Putin accuses West of demanding ‘hegemon’s rent’ from humanity

Western elites led by the US are exacting tribute from all of humanity and will do anything to protect their privileged position, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

“The West will cross every line to preserve this neocolonial system, which allows it to parasitize the world, essentially rob it through the power of the dollar and technological supremacy, to collect tribute from humanity, extract the main source of its unearned wealth – hegemon’s rent,” the Russian president said in a speech on Friday.

Preserving this arrangement is the true motive that underlies the policies of the Western elites, and is why their governments try to strip other nations of their sovereignty, according to Putin.

This is where their aggression towards independent nations, traditional values, and original cultures stems from.

Leaders of nations targeted by the West face the choice of voluntarily submitting to its dictates, being bribed into doing the same, or having destruction and misery brought upon their homelands by the US and its allies, Putin said.

  • “Greed and the intention to preserve unlimited power are the true causes of the hybrid war which the collective West is waging against Russia.”

They don’t wish freedom for us. They want us to be a colony. They don’t want cooperation of equals, but pillaging. They want to see us not as a free society, but a crowd of soulless slaves.

Putin delivered the speech in Moscow before signing treaties with the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions on their accession to the Russian Federation. The documents must be ratified by parliament before coming into force.

The move was condemned by Kiev, which considers it to be an illegal annexation of its territory. Moscow said the accession was legitimized by referendums held in the former Ukrainian regions, in which people overwhelmingly voted in favor of splitting from Kiev and seeking protection from Russia against attacks by Kiev’s forces.

Source: RT

Putin names orchestrator of Nord Stream blasts

The US orchestrated the blasts on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, which delivered Russian natural gas to Germany, because they “obviously” benefit from it, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

Putin accused Washington of trying to pressure the EU into banning Russian supplies to “completely get their hands on the European market.”

  • “But the sanctions are no longer enough for the Anglo-Saxons,” he said, using Russian shorthand for the US-UK transatlantic alliance.
  • “They have turned to sabotage – it’s unbelievable, but it’s a fact – by organizing the explosions on the Nord Stream international gas pipelines,” the president stated.

“They de facto began the destruction of the common European energy infrastructure. It’s obvious to everyone who benefits from it. Those who benefit are the ones who have done it.”

  • US Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced Putin’s statement as part of “outrageous misinformation and disinformation campaigns” coming from Moscow.
  • “I really have nothing to say to the absurd allegation from President Putin that we are or other partners or allies are somehow responsible for this,” Blinken said, according to AFP.

Putin was speaking at the Kremlin ahead of signing treaties on the inclusion of the two Donbass republics, as well as Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, which declared independence from Ukraine, into the Russian Federation.

The Nord Stream pipelines lost pressure on Monday, after which four gas leaks appeared.

The EU and several of its member states said the explosions were deliberate. Putin described the attack on Saturday as an act of terrorism.

Nord Stream 1 was already shut down due to prolonged maintenance when the leaks appeared. Russian operator Gazprom blamed the lengthy delay on Western sanctions that were imposed on Moscow following its military operation in Ukraine.

  • Nord Stream 2 was never fully operational because Germany halted certification of it in February in response to the Ukraine conflict.

Source: RT

‘This winter will be hard but next one will be even worse’ – EU

EU energy officials are concerned about the effects the ongoing energy crisis in Europe will have on the continent once cold weather sets in, Commissioner Kadri Simson told journalists on Friday.

“Ministers were concerned, as am I, that this will not be an easy winter for us, and the next winter will be even more difficult,” said Simson during a press conference after an extraordinary meeting of EU energy ministers.

  • The meeting was meant to address the skyrocketing gas prices in Europe and to develop a package of emergency measures aimed at assisting European households and businesses amid the crisis

The agreed-upon steps include placing a cap on energy company revenues and distributing excess profits back to consumers.

The plan also prescribes mandatory energy savings, requiring EU members to cut energy demand during peak hours by 5% and suggesting a 10% reduction in overall electricity use.

The ministers failed, however, to agree on a price cap on wholesale natural gas, which was one of the key demands issued to the European Commission by a group of 15 EU member states ahead of the meeting.

  • In a joint letter, the group argued that a price cap was the one measure that could help the bloc “mitigate the inflationary pressure, manage expectations and provide a framework in case of potential supply disruptions.”

While the European Commission has not completely ruled out the possibility of a price cap on natural gas, it has warned that such a move would weaken the bloc’s ability to secure gas supplies in the global market.

The issue will reportedly be discussed at a later date, according to Lithuanian Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys.

As Russian gas deliveries to the EU have declined by as much as 48% this year, according to Gazprom, inflation in the Eurozone has since hit double digits for the first time in recent history.

It’s feared the situation will further deteriorate after the Russian Nord Stream pipelines suffered damage in a suspected act of sabotage earlier this week, which will severely limit potential gas deliveries to the bloc in the near future.

Source: RT

We just have to hope that Orbán is wrong

Belgian academic and economist Philippe Van Parijs explained to the newspaper De Standaard what happens when you lose national identity.

“Brussels can no longer be called Belgium,” said Van Parijs, adding that the rest of Belgium is becoming more and more like Brussels.

Philippe Van Parijs had conducted a demographic study. His discoveries will surprise only those who want to remain blind.

In ten years, the percentage of Brussels residents who have both parents with Belgian citizenship has gone down from just 36 to 26 percent.

“There are more Brussels residents of Moroccan origin than Flemings or Walloons”.

In the past few days, the European Parliament has voted to isolate (when to expel?) Viktor Orbán’s Hungary.

The real clash between Brussels and Budapest is over immigration. Not to all immigration, as Hungary welcomed 15,000 Ukrainians in a single day. No, only Islamic immigration.

And Budapest, not without reason, does not want to end up like Brussels.

Orbán’s ruling party, Fidesz, held its annual meeting on September 10 behind closed doors. But some of Orbán’s long-term predictions have leaked, Index.hu reveals.

The Hungarian prime minister said that “the energy crisis could shut down up to 40 percent of European industry. By 2040, Muslim immigrants will be the majority in French cities”.

We just have to hope that Orbán is wrong. But the numbers should make us unable to sleep at night:

  • Marseille (30 percent Muslim),
  • Lyon (30 percent Muslim),
  • Montpellier (20 percent Muslim),
  • Strasbourg (12 per cent Muslim),
  • Bordeaux (92 mosques),
  • Mulhouse (25 per cent Muslim),
  • Avignon (“the city of the Salafists”),
  • Tours (“from bell towers to minarets ”).
  • But also medium-sized towns like Pessac, 50,000 inhabitants outside Bordeaux, which is 25 per cent Muslim.

The most effective and fastest way to send a country into decline is to import alien populations en masse, letting them concentrate in a city, creating very strong identity communities with no plans for integration into the host culture. Welfare isolates them without integrating them, they also gain the right to vote, and in a few years you have balkanized a culturally stable territory.

Welcome to Europe!

Source: Giulio Meotti – Arutz Sheva

Nord Stream was ruptured by two blasts – WSJ

The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipeline leaks were caused by two powerful explosions, each with a force equivalent to 500 kg (1,100 pounds) of TNT, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday citing sources.

  • Danish officials reportedly revealed the details at a NATO meeting on Wednesday.

In a statement published on Thursday, the North Atlantic Council, NATO’s decision-making body, did not assign blame for the leaks on any actor and only claimed that the pipelines were damaged in what appeared to be a “deliberate, reckless, and irresponsible acts of sabotage.”

  • However, officials in some member countries “have already attributed the destruction to Russia, without providing evidence,” the report says.

The paper reported that during the Council meeting, member countries said Russia was ‘likely’ behind the Nord Stream ruptures. But apparently most of them did not want to publicly voice their speculations without “more evidence,” according to unnamed senior European diplomats cited by the outlet.

The diplomats noted that “there was little serious doubt” in capitals that Moscow orchestrated the Nord Stream leaks, but they wanted to be absolutely certain about it, given the implications such accusations may entail.

Moscow has repeatedly dismissed allegations that it had something to do with the sabotage. Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov described the incident as a probable “terrorist act” which is unlikely to have been possible “without the involvement of some state power.”

Earlier, Sky News reported, citing a UK defense source, that the Nord Stream pipelines may have been sabotaged by a remotely detonated underwater explosive device, which could have been planted months or even years prior to the incident.

On Monday, Denmark reported leaks from the pipelines, which connect Germany and Russia under the Baltic Sea, after the operator reported a loss of pressure on both Nord Stream 1 and 2.

Danish and Swedish authorities later said there had been a series of undersea explosions near the island of Bornholm.

In total, there have been four gas leaks detected in the Nord Stream system.

Source: RT

Live: Putin annexes four Ukrainian regions

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced, during a speech in the Kremlin, the annexation of four occupied regions in Ukraine following a referendum held for residents of the regions in question.

“In the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk and in the regions of Lugansk and Donetsk there were referendums. Their results are known and show an unequivocal choice. Today we sign the agreement to accept them into the Russian Federation. This is the wish of more than a million people. This is their right that cannot be taken away, written in the UN constitution.”

“Previous generations founded Russia, fought, and founded new cities. We will always remember the heroes of World War II.”

The President of Russia also addressed the Ukrainians:

“We will remember all those who died for the sake of speaking their native language – the citizens, the women, the elderly, Russians and Ukrainians, people of many nationalities.”

Source: Arutz Sheva

German inflation at highest level since Nazi-era

Inflation in Germany saw year-on-year growth of 10.9% in September, up from 8.8% recorded in the previous month, official data released on Thursday by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) shows.

The readings came in higher than the market expectation of 9.4%, and marked a record high since the creation of the euro in 1999.

Soaring food and energy prices reportedly had a considerable impact on the high inflation rate.

“Energy prices were 43.9% higher in September 2022 than in September 2021,” the agency said in a press release.

“There was also an above-average rise in food prices by 18.7% from the same month of the previous year.”

On Thursday, the German government agreed a €200 billion ($194 billion) package to “cushion rising energy costs and the most severe consequences for consumers and businesses.”

Under the plan, which will be financed with new borrowing, Berlin will introduce an emergency price brake on gas and electricity. It will also scrap a planned gas levy on consumers to avoid further price increases.

The detailed information, along with final data on the level of inflation in September, will be published by Destatis on October 13.

Source: RT

Top economists issue grim prediction for Germany

Skyrocketing gas prices are drastically increasing energy costs in Germany, pushing the EU’s largest economy into recession, leading economic institutes reported on Thursday.

They see the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) contracting by 0.4% next year.

  • The four institutes – Munich-based Ifo, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) and the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research (RWI) – had earlier projected GDP to rise by 3.1% in 2023.

According to their joint economic forecast, economic output will grow 1.4% this year, down from 2.7% predicted in spring.

“The crisis on the gas markets is having a severe impact on the German economy,” the report said, adding that “Soaring gas prices are drastically increasing energy costs, leading to a massive reduction of the purchasing power.”

  • Under a risk scenario involving a very cold winter, gas shortages and a lack of savings in energy consumption, the institutes expect GDP to contract by 7.9% in 2023 and by 4.2% in 2024.

Economists have been warning lately that Germany will be among the countries worst affected by the global economic slowdown next year.

According to statistics office Destatis, annual inflation in Germany accelerated to 8.8% in August, the highest level in nearly 50 years.

The country’s central bank, the Bundesbank, warned last month that a recession in Germany was “increasingly likely,” but did not provide any numbers.

Source: RT

Russia and US seeking to revive key nuclear deal – Moscow

Moscow and Washington are “engaged in a dialogue” with a view to reviving the New START agreement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Thursday.

New START is a key nuclear arms reduction treaty that puts a cap on the number of deployed nuclear warheads, as well as their delivery vehicles.

  • The two powers are considering the resumption of mutual inspections of deployed nuclear arsenals in particular, which were suspended back in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The topic of resuming them is being considered,” Zakharova told journalists, adding that the sides are now discussing ways that would allow them to “return to the full implementation of the treaty in this regard.”

Russia and the US might also hold an in-person meeting of the bilateral advisory commission, the spokeswoman said, adding that such possibilities are “being studied.”

The commission is currently holding a remote session as its members discuss “organizational and technical issues that need to be addressed,” she added.

  • According to Zakharova, “anti-Russian” actions by the US and its allies have made even some “routine” procedures envisioned by the treaty difficult.

The spokeswoman denounced Washington’s stance on some issues as “unconstructive” and said that Moscow would seek to “resolve all the issues of concern” on an equal footing and in line with Russian national interests.

The 2010 New START treaty remains virtually the only active arms-control deal between the two nuclear powers since America’s unilateral withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty in 2019.

The deal was due to expire in early 2021 and was almost on the brink of collapse when Russian President Vladimir Putin and the US President Joe Biden agreed to extend it for five years in January 2021.

  • The agreement was salvaged at the last minute after previous talks stalled between Moscow and Washington under Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump.

The deal limits the number of nuclear warheads that the US and Russia can possess to 1,550 each.

It also says that each side must have no more than 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and nuclear bombers.

The total number of strategic nuclear delivery vehicles must not exceed 800.

The news comes as relations between Moscow and Washington have sunk to historic lows amid Russia’s ongoing military action in Ukraine, which has seen the US support Kiev with military and financial aid.

Source: RT

Key Russian Black Sea gas pipeline under threat – US state media

If the TurkStream natural gas pipeline is damaged, its operator won’t be able to mount repairs damage because the Dutch government has revoked a key license due to EU sanctions against Russia, US state-run RFE/RL alleged on Thursday.

  • The outlet claimed to have obtained a letter from Oleg Aksyutin, CEO of South Stream Transport BV, informing the company’s managers to stop all work and cancel contracts with Western suppliers.

The letter is reportedly dated September 14, and says that the Netherlands – where the company is registered – had canceled its operating license, effective September 17.

South Stream Transport operates TurkStream, a pipeline finalized in 2020, which runs under the Black Sea to Türkiye and then on to Serbia and Hungary.

  • It has an annual capacity of 33 billion cubic meters of gas. According to Reuters, SouthStream confirmed on Thursday that the license has been revoked, but said it had requested a resumption and “will continue gas transportation.”

The suspension affects “all contracts related to the technical support of the gas pipeline,” including “design, manufacture, assembly, testing, repair, maintenance, and training,” according to RFE/RL.

While there are no reports about interruptions in the TurkStream supply, RFE/RL noted that much of the pipeline is at the depth of three kilometers, and needs to be constantly monitored for damage due to “seismic activity.”

The revelation comes just days after both Nord Stream pipelines under the Baltic Sea were disabled in a series of explosions, venting millions of cubic meters of gas into the water.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has described the explosions as an “act of international terrorism” and Moscow intends to raise it before the UN Security Council.

  • NATO said Thursday that the pipelines were damaged in what appeared to be a “deliberate, reckless, and irresponsible acts of sabotage,” promising to meet any attack on its critical infrastructure “with a united and determined response.”

The US, which has long tried to stop NordStream and managed to derail TurkStream’s predecessor SouthStream – which the Dutch-based company was originally supposed to manage – has denied having anything to do with the Baltic Sea explosions.

  • Commenting on the reported sabotage on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it would be “in no one’s interest,” but then added that the situation represents “a very significant opportunity” for the EU to “finally end” its dependence on Russian gas and “accelerate the transition to renewables.”

TurkStream is the last remaining pipeline for Russian natural gas to reach the EU.

The Yamal pipeline through Poland was shut off in May, due to Russian counter-sanctions against Warsaw, while Gazprom halted deliveries through Ukraine on September 27.

Source: RT

Israel gives green light for drone assassinations – media

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has approved the use of attack drones to assassinate Palestinian terrorism suspects in the West Bank, the Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday.

  • The order comes after a violent Israeli raid a day earlier, and as the IDF increasingly looks to robots to police the Palestinian territories.

According to the newspaper, IDF commanders will be allowed to use drones “to carry out strikes should armed gunmen be identified as posing imminent threats to their troops.”

Senior officers discussed the doctrinal change on Wednesday, the report continued, with Chief of Staff General Aviv Kohavi signing off on the order.

Israel has used Elbit’s Hermes 450 drones to carry out targeted assassinations in Gaza since 2008.

  • These drones have been in production since the late 1990s, but establishing a full account of their usage is difficult, as Israel’s military censor had banned reports on their use until earlier this year.

The drones have never been used offensively over the West Bank, at least according to the IDF.

  • However, the decision to change this policy came after four Palestinians were killed and 44 others injured during a raid on a refugee camp in Jenin early on Wednesday.
  • However, the IDF was considering green-lighting drone killings as far back as May, when an Israeli counter-terror commando was killed during a similar operation in Jenin, the Jerusalem Post claimed.

Wednesday’s raid was aimed at arresting the brother of Raad Hazem, who killed three Israeli civilians in Tel Aviv in April. Such attacks, apparently organized and staged from Jenin, have prompted fears that the IDF will soon conduct a large-scale military operation in the West Bank.

While “no one has an interest in launching a large-scale operation,” Interior Minister Omer Bar said in a radio interview on Thursday, “it can happen.”

For now, Israel is hoping that drones and remote-controlled weapons can keep its troops out of harm’s way in the West Bank.

The IDF recently installed a remote gun turret in a heavily populated area of Hebron, after reportedly deploying facial recognition technology on the Palestinian territory last year.

Source: RT

Kremlin: ‘Nord Stream terrorist act could hardly have occurred without state involvement’

On September 26, the Nord Stream AG operator registered a rapid gas pressure drop on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and Nord Stream 1 followed soon after.

The operator already called the damage to the system “unprecedented”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday that the Nord Stream incident looks like a terrorist act on a state level.

According to him, “It is very difficult to imagine that such a terrorist act could take place without the involvement of some state.”

Peskov also said that even though Russia and the US do not maintain substantive contact through their special services, the emergency situation with the Nord Stream gas pipelines requires active and operational cooperation.

  • “We do not have any substantive contact or cooperation between security agencies. However, the unprecedented nature of this event — it seems that this is such a terrorist act, perhaps at the state level — of course, it requires very active and energetic cooperation. This is an extremely dangerous situation that requires urgent investigation”, he pointed out.

When asked whether Moscow would seek an international investigation into the incident, the Kremlin spokesman said that “everything will depend on the situation.”

“Of course, this will require the cooperation of several countries. In conditions when there is such an acute lack of communication and the unwillingness of so many countries to contact us in such sensitive areas, a lot of questions arise,” he added.

Peskov spoke after Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said earlier on Thursday that the incident at the Nord Stream pipeline took place in the area controlled by the US intelligence.

The remarks followed Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko telling reporters on Wednesday that Moscow is ready to consider requests from EU countries for a joint investigation into recent incidents on the Nord Stream offshore gas pipelines, if any, but so far there have been none.

  • “If there are any appeals, we will consider them. As far as I know, there have not been any yet,” Grushko said, when asked about Russia’s possible cooperation with EU member states in investigating incidents on the Nord Stream gas pipelines.

Earlier on Wednesday, EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell said in a statement on Wednesday that “the European Union is deeply concerned about damage to the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines […].”

According to him, “Safety and environmental concerns are of utmost priority. These incidents are not a coincidence and affect us all. All available information indicates those leaks are the result of a deliberate act”, Borrell noted.

Source: SPUTNIK NEWS

Header: © Photo : Swedish Coast Guard

Who wins from demolishing the EU’s gas lifelines?

Speculation abounds since both Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, designed to carry cheap Russian gas to Europe, were damaged this week in what officials widely describe as deliberate acts of sabotage. Who could be responsible? Incidents buried in the past may provide a clue.

Speculation abounds, and typically in a direction colored by the preexisting biases of the person speculating – which is hardly helpful.

Let’s start with the end result and work backwards. The outcome ultimately means that Europe’s economic impetus for ever seeking peace with Russia has been seriously undermined, if not literally destroyed.

Someone has taken it upon themselves to demolish the remaining bridges between the two. Until now, there was always a chance of reconciliation.

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin said himself recently that all the EU needed to do to pull itself out of its self-imposed energy crisis was to push the button on its gas supply from Russia and drop the anti-Russian sanctions that prevent it from doing so.

People in the streets of German cities protesting against Berlin’s blind following of Brussels’ anti-Russia sanctions also knew that was the answer. But now that option has been taken off the table.

The EU is now adrift amid a deepening energy crisis and someone burned its last sails.

It’s clear that Europe itself wouldn’t benefit from that. Nor does it benefit at all from any of its own anti-Russian sanctions. But who gave Brussels that idea, to harm its own economy in the first place?

  • At the onset of the Ukrainian conflict, it was Washington that egged on the EU to mirror measures that Washington itself had adopted in an effort to deprive Moscow of revenues to fuel its interests and objectives in Ukraine.

The problem is that the EU’s economy was far more entwined with Russia’s than America’s.

Any sense that US President Joe Biden and his administration may have given EU leaders, that they’d be there to help the bloc soften the blow of its self-sacrificial sanctions, has since been replaced by a harsh, pragmatic reality. US shale executives have explained to Western media that they simply lack the capacity to ramp up production for Europe’s winter crunch, even amid the growing rationing, deindustrialization, and risk of blackouts.

So, pressure has recently been increasing on EU member states to achieve a rapid diplomatic, peaceful resolution.

  • But any reconnection of Nord Stream gas would have been a blow to US economic ambitions, which eventually include turning the EU into a dependent liquefied natural gas client. To that end, US officials have even tried to market their natural gas in the past as “freedom molecules,” in contrast to the “authoritarian” Russian gas.

Biden himself said of Nord Stream 2 during a press conference on February 7, before the Ukraine conflict had even popped off, that “we will bring an end to it,” despite it being out of American control.

But even long before that, the US was sanctioning and bullying European companies into halting construction on Nord Stream 2 under the pretext of saving Europe from Russia.

It’s worth noting that Europe didn’t really have problems with Russia this century until the US decided to make Ukraine an outpost for the State Department.

Not only did Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned operator of the pipeline, persist against all odds to finish it, but it’s really the only leverage that Moscow has in Europe.

Attributing to Moscow the recent sabotage of their own economic interests in Europe seems absurd.

The damage done to the pipelines now means that to prevent them from being completely filled with sea water and destroyed, Russia is forced to keep pumping gas through them and into the sea at their own expense.

What exactly does Moscow gain from any of this? Conversely, what does Washington gain?

  • Nothing less than Brussels’ full dependence, which proved elusive when Europe could split its interests between the east and west.

As for who possesses the technical ability to execute underwater pipeline sabotage, both Russia and the US do. Much has been made in the past of the potential for cutting undersea cables – defined as an act of war by UK defense chief Admiral Sir Tony Radakin. The US actually has a history in such operations, having tapped into undersea cables to spy on the Soviet Union in the 1970s Operation Ivy Bells, according to public records about Operation Ivy Bells. Washington also has sabotaged Soviet gas pipelines before, albeit indirectly – according to Thomas C. Reed, a former Air Force secretary who served on the National Security Council in 1982, when then-US President Ronald Reagan allegedly approved a plan for the CIA to sabotage components of a pipeline operated by the Soviet Union. The objective was to prevent Western Europe from importing natural gas from the Soviets. Sound familiar?

Time and inquiry will uncover the culprit eventually – if we’re lucky. EU officials are vowing to get to the bottom of it. “All available information indicates leaks are the result of a deliberate act. Deliberate disruption of European energy infrastructure is utterly unacceptable and will be met with a robust and united response,” Tweeted the bloc’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell. Perhaps investigators could pay a visit to Radoslaw Sikorski, European Parliament member and former Polish foreign minister, who tweeted a photo of the disaster aftermath along with the note, “Thank you, USA.”

But if it indeed turns out that Washington committed what some consider to be an act of war against Europe’s economy, will Brussels have the heart to really confront it?

Or will Brussels continue to find justifications to remain complicit in its own demise?

  • The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

Source: Rachel Marsden – RT

Ex-Polish FM deletes tweet implying US sabotage of gas pipeline

Polish MEP and former foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski has deleted a tweet in which he thanked the United States for apparently blowing up Russia’s Nord Stream gas pipelines.

Sikorski still reckons the US had the “motive and the ability” to sabotage the lines.

After the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines lost all pressure on Monday following a series of underwater explosions off the Danish island of Bornholm, Sikorski took to Twitter to gloat, posting a photo of a massive gas leak in the Baltic Sea and declaring, “Thank you, USA.”

  • He added that the apparent act of sabotage means that Russia will now need to negotiate with Ukraine and Poland to ensure the continued flow of gas to Europe.

As of Thursday, Sikorski has deleted his thank-you message to Washington. In a tweet posted on Wednesday, he clarified that he was “glad that the Nordstream … is paralyzed.”

“I naturally make working hypotheses about who had the motive and the ability to do so only on my own behalf,” he stated.

  • Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova had suggested that Sikorsky’s tweet amounted to an “official statement that this was a terrorist attack,” while Moscow’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, thanked Sikorski for “making it crystal clear who stands behind this terrorist-style targeting of civilian infrastructure!”
  • The Biden administration has not blamed the incident on any one culprit, although US officials have described it as an act of “apparent sabotage.”
  • Ukrainian officials and some Western media outlets have blamed Russia, but with the flow of gas through the connection already controlled by Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called such accusations “stupid.”

US President Joe Biden claimed in February that the US would “end” Nord Stream 2 if Russian troops entered Ukraine, telling a reporter “I promise you, we will be able to do it.”

NATO carried out tests of underwater drones near Bornholm earlier this summer, and Zakharova pointed out on Thursday that the entire Baltic Sea was “packed full” of the bloc’s military infrastructure.

Source: RT

Putin recognizes independence of Zaporozhye and Kherson

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signed two decrees recognizing the former Ukrainian regions, Kherson and Zaporozhye, as independent sovereign states. The decrees come into force immediately.

“Recognize the state sovereignty and independence” of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions “effective from the day of signing,” say the two decrees dated and signed September 29.

  • In the documents, the head of state refers to the universally recognized principles and norms of international law, the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, enshrined in the UN Charter.

The move comes on the eve of the official ceremony where the Russian president is expected to sign the treaties on incorporating Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, as well as the two Donbass republics, into Russia.

Referendums on joining Russia were held in Zaporozhye and Kherson, as well as in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), between September 23 and 27.

  • In the Kherson region, 87.05% voted in favor of declaring independence and joining the Russian Federation. Zaporozhye Region also supported the idea of splitting from Ukraine and joining Russia, with 93,23% of voters backing it.
  • In the DPR, 99.23% of those who voted were in favor, while LPR showed a slightly lower figure of 98.42%.

After Putin signs the treaties on the accession of new regions into Russia, the documents will be submitted to Russia’s Constitutional Court.

After that, the State Duma – the lower house of the Russian parliament – will have to ratify the agreements, which will then be sent to the Federal Council, its upper house, for the same procedure.

The Donbass republics as well as Kherson and Zaporozhye may become a part of Russia no sooner than the lawmakers pass a new legislation on their incorporation, and the correspoding law is signed by Putin.

In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states, accusing Kiev of failing to implement the Minsk agreements, which were supposed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within Ukraine.

Brokered by Germany and France, the protocols were first signed in 2014.

Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing the need to protect Donbass. It also demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked.

During the conflict, Russian forces seized the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. Since then, the local authorities repeatedly mulled the idea of joining Russia, before eventually holding the referendums in September.

Source: RT

Header: Voters exit booths after voting in a referendum at a polling station in Donetsk, the capital of Donetsk People’s Republic controlled by Russia-backed separatists, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022. Voting began Friday in four Moscow-held regions of Ukraine on referendums to become part of Russia. (AP Photo)

BREAKING: DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhie Regions Joined Russia

The ceremony took place in the St. George Hall of the Kremlin.

  • The ceremony was attended by the head of the DPR Denis Pushilin, head of the LPR Leonid Pasechnik, the head of the Zaporozhye Regional State Administration Yevgeny Balitsky and the head of the Kherson Regional State Administration Vladimir Saldo.

Vladimir Putin addressed the Kiev regime:

“People in four regions become our citizens forever. We call on the Kiev regime to immediately cease fire, end all hostilities, return to the negotiating table, we are ready for this. But we will not discuss the choice of people in Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson. Their choice has been made, and Russia will not betray it,” Putin said.

Putin also addressed the Kiev’s Western patrons:

“Millions of ruined, twisted destinies. They don’t care. The main thing is to get their benefits. Greed is the real reason for the hybrid war against Russia. They want to rob, to see us as a crowd of soulless slaves.”

“They don’t need Russia at all, we need it. Russia will always be Russia. We will protect our values and our homeland even now.” Putin concluded.

  • “The choice of people causes wild anger in the West. The West has never had any moral right to claim about the freedom of democracy. They brazenly divide the world into their vassals and everyone else who, according to Western racists, should join the list of savages. Entire nations and states are branded. What, if not racism, is Russophobia?”
  • “The whole Western world order is deceitful and hypocritical. The USA is the only country in the world that destroyed two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki — by the way, it created a precedent. <…> It left a terrible mark in the memory of the peoples of Korea and Vietnam. In fact, Germany and South Korea are still being occupied.”
  • “They export bread from Ukraine. Where is it going? Yes, to the same European countries. Another swindle and outright deception.”
  • “Washington is demanding more and more sanctions against Russia, and most European politicians are forced to agree. Although they understand that it is going to deindustrialize Europe. This is not servility, but a direct betrayal of the peoples.”

“The Anglo-Saxons have moved to diversions, starting to destroy the pan-European energy infrastructure. Who did this? Who benefits from it, he did.”

  • “To get out of a new tangle of contradictions, they need to break Russia to plug their holes. They can bring the system to collapse or use the formula “war will justify everything”.

“The neocolonial system is doomed. But its owners will cling to the end.”

Putin said that the world has entered a period of revolutionary transformations, they are fundamental, new centers for further development are being formed, they represent the majority of the world community and are ready not only to declare their interests and protect them.

  • On September 23-27, the referenda were held in the four regions. As a result of the vote, people said ‘yes’ to become part of the Russian Federation.
  • After the referenda, the heads of these territories appealed to Putin with a request for inclusion in Russia.
  • On September 30, they arrived in Moscow to sign documents.
  • On September 29, Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the independence of the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.
  • The LPR and the DPR were recognized the independent states on February 21.

Source: SOUTHFRONT