German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has reiterated that he objects to supplying Kiev with Taurus cruise missiles, citing concerns that his country could find itself dragged into the conflict.

“We should not be linked with any targets this system may reach in any way,” he told a conference organized by the DPA news agency. “And we must make this clear. I am shocked that some don’t care, that they don’t even stop and think that it might come to [us] being dragged into the war because of what we are doing.”

“I’ve explained why this is not being taken into account. And that's that,” he added. (Source: TASS) @LauraRuHK

Latest statements by Chinese professor of international relations and the director of its China Institute Zhang Weiwei at the Multipolarity Forum in Moscow:

▪️ Under unipolarity, everything from dollars to computer chips can be weaponized, wars and color revolutions are the norms;

▪️ China has become the largest economy by PPP, the largest trade and industrial economy, and it is currently at the forefront of the fourth Industrial Revolution;

▪️ China believes in the model of “unite and prosper” instead of Western model of “divide and rule.”;

▪️ The West tried to isolate Russia, but the global majority sympathises with Russia. Thus, the Collective West has been isolated by the Global Rest.

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Latest statements by Russian-American television host and political scientist Dimitri K. Simes at the Multipolarity Forum in Moscow:

▪️ Russian leadership did not want to use military force against Ukraine, but it had no other choice because the West had been waging undeclared war against Russia for years — killing Russians in the Donbass, propping up the anti-Russian regime in Ukraine, and bringing military assets not just closer to Russia’s borders, but within range of Moscow;

▪️ Why is the West seeking to provoke Russia? Why do Western elites care more about Ukraine’s borders than their own borders? The answer is that they view Russia as a threat because it has become the leader of the multipolar world;

▪️ No one in Washington hides their intention to move against China if the West succeeds in inflicting “strategic defeat” on Russia;

▪️ The entire multipolar world has a vested interest in Russia’s victory over Ukraine and the Collective West.

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The first American M1A1 Abrams MBT with BRAT active armor system was destroyed on the Avdeevka frontlines. The tank was first spotted by Russian forces near the village of Berdychi. It was moving under close control of the Russian reconnaissance UAV. It was likely the same first vehicle seen burning down in the area.

The tank was reportedly destroyed by the servicemen of the Russian 15 Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade. The tank was first attacked by the small and cheap FPV drone, and then finished off with a light anti-tank grenade launcher. The additional active armor did not save the tank from the usual attack of small forces.

The Abrams tanks from the US were reportedly deployed with the 47th Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which lost a lot of NATO equipment during the failed counteroffensive in the area of Rabotino in the Zaporozhie region. (Source: Southfront) @LauraRuHK

Yesterday the WTO officially kicked off the 13th Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi. Expect a face off between China and the US, the world's two biggest economies. After the collapse of the USSR the United States led the call for a reduction or elimination of tariffs, quotas, and other restrictions to global trade. In 1995 the US was one of the main architects of the WTO and was confident that globalization would mainly serve the interests of American corporations and pose no threat to US dominance. Fast-forward to 2024. China is the largest economy in the world. What does the US do? It engages in protectionism and economic bullying, it imposes sanctions, openly disregards the same rules it wrote and held sacred for years, works to cripple the WTO Appellate Body and questions the WTO underlying structure. So typical. @LauraRuHK

This clown is simply grotesque. Who does he think he is? Napoleon? Well, maybe Russians should send Macron a sled as a present, to teach him some history and remind him of Napoleon's disastrous and undignified retreat. But actually, bringing up Napoleon would only play to Macron's ego. A delegation of angry farmers is enough to make him flee the scene. 😏 @LauraRuHK

Two years since the start of the SMO, Lukyanov looks at several possible scenarios and ends his lucid analysis with this sobering conclusion: "The third year of the campaign promises to be decisive in every way. And there is no reason to expect a resolution in the foreseeable future, given the complexity of the conflict and the size of the prize at stake." https://swentr.site/russia/593211-russia-ukraine-conflict-third-year/

Zelensky's begging tour wasn't a success. Maybe Macron can spare some croissants. @LauraRuHK

⚡️ Ukrainian intelligence services intended to carry out a terrorist attack in the Zaporozhye region using an analogue of the chemical warfare agent BZ, the Russian Federal Security Service said.

The plot was foiled and three Ukrainian citizens were apprehended. The toxic substances seized from them are used to create chemical weapons and were developed in the US, the service stressed.

BZ is a toxic psychochemical warfare agent that causes acute psychosis, disorientation, and hallucinations.

The European Parliament has just signed off the €50bn aid package for Ukraine that was approved nearly a month ago. 536 MEPs voted in favor, 40 against. @LauraRuHK

SLOWLY BOILING THE FROG? OPENING OVERTON WINDOWS? PLAYING MIND GAMES IS NOT A GOOD IDEA WHEN YOU ARE DEALING WITH A NUCLEAR POWER - "The possible decision to send ground troops to Ukraine by NATO countries could be interpreted as a declaration of war", Konstantin Kosachev, the deputy speaker of the Russian Federation Council, said following a statement by French President Emmanuel Macron and the subsequent denial of that possibility by other NATO countries. The French leader's logic is dangerous: those who deny the possibility of sending Western ground troops to the conflict zone today once denied the possibility of supplying tanks, airplanes and long-range missiles.

"This logic is not just faulty, but dangerous and fraught with a catastrophic scenario. Which, as we can see ever more often, some Western leaders absolutely do not understand. The tactic of "slowly boiling a frog by no means persuades Russia that it can accept anything, provided it is done gradually," Kosachev said.

He pointed out that competent Western experts knew perfectly well in the past that there was a limit to patience or a so-called red line.

"This is exactly what happened with the expansion of NATO and the beginning of the special military operation, which became simply inevitable at a certain stage. At some point NATO thought that since the Baltic countries were in NATO, Moscow would agree to Ukraine’s role of "Anti-Russia" quite calmly. Russia refused to reconcile itself with the gradual increase of threats to its security and did its utmost to express its position to the Western countries and offer real agreements on the security architecture in the Euro-Atlantic. They turned a deaf ear to this and preferred to ‘boil the frog.’ The same will happen should NATO intervention occur in Ukraine," Kosachev said. (Source: TASS) @LauraRuHK

Tajani: "Contrari a inviare truppe a combattere in Ucraina, non siamo in guerra con Mosca"

"E' un'idea di Macron, quando si parla di inviare truppe bisogna essere molto prudenti perché non dobbiamo far pensare che siamo in guerra con la Russia. Noi non siamo in guerra con la Russia, difendiamo [l'Ucraina] e nel mio giudizio personale non sono favorevole ad inviare truppe italiane a combattere in Ucraina".

📢Lo ha detto il ministro degli Esteri Antonio Tajani a margine del Comitato di coordinamento dei ministri Italia-Croazia a Zagabria commentando le parole del presidente francese su un eventuale invio delle truppe occidentali in Ucraina.

@tutti_i_fatti

China’s top official in charge of Hong Kong affairs said the city’s governing principle of “one country, two systems” will be kept as a “permanent feature,” according to local reports.

Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office director Xia Baolong said the one country, two systems principle is one of the features that made Hong Kong different from Chinese cities, the report said, quoting an unidentified person who attended a meeting with the top Beijing official during his visit to the city. ▪️In 2016 i wrote a short story, Looting The Looters, in which i uncannily mentioned this scenario. Extending Hong Kong's special status beyond 2047 could provide reassurance to Taiwan in its path to reunification with the mainland, while preserving Hong Kong competitive edge. Without its special status Hong Kong would end up being far less appealing than other cities in the South of China, such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou, and much less successful. @LauraRuHK

The US and its fantasies of global hegemony continue to revolve around kinetic war. The sale of the Link 16 communications system to Taiwan is extremely worrying: this system allows the Taiwanese military to integrate and coordinate all its warfighting platforms with US, NATO, Japanese & Korean militaries in combined arms warfare. It would thus be the most deadly piece of technology yet to be transferred, because it allows sea, air, and land forces to be coordinated with others. It allows, for example, strategic nuclear/stealth bombers (US B-1B Lancers, B-2 Spirits) to coordinate with electronic warfare and surveillance platforms (EA Growlers, Prowlers, EP-3’s), fighters and bombers (F-16, F-22, F-35’s) as well as conduct joint arms warfare with US, French, British carrier battle groups, Japanese SDF destroyers, South Korean Hyun Moo destroyers, as well as THAAD and Patriot radars and missile batteries. It also allows coordination with low earth orbit satellites and other Space Force assets.

In other words, it supplies a brain and nervous system to the various deadly limbs and arms that the Taiwan authorities have been acquiring and preparing on the prompting of the US. It ensures interoperability and US control. https://johnmenadue.com/after-ukraine-us-readies-transnational-kill-chain-for-taiwan-proxy-war/

Remarks of French President Emmanuel Macron on a possible deployment of Western troops to Ukraine were aimed at creating deterrence and ambiguity toward Russia, and "everyone knows" that Western special forces are in Ukraine, an unnamed senior European defense official told Financial Times.

"Everyone knows there are western special forces in Ukraine — they’ve just not acknowledged it officially," the official said.

After a Paris-hosted conference on Ukraine on Monday, Macron said Western leaders had discussed the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine and had neither reached a consensus on the matter nor ruled out the possibility. Several NATO countries, including Germany, Italy, Poland, Finland and Hungary, have since distanced themselves from Macron’s comment, emphasizing that they have no intention of deploying troops on the ground in Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow had taken notice of the French president's remarks and was well aware of his position regarding the need to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, adding that some countries that participated in a meeting held in Paris on Ukraine held a quite "wise assessment of potential dangers" of being involved in the conflict.

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Yalta, 2025.

BRICS member states to consider creating common digital payment platform - The Russian Finance Ministry together with the Bank of Russia and BRICS partners will prepare a number of initiatives to improve the international monetary and financial system, which will focus in particular on the issue of creating the BRICS Bridge multisided payment platform, according to files published following the first meeting of BRICS finance ministers and central banks governors in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Moreover, achieving an increase in the share of national currencies used in mutual settlements and creating equally accessible, independent financial infrastructure have been given particular emphasis for cooperation among BRICS members. "The gradual integration of the new BRICS member states into the work of the financial tracks and strengthening of cooperation at the expert level was noted as being one of the crucial tasks for 2024," the ministry said.

On February 27, the finance ministers and central bank governors of the BRICS member states met on the sidelines of the G20 ministerial meeting in Sao Paulo. It was the first face-to-face meeting held under the BRICS financial track with the participation of representatives of the five countries that became full-fledged BRICS members on January 1, 2024.

At the meeting, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and Bank of Russia First Deputy Governor Vladimir Chistyukhin presented the main priority for work on the BRICS financial track, as well as the overriding theme of Russia’s chairmanship: improving the international monetary and financial system. Those participating in the meeting also welcomed the priorities of Russia’s chairmanship in general and expressed readiness for their further development. (Source: TASS) @LauraRuHK