Russia Proposes the US to Renew Talks on Nuclear Arms Control

Russia is prepared to resume talks on nuclear arms control with the US, two years after suspending the last accord limiting their atomic arsenals, a top security official said.

“The administration of Donald Trump is currently demonstrating a readiness to resume dialogue on the issue of strategic stability,” Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu told the state-run Tass news service in an interview published Thursday.

“We are ready for such work.”
Shoigu, a former defense minister, said negotiations on a new accord would have to cover the issue of NATO expansion, the US’s global missile-defense system and the deployment of ground-based, medium- and shorter-range missiles.

Putin in February 2023 suspended participation in the New START nuclear treaty though Moscow pledged to continue complying with its terms until the accord’s expiration.

Shoigu said Russia continues to respect the pact’s limits on nuclear arsenals, which restricts each side to 1,550 deployed strategic warheads.

Biden extended the treaty by five years to 2026 as one of his first acts upon taking office in 2021 shortly before it was due to expire. Putin had pressed Trump during his first term without success to agree to a deal.

The end of the treaty would mean the US loses access to inspections and monitoring data about the number of deployed Russian nuclear warheads, as well as the land- and sea-based vehicles used to launch them.

Shoigu pointed to the proposal of Macron to extend his country’s nuclear umbrella to European allies as a factor that will have to be taken into account in the new treaty.

“We expect specific proposals on these issues from our American partners,” he said.

#Russia #nuclear #arms #control

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Putin’s Jackpot. The Russians have taken control of Ukrainian lithium


🎰Jackpot. By seizing Shevchenko, a Ukrainian locality in the Donbass, the Russians have taken control of one of the most promising lithium deposits in Ukraine.

This metal is today the white gold of the energy transition. An essential component of batteries manufactured for electric vehicles, its price has exploded in recent years.

The city fell on June 24, according to the Ukrainian DeepState map, which geolocates the conflict every day.

But in reality, the will of lithium has already been under Russian control for several days, since it is located on the eastern outskirts of the village.

And this catch could bring big returns to the country. A scientific study published just before the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022 estimated Ukrainian lithium reserves at 500,000 tons. Enough to make Ukraine "one of the main producers of lithium in the world," wrote researchers Svitlana Vasylenko and Uliana Naumenko.

Of the four identified sites, two of them are therefore now in the hands of the Russians. If they are not exploited to date, Shevchenko's could prove particularly lucrative, according to the Ukrainian anti-corruption group ANTAC.

#russians #control #lithium #ukraine

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Border Control Police Shelled People and Left the Town


Gregory Bovino, aka Mr. “Gestapo,” the Border Patrol commander who has become the public face of the Trump administration’s on-the-ground immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, is expected to leave the city on Tuesday.

The Trump administration reshuffles leadership of its immigration enforcement operation and scales back the federal presence after a second fatal shooting by officers.

A senior Trump administration official told Reuters that the 55-year-old, who has been a lightning rod for criticism from Democrats and civil liberties activists, would be leaving Minnesota along with some of the agents deployed with him.

Trump announced on Monday that he was sending Tom Homan, his “border czar”, to Minnesota to oversee operations on the ground there – dubbed Operation Metro Surge – reporting directly to the president.

Bovino’s departure comes amid a sharp shift in strategy from the White House after the fatal killing of the 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti.

Earlier on Monday, Trump said he had held conciliatory calls with the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, and the mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey – Democrats he had previously blamed for the turmoil that escalated into two fatal killings of US citizens by federal agents.

The Department of Homeland Security pushed back on the demotion reports in response to a tweet from the conservative influencer Nick Sortor claiming Bovino’s official role – commander at large – had been “eliminated”.

“Chief Gregory Bovino has NOT been relieved of his duties,” the DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin replied, pointing to earlier comments from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, praising Bovino as a “key part of the president’s team and a great American”.

News of Bovino’s departure didn’t stop dozens of protesters from gathering outside a hotel where they believed Bovino was staying.

They blew whistles, banged pots and one person blasted a trombone. Police watched and kept them away from the hotel entrance.

Bovino has been one of the most aggressive promoters of Trump’s deportation campaign, trumpeting the operations in highly produced videos meant to resemble action films.

Often Bovino, a swaggering presence recognisable by his closely cropped hair, was the only unmasked face, surrounded by a team of agents wearing black neck gaiters and facial coverings.

He recently appeared in the Minneapolis snow wearing an army green greatcoat, which invited comparisons to the Gestapo.

#gregory #bovino #gestapo #border #control

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Mojtaba Khamenei: the Strait of Hormuz Remains Under Iran’s Control

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Iran’s supreme leader has broken his recent silence with a defiant statement hailing Iran’s control over shipping in the strait of Hormuz and vowing to guard the country’s nuclear and missile programmes.

“Today, two months after the largest military deployment and aggression by the world’s bullies in the region, and the United States’ disgraceful defeat in its plans, a new chapter is unfolding for the Persian Gulf and the strait of Hormuz,” Mojtaba Khamenei said in a statement read by a state television anchor.

The statement said Tehran would secure the Gulf region and eliminate what he described as “the enemy’s abuses of the waterway”, and that “new management of the strait will bring comfort and progress for the benefit of all the nations of the region and economic blessings will being joy to the hearts of the people”.

Iran has sought to extract a price for being attacked by exerting control over the strait, the narrow waterway through which about one-fifth of global oil typically transits.

Speaking to mark Persian Gulf Day in Iran, Khamenei also vowed that Iran would “guard its modern technological capacities – from nano to bio to nuclear and missile – as their national capital and will guard it like their maritime land and air borders”.

No recording or visual sighting of Khamenei has been broadcast since he was appointed supreme leader in early March.

Reports have suggested that he was severely injured in the bombing that killed his 86-year-old father and predecessor on 28 February. He is said to be in hospital being treated for injuries.

His new statement suggests Iran is determined to implement a new fees regime in the strait that it will present as benefiting the entire region as a belated assertion of regional sovereignty.

Since 13 April the US has mounted a counter-blockade designed to stop oil tankers moving in or out of Iranian ports, seizing up the Iranian oil industry.

With Pakistan-mediated talks at an impasse, there is little sign of either blockade being lifted, pushing the oil price above $120 a barrel. Vessel traffic levels are still extremely low, sometimes as low as three ships a day compared with 120–140 in normal conditions.

“Foreigners who maliciously covet it [the strait] from thousands of kilometres away have no place there except at the bottom of its waters,” Khamenei’s statement said.

The strait’s closure has put pressure on Trump, as oil and petrol prices have rocketed before crucial midterm elections, as well as on his Gulf allies, which use the waterway to export their oil and gas.

#khamenei #strait #hormuz #iran #control

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Trump’s admission on Wednesday that he knew no short way out of the impasse pushed oil prices close to $125 a barrel – as high as during the first weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Maj Gen Mohsen Rezaee, the military adviser to the supreme leader, wrote on his X account: “The siege scenario will fail and Iran will never lose the strait of Hormuz. History will record that the Iranian nation sank the superpower of America in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of ​​Oman.

Both the field and diplomacy are moving forward with the coordination of the leader of the revolution and the support of the people.”

The world considers the strait an international waterway, open to all without paying tolls, and Gulf Arab nations, chief among them the United Arab Emirates, have decried Iran’s control of the strait as akin to piracy.

Iran has proposed that talks with the US on its nuclear programme be parked while both sides agree terms for allowing ships to resume passage along the strait.

In Iran the foreign ministry has urged its parliament to recognise that Iran’s plans being hatched in conjunction with Oman do not require fresh Iranian legislation. It is also urging that Iran avoid terms such as “tolls”, and instead assert its pre-existing right to charge fees for services rendered.

Rubio, and the UK foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, held talks in Washington on Wednesday about the strait.

An email sent by the state department to embassies reported by the Wall Street Journal suggested the US was trying to become involved in largely European-led plans for the oversight of the strait once the conflict ends.

The US is offering to coordinate diplomacy and communications between countries using the strait by reviving and broadening a 12 nation International Maritime Security Construct, a pre-existing naval operation set up in after threats to shipping by the Iranian navy.

#khamenei #strait #hormuz #iran #control

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📰 The Loyalty Upgrade: China’s Army Gets a Software Patch

Xi Jinping built a military to rival the U.S.
Then decided it might rival him.

So now the upgrade is underway: fewer generals, more paranoia. At a recent meeting, state TV once showed around 40 top officers. This time — a handful. The rest? Deleted, archived, or “under investigation.”

“The military must never have anyone who harbors a divided heart toward the party.”

That’s not strategy. That’s HR policy from a very nervous CEO.

For 13 years, Xi poured money into carriers, hypersonic missiles, and nuclear hardware. But somewhere between “world-class army” and “absolute loyalty,” he noticed a bug: generals who think. So he started trimming the ranks.

Defense ministers were sentenced, the top commander Zhang Youxia was removed after disagreeing, and the Rocket Force leadership was purged. The new rising star is not a battlefield hero, but an internal affairs man — a loyalty auditor with calligraphy skills.

Because in this system, the real enemy isn’t the Pentagon. It’s a colonel with opinions. Analysts call it a contradiction: combat readiness versus ideological purity. Xi picked purity.

Now the world’s fastest-growing military power is being optimized for one mission: never surprising the boss.

Xi spent a decade making sure the army would fight wars. Now he’s not sure it would fight for him.

#china #military #power #control #authoritarianism

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Trump Is Undoubtedly Intent On Seizing Full Control of the Strait of Hormuz

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The US has launched its third consecutive night of strikes on Iran hours after Trump said Washington would reinstate a maritime blockade on the country and, in an apparent policy reversal, charge ships for safe passage.

“These strikes will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the strait of Hormuz,” the US military’s Central Command said.

Trump had earlier told the conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt: “We’re going to hit them very hard tonight and we’re going to hit them hard tomorrow – and there’s not a damn thing they can do about it.”

He added: “They have nothing. They have nothing going, other than they have big mouths.”

Late on Monday the UAE said two ⁠national tankers ⁠were ​targeted by two Iranian cruise missiles in ⁠the southern lane of the strait ⁠of Hormuz in Omani territorial ​waters, ‌killing one ‌Indian crew member and wounding ‌eight others, including four seriously.

The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 7.8% to $81.92 a barrel on Monday, still well below the $120 reached at the height of the war.

Earlier on Monday, Trump had said the US would demand a 20% tariff on all cargoes shipped through the strait of Hormuz.

He suggested in a post on his Truth Social platform that the US should be known henceforth as the “guardian of the strait of Hormuz”, as Iran and the US engaged in some of the heaviest drone and missile exchanges since an interim deal was negotiated to bring an end to the conflict.

Until now, the US had said the strait should remain open to all without tolls – as it was before Washington and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February.

Any attempt by the US or Iran to charge fees would violate global norms on freedom of navigation and would be likely to cause further economic disruption far beyond the region.

Trump has made numerous claims and threats during the war on Iran, including frequent claims of victory, many of which have had little grounding in reality.

Iran and the US are in theory nearly halfway through the 60-day period of an interim deal that was supposed to set up talks for a permanent end to the war, which began in February with the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, in US-Israeli airstrikes.

In reality, that deal has devolved into a series of attacks over the strait of Hormuz, resulting in the near-total collapse of an interim ceasefire and worrying world leaders that the conflict could fully resume.

#trump #control #hormuz #strikes #hit

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On Monday it was revealed that Trump sent Congress formal notification that hostilities against Iran had resumed on 7 July, ⁠a letter his administration sees as opening a new 60-day window to use the military in the region without congressional approval.

The US Constitution says that only Congress, not the president, has the power to declare war. However, US presidents have long claimed the right to order shorter military engagements without lawmakers’ ‌approval to preserve US security.

The war powers act requires the president to inform Congress within 48 hours of initiating hostilities, and says military action begun without ​Congress’ approval must be terminated within 60 days.

Democrats and Republican opponents of ⁠the war have accused the administration of misinterpreting the law.

On Monday evening the US Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center said the US would begin enforcing the blockade on Iran, covering all ports, oil terminals and coastal areas, on Tuesday night.

A statement read: “Any vessel suspected ‌of entering or departing the blockaded area without authorisation ​is subject to interception, diversion and capture. Noncompliant vessels may be legally compelled with ⁠force.” The centre ​said ​neutral transit through ​the strait of ​Hormuz heading to ‌or ​from ​non-Iranian destinations will not be impeded.

It remains unclear in practical terms how easy it would be for the navy to do this.
Trump’s demand for a 20% tariff comes despite his administration’s previous insistence that no country should be allowed to charge fees for passages used for international navigation.

That stance was reiterated last month by the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who said: “No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway. That’s existing international law.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accused the US on Monday of jeopardising global oil and gas supplies by interfering in the strait, as Tehran threatened that any US moves would be “strongly contested”.

The IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebi said Washington had “seriously endangered the security of the world’s oil and gas supply and must be held accountable”, adding in a post on X that Tehran would “continue to exercise sovereignty over and management of the strait of Hormuz”.

Trump said ⁠the ⁠US ​would probably take over ⁠the strait and should ⁠be reimbursed for ​controlling ‌the waterway. “We’re going to ‌keep the strait, and we’ll probably run it,” Trump ​said in ​a ‌phone interview ​on Fox News.

Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, posted on social media on Sunday: “The era of one-sided deals is OVER. We told you: keep your ‌word or pay the price. Reality is knocking.”

The war has spread across the region, with Iran attacking US bases in multiple countries. Thousands of people have been killed, mainly in Iran and Lebanon.

The conflict has caused global economic shock waves since it began in late February, driving energy prices higher and fuelling global inflation. Higher prices – especially for petrol – are politically sensitive for Trump in the run-up to November’s US congressional elections.

#trump #control #hormuz #strikes #hit

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