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☆ Russia says it will formally annex 4 Ukrainian regions on Friday, Putin to hold a grandstand ceremony
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russia said it will hold a ceremony on Friday to mark the annexation of four Ukrainian territories. Russia held sham referendums in those regions about becoming part of Russia. Russia-backed officials held referendums in those regions this week and said the results showed that people in those regions want to join Russia. And US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US will "never recognise the annexation of Ukrainian territory by Russia." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia could use the annexation to force Ukrainian men in those regions to join Russia's army.

☆ Europe blames sabotage for Russian pipeline explosions
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Rhoda Kwan | Rhoda Kwan Is A Taipei-Based Journalist. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Sabotage was behind underwater explosions that sent gas spewing from two major pipelines connecting Europe and Russia, Western leaders concurred Wednesday. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he discussed the “sabotage” of the pipelines at a meeting with Denmark’s defense minister in Brussels. The incident has put the region on edge, months after fears of a Russian military threat to the Baltics dissipated in the wake of its military’s struggles in Ukraine. A new Baltic pipeline allowing gas to be delivered from Norway through Denmark to Poland was inaugurated Tuesday. In recent weeks, Moscow has increasingly framed the war as not just with Ukraine but its Western backers, too.

☆ NATO calls Nord Stream leaks acts of sabotage
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, Sept 28 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday attributed the leaks on the Nord Stream pipelines to acts of sabotage and said he had discussed the protection of critical infrastructure in NATO countries with the Danish defence minister. "Discussed the sabotage on the NorthStream pipelines with Defence Minister Morten Bødskov," he said on Twitter. "We addressed the protection of critical infrastructure in NATO countries." Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Sabine Siebold and Bart MeijerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Nord Stream sabotage not an attack on Sweden, foreign minister says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

COPENHAGEN, Sept 28 (Reuters) - The suspected sabotage against the Nord Stream gas pipelines does not constitute an attack on Sweden, Foreign Minister Ann Linde told SVT public television on Wednesday. "This is not an attack against Sweden because it is not in our territory" Linde said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterDenmark and Sweden on Tuesday said major leaks on the two Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea were caused by deliberate acts of sabotage carried out in each of the two countries' exclusive economic zones. The blasts hitting Nord Stream 1 and 2 did not represent a direct military threat or attack on Sweden or Denmark, the Swedish and Danish prime ministers said late on Tuesday. Map of Nord Stream pipelines and locations of reported leaksRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Terje SolsvikOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Gas bubbles from the Nord Stream 2 leak reaching surface of the Baltic Sea in the area shows disturbance of well over one kilometre diameter near Bornholm, Denmark, September 27, 2022. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he discussed the "sabotage" of the pipelines at a meeting with Danish Defence Minister Morten Bødskov in Brussels. "We addressed the protection of critical infrastructure in NATO countries," the chief of the Western military alliance that also includes most EU countries said on Twitter. The EU, meanwhile, issued a strong warning to anybody attempting to attack the energy backbones of the 27-nation bloc. Borrell announced the bloc would step up the protection of its energy infrastructure following the incidents.

☆ The CIA warned Germany weeks ago about a possible attack on the Nord Stream natural-gas pipelines, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The CIA told Germany weeks ago the Nord Stream pipelines could be attacked, sources told Der Spiegel. The pipelines were intended to be the main artery of natural-gas supply from Russia to Europe. On Monday, three severe leaks were discovered on the four Nord Stream pipelines, which run from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea. Nord Stream AG, the operator of the pipelines, said Tuesday the damage they'd sustained was "unprecedented." German media earlier Tuesday reported government officials as saying they believed the damage to the Nord Stream pipelines wasn't accidental.

☆ U.S. Coast Guard spots Chinese guided missile cruiser off Alaskan island
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A U.S. Coast Guard ship on routine patrol in the Bering Sea came across a guided missile cruiser from China, officials said Monday. A C-130 Hercules provided air support for the Kimball from the Coast Guard station in Kodiak. The Coast Guard said Operation Frontier Sentinel guidelines call for meeting “presence with presence” when strategic competitors operate in and around U.S. waters. The Coast Guard did not immediately respond to questions about the incident from The Associated Press. In September 2021, Coast Guard cutters in the Bering Sea and North Pacific Ocean encountered Chinese ships, about 50 miles off the Aleutian Islands.

☆ NATO warns Russia of "severe consequences" in case of a nuclear strike
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Any use of nuclear weapons by Russia is unacceptable and would have severe consequences, NATO said on Tuesday after an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin issued another stark nuclear warning to Ukraine and the West. "Any use of nuclear weapons is absolutely unacceptable, it will totally change the nature of the conflict, and Russia must know that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. "When we see that kind of nuclear rhetoric again and again from Russia, from President Putin, it is something that we have to take seriously - and therefore we are conveying the clear message that this will have severe consequences for Russia." Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Sabine Siebold and Bart MeijerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Putin could announce Russia is annexing parts of occupied Ukraine on Friday, UK defense chiefs warn
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russia is holding sham referendums on getting occupied Ukraine to become part of Russia. Putin could formally annex the regions on Friday, the UK Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday. As part of of ongoing updates on the war in Ukraine, the UK Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday that Putin may use his Friday address to parliament to announce the regions are being annexed. "There is a realistic possibility that Putin will use his address to formally announce the accession of the occupied regions of Ukraine to the Russian Federation," the ministry said. Russia also used a referendum after it seized Crimea from Ukraine and annexed it in 2014.

☆ Intercepted documents show pro-Russian officials allowing teenagers as young as 13 to vote in 'sham' referendums, Ukraine's security service says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ukraine's security service said Russian proxies want teenagers as young as 13 to vote. In eastern Ukraine's occupied Donetsk region, pro-Russian officials plan to include teenagers ages 13 through 17 in the voting process of the "sham referendum," Ukraine's security service — or SBU — shared in a Thursday statement. Citing intercepted documents, the SBU said "minors" will be accompanied by their parents, guardians, or orphanage representatives to polling stations. The SBU said doing so will allow Russian proxies to build a more widespread voter base and "strengthen control" of the referendum's turnout. Ukrainian and Western officials have widely slammed the referendums as illegal and said the outcomes of any votes will never be recognized.

☆ Putin's 'incredibly dangerous' nuclear threats raise the risk of an unprecedented disaster
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Putin’s threats increase the risk of escalation to a nuclear conflict drastically. Beatrice Fihn, Nobel laureate and executive director of the International Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons, urged political leaders to renew efforts to get rid of all nuclear weapons by signing and ratifying the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Beatrice Fihn, Nobel laureate and executive director of the International Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons, told CNBC that Putin's "incredibly dangerous and irresponsible" threats drastically increase the risk of escalation to a nuclear conflict. Fihn called for the international community to "unequivocally condemn any and all nuclear threats" and urged political leaders to renew efforts to get rid of all nuclear weapons by signing and ratifying the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. 'No going back'Max Hess, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute think tank, described Putin's nuclear threats as a "very significant announcement."

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s renewed nuclear threats has raised fears that his plans for escalation in Ukraine may not be limited to mobilizing more troops. Desperate for a victory, the Russian leader allied his nuclear threats and call-up of reservists to a plan to annex occupied territory in Ukraine’s east and south. “Creating more ‘Russian’ territory is an attempt to scare the West because Russian nuclear doctrine has always maintained that nuclear weapons would only be used in defense of Russia directly. In fact, when Ukraine launched attacks on annexed Crimea this summer, a territory Moscow considers Russian, Putin did not reach for the nuclear button, O’Brien noted. And that victory, Putin hopes, could come through eroding Ukraine’s international support,” Giles said.

☆ Secret clause in Putin's mobilization decree may allow him to draft up to 1 million reservists, an independent Russian outlet reports
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A secret clause in Putin's mobilization decree allows one million to be called up, a new report says. The Kremlin denied the report, maintaining that 300,000 reservists will be drafted. The West says Putin's partial mobilization shows he's failing in Ukraine. The Pentagon in August said the US estimates the Russian military has seen up to 80,000 casualties in the war so far. Western leaders and officials said Putin's decision to announce a partial mobilization stood as an acknowledge that Russia is "losing" or "failing" in Ukraine.

"The speech of President Putin demonstrates that the war is not going according to President Putin's plans. 1/6 Reuters Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni interviews NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the Reuters office in New York City, U.S., September 21, 2022. That will mean more suffering, more loss of lives - Ukrainian lives, but also Russian lives," Stoltenberg added. "The only way to end this war is to prove that President Putin will not win on the battlefield. When he realizes that, he has to sit down and negotiate a reasonable agreement with Ukraine," said Stoltenberg, the former Norwegian prime minister.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced the partial mobilization of his country's reservists. According to Russian officials, 300,000 reservists will be drafted immediately. Conscripts and students will not be called up and will affect only those with combat experience, according to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. In his speech, Putin reiterated that the goal of Russia's invasion of Ukraine was the liberation of the Donbas region. Ukrainian officials in response slammed the referendum as a "sham" and said it won't change anything.

☆ Putin effectively told the world his army is 'losing' in Ukraine by calling up hundreds of thousands of reservists and threatening to use nuclear force
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Ex-diplomats and Russia experts said it showed that Russia is losing the war in Ukraine. By comparison, taking control of the Donbas is a far less ambitious goal for Putin than conquering the whole of Ukraine. In his address, Putin threatened the use of nuclear force in the event of a "threat" to the "territorial integrity" of Russia. "Anyone who finds it necessary to say that he's not bluffing most likely is," Daalder said of Putin's latest nuclear threat. Both the US and the UK have indicated that they view Putin's escalation of the Ukraine war as a sign that his invasion is not going well.

☆ NATO va restricționa accesul personalului misiunii diplomatice a Belarusului în sediul Alianței
▼ + stars: | 2021-05-31 | by ( Publika.Md - Aici Sunt Știrile | ) www.publika.md time to read: +1 min

NATO va restricționa accesul personalului misiunii diplomatice a Belarusului în sediul Alianței. „Am decis să restricționăm accesul personalului bielorus la sediul NATO”, a declarat Stoltenberg într-o conferință de presă înainte de întâlnirile miniștrilor apărării ai țărilor NATO. Belarusul nu este membru NATO dar a păstrat legături cu alianța nord-atlantică din 1992 și are o misiune diplomatică din 1998. Personalul acesteia poate să participe la seminare și întâlniri la NATO și în țări NATO ca parte a parteneriatului de cooperare pentru probleme precum controlul armamentului și educația militară. Stoltenberg a solicitat, anterior, o anchetă internaţională asupra acestui „incident serios şi periculos”.

Persons: Jens Stoltenberg, Reuters, Stoltenberg, Lukașenko Organizations: NATO, Alianței, Anunţul, Belarusul Locations: Belarusului, Roman, Vilnius, Occident, Turcia, Rusia

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