Russian President Putin begins his Fifth term in office….
In his comments he thanked his subjects for helping his military objectives which looks like bringing Ukraine back under Russian control ….
Putin DID say he welcomed a dialogue with the West….
All this while Russia and Belarus do tactical nuclear weapons drill after NATO has done their own military exercise’s opposite Northern Russia….
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Ukraine announced it had detained two Ukrainian security officials who they claim were involved in a plot coordinated by Russia to assassinate senior Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The Security Service of Ukraine said in a statement that it had exposed a network of agents run by Russia’s Federal Security Service whose aim was to assassinate Zelenskiy and other senior Ukrainian political and military officials.
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Belarus has begun checks on the readiness of its army to deploy tactical nuclear weapons, simultaneously with a drill being carried out by Russia.Russia said on Monday it would practise the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons as part of a military exercise after what Moscow said were threats from France, Britain and the US.
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During his inauguration, where he sworn in for another term as Russian President, Vladimir Putin did not rule out dialogue with the West but said it needed to be on equal terms. In a short speech, Putin also said that Russia was open to developing relations with other countries he described as “the world’s majority”.
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Russia and Ukraine have accused each other at the global chemical weapons watchdog in The Hague of using banned toxins on the battlefield, the organisation said on Tuesday. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said that the accusations were “insufficiently substantiated” but added that “the situation remains volatile and extremely concerning regarding the possible re-emergence of use of toxic chemicals as weapons.”
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The EU plans to sanction Viktor Medvedchuk, a former Ukrainian politician and businessman accused of high treason by Kyiv, who was released to Russia in a prisoner exchange in 2022. In addition, the bloc is seeking to ban four more Russian media outlets from the airwaves and internet in its latest round of measures against Russia….
May 7, 2024 – ISW Press
Russian President Vladimir Putin began his fifth term as Russian President on May 7 and stressed Russia’s need for unchallenged autocratic rule while indirectly calling for victory in Ukraine. Putin thanked Russian citizens, the residents of Russia’s “historical lands,” participants in the “special military operation,” and those who have “defended the right to be together with the motherland,” and called on Russia to unite for victory. Putin did not specify what this Russian victory entails and only vaguely referenced Russia’s “serious challenges.” Putin has long justified his effort to destroy Ukrainian statehood by claiming that Russia is fighting for “historic lands” in Ukraine and coming to the aid of “compatriots abroad” who desire to reunite with Russia.