NATO chief ‘on magic mushrooms'
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Russia Today
2 hours ago
- Russia Today
Kiev is not negotiating in good faith
Ukraine does not take ceasefire negotiations with Russia seriously and only attends the talks in Istanbul to avoid being viewed as an obstacle to peace in the eyes of Western sponsors, Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgiy Tikhiy has acknowledged. Russia and Ukraine held two rounds of direct talks in Istanbul in recent months, which so far did not result in any breakthroughs with regard to ending the conflict, but led to several large-scale prisoner exchanges. 'We don't expect a real ceasefire as a result of these meetings,' Tikhiy said in an interview on the YouTube channel of journalist Aleksandr Notevsky on Friday. The Ukrainian diplomat explained that Kiev's presence at the talks serves to protect its image in the eyes of the international community and avoid accusations of being the side obstructing peace negotiations. 'It's to prevent anyone from accusing Ukraine of being the side that doesn't want peace,' Tikhiy said. He acknowledged concerns being raised 'in different circles, even among allied countries' that Kiev is blocking peace efforts, explaining that 'Ukraine is sending a delegation… to show that this is not true.' The Ukrainian official acknowledged the humanitarian aspect of the talks, noting that if 'a thousand people are returned… then it's worth going and listening to any historical nonsense.' Back in May, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Kiev to resume direct negotiations without any preconditions in Istanbul – where Kiev had unilaterally abandoned talks back in 2022, reportedly at the behest of its Western backers. Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky immediately dared the Russian president to personally meet him in Türkiye, but the Kremlin noted such a meeting would be absolutely pointless without thorough preparatory work. Ukrainian officials have since repeatedly disparaged Moscow's delegation as being too low-level, even though the same chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky worked on the original 2022 peace framework. Tikhiy claimed that the makeup of the Ukrainian delegation, which includes Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, somehow proves that Kiev is more serious about the talks than Moscow. Zelensky is seeking a personal meeting with Putin to defend his claims to legitimacy and resist Western attempts to push him out of power, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday. 'He is insanely afraid of being forgotten, of becoming unnecessary for the West. That somehow the West will sideline him. And you can see he doesn't step away from the microphones. I think he already sleeps with a webcam,' she said. Zelensky's presidential term expired last year, and Moscow views him as illegitimate. In June, Putin said he was open to meeting with the actor-turned-politician, but suggested that the Ukrainian leader lacks legitimacy for signing binding agreements. 'I am ready to meet with anyone, including Zelensky,' Putin said. 'That's not the issue – if the Ukrainian state trusts someone to conduct negotiations, by all means, let it be Zelensky. The question is different: Who will sign the documents?'
Russia Today
2 hours ago
- Russia Today
NATO talks becoming toxic
Discussions with the West about NATO membership for Kiev have become increasingly tense and unproductive, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgy Tikhy has said, describing the talks as 'toxic.' Western nations initially backed Kiev's aspirations to join the US-led bloc, but Ukraine's military struggles and shifting American policies have led to a decline in support. The dialogue with NATO partners has now reached a dead end, Tikhy lamented in an interview on the YouTube channel of journalist Aleksandr Notevsky on Friday. 'All the arguments and counterarguments have already been presented, and each new round of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to NATO goes in circles,' he stated. The discussions 'have become, to put it simply, very toxic,' he added. Ukraine formally applied for fast-track NATO membership in September 2022, months after the escalation of the conflict with Russia. Although the bloc has consistently stated that 'Ukraine's future is in NATO,' it has never set a specific time frame for accession. At the 2023 NATO summit, the requirement for Ukraine to complete the Membership Action Plan was removed, thus simplifying the path to membership. However, the final communique only stated that an invitation would be extended 'when allies agree and conditions are met,' without providing concrete timelines or criteria. Ukraine's future membership was discussed at last year's NATO summit and the joint communique explicitly reaffirmed that Kiev's accession was inevitable. Since then, however, a number of leaders of NATO countries have soured on the idea, weighing the risks of further escalation with Russia and the bloc's long-term security priorities. US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has been more emphatic, stating that Kiev 'can forget about' joining the NATO, noting that its attempts to do so were 'probably the reason the whole thing started,' referring to the Ukraine conflict. At the recent NATO summit in June, Ukraine was barely mentioned in the final communique, while its leader, Vladimir Zelensky, failed to secure support for Kiev's future membership. Russia has repeatedly characterized Ukraine's attempt to join NATO as a red line and one of the root causes of the conflict. Moscow has demanded that Kiev legally commit to never joining any military alliance.
Russia Today
7 hours ago
- Russia Today
BRICS outperforming G7
BRICS has already outstripped the Western-dominated Group of Seven in terms of combined GDP, Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated. Speaking via video link at a plenary session of the 17th annual BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, Putin said that the 'BRICS member states not only account for a third of the Earth's land, and almost half the planet's population, but also 40% of the global economy.' BRICS' 'combined GDP measured by purchasing power parity already stands at $77 trillion, that's according to 2025 IMF data,' he added, noting that 'on this metric, BRICS considerably outstrips some other groups, including the Group of Seven.' The Russian president cited recent IMF data as indicating that the corresponding figure for the G7 is $57 trillion. He also pointed out that BRICS member states are increasingly relying on their national currencies in inter-bloc trade. According to the president, 'BRICS has deservedly established itself among the key centers of global governance,' with its 'global standing and influence rising by the year.' Putin argued that the group represents the 'fundamental interests of the global majority.' Putin hailed 'mutual respect' as one of BRICS' cornerstones, which helps bring together peoples of different cultures and religions, and makes the group attractive to developing nations. According to the Russian president, 'the unipolar system of international relations, which has been serving the interests of the so-called 'golden billion',' is fast unravelling, giving way to a multipolar global economic system. Speaking during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum last month, Putin similarly claimed that the fading world order is deeply neo-colonial in nature. He also spoke of a major transformation taking shape in the global economy. Around the same time, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia does not consider the G7, of which it was a member between 1998 and 2014, to be a viable format, 'because global trends indicate that the G7's share in global affairs and the global economy will be inexorably shrinking.' Founded primarily as an economic group in 2006, BRICS initially included Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with South Africa joining in 2010. Over the past year, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia have also become full members. At the group's summit in the Russian city of Kazan last year, BRICS approved a new 'partner country' status in response to a growing membership interest shown by more than 30 countries.
