🇷🇺 Russia is modernizing and expanding its transport infrastructure despite Western sanctions

🚇 Today Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin launched the so-called Big Circle Line of the Moscow metro.

Putin stressed that the Big Circle Line is the largest in the world in terms of its length, topping the Beijing metro circle line. As a meeting with China's Xi Jinping is expected soon, Russia's president said that he intends to show him the Big Circle Line personally, or, "at least, to the delegation [of China].”

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Press review: EU won't let up on Russia sanctions and Finland may join NATO without Sweden
Top stories from the Russian press on Wednesday, March 1st

Eco-activist Greta Thunberg was deprived of her freedom in Norway. She was taken by uniformed people with a patch of «politi». Let's wait for the reaction of PACE, OSCE and the State Department.

🇷🇺⚔️🇺🇦"Wagner" group demilitarised a "Boris Johnson" Ukrainian unit near Bakhmut, one of the stormtrooper commanders reported

⚡️ Lavrov at the G20 meeting: I would like to apologize to India for the indecent behavior of a number of Western delegations that turned the work of the G20 into a farce

❗️Latest statements by Dmitry Peskov on the Ukrainian terrorist attack on Russia’s Bryansk region:

▪️Putin is in the Kremlin, the president is receiving reports from the FSB, the Ministry of Defense, the National Guard, and the governor of the Bryansk region about the situation in the border area of the Bryansk region, where Ukrainian terrorists attacked;

▪️The elimination of the terrorists is underway;

▪️Putin will hold a meeting with permanent members of Russia’s Security Council on March 3;

▪️It is not yet known whether the attack will change the status of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine;

▪️Russia will continue to call the attention of world to terrorist attacks by the Ukrainian regime.

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Press review: India unwilling to condemn Russia and Lukashenko holds talks in Beijing
Top stories from the Russian press on Thursday, March 2nd

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at a plenary meeting of the G20 Ministerial Council on multilateralism, global economy and development

📍 New Delhi, March 2, 2023

💬 We stand in solidarity with New Delhi’s call to build a common future for humanity, which is especially important in the context of growing geopolitical confrontation. We share the practical objectives of strengthening multilateralism and overcoming global economic crises set during India’s Presidency.

❗️ I would like to apologise to the Presidency and our colleagues from the Global South for the improper behaviour of a number of Western delegations, which turned the discussion on the G20 agenda into a travesty in an attempt to shift their responsibility for failures in economic policy to others, primarily Russia.

The formation of a polycentric world calls for recognising civilisational diversity and mutual respect for interests. It is imperative to stop being guided by the flawed logic of domination, diktat and sanctions. We welcome the rise of new centres of influence in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.

☝️ We will strive to democratise economic management. We support the African Union’s G20 membership. We advocate for increasing the role of the developing economies at the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO and eliminating the Western monopoly in environmental and human rights organisations.

⛔️ It’s time to stop playing the food card. Today, the bulk of grain supplies from Ukraine are being shipped at giveaway fodder prices to the EU, rather than to the poorest countries that need them. Without any scruples, the West is burying the UN Secretary-General’s well-known humanitarian initiative.

🤝 We will continue to make a major contribution to ensuring economic stability. We are open to an equitable dialogue at the G20. We hope that the Delhi summit in September will at least mitigate the risks created by the self-serving Western policies.

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❗️Grain deal doesn't work, West sabotages Russian part of 'package' - Russian Foreign Ministry

Medvedev: Delivery of NATO Aircraft to Kiev Will Mean Alliance's War Against Russia

🇷🇺Lavrov and Blinken meet at G20
In their first face-to-face encounter in more than a year, the US’ top diplomat asked his Russian counterpart to return to a nuclear treaty
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters that Blinken “asked for contact” with Lavrov. However, the brief encounter was conducted on the fly and could not be considered “negotiations,” she added.

💲🛢The energy crisis brought a twofold profit
The eight largest majors managed to increase their net profit by 2 times in 2022 — up to $201.9 billion. American Exxon earned the most — $ 55.7 billion, its revenues increased 2.4 times. It is followed by the British Shell with $42.31 billion in profit (an increase of 2.1 times), the American Chevron — $35.5 billion (an increase of 2.3 times).

Norwegian Equinor showed the highest dynamics of net profit growth, its net profit increased 3.4 times to $28.744 billion.

The fourth quarter of 2022, when oil prices began to decline, was not so successful for the industry. Net profit increased not so noticeably — by 29.1% and amounted to $53.238 billion.

The strongest growth was demonstrated by BP, which increased its net profit by 4.5 times to $10.803 billion. Norwegian Equinor also remained on the leader lists, which increased revenues 2.3 times to $7,897.

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement and answers to media questions following the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting

📍 New Delhi, March 2, 2023

🌍 It was agreed that from now on the African Union will be a full-fledged member of the G20, just as the EU that has been working in this capacity for several years now.

🌐 We reaffirmed Russia’s position on the importance of this by expanding the representation of the developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

🔹 All multilateral institutions are being tested for compliance with the new geopolitical realities. Given the new circumstances, the associations (this includes the UN and the G20 alike) which act as platforms to find a balance of interests rather than to present their approaches or to make claims to justify their alleged entitlement to hegemony, will remain in high demand.

🔹 Like any document adopted by the entire international community, the UN Charter cannot be fulfilled selectively. It is not a menu to choose from.

🔹 The West continues to advance its interests by other means and methods in the new environment without taking into account the opinion of the vast majority of the world community. Developing countries see it all perfectly well.

🔹 We always support the right of any country to choose its own priorities. We don’t just proceed from understanding, but we know that our neighbours, partners and allies in the CSTO, the EAEU and the CIS confirm, in all of their contacts, their commitment to the obligations assumed in these integration structures.

❗️ We will continue fighting for justice for the Ukrainian people, protect the interests of ethnic Russians in Ukraine, and ensure the interests of the Ukrainian republics and regions that spoke out at the referendum in favour of reuniting with the Russian Federation.

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❗️Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group, urges Volodymyr Zelensky to surrender Artemovsk (Bakhmut) and allow Ukrainian forces to leave the city.

💬 “Whereas earlier the professional Ukrainian Army was fighting us, today we are witnessing more and more old people and children. They fight, but in Bakhmut [Artemovsk], their life is short, just a day or two. Give them the opportunity to leave the city. The city is in fact surrounded,” said Prigozhin.

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❗️ Russian Foreign Ministry’s statements on the terrorist attack in Russia's Bryansk region:

▪️Kiev has repeatedly acknowledged that all its actions are carried out with the approval and support of the United States and other NATO countries, the murders in the Bryansk region were committed using NATO weapons;

▪️In this respect, the question arises about whether these states qualify as accomplices in such crimes and as sponsors of terrorism;

▪️The US continues to implement its plans to destroy the Russian Federation, pumping Kiev with weapons;

▪️Kiev's sanctions "for 50 years": Apparently reflects Kiev's assessment of how long the conflict will last.

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⚡️ On the Istanbul food and fertiliser agreements

There are mounting speculations on further developments as the expiration date of the second 120-day term of the Black Sea Initiative on exporting Ukrainian grain draws nearer. At Kiev and Washington’s instigation, it is being insinuated that the initiative should be both preserved in its existing parameters (the three ports – Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny – for 120 days with the possibility of another 120-day extension, if none of the three parties – Russia, Türkiye or Ukraine – have any objections) and expanded in terms of time and space (for one year with the addition of more seaports). This is being accompanied by clumsy attempts to invoke UN efforts to ensure global food security.

In this connection, a reminder of the UN Secretary-General’s grain deal concept in general and of how the Istanbul Agreements of July 22, 2022 were signed in particular, is in order. As is common knowledge, Antonio Guterres suggested a package deal to normalise food and fertiliser supplies from Russia and Ukraine as a response to the worsening food crisis against the background of the Covid-19 pandemic, uncontrolled Western money printing, and an accelerated transition to the green economy. This suggestion was formalised in Istanbul on July 22, 2022, in the form of the simultaneous signing of two mutually complementary agreements – the above-mentioned Black Sea Initiative and the Russia-UN Memorandum on promoting Russian agricultural products.

Their synchronised and interconnected implementation is designed to reduce the threat of hunger and provide assistance to needy countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

☝️ But in practice, eight months after the signing, just one part of the package – the exportation of Ukrainian food – is being implemented. Moreover, the mode of its implementation is far from the announced humanitarian aims. <...>

Progress in implementing the Russia-UN Memorandum on promoting Russian agricultural exports is tending towards zero. The reason is the West’s stubborn unwillingness to recognise the second part of the Guterres package and their continued application of sanctions, which, despite all the empty declarations by Washington, Brussels and London, still extend to food and fertilisers. In fact, UN officials are trying to lift restrictions on Russian agricultural products; these restrictions must be null and void in a situation where global food security is at stake. But the UN efforts are futile. <...>

Thus, we have to state that the package of agreements proposed by Antonio Guterres and signed in Istanbul on July 22, 2022 is not working. The main problem is that the Western countries are sabotaging the implementation of the Russia-UN Memorandum. As is obvious, the Americans and Europeans are totally unconcerned with either the needs of destitute countries or the efforts of the United Nations, which they have long and persistently attempted to turn into an obedient tool for serving their political interests.

❗️ It is high time they stopped playing the food card. The lion’s share of Ukrainian grain is sold at dumping prices for fodder in the EU rather than in the poorest countries. At the same time, they openly put obstacles in the way of Russian agricultural exports, no matter what the Europeans and Americans say to the contrary. After all, they are not strangers to telling lies.

☝️ The West is shamelessly burying the humanitarian package initiated by the UN Secretary-General.

😁The growing activity of Russia and China, as Josep Borrell put it, is "tearing up the fabric of what we call a rules-based international order".
However, the rest of the planet calls it colonial enslavement, which the collective West has established in its own interest.The notorious "rule-based order", based on rules that not only no one has accepted or approved, but even worse, that no one has ever seen, is a very simple principle: any instant desire of the West is the law for the rest of the planet.
But for the West itself, there are no laws at all, it obeys nobody.
And no one except the West does not need such order based on the so called "rules".