Tailors busy stitching Russian flags to meet rising demand in Bamako, the capital of Mali, December 26, 2021 On Friday, Mali’s transitional government has clarified that it is engaged with Russian military trainers even as French troops are drawing down. So, it is official that Russian security personnel are deployed to Mali. Mali, a …
Putin hints at military options in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a cabinet meeting via video conference outside Moscow, December 24, 2021 The Rossiya 1 state television in Moscow broadcast today President Vladimir Putin’s annual press conference on Friday. It conveys a much fuller picture of the grave crisis brewing in the Russian-American relations than what the excerpts in the Russian …
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Japan-US ‘island chain’ will roil China, Russia
Warship formations of China and Russia sailed through the Tsugaru Strait in northern Japan on October 18, 2021 (File photo) A Kyodo News agency report on Friday cited Japanese government sources to the effect that Tokyo and Washington have drawn up a draft joint operation plan that would enable the setup of an attack base …
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US plays Tibet card as India seeks modus vivendi with China
Undersecretary of State Uzra Zeya has been designated as US Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, Washington, Dec. 20, 2021 The cracking sound of ice breaking on the frozen lake of India-China relations will trigger a new wave of US-backed media campaign to instigate the hawks. Armed with satellite imageries made available from the US and peppered …
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Nord Stream 2 is a double-edged geopolitical tool
Germany has suspended Nord Stream 2 certification; and, Russian gas stops flowing into Germany from December 21, 2021 When Pavel Zavalny, the chairman of Russian parliamentary committee on energy, made the forecast last Friday that Nord Stream 2 pipeline could start shipping natural gas to Germany as early as next month, it was received with …
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Joe Biden presidency on the skids. World must take note.
US President Joe Biden boards Marine One as he returns to White House after spending weekend in Delaware, Dec. 20, 2021 American politics took a dramatic turn on Sunday with the announcement by the West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin that he “cannot vote” for the Build Back Better Act, President Joe Biden’s signature $2.2 …
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Reflections on Events in Afghanistan-37
Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi arrives at Islamabad Airport, Pakistan, December 18, 2021 37. When are the Indians returning? A big international spectacle is slated to be staged in Islamabad tomorrow regarding Afghanistan with the attendance of foreign ministers from the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC). The participants also include special invitees …
Spectre of war is haunting Europe
A fateful week is ending today for international security with the Russian Foreign Ministry releasing the two documents on security guarantees that Moscow had proposed to Washington as the basis for discussions to ease the tensions over NATO’s eastward expansion and to cease the alliance’s deployments close to Russia’s borders, including in Ukraine. Out of …
A Sino-Russian military alliance is gratuitous (as of now)
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) met with Russian President Vladimir Putin via video link on December 15, 2001 The New York Times got the story correct when its Moscow bureau watched the outcome of the videoconference between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday and assessed that the US’ two main adversaries …
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Russia-China alliance at the tipping point
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Chinese President Xi Jinping after their talks, Kremlin, Moscow, June 5, 2019. The initiative by Beijing to propose a virtual meeting between President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday radically transforms the geopolitics of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s relentless eastward expansion and the Western military …
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