Russia

Putin Calls for Comprehensive Strategy to Develop a ‘Greater Eurasian Partnership’

May 28, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in Cultural renaissance updates, Economic development updates, General updates, Global Diplomacy, Russia

May 26 (EIRNS)— “It is time to draft a comprehensive strategy for developing large-scale Eurasian partnership,” conceived as a “civilizational project” which can secure stability and prosperity from one end to the other of this continent, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to the plenary session of the Eurasian Economic Forum today. He pointed to the expressed interest of BRICS members such as China and India, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, ASEAN, and others, in creating a Greater Eurasian Partnership with the EAEU.

Putin dismissed any idea that Eurasian integration is a reaction to Western sanctions. Rather, it arose from the recognition years ago that the center of world economic development is shifting towards the Asia-Pacific region, he said. It offers a broader vision:

“Greater Eurasia is a big civilizational project. The main idea is to create a common space for equitable cooperation for regional organizations. The Greater Eurasian Partnership is designed to change the political and economic architecture and guarantee stability and prosperity on the entire continent – naturally, taking account of the diverse development models, cultures and traditions of all nations.”

He acknowledged, naturally, the attempts to cut off Russia, and its Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) partners, from advanced Western technologies and the world economic system. Western sanctions are intensifying global crises, creating chaos and economic upheavals, and ruining the economies of those imposing them (and stealing other’s reserves), but they are “unrealistic… There are many countries that want to and will pursue an independent policy and their number is growing. No world policeman will be able to stop this global process. There will not be enough power for this and the desire to do so will evaporate due to a host of domestic problems in those countries. I hope they will eventually realize that this policy has no prospects whatsoever,” Putin said. Western countries’ belief that they can “delete from the world economy, politics, culture and sports,” anyone who has their own point of view and is ready to defend it, “is nonsense.”

Russia, for example, is not merely focused on import substitution, or worried about those who will insist on importing their luxury Mercedes S 600’s. “For the country, … engineering centers, scientific centers that are the basis of its development are what is important. This is what we should think about, and what she would work on both within the Eurasian Economic Union and in a broad sense with our partners – those who want to work with us.”

Putin reported that the EAEU “roadmap for industrialization” has over 180 projects with a total investment of over $300 billion and a program for agricultural development, with more than 170 projects worth $16 billion. Already, 75% of the trade between EAEU member states is done in national currencies, and work is ongoing to interlink national payment systems and bank cards. Dialogue on “transitioning from SWIFT to direct correspondent contacts between the banks of the friendly countries” should be expedited, and cooperation with key lending and financial centers in the Asia-Pacific Region strengthened, he urged, amongst other ideas.

Glazyev at EAEU Meeting on ‘Eurasianism’ and a ‘New World Economic Order’

May 28, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in Economic development updates, General updates, Global Diplomacy, New financial order updates, Russia, World Land-Bridge updates

Glazyev at EAEU Meeting on ‘Eurasianism’ and a ‘New World Economic Order’—

May 26, 2022 (EIRNS)–The economy today is becoming more and more humanitarian. This was stated today, May 26, during the thematic session “Eurasianism as an Idea to Unite People. A Look into the Future” of the Eurasian Economic Forum 2022, by EEC Minister for Integration and Macroeconomics Sergey Glazyev. According to him, the new technological mode is different from the previous one, as the leading areas of the economy are health care, education, science, culture and art. The meeting is in Kyrgyzstan.

“The economy today is becoming more and more humanitarian. We must admit that issues of humanitarian cooperation and culture are not given enough attention in our Eurasian construction. We are passionate about building a customs union, discussing customs tariffs, customs and technical regulation, and forming a common labor market. And at the same time, we constantly face problems of people’s correct perception of the idea of Eurasianism,” explained Glazyev.

The Minister believes that it is difficult to achieve economic success without a common understanding of where the “Five” countries of the EAEU are moving in humanitarian directions. “The classics of Eurasianism foresaw the difficulties of reintegration of our space, saw the threat of nationalism and Nazism, which today, unfortunately, we are also facing,” Glazyev added.

Despite the difficulties now the union countries, according to the minister, are building partnerships with the brotherly CIS countries, building preferential trade regimes with India, creating free trade zones with Serbia and Iran, signed a large-scale agreement with China. “This is how the work is done to form a new world economic order,” Glazyev said.

First Eurasian Economic Forum Took Place in Kyrgyzstan May 26

May 28, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in Belrus, Economic development updates, General, General updates, Global Diplomacy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia

May 26, 2022 (EIRNS)–The first Eurasian Economic Forum (EEF) took place today in Bishkek and online, on the theme, “Eurasian Economic Integration in the Era of Global Shifts: New Investment Opportunities. The heads of state of the five Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) nations are participating live or online, and 2,500 people are attending from many sectors in the region, with multiple sessions on energy, transportation, industry, finance and digital cooperation. The EAEU members are Russia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Kazakhstan. The forum was timed with the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (SEEC) of the EAEU.

Today’s plenary session was addressed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Another EEF session was addressed by Sergey Glazyev, Russian Minister for Integration and Macroeconomics at the Eurasian Economic Commission, the executive body of the EAEU.

Lavrov: US/NATO Already Waging “Total War” Against Russia

March 27, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in Color Revolutions, General updates, Geopolitics updates, History, Russia, Sanctions, World war danger updates

Lavrov: US/NATO Already Waging “Total War” Against Russia —

March 26 (EIRNS)–Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during a meeting of the Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund in Moscow, charged that the US/NATO/EU combination is already waging a hybrid war on Russia and that its objectives are no different from those of Hitler in 1941. “Today we have been declared a real hybrid war, a total war,” he said, adding that the latter term “was used by Hitler’s Germany” and “is now voiced by many European politicians when they talk about what they want to do with the Russian Federation.” The goals are not hidden, they declared them publicly – to destroy, break, exterminate, strangle the Russian economy and Russia as a whole, he remarked.

Lavrov lashed out at the “sanctions spree” against Russia pointing out that it is becoming clear that all values that those in the West have been preaching to Russia, like freedom of expression, a market economy, the sanctity of private property and the presumption of innocence, are not worth a red cent.

In this environment, the Kiev regime is being encouraged to continue to behave badly. Lavrov charged that the Kiev regime, in fact, has been getting away with bad behavior for years, with complicity of the Western corporate news media, particularly with respect to its crimes in the Donbas region. “All throughout these years, when the Ukrainian leadership evaded its obligations under the Minsk Accords, nationalists were openly wiping out civilian facilities, schools, hospitals. It was well-known and all facts were regularly reported by our mass media but were swept under the rug by the Western media,” Lavrov said. “It included the slaughter of civilians, and you may all know well that the death toll among the population exceeded 10,000,” he noted. “No one in the West cared at all about the inhumane economic, trade, transportation or food blockade of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.”

The Kiev regime’s bad behavior has extended into the Russia-Ukraine talks as well. Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation at the Russia-Ukraine talks, accused the regime of seeking to drag out the talks. “They are in no hurry, obviously thinking that time is on their side, and say it openly that they have many decision-making centers they have to agree on these or those solutions with. This is the reality we are in,” he said, reported TASS. “Regrettably, as far as we understand – they make no secret of it, they are limited in making independent decisions. So, the current state of things inspires little optimism,” he stressed, adding he doesn’t share the Ukrainian delegation’s optimism, when it speaks about “great progress.” Further he said that “So far, there is no progress on matters of principal importance that the Russian side insists on.”

At Victory Day Parade, President Putin Reiterates Circumstances Requiring Russia’s Military Operation in Ukraine

May 11, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in General updates, Geopolitics updates, History, Russia, World war danger updates

May 9, 2022 (EIRNS)—“There is no family in Russia that was not burnt by the Great Patriotic War; its memory never fades,” said Russian President Putin at the Victory Day parade in Moscow.

He explained that NATO’s proxy war against Russia demanded that his nation take action:

“[D]espite all controversies in international relations, Russia has always advocated the establishment of an equal and indivisible security system which is critically needed for the entire international community.

“Last December we proposed signing a treaty on security guarantees. Russia urged the West to hold an honest dialogue in search for meaningful and compromising solutions, and to take account of each other’s interests. All in vain. NATO countries did not want to heed us, which means they had totally different plans. And we saw it.

“Another punitive operation in Donbass, an invasion of our historic lands, including Crimea, was openly in the making. Kyiv declared that it could attain nuclear weapons. The NATO bloc launched an active military build-up on the territories adjacent to us.

“Thus, an absolutely unacceptable threat to us was steadily being created right on our borders. There was every indication that a clash with neo-Nazis and Banderites backed by the United States and their minions was unavoidable.

“Let me repeat, we saw the military infrastructure being built up, hundreds of foreign advisors starting work, and regular supplies of cutting-edge weaponry being delivered from NATO countries. The threat grew every day.

“Russia launched a pre-emptive strike at the aggression. It was a forced, timely and the only correct decision. A decision by a sovereign, strong and independent country.”

(In a sense, Ukrainian military forces had already started the war, through a dramatic increase in strikes in the Donbass republics, as determined by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine.)

After reviewing past heroic acts of the armed forces, he spoke to the present and the past, together:

“I am addressing our Armed Forces and Donbass militia. You are fighting for our Motherland, its future, so that nobody forgets the lessons of World War II, so that there is no place in the world for torturers, death squads and Nazis.

“Today, we bow our heads to the sacred memory of all those who lost their lives in the Great Patriotic War, the memories of the sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, grandfathers, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, relatives and friends.

“We bow our heads to the memory of the Odessa martyrs who were burned alive in the House of Trade Unions in May 2014, to the memory of the old people, women and children of Donbass who were killed in atrocious and barbaric shelling by neo-Nazis. We bow our heads to our fighting comrades who died a brave death in the righteous battle—for Russia.” Pres. Putin’s full speech is here. Putin’s speech did not announce any new initiatives in Ukraine, a declaration of war against that country, or a military draft.

Lt. Col. Daniel Davis (ret.) Warns: Nothing in Ukraine Justifies Risking Nuclear War with Russia

May 5, 2022by tobi in General, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Russia, Ukraine, World war danger updates

May 4 (EIRNS) – Lt. Col. Daniel Davis (ret.) of Defense Priorities sharply warned against the danger of nuclear war with Russia, in an article published yesterday in {Responsible Statecraft}. Davis is a 21-year Army veteran and a well-known whistleblower on Afghanistan and other matters. Although he criticizes Russia for invading Ukraine, and even supports economic sanctions against Russia, Davis draws a bright red line at the point that nuclear war enters the discussion.

“Rep. Adam Kinzinger’s proposed AUMF is the latest salvo from D.C.’s elite pushing the U.S. in the wrong direction to do more in Ukraine,” he states. “Any war between Washington and Moscow stands a disturbingly high chance of going nuclear; an outcome that must be avoided at all costs.”

Joining the growing chorus of voices in the U.S. and internationally who have started to speak out about the danger of nuclear war, Davis is emphatic: “The United States should not fight a war—any war—unless it is absolutely needed to prevent an actual or looming attack on our people or homeland. Period. War is not a tool to compel others to do our will. It is not an appropriate means of `punishing’ an adversary for engaging in actions we don’t like—and that includes Russia…. It would be the height of irresponsibility for American policymakers to take actions that make war with a nuclear superpower likely….

“If we pushed beyond the limits of supplying Kyiv with weapons and into direct confrontation with Russia, and then an American city was subsequently scorched with a Russian nuclear blast, I can assure you that no American would believe the cost was worth trying to help Ukraine. It wouldn’t even matter if we flattened Russian cities in response, once the nuclear genie is let out, most of both countries could be turned into a nuclear wasteland.

“There is absolutely nothing related to Ukraine that could, in any way, justify the risk to American citizens and cities of a nuclear explosion resulting from a war between our two countries. It is time to stop any consideration, at all, of an intentional military action that could spawn a direct clash between Washington and Moscow. It bears repeating once more: there is nothing, at all, at stake in the Ukraine-Russia war that justifies risking actions which could eventually result in the nuclear devastation of America.”

Imran Khan Refuses to Denounce Russia

March 8, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in General, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Global Diplomacy, Pakistan, Russia, Ukraine, World war danger updates

Pakistan’s Imran Kahn Refuses to Denounce Russia

Mar. 7 (EIRNS)–In response to a letter signed by twenty European Union ambassadors in Islamabad last week, demanding Pakistan denounce Russia, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Kahn retorted: “What do you think of us? Are we your slaves . . . that whatever you say, we will do?” Khan remarked while speaking at a political event.

The EU letter was in response to Pakistan’s abstention from voting on a United Nations General Assembly motion denouncing Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, “I want to ask the European Union ambassadors: Did you write such a letter to India?” Khan said as reported by Sputniknews.com. Khan also reportedly said that Europe has failed to condemn India over Kashmir, where Pakistan and India have fought two wars.

Kahn added that in return for Pakistan’s assistance to the NATO alliance in Afghanistan, instead of thanks, Pakistan had received condemnation.

On Sunday Khan said that Pakistan is “friends with Russia, and we are also friends with America; we are friends with China and with Europe; we are not in any camp.” He went on to say that Pakistan would remain “neutral” and collaborate with those working to end the Ukraine conflict.

Earlier last Friday, a spokesman for Pakistan’s foreign ministry stated at the press briefing that it was “not usual diplomatic practice” for envoys to make public requests like their letter, “and we have made that clear.” He added, “We took note of that and in a subsequent meeting with a group of ambassadors, we expressed our concern about it, because as I said that is not the way diplomacy should be practiced, and I think they have realized it,” he added.

Some European envoys who shared the joint statement on Twitter reportedly erased the tweets some time after.

Wang Wen: “The World Is on The Most Dangerous Eve” – Quotes FDR

April 17, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in China, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Russia, Sanctions, United States, World war danger updates

Apr. 16, 2022 (EIRNS)–Dr. WANG Wen, the Executive Dean of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, and Deputy Dean of the Silk Road School at Renmin University of China, warned that the world was heading “in the direction of global disaster” and potential nuclear war. Writing on the website of the Valdai Club in Russia, Dr. Wang, who spoke at a recent conference of the Schiller Institute, wrote that “More and more scholars estimate that the possibility of the outbreak of World War III is increasing, and have even concluded that this could lead to the outbreak of a nuclear war.” He said that the war in Ukraine is, “In essence, a total outbreak of Cold War confrontation thinking in Eastern Europe, and it is also a total counterattack by Russia against the endless strategic expansion and extrusion of the U.S. and NATO. Despite not formally sending troops, the U.S. and NATO have used almost all means of mixed warfare such as financial sanctions, an information blockade, intelligence support, satellite navigation and air and space technology to comprehensively strangle Russia.”

The West has imposed more than 5300 sanctions on Russia during these 40 days of war, Dr. Wang noted. Famine and rise in energy prices, caused by the war, have limited production in more and more countries. If we continue, Dr. Wang asked, will Elon Musk’s prediction of economic crisis “maybe happening around spring or summer 2022, but no later than 2023” become a fulfilled prophecy?

“Looking back, tragedies in history often come from five sources: war, famine, economic crisis, pandemic and climate disaster. In spring 2022, people didn’t expect that with the outbreak of the war, the five aspects would be experiencing unprecedented resonance. The world may be on the eve of its most dangerous moment. What should we do? Perhaps it is time to revisit President Franklin Roosevelt’s words: `More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginnings of all wars.’” (Dr. WANG Wen’s full article is here.)

Zepp-LaRouche: the Unipolar World Is Over; We Need a New Model of International Relations

February 10, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in China, Economic development updates, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Global Diplomacy, Helga media coverage or interview, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Russia, United States, World war danger updates

Feb. 9 (EIRNS)—“The world is currently in an incredibly dangerous situation, with a Cold War that threatens to become a hot war at any moment,” Helga Zepp-LaRouche stated in an interview on Pakistan PTV World’s “Views on News” broadcast today. We are the proverbial 100 seconds away from the midnight of a nuclear catastrophe, a war danger that is playing out around the extreme tensions around Ukraine. The United Kingdom and the United States are putting massive pressure on Europe to fully join the drive to push Russia into a strategic corner and launch scorched-earth economic sanctions and attacks on that country. But, as of this moment, Europe is not fully on board—as can be seen in German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s trip to Washington, and especially French President Emmanuel Macron’s six-hour discussion in Moscow with Russian President Putin. They are increasingly aware that the current policies of confrontation, driven by the breakdown of the trans-Atlantic financial system, cannot continue, or they will succeed in blowing up the entire world.

But we are also witnessing the beginnings of a gigantic international political and economic realignment as well. “I think we should not underestimate the incredibly historic meeting which took place between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Olympics, where they concluded a new strategic partnership which is a new model for international relationships,” Zepp-LaRouche stated. What this reflects is the fact that the unipolar world is over, and countries around the world—from Pakistan to Argentina to Hungary—are responding to that new reality. “It takes politicians and the media a while before this reality sinks in,” Zepp-LaRouche noted.

“Europeans right now are really completely scared about the possibility of the Ukraine crisis going out of control,” Zepp-LaRouche noted, “and they are trying to put a new model on the table. But I believe that something else is needed. We are right now at a branching point of all of history, and we need a new model of international relations, where thinking in terms of geopolitics, in terms of blocs, in terms of wars of one against the other within a zero-sum game—this has to be overcome.” A new international security architecture based on the universal economic development of all nations must be forged, even as we stand at the very edge of a terrible existential danger. “We must fill people with hope that it can be accomplished,” Zepp-LaRouche told a meeting of Schiller Institute associates today. Americans in particular must ensure that the United States joins with Russia and China in forging constructive solutions to the world’s problems. The Pakistan PTV program was titled, “U.S.-China Competition – Pakistan’s Exertions to Avoid Block Politics.” {A transcript with only Mrs. Zepp-LaRouche’s remarks during the interview is at this link.}

Russia Organizes UN Security Council Debate vs. Wielding Sanctions Against Peoples and Nations

February 9, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in Economic development updates, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Global Diplomacy, Russia, Sanctions

Russia Organizes UN Security Council Debate vs. Wielding Sanctions Against Peoples and Nations

Feb. 8, 2022 (EIRNS)—Being chair this month of the UN Security Council, the Russian Federation organized an Open Debate on Monday on “General Issues Relating to Sanctions: Preventing their Humanitarian and Unintended Consequences.” Two UN officials and representatives from 19 nations spoke, most warning of how the use of sanctions has run amuck, becoming the preferred choice instead of the original concept of a measure of last resort, often with disastrous consequences for the right to food, water, shelter, and health of peoples caught in the crossfire of sanctions. Several African representatives noted that eight of the 14 U.N. sanction regimes are imposed on African nations.

First Deputy Permanent Representative Dmitry Polyanskiy spoke for the Russian side, warning that UN “sanctions must never be used as a ‘punitive’ tool….

“We strongly call for UNSC-imposed restrictions to always remain targeted and flexible. We need to take greater heed of what the authorities of states under sanctions think, be more realistic when elaborating the so-called benchmarks and make sure that they do not turn into a mission impossible.

“By our estimates, many of today’s UNSC sanctions regimes already fall behind the de facto situation, interfering with plans for state-building and socio-economic development….

“Collateral damage of sanctions must be taken seriously, as it devastates the national economy, brings down living standards and the well-being of the population. This problem grew even worse against the backdrop of the fierce COVID-19 pandemic. We hear words that the Security Council’s restrictive measures must not have a bearing on the life of ordinary people, but unfortunately when it comes to the practical impact of such restrictions, they often trigger deterioration of socio-economic situation in countries that live under sanctions…. We are convinced that UNSC sanctions machinery needs to be ‘humanitarized’….”

He had even harsher words against “the malignant trend” of unilateral sanctions imposed by countries outside the UNSC, by individual countries or groups of countries, which often include sanctions on third parties who break those “unilateral” sanctions. Polyanskiy cited, as he went along, examples of the damage resulting from UNSC and unilateral sanctions, ranging from the freezing of assets of Afghanistan and Libya, to the sanctions against Syria, Yemen, Venezuela, Iran, the Central African Republic, Sudan, Guinea Bissau, and the DPRK, including the 60 years of sanctions against Cuba. According to the UN rapporteur’s report on the debate, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield shamed the United States, putting up a strong defense of sanctions for allegedly improving lives, asserting adamantly the U.S.’s right to impose unilateral sanctions, because imposing them through the United Nations Security Council is often blocked by “certain members.” She had the temerity to assert that humanitarian exemptions “ensure that the pain of sanctions do [sic] not affect ordinary people,” daring to claim this as true in Afghanistan, Yemen, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and Somalia.

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