WESTERN countries are actively preparing for a direct conflict with Russia, says Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
Vucic told the Pink TV channel: ‘The West would like to conduct warfare from a distance, through someone else, through investing money and so on, but at the moment they are not ready (for a direct conflict with Russia).
‘Will they be ready? They are not ready now, but I think they will be ready.
‘They are already preparing for a conflict with the Russian Federation and they are preparing much faster than some people would like to see, in every sense.
‘We know that from the military preparations, we know how they’re going. And I want to tell you, they are preparing for a military conflict.’
Earlier, the Serbian president emphasised that ‘the West, as long as people from the West do not die, or only volunteers die, does not care how many Ukrainians will die.’
This, according to the Serbian leader, is because ‘Russia has a lot of oil, gas, phosphates, gold and silver, and everything they need.’
He also cited ideas coming from the Scandinavian countries that ‘Russia does not deserve to have such territory, because it is the province of all mankind’.
- A maritime security exercise involving Iranian combat ships and a Russian naval ship kicked off in Iran’s territorial waters in the Caspian Sea, spokesman for the drills Captain 1st Rank Abbas Hassani reported on Monday.
‘The manoeuvres will involve both naval ships and naval aircraft, including the guided-missile destroyers Darafsh, Separ and Paykan, two AB-212 helicopters, the ship Shahid Basir from the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, Iran’s elite armed forces). Also, the Russian ship SB-45 has recently entered Iran’s territorial waters and will take part (in the drills),’ the news agency Tasnim quoted the spokesman as saying.
Representatives of Caspian littoral states are also present at the naval drills as observers.
The first stage of the drills took place on Monday when the navies of Iran and Russia practiced extinguishing fire on a merchant vessel, rescuing people in distress and eliminating consequences under a scenario prepared in advance, the spokesman said.
The Iranian news agency Fars confirmed on July 21 that the Russian tug vessel SB-45 had entered Iran’s territorial waters in the Caspian Sea to participate in the rescue and maritime security drills.
- China and Russia are sovereign states, their cooperation does not tolerate any external interference or threats, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Mao Ning said during a briefing on Monday.
‘I would like to underscore that China and Russia are sovereign states.
‘The normal cooperation between China and Russia is not aimed against third countries, it is not subject to external interference and tolerates no threats,’ she said
Mao Ning was commenting on US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s remarks about Washington’s preparation of new sanctions against Chinese companies and banks that allegedly support Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.
Mao Ning underscored that China decisively opposes any illegitimate unilateral sanctions and will take any necessary means to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.
‘China is neither an engineer, nor a party to the Ukrainian crisis, we actively advocate peace and negotiations, and we will assist in the political settlement of the crisis,’ the Chinese diplomat noted, advising the US to ‘do something practical for a political resolution of the crisis’ instead of ‘sowing discord between China and other countries.’
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, on the 80th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries and reassured him of Russia’s support for Syria’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.
‘I would like to reiterate that Russia will continue supporting the Syrian government in its efforts to defend the country’s state sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, ensure national security and political stability.
‘We are convinced that the further development of the entire spectrum of Russian-Syrian ties is in the interests of our peoples and will help consolidate peace and stability in the region and the entire word,’ Putin said in a telegram that was posted on the Kremlin website.
He noted that over the past decades Moscow and Damascus have accumulated a vast experience of bilateral cooperation in various spheres and have had considerable success in the fight against international terrorism in Syria.
‘I wish you good health and every success, and wellbeing and prosperity to the Syrian people,’ the Russian president emphasised.
On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Syria and Russia, a grand concert was held at the Damascus Opera House featuring the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra and Russian musicians, who performed Syrian and Russian classical music pieces.
Syrian Foreign and Expatriates Minister, Fayssal Mikdad, said in his remarks to the ceremony that Syrian-Russian relations have witnessed great progress and important changes that have made Damascus and Moscow go beyond the limits of traditional friendship and establish new levels of strategic cooperation.
Syria is proud of this path full of joint victories between the two friendly countries in all fields, and hopes for greater solidarity in the face of the circumstances that the world is going through, said the Foreign Minister.
He clarified that the methods used by the collective West against Syria and Russia are identical, so the battle of the two countries is one.
They used terrorist groups against Syria and neo-Nazis against Russia, in addition to the weapon of sanctions and economic blockade, he pointed out.
He considered that the complete victory of both Syria and Russia is essential to reach a world without Western hegemony.
‘We are all confident that we are on the cusp of a great victory in which the model of civilisation defended by Russia and many countries of the world, which is based on dialogue, respect for others and the interests of peoples, will prevail over the model of clash of civilisations promoted by the West,’ he said.
For his part, the Russian ambassador in Damascus, Alexander Yefimov, confirmed that Syrian-Russian relations have overcome all difficulties and stated that his country is always ready to provide support to Syria at all times.
He said they have made great progress in their relations and have reached the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership.
The ceremony also included a short film on the history of Syrian-Russian relations and the stages they have gone through since their establishment to the present day.
Meanwhile, the US-led coalition’s aircraft violated Syria’s airspace in the al-Tanf area eight times on Sunday.
Oleg Ignasyuk, deputy chief of the Russian Centre for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria (a division of the Russian defence ministry), said: ‘Aircraft of the so-called international anti-terrorist coalition led by the United States continues to create a dangerous situation that may cause air accidents or incidents and escalate the situation in Syria’s airspace.
‘A pair of the coalition’s F-15 and a pair of Typhoon fighter jets, as well as two pairs of A-10 Thunderbolt attack bombers violated Syria’s airspace in the al-Tanf area, across which international air routes run, eight times during the day.’
According to Ignasyuk, five violations of the deconfliction protocols of December 9th, 2019 linked with the flights by the US-led coalition unmanned aerial vehicles were reported in Syria in the past 24 hours.
He also said that Russian military police units conducted patrols in the Aleppo, Raqqa, and al-Hasakah governorates. Three shelling attacks on Syrian government troops’ positions by terrorists were reported in the Idlib de-escalation zone.
