Waiver of export duties on Russian grain would prompt price crash on global, domestic markets

Dhaka August 18 2022 :

Inside Russia : Outside Russia : News Digest by the Embassy of Russian Federation in Bangladesh on August 18 2022

INSIDE RUSSIA

Foreign Ministry slams media allegations of Russia stealing power from Zaporozhye NPP

MOSCOW, August 17. /TASS/. The Wall Street Journal’s allegations of Russia stealing electricity from the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant expose its failure to see the cause-effect relationships, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry pointed to a Wall Street Journal article, which alleged, citing analysts, that Moscow was trying “to reroute power to occupied territories, Russia and even export markets, where the price of electricity is surging.”

“The wild conclusion is that such ‘expropriation’ on the part of Russia will additionally destabilize energy markets. Just a quick look at the article is enough to understand the authors’ complete failure to see the cause-effect relationships,” the statement reads.

The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that it was Kiev that kept shelling the power plant area, putting the entire European continent at risk of a nuclear disaster. “The conclusion is clear: by destroying energy infrastructure, the Kiev regime is putting millions of European residents at risk of a nuclear disaster with the connivance of Washington. But the Wall Street Journal, based thousands of kilometers from the region at risk, clearly has no interest in that,” the statement added.

The Zaporozhye NPP, located in the city of Energodar, is controlled by Russian troops. The Ukrainian military carried out a series of attacks on the facility in the past several days, which particularly involved drones, heavy artillery and multiple rocket launchers. Most attacks were repelled by air defenses but some infrastructure sites and the nuclear waste storage area were hit.

Russia warns EU state over Soviet debt

Talk of “reparations” over Soviet rule could see Latvia owing Moscow money rather than the other way around, the diplomats said

The Russian embassy in Riga has poked fun at Latvian media reports that a state commission is working on establishing “damages” from the Soviet “occupation” of the Baltic state, which is now a member of the EU and NATO.

If Latvians really wanted reparations from occupiers, they shouldn’t give a pass to Poland, Sweden or the Teutonic Order, the embassy joked on Wednesday.

It also warned that Riga could end up owing Russia money after they tally all the Soviet investments in its infrastructure and industry.

According to statements in some local media, the “commission on accounting of damages from the Soviet occupation” is soon expected to present a report on alleged financial losses Latvia suffered between 1940 and 1991, the embassy said.

“We never cease to be surprised at the selectivity of Latvian officials. After all, a fair accounting would also take into consideration the losses from the occupation of Latvian land by the German crusaders, the [Polish-Lithuanian] Commonwealth and Sweden,” the Russian diplomats said, noting that this accounts for more than 500 years of foreign rule.

If the commission tallied up the entire housing, transport, communication, port and industrial infrastructure built from scratch in the Latvian Soviet Republic, the embassy added, “Latvia would end up with a bill to pay instead!”

Imperial Russia ruled the territory of present-day Latvia from 1795 to 1920, developing Riga into the empire’s largest port. Some 40,000 men served in the Latvian Rifles, an elite imperial infantry corps, during the First World War. The majority joined the Bolshevik revolution, with one of their officers, Colonel Jukums Vacietis, becoming the first commanding general of the Red Army.

Though they played a key role in winning the Russian civil war for the Reds, the Latvian Rifles lost the war in their own home province to a coalition of German, Polish and Estonian troops. In 1920, the Bolshevik government signed the Treaty of Riga, recognizing an independent Latvia. In August 1940, however, a pro-Soviet government made a bid for admission into the USSR.

During the Second World War, Latvia was occupied by Nazi Germany. Two Waffen-SS units, the 15th and 19th grenadiers, were raised as the Latvian Legion. Around 10,000 of them continued to wage guerrilla war against the USSR until 1956, calling themselves “Forest Brothers.”

Latvia declared independence in August 1991, and to this day denies citizenship to ethnic Russians living in its territory.

Waiver of export duties on Russian grain would prompt price crash on global, domestic markets

MOSCOW. Aug 17 (Interfax) – The waiver of export duties on Russian grain will lead to a serious collapse of prices on the world and domestic markets. The reason for the current price drop is not in export regulation, but in the behavior of agricultural producers themselves, who are holding on to grain, Union of Grain Exporters chief Eduard Zernin said in a statement in the union’s Telegram channel.

“The Union of Grain Exporters has repeatedly warned of the danger of a price collapse in the domestic market closer to autumn at the beginning of the season. The reasons are definitely not in the policy of export regulation, but in irrational behavior of many agricultural producers, who held off on the sale of grain amid record carry-over stocks and forecasts for a record harvest in the new season,” Zernin said.

“As we might have initially assumed, no miracle happened, the pressure of the new harvest grain volume has a negative impact on prices. The problem is exacerbated by the excessive supply of feed quality grain, which is suitable for fodder, but not for purchase by flour makers or the intervention fund,” the union head said. “Farmers are not learning from their mistakes and continue holding back sales of food-grade grain,” he said.

As for foreign markets, amid conditions of hidden sanctions significantly restricting our export opportunities, as well as short selling on the exchange market, the lifting of export restrictions will lead to a collapse of world prices catastrophic for the Russian agricultural sector, followed by the collapse of prices in the domestic market,” Zernin said. “Everybody has witnessed the prices going down just on the news of the revision of the export duty calculation formula. Price dampening limits the growth of prices, but not their fall,” he said.

As reported, the presidium of Russia’s AKKOR association of farmers and agricultural cooperatives has decided to appeal to President Vladimir Putin to lift the export duty on grain. “With the aim of maintaining the targeted rates of production growth, we ask you to facilitate the launch of large-scale intervention trading, as well as the lifting of the export duty on grain crops,” the appeal, citing in an AKKOR press release, said.

Ruscon launches multimodal service between Japan and Kazakhstan via Vostochny Port

KRASNODAR. Aug 17 (Interfax) – Russian multimodal transport operator Ruscon, a division of Delo Group, launched a container service from Japan to Kazakhstan through the Vostochny Port in August.

Delo Group, which is owned by Sergei Shishkarev and state corporation Rosatom, said that cargo is delivered by ship from the port of Kobe, Japan to the Vostochny Port, then by railway to the Almaty-1 station in Kazakhstan. Departures are once a month.

“The development of transportation with Southeast Asia is undoubtedly one of the highest priorities of the Group. Considering the interest in the expansion of territories of presence and development of new routes, we plan to concentrate our efforts to create in the region the optimal and high-quality customer services,” the company’s first vice president, Andrei Chernyshev, said in the press release.

Russian Designers: T-90MS Tank & Msta-S Howitzer are One of a Kind, Enjoy All Modern Features

Ekaterina Blinova, Exclusive, Sputnik News

The Army-2022 International Military-Technical Forum kicked off at Moscow’s Kubinka Air Base on Monday. The week-long expo organized by the Russian Defense Ministry is displaying advanced domestic and foreign military hardware. Russian designers spoke to Sputnik about the domestic state-of-the-art weapons.

This year, the Army-2022 forum is attended by official delegations and industrial enterprises from over 70 foreign countries, despite US and NATO attempts to isolate Russia in the wake of the latter’s special operation to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine. The official representative of the forum organizer is the Main Department of Research and Technological Support of Advanced Technologies of the Russian Defense Ministry.

The MoD has put on display both prospective military technologies and time-tested hardware that has already proven its efficiency on the battlefield.

Т-90МS: ‘Major Player on the Battlefield’

One of them is the T-90MS main battle tank (MBT), manufactured by the Open Joint Stock Company “Research and Production Corporation Uralvagonzavod,” one of the Russian leaders in the high-quality machine-building industry. Equipped with powerful weapon systems and modern automatic fire control systems, the T-90MS at the same time offers comprehensive protection against conventional ammunition, precision-guided weapons, and anti-tank rockets. The T-90MS is an export version of Russia’s latest tank, the T-90M “Proryv.”

“The T-90M tank was developed for the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and has certain differences from the T-90MS tank,” explains Ilya Onegov, an Uralvagonzavod specialist. “For example, the T-90M tank is mounted with a remote-controlled 12.7 mm machine gun. The T-90MS tank is equipped with a 7.62 mm machine gun, but it can be supplied with any caliber machine gun.”

While both variants of the Russian-made tank use the same platform, the T-90MS tank can be designed for a specific customer with additional features varying depending on the customer’s needs, according to Onegov.

The tank’s machine gun system is controlled from inside, so there is no need for the operator to get out of the vehicle to shoot. “It’s a remote system, controlled with a joystick and through the commander’s sight,” the Uralvagonzavod specialist says.

According to Onegov, the T-90MS has every feature that modern Western tanks enjoy and is on par with the US M1A2 Abrams and the German Leopard 2. However, the T-90MS is lighter than its Western counterparts, the specialist highlighted.

At the same time, the T-90MS is an upgraded version of the T-90S MBT Bhishma, which is currently in service with India, Onegov elaborated. In February 2001, the Indian Army inked a contract for 310 T-90S tanks. Roughly half of the batch was completed in Russia, and the rest were delivered for final assembly in India. Since then, India has acquired hundreds of Russian tanks while maintaining close military-technical cooperation with the JSC UralVagonZavod.

Over the past decades, foreign buyers have demonstrated a keen interest in acquiring the Russian battle tank and its modifications. In March 2022, Uralvagonzavod presented its Т-90МS “Master of the Desert” tank at the first World Defense Show in Saudi Arabia, according to Rostec. The Russian armored vehicle passed multi-day desert tests and proved to be efficient in high dust conditions.

Msta 2S19M2: Unique Self-Propelled Howitzer

The Msta-S self-propelled howitzer is yet another workhorse of the Russian Armed Forces.

“The Msta-S is a unique self-propelled howitzer,” says Aleksey Shchipanov, chief designer of Special Design Bureau “Trnasmash Spetstechnika” (JSC “Uraltransmash”). “It has a high rate of fire, high mode of fire, high degree of engagement and disengagement, and high quality of protection for the crew when handling ammunition.”

The 152-mm Msta-S 2S19 was designed to destroy openly located and protected targets, including manpower, armored and unarmored military equipment, field fortifications, air defense and missile defense systems, enemy command posts, and rear facilities. The 2S19M1-155, an improved version of the howitzer, is capable of firing 155-mm NATO-standard projectiles, as well as Krasnopol-M guided projectiles that hit small targets (such as a tank) at a distance of 17 km. For its part, the advanced Msta-S 2S19M2 version has been equipped with a new automatic fire control system which increases the rate of fire.

“This model, the 2S19M2, is the third modification of the Msta,” explains Shchipanov. “The 2S19M2 provides a rate of fire of 10 rounds per minute. The uniqueness of the Msta 2S19M2 self-propelled howitzer lies in its rate of fire, its maintainability, its ability to conduct a counter-fire strike, its ability to fire all types of ammunition: fragmentation, cluster and including high-precision rounds. The 2S19 self-propelled howitzer has been upgraded to an export-oriented variant for use in hot climates.”

The designer pointed out that the Msta’s latest modification has passed numerous successful tests, including in India, and has been acknowledged “to be superior in a number of technical characteristics in comparison to the best global counterparts.”

Over 300 events within the framework of Russia’s Army-2022 expo are being held at the Patriot Congress and Exhibition Center at Moscow’s Kubinka airfield, Alabino training ground, as well as in all the military districts and the Northern Fleet. The week-long event will end on August 21.

Russia Dismantles Hizb ut-Tahrir Cell Coordinated By Ukraine in Crimea: Federal Security Service

Members of the Hizb ut-Tahrir* group have repeatedly been detained in various Russian regions, mainly in large cities in central Russia, the Volga region, and Siberia, as well as in Crimea.

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has stated that they have dismantled a Hizb ut-Tahrir* cell coordinated by Ukraine in Crimea.

“As a result of coordinated actions by FSB officers in the cities of Dzhankoy and Yalta, a conspiratorial cell of a terrorist organization consisting of six Russian citizens has been neutralized,” the FSB said in a statement on Wednesday.

According to the FSB, while coordinating the work of the terrorist organization’s operatives from Ukraine, the detainees carried out “purposeful work to spread terrorist ideology in Russia,” and also recruited local Muslims into their ranks.

The FSB also said that propaganda materials pertaining to Hizb ut-Tahrir, communications equipment, as well as electronic media banned in Russia were found at the detainees’ homes and then confiscated.

Hizb ut-Tahrir aims to eliminate non-Muslim governments and establish Islamic rule across the globe through the creation of a “worldwide Islamic caliphate.”

The FSB’s statement comes after the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced on Tuesday that an ammunition depot near Dzhankoy “was damaged” as a result of a sabotage attack. “No one was seriously injured. The necessary measures are being taken to eliminate the consequences of the sabotage,” the MoD stressed.

Russia launched its ongoing special operation to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine on February 24, following requests from the Donbass republics to protect them from Kiev’s attacks.

*a terrorist group banned in Russia and a spate of other countries

OUTSIDE RUSSIA

OPEC Secretary-General: we have solid relations with Russia, OPEC not to blame for rising prices, investment needed

MOSCOW. Aug 17 (Interfax) – OPEC is not to blame for the spike in energy commodity prices, with chronic underinvestment the reason behind this, new OPEC Secretary-General Haitham Al Ghais told CNBC in an interview.

He also said that OPEC has “solid” relations with Russia.

Russia Plays Key Role in Africa’s Military & Economic Stability: South Africa’s Defense Minister

Svetlana Ekimenko, Exclusive, Sputnik News

The agenda of the 10th Moscow Conference on International Security, besides global security issues, is specifically focused on developments in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

South Africa regards Russia as potentially able to make a vast contribution to military and economic stability in the region, Thandi Modise, the country’s minister of defense, told Sputnik.

Speaking at the 10th Moscow Conference on International Security, the defense minister hailed South Africa’s traditionally strong ties with Russia.

“Russia… was never a colonizer of Africa. And that respect for us is good. We also respect Russia for the second reason, where it has contributed, where it has given loans, it has not enslaved Africans. So we think that in terms of development, Russia has the potential to invest, to become a partner, to grow the economies that will lead us to less poverty, less dependence,” the minister said.

Thandi Modise pointed out the crucial link between growing economic stability and enhanced democratization processes, saying that in this aspect, Russia’s contribution could be invaluable for her country.

South Africa is not only looking at economic issues when furthering its cooperation with Russia, the official pointed out. According to Modise, the two countries enjoy a cultural affinity, bringing ties between them even closer.

“So, we think that contribution, investment, real investment into the African economies will not only grow the Russian economy, but it will also help bring us up,” she said.

‘Growing Positive Relations’

Weighing in on cooperation within the format of BRICS – a bloc of powerful industrializing economies established in 2009 that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, Thandi Modise hailed the group as an arena for “growing positive relations throughout the world.”

On the potential expansion of BRICS, Modise recalled how through South Africa, the group was able to expand its reach to the rest of the African continent.

“You will also remember that every time BRICS is hosted in South Africa, the other states are invited to participate. And therefore, we are already enabling both China, Brazil, and India to get access to countries which you sometimes may not have been able to come into,” the minister stated.

BRICS International Forum President Purnima Anand stated earlier in the summer that Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia could “very soon” join the group, saying the issue had been discussed at the 14th BRICS Summit in June. That same month, the Islamic Republic of Iran applied to join the bloc, which accounts for 40 percent of the world’s population and around 25 percent of the global GDP.

‘Boosting Multilateralism’

The 10th jubilee Moscow Conference on International Security convened at a time of heightened tensions that have placed particular emphasis on international security and stability issues.

In light of this, Thandi Modise accentuated the importance of the forum as part of a far-reaching attempt to strengthen multilateralism to ensure that every nation, every human being can be heard.

With the international situation particularly strained against the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis, prompting some Western countries to try to hamper Russia’s military-technical and economic cooperation with Africa, Thandi Modise said South Africa did not like being told whom it could and could not associate with.

“We have strong ties between our countries dating back to the time of the Soviet Union and, now, with Russia. We want to respect our partners. We have several agreements between our countries. We also have personal friendship between our peoples. We would hope that as much as South Africa fights to be recognized as a sovereign state, so Russia would be within its right to defend themselves,” the South African defense minister said.

‘Equal Partners’

Thandi Modise reiterated how important ties with Russia were for her country amid a scramble by some Western countries for access to South Africa’s mineral resources.

However, according to the minister, “Africa is beginning to wake up as a unitary force that must be respected.”

Acknowledging that South Africa was dealing with a plethora of issues and challenges, Thandi Modise suggested that her country was mature enough to see itself as an equal partner in its friendship with Russia.

South Africa and Russia, Thandi Modise concluded, have a destiny to fulfil “to ensure that generations after us live in peace.”

Ties between Russia and African countries have been steadily growing since receiving a boost in the wake of the first Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum held under the motto “For Peace, Security and Development” in Sochi on October 23-24, 2019.

All 54 African states were officially represented at the events, with the plenary session, Russia and Africa: Uncovering the Potential for Cooperation, addressed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader stressed that the development of relations with African countries and regional organizations was among Russia’s foreign policy priorities.

“African states are confidently gaining political and economic weight, affirming themselves as one of the important pillars of the multipolar world order, and are taking an increasingly important part in working out international community’s decisions on key issues related to the regional and global agenda. Our positions are close or coincide on many of those matters, which creates favorable conditions for constructive interaction at the UN and other international platforms,” the Russian head of state said.

China ‘highly appreciates’ Putin’s Pelosi remarks

The Kremlin’s criticism of the US representative proves ties between Moscow and Beijing are solid, China says

China “highly appreciates” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s critical remarks about US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “provocative” visit to Taiwan, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday.

Wang noted that Putin’s position reflected the high-level strategic cooperation between China and Russia and was a manifestation of the “consistent and firm mutual support” of the two countries on issues relating to each other’s key national interests.

The spokesman also pointed out that, after Pelosi’s trip to Taipei, over 170 countries have reiterated their commitment to the “One China” principle and have supported Beijing in its attempts to defend China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s statement comes after Putin criticized Pelosi’s Taiwan visit as being a “carefully planned provocation” during the 10th Moscow International Security Conference on Tuesday.

The Russian president suggested that the speaker’s trip was part of Washington’s deliberate strategy to destabilize the situation in the Asia-Pacific region and it was “not just a trip of an individual irresponsible politician, but a brazen demonstration of disrespect towards another country’s sovereignty.”

Putin also noted that Western “globalist elites” were using such provocations to divert the attention of their own citizens from acute socio-economic problems and shift their own failures onto countries like Russia and China. The president added that Moscow and Beijing were defending their own point of view by building a sovereign development policy, which does not submit to the dictates of the supranational elites.

Earlier this month, 82-year-old Pelosi became the highest-ranking US official to visit the self-governing island of Taiwan since 1997 despite multiple warnings from Beijing.

China responded to the speaker’s visit by holding “unprecedented” military exercises in the Taiwan Strait. It imposed trade restrictions on Taipei, sanctioned Pelosi and her family, and cut diplomatic ties with the US in a number of key areas, including climate change, maritime security, as well as other military sectors.

Beijing considers Taiwan sovereign Chinese territory. Since 1949, the island has been ruled by nationalists who fled the mainland with US help after losing the Chinese Civil War to the Communists. The US officially recognizes, but does not endorse, China’s sovereignty over Taiwan. Although American lawmakers and officials regularly travel to the island, Beijing considers visits by more senior US figures to be tacit endorsements of Taiwanese independence.

SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION IN UKRAINE

Ukraine could be put on ‘ammo diet’ – US military expert

Michael Kofman says Europe may already have given Kiev most of the weapons it’s willing to provide

Ukraine’s European backers may be about to put the country on an “ammunition diet”, an American military analyst has claimed in an interview with Germany’s Der Spiegel. Michael Kofman said these nations may already have reached their limit in terms of weapons supplies to Kiev.

In an article published on Tuesday, Kofman was quoted as saying it is not in the Ukrainian military’s best interests to bide its time, as the weather will soon begin to worsen, making any counteroffensive more difficult to pull off. On top of that, according to the US expert, Russian troops could use a hiatus to regroup and “solve some of their personnel problems.”

He noted that time would be on Kiev’s side if Western support was unlimited. However, that is likely not the case, and the Ukrainian leadership is well aware of this, Kofman suggested. He added that the “Ukrainians are apparently quite concerned about for how long they can expect further support, especially from the Europeans.”

The analyst went on to suggest that Kiev’s European backers may already have “given Ukraine most of the weapons they are ready to give.”

“The Ukrainians will likely go on a kind of ammunition diet,” Kofman predicted.

The analyst told journalists that, with this in mind, the leadership in Kiev may be concerned that Ukraine “could come under pressure to accept the stalemate” in the absence of any major success by the start of next year. Such a scenario “would be a defeat for Ukraine,” he noted.

Kofman concluded that Kiev’s ability to reclaim territories seized by Russia ultimately hinges on the extent of its Western support.

He also acknowledged “some small Russian successes in the southern part of Donbass, like in Peski,” adding, however, that the offensive is largely being carried out by the militaries of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), as well as by “Wagner mercenaries.”

When asked about the possibility of a Ukrainian counteroffensive to reclaim the southern city of Kherson, which is currently held by Russian forces, Kofman pointed out that while Kiev has a lot of personnel on paper, only a limited number of units are “really trained and equipped for that.”

The American expert also argued that, simply because Ukrainian officials say they will launch the counteroffensive, it does not necessarily mean that it will actually materialize.

At the same time, he told Der Spiegel that the Russians’ position in Kherson is rather vulnerable as well.

So far, however, save for retaking a few cities in the region, the Ukrainian military’s progress has been “not really spectacular” near Kherson for the past three months, Kofman said.

According to the analyst, the government in Kiev is facing a dilemma: to launch a rather risky counteroffensive in earnest now and secure further Western support or accept the new status quo.

INSIGHTS

Multipolar World, Ukraine & Taiwan Dominate Agenda at Moscow Int’l Security Conference

More than 700 delegates attended the 10th annual Moscow Conference on International Security (MCIS) – a forum dedicated to global and regional stability.

This year’s MCIS has been organized by Russia’s Defense Ministry. Members of 53 official high-level delegations – most of them military top brass and security experts – had a chance to hold discussions on pressing geopolitical topics from all over the world.

Pakistan is one of 70 nations that sent delegations to this year’s MCIS. The country’s Defense Secretary Mian Muhammad Hilal Hussain shared his impressions of the event with Sputnik:

“I was here last year also and Pakistan has been regularly participating since 2014,” the defense secretary said. “And we are absolutely thrilled with the types of topics which are discussed here, the type of audience that we get where we can get our message across.”

The conference’s first session was opened by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who focused among other topics in his video address on the situation in Ukraine and Taiwan:

“The situation in Ukraine shows that the United States is attempting to draw out this conflict,” Vladimir Putin said. “It acts in the same way elsewhere, fomenting the conflict potential in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. As is common knowledge, the US has recently made another deliberate attempt to fuel the flames and stir up trouble in the Asia-Pacific. The US escapade towards Taiwan is not just a voyage by an irresponsible politician, but part of the purpose-oriented and deliberate US strategy designed to destabilize the situation and sow chaos in the region and the world.”

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who greeted the MCIS delegates personally, slammed the “rules-based” world order that the West is trying to enforce in many regions. Part of Shoigu’s speech at the conference was also dedicated to the situation in the Asia-Pacific:

“The West’s counteraction to the strengthening of the multipolar world can be felt not only in Europe, but also in the Asia-Pacific, where the United States has started demolishing the regional cooperation system built within the framework of ASEAN,” the minister said. “It began with the announcement by the UK, Australia and the US of the creation of AUKUS, as well as plans to extend it and to invite new partners. There is a merger between AUKUS and NATO, and NATO, in turn, announced during its June summit that it wants to dominate in the Asia-Pacific region.”

Shoigu’s concerns about Washington’s actions in the Asia-Pacific were echoed by some MCIS foreign delegates. Connie Rahakundini Bakrie is a military and defense analyst from Indonesia. She told Sputnik that Nancy Pelosi’s recent visit to Taiwan may trigger serious changes, which could affect powerful regional alliances, also putting ASEAN in danger.

“I believe if Taiwan is being pushed, ASEAN will be breaking apart, because some ASEAN countries are part of FPDA (Five Power Defense Arrangements, a series of defense relationships between Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the UK – Ed. Sputnik),” Bakrie said. “So I agree with President Putin when he says don’t touch the Taiwan issue because it’s part of the One China Policy, and we cannot do anything about it.”

Besides the Asia-Pacific, MCIS delegates also discussed regional aspects of global security in Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America during three other plenary sessions.

The MCIS has been held annually since 2012, but most of the time the event hasn’t been synchronized with the ARMY military and technical forum.

Holding the two events simultaneously has made it possible for Russia’s Defense Ministry, as well as for the country’s weapons manufacturers, to not only organize high-level discussions on international security issues, but also to showcase what Russia has to offer in terms of arms and military equipment, with static and live demonstrations of jets, tanks, and UAVs being set up right next to the MCIS venue.

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