China will be guided by its own interests when forming its national energy strategy, said Chinese Foreign Ministry official spokesman Guo Jiakun.
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Zin Note: Yesterday, the USA and China completed trade negotiations to continue the pause on tariffs for another 90 days. Considering that tariffs of 100% on countries that purchase Russian exports are set to kick in a little over 1 week from now, I wonder what sort of deal was struck. This statement from the Chinese can be taken two ways, so what may or may not happen is up in the air.

Update: Most people, including US experts, are interpreting these words as a total rejection of the US pressure to stop purchasing Russian oil.

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🗣Dmitry Peskov answered questions from TASS at the briefing:

On Russia's preparation for the new sanctions announced by Trump in 10 days:

🟢 Russia has been living under a huge number of restrictions for quite a long time, but its economy is functioning;

🟢 A "certain immunity" to sanctions has been developed in Russia;

🟢 Moscow continues to record all statements by Trump and other foreign leaders regarding sanctions.

🟢On awarding those distinguished during the earthquake in the Far East:

This has not been discussed yet.

Source: TASS

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Адекват Z writes,

…And Agent Donald deserves special gratitude for his care of the ruble’s exchange rate. For months, it held unnaturally steady at levels that were utterly abnormal for both the budget and every single exporter—until yesterday’s verbal thrashing finally got it moving again. Currency speculators worldwide got scared and scrambled for the exits. And it would be quite fitting (though, of course, with no guarantees—I’m full of surprises and contradictions) if the rate climbed to at least 90 and found a new equilibrium somewhere around there—or even a bit lower.

As for Trump, fists should be clenched with all possible strength to ensure he follows through on every single threat he’s been making. It would be a textbook demonstration of why the hegemon is long past its prime. The Chinese all but spelled it out just yesterday, and even though American negotiators actually listened to them, they’re still charging ahead like a runaway drill—at least in words. And if Trump, for the hundred-and-twentieth time, doesn’t chicken out at the last moment, he’ll get a comprehensive lesson in how the targets of his most terrifying threats perceive them—seeing one thing here and twisting it into another there. This applies equally to the new wave of the trade war, which, by Trump’s own stated terms, fundamentally cannot end in a draw, as well as to the continued battering of the Ukrainians.

Come on, Redhead, don’t screw this up. Initiative should be rewarded with execution. Here’s the sledgehammer, here’s the load-bearing wall (yours, not someone else’s)—don’t miss.

🌒@EastCalling

https://x.com/kadmitriev/status/1950509770164609363

Russian medics in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia, continuing a surgery on a patient despite a powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake.

🌒@EastCalling

Trump seems to be tightening the screws on India. I really hope India tells him to go pound sand. I didn't elect Melania to run my country.

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📷 The Klyuchevskaya Sopka volcano is erupting in Kamchatka due to the largest earthquake since 1952, the Russian Academy of Sciences reported.

This earthquake was the sixth most powerful in the world in the entire history of observations, writes WP.

Photo: Telegram channel of the Kamchatka branch of the Federal Research Center of the East Asia Geological Survey of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Source: TASS

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Кримсон дайджест comments:

🈁Well, that's great. Trump did it in the most idiotic way possible.

Prime: "

💰Trump said he would impose a 25% duty on imports from India from August 1. According to him, the country would also "pay a fine" for buying Russian energy and weapons."

Why it was done in an idiotic way:

1. To impose "25%" with a kick is an immediate attempt to insult Modi (a nationalist politician with a fixation on national interests and the creation of a separate pole of power from India at the global level, fortunately, geography and population allow it). A bad bid for negotiations.
2. "Punish" India for buying Russian weapons is also a bad idea. India buys Russian weapons not because life is good and not even for their technical parameters, but in order not to depend on the whims of the State Department (which at any moment may include yet another representative of the "Clintons" who tried to organize a Maidan for Modi, and the Indian leadership does not forgive such attempts). New Delhi does not want to find itself in a situation where the State Department tells them something like: "We will not supply you with weapons and will not return the money until you (a) jump on China, (b) stop offending Islamist terrorists and other "refugees" and (c) hold a gay parade in New Delhi under the leadership of the Soros Foundation" [note: Crimson: LGBT is a movement banned in Russia]. There have been precedents. This is in addition to the historical reasons that the Indian ambassador to London recently outlined in an interview with local media, it was offensive there. 3. Linking “Russian oil” to this topic is the worst possible way to work out the sanctions topic. The best chances for India to actually give up Russian oil would be if the oil topic was handled completely separately, with maximum respect for New Delhi, with promises of compensation at the expense of the United States (possibly in the form of physical volumes of American oil at approximately Russian prices), and not accompanied by a spit in the face, as Trump has done now. Anything can happen, of course, India may be bent, but the approach of the American leader certainly did not increase the chances of success.

As for the importance of the American market for India, your humble servant has doubts that the figures support American confidence in its own indispensability.

Total Indian exports to the United States (2024): $87.4 billion;
India's total exports (2024): $824 billion.

Is the increase in inflation and loss of sovereignty worth about 10.6% of exports? A philosophical question. We will soon know the Indian answer.

P.S.: India is more or less the only country where (with a big stretch) you can try to get “Chinese” production volumes at approximately “Chinese” prices, which is what American companies are doing, like Apple, which has invested billions of dollars in India. So Trump has now essentially imposed sanctions against Apple. A strong move.
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‼️At 19:00 MSK/ 18:00 CET / 12:00 EST we'll be streaming live with Vasiliy Makagonov - journalist, author of Telegram channel Безграничный аналитик

Livestream will be broadcasted to:

Oleg Shalandin's Telegram channel
Oleg Shalandin's Rutube channel
Our X

Ask your question in comments to this post. Language: Russian

Topics: soft power of Russia in Africa and Latin America, the actions of our not dear non-friend Donald Trump.

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EU countries have the right to interfere in elections in Moldova, said the head of the republic's CEC Karaman:

There is a big difference between the European Union and other states. Moldova is already one step away from becoming an EU member, so interference by a country like France in our elections is not considered external interference.

Source: TASS
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I knew right from the start that this day is strange. But not to that extent. It's like victim of the gang rape telling everyone that it is ok, if "respected people" did that. Freaking sick people.

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A tsunami caused by the earthquake in Kamchatka has already reached the coasts of California and Hawaii.

The US weather service warns that the wave heights will continue to rise.

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