Сonstruction was completed today, Gazprom reported. According to the project operator, Nord Stream 2, the Danish and German sections of the second string were connected in the morning.
Fuel supplies to Europe are planned to begin by the end of the year. The gas pipeline from the Russian coast through the Baltic Sea to Germany runs through the territorial waters of five countries. In addition to Russia and Germany, these are Finland, Sweden and Denmark.
The project was actively opposed by the United States, which is promoting its liquefied natural gas to the EU, as well as Ukraine, which is afraid of losing transit revenues.
Sergey Lavrov branded Ukraine’s calls for an immediate meeting in the Normandy format in case of refusal to fulfill the Minsk agreements as "foreign policy schizophrenia."
The Normandy format must carry out the work entrusted to it by the leaders of the four states, this means creating conditions for the concrete implementation of the Minsk agreements in their entirety and consistency, he said at a press conference on Thursday.
When the Ukrainian side, out of the mouth of their foreign minister, calls for a meeting in the Normandy format as soon as possible, and at the same time other members of the Ukrainian leadership declare that they will not fulfill these agreements - it is such a split in consciousness, foreign policy schizophrenia, this is being observed, he added.
The minister drew attention to the fact that Ukraine is adopting laws that "pull the plug on the Minsk agreements."
Otherwise, it is difficult to characterize the law that prohibits the use of the Russian language, as well as the law that is being discussed in the Verkhovna Rada concerning amnesties, the special status of Donbass and the special procedure for organizing elections there, Lavrov noted.
Lavrov noted that a meeting in the Normandy format does not make sense until it is put on record that the implementation of the Minsk agreements will be discussed there.
As soon as we establish clearly and unambiguously that the Normandy format will continue to do nothing other than the implementation of the Minsk agreements, instead of an attempt to rewrite them or involve other countries, it hardly makes sense to get together, he said.
The joint strategic exercise Zapad-2021 involves about 200 thousand military personnel, more than 80 aircraft and helicopters, up to 760 units of military equipment, including more than 290 tanks, more than 240 guns, multiple rocket launchers and mortars, as well as up to 15 ships.
Of these, 12,800 people, including up to 2,500 Russian servicemen, more than 30 aircraft and helicopters, up to 350 units of military equipment, including about 140 tanks, up to 110 guns, multiple rocket launchers and mortars, are involved in the exercise on the territory of the Republic of Belarus.
From the member states of the CSTO, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and other friendly countries, about 2 thousand military personnel take part in the Zapad-2021 exercise as part of the created coalition group of troops.
At the same time, the maximum number of personnel involved in the exercise of military units under a single operational command subject to the 2011 Vienna Document on Confidence-Building and Security Measures in the territory of the Russian Federation will not exceed 6,400 people, respectively.
The objectives of the exercise are to check the level of readiness and ability of the military command bodies of the troops of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation to take joint actions in solving the tasks of ensuring military security and territorial integrity of the Union State, their interaction during combat operations; to get practice by commanders, commanders and headquarters for the management of troops during joint actions to repel aggression against the Union State.
The joint strategic exercise of the armed forces of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus takes place every two years in accordance with the decision taken by the heads of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. The Zapad-2021 exercise is the final stage of the joint training of the armed forces of the two states this year.
On Thursday, talks between Vladimir Putin and President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, who is in Russia on a working visit, took place in the Kremlin.
The main topic of discussion is the development of the Union State.
Vladimir Putin delivers remarks at the 13th BRICS summit, held under India’s chairmanship via videoconference, on Thursday.
The theme of the summit is “BRICS@15: Intra-BRICS cooperation for continuity, consolidation and consensus.”
The summit was attended by President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, President of China Xi Jinping, and President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa.
The key agreements have been laid down in the New Delhi Declaration.
Vladimir Putin began his working day on Thursday, with a minute of silence in tribute to Emergencies Minister Yevgeny Zinichev, who tragically died the day before.
The Emergencies Ministry said earlier on Wednesday that Zinichev, 55, had been killed in the line of duty during the Norilsk exercise. He was appointed Acting Governor of Russia’s Kaliningrad region in July 2016, served as Deputy Director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) between October 2016 and May 2018, and took the position of the emergencies minister on May 18, 2018.
On Thursday, President of Russia awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation to General of the Army Yevgeny Zinichev (posthumously) for heroism, bravery and courage displayed in his line of duty.
Sergey Lavrov’s condolences over the death of Emergencies Minister Yevgeny Zinichev.
Russian Emergencies Minister Yevgeny Zinichev died during the drills in the Arctic city of Norilsk as he was saving other person’s life, the ministry reported on Wednesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his deepest condolences over the tragic death of Emergencies Minister Yevgeny Zinichev.
Putin and Zinichev worked together for many years. It is a great loss.The president has sent a message of condolences to Zinichev’s family and friends.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin also sent a telegram with words of condolences. "We are all deeply shocked by the tragic death of Yevgeny Zinichev. He was a proper Russian officer who considered honest, devoted service to the Motherland and the people to be his life's work. A high-class professional, competent and principled leader, Yevgeny Zinichev enjoyed considerable authority. We will forever preserve good memory about this strong, courageous and selfless man, a Russian officer, defender of the Fatherland."
The Emergencies Ministry said earlier on Wednesday that Zinichev, 55, had been killed in the line of duty during the Norilsk exercise. He was appointed Acting Governor of Russia’s Kaliningrad region in July 2016, served as Deputy Director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) between October 2016 and May 2018, and took the position of the emergencies minister on May 18, 2018
The dialogue between Moscow and Washington on issues of diplomatic personnel is yielding no progress, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.
"We do maintain bilateral dialogue concerning diplomatic staff, but it is moving nowhere, running around in circles ultimately," he said.
"We asked them [Americans] to equally apportion the number of their staff here with the number of our diplomats in the United States and not to hire hundreds of Russian nationals who, as a matter of fact, are doing diplomatic work. Now we have parity," the minister recalled.
"They said they don’t have enough staff so they are forced to close their consulates general and actually freeze visa issuance activities. These are attempts at applying unseemly pressure, attempts at bargaining for a unilateral advantage," Lavrov noted.
He stressed that Russia has no objections against reopening the US consulate general in St. Petersburg but will not be begging Washington to do it.
"We never asked them to close the consulate general as they did. It was their initiative. I don’t know what the reasons behind that were," he said. "It’s up to them to decide. We will not be begging them to resume the operation of the consulate general here. We never prohibited the work of this diplomatic mission."
At the end of US President Barack Obama’s second term in December 2016, the United States arrested two Russian diplomatic facilities - countryside houses in the states of New York and Maryland. On August 31, 2017, already under President Donald Trump, the US Department of State demanded Russia close its consulate general in San Francisco and two trade missions - in Washington and New York.
In response, in July 2017, Russia demanded the United States reduce the number of its diplomats and technical personnel in Russia to make their number even to that of Russia’s personnel in the United States. It also suspended the use of warehouses in Moscow’s Dorozhnaya Street and a country house in Serebryanny Bor used by the US embassy.
Vladimir Putin is currently on a retreat in a Siberian region with Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and will return to Moscow late on Wednesday, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Peskov made assurances that the Kremlin would make public the photos and videos of Putin’s vacation "as soon as we have them." The president is expected to return to Moscow by the end of the day tomorrow.
Last week, Putin made a working trip to Russia’s Far East, visiting the Primorsky region where he participated in the Eastern Economic Forum, and the Amur region.
Sergey Lavrov gave his assessment of current Russian-American relations and how they were influenced by the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden in Geneva, answering a question from the pupil of the St Petersburg Сadet Сorps Boarding School of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, on Monday.
Russia is not interested in another Normandy Quartet meeting just for "meeting's sake," Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.
Such a contact will be necessary if it will a least reaffirm the need for compliance with the resolutions of the quartet's December 2019 summit, he stressed.
Lavrov said that both Berlin and Paris "avoid eye contact and keep silent, because they have nothing to say in reply," when officials on the Ukrainian side say that the Minsk agreements are dead.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky following talks with his US counterpart Joe Biden in Washington on September 1 said that he addressed Biden with several proposals for US participation in settling the conflict in Donbass. At the same time, Zelensky avoided a direct answer if his proposals implied the United States' participation in the Normandy group.
The Normandy Quartet emerged as a platform for negotiations in June 2014. At the celebrations on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the allied forces' landing in Normandy during World War II the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany for the first time discussed a settlement of the conflict in Donbass. A total of five summit level meetings have been held since. The latest one was in Paris on December 9, 2019. In recent months, Normandy quartet contacts proceeded mostly at the level of political advisers and foreign ministers.
Sergey Lavrov addressed the forum participants of the International Research and Practice Forum, The Khabarovsk War Crime Trials: Historic Significance and Contemporary Challenges, via videoconference, on Monday.
The Khabarovsk War Crime Trials were hearings held between 25-31 December 1949, in the Soviet Union's industrial city of Khabarovsk, the largest city within the Russian Far East adjacent to Japan. There, twelve members of the Japanese Kwantung Army were tried as war criminals for manufacturing and using biological weapons during World War II.
Vladimir Putin visited Vostochny Cosmodrome where he reviewed progress towards the construction of its second stage.
The President toured the operations control room and the construction site of the launch complex for Angara-class heavy-lift rockets.
The President was accompanied by Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, Amur Region Governor Vasily Orlov and General Director of the Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities Dmitry Rogozin.
Vostochny, the first Russian civilian cosmodrome, is located outside of the city of Tsiolkovsky in the Amur Region. The President signed the executive order establishing the cosmodrome in 2007.
The construction works comprise two stages. During the first stage, in 2012–2016, a universal launch complex was erected for Soyuz-2 series boosters. The second stage involves the construction of the launch pad for Angara 5A boosters as well as accompanying infrastructure. The first Angara launch is scheduled for 2023.
In Blagoveshchensk, on Saturday, Vladimir Putin presented state awards of the Russian Federation to liquidators of the consequences of natural fires and floods in the country's regions.
The United States and the West as a whole, despite their hasty drawdown in Afghanistan, continue to bear the brunt of the responsibility for what is happening in that country and for ensuring that the internal political situation there does not slide into a full-scale crisis, Maria Zakharova said at her briefing on Thursday.
Vladimir Putin believes that the absence of a peace treaty between Russia and Japan is nonsense at a time when both countries are interested in the normalization of relations and cooperation.
He stressed that the authorities of Russia and Japan had repeatedly agreed on joint work on the territory of the Kuril Islands, but the Japanese side repeatedly revised its stance. Russia regards it as its duty to arrange for the corresponding work and to create the necessary conditions for economic activity in accordance with security requirements.
The sixth Eastern Economic Forum is being held in Vladivostok on September 2-4 in a hybrid (combined online and in-person) format, the main topic of the business program is "New Opportunities for the Far East in a Changing World." Other programs that are part of the forum include Youth EEF, EEF Junior, and Far East Street. The forum is organized by the Roscongress Foundation.
Vladimir Putin stated that unprecedented set of benefits and incentives for businesses will be created in the Kuril Islands, including exemption from key income and property taxes, land and transport taxes for 10 years, at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum, on Friday.
Both Russian and foreign investors, including Japanese ones, will be eligible for tax, customs and administrative benefits on the Kuril Islands, Russian President said.
Vladimir Putin met with Admiral Nevelskoi Maritime State University cadets, on Thursday.
The President got acquainted with the training process there, as well as with the University’s advanced science and engineering projects.
The Training Centre that started operating in July 2021 is a unique facility for training the crews of multi-functional vessels and improving the skills of maritime specialists.
As per the President’s instruction, the Maritime State University operates a School Under Sails, the purpose of which is to acquaint young people with the history of the Far East, and to plan and conduct high-seas voyages aboard sailing boats to places linked with Russia’s glorious military history.
Creating artificial barriers to the development of genetic engineering is pointless, so Russia will support research in this sphere, Vladimir Putin said at a back-to-school gathering on Wednesday to mark the occasion of the Day of Knowledge during his visit to Russia’s Far East.
In the modern world there are many so-called information resources and users can find out anything there, but there is a problem related to the quality of this information. There is a lot of informational rubbish, which is often passed off as the ultimate truth. but you should not trust this information, which is provided by people posing as specialists, and not real professionals, Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with schoolchildren on the occasion of Russia’s Knowledge Day during his trip to the Far East, Wednesday.
On Knowledge Day, Vladimir Putin had a meeting at the Okean National Children’s Centre with pupils of schools, gymnasiums and lyceums, winners of Olympiads and competitions in culture, art, science and sport.
The President congratulated the little first-graders who will go to school for the first time, as well as their parents and educators. After all, according to him, high school students are already in a kind of preset mode, they meet with their friends and peers, this is a continuation of the educational process to which they are accustomed. However, first-graders open a new page in life, a new destiny awaits them, they begin to acquire knowledge and choose their place in life and future careers.
This is a very important period in the life of young children. And Putin asked all other Russian schoolchildren to warmly welcome young children to schools and to support them along the way.
Washington tried for 20 years to impose its standards on Afghanistan and that has resulted only in tragedies and losses, Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with schoolchildren on the occasion of Russia’s Knowledge Day during his trip to the Far East, Wednesday.
The Kiev authorities are carrying out provocations in the run-up to the election to the Russian State Duma, including sending letters to various countries, demanding that they do not send observers to monitor the vote, Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday at a meeting with representatives of national and cultural associations.
He noted that Kiev’s arguments about the electoral process in Crimea and Donbass did not hold water. "The Crimea issue is closed, we explained everything to everyone a long time ago, and everyone understood everything, including the Ukrainian leaders themselves, I am certain," Lavrov explained. He stressed that Donbass residents with Russian passports were entitled to vote "wherever they live."
According to Russia’s top diplomat, Ukraine will take advantage of the fact many in the West are looking for an excuse to step up pressure on Russia, and more attempts to irritate Moscow will follow.
Russia and China abstained during the voting on the United Nations Security Council resolution on Afghanistan because its principle concerns were ignored in it, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia and China's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Geng Shuang said on Monday.
Nebenzia expressed bewilderment that the resolution was passed that swiftly. "At the same time, we see attempts to shift responsibility for the failure of the United States’ and its allies’ 20-year presence in Afghanistan onto the Taliban movement and countries of the region, which will have to face consequences of this long campaign," he added.
He stressed that Russia will continue to support Afghanistan. "On its part, Russia wants to see peaceful, secure and stable Afghanistan, with no terrorist and drug threats coming from its territory. We will continue to help Afghans attain this goal," he said.
The West is already trying to call into question the results of the upcoming election in Russia due in September, Sergey Lavrov said on Monday at a meeting with the public and young adults in Volgograd.
On June 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an executive order on holding the vote to the State Duma of the eighth convocation on Election Day, September 19, 2021. The election will run for three days on September 17, 18 and 19. In addition to the State Duma race, direct voting to elect the heads of nine Russian constituent entities and 39 regional parliaments will be held. In three more regions, the top officials will be elected by legislative assemblies.
The Russian Orthodox Church is under tremendous pressure from the United States, which set itself a goal of destroying the unity of world Orthodox Christianity, Sergey Lavrov said on Monday at a meeting with the public and young adults in Volgograd.
Western nations have demonstrated their unreliability as partners in bilateral cooperation and their ability to break the norms of international law in the interests of their "geopolitical gains," Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.
Exclusive footage of the farewell meeting in the Kremlin, the outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel and not going anywhere, Russian President Vladimir Putin was kindly provided by the Russian state television company on the Moscow. Kremlin. Putin TV show.
At a joint press conference with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio in Rome, on Friday, Sergey Lavrov expressed the hope that the events in Iraq, Libya and now in Afghanistan will become lessons about the futility and danger of imposing one's values (exporting democracy to other countries without taking into account the historical, cultural and religious characteristics of these countries) for Western politicians.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media on Friday, that Russia is seriously worried over the way the situation in Afghanistan is developing and it most strongly condemns the terrorist attacks in Kabul.
On August 26, Kabul's airport, which the Western countries are using to evacuate foreign citizens, saw two explosions staged by suicide bombers from the Islamic State. According to the latest report, the blasts killed 103, including 13 US soldiers. US President Joe Biden said the United States would track down those responsible and was already planning strikes against the Islamic State. The Taliban radical movement (outlawed in Russia), which has seized power in Afghanistan, has condemned the attacks and promised to punish those responsible.
Vladimir Putin discussed the current situation in Afghanistan at the video conference briefing session, on Friday, with permanent members of the Security Council.
In the same time, Sergey Lavrov, said at a press conference in Rome that it is of fundamental importance for Russia now to ensure the security of its southern borders and its allies in Central Asia.
During jointe press conference with Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, Sergey Lavrov, once again invited him, others Western politicians and journalists to visit Crimea and see with his own eyes everything that happens on the peninsula, and not speculate.
Illegal migration, a surge in terrorism and drug trafficking have become a consequence of of the reckless undertakings that our Western colleagues, NATO led by Americans, got involved in over the years, Sergey Lavrov stressed at a press conference with Alexander Schallenberg in Vienna on Thursday.
"Speaking about the lessons that the United States could learn from the situation in Afghanistan, the main lesson is that they should not try to teach others how to live, let alone force them to do something. We have seen it in Libya, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The Americans wanted to force everybody to live the way they see fit. We should all deal with our own problems, especially because each country has plenty of them,"Minister said.
"Nothing good came out of the four military campaigns I mentioned. There has been a surge in terrorism, an unprecedented growth in drug trafficking; illegal migrants have been flooding Europe since NATO bombed the Libyan state to dust. The bottom line is: do not interfere in other countries’ domestic affairs and do not use force in violation of the UN Charter," Lavrov summed up.
Sergey Lavrov explained the status of a foreign agent in Russia, answering a question from an Austrian reporter at a press conference with Alexander Schallenberg in Vienna on Thursday.
A foreign agent is a natural or legal person who receives funds from abroad and engages in political activities. Those who are engaged in humanitarian, cultural contacts are not subject to the law on foreign agents.
On Thursday night, the Russian defense ministry evacuated more than 500 people, citizens of Russia, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member states and Ukraine, from Afghanistan by four military transport aircraft at the instruction of President Vladimir Putin.
The planes took off from Kabul on Wednesday. They made stopovers in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to drop off citizens of these countries.
Vladimir Putin notes at the United Russia party congress on Tuesday that "there is a danger that terrorists and different kinds of groups that found a refuge in Afghanistan will use the chaos left behind in that country by our Western colleagues and will try to launch a direct escalation in adjoining countries. And this will pose an immediate threat to our country and our allies, as well as a possible surge in drug trafficking and escalating illegal migration. They are all threats for us, and they are absolutely real."
The President called on Russian society and citizens to become more united. The coordinated actions of all government agencies are of paramount importance. He asked the Government, Foreign Ministry, law enforcement agencies, together with parliament members to work more actively on all key issues of ensuring the security of Russia and its citizens.
