#Russia deploys its forces for operations in Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean to the Al-Khadim base in #Libya The Russians have supplied mercenaries and weapons to General Khalifa Haftar's forces in al-Khadim for years. Since mid-December, following the fall of the #Assad regime on the 8th of December, Moscow's Antonov AN-124 and Ilyushin IL-76 aircraft have been flying daily from Khmeimim to al-Khadim in eastern Libya, near Haftar-held Benghazi. The Russians have supplied mercenaries and weapons to General Khalifa Haftar's forces in al-Khadim for years. Earlier this year, All Eyes on Wagner reported that Russian personnel are now being accommodated in a secure compound near the base.

Kazakh president warns against misinformation, provocations about plane crash near Aktau It is crucial to prevent the spread of misleading information and provocations about the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash near #Kazakhstan’s #Aktau airport, Kassym-Jomart #Tokayev, the country’s leader, stated at a briefing dedicated to this incident. "The president emphasized the importance of countering provocative disinformation and fake news," Tokayev’s press service reported following the briefing. The Kazakh president has instructed the General Prosecutor's Office and the government commission to conduct an impartial investigation of the plane crash near Aktau. "The government commission and the Prosecutor General’s Office, together with other relevant bodies, have been instructed to ensure a comprehensive and fair investigation of the plane crash," the statement said. The Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190, en route from Baku to Grozny, crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau on December 25. The plane carried 67 people, including 62 passengers, mostly citizens of Azerbaijan, as well as nationals of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, and five crew members. According to the latest reports, 38 people, including seven Russians, were killed, while 29 others survived. A special flight sent by Russia’s Emergencies Ministry has transported nine Russian nationals, who were injured in the crash, including a child, to Moscow for medical treatment.

Senior Russian general, his aide killed in Moscow blast Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops Lieutenant General Igor #Kirillov and his aide were killed in a blast in southeastern Moscow on Tuesday morning. The #blast was caused by an explosive device that had been planted in an electric scooter, Spokeswoman for the Russian Investigative Committee Svetlana Petrenko said. "On the morning of December 17, an explosive device planted in a scooter went off near a residential building entrance on Ryazansky Avenue in Moscow, the investigation showed. Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov and his aide were killed in the explosion," she said. According to Petrenko, the Committee’s Moscow department has launched a criminal probe into the attack. Circumstances behind the crime are currently being investigated.

Ukraine to lose third of territory, get no invitation to #NATO, says Slovak PM Ukraine will lose 30% of its territory due to the conflict with Russia, but will never receive an invitation to NATO from the United States and its allies, #Slovak Prime Minister Robert #Fico said. "I think #Ukraine will lose a third of its territory, but it will be offered security guarantees, such as the presence of foreign troops. If this is considered the happiness for Ukraine that everyone talks about, I believe that Ukrainians will be betrayed," he said in an interview with Brazil's Folha de S.Paulo newspaper. According to Fico, the solution to the Ukraine conflict lies in achieving a ceasefire and initiating negotiations. "Ukraine <...> has allowed itself to be drawn into a situation that cannot end well for the country. It will lose territory and will not be invited to join NATO," he remarked. The prime minister also emphasized that the conflict's repercussions would significantly impact Ukraine's internal stability. On December 8, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated that Moscow was open to talks on Ukraine, while in order to get on the peace track, it would be enough for Ukraine’s Zelensky to cancel his decree banning any talks with Russia and give instructions to resume dialogue based on the Istanbul agreements, while taking into account the actual situation on the ground. Meanwhile, Zelensky has rejected the #Christmas truce and prisoner exchange proposed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Nevertheless, he continues to express hope that Donald Trump could establish a fair and lasting peace in Ukraine.

Scholz-Putin talk should be welcomed, as it is right step --- Bundestag #Bundestag member of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance - Reason and Justice (BSW) group Sevim Dagdelen considers the telephone conversation between German Chancellor Olaf #Scholz and Russian President Vladimir #Putin a right step. "Even if it is a maneuver designed to present oneself as Chancellor of the Peace in the upcoming election battle, it should be welcomed that Olaf Scholz has finally reached the point of having a direct conversation with Russian President Putin," she wrote on her X page. "The statement made by his predecessor Helmut Schmidt that it is better to negotiate for 100 hours about nothing than to shoot for one minute was and still is correct," Dagdelen noted. The lawmaker emphasized that politicians who are "intoxicated by war" and advocate for an imposed peace or the continuation of the conflict "until Kiev's victory" are only contributing to further loss of life. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, marking their first phone conversation since December 2022. According to the Kremlin, the leaders discussed Ukraine, the Middle East crisis, and bilateral relations between Moscow and Berlin. They agreed that their aides would maintain communication. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that Scholz’s decision to call Putin demonstrates political will to understand Moscow's position firsthand.

Russia to open embassies in several African countries, reports MFA #Moscow will open embassies in an array of countries in #Africa, with Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone among them, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who also serves as special presidential envoy for the Middle East and Africa, told TASS in an interview following the First Ministerial Conference Russia-Africa. "Embassies [will be opened], of course. An embassy in Burkina Faso was just opened. An embassy in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, is about to be opened," he said, adding that there is also "a list of countries where [embassies] have been closed." "Moreover, [Russian Foreign Minister] Sergey V. Lavrov has said that Sierra Leone is next in line, in Freetown," Bogdanov added. In some African states, such as South Sudan, for example, the Russian side reached an agreement at some point to open an embassy, though "it has not been done for a variety of reasons," he noted. "Now I hope that it is also planned, to open [an embassy] in Juba, South Sudan," the official said.

Trump, Putin speak over phone President #Trump has already spoken over the phone with Russian President Vladimir #Putin, The Washington Post said, citing its sources. However, neither Washington not Moscow have officially confirmed this information. According to The Washington Post, Trump and Putin discussed the situation in Ukraine and "the goal of peace on the European continent and Trump expressed an interest in follow-up conversations to discuss ‘the resolution of Ukraine’s war soon,’ several of the people said." However, the newspaper noted, Trump’s calls with world leaders are not backed by the Department of State and US administration interpreters, since Trump and his aides "are distrustful of career government officials following the leaked transcripts of presidential calls during his first term." "They are just calling [Trump] directly," it cited one of the people familiar with the calls. Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the Russian president is open to dialogue with Trump, however, in his words, nothing concrete could be said about it as of yet. Speaking at Thursday’s plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club, Putin congratulated Trump on winning the presidential election, adding that he saw nothing wrong with calling Trump. The latter, however, told NBC that he had not yet spoken with the Russian leader but believed such a call was highly likely. #TRUMP2024

Ukrainian attack on Russia’s Kursk region fails to produce results, explains British diplomat The #Ukrainian army’s attack on #Russia’s borderline #Kursk Region did not produce the results that Kiev had expected, John Foreman, former British military attache in Moscow (2019-22) and Kiev (2014), told the Daily Telegraph. "Russian progress actually picked up after Kursk," he said, as cited by the newspaper. "Politically, the Kursk offensive didn’t change much in Washington, D.C., or Europe. I’m still unconvinced of its strategic merit," the diplomat added. According to the Daily Telegraph, "Ukrainian officials had hoped that the invasion of Russia would impress their allies, who would agree to increase weapon supplies and allow Western missiles to be fired at targets in Russia." However, neither Washington nor London has yet approved "Ukraine’s request for a license to expand missile strikes," while the Ukrainian army is retreating not only in Donbas but also in the Kursk Region, which appears "to have come as a surprise to Ukraine and the US."

Ceasefire in Ukraine in Europe's interests, says Orban's adviser A quick ceasefire and the end of the conflict in #Ukraine is in Europe's interests, said Balazs Orban, political adviser of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor #Orban. "We (Hungary) are 100% sure of that, everybody is 100% sure on that," he said in an interview with the Euractiv website, referring to the need to end the conflict in Ukraine. "The question is only the time, and we think that for Europe, the sooner it comes, the better," the prime minister's advisor said. The EU, he said, needs to maintain communication with Russia, because if a future peace agreement between Moscow and Kiev is concluded without taking into account the interests of the EU, Europe will suffer. The adviser also pointed out that Viktor Orban did not aim at influencing the parties to the conflict or obtaining any guarantees from them during his visits to Russia and Ukraine. The purpose of the visits was "to collect information and <...> see a possibility of the potential ceasefire," Balazs Orban explained. The Hungarian prime minister visited Kiev and Moscow on July 2 and 5. He proposed first to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and then to Russian leader Vladimir Putin to consider the prospect of a ceasefire and preparations for peace talks. At a press conference following the meeting, Putin emphasized that Russia was not in favor of a ceasefire, as Kiev could use this to its advantage. Instead, he advocated for a complete end to the conflict in Ukraine. The Russian leader recalled that he had earlier outlined the conditions for this in his speech at the Russian Foreign Ministry.

NATO shouldn’t accept Ukraine due to risk of nuclear escalation with Russia #NATO shouldn't promise to welcome Ukraine into the alliance in order to de-escalate tensions with Russia, which have increased after the start of the Ukrainian conflict, The 'American Conservative' said. According to the magazine, NATO and the US in particular should agree to talks with Russia to de-escalate nuclear risks that have increased due to the #Ukrainian conflict. The magazine pointed out that this task has become even more important following the recent accession to NATO of formerly neutral #Finland and #Sweden, which has made Russia even more reliant on its nuclear arsenal. The article said that the nuclear deal between NATO and #Moscow must include commitments not to admit Ukraine to the alliance and not to deploy the bloc's troops and infrastructure on Ukrainian territory. NATO Secretary General Jens #Stoltenberg said on June 17 that the alliance's member states had begun consultations on the need to put nuclear weapons on alert. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry #Peskov said that Stoltenberg’s statements were yet another escalation of tensions.