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G7 countries pledged to stop importing Russian oil

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At point 12 of joint position statement of the G7 countriesissued by the White House, which mentions the sanctions imposed on Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine, the seven commit themselves in paragraph a) to stop importing Russian oil.

“We are determined to end our dependence on Russian energy resources, including stopping or banning the import of Russian oil. We will ensure that this is done in an orderly and timely manner and in such a way that the world has time to secure alternative supplies.” , the statement says.

“This will deal a serious blow to the main artery of Putin’s economy and deprive him of the necessary funding to finance the war,” the statement said.

The text does not specify what commitments were made by the members of the G7 (France, Germany, Canada, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US), which this Sunday held its third meeting of the year via videoconference with the participation of the President of Ukraine., Vladimir Zelensky.

The choice of date is very symbolic as it marks the end of World War II in Europe. The rally was also held on the eve of the military parade in Russia on May 9, dedicated to the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany.

So far, the West has demonstrated very close coordination in its statements about sanctions against Moscow. However, when it comes to Russian oil and gas, it is not progressing at the same pace.

The US, which was not a major consumer of Russian oil, has already banned its imports. Even now, EU members forced to apply this measure are much more dependent on Russia.

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In this sense, the EU continued this Sunday intensive negotiations on an embargo on Russian oil.

Meanwhile, the United States has also announced new sanctions against Russia that affect the media and the access of Russian companies and big fortunes to consulting and accounting services, both American and British, that are the best in the world.

By including Channel One, Rossiya-1 and NTV on its list, Washington prohibits any American company from funding them through advertising or equipment sales. “No American company should be involved in the financing of Russian propaganda,” said a senior White House official who asked not to be named.

It also banned “audit, management, consulting, marketing services, all services used to manage multinational companies and also potentially to avoid sanctions or hide ill-gotten wealth,” the same source said.

The official also noted that while Europeans have closer industrial ties to Russia, the United States and the UK, on ​​the other hand, dominate the services universe, namely through the Big Four, the world’s four audit and consulting giants. : Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC.

Washington also announced new export bans to Russia on US products, on everything from excavators to ventilation systems and boilers.

Finally, visa restrictions were announced for 2,600 Russian and Belarusian officials, as well as sanctions against employees of Sberbank and Gazprombank.

US President Joe Biden has already announced a G7 meeting this week, without giving an exact date, on possible additional sanctions against Russia.

“We are always open to additional sanctions, and this week I consulted with members of the G7 about what we are going to do or not do,” Biden said Wednesday at the White House.

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Created in 1975, the group of most industrialized countries was part of Russia until 2014, when the country was expelled for invading and annexing the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.

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Vladimir Putin has delayed the invasion of Ukraine at least three times.

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Putin has repeatedly consulted with Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu about the invasion, Europa Press told Ukraine’s chief intelligence director Vadim Skibitsky.

According to Skibitsky, it was the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), which is responsible for counterintelligence and espionage work, that put pressure on Gerasimov and other military agencies to agree to launch an offensive. .

However, according to the Ukrainian intelligence services, the FSB considered that by the end of February sufficient preparations had already been made to guarantee the success of the Russian Armed Forces in a lightning invasion.

However, according to Kyiv, the Russian General Staff provided the Russian troops with supplies and ammunition for only three days, hoping that the offensive would be swift and immediately successful.

The head of Ukrainian intelligence also emphasized the cooperation of local residents, who always provided the Ukrainian authorities with up-to-date information about the Russian army, such as the number of soldiers or the exact location of troops.

The military offensive launched on February 24 by Russia in Ukraine caused at least 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 7.8 million refugees to European countries, which is why the UN classifies this migration crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945). gg.). ).

At the moment, 17.7 million Ukrainians are in need of humanitarian assistance, and 9.3 million are in need of food aid and housing.

The UN has presented as confirmed 6,755 civilian deaths and 10,607 wounded since the beginning of the war, stressing that these figures are much lower than the real ones.

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Life sentence for former Swedish official for spying for Russia

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A Stockholm court on Monday sentenced a former Swedish intelligence officer to life in prison for spying for Russia, and his brother to at least 12 years in prison. In what is considered one of the most serious cases in Swedish counterintelligence history, much of the trial took place behind closed doors in the name of national security.

According to the prosecution, it was Russian military intelligence, the GRU, who took advantage of the information provided by the two brothers between 2011 and their arrest at the end of 2021.

Peyman Kia, 42, has held many senior positions in the Swedish security apparatus, including the army and his country’s intelligence services (Säpo). His younger brother, Payam, 35, is accused of “participating in the planning” of the plot and of “managing contacts with Russia and the GRU, including passing on information and receiving financial rewards.”

Both men deny the charges, and their lawyers have demanded an acquittal on charges of “aggravated espionage,” according to the Swedish news agency TT.

The trial coincides with another case of alleged Russian espionage, with the arrest of the Russian-born couple in late November in a suburb of Stockholm by a police team arriving at dawn in a Blackhawk helicopter.

Research website Bellingcat identified them as Sergei Skvortsov and Elena Kulkova. The couple allegedly acted as sleeper agents for Moscow, having moved to Sweden in the late 1990s.

According to Swedish press reports, the couple ran companies specializing in the import and export of electronic components and industrial technology.

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The man was again detained at the end of November for “illegal intelligence activities.” His partner, suspected of being an accomplice, has been released but remains under investigation.

According to Swedish authorities, the arrests are not related to the trial of the Kia brothers.

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Ukraine admitted that Russia may announce a general mobilization

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“They can strengthen their positions. We understand that this can happen. At the same time, we do not rule out that they will announce a general mobilization,” Danilov said in an interview with the Ukrainska Pravda online publication.

Danilov believed that this mobilization would also be convened “to exterminate as many as possible” of Russian citizens, so that “they would no longer have any problems on their territory.”

In this sense, Danilov also reminded that Russia has not given up on securing control over Kyiv or the idea of ​​the complete “destruction” of Ukraine. “We have to be ready for anything,” he said.

“I want everyone to understand that [os russos] they have not given up on the idea of ​​destroying our nation. If they don’t have Kyiv in their hands, they won’t have anything in their hands, we must understand this,” continued Danilov, who also did not rule out that a new Russian offensive would come from “Belarus and other territories.” .

As such, Danilov praised the decision of many of its residents who chose to stay in the Ukrainian capital when the war broke out in order to defend the city.

“They expected that there would be panic, that people would run, that there would be nothing to protect Kyiv,” he added, referring to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The military offensive launched on February 24 by Russia in Ukraine caused at least 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 7.8 million refugees to European countries, which is why the UN classifies this migration crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945). gg.). ).

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At the moment, 17.7 million Ukrainians are in need of humanitarian assistance, and 9.3 million are in need of food aid and housing.

The Russian invasion, justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security, was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing political and economic sanctions on Russia.

The UN has presented as confirmed 6,755 civilian deaths and 10,607 wounded since the beginning of the war, stressing that these figures are much lower than the real ones.

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