Iain Davis In a recent interview with Russian media, Nikolay Patrushev, an intelligence officer who is the former director of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and the current secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council, spoke about the nature of power in the West. In keeping with the previous address of President Putin at Valdai, Patrushev …
The Duran’s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris discuss the official state meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Russia, that is seeing two nations forge a formidable alliance for the 21st century.
With the rise of protectionist tendencies and Trump’s billowing trade war, the five leaders of the BRICS bloc, which represents over 40% of the world’s GDP, are committing themselves to an even closer degree of economic cooperation in a joint declaration following a meeting in Johannesburg for the annual summit. Trade between BRICS members grew by 30% in 2017, and, in the wake of Trump’s tariffs regime, is likely to increase as members seek to further diversify their trade portfolios as well as mitigate the damage done by Trump’s war to put or keep America on top of the world.
A peace treaty, including resolution of the Kuril Islands dispute, has eluded both countries [Image: PPIO]
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that finalizing a peace treaty with Japan would be in the best interests of both countries.
His statement came shortly after meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who is in St Petersburg. Russia to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) but flew to Moscow to meet with the Russian president.
Russia is regularly painted out as the villain of the world by Western governments and media, as if whatever is wrong with the world is because of some nefarious Russian plot.
With threats of further anti Russia sanctions blowing about across the American political landscape, Russia has been hard at work at both neutralizing the effects of existing sanctions as well as insulating itself against further sanctions.
Those efforts include reducing Russia’s utter economic dependence on oil, stockpiling gold, and creating its own alternative to the SWIFT banking system for domestic transfers, among others.
RT reports:
Following the tariffs on aluminum and steel, which the EU has an exemption on until the end of the month, Donald Trump is threatening new tariffs. This time, it’s about autos, and the tariff is reported to amount to around 25%, on the pretext that importing cars and trucks from other countries somehow threatens US national security.
Russian Finance Minister and First Deputy Prime Minister, Anton Siluanov, has proposed using the European common currency in order to settle transactions between Russia and EU members, while speaking at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
As an example of the successful function of using national currencies in foreign trade, Siluanov pointed out that Russia is already doing this with it trading partners.
RT reports:
As part of the St Petersburg International Economic forum (SPIEF), which is presently in progress, France has agreed to several investment projects in cooperation with Russian firms as the French President, Emmanuel Macron, visits Russia as a guest of honor at the forum.
