Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described Joe Biden’s cape as “President Putin” at a NATO summit in Washington on Thursday as a “mistake” he could “forget.”
“We can forget some mistakes, I think that’s the way it is,” declared the Ukrainian head of state during a press conference at Dublin Airport.
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War in Ukraine: Attacks on the Rise in Russia
North Korea protests in its turn
North Korea has “Condemn as strongly as possible” And “rejected” A joint NATO report condemns Pyongyang’s alleged shipment of weapons to its Russian ally, an official North Korean agency said.
In a joint statement during the organization’s summit in Washington from Tuesday to Thursday, NATO leaders condemned Pyongyang. “To provoke Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine” Inside “Provision of Direct Military Assistance” In Moscow.
Zelensky forgives Biden’s mistake
The Ukrainian president invited Joe Biden for coffee, who served him on Thursday “President Putin” During the NATO summit in Washington,He can “forget” the “mistake”.
“It was a mistake. I think the United States was very supportive of the Ukrainians. We can forget some of the mistakes, and I think that’s it.” Volodymyr Zelensky announced during a press conference at Dublin Airport.
The end of the fire of the Russian depot
The local governor of the Russian region, Rostov (South), clarified in the morning that the fire at the oil depot – by a Ukrainian drone – was extinguished.
Joint exercises
The Russian Defense Ministry has announced that two Russian warships have arrived in the Chinese port of Zhanjiang (South) to participate in joint naval exercises. “A contingent of ships of the Pacific Fleet will participate in the Joint Naval Exercise Maritime Communication – 2024”, he writes on his Telegram channel. He also posted a video of the reception.
The exercise, which runs from Monday to Wednesday, offers joint anti-aircraft and anti-submarine warfare maneuvers, with the participation of Chinese aircraft specializing in the latter field, according to the Russian ministry, which sent two recent corvettes: Loud And sustenance.
In addition to their operational dimension, military exercises have a strategic signaling dimension. If Moscow and Beijing continue to increase the number and complexity of their joint exercises, their operational capabilities will fall far short of NATO’s, according to a report published in July by researchers at the European Union’s Institute for Security Studies (IESEU). .
A fire at a Russian oil depot
During the night from Friday to Saturday, a Ukrainian drone set fire to an oil depot in the Rostov region (south), several hundred kilometers from the front line. “After the drone attack, there was a fire at an oil refinery in Simlyansky district, according to preliminary data, there were no deaths and injuries.” writes local governor Vasily Golobev in Telegram.
At the same time, the Defense Ministry announced that it had intercepted and destroyed a total of four drones launched by Ukrainian forces along the Russian border: two in the Rostov region, one in the Belgorod region, near the Ukrainian border, and one. Kursk is a short distance north of the border with Ukraine. No mention was made of the fire at the oil depot.
Canberra calls on Moscow to “take back” suspicions of espionage
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected criticism of Russia and called on the Kremlin to “back off” after a Brisbane couple accused of spying for Moscow were arrested. Anthony Albanese says Russia “lacks credibility” and accuses Moscow of engaging in “espionage here and around the world.”
“Russia may get the message: back off,” he told an event in Brisbane on the east coast. He was responding to criticism from the Russian embassy after Australian police announced on Friday that the 40-year-old woman and her 62-year-old husband – who hold Russian passports – had attempted espionage.
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- Beijing announced on Friday that it would hold joint military exercises with Russia in the south of its region, warning of the threat posed by Tokyo tightening Sino-Russian ties during a NATO summit. The exercises are expected to last until mid-July.
- North Korea “condemned as strongly as possible” and “rejected” a joint NATO report that Pyongyang allegedly sent weapons to its Russian ally, according to reports from the official North Korean agency on Saturday.
- The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted a resolution expressing its “deep concern” after the attack on a Ukrainian children’s hospital that cooperates with this UN body.
- Vladimir Putin signed a series of decrees on Friday to raise taxes on high-income earners and businesses, a move to fund a spending spree linked to the costly conflict in Ukraine.
- France is outraged after Oleg Orlov, a prominent human rights activist, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison. In a statement, French diplomacy condemned “an investigation in which security rights were systematically violated” and “condemned this new example of Russia’s authoritarian drift.”
- Moscow flatly denies press reports of a Russian plot to assassinate the boss of a major German arms manufacturer that was foiled by the US and Germany. According to Kremlin, these data are not based on “any serious arguments”.
- A Moscow court has extended the pre-trial detention of the co-chair of an election monitoring NGO, who was arrested in August 2023 amid a severe crackdown in Russia after the attack on Ukraine. The judge announced in Basmanni court that Gregory Melconiantes will remain in custody at least “until August 17”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed several decrees on Friday to raise taxes on high-income earners and businesses. After the votes of both houses of parliament, the Duma and the Federation Council, in favor of the bill, the presidential decrees were published on the official portal of the Russian government.
In Russia, public spending has exceeded revenue by several tens of billions of euros since the offensive in Ukraine began in February 2022. The central government’s deficit has reached 0.5% of GDP in the first six months of 2024, the finance ministry said. It forecasts a deficit of 1.1% this year, though that is well below most major global economies.
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F-16s, anti-aircraft defenses… NATO bolsters support for Ukraine against Russia
To compensate for this disparity, the Russian government is introducing new tax brackets for high incomes (18, 20 and 22%) and increasing corporate income tax (from 20 to 25%). “These changes are aimed at establishing a fair and balanced tax system”Finance Minister Anton Siluanov recently reasoned.
A sign that the authorities must be careful not to affect the quality of life of the majority of people already suffering from 8.6% inflation. “3 to 4”% of Russians and businesses are affected by this tax increase, Siluanov said. For the rest of the population, the tax rate will be 13% from 2001 onwards.
Officially, the revenue from this tax increase – about 27 billion extra euros in the budget for 2025 – must be used for the recurrent budget. “National Projects”, the multi-year plans were announced by Vladimir Putin at the beginning of the year and mainly refer to social spending. In reality, however, after more than two years of an economically and humanly costly conflict, funding the war effort in Ukraine is key.
Vladimir Putin revealed in mid-May that the Russian military budget will explode by nearly 70% by 2024 and represent 6.7% of GDP this year. order “streamline” Further increasing military spending and production, Vladimir Putin ousted Sergei Shoigu, a historic member of his government, in mid-May and replaced him with Andrey Pelusov, an interventionist economist with no military experience.
“Alcohol enthusiast. Twitter ninja. Tv lover. Falls down a lot. Hipster-friendly coffee geek.”