DYNAMICS OF SPECIAL OP ARE POSITIVE, EVERYTHING IS GOING ACCORDING TO PLAN: PUTIN
Russian President Vladimir Putin positively assessed the dynamics of the special military operation. In an interview with the Rossiya-1 TV channel for the program ‘Moscow. Kremlin. Putin’, the head of state expressed the hope that Russian fighters would once again please everyone with the results of their work, TASS reports.
"The dynamics are positive. Everything is developing within the plan of the Defense Ministry and the General Staff. And I hope that our fighters will please us more than once again with the results of their combat work," Putin said, answering questions from journalist Pavel Zarubin.
WAR IN UKRAINE IS AT DECISIVE PHASE: STOLTENBERG
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has hailed recent pledges of heavy weapons deliveries from Western allies to Ukraine, saying he expected more “in the near future”, Al Jazeera reports.
The head of the transatlantic military alliance made the comments on Sunday, a day after a wave of Russian attacks across Ukraine again targeted critical infrastructure and left at least 30 people dead after a residential building was hit in the east-central city of Dnipro.
“The recent pledges for heavy warfare equipment are important — and I expect more in the near future,” Stoltenberg told Germany’s Handelsblatt daily ahead of a meeting on Friday of defence officials from the bloc meant to coordinate arms transfers to Kyiv. What NATO refers to as the Ukraine Defense Contact Group is set to hold its third meeting at the US Ramstein Air Base in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate on Friday.
Asked whether Germany must also move to provide heavier weapons to Ukraine, Stoltenberg said: “We are in a decisive phase of the war. We are experiencing fierce fighting. Therefore, it is important that we provide Ukraine with the weapons it needs to win — and to continue as an independent nation.”
WE MAINTAIN OUR TIES WITH RUSSIA: ERDOGAN
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan emphasized on Sunday Ankara's unique role in global affairs, stressing that Turkey was the only country capable of resolving the vital issue of the Black Sea grain corridor.
"Our work isn’t done. When everyone was attacking Russia, we did not. On the contrary, we maintained our ties with Mr. (Russian President Vladimir) Putin. In fact, he made a nice offer, saying, 'Let me send grain for free’," said Erdogan.
In response, Turkey offered to create flour from Russian grain and distribute it to impoverished African countries, Erdogan divulged.
"Our goal now is to produce flour from the wheat and then send it to poor African countries. Because 44% went to Europe so far while 14% was sent to Africa. Now we will balance this and send it to African countries," he added.
On July 22, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, and Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov signed a grain deal mediated by the United Nations and Turkey in Istanbul.
The deal stipulated that the Ukrainian side will have control over the ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny, from which grain exports will be organized. Aside from that, no ships other than those exporting grain and related food products and fertilizers will be permitted to dock at these ports.
However, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) revealed on October 7 that only a quarter of the grain exported under the UN-brokered deal with Ukraine and Russia via the Black Sea is going to low-income countries.
THREE OUT OF CSTO’S FOUR DRILLS PLANNED FOR 2023 TO BE HELD IN BELARUS
Three out of four Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) drills planned for 2023 will be conducted in Belarus, First Deputy Secretary of the Belarusian Security Council Pavel Muraveiko said on Sunday, TASS reports.
"As for defense aspects, it is planned to conduct three out of four annual drills of the organization in our country. These are the drills of collective rapid response forces, drills of reconnaissance units, and drills of Logistics and rear units. They will be held in our country in September," he said in an interview with the STV television channel.
According to Muraveiko, as a president in the CSTO on 2023, Belarus plans to organize an international conference on Eurasian security in 2023. It also plans to promote dialogue between the CSTO foreign and defense ministers, as Security Council chiefs and China.
"Much attention will be focused on the development of the organization’s information and analytical sphere because today, the one who owns information, owns the world. That is why it will be in focus and it will also be among the priorities of our presidency," he stressed.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization embraces Belarus, Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
