Pravda.ru / Russia

Recent protests in Moscow exposed the problem of deep contradictions between the authorities and citizens. The rally on Sakharov Avenue on August 10 became the largest in Moscow in the past seven years. According to unconfirmed reports, as many as 50-60 thousand people took part in the rally. Moscow has seen four actions of protest during the last few weeks. The rallies were held in support of the candidates withdrawn from elections to the Moscow City Duma. Three of those rallies (on July 14 and 27 and on August 3) were unauthorized, while the third one, which was coordinated with the authorities, (on July 20) gathered about 22,500 people.Most recently, candidates served administrative arrests for organising uncoordinated events. Famous journalists, bloggers and musicians also took part in the acts. According to journalist Leonid Parfenov, "the latest campaign has revealed so many lies and so much ensued violence that the Moscow City Duma elections were no longer the reason."The organizers of the action also said that the mayor's office tried to correct the list of speakers by banning music performances before the event. There were calls made to "take a walk" to the presidential administration after the rally. Boris Zolotarevsky, an employee of the Anti-Corruption Fund, as well as several other people who reached the Kitai-Gorod metro station, were arrested. It was later said that there were 256 people detained on August 10. With regard to third-party damage, Moscow's transport and road services evaluated the damage at 100 million rubles. It is worthy of note that participants of the riots on Bolotnaya Square in 2012 were also accused of causing damage to city infrastructure objects. For the time being, Moscow protests do not show influence on the domestic political situation in general. Fitch experts, reasoning the upgrade of Russia's rating from BBB- to BBB, noted that increased public activity and willingness to protests remained localized. The protests did not lead to the formation of the national political opposition movement, nor did they strengthen the existing opposition movement in Russia. Political scientist Mikhail Vinogradov named three components of protests: the resuscitation of Bolotnaya as a broad movement, the explicit radicalization of the actions of the authorities, and the escalation of the feeling of disappointment among the younger generation. Political strategist Sergei Polyakov believes that the protest sentiments in Russia are not going to fade, because Russian people can no longer recklessly trust the president. They want to participate in the decision-making process. For most people, the decision to deny registrations for candidates came as denial of people's right to be heard. 

Due to a series of uncoordinated protests in Moscow, analysts and experts started making forecasts about the imminent collapse of the present-day system in Russia.Valery Solovey, a former professor at MGIMO (the Moscow State Institute of Foreign Relations) is one of such futurologists. In general, this scholar is known for quite bizarre forecasts that sound very convincing, even though they never come true to life. This time, Mr. Solovyey predicted an "open, protracted crisis" that would end with a regime fall in 2020-2021. At the same time, as Russia is going to extricate from this political crisis, the nation will see a "new political order."In 2016, Valery Solovey spoke about early presidential election that would take place in Russia in 2017. He even named possible successors - Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Tula region governor Dyumin, and even Sergei Ivanov, the former head of the presidential administration.As we can see, the early election did not take place. Putin's most recent campaign was one of the most predictable ones. As for Mr. Solovey's forecast of the imminent collapse of the system in Russia and the protracted crisis of 2020-2021, we would like to refer to an opinion voiced on "Stukach" Telegram channel. Its authors write: "An open political crisis" is, for example, a decision of the Constitutional Court that would contradict the position of the president. If Prime Minister Medvedev refused to comply with the Putin's decrees, this would be an open political crisis as well. Today, there are no open political crisis in Russia."If the Russian Army had refused to take part in operations to extinguish Siberian wildfires, it could have technically triggered a crisis. However, Russia's sitting Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu previously served as the head of EMERCOM, so the Russian army followed the orders instantly. The current political regime is not going to end in 2020-2021, because there are no prerequisites for it. The current system of power is solid. Nevertheless, some analysts speak about the brewing crisis between power and society amid growing social tensions. For example, experts at the Institute for Economic Growth named after Stolypin speak about the weak effect of national projects and the curtailment of small and medium-sized businesses in Russia. According to them, the Russian economy is sliding into a recession.Thus, negative processes in the economy are already directly associated with the implementation of national projects, which casts doubt on the competence of the government. At the same time, the expert community believes that it is impossible to improve the situation against the background of the present monetary and tax policies. The question is what the government is likely to revise first - national projects, the strategy of the Central Bank or taxation. In other words, tensions in Russia do not grow within the scope of big politics. They grow within the scope of "household" politics, so to speak. The main challenge that the Russian authorities face today is not about the desynchronization of actions. Russian people find most of those actions incomprehensible and unacceptable - this is the main challenge for the Russian authorities today.

The territory of a chemical factory in the Irkutsk region of Russia needs to be ameliorated. The factory may otherwise turn into an "ecological Chernobyl." Usoliekhimprom chemical factory is an abandoned plant, on the territory of which  a huge amount of mercury-containing residues and containers (many of them pressurized) with chemically hazardous substances are still being stored.In addition, oil wastes has been pumped into the wells from which saline used to be extracted. The wells thus pose a serious threat to the Angara River nearby. A rupture in a well will lead to the contamination of vast territories along the riverbed.According to Svetlana Radionova, the chairwoman of the Federal Service for Environmental Supervision, the territory of Usoliekhimprom chemical factory is a territory of an ecological catastrophe. According to her, the agency has already appealed to the Russian government with a request to create a program for the restoration of the hazardous facility.    Usoliekhimprom plant is located in the city of Usolye-Sibirsky, the Irkutsk region (Siberia). When in operation, the plant produced chlorine and other chemicals. In 2017, the company was declared bankrupt. The factory now stands abandoned and dilapidated. In November 2018, the administration of Usolye-Sibirsky introduced an emergency situation in the town over the risk of a man-made disaster. The problem arose after it became known that metal containers with residues of pesticides posed a threat to the population. Moreover, some of those containers can often be illegally removed from the industrial site of the former chemical plant and taken to the town.Mikhail Toropkin, the mayor of Usolye-Sibirsky, said that the abandoned chemical factory was being looted. "Dozens of trucks loaded with metals and other materials leave the territory of the factory on a daily basis. There are eleven pressurized railway tanks with contents of unknown origin there," the official said. Deputies of the Legislative Assembly of the Irkutsk region announced their intention to introduce  changes to the regional budget, but only in the event the state program for the restoration of Usolyechimprom chemical enterprise is approved. Photo: Baikal24.ru

Russia Adding a New Super-Weapon to its Arsenal Exceeding the Best in the West by Stephen Lendman Russian super-weapons technologically outmatch the Pentagon's best, developed at a small fraction of the cost, using its resources efficiently.

The Russians have experienced the 17th Q&A session with President Vladimir Putin. As it was predicted, Russia stopped for the time of the conference with Putin to see what he has to say to his people. However, the agenda of the last few months in Russia  is not something that may shine with positive news. Perhaps, the most negative topic is the pension reform (the raise of the retirement age). Putin spoke about the issue separately, but it seemed that it was not enough to make people understand and accept the need for such changes.According to opinion polls, the level of people's apparent concern over the topic of the pension reform in Russia was declining. A year ago, more than 40 percent of citizens admitted a possibility for mass riots in the country against the backdrop of the demise of the living standard. In  February of this year - the percentage of concerned people changed to 30 percent, and in May of 2019 - to about 25 percent.At the same time, the ratings of the Russian authorities have been declining too, including the ratings of Putin himself. Today, Putin's approval rating remains on the minimum level of the spring of 2014 (66 percent of confidence rating and 48 percent of electoral rating). A decline in the rating of confidence to the president indicates the presence of serious questions that the people of Russia want to ask to their president. Interestingly, the number of questions that have been registered prior to Putin's live conference (1.180,000) was considerably lower than during the previous years. Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov ascribed this nuance to hot summer weather, when most people do not want to stay in their homes and prefer to go somewhere. However, it appears that the lack of interest in the Q&A live conference is based on certain political and economic reasons.In addition to the acute issue of the pension reform, many point out the continuing impoverishment of the Russian population. The level of real income has been falling in the country, thus forcing many to raise more and more loans against the backdrop of growing prices on essential goods and fuel. According to spring surveys, an increasing number of Russians redistribute their income in favor of essential items and food products. About 65 percent of the population have no savings for a rainy day.Conflicts on ethnic and criminal grounds appear to be the icing on the cake. One may understand the topic of national strife as it rarely subsides, but it has exposed the level of people's distrust in law-enforcement authorities, which automatically extends to distrust in the authorities in general. This applies to the recent conflict with a gypsy community in the village of Chemodanovka and to the story of GRU special forces soldier Nikita Belyankin, who was killed in a fight with migrants in the Moscow region. When answering a question about salaries and how can one live on 10,000 rubles ($154) a month, Putin did not even believe what he heard and asked to look into the question as a salary of 10,000 rubles does not correspond to the minimum wage.A teacher from the city of Orel told Putin during the conference that her salary was 10,000 rubles. Later, an EMERCOM employee said in his address to the president that his salary was 16,000 rubles ($245). The man added that he has to take two or three jobs to survive.Putin proceeded to say that each of those reports should be looked into. He then said, however, that the average salary in Russia in 2019 increased to 44,000-45,000 thousand rubles ($700) from 33,000 ($500) in 2017. He noted that salaries differ in Russia depending on industry and region. Putin explained why people think that their income is declining: they count their money wrong. Putin noted that it is important to understand the fact that the financial burden on the Russian people increases, and their income therefore decreases.Putin then referred to the report form Russia's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, who recently explained to the Russians why their incomes were growing, but not falling. As Putin said, a growth in real income declined because of the increase in costs on loan repayment. In other words, he said, people receive the same money, but they can keep less of it, because they have to repay their loans. Putin admitted that life in Russia has become harder, because several years ago Russia had to deal with major shocks that undermined the state of affairs in the domestic market and affected the social sphere."Several years ago we had to face several shocks at the same time - they were not even external shocks associated with so-called sanctions or external restrictions. Those shocks were about the market of our traditional export goods - oil, petroleum products, gas, hydrocarbons, metals, chemical fertilizers, chemicals in general, some other products. This caused not very pleasant consequences in the economy," Putin said. As for sanctions, someone asked Putin when Russia was going to "reconciles with all" and whether the West could lift the sanctions. "We haven't quarreled with anyone ... There's no question of reconciliation," Putin stressed noting that although there were external signals about the need to lift the sanctions, but one still did not have to wait for them to be lifted. Russia lost $50 billion, the EU - $240 billion, the USA - $17 billion, and Japan - $27 billion because of the anti-Russian sanctions, Putin said adding that those numbers did not count job losses. Russia has even acquired something as a result of the sanctions. "We learned to use our brains in high-tech areas and began developing the areas where we did not work before. For example, even in the USSR there was no naval engine-building. This is a separate industry, and we have learned to build our own engines in a few years," Putin said.Answering a question of whether Russia's recent buildup of military power implies preparations for a war, Putin referred to two proverbs and avoided a direct answer."If you want peace, prepare for war. If you don't want to feed your army, you will feed someone else's," Putin said.According to him, Russia is far from the first place in the military business. China, the USA, Saudi Arabia, Great Britain, France and Japan go ahead Russia at this point. Russia is ranked 7th on the list of world's biggest army spenders. He added that Russia, unlike any other country in the world, gradually reduces military spending. And at the same time, the Russian army has second-to-none weapons. It just so happens that Russia comes two steps ahead of other countries in the development of state-of-the-art military technology.Putin also drew attention to the fact that it is powerful economy, rather than nuclear weapons, that matters in the first place. Russia needs weapons for protection for the time when the country works to ensure economic growth.Russia is ready for dialogue with the United States as much as the USA is ready for this dialogue, Vladimir Putin said answering a question of whether US President Donald Trump could show influence on the relations between Russia and the USA. According to Putin, the powers of the American president are limited. Trump is running for a second term, so things are not going to be easy, Putin said adding that he would like to discuss with him such issues as the START-3 treaty and economic questions. American companies operate in Russia despite the sanctions. Russia has repeatedly offered the United States to start cooperating on the development of rules in the field of cyber security. Putin added that he considers the introduction of sanctions against Russia a huge mistake that the USA had made. He also set out a hope that this mistake will be corrected some day. Speaking about the election of comedian Vladimir Zelensky for the position of the President of Ukraine, Putin said that he considers his Ukrainian counterpart a "talented person.""He is a talented person, I remember his KVN performances (a humor show) in Moscow, it was funny. But what we have seen so far is not funny. This is not a comedy, this is a tragedy," Putin said. As long as Zelensky has found himself in this position, he needs to address problems. According to Putin, the conflict in the Donbas cannot be solved without dialogue with breakaway republics. However, "nothing is being done, the blockade is only being strengthened," said Putin. Also read: Putin: For Russians, patriotism and national identity are most important

Dmitry Peskov, Putin's official spokesman, told reporters on June 10 that the Kremlin was watching the development of the investigation of the case of journalist Ivan Golunov. Peskov added, though, that he was not ready to comment on the case. He only said that the case of Ivan Golunov is supposed to attract "close attention of the Office of the Prosecutor General and other services." He declined to answer questions about possible resignations and the objectivity of the investigation.Putin was informed about the case of Ivan Golunov on Friday, Peskov said. He also said that the Kremlin fully trusts the Office of the Prosecutor General in terms of reaction to possible incidents of abuse of human rights. Speaking on the problem of distrust to law enforcement and judicial systems, Peskov acknowledged that the Golunov case "gave rise to a large number of questions," but one did not have to talk about distrust to the system in general. He also declined to comment on the question of possible resignations and possible violations made on the part of law-enforcers. "A mistake is possible because it's people who work everywhere. Mistakes may take place anywhere. Journalists can also make mistakes when they write their materials. They can make many mistakes, but the main thing is to acknowledge those mistakes and explain, how they were made not to let them happen again," said Peskov.Ivan Golunov, a special correspondent of Meduza website, was detained in the afternoon of June 6 in Moscow. His detention was legally registered only on the night of June 7 - i.e. 13 hours  later. Golunov was not allowed to call either his relatives or a lawyer. The journalist's relatives were notified of his detention only after 13 hours, while the lawyer was allowed to talk to Golunov only in 16 hours.Golunov suffered injuries during his detention. In response to his requirements for a lawyer, a law-enforcement officer punched the journalist in the head twice. When the journalist was lying on the pavement, a policeman put his foot on the young man's chest.Golunov was charged with an attempt to sell large batches of drugs. Illegal substances were found in his backpack and in his apartment. Law-enforcement authorities later exposed nine photographs allegedly made in Golunov's apartment, although it later turned out that eight of those pictures were made in completely different premises.The journalist claims that the drugs were planted on him; his colleagues support his words on the matter. Golunov is known for his high-profile investigations of corruption among metropolitan and federal officials. Other journalists believe that Golunov was arrested in response to his another investigation, which was devoted to the funeral business in Moscow. The journalist had received a number of threats in this connection during the recent months.On the afternoon of June 8, a Moscow court was supposed to gather for a meeting to choose a measure of restraint for the arrested journalist. However, Golunov did not feel well as he had hardly slept and eaten before. ER doctors insisted on hospitalizing Golunov, but law-enforcers prevented this to happen, nor did they let medical specialists examine the journalist. Ivan Golunov was eventually taken to a hospital for examination. Several hours later, the head physician of the hospital said that there was no reason to hospitalise the journalist, because his condition was satisfactory. Nearly all Russian media outlets, except for clearly pro-Kremlin ones, supported Golunov. His case received an extensive coverage in Russia and attracted attention to many public figures and activists. On June 8, a Moscow court decided to put Golunov under house arrest, while prosecutors insisted on two months of arrest. Golunov is not allowed to leave his home, he is not allowed to talk to anyone related to his case. He is not allowed to use means of communication either. Golunov's lawyers intend to appeal to the European Court for Human Rights. 

Russia has been actively strengthening its defense capability in the Arctic region lately. The gradual melting of Arctic ice makes the passage of foreign warships near Russia's northern borders possible. In light of this, a set of rules was introduced for the passage of ships along the Northern Sea Route (NSR).All foreign countries must comply with the rules, and there can be no exception made. For example, for a destroyer or an aircraft carrier to enter the zone of the Northern Sea Route, the captain of a foreign ship is supposed to warn the Russian Navy 45 days in advance.Foreign submarines are required to pass the NSR only in the surface position. In addition to the information about the time, the commander of the submarine is obliged to give information about the type of the sub, its displacement, type of power plant and equipment. The commander is also required to report his rank and full name. A Russian marine pilot will need to stay on board a foreign vessel. If there is a probability that the ship is poorly maintained or may pollute waterways of the Northern Sea Route, Russia has a reason to deny the passage of the foreign vessel. In the water area of the Northern Sea Route, NATO ships and submarines pose the greatest threat. Therefore, if someone decides to break the rules, foreign vessels will be arrested. At least ten military bases have been deployed to defend the northern part of the country. Some of them are designed for air defense systems, while others are designed for surface vessels and submarines.It goes without saying that the new rulebook applies only to warships. Civilian ships can still pass the Northern Sea Route as before. Russia can only profit from assisting foreign merchant ships in passing hazardous areas.A sea journey from Western Europe to Japan or China is 40% shorter through the Arctic than through the Suez Canal. The countries of East Asia are interested in delivering goods via the Arctic. There are frequent cases of pirate attacks while passing through the Suez Canal.Therefore, the prospects for the development of the Arctic region are enormous. Yet, in order to keep influence and control on this geostrategic area, Russia needs energy and brains in the first place.

The release of Ukrainian sailors could be a gesture of goodwill, but Ukraine does not contribute to this possibility, Anatoly Salutsky, writer, publicist and expert of the UN Alliance of Civilisations believes. The Kremlin responded to the decision of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg on Ukraine's claim about the incident in the Kerch Strait. "Russia's position cannot change. The investigation in connection with the violation of the law on the border should be completed, and a trial should take place," Dmitry Peskov, Putin's official spokesman said on May 27.The Hamburg court ruled Russia should release three Ukrainian ships and 24 Ukrainian servicemen and let them to return to Ukraine. However, the court did not consider it necessary to demand the Russian Federation should cease the criminal prosecution and refrain from initiating new cases against them, as was requested in Ukraine's lawsuit. The court also ordered both parties to refrain from any actions that could aggravate the dispute.Ukrainian media outlets spread a fake news story, in which the Hamburg court also found Russia guilty of violating the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Even if it was a question of the territorial waters of Russia, warships and their crews cannot be arrested by security forces of foreign states and subjected to the jurisdiction of foreign ships. However, this is an opinion of Ukrainian deputy foreign minister, Elena Zerkal, but not of the Hamburg International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Roman Kolodkin, the Russian judge of the tribunal, voted against the resolution of the court. Kolodkin said that Russia and Ukraine, when signing and ratifying the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, made special statements in which they excluded the consideration of the Kerch incident within the framework of the procedures stipulated by the convention.Roman Kolodkin also noted that Ukraine conducted a provocative act trying to cross the border of the other party to the dispute in violation of well-known procedures. Ruslan Khomchak, the new head of the Ukrainian General Staff, confirmed that it was dangerous to send ships to the Kerch Strait at that time. According to Khomchak, one needs to ask questions to commander of the Ukrainian Navy, Igor Voronchenko.Russia may not execute the court decision, because during the ratification of the Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1997, it was stipulated that Moscow had no obligation to adopt dispute settlement procedures provided for by the convention that lead to binding decisions on the implementation of sovereign rights and jurisdiction. The case in question carries an aspect of the status of the Kerch Strait.Aleksander Vylegzhanin, a professor at the Department of International Law at the Moscow State Institute for Foreign Relations, told Pravda.Ru that residents of the Crimea voted for the reunification with Russia after the coup in Kiev in 2014. Accordingly, the Kerch Strait remains under the jurisdiction of Russia, whereas this water area used to be considered the internal waters of Russia and Ukraine. "The Hamburg Tribunal has no jurisdiction to consider the status of the Kerch Strait, because one needs to consider a number of other issues, namely, whether the United States intervened in the coup in Ukraine in 2014, and whether Crimea's territorial sovereignty changed," Alexander Vylegzhanin told Pravda.Ru. According to the Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, it could have been possible to avoid the crisis in the Kerch Strait if the Ukrainians had observed the requirements of the Russian legislation concerning navigation in the given region. "We urge the Ukrainian side to act accordingly henceforth," a representative of the department said. Anatoly Salutsky, a writer and expert at the UN Alliance of Civilizations, said in an interview with Pravda.Ru that Russia and Ukraine had made all necessary legal reservations when the countries signed the convention. Ukraine turned to Europe with a request to impose sanctions on Russia, but they are not likely to follow. "The utterly wrong thing to do here is to threaten Russia. If Ukraine had not done so, Russia could have freed the sailors as a gesture of goodwill. Yet, Ukraine wants to impose sanctions, Ukraine threatens Russia, which makes a possibility for a goodwill gesture unlikely. We need to choose a moment and release the Ukrainian sailors, but it should only be a gesture of goodwill, rather than submission to the ruling of the International Tribunal of the United Nations," the expert told Pravda.Ru. Also read: Arrested Ukrainian navy man admits Kerch incident was provocation

The fact that Russia is buying gold is "bad" for the West, because Western currencies may lose their value in a few years, while the Russian ruble will be backed by gold, economist Valery Maslennikov believes.  In April of 2019, Russia's international reserves exceeded the country's foreign debt. As of April 1, Russia's gold and currency reserves made up $487.8 billion, a report from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation said. At the same time, Russia's gold assets make up less than 20 percent of the country's currency reserves.  Moscow has been accumulating gold and foreign exchange reserves while decreasing the share of  investment in US securities. The Russian authorities work to reduce the dependence of the Russian economy on the US dollar.

On May 13, 2019, The Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation turns 236 years old. The first squadron of military sailing vessels under St. Andrew's flags entered the Akhtiar Bay on May 13, 1783 - three weeks after the publication of the manifesto signed by Catherine II about the annexation of the Crimea to the Russian Empire. Over the years, the Black Sea Fleet had been divided and destroyed several times. Today, Russia's Black Sea Fleet serves as the country's main instrument of influence in the area of Black and Mediterranean seas.Over the past four years, the Black Sea Fleet has seen a major upgrade. It has received three artillery ships, six diesel submarines, two small missile ships, more than a dozen anti-sabotage and patrol boats, as well as several support vessels, including modular diving platforms and a floating crane. Before 2020, the Black Sea Fleet will get three guard ships, four missile ships and several patrol boats. A collection of new amphibious ships is being built for the fleet too. After the base in Syria's Tartus has been reconstructed and strengthened, the influence of the Black Sea Fleet embraced the Mediterranean basin. Russian navy men have learned to use Russia's state-of-the-art Caliber missiles that showed their effectiveness in Syria. Formally, Caliber cruise missiles do not belong to strategic armaments, but their appearance in the structure of the Black Sea Fleet considerably changed the regional balance of forces in Russia's favour. Almost all of Russia's new surface ships and submarines of the Black Sea Fleet are now armed with Caliber missiles. Naval aviation is reviving too. The air regiment of multifunctional Su-30SM fighters and Su-24MR bombers, formed in 2016 at Novofedorivka air base in the Crimea, has established control over the entire Black Sea area. Coastal forces have been reinforced with new Bal and Bastion systems. Several years ago, the state of affairs was a lot worse. Twenty years ago, the fleet found itself on foreign shores. The powerful Soviet strategic operational group tumbled down like a house of cards during the 1990s. It consisted of about 100,000 personnel, more than 800 warships and submarines. Naval bases and aviation airfields in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova had been sued for support. The 5th operational squadron was operating in the Mediterranean Sea, while a part of the Black Sea Fleet were patrolling the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic. All that Soviet legacy was shared with Ukraine, but Russia got only a few dozen efficient ships.Due to chronic financial problems, the Black Sea Fleet was degrading and falling apart quickly. By mid-1990s, it had become inferior to its main potential rival in the region - the Turkish Navy. There were almost no submarines capable of going to sea. Warships were rusting at the docks, while their crews were losing their combat skills.The situation started improving in the beginning of the 2000s, when ships of the Black Sea Fleet would be periodically used in international anti-terrorism exercises and operations, including in the Mediterranean area. During that time, it was BLACKSEAFOR international naval operational group that was controlling the Black Sea. The group consisted of naval ships of coastal states: Russia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Ukraine, and Turkey.The Americans did not like such a development, because the Black Sea was formally closed to their ships, and they could not clearly substantiate the need for the presence of US warships in the Black Sea. In 2008, after the Russian operation to force Georgia to peace, the interaction in the Black Sea had reached an impasse. The coup in Ukraine subsequently put and end to the practice. In 2014, the Crimea and Sevastopol returned to Russia. Already in 2015, the fleet started receiving new ships against the growing number of NATO military exercises in the region. Today, warships of the Black Sea Fleet can conduct high-precision missile attacks from places of their deployment to distances of up to 1,700 kilometres.Russia currently considers an opportunity to expand the influence of the fleet to the waters of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Persian Gulf, as well as to the western part of the Arabian Sea, for which the Pacific Fleet is now responsible.To accomplish this goal, Russia will need to solve plenty of problems, such as to restore the stationary system of surface and underwater surveillance on the Black Sea coast, deploy over-the-horizon detection systems, create a reliable anti-submarine, anti-ship and anti-aircraft defense of the areas where carriers of cruise missiles are based.

On Wednesday, February 20, 2019, President Vladimir Putin delivered his address to the Federal Assembly, in which he presented his assessment of the state of affairs in the country and announced his vision of most important objectives for the near future. It has become Putin's 15th address to the Federal Assembly as President. Unlike last year's speech, in which Putin presented Russia's new outstanding developments and achievements in the field of defence, his present address was expected to be people-oriented. Putin's ratings have been declining as citizens are tired of waiting for the authorities to deal with a plethora of social and economic problems in Russia. Indeed, in the beginning of his speech, Putin declared that it was necessary to focus attention on internal issues of the country's development. According to him, all Russians will see improvements already in the coming months. About 95% of Putin's Address to the Federal Assembly was devoted to social issues, but he also spoke about Russia's military power, her state-of-the-art weapons, and did not miss a chance to intimidate the United States. "For people, it's important what is being done and how it can improve their lives, the lives of their families - now, rather than sometime. We don't need to repeat our mistakes of past decades and wait for the advent of communism. We must change the situation for the better, and the work of executive authorities at all levels must be coherent, meaningful and vigorous. It is up to the Russian government to set such a tone," Putin said. About 19 million Russians are living below the poverty line now, and this is too much, Putin said. "Solving demographic problems, increasing life expectancy, reducing mortality are directly related to overcoming poverty. Let me remind you that in 2000, over 40 million people were living below the poverty line. Now it is about 19 million, but this is too much still," Putin said during his annual Address to the Federal Assembly.The President said that he knows that citizens of Russia have to save on most essential things, such as clothes, medicines and even food. "In the near future, already this year, we should see real changes in people's assessments of the situation. Early next year, we'll summarize first results of the work on national projects," Putin said.The president proceeded to specific tasks that the Russian authorities are facing. According to him, the key objective is to protect people and support families. "Russia has entered a very difficult demographic period. The birth rate has been declining. The reasons behind this are purely objective. They are associated with enormous human losses and failures that our country suffered in the 20th century, during the Great Patriotic War and during dramatic years after the collapse of the USSR. We were able to reverse negative demographic trends in the early 2000s, when the country was in a very difficult situation, when it seemed that it was impossible to do anything, but we did it. We can do it again - to make the natural population growth resume by 2023-2024," Putin said in his message to the Federal Assembly.Speaking further about the need for social changes in Russia, Putin noted the following: - social allowances for children and for disabled individuals will be raised;- property tax exemptions for families with children will be raised;- mortgage rates will be below 8%, whereas special benefits will be provided for families with children;- large families will receive 450 thousand rubles to pay off their mortgage. Thus, taking into account the maternity capital, they will receive more than 900 thousand rubles to pay off the mortgage, which is a significant part of the apartment value in most regions of the Russian Federation.The President also drew attention to the need to immediately index pensions and annual cash payments beyond the subsistence rate.In conclusion, Vladimir Putin threatened the US leadership by saying that Russia's new missiles will be able to reach Washington and New York. However, Putin noted that Russia was not interested in confronting the United States. Russia is not a threat to the US  - instead, Russia wants to have equal friendly relations with Washington. He urged the White House to abandon illusions about gaining global military superiority.Putin said that Russia's new weapons, about which he spoke in his Address to the Federal Assembly in 2018, were capable of ensuring "unconditional security" for Russia. Russia is ready to take mirror and asymmetric measures should the US deploy medium- and short- range missiles in Europe."Russia does not intend to be the first to deploy such missiles in Europe. If they are made and delivered to the European continent - and the United States has such plans, in any case we have not heard rebuttals to that -  this will sharply aggravate the situation in the sphere of international security and create serious threats to Russia, because it takes some of those missiles 10-12 minutes to reach Moscow. This is a very serious threat for us. If it happens, we will be forced, I want to emphasize this, we will be forced to take mirror and asymmetrical measures in response," Putin said. Also read: Putin's Address to the Federal Assembly transforms to address to the whole nation

Russia and the United States have announced their pull out from the Treaty on Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF Treaty). It is believed that the treaty is going to end its existence in six months. US President Donald Trump said that the USA would prepare a response to Russia's alleged violation of the INF Treaty not to give Moscow military advantage over Washington. Trump's statements about the INF Treaty did not take Russia by surprise. Representatives of the Russian administration said that the announcement from Washington was an attempt to present cheap ultimatum to Russia, but Moscow was prepared for such a development. According to Sergei Ryabkov, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, the Americans were determined to cast the INF Treaty aside. "For the USA, this game is over. Their pullout from  the treaty will enable the United States to deploy 48 missiles in Europe, and those missiles will be capable of reaching the territory of Russia.Washington accuses Russia of violating the INF Treaty because of the missile known as 9M729. Washington claims that the range of this missile falls within the limits of the 500-5500 kilometres, which is prohibited by the treaty. On January 23, the Russian Defense Ministry arranged a special presentation of the missile to NATO military officials, but the latter showed a reluctant reaction to it. According toVladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy chairman of the Committee for International Affairs of the Council of  Federation, Washington's withdrawal from the Treaty on Short and Medium-Range Missiles will give free rein to Russia, and Moscow will be able to show adequate reaction to the States. According to Dzhabarov, the United States has already withdrawn from the INF Treaty, and Russia needs to take adequate measures, as the Americans have been developing and introducing prohibited weapons for long already. The ball is in Russia's court. Steffen Seibert, a spokesman for the Cabinet of Ministers o Germany, said that Germany would discuss with its NATO partners whether any measures were needed to ensure security of the allies and their ability to defend themselves. "We need to try to conduct a direct dialogue with Russia, as we do on many other issues, for example, on the situation in Ukraine, the Paris climate agreement, the crisis in Syria. Therefore, we need to find ways to work on non-proliferation issues. The best way is the multilateral framework, and the EU needs to try to play a big role here," Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said. "The withdrawal from the treaty is not the best solution. We would prefer the resumption of the dialogue," he added. According to Russian military expert Konstantin Sivkov, "Russia needs to create ultra-long-range missiles based on the X-101/X-102 missile and deploy about 400-500 of them. These missiles will be inexpensive, they are relatively small in size. The Americans do not have the air defence system, which would be capable of neutralising those missiles."According to him, Washington expects Russia to build medium-range missiles. However, Russia, as Mr. Sivkov believes, should eye the development of ultra-long-range missiles to create an adequate threat to the United States. According to the expert, the range of these missiles will reach about 10-12 thousand kilometres. Another option is the creation of mobile medium-range ballistic missiles based on the Soviet "Pioneer" missile. The upgraded version of the Pioneer-UTTH was capable of carrying three independently-targetable nuclear re-entry vehicles at a range from 600 to 5,000 km, with the probable circular error reaching 450 meters. That was a very good result for those years. Modern technologies can considerably improve the performance of the missile. Thirdly, Russia could develop an anti-ship medium-range ballistic missile similar to the Chinese DF-21D, designed to destroy enemy carrier strike groups at distances of up to 1500-2000 kilometres. Such a weapon can help Russia level out the enormous advantage of the US surface fleet in a possible scenario of defense of the Russian coastline. Also read: Without INF Treaty, USA can destroy Russian nuclear weapons easily

The US Treasury and Russian entrepreneur Oleg Deripaska concluded a deal to lift sanctions from his companies in violation of the Russian legislation. This is a dangerous precedent.On Monday, the US Treasury Department announced the lifting of sanctions against Oleg Deripaska's key energy companies - En+, RusAl and Eurosibenergo. At the same time, all sanctions against Oleg Deripaska remain in effect. Deripaska's companies came under sanctions in April 2018. As US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said at the time, Russian oligarchs and elites who benefit from the corrupt system will no longer be seen separately from consequences of destabilising activities of their government, such as interference in US elections. Deripaska was offered to reduce his share in the assets and thus lose the ability to control them. Deripaska reduced his share at En+ (its subsidiaries are RusAl and Eurosibenergo) from 70% to 44.95%, transferred a part of En+ shares to a charitable foundation and abjured the shares pledged to VTB.The parties also agreed on unprecedented transparency of activities, taking upon extensive, permanent requirements for auditing, certification and reporting.US Democrats tried to block the decision of the US Treasury to lift the sanctions from Oleg Deripaska's companies, but the Senate did not support the lower house. According to the BBC, various business groups put pressure on the administration to lift the sanctions from the three companies, because RusAl (Russian Aluminium) is one of the world's largest suppliers of aluminum. The imposition of sanctions on RusAl made world prices on aluminium go higher. The Board of Directors of En+ was renewed as agreed with British Lord Gregory Baker remaining its chairman. Noteworthy, it was Baker, who initiated the plan to lift sanctions from En+. New candidates were agreed with the US Treasury Department: Christopher Bancroft Burnham, Carl Hughes, Joan MacNaughton, Nicholas Jordan, Igor Lozhevsky, Alexander Chmel and Andrei Sharonov, the Vedomosti wrote. It just so happens that all members of the board of directors of the Russian company, with the exception of three, are US citizens. In general, these conditions look like a transfer of control over Oleg Deripaska's assets to the US Treasury, the Kommersant wrote. Vladimir Rozhankovsky, an expert at the International Financial Center, told Pravda.Ru, the above-mentioned agreement was concluded in circumvention of the law of the Russian Federation about the appointment of members of the board of directors in a public joint-stock company, such as En+. New members of the board of directors of a Russian joint-stock company can only by appointed at an extraordinary meeting of shareholders. "According to the law of the Russian Federation, one should prepare a dossier of candidates and provide exhaustive information about who they are and what they have to do with the aluminum industry. Afterwards, shareholders vote for or against those people," said Rozhankovsky."One should not let this case fade away, as this is a dangerous precedent. The Communist Party in the State Duma demanded an independent parliamentary investigation should be initiated into the changes, but their requirement was rejected. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation and the parliament should initiate investigation," the expert said."In the US, Democrats filed a lawsuit against the move to reverse the permission to unblock En+ accounts. As long as the process continues both in Russia and in the United States, one cannot announce the winner yet," Vladimir Rozhankovsky concluded.On Wednesday, a group of MPs representing the Communist Party faction suggested appealing to the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Federal Security Bureau and the Russian government to look into the legality of the agreement between the US Treasury and Oleg Deripaska regarding the plan to lift sanctions from En+ and RusAl. "Since January 18, virtually the entire aluminum industry of the Russian Federation is moving under the control of the US Treasury. We believe that the Security Committee of the State Duma should appeal to the Office of the Prosecutor General, the FSB and the government to look into the legality of the agreement and its compliance with Russian national security interests, because in such a situation the Americans take control of Siberia," Nikolai Kolomeytsev, first deputy chairman of the State Duma's Labor Committee said. Also read: Westerners teach Russian oligarchs a few good lessons they need to learn

It seems that the issue of the delivery of two Kuril islands to Japan has been coordinated with the Kremlin. According to Japanese officials, the United States is ready to assist in the matter. Yet, the Russian side has not released any clear comments on the subject. Shinzo Abe steps up on the Kuril Islands dispute On January 1, 2019, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that peace treaty negotiations with Russia should be intensified. The delivery of two Kuril Islands to Japan can only be possible with full consent from local residents, who will have the right to stay on the islands, Abe said in an interview with Asahi TV channel.The Prime Minister of Japan also said that he had visited the grave of his deceased father, where he promised to work on the matter every day. Shinzo Abe's father - Shintaro Abe - had served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan from 1982 to 1986 dealing with relations between Japan and the USSR. This pledge that Abe gave on his father's grave was not just empty words, but an oath.Japanese media outlet Yomiuri reported that negotiations with Russia were nearing their final stage. Supposedly, the Japanese authorities will be ready to pay compensation to the people who left the islands if Moscow agrees to waive its claims for compensation.On Tuesday, Katsuyuki Kawai, Shinzo Abe's Special Assistant for Foreign Policy, said that Japan was counting on US support for the conclusion of a peace treaty with Russia, Kyodo news agency reported. Kawai noted that this would counterbalance the growing influence of China.Until recently, Japan was claiming four islands of the South Kuriles - Kunashir, Shikotan, Iturup and Habomai. The Japanese side refers to the bilateral treaty on trade and borders from 1855. Russia has been keeping the islands under control after World War II, when there was no peace treaty signed with Japan. In 1956, the USSR and Japan signed a joint declaration, in which Moscow agreed to consider the possibility of delivering Habomai and Shikotan islands to Japan after the conclusion of a peace treaty. The treaty had never been signed - the United States threatened Japan in the midst of the Cold War that a peace treaty with Russia would affect the process of returning Okinawa to Japan's sovereignty. It is worthy of note that Okinawa returned to the jurisdiction of Japan in 1972. Moscow's stance on Kuril Islands dispute Moscow firmly believes that the islands became part of the USSR following WWII, and Russia's sovereignty over them is beyond doubt, although the mutual economic use of the islands is possible. In November, Putin and Abe agreed to speed up negotiations on the peace treaty based on the 1956 Soviet-Japanese declaration. However, the sides differ as per the transfer of sovereignty.In December 2018, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that it was possible to transfer a part of the Kuril Islands to Japan if Tokyo recognized the results of WWII. Some believe that as soon as the Japanese receive two Kuril islands, they will ask for two other islands of the chain. In addition, Japan may consider building a US army base on the islands. According to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, President Vladimir Putin is committed to signing the peace treaty. Yet, Putin says that the military presence of the United States in Japan complicates the search for a formal peace treaty between Moscow and Tokyo.

Russian Foreign Ministry on Syria, Ukraine, and Phony US Election Meddling by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman) Endless war in Syria continues despite most parts of the country liberated from US-supported terrorists.

Hysterical Media Promoted Fake News About Russia by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman) Major media in America and the West operate as mouthpieces for wealth, power and privilege - betraying their readers and viewers. 

Friendship between Russia and Belarus has become an issue recently. Is Russia going to be friends with Belarus in 2019 or is the brotherly nation going to join the ranks of Russia's enemies similarly to Ukraine? Moreover, Russian experts believe that President Putin should not be friends either with his US counterpart Donald Trump or Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. There are many questions about 2019, the answers to which we would like to know already today, as the year 2018 is about to end. Will Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko win the election? Will Russia sign a peace treaty with Japan? Pravda.Ru turned to political scientist, deputy dean of the Department of World Economy and Politics of the Higher School of Economics, Andrei Suzdaltsev, in a humble attempt to find out the future that the world is going to see in the next 365 days."Ukraine will hold the presidential election in March of 2019. What chances do you think sitting Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has to win the vote? "His re-election is quite possible, although this is not going to happen within the framework of the democratic expression of the will of the people. The people of Ukraine will most likely go to the polls to choose between two evils. Poroshenko may also try to extend his stay in power, as he has already tried having declared martial law in Ukraine. I do not think we are going to bid farewell to Petro Poroshenko in the spring of 2019.""Do you think they will impeach Donald Trump in the United States in 2019?" "I do not think so. Trump's impeachment is excluded. There is no technical opportunity for it,  because it is the Republicans who control the Senate. There is an unprecedented campaign going on against Trump now in the States, he snarls, and all this rocks the boat a lot. The US elite are confident that the country's political system is stable and strong, but they do not notice political changes that are taking place before them as the country is increasingly shifting towards a parliamentary-presidential republic. We believe that the situation, in which the Americans are looking for the enemy in the face of Russia is now fading away.""What unexpected decisions can Trump make?" "He is unpredictable. He has become a symbol of fruitless politics on the international arena. It is the US Congress that regulates all international affairs and US foreign policies in relation to Russia, China, Korea, Iran and so on. Trump is aware of it, and he tries to do something to attract attention to his persona of a major international leader. In fact, he is a hooligan rather than a leader. He has no potential in the international arena. It makes no sense for Russia to come to any agreement with Trump. There is no point for Putin to arrange meetings with Trump either. Donald Trump is not even close to such presidents as Nixon, Ford, or Reagan. There was no good from meetings with Barack Obama either. Obama had his head in the clouds. Trump tries to act to his own benefit of a public persona, so his PR stunts will continue in 2019. Russia does not need to contribute to his promotion. All the talking about Trump being a sincere person, who tries to improve relations with Russia is rubbish. The United States sees Russia as a nuclear power - the only power on the planet that can destroy the United States in return. That's all.""Do you think Russia can sign a peace treaty with Japan?""I come from the Far East of Russia, and I can understand Sakhalin residents, who are vehemently opposed to the idea of delivering a few Kuril Islands to Japan. A nation can lose its territory only during the time of war. We hadn't lost anything to Japan. The fact that this situation has become a stumbling block in our relations may also contain a hidden motive of Soviet diplomacy. It's like the Crimea that was given away to Ukraine. "I can see that the Russian administration is doing its best to find a solution to this problem. Yet, if we solve the problem by giving our land away, we will doom Russia. As soon as we give away small islands of Habomai and Shikotan, the Japanese will ask for Iturup right away. They will keep asking for more, and if we give the islands away, others will rush to ask for their pie too. The Japanese do not want to try to understand Russia, but this does not mean that we will sell out our territory.""How can Russia develop the relationship with Japan then?" "We should leave this topic behind and show determination. There are many of those in Russia who believe that we should surrender and give away the Kaliningrad enclave, the Kuril Islands, return the Crimea. Those people do not seem to understand that if we start giving away, the process will not end until we give away everything. At the same time, there are many people in Russia who think that Russia should stick to tit-for-tat policy: to sink foreign vessels that enter Russian territorial waters, and show tough response to other attacks. The West is bullying Russia. The British have been bullying us a lot lately. We were surprised that the Brits did not blame Russia for the drone incident at Gatwick Airport."There is also the "happy medium" - the people who think that Russia should act within the framework of international law, fight back, persuade, explain, stay firm in negotiations, perform without the national flag at the Olympics - in short, to tolerate and endure all these humiliations. Those people who stick to this kind of position know what patience is. One has to admit that the Russian administration sticks to this policy. "Let's take Belarus and its president Alexander Lukashenko. For 25 years, we have not seen any integration, but we have seen rudeness, an anti-Russian campaign inside Belarus and anti-Russian foreign policy. Lukashenko comes to Russia, puts his feet on the table and asks for another ten billion dollars. In fact, Lukashenko has been waging an information war against Russia too. He ships military hardware and fuel to Ukraine and then says rude things Putin in the face. Lukashenko is the only president in the world, who attacks Putin verbally in his presence. Strangely enough, Russia has invested over 100 billion dollars in Belarus in 25 years."Read article in Russian

The main event of the outgoing year 2018 for Russia is neither the FIFA World Cup nor even the opening of the Crimean Bridge. The main event is the pension reform, the negative influence of which has undermined public confidence in the president. Russia's Pension reform - Putin' brainchild Gone are the days when most Russians would praise President Putin for his desire to listen to no-one important people. However, the decision of the Russian government to raise the retirement age in Russia and the swift approval of the relevant law showed that Vladimir Putin listens to interests of big business representatives to the detriment of the interests of the population.Putin says that one would have to raise the retirement age in Russia in five or seven years anyway. Yet, this mantra of his sounds unconvincing just because this is a long period of time, during which it could be possible to break the negative trend. There were good proposals made at this point, but they were all about the redistribution of income of large capital and the introduction of a progressive taxation scale. Also read: Putin loses everything he hasFor example, the rate of returns in gasoline prices in the Russian oil industry is 40 percent. This is a lot. For comparison, the profitability in the mining industry in the United States is only ten percent. The average profit rate in Russia is eight to ten percent. In a nutshell, Russian oil companies receive extra high monopoly profits, the lion's share of which accounts for the natural resource royalty, which the state should appropriate to spend it on the needs of the people.Putin decided not to go that way. He took account of the fact that many current pensioners in Russia are indifferent to the pension reform, because they still receive their pensions. In addition, the majority of young Russians are indifferent to the issue as well, because it is too early for them to think about pensions. The decision to raise the retirement age in Russia has struck not just the material (people will lose 82.2 billion rubles of income during the first year of the program), but the psychological blow on the country.

On December 20, Russian President Putin started his 14th, large press conference. Interestingly, on December 20 Russia marks the Day of the Security Officer, which has been commonly known in Russia as the "Chekist Day" ('Chekist' is a Russian colloquialism for 'KGB officer'). After the press conference, Putin will attend a gala evening dedicated to this date.A record number of journalists - more than 1,700 people - were accredited for the press conference. Traditionally, Putin started the press conference with a brief report about the economic situation in Russia. The president said that Russia's GDP grew by 1.7 percent over the year. The real level of wages was growing, while the inflation rate remained on an acceptable level. As of 2018, it will exceed the target level of 4 percent and will make up 4.1-4.2 percent. The unemployment level in the country decreased to 4.8 percent having thus set an all-time low, Putin said. Life expectancy in the Russian Federation in 2018 increased to 72.9 years compared to 72.7 years last year.The budget surplus of the Russian Federation in 2018 will make up 2.1 percent of GDP.Putin stressed that Russia needs a breakthrough, a leap into the new technological order. This requires resources, which the government and the administration are looking for. Answering a question of whether the Russian economy is stagnating, Putin said that the government did not rely on "mechanical" calculations in its forecasts. The government plans a growth of three  percent by 2021. Fluctuations are possible, but it is important to enter another league of economies, Putin said, adding that Russia's goal is to become the fifth economy in the world.Speaking about the work of the Russian government, Putin said that he was "generally pleased" with the work that the Russian government conducts under the chairmanship of Dmitry Medvedev. According to the head of state, the budget surplus of 2.1 percent of GDP is a good indicator of the work of the government.Answering the question of whether the fiscal burden on Russian people was too high and how it could be related to the policy of the government that raises VAT, housing and utility tariffs for people and imposes a tax on self-employed individuals, Putin said that in many countries VAT makes up 20% (Russia is raising VAT from 18 to 20 percent from January 1, 2019). Putin said that the change in the VAT rate was necessary to reduce oil and gas budget deficit. He said that during the recent economic crises, Russia was forced to spend petrodollars, which led to an increase in the oil and gas deficit. It became possible to reduce it to 6.6 percent.Answering a question about fears of a new global military conflict, a global nuclear disaster and a world war, Putin noted that the world was underestimating the danger of a nuclear war during the recent years. The danger of such a scenario in the world is being obscured, which may lead to the death of human civilisation and even the whole planet, President Putin said. In the West, there is an idea of using low yield nuclear weapons, but the use of such weapons can lead to a global catastrophe, the Russian leader stressed.Answering a question about unnecessary conflicts between authorities and representatives of the younger generation, about dispersing rap concerts, banning young people from participating in rallies, Putin said that young people make the foundation of today's and future Russia.Yet, there are different kinds of young people, he said. He referred to the story of young paratroopers, who were fighting to death with hordes of terrorists. "Out of several dozen, only six of them remained, and they were fighting against two thousand militants," said Putin making a reference to the feat of 90 paratroopers from Pskov, who engaged in a battle with 2,500 Chechen terrorists near the village of Ulus-Kert in 2000. In addition to young military men, there are a lot of young volunteers and people who are engaged in search and rescue activities. "Those people make the stronghold of today and the future of Russia," Putin said, adding that "there are also talented musicians."He then condemned the drug propaganda in rap songs. "Do we want to degrade? In no way this should be encouraged. At the same time, one should counteract differently here," he said. Therefore, the Russian president considers the arrests of rap singers and the abortion of their concerts unnecessary, since such conflicts are counterproductive."Yet, there is nothing good in the fact that they use foul language in their songs - but let them sing so," Putin noted. "Art does not exist to indulge sordid values," he added. Speaking about the state of affairs in Ukraine, attempts to solve political problems of the Donbass by force are doomed to failure, Vladimir Putin said when answering a question from a correspondent of Ukrainian news agency UNIAN, who asked the Russian president how much money Russia spends on the Donbass, whose people Russia treats like slaves."Attempts to solve political issues with the help of force, and we can see that this is exactly what the Ukrainian authorities have been doing for several years, are doomed to failure. It must be understood," Putin said.Putin also said that Russian-Ukrainian relations are not going to go back to normal until there were Russophobes in power in Ukraine. "As long as there are Russophobes in power in Kiev, who do not understand what the interests of their own people are, an abnormal situation like this will continue regardless of who is in power in the Kremlin," Putin said.At the same time, Russia is interested in peace and prosperity in Ukraine, as Ukraine remains one of the largest economic partners of the Russian Federation. The trade turnover between Russia and Ukraine has increased compared to 2017. "This is not strange, because it is a natural connection, and these natural connections will someday make their presence felt," he added.Russia will continue providing humanitarian and other assistance to people living in the Donbass. "We really provide humanitarian, other type of assistance and support to people who live in this territory. We are doing it so that they do not get crushed, torn and eaten there. And we will do it further," said the head of state.It was not Russia, but the Ukrainian authorities that set up the blockade between the Donbass and the rest of Ukraine. "It is them, who shell the people, whom they consider their own citizens. Every day people get killed there - civilian people," Putin said. Maria Butina, a Russian citizen, who was arrested in the USA, was not executing any tasks for the Russian authorities, no matter what she may say.  Therefore, there are no grounds for accusations against Butina in the United States, Putin said. "They force her to confess, but I do not really understand what she can confess there, because she was not fulfilling any assignments of the state bodies of Russia, and I can responsibly declare this to you, no matter what she's saying there under the influence of threats of imprisonment for 12-15 years," said Putin. "I don't understand why they jailed her. There is simply no reason for it," Putin added.Speaking about the detention of foreign citizens in the United States, Putin said that Moscow would not be acting on an "eye for an eye" principle to subsequently exchange prisoners.Speaking about the case of Skripal poisoning, Putin said that there was nothing to comment on - Skripal and his daughter are alive, but the media hype does not subside. Thus, the Skripal case is only a pretext for an attack on Moscow, Putin said. "If there had been no Skripals, they would have come up with something else just to contain the development of Russia as a competitor," Putin said. At the same time, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is dead, but no one introduces sanctions, the Russian president recalled, pointing out the policy of double standards in the West.The Russian president believes that the Russian economy has adapted itself to international sanctions. Generally, Russia has always been living under sanctions which the West impose on Russia at the time when Russia's power and international influence grows. The West has lost the Russian market, and the number of jobs in the West has declined. The unemployment level in Russia is only 4.8 percent, while in EU countries, for example, in Spain, it reaches 15 percent, he said. Moreover, restrictions forced the Russians to think different in many areas. The share of transport engineering currently makes up more than 90 percent, while sales to the foreign market have increased.Answering a question about growing nostalgia for the times of the USSR among the Russians, President Vladimir Putin said that he considered the restoration of socialism in Russia impossible."I think it is impossible," he said. "A profound change in society excludes the restoration of socialism ... this is impossible," the president added.Speaking about elements of socialism that can and even need to be restored, Putin noted the equitable distribution of resources, the aspiration to reduce the level of poverty to a minimum, ensure medical and educational services to people on acceptable conditions. "We are carrying out such policies now. This is what our national projects aim to," Putin said. With regard to the withdrawal of American troops from Syria, Putin said that the United States withdraws troops from Afghanistan every year. The withdrawal of US troops from Syria, is not yet visible either, he noted.Putin said that there was no need for US troops to be present in Syria. "Let us not forget that the presence of US troops in Syria is illegitimate. The UN Security Council had not confirmed the presence of US troops in Syria. It is only the decision of the UN Security Council or the invitation from the legitimate government of Syria that can make the presence of a foreign military contingent in Syria legal," Putin added. Vladimir Putin agreed with Donald Trump who said that the United States contributed to the destruction of terrorists in Syria. "I agree with Donald here," he said but recalled that Russia had taken immense efforts to destroy terrorists."Despite all discrepancies, there's still quite a constructive dialogue between our specialists, our military men and special services to resolve acute problems in the struggle against terrorism in Syria," Putin said. Photo credits: kremlin.ru

L'Antidiplomatico Interview: Andre Vltchek interviewed by Alessandro Bianchi    AB: Let's start from today's crisis in the Sea of Azov. The European Union and NATO have given full support to Ukraine after the violation of Russian sovereignty by two Ukrainian vessels. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg gave his full support to Poroshenko, who declared martial law. What does a country like Italy risk in continuing its accession to NATO?