Russia Approves Use of Armed Forces in Syria

Russia’s Federation Council unanimously approved the use of the country’s armed forces abroad.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia’s upper house of parliament on Wednesday approved the country’s armed forces to be used abroad.

The decision includes only the use of the Air Force and does not foresee any ground troops operations, Kremlin Administration Aide Sergei Ivanov said Wednesday.

“We’re talking exclusively about operations of Russia’s Air Force, as our president has already said, the use of armed forces on the ground theater of military operations is excluded. The military goal of the operations is exclusively air support of the Syrian government forces in their fight against the Islamic State,” Ivanov said.

Syrian President Bashar Assad has turned to Russia with a request for military assistance, according to Ivanov.

“I would like to inform you that the president of the Syrian Arab Republic turned to the leadership of our country with a request to provide military assistance, so we may say that terrorism needs to be fought, efforts need to be combined, but it is still necessary to observe the norms of international law,” Ivanov told journalists.

Kremlin will inform foreign partners of the decision made by the parliament of using Russian armed forces abroad during the day through foreign ministry channels, and the military will do the same through their channels.

According to Ivanov, the decision was made to help Syria and protect Russian interests.

"First and, probably, the most important, we are talking about Syria alone, and we are not talking about reaching some foreign policy goals, satisfying some ambitions which our western partners accuse us of, we are talking about Russia's national interests alone," Ivanov told journalists.

Ivanov said that the Air Force operations would be temporary, but was unable to say exactly how long they would be in play.

“In regard to the timeline, the Russian Air Force operation, of course, cannot last forever and has a definite time period, but what the time period is, for example, in regard to the number of days as well as telling you how many aircraft will be used and which armament will be used by our Air Force, I cannot say right now for obvious reasons,” Ivanov said.

Commenting on the airstrikes carried out by Western powers, Ivanov said they were not in line with international law.

"As you all know very well, the United States… is launching airstrikes on the territory of Syria and Iraq, and maybe other Middle Eastern States. Recently France has joined the same analogous actions, Australia and a number of other coutnries are talking about the same thing.. I would like to note one principal moment — these actions are being carried out in circumvention of international law," Ivanov told the press.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has earlier on Wednesday requested permission from the Federation Council to use Russian Armed Forces abroad.

According to the US Embassy in Moscow, the leaders of the United States and Russia have common interests in the fight against ISIL in Syria and have agreed to create a channel between the countries’ military branches to avoid any misunderstandings during operations in the area.

“I would simply reiterate that when President [Barack] Obama met with President [Vladimir] Putin, they agreed that the United States and Russia have a common interest in fighting ISIL in Syria", US Embassy spokesman Will Stevens said.

“However, our position is clear that President Assad is not a suitable partner for the fight against terror and extremism in Syria.  There is no sustainable path to stability within Syria that involves President Assad staying in power,” he added.

Russia, Iran, Iraq, and Syria have recently created an information center in Baghdad in order to coordinate the fight against the Islamic State. The information center’s main goals are to provide reconnaissance on the number of IS militants, their weapons, and their movements.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that the new center would begin operations in October or November and be headed by Russian, Syrian, Iraqi and Iranian officers on a three-month rotational basis.

Source: Sputnik News 30-09-2015

UN General Assembly Session: First Thoughts

Four important speeches by various world leaders but Putin steals the show.

Alexander Mercouris

The four key speeches at the UN General Assembly session on 28th September 2015:

(1) Obama - a highly defensive speech recycling tired cliches, but grudgingly conceding ground to Putin on Syria;

(2) Putin - a typically strong and confident performance, pushing a diplomatic plan for Syria which - because of its obvious logic - is succeeding I suspect far beyond his expectations, whilst condemning in scathing terms the US policies that he sees as creating the situation. Contains the clearest statement of outright support for President Assad the Russians have made to date;

(3) Xi Jinping - a typical quiet spoken speech from China's leader, but arguably the most interesting speech of the day. A clear defence of the principle of equality between states. Quite obviously aimed at the claims for “exceptional” status coming out of the US. Strange that the speech of the leader of the world's biggest country and (by purchasing power parity) the world's biggest economy is getting so little attention;

(4) Rouhani - a highly intelligent speech from an obviously intelligent man. Making clear that Iran has not compromised its essential geopolitical play as part of a grand bargain involving the nuclear deal.

None of the other speeches seemed to me at all interesting. Hollande's was (again) a sad disappointment.

Neither Cameron nor I believe Merkel could be bothered to turn up. Perhaps the fact Putin was coming scared them off.

Source: Russia Insider 29-09-2015

Putin says considers USSR breakup tragedy

The breakup of the Soviet Union made the Russian people the biggest divided nation in the world

MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. The breakup of the Soviet Union turned out to be a huge tragedy due to many problems that followed, which have made the Russian people the biggest divided nation in the world, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with US TV anchorman Charlie Rose for the CBS and PBS channels.

Putin smiled at the remark that some see in Russia’s policy an attempt to recreate its former sphere of influence.

"Your questions make me happy. Somebody is always suspecting Russia of having some ambitions, there are always those who are trying to misinterpret us or keep something back. I did say that I see the collapse of the Soviet Union as a great tragedy of the XX century. Do you know why?" he said.

"First of all, because 25 million of Russian people suddenly turned out to be outside the borders of the Russian Federation. They used to live in one state; the Soviet Union has traditionally been called Russia, the Soviet Russia, and it was the great Russia. They used to live in one country and suddenly found themselves abroad. 

Can you imagine how many problems came out?" Putin said.

"First, there were everyday issues, the separation of families, the economic and social problems. The list is endless. Do you think it is normal that 25 million people, Russian people, suddenly found themselves abroad? 

The Russians have turned out to be the largest divided nation in the world nowadays. Is that not a problem? It is not a problem for you as it is for me," he said.

Source: ITAR-TASS 28-09-2015

Media: blast heard near state security building in Odessa

No casualties

ODESSA, September 27. /TASS/. A huge blast that occurred on Sunday morning near an office of Ukraine's SBU state security service in the southern city of Odessa is estimated to be equivalent to more than one kilogramme of TNT, local media reported.

The explosion took place at about 4:45 a.m. local time outside the SBU building in Yevreyskaya street.

"According to preliminary assessment, the explosion was one of the most powerful among all blasts that happened in Odessa over the past year. Its power is preliminarily estimated at more than one kilogramme of TNT equivalent," Odessa’s Timer online news portal said on Sunday.

A TASS correspondent reported from the scene that an explosive device had been planted near the building’s side entrance which was generally not used. The explosion was so powerful that it shattered windows in residential houses and office buildings two-three blocks away from the blast site. Cars parked near the building were also damaged.

Ukrainian police, SBU officers and bomb disposal experts are working at the site now.

No one has been killed or injured, according to media reports.

Source: ITAR-TASS 27-09-2015

Poklonskaya blasts Ukrainian blockade of Crimea as unlawful, West-inspired

Crimean Prosecutor Natalya Poklonskaya says the so-called ‘food blockade’ of the peninsula launched by Ukrainian far-right movements is just a futile attempt to cause Russia additional discomfort in the interests of Western opponents.

“The so-called blockade does not conform to any norms of international law. But its instigators are not planning to build anything, they can only destroy and they need to further justify their existence. They act in the interests of Western nations based across the ocean, they act as puppets with strings in someone else’s hands when they try to even their scores with Crimea and harm Russia,” RIA Novosti quoted the famous Crimean lawyer as saying on Friday.

She added that the plans by Ukrainian radicals to disrupt food deliveries on the Crimean Peninsula had failed on every account. There is no threat of food shortages and Crimean residents haven’t complained of any discomfort, she noted, adding that law enforcers would not allow external forces to damage the regional economy.

 “We will monitor prices on a daily basis. If someone intends to make more money through speculation it is not going to work. We will not allow anyone to profit from the current situation,” Poklonskaya said.

“Ukrainian radicals who allow themselves to rob, beat up and kill are the greatest threat to the citizens of their own country. They can use real force only against helpless Ukrainians because they are sure that this would not lead to any punishment,” she stated.

“All their threats to Crimea and Russia are only being voiced, and voiced from a safe distance because they still maintain some sense of self-preservation,” Poklonskaya added.

The comments came soon after activists of the Ukrainian nationalist groups, led by the notorious movement Right Sector began their ‘food blockade’ by obstructing any Crimea-bound traffic on highways and country roads. The Crimean Peninsula’s only land border is with Ukraine, but regular passenger and cargo deliveries are organized by ferries from ports in southern Russia.

In November last year, Russia recognized Right Sector as an extremist ultra-nationalist group, outlawing any of its activities and banning the public demonstration of its symbols.

Natalya Poklonskaya was appointed the head of the Crimean Prosecutor’s Office at the same time the agency was formed after the region’s accession into the Russian Federation. The video from the Poklonskaya’s very first news conference in office went viral on the internet, largely due to her stunning good looks, collecting millions of views.

In press interviews she said that Ukrainian law enforcers had threatened her with prison and death for accepting the post, but failed to make her fear them.

“I replied that I would rather be in a prison cell than work for fascists,” Poklonskaya told reporters in March this year.

Source: Russia Today 26-09-2015