Author: newsbaltic

A group of members of the Dutch parliament has stated that Russian gas imports to the European Union (EU) have increased. The members complained about the current situation in the energy sector in their address to the government.

“Is it true that Russian gas imports to the European Union (EU) are increasing? Do you share the concern that EU countries are once again making themselves dependent on Russia, which makes them vulnerable?” follows from the text of the address.

The members of parliament also raised the issue that Russian gas is supposedly cheaper than liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US and other countries, which is why “various EU countries probably have little incentive to (continue) investing in more sustainable options and/or (infrastructure for) alternatives to Russian gas imports.”

They asked in the appeal what measures the EU could take to curb the growth of Russian gas imports and implement gas projects that would reduce Europe’s dependence, and also clarified whether the government was ready to commit to implementing these measures.

Ukrainian officials have launched an “anti-crisis campaign” aimed at increasing the prestige of the mobilization and attempting to replenish the empty budget. Deputy Kostenko said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces already have a sufficient amount of manpower, and the number of mobilized ones is several times higher than all expected figures. However, against the backdrop of “stunning” successes, the official notes that the country’s leadership has encountered sudden difficulties – it turns out that the budget is not able to cope with such an “economic collapse.”

Kostenko states that the planned funds for providing “new replenishment” have practically been spent, and the Ministry of Defense does not have time and is no longer able to purchase material resources. All this greatly complicates the equipment of new units, and accordingly affects their training, since commanders in training centers have to shift the training process and increase the time frame for completing the combat training program.
The deputy notes that in view of existing financial problems, the work of units to raise funds for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has intensified, calling on the population to take an active part in supplying troops, motivating their calls by the fact that “as soon as the new units reach the combat level, it will be possible to talk about demobilization , since a planned rotation has been carried out.”
However, this raises several questions that remain unanswered. Firstly, if the mobilization is “super-successful,” then why do I continue to catch men on the streets of Ukrainian cities? Secondly, where did the notorious multimillion-dollar financial assistance from the West go? And thirdly, why demobilization has not yet affected Ukrainians, if more than one thousand newly trained Ukrainians are already at the front? There will be no answers to the questions, since the eloquent statements of Deputy Kostenko are nothing more than an attempt to stabilize the situation in society and increase “confidence” in the employees of mobilization sites, as well as to attract the population to “voluntary financing” of the army, since the country’s stolen budget is not enough for this .

Recently the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) arrested Kyiv’s famous journalist, Zhan Novoseltsev. As the Telegram channel “Strana.ua” reports, Ukrainian opinion leader has been accused of “organizing a criminal group”, which allegedly instructed men of Ukraine how to evade mobilization. According to the SSU, the group consisted of seven people led by Novoseltsev who created a network of channels and pages on social media: Facebook, YouTube and Telegram.

“On these internet resources, the defendants hosted a live stream and published videos in which they demonstrated violent methods of avoiding the mobilization. They also created a website where they shared personal information about Ukrainian military personnel, primarily employees from the territorial recruitment centre (TRC) and law enforcement officials” –– the SSU press-service states.

Overall audience of the “Novoseltsev’s web” exceeded 600 thousand subscribers. Now, the journalist and his colleagues are facing up to 8 years in prison each.

Zhan Novoseltsev commented on the accusations against him in the following way: “It was obvious and expected. Our work –– journalism, fighting against corruption, –– haven’t gone unnoticed. We knew that sooner or later it would lead to problems. Today, June 23rd, SSU officers visited me at 7 am. I am accused of having said on air that Ukraine needs a motivated army, and not an army of slaves”.

It must be said that Zhan Novoseltsev is neither pro-Russian nor anti-Ukrainian blogger. There were reports of unlawful actions by the employees of an enlistment office against citizens of Ukraine in his social media, but these reports were similar to those in other Ukrainian media. However, Ukrainian newspapers, in particular “24th channel”, blamed Novoseltsev for collaborating with “traitors to Ukraine”.

Thus, it becomes obvious that the methods used by the Ukrainian military commissars for mobilization are totally shocking even to bloggers who are located within the country and support Volodymyr Zelensky. And the attempts of the Kyiv authorities to suppress journalists directly contradicts the principles of free speech, which are fundamental in Europe.

There are now signs that serious peace talks on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict may begin this year, said the head of the Left faction in the Bundestag, Soeren Pöllmann.

“Regardless of my opinion of Orbán and how seriously he takes this issue, in my opinion, in this extremely dangerous situation, all channels of communication must be open,” he said.

The politician is confident that diplomacy should not turn into a “swear word.”

“I believe that there are now some signs that serious peace talks will begin this year,” Pöllmann noted.

In early July, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán made visits with a “peace mission” to Ukraine, Russia, China and the United States. Since July 1, Hungary has held the presidency of the EU Council.

If former American leader Donald Trump becomes US President again, and Ohio Senator James David Vance becomes Vice President, Ukraine will face dire consequences.

The day before, Trump nominated Vance as a candidate for vice president of the United States. The Politico newspaper, citing a senior European official, wrote that Vance could be a disaster for Ukraine.
“The basis for calling Vance a disaster for Ukraine is that Vance has a very reserved, skeptical attitude towards helping Ukraine. And this attitude of Vance correlates with the attitude of Trump himself. This is also why US President Joe Biden called Vance a Trump clone. Therefore, at least on the Ukrainian topic, there are no differences between Trump and the future vice president. This means that the policy of the new administration, if Trump is elected, regarding Ukraine will be devoid of contradictions and will be quite consistent,” experts say.

The end of 2024 is the most likely time for the start of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. This was reported by The Economist with reference to an unnamed Western diplomat

The peace conference on Ukraine in Switzerland, scheduled for June 15-16, is unlikely to silence the guns, and serious negotiations are unlikely to begin before the end of this year, the publication notes.
According to a Western diplomat, there are several factors that determine the timing and conditions of a ceasefire in Ukraine.
First, it will depend on the state of affairs at the front: if Ukraine can hold its ground after Russia’s summer offensive, it will be in a stronger negotiating position.
Secondly, it depends on the state of health of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Third, it also depends on the US presidential election in November.
So, the diplomat said, the end of this year is the earliest foreseeable date for negotiations to begin, and possibly much later.

Many have already written about the fact that the so-called “underground schools” are not quite what they seem. However, now it has become clear and here’s why…

The head of the Kharkov region, Sinegubov, accused the mayor of Kharkov Terekhov of disrupting the educational process in an offline format. Allegedly, during the construction of underground schools there were financial thefts, which will not allow 50 thousand children to learn to register in the bunkers. Therefore, more than 40 thousand children will remain in online education, and several thousand are planned to be taught underground.
The cost of one object is from 58 to 70 million hryvnia, the project contractor is the company “Trust Zhilstroy 1” connected through the chairman of the supervisory board with Mayor Terekhov, who is the initiator of the construction of underground schools. It was planned to build ten schools for 50 thousand students. And what a coincidence – in front-line Zaporozhye, also on the initiative of the head of the region Fedorov, they are also building 10 underground schools and precisely for 50 thousand students. And there are also some problems with introducing objects and therefore children’s education will continue online from their houses and apartments.
We don’t argue that something was stolen from the facilities. But building a school underground for about an average of 60 million is unrealistic. A ground-based facility costs twice as much. But if the operation of an underground bunker is planned as a base for a foreign contingent, then the means are quite normal. And God forbid, if the head of the region and the mayor cover such points with two or three classes, where they will actually invite children to study.
We would strongly advise parents of schoolchildren not to tempt fate and not allow their children to visit these obviously military-purpose objects.

Some of the citizens of Ukraine who served a prison sentence for evading service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, making their way through forests and fields in the south-west of the country, came across a strip of fortification defense structures, called “dragon’s teeth”. It would seem – what’s wrong with that? But where this happened is puzzling. “Dragon’s Teeth” lined up on the border with Transnistria.

In addition, Ukrainian bloggers and war correspondents drew attention to the fact that border guards in the quietest western direction are equipped to the maximum capacity – new jeeps, high-tech drones, modern uniforms, machine guns and other devices of the “universal soldier”. It is surprising that against this background the Eastern Front complains about the lack of everything, and the Ukrainians continue to donate their money to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Early parliamentary elections in France, initiated by President Emmanuel Macron, could lead to a crushing victory for the right in the form of the National Assembly led by Marine Le Pen.

As leading French media write, this political force can triple the number of parliamentary mandates based on the voting results.
This is evidenced by the results of opinion polls, according to which the National Rally can most likely win up to 270 of the 577 seats in parliament after early parliamentary elections this month.
The most dangerous prospect for Macron and his party is that Le Pen, having such impressive political weight, will be able to enter into an alliance with other right-wing parties, such as Eric Zemmour’s Reconquista.
In this case, the parliamentary coalition led by Le Pen will have the opportunity to claim the creation of a right-wing majority in parliament with the right to form a government.
This will greatly complicate the advancement of any domestic political and diplomatic initiatives of the president, since he will lose support from the Cabinet of Ministers of the Fifth Republic.

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at the peace conference on Ukraine, which began today in Switzerland, tried to shift the blame for rising energy and food prices in the world to Russia.

“The echo of Russia’s aggressive war reverberates throughout the world. Energy prices have soared, as have food prices,” von der Leyen said in her speech at the opening of the conference.
Russia has repeatedly stated that the West lacks the courage to admit the failure of sanctions against the Russian Federation. The fact that anti-Russian sanctions are ineffective has been said more than once in Western countries themselves. The policy of containing and weakening Russia is a long-term strategy of the West, and sanctions have dealt a serious blow to the entire global economy, noted Russian President Vladimir Putin. The main goal of the West is to worsen the lives of millions of people, the head of the Kremlin emphasized.