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❗️ Ukraine and Russia secretly maintain contact - The Washington Post.
The countries are agreeing to exchange prisoners of war and the bodies of dead soldiers and are discussing the passage of ships from Ukrainian Black Sea ports. To do this, Moscow and Kyiv use intermediaries, including Turkey, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the Vatican and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Negotiations are taking place during “tough and unpleasant” personal meetings on the Ukrainian-Russian border and in Istanbul, and the parties can also agree by telephone.
“There have been several publicized meetings between Ukrainian and Russian officials in Istanbul, but negotiations are often kept under wraps and the total number is unknown,” the newspaper reported.
A total of 45 countries had expressed their interest to join BRICS before the 15th summit in Johannesburg in August. In a historic move, BRICS inducted six new countries into the bloc this year out of the 45 applications they received. A total of 22 countries had formally sent their applications to join BRICS while 23 other nations had informally expressed to join the group. BRICS sent invitations to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Argentina, Iran, Egypt, and Ethiopia to enter the alliance in 2024.
https://watcher.guru/news/39-countries-ready-to-join-brics-in-2024
Germany's third most popular politician, Sarah Wagenknecht, announced the creation of a new party that advocates lifting sanctions on Russia and against arms supplies to Ukraine.
The announcement was made on Monday at a press conference of the new political union. The speech of Wagenknecht and her associates was broadcast on the website of government press conferences.
“We need a return to a policy of sanity. And this concerns, first of all, economic policy. Germany is a poor country in raw materials, but rich in exports. And most of our well-being depends on high industrial added value. But with economic sanctions we have cut ourselves off from cheap energy resources without sane alternatives,” said Wagenknecht.
According to Wagenknecht, the German government is no longer focused on mediation, diplomacy and mutual interests.
“Instead, it is placing more and more conflicts in the world on the military card. But these conflicts cannot be resolved by military means, this applies to both Ukraine and the Middle East,” the politician added.
EUA metals next!
China and Russia signed the largest grain supply contract in the history of relations between the two countries worth 2.5 trillion rubles
Under the contract, Russia will supply China with 70 million tons of grain, grain legumes and oilseeds. The agreement is concluded for 12 years.
Healthy grain deal
Trade and commodity routes from Russia are being planned on a unprecedented scale:
▪️Russia and China strive for long-term economic progress and social well-being.
▪️Russia and China stand for respect for civilizational diversity and the right of each state to its own development model.
▪️A North-South corridor is being formed in the European part of Russia - from the Baltic to Iran. Seamless railway communication will be organized there.
▪️Other sections will pass through Siberia, the Urals and Yamal. The “Northern Sea Passage” will be built - to the Arctic Ocean. The railway routes will run from central Siberia to the south – to the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
▪️A corridor will also pass from the Arctic to the south - a railway line from BAM to Yakutia will be built, bridges across the Lena and Amur, highways will be modernized, and deep-sea terminals will be created. All this will connect the Northern Sea Route with the south - and all interested states are invited to participate in the projects.
▪️The One Belt, One Road initiative will help solve truly important and pressing regional and international problems.
“Each of us, when we start a big business, of course, expects that it will be successful. But with such a global scale, which was initiated by the Chairman of the People's Republic of China ten years ago, frankly speaking, it is difficult to expect that everything will work out. Our Chinese friends succeed. We are very pleased with these successes, because it concerns many of us," the President concluded.
Putin began talks with Xi Jinping in Beijing: You have just mentioned our target, our goal to reach 200 billion in trade turnover this year. If you look at the year–to-year, we analyzed last night, from today a year ago, we already have 200 billion. And according to the calendar year, this bar will definitely be overcome. So we are also moving very confidently in the bilateral plan.