upon,” Ushakov told reporters.

The Chinese side has given a preliminary agreement to come to the BRICS summit in Russia’s Kazan, the official added.

According to Ushakov, during Putin’s visit to Harbin (China), the Russian president will be accompanied by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng.

Newly appointed members of the Russian government will accompany President Vladimir Putin during his visit to China and participate in the negotiations.

“Then an expanded composition with the participation of representative delegations of the two parties, including members of the Russian government in an updated composition and their counterparts from the State Council of the People’s Republic of China [will meet],” he pointed out.

Russian deputy prime ministers, including First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov Dmitry Chernyshenko, Yury Trutnev, Tatiana Golikova and Alexander Novak will speak at the Russia-China meeting in expanded format as chairs of bilateral commissions, Ushakov added.

Russia’s major businesspeople, including aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska, Sberbank CEO Herman Gref, VTB Bank CEO Andrey Kostin, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, and Leonid Mikhelson, the co-owner of Russia’s second-largest natural gas producer Novatek, will also accompany Putin in his trip to China.

Preparations for the visit of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to Russia are underway, Yury Ushakov also noted.

“Yes, active preparations are underway,” he mentioned.

In early April, Palestinian Ambassador to Russia Abdel Hafiz Nofal said that the date of Abbas’ visit to Russia will be set “soon.”

“We have some international trips planned in the near future,” Ushakov told reporters, when asked about Putin’s potential international trips, including his visit to Turkiye.

May 14, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , | Leave a comment

China rejects US election interference claims

RT | April 29, 2024

China’s foreign ministry has shot down allegations by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that it interferes in American elections, accusing Blinken of “paranoia and shadow-chasing.”

Upon returning from a visit to China on Friday, Blinken told CNN that the US government had seen attempts by Beijing to manipulate US elections. “We have seen, generally speaking, evidence of attempts to influence and arguably interfere. And we want to make sure that’s cut off as quickly as possible,” he told host Kylie Atwood.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian rejected these allegations at a press conference on Monday. “Non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs is a basic principle for China’s diplomacy,” Lin told reporters.

“The US presidential election is the US’ internal affair,” he continued. “We have never had any interest and will not interfere in any way in the election. Nevertheless, we staunchly reject anyone making an issue of China and damaging China’s interests for election purposes.”

“The US needs to stop the paranoia and shadow-chasing, stop slinging mud at China to divert attention and deflect the blame, and contribute to a stable China-US relationship and the wellbeing of our two peoples,” Lin concluded.

American politicians often accuse foreign nations of interfering in US elections, with the now-debunked claim that Russia intervened to help Donald Trump clinch the presidency in 2016 spiralling into an espionage operation against Trump’s campaign and a years-long probe by the FBI and special counsel Robert Mueller.

Trump and President Joe Biden have both accused China of similar meddling attempts, with Biden pressing Chinese President Xi Jinping on the issue during a meeting in San Francisco in November. According to CNN, Xi promised Biden that China would not interfere in this year’s presidential election.

US spies insist that Xi’s promise was a hollow one. In a threat assessment published in February, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence claimed that Chinese operatives aim “to sow doubts about US leadership, undermine democracy, and extend Beijing’s influence” through information operations and possible election meddling.

“Even if Beijing sets limits on these activities, individuals not under its direct supervision may attempt election influence activities they perceive are in line with Beijing’s goals,” the document stated.

According to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, such accusations are rooted in American insecurity over China’s rising economic and military might. Pointing to Washington’s espionage allegations, sanctions, and trade restrictions, Wang said in March that its “methods of suppressing China are constantly being renewed.”

“The challenge for the United States comes from itself, not from China. If the United States is obsessed with suppressing China, it will eventually harm itself,” Wang told reporters in Beijing.

April 29, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , | Leave a comment

Russia Never Threatened NATO, Has No Interests in Attacking Member States – Shoigu

Sputnik – 26.04.2024

ASTANA – Russia has never threatened NATO and has neither geopolitical nor military interests to attack the states of the alliance, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday.

“Russia has never threatened NATO. We have neither geopolitical nor military interests to attack the states of the bloc. We are simply protecting our people in our historical territories,” Shoigu said during a meeting of defense ministers of the SCO member countries in Astana.

Russia has always made maximum efforts to maintain strategic stability and balance of power in the world, the minister added.

The SCO was founded in 2001. India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan are its full members. Afghanistan, Belarus, and Mongolia are observer states; Azerbaijan, Armenia, Egypt, Cambodia, Nepal, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Myanmar, Bahrain, and Kuwait are dialogue partners.

US Plans on Military Infrastructure in Central Asia Threatens SCO Space Stability

The US intention to deploy military infrastructure in the Central and South Asia is direct a threat to stability in the SCO space, the minister noted.

“I believe that all those present share the opinion that the deployment of military infrastructure in the region by the United States and its allies is unacceptable. Such intentions must be regarded as a direct threat to stability in the SCO space,” Shoigu said.

Commenting on the situation in the Asia-Pacific region, Shoigu said that US-oriented military and political structures are trying to remake security system in the region to dominate this part of the planet.

Additionally, the minister added that the return of radical Islamists from the Middle East and North Africa to Southeast Asia creates prerequisites for new hot spots.

The United States uses the tactics of inciting hotbeds of instability in the world, generating security threats, while it simultaneously offers military assistance, Shoigu pointed out.

On Tuesday, the US Senate passed the $95 billion legislation with approximately $61 billion in Ukraine-related funding, $26 billion in Israel-related funding and $8 billion for Indo-Pacific security initiatives in a vote of 79-18. The Biden administration is reportedly readying a $1 billion military aid package for Ukraine sourced from the legislation.

“[The US] uses a technique that has been proven many times — inciting and maintaining hotbeds of instability in various regions of the world, generating security threats while simultaneously offering military assistance to neutralize them,” he said.

Continued Strikes by Ukraine on Zaporozhye NPP Can Lead to Catastrophic Consequences

Shoigu also touched upon potential catastrophic consequences caused by the ongoing Ukrainian attacks on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (NPP).

“The ongoing strikes of the Ukrainian armed forces on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, which could lead to catastrophic consequences, are of particular concern,” Shoigu emphasized.

The Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant is located on the left bank of the Dnepr River and is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. It came under the control of Russian forces in early March 2022 and has since been repeatedly shelled by Ukrainian forces, raising international fears of a possible nuclear accident.

April 26, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , | Leave a comment

Russian Strike on Kharkov TV Tower Deprives Ukraine’s Army of Eyes and Ears for Spying

By Ilya Tsukanov – Sputnik – 23.04.2024

Russia attacked the Kharkov Television Tower with a precision cruise missile on Monday, destroying it. Ukrainian officials instantly labeled the strike an act of meaningless “terror” against Kharkov’s civilian population. In reality, it’s going to become a massive headache for Ukraine’s military, says veteran defense observer Viktor Litovkin.

Kharkov’s pro-Russian underground confirmed to Sputnik on Monday that the Russian military had struck the Kharkov Television Tower, an awesome, 240.7-meter tall Soviet-built structure used for radio and television broadcasting situated in the northern part of the city in local woodlands, causing it to break in half.

The attack occurred at 4:36 pm local time. Kharkov regional military administration chief Oleh Synegubov blasted the Russian “occupiers” over the strike, saying that while there were no victims, “there are interruptions with the digital TV signal.”

“Therefore, we once again appeal to citizens: trust only official sources of information,” Synegubov urged.

President Zelensky, meanwhile, went on television Monday night to accuse Russia of trying to “make the terror visible to the whole city and to try to limit Kharkov’s connection and access to information.”

Ukrainian Institute of Mass Information chief Oksana Romaniuk called the tower’s destruction a “war crime,” saying “civilian objects, such as TV towers, have absolute protection and cannot be a legitimate target in an armed conflict.”

But according to the Kharkov underground, the structure was used by the Ukrainian air defenses to communicate, with the military said to have attached a communications antenna to the tower.

Vitaly Ganchev, head of the Russian administration in the Kharkov region, did not rule out that along with its use by Ukraine’s air defenses, the tower may have been used to coordinate artillery and missile strikes targeting nearby Belgorod and other Russian cities.

“This tower contained radar antennas, there were also communications antennas, electronic warfare antennas, and communication antennas,” Viktor Litovkin, a veteran Soviet and Russian Army officer and respected military journalist, told Sputnik.

“This equipment was situated at an altitude of almost 200 meters, which made it possible to see at a great distance the territory both of the Russian Federation and areas in which Russian troops are concentrated, that is – to engage in reconnaissance. The higher the antenna, the better the visibility. Because [things like] mountains, trees, houses and so on interfere with radio waves. But at such a height there’s nothing interfering with their distribution. Moreover, from this tower it was possible to coordinate the work of several military systems: air defense systems, reconnaissance systems, Ukrainian artillery systems, control centers, etc. It was possible to transfer information, commands and orders between military units and combat systems,” the observer explained.

For these reasons, Litovkin said that Monday’s precision missile strike was a “very important” step in depriving Ukraine’s military and intelligence services of the eyes and ears afforded by the tower. “Now, Ukraine is deprived of the opportunity to conduct reconnaissance and coordinated actions against our armed forces,” the retired military officer said.

The tower was the only comparable piece of infrastructure of its kind in the region, but its destruction will not allow Russian forces to rest easy, Litovkin stressed.

“In addition to the tower, there are also cables, there is also the internet. So of course, the tower has ceased to function as an information channel. But I don’t think Kharkov’s communication system can be destroyed completely… You know that in Ukraine, despite the categorical ban by the government on Ukrainian citizens receiving information from Russia, many citizens receive Russian information through the internet, through small antennas at home, watch our television and so on. So it’s very difficult to completely deprive someone of information in the world today,” the observer summed up.

April 23, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , | Leave a comment

Insurers claim ‘government’ could have sabotaged Nord Stream – Kommersant

RT | April 18, 2024

Insurance policies for the Nord Stream gas pipelines sabotaged in 2022 do not cover destruction or damage caused during military hostilities, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported on Thursday, citing a claim filed at the High Court in London by two major Western companies.

The reported claim by Lloyd’s of London and Arch Insurance comes in response to a court filing in March by Nord Stream AG, the pipeline’s operator.

The enterprise, which is 51% owned by Russian energy giant Gazprom, alleged at the time that insurers had failed to pay about €400 million ($438 million) for damage caused by the explosions at the pipelines, according to the Financial Times. Nord Stream AG reportedly estimates it would cost over €1.2 billion to fully repair the infrastructure and replace the lost gas inventory.

In response, the two insurers are said to have claimed that “loss or damage directly or indirectly occasioned by, happening through, or in consequence of war” cannot be covered by the policies. They added that Russia-Ukraine conflict, which began in February 2022, “satisfies the terms war, invasion hostilities or military power.” The insurers also argue the damage could have been caused “by or under the order of any government,” according to Kommersant.

Commenting on the report, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said major concerns have been raised over the credibility of Western insurance giants. Any refusal to pay liabilities adds to a series of hostile acts towards Russia, according to Zakharova, including the seizure of state assets and private property, as well as alleged threats to damage civilian infrastructure.

Built to deliver Russian natural gas directly to Germany via the Baltic Sea, the Nord Stream pipelines were damaged by unknown perpetrators in a series of explosions in September 2022. The blasts left three out of four pipelines inoperable, causing what is believed to be the largest single methane leak ever.

Shortly after the sabotage, Germany, Denmark and Sweden – in whose economic zones the attack took place – launched separate investigations, although no results have been published. Earlier this year, Denmark and Sweden said they had closed their probes.

The Russian authorities have claimed the US had the most to gain from the sabotage, pointing to the opposition to the pipelines repeatedly voiced by the White House. Moscow has also accused the West of stonewalling the investigation.

Last year, award-winning US journalist Seymour Hersh accused Washington of being behind the bombing, although the White House dismissed the allegations. Several Western media outlets later reported that Ukrainian citizens had been involved in the sabotage. Kiev has denied any connection to the attack.

As a result of the sabotage, gas supplies from Russia to Germany via Nord Stream 1 were halted. Nord Stream 2 had never been put into operation due to EU bureaucratic setbacks.

April 18, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , , | Leave a comment

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