World News
In front of Tucker Carlson, Vladimir Putin ironizes on the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines.
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Steph Deschamps / February 10, 2024
Nearly two years after the start of the war in Ukraine, the Russian president was interviewed by the former Fox News star host, who is hardly critical of Moscow.
A joke and a laugh, proving that Vladimir Putin was rather relaxed for his first interview with a Western journalist since the start of the war in Ukraine. The Russian president was interviewed on Thursday February 8 by former Fox News star Tucker Carlson, who is not very critical of Moscow. Vladimir Putin took advantage of this favorable interlocutor to slip in a little joke.
The conservative journalist, who is close to Donald Trump, asked the Kremlin leader about the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022.
“Who blew up Nord Stream?” he asked. “You did,” Vladimir Putin replied with a smirk. With an embarrassed laugh, Tucker Carlson continued: “I was too busy that day. I didn’t blow up Nord Stream”. “You personally have an alibi, but the CIA doesn’t,” retorted the Russian president, more seriously.
The explosion of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines on September 26, 2022, causing four huge gas leaks into the international waters of the Baltic Sea, has given rise to numerous nebulous theories on Russia’s part. Many of these point to Ukraine’s responsibility.
Various media investigations have attributed this responsibility to Ukraine, Russia or the USA, but all have denied it. Three investigations have been opened into the matter, in Germany, Sweden and Denmark. The Swedish investigation was the first to end on Wednesday, without any prosecution.
“There is no indication that Sweden or Swedish citizens were involved in this attack, which took place in international waters,” the Swedish prosecutor said in a statement. “The conclusion of the investigation is that it is not within Swedish jurisdiction and that the investigation should therefore be closed,” he said.
In addition to the Nord Stream sabotage, Vladimir Putin also spoke at length with Tucker Carlson about the war in Ukraine. In particular, he felt that a Russian defeat in Ukraine was “impossible”. “It will never happen [defeat]. It seems to me that now, those in power in the West are also aware of this,” added the man who launched the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In his two-hour message to America and the West, he also said: “If you really want to stop the fighting, you must stop supplying arms”, in reference to Western aid to Kiev, as Politico points out. He added: “The situation will be resolved in a few weeks. »
The Kremlin leader also ruled out an invasion of Poland or Latvia. “Can you imagine a scenario in which you send Russian troops into Poland?” asked Tucker Carlson. “Only in one scenario, if Poland attacks Russia,” Vladimir Putin replied.
The Russian president also took the view that the election of a new US president, scheduled for November 5and expected to pit Republican Donald Trump against Democrat Joe Biden, would not change relations between the United States and Russia.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are both full of praise for each other. The former has boasted, without further elaboration, that he could resolve the war in Ukraine in 24 hours if re-elected. President Joe Biden, on the other hand, has described his Russian counterpart as a war criminal, and is unwavering in his support for Kiev.
Reading Time: 2 minutes
Sylvie Claire / July 21, 2024
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on the phone on Friday, with the former US president claiming to have promised the Ukrainian president to “end the war” between Ukraine and Russia should he return to the White House. “As your next president of the United States, I will bring peace to the world and end the war that has cost so many lives,” said the Republican presidential candidate.
Donald Trump frequently claims that he would be able to put an end to the conflict in Ukraine very quickly on his return to power, but never provides details of how he would achieve this. Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the phone call, during which he congratulated the billionaire on his official nomination the previous day as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate.
Donald Trump’s frequent praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as his criticism of other Nato countries, is causing concern among Ukraine’s Western allies. In February, he threatened that, if he returned to the White House, he would no longer guarantee the protection of Atlantic Alliance countries against Russia if they did not pay their share, even claiming that he would “encourage” Moscow to attack them. The former American president also used his power over the Republicans to block a $61 billion military aid package for Kiev for months in Congress, which was finally adopted at the end of April.
In his posting on X on Friday, Volodymyr Zelensky said he had “agreed with President Trump to discuss, in a face-to-face meeting, the steps to be taken towards a just and lasting peace” in Ukraine.
World News
Former Ukrainian far-right MP murdered in Lviv: “All leads are being investigated, including Russia”
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Steph Deschamps / July 21, 2024
In a message on Telegram, the Ukrainian National Police said she had succumbed to her injuries in hospital after being the target of an assassination attempt.
“I always say that no place is safe in Ukraine,” lamented Lviv mayor Andriï Sadovy, denouncing a ‘heinous murder’ and offering his condolences to the victim’s relatives.
According to the Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office, the attack took place on Friday evening, at around 7.30pm, when an unidentified individual fired at Irina Farion, seriously wounding her in the head. “All surveillance cameras are being checked, witnesses are being interviewed and several districts (of Lviv) are being examined. All leads are being investigated, including the one leading to Russia”, reacted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on X on Saturday.
Interior Minister Igor Klimenko told a briefing in Lviv on Friday evening that the suspected killer could have been lurking around Irina Farion’s home for several days.
According to him, investigators are currently focusing on the possibility of a murder motivated by a “personal grudge” linked to the victim’s activities, but are not ruling out a “commissioned assassination” either.
The 60-year-old language teacher and linguist was a member of parliament for the nationalist Svoboda party between 2012 and 2014.
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Sylvie Claire / July 18, 2024
At least six people died in a shopping mall fire on Wednesday in Zigong, southwest China, and thirty others were rescued, China’s state broadcaster CCTV said. “Rescue teams are continuing their search,” the media outlet added.
Images broadcast by the channel and others shared on social networks show thick black smoke rising from a building overlooking a shopping street in this city 1,600 kilometers from the capital Beijing, in the southwestern province of Sichuan.
The fire broke out in the early evening in a shopping mall at the foot of a 14-storey building, CCTV reported.
“At 8:20 pm, the fire was extinguished and 17 people were rescued. Others are still trapped, and rescue operations are continuing”, said the station in an initial report on the situation.
Fires and other fatal accidents are frequent in China, due to the sometimes lax application of safety standards. In January, at least 39 people perished in a store fire in central China. According to the authorities, the fire started in the basement of a store when workers “broke the rules” during construction work. At the time, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for lessons to be learned from the disaster to prevent further tragedies. The same month, a fire in a residential building claimed at least 15 lives.
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