Russian Naval Withdrawal from Syria Raises Questions About Moscow's Future Presence
Recent satellite imagery reveals that Russian naval vessels have temporarily departed from the Tartous naval base in Syria
Here are the highlights of events related to the war in Ukraine over the past 24 hours:
The US is looking forward to opportunities to resume dialogue with Russia on the issue of strategic stability
The United States looks forward to opportunities to resume dialogue with Russia on issues of strategic stability. This was stated in an interview with RIA Novosti by the acting head of the American Embassy in Russia, Elizabeth Rudd.
Elizabeth Rudd assured that President Biden remains committed to defining the mechanism that will replace the Russian-American Strategic Offensive Arms Reduction Treaty when it expires in 2026:
"We will continue to hold discussions within the framework of the Bilateral Consultative Commission - the mechanism of the 'New START' Treaty and we will expect opportunities to resume the strategic dialogue".
Elizabeth Rudd emphasized that the United States and Russia maintain bilateral channels for risk management, especially in the nuclear sphere. According to her, these very issues were discussed at the November 14 meeting in Ankara between CIA Director William Burns and the head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin.
"William Burns has not conducted any negotiations and has not discussed the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine," Rudd said.
She emphasized that it is not the job of the United States to negotiate with Russia on behalf of Ukraine, because "this is not Russia's war with the West and the United States, but a war that Russia started against Ukraine."
Volodymyr Zelensky expects more Russian missile strikes against Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Russia will certainly carry out new missile attacks against his country.
"We understand that terrorists are preparing new strikes. We know this for sure. As long as they have missiles, unfortunately, they will not stop. But our ability to help each other and take care of the most vulnerable - the elderly, families with children, those who lost homes and relatives in the war - our mutual aid is one of the elements of protection against terror is our strength," Zelensky emphasized in his usual address to Ukrainians, published on the official website of the presidency.
The Ukrainian head of state explained that this week will be as difficult as the previous one, when Russian attacks on energy infrastructure subjected Ukrainians to the worst electricity shortages since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February. Our defense forces are preparing, the whole country is preparing, Zelensky also said.
Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure amount to genocide, Ukraine's chief prosecutor Andrii Kostin said in an interview with the BBC. The strikes against key facilities are an attack on "the entire Ukrainian nation" and are aimed at forcing Ukraine to surrender, Kostin believes. He also pointed out that 11 thousand Ukrainian children were forcibly deported to Russia.
Kostin said Ukrainian prosecutors are investigating reports of more than 49,000 war crimes and crimes of aggression committed since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24.
The term genocide refers to an attempt to destroy a group of people in whole or in part. Russia denies having such a goal. Andriy Kostin called for the creation of an "international tribunal" backed by countries from "the entire civilized world" to hold Russia accountable.
Russia denies having such goals in Ukraine, the BBC recalls.
The mayor of Kyiv rejected Zelensky's accusations about the creation of special shelters in the capital
Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko rejected accusations from President Volodymyr Zelensky, who on Saturday criticized municipal authorities for not doing a good job of opening special shelters for people left without electricity and heating due to Russian attacks, Reuters reported.
Klitschko said 430 "centers" were helping residents and another 100 were planned in case of emergency.
According to the mayor, the accusations are an attempt to get involved in political games and the presidential allies are engaged in "manipulation".
David Arakhamia, chairman of Zelenskiy's Servant of the People parliamentary group, said Klitschko's explanations "differ significantly" from what citizens have been reporting.
Peskov: Russia will not "shoot itself in the foot" with a cap on the prices of energy resources
Russia is guided by its own interests and will not "shoot itself in the foot" if the West imposes a ceiling on the prices of energy resources.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this on the air of "Russia-1" TV, quoted by TASS and BTA.
Peskov recalled a statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin that the federation would not develop oil an gas trade with such countries. "For now, this is our position," he emphasized.
"Obviously, however, we now see some mentioned figures (for this ceiling). There are too many nuances that we need to include in the calculations. Therefore, having a kind of the main line established by the president, we can still express conviction, that no one will shoot themselves in the foot in any situation in our country. We have already learned to be reasonable and to be guided only by our own interests," explained the spokesperson
At the initiative of the US, the G7 plans to impose a price cap on Russian oil, taking advantage of the fact that most transport companies and insurers are located in G7 countries or their allies, for example in Greece, Malta, Cyprus and other small member countries of the EU.
Diplomats from the EU countries have postponed until next week the negotiations on such a ceiling, recalls TASS.
Currently, Russian oil is trading at around per barrel, and from an economic point of view, a ceiling of -70 per barrel will not be a crazy move. However, this could have long-term strategic implications in the event of another spike in oil prices. According to European experts, this creates a serious risk that Russia will stop supplies to countries that have joined such a mechanism. Then, if other oil producers do not sharply increase production, prices on the world market may rise sharply, the agency adds.
Pentagon considers giving Ukraine munitions with range 'deep into Russia's rear'
The Pentagon is considering sending small-sized precision-guided munitions with a range of 150 km to Ukraine, Reuters reported, quoted in Telegram channels.
The agency has a document that contains Boeing's proposal to supply Ukraine with GLSDB systems. They can be mounted on missile systems that Ukraine already has in service. This will allow the military of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to strike "deep in the rear of Russia".
The document states that the GLSDB system is one of the plans to launch new munitions for Ukraine and America's Eastern European allies.
The small diameter ground bomb is guided by GPS, can eliminate some electronic interference, is used in all weather conditions and has small wings for target planning.
Gazprom will not reduce gas supplies to Moldova
Russian state energy giant Gazprom on Monday withdrew its threat to cut gas supplies to Moldova, but said it reserved the right to reduce or stop flows of the blue fuel in the future if Moldova fails to make agreed payments, Reuters reports.
Last week, Gazprom accused Ukraine of cutting off supplies of gas passing through its territory en route to Moldova and said it could begin reducing those flows from Monday.
In its latest statement, Gazprom said Moldovan natural gas company Moldovagaz had paid for the November deliveries of the blue fuel, adding that it had received payment for what it said was gas intended for Moldovan customers, but which remains in storage in Ukraine.
However, Gazprom accused Moldova of "regular violations" of payment obligations and added:
"Gazprom reserves the right to reduce or completely stop deliveries in the event of a payment violation".
Vadim Cheban, head of Moldovagaz, said the preliminary gas bill in November doubled to million amid increased demand for gas from the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria, where Russian troops are stationed. He indicated that Moldovagaz had paid this amount.
In a sign that gas flows have not been interrupted, Gazprom said earlier today that it would deliver 42.2 million cubic meters of gas to Europe via Ukraine, just down from Sunday's level of 42.6 million cubic meters m. Both values include the gas flows to Moldova.
Russian football is considering leaving UEFA in the direction of Asia
The Russian Football Union (RFS) will discuss the possibility of moving to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), said the president of the organization Alexander Dyukov, quoted by TASS. According to him, the question will be raised at the next meeting of the executive committee of the RFS.
"I don't think we will have any solution, but the situation requires discussion. UEFA accepts us as a member of the European family. We implement all the programs, they participate in the financing of projects," explained Dyukov.
According to him, it would be indecent for the Russian Union to conduct talks "over the head" of UEFA. "It is important for us to have official matches. We had two years with the coronavirus, and now we are punished," he added.
Russian football received a complete ban by UEFA and FIFA from international matches at club and national level because of the war in Ukraine. An appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) followed, but it was rejected.
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