Putin’s war-mongering sidekick addressed security officials Wednesday while standing in front of a battle map that seems to show a planned operation into Moldova…reports Asian Lite News
Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko appears to have indicated Vladimir Putin’s forces have plans to invade Moldova, Daily Mail reported.
Putin’s war-mongering sidekick addressed security officials Wednesday while standing in front of a battle map that seems to show a planned operation from southern Ukraine into its tiny neighbour.
The map also showed proposed battle plans for Russian troops across the country.
It detailed Russian lines of attack heading into Ukraine, some of which have materialised in the first few days of the invasion — such as forces storming towards Kyiv from the north, and towards Kherson from Crimea, Daily Mail reported.
Pic credits president.gov.by
But they also showed off several attacks that have yet to come to pass — with one even appearing to point from the port city of Odessa into Moldova, suggesting Russia plans to march troops into Ukraine’s neighbour.
Meanwhile Putin’s military has suffered an embarrassing string of defeats while trying to carry out precision strikes on key targets in an apparent effort to win the war quickly and convincingly.
That has raised fears that he is now about to deploy Russian heavy armour and artillery in an attempt to brute-force his way to victory — a strategy that could cause huge civilian casualties.
Monday’s talks, which lasted for nearly five hours, took place in Belarus near the Russian and the Ukrainian borders. The next round will take place on the border between Belarus and Poland in the coming days…reports Asian Lite News
Moscow and Kiev have found certain points that could be agreed upon during the ceasefire talks hosted by Belarus, and will return for consultations before the next round, both delegations told reporters after the talks ended on Monday, RT reported.
The main purpose of the talks was to discuss a ceasefire in Ukraine, said Mykhailo Podolyak, advisor to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The two sides have identified a number of priority topics, on which “certain solutions have been outlined”, he added.
The two delegations found points on which common positions could be reached, confirmed Vladimir Medinsky, aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, RT reported.
Monday’s talks, which lasted for nearly five hours, took place in Belarus near the Russian and the Ukrainian borders. The next round will take place on the border between Belarus and Poland in the coming days, Medinsky said.
Ukraine’s delegation was led by Defence Minister Alexey Reznikov, and its main demand was an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of all Russian troops from the country.
Zelensky said on Sunday that he didn’t really believe the negotiations would succeed, but thought they held “a chance, however small, to de-escalate the situation.”
While the talks were ongoing, Zelensky sent a formal request for Ukraine’s EU membership to Brussels.
Meanwhile, Russia has put its nuclear deterrent forces on highest alert amid NATO moves to send weapons to Kiev.
Belarus is an ally of Russia and is being used as a launch point for Russian troops into Ukraine….reports Asian Lite News
Ukrainian intelligence suggests Belarus is showing “readiness to maybe participate directly” in Russia’s invasion, “in addition to allowing Russians to use their territory as well as letting them cross the border” into Ukraine, a Ukrainian government official told CNN.
A second source close to the Ukrainian government told CNN that in addition to the Ukrainian intel, the Biden administration has also conveyed to Kiev that Belarus is preparing to invade.
The Washington Post first reported that Belarus was preparing to send soldiers into Ukraine, citing a US administration official.
The intelligence comes as talks are set for Monday between Russia and Ukraine near the Belarusian border.
Belarus is an ally of Russia and is being used as a launch point for Russian troops into Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office said Belarus President Aleksander Lukashenko called his Ukrainian counterpart on Sunday.
Lukashenko said last week that Belarusian troops could join the invasion “if it becomes necessary.”
“Our troops are not participating in any way in this operation. We’re not going to justify ourselves here about our participation or non-participation in this conflict. I repeat once again. Our troops are not there but if it becomes necessary, if Belarus and Russia need them, they will be there,” Lukashenko said, CNN reported.
European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen said the ruling called EU foundations into question, “a direct challenge to the unity of the European legal order.”…reports Asian Lite News.
Europe has persevered through a year of challenges in 2021, in the wake of Brexit and amid painstaking efforts towards economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
As the year draws to a close, the unfolding consequences of Brexit, speculations over a Polish exit from the European Union (EU), and the lingering migrant crisis have continued to weigh heavily on EU member states’ sense of cohesion and solidarity.
In one of the most heart-breaking headlines, 27 undocumented migrants died in an English Channel boat accident on November 24 while trying to reach the UK from France. The accident triggered a squabble between the two countries, which blamed each other for the tragedy.
The challenges of 2021 have shown how a strong & fair tax and customs environment can support economic recovery. We made a lot of progress.
The channel shipwreck further aggravated Anglo-French relations, which had already been strained following London’s signing of the AUKUS pact with the US and Australia in September, and the dispute over licenses for French fishermen to fish in British waters after Brexit.
Another major post-Brexit row concerns the Northern Ireland protocol, a deal agreed by the UK and the EU to prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after Brexit by keeping Northern Ireland in the EU’s single market for goods, Xinhua news agency reported.
But the arrangement has led to checks on goods crossing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, creating a barrier to trade within the UK. After six months of unfruitful negotiations, the row will continue in 2022.
Analysts interpret Brexit as a warning sign for European integration, following which new divisions could be created between EU member states, notably between Eurozone and non-Eurozone countries, net-payers and net-recipients from the EU budget, and between member states in the north and south, and east and west.
“The threat of European disintegration following Brexit has reversed the seemingly irreversible course of ‘ever closer union’,” said University of Cambridge PhD candidate, Ugur Tekiner in an article, adding that the EU needs effective leadership to set a clear trajectory for the integration process.
Poland was in the limelight again in October after its top court ruled primacy of national constitution over EU law — a ruling that challenged the supremacy of EU law, considered as a central pillar of European integration.
European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen said the ruling called EU foundations into question, “a direct challenge to the unity of the European legal order.”
Critics of Poland’s government feared the ruling would push the country further on the way out of the EU, though the government dismissed the idea as “fake news”.
As the absolute majority of Poland’s citizens strongly support its EU membership, only a few believe that the country, the largest beneficiary of EU funding, is leaving it.
The Polish government, led by the conservative Law and Justice party, has been in conflict with EU officials since it took power in 2015. The dispute is mainly over changes to the Polish judicial system, which give the ruling party more power over the courts.
Polish authorities say they aim to reform what they describe as a corrupt and inefficient justice system, whereas the European Commission believes such changes erode the country’s democratic system of checks and balances and is holding up billions of euros to Poland earmarked in a pandemic recovery plan.
The Commission announced last week that it was taking legal action against Poland for violating EU law and compromising judicial independence of Polish judges, prompting a rebuke from Warsaw.
Meanwhile, a month-long standoff at the border between Poland and Belarus lasted from summer into winter. The border crisis escalated in November, when large groups of migrants tried to cross from Belarus into the EU, raising the specter of a humanitarian emergency.
The EU blamed Belarus for sending migrants over the border as retaliation for EU sanctions, whereas Minsk denied the accusation.
The European Commission put forward a set of temporary asylum and return measures to assist Poland, Latvia and Lithuania, three EU members bordering Belarus, in addressing the emergency. According to the proposal, migrants could be held in closed camps at the border for up to four months and faster deportations will explicitly be authorized.
The move, however, came under immediate criticism from some members of the European Parliament and rights groups, who said the new approach was unacceptable and “putting politics over people’s lives,” especially at a time when Belarus had already evacuated the main camps at its border with Poland and expatriated hundreds of asylum seekers.
The EU’s — and its individual member states’ — approach to migration has created what appears to be a permanent crisis of solidarity. This is a heated and increasingly divisive issue within the bloc and even within the member states, prompting the EU to tackle the crisis from its root.
The European Commission has proposed to make 2022 the European Year of Youth, hoping the younger generation will strengthen European solidarity and build a better future — a mission already taken by some.
Since the age of 18, British humanitarian aid worker, Mary Finn has been involved in sea rescue operations for migrants off the coasts of Greece, Turkey and Libya. Now at 24, she bears witness to the situation of refugees in Europe and its consequences on European politics.
“We are not alone, there is a generation of young people who are not willing to stand by and watch humanity and our planet fall apart,” she said in an Instagram posting after the premiere of a documentary on the experience of herself and her peers at Cannes Film Festival in July.
While discussing the situation on the border between Belarus and the EU, Putin on Tuesday spoke in favour of direct dialogue between representatives from EU member states and Minsk, the Kremlin said…reports Asian Lite News.
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, where the two leaders discussed the EU-Belarus migrant crisis and the situation in Ukraine, among other issues.
Putin discusses 'aggravating' Ukrainian situation, European migrant crisis with Macron https://t.co/6xxLdOi1lP
While discussing the situation on the border between Belarus and the EU, Putin on Tuesday spoke in favour of direct dialogue between representatives from EU member states and Minsk, the Kremlin said.
“The fact that Poland and the Baltic States are violating their international obligations to protect the rights of refugees and that the migration crisis needs to be overcome in accordance with humanitarian law was noted,” it added.
Putin and Macron further exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine, where the Russian leader “provided specific examples of violations by Kiev of the Minsk agreements, which is the only viable path towards overcoming the internal Ukraine crisis.”
“It was also noted that the Ukrainian authorities are purposefully aggravating the situation on the line of contact, and are doing so with the complicity of a number of Western countries,” the Kremlin said, adding that Ukraine was being supplied with modern weapons, which posed a direct threat to Russia’s security.
Putin underlined the importance of international negotiations aimed at developing legally stated guarantees to forestall NATO’s further eastward expansion and the deployment of weapons that threaten Russia in neighbouring states, primarily, Ukraine.
The leaders also covered cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the sanctions are meant to “raise the cost” on Lukashenko’s government for its crackdown on dissent and attacks on “international norms”…reports Asian Lite News.
Britain, United States, European Union and Canada have imposed sanctions on Belarus, accusing the government of President Alexander Lukashenko of human rights violations and “orchestrating” irregular migration at the EU’s border.
The two North American countries, Britain and the European bloc announced the sanctions in a joint statement on Thursday, saying they were targeting “certain individuals and entities”.
The move is part of an ongoing pressure campaign by Western countries against Lukashenko, whom they accuse of rights abuses and creating a migration crisis.
“We remain committed to supporting the democratic aspirations of the people of Belarus and stand together to impose costs on the regime – and those who support it – for its efforts to silence the voices of independent civil society, media and all Belarusians seeking to speak the truth about what is happening in their country,” the statement said.
Britain froze the assets of OJSC Belaruskali, a state-owned Belarusian potash fertiliser producer, and the US tightened sanctions against the company, which it had already blacklisted in August. Washington also restricted financial dealings with Belarusian sovereign debt.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the sanctions are meant to “raise the cost” on Lukashenko’s government for its crackdown on dissent and attacks on “international norms”.
“These sanctions are also in response to the [Lukashenko] regime’s callous exploitation of vulnerable migrants from other countries in order to orchestrate migrant smuggling along its border with EU states,” Blinken said in a statement.
The West has blamed Belarus for a migration crisis along the Eastern European country’s border with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.
The EU accused Minsk of facilitating the arrival of thousands of people, mostly from the Middle East, at the bloc’s border in response to European sanctions against Lukashenko’s government. Belarus has dismissed the accusations as “absurd.”
The impasse left thousands of people stranded in the freezing cold along the EU’s border. On Thursday, the European Commission proposed measures that would make it more difficult to seek asylum in Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.
Tensions between the Belarusian government, which is allied with Russia, and the West intensified in August 2020 after a presidential election that the US describes as “fraudulent” gave Lukashenko a sixth term in office.
The election spurred mass anti-government protests in Belarus that were met with a crackdown on dissent.
The US and European countries have imposed several rounds of sanctions against Lukashenko and his government over the past year.
“These sanctions continue to target important sources of revenue to the Lukashenko regime and place severe restrictions on those responsible for some of the worst anti-democratic acts in Belarus,” UK foreign secretary Liz Truss said in a statement on Thursday.
He explained that the distinction between war and peace has been diminishing over time…reports Asian Lite News.
The European Union’s new defence strategy, called the Strategic Compass, is designed to prepare the bloc for response to situations such as the current migration crisis on the EU-Belarus border, the top EU diplomat has said.
Addressing a press conference after a meeting of EU defence ministers, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said the document was “not just another policy document” but a guide for action with concrete measures and timelines.
“We must respond with all possible tools to our disposal,” said Borrell, when elaborating on a proposal to establish a hybrid toolbox, which “would be extremely relevant to face these kinds of situations (concerning Belarus). The world is full of hybrid situations where we face intermediate dynamics of competition, intimidation and coercion and what we are seeing today in the Polish and Lithuanian border with Belarus is a typical example of that,” he said.
He explained that the distinction between war and peace has been diminishing over time.
Borrell said he proposed to the member states the creation of a rapid reaction force of 5,000 people to solve operational problems.
The proposal to create the rapid reaction force will be included in the final draft of the program, which is planned to be approved at the EU summit in March 2022.
Tuesday’s press conference appeared to be the first occasion that Borrell publicly explained what the Strategic Compass is about.
In his address on Monday, Borrell said that he had spoken to Makei and demanded that assistance should be given to provide humanitarian aid to the stranded migrants…reports Asian Lite News.
Foreign Ministers of the European Union (EU) have agreed on new sanctions against Belarus over the ongoing migrant crisis, the bloc’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said.
Addressing a press conference after the Ministers’ meeting on Monday, he said the new set of sanctions had been “politically adopted” and “will be finalised in the coming days.”
The sanctions will affect “quite an important number” of individuals and entities, he added.
“By expanding the scope of the sanctions, we will be able to target those responsible for exploiting vulnerable migrants and for facilitating illegal border crossing into the EU,” Borrell said.
The EU has been blaming Belarus for the current migrant crisis at its external borders.
Belarus has denied the accusation and expressed its readiness for dialogue.
The country’s official BelTA News Agency reported on Sunday that Belarusian Foreign Affairs Minister Vladimir Makei had told the EU that his country would try to reduce migrant flows from Asia, Africa and the Middle East to the bloc.
In his address on Monday, Borrell said that he had spoken to Makei and demanded that assistance should be given to provide humanitarian aid to the stranded migrants.
Also on Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko held a phone conversation on the situation at the border, especially regarding humanitarian aid for the migrants there, according to media reports.
So far, 166 individuals and 15 entities have been designated under the EU’s sanctions on Belarus, according to the bloc’s external action service.
According to Lukashenko, the sanctions have dented his country’s ability to tackle the crisis.
Meanwhile, Poland’s Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Wasik said Monday that thousands of migrants were trying to cross from Belarus into his country near the Kuznica border crossing.
“Thousands of migrants have moved from their camp to the closed Kuznica crossing under the supervision of Belarusian security forces,” Wasik said in a tweet, adding that the Polish authorities were “ready for every scenario”.
The Polish Defence Ministry said that the number of migrants gathered at Kuznica has been steadily growing.
The latest reports estimated their number at between 2,000 and 4,000.
The EU has been blaming Belarus for the current migrant crisis at its external borders…..reports Asian Lite News
Foreign Ministers of the European Union (EU) have agreed on new sanctions against Belarus over the ongoing migrant crisis, the bloc’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said.
Addressing a press conference after the Ministers’ meeting on Monday, he said the new set of sanctions had been “politically adopted” and “will be finalised in the coming days”, reports Xinhua news agency.
The sanctions will affect “quite an important number” of individuals and entities, he added.
“By expanding the scope of the sanctions, we will be able to target those responsible for exploiting vulnerable migrants and for facilitating illegal border crossing into the EU,” Borrell said.
The EU has been blaming Belarus for the current migrant crisis at its external borders.
Belarus has denied the accusation and expressed its readiness for dialogue.
The country’s official BelTA News Agency reported on Sunday that Belarusian Foreign Affairs Minister Vladimir Makei had told the EU that his country would try to reduce migrant flows from Asia, Africa and the Middle East to the bloc.
In his address on Monday, Borrell said that he had spoken to Makei and demanded that assistance should be given to provide humanitarian aid to the stranded migrants.
Also on Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko held a phone conversation on the situation at the border, especially regarding humanitarian aid for the migrants there, according to media reports.
So far, 166 individuals and 15 entities have been designated under the EU’s sanctions on Belarus, according to the bloc’s external action service.
According to Lukashenko, the sanctions have dented his country’s ability to tackle the crisis.
Meanwhile, Poland’s Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Wasik said Monday that thousands of migrants were trying to cross from Belarus into his country near the Kuznica border crossing.
“Thousands of migrants have moved from their camp to the closed Kuznica crossing under the supervision of Belarusian security forces,” Wasik said in a tweet, adding that the Polish authorities were “ready for every scenario”.
The Polish Defence Ministry said that the number of migrants gathered at Kuznica has been steadily growing.
The latest reports estimated their number at between 2,000 and 4,000.
According to The Telegraph, UK officials fear that the migrant crisis at the Polish border could soon reach closer to the United Kingdom…reports Asian Lite News.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has accused Moscow of bearing responsibility for the migrant crisis on the Belarusian-Polish border.
“Russia has a clear responsibility here. It must press the Belarusian authorities to end the crisis and enter into dialogue,” Truss said in her article published by The Telegraph on Saturday.
She accused Minsk of using migrants “as pawns” and of undermining regional security.
“We are not just standing side by side with Poland as it bears the brunt of this shameful manufactured migrant crisis, but also the others in the Visegrad Four – Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic – and our friends in the Baltics and Ukraine,” Truss said.
According to The Telegraph, UK officials fear that the migrant crisis at the Polish border could soon reach closer to the United Kingdom.
On Saturday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell discussed the situation on the Belarusian-Polish border with the foreign ministers of Poland and Lithuania and said that the issue will also be brought up at the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) next week.
Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Aleinik said on Saturday that Minsk does not see the European Union making any serious efforts to hold dialogue with Belarus to resolve the ongoing migrant crisis.
Read my piece in @Telegraph on Belarus. The United Kingdom will not look away. We will stand with our allies like Poland in the region, who are on the frontier of freedom.
Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have been accusing Belarus of orchestrating a migrant crisis to get back at Brussels for sanctions against the government of President Alexander Lukashenko. The Belarusian leader has rejected the accusations, saying that his cash-strapped country can no longer afford tight border controls.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Russia is not involved in the migration crisis on the border between Belarus and Poland, and that Moscow is making attempts to assist conflict resolution through contacts with authorities. (ANI/Sputnik)
