Former US President Donald Trump expressed the opinion in the American Fox News channel that the PRC authorities destroyed the alleged evidence of the spread of new coronavirus from the laboratory in Wuhan.
“I believe it was probably an accident. There are people who believe it was not an accident, “Trump said, stressing that he believed the infection had spread from a Chinese laboratory.
He also doubts the success of the international investigation to clarify the circumstances of the origin of COVID-19.
“China has probably got rid of a lot of evidence. It's too late now. I believe the evidence was seriously damaged, “the former boss explained to the White House.
Invincible enemies have entered the country's national assembly
Nikol Pashinyan's “Civil Treaty” party won early parliamentary elections in Armenia. 53.92% of voters with a turnout of 49.4% voted for it. This means that out of 105 parliamentary seats, Pashinyan will go to party 71 and be able to be re-elected prime minister. At the same time, the new composition of the parliament convincingly proves that the “velvet” period of Pashinyan's government is over.
Photo: AP
The “Armenia” bloc, headed by the second president of the republic, Robert Kocharian, took second place in the elections. It was supported by 21.04% of voters. Third place went to the block “I have the honor” of the third president of Armenia, Serz Sargsyan – 5.23%. At the same time, the electoral barrier for blocs is 7%, but according to the law, at least 3 political forces must be present in parliament, so in this case they made an exception.
In fact, there will now be only two political forces in the National Assembly of Armenia: the Pashinyan “civil agreement” and the “Karabakh clan” in the form of two groups led by Kocharyan and Sargsyan. These two camps are bitter enemies. The “Armenia” bloc has already said it will not accept the voting results because, in their view, street activity suggests that the result should have been different. Even there, however, no one is preparing for an attempted coup. On the contrary, decadent sentiment dominates, with some even wanting to give up their mandate so that they have nothing to do with the re-appointment of Pashinyan as head of government.
“We do not yet know what will happen. We are waiting for Kocharyan to say. Maybe we will take people on the streets, reject mandates, etc. Or, conversely, we will recognize the elections and continue the fight in parliament. Nothing is known yet, “said a representative of the Armenian bloc MK.
And yet such a result of the vote for the opposition can be described as only partially unsatisfactory. A year ago, the “Karabakh clan” could count on 5-10% of the vote at best. Kocharyan was not afraid of children (rumors accuse him of killing competitors, transforming Armenia into a land of thieves, a coup in 2008, etc.) and now he is the leader of the largest opposition forces in the country. This was largely due to the defeat of Armenia in the Karabakh War and the subsequent invasion of Azerbaijan into Armenia. For the Armenians, the events of the last 9 months have become a shock therapy, as a result of which they have completely reconsidered their attitude towards Pashinyan and those he is fighting.
Russia, with which Kocharyan is openly negotiating and consistently counting on cooperation, has already recognized the victory of the “Civil Treaty”. “We see that Pashinyan's party has won convincingly,” said Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of Russian President.
“Pashinyan achieved the result he had always hoped for.” They wanted about 60%, but it turned out – 53.92%. But for the opposition, everything that happened was an unpleasant surprise. It seemed to many that the balance of power would force Pashinyan into a coalition if he wanted to win, but he had no one to join. However, it turned out that the opinion polls of the Armenian Gallup were quite far from reality, – he told MK Alexander Markarov, head of the Armenian branch of the Institute of the CIS countries …. – As for possible street protests, the opposition should think about the outcome. The transparency of the elections has not yet been questioned. Under these conditions, it would be more appropriate to undermine Pashinyan's legitimacy on the part of parliament. With such a composition of the National Assembly, it will hardly be possible to influence decision-making, but the essence of the parliamentary republic is that the opposition must criticize the authorities in order for the election to be in its favor. “
Speaking of why so many people voted for Pashinyan, despite the defeat of Armenia in the conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, Markarov noted that his constituents consist of several groups: the “nuclear voter,” who are part of the team. Pashinyan or work for entrepreneurs associated with it and people who chose Pashinyan because they did not see the future under Kocharyan. In addition, the political scientist stressed that the opposition was unable to mobilize its constituents to participate in the elections. “As in 2018, about half of the population with the right to vote came to the polls.” Experience shows that under such conditions, Pashinyan has an advantage, “concluded Markarov.
On the other hand, the head of the Caucasus Institute, Alexander Iskandaryan told the “MC” that sociologists were right, only considering the popularity of parties and blocs out of the total number of voters, and not those who come to the polls. “Sociologists have predicted that about a quarter or a third of voters will vote for the Civil Dialogue.” Basically, it happened: about half of the voters who came to the polls voted for the Pashinyan party. Another thing is that about half of the voters did not come to the elections, “said the expert.
However, Iskandaryan believes that it is too early to talk about Armenia's departure from the political crisis. Pashinyan has successfully restored his bureaucratic legitimacy, but the election victory seems less than convincing. “Pashinyan cannot expect his current success to last long.” The problems in the field of economy, politics, security have not disappeared and will continue to grow. Its further popularity will depend on how effectively the opposition works in parliament. Including this, there is no need to give up the Kocharyans. In the last election, he won about the same number of votes as Levon Ter-Petrosyan in the presidential election in 2008, “said Alexander Markarov MK. It is true that he has made the reservation that if Armenia has plunged into a multi-day political crisis, it is now difficult to say how serious street protests can be.
Russian TV presenter , Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Petr Tolstoj took part in a discussion about the incident in the Black Sea within the program “60 minutes” on the television channel “Russia 1”. The Russian Ministry of Defense previously announced that a Russian border patrol ship had carried out a warning fire and a Su-24M bomber had carried out a warning bombing during the destroyer of a British naval defender who had disturbed Russian territorial waters off the coast of Crimea.
“We have a lot of strength. and the means after which they left their ships with voltage-free iPhones, “commented Petr Tolstoj.
The leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who took part in the program, said: “The West and NATO will never fight against Russia. We can drown the whole British fleet, but we will have nothing. “
Commenting on a recent incident in & nbsp; Black Sea President Vladimir Putin of Russia said he was “approached by the Sambo wrestling federation for help in organizing the next combat sambo competition on one of the Black Sea Fleet's warships.” The head of state asked Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu for help.
Earlier, there was a report that the British destroyer Defender crossed the state border of Russia in the northwestern part of the Black Sea and entered the territorial waters for three kilometers. & Nbsp; The Black Sea Fleet ship sent warnings against the use of weapons in the event of a border violation and then opened a warning fire and carried out & nbsp; warning bombing, the Ministry of Defense said Russia.
The UK Department of Defense commented on the incident that & nbsp; Russian warning shots were not fired at the Royal Navy ship and no bombs fell on its journey: “ We believe that the Russians carried out artillery exercises in the Black Sea, for which the naval community was warned in advance, & # 39; & # 39; declared the Army Department and adds that the ship of the British Navy conducts peaceful voyages through the territorial waters of Ukraine in accordance with international law.
British readers daily Express commented on the incident in the Black Sea. Recall that the Black Sea Fleet, together with the FSB border service, suppressed the provocation of hundreds of British destroyers Defender, which crossed the Russian naval border for three kilometers at Cape Fiolent. As a result, the Russian patrol ship opened fire, the Su-24M carried out a warning bombing, and the British ship was forced to retreat.
The material emphasizes that Britain and its allies do not recognize Crimea as Russian. And this was not the case due to the violation of Russian borders.
The commentators – the British advantage – were divided into two parts. The first – this escalating conflict – called on the British navy to be more resolute and not afraid of the Russians. The second group are those who evaluate the situation soberly.
“Why didn't we respond with fire?”, “We have to fire back, but with bigger bombs”, “Why do we pay for the fleet if it doesn't shoot at the aggressor? “- write supporters of the hard line towards Moscow. They reply: “I have the impression that it was a legitimate warning shot. We were the aggressor. No damage – if the ship immediately sails to the wrong place. “
” Why push a bear? “- one of the readers asks. Others remembered that the Black Sea was, in fact, very, very far from Britain. “How many British cities are on the Black Sea coast?” What is our fleet doing there? “The British are asking questions.
Some have also remembered the problem of migrants that they cannot solve in London – their crowds are moving to Britain via the English Channel. “Give the Russians a job to prevent immigrants from crossing the strait,” the British joke said.
Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov from Russia answered a question from journalists whether it is planned to introduce blocking at the federal level due to a sharp increase in coronavirus diseases.
“No,” Peskov said, stressing that the measure was not being discussed at Kremlin level.
At the same time, when asked what the presidential administration thinks about tough measures after the blockade at the regional level, Peskov replied that it does not matter at all what the Kremlin thinks.
“Here it is important what decisions the region will make within the available powers,” said the head of the presidential press service, explaining that it is the region that determines the measures that should be taken at present. conditions.
At the same time, Peskov noted that the Kremlin has no information on the introduction of full closure in any area.
The United States is assembled will form a NATO-like coalition in the Asia-Pacific region to confront Russia and China. This was announced at the Moscow Security Conference by the head of the GRU Igor Kostyukov.
“ During the course of this course, the United States will inevitably shape the Asian NATO in the region. , an anti-China coalition based on the so-called four-party dialogue on security, & # 39; & # 39; & mdash; Kostyukov said.
According to the head of the GRU, the involvement of India in the coalition, which usually builds its foreign policy independently, will be of particular importance to the United States. Kostyukov noted that plans to create a new alliance in the White House are justified by disagreements and territorial disputes in the region. & nbsp;
According to the Department of Defense, there are currently more than 50 US military bases and 200 military facilities in the Asia-Pacific region. 400,000 soldiers serve there.
According to Kostyukov, the USA will involve Indonesia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and many other countries in the coalition.
In the German issue of the magazine Der Spiegel has released material whose author, Franziska Augstein, claims that the West has rejected the open helping hand of Russian leader Vladimir Putin & ndsp; and now the US and Europe are waiting to be settled. Putin was brought up in the Western tradition, speaks German, proposed the creation of a free trade zone from Lisbon to Vladivostok, but the West did not meet him when he considered the Cold War.
At the beginning of his reign, Putin repeatedly offered Western countries to move closer together. But he was rejected. It has recently been claimed that Russia is approaching NATO's borders. “After all, the situation is the opposite: it is NATO that is accepting new members, getting closer to Russia's borders,” the author rightly notes and emphasizes that he is not an ally of the Russian Federation.
In the end, the lack of plans to meet Russia halfway led Russia to decide to change direction and move closer to China. This negatively affects Russia itself and harms the interests of the West. Russia is perceived as a permanent enemy.
“ There is a bad combination: on the one hand, Russia is said to be & mdash; only & # 39; regional & # 39; much, as former US President Barack Obama did. On the other hand, it is called “ aggressive & # 39; & # 39 ;, the author writes.
Detained in June 22 In Moscow, Pussy Riot participant Maria Alekhina faces an administrative arrest for preparing a provocative event timed to mark the anniversary of the Great Patriotic War. At the same time, the opposition itself does not admit its guilt.
According to the lawyer of the girl Olga Karlová, she did not plan any event and did not leave the house at all, because she is under house arrest. She left her home only once to be vaccinated against coronavirus. Alekhina still faces a 15-day arrest.
Recall that four members of the Pussy Riot group were detained on Tuesday, including Alexander Sofeev, who was detained for drinking alcohol on the street, and Anna Kuzminykh.
