UAWire
Thursday, January 14, 2021 12:00:50 PM
Russia is preparing for worsening of the situation in Syria after the Democrats come to power in the United States. Russian officials believe that the Democrats plan to change the policy of Donald Trump on non-interference in the Syrian conflict.
On Monday, January 11, a large landing ship Saratov passed through the Bosphorus Strait in the direction of the Russian base in Tartus.
According to Interfax, the ship entered the Mediterranean Sea, where the Russian flotilla of more than ten warships and support vessels is permanently stationed.
At the end of December, another Russian large landing ship Novocherkassk also passed through the Turkish Straits. The Novocherkassk, along with other Black Sea Fleet ships, delivers armaments and supplies for the Russian military and the Syrian government army.
Vladimir Putin has nothing but bad options in Belarus
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarus President Alyaksandr Lukashenka pictured during a 2019 meeting in Sochi. (Sergei Chirikov/Pool via REUTERS)
Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s call on January 10 for closer integration with Russia “without any obstacles whatsoever” is just one example of the beleaguered Belarusian leader’s frantic and increasingly desperate efforts to please Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Another example is Belarus acquiescing to Moscow’s long-standing demand that it export refined petroleum products via Russian ports-something Lukashenka had been resisting for years. Yet another was an agreement allowing Russian’s National Guard troops to operate in Belarus.
Bild vergrößern
Merkel and Putin at the beginning of 2020 during their visit at the Kremlin: The relationship was burdened at the time, but not like it is today.
Foto:
Pavel Golovkin / dpa
Last year didn’t actually start badly for German-Russian relations. It was 2020 and the swing ride was still spinning on snow-covered Red Square when Angela Merkel arrived in mid-January for talks with Vladimir Putin. The German chancellor needed Moscow’s help because that was the only way she could carry out the big Libya summit with which Germany wanted to present itself as an arbiter of peace that same month.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made observations that some Western countries are using India to engage in their anti-China policy by promoting the Indo-Pacific strategy.
PM Imran Khan speaks during a press conference in Kabul. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
Is Pakistan’s N-CPEC+ vision finally beginning to take shape?
Russian, Chinese, and Pakistani interests are all directly served through N-CPEC+
Pakistan’s unique geostrategic location at the crossroads of East, South, West, and Central Asia enables it to function as the “Zipper of Eurasia”, as I wrote over half a decade ago in September 2015 for the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies. I built upon this observation in March 2019 to declare that the creative leveraging of the unprecedented trans-regional connectivity potential offered by CPEC enables Pakistan to become the Global Pivot State. This ambitious vision is finally beginning to take shape after Prime Minister Imran Khan and the Uzbekistani Minister of Transport agreed to pursue a trans-Afghan railway line on Wednesday.