Transnistria to turn to Russia for assistance amid pressure from Moldova - The republic of Transnistria will seek assistance from Russia amid growing pressure from Moldova under a decision made at a congress of lawmakers that was held in Tiraspol earlier on Wednesday.

The resolution adopted at the congress which was initiated by Transnistrian leader Vadim Krasnoselsky calls for "addressing Russia’s Federation Council and State Duma with a request to implement measures to protect Transnistria amid growing pressure from Moldova, given that more 220,000 Russian nationals reside in the unrecognized breakaway republic, that Russian peacekeeping in the Dniester region has been successful and that Russia has acted as a mediator for talks between Chisinau and Tiraspol."

The document also calls on the UN chief, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the European Parliament, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and other organizations to prevent any further escalation between the two capitals and contribute to reviving a full-fledged dialogue between the Dniester banks. "Transnistria will persistently fight for its identity, the rights and interests of the Transnistrian people and will not give up on protecting them, despite any blackmail or external pressure," the resolution reads.

Today’s congress was attended by more than 600 lawmakers, municipal and rural officials as well as legislators who established Transnistria in 1990.

Relations between the Dniester river banks chilled dramatically after Maia Sandu was elected Moldovan President in 2020. She made several harsh statements in respect to Tiraspol and said that unlike the country’s previous leaders, she was not going to meet with Krasnoselsky. Tensions escalated earlier this year after Chisinau decided to impose fees on Transnistrian imports via Moldova. (Source: TASS) @LauraRuHK

I will watch the film only if a black actor portrays Zelensky. 😏 https://t.me/TheDissidentNews/133

🇺🇸🇮🇱 So, Aaron knew more than we thought?

Now his “I don’t want to be complicit” has a new meaning.

@MyLordBebo | Boost us! | X

Kosovo, a stark reminder of what could be in store for whatever is left of Ukraine after the war ends. The US “threw plenty of money” at Pristina post-1999, but “Washington’s priorities were informed more by short-term American business interests than providing the country what it really needed to develop.” Kosovo may have “been a good bet” for “the American businesses active” in the province, but not the local population. This more widely reflects how “political will in Washington to remain engaged in foreign countries typically fades once big business has squeezed what it can out of America’s presence.” https://www.kitklarenberg.com/p/collapsing-empire-how-us-broke-kosovo?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=552010&post_id=142142574&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=yloy2&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

The friction between Scholz and Macron over military aid for Ukraine is turning into something of an open feud, Politico writes.

According to the news outlet, Germany is finding that Macron's statements on Ukraine are at odds with actual actions: Berlin has promised Ukraine 17 billion euros ($18 billion) in aid, while France has only pledged 640 million euros ($693 million).

French officials counter that "they are providing weapons that really matter - and with less hesitation than the Germans." (Source: Sputnik) @LauraRuHK

Today Vladimir Putin delivered his annual address to the Russian Parliament.
The president's speech set the country's development goals for the next six years and summarized the results of the 2018-2024 election cycle.

📌 Some takeaways about the economy

⚡️ Russia's economy last year grew faster than the economy of G7 countries, it's now the largest economy in Europe and the fifth in the world. In the near future Russia will become the four largest economy in the world.
The Russian economy is becoming more sophisticated and technologically advanced, less reliant on natural resources. 🔹 Attempts were made to weaken Russia from within, but "they" miscalculated;
🔹 The Russian economy has shown flexibility and sustainability during the special military operation
🔹 Russia will continue to create safe logistics corridors with partners;
🔹 Russia's dialogue with ASEAN, African and Arab countries is developing well;
🔹 Russia will build a new global financial architecture based on advanced technology and free from political interference;
🔹 BRICS's share in the world economy in terms of purchasing power parity will grow to 36.6% by 2028, while the G7's share will decline to 27.8%.
🔹The number of Russians living below the poverty line has decreased to 13.5 million people at the end of 2023, but this number is still "too big"
🔹 It is necessary to achieve technological sovereignty in areas that ensure the sustainability of the economy;
🔹 Technological sovereignty projects will receive priority budget funding;
🔹 The share of domestic high-tech products in the domestic market should increase by 1.5 times in six years;
🔹 By 2030, the share of imports in Russia should fall to 17% of GDP. 🔹It is important that today's teenagers become professionals in their field, ready to work in the economy of the XXI century. The new national project "Cadres" is aimed at this. By 2028, about a million specialists in working professions will have to be trained. 🔹At least 700 billion rubles ($7Bln) will be earmarked for funding the "Data Economy" national project over the next six years. 🔹Russia invites foreign logistics companies and states to use the opportunities of the Northern Sea Route - a global transport corridor. Last year, 36 million tons of cargo passed along the Northern Sea Route - this is already five times more than the record figure from the times of the Soviet Union. ❗️Putin noted that during the first 9 months of 2023, investments in Russia jumped 26.6%, amid a planned growth rate of 15.1%. In light of this success, he emphasized the need to maintain this momentum and continue moving forward at an accelerated pace. @LauraRuHK

Vladimir Putin's annual address to the Russian Parliament is available in Russian http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/73585 and in English http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/73585 🔹 I invite you to read the full text of this historic speech (the longest annual address the Russian president ever delivered) rather than rely on soundbites. Putin focused not only on the most immediate plans, but also on the strategic goals of the Russian state.

❗️More key takeaways from statements by Vladimir Putin in his address to the Federal Assembly:

▪️ Putin rejected the possibility of strategic stability talks with the US in isolation from issues of Russia’s national security

▪️ Russia is ready for dialogue with the US on strategic stability

▪️ Putin dismissed statements by US officials stating their interest in strategic stability talks as election campaign rhetoric

▪️ The West is trying to drag Russia into a new arms race, thereby repeating the 1980s trick

▪️ The US is hypocritical in trying to defeat Russia and offering talks on strategic stability at the same time

▪️Russia is ready for dialogue with all states on creating a new pattern of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia

▪️Russia plans to construct a new global financial infrastructure free of politics with friendly countries.

▪️Russia’s strategic nuclear forces are in a state of full readiness

▪️ Russia implements all previous plans to boost the national defense industry

▪️ In two years, Russian businesses have transferred billions of rubles to funds and volunteers that support fighters of the special military operation

▪️ Russian forces have the initiative, advancing in several strategic directions and liberating increasingly more territories

▪️ Russian troops effectively employ Kinzhal hypersonic weapons in the special military operation in Ukraine

▪️ Russia didn't start the war in Donbass, but will do everything to end it, eradicate Nazism, and achieve special operation goals

▪️ Putin said that allegations of Russia's plans to deploy nuclear weapons in space are unfounded

▪️ Testing of the Burevestnik cruise missile and Poseidon system is being completed; they have confirmed unique parameters

▪️ Sarmat missiles are now in service with the Russian army and will be demonstrated at bases for combat duty soon

▪️ Russia continues work on a range of promising weapon systems, they will be unveiled soon

▪️The Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic missile system was used during the special military operation (Source: TASS) @LauraRuHK

Politicians in the West sought to weaken Russia from within, just like they did in Ukraine, but they failed, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a state-of-the-nation address.

"They essentially would like to do to Russia exactly what they did to many other regions of the world, including Ukraine: bring discord to our home and weaken us from within. But they miscalculated," the president said. "It is absolutely obvious today."

The West "faced the firm position and determination of our multinational people. Our soldiers and officers, Christians and Muslims, Buddhists and followers of Judaism, representatives of different ethnicities, cultures and regions have proved in practice, better than through a thousand words, that the centuries-old cohesion and unity of the people of Russia is an immense, all-conquering force. Standing together, shoulder to shoulder, they are fighting for their common, shared Motherland," Putin went on to say. (Source: TASS) @LauraRuHK

In his speech, Putin suggested that the word “elites” had “discredited” itself in Russia over the years, adding that they were unworthy of the moniker.

Those who “filled their pockets in the 1990s... are definitely not the elites. The true elites are those who serve Russia,” he stressed.

🔹The country’s new elites are the “workers and the warriors,” the president insisted. They “don’t boast of their successes, but take responsibility in the key moments,” he said, adding that they are the people who “can be entrusted with Russia in the future.”

The participants of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine have proven that they “won’t retreat, won’t let you down and won’t betray you,” Putin said. “They are the ones who should be taking the leading positions” in society, he said. 🔹Some countries are destroying moral standards and pushing their peoples towards extinction, but “Russia chooses life,” Putin said.

”Russia has been and remains a stronghold of traditional values, and its choice is being shared by people around the globe, including in the West,” he insisted.

A large family should become the norm in Russia, the president said, adding that the country should aim to achieve sustainable growth in the birth rate in the next six years. (Source: RT) @LauraRuHK

This morning in northern Gaza, Israeli tanks unleashed gunfire on thousands of hungry Palestinians who were waiting for food aid trucks to arrive. Leading to a massacre, which occurred along Al-Rashid Street, resulted in the killing of 104 starving people and left hundreds severely wounded.

I realized that many of those who have joined this channel in recent months and/or contacted me with various, sometimes strange, requests actually don't know much about me. To dispel some of the most common misconceptions, here is an old interview i gave to a Chinese news outlet. https://medium.com/p/8db43da47397

Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China, who's now visiting Russia for research, told the Global Times on Thursday that since the end of the Cold War, "we found that Russia is probably the only country that can survive and even realize development and growth under the all-out sanctions launched by the West." (Source: Global Times) @LauraRuHK

China on Thursday released the statistical communique on national economic and social development in 2023, reaffirming that the Chinese economy maintained recovery momentum and made solid progress in pursuing high-quality development despite internal and external challenges.

Coming just days before China kicks off the annual two sessions, one of the most important political gathering each year, the communique, which drew a more comprehensive picture of the Chinese economy in 2023, laid a solid foundation for economic recovery in 2024 and provided valuable signals for where the Chinese economy is headed and top policy priorities for the year, analysts noted.

A slew of social and economic development goals for 2024 will be set at the annual legislative and political consultative sessions, with the GDP growth target among the most closely watched. Chinese national lawmakers, political advisers and analysts said that the focus will be on further consolidating economic recovery and continuing efforts to pursue high-quality development. Some economists expect the GDP growth target to be set at around 5 percent for 2024.

China's economy grew by 5.2 percent year-on-year in 2023, according to the statistical communique released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday, reaffirming the figure released in January and staying above the official GDP growth target of around 5 percent in 2023. Meanwhile, the per capita GDP in 2023 increased by 5.4 percent over the previous year. @LauraRuHK https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202402/1307929.shtml

Is Germany preparing strikes against Russia?

Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of RT and Rossiya Segodnya, Sputnik's parent media group, said she had obtained an audio recording of high-ranking officers of the German Bundeswehr discussing "how they will bomb the Crimean bridge".

The recording lasts 40 minutes, Simonyan writes. The German officers also mention colleagues from the United States and Britain, "discussing that these people have been directly involved in the conflict for a long time".

"What does this mean? Isn't it time for Russia to actively remind Germany of what happened last time when Russian bridges were blown up? I would like to see the answer, as is customary for all requests from your media, by noon today," Simonyan wrote on her Telegram channel.

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