Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova lashed out at Washington over claims that Moscow has rejected peace negotiations with Kiev.
On Monday, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a press briefing that “There are no peace negotiations going on with Russia right now, because Russia has refused to engage in meaningful peace negotiations.”
Later that day, Zakharova wrote on Telegram: “They know perfectly well that they told [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky to withdraw from peace talks in April 2022, they caused Kiev’s ban on talks with Russia, adopted in September 2022, they have been declaring all year that it’s not the right time for talks, but they still blame Russia anyway.”
Zakharova also advised Miller to read an interview of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that he gave in April. She was apparently referring to comments Blinken gave to the Funke Media Group, in which he said he did not support the idea of beginning negotiations, while hailing Kiev’s counteroffensive.
Last week, senior officials from more than 40 countries took part in a summit in Saudi Arabia regarding the situation in Ukraine. Russia was not invited to attend, and called any negotiations without its participation “pointless.”
After the talks, Kiev said it had rejected all points of compromise and had not given up on its ‘peace formula’ – a set of ten demands amounting to unconditional surrender on the part of Russia, which Moscow sees as “a useless ultimatum” that only serves to prolong the conflict.
Last week, the Russian Defense Ministry estimated that during June and July, Ukraine sustained losses of more than 43,000 troops as it continued its counteroffensive against Russian positions. According to the ministry’s data, over 4,900 pieces of heavy weaponry were destroyed during this period of time.
Medvedev confident Russia to vanquish enemies, achieve peace on its own terms
Russia is strong enough to achieve all of the goals of its special military operation despite facing an almost direct confrontation with all of NATO, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev wrote on Telegram.
He drew parallels between the current conflict and the developments that took place in South Ossetia in August 2008.
"The entire NATO system is almost openly fighting against us. We are strong enough to achieve all of the goals of the special military operation. Just like in August 2008, our enemies will be vanquished and Russia will secure peace on its own terms. Victory will be ours!" said Medvedev, who served as president of Russia in 2008-2012.
On August 8, 2008, Georgia mounted an overnight armed attack against South Ossetia. Russia intervened to protect civilians, many of whom had obtained Russian citizenship, and its peacekeeping contingent, which had been stationed in the region since 1992. In a five-day armed conflict, more than one thousand people, including 72 Russian peacekeepers, lost their lives. On August 26, 2008, Russia recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another former autonomous region of Georgia
U.S. government offices in the Washington D.C. area closed early on Monday because of threatening weather as forecasters warned people across the eastern U.S. of possible tornadoes, damaging winds and large hailstones.
Fast-moving thunderstorms and powerful winds toppled trees and knocked out power for nearly 200,000 homes and businesses in neighboring Maryland and Virginia, according to tracking website PowerOutage.us. As many as 800,000 customers had lost power in the southern and mid-Atlantic states.
At least two people died, thousands of U.S. flights were canceled or delayed, and more than 1.1 million homes and businesses lost power Monday as severe storms, including hail and lightning, moved through the eastern U.S.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for the greater D.C. area, lasting until 9 p.m. A special Weather Service statement warned, “There is a significant threat for damaging and locally destructive hurricane-force winds, along with the potential for large hail and tornadoes, even strong tornadoes.”
The storms’ spread was massive, with tornado watches and warnings posted across 10 states from Tennessee to New York. The National Weather Service said more than 29.5 million people were under a tornado watch Monday afternoon.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered departing flights grounded at airports in New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Baltimore because of thunderstorms. The FAA said it was rerouting aircraft around the storms as much as possible.
Libraries, museums, the National Zoo, pools and other municipal and federal services in the Washington area were also closing early. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management said federal employees had to depart no later than 3 p.m.
FlightAware, a flight tracking site, said more than 2,600 U.S. flights had been canceled, including 102 at Washington Reagan National Airport and 35 at Washington Dulles. Another 7,700 U.S. flights had been delayed.
Viral sebuah unggahan di media sosial tentang aduan dan keluhan dari seorang guru Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (MI) yang mendapati anak muridnya harus berjejalan dalam rombongan belajar di sebuah SMP Negeri di Tangerang Selatan. Dia berkeluh kesah soal pelaksanaan Penerimaan Peserta Didik Baru (PPDB) yang disebutnya sudah menjadi rahasia publik, banyak diwarnai manipulasi, jatah, dan permainan uang.
Lewat akun twitter @ocehan_zea, guru ini mencurahkan problem PPDB di Tangerang Selatan tersebut kepada Menteri Pendidikan, Kebudayaan, Riset dan Teknologi Nadiem Makarim. Dia antara lain menanyakan ihwal penerimaan sekolah berbasis online tersebut. Selama dua tahun belakangan menjadi wali kelas 6 di sekolahnya, guru itu mengungkap proses PPDB yang didapatinya, "membuat sedih dan sakit hati."
Surat diawali dengan penuturannya sebagai guru di sebuah Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (setingkat SD). "belakangan ini anak-anak kami tertarik melanjutkan ke SMPN. Karena KK (kartu keluarga) Tangsel, jadi kebanyakan melanjutkan di SMPN Tangsel," tulisnya.
Sebagai guru kelas enam, dia mengaku turut memantau sistem online yang diterapkan pada penerimaan siswa baru tersebut, atau yang dikenal sebagai PPDB. Pada awal menjalankan perannya itu, dua tahun lalu, dia menyatakan sudah menemukan sejumlah kejanggalan dalam hal rekapitulasi nilai calon peserta didik baru di sekolah-sekolah.
Dia menunjuk kepada kecurigaan terhadap rekapitulasi nilai dari kelas 4 sampai 6 yang, menurutnya, banyak sekali yang mencapai 98. Ini ditemukannya di pendaftaran SMP maupun MTs Negeri. Belum lagi, dia menambahkan, beberapa oknum di jalur zonasi memainkan titik rumah, karena pendaftaran memasukkan titik sendiri.
Juga berlaku jatah atau jalur-jalur penerimaan tak resmi, seperti RT dan RW, lurah, camat, DPRD dan Satpol PP. "Justru menjdi mainan dengan bayaran, saya bingung sebenarnya apa fungsi jatah para pejabat?"
Dampaknya adalah dialami para peserta didik. Di sebuah SMP Negeri, dia menyebut satu rombongan belajar bisa sampai diisi sampai 50, bahkan 72 siswa. Para siswa baru itu tidak mendapat fasilitas meja dan kursi dan akhirnya diminta membawa sendiri. Selain mengutip keterangan mantan muridnya sendiri, akun @ocehan_zea menyertakan tangkapan layar kesaksian lain tentang rombongan belajar yang sangat padat itu.
"Sudah menjadi rahasia publik," katanya sambil menambahkan, "Saya sedih, saya sakit hati, saya khawatir memikirkan anak-anak saya melanjutkan perkembangan diri di lingkungan yang sudah tercemar kepercayaannya."
Saat diminta tanggapannya, juru bicara Pemerintah Kota Tangerang Selatan Ahmad Syatiri hanya memandangnya sebagai tingginya minat masyarakat di sekolah-sekolah negeri yang tidak dapat dihindarkan. Menurutnya, mengantisipasi penumpukan peserta didik di satu sekolah dengan menyiasati waktu kegiatan belajar mengajar (KBM). "Ada yang masuk pagi dan ada yang masuk siang," ujarnya.
Soal jatah atau jalur penerimaan khusus di PPDB untuk para pejabat, Ahmad membantahnya dan tidak dibenarkan. "Karena ini semua sudah by system, jadi kalau ada ASN minta jatah kursi, ya saya rasa itu tidak benar," kata dia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is also director of the Foreign Affairs Commission Office of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, discussed issues on the global agenda, including the Ukrainian crisis, as well as bilateral relations during a telephone conversation, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported.
"The parties highly appreciated the ongoing development of Russian-Chinese relations, which demonstrate stability and positive dynamics amid general geopolitical instability on the planet," the ministry said. The top diplomats "touched upon a number of hot regional topics, including the Ukrainian crisis," it went on to say.
"The ministers discussed a range of pressing issues on the international agenda. They noted their rejection of the Western bloc’s confrontational policy toward Russia and China, its attempts to contain their development by means of sanctions and other illegitimate methods. They gave a positive assessment of the constructive dialogue and the high level of cooperation between Moscow and Beijing within the United Nations, BRICS, SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization - TASS), the Group of Twenty and other international structures," the ministry said.
The press release emphasized that the contact between the foreign ministers of Russia and China "once again confirmed unanimity or broad consonance of Moscow and Beijing's approaches to world affairs." The top diplomats also confirmed "their readiness to continue close foreign policy coordination," the Russian Foreign Ministry added. It also said that the parties had paid specific attention to the bilateral agenda in terms of the implementation of agreements reached at the top political level.
Earlier, Chinese Special Representative for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui conveyed Beijing’s position with regard to settling the Ukrainian conflict at an international conference in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
It was the first telephone call between the foreign ministers of Russia and China after Wang Yi’s recent appointment to that position. "Sergey Lavrov congratulated his Chinese counterpart on his recent appointment as Chinese Foreign Minister and wished him great success in his new demanding role," the Foreign Ministry summed up.
Top Hungarian diplomat speaks over phone with Russian deputy PM
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday that he spoke over the phone with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who reassured him that Russia will continue oil supplies in line with its contract liabilities.
"Today, I had a telephone conversation with Russian Deputy Prime Minister for energy issues Alexander Novak, who reassured us that the Russian partners will supply crude oil to Hungary in conformity with their contract obligations. So, energy security of our country is ensured," he wrote on his Facebook account (Facebook is banned in Russia due to its ownership by Meta, which has been designated as extremist).
Russian oil is pumped to Hungary via the southern pipe of the Druzhba pipeline, which is exempt for the European Union’s sanctions. Some 4.9 million tons of oil were supplied to Hungary via this route in 2022. Oil from this pipeline also goes to oil refineries in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
EU Sanctions Punish European Businesses More Than Russia
European companies have reported a combined €100 billion ($109.9 billion) loss from cutting ties with Russia following the collective West slapping sanctions on Moscow over the special military operation in Ukraine.
Designed to deal a heavy blow to Russia's economy, Western sanctions struck European businesses like "friendly fire."
"The economic losses suffered by many European companies were to some extent foreseen," Gunnar Beck, a member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Alternative for Germany party who is currently vice-president of the Identity & Democracy Group in the Parliament, told Sputnik. "I think the imposition of sanctions, as a tool of foreign policy, is always a very costly affair. But I think there were misconceptions on the side of many European governments in several respects."
"What wasn't foreseen was that the sanctions would harm many EU companies and many EU countries much more than Russia. I think that was a surprise. And that's related to the second point I'd like to make. Namely, I think that European governments were probably unaware or had willfully ignored the fact that the Russian government was relatively well prepared in terms of foreign currency and gold reserves," Beck continued.
Two Reasons Behind EU Economic Damage
Following the beginning of Russia's special operation to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the US and its European allies imposed a series of restrictions aimed at curtailing Russia's business activity. The Western sanctions targeted almost all sectors of Russia's economy. The Central Bank's assets were frozen while Russia's access to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) was canceled.
Since February 2022 Western companies have been pulling out their operations en masse under the pressure of sanctions. The Financial Times conducted a survey that indicated that 176 out of 600 firms' financial reports showed that they suffered balance sheet losses as they rushed to sell, close, or reduce their businesses in Russia.
"There are two major reasons for these damages," Sergio Rossi, professor of macroeconomics and monetary economics at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, told Sputnik. "First, many European businesses have been already suffering from the post-pandemic troubles as regards several supply chain problems and the lack of demand on the market for produced goods and services that is due to households’ reduced purchasing power, owing to higher income inequalities that stem from neoliberal economic policies implemented by these countries’ governments."
"Secondly, globalization implies that the majority of European countries largely depend on foreign trade as a major – if not unique – engine for their economic growth. Since a reduction of exports implies therefore a lower rate of economic growth, the mushroom growth of energy prices, import prices, as well as profit margins of a number of firms – resulting from Western sanctions to Russia – has impacted negatively these countries’ economies, exacerbating the recessionary factors that already existed before all these sanctions were put into practice," Rossi emphasized.
Remarkably, a Yale study indicated that of the 1,000 companies that voiced their determination to leave Russia just over half have completely withdrawn from the country, while some are continuing to operate in Russia undeterred.
Europe is Heading Towards Crisis
Losses sustained by EU companies as a result of anti-Russia sanctions affect their competitiveness across the global economy and further weaken their respective countries' economic systems, according to Rossi. This adds to the already tough economic conditions caused by inflation, high levels of unemployment, plummeting living standards, and reduced wages.
"Actually, the observed inflationary pressures reduce real wages of the bottom and middle-class workers, so that their own consumption expenditures must be reduced, thereby inducing a dramatic vicious circle for all stakeholders, namely, firms, banks, and the public sector of these countries.The European Union risks therefore disintegrating before the end of this decade, in light of the increasing social conflicts and economic problems that remain unaddressed because there is no political will to solve them before long," suggested the economic observer.
For his part, Beck noted that Russia wasn't the most important export market for the European Union, so in this respect the bloc has not been hit much.
However, at the same time, Russia used to be a supplier of relatively cheap energy commodities which ensured the competitiveness of European business on the world stage. Now that Europe has switched to relatively expensive liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US and reduced the consumption of fuel, some European firms opted to relocate from the Old Continent, causing nothing short of deindustrialization. Other manufacturers were prompted to slow down their economic activities due to aggressive interest rate hikes by the European Central Bank (ECB) which have made borrowing especially expensive.
"So, in short, there will be a net loss in wealth as a result of the detrimental effect of sanctions on the European economies," Beck said. "But that net loss is far smaller than the overall wealth loss. The Europeans have been imposing themselves with a whole range of other policies. And I think it's very difficult to convey the sheer folly of our governments and to the European Commission. They are pursuing fantasy projects that are harming their own economies, and their own people to a very great and possibly irreversible extent. But I'd say the kind of belligerent attitude the Europeans have been taking over Ukraine is part of this range of fantasy projects they are producing. There will be a very harsh awakening in the not-too-distant future. In fact, we are already seeing this awakening. The European economies are in crisis and I say they're going to get worse."
It's hard to say what will become a wake-up call for the Europeans, forcing them to revise their economic and political strategy and make a U-turn, according to the MEP. He believes that right now it's too early to say anything with a degree of certainty. However, it's clear that Europe is harming itself and once it drags itself into a deep economic crisis, political instability is likely to follow, Beck concluded.
Meanwhile, the Eurozone economy may face a major shock as the ECB's anti-inflationary policy threatens to stifle growth and heighten the risk of a deep recession, according to Bloomberg analysts. According to their estimates, the deferred effect of raising interest rates, combined with the restriction of government spending, could trim 4% from economic output of the euro zone.
Menteri Koordinator (Menko) Bidang Perekonomian RI Airlangga Hartarto mengatakan, pertumbuhan ekonomi Indonesia yang mencapai 5,17 persen secara tahunan (yoy) dapat dibilang lebih solid melampaui AS dan Singapura.
Berdasarkan data paparannya, pertumbuhan ekonomi Vietnam tercatat di level 4,14 persen, Meksiko di level 3,66 persen, AS 2,70 persen, Taiwan 1,45 persen, Arab Saudi di level 1,10 persen serta Korea Selatan 0,87 persen.
“Nah tentu kita lihat juga tingkat inflasi kita salah satu yang terendah di 3,08 persen, dibandingkan dengan negara Jerman yang masih di 6 persen atau yang sedang kena hiperinflasi seperti Turki itu yang 47 persen,” kata Menko Airlangga dalam Konferensi Pers Pertumbuhan Ekonomi di Jakarta, Senin.
Stagnasi tersebut dikarenakan saat ini negara-negara lain tengah mengalami kontraksi serta peningkatan inflasi akibat gejolak perekonomian global yang semakin tak menentu.
Lebih lanjut, Menko Airlangga juga menilai pertumbuhan ekonomi Indonesia hanya di bawah China yang tercatat 6,3 persen, dan Uzbekistan sebesar 5,6 persen.
Oleh karena itu ia optimistis bahwa kinerja pertumbuhan ekonomi di atas 5 persen dapat berlanjut hingga akhir tahun.
Adapun Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS) hari ini mencatatkan pertumbuhan ekonomi Indonesia pada kuartal II-2023 berada pada level 5,17 persen secara tahunan (yoy).
Sedangkan, secara kuartalan (qtq) mengalami kenaikan sebesar 3,86 persen apabila dibandingkan dengan kuartal I-2023.
Menko Airlangga menilai kinerja ekonomi tersebut menandakan ekonomi Indonesia telah berhasil di atas 5 persen secara tujuh kuartal berturut-turut.
Selain itu, pencapaian juga ditandai dengan kembalinya Indonesia ke dalam kategori Upper Middle Income Country berdasarkan Bank Dunia (World Bank).
"Indonesia kembali menuju upper middle income country berdasarkan data Bank Dunia di akhir Juni 2023 kita di angka 4.580-an. Kita berharap di akhir tahun 2024 nanti kita bisa mencapai 5.500 dolar AS dibanding negara lain," ujarnya.
At least 10 people were injured on Monday when an explosion rocked grain silos near the port of Derince in western Turkey, prompting an investigation into its cause, Kocaeli Governor Seddar Yavuz said.
An explosion occurred around 2:40 p.m. (1140 GMT) near Turkish Grain Board (TMO) silos, Yavuz said.
"Initial evaluations show that an explosion occurred due to wheat dust compression during the transfer of wheat from a ship to the silo," Yavuz said.
"We were told that it is technically possible that a blast could occur due to compression of wheat dust, but we are investigating every possible reason".
Two of the injured are in serious condition in hospital, and everyone has been accounted for, he added.
The Ministry of Transportation said no ships were damaged due to the explosion.
The explosion occurred in mid-afternoon on Monday, with Derince mayor Zeki Aygün telling local media that it originated at a block of government-owned grain silos and felt “like a violent earthquake.” Kocaeli Governor Seddar Yavuz said that 10 people were injured, with two in serious condition at a nearby hospital.
Security camera footage captured the moment of the blast, which scattered debris across a nearby goods yard. Video shot from further away showed a cloud of smoke and dust rising over the port after the blast.
Situated around 90 kilometers (55 miles) east of Istanbul in the province of Kocaeli, Derince is one of the few seaports in Türkiye wholly operated by the government. Derince is a grain transportation hub, and received regular shipments of grain from Ukraine, until the Black Sea grain deal expired last month.
Yavuz said that the explosion took place as grain was being transferred from a ship to a silo, and could have been caused by "wheat dust compression." According to live data from MarineTraffic.com, a Marshall Islands-flagged transport ship is currently moored next to the silos.
13 out of 16 silos at the port were damaged in the blast, provincial authorities said. Emergency services are still working at the scene, and police have launched an investigation into the incident.
