The New York Times announced on January 23, citing sources in the American administration, that the President of the USA, Joseph Biden, is considering the deployment of American troops, fighter planes and warships in the Baltic states in Eastern Europe.

According to the paper, the American administration is considering sending “several thousand” American soldiers.

“It is this redeployment of troops and military strengthening that will be the cause of escalating tensions in the region. It is now clear who is interested in escalating the situation and who continues to destabilize it – the United States. For us, this is, of course, an alarming situation,” he said to the journalists.

As he emphasized, Russia will not leave these actions unanswered and will take adequate measures to respond to the growing threats.

It should be reminded that NATO allies put their army on standby today and sent additional ships and fighter planes to their bases in Eastern Europe.

Russia is not giving up on its demands for NATO
As confirmed by the spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Maria Zakharova, Moscow is not changing its demands that it has already made to the West.

“This is our position and that position remains unchanged,” she said, answering questions from journalists. As she stated, Moscow decided to publish the draft agreements submitted by the USA and NATO, because, as she stated, in the past, Russia encountered “fictional stories”, as well as “changes in positions, as well as other nuances”.

It should be reminded that Moscow asked for legally binding guarantees from NATO that the bloc would stop expanding to the east and would return to the 1979 borders.

Asked what that means for Bulgaria and Romania, which joined NATO after 1997, the ministry said Russia wants all foreign equipment and troops to withdraw from those countries, Reuters added.

“It is about the withdrawal of foreign troops, equipment and weapons, as well as other steps aimed at restoring the situation to the circumstances from 1997 in countries that were not NATO members at the time. That includes Bulgaria and Romania,” Lavrov said.

NATO rejected all those requests and sent new weapons and troops to Ukraine.

“Statements full of hysteria”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the probability of the Ukrainian side starting a military conflict in eastern Ukraine is higher than ever, Reuters reports.

Peskov said that Ukraine has deployed a large number of troops near the borders of the region controlled by pro-Russian forces, which, as he stated, indicates that Kiev is preparing to attack them.

On the other hand, Ukraine has repeatedly denied these allegations. Peskov said that the information coming from the West was full of “hysteria” and “permeated with lies”.

Source: https://www.b92.net/eng/news/world.php?dd=24&mm=01&nav_id=112882&yyyy=2022

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New Italian PM agrees with US president that Kremlin should be back at the table.

LA MALBAIE, Canada — Italy’s new prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, broke sharply with the EU on Friday at his first international summit, and joined U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for Russia to be reinstated to the exclusive club of industrialized nations.

Trump called for Russia’s reinstatement as he left the White House to travel to the G7 leaders’ meeting in Quebec.

The Western powers and Japan ejected Russia from the G8 in 2014 in response to the Kremlin’s invasion, and subsequent annexation, of Crimea.

Conte posted his support for Trump’s view on Twitter, apparently between meetings with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. It’s unclear if Tusk or Juncker were aware of Conte’s statement before their meetings.

At a news conference, Tusk and Juncker mostly sidestepped questions about Conte’s position, saying they expected there would be overall agreement on Russia policy. But they also pushed back on Trump’s suggestion that Russia rejoin the club.

“I see a lot of speculation about G6 plus 1 or G7 minus 1, or G7 plus one,” Tusk said. “But let’s leave seven as it is. It’s a lucky number. At least in our culture.”

Tusk added that the G7 faced enough obstacles in their quest for unified positions without adding Russia back into the mix. Juncker, meanwhile, noted that EU leaders were re-engaging Russia in other formats, such as a recent economic forum in St. Petersburg attended by French President Emmanuel Macron.

But he said Russia still had to be held accountable for its actions.

“As we see it, Russia is in violation of international law because of its annexation of Crimea, equally because of what it has done in the east of Ukraine,” Juncker said. “Over and above that, of course, there are good reasons leaving these factors aside to renew our relationship with Russia and this is something which we intend to do,” he said. “I expect that it will be something we discuss.”

“But,” he added, “we need to take a stand against an aggressive approach and aggressive action on the part of Russia.”

Since Russia’s ejection, Western nations, including the U.S. and all EU countries, have been unified in the need to maintain economic sanctions and other pressure on Russia over its military intervention in Ukraine, in Crimea and in the eastern Donbas region, where the Kremlin continues to support an armed insurgency.

–Other G7 powers have not indicated any willingness to ease the pressure on Russia.–

Conte’s statement adds further diplomatic chaos to the G7 leaders’ summit, which was already descending into a chaotic war of words on Twitter. Trump on Thursday lashed out at the summit host, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and French President Emmanuel Macron, who criticized Trump for imposing unilateral tariffs on steel and aluminum.

While Trump was still traveling, and expected to arrive late at the summit, his comment calling for Russia to be reinstated is certain to further inflame tensions in Quebec.

On the South Lawn of the White House, Trump claimed to be Putin’s worst nightmare but then said “Russia should be in this meeting. Why are we having a meeting without Russia being in the meeting? And I would recommend, and it’s up to them, but Russia should be in the meeting. They should be a part of it.

“You know, whether you like it or not — and it may not be politically correct — but we have a world to run. And in the G7, which used to be the G8, they threw Russia out. They should let Russia come back in. Because we should have Russia at the negotiating table.” It was unclear what negotiation Trump had in mind.

A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, who was on an official trip to China, told reporters Russia was focused “on other formats.”

Other G7 powers have not indicated any willingness to ease the pressure on Russia, and the EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, has worked hard to maintain unity on the issue in Brussels.

Conte’s statement will be especially problematic for Mogherini, who is Italian.

The first draft of the contract drawn up between the two parties in Conte’s government — the far-right League and the anti-establishment 5 Star Movement — contained a line calling for the end of Russian sanctions “immediately.” The text was amended in later versions.

In his first speech in the Italian parliament this week, Conte said that Italy remains a committed NATO partner but he added that “we will promote a revising of sanctions, starting with those that demean Russia’s civil society.”

Yet he didn’t indicate whether this should take place ‘immediately.” That’s because Rome has not yet decided whether to veto the rolling over of the sanctions during a meeting of EU leaders at the end of the month.

“We have to think about it,” said the League’s leader Matteo Salvini on Thursday at a reception at the Russian embassy in Rome.

Russia had been scheduled to host the G8 summit in 2014, and was planning to hold the leaders’ gathering in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, which was also the site of the Winter Olympics that year. Instead, officials quickly rescheduled the G7 summit for Brussels, the capital of the European Union, which participates in both the G7 and the G20 but normally does not host summits. Russian remains a part of the G20.

Source: https://www.politico.eu/article/conte-trump-russia-g8-breaks-with-eu-backs-call-for-to-return/

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• Revenge by Iran could push Israel to terminate Tehran’s presence in Syria

• This is not a drill: Syria showdown could spark Israeli-Iranian and U.S.-Russian clashes

• Syria live updates: Trump threatens Moscow as Israel stares down Iran

• Assad forces empty airports and military bases ahead of possible U.S. strike

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Wednesday, and the Russian leader urged Israel not to take action in Syria and to threaten its security. Israeli officials confirmed the call took place and said that Netanyahu told Putin that Israel will not permit Iran to set up a military presence in Syria.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at a Holocaust memorial event in Jerusalem on April 11, 2018. Emil Salman

The news of the telephone call between Netanyahu and Putin appeared as Netanyahu took the stage in Israel’s main Holocaust memorial event and issued a threat to Iran not to “test Israel’s resolve.” The Russians announced the call in statement on the website of the Kremlin, which specified that Putin insisted it is “important” to maintain Syria’s sovereignty.

Israel is on high alert for any Iranian retaliation after Tehran’s direct threat Tuesday, as well as any possible U.S. strike against Syria’s Assad regime in retaliation to the chemical attack at Douma.

Netanyahu lashed out at Iran during his Holocaust memorial speech, saying it was still intent on destroying Israel. Netanyahu also ripped into the landmark nuclear accord reached between Teheran and world powers and said: “I have a message for the leaders of Iran: Don’t test Israel’s resolve.”

Netanyahu also took the opportunity to condemn the Syrian regime and the recent chemical attack in Syria, saying that “murderous evil that is not stood up against spreads rapidly.”

President Donald Trump appears to be closer to taking action in Syria after Saturday’s deadly chemical attack, for which he vowed “animal Assad” would “pay a heavy price.”

Trump tweeted early Wednesday morning, “Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’ You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!”

Trump followed that tweet with an assessment of U.S.-Russia relations, writing, “Our relationship with Russia is worse now than it has ever been, and that includes the Cold War. There is no reason for this. Russia needs us to help with their economy, something that would be very easy to do, and we need all nations to work together. Stop the arms race?”

The Kremlin took a jab at Trump in response, saying it did not engage in “Twitter diplomacy”. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying that care should be taken not to aggravate the situation in Syria.

“We do not participate in Twitter diplomacy,” Peskov was quoted as saying by Interfax. “We support serious approaches. We continue to believe that it is important not to take steps that could harm an already fragile situation.”

A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson responded to Trump’s tweet, saying that “smart missiles should fly toward terrorists, not a legal government,” adding that it could be a U.S. attempt to destroy evidence of the alleged chemical attack on the ground.

As Trump ramped up his threats, the Syrian military has repositioned some air assets to avoid the fallout from potential missile strikes, U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday.

The officials declined further comment and it was not clear whether the Syrian moves would impact U.S. military planning for potential action against Syria over a suspected poison gas attack.

Source: https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/syria/in-call-to-netanyahu-putin-urges-israel-not-to-take-action-in-syria-1.5992415

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