From Foreign Waters

  The upcoming state visit of the UAE President to Washington has garnered significant attention, highlighting the growing ties between nations and the objective of forging crucial agreements in defense and commerce. This visit holds immense potential for deepening diplomatic relations and exploring avenues of collaboration after a joint commitment of $100 billion for clean projects. Additionally, it reiterates the strengthening connections among the UAE, Russia, US, and China, showcasing a global approach to addressing shared challenges and fostering mutually beneficial relationships. As the world looks on, this state visit signifies a milestone in the UAE's position as a key player in global affairs and sets the stage for meaningful engagement and cooperation. Exploring Defense and Commerce Agreements: One of the primary objectives of the UAE President's state visit to Washington is to solidify formal agreements on defense and commerce. This signifies the shared commitment ...

  A number of top-secret documents that were leaked online just before Ukraine's eagerly awaited "spring offensive" against Russia have given us what appears to be a sneak preview of the US Pentagon's perspective on the war in Europe.  "The Pentagon Leak" Such a leak is entirely plausible given that the US relaxed its secrecy for wider sharing of espionage inputs after the 9/11 plans escaped the notice of its spies. (recall WikiLeaks). And now that the US has requested an investigation and damage review, these documents have gained credibility, even though it has been more than a month since the cache first surfaced on Discord and Telegram chat forums before being discovered by Western media.  Kyiv referred to it as a red herring and a Russian ruse to deceive the West but was also thought to be anxious. (and altering plans on the sly). This collection of Pentagon papers was described by some war bloggers as a tool of mass deception, but one directed at Mos...

  Finding out what young Russians actually think about the brutal conflict that has entered its second year now is pretty challenging. Only a handful of people are truly open about their beliefs as anti-war sentiment is heavily cracked down on in the country. Polls have suggested that even though the Gen Z Russians are the least likely to support the 'special military operation' in Ukraine, many still back it. Nevertheless, the younger generation, unlike their elders, is growing up in an era of smart devices and social networking sites, and therefore have better access to a wider range of information compared with what they are offered on state media. Here are what three young Russians think about the war, one year on. Kim, now living in the US The 18-year-old Russian, originally from Novosibirsk, follows "everything on Telegram and independent analysis from both sides." With fear, nervousness, and massive change brought by the war taking a toll on their lives, he a...

Russia's mercenary company Wagner Group has suffered major losses since President Vladimir Putin launched the so-called special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, including more than 30,000 casualties and about 9,000 of those fighters killed in action, US officials said on Friday. The US estimates 90% of the private army's soldiers killed in Ukraine since December were poorly-trained convicts, White House National Security Council (NSC) spokesman John Kirby told reporters Friday at a regular briefing. Wagner is widely recognised as a proxy for the Russian military and is possibly financed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the group's founder and a friend of Putin. The group used to be much smaller before the invasion, with just 5,000 fighters, most of whom were former soldiers with plenty of experience. However, since February 24, it has recruited scores of fighters as Russia had trouble finding troops for the war. Most of the newly recruited fighters were largely from pris...

  Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer is scheduled to visit Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), this week, in an effort to secure more natural gas supplies from the UAE. The visit to the UAE is aimed at reducing Austria's heavy energy dependence on Russia, his office said on Monday. According to Nehammer, the UAE’s power in the field of energy plays a major role in ensuring the security of the supply. Austria has been facing problems since Russia's invasion of Ukraine . The country struggled to find alternative sources of natural gas, which is important for energy-intensive industries as most of Austria's electricity comes from renewables. According to a statement issued by his office, Nehammer will be travelling to the UAE capital with his finance minister Magnus Brunner as well as his minister for energy and the environment, Leonore Gewessler of the Greens, to discuss how Austria can reduce its dependence on Russia. The UAE is considered the bigg...

  On Thursday  Ukraine   was bracing for hours-long power cuts after electricity lines were destroyed during a Russian bombardment. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said people should cut back their electricity use from 7am on Thursday. Energy company Ukrenergo said power lines had taken more damage in the past 10 days than in the previous eight months as Russian increases its missile attacks.  Russia admitted to striking energy infrastructure with long-range missiles, while Ukraine said Iranian-made drones were also involved. Controlled power cuts could last for up to four hours at a time after an estimated 30 per cent of Ukraine's energy infrastructure was damaged. Officials said further power cuts could be needed in the coming weeks as the cold Ukrainian winter sets in.

  Russia and Bahrain discussed efforts to achieve lasting peace “that would guarantee the interests and national security of all countries”, the report said.  The King and the Russian President underlined the importance of continued coordination and adherence to the OPEC+ Group’s decisions. King Hamad emphasized the importance of activating channels of dialogue, negotiations and peaceful solutions to reach peace and development for all.

  President Vladimir Putin of Russia spoke about the various tasks Russia faces now and in the future, including supporting the country's economic development, stimulating domestic business activity, creating comfortable business conditions, and opportunities and prospects opening this process to players from all over the world, as well as strengthening external trade and investment ties. Putin, together with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, attended a plenary meeting on June 17 via video link. The participants were treated to a video message from Chinese President Xi Jinping. While highlighting the issues that the global economy is currently facing, such as unfair competition among states, trade and financial wars, sanctions, and restrictions, he argued that the era of the unipolar world order has come to an end. "But our partners in the West, for the sake of ambitions, in the name of preserving outdated geopolitical i...

  Russia had exploded its motives towards Ukraine as it announced ‘Special Military Operations’ in the neighboring country on Thursday. Several nations stook against this action and condemned Russian president Vladimir Putin for the move. Moscow went ahead with the declaration despite the United Nations Security Council once again urging for the de-escalation. This was the second emergency meeting of the organization. As the meeting was going on, Putin announced the operation. Ukraine called it a full scale invasion. The foreign minister of the country Dmytro Kuleba said that the peaceful cities in the country are under strikes. “This is a war of aggression. Ukraine will defend itself and will win,” he tweeted. The United States on the other hand called it an ‘Unproveked and Unjustified attack’ on the neighboring country. President Joe Biden took to Twitter to say that he along with US’ allies will hold Russia accountable for its actions. President Zelenskyy reached out ...

  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday said that he hopes the World Health Organization (WHO) approves the country’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. He further said that the move is essential for expanding its global supplies. He reportedly spoke during a video call with Francesco Rocca, president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Putin said that receiving the WHO’s approval is necessary to spread the Russian vaccine across the world, including free supplies. He also said that approval would open the door for Russians and others who have had the Sputnik V vaccine to travel more freely around the world. Russia was the first country in the world to get a coronavirus vaccine by launching the Sputnik V vaccine in August 2020. Several countries have already imposed new travel restrictions on passengers traveling from other countries. Passengers arriving from ‘high-risk’ countries are required to undergo an RT-PCR (reverse transcription-p...

India-China-Russia may not be on the same page but to understand their relations are somewhere linked with each other is important especially given the geopolitical situation at all the three borders. Even though we know that China and India are at the worst stage of their diplomatic relations. Be it their business related talks or the defense deals, nothing is working in favour of the two Asian natina. But as far as Russia and China go, their relations are witnessing a change in a positive way, which is a first for the two nations. Interestingly, China and Russia are two major communist nations and also have a common rivalry with the United States but the two do not go hand in hand with their internal mattress. But last year saw that their relations have gotten better over time as their respective leaders came in terms of a different kind of leadership. The leaders of all the three countries talked during a virtual meeting and post the dialogue, the group concluded that it is im...

European powers came together in pursuit of resolving the US-Iran conflict and saving what is left of the nuclear deal with Iran. On Friday, the leaders of EU held a meeting in Brussels to seek ways to de-escalate frequent eruption of tensions between United States and Iran. EU leaders said that they were looking for a more permanent solution for the confrontation between the two, knowing that any miscalculation on either side could leave the bloc facing a major crisis. The European nations including France, Britain and Germany have unanimously rejected US president Donald Trump’s call to quit the nuclear treaty with Iran.  The treaty, called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JPCOA), signed in 2015 started losing its impact after Trump withdrew US from the agreement in May 2018.  US pulled out on the grounds that it was biased and a foolish agreement. As the consequence, Washington imposed stricter economic sanctions on Tehran, crippling its economy.  Since 2018,...

Syrian regime is not willing to take onus for the kind of atrocities they are meting on their civilian population including children. In a recent revelation by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), it has been confirmed that indeed, Assad has been found guilty of a war crime and it has been condemned by Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron and then PM of Britain Theresa May.  However, what is more alarming is that OPCW has shadowed important findings from the report after the chemical weapon attack at Douma. According to Wikileaks, there have been internal disagreements within the OPCW about how facts were misrepresented in a redacted version of a report on an (alleged) chemical attack in Douma, Syria in April 2018. OPCW represents 193 member states around the world and works to keep a hawk’s eye on the use of chemical weapons across the globe. According to OPCW reports, multiple source findings were made to confirm barrel bombs had been used to...

Donald Trump has finally signed the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), something that has become a great worry to Turkey. Turkey is now worried about the future of its gas pipeline project with RussiaIt is believed that the move will affect the nearly finished Nord Stream 2, which runs from Russia to Germany, and TurkStream, a Russian pipeline that traverses the Black Sea to Turkey. The act was passed as The US House of Representatives and Senate Arms Services Committee could come to a consensus on December 10. It had a purposeful clause of sanctioning Russia. According to this new act, the US now gets to decide how it uses its military resources regionally and its relations with other countries. So, as a part of the new NDAA, its first step is to impose sanctions related to Russia’s Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream pipelines and also bar military-to-military cooperation with Russia.  The result has been that the Swiss-Dutch company Allseas has promptly ann...