From Foreign Waters

  On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree in support of the "Defenders of the Fatherland" creating a special fund to support scores of soldiers - in addition to their families - fighting the brutal year-long conflict in neighbouring Ukraine where Russia's military has suffered a number of setbacks. The decree was published on the official government website. Russia rarely provides estimates of its losses in the special military operation launched in February last year. The measures announced in relation to the decree aim to ensure a decent life for soldiers involved in the war and for their partners and kids. Almost a year after he sent his military to fight the war in Ukraine, Putin revealed the support measure on February 21 at the Federal Assembly, adding "our duty" is to provide support to the families that have lost their loved ones in the Ukraine offensive and help them nurture their kids and offer them education as well as employment...

  On friday Russian President Vladimir Putin   said that an agreement would ultimately need to be struck to end fighting in Ukraine, nine months after the Kremlin launched its “special military operation” there. “I have said many times that we are ready for these agreements,” he added. Both leaders agreed on the importance of pre-empting Russia's insincere calls for a ceasefire and the Prime Minister added that the Kremlin needed to withdraw its forces before any agreement could be considered.” Meanwhile, in a sign of Russia's clampdown on public dissent, a Moscow court sentenced opposition politician Ilya Yashin to eight and a half years in prison on charges of spreading “false information” about the army.

  The visit of the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, to Russia played a “significant” role in boosting efforts to reach a resolution to the Russia-Ukraine war. Recently, the UAE president held talks with RussianPresident Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg about the Russia-Ukraine crisis. The president said that the UAE can act as a mediator in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. The Russian president reportedly said that the mediation efforts by the UAE has helped “move toward resolving the situation.” MBZ highlighted the UAE’s keenness to support Russia to resolve the matter. Putin also praised Sheikh Mohammed for his efforts to solve the crisis. According to the UAE's foreign ministry, the visit was intended to help Russia in finding "effective political solutions" to the Ukrainian situation. After the meeting, the UAE president also said that they had agreed on “the importance of engaging in dialogue to reduce tensi...

  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...

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,...