Vladimir Putin on Wednesday discussed with the ministers the progress in fulfilling the tasks set in the Address to the Federal Assembly in the social sphere.
At the beginning of the meeting, Vladimir Putin gave the floor to Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko who spoke about the implementation of the children’s tourism cashback programme and the development of the Kamchatka tourism cluster, and to Minister of Education Sergei Kravtsov who reported on the organisation of the 2021 children’s leisure season.
In addition, Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities Irek Faizullin spoke about the implementation of the urban improvement programme under the federal project on creating a comfortable urban environment.
Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova delivered the main report on the implementation of certain provisions of the Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly in the social sector.
The President thanked the ministers for the work done and expressed hope that all the tasks outlined in the Address will be fulfilled.
On Wednesday, Vladimir Putin held a video meeting with the leaders of United Russia and participants in the primaries for the right to run for the State Duma, which ended on May 30.
The President called the preliminary vote of the United Russia in demand. Almost 12 million people took part in it. They selected candidates who will represent the party in the September elections to the State Duma.
Putin began the meeting by thanking the United Russia party for the way its members performed during the pandemic.
The primaries that United Russia held the other day are also an example of courage for political parties, the President said.
There are a lot of young people among the voting participants, and this, according to the president, is an excellent sign - it means that United Russia is on the right path. These people will bring fresh, topical initiatives to the political field of the country, topical for millions of people.
Sergey Lavrov delivers remarks at a stand-alone online meeting of BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs/International Relations onTuesday.
The minister expressed Russia's solidarity with India and the Indian people, and readiness to continue to provide assistance in the fight against the pandemic. Only through joint efforts will we be able to overcome the current crisis for the benefit of our peoples, Lavrov stressed.
The burden has increased not only on national health systems. The pandemic has exacerbated negative trends in international relations, increasing the potential for conflict and the risk of collapse of the architecture of strategic stability. National selfishness, the desire to ensure their dominance at any cost and ignorance of the interests of other countries undermine the foundations of the multilateral system created after the Second World War. The cornerstone of this system is the observance of international law, that is, the UN Charter, and not the so-called "rules" invented by Western countries.
The challenges facing the international community and sustainable global development are growing in number and complexity. These are the threats of terrorism, transnational crime, including in the digital sphere, climate change and the growing gap between rich and poor. Lavrov is sure that these problems can only be solved collectively.
In this context, Russia supports the Indian initiative for the BRICS foreign ministers to coordinate a powerful joint signal to the world in favor of strengthening and reforming the multilateral system of international relations on a solid basis of international law, with the central role of the UN as the most universal and comprehensive organization in the world.
On June 1, International Children's Day, Vladimir Putin held, via videoconference, a traditional meeting with large families awarded the Order of Parental Glory.
The Order of Parental Glory is awarded to parents (adoptive parents) who are raising or have already raised seven or more children, ensuring an appropriate level of care for their health, education and physical, spiritual and moral development.
Large families from Kaluga, Volgograd, Omsk and Amur regions, Ingushetia, Perm Territory, as well as the Yamal-Nenets and Nenets autonomous areas attended the meeting.
On International Children's Day, on Tuesday, Vladimir Putin addressed the participants and guests of the of the Bolshaya Peremena National Festival.
The goal of the competition is to help students discover those abilities that do not fall into the traditional school system and the corresponding subject Olympiads. We are all different. Bolshaya Peremena intends to prove that not only the winner of the Olympiad, conventionally, in chemistry and mathematics, can be successful.
A separate track is designed for adolescents-foreigners studying Russian and focused on getting an education in Russia. 100 winners in this category will be awarded a grant for targeted training in Russian universities.
Vladimir Putin meets with children's ombudsman Anna Kuznetsova ahead of Children's Day on Monday in Sochi.
Issues of additional assistance to families with children were discussed at the meeting.
Throughout this academic year, the Office of the Children's Ombudsman, together with the prosecutor's office, checked how the presidential order to provide all primary school students with free hot meals is being carried out. They followed literally every gram. Violations were found in 13 regions, in 323 schools - there was no first dish on the approved menu.
An organization such as the Council of Fathers is also actively developing. It already operates in 79 regions.
Sergey Lavrov delivers remarks at conference on relations between Russia and the European Union in Moscow on Monday.
The conference is organized by the Russian International Affairs Council in cooperation with the Portuguese Embassy and the European Union Delegation to Russia.
According to the minister, Moscow is surprised by the passive reaction of Brussels to Washington's policy of managing the arms control system.
Vladimir Putin's detailed and concrete proposal for preventing the emergence of ground-launched intermediate range missiles has been left unnoticed.
Lavrov stressed that anti-Russian rhetoric in the West was transforming into a military buildup against Russia.
Minister noted that it is necessary to use the comparative advantages to co-existing on the same continent, which is considered "the locomotive of global economic growth," to fix the current state of relations.
Vladimir Putin on Monday participates in the opening ceremony of a serial production plant for Aurus cars in Tatarstan.
The project to develop and begin the serial production of a new unified modular platform and lineup of automobiles based on it started in 2013.
The development of the components and cars based on them was carried out with wide international cooperation of automotive manufacturing and engineering enterprises involving leading companies from Europe and Asia.
More than 50 Russian enterprises are participating in the project.
On Saturday, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko took a boat trip. Together with the leader of Belarus was his son Nikolai.
On the eve of negotiations between Putin and Lukashenko lasted more than five hours.
According to the press secretary of the Russian leader, one of the topics was the new tranche of the loan, which Moscow is giving to Minsk. $ 500 million will be provided through the Eurasian Development Bank.
In light of the recent events with the Ryanair aircraft, the Ministries of Transport of Russia and Belarus were instructed to establish air communication so that Belarusians could return home from Europe, as well as get to Russian resorts on the Black Sea.
Putin raised the question of the fate of the Russian woman Sophia Sapieha, who was detained in Minsk. He stressed that everything should be done within the framework of the law and instructed the Foreign Ministry to closely monitor what is happening with the citizen of Russia.
At the same time, Dmitry Peskov clarified that the Kremlin takes into account that Sapegiesti has a residence permit in Belarus.
Vladimir Putin met with Alexander Lukashenko at the Bocharov Ruchei residence in Sochi, on Friday. The presidents discussed joint projects in the economy, trade and energy. They also discussed the incident with the Ryanair plane and the sanctions against Belavia that were imposed thereafter.
This is the third meeting of Putin and Lukashenko since the beginning of the year.
The main topic of the talks is what interests the two countries the most: trade and economic relations. Russia remains a key partner of Belarus. This was shown by data obtained for the first quarter of this year.
Of course, presidens also touched upon the situation with the Athens-Vilnius flight of Ryanair.
Lukashenko was outraged by the fact that due to the bans imposed by the Europeans, Belavia suffers. He recalled that last year Western countries, which had closed off all their air service over the pandemic, requested Belavia, the Belarusian state-run airline, to help them with the repatriation of their citizens as only Minsk Airport was operational at the time.
A passenger jet belonging to Ryanair, an Irish low-cost airline, performing a flight from Athens to Vilnius on May 23 made an emergency landing at Minsk International Airport after a bomb threat on board the plane had been reported. A MiG-31 fighter jet was dispatched to escort the airliner to Minsk airport.
A subsequent search after the aircraft had touched down in the Belarusian capital failed to find any explosives. The Belarusian Investigative Committee opened a criminal probe into a false bomb scare.
Minsk later specified that Roman Protasevich, wanted in Belarus as a co-founder of the Nexta Telegram channel deemed extremist, had been among the flight’s passengers. He was taken into custody by law enforcement agents, together with Sofiya Sapega, a young Russian woman traveling with him.
The European Union’s summit held after the Ryanair incident decided to ban Belarusian airlines from carrying out flights to European airports and through the EU’s airspace. It also recommended that European air carriers avoid flying over Belarusian territory.
At the beginning of the Security Council video meeting on Friday, Vladimir Putin congratulated current and former personnel and civilian staff of the FSB Border Guard Service on their professional holiday, Border Guards Day.
Vladimir Putin had a separate meeting with the Minister of Defense on Thursday, during which Sergei Shoigu presented to the President the project of the Armed Forces museum complex in Patriot Park.
Vladimir Putin chaired the final meeting in a series of meetings with the leadership of the Ministry of Defense and heads of enterprises of the military-industrial complex on strengthening and developing the Armed Forces and the domestic defense industry on Thursday in Sochi.
Today’s meeting is devoted to the development and serial production of long-range precision weapons and other modern attack systems, and the development of military transport aviation for the Aerospace Forces.
Vladimir Putin made a video message to the participants in Russian conference "Pediatric Oncology, Hematology and Immunology in the 21st Century: From Science to Practice", which is taking place at the Dima Rogachev Center.
This is one of the world’s largest paediatric oncology and haematology clinics.
For Putin, this is a personal story, because his meeting with Dima Rogachev and a team of amazingly caring doctors in August 2005 determined the immediate decision to create a clinic for children with cancer.
The President stressed that in recent years the entire system of care for children with cancer and hematological diseases has been dramatically improved, greatly expanded the use of advanced technologies in the center.
Russian specialists restore the health of nearly 80 percent of their small oncology and haematology patients, and the figure is as high as 90 percent for certain other diseases. This is a great and very important achievement, which the UN and the World Health Organisation have taken note of.
Putin thanked pediatricians for their dedicated work and sensitive attitude towards children and wished them fruitful work.
Vladimir Putin discussed with the leadership of the Defense Ministry and defense industry enterprises issues related to the implementation of the state defense order at a regular military meeting in Sochi on Wednesday.
Despite the difficulties associated with the pandemic, the Russian defense industry fulfilled the state defense order last year by 99.8%.
The President stressed the importance of supplying the troops with advanced weapons and equipment according to the planned schedule.
Separately, he dwelled on issues related to increasing the capabilities of the orbital grouping of military and dual-use spacecraft.
In addition, the participants discussed how the creation of priority types of weapons is proceeding, which are based on high-tech technologies with AI elements.
Inoculation against the coronavirus infection should not be compulsory, yet people themselves should realize the necessity of these jabs, Vladimir Putin noted at a video meeting on economic issues on Wednesday in Sochi.
The fact is that despite the creation of several of its own coronavirus vaccines, the Russian vaccination rate leaves much to be desired. Only about 10% of the country's population has been vaccinated with the first component at the moment. Russia is only in 11th place in this indicator.
It is in this regard that different opinions are expressed about the introduction of compulsory vaccination against coronavirus. Someone speaks about this in relation to the entire population of the country, someone means workers of certain specialties, spheres - those who, by the nature of their work, are in contact with a large number of people.
Putin is confident in the reliability and safety of the Russian coronavirus vaccines and believes that the country has created all the conditions for vaccination.
On Tuesday in Sochi, Vladimir Putin began the already traditional series of defense-related meetings with representatives of the command of the Armed Forces and the Military-Industrial Complex with a discussion of strategic stability and the tools necessary to ensure it.
Thanks to state support, the Defense Industry Complex has successfully passed the period of the pandemic, but there is still a lot of work.
This discussion in Sochi is the first of a series of meetings that the president, holds with the military. Twice a year, he gathers the leadership of the Ministry of Defense and the heads of the largest defense plants to discuss with them the results of the development and the future of the Armed Forces.
Hypersonic missiles and precision weapons are one of the priorities of the current state armaments program, but all of the above is the result of many years of work on the supply of equipment for the Russian military.
Due to the pandemic, last year could be an exception, but both the defense industry and the military themselves, including combat training, managed to fulfill all their plans.
And almost 90% of the commanders of the Russian army have already gained experience in Syria.
What exactly will the Russian army be like in the future ? This question must be answered by the military themselves, with an eye to a possible enemy. The military machine must take into account the development of the advanced armies of the world. But it is clear that one of the main priorities will remain the nuclear deterrent forces, which have been the country's most reliable shield for more than half a century.
Next in line, for example, is the Sarmat ballistic missile with an unrivaled range. And this is just one of the new products that the Russian army is waiting for.
All promising models, according to the president, need to be carefully studied in order to understand which of them will be included in the new state armament program. It will be adopted in 2023 for the next 10 years.
The meeting was attended by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, Chief of the General Staff – First Deputy Defence Minister Valery Gerasimov, Deputy Defence Minister Alexei Krivoruchko, Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces Oleg Salyukov, Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces Sergei Surovikin, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Nikolai Yevmenov, Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff – Deputy Chief of the General Staff Igor Kostyukov, First Deputy Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff Viktor Poznikhir, Head of the 3rd Department of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff Andrei Sterlin. Other officials invited to the meeting included Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov, the heads of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Military-Industrial Commission, the Federal Service for Technical and Export Control, and the Rostec Corporation.
On Tuesday, the Kremlin press center announced the upcoming meeting of the presidents of Russia and the United States.
In accordance with the agreement reached, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin will hold talks with President of the United States of America Joseph Biden in Geneva on June 16.
The state and prospects for the further development of Russian-American relations, strategic stability issues, as well as topical issues on the international agenda, including interaction in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and the settlement of regional conflicts, will be discussed.
The servicemen of the Russian peacekeeping contingent ensured the safety of the visit to the Amaras Christian monastery in Nagorno-Karabakh the group of 80 pilgrims.
Economy, trade and security are the topics of the summit talks in Sochi.
Today Vladimir Putin met with the President of Kyrgyzstan. Sadyr Japarov on a working visit to Russia. And our country, according to him, is the main partner and ally for Bishkek.
Among other things, the leaders discussed the situation on the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which had been heating up for a long time, until a month ago it escalated into armed clashes. But diplomacy has prevailed - now everything is calm there.
They also talked about mutual trade. Due to the pandemic last year, it decreased, but this years, according to Putin, there has already been an increase.
Cooperation in the fight against covid can also be expanded.
Sergey Lavrov spoke about the reasons that led to the current difficult relations between Russia and Western countries on Friday at a New Knowledge educational marathon.
Russian Armed Forces have recently made a huge leap forward in development, in a number of directions overtaking the most powerful armies in the world, Sergei Shoigu noted on Friday at a Novoye Znaniye (New Knowledge) educational marathon.
We have all seen and heard about the Peresvet laser complex, the Avangard hypersonic and the Zircon ... but the Defense Minister announced that Russia is launching mass production of autonomous combat robots. In addition, Shoigu confirmed active work in the development of the so-called Tomorrow’s Weapons, whatever that means.
Vladimir Putin spoke about ambitious tasks, effective tools and motivation in his welcoming address to the participants of the Novoye Znanie (New Knowledge) online marathon on Saturday.
The head of state stressed that the Russian society Knowledge, which holds this event, sets the right guidelines for choosing a life path and helps young people to realize themselves and not only.
Russia considers statements by Turkish officials about alleged historical and contemporary persecution of Crimean Tatars to be politicized and confrontational, Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing on Friday.
On Friday, Sergei Shoigu turned 66, and also, the Russian Pacific Fleet is also celebrating its 290th anniversary. Vladimir Putin congratulated the Minister of Defense on a double holiday during Security Council meeting.
Vladimir Putin delivers remarks on the formation of the Greater Eurasian Partnership at the EAEU Summit, via videoconference, on Friday.
The meeting was also attended by Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov and Honorary Chairman of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council Nursultan Nazarbayev.
In addition to the heads of the EAEU member-states, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and President of Cuba Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez have also been invited as heads of EAEU observer states.
Vladimir Putin warned the West against attempts to economically contain Russia through various kinds of sanctions and restrictions, as well as attempts to distort the history of WWII, on Thursday, completing a meeting of the Russian Victory Organizing Committee.
Sergey Lavrov and Anthony Blinken met on the sidelines of the Arctic Council in Reykavik.
We can safely say that the meeting of the heads of the foreign affairs agencies of Russia and the United States even overshadowed the main event.
A small hall could not accommodate all interested journalists, so only some Russian media, American and Icelandic, were allowed to enter. The protocol filming lasted only a few minutes. However, the negotiations themselves lasted about two hours.
Instead of shaking hands, Sergey Lavrov and Anthony Blinken greet each other, touching their elbows, as has become customary due to coronavirus restrictions.
The American side is considered to be the host, so the Secretary of State invites the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry to the table.
This is their first face-to-face meeting since the start of the new presidential administration in the United States. Prior to that, we communicated only by phone. But not so much COVID is to blame, as the consistent course of the United States towards confrontation with Russia.
The Secretary of State expressed his readiness for cooperation, but with threatening notes inherent in modern US diplomacy.
The Russian diplomat noted a serious discrepancy in the assessment of the international situation and yet, he called the negotiations with Blinken constructive.
The diplomats discussed the situation in Syria and Afghanistan, the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea, the crisis between Armenia and Azerbaijan, touched upon the functioning of the Russian diplomatic mission in the United States and the American one in Russia.
Whether they discussed Nord Stream 2 is unknown, but immediately after the talks, the State Department issued a written statement by Blinken, in which the Secretary of State calls the sanctions against the Swiss operator company not in line with US interests.
As a result of the talks, as Lavrov said, the presidents of Russia and the United States will be presented with proposals to strengthen the dialogue on strategic stability. All factors will be taken into account: nuclear and non-nuclear, offensive and defensive. This is exactly what goes beyond bilateral relations and worries the whole world.
Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping participates on Wednesday,
via videoconference, in a ceremony to launch the construction of the seventh and eighth power units at the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant and the third and fourth power units at the Xudapu Nuclear Power Plant in China.
Russia is open for cooperation, Vladimir Putin said at a large ceremony in the Kremlin's Alexander Hall on Tuesday, where the newly arrived heads of 23 diplomatic missions gathered.
Russia is open for cooperation, Vladimir Putin said at a large ceremony in the Kremlin's Alexander Hall on Tuesday, where the newly arrived heads of 23 diplomatic missions gathered.
The President expressed concern about the unstable situation in the world, referring to the coronavirus pandemic, the degradation of the system of strategic stability and arms control, terrorism, international information security, as well as endless military conflicts in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine, in Syria, in the Nagorno Karabakh, in Afghanistan and Libya.
In conclusion, Putin congratulated the ambassadors on the start of their diplomatic mission and wished them success.
Letters of credence were presented to the President of Russia by Zeljko Samardzija (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Khaled Shawabkeh (Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan), Jose Mateus Muaria Katupha (Republic of Mozambique), Jose Antonio Morato Tavares (Republic of Indonesia), Dr Khesvar Jankee (Republic of Mauritius), Hans Dannenberg Castellanos (Dominican Republic), Mahamoud Adam Bechir (Republic of Chad), Vladimir Golovatiuc (Republic of Moldova), Krystyna Marty Lang (Swiss Confederation), Said Tayeb Jawad (Islamic Republic of Afghanistan), Alfredo Cristovao Gomes Lopes (Republic of Guinea-Bissau),Sheikh Ahmed bin Nasser bin Jassim Al Thani (State of Qatar), Benson H.O. Ogutu (Republic of Kenya), Gulnara-Klara Samat (Kyrgyz Republic), Krzysztof Adam Krajewski (Republic of Poland), Gilles Arnout Beschoor Plug (Kingdom of the Netherlands), Mzuvukile Jeff Maqetuka (Republic of South Africa), Sasiwat Wongsinsawat (Kingdom of Thailand), Eduardo Antonio Zuain (Argentine Republic), Vilavan Yiaporher (Lao People's Democratic Republic), Cristian Istrate (Romania), María Luisa Ramos Urzagaste (Plurinational State of Bolivia), and Eduardo Escobar Marin (Republic of Chile).
Russia to judge US calls to normalization by actions, not words, emphasized Sergey Lavrov, in the context of the upcoming talks with Antony Blinken in Reykjavik.
Sergey Lavrov said on Monday during a press conference that the Czech Republic and the United States have been put on Russia’s blacklist of unfriendly states because of their hostile steps against Moscow.
Last Friday, Russia made public a government-endorsed list of unfriendly states featuring only the United States and the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic will be allowed to hire no more than 19 Russian nationals to work for its embassy, and the United States, not a single one.
The political situation in Ukraine (or a "witch hunt") with the arrests of oppositionists and the closure of TV channels, became the main subject of discussion between Vladimir Putin and the Russia's Security Council on Friday.
The school shooting incident in the Kazan city was a terrible catastrophe and a barbaric crime, Vladimir Putin said at Сabinet Meeting on Thursday.
The meeting began with a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the barbaric crime. Now the most important thing is the struggle for the lives of the wounded and the support of those in whose home trouble has come. The authorities - federal and regional - must and will help in everything.
Helping the affected families is a top priority, the president made clear. All departments and ministries are in touch, to which the head of state, after the very first reports of the tragedy, gave instructions to start work on the spot and develop a set of support measures.
Those who suffered the most from the shooting in the Kazan gymnasium, five schoolchildren and four adults, were brought to Moscow on the eve of a special flight of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, accompanied by doctors from the CentroSpas detachment and the Center for Disaster Medicine.
The victims were assigned to six leading federal clinics, and the best specialists were involved. As Putin stressed, all the possibilities of Russian health care will be used for rescue and rehabilitation.
Another 14 children are being treated at the republican hospital in Kazan, their lives are not in danger. One student was discharged in satisfactory condition.
People continue to bring flowers and soft toys to the school, where nine people have become victims of an armed criminal. For the third day already, the head of the republic, Rustam Minnikhanov, has directly reported the situation in Tatarstan to the President.
In order to provide assistance to the victims, it was decided to make payments from the republican budget: one million rubles to family members of the victims, 400 thousand rubles to those who received serious or moderate damage to their health, 200 thousand rubles to those who received minor damage to their health. Of course, it is planned to organize recreation for both children and teachers in the summer, head of Tatarstan reported.
The tragedy in Kazan showed that there are still problems with the security of educational institutions. There are also questions about the availability of weapons, control over their circulation.
Vladimir Putin demanded to tighten control over the circulation of weapons and raise requirements for its owners. The responsibility for everyone who issues a weapon permit and the necessary documents must also be tough. It is necessary to exclude the possibility of buying certificates for money; for this, the head of the Russian Guard, Viktor Zolotov, suggested issuing them only in state institutions. Where it is necessary to establish electronic interaction between departments, so that information about any medical deviations is available in the general system, and clinics are not covered with a screen about medical secrecy.
A separate task is to support the school staff and provide psychological assistance to teachers who did everything to save the students.
The head of state gave another instruction to the government: if necessary, provide additional assistance to the victims. Many of them will have a long rehabilitation. The authorities of Tatarstan have already decided to carry out major repairs at the school in order to erase the traces of the monstrous crime and leave the memory of everyone who became its victims.
The Russian Black Sea Fleet was founded on May 13, 1783 by order of Empress Catherine II. Then the first 11 ships entered the bay in the south-west of Crimea, and the personnel were less than 14 thousand people.
How are security in the south of the country ensured today?
The main weapon of the battleship is the high-precision cruise missiles Caliber. They are capable of hitting targets at a distance of more than 3000 kilometers with an accuracy of 1m. Today, they are in service with the frigates Admiral Makarov, Admiral Essen and Admiral Grigorovich. The fleet today is dozens of warships that carry out their missions around the world.
From land, Russia's southern borders are guarded by the formidable Bal, Bastion and S-400 missile systems.
The fleet celebrates its 238th birthday with a historic event. After a long renovation, the flagship of the fleet, the Moscow cruiser, is firing Vulcan rockets for the first time.
The sky over the Crimea is reliably protected by naval aviation.
The history of the fleet remembers the heroes, during the Great Patriotic War alone, 200 sailors received the highest military award.
The Black Sea Fleet is developing together with its sailors. Every year it is replenished with new ships. And 2021 will be no exception.
The current exacerbation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is one of the most serious in recent years. Mutual rocket attacks between Israel and the Gaza Strip, dozens of deaths. Hundreds of wounded. Clashes between settlers that escalate into riots.
The meeting of the Quartet of international mediators on the Middle Eastern settlement (Russia, the US, the UN and the EU) at the level of foreign ministers must be organized as soon as possible, Sergey Lavrov said during joint press conference with UN SG Antonio Guterres on Wednesday.
Lavrov reminded that Russia also promotes the idea of a dialogue between the Quartet and Israel, Palestine and Arab states that have diplomatic relations with Israel, as well as Saudi Arabia as the author of the Arab peace initiative. But at this stage, probably, the convocation of the ‘quartet’ is the most pressing issue. it would be easier to do than to gather wider configurations.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Palestinian militias in the Gaza strip have been exchanging missile strikes since Monday, which followed the riots at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Eastern Jerusalem, where over 700 Palestinians were injured.
Earlier, the Hamas movement’s armed wing claimed the launch of over 200 rockets towards Tel Aviv and Beersheba. Before that, cities of Ashkelon and Ashdod were also targeted by massive strikes. Five killed Israelis were reported.
According to the latest Gaza Health Ministry reports, 56 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes, including 14 minors and three women. Over 300 people were injured, including 90 children.
Military personnel of the Russian peacekeeping continent continue to perform tasks to monitor compliance with the ceasefire and ensure the safety of motor transport, transportation of food and various goods along the Lachin corridor.
Since November 12 last year, the military police unit of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh has been patrolling the Lachin corridor on a daily basis. The purpose of this patrol is to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, gather information, check areas of terrain that are not visible from observation posts, and demonstrate the presence of the Russian peacekeeping contingent.
The Lachin corridor is a road that connects the city of Stepanakert with Armenia. The Russian peacekeeping contingent, in accordance with the agreements, exercises control over it. Control is carried out not only of the road, but also of the approaches to it up to 5 kilometers wide. The corridor is patrolled daily. In all weather conditions. The most difficult period was December – January, when there were serious fogs on the Lachin corridor, as well as icing of the road.
Every day, the length of the patrol routes of the military police of the Russian peacekeeping contingent is about 50 kilometers.
In addition to the tasks of patrolling the Lachin corridor, the military police unit of the Russian peacekeeping contingent is regularly involved in ensuring security during humanitarian actions, escorting pilgrims to the monasteries of Amaras and Dadivank, located in the immediate vicinity of the line of demarcation of the parties, as well as escorting convoys with humanitarian supplies delivering everything necessary for the restoration of the infrastructure of the Kelbajar district and other events.
In accordance with the agreements specified in the joint statement of the President of the Russian Federation, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, from 00:00 Moscow time on November 10, 2020, a complete ceasefire and all hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh were announced.
To monitor the ceasefire and military operations, a peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation is being deployed in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.
The basis of the Russian peacekeeping contingent consists of units of the 15th separate motorized rifle brigade (peacekeeping) of the Central Military District.
During his two-day visit to Baku, Sergey Lavrov laid flowers at the memorial to Heydar Aliyev and the grave of Zarifa Aliyeva. The Russian Minister also laid wreaths at the Eternal Flame on the Martyrs' Alley and at the Memorial of Military Glory.
At a meeting with President Ilham Aliyev, issues of bilateral humanitarian and economic ties, the supply of Russian vaccine to Azerbaijan, and of course the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh were discussed. Aliyev thanked the Russian side for the prompt delivery of Sputnik-V to Azerbaijan, which will contribute to an early victory over the coronavirus pandemic.
Well, of course, most of the visit was related to the talks between the Russian minister and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov. The ministers of the two countries signed a Plan of Consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2021-2022.
Lavrov summed up the results of his two-day visit during a joint press conference.
