RT News - July 03 2024 (late) Putin & Xi attend 24th Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit

RT International News. Presidents Putin and Xi are in Kazakhstan at the 24th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit where he is meeting with leaders of the other Eurasian Nations of SCO and they are discussing security and bi-lateral ties. Pres. Putin announced formally that Belarus is to become a member of the SCO. Pres. Putin and Xi opened the meeting with setting out the goals of SCO. Donald Courter reports on the first day, so far.
President Putin spoke with Pres. Erdogan (Türkiye), Pres. Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh (Mongolia) and Ilham Aliyev about energy projects.
Rachel Ruble talks about the purpose of the SCO. It represents aounnd 40% of the world's population.
Yusef Erim (Editor, TRT World) explains the importance of the SCO for Türkiye.
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Pres. Biden's performance at the debate last week has brought criticisms even from within his own party. The Whitehouse however says he's fine with Whitehouse spokes person saying Pres. Biden "had a bad night". The US media is having a ball tearing him apart. Caleb Maupin reports.
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Russia's MOD reports on Ukraine's losses for the day.
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Dissent in the ranks : Ukraine's political and military leaders are anything but satisfied with the situation in the SMO. Saskia Taylor talks us through current and historical problem leading to such dissatisfaction and she says "Ukraine is at war with itself" (...I wish they would just come to the table and discuss peace plans..). Daniel Lazare talks about Ukraine's strategy of moving one General in and another out but says it won't create any change the outcome of the conflict. The west is cruelly using Ukraine in a conflict they know Ukraine cannot win.
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The "Green Agenda". The EU is pushing green energy on other countries, especially Africa, rich in energy commodities which the EU is taking for themselves. This substantially reduces the development of countries and their quality of life. Rachel Marsden reports. Jusper Machogu (an Agricultural Engineer) explains how Africa is impacted by EU demands.
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Below A) Pres. Putin lands in Kazakhstan for SCO summit
1) Russian nuclear power plant workers injured in Ukrainian attack
2) Western talk of Ukraine peace just for show
3) US promises ANOTHER $2.3 billion in weapons for Ukraine
4) Biden offers another excuse for debate fiasco
5) Lithuanian capital buying ‘dragon’s teeth’ and ‘hedgehogs’
6) Zelensky issues demand to Trump
7) No talks between Putin and Trump on Ukraine peace
8) Russian gas exports to EU soaring – Reuters
9) Russia halts participation in OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

Show more

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Short take: Vladimir Putin meets with the leaders of Eurasian nations, including China’s Xi Jinping and Türkiye’s Erdogan. They are boosting security ties at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. After his disastrous debate performance, Joe Biden’s own Democrat allies begin turning on him, demanding a better candidate to stand against Donald Trump in the November election. A Russian missile strike destroys a Ukrainian military helicopter at an eastern airfield. Amid Kiev’s losses on the battlefield, some parliament members say a coup is on the horizon.
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A) Pres. Putin lands in Kazakhstan for SCO summit 3 Jul, 2024 01:15

The Russian leader will hold a series of bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting

Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Astana, where the leaders of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) members and observer states are expected to discuss a wide range of global and regional issues on July 3-4.

The Russian president’s plane landed in Astana around 5am local time on Wednesday, according to the Kremlin.

Putin’s program “includes a range of very important bilateral contacts,” as Moscow considers the summit to be a good opportunity for talks with the leaders who will attend, according to foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov.

Ahead of the main protocol events, Putin is expected to meet the leaders of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Mongolia, as well as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Xi Jinping of China. The Russian leader is also expected to hold talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The SCO was founded in 2001, and initially included Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In 2017 the organization was joined by India and Pakistan, while Tehran became a full-fledged member in 2023.
https://www.rt.com/russia/600351-putin-sco-summit-kazakhstan/
see video : https://rumble.com/v557q96-putin-arrives-in-kazakhstan-to-attend-sco-summit.html (check out the high kicks!)
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1) Russian nuclear power plant workers injured in Ukrainian attack – officials 3 Jul, 2024 13:16

Eight people were reportedly wounded while repairing a substation used by the Zaporozhye NPP

A Ukrainian attack on a substation used by the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant has injured eight employees of the facility, officials reported on Wednesday.

Kiev allegedly launched three quadcopter-type kamikaze drones at the Raduga facility in Energodar, the city hosting Europe’s largest nuclear power station. The injured workers were part of a crew that was repairing the damage caused by a previous Ukrainian attack, the statement claimed. At least one worker is said to be in a serious condition.

The initial strike on the Raduga substation happened two weeks ago and was confirmed by a monitoring mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog. Another site called Luch was hit in a separate strike.

Neither station is critical for the work of the nuclear power plant, but its secondary facilities depend on them for power supplies. The strike on Wednesday once again disrupted the grid after both Raduga transformers were damaged.

The IAEA has declined to attribute the attacks on substations in Energodar, but its chief, Rafael Grossi, has stressed that “whoever is behind this, it must stop.”

“Drone usage against the plant and its vicinity is becoming increasingly more frequent. This is completely unacceptable and it runs counter to the safety pillars and concrete principles which have been accepted unanimously,” the official said.

Last week, a reported Ukrainian artillery strike destroyed one of the automatic radiation monitoring posts near the nuclear site.

Energodar is located in Zaporozhye Region, which became part of Russia following a referendum in 2022. The power plant is operated by Russian personnel, although Kiev still claims sovereignty over the area.

Moscow has criticized the US and its allies for failing to pressure Ukraine to stop the military attacks on the plant, which pose the threat of a major environmental disaster.
https://www.rt.com/russia/600383-russian-nuclear-power-plant-attack-ukraine/

==========RELATED from 26 Jun, 2024

1a) Ukraine destroys crucial sensors near Europe’s largest nuclear plant – officials

Kiev continues to carry out reckless attacks around the Zaporozhye NPP, staff at the facility have said

The Ukrainian military has shelled a radiation monitoring station near the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, the largest such facility in Europe, officials at the Russian facility reported on Wednesday.

The attack targeted a monitoring station in Velikaya Znamenka, a village around 15km west of the nuclear facility. It was “totally destroyed” by Ukrainian artillery fire, according to a statement from Russian officials on social media. The statement included photos of the burned-out equipment box.

Located in the city of Energodar, the Zaporozhye nuclear plant has a network of sensors, known as the ‘Koltso’ (Ring), on a 30km radius that monitors for possible radiation leaks. The system was upgraded several years ago.

Plant workers have taken measures to maintain the monitoring regime, the statement said, adding that no spikes in radiation levels have been detected.

Russia has been in control of the Zaporozhye NPP since the early weeks of the hostilities with Ukraine. Officials in Energodar reported several Ukrainian attacks on its key infrastructure last week, in which two transformer substations were damaged.

The attacks have disrupted electricity supplies to some of the power plant’s facilities and posed a threat to its personnel, according to its management. Ukrainian actions “may affect nuclear safety,” a statement released last Saturday said.

Kiev considers the Zaporozhye station to be illegally occupied and has accused Russia of using it for military purposes – allegation Moscow has denied. The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), maintains an observer mission at the site, but declines to attribute blame for any attacks affecting the station.

“Whoever is behind this, it must stop,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said last week. “Drone usage against the plant and its vicinity is becoming increasingly more frequent. This is completely unacceptable and it runs counter to the safety pillars and concrete principles which have been accepted unanimously.”

The IAEA noted that the disruption of power had affected the radiological monitoring stations. The sensor network went offline for some time after backup batteries ran out, and went back online again after power was restored.
https://www.rt.com/russia/600033-zaporozhye-npp-radiation-sensors/
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2) Western talk of Ukraine peace just for show – Moscow 3 Jul, 2024 08:10

The US is willing to sacrifice its allies in order to defeat Russia, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has argued

Any Western talk of peace in the Ukraine conflict is merely a “decoy” as the US and its allies remain intent on inflicting a strategic defeat on Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban visited Kiev on Tuesday, where he urged Vladimir Zelensky to seek a ceasefire with Russia to facilitate peace talks. The Ukrainian leader rejected the proposal, saying he has a different way to end the conflict.

Whatever discussions Ukraine and Western nations have about peace are mere “decoys, screens, tropes and memes,” said purely for their own sake, Zakharova said on her weekly radio show on Wednesday.

The Ukraine conflict is dominated by the goal of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia, which the US and its allies have declared “absolutely clearly and specifically,” the official explained. In practical terms, the West seeks to dismantle Russia and to end its existence, she claimed.

... "What did you expect from the people chosen by the US as their tools? Tools don’t have a say in what they do...."

Clear-eyed politicians in the EU can see the place allocated to their nations in the US grand plan, which is that of a sacrificial animal on the altar of victory against Russia, Zakharova added. Europe’s grim future is evident in the state of its economy, she said.

”What is happening to Europe is not just a crisis, or collapse, or loss of position. It truly is a disaster,” she argued.

Western officials such as Hungary’s Orban, who publicly object to the course of action chosen in Washington, probably want to set the record straight for the future generations of Europeans, who will blame the leaders of today for their inaction, Zakharova said.

The Hungarian prime minister has repeatedly argued that Western sanctions imposed on Russia as punishment for the Ukraine conflict have failed to end hostilities and ended up hurting EU members more than they did Russia.

Budapest has used its veto power in the bloc to stop proposed restrictions that would have undermined core Hungarian national interests, such as its cooperation with Russia on nuclear energy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged to order a ceasefire with Ukraine as soon as Kiev renounces its bid to join NATO and pulls its troops out of all territory which Moscow claims under its sovereignty.
https://www.rt.com/russia/600356-zakharova-orban-ukraine-peace/
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3) US promises ANOTHER $2.3 billion in weapons for Ukraine 3 Jul, 2024 02:04

The Pentagon has pledged to supply Kiev with more air defense interceptors and other “critical munitions”

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Rustem Umerov, at the Pentagon on Tuesday, where he said Washington would soon announce a further $2.3 billion in military aid for Kiev. Austin also received an update on the “dynamics on the ground” in Ukraine’s conflict with Russia, and reassured Umerov of Washington’s “unwavering support.”

During the meeting, the US official highlighted American efforts to fulfill Ukraine’s “most urgent” military requirements, including $2.3 billion in additional security assistance that “will be announced soon,” according to press secretary Pat Ryder.

The Pentagon has yet to unveil the exact contents of the next weapons shipment, but the package will reportedly include a “significant number” of air defense interceptor missiles.

“I am proud that the US will soon announce more than $2.3 billion in new security assistance for Ukraine. This package under presidential drawdown authority will provide more air defense interceptors, anti-tank weapons and other critical munitions from US inventories,” Austin said.

Kiev reportedly operates at least four Patriot systems, provided by the US and Germany, but Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has demanded at least 25 units to cover the country’s needs in the conflict with Russia. Washington, however, has been reluctant to send more launchers, instead encouraging its European allies to share their anti-air capabilities with Kiev.

The Kremlin has repeatedly warned that foreign military supplies to Ukraine will not prevent Russia from achieving its goals and will merely prolong the conflict. Moscow has stressed that the deliveries of arms, sharing of intelligence, and training of Ukrainian soldiers means that Western nations are directly involved in the fighting.
https://www.rt.com/news/600352-pentagon-ukraine-weapons-package/

====RELATED from 29 Jun, 2024

3a) US signs new $4.5bn Patriot Missile contract

Lockheed Martin will produce over 800 missiles and associated hardware under the deal

US defense industry giant Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control has been awarded a contract worth $4.5 billion for Patriot Missiles systems, the Pentagon announced on Friday. The multiyear deal covers 870 PAC-3 MSE missiles and associated hardware.

The decision to extend production is aimed at boosting the country’s ability to support its own military forces, as well as those of its allies abroad, including Ukraine, the statement said.

Kiev reportedly operates at least four Patriot systems, provided by the US and Germany. In May, the Netherlands launched a joint initiative to deliver one more air defense battery, urging other nations to donate separate constituent parts. Spain, Greece, Romania and Poland have Patriots at their disposal but have so far refused to donate them to Ukraine.

Earlier this year, the Russian Defense Ministry released video footage of one of Ukraine’s Patriot batteries being destroyed. At the same time, sources close to the situation at the front told TASS that three US Patriot anti-aircraft missile system launchers had been destroyed by a tactical missile strike in the Donetsk People’s Republic

In April, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky demanded 25 Patriot units to cover the country’s needs in the military conflict with Moscow.

The Kremlin has repeatedly warned that military supplies to Ukraine from the US and others will not prevent Russia from achieving its goals, but only prolong the conflict. Moscow has stressed that the deliveries of arms, sharing of intelligence, and training of Ukrainian soldiers means that Western nations are directly involved in the conflict.

Earlier this week, the Financial Times reported that the US defense sector was enjoying a munitions “boomlet” due to massive aid packages for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan but that sustained growth in the sector is not guaranteed.
https://www.rt.com/business/600186-us-patriot-lockheed-martin-ukraine/
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4) Biden offers another excuse for debate fiasco 3 Jul, 2024 13:02

The US president claims he was tired after traveling extensively ahead of the showdown with Donald Trump

Joe Biden has claimed that too much international travel was the reason for his disastrous performance in the first US presidential debate with Donald Trump last week. The 81-year-old Democrat’s campaign previously attributed his poor showing to a cold and misguided preparation by his aides.

During the CNN-hosted 90-minute faceoff against his Republican rival, the incumbent US president appeared visibly frail and confused, with his answers marred by awkward pauses and numerous inaccurate statements.

Most commentators, both Republican and Democrat, have concurred that Trump came out on top in the debate. A poll by CBS News/YouGov shortly after the event found that 72% of registered voters do not believe that Biden has the “mental and cognitive health necessary to serve as president.”

Several media outlets have claimed that top-level Democratic donors are now pushing for Biden to be replaced as the party’s candidate ahead of the November 5 vote. Multiple reporters and at least one Democratic lawmaker have openly urged the president to bow out of the race.

Addressing his supporters at a fundraiser in McLean, Virginia on Tuesday, Biden said: “I wasn’t very smart. I decided to travel around the world a couple of times… shortly before the debate,” as quoted by Politico.

The US leader regretted not listening to his staff, adding that he ended up almost falling "asleep on stage” as a result.

In early June, the US president attended the D-Day commemorations in France, before heading for a G7 meeting in Italy on June 12. Biden subsequently flew to a fundraiser in Los Angeles, returning to Washington DC 11 days before the debate. During this time, the Democratic hopeful was reportedly actively preparing for the encounter with Trump, with several aides arranging rehearsals.

Shortly after the debate, First Lady Jill Biden suggested during a fundraiser that her husband was not feeling well during the event, insisting, however, that his poor showing should not eclipse his term in office as a whole.

Late last month, Axios, citing an anonymous person close to Biden, alleged that his team had chalked the president’s flop up to him being “over-prepared and relying on minutiae when all that mattered was vigor and energy.” His campaign supposedly blamed Biden’s aides for preparing him for the “wrong debate.”

Around the same time, CBS News quoted an unnamed senior official as saying that Biden had a cold, hence his raspy voice during the debate.

Meanwhile, campaign spokesperson Seth Schuster has insisted that Biden is not dropping out of the race.
https://www.rt.com/news/600378-biden-debate-failure-travel-excuse/
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5) Lithuanian capital buying ‘dragon’s teeth’ and ‘hedgehogs’ 2 Jul, 2024 19:10

Vilnius is reportedly developing fortification and evacuation plans

Authorities in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, have developed a plan to ring the entire city with anti-tank obstacles before the end of the year, Mayor Valdas Benkunskas announced on Tuesday.

The former Soviet republic on the Baltic Sea borders fellow NATO member Latvia to the north and Poland to the south, but also shares a border with Russia’s Kaliningrad Region and Belarus.

“Vilnius, as the capital of the country, is one of the main military targets, so it is necessary to do everything possible, in addition to military measures, to protect it,” Benkunskas told reporters.

The city has already made arrangements to buy two types of anti-tank obstacles, the mayor added, including concrete triangles dubbed ‘dragon’s teeth’ and the steel-beam ‘hedgehogs’.

“We will have these means of military counter-mobility at our disposal already in the fall,” Benkunskas said. He explained that they would be installed on the approaches to Vilnius by municipal workers, in case of emergency. The idea is to have enough barriers for the entire perimeter of the city.

Vilnius is also seeking to increase the number of air-raid sirens, expand the network of bomb shelters, and draft plans for evacuating the city completely within 36 hours, according to Benkunskas.

The mayor did not name the possible attacker. Vilnius is located in southeastern Lithuania, about 185km east of Kaliningrad Region and 30km from the border with Belarus.

Last month, the Polish capital of Warsaw ran a snap exercise to test the reliability of emergency shelters and other critical infrastructure. Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski said the drills were needed “just in case.”

Earlier this year, Estonia announced it would build bunkers and “anti-mobility defensive installations” along its 294-kilometer border with Russia. Construction on the “Baltic Line” is supposed to start in 2025.

Several NATO countries have claimed that Russia might attack the US-led military bloc once Ukraine is defeated, seeking to justify both members’ domestic military spending and their ongoing aid to Kiev. Russia has repeatedly dismissed their concerns as propaganda, pointing to the fact that NATO has been the one expanding eastward for decades.

Claims of a looming Russian invasion are “utter nonsense and intimidation of their own population just to beat the money out of them,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in March.
(Estonia announced on Friday 19th January, that it intends to build hundreds of bunkers along its border with Russia. Fellow NATO members Latvia and Lithuania have signed on to the project as well.

Defense ministers of the three Baltic states met in Riga and approved the construction of what they called “anti-mobility defensive installations” on their eastern borders “to repel possible Russian aggression.” )
https://www.rt.com/russia/600333-vilnius-lithuania-dragons-teeth/
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6) Zelensky issues demand to Trump 3 Jul, 2024 15:56

He wants the former US president to explain his plan to resolve the conflict between Moscow and Kiev

Former US President Donald Trump should set out his plan to resolve the Ukraine conflict, which he claims would take just 24 hours if he’s returned to the White House in November, Vladimir Zelensky has said.

Following the launch of Russia’s military campaign against Kiev in 2022, Trump has repeatedly said the conflict would not have escalated if he were still president, and has vowed to resolve the crisis in a single day if he is elected once again.

During last week’s debate with President Joe Biden, Trump reiterated this promise, stating that he could quickly resolve the conflict – even before he officially assumes office. However, he has yet to specify how he would end the fighting.

In an interview with Bloomberg published on Wednesday, Zelensky demanded that Trump reveal the details of his plan so that Kiev can know what to prepare for in November.

“I would like to know what it would mean to finish a war fast,” he said, insisting that “if Trump knows how to end this war, he should tell us today, because if there are risks to Ukraine’s independence, and there are risks that we will lose our statehood, we want to be prepared for this.”

Zelensky further explained that Kiev needed to understand whether it would have “the powerful support of the US” in November in the event of Trump’s re-election or if it will be “all alone.”

According to Bloomberg’s Annmarie Hordern, who conducted the interview, Zelensky indicated that his team was ready to meet with Trump to go over his proposals.

Last month, Reuters reported that Trump advisers had drawn up a roadmap for peace in Ukraine that would include an initial ceasefire based on the battle lines during peace negotiations, while Kiev would not have to formally cede any disputed territories to Moscow. As part of the plan, Russia would also reportedly receive a promise that Ukraine’s NATO accession talks would be put on hold.

While Moscow did not dismiss the plan outright, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that “the value of any plan lies in the nuances and in taking into account the real state of affairs on the ground.”
https://www.rt.com/russia/600397-zelensky-demands-trump-peace-plan/
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7) No talks between Putin and Trump on Ukraine peace – Kremlin 3 Jul, 2024 14:21

Politico earlier reported that the Republican frontrunner wants NATO to ditch its expansion plans

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Republican frontrunner in the US presidential race Donald Trump have not held any backroom talks on resolving the Ukraine conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Politico reported, citing two Trump-aligned national security experts, that the former president is contemplating a deal under which NATO would refrain from further eastward expansion, abandoning its plans to bring Ukraine and Georgia in. This plan would also reportedly involve talks with Putin “over how much Ukrainian territory Moscow can keep.”

Asked by reporters on Wednesday to comment on whether such a dialogue was taking place, Peskov said that “this is not true.” In May, the spokesman said that Putin and Trump maintain no contact.

The 45th US president has repeatedly said that he would end the Ukraine conflict within 24 hours if elected, although the exact details of this plan are unclear. Reuters reported last month that Trump advisers had drawn up a roadmap for peace in Ukraine that would include an initial ceasefire based on the battle lines during peace negotiations, while Kiev would not have to formally cede any disputed territories to Moscow. As part of the plan, Russia would also reportedly receive a promise that Ukraine’s NATO accession talks would be put on hold.

Commenting on the report, Peskov did not dismiss the roadmap out of hand, but noted that the “value of any plan lies in the nuances and in taking into account the real state of affairs on the ground.”

Last month, Putin said that Russia is ready to immediately open peace talks with Ukraine once it withdraws troops from Donbass and two other of its former regions and agrees to commit to a neutral status, adding that the final deal should be recognized internationally and pave the way for the lifting of Western sanctions against Moscow. Trump has said that those terms are unacceptable.

Both Ukraine and its Western backers have dismissed the offer. Since late 2022, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has been promoting his ten-point ‘peace formula’, which demands Moscow withdraw from all territories it claims as its own and calls for a tribunal to be established to prosecute Russian officials and service members for alleged war crimes. Russia has dismissed the plan as detached from reality and a non-starter for talks.
https://www.rt.com/news/600389-no-ukraine-talks-putin-trump/
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8) Russian gas exports to EU soaring – Reuters 3 Jul, 2024 09:15

Energy giant Gazprom has ramped up pipeline supplies to Western, Central, Southern and Southeastern Europe by nearly a quarter, the outlet has said

Russian natural gas exports to Western, Central, Southern, and Southeastern Europe surged by 23% year-on-year in June, rebounding from last year’s decline, according to estimates from Reuters.

Energy giant Gazprom ramped up pipeline gas supplies, which totaled 81.8 million cubic meters (mcm) per day last month, up from 66.8 mcm in June last year, the outlet reported, citing data from the European gas transmission group Entsog and Gazprom’s reports on gas transit via Ukraine.

The Russian energy giant’s June exports declined from the 89.5 mcm daily volume in May due to planned maintenance at the undersea TurkStream pipeline, but were up from the 66.8 mcm recorded in June 2023, the outlet said.

So far this year, Russian gas exports to the region have totaled about 15.5 billion cubic meters (bcm).

Before the start of the Ukraine conflict Russia delivered around 155 bcm of natural gas to the European Union, primarily via pipelines. Gazprom, once the EU’s main gas supplier, reduced its exports to the bloc dramatically in 2022, following Western sanctions and the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines.

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea and carried natural gas from Russia to the EU, along with the newly built Nord Stream 2, were ruptured by underwater explosions in September 2022, rendering them inoperable.

In response to Western sanctions, Russia has rerouted gas deliveries eastwards and sharply boosted sales to China. Last year, Beijing increased pipeline gas imports from Russia via the Power of Siberia pipeline to 22.7 bcm, nearly 1.5 times more compared to the 15.4 bcm shipped in 2022, data shows.

Nonetheless, Gazprom continues to supply gas for transit to Western and Central Europe through Ukrainian territory via the Sudzha gas pumping station.

The EU reduced its reliance on Russian energy by replacing it with imports of LNG from countries including the US, which became the main source of gas for the bloc. However, Western nations have not stopped buying Russian energy despite the unprecedented sanctions they have imposed against Moscow. These nations have just switched to “workarounds” to procure Russian imports, according to the Russian Energy Ministry.

In its latest round of sanctions, the EU has banned operations for re-exporting Russian LNG via the bloc. Deliveries of LNG for use within the EU remain unaffected, however.
https://www.rt.com/business/600362-russian-gas-exports-eu-soaring/
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9) Russia halts participation in OSCE Parliamentary Assembly 3 Jul, 2024 14:38

Moscow has accused the organization of double standards and Russophobia

Russian lawmakers on Wednesday voted to suspend Moscow’s participation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE PA), citing its “discriminatory approaches, double standards and total Russophobia.”

Both chambers of Russia’s parliament – the State Duma and Federation Council – voted unanimously during sessions on Wednesday to suspend the country’s participation and stop paying fees to the organization.

Moscow already stopped its payments to the OSCE itself after its delegation was denied access to the organization’s meetings on several occasions.

“We should not pay for something we did not participate in,” the State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said at the time.

OSCE leaders have ignored Russia’s repeated appeals for an equal dialogue, the lawmakers said in a statement, adding that the body is being used as a “politicized tool to deliberately implement an anti-Russian course, and also to intentionally distort” events in Ukraine.

The lawmakers accused the assembly of “biased, discriminatory approaches, double standards, total Russophobia, unpreparedness for meaningful discussions, including on relevant issues of ensuring equal and indivisible security.”

Since the start of the Ukraine conflict, Russian MPs have been repeatedly blocked from taking part in a number of the organization’s events.

In November 2022, Poland denied visas to Russian officials scheduled to attend an OSCE meeting in Warsaw. And in June 2022, Russian MPs were barred from traveling to the UK to participate in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly session in Birmingham.

The latest case was a “demonstrative” refusal by Romanian authorities to issue visas in June to a Russian delegation to attend the annual session of the body in Bucharest.

Russia has been a participant in the OSCE since the Soviet Union signed the Helsinki Accords in 1975. The organization’s monitoring mission in eastern Ukraine began in 2014, but was terminated just prior to the start of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022. Russia had previously repeatedly accused the group of ignoring violations by Ukraine.

Having held its first session back in 1992, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly incorporates 57 member states, and declares as its primary mission the facilitation of “inter-parliamentary dialogue to advance the OSCE’s goals of comprehensive security.”
https://www.rt.com/russia/600381-russia-suspends-osce-parliamentary-assembly-participation/

====RELATED from 18 Mar, 2024

9a) Moscow slams OSCE for ignoring killing of Russian civilians

Russia’s envoy urged the organization to force Kiev to abide by international rules

The obvious lack of a reaction to Ukrainian attacks on Russian cities demonstrated by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has encouraged Kiev to keep killing civilians, Moscow’s representative at the organization Alexander Lukashevich stated on Monday.

The comments came as Ukraine intensified its attacks on Russia’s border regions last week ahead of the country’s presidential election, which took place Friday through Sunday. The attacks involved drone raids, artillery strikes and attempted ground incursions. The assaults on Russia’s Belgorod Region alone have claimed the lives of 11 civilians, including children; 82 more were injured, according to the local health authorities.

“The OSCE leadership is once again demonstrating biased approaches, continuing to divide people into categories and sorts and blatantly ‘not noticing’ the victims of attacks carried out by the armed formations of the Kiev regime against peaceful residents of the Russian regions,” Lukashevich said in a statement posted on the official Telegram channel of the Russian mission.

The official highlighted that the OSCE leaders had offered nothing but “politicized statements” to back Kiev’s criminal regime, accusing the organization of demonstrating hypocrisy that “goes beyond all possible boundaries.”

Lukashevich also urged OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ian Borg and Secretary General Helga Schmid to immediately condemn the intense, indiscriminate shelling of Russian cities by Ukrainian militant groups.

According to the envoy, the organization must call on the Ukrainian authorities and their sponsors from NATO to stop killing civilians, and immediately choose a political and diplomatic path to resolve existing tensions instead.

“Silence and inaction by the OSCE leadership now will mean not only encouragement of attacks by the Kiev regime against the civilians of the Russian Federation, but also its personal responsibility for further armed escalation,” the diplomat concluded.
https://www.rt.com/news/594438-osce-ukraine-attacks-russian-cities/
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