Live / Russia warns the US that putting a country on the list of terrorist states amounts to a complete rupture of relations

If Vladimir Putin is no longer fit enough to lead Russia, he will be replaced by Nikolai Patrushev, who is currently the country’s Security Council secretary. This is the prediction of Richard Dearlove, former head of MI6, the British secret services.

“I was going to say it would almost certainly be Patrushev right now,” Dearlove said on an episode of the One Decision podcast. “Whether he will survive politically in the long run is another question,” he added.

Nikolai Patrushev has expressed support for Vladimir Putin, he was a member of the KGB. Louise Shelley, director of the Center for Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption, also points this out: Patrushev is a possibility because he is someone from the “siloviki” (security forces), “someone who is now in the inner circle of Putin”.

Russia is preparing to continue the war in Ukraine for an extended period of time. The Kremlin will even have passed a budget to boost industry and support the country’s war efforts.

The Military-Industrial Commission of the Russian Federation will restructure the defense budget to accommodate an increase in spending equivalent to almost 9.8 billion euros from September.

So says a report by the Institute for the Study of War, referring to information from the General Directorate of Military Surveillance of Ukraine.

The United States and Russia are discussing a prisoner swap that could involve Russian basketball player and arms dealer Brittney Griner, who has been in custody since February for possession of a small amount of marijuana. The information is provided by the French agency AFP citing a Russian diplomat.

The United States and Russia are discussing a prisoner swap that would involve swapping a notorious Russian arms dealer for an American basketball star, a Russian diplomat said on Saturday. https://t.co/DncAuYKxAs

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 13, 2022

The bargaining chip will be Viktor Bout, an arms dealer known as the “merchant of death” who was arrested in Thailand and extradited to the United States in 2010, after being sentenced to 25 years in prison by a New York court. Russia has tried several times to free Bout in a prisoner swap.

American basketball star Brittney Griner was arrested at Moscow airport for possession of an electronic cigarette in which a small amount of cannabis oil was detected. She was sentenced to nine years in prison for drug trafficking in August.

The news is advanced by AFP citing the Russian diplomat Alexander Dachiev who also warned in these statements of the risks of the United States placing Russia on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

The possibility of this exchange had already been advanced for weeks by another Russian leader.

The US offers famous arms dealer Russia in exchange for Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan

“Discussions on this very sensitive issue of a (prisoner) exchange are taking place through the channels chosen by the respective presidents,” said the director of the North American department of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Two more ships departed from a Ukrainian port on the Black Sea bound for Turkey. The information was provided by the Turkish Defense Minister and brings to 16 the total number of bulk carriers that have already left the country under the agreement reached within the framework of the United Nations.

One of the ships left the port of Chornomorsk loaded with 12 tons of corn and is headed for the Turkish province of Iskenderun. The other ship left the same port with 3,000 tons of sunflower seeds, which are also destined for a Turkish port.

The Estonian prime minister complained that the absence of broader travel restrictions for Russian citizens places an unfair burden on the borders of neighboring countries. And he calls for an end to Russian tourism in Europe.

Stop issuing tourist visas to Russians. visiting #Europe it is a privilege, not a human right. Air travel from the UK is closed. It means that while Schengen countries issue visas, Russia’s neighbors bear the burden (FI, EE, LV: single access points). Time to end Russian tourism now

— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) August 9, 2022

Kaka Kallas’ remarks follow the European Commission’s refusal to freeze tourist visas in the European Union for Russian citizens, as requested by the Ukrainian president. The Baltic states of Estonia and Latvia have already tightened entry rules. Finland also intends to do so.

The Estonian leader highlights that Europe has already banned air travel from Russia, this means that while countries that are covered by the EU’s free movement agreement (Shengen) issue visas, states with land borders with Russia have to bear the burden. load of this circulation. “It’s time to end tourism in Russia.”

The two main access bridges to Russian-occupied territory west of the Dnipro River in the Ukrainian city of Kherson are likely to be deactivated to allow resupply of military hardware, according to the daily update released by British intelligence services.

Precision strikes led by Ukrainian forces last August made it impossible for heavy military vehicles to cross highway bridges. Russia has carried out repairs to the Antonivsky Bridge, but this work will be insufficient to repair structural damage, according to British intelligence. And even if the Russians manage to make major repairs, these structures will remain vulnerable.

A senior Russian Foreign Ministry official has warned the United States of the consequences of including Russia on the State Department’s blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism.

Asked by the Tass agency about the rupture of diplomatic relations with the United States, Alexander Darchiev warned that such a measure would be seen as a point of no return and could trigger the complete rupture of relations between the two countries.

The measure is being discussed in the US Congress and if it is approved “it would mean that Washington would have passed the point of no return with the most serious collateral damage to bilateral diplomatic relations, to the point of diminishing them or even cutting them off completely. The United States has been warned.”

An eventual freezing of Russia’s assets by the United States would undermine bilateral relations with Washington, the diplomat said in the Tass interview cited by The Guardian.

“We warn the Americans of the harmful consequences that such initiatives would permanently damage diplomatic relations between the two countries, which is not in their interest,” said the director of the American department of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Good day. Here we will follow all the information about the conflict in Ukraine. You can consult in this link all the news on the subject of the last 24 hours.

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