RT News - January 15th 2023 "The Weekly"

Provocations: The Russian defence ministry says Kiev is preparing a provocation to blow up a large granary and accuse Moscow of disrupting the 'grain deal'.

Show more

Multiple missile strikes were reported across Ukraine with power outages reported across the country. One missile was shot down by Ukraine and damaged an apartment block, killing 14 people.

Moscow confirms its military has taken full control of the strategic town of Soledar in the Donetsk republic, after months of gruelling battles. RT talk to Denis Pushilin (Head of Donetsk Republic) about Soledar's importance to the advance.

In Kiev, women call on the Zelensky .gov to save missing/captured soldiers. The call came after reports that Ukraine is reluctant to retrieve wounded and slain servicemen from the battlefield.

In Israel, 100,000+ people have taken to the streets protesting against reforms allowing Israeli government to overturn Supreme Court rulings. RT's Maria Finoshina talks to some of the protesters. Large protests also happened outside Benjamin Netanyahu residence in Jerusalem and in Haifa.

Peru: A state of emergency has been introduced in several regions of Peru from January 15 for 30 days amid mass protests across the country. That as Peru 's President Dina Boluarte refuses to leave office despite calls for her resignation. The U.S. says it will continue to support Diana Bouluarte. It's believed that Washington is behind the violent suppression of protesters. Evo Morales has expressed his support for the protesters; he is banned from entering Peru.

Africa: Qin Gang's five country tour comes to an end in Benin and said that cooperation will identify more fields of action and growth rates. Earlier this week he was in Angola. He said at the start, Africa must not be an arena for the confrontation of world powers. Earlier (last year) the U.S. said China's ties with Africa "could cause instability".

Brazil: Riots continued last week. RT looks at the protests development over the week. In what is seen as "selective censorship" Facebook says it will remove all content on its platform that supports the protests in Brazil while praising such riots in Iran and refusing to ban calls to kill the Iranian leader.
==============================================

Below via RT website A) --- Russia warns of ‘Western dominance’ over UN agency
1) --- China reports record number of Covid-19 deaths
2) --- More classified documents found at Biden residence
3) --- UK PM confirms tank shipment to Ukraine
4) --- Bodyguards of German governor suspended over extremism – media
5) --- Passenger aircraft crashes in Nepal
6) --- Drive-by shooting outside London church injures four
7) --- US-Russian nuclear arms control has become a hostage to the conflict in Ukraine – here’s why it’s so dangerous (feature)
8) --- Will reconciliation between Türkiye and Syria help to end the 12-year-old conflict? OP-ED
9) --- Zelensky aide explains how missile fell on apartment block in Dnepr
============================================
14 Jan, 2023 13:05

A) --- Russia warns of ‘Western dominance’ over UN agency

Reappointing Denmark’s Inger Andersen to lead the organization’s environmental program could “politicize” global conservation efforts, Moscow claims

The UN's conservation efforts and climate change response may fall victim to pro-Western bias if current CEO Inger Andersen is reappointed to lead its environmental agency, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

The statement came in response to allegations that Russia had sought to stifle Andersen’s candidacy in an attempt to undermine Western support for Kiev during its military conflict with Moscow.

The UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) is tasked with raising awareness and advocating for global solutions to combat climate change. Andersen, a Danish economist and conservation expert, currently serves as its executive director, but her term expires this year.

The Financial Times cited two UN sources last week as saying that Moscow was working to block Andersen’s reappointment. The report also cited unnamed diplomats as describing the move as “part of a broader effort by the country to exert influence on the world stage and undermine the objectives of Western nations that have condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

Without specifying the publication, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman called the report “politically charged.”

Zakharova stated that prolonging Andersen’s tenure would “strengthen the discriminatory practice of almost exclusively appointing the representatives of Western countries to this high position.”

Such practice unavoidably leads to the dominance of Western staffers at UNEP and to the ignoring of rich national conservation experiences and priorities of developing countries.

Zakharova argued that Andersen’s reappointment could lead to the “politicization” of international environmental efforts. “We believe that the time has come to strengthen the geographical balance at UNEP and let a member from the non-Western world lead the organization,” she said.

UNEP’s leader is elected by the UN General Assembly after being nominated by the organization’s secretary general.
https://www.rt.com/russia/569865-russia-un-western-dominance/
============================================
14 Jan, 2023 20:56

1) --- China reports record number of Covid-19 deaths

The data has been published after the World Health Organization criticized the country for undercounting

China has confirmed far more Covid-19 deaths than ever before, reporting that nearly 60,000 people have died from the virus in the past five weeks and acknowledging that its toll likely isn’t complete.

There were 59,938 Covid-linked deaths in China from December 8 through January 12, the National Health Commission (NHC) announced on Saturday. Of that total, 5,503 people died from respiratory failure, caused directly by the virus, while 54,435 succumbed while suffering from both Covid-19 and underlying ailments. All of the reported deaths occurred in hospitals, meaning the figures didn’t include possibly significant numbers of people who died at home or elsewhere.

Chinese officials had come under criticism for failing to be transparent about a surge in Covid-19 cases that reportedly overwhelmed hospitals and crematoriums in recent weeks. The World Health Organization (WHO), for instance, claimed earlier this week that Beijing was drastically underreporting deaths from the virus.

The NHC claimed on Saturday that its reporting criteria are now in line with those used by the WHO and major countries. The 5,503 direct Covid-19 deaths reported for the past five weeks exceeds the cumulative total of 5,272 that Beijing had previously announced since the virus was first detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019. Over 90% of the 59,938 Covid-linked deaths occurred in people with underlying ailments, such as cancer or heart disease, and the average victim was 80.3 years old.

The “emergency peak” of China’s Covid-19 surge appears to have passed, the NHC said. There were 105,000 critically ill Covid-19 patients in hospitals as of January 12, down 18% from a week earlier. Traffic also has slowed at fever clinics and emergency rooms. Outpatient clinics have “basically” returned to pre-surge levels of traffic, NHC official Jiao Yahui told reporters on Saturday.

Prior to the latest announcement from Beijing, the WHO had pegged China’s cumulative Covid-19 deaths at 33,698, or just one per 322 infections. The new figures would push the death toll to 93,636. By comparison, the US, which has less than one-fourth as many people as China, has reported nearly 1.09 million Covid-19 deaths.
https://www.rt.com/news/569885-china-reports-surge-covid-deaths/
============================================

14 Jan, 2023 20:03

2) --- More classified documents found at Biden residence

The president’s counsel discovered five additional secret files while collecting a previously disclosed item

A White House lawyer said on Saturday that he discovered five pages of classified information at the Delaware home of US President Joe Biden, days after stating that three separate stashes of secret documents were found at addresses linked to the president.

In a statement to reporters, Richard Sauber said that he traveled to Biden’s home on Thursday to collect a single page of classified information from inside the house when he found “five additional pages with classified markings” alongside it.

Justice Department officials accompanying Sauber instantly took possession of the documents, he added.

In addition to the discoveries inside Biden’s home, Sauber has also admitted this week that Biden’s legal team found classified documents at an office at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement – a think tank affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania – and in the garage of Biden’s house.

Both discoveries were made in November. Dating from Biden’s time as vice president, the Biden Center documents included sensitive information on Ukraine, Iran, and the UK, CNN reported on Tuesday.

Attorney General Merrick Garland, an appointee and ally of the president, announced on Friday that he had appointed a special counsel to investigate Biden’s handling of the documents. Back in November, Garland appointed a special counsel to probe former President Donald Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified files, after an FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August uncovered hundreds of government documents.

Trump claims that he declassified the files prior to removing them from the White House in 2021. Before his own private stashes of confidential files were found, Biden called Trump “totally irresponsible” for the Mar-a-Lago incident.
https://www.rt.com/news/569882-biden-more-classified-documents/
=============================================

14 Jan, 2023 20:44

3) --- UK PM confirms tank shipment to Ukraine

Rishi Sunak has pledged the British-made armor and “additional artillery systems” to Kiev

Britain will supply Kiev with Challenger 2 tanks, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowed during a phone call with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on Saturday. The move will make the UK the first country to ship Western-made tanks to Ukraine.

According to a press release published by the PM’s office following the call, Sunak and Zelensky concurred “on the need to seize on this moment with an acceleration of global military and diplomatic support to Ukraine.”

The British prime minister made it clear that London will provide Kiev with “Challenger 2 tanks and additional artillery systems.” The two leaders also welcomed “commitments in this vein” made by other European nations, such as Poland.

On Friday, The Guardian, citing Ukrainian sources, reported that 10 Downing Street was preparing to issue a formal announcement on Monday of plans to deliver tanks.

According to the sources cited by the newspaper, the number of units the UK is allegedly prepared to donate – just ten – would probably not have much of an impact on the battlefield dynamics. The move, however, would likely help push Germany into allowing its European allies to export their stocks of Leopard tanks to Ukraine, the paper claimed at the time.

Poland and Finland signaled their readiness earlier this week to send the hardware if Berlin gives the green light, and if they would not be in the position of taking the step alone. Germany, however, has so far not authorized re-exporting the tanks.

On Friday, a deputy government spokeswoman for the German government, Christiane Hoffmann, warned that delivering Leopards to Ukraine without Berlin’s authorization “would be illegal.” The official expressed confidence that the tanks’ European operators would adhere to these rules.

Russia, meanwhile, has repeatedly warned Western countries against sending weapons to Ukraine, arguing that doing so would only serve to prolong the conflict.

On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the continued shipments of arms, accused NATO and the US of “definitely taking part in this conflict, although indirectly, by proxy.”
https://www.rt.com/news/569870-uk-pm-tanks-for-ukraine/
============================================

14 Jan, 2023 22:23

4) --- Bodyguards of German governor suspended over extremism – media

The pair with access to confidential data allegedly shared content trivializing National Socialism

Two German police officers who had guarded Saxony-Anhalt’s governor, Reiner Haseloff, for 12 years were recently suspended due to alleged links with far-right groups, local news outlet MDR reported on Friday.

The pair were accused of sharing anti-constitutional and right-wing extremist messages, including content trivializing National Socialism, in the offending chat, which the Ministry of the Interior revealed on Friday was discovered “by evaluating another person’s mobile phone” in the course of a police investigation into suspected extremist officials in the security forces of neighboring Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Since their suspension last month, the two men have been placed under criminal investigation for extremism and forbidden from conducting official business within the State Criminal Police Office (LKA). Disciplinary proceedings were also initiated against them for allegedly violating their duty of loyalty to the constitution, though the latter have been paused until the criminal probes conclude.

Two other Saxony-Anhalt LKA officers are facing similar charges, as well as criminal and disciplinary probes, though they were not involved in guarding senior politicians and were transferred to office duty rather than suspended.

The German parliament was only informed of the situation on Thursday, and MPs in the Greens and Die Linke parties demanded “comprehensive clarification” of what exactly the bodyguards of a state premier had gotten up to while they had privileged access not only to Haseloff but to confidential information and special weapons. Die Linke MP Henriette Quade pointed out that “when right-wing extremists work in places that are supposed to identify and combat threats, it’s an incredible scandal and devastating for those affected and those who need protection.”

However, the Ministry of the Interior reassured them on Saturday that not only was no politician under the suspended officers’ protection ever in danger, but that there was no evidence the four had actually been active in extremist chat groups or belonged to what he referred to as the “prepper scene.”

MDR’s report from the previous day, though, had said exactly that – that the group in which the disgraced officers shared their extremist content was itself affiliated with a radical organization.
https://www.rt.com/news/569886-german-bodyguards-suspended-extremist-chats/
=============================================

15 Jan, 2023 07:05

5) --- Passenger aircraft crashes in Nepal

The Yeti Airlines flight had 68 passengers and four crew members on board, the airline said

A Yeti Airlines AYR 72 plane with 68 passengers and four crew members on board crashed in Nepal during a domestic flight from the capital, Kathmandu to Pokhara on Sunday.

A video posted on social media appears to show the jet flying at low altitude moments before the tragedy. https://twitter.com/shukla_tarun/status/1614515951382462468

https://www.rt.com/news/569889-passenger-aircraft-crashes-nepal/
===============================

14 Jan, 2023 20:26

6) --- Drive-by shooting outside London church injures four

People with video footage of the incident have been urged to contact police

A seven-year-old girl and three women have been injured in a drive-by shooting near a church in central London that was hosting a funeral at the time of the attack.

Police were called to the scene outside the St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church, located near Euston railway station in London’s Camden borough, around 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Shots were apparently fired from a moving vehicle in the vicinity of the church, and the vehicle fled the scene, according to a statement by the Metropolitan Police Service’s Camden branch.

The seven-year-old girl was taken to a nearby hospital with unknown injuries before officers arrived on scene. A 48-year-old woman was hospitalized with “potentially life-changing injuries,” police said. The other two victims, ages 41 and 54, suffered injuries that weren’t considered life-threatening.

No arrests have been made, and detectives have urged people with video footage of the incident or CCTV cameras in the area to contact police. People were evacuated from the church through a side entrance, the BBC reported.

Violent crime in London has climbed steadily in recent years. The city has about 200 active gangs, which are largely responsible for violence among teenagers, Sky News reported in November 2021. Euston has around 400 crimes reported per 1,000 residents annually, according to police data, more than triple the rate for London as a whole.
https://www.rt.com/news/569884-london-funeral-shooting-injures-four/
============================================

13 Jan, 2023 07:58 FEATURE

7) --- US-Russian nuclear arms control has become a hostage to the conflict in Ukraine – here’s why it’s so dangerous

Why Moscow’s and Washington’s positions on how to manage atomic weapons are fraught with mistrust, unpredictability and volatility

By Elena Chernenko, special correspondent at the Kommersant daily newspaper in Moscow

During the Cold War, Moscow and Washington managed to agree on arms control regardless of the degree of their involvement in regional conflicts, whether in Europe or in Afghanistan. In the case of Ukraine, the situation is different: one of the side effects of the deployment of Russian troops in the country has been the freezing of these negotiations between Russia and the US.

The process of drawing up new agreements in this field, launched in 2021, has been stopped. The last of the existing bilateral treaties on strategic offensive arms is facing serious problems. In the meantime, the breakdown of arms control will lead to more mistrust, unpredictability and instability.

A step forward…

In the area of strategic stability, 2022 started well overall. On January 26, the US responded to security demands issued by Russia, and although Washington refused to provide guarantees that Ukraine would not join NATO or to withdraw the bloc’s forces to 1997 positions, in the area of strategic stability the US was clearly in favor of compromise.

The American response indicated that they were willing to negotiate on a number of topics that Russia had been unsuccessfully pushing for over the previous few years. The most prominent example: Moscow’s 2019 proposal for a moratorium on the deployment of land-based intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles in Europe.

Before last January, the US and its NATO allies had publicly labelled the Russian initiative as “unacceptable and untrustworthy.”

However, Washington's response to Moscow's demands explicitly stated that the Americans had agreed to negotiate on the issue.

Moreover, the letter specified that the US was ready to discuss a transparency mechanism with Russia to verify the absence of Tomahawk cruise missiles at Aegis Ashore sites in Romania and Poland, provided that Moscow provided reciprocal transparency conditions for two selected land-based missile bases on its territory. Earlier, the Russian side itself had proposed similar verification measures, but Moscow’s suggestion was only listened to against the background of its December 2021 ultimatum on Ukraine and its concentration of troops on the Ukrainian border.

In its January response, the US also indicated a willingness to explore the possibility of expanding the exercise notification regime and measures to reduce nuclear danger, including with regard to strategic atomic weapons-carrying bomber aircraft. In addition, the message from Washington indicated a willingness on the US side to discuss with Russia, differences on conventional arms control and additional measures to prevent dangerous incidents at sea and in the air.

Although Russian officials had described these U.S. proposals as “secondary” to Russia's central demands for NATO non-proliferation and the withdrawal of the bloc’s infrastructure in central and eastern Europe, many observers had the impression that Moscow was simply bargaining. Not in a particularly elegant way, but very effectively, as it looked to strengthen its negotiating position. All the more so since Russian officials had assured the world that no “invasion” of Ukraine was planned, and the Russian Foreign Ministry had expressed the hope – as early as mid-February – that “together” Russia and NATO member states could achieve “a good result across the whole package [of issues]”

The feeling that Russia wouldn’t try to resolve the “Ukrainian issue” by force and the belief that arms control was a foreign policy priority for Moscow gave rise to cautious optimism. It seemed that the troops were about to be withdrawn as promised and an intensive negotiation process was about to begin between the two powers.

The basis for this belief already existed: during their meeting in Geneva in June 2021, Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden had launched a “dialogue on strategic stability” aimed at working out new bilateral agreements to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which expires in 2026. As part of this process, the two delegations managed to hold two rounds of face-to-face talks. The results were modest but encouraging.

...and two backwards

However, following Moscow's recognition of the independence of the Donbass and Lugansk People’s Republics, and then the deployment of Russian troops to Ukraine, those hopes were dashed. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who had planned to meet his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Geneva on 24 February, said that he no longer saw the point. The US quickly suspended its participation in a bilateral “strategic stability dialogue.” The positive aspects of the December-February correspondence were no longer mentioned. Against the backdrop of the hostilities in Ukraine, everything faded into the background.

This was the case for about six months, but around August, Washington began signaling a readiness to return to discussing arms control with Moscow.

This was stated in particular by President Joe Biden in his address to the Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Recalling that “even at the peak of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were able to work together to maintain common responsibility and ensure strategic stability,” the American leader declared: “My Administration is ready to expeditiously negotiate a new arms control framework to replace New START when it expires in 2026.”

oe Biden, however, conditioned the resumption of negotiations on a number of vaguely worded demands on Russia in the context of Ukraine: “But negotiations require a bona fide partner. And Russiaʼs brutal and unprovoked aggression in Ukraine disturbed the peace in Europe and is an attack on the fundamental principles of the international order. In this context, Russia must demonstrate that it is ready to resume nuclear arms control work with the United States.”

Moscow felt that since the “dialogue on strategic stability” had been interrupted at the initiative of the US, it should ask for its resumption, rather than making demands.

Dmitry Medvedev, who signed the START Treaty with the US when he was president in 2010, had the harshest words for the American position.

“Let them come running or crawling themselves and ask for it (the resumption of negotiations on strategic stability). And they will appreciate it as a special mercy. Otherwise it looks like this: they give us all kinds of abominations, and we give them a nuclear deal,” he wrote in his Telegram channel. “Unproductive, dangerous, and looks like a display of weakness. Let them appreciate such a dialogue for real and ask for it in all the streets and in the back alleys.”

The idea of Moscow and Washington returning to the pre-conflict state-of-affairs did not work out so well.

A mirror response

At the same time, START has run into serious problems. On August 8, Russia announced it was temporarily withdrawing its facilities from treaty inspections, accusing the US of trying to resume on-site visits without obtaining the Russian side's approval.

At the same time, comments by Russian officials initially suggested that the main obstacle to the START inspections was the practical implications of the confrontation between Russia and the US over Ukraine. That is, sanctions. “We are talking about the absence of normal air traffic due to the fault of the West, ignoring our requests to confirm the possibility for our planes to fly with inspectors through the airspace of transit countries, visa problems in transit, [and] difficulties with making payments for services during inspections,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov explained in August.

A meeting of the Bilateral Consultative Commission, another mechanism under the START Treaty, was called to resolve the disagreement between Moscow and Washington on the issue of inspections.

At the same time, Russia has accumulated its own complaints against the US under this treaty. In October, Moscow once again made it clear that, in its view, Washington was not fully complying with its requirements. At issue was the possible reversibility of the conversion of US submarine and heavy bomber ballistic missile launchers. Russia assumes that the US, in withdrawing its submarine-launched ballistic missiles and heavy bombers from the treaty, is doing so in a way that would make them nuclear-armed again at any time. In previous contacts the sides have considered a number of mutually acceptable solutions to this problem, but it has not yet been possible to test them in practice.

It was agreed to discuss the backlog of issues from November 29 to December 6. Previously, similar meetings were held in Geneva. However, Moscow no longer considers Switzerland, which has joined most of the Western sanctions imposed on Russia, to be a neutral state and does not want to have contacts with third parties on its territory. Therefore, a new location was chosen for the meeting of the bilateral consultative commission: Cairo.

The delegations of the two countries were already packing their suitcases when they learned that the meeting had been postponed indefinitely at the initiative of Moscow.

The explanations given by Russian officials made it clear that the problem was not the START Treaty, but the confrontation around Ukraine.

According to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, the decision was made “taking into account the extremely negative situation in Russian-American relations, which was created by Washington and continues to steadily degrade.” According to the diplomat, this situation “could not fail to affect the sphere of arms control, which cannot be seen as something autonomous and existing in isolation from geopolitical realities”.

It takes a very peculiar logic to tell Russia about restraint, transparency and predictability in military matters while helping the Kiev regime to kill our military and civilians in Russian regions by providing increasingly destructive means of armed struggle and sending American instructors, advisers and mercenaries to Ukraine," Zakarova said.

Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said the same in an interview with TASS a little later. "You cannot isolate the issue of convening a meeting of the bilateral consultative commission on the START Treaty from the general state of Russian-American relations. There is a war being waged against us. The adversary is seeking a strategic defeat for Russia. There are attempts to rock the domestic political and economic situation. And under these circumstances, we should allow Americans to visit the holy of holies – the security system of the Russian Federation – namely, military bases, where nuclear deterrent forces are deployed, as if nothing had happened?"

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it expected “a good-faith effort on the part of the US to create the conditions for a bilateral consultative commission session in 2023 and a return to full implementation of all treaty provisions.”

Thus, Moscow essentially mirrored Washington's February decision to suspend the “strategic stability dialogue” by making arms control issues contingent on the conflict over Ukraine. Even the conditions for resuming contacts were formulated similarly by the Russian side. Washington urged Moscow to become a “good faith partner” and it urged Moscow to make “good faith efforts.”

Not on a counter course

When the bilateral consultative commission for the START Treaty will now meet in person and what will happen on the outstanding issues, including inspections, is not at all clear. If Moscow insists as a condition that Washington change its foreign policy course, including the cessation of American military assistance to Kiev, then neither consultations on the treaty nor inspections will take place for the foreseeable future.

Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Moscow’s First Channel, late last month, that Russia had conveyed to the US that it was “fully committed to its obligations under the treaty as far as they can be implemented on an equal basis.

We will provide them with the information stipulated in the treaty in a timely manner and in full scope and send appropriate notifications,” Mr. Lavrov clarified.

However, the mere remote exchange of information and notifications of launches may not be enough for the US. There have already been statements in Washington that Russia’s word cannot be trusted, and that without on-site inspections the treaty is not in the US national interest. The State Department's annual report on compliance with international arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament agreements is about to begin. If on-site inspections under the START Treaty are not resumed (and by the end of June 2023, the Americans would like to conduct the maximum number of inspections stipulated by the agreement) and no commission meeting is held, it is possible that the next report will say that Russia is not fully complying with the treaty.

This, in turn, could lead to Congress introducing an amendment to prohibit the allocation of funds for cooperation with Russia under the START Treaty, i.e. effectively demanding a suspension of the treaty until Russia resumes cooperation. Or Joe Biden’s administration itself could take such a step. If the US does not comply with the START Treaty, Russia could also renege on its commitments altogether.

In such a case, the key – and indeed last – US-Russian arms control treaty would become ineffective or collapse.

The lack of agreement in this area has three negative consequences.

Even greater mistrust: in implementing the treaties, the military and diplomats of the two countries communicated regularly and in person, which strengthened personal ties and mutual understanding.

More unpredictability: in the absence of ceilings and frameworks, each side will likely overestimate the potential of the other and base its planning on worst-case scenarios.

Extra volatility: This is virtually inevitable in an intensified arms race not covered by any treaty.

This article was first published by “Kommersant”
https://www.rt.com/news/569777-us-russian-nuclear-arms-control/
============================================

3 Jan, 2023 15:11

8) --- Will reconciliation between Türkiye and Syria help to end the 12-year-old conflict? OP-ED by Robert Inlakesh

Finding common ground with Ankara can help Damascus solve many problems, including the US occupation of its territories

Against the wishes of Washington, both the Syrian and Turkish leaderships seem to be coming closer to re-establishing ties. After an 11-year break in relations, could such a rapprochement pave the way to closing the final chapter of the brutal Syrian war by breaking the current stalemate?

According to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, the diplomat could meet his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Mekdad, as early as February to further conversations regarding reopening ties between both governments. Despite protest from US state department spokesperson Ned Price, who said that the US does “not support countries upgrading their relations or expressing support to rehabilitate the brutal dictator Bashar Assad,” Ankara and Damascus continue their journey towards normalization.

The first major step taken towards rebuilding ties occurred in late December, when the defense ministers of both Türkiye and Syria were reported to have met in Moscow. What emerged from this meeting was Ankara’s verbal insistence on respecting Syrian territorial integrity, solving the ongoing refugee crisis and defending against “all terror groups” that threaten Türkiye’s border. This has caused a lot of speculation regarding the conditions that will be put in place for a proper restoration of ties, from both sides.

From the Turkish government’s perspective, rapprochement with Damascus could bring with it a number of benefits, including combating the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which are primarily controlled by the YPG group, considered to be a terrorist organization by Ankara. Late last year, in November, Türkiye launched an air force campaign, branded Operation Claw-Sword, which was aimed at striking YPG targets in northeastern Syria. According to the Turkish government, the YPG represents a threat to national security. It was accused of masterminding a bombing attack in central Istanbul last year, and the air operation was framed as Türkiye’s response. Also on Ankara’s stated agenda is a third ground incursion into northern Syria, which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated could occur at any time, aimed at establishing a 30-mile deep “security strip” in the north of Syria and Iraq, along the Turkish border.

Türkiye currently gives shelter to over 3.6 million Syrian refugees, making it the world’s largest refugee hosting nation, and is now being urged to do something about repatriating some of those refugees who can return to their home country, following the restoration of peace in war-torn Syria. A potential normalization of ties between Damascus and Ankara could hold the key towards negotiating not only a broader settlement to the conflict in Syria, but also agreements on the issues of refugees and combating the Kurdish armed groups inside Syrian territory.

For Damascus, Bashar Assad’s government has been unable to launch any significant military efforts since 2019, with Türkiye’s military entrenchment inside Syria’s Idlib province preventing the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies from defeating the Al-Qaeda offshoot, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which largely controls the area. Türkiye also ran two incursions into the north of Syria, first in the West in 2018, and then the East in 2019, occupying strips of Syrian territory, alongside a proxy force called the Syrian National Army (SNA).

In addition to seeking a Turkish withdrawal from pockets of Syrian territory in the north, a persisting problem for Damascus is the de facto US occupation of a third of the country. The American military, along with its Kurdish proxy force, the SDF, occupies northeastern Syria, where the most fertile agricultural lands, along with 90% of the country’s oil resources, are located. While attacking either Idlib or the northeast would likely bring the SAA into direct conflict with either the US or Türkiye, a normalization of ties with Ankara could dramatically change the equation.

If the Syrian government is to adopt the Turkish position, regarding the SDF being composed of terrorist groups and representing a security threat, hypothetically an agreement could be reached whereby any future Turkish offensive in the north could be followed by a Syrian offensive to cross the Euphrates River and liberate its territory surrounding the al-Omar oil fields. In both previous Turkish offensives into Syria, the US forces that were stationed there to back their Kurdish allies, exited the territory altogether, likely fearing an unnecessary confrontation with a fellow NATO power. The US military also has no official legal right to be at war in Syria, as no congressional approval was given for occupation of territory or war efforts. If Türkiye invades, the US will likely withdraw from northeastern Syria again and then leave an opportunity open for the Syrian government.

At the very least, if Syria can negotiate a withdrawal of Turkish forces from the country’s northwest, this could allow for the re-opening of vital routes between Aleppo and Damascus, lead to an opening for an offensive in Idlib and/or even pave the way to a final peace agreement to close the conflict. Although both Türkiye and Syria have been mortal enemies during the war, with Ankara proving perhaps the biggest aid to the effort to overthrow the government of Bashar Assad, it became inevitable that both sides would eventually have to reconcile at some point, after Syria’s government proved victorious against all the various factions that fought against it in the US-backed war inside the country.

The biggest challenge, even if the Syrian government is able to retake most of the country’s territory, is now the West’s economic sanctions that have crippled the nation’s economy and plunged the civilian population into mass poverty. Perhaps restoring control of its agricultural lands and natural resources could aid in recovery. However, the sanctions are clearly hindering reconstruction efforts, the import of vital goods and have caused economic, electricity, gas, water and various other crises inside the country. All of these effects of the sanctions and more, including exacerbating the current cholera outbreak in Syria, have prompted UN expert Alena Douhan to call on the West to unilaterally lift its “suffocating” sanctions. The Syrian government still has a long way to go to end the crisis and to revive the suffering nation, along with its people, however, the Türkiye-Syria rapprochement could serve as a step in the right direction.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the Palestinian territories and currently works with Quds News. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump's Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’. Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47

https://www.rt.com/news/569822-syrian-conflict-turkey-us-occupation/
=============================================

15 Jan, 2023 07:51

9) --- Zelensky aide explains how missile fell on apartment block in Dnepr

The Russian projectile crashed into the building after being intercepted by Ukrainian air defenses, Aleksey Arestovich has said

A Russian missile that fell on an apartment block in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnepr on Saturday had been shot down by Kiev’s forces, Aleksey Arestovich, a senior adviser to President Vladimir Zelensky, has said.

Zelensky and Ukrainian officials initially reported that the nine-story building was hit by a Russian missile. According to regional Governor Valentin Reznichenko, the death toll had grown to 18 dead and 73 wounded on Sunday morning.

Arestovich, however, said in a YouTube interview with Russian activist Mark Feygin that the missile was brought down by Ukrainian troops.

Asked if the air defense forces in Dnepr had the opportunity to intercept the incoming missile, Arestovich stated: “It was shot down. It apparently fell on the [apartment] block. But it exploded when falling.”

Arestovich later wrote on Facebook that Russia was ultimately responsible for the deaths. “Everybody understands perfectly that the tragedy would not have happened if it was not for the Russian strike.”

“Nobody will blame Ukraine. Just like it was not blamed when our air defense missile fell in Poland, killing two Polish citizens,” Arestovich added, referring to an incident that occurred last fall.

On November 15, a missile killed two people in the Polish village of Przewodow near the Ukrainian border. Polish officials said at the time that the projectile was most likely fired by Ukrainian forces that were trying to fend off a Russian attack. President Zelensky initially claimed that Poland was “struck by Russian missiles,” but later stated that further investigation was needed to determine what happened.

Russia has so far not commented on the reported strikes on Saturday, but has denied targeting civilians in past statements.

Moscow drastically ramped up its strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure in early October of last year, blaming Kiev for repeated acts of sabotage on Russian soil, including the bombing of the strategic Crimean Bridge.
https://www.rt.com/russia/569890-ukraine-missile-fell-dnepr/
===============================================

Show less