Russia to broaden scope of national currencies trade

Dhaka August 27 2022 :

Inside Russia : Outside Russia : News Digest by the Embassy of Russian Federation in Bangladesh on August 27 2022

INSIDE RUSSIA

Poll shows 81% of Russians trust Putin

MOSCOW, August 26. /TASS/. The level of the Russian public’s confidence in President Vladimir Putin rose by 1.2 percentage points to 81.2% in the past week, according to a poll published by the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center on Friday.

The poll involving 1,600 respondents over 18 years of age was conducted on August 15-21.

“When asked if they trusted Putin, 81.2% of the poll’s participants said yes (a 1.2 percentage point rise from the week before). The share of people approving of the way the president is handling his job was 78.4% (0.6 percentage points higher than last week),” the pollster said.

A total of 52.6% of those polled said they approved of the Russian government’s work (a 0.4 percentage point increase) and 50.9% approve of Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin’s work (a 1.2 percentage point drop). As many as 62.9% of respondents said they trusted Mishustin (a decline of 0.9 percentage points).

As for the leaders of parliamentary parties, 36.7% of those surveyed trust leader of the Russian Communist Party Gennady Zyuganov (a 3.1 percentage point rise from the previous week), 31.5% trust leader of the A Just Russia – For Truth party Sergey Mironov (a 0.3 percentage point increase), 10.2% said they trusted Chairman of the New People party Alexey Nechayev (0.4 percentage points higher than last week) and 17.5% of the poll’s participants trust leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) Leonid Slutsky (a 1.1 percentage point drop).

The level of popular support for the United Russia party stood at 39.3% (a 0.1 percentage point decline from the week before). The level dropped by 0.6 percentage points to 10.7% for the Russian Communist Party and declined by 0.1 percentage points to 4.3% for the New People party. The Russian Liberal Democratic Party saw a 0.8 percentage point rise to 8.6%, while popular support for the A Just Russia – For Truth remained at 5.4%.

Russia to broaden scope of national currencies trade

Settlements using the Kazakh tenge, Armenian dram and Kyrgyzstani som will be discussed at the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council

Russia plans to propose expanding the use of national currencies in trade settlements between the members of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council (EAEU), news outlet RBC reported on Thursday, citing a draft of a Russian decree for the council meeting, to be held in Kyrgyzstan on August 25 and 26.

The decree offers recommendations on economic cooperation between EAEU member states – Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

According to the document, the use of national currencies in mutual trade settlements is proposed in order to enforce economic sovereignty of national economies of EAEU members amid “changes in the architecture of international trade” and “global restructuring of supply chains.”

The document also proposes to expand the interaction among the national payment-card systems of EAEU member states, so that national debit and credit cards like Russia’s Mir and the Belarusian Belkart can be freely used in all EAEU countries. Moreover, it offers to introduce an alternative in exchanging financial information between EAEU countries’ banks without using SWIFT within the framework of mutual settlements.

According to the draft decree, the current share of national currencies in mutual settlements of the EAEU states in 2022 is 74%, and over half of the settlements are made in Russian rubles.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT’s business section

US-led West guilty for global food crisis not Moscow, Russian PM says

CHOLPON-ATA, August 26. /TASS/. The US-led West is trying to pin the blame for the global food crisis on Moscow, yet the Western establishment is well aware of the fact that it is largely guilty itself for the current quagmire, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Friday.

“Western countries are trying to blame our country for the global food crisis, being well aware of the fact that today’s situation is a direct consequence of their actions,” he said at an expanded meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council.

The illegitimate anti-Russia sanctions have worsened the worldwide negative trends as international financial [institutions], logistics companies, and banks have stopped providing loans, insuring and servicing deals on the sale of food products and fertilizers from Russia, while port terminals overseas have been blocked, the premier elaborated.

“Here the members of the ‘five’ (Eurasian Economic Union, or EAEU countries, which include Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan – TASS) have obvious advantages. We have reached a high level of self-sufficiency in basic agriculture goods. The EAEU is the largest global exporter, and we are ready to fully and promptly fulfill our obligations,” Mishustin noted.

Both Russia and other members of the association contribute a great deal to solving food security problems, and act very responsibly, he said. “I urge [our] colleagues to maintain this course, and do everything necessary to develop agriculture and defend the interests of [our] own producers, and to consistently make decisions for the creation of a single agrarian market,” the prime minister concluded.

Sputnik News Agency Under Massive DDoS Cyber-Attack

This is the second large-scale attack on Sputnik’s networks in half a year, with the previous one taking place on February 26, mere days after the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine. In February, Sputnik International, as well as its Polish and Czech versions, suffered disruptions to their work.

Sputnik News Agency has suffered a large-scale distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) cyber-attack on its network since the evening of August 25, resulting in numerous disruptions to the functioning of its services and temporarily impeded access to its websites. It is unclear at the moment where these attacks originated from.

The DDoS attack comes as Sputnik is silenced in numerous western countries – its websites are blocked and major social media platforms restricted access to its social media pages for Europeans, all at the request of western authorities.

The EU justified the move following the start of the Russian special military operation by claiming a need to stop Moscow’s “propaganda” and distribution of “disinformation” about the situation in Ukraine. Similar measures were taken by Brussels against several other Russian media outlets. Sputnik interpreted the move as a brazen infringement on freedom of speech by European countries.

The Kremlin also condemned the western countries’ actions against Russian media.

Apart from being slapped with the ban, Sputnik websites, namely the International, Polish and Czech versions, suffered from major DDoS attacks on February 26 – mere days after the start of the special military operation. During the attacks, the work of the news agency’s websites and some of its services were disrupted.

OUTSIDE RUSSIA

Russia, Iran, Turkey intend to hold summit in Astana format — joint statement

MOSCOW, August 22. / TASS /. Russia, Iran, and Turkey have reaffirmed their intention to hold a summit in the Astana format as soon as conditions permit, according to a joint statement following the results of the 17th International Meeting on Syria in this format.

“[The sides] recalled the Joint Statement of 1 July 2020 to hold the next Tripartite Summit in the Islamic Republic of Iran as soon as conditions permit,” the statement reads.

Furthermore, the parties confirmed their plans to “convene the 18th International Meeting on Syria in the Astana format in Nur-Sultan in the first half of 2022 taking into consideration the pandemic situation” and also “arrange another ministerial meeting in the Astana format.”

Countering terrorism

Russia, Iran, and Turkey condemned the growing terrorist activity in various parts of Syria, which results in casualties among civilians and damage to civilian infrastructure. The parties to the Astana format confirmed the need for cooperation in order to eradicate all terrorist groups in the country.

The member countries also addressed the developments in the Idlib de-escalation zone and agreed to make further efforts to improve the humanitarian situation there. The sides emphasized the need to maintain peace amid the full implementation of all existing agreements on Idlib.

“[The states] expressed serious concern over the increased presence and terrorist activity of “Hayat Tahrir al Sham” (banned in Russia) and other affiliated terrorist groups as designated by the UN Security Council that pose a threat to civilians inside and outside the Idlib de-escalation zone,” according to the joint statement.

Humanitarian situation in Syria

Russia, Iran, and Turkey rejected unilateral sanctions against Syria, expressing grave concern over the humanitarian situation in the country and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which presents a profound challenge to the socio-economic situation.

“In order to support the improvement of the humanitarian situation in Syria and the progress in the process of the political settlement, [the parties] called upon the international community, the United Nations and its humanitarian agencies, to enhance their assistance to the whole of Syria through early recovery and resilience-building projects including the restoration of basic infrastructure assets – water and power supply facilities, schools and hospitals as well as on humanitarian demining in accordance with international humanitarian law,” the statement reads.

The parties also castigated the ongoing Israeli military attacks against Syria, which “violate international law, international humanitarian law, the sovereignty of Syria and neighboring countries, endanger the stability and security in the region and called for the cessation of them.” They “stressed that Israel’s abuse of civil aircraft as a cover in its aggressions on Syrian territory is in stark violation of international regulations, endangering the lives of civilians.”

Geneva agenda

The guarantor countries emphasized the significant role of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva and expressed their commitment to support it through continuous interaction with the Syrian parties to the Constitutional Committee and UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen.

“We noted the convening of the 6th round of the Drafting Commission of the Syrian Constitutional Committee between 18-22 October in Geneva and called for holding its 7th round as soon as possible with a constructive approach by the Syrian parties,” the statement reads.

“[The sides] expressed the conviction that the work of the Committee should respect the Terms of Reference and Core Rules of Procedure to enable the Committee to implement its mandate of preparing and drafting for popular approval a constitutional reform as well as achieving progress in its work and be governed by a sense of compromise and constructive engagement without foreign interference and externally imposed timelines aimed at reaching the general agreement of its members,” the guarantor countries mentioned.

Return of refugees

Russia, Turkey, and Iran also emphasized the need to facilitate the safe, dignified and voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced persons to their places of residence in Syria, ensuring their right to return and the right to support.

“In this regard, [the sides] called upon the international community to provide the necessary assistance to Syrian refugees and IDPs and reaffirmed their readiness to continue interaction with all relevant parties, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other specialized international agencies,” the joint statement reads.

The countries hailed the successful operation for the mutual release of detainees on December 16, 2021, and noted that this operation confirmed their determination to increase and expand their cooperation as part of the Working Group. “[The sides] agreed that the scale of future operations on the release of detainees needs to be increased, and the activities of the Working Group – to be extended to the handover of bodies and identification of missing persons,” according to the statement.

Rosatom secures construction permit for Paks-2 NPP in Hungary

MOSCOW. Aug 26 (Interfax) – Hungary’s Atomic Energy Authority has granted Russia’s Rosatom state nuclear energy corporation a ten-year permit to build the fifth and sixth generating units of the Paks nuclear power plant, materials on the agency’s website confirm.

The documents indicate that construction could begin in October 2022.

Soviet-designed Paks NPP, which is currently Hungary’s sole operating NPP, has four power units with VVER-440 reactors with total capacity of about 2 GW. The Hungarian parliament in 2009 approved the construction of two new power units at the NPP, though the lengthy proceedings of the European Commission have affected the construction timeframe.

SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION IN UKRAINE

Russian ex-president envisions military junta in Kiev

A coup is the only alternative to a civilian government accepting Russia’s terms for peace, Dmitry Medvedev said

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has predicted that the Ukrainian military may stage a coup in Kiev to do what the civilian government refuses to do – negotiate peace with Russia.

Medvedev, who is now deputy chair of the Russian National Security Council, outlined the scenario as one of two options that he believes to be viable for Ukraine. The other was if the government of President Vladimir Zelensky changed its tune and agreed to Russia’s terms for ending hostilities. Either way, Russia will get what it wants from Ukraine, the official said.

Moscow declared the demilitarization and ‘denazification’ of Ukraine as the goals of its military operation in the country. Kiev initially appeared willing to accept a neutral status, but was later emboldened by Western military aid. Zelensky now insists that defeating Russia on the battlefield and retaking all the land that was under Kiev’s control before 2014 is the only possible option for his country.

The assessment by Medvedev apparently came in response to a Wednesday article in The Guardian, which made predictions for how the Ukrainian crisis could develop over the next six months. Dan Sabbagh, the British newspaper’s defense and security editor, offered five predictions that he considers likely.

The expectations included a deadlocked conflict and a reduction in the intensity of hostilities, a campaign of sabotage by Ukrainian special forces and a renewed refugee crisis during winter.

The Russian official said that any scenario for the conflict that would predict a victory for Kiev was “crystal-clear lies and demagoguery.”

Security systems activated at Zaporozhye nuclear power plant – officials

The pro-Russian local administration said the power outage was caused by fires started by Ukrainian shelling

Security systems have been activated at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant after a power outage, which temporarily left the facility without electricity, members of the Russia-backed administration in the Ukrainian region have claimed.

The plant has since been connected to an alternative source of power, according to officials. The blackout is said to have been caused by massive wildfires in the area, which were started by Ukrainian shelling, theу said.

Fires, which have engulfed parts of the steppe and woods surrounding the city of Energodar, led to short-circuits in the local grid, leaving not only parts of Zaporozhye region without power, but also the neighboring Kherson region.

The head of the pro-Russian military-civil administration of Energodar, Yevgeny Balitski, has been quoted by media as saying: “according to preliminary information, because of massive shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces, which has continued since last night, fields and undergrowth caught fire. This led to a short-circuit in the grid.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s state-owned Energoatom company, which is the operator of the power plant, has issued a statement saying Russia’s actions have “resulted in the complete disconnection of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant from power supply – for the first time in history.”

The Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant is the largest facility of its kind in Europe. It was seized by Russian forces in early March, soon after Moscow launched its military offensive against Kiev. Since then, the country’s National Guard and Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defense Troops have been guarding the site, with Ukrainian staff continuing to operate the plant.

Over the past month, Russia has repeatedly accused Ukrainian forces of shelling the nuclear power plant, damaging some of the equipment and buildings. Moscow has warned that Kiev is risking a nuclear incident on a similar scale as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster or even worse.

Ukraine, in turn, strongly denies its military is targeting the facility, and accuses Russian troops of deliberately shelling the plant to frame pro-Kiev forces. Moreover, Ukrainian officials and some of their Western supporters claim that Russia is using the plant as a military base, hiding its personnel and hardware on its grounds.

Russian officials, for their part, have repeatedly called on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to send inspectors to the facility, saying that such a mission would corroborate Moscow’s version of events.

Kiev Cuts Last Power Line to Zaporozhye NPP, No Way to Deliver Electricity to Ukraine — Authorities

Russia repeatedly warned that the Ukrainian side has targeted the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant in a bid to stage a provocation and blame Moscow for a nuclear disaster.

Kiev has interrupted the last transmission line of the Zaporozhye NPP to Ukraine, rendering the delivery of energy to Ukraine impossible now, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the regional administration, said on Friday.

“Yesterday, as far as I know, the fourth line was interrupted, therefore it is physically impossible to transfer electricity to the right bank of the Dnieper [river] … According to the information I have, this energy is not supplied [to Ukraine], there is no physical possibility to do this,” Rogov told the Rossiya 1 broadcaster.

At the same time, authorities noted that the NPP is working as normal and that the energy is supplied to the territories liberated by Russian forces.

The Zaporozhye NPP, which is the largest nuclear generation facility in Europe, contains six VVER-1000 pressurized light water reactors putting out a total of 5,700 MWe of power.

Russia has repeatedly warned that Ukraine is planning false flag operations against the NPP in a bid to create an exclusion zone of up to 18 miles (30 kilometers) around the facility and trigger the deployment of international forces to the area. Moscow noted that Kiev attacks the NPP while trying to pin the blame for any major disaster on Russia.

Just over the past day, the Ukrainian military targeted the facility twice using a British-made M777 howitzer, which was located and eliminated by Russian forces.

Over past weeks, Ukraine shelled the plant’s territory from across the Dnieper River with heavy artillery, sparking accusations of nuclear terrorism from Russia and local authorities. At the same time, Kiev claims that Russian forces are attacking the Zaporozhye NPP – despite the obvious fact that the compound is in territory controlled by the Russian military since March.

INSIGHTS

Russia’s rapprochement with other countries contradicts “Pax Americana” — Readovka.world

Former minister Jan Kavan says Putin is far more successful in the Middle East than Biden

The policy of imposing sanctions on Russia, so far mainly affected European countries that are still dependent to varying degrees on the import of Russian raw materials. With time, it became clear that many countries in the world would rather maintain or even strengthen cooperation with Russia, Radio Universum writes.

Former Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kavan has shared his opinion on the situation in the world and the American influence across the globe.

Kavan pointed out that since the beginning of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, the United States promised to not supply Ukraine with weapons that could hit the Russian. However, over time, they changed their mind, equipping the Ukrainian artillery with American ammunition that can land on the territory of Russia. West chooses Ukraine as instrument of hybrid warfare against RussiaKyiv liquidates its own soldiers who surrender as prisoners, the minister says

“Russia will buy Iranian drones, but this is only the beginning of closer cooperation. And this is between countries that have diametrically opposed business interests, for example when it comes to exporting oil. But even here, the contradiction will be overcome – also because of Western pressure, they will be forced to cooperate much more with each other and together resist that Western pressure,” he said, commenting on the BRICS countries rapprochement. China bought more energy resources from Russia in five month of 2022 than in 2021After the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, China not only did not reject Russian energy resources, but also increased the purchases

According to the politician, the common denominator in closer relationship with Russia is “the effort to resist the creation of a world in which the Americans will decide – Pax Americana.”

“This is a rhetoric that will find great understanding not only in countries that are close to Russia, but on the other side of the globe – in Brazil, in the Republic of South Africa; quite understandably. Pax Americana is something that many countries fear precisely because of past experiences that may not have anything to do with Russia. And the prospect that more countries could unite against it is advantageous for them,” he said.

Europe wants to apply anti-Russian sanctions at a time when Moscow can turn to India, for example, not just China.

“India is a classic example, today it imports a lot of Russian oil for relatively cheap money. It is very convenient for them,” Kavan added.

Former Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kavan has also mentioned a raid on the small island of Grenada, where the US sent an invasion army and arranged an American-style order when they found out that a political party that was critical of the US won the election.

“We don’t even register such events”, the diplomat said, adding that the US actions didn’t “impact on Central Europe, but had a large impact on the people of Grenada.”

It is just “laughable”, he noted, that the American invasion of Iraq would create democracy there.

According to Kavan, American politicians are known for their rapid change of heart. Just like when US President Joe Biden vowed to never forgive Saudi Arabia for killing and dismembering a Saudi journalist, but less than two years later, he changed his mind, visiting the country talking friendly with the Saudi Arabian prince. Because “oil and money are more important.”

However, comparing the two leader’s influences in the Middle East, an American prestigious magazine came to the opinion that Russian President Vladimir Putin is far more successful in the entire region.

Further on, Kavan has expressed his surprise with the Western countries “not doing their homework” when they are sending military to other states, imposing its attitudes and morals.

“I’m surprised that even countries that send their own troops there don’t do their homework to thoroughly familiarize themselves with the environment they’re sending those troops into. And then they are surprised that they do not manage to induce or impose on them the political regime that they would like. Sometimes they succeed militarily, but not for long. Afghanistan is a classic example – after twenty years of fighting, the Taliban is back in power there today. What kind of success is this…?” he said.

The American efforts to “change regimes” in the Middle East have evidentially failed, the official says, adding that “the activities of Western troops in the territory of Iraq ultimately led to the birth of the Islamic State (banned in Russia) in this territory, one of the largest terrorist organizations.”

Despite the fact that the American power position is quite enormous, the US is concerned about the growing influence of China and Russia in the world. According to Kavan, here “the BRICS countries can play a significant role in the long term. They come together and it is in their interest to weaken the petrodollar.”

“It is possible that with long-term development, Europe will begin to emphasize European interests not only military, but also economic and political, and this may be reflected in their perception of the role of the euro,” he concluded.

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