China News Agency, Beijing, July 2. Comprehensive news: Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Glushko said on July 1 that NATO called Russia its biggest threat because it clearly declared a confrontation with Russia. On the same day, the United States pledged a new $820 million in military aid to Ukraine.
Russia says NATO has clearly declared confrontation with Russia
NATO recently approved the “NATO 2022 Strategic Concept” and called Russia its “most important and direct threat”. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Glushko said on July 1 that NATO’s move is a clear declaration of confrontation with Russia. , in order to contain Russia in all aspects. He also pointed out that the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO will lead to the deterioration of the military situation in the Baltic region, and Russia will take appropriate measures to ensure security. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov previously said that Russia condemns NATO’s policy of irresponsible and undermining the European security architecture, and that NATO’s decision will not affect Russia’s policy.
According to the website of the Russian Presidential Press Service, Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 1, and the two sides expressed that they would comprehensively strengthen the Russia-India preferential strategic partnership. Putin also introduced the main situation of the “special military operation”, emphasizing that the practice of Ukraine and Western countries to escalate the crisis and undermine political and diplomatic mediation is “dangerous and provocative”. Modi reiterated India’s long-standing position of supporting dialogue, diplomatic efforts.
Ukrainian officials say Zelensky and Putin have no plans to meet
According to Ukrainian media reports on July 1, Yermak, director of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, said that some media recently said that Ukrainian President Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin may meet during the G20 summit. There are no plans to meet.
According to the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense on July 1, the United States will provide Ukraine with additional security assistance worth $820 million, of which $50 million worth of weapons and equipment will be directly approved by U.S. President Biden and transferred from the Department of Defense inventory. This is the 14th time since August 2021 that Biden has used foreign aid funds that he can directly approve to provide arms to Ukraine.
According to foreign media statistics, since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the total value of the security assistance promised by the United States to Ukraine has reached about 6.9 billion US dollars.
Ukraine starts supplying electricity to EU
According to Reuters, Zelensky said on June 30 that Ukraine has begun to send electricity to the EU via Romania as a first step in helping the EU reduce its energy dependence on Russia. According to the statement issued by Uzbekistan Prime Minister Shmegal since then, the process of power transmission to the EU via Romania has been started earlier in the day, with an initial transmission capacity of 100,000 kilowatts. He has said that Ukraine has the potential to export electricity to the EU up to 2.5 million kilowatts.
After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Ukraine broke away from the “integrated power system” including Russia, and reached an agreement in mid-March to join the European Electricity Transmission System Operators Alliance, which operates the world‘s largest interconnected power grid, as an observer ( ENTSO-E). The alliance previously said that Ukraine’s electricity trade to Slovakia and Hungary, respectively, would also start soon.
Czech takes over EU presidency and focuses on Ukraine
According to Reuters, the Czech Republic will replace France as the rotating EU presidency from July 1. The Czech presidency work plan announced earlier shows that its work focuses on responding to the refugee crisis, helping Ukraine rebuild, ensuring energy security, strengthening defense, and improving the resilience of the European economy.
Czech Prime Minister Fiala said on the same day that the Czech government and the European Commission will mainly deal with energy issues and Ukraine issues. Ending the conflict in Ukraine and rebuilding its country is the key to solving the problems currently facing the EU. European Commission President von der Leyen also said that it is necessary to reach an agreement between the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament on measures to solve the energy problem and the Ukraine problem.
Michel, President of the European Council, said after his visit to the Czech Republic on June 30 that the Czech Republic took over the rotating EU presidency at a time when Europe was at a turning point, and the EU was facing challenges from the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, energy security and economic recovery. (Finish)