The Donbass republics should probably have rejoined Russia sooner, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with the mothers of troops involved in the military operation in Ukraine on Friday. In such a case, fewer lives might have been lost, the president stressed.

“There might not have been so many casualties among civilians, there would not be so many children killed,” the Russian leader suggested. He maintained, however, that back in 2014, Russia did not have a full understanding of the situation in Donbass or of the true sentiments of the locals.

Moon of Alabama has proven to be a reliable source of reporting on the conflict in Ukraine. The posting of November 23 indicates that some part of the Russian government or military has finally realized that Russia is at war. You can read the account here: https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/11/ukraine-lights-out-no-water-and-soon-no-heat-.html

Milan prosecutor’s office submitted to the court a positive decision on the extradition of the son of Russian Krasnoyarsk Territory’s governor, Artem Uss, to the United States, the Il Giorno newspaper reported on Friday.

Artem Uss was arrested in Italy on a US warrant on October 17. Alongside four other Russian citizens, he was accused of money laundering and evasion of sanctions. The 40-year-old has denied any wrongdoings and rejected voluntary extradition to the United States.

Josep Borrell’s plan to construct new transportation corridors between the European Union and Central Asia, which will bypass Russia, will be difficult to achieve due to issues of geography. The EU is already economically suffering because of their refusal to deal with Russia and it can be expected that any corridors bypassing the Eurasian Giant will also face the same issues.

Air-defence systems such as the US-made Patriot are needed both in Poland and in Ukraine, Nato secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday in an interview for US news channel CNN.

“We need both,” Stoltenberg said when asked if Patriot batteries offered to Poland by Germany should be deployed in Poland or Ukraine. “We need both increased air defence of our Nato allies in the east, in the Baltic countries, Poland, Romania. But also we need more air defence in Ukraine, that’s obvious.”

US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speak often on the phone. But on a phone call in June, the conversation went very differently.

On Kaliningrad and any land corridor, of course, we are there to protect all NATO allies. And that includes also of course the Suwalki gap and both Polish and Lithuanian territory. So to make sure that there is no room for misunderstanding and miscalculation with Moscow about that, we have significantly increased our presence in the eastern part Alliance. And also NATO leaders when they met last week they also started, or asked our military commanders for options for how to further strengthen our presence in the eastern part of the alliance.

Amid reports of a leaked German plan to prepare for war with Russia, a new secret document drafted by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicates that the Eurasian giant isn’t the only superpower Berlin is trying to antagonize. According to Politico, the German government has drafted “a strategic plan for relations with China”, seeking possible ways to reduce the dependence of German companies on the Asian giant.

Russia considers the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) one of the pillars in the architecture of international security, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said at a news conference on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the Ninth BWC Review Conference, he said, "We view the BWC as an international security pillar. Today, just as 50 years ago, in 1972, when it was opened for signature, its goal is still very relevant - to prevent using chemicals as a weapon," the senior Russian diplomat said.