Kyiv – Moscow – Washington – continued
Publication date: April 04, 2023 11:36 PM KSA
Yesterday, Ukraine announced that Russia had carried out a strike on the strategic port of Odessa on the Black Sea using Iranian-made Shahed drones, without specifying the extent of the damage caused by these strikes. The statement quoted the head of the military administration of the Odessa region, Yuriy Krots: “Ukrainian air defense forces are working to warn of the possibility of a second wave of shelling. And the Ukrainian air force command said that Russia sent 17 Iranian-made Shahed drones before air defense systems destroyed 14 of them, and the leadership added in a statement on the messaging app Telegram: “In total, we recorded up to 17 drone launches. possibly from the coastal region. east of the Sea of Azov. The port of Odessa was a favorite vacation spot for both Ukrainians and Russians before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24 last year. In turn, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu yesterday announced the delivery of Iskander-M operational-tactical systems capable of using nuclear missiles to the Belarusian armed forces, and the start of training of Belarusian crews in combat operations. how to use them. Shoigu said during a conference call with the leadership of the Russian Armed Forces: “The Iskander-M operational-tactical missile system, capable of using missiles with conventional and nuclear warheads, has been handed over to the Armed Forces of Belarus.” It began on April 3 in one of the squares.” Dedicated to Russian exercises to train Belarusian crews to use this system to protect the Union State. Politically, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said yesterday that Finland’s accession to NATO is another aggravation of the situation, since the expansion of the alliance is an encroachment on Russia’s security. Peskov told reporters: “The Kremlin believes that this is another aggravation of the situation. NATO expansion is an encroachment on our security and Russia’s national interests, we talked about it, and we see it that way,” Peskov added. Peskov also said that Russia will closely monitor what will happen in Finland after joining NATO, and accordingly, measures that Russia deems necessary will be taken. Peskov noted that the issue of Finland’s accession to NATO is fundamentally different from the problem of Ukraine, since Finland never been anti-Russian. “Of course, Ms. Lavrova: Russia considers the European Union an unfriendly organization,” Peskov told reporters. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an interview with the Russian newspaper Arguments and Facts, said that the EU has lost Russia, but in the end it is the EU member states and the EU leaders themselves who openly declare the need to defeat Russia. Lavrov added: “For these reasons, we consider the European Union an unfriendly association,” noting that supplying ammunition and weapons to the Kiev regime, as well as sending instructors and mercenaries to Ukraine, are hostile activities. BEIJING. Yesterday, China vowed to “resolutely defend its sovereignty” ahead of an upcoming meeting in California between Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Taiwan’s leader, who belongs to the anti-Beijing Independence Party, is due to stop in the United States on her way back from a diplomatic tour of Central America. And Kevin McCarthy, a member of the Republican Party, confirmed that he would meet Tsai Ing-wen in California today. “China will closely monitor the situation and resolutely defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said. China considers the democratic island of Taiwan, with a population of 23 million, part of its territory and does not rule out that it will take it back by force if necessary. “China strongly opposes the United States’ arrangement of Cai’s passage through its territory and strongly opposes a meeting between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a third US official, and Tsai Ing-wen,” Mao added. In the presence of reporters, she felt that the meeting “dangerously violates the One China Principle and the Three Sino-US Joint Statements, and seriously undermines China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Russia considers the European Union an unfriendly organization. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with the Russian newspaper Argumenty i Fakty: The European Union has lost Russia, but the blame ultimately lies with them, the member states of the European Union and the leaders of the Union themselves, who openly declare the need to defeat Prussia. Lavrov added: “For these reasons, we consider the European Union an unfriendly association,” noting that the transfer of ammunition and weapons to the Kiev regime, as well as the sending of instructors and mercenaries to Ukraine, are hostile activities.