# entry

guid: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/draft-statement-by-the-russian-federation
author: ;Karl Sanchez
link: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/draft-statement-by-the-russian-federation
hash: 1+dPv� ��Rx�L~
title:
Draft: Statement by the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus on a Joint Vision of the Eurasian Charter for Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century

content:
<div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb5748067-6696-407c-872b-b2f5bad764a7_1000x600.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb5748067-6696-407c-872b-b2f5bad764a7_1000x600.jpeg" width="1000" height="600" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b5748067-6696-407c-872b-b2f5bad764a7_1000x600.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":600,"width":1000,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":190402,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/157587871?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb5748067-6696-407c-872b-b2f5bad764a7_1000x600.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt="" fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p><p>As promised in the Government Hour article, here the translation of<a href="https://mid.ru/ru/maps/by/1984612/"> the draft treaty</a> for a new Eurasian Security Structure: </p><p>Brest, November 22, 2024</p><p><strong>SHARED VISION<br>of the Eurasian Charter for Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century</strong></p><p><em>We, the representatives of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, proceed from the recognition of the following key realities of our time:</em></p><ol><li><p><strong>DIVERSITY AS THE BASIS OF PEACE</strong> – Peace has always been characterized by a diversity of life, civilizations, cultures, traditions, features of historical development, value systems, and with the formation of the state as the main element of international relations, a variety of forms of state political structure and models of internal socio-economic, cultural and humanitarian development.</p></li><li><p><strong>Respect</strong> for the full spectrum of diversity has traditionally served healthy competition and the overall progress of humanity, while the neglect of this key phenomenon of public life by states has led to interstate wars and conflicts and various crises.</p></li><li><p><strong>DIVERSITY IN TODAY'S WORLD</strong> – The essence and importance of diversity are becoming clearer and the need to respect this phenomenon is especially needed in today's world in light of the rapid development of digital technologies, which greatly expand the knowledge of all people on the planet.</p></li><li><p><strong>PARADIGM CHANGE</strong> – In the modern world, objective and irreversible profound transformations are taking place in international relations, caused by accelerated tectonic changes in various fields, which have a huge impact on all participants in international life.</p></li><li><p><strong>MULTIPOLARITY ON THE HORIZON</strong> – The world is inexorably moving towards a state of multipolarity, which is a consequence of its inherent diversity. This represents an opportunity for building a just and inclusive democratic world order and peaceful coexistence in the interests of security and common prosperity of all states on the basis of mutually beneficial cooperation and genuine multilateralism in the long term.</p></li><li><p><strong>SLOWING DOWN FACTORS</strong> – At the same time, the evolutionary movement of the whole world towards multipolarity and a polycentric model that meets the interests of the World Majority slows down if the fact of the diversity of civilizations, cultures, traditions, features of historical development, value systems, forms of state structure and models of internal development is ignored, and the norms and principles of international law are violated.</p></li><li><p><strong>PECULIARITY OF EURASIA</strong> – Eurasia is the geographical center and material foundation of the emerging multipolar world, ancient civilizations are located here, around which states, integration associations, regional organizations and centers of power have been formed.</p></li><li><p><strong>THE IMPORTANCE OF EURASIA</strong> – The Eurasian continent, due to its geographical location, size, population and resource potential, has historically played and continues to play an important role in international relations, acting as a locomotive of global development as a whole. It is in Eurasia that the main contribution to the progressive growth of the world economy is ensured, and independent development centers are being strengthened.</p></li><li><p><strong>FUTURE OF EURASIA</strong> – Effective interaction between all subjects of the Eurasian space, harmonization of relations between the centers of development in Eurasia, are indispensable conditions for the consolidation of the continent in the interests of all states located on it, which in the end will also serve the goal of building a just world order on a multipolar basis.</p></li><li><p><strong>COMMON GLOBAL INTEREST</strong> – In the context of the important role of Eurasia, the achievement of the goals of peace, security, stability and prosperity in this space meets the interests not only of the states of the continent, but also of all countries of the world.</p></li></ol><p><em>In this regard, we commit to:</em></p><ol start="11"><li><p><strong>RELY ON INTERNATIONAL LAW</strong> – Be guided in their actions by the norms of international law, based on the UN Charter in its entirety and interrelated, and other international legally binding documents.</p></li><li><p><strong>RESPECT DIVERSITY</strong> – Recognize and respect the diversity and equality of civilizations, cultures, traditions, historical features and systems of universal values, the diversity of forms of state political structure and models of internal socio-economic development of the countries of the world, oppose exceptionalism and double standards in international politics.</p></li><li><p><strong>CREATE A MULTIPOLAR WORLD</strong> – Contribute to the speedy construction of a multipolar world and a just global order.</p></li><li><p><strong>IMPLEMENT INITIATIVES</strong> – Implement initiatives that contribute to the recognition by all countries of the world of the diversity of development paths, the establishment of a dialogue among civilizations, a dialogue on global security, the formation of a new type of international relations in the interests of creating a cohesive community of states, the development of regional economic processes and partnerships in Eurasia, the implementation of mutually beneficial pan-Eurasian projects, including for the purpose of forming a Greater Eurasian Partnership and strengthening cultural and humanitarian cooperation.</p></li><li><p><strong>STRENGTHEN SECURITY</strong> - To form a new continent-wide architecture of cooperation in the field of security, based on the principles of indivisibility of security, justice, legitimacy, sustainability and joint contribution of the participants.</p></li><li><p><strong>RESTORE THE ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS</strong> - To promote the restoration and strengthening of the central coordinating role of the United Nations in world affairs and the effective use of the mechanisms of the UN system to overcome common global challenges and threats, to strengthen the voice of the countries of the World Majority in the Organization.</p></li><li><p><strong>STRENGTHEN EURASIA</strong> - Work to consolidate the Eurasian space to ensure peace, stability and common prosperity on the continent in the interests of all its states.</p></li><li><p><strong>TO COOPERATE IN THE AREAS</strong> - To contribute to the processes of strengthening practical cooperation on the Eurasian continent in the fields of security, economy, culture and other spheres on the basis of openness, broad inclusion, equality and mutual benefit.</p></li><li><p><strong>USE EURASIAN MECHANISMS</strong> - To implement this task, use multilateral cooperation mechanisms operating on the Eurasian continent, including the EAEU, CSTO, CIS, SCO, ASEAN, CICA, LAS, GCC, Union State. To promote cross-platform interaction between them, the implementation of joint initiatives.</p></li><li><p><strong>PREVENT INTERFERENCE</strong> - Counteract attempts by external forces to interfere in the affairs of the Eurasian states and pursue a policy aimed at undermining the processes of consolidation and cooperation on the continent, to impose their own development models, ideological attitudes and alien spiritual and moral values.</p></li><li><p><strong>ESTABLISH EXTERNAL PARTNERSHIPS</strong> - Interact and interface with regional economic processes taking place on other continents.</p></li></ol><p><em>We, the representatives of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, invite all Eurasian states to join the dialogue on a set of issues affecting the principles of interaction in the multipolar era and related to the continental architecture of security, cooperation and development, with a view to developing, taking into account the provisions of this document, the "Eurasian Charter for Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century".</em></p>

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guid: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/lavrov-at-g-20-in-johannesburg
title: Lavrov at G-20 in Johannesburg
author: ;Karl Sanchez
link: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/lavrov-at-g-20-in-johannesburg
hash: B�6���� vV����
content:
<div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F42ed29cc-13e3-413f-ba5f-ff5277b7382d_720x480.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F42ed29cc-13e3-413f-ba5f-ff5277b7382d_720x480.jpeg" width="720" height="480" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/42ed29cc-13e3-413f-ba5f-ff5277b7382d_720x480.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":480,"width":720,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":93328,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/157627988?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F42ed29cc-13e3-413f-ba5f-ff5277b7382d_720x480.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt="" fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p><p>Sergey Lavrov at least got to spend a night in one place as the G-20 Foreign Ministers Meeting is a several-days affair. Lavrov went from Moscow to Riyadh back to Moscow then on to Johannesburg and is always primed and ready wherever he lands. Today’s report consists of Lavrov’s <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1998882/">opening remarks</a> on the 20th to the G20 Ministerial Council meeting on the global geopolitical situation followed by <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1999040/">his comments </a>today, the 21st, on G20 Objectives in 2025. It appears Rubio has declined to attend as there was no media speculation about the two meeting again on the sidelines. As you’ll read, Russia’s position remains the same as it was during the Biden administration since nothing has changed regarding Outlaw US Empire behavior in the global economic sphere since Team Trump took office. </p><blockquote><p>Dear Colleagues,</p><p>We welcome the successful start of the presidency of our South African friends. We understand the choice of geopolitics, which is not quite relevant for the G20: <em><strong>the economy is increasingly becoming a hostage and a victim of political ambitions.</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>The West's attempts to restrain the objective process of strengthening new powerful growth centers in the hope of maintaining its dominance contradict multipolar realities, lead to destabilization of the geopolitical situation, divert huge resources from solving the problems of sustainable development and overcoming socio-economic imbalances and inequality.</strong></em></p><p>A whole arsenal of hybrid warfare methods is being used against competitors: illegitimate sanctions, protectionism, theft of sovereign assets, destruction of critical infrastructure, machinations of markets and pricing mechanisms, and abuse of the function of reserve currencies. <em><strong>Attempts are being made to justify violations of international law, including interference in the internal affairs of states, by some kind of "rules-based order."</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>The Western minority is conducting a dialogue with the Global South in the old way, from the position of "white supremacy."</strong></em> <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/borba_s_kolonializmom_i_neokolonializmom/">Colonialism</a> has not yet been eradicated, <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/un/">contrary to UN</a> resolutions: there are 17 non-self-governing territories in the world. <em><strong>Neocolonial practices are flourishing in the political, economic, social and cultural spheres. The former metropolises would like to continue to pump out natural resources wherever possible, restraining the industrial and technological development of the countries to which these resources belong.</strong></em></p><p>Hotbeds of tension are multiplying. The settlement of long-standing crises is being deliberately slowed down. The unresolved Palestinian issue has already unleashed a new spiral of violence not only in Gaza, but also in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. Over the past year and a half, 47,000 Palestinian civilians have fallen victim to the escalation of the Arab-Israeli conflict. This is a record number of civilian casualties since World War II. <em><strong>We would like to emphasise that the final resolution of the confrontation is possible only on the basis of a two-state formula and the creation of an independent Palestine coexisting in peace and security with Israel.</strong></em></p><p>Another knot of confrontation is being cultivated in the <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/rso/atr/">Asia-Pacific region</a>. The key goal of the "Indo-Pacific strategies" that erode universal ASEAN-centric formats is to promote <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/rso/nato/">NATO's</a> interests in this part of the world and "contain" independent players. <em><strong>In Europe, the thoughtless expansion of the alliance has already resulted in the Ukrainian crisis. The end of the conflict is hindered by uncontrolled financial support and the pumping of weapons into the openly racist Kiev regime by its patrons. Nevertheless, it is gradually becoming clear that a solution can only be found by addressing the root causes of the crisis in <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/maps/ua/">Ukraine</a>, including the fulfilment of obligations to respect human rights, including the rights to language and religion, and compliance with the principle of indivisible security in Europe.</strong></em> A detailed discussion on this topic took place at Russian-US <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1998279/">talks</a> in Riyadh on February 18.</p><p>The threat of international <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/international_safety/crime/dokumenty_po_protivodeystviyu_terrorizmu_drugim_vyzovam_i_ugrozam/">terrorism</a>, which has acquired a new dimension as a result of NATO's military adventures in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and Syria, remains acute. Terrorist groups around the world are "fueled" by the supply of Western weapons flowing out of Ukraine. <em><strong>In the spirit of "double standards", the West divides militants into "us" and "them". In Europe, such a short-sighted policy has already led to terrorist attacks against the Nord Stream pipelines. Radical nationalist and sometimes openly neo-fascist movements are supported as another tool for confrontation with Russia.</strong></em> In the year of the 80th anniversary of Victory in World War II, we call on our G20 partners to stand on the side of truth and right, acting as a "united front" in the fight against the glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and racism.</p><p><em><strong>The dominance of conflicts and hot spots on the international agenda and their impact on global stability prove that it is impossible to ensure the security of some countries at the expense of others. It can only be indivisible and equal for all. In a multipolar environment, there is no place for hegemony and hostile bloc politics. It is time for the West to accept a new balance of power and start building relations with the states of the world majority on the basis of mutual respect. </strong></em>We also discussed this with our American colleagues in Riyadh and agreed on the main thing: international relations should be built on the basis of the recognition that each country has its own national interests.</p><p><em><strong>Geopolitical contradictions can only be resolved through constructive cooperation based on the principles <a href="https://www.un.org/ru/about-us/un-charter/full-text">of the UN Charter</a> in their entirety and interconnection. </strong></em>This implies the democratisation of global governance in favour of justice for the countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Strengthening the role of such multilateral formats as <a href="https://brics-russia2024.ru/about/">BRICS</a>, the <a href="https://rus.sectsco.org/">SCO</a>, the <a href="https://eec.eaeunion.org/">EAEU</a>, the African Union, the Arab League and CELAC contributes to solving this problem. We welcome the efforts to normalise relations between the GCC countries and Iran. In the same vein, President Vladimir Putin's initiative to form the <a href="https://www.mid.ru/ru/activity/coordinating_and_advisory_body/head_of_subjects_council/materialy-o-vypolnenii-rekomendacij-zasedanij-sgs/xxxvi-zasedanie-sgs/1767070/">Greater Eurasian Partnership</a> is taking place.</p><p>The G20 is in demand as a platform for an equal dialogue between the leading economic powers, as a visible embodiment of the concept of multipolarity. It is symbolic that the first African G20 watch is taking place at a time of a significant anniversary for the continent: 65 years ago, at the initiative of the USSR, the <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/un/organs/general_assembly/">UN General Assembly</a> adopted <a href="https://www.un.org/ru/documents/decl_conv/declarations/colonial.shtml">the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples</a>. We hope that under Pretoria's leadership, it will be possible to take another step towards overcoming the rudiments of neocolonialism,<em><strong> including reforming the Middle East and the WTO, as well as expanding the representation of Asia, Africa and Latin America–-and only them–-in the UN Security Council.</strong></em> Such agreements will contribute to ensuring sustainable peace and development. [My Emphasis]</p></blockquote><p>Aside from noting certain important points that were discussed with the Outlaw US Empire in Riyadh little has changed since Lavrov’s last appraisal of the international situation at the previous G-20 in Rio, which I reported upon and can be found in the Gym’s archive. IMO, such coarse reminders will continue until the situation changes. And this brings up a question I haven’t seen posed to Lavrov: Were the Outlaw US Empire’s representatives at Riyadh reminded that there’s only one system of international law and it springs from the UN Charter; in other words, did they admit the UN Charter has primacy and the West’s “rules based order” is out-of-order and has no bearing on international relations? If they didn’t, then attaining any real agreements will be very difficult. As we know and Lavrov noted, the West has very little to contribute to global development since they’re too busy spending their scant resources on war to the great neglect of their own citizenry. Lavrov mentioned the Greater Eurasian Partnership which appears to be awaiting “the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia [to update] <s>is updating</s> the concept of the GEP in an interdepartmental format, which will be supplemented with practical tools: an action plan at the level of economic authorities and sectoral applied projects.” I don’t believe I’ve provided the 2023 update to the GEP proposal, which is where the above is cited. I’ll append that document to the end of this report.  And now for today’s meeting:</p><p></p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc2882eed-52e7-442c-9a97-158b647a0614_720x480.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc2882eed-52e7-442c-9a97-158b647a0614_720x480.jpeg" width="720" height="480" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c2882eed-52e7-442c-9a97-158b647a0614_720x480.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":480,"width":720,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":122181,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/157627988?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc2882eed-52e7-442c-9a97-158b647a0614_720x480.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt="" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p><blockquote><p>Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's remarks at the G20 Ministerial Council Meeting on G20 Objectives in 2025: Discussion of the Planned Results of the South African Presidency and Review of the Forum's Activities, Johannesburg, February 21, 2025 </p><p>Mr President,</p><p>In the context of the fragmentation of the global economy, the G20 dialogue on global issues is more in demand than ever. We note <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/maps/za/">South Africa's</a> thorough preparations for the forum and the relevance of the selected thematic priorities. <em><strong>We are particularly impressed by the emphasis on the search for a "common denominator" in the interests of combining steps to promote sustainable growth and development.</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>So far, we are far from the desired results, and the general background for working together in the face of escalating geopolitical confrontation remains unfavorable. </strong></em>The statistics are well known: we are desperately behind the timetable for achieving the <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/un/">UN</a> Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) until 2030. Only 17% of SDG indicators are within reach.<em><strong> On many parameters, including poverty alleviation, food security, and access to energy, additional intensive efforts are urgently neede</strong></em>d.</p><p>Historical experience shows that it is impossible to cope with common challenges and threats alone. That is why in 2008 the G20 was created at the level of leaders. Then, in extraordinary circumstances, it was necessary to urgently "extinguish the fire" of the global financial crisis. For some time, it was possible to stabilize the markets. <em><strong>However, now we are witnessing a whole cascade of intertwined crises. Behind them are armed conflicts unleashed and encouraged by the West, trade, technological and hybrid wars, the destruction of the international trading system and the transformation of the dollar into an instrument of manipulation and a weapon.</strong></em></p><p>The weakening of one link in the global chain dooms all of humanity to severe trials. <em><strong>A striking example is the West's anti-Russian sanctions, multiplied by the terrorist attacks on Nord Stream, which have hit the competitive potential of the initiators of the illegal restrictions, primarily the EU. Along with the economic miscalculations of the West, all this has reduced the growth rate on the planet, provoked inflation, market disruptions, and undermined the development opportunities of the Global South.</strong></em></p><p>Nevertheless, the modern world is radically transforming and becoming truly multipolar. The five hundred years of Western domination are irrevocably coming to an end. <em><strong>We must find the strength to accept this objective reality. The international community does not want to be held hostage to the unilateral decisions of former sovereigns.</strong></em> This is especially evident today, when we are celebrating the 80th anniversary of Victory in the war against Nazism and the 65th anniversary of the adoption <a href="https://www.un.org/ru/documents/decl_conv/declarations/colonial.shtml">of the UN Declaration on Decolonisation</a> as a starting point for the independence of Africa, Asia and the Global South as a whole.</p><p><a href="https://brics-russia2024.ru/about/">Back</a> in 2022, the BRICS confidently surpassed the G7 in terms of GDP. Today, the ratio of their shares in the global economy is 37% to 29%. At the same time, developing countries are growing twice as fast as Western countries–-over 4% compared to less than 2%, and are becoming a generator of breakthrough ideas and progress, including in the field of artificial intelligence. During <a href="https://brics-russia2024.ru/about/">Russia's presidency of</a> the BRICS at the summit in Kazan in 2024, a number of promising decisions were made to launch non-discriminatory mechanisms to stimulate investment and trade that do not depend on anyone's whim, including taking into account the special needs of Africa.</p><p><em><strong>Neoliberal circles in the West consider the objective process of the formation of multipolarity as a challenge, not an opportunity. They are making an absurd bet on confrontation and inflicting a "strategic defeat" on competitors. The practices of neocolonialism are being used: pumping out natural resources from developing countries on the cheap, imposing pseudo-environmental taxes on their products, attempts to block cooperation between Africa, Asia and Latin America with China and Russia, and restraining the industrialization of the Global South. </strong></em>One example: if the extraction of rare earth metals can bring developing countries a meager $11 billion per year, then the production of batteries based on them in the West already turns into revenues of $400 billion.</p><p>The peculiarities of the functioning of the global financial system are also well known. <a href="https://www.mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1982450/">Last year,</a> at the November summit of the G20 in Rio de Janeiro, the amount of military spending in the world was named—$2.4 trillion. <em><strong>Assistance to Ukraine, allocated at the expense of stealing sovereign assets and reducing international development assistance, has reached off the charts.</strong></em></p><p>In these conditions, thanks primarily to the efforts of the BRICS countries and their like-minded countries, the G20 still retains the status of a useful platform for aligning the interests of states with different strategies and levels of development. In 2024, the leaders of our states clearly stated that the Global South should receive genuine levers of influence on the activities of multilateral institutions, in particular the IMF and the World Bank, corresponding to its weight, and ensure that its needs are taken into account in the WTO. <em><strong>Now we have to implement the agreements, and Russia will contribute to this in every possible way.</strong></em></p><p>It is important to ensure that developing countries will be able to independently dispose of their natural resources, receive a fair price for them, and have equal and direct access to markets, supply chains, technologies and investments, along with everyone else. We share South Africa's plans to review the G20's activities over the past years. We hope that the results will reaffirm our commitment to depoliticised cooperation based on the inviolability of the principle of consensus in order to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth set back in 2009. This would be a worthy outcome of the first ever G20 summit on African soil. [My Emphasis]</p></blockquote><p>Clearly there’s lots of work to accomplish. Training and technology transfer will allow those developing nations having extractive assets to add value to them prior to their export as Lavrov described with rare earths and batteries; but that is only one of many such examples. As noted in my previous comment, getting the West to submit to the discipline of the UN Charter and ceasing their neocolonial exploitation is a must, which also means the Neoliberal Parasites within the West living off those rents need to have their behaviors curtailed via law and its very stringent application. If the West doesn’t cease its immoral behavior, then it will need to suffer the application of force so compliance is obtained. Along with BRICS the G-20 must continue its work to develop an alternative global commerce system particularly commodity markets that don’t denominate in dollars. The loaded unmentioned item is debt resolution that’s an absolute must for many nations since dollar-denominated loans are strangling them because the dollar is appreciating on currency markets. Many nations require relief this year, not sometime in the further future. I see Lavrov has conducted a presser at the end of today’s meeting. That will be the subject of my next report. I end by appending the GEP document:</p><blockquote><p><a href="https://www.mid.ru/ru/activity/coordinating_and_advisory_body/head_of_subjects_council/materialy-o-vypolnenii-rekomendacij-zasedanij-sgs/xxxvi-zasedanie-sgs/1767070/">Russia's Greater Eurasian Partnership initiative </a></p><p>The Greater Eurasian Partnership (GEP) is a concrete, practical initiative of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, put forward in his Address to the Federal Assembly in 2015 in order to form a broad integration contour on the Eurasian continent. The envisaged collective efforts with interested partners are based on the desire to promote the construction of a fair polycentric world order, which implies the development of equal, multi-speed and mutually beneficial economic cooperation across the entire range of topical issues. Progress in this direction will be carried out on a voluntary basis, will be open and will contribute to the closest possible alignment of all relevant structures, mechanisms and tools in this area.</p><p>General approaches to the principles of the GEP operation are set out in key strategic planning documents affecting the international activities of the Russian Federation.</p><p>First of all, these include the 2021 National Security Strategy and the 2023 Foreign Policy Concept. It is understood that the GEP, the core of which may be the EAEU, the SCO, and ASEAN, also uses the capabilities of such complementary formats as the Chinese infrastructure initiative BRI and can create the necessary prerequisites for turning Eurasia into a "single continental space of peace, stability, mutual trust, development and prosperity."</p><p>Within the framework of the work through the GEP, special importance will be given to the proper consideration of the specifics of the organization of production processes, technological structures and market conditions. The key tasks are considered to strengthen regulatory and physical connectivity, simplify trade operations and investment, and eliminate unjustified barriers that impede the effective establishment of supply chains and economic relations.</p><p>In terms of the sectoral structure, the GEP could include the following components:</p><p>- Network of international trade and investment agreements;</p><p>- Common transport space;</p><p>- A single network of economic corridors and development zones;</p><p>- Digital measurement;</p><p>- Energy space;</p><p>- Financial measurement;</p><p>The EAEU will be one of the key players in the GEP field. Particular emphasis will be placed on the conclusion of multilateral and bilateral free trade agreements. Such work is already being actively carried out through the EAEU. There is an FTA with Serbia and Vietnam, the prospects for signing similar documents with Egypt, Indonesia, the UAE, India, Iran are being considered (as of today, a temporary FTA agreement is in force with Iran).</p><p>The task of forming the Greater Eurasian Partnership is reflected in the Strategic Directions for the Development of Eurasian Economic Integration until 2025, approved at the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (SEEC) on December 11, 2020.</p><p>In 2005, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the SCO and ASEAN secretariats. The ASEAN and SCO countries supported the possibility of establishing mutually beneficial cooperation between the EAEU, ASEAN and the SCO at the Russia-ASEAN summit in Sochi in May 2016. On the sidelines of the Russia-ASEAN summit in Singapore on November 14, 2018, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) and ASEAN. The EAEU-ASEAN cooperation programme has been extended until 2025 During the SCO Heads of State Council meeting on 10 November 2020, it was decided to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between the SCO Secretariat and the EEC. The relevant memorandum was signed on the sidelines of the SCO Council of Heads of State meeting in Dushanbe on 16-17 September 2021.</p><p>An intensive dialogue has been established with China since 2015. As part of the implementation of this agreement, in May 2018, a non-preferential Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation was signed between the EAEU and its member states, on the one hand, and the PRC, on the other hand, which entered into force on October 25, 2019.</p><p>In continuation of these efforts, in February 2023, a Plan (Roadmap) for the development of trade and economic cooperation between the EAEU and China was adopted. The document is aimed at intensifying trade and economic cooperation in a practical plane and consists of three sections: digitalization of transport corridors; establishment of dialogues on foreign trade policy; conducting a joint scientific study to study the effects of various scenarios for deepening trade and economic cooperation between the EAEU and China.</p><p>The transport sector invariably appears as a priority of the GEP. The transport system is the backbone of any economy for increasing foreign trade flows. Russia, which occupies 1/7 of the world's land area and is located along the entire Eurasian continent, is able to offer a wide range of competitive air, road, rail and sea routes by all modes of transport. Systematic work is underway to develop transport infrastructure in the East-West and North-South directions. The importance of developing these projects was especially emphasized by almost all the heads of the SEEC member states at the last meeting on May 25, 2023. The Northern Sea Route has good prospects for commercial exploitation.</p><p>There is close cooperation with all constructive-minded international partners on the issue of supporting the GEP initiative. In addition to China, such dynamic and attractive economies as Vietnam, India, Iran, Indonesia, Pakistan, etc., also declare a positive perception of the GEP in one form or another.</p><p>Within the framework of such significant international platforms as SPIEF and EEF, thematic sessions and round.  tables are regularly held on various aspects of the construction of Greater Eurasia and the GEP.</p><p>Currently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia is updating the concept of the GEP in an interdepartmental format, which will be supplemented with practical tools: an action plan at the level of economic authorities and sectoral applied projects. </p></blockquote><p>*<br>*<br>*<br><em>Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a <strong>monthly/yearly pledge</strong> to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!</em></p><p></p><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe now","action":null,"class":null}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p>

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guid: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/lavrovs-post-g-20-presser
title: Lavrov's Post-G-20 Presser
author: ;Karl Sanchez
link: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/lavrovs-post-g-20-presser
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content:
<div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff9b6e3fa-ef71-443c-a1e7-eaae32638dfb_720x480.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff9b6e3fa-ef71-443c-a1e7-eaae32638dfb_720x480.jpeg" width="720" height="480" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/f9b6e3fa-ef71-443c-a1e7-eaae32638dfb_720x480.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":480,"width":720,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":97147,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/157648076?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff9b6e3fa-ef71-443c-a1e7-eaae32638dfb_720x480.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt="" fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Behind the microphones staring out at the gathered media yet again, Lavrov provides <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1999163/">his recap remarks</a> on the conference and fields questions during the 27-minute session:</p><blockquote><p>We have concluded the G20 ministerial meeting held in Johannesburg.</p><p>I would like to thank our South African friends through the media for the excellent organisation of the discussion, both in terms of its content and in resolving numerous protocol and organisational issues.</p><p><em><strong>The main topic of the exchange of views between the foreign ministers was the importance of "strengthening the voice" of developing countries in global decision-making. A major conversation took place. There is some progress in this area.</strong></em></p><p>Since last year, the African Union has become a full member of the G20. <em><strong>We are interested in obtaining the same status for the Arab League and CELAC.</strong></em> We welcome this attitude. We believe that at some stage the <a href="https://portal.eaeunion.org/">EAEU</a> may well claim a similar status. Because all these associations are showing positive dynamics in terms of their contribution to the development of international economic ties.</p><p>We presented our vision of international problems and ways to solve them at a time when multipolar realities are already beginning to be recognized by many. The fact that multipolarity is coming is obvious to us and to the <a href="https://brics-russia2024.ru/about/">BRICS</a> countries. Statistics show exactly this.</p><p>The BRICS countries have surpassed the G7 countries in terms of total gross domestic product. The BRICS account for 37% of global GDP and the G7 countries for 29%. <em><strong>This raises the question of the need to reform global economic institutions even more acutely so that they reflect the real weight of the countries of the Global South, the world majority in the world economy, and to build non-discriminatory economic ties. We have actively discussed this.</strong></em> Russia is ready to contribute in every possible way to further progress in this area. There are still many problems.</p><p>Most of the participants in the Johannesburg meeting stated that it is extremely unlikely that the Sustainable Development Goals approved by the UN until <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ru/sustainable-development-goals/">2030</a> will be achieved. Only 17% of these Goals have a chance that they will be implemented.</p><p><em><strong>At the same time, inequality is growing in the world, and other problems of developing countries are growing. We welcome the steps that can be taken through additional technology transfer, additional concessional financing for developing countries, and increased food aid. These steps are overdue, but they will not be enough to radically change the situation.</strong></em></p><p>The global economy is characterised by a disproportionate increase in defence and military spending. According to Western experts, it amounted to $2.4 trillion a year. An outrageous example is the Zelensky regime, which absorbs (at least) hundreds of billions of dollars in military aid, which could be spent on vital development assistance programmes around the world, primarily in Africa.</p><p><em><strong>The IMF and the World Bank are setting records for replenishing the Zelensky regime through their policies, allocating loans and credits that are many times higher than the funds allocated to African and other developing countries. We noted that global stability is being undermined. This has an extremely negative impact on the global economy.</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>We called for respect for the universally recognised norms of international law on the part of our Western colleagues. We emphasised the importance of restoring the role of the UN as a place for coordinating the actions of states and developing a fair balance of interests. </strong></em>We also noted the stabilising role for international economic relations of multilateral structures working on the basis of consensus among the participants. Among them are <a href="https://rus.sectsco.org/">the SCO</a>, <a href="https://portal.eaeunion.org/">the EAEU</a>, the African Union, the Arab League and CELAC, which I have mentioned. All this creates additional opportunities for resolving emerging problems at the regional level.</p><p>At the global level, the role played by BRICS is certainly attracting everyone's attention. We informed our colleagues in detail about the results of last year's <a href="https://brics-russia2024.ru/summit/">BRICS summit</a> in Kazan,<em><strong> where a number of promising ideas were formulated in terms of the mandate of the G20: an agreement on the launch of BRICS payment and settlement mechanisms, an investment platform and a grain exchange.</strong></em></p><p>If we are talking about structures that play a certain role in international economic relations, then the G20 as a whole retains the role of a platform for dialogue between old and new centres of power. We spoke in favour of maintaining the economic profile of this association, as it was supposed and agreed at the very beginning of its creation in 2008, without politicising the G20 agenda, as our Western colleagues have been trying to do in recent years, seeking to "Ukrainise" the agenda. Attempts have always been unsuccessful. They take a lot of energy and nerves from the participants, especially the Sherpas.</p><p>We drew the attention of our colleagues to a significant date, especially since it is celebrated in the year of Africa's presidency of the G20 – the 65th anniversary of <a href="https://www.un.org/ru/documents/decl_conv/declarations/colonial.shtml">the UN Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples</a>.</p><p>The leading role in the adoption of this historic document was played by our country (then the Soviet Union). Despite the successes achieved by the countries of the Global South, freed from the burden of exploitation, the problem has not been completely resolved. There are 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories in the world. <em><strong>Colonial dependence has largely given way to neocolonial dependence. Former metropolises and Western transnational corporations have monopolized markets and supply chains, using their advantages to pump out natural resources and raw materials from the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Then they add value at their enterprises, extracting maximum profit from the entire process.</strong></em></p><p>This is not normal in the 21st century. We support our partners from the countries of the world majority, who are advocating for liberation from neo-colonial practices more and more persistently.</p><p>South Africa, which chaired the G20 this year, completes the series of BRICS presidencies that began in 2022, when Indonesia was at the helm of the G20. In 2023, India; in 2024, Brazil. This consistent option for BRICS to chair the G20 has yielded a positive result, which has made it possible to strengthen the position of the Global South in our forum. <em><strong>All this contributes to the establishment of a more just multipolar world order based on the sovereign equality of states, as required by the <a href="https://www.un.org/ru/about-us/un-charter/full-text">UN Charter</a>, and on all other principles of the Charter in their entirety and interconnection.</strong></em></p><p>On the whole, we are satisfied with the results of the meeting. Disagreements have not disappeared, but the conversation continues. This is always useful. I believe that in Johannesburg we managed to set a positive vector for further cooperation in the G20 and to increase attention to acute problems, primarily of the African continent, as well as other countries of the Global South.</p><p>This is a good and useful contribution to the preparations for the G20 summit in Johannesburg in November 2025.</p><p><strong>Question: </strong>You said that the G20 is primarily an economic association. Still, the representatives of South Africa, opening the year of their presidency, among other economic challenges, set themselves the goal of reaching a consensus on the Ukrainian crisis in the G20. How do you see this success? Is such a consensus possible, given the composition of the participants?</p><p><strong>Sergey Lavrov: </strong>I am not aware that the South Africans set themselves such a goal. I closely followed how they came into their own rights, how our Sherpas worked. <em><strong>They did not have such a task.</strong></em></p><p>Yesterday I was <a href="https://www.mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1998985/">received</a> by President of South Africa S. Ramaphosa. Today we had a long conversation with South African Foreign Minister R. Lamola. They reaffirmed that they fully support the need not to deviate from the originally agreed mandate of the G20–-trade, financial, economic, logistical and transport issues.</p><p><em><strong>I did not. And my colleagues who worked on the preparation of the ministerial meeting did not see such a trend.</strong></em></p><p><strong>Question: As</strong> you know, <em><strong>the United States ignored the ministerial meeting in Johannesburg at a high level.</strong></em> At the same time, previous summits and meetings were openly "torpedoed" by the West in an attempt to impose the Ukrainian agenda. How can such a destructive influence of the EU be neutralised? Does the G20 have a future?</p><p><strong>Sergey Lavrov: </strong>You said that previous meetings were "torpedoed" by the West with attempts to Ukrainise them. I would say that this is not entirely correct. <em><strong>Previous attempts by the West to Ukrainise the G20 agenda were "torpedoed" by the other members of this association.</strong></em></p><p>If you look at the final documents, after all the G20 members agreed to include a short text on geopolitical problems as a compromise, you will not find anything in them that could be rejected by the Russian side. They talk about the existence of a large number of problems, including the 2024 summit that highlighted the Palestinian problem and what is happening in the Gaza Strip and in the Middle East as a whole.</p><p>But in order to coordinate these small texts, our experts spent a lot of time. And this does not have any impact on the problems of Palestine, Ukraine, Africa, where conflicts flare up again. Because there is an appropriate format for all political crises.</p><p><em><strong>On the other hand, on the positive side, I would like to note that these "inserts" in the declarations of the G20 leaders did not in any way affect the essence of economic discussions that meet the interests of forming a multipolar world of agreements formulated in these documents.</strong></em></p><p><strong>Question: </strong>The aggressive global minority is becoming even smaller every day, but no less aggressive. The statements by Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron and Kallas are becoming more rhetorical. What do you think they are counting on? What are they likely to expect?</p><p><strong>Sergey Lavrov:</strong> I am surprised by this. High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy <em><strong>Kaja Kallas spoke at the G20 with the same set of accusations and proclaimed certain "plans" that will not allow Russia to take its rightful place in the world. </strong></em>There is a tragicomic element in this.</p><p>She said that the "television picture" of the Russian Foreign Minister and the US Secretary of State, as well as the national security advisers of Moscow and Washington, have created the impression for the whole world that Russia is the "winner." This mentality has not disappeared. From ancient times, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when it was necessary to build new relations in the European part of Eurasia – "either/or" – either you are with us or against us.</p><p>When the first coup d'état took place in Ukraine in 2004, which, we believed, was not a manifestation of the West's systemic policy, these problems persisted and worsened. Under pressure from the United States, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine did not recognise Viktor Yanukovych's victory in the second round and appointed a third round of voting that was not provided for in the Constitution, which was infinitely manipulated. In the end, Viktor Yushchenko won.</p><p>Before the third round, Belgian Foreign Minister Claude de Gucht publicly stated that he called on Ukrainian voters to make the "right" choice: either they are with Russia or with Europe. <em><strong>This confrontational mood has not gone away. Behind it lies the desire not to allow anyone to escape the "eye" and influence of Western countries. They are still trying to do this in all parts of the world, including in the post-Soviet space.</strong></em></p><p>Speaking about the people who are now trying to assess Western countries and prevent their split, I cannot fail to mention NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. <em><strong>He speaks as if he is the president of a major and powerful power, and not an official who is obliged to reflect the consensus of all its members.</strong></em> He is rushing around the world, around the capitals of the North Atlantic Alliance member states, <em><strong>demanding that a peaceful settlement be prevented that would allow Russia to derive at least some benefits from the <a href="http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/69390">special military operation</a>.</strong></em></p><p>According to our information,<em><strong> he is "instructing" Vladimir Zelensky, pointing out to him the need to stand his ground, not to show weakness before the start of talks, and emphasises that it is unacceptable for Kiev to hint at the possibility of softening its positions and making "territorial concessions."</strong></em> This is a bacchanalia. <em><strong>This person (in this case, Mark Rutte) is abusing and grossly violating his functional duties.</strong></em></p><p>Not all NATO members take such a "frenzied" position. Not everyone wants to continue spending money on arming Ukraine, to subordinate all the work of both NATO and the European Union to Vladimir Zelensky's wishes. So the truth will prevail.</p><p>Now there are more sensible voices not only from a number of European countries, but also from Washington. We spoke in detail about the <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1998279/">results of our talks</a>. President of Russia Vladimir Putin has touched on this topic several times. <em><strong>The main thing is not that we are inferior to someone or someone is inferior to us. This "either-or" should not exist. There should be an understanding that politics and diplomacy are primarily dialogue, the desire to listen to the interlocutor and find in his statements what coincides with your interests</strong></em>. Then there is a consensus on certain issues, which does not mean that disagreements will be completely removed. This will never happen. <em><strong>The main thing is to achieve results where interests coincide and translate them into practical actions, including in the economy. And where they diverge, we must not allow this divergence to degenerate into confrontation, let alone a heated one.</strong></em></p><p><strong>Question: </strong>How did your G20 colleagues from friendly countries react to the resumption of the Russian-US dialogue? How can this affect the formation of multipolarity, which the world-majority countries are striving for?</p><p><strong>Sergey Lavrov: </strong>Everyone welcomed our <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1998279/">meeting</a>. <em><strong>They understand that this is not the end of the era of confrontation between Russia and the West. But the fact that the beginning of the conversation in itself is a return to normalcy is recognised and welcomed by absolutely everyone.</strong></em></p><p>The way the "tragicomic characters" who head the Brussels bureaucracy and NATO reacted to the <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1998294/">meeting</a> in Riyadh is very indicative. <em><strong>The very fact that representatives of the two great powers sat down and talked, each stating their position, is perceived as a betrayal of the interests of the West. These are unhealthy people</strong></em>.</p><p>By and large, all our interlocutors from the countries of the world majority feel this way. Perhaps not everyone tells us about this directly. But it feels like so.</p><p><strong>Question: </strong>The draft resolution of the UN General Assembly, which was prepared by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, the Baltic countries and a number of other European states by February 24, demands that Moscow "immediately" and "unconditionally" withdraw its troops from Ukraine. At the same time, for the first time since the beginning of the special military operation, the United States did not co-sponsor such a draft resolution on Ukraine. Do you think this indicates a shift in relations between Russia and the United States and the beginning of a thaw?</p><p><strong>Sergey Lavrov:</strong> <em><strong>This testifies to pragmatism as the essence of the Trump administration's policy.</strong></em> At meetings with the leaders of a number of countries (most certainly at meetings with Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, and probably in contacts with other representatives of the world majority), <em><strong>he emphasises that his main slogan is common sense.</strong></em></p><p>This is the only change in the list of co-sponsors of this aimless dead-end resolution that you mentioned.</p><p><strong>Question: </strong>What issues is the Russian Foreign Ministry working on in preparation for a possible meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump? When can it take place?</p><p><strong>Sergey Lavrov: </strong>You will find out when it will take place.</p><p>What issues are we working on? Confidentiality is an integral part of the preparation of any diplomatic process. So I am sure that we will inform you in a timely manner. But first of all, the Kremlin press service will inform you.</p><p><strong>Question: </strong>US Treasury Secretary Stephen Bessent said that it is possible to discuss the issue of easing sanctions against Russia as part of the talks on the Ukrainian crisis. What is Moscow's position on Western sanctions? Is it possible to achieve a settlement of the Ukrainian crisis without a comprehensive solution to the issue of sanctions that would take into account Russia's interests?</p><p><strong>Sergey Lavrov: </strong><em><strong>We are not touching on this topic. We proceed from the premise that this is a gross violation of all the principles that the West itself has laid down in the global economy: fair competition, the inviolability of property, the presumption of innocence and free market mechanisms. All this has collapsed. We must also add the direct theft of Russian assets. This is shameful. Not only did they steal it, but they also use interest to finance the war against our country with the hands of Ukrainians.</strong></em></p><p>Recently, there have been reports that a number of Western companies are ready to return and resume their business in Russia. I believe that our economic bloc reacted correctly. The approximate meaning of this reaction is that over the years of this hybrid war, including illegal sanctions, we have done a lot to give a powerful impetus to the development of our own industries, in which until recently we were seriously dependent on the United States, the European Union, Japan, etc.</p><p>Approximately the same logic should be followed when we talk about the return of Western companies to Russia (they should not be discouraged from this).<em><strong> But it is necessary to let them only into those industries that will not create risks for our economy in case suddenly someone gets up there "on the wrong foot" again.</strong></em></p><p>The same is true of the sanctions. In many ways, they forced us, but through this they taught and inspired us to undertake serious reforms, to deeply restructure our economy in the interests of full-fledged, sovereign and independent development that does not depend on the whims of those who still consider themselves to be in charge on the world stage, including the world economy.</p><p>I will finish where I started. <em><strong>Multipolarity is gaining the upper hand. The growth rates of new powerful centres of power–-economic, political and financial–-show that this multipolarity is unstoppable. In this sense, the importance of the G20 is preserved so that its Western participants understand the irreversibility of this process and begin to integrate into it.</strong></em></p><p>We are not saying that multipolarity excludes the West. They are also part of our planet, the world economy and international life. And <em><strong>the G20 is a good place for explanatory work, for "education" of our Western colleagues</strong></em>. [My Emphasis]</p></blockquote><p>Clearly, the Outlaw US Empire isn’t yet ready to conduct normal business. IMO, Trump is addicted to too many Queen songs and is nowhere near ready to be seen as a mere peer, and that will present difficulties for his foreign policy. And as we’ve seen, Marco Rubio is very similar, which is why Trump chose him. The big question: Will Trump’s “common sense” overcome his clear exceptionalism?  The question of how Russia will approach the sanctions issue during the negotiations was finally answered very firmly. Their removal will be a sign that Western behavior is changing. Meanwhile, all the alternatives will continue to be constructed and put into use. Unfortunately as you read, the Q&amp;A was dominated by the aggressive war being waged on Russia by the Outlaw US Empire and most of its NATO vassals and very little concerned G-20 business. IMO, the G-20 becomes stronger with the African Union’s inclusion, which I hope will be followed by adding the ASEAN. </p><p>I feel it necessary to single out this one paragraph where Lavrov provided a lesson in the basic substance and aims of diplomacy:</p><blockquote><p><em><strong>The main thing is not that we are inferior to someone or someone is inferior to us. This "either-or" should not exist. There should be an understanding that politics and diplomacy are primarily dialogue, the desire to listen to the interlocutor and find in his statements what coincides with your interests</strong></em>. Then there is a consensus on certain issues, which does not mean that disagreements will be completely removed. This will never happen. <em><strong>The main thing is to achieve results where interests coincide and translate them into practical actions, including in the economy. And where they diverge, we must not allow this divergence to degenerate into confrontation, let alone a heated one.</strong></em> </p></blockquote><p>The West and others need to mature and learn this very important foundational premise to the conduct of human relations. And not just governments but individuals also need to adopt that lesson. The twin conflict inducing behaviors—Megalomania and Pleonexia—need to be more openly discussed and denounced while the above is proclaimed to be the proper path to follow.</p><p>*<br>*<br>*<br><em>Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a <strong>monthly/yearly pledge</strong> to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!</em></p><p></p><p></p><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe now","action":null,"class":null}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p> </p>

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guid: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/plenary-session-of-the-future-technologies
title: Plenary Session of the Future Technologies Forum at Moscow's World Trade Centre
author: ;Karl Sanchez
link: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/plenary-session-of-the-future-technologies
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content:
<div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3edb0747-beb3-418a-a226-577a2f2ae831_1880x1160.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3edb0747-beb3-418a-a226-577a2f2ae831_1880x1160.jpeg" width="1456" height="898" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/3edb0747-beb3-418a-a226-577a2f2ae831_1880x1160.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":898,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":454168,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/157656391?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3edb0747-beb3-418a-a226-577a2f2ae831_1880x1160.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt="" fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>It seems like <a href="http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/76304">this event</a> just happened, but that just reflects how fast time goes by for me nowadays. The topic of discussion is new materials and chemistry. This year, the national Technology Leadership Project of the same name is being launched. Its goal is to create infrastructure and conditions for the production of chemical and biotechnological products, new composite materials, rare and rare earth metals. After the session. Putin and select others toured the exhibits to see some examples of what was discussed. Then we are told he held further discussions with more scientists, which I hope we get the transcript of as I’m sure it will also be fascinating. But first, the Plenary Session:</p><blockquote><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Thank you, thank you.</p><p>Dear colleagues and friends,</p><p>Ladies and gentlemen,</p><p>I am glad to welcome the participants of the Third International Forum of Future Technologies. According to the established tradition, here, on this platform, the cutting-edge frontiers of scientific research are outlined, ideas are discussed that are still being crystallized, weighed in laboratories and research centers, but very soon, I have no doubt, they will be transformative and transform the world.</p><p>The topic of the current forum is chemistry and application of new materials. These are really extensive, as they often say today, cross-cutting areas, they largely determine the movement of humanity forward, the implementation of the most ambitious plans of engineers and designers.</p><p>Now rapid changes are taking place in these areas, which, in turn, create the ground, "spur" the next, even more revolutionary discoveries–-in healthcare, industry, microelectronics, in the creation of unmanned systems, in all areas without exception.</p><p><em><strong>It is quite obvious that in order to be among the leaders in key areas of scientific and technological development, and this is the task we set for ourselves, we need to achieve, among other things, superiority in the field of chemistry and in the creation of new materials.</strong></em></p><p>This means that we need to offer competitive price and quality, and most importantly–-<em><strong>innovative solutions and products, have our own, unique technological keys that will allow us to produce and export to global markets not primary raw materials, but products of the highest standards.</strong></em></p><p>I would like to emphasize that in our history we have experience in solving problems of the same scale and significance. In the 60-70s of the XX century, largely due to the efforts of Leonid Kostandov–-this name is not known to many people today, few people remember, but among specialists they will probably immediately respond to this surname and name. He was the Minister of Chemical Industry of the USSR. That's when hundreds, hundreds of advanced factories were launched, specialized research institutes and design bureaus were created. <em><strong>In terms of total production, the Soviet chemical industry ranked first in Europe and second in the world.</strong></em></p><p>However, this legacy has largely been squandered and wasted. I say this with great regret. It's a shame, to be honest; it's a shame in front of those people who put their whole lives into creating the chemical industry of the Soviet Union, worked for future generations, lived in offices, and moved their offices "on wheels". They lived in railway wagons, moving all over the vast territory of the Soviet Union–-from one republic to another. They were malnourished, did not get enough sleep, and created the chemical industry of the USSR.</p><p><em><strong>Unfortunately, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the most important enterprises were stopped, and sometimes even simply destroyed, their equipment was taken out and cut up for scrap. Together with the degradation of our own chemical industry, we have also fallen into a strong external dependence, lost a significant part of industrial and technological sovereignty, so we understand from our negative experience what systemic problems vulnerability in the field of chemistry leads to.</strong></em></p><p>We had to literally rebuild many technological and production chains, build new enterprises in order to independently produce deep-processing products. So, in the Tyumen Region, new capacities were built on the basis of the Tobolsk Petrochemical Plant, and in 2019 the modern ZapSibNeftekhim petrochemical plant was launched. Construction of the Amur Gas Chemical Complex and other enterprises is underway, which will significantly increase the production of polymers–-a key product of oil and gas chemistry—in the coming years.</p><p>I will also add that <em><strong>after cleaning and recultivating the territory</strong></em> in the city of Usolye-Sibirsky in the Irkutsk region, we plan to create a modern federal center for low- and medium-tonnage chemistry here. <em><strong>For people who are not directly connected and are far from the specifics of the industry, I will say that we are talking about the production of special chemical products in small but necessary volumes–-resins, solvents, and so on–-without which it is simply impossible to develop microelectronics, pharmaceuticals, and many other critical areas.</strong></em></p><p>Catalysts are also a cross-cutting direction. This is the basis of the basics of chemistry--substances that determine the rate of reaction. It is important to ensure not only development, but also subsequent testing, pilot production, and then widespread industrial use and scaling of domestic solutions.</p><p>To support such projects, a special scientific and technological cluster is already being formed on the basis of the famous Boreskov Institute of Catalysis in Novosibirsk. This is a major step in <em><strong>the development of the entire Siberian scientific agglomeration as one of the key centers for creating future technologies in the field of chemistry.</strong></em></p><p>Dear colleagues!</p><p>To meet the dynamics of progress and global competition, we need to multiply the potential of the domestic chemical industry and related industries, build a full cycle from the search and development of new deposits, including rare and rare earth metals, mining and deep processing of minerals, to the production of high-tech products with high added value.</p><p>There is a lot to work here. We basically have everything we need. You just need to do it purposefully, create business conditions, and invest in infrastructure. Lithium is still not extracted. But what about without it? This is obvious to experts. And we can do it. <em><strong>And we could have done it 10-15 years ago.</strong></em></p><p>We need to solve these problems at a fundamentally new technological level, applying achievements in the field of artificial intelligence and robotics, and other tools aimed at increasing labor productivity, including in science. <em><strong>Our significant advantage should also be the available energy of one of the world's largest networks of nuclear, hydro and thermal power plants, which allows us to build production facilities in many regions of our country.</strong></em> <em><strong>Of course, this should be done in compliance with the most stringent environmental regulations, using modern environmentally friendly solutions.</strong></em></p><p>The areas I am talking about are complex and of paramount importance. Therefore, in the field of new materials and chemistry, a new national project of technological leadership was launched this year.<em><strong> It is planned to allocate almost 170 billion rubles from the federal budget alone for its implementation from 2025 to 2030. At the same time, the amount of investment by companies in the real sector of the economy may amount to about one trillion rubles.</strong></em> I think that this is quite, absolutely realistic thing. I sometimes meet with managers and owners of companies who have very ambitious and good plans. And I like this attitude–-people's eyes are burning. Great, we will continue to support and set up mechanisms to support private investment, including in the research and development sector.</p><p>I have repeatedly said that external problems and sanctions, despite all the challenges and difficulties, have played an important stimulating role for us. Russian companies are now increasingly turning to our scientists and receiving much assistance from them. <em><strong>Moreover, domestic solutions are often more effective than their foreign counterparts.</strong></em></p><p>In order to provide a modern legal framework for cooperation between researchers and qualified customers, <em><strong>the law "On Technological Policy" was adopted and comes into force this summer.</strong></em></p><p>I have already said and set the following task: <em><strong>together with business, we need to increase funding for science to two percent of GDP</strong></em>. It is extremely important to direct all additional resources to support promising, breakthrough areas of scientific and technological development. For example, in the field of chemistry and new materials, it would be shortsighted and wrong to be content with simply replacing technological processes that have already been mastered somewhere else, abroad. What is important, of course, you need to keep everything in mind, use all the achievements, but you need to develop your own platforms. <em><strong>My colleagues promised me that now they will show us how we are going and where we are going at a specialized exhibition.</strong></em></p><p>As we <a href="https://translated.turbopages.org/proxy_u/ru-en.en.d06957e3-67b9046c-056b8cbb-74722d776562/kremlin.ru/events/president/news/75762">agreed</a> last December at the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects, we need to develop plans in key areas that will ensure the country's superiority, including in the field of chemistry and modern materials science. It is important to identify global, leading scientific organizations that will take responsibility for conducting basic research, companies that will implement future technologies, and build training in the field of chemistry for the tasks of technological leadership, and at all levels of education–-from schools to universities.</p><p><em><strong>Unfortunately, the number of chemistry teachers in our schools is decreasing. The number of students who choose chemistry as the main basic discipline is decreasing. The percentage of chemistry teachers over the age of 65 is increasing. In higher education institutions, we need to look at what is happening in the most careful way.</strong></em></p><p>I ask the Russian Academy of Sciences, representatives of business, professional, scientific, and educational communities to be involved as much as possible in forming such plans.</p><p>It is important that we continue to work together as real partners and understand our responsibility for the results. They depend on the implementation of all national projects of technological leadership, without exception, our plans for the Far East, Siberia, and the Arctic–-for the development of all regions of the Russian Federation, and, of course, <em><strong>solving problems of safety and improving the quality of life of people.</strong></em></p><p>There is nothing to say about security, I have already spoken out publicly and talked about it. Here the whole world is talking about "Hazel". And what materials! The temperature on the warheads corresponds to the temperature on the surface of the sun. We understand that since the 80s, we have been developing systems for a gliding flying unit. We called it "Avangard". There are comparable temperatures, slightly less than on the surface of the sun. At the end of the 80s, they also thought about making such systems. <em><strong>They couldn't, because there were no materials. </strong></em>That was the problem. It flies and melts like a popsicle, and the control signal goes through. These are the results of working on new materials.</p><p>Just as our joint agreements on MS-21–300 were closed to us quite unreasonably at the time. Thanks to the specialists of Rosatom, we made materials for both the wing and fuselage. Yes, the project moved a little to the right, but we did everything with our own hands, with our own head, and everything went well. We need to work together just as actively and creatively in all other areas.</p><p><em><strong>I ask the Government to think about how we can regulate the interaction between our enterprises and those of our competitors in order to provide national producers with certain advantages.</strong></em> Yes, within the framework of the WTO, but nevertheless we have had some difficulties, and we can regulate the return of those who want to return to our market accordingly.<em><strong> Creating and maintaining advantages for your own manufacturers. It is necessary to do this subtly, carefully, but it must be done without fail.</strong></em></p><p><a href="https://translated.turbopages.org/proxy_u/ru-en.en.d06957e3-67b9046c-056b8cbb-74722d776562/kremlin.ru/catalog/persons/331/events">Denis Valentinovich [Manturov]</a>, is sitting nodding his head. We talked about this with him. I've already talked about this: just like in the field of agriculture, when agricultural producers begged us: "Just don't let anyone enter our market, we'll do everything ourselves." Well, except for bananas, of course. But they also started growing bananas. A little expensive, but not necessary. <em><strong>And in the field of industrial production, we absolutely need to think through everything and take it very carefully, so as not to lose the potential created by our detractors who imposed sanctions against us.</strong></em></p><p>I have already mentioned this, with a few more examples: in order to develop the machine and aircraft industry, the rocket and space program, we will need composite materials and alloys with unique characteristics. New plant protection products—from a different field—to address food security challenges. Long-lasting, long-term, secure energy transmission and storage systems—for drones, for new modes of transport. Stronger and more energy-efficient materials for the construction industry to adapt to climate change. New compounds, biomaterials and prototypes of human organs and tissues-for the introduction of advanced treatment methods in healthcare.</p><p>I repeat, I mentioned only certain directions. At the same time, the lack of results even for one of them, that's what I want to emphasize, as they say, as a thread will pull down all other projects. Here I gave an example of the MS-21-300, we did not have materials for the wing and for the fuselage. Well, the whole project has stopped, and in other areas everything has also slowed down. We just saw it all with our own eyes. This is the experience of our work over the past two or three years.</p><p><em><strong>In all key technological areas, we need to build comprehensive coordination, unconditional interconnection of all our steps and activities. I propose to provide a supranational mechanism for managing technological development and ask the Government to propose appropriate structural solutions.</strong></em></p><p>Dear colleagues!</p><p>All our plans to create solutions for the future in chemistry and materials science are based on the huge potential of our scientific and engineering schools. Their traditions were laid down in the Russian Empire, I was talking about the Soviet Union, but the traditions were laid down in the XIX, at the beginning of the XX century, developed, as I have just said, and in Soviet times.</p><p>I think that Mikhail Kovalchuk, who met me just now, and I exchanged a few words with him, and other participants of the plenary session will definitely talk about how the achievements in the field of chemistry and materials science obtained in the framework of space, nuclear projects, as well as in the course of research in the field of energy for future thermonuclear fusion are being multiplied at the present stage which were headed by Evgeny Pavlovich Velikhov.</p><p><em><strong>I consider it necessary to dedicate a new competition of the Russian Science Foundation for leading scientists to the memory of this outstanding thinker and son of the Fatherland. The grant amount for five years will range from 250 million rubles to half a billion rubles. The largest domestic companies will co-finance these grants and act as a direct customer of breakthrough technologies.</strong></em></p><p>As for the areas of support, they will change annually. <em><strong>This year, I propose to announce such a competition for the creation of unique materials and products made from them for autonomous energy sources, power and power plants, as well as for devices and information processing systems necessary for the development of artificial intelligence, among other things.</strong></em></p><p>It is quite obvious that this technology is already determining the development of all areas, making a real revolution, including in chemistry and materials science. Due to the introduction of artificial intelligence and computer modeling in our country, it is quite realistic to reduce the development and implementation of new materials to 5-10 years, and in the future to 2-3 years.</p><p>To do this, researchers and engineers must have the necessary array of data about existing materials and their components. <em><strong>I propose to build mechanisms for regulatory regulation of their turnover, including collection, storage, processing, transfer and use.</strong></em></p><p>I will add that huge amounts of data, advanced knowledge about new elements and materials will be obtained in the course of research on domestic installations of the megasayence class. They allow us to study matter–-experts know--literally at the atomic level.</p><p>I would like to emphasize that some complexes that are located in our country – such as NIKA in Dubna or PIK in the Leningrad Region, are unique and have no analogues. In the near future, we plan to carry out the technological launch of another powerful installation–-SKIF. It will significantly expand the functionality and range of capabilities of the Russian research infrastructure. <em><strong>We certainly invite foreign scientists to work together.</strong></em> When I visited the Leningrad Region a few years ago, specialists from Europe were already working there, and from those countries where the use of nuclear energy was curtailed, and, accordingly, research in these areas was gradually curtailed, and they were happy to work with us. We hope that this practice will continue. Our doors are open, we are always happy to welcome our friends and colleagues.</p><p>I would like to emphasize that we are well aware that equal and open international exchange in the scientific field is one of the main factors for strengthening the multipolar world. We will continue to help unite the efforts of researchers and engineers from Eastern and Southern countries to solve large-scale experimental, theoretical and, of course, practical problems.</p><p><em><strong>Thus, the BRICS association is already a de facto platform for global socio-economic and technological development. At the same time, we are not going to erect barriers to partnership with Western scientists. We hope that Western politicians will also understand the harmfulness of restricting cooperation in the field of science and education.</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>It is important that global development is fair and balanced, so it is necessary to achieve further industrial and technological progress, while reducing the negative impact on the environment, preserving the fragile ecosystem of the planet, its flora and fauna.</strong></em> Of course, we will proceed from the need to apply such technologies. It is no coincidence that the focus is now on cutting–edge solutions in the field of genetics, bio-and nature-like technologies, as well as the creation of materials that reproduce the processes of living systems.</p><p>In general, we are talking about the formation of a fundamentally new phenomenon, a new reality—bioeconomics. This is a crucial topic, a key one in terms of the quality of global growth. <em><strong>I propose to dedicate the next Forum of Future Technologies to bioeconomics.</strong></em> If, of course, colleagues find it possible and interesting. We invite representatives of science, education, and business from all over the world to participate in it. We are open for cooperation.</p><p>Dear friends!</p><p>I am sincerely glad that a frank, in-depth discussion of scientists, engineers, and business representatives is unfolding in our country. This is evidence of Russia's openness and, of course, our special attention to scientific and technological development.</p><p>Perhaps no expert will undertake to predict new solutions that will be discovered or invented even in the near future. <em><strong>But what we can definitely do is ensure that we effectively support key technological areas, especially those that are important and useful for citizens, for society, and for economic growth. This is exactly the way we intend to work</strong></em>. I am sure that this is the key to your discussions at today's events.</p><p>Thank you for your attention.</p><p><strong>Mikhail Kovalchuk:</strong> Good afternoon!</p><p>Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, Dear colleagues! Thank you so much for such an introduction.</p><p>Mr President, I would first like to thank you for taking the time to participate in our Forum in a schedule that everyone understands. The very fact of your participation shows how science and technology are treated in our country, and in general in this entire field. And today's Forum, of course, has a completely different level. Thank you so much.</p><p>Before I give the floor to the first speaker, I would like to say just a few words.</p><p>You know, everything in life is material. When Vladimir Vladimirovich announced the start of a special military operation, in fact, if you put everything else aside, there was only one important fact–-it was a reminder to the world that it is material, and we are an essential part of this material world.</p><p>You know, any human thought comes to society, to a person only through the creation of material. If an artist has an image of a painting in his head, he needs an easel, paints and canvas to represent it. A composer needs a musical instrument, sheet music, and so on. <em><strong>That is, through the creation of material, any human thought becomes accessible to society.</strong></em></p><p>In fact, when we are asked about the priorities of science and technology development, there are always two of them: the first is matter and the second is the energy that is needed to make this matter.</p><p>Once we had a conversation with Vladimir Vladimirovich, and he told me: "There is a third priority." You said, "Intellect, soul." Here is the intellect and thought of a person. And it seems to me that in our country there is more than enough of all this: intelligence, energy, and therefore matter. If we did not know how to create matter, materials with given properties, we would never have implemented the atomic space project. This is a demonstration of our capabilities.</p><p>I would like to say one thing before the speech of Vladislav V. Antipov, a representative of the Kurchatov Institute. What happened? We are talking about nature-like technologies, as you mentioned in your report. After all, you see, we think and move, we talk about natural likeness, and the very development of life actually led to the creation of these technologies.</p><p>Today's technological world is very simple: we cut, we go from top to bottom. We cut off the excess: the tree was cut down, the branches were cut off, the log was cut off – timber, then parquet, and so on. They made an ingot, put it on the machine, and cut off all the excess. <em><strong>With the current method of production, up to 80 percent of energy and matter goes to the landfill, in fact, to pollute the environment. </strong></em>And nature is very economical, it grows a huge tree from grain–-eucalyptus or baobab, from a cage–-a living creature.</p><p>So additive technologies are a clear example of how the technological logic of development itself led us to create a reproduction of the nature-like principle. We crystallize fine powder or fuse it using a laser or electron beam, creating unique items. And in this sense, <em><strong>this is a key challenge of our time–-the creation of additive technologies that are nature-like.</strong></em></p><p>And the second thing. When I was a student or starting a research project, 90 percent of the articles were about semiconductors, and today 90 percent are about living life. Therefore, the creation of biosimilar, biocompatible materials is the second key direction.</p><p>Vladislav Valeryevich, please tell us about the current state, achievements and prospects of the world's largest materials science center based on the Kurchatov Institute.</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77c115af-09fe-4ba6-a4e1-67a00c693417_1880x1160.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77c115af-09fe-4ba6-a4e1-67a00c693417_1880x1160.jpeg" width="1456" height="898" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/77c115af-09fe-4ba6-a4e1-67a00c693417_1880x1160.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":898,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":317624,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/157656391?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77c115af-09fe-4ba6-a4e1-67a00c693417_1880x1160.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt="" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Vladislav Antipov, Assistant to the President of the National Research Center</p><p><strong>Vladimir Antipov:</strong> Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,</p><p>Dear colleagues,</p><p>At all times, the implementation of the most daring ideas of designers became possible due to the creation of materials with the required characteristics. Striking examples are Soviet nuclear and space projects, which created a huge amount of materials. So far, no one in the world has been able to repeat the flight of the <a href="https://www.rt.com/russia/444102-buran-launch-30-years/?ysclid=m7fjatmwkl730510002">Buran orbiter,</a> for which a unique thermal protection system was developed, which consisted of tiles based on quartz fibers. It is noteworthy that 90 percent of this tile consisted of air, since it is a good heat insulator. These achievements made it possible to ensure the operability of tiles up to temperatures of 1250 degrees Celsius.</p><p>Today, the Russian Federation is a leader in the field of uranium enrichment by the centrifuge method, but few people imagine that in a gas centrifuge, the rotor rotates at a speed of 1500 revolutions per second. And it should work for 30 years without stopping. This was made possible by the development of a special aluminum alloy. It is a light alloy, but it has the strength of steel.</p><p>Today, the Strategy of Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation defines priorities for the next decade. This includes the development of nature-like technologies, space exploration, Arctic exploration, and the creation of clean energy. And of course, such tasks should be solved by developing new materials and new technologies. As Mikhail Valentinovich noted, the Kurchatov Institute is currently engaged in these developments as a leader in materials science in Russia.</p><p>Of course, today humanity is entering the era of biomaterials. What seemed fantastic yesterday is now being applied in medicine. The Kurchatov Institute has developed biosimilar materials, and for regenerative medicine, unique products are made from these materials–-an artificial trachea, a heart frame, and much, much more.</p><p>Of course, today it is extremely important to develop materials for the engine industry. Only a few countries in the world have a full cycle of creating gas turbine engines, and the most loaded element of the engine is the turbine blade. The corresponding scientific and technical groundwork has been created, which today allows us to produce single-crystal blades. These are blades that actually consist of a single crystal, and due to the internal cooling system, due to special heat-protective coatings, such a blade operates at a gas temperature in front of the turbine up to 1950 Kelvins. Such blades are used in our modern Russian PD-14 engine for the MC-21 aircraft.</p><p>I would also like to note that the nacelle of this engine is 60 percent carbon fiber. These materials were developed by young scientists of the Kurchatov Institute, and the development was awarded a prize by the Government of the Russian Federation.</p><p>Additive technologies of the PD-14 engine were used. These technologies produce swirlers of the front-end device of the combustion chamber.</p><p>It should be noted that the XXI century has become a century of rapid development of additive technologies, since they allow you to create products with a bionic design due to layer-by-layer extensions. This cannot be achieved with traditional technologies. The Kurchatov Institute has created a closed cycle of additive manufacturing, which has already made it possible to produce serial parts for various industries.: this includes transport engineering, fuel and energy complex, and medicine.</p><p>The effectiveness of using additive technologies can be demonstrated on one simple detail-a heat exchanger for the RD-191 rocket engine. It was manufactured using traditional technologies for six months–-these are long-term soldering technologies. It weighed 70 kilograms and was equipped with 23 components. Additive technologies have made it possible to implement a technology in which this heat exchanger can actually be created in one cycle. It weighs 19 kilograms, and the time is actually reduced by 20 times. This is the efficiency of additive technologies.</p><p>Today, more than 10 thousand additive manufacturing parts are produced annually at the pilot production facility of the Kurchatov Institute. I must say that the Kurchatov Institute is responsible for the scientific component: source materials, synthesis technologies are developed, and technology transfer is carried out.</p><p>Further implementation and industrial development of these technologies, of course, should be carried out with the participation of the state corporation "Rosatom", which has a powerful potential in this regard.</p><p>Thus, the Kurchatov Institute will form all the necessary scientific and technical reserves, and the state corporation Rosatom will already ensure their accelerated introduction into production.</p><p>Turning to the strategic task of developing the Arctic, I must say that materials with special properties cannot be dispensed with here, since such materials must work in Arctic conditions. And we understand that these are low temperatures, high humidity, and a lot of other things.</p><p>At the Kurchatov Institute, cold-resistant steels have been created, which today make it possible to make icebreaker hulls. These icebreakers break through ice more than four meters thick. Sealing materials, paint and varnish materials, and functional materials that do not lose their elasticity and work at temperatures up to minus 60 degrees Celsius have been developed.</p><p>In general, the created scientific and technical reserve allows Russia today to be the only power that has a nuclear icebreaker fleet. This groundwork opens up opportunities for the future in terms of creating Arctic underwater gas carriers.</p><p>In conclusion, I would like to say, as Mr Putin already pointed out in his speech, <em><strong>that a cross-industry unified digital database of material properties is extremely necessary in the Russian Federation.</strong></em> Of course, this will significantly reduce the time required for creating materials, since it will be possible to model both the structure and properties of the material at the early stages of development. This will certainly make it possible to unify materials for various industries, as well as to develop approaches that will allow organizing the admission of new-generation materials for complex technical systems.</p><p>Thanks for attention.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> I want to thank Kurchatnik for what is being done. You mentioned only a part of the work that is being carried out in Kurchatnik, but there are many more of them. All of a sudden, Kurchatnik has taken up genetics, and as far as I know, it is working effectively in this area.</p><p>A colleague just said—I think many people just missed this information: he said about the possibility of creating underwater gas carriers. You know, when Mikhail Valentinovich [Kovalchuk] mentioned this to me a couple of years ago, I said: well, don't talk about it, we'll carry gas on submarines, or what? Nothing like that! Gazprom and NOVATEK believe that this is quite possible and will be profitable. It will be efficient and safe. Still, liquefied gas, imagine, such huge tanks with liquefied gas, they are, in general, quite dangerous. God forbid that there would be an explosion. But under water—no, under water everything is different. And it turns out to be cost-effective. Surprisingly. But this is the future, of course, and quite feasible.</p><p>So the speed of decision-making and the speed of manufacturing the necessary equipment also increase dramatically with the use of modern technologies, including additive technologies and the use of artificial intelligence. Impressive, of course.</p><p>And the Arctic–-we are the undisputed leaders there. Many countries now want to cooperate with us on the production of a nuclear-powered icebreaker fleet, but this, of course, is impossible without modern materials.</p><p>Engine building. Here, of course, we have a lot to work on. Much more needs to be done. In some areas, our foreign colleagues, of course, sorry for the bad manners, beat us, but nothing, but the challenge is very good.</p><p>I don't want to say anything unnecessary, but I probably won't be wrong if I correct you. You said that the temperature in a modern MS-21 engine reaches over 1,700 degrees. This is the PD-14 engine just for the MC-21 aircraft, and for the wide-body aircraft it is already the PD-35 engine, and the temperature there is already over 1900 degrees. And everything works out.</p><p>I would like to thank you and those who work on the production itself, we know who does it, and wish you success. All the main stages of work have already been completed, but you need to help your colleagues and support them.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Antipov:</strong> Thank you, Mr President.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Thank you very much.</p><p><strong>Mikhail Kovalchuk:</strong> Mr President, I will exercise my right as host. What I wanted to draw your attention to.</p><p>First, I wanted to say, when it came to additive technologies, the role of Rosatom, Alexey Evgenyevich [Likhachev] is sitting next to [in the hall,] and the Academy [of Sciences], Gennady Yakovlevich [Krasnikov] is here. I will immediately respond to what you have said. The three of us, on behalf of the [Presidential] Administration, are actively working on the projects of the Velikhov competition, choosing the right topics.</p><p>But here's what I wanted to say. In general, additive technologies in our country originated at the institute in Shatura, which, in my opinion, was called the Institute of Laser and Information Technology Problems, something like that. Its director was Academician Panchenko, it was created on the initiative of Anatoly Petrovich Alexandrov. So, for the first time in the world, stereolithographs were created there, and, as you know, plastic copies were made on them. For example, when the remains of the Romanov family were identified, these parts were created for the first time.</p><p>And in this sense, there is a unique base left. We discussed together with Gennady Yakovlevich and Alexey Yevgenyevich, if you would support us, Rosatom produces machines for these additive technologies, develops them--and quite successfully. <em><strong>If it were possible, since there are huge capacities in Shatura, to create an interdepartmental center for additive technologies, in which we would combine the efforts of the Kurchatov Institute, Rosatom and the Academy of Sciences, we would leave the traditions and all the potential that remains there. I think it's very possible.</strong></em></p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> I also think so, but we need to ask Alexey [Likhachev], because I know that there is a certain competition between the Kurchatov Institute and Rosatom: whether you want to get to them, or he wants to get to you. To be honest, I support any actions related to joining forces. (To A. Likhachev.) So I ask you, too, Alexey, to work.</p><p><strong>Mikhail Kovalchuk:</strong> Can we put an end to it then? You gave me an assignment.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Please.</p><p><strong>M. Kovalchuk:</strong> Alexey Yevgenyevich and Gennady Yakovlevich Podolsky signed an agreement three days ago and established the Strategic Development Council of Rosatom and the Kurchatov Institute on your direct instructions. So we don't have any contradictions. I'm public… I think Alexey Yevgenyevich can confirm this. Only unity.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> What was created? A tip?</p><p><strong>M. Kovalchuk:</strong> Council for Strategic Development.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Advice and love. (Laughter.)</p><p><strong>Mikhail Kovalchuk:</strong> I would like to give the floor to Alexander Igorevich Chernov, head of the research group at the Russian Quantum Center. Before he talks about graphene, I will say one thing very briefly.</p><p>We have a huge number of elements in the periodic table, but there are only four elements that are very strongly distinguished--these are oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon. They stand out for a number of reasons.</p><p>First. If we take biological substance, there is no biological substance where these four elements are not present. Inorganic, metals are simpler, we are more complex, but we must have hydrogen, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> And we need more money.</p><p><strong>Mikhail Kovalchuk:</strong> Money is already the next stage. You must first have these elements.</p><p>But now what's important? These elements are unique, because, look, hydrogen and oxygen are, on the one hand, water, an inexplicable thing in general, and on the other hand, <a href="https://www.ijarset.com/upload/2019/october/29-botir-53.pdf#:~:text=By%20electrolysis%2C%20water%20is%20converted,harmful%20emissions%20into%20the%20atmosphere">rattlesnake gas.</a></p><p>Farther. Oxygen is an oxidizing agent. All combustion is due to it, and our aging is also an oxidation process. Oxygen plays a major role in free radicals.</p><p>Now nitrogen is an energy-rich material. These are fertilizers and explosives, any explosives. And if it is still compressed, for example, on diamond anvils, then the energy reserve in general approaches the atomic one. This is nitrogen.</p><p>And carbon is a unique material. On the one hand, it is diamond, the hardest material, and on the other hand, it is graphite, a high-temperature case. And on the third hand, it is fullerene, the most complex thing, and graphene. This is such a mesh, a single-layer atom, for which our compatriots received the Nobel Prize.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> One layer thick. But we went further and put something else on this layer. You're going to tell us about it now, aren't you?</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9a3018cf-df47-439a-82da-132dcd0a112e_1880x1160.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9a3018cf-df47-439a-82da-132dcd0a112e_1880x1160.jpeg" width="1456" height="898" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9a3018cf-df47-439a-82da-132dcd0a112e_1880x1160.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":898,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":310073,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/157656391?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9a3018cf-df47-439a-82da-132dcd0a112e_1880x1160.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt="" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Head of the scientific group of the Russian Quantum Center, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Alexander Chernov</p><p><strong>Alexander Chernov:</strong> Yes, that's right.</p><p><strong>Mikhail Kovalchuk:</strong> Alexander Igorevich, please.</p><p><strong>Alexander Chernov:</strong> Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, Dear colleagues,</p><p>Imagine that your smartphone can analyze your breath and instantly detect the first signs of illness. Or that you have a sensor on your clothes that will tell you about environmental pollution when you are on a walk. This sounds a bit fantastic, but in fact these technologies are already developing, and the key to them is two-dimensional materials.</p><p>Our laboratory at the Russian Quantum Center MIPT is developing devices based on two-dimensional materials, such as graphene, which has already been presented. It is a single-atom-thick carbon crystal. Indeed, Andrey Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize in 2010 for their innovative experiments with this material.</p><p>The question arises: what new things have happened since then? Today, we work not only with graphene, but also use other, a large number of other two-dimensional materials that are also one or several atoms thick. <em><strong>We can stack them together, rotate them at different angles, and create new materials, literally like a construction kit. These new materials have new properties, and most importantly, they can be adapted to specific tasks.</strong></em></p><p>In our laboratory, we are engaged in fundamental research, that is, we study the physics of processes, some new effects, and this work has already borne fruit. Today, at the exhibition, you should be shown materials and sensors made from these materials at the Gazprombank stand and told about their possible applications. For example, they can be used for night vision devices. The main advantage of using two-dimensional materials is 15 times more sensitivity, which means that in the dark you can detect an object at a much longer distance.</p><p>In addition, technologies based on two-dimensional materials can also be used in medical technologies. Biosensors based on two-dimensional materials are being developed to detect biomarkers of diseases both in the blood and in respiration.</p><p>Due to their small size and flexibility, they can be integrated into wearable electronics or clothing and continuously monitor, for example, a person's breathing. Highly sensitive graphene-based sensors already exist, and they detect diseases such as lung cancer and tuberculosis in the early stages, and analyze human breathing.</p><p>Our example shows that studying new materials and the effects that occur in them allows you to create something fundamentally new, that is, not to repeat the old technologies, not to somehow modernize them, but to get devices that significantly exceed the characteristics of existing analogues.</p><p>It seems to me that it is fundamentally important to support the fundamental science that gives the world these discoveries, which only then allow us to create devices–-and, as they say, they allow us, thanks to their unique characteristics, to overtake on the turn, achieve leading positions and, as a result, achieve domestic high-tech products.</p><p>I would like to point out two points. First of all, <em><strong>we would like industrial partners to come with a request for such materials with certain characteristics.</strong></em> In other words, they would tell us, for example, what parameters they need and what materials they are interested in. It seems to me that in this case, devices that can be implemented will turn out faster. I know that some work is already underway in this direction.</p><p>I would still like to highlight how I see it, how this problem could be solved. It could be solved by creating some kind of digital platform, I would even say a marketplace, where research teams and industrial customers would meet and try to find a common language. I know that such work is already underway, and I would like to hope that they will continue to be supported.</p><p>The second point that I would like to reflect is that the transition from one unique device to mass production, of course, requires debugging some technological processes. This usually happens in the" clean zone " of the university or in the center of collective use. At MIPT, we have access to a" clean zone", where we can build a device, then test it, for example, publish an article, and students and postgraduates will be very happy, because they can easily defend their diploma and dissertation.</p><p>However, if you want to move from one device that has unique properties, which was created in the laboratory and which was made by some very talented young researcher, for example, to ten with the same parameters, this requires setting up this technological process.</p><p>Why do I say that? Because, for example, our colleagues at the Russian Quantum Center and MIPT are successfully following this path. <em><strong>But on a national scale, it seems to me that this task could be solved if certain platforms were created, platforms where these technological processes could be worked out, for example, in collaboration between universities or collaborations between a university and an industrial partner. </strong></em>Such centers would allow for technology transfer and make it easier to achieve your May decrees in the field of technology leadership.</p><p>Thank you.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> I will not go into the field of sensors now – this is an extremely important area with a wide range of applications. Thank God, we are developing this area, including with your help.</p><p>As for creating digital platforms where we can interact and exchange information, see requests for industrial partners and the opportunities of our research schools and manufacturers, this is very important. If this is not enough, then this, of course, should be done. <em><strong>I am now addressing my colleagues from the Government and the Academy of Sciences: we need to join forces. This is not difficult and should be done accurately. Please pay attention to this.</strong></em></p><p>About environmental pollution. You said that [you can] have a sensor that tells us what the environment is like when we walk, and so on. You know, this is very important, especially if everything is going well. But sometimes we have… The simplest device is the nose. When people go out near landfills, no sensors are needed here: the smell comes from these landfills, so everything is clear.</p><p>Nevertheless, the scope of what you do is, of course, very large. When you just said that it is possible to diagnose at an early stage simply by analyzing a person's breathing, for example, some lung cancer or something else–-of course, this is a revolution, this is just a revolution. We will do everything we can to help you.</p><p><strong>Alexander Chernov:</strong> Thank you very much.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Thank you very much.</p><p><strong>Mikhail Kovalchuk:</strong> Mr President, at least sensors are needed for what doesn't smell, what can't be detected by the nose.</p><p>You know, I would like to say just one word about this, to remind you. When they talk about the platform–-this is a very important thing, but we have an academic model of science, not a university one. I want to remind you that the Institute of Physics and Technology was originally conceived very simply when it was created: each faculty, each part had a basic organization in the form of a large scientific center. This was the strength of the school of physics and Technology.</p><p>It seems to me that today, when dealing with platforms, which is extremely important and modern, both digital and artificial intelligence, we must not forget, restore and support this system. Because the easiest way to implement the results of fundamental sciences is to contact a real institute that creates what is used in industry. <em><strong>This is our extremely important and sought-after Soviet experience, which is why Phystech is so valued all over the world.</strong></em> It seems to me that we need to support this in every possible way, and this will be the right thing to do.</p><p>Thank you very much.</p><p>I will give the next floor to Nadezhda Vasilyevna Potekhina, Head of the Materials Science Laboratory at Rosatom's Scientific Research Institute NPO Luch.</p><p>I want to say that we are talking about materials, and all nuclear technologies, no matter what we are talking about now, they rest on the creation of materials. We created materials, so we implemented an atomic project, and our further success in nuclear technology is related to materials.</p><p>You are welcome.</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe3cdada-35f0-4c03-a308-781a264f0d9e_1880x1160.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe3cdada-35f0-4c03-a308-781a264f0d9e_1880x1160.jpeg" width="1456" height="898" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/fe3cdada-35f0-4c03-a308-781a264f0d9e_1880x1160.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":898,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":243147,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/157656391?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe3cdada-35f0-4c03-a308-781a264f0d9e_1880x1160.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt="" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Nadezhda Potekhina, Ph.D., Head of the Laboratory of Materials Science and Materials Properties Research Institute at the Research Institute of NPO Luch</p><p><strong>Natalia Potekhina:</strong> Thank you, Mikhail Valentinovich, for giving me the floor.</p><p>It has already been noted that modern materials science is really designed to embody the most daring and even fantastic ideas of scientists and engineers. The nuclear industry, whose 80th anniversary we are celebrating this year, has always been the cradle of record-breaking materials, and this cradle has been in the hands of major materials scientists from the very beginning. Now this knowledge is carefully preserved by the Kurchatov Institute and Rosatom enterprises.</p><p>Thanks to the accumulated experience, the tasks that are being solved at Rosatom enterprises are not limited to creating the latest materials for the nuclear industry. The range of tasks is extremely wide. And I would like each of you to answer a very simple question: how long have you been looking at the starry sky? And not just watched, but thought about how high the level of technology should be to ensure a long flight to the Moon or to Mars, and preferably both there and there and, of course, to return home? How hardy should functional materials be that work in very serious conditions, both in terms of temperature and mechanical loads, and still have to ensure the operability of fairly serious installations?</p><p>Our team deals with just such materials. These are refractory metals and their alloys. These materials can be compared with extreme athletes, they are reliable in special operating conditions: these are temperatures above 1300 degrees Celsius, severe mechanical loads and radiation exposure. Our materials are the heart of the latest types of unique high-temperature nuclear power propulsion systems.</p><p>We consider it an achievement to develop technologies and equipment for creating single-crystal blanks of complex shapes. This ensured the reliability of their properties at previously unattainable temperatures and loads. It is the complex of mechanical properties and radiation resistance that distinguish our materials favorably.</p><p>I must say that we, of course, do not stop there. We see the success of our Chinese colleagues in the field of refractory alloys. These works certainly encourage us, because scientists are also athletes in some ways, and it is important for us to maintain our leadership.</p><p>I must say that even now the development of our work has made it possible to create a material for use in promising propulsion systems for high-speed flights in the air. This was previously unattainable for refractory metals, and we are actively working to increase the resource of such materials.</p><p>Of course, the scientific significance of our work does not consist only in creating a certain alloy composition, because the shape of the product can also be complex. And here we, like our colleagues, apply modern additive technologies and digital methods. It may be that unfortunately–-and in our opinion, it seems that fortunately—it is impossible to use existing printers for refractory alloys. That is why we have designed special additive installations that allow us to work with such materials in a high-quality way.</p><p>Of course, the developments I just mentioned have a small production volume, but the prospects for using refractory alloys do not shrink only to a very narrow, special area in space–-of course not.</p><p>We hope that future generations of young professionals will already be working on the development of miniaturized power plants. It is possible that these works will be carried out in close cooperation with the Russian Science Foundation, with colleagues from the Kurchatov Institute and from specialized universities.</p><p>Even now, most of these ambitious projects are in the hands of young professionals, young engineers. Today I am happy to represent such a team.</p><p>What can a young team with such still, in general, young souls dream of? Of course, it's about making sure that what they put their knowledge, time, nerves, and sometimes even health into works. So that our refractory alloys will conquer space, fulfill their purpose there and find their application in everyday, earthly life. And this is impossible without the development of the Russian raw material base of refractory [alloys], without active attention and reverent attitude to production and industry.</p><p>We, in turn, are confident that unique Russian developments with our <a href="https://gsalloy.com/in-depth-explanation-of-high-performance-refractory-alloys/">refractory alloys </a>will definitely find a worthy response in the global scientific community.</p><p>Thank you.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> I understand correctly that you need these rare-earth metals, right?</p><p><strong>N. Potekhina:</strong> Yes, that's right.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> What do you suggest? What'll we do?</p><p><strong>Natalia Potekhina:</strong> To develop our deposits and remember them.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Have you studied these deposits? At least you were interested in where, what, and how you can get it? Except for Yakutia. In Yakutia, everyone probably knows what to eat. And besides Yakutia?</p><p><strong>Natalia Potekhina:</strong> I will tell you a secret. I'm a geologist, I'm from the Faculty of Geology of Lomonosov Moscow State University, so yes, we studied it, of course. We very much hope that the Tyrnyauz molybdenum-tungsten deposit will "perk up" after all. Our department once worked very hard there.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> All right, all right. That's what I mean, too.</p><p>But what about the flights to Mars? Is it possible to fly there in a live cage and come back? Just be honest.</p><p><strong>N. Potekhina:</strong> We need to find out what's in there.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Where? On Mars? This is how vehicles fly to Mars, they have flown more than once. Can a cell fly there alive and come back alive?</p><p><strong>Natalia Potekhina:</strong> <em><strong>We hope that she will, but how long she will last there is another question.</strong></em></p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Here's what to do with scientists? (To M. Kovalchuk.) It's hard for you, Mikhail Valentinovich.</p><p>It's just that some colleagues tell me that this is impossible. Korolev once thought about this, saying that you need to fly in a water shell, then the cage flies back and forth. But this is impossible due to the fact that the device turns out to be so huge that it can neither be launched nor transported there, even with the help of the nuclear engines we are developing for space. A large device is obtained. And there are no other materials that would protect biological material, a living cell. No?</p><p><strong>Natalia Potekhina:</strong> These are probably our plans for the future.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Good. We need to allocate funding, so I understand? (Laughter.)</p><p>Thank you very much. Of course, everything that concerns your line of work, refractory alloys are extremely important things, we are well aware of this, and our colleagues in the Government understand this. We will do our best to help and support you.</p><p><strong>Mikhail Kovalchuk:</strong> You know, space engines, I must say, we have always been ahead of the rest of the planet in this respect. We have all the satellites, stations in space flew with nuclear installations on board. And today, together with Rosatom and the Academy, we are developing engines,<em><strong> electrodeless plasma rocket engines.</strong></em> They are a completely different type, and in this sense they should provide the functions of a tug that will fly to the Moon or Mars.</p><p>We once said that we fly into space today, like Munchausen on the core. Our RD engine gave a few hundred seconds of acceleration, and we flew along a ballistic trajectory. They counted incorrectly-–they missed, they didn't get to the moon.</p><p>And we need another engine that can barrage, that is, we can accelerate, slow down, dock to the asteroid. We have prototypes of these engines, they are moving, and we have been doing this for many decades. <em><strong>Now, I think, together with the Academy and Rosatom, we have a chance to do this and put energy on the Moon.</strong></em> In this sense, then we will have something to dock on, and power engineering on the Moon to deploy. There are special options for stations of a completely new principle. This is a very important thing, and the materials that were discussed.</p><p>I'm going back because you said so. I would like to report once again, Alexey Yevgenyevich [Likhachev], on the implementation of the assignment, so that no one in the audience has any doubts that all the issues have been resolved. I just want to remind you that a decade and a half ago, when Rosatom was being reformed, Vladimir Vladimirovich suggested that Sergey Kiriyenko and I conduct a reorganization. We were one in Sredmash at one time.</p><p>Since a commercial modern high-tech company was being formed, it was decided to separate science from there in the form of the Kurchatov Institute with a number of institutes and create the first national laboratory "Kurchatov Institute". And then, which was very important and difficult after that period of reorganization, today we have united again as a new, extremely effective modern form. This is the key to success. As before, the atomic space project was, because there was a parent organization, a scientific supervisor, and it was a close contact. Today we have practically restored this system, and you have actively supported it. I think this is the key to our success today.</p><p>Our last speaker is Valentin Pavlovich Ananikov, Head of the laboratory of the N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences.</p><p>I'll ask you to tell us about chemistry. Vladimir Vladimirovich started with chemistry, and you will finish it now.</p><p>You are welcome.</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff14ab881-b710-4b22-b79b-277a92567817_1880x1160.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff14ab881-b710-4b22-b79b-277a92567817_1880x1160.jpeg" width="1456" height="898" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/f14ab881-b710-4b22-b79b-277a92567817_1880x1160.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":898,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":319452,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/157656391?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff14ab881-b710-4b22-b79b-277a92567817_1880x1160.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt="" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Valentin Ananikov, Head of the Laboratory of the N.D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Chemical Sciences</p><p><strong>Vladimir Ananikov:</strong> Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, Dear colleagues and guests,</p><p>Now an important influence on the development of chemistry is provided by the application of artificial intelligence and digital modeling. There is a lot of hype around artificial intelligence, perhaps even a lot of inflated expectations. Who hasn't heard of artificial intelligence? Everyone has already heard it many times, but it is very important not to miss the crucial turning point that is brewing in this area right now.</p><p>Now for artificial intelligence comes the so-called "era for". Artificial intelligence ceases to be an end in itself, it becomes a tool for developing practical tasks: artificial intelligence for the chemical industry, artificial intelligence for medicine, artificial intelligence for solving environmental issues. <em><strong>We are coming close to a new technological stage, when the use of digital algorithms is an accelerator for innovative development.</strong></em></p><p>I must say that this stage, a new stage of scientific research in our country, has come to a prepared stage. The Russian Science Foundation created on your initiative actively contributed to the growth of scientific competencies. I am very pleased to see from your report that the Foundation's programs are constantly developing. The Foundation's support from the Young Scientists Support Foundation was very important for building human resources.</p><p><em><strong>Addressing students and schoolchildren who will probably also watch this program, I want to tell them that you can safely go to science. For you, the state has adequate support for the science track from the foundation and other programs.</strong></em></p><p>There are a lot of questions about education, especially in the context of such a highly intellectual sphere. A very good example that I would like to mention is the development of fundamental artificial intelligence algorithms at Innopolis University and their practical implementation in the laboratories of the Kazan Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. What is very important – this is supported by the school program "FizMatHim" with the support of the leadership of the Republic of Tatarstan. This could be a very interesting pilot project for cadres in this field.</p><p>As for the chemical industry, of course, this is the most important area for humanity. I would like to see the contribution of the chemical industry to the economy of our country increase from year to year, including paying attention to new areas that are emerging now, which will form the basis of chemical technologies in the near future.</p><p>If we talk about projects in the field of digital chemistry, such a project "Digital Chemistry" is implemented with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science, there are large grants. It is being implemented at the N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences and is aimed at implementing digital algorithms in chemistry and creating new chemical technologies. <em><strong>The world's most active heterogeneous catalyst for cross-coupling reactions has been developed. These reactions are in demand in the synthesis of drugs, in the production of materials for energy and new intelligent materials. This record has been held for two years.</strong></em></p><p>For the first time, a neural network has been developed that determines the chemical formula of a substance based on a photo. This is in demand in quality control systems of the chemical industry.</p><p>When I was a schoolboy, I remember that I was very fond of looking at powders under a microscope, trying to see their chemical structure.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> What kind of powders?</p><p><strong>V. Ananikov:</strong> Salt, soda, copper sulfate. I tried to see the chemical structure in them, which, of course, is impossible.</p><p>In general, in our time, this impossibility is becoming possible with the help of neural networks.<em><strong> If I could go back to the past and choose my life path again, I would choose scientific research again. It is today that so many interesting things are being discovered in this area.</strong></em></p><p>As for artificial intelligence, our country has quite strong positions. Our colleagues from Rosatom and the Kurchatov Institute are actively developing these areas. At the level of language models, Sber supports the development of artificial intelligence, including for chemical applications.</p><p>This concerns some of our achievements and positive aspects.</p><p>Now there's a problem I'd like to talk about. The key problem, a stumbling block for many chemical projects, is the scaling of chemical synthesis. Our research projects are very effective in producing unique materials with very useful practical properties, but in the amount of grams.<em><strong> We need to learn how to move quickly from grams to tons.</strong></em></p><p>It is scaling technologies that are a stumbling block for many projects. We don't have a lot of focused research on developing scaling technologies, especially on creating universal scaling technologies that can then be applied to a large number of chemical processes. This is clearly visible for low-tonnage and micro-tonnage chemistry. This is an area where substances are synthesized in quantities ranging from several tons to thousands of tons, but they need a lot of them. The range of these substances is very large, there are several hundred of them, their number will be constantly replenished, and here you need to learn how to scale chemical synthesis very quickly. Neural networks and artificial intelligence applications can play a crucial role here.</p><p>Artificial intelligence is a unifying technology. With the help of artificial intelligence, you can simulate the material, the catalyst for its synthesis. What is very important, you can create a digital copy of the reactor, where this chemical synthesis can be carried out. For micro-tonnage chemistry, this reactor is small and can be fully printed in a 3D printer chamber. This is a revolutionary opportunity. Traditional assembly of reactors from many components–-they need to be ordered, distribute these orders, and then put everything together. Here, the digital copy immediately turns into a chemical reactor. <em><strong>This is a very important role of artificial intelligence, it can accelerate the implementation of scientific research results in practice, and we now have all the opportunities for this.</strong></em></p><p>For my part, I would like to draw your attention to this and perhaps create a program to specifically support the introduction of digital tools for solving problems in chemistry and scaling chemical reactions.</p><p>In conclusion, I would like to say a few words. Probably, some ideas and some projects that stem from artificial intelligence seem fantastic, but what was fantastic yesterday is a reality today. It is clear that now we need to catch up, catch up and replace various technologies, at least in chemistry. <em><strong>But the best way to catch up is to play ahead.</strong></em> <em><strong>If we put all the most valuable things that artificial intelligence provides into practice in a timely and pragmatic manner, this will accelerate our technological development, help us make a technological breakthrough, and strengthen the connection between science and industry.</strong></em></p><p>Thanks for attention.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Valentin Pavlovich, please tell me what is needed to create a digital tools program? To replicate the technologies you mentioned, what should be done? Who exactly and what exactly should do to create it? Because the question is very important, extremely important. Low-tonnage, micro-tonnage chemistry is just what we need now.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Ananikov:</strong> We need to develop a neural network that will simulate a chemical reactor based on a chemical reaction. Such developments have already begun, and there are some successful examples. We need to collect sufficient data on chemical reactions, catalysts, and reactor design. Then the neural network allows you to combine: this is an end-to-end technology, this is its advantage, it processes this data and offers a model of the reactor for a chemical reaction, which must be scaled. And, interestingly, it offers very original forms of reactors, not the ones that come to mind to a person. These shapes are quite complex, but they can be printed on a 3D printer. This is a unique and unifying technology: we move from the reaction to the reactor.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Who should participate in this creation process? Who do you need?</p><p><strong>V. Ananikov:</strong> Chemists, chemical technologists and programmers.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> This is probably done with the help and coordination of the Academy of Sciences. We don't have a microphone?</p><p><strong>Mikhail Kovalchuk:</strong> There is.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Please give the microphone to the President of the Academy of Sciences.</p><p><strong>G. Krasnikov:</strong> Mr President, these are cutting-edge areas that are very much in demand, and of course, we are working on such projects today, both on state assignments and together with the Russian Science Foundation, in order to create entire digital databases on chemistry and catalysts and then train neural networks to do this. And then, as soon as you do the minimum, then you need Rosatom to reach high capacity.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> I want to understand how we can start this process and how we can help our colleagues. Because by helping them, we are helping ourselves. What should I do? What do you need from the Government? Money–-I understand. Then tell me how much?" And who will be a participant in this process? That's real, specifically.</p><p><strong>G. Krasnikov:</strong> Of course, we need resources to speed it up. Valery Nikolaevich [Falkov] and I are still working to direct more resources to this area.</p><p><strong>Alexander Alikhanov:</strong> Mr President, may I ask your permission?</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Yes.</p><p><strong>A. Alikhanov:</strong> We were discussing it with Valery Nikolaevich as part of the national project when we were listening to Mr. Ananikov, and we agreed that we could include such an event as part of the national project. Just as a separate task to set for yourself.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> As part of the national technology leadership project?</p><p><strong>A. Alikhanov:</strong> Yes. We'll take this as a task.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Good. Be sure to inform me later, I ask you, what is happening in real life, what you are doing.</p><p>Yes, please.</p><p><strong>Alexander Likhachev:</strong> Mr President,<em><strong> I would like to report that there is such a prototype and it will be shown to you at the exhibition today.</strong></em></p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Very good. Thank you very much. So let's move on.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Ananikov:</strong> Thank you.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Thank you. You said that if you could start all over again, you would again choose the path of scientific research, which is great, you can only envy.</p><p>thank you very much.</p><p><strong>Mikhail Kovalchuk:</strong> Mr President, thank you very much.</p><p>Thank you all. Finishing up.</p><p>You know, I'd like to conclude with a line about this. It is often said that the age of physics has passed, the age of biology has come. This is a mistake. The fact is that we have recently…</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Academician Tamm made a mistake, didn't he? That's what he said.</p><p><strong>M. Kovalchuk:</strong> It was a long time ago, it seemed so then, but now it is not so at all. I'll explain why.</p><p>You recently held the Presidential <a href="https://translated.turbopages.org/proxy_u/ru-en.en.d06957e3-67b9046c-056b8cbb-74722d776562/kremlin.ru/events/president/news/76222">Council on Science and Education</a> and so on, and the importance of natural science and physics and mathematics education was discussed there. I mean, you know, I don't want to do anything else. Physics and mathematics are a universal language in science.</p><p>I had a friend, a well-known theorist, an academic, who was already dead, and he always said that any field of human knowledge is zoological. Why? Because it is descriptive. Here you have caught a butterfly, measured something, even looked through a microscope – it is descriptive. Any field of knowledge becomes a science if and only if it comes to physical research methods and mathematical apparatus for description.</p><p>At first, the first stage of development of physical materials science was metal science. This occurs in several cases. The first is a request. In the 1930s, new metals were needed for airplanes, submarines, and automobiles, and this was a civilizational demand. Science went there, and physical materials science emerged, ferrous metallurgy merged with physics and mathematics. Further, while it was moving, we got today's world-engineering, aircraft, aviation, rocket. At this time, semiconductors were discovered, and physics and mathematics changed the object, they came to semiconductors. There was a huge scientific breakthrough in fact. But at this time, in these years (while semiconductor materials science was developing, the second stage), we began to live actively, this was not even under Tamm. The third stage in the development of physical materials science is bioorganic materials. <em><strong>And today we live in the era of bioorganic materials science. But if we want to be successful, we must train highly educated people in natural sciences.</strong></em></p><p>When I finish, I want to say that Sergey Semenovich [Sobyanin] and I launched Kurchatov classes many years ago, and there were 39 schools in Moscow. Today, in several dozen regions of the Russian Federation, there are academic schools created by the Academy of Sciences, and Kurchatov classes. We are now combining brands. <em><strong>The bottom line is that we train people with an emphasis on the natural science base, because if a person does not know chemistry, physics, mathematics, he is useless in any field</strong></em>. And if he knows these three things, then he will…</p><p>I think that our project of Kurchatov classes, which was developed in Moscow and is now being replicated in the Crimea, Sevastopol, and the Far East, is very successful together with <em><strong>academic gymnasiums</strong></em>. I think that this is a very important thing for strengthening the role of science education, which means creating unique materials and preserving our country's leadership in all areas.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> I would like to end our discussion with what was just said by the colleague on my left. <em><strong>To be successful, you need to play ahead of the curve</strong></em>. Good luck! [My Emphasis]</p></blockquote><p>Wow! If you’re into science or just want to know where technology is going, this was a treat. I’m going to print it and send it to a twevle-year-old I know who’s a science nerd but doesn’t know what he wants to do. The amount of learning one needs to do to become proficient by grade twelve is quite large if one is to have any sort of skill-based future. To solve the teacher shortage, professionals will need to rotate from lab/industry to classroom; there really is no other way. I note the use of a competition again to generate advancement, and the prize was rather large. I recall the award-winning young scientist who was engaged in making radiation resistant polymers and how her work integrates with this presentation. I hope readers will share their impressions in the comments.</p><p>*<br>*<br>*<br><em>Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a <strong>monthly/yearly pledge</strong> to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!</em></p><p></p><p></p><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe now","action":null,"class":null}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>   </p>

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guid: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/germans-vote-today-russians-defend
title: Germans Vote Today; Russians Defend the Fatherland
author: ;Karl Sanchez
link: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/germans-vote-today-russians-defend
hash: j��#� �pցR����
content:
<div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff8a0aa95-94b5-47bf-887e-1a419e7afaa5_1880x1160.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff8a0aa95-94b5-47bf-887e-1a419e7afaa5_1880x1160.jpeg" width="1456" height="898" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/f8a0aa95-94b5-47bf-887e-1a419e7afaa5_1880x1160.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":898,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":552950,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/157752975?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff8a0aa95-94b5-47bf-887e-1a419e7afaa5_1880x1160.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt="" fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>The Honor Guards march showing Eyes Right as they pass the unknown soldier memorial today in Moscow.</p><p>As in the past when this day was celebrated, Russians can say things Americans cannot. Here is the latter portion of what President Putin said to those men after he awarded Hero of Russia Gold Stars to them:</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F27e72e0f-01f7-4843-8ef5-e81c70dffc80_1880x1160.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F27e72e0f-01f7-4843-8ef5-e81c70dffc80_1880x1160.jpeg" width="1456" height="898" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/27e72e0f-01f7-4843-8ef5-e81c70dffc80_1880x1160.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":898,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":366803,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/157752975?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F27e72e0f-01f7-4843-8ef5-e81c70dffc80_1880x1160.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt="" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4609b4ab-b4a8-44e0-b131-f27e0ecf4570_1880x1160.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4609b4ab-b4a8-44e0-b131-f27e0ecf4570_1880x1160.jpeg" width="1456" height="898" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4609b4ab-b4a8-44e0-b131-f27e0ecf4570_1880x1160.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":898,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":409210,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/157752975?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4609b4ab-b4a8-44e0-b131-f27e0ecf4570_1880x1160.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt="" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p><blockquote><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> The Tomb of the Unknown A soldier – no one even knows how many such unknown soldiers there were. Thanks to their efforts, courage, and very hard work at the front today we have Russia, we are defending it and we are doing it–-you are doing it–-with dignity. We are not ashamed of you before our fathers, before our ancestors.</p><p>We are fighting for the Motherland and we will do everything–-I know that you are those who are next to you–-we will do everything to pass it on to future generations, our children, our grandchildren.</p><p>This is how fate turned out, this is how it pleased the Lord, if I may say so: Such a difficult, but honorable mission fell on our shoulders:  to protect Russia.</p><p>You know, I looked at what was written in the order to cross the Danube in one of our wars. The words surprised me. This is the XIX century, from headquarters the order to cross the Danube is transmitted. A very difficult combat work, associated with a huge risk. And the words are as follows: a great honor fell to the lot of your regiment—to be the first to cross the Danube and the first to achieve victory over the Opponent.</p><p>People were going to their deaths. Yes, in fact, the Danube in this place where they crossed is hard. These were the first orders, St. George Crosses. And what words were chosen: your regiment has had a great honor.</p><p>It is a great honour for us to defend Russia.</p></blockquote><p>For us Americans, we have no conception of what it means within Russian culture to have such a mindset, to have such devotion, and to be treated with such great respect by our fellows. IMO, the Revolutionary and Civil Wars would come closest, but Americans have never faced the task of having to defend against an invading enemy bent on annihilating all—that’s what Russians have faced three times in 100 years. Each time they emerged victorious but with far fewer Russians returning home. Perhaps this time the West will finally learn to leave Russia alone, for it cannot defeat Russia despite having greater numbers of people to waste in the process. And that’s what’s being done today: The West is wasting Ukrainians because it knows its own people cannot defeat Russia, and will not fight Russia willingly; so, the West propagandized and Nazified Ukrainians to die for them not knowing what they were unleashing—again. The dictatorial people who met with Macron need to be placed inside a dugout on the line of contact and made to fend for themselves since they so madly desire to defeat Russia. Let them try; Russia will now what to do with them. Western citizens ought to take a cue from Russians and defend themselves from their own governments and the parasitic elites that own them—yes, including Trump and the Duopoly. Freedom from tyranny means freedom from Billionaire Rule, which not so long ago was Millionaire Rule and just as bad. </p><p>Today is a day when Russians can both celebrate and mourn then celebrate again. Few nations have histories that allow them to do so, and that are also so very recent.</p><p>*<br>*<br>*<br><em>Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a <strong>monthly/yearly pledge</strong> to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!</em></p><p></p><p></p><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe now","action":null,"class":null}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>     </p>

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guid: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/medvedevs-defenders-sermon
title: Medvedev's Defender's Sermon
author: ;Karl Sanchez
link: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/medvedevs-defenders-sermon
hash: �� %�ٌ�z�g�DXV
content:
<div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3f31c954-033d-4070-b868-bc076db7f661_1024x768.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3f31c954-033d-4070-b868-bc076db7f661_1024x768.jpeg" width="1024" height="768" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/3f31c954-033d-4070-b868-bc076db7f661_1024x768.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":768,"width":1024,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":100807,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/157773659?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3f31c954-033d-4070-b868-bc076db7f661_1024x768.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt="" fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p><p>Medvedev didn’t get to present any medals to heroes, but he still has his voice amplified via <a href="https://t.me/s/medvedev_telegram">his Telegram</a>. RT republished it in an edited form that weakens its force, IMO.</p><blockquote><p>February 23 is a special date. A symbol of memory, glory and pride of the Fatherland, a symbol of our complete confidence in the Victory.<br><br>This year this Day is special. We celebrate it in the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland.<br><br>Our people will always remember the heroes of past generations and honor their traditions. Look up to them.<br><br>"We will always serve Russia with Faith and Truth and thus shame our enemies!" - these words of the great commander Alexander Suvorov are carried by each of us in our hearts.<br><br>Our people had to comprehend the difficult "science of winning" in incredibly difficult trials. Their series continues, and our common duty today–-in deed, without unnecessary lofty words, in spite of any threats-–in the battle with the most dangerous enemies is to give all our strength for the good of the Fatherland.<br><br>Tomorrow will be three years since the special military operation began. We had to take this step when the point of no return in the confrontation with the so-called collective West was finally passed. And there was only one way left to protect our Motherland and its citizens, to push the enemy back from our borders. Time has shown that this difficult decision was the only right and possible one.<em><strong> The Russian people rallied and withstood the fight against a cynical and cruel enemy, who was pumped with weapons and money from all over the world</strong></em>. <em><strong>The war against neo-Nazism and its henchmen is not yet completely over.</strong></em> But its outcome is very close. The enemy will be destroyed. The truth will triumph.<br><br>80 years ago, our country defeated fascism. Its disgusting descendants cannot escape retribution. <em><strong>And this retribution will not be in a new Nuremberg.</strong></em> It will be on the battlefield. This is shorter and fairer. Harsher and more reliable. Our enemies understand this better than anyone else. Horror and panic reign in their ranks now. In impotent anger, in agony, they are capable of anything. We will not allow a global Apocalypse. <em><strong>We must make it impossible for Nazism to take revenge on the planet. Burn out its roots with a red-hot iron. Preserve historical memory and leave a worthy legacy to new generations on Earth.</strong></em><br><br>And most importantly, to preserve our boundless Motherland and do everything for its prosperity. In the name of our children and grandchildren. In the name of the great future of Russia! [My Emphasis]</p></blockquote><p>Similar to WW2 when all Europe was allied with Hitler is some fashion, including the USA as it provided massive aid in its rearmament, the current aggressive war against Russia also has the vast majority of the “collective West” allied in yet another attempt to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia so its government can be destroyed and the nation carved into numerous cantons for Western satraps to administer. Unfortunately, I don’t see how the world can “burn out [Nazism’s] roots with a red-hot iron” unless another Nuremburg trial is performed. Perhaps that’s because Russia doesn’t contemplate invading, defeating and capturing the #1 culprit in this agony—the Outlaw US Empire’s agents that began this portion of the very longstanding war against Russia. Do note how <a href="https://www.rt.com/russia/613176-dmitry-medvedev-february-23/">RT rephrases </a>Medvedev’s words to soften their force. </p><p>Many will be saddened to hear/read Medvedev’s words while the guilty rejoice. For the poor Ukrainian conscripts getting slaughtered at the front line aren’t the Nazis that require eliminating, for they hide as far away as possible—beyond Kiev, to Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Amsterdam, Paris, London, Brussels, New York, Tel Aviv, and Washington to name some of the major Nazi dens. I know Russia’s Prosecutor General will pursue, capture, try, convict, and imprison those it can. But aside from Zelenski who looks like he’ll be terminated, the major criminals like Obama, Biden and Nuland will escape. And then there are those within the West who may not be Nazis but are Imperialists and just as dangerous to Humanity. Nor should those Neoliberals who continue to engage in neocolonialism be forgotten for a second as they are really no different given the suffering they cause. And what of the Zionists and those abetting them, which are most of the NATO/EU elite and those at the head of the Outlaw US Empire where we now have Genocide Don instead of Genocide Joe. </p><p>Yes, the threat of nuclear war has lessened now that Russia and the declining Outlaw US Empire are communicating again and are resuming diplomatic relations. But Trump has announced the evil that lurks within him with his own suggestions to eliminate Palestinians from Palestine, and so he must be watched closely given his fickle nature. I need to share what <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1eLg68ZpyM">Ambassador Chas Freeman described to Nima</a> as Trump’s method—“Conducting brain surgery with a sledgehammer”—something akin to Stalin’s adage that you can’t make a cake without breaking some eggs.      </p><p>Will the Great Anti-Russian War end with the Outlaw US Empire’s surrender and establishment of a completely new Eurasian Security System or will some means be found for its continuance? The best Russia can do is to continue its advance on the battlefield to secure as much of Ukraine as it can while demilitarizing and denazifying all those it encounters. Peace can ensue once Russia’s secure. I’m sure that’s the bottom line Lavrov will pursue in negotiations, even if Russia needs to construct the new system by itself.</p><p>*<br>*<br>*<br><em>Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a <strong>monthly/yearly pledge</strong> to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!</em></p><p></p><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe now","action":null,"class":null}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p>

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guid: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/lavrov-in-ankara-normal-relations
title: Lavrov in Ankara: Normal Relations Review
author: ;Karl Sanchez
link: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/lavrov-in-ankara-normal-relations
hash: n{s�iq�"+ف�[-N�
content:
<div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fae071dfb-deba-4323-9665-6b4cb2d82820_720x480.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fae071dfb-deba-4323-9665-6b4cb2d82820_720x480.jpeg" width="720" height="480" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ae071dfb-deba-4323-9665-6b4cb2d82820_720x480.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":480,"width":720,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":127769,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/157820418?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fae071dfb-deba-4323-9665-6b4cb2d82820_720x480.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt="" fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Turkiye’s FM Hassan Fidan hosted Sergey Lavrov and his Russian delegation in a normally scheduled meeting to discuss relations at Ankara, which <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1999535/">Lavrov reviews</a> in his opening remarks prior to fielding some media questions. The deeper integration of relations into the parliamentary level is happening smoothly and ought to strengthen relations as they evolve. The Q&amp;A offers more details to Lavrov’s remarks as well as an update on the state of relations with the Outlaw US Empire:</p><blockquote><p>Dear members of the press,</p><p>On behalf of our delegation, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to Foreign Minister of the Republic of Turkey Hassan Fidan for the fact that today we were able to meet and discuss a wide range of issues on both the bilateral and international agenda. I would like to thank my colleague and friend for the traditionally warm welcome and the high level of organisation of the working visit of the Russian delegation.</p><p>We noted with satisfaction that, despite the tense international situation, the Russian-Turkish political dialogue remains intense and dynamic at all levels. Our Presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan are in regular contact. In addition to telephone contacts (<a href="http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/75747">1</a>, <a href="http://www.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/75624">2</a> and <a href="http://www.kremlin.ru/catalog/persons/122/events/73671">3</a>), our leaders held two face-to-face meetings in 2024: <a href="http://www.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/74460">on July 3, 2024</a>. on the sidelines of the <a href="https://rus.sectsco.org/20240704/1423374.html">meeting</a> of the <a href="https://rus.sectsco.org/">SCO</a> Council of Heads of State in Astana and on October <a href="http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/75378">23, 2024</a>. – as part of the <a href="https://brics-russia2024.ru/summit/">BRICS</a> summit in Kazan.</p><p>The rhythm of effective communication set by the heads of state is supported by representatives of the diplomatic departments, defence ministries and intelligence services of the two countries. In 2024, H. Fidan and I regularly compared notes on topical issues of our bilateral relations and on the international agenda. Our last contact <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1998876/">took place</a> just a few days ago in Johannesburg on the sidelines of the <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1999163/">G20 Council of Foreign Ministers</a>.</p><p><em><strong>We welcome the intensification of inter-parliamentary exchanges.</strong></em> On September 24-25, 2024, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Nikos Kurtulmuş paid an official visit to Moscow. He was <a href="http://www.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/75181">received by</a> President Vladimir Putin, held <a href="http://www.council.gov.ru/events/multimedia/video/309656/">talks</a> with the leadership of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, and <a href="http://dipacademy.ru/press/o-vizite-v-diplomaticheskuyu-akademiyu-mid-rossii-predsedatelya-velikogo-nacionalnogo-sobraniya-turcii-nkurtulmusha/">spoke</a> at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry. <em><strong>This week (February 26-27), Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matviyenko will pay an official visit to Ankara.</strong></em></p><p>We discussed ways to build up bilateral trade and economic ties, including our large-scale cooperation in the energy sector. We noted our mutual interest and solid potential for cooperation in the financial and banking sector, in transport, logistics and industrial cooperation, and tourism.</p><p>Of course, we could not help but talk in detail about various aspects of joint work on such a strategic project as the construction of the <a href="https://akkuyu.com/ru/about/info">Akkuyu NPP</a>. Russian and Turkish specialists, working side by side, are making efforts to ensure the physical start-up of Unit 1 of this nuclear power plant. All four power units of the plant are being built simultaneously around the clock without exaggeration.<em><strong> There is a serious reserve for new initiatives in this area.</strong></em></p><p>Speaking about energy, we touched upon the operation and security of the <a href="https://www.turkstream.info/ru/">Turkish Stream</a> and <a href="https://www.gazprom.ru/projects/blue-stream/">Blue Stream</a> gas pipelines. This is necessary in the context of continuous provocations by the Kiev regime, which seeks to undermine the normal functioning of energy facilities, including pipelines, with terrorist acts. It is important that they work smoothly. Turkey is a major importer and transit country of Russian "blue fuel", so any destabilisation of energy flows for any reason is fraught not only with a weakening of the Turkish gas industry, but also with an increase in inflation in the energy market as a whole, which, ultimately, will hit the average consumer.</p><p>We informed our Turkish friends in detail about the <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1998279/">Russian-American talks</a> held on February 18 in Riyadh, which received a very positive assessment from the point of view of the opportunities that have finally appeared to have a normal dialogue, <em><strong>despite the numerous contradictions that remain. But without such a dialogue, it will not be clear whether we will be able to smooth over these contradictions or not.</strong></em> We will continue contacts with our American partners. There is a corresponding agreement on this.</p><p>We discussed in detail a number of international and regional issues, including the processes currently underway around the situation in Ukraine. We are not changing our position. <em><strong>We are pleased to note that there is much more realism in the position of many countries, which understand that without a long-term, sustainable agreement that would eliminate the root causes of this situation, it will be impossible to agree on anything.</strong></em></p><p>We conducted a thorough analysis of the situation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone. We exchanged views on the measures necessary to ensure an immediate and sustainable ceasefire, the release of hostages and the resumption of the negotiation process based on UN Security Council resolutions that provide for the right of the Palestinian people to create their own independent state, which would coexist side by side with Israel in peace and security.</p><p>We expressed satisfaction with the level of cooperation between Russia and Turkey on the Syrian issue. We reaffirmed our mutual interest in giving impetus to joint work to resolve the situation in that country, taking into account the new realities.</p><p>We reviewed the prospects for deepening cooperation in the South Caucasus. We paid special attention to the task of building trust between the parties, restoring infrastructure and transport communications, and stepping up economic activity, including on the basis of multilateral agreements within the framework of the 3+3 International Consultative Platform (the three South Caucasus countries and their three neighbours – Russia, Turkey and Iran).</p><p>On the whole, I believe that the contact was useful. We will continue to work in Ankara. I am sure that this meeting will make a significant contribution to the further development of multifaceted cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey.</p><p><strong>Question:</strong> There have been some contacts between the United States and Russia. How can they contribute? And based on Turkey's mediating role, can Turkey again become the host or provide a platform for negotiations? On the other hand, Vladimir Zelensky spoke about international security and security guarantees. What do you think about this? He also said that both Turkey and European countries should be included in this process. What do you think about this process, Mr Minister?</p><p><strong>Sergey Lavrov:</strong> I can only reiterate our position. It has not changed, unlike the position of the "character" you mentioned. He changes it much more often than the green T-shirts. <em><strong>The position of European countries is also difficult to understand, because it is quite unstable and changes depending on what "ideas" arise from whom.</strong></em></p><p>Against this background, the position of the United States stands out. It has been stated consistently, it does not call for simply "reconciling" immediately, leaving the line of contact, and then thinking about what to do. We have always emphasised that this option will not suit us.</p><p>This option was already tried in April 2022, when an agreement was reached in Istanbul based on the principles that the Ukrainians themselves proposed to us. They asked us to stop the advance of our troops as a gesture of goodwill and even to retreat. And this is what we did. The only result was that the West, represented by then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, forbade Ukraine to sign the document that had already been initiated, saying that Ukraine should continue to further weaken Russia and would receive weapons, mobilise and fight for as long as Russia suffers a "strategic defeat" on the battlefield.</p><p>Therefore, we no longer accept options using "some advice" from the "other" side. President of Russia Vladimir Putin has clearly said that we are ready to negotiate with Ukraine, with Europe, and <em><strong>with any representatives who, in the spirit of goodwill, would like to help achieve peace.</strong></em> <em><strong>But we will stop hostilities only when these negotiations produce a firm and sustainable result that suits the Russian Federation.</strong></em> Of course, the realities on the ground should be taken into account in the context that the Nazi regime in Kiev adopted a series of laws banning the Russian language in all spheres of life in 2019: education at all levels, the media and culture.</p><p>The same regime recently banned the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church by law. This forced the residents not only of Crimea (who made their choice in 2014 in the face of the Nazi coup in Kiev), but also of the Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions to make their choice. They did not want to remain under the rule of a regime that was exterminating everything Russian in the lands that had been developed by the Russians for centuries, where cities were created, plants, factories and ports were built.</p><p>They have made their choice now in accordance with the Russian Constitution. This choice has acquired international legal status. Respect for all these realities is mandatory, as is<em><strong> Ukraine's categorical non-accession to NATO. There must be a clear, ironclad agreement on this.</strong></em></p><p>At a <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1998294/">meeting in Riyadh</a> with our American colleagues, we welcomed the fact that US President Donald Trump publicly and repeatedly called the policy of "dragging" Ukraine into NATO a mistake. He said that if he had been president in those years, he would never have allowed such a line to prevail. And thus, according to him, there would have been no crisis.</p><p>But there is no doubt that Ukraine's "drawing" into NATO is one of the key root causes of what is happening. <em><strong>One of D. Trump's advisers said that it is clear that the war was provoked, and it was not necessarily provoked by the Russian Federation. This war has been prepared for a long time by Washington under the Democrats, Brussels, as well as the Brussels bureaucracy.</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>The second root cause is the genocide of all Russians and Russian-speaking residents of southeastern Ukraine</strong></em>, who made their legitimate choice in favor of returning to the Russian Federation.</p><p>What security guarantees? Here, in Istanbul, in April 2022, security guarantees were discussed on behalf of the five permanent members of the <a href="https://main.un.org/securitycouncil/ru">Security Council</a>, as well as on behalf of Turkey and Germany, but on the condition of refusing to join NATO. It described in detail what it should look like.</p><p><em><strong>There were security guarantees on the table. The Ukrainian delegation formulated them itself: a non-aligned policy without joining any military alliances.</strong></em> The West banned it. Therefore, now we need to see who will finally decide this. <em><strong>I do not think that the Ukrainian leadership is capable of anything other than the desire to make money</strong></em>, including in "bargaining" with the United States on the issue of how to pay with the aid with which<em><strong> the Biden administration has pumped up the Ukrainian space without any supporting documents.</strong></em></p><p><strong>Question:</strong> Steve Witkoff, one of the participants in the Russian-US talks in Riyadh, said that the draft Istanbul agreements could again form the basis for resolving the Ukrainian crisis. Can you confirm or deny this information? What consultations between Russia and the United States did Donald Trump talk about on February 25?</p><p><strong>Sergey Lavrov: </strong>As for Stephen Witkoff's statement that the draft Istanbul Agreements of April 2022 can be taken as a basis for resolving the Ukrainian conflict. I have not heard this.</p><p>I can only confirm one thing. President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin has repeatedly made this statement, recalling that in Istanbul we were literally "one hour" away from signing a full-fledged agreement based on the principles proposed by the Ukrainians, but Boris Johnson forbade this. The head of the Ukrainian delegation at those talks, Dmitry Arakhamia, who heads the Servant of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada, publicly confirmed this fact in his interview that 3 years ago they were ready to sign, but they were banned by the leaders of the regimes who are in London, Brussels and were then in Washington.</p><p>The principles of the Istanbul agreements are, first of all, the refusal to join NATO, the deployment of military bases, military exercises with the participation of foreign troops, non-aligned status and the receipt of security guarantees from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, as well as Turkey, Germany and others. All this was "broken" and decided to "wait" and see in which direction the situation on the battlefield would lean. So we waited.</p><p>As for the <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1998294/">meeting</a> with the Americans during the Russian-American talks in Riyadh, we agreed to restore channels of communication on all issues in various fields and on international affairs, including Ukraine.<em><strong> The Americans must appoint their special representative for this purpose.</strong></em></p><p>The easiest thing to do is to organize, as we have proposed, the normal operation of the embassies-–the Russian one in Washington and the American one in Moscow. <em>For this purpose, two technical preliminary contacts have already taken place last week. Full consultations will take place this week.</em> I hope that they will remove the artificial obstacles that have been piled up by the democratic administrations of the United States in recent years.</p><p><strong>Question:</strong> How do you assess future relations with Damascus? What do you think about the continued US military presence in Syria after the change of power in the country?</p><p><strong>Sergey Lavrov:</strong><em><strong> As for the US military presence in Syria and how to treat it, you should not ask me, but the Syrian leadership. I would even say the Syrian people.</strong></em></p><p>In the period before the change of power, the US military presence played a negative role. First, it was a presence without an official invitation from the legitimate authorities. Second, its essence was to "sit" on the most fertile lands in terms of food and hydrocarbons, to use the proceeds from the illegal sale of these wealth of the Syrian people in order to finance quasi-state structures that were actively created by the Americans in northeastern Syria in order to fuel Kurdish separatism. It is difficult to assess this role positively.</p><p><em><strong>Now we need to see how the Syrian leadership feels about this and how it will fit into the preparation and holding of a major event–-the All-Syrian National Assembly. It should lay the foundation for an inclusive process of working out an agreement on the future of the country with the participation of all political, ethnic and religious groups.</strong></em></p><p>If we see movement along this path, it will play a positive role for Damascus' relations with the Russian Federation and with all other countries that, as Turkish Foreign Minister Hassan Fidan emphasised in his opening remarks, are interested in ensuring a sovereign, independent and territorially integral Syria that lives in peace and harmony with all its neighbours. [My Emphasis]</p></blockquote><p>Roots. It’s the Problem Tree which is where you must get to the roots as pruning a branch here and there doesn’t get to the root of the matter. And that process must be assigned to all current conflicts, most of which have roots in Western manipulation. That’s even true of Palestine’s roots where French and British Imperial plans are at the root of today’s conflict—without their promotion of Zionism, there would be no problems there. What the conflict has spurred is an intensive investigation into its roots that’s produced some excellent scholarship that can be used as a basis for a settlement, although it’s clear the Zionists like their Nazi cousins aim to eliminate all Others so their “purified” selves are the only occupants. </p><p>As for Syria, we’ll see how successful the National Assembly is and what’s planned to occur next. Of course, the Outlaw’s theft of vital resources must cease, and reparations paid to the Syrian people. </p><p>On Ukraine, the rhetorical battle continues, with perhaps a shift occurring once the New German government’s formed. One of the more amazing things I’ve seen over these three years is <a href="https://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2025/02/this-is-not-neural-network.html#disqus_thread">this short video</a> provided by Martyanov at his blog. The latest desperate move by Zelensky is his offer to resign in exchange for Ukraine being granted NATO membership. </p><p>*<br>*<br>*<br><em>Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a <strong>monthly/yearly pledge</strong> to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!</em></p><p></p><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe now","action":null,"class":null}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p>

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guid: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/coming-soon-a-humanoid-robot-in-every
title: Coming Soon: A Humanoid Robot in Every Home
author: ;Karl Sanchez
link: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/coming-soon-a-humanoid-robot-in-every
hash: ����4a��j�[r�c�
content:
<div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5e5137f3-2cf0-44cd-8260-ba5f7b83ba6a_800x480.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5e5137f3-2cf0-44cd-8260-ba5f7b83ba6a_800x480.jpeg" width="800" height="480" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5e5137f3-2cf0-44cd-8260-ba5f7b83ba6a_800x480.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":480,"width":800,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":312582,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/157841165?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5e5137f3-2cf0-44cd-8260-ba5f7b83ba6a_800x480.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt="" fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>The <a href="https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202502/1328986.shtml">number one article</a> at today’s <em>Global Times</em> is “Humanoid robot rentals emerge, signaling a future where ‘every household could own a humanoid robot’: observers.” As I read the article, recollections of Asimov’s Robot and Foundation Series of stories were immediate and also melded with the recent Technology Forum held in Moscow. The article’s not very long and follows:</p><blockquote><p>The humanoid robot rental business is gaining steam in China as these complex artificial machines spark significant interest across industries and consumer markets. <em><strong>A quick search on major e-commerce and second-hand platforms reveals a growing number of vendors offering humanoid robot rentals, ranging from 2,500 yuan ($344) to 100,000 yuan per day.</strong></em><br> <br>Industry observers noted that the increasing rental market highlights the growing applications and surging demand for humanoid robots across commercial and entertainment industries. This trend, they say, brings us one step closer to the vision where "every household could own a humanoid robot."<br> <br>One vendor wrote a post on a second-hand platform, saying that the Unitree G1 humanoid robot, suitable for exhibitions, corporate events and commercial activities, is available for rent at 5,000 yuan per day, with an additional 500 yuan deposit required.<br> <br>Several vendors are promoting their services with tags like "Spring Festival gala edition humanoid robot rentals."<br> <br>A search for "humanoid robot" on e-commerce platforms like JD.com reveals a diverse range of products. The <em>Global Times</em> noticed that the types of humanoid robots are rich and diverse, and <em><strong>the prices range from a toy robot of about 1,000 yuan to a professional robot of hundreds of thousands of yuan.</strong></em><br> <br>The online sale of humanoid robots is one step closer to entering society and serving end users. In the past, humanoid robots were mostly confined to laboratories or specific industrial scenes and were difficult for the public to access, Guo Tao, an angel investor and senior AI expert, told the <em>Global Times</em>. <br> <br>Humanoid robots are now being used in a wide range of industrial settings, from car manufacturing to live performances. Beyond that, there are also humanoid robots and robotic dogs capable of performing impressive feats — running, jumping, navigating rough terrain, flipping in the air, avoiding obstacles and even trekking through challenging landscapes. <br> <br>As humanoid robots continue to expand their applications, manufacturers are continuously introducing innovations with increasingly advanced capabilities. On Sunday, Shenzhen-based EngineAI released a video showcasing a humanoid robot performing a front somersault stunt. The company said this feat marks the world's first robotic front flip.<br> <br>The robot, PM01, stands at 138 centimeters tall and weighs around 40 kilograms. Equipped with 24 degrees of freedom, it can move at a speed of up to 2 meters per second. Compared with the back flip, the front flip puts forward higher requirements for the dynamic balance, instant acceleration and accurate landing of the robot, the Global Times learnt from a manager surnamed Cen from the company.<br> <br>Currently, the company's robot sales are steadily growing, with the primary customer base primarily comprising of scientific research universities and institutions, Cen said. <br> <br>Recently, humanoid robot "Tiangong" achieved a world-first by climbing 134 outdoor stairs at the Haiziqiang Park in Beijing's Tongzhou district. This marks the first time a humanoid robot has demonstrated such advanced mobility in a complex outdoor environment, reported the China National Radio. <br> <br>Humanoid robots are expected to see significant demand in the future, whether in industrial production, the service sector, or household use. <em><strong>The development and innovation in this industry are progressing at an extremely rapid pace.</strong></em> As mass production increases, the cost of humanoid robots is expected to drop significantly. <em><strong>It is anticipated that within the next five years or even sooner, every household will own a humanoid robot,</strong></em> Unitree founder Wang Xingxing told Chinese media. <br><br>According to data from the latest Humanoid Robot Industry Research Report released by China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, China has become the world's leading manufacturer of humanoid robots. In 2024, the domestic humanoid robot market is projected to reach approximately 2.76 billion yuan, with expectations to grow into a "100-billion-yuan market" by 2030. <br><br>Guo pointed out that bringing humanoid robots into homes isn't without hurdles, as both technical and market challenges pose significant obstacles.<em><strong> On the technical front, these robots need better motion control to handle the complexities of everyday home environments.</strong></em> They also struggle with battery life, which needs improvement to boost usage time and overall user experience. <br> <br>Additionally, Guo said that <em><strong>making interactions between humans and robots feel more natural remains a key hurdle, requiring smarter systems that can better understand emotions and intentions.</strong></em><br> <br>From a market standpoint, Guo added, the high price tag limits their affordability for most households. While mass production was expected to drive costs down, significant price reductions have yet to be seen. [My Emphasis] </p></blockquote><p>Asimov foresaw the time when such robots would replace/supplant humans in the workplace and the social problems that would cause. Note that issue isn’t discussed at all, just the marvel of robots. Service jobs requiring little knowledge will be the first to go, although it must be admitted that many repetitive factory jobs are now robotized without generating a great deal of pushback by workers. Of course, many more people are employed in service jobs than at factories. The Class War invites conflict over this issue as, for example, many baristas need their jobs. The only escape path for humans is higher education, particularly in sciences where thinking outside the box is essential and presently beyond the ability of robots for at least a generation. </p><p>To solve the social aggravations robots will bring, a vastly different approach to society’s responsibilities to its members will need to emerge as Neoliberal Capitalism is already failing those societies where it exists. The so-called mainstream will refuse to open a discussion of that issue since those institutions are controlled by Neoliberal Parasites. I don’t see any way for society to avoid dealing with this issue. Asimov predicted anti-robot riots; IMO, he’ll be proven correct. Furthermore, this will be a global issue, not one restricted to China, although it may arise there first since it appears to be the most advanced nation on this issue. China and Russia are IMO the two nations most capable of dealing with the social problems humanoid robots will present mainly because they value the wellbeing of their citizens and have polices aimed at their uplifting, not their subjugation, which is the Neoliberal aim.</p><p>Given the pace of technical advancements, the 2030s will be a very challenging decade as AI and robotics merge and emerge as a combination. I’m certain this will spark some thoughts that readers will share in the comments.</p><p>*<br>*<br>*<br><em>Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a <strong>monthly/yearly pledge</strong> to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!</em></p><p></p><p></p><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe now","action":null,"class":null}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p> </p><p>     </p>

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guid: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/zarubin-interviews-putin
title: Zarubin Interviews Putin
author: ;Karl Sanchez
link: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/zarubin-interviews-putin
hash: J5����nl��5P�0R
content:
<div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F99c217dc-e403-4f2d-b909-107053e3b3b9_1880x1160.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F99c217dc-e403-4f2d-b909-107053e3b3b9_1880x1160.jpeg" width="1456" height="898" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/99c217dc-e403-4f2d-b909-107053e3b3b9_1880x1160.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":898,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":221015,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/157850808?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F99c217dc-e403-4f2d-b909-107053e3b3b9_1880x1160.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt="" fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7e9d33d-2ee0-49aa-b7de-462ac3ecc978_1880x1160.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7e9d33d-2ee0-49aa-b7de-462ac3ecc978_1880x1160.jpeg" width="1456" height="898" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/f7e9d33d-2ee0-49aa-b7de-462ac3ecc978_1880x1160.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":898,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":221972,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/157850808?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7e9d33d-2ee0-49aa-b7de-462ac3ecc978_1880x1160.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt="" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>After his meeting on rare earths and the need to crank up that industry, which the Kremlin only provided Putin’s introductory remarks, Rossiya 1’s always seemingly present Pavel Zarubin asked Putin <a href="http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/76331">a series of questions</a> from rare eaths to Ukraine to Trump and more:</p><blockquote><p><strong>Pavel Zarubin:</strong> Mr President, we have just watched your meeting on rare earth metals. I'm sorry, but I think that now all journalists in the world are interested in rare earth metals, but in a slightly different aspect. After all, the United States, to put it very mildly, strongly asks Zelensky to sign an agreement with them on these resources to pay for assistance to Ukraine by the former Administration-the Biden Administration. How do you assess the prospects for such an agreement?</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> <em><strong>This does not concern us. I don't rate it in any way, and I don't even want to think about it</strong></em>. Of course, you need to evaluate these resources, how real they are, how much these resources are, how much they cost, and so on. But this, I repeat, is none of our business.</p><p>Our business is what we discussed at the meeting just now. Rare and rare-earth metals are a very important component, very important resources for modern sectors of the economy. We are not doing much in this direction yet, and we must do more. <em><strong>And the purpose of today's meeting is to focus on the first stage of administrative resources to work in this area.</strong></em></p><p>By the way, we would also be ready to offer [cooperation] to our American partners – <em><strong>when I say partners, I mean not only administrative and government structures, but also companies – if they showed interest in working together.</strong></em></p><p>We certainly have an order of magnitude – I want to emphasize this – an order of magnitude more resources of this kind than in Ukraine. Russia is one of the undisputed leaders in terms of reserves of these rare and rare-earth metals. We have them in the North – in Murmansk, in the Caucasus-in Kabardino-Balkaria, in the Far East, in the Irkutsk region, and in Yakutia, in Tuva. <em><strong>These are quite capital-intensive investments, capital-intensive projects. We would be happy to work together with any foreign partners, including American ones.</strong></em></p><p>Yes, by the way, as for the new territories – the same applies: we are ready to attract foreign partners, and our so-called new historical territories, which have returned to the Russian Federation, also have certain reserves there. <em><strong>We are ready to work with our foreign partners, including American ones, there as well.</strong></em></p><p><strong>P. Zarubin:</strong> In new regions, too?</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin: </strong>Yes, of course.</p><p><strong>Pavel Zarubin:</strong> These days we see a flurry of statements and discussions, and everyone is discussing Trump, why he says so harshly that Zelensky should go to the polls, that he has a rating of 4 percent. Europeans are very critical of Trump for all these statements. And in general, there are already such opinions that the current approach of the US President, rather, plays into the hands of Russia. Do you think this is really the case?</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> <em><strong>I believe that this is absolutely not the case.</strong></em> I have my own point of view on this matter, it is the opposite of what you have just stated.</p><p>The fact is that the current head of the Kiev regime is becoming a toxic figure for the armed forces of Ukraine, because he gives ridiculous orders dictated not by military considerations, but by political considerations, while it is unclear what they are based on. And this leads to unjustifiably large losses, if not to say very large or catastrophic losses for the Ukrainian army. It also becomes toxic to society as a whole. And this is evidenced, in my opinion, by today's vote in the Parliament to extend his powers.</p><p>Finally, he stymied himself with a decree banning negotiations with the Russian Federation on a peace treaty, and stopped these negotiations. And what's the deal? The fact is that he is avoiding these negotiations. Why? Because if these negotiations start, it will sooner or later, and most likely quickly enough, lead to the need to lift martial law. And as soon as this happens, you should immediately go to the polls. Then there will be no reason not to hold elections, because today elections in Ukraine are not held under the pretext of martial law. And if there are negotiations, then a possible quick need to lift martial law–-then they should immediately go to the polls. <em><strong>And this is where the current head of the regime has a problem.</strong></em></p><p>Because it doesn't really matter how many percentages he has–-four or how many. Other things are important: that his rating, according to our data–-they are objective in nature–-is exactly two times less than that of his possible closest political rival. This is Mr. Zaluzhny, a former commander of the armed forces of Ukraine, who was exiled to London—he has exactly twice the rating.</p><p>And if you add to this the possible support of this possible candidate from other political figures, including former prime ministers or former presidents,<em><strong> then the current head of the regime has absolutely no chance of winning the election.</strong></em> They are zero. But if, of course, it is rude to rig something, but this is also bad for him–-it will be very noticeable.</p><p>Therefore, it is a factor in the decomposition of the army, society, and the state. And the current President [of the United States] Trump probably understands this and pushes him to choose. He wants to do something, as I see it: he wants to improve the situation, the political situation in Ukraine, consolidate society, create conditions for the survival of the Ukrainian state.<em><strong> And in general, this is not so much for the benefit of Russia, since we still have a conflict with the current regime, as it is for the benefit of Ukraine itself.</strong></em></p><p>Among other things, the current President has announced that he wants to achieve peace–-<em><strong>and so do we, by the way</strong></em>–-as quickly as possible. And the current head of the regime is on the way to achieving this goal. Hence,I think, the position of the President of the United States. And it is not related to the fact that this is in our Russian interests, it is most likely in the interests of Ukraine, the Ukrainian state, in order to preserve Ukrainian statehood. <em><strong>We have nothing against this either. </strong></em>Although, of course, we would like this territory not to be used as a springboard for an attack on the Russian Federation,<em><strong> not to be used as a springboard hostile to us, so that eventually it turns into a friendly neighboring state.</strong></em></p><p><strong>P. Zarubin:</strong> We hear a lot of different statements from Trump every day. You've met him more than once, and you recently had a phone conversation with him. Does he act on the basis of emotions?</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Of course not. Naturally, the current head of the regime in Kiev gives a reason to show these emotions. But from what I have just said, something completely different emerges: these actions are based, rather, not on emotions, but on cold calculation, on a rational approach to the current situation.</p><p>In the current situation, we, oddly enough, frankly speaking, were interested in him sitting there and further corrupting the regime with which we are in an armed conflict. And from the point of view of the interests of strengthening Ukrainian statehood, here, of course, we need to act, apparently, more energetically and in a completely different direction–-<em><strong>to bring to power people who will enjoy the trust of the people of Ukraine.</strong></em></p><p><strong>P. Zarubin:</strong> But do the Europeans generally understand, in your opinion, the essence of the current situation around Ukraine?</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> You should ask them that. <em><strong>Judging by the way they act, I don't think they really understand.</strong></em> But that's not even the point. The fact is that, unlike the new President of the United States, <em><strong>the political leaders of European states are connected with the current regime and are biased.</strong></em> And they have said too much and promised too much, and now, sorry for the simplicity of the expression, it is very difficult or almost impossible for them to "steer away" from this position without losing face. And given that they are in a rather difficult and responsible internal political period of elections, re-elections, difficulties in parliaments, and so on, it is almost impossible for them to change their position.</p><p>Unlike them, the current President of the United States, the new President, the newly elected President–-he has free hands, he is free from these fetters that do not allow us to move forward and work towards resolving the conflict, and in his character, probably, he acts directly and without any special restrictions. His position is unique: <em><strong>he doesn't just say what he thinks, but he says what he wants.</strong></em> Well, this is the privilege of the leader of one of the major, great powers.</p><p><strong>Pavel Zarubin:</strong> A few days ago in St. Petersburg, I asked you that everyone now wants to have a certain voice in the Russian-American negotiations, but the Europeans continue to insist on having a voice in the negotiations around Ukraine.</p><p>How do you view this?</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> I don't see anything wrong here. Probably, no one can demand anything here, especially from Russia, even if they demand it from someone else. They have been demanding anything from their vassals for thousands of years, and now they are already being asked. <em><strong>So let them sit at home with their demands and think about how they got to this life.</strong></em></p><p>But their participation in the negotiation process is in demand, of course. And we never refused, we had constant discussions with them. It was at some point, under all sorts of far-fetched ideas to defeat Russia on the battlefield, that they themselves refused to contact us. If they want to come back, please.</p><p>I saw the reaction to our telephone conversation with the US President, and I saw the reaction to the high-level meeting in Riyadh. It is really emotional and devoid of any practical meaning. Why? <em><strong>Because in order to solve complex and even acute issues, including on the Ukrainian track, both Russia and the United States must take the first step.</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>What is it? This first step should focus on increasing the level of trust between the two countries. This is exactly what we have been doing in Riyadh, and this is what our next high-level contacts will be devoted to. Without this, it is impossible to solve any issue, including one as complex and acute as the Ukrainian crisis.</strong></em></p><p>But what does the Europeans have to do with it? This concerns bilateral Russian-American relations. Why do we need them here? What will they do here? Both in the telephone conversation, by the way, and at the meeting in Riyadh, of course, we touched upon the problems related to the Ukrainian crisis, but it was not really discussed in itself. <em><strong>We just agreed that we will approach it.</strong></em> In this sense, and in this case, of course, we do not refuse the participation of European countries.</p><p>I would like to emphasize that we also respect the position of our BRICS friends, who created the peace group. I just spoke with the President of the People's Republic of China today, and we also discussed this. He informed me that the Friends of Peace group will meet again in New York in the near future to discuss this issue.</p><p>We not only welcome, but also thank all our partners who raise these issues and strive for peace to be achieved. What am I talking about? <em><strong>Not only Europeans, but also other countries have the right and can participate, and we respect this.</strong></em></p><p><strong>P. Zarubin:</strong> I would like to ask you to comment on a few more statements by Trump, which, as I said, are very numerous.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> But not everything, okay?</p><p><strong>Pavel Zarubin:</strong> But not all of them. He, for example, said that he wants to suggest that you and the head of China cut defense budgets in half. How do you like this idea?</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> I know, I can guess what this is based on. This is based, apparently, on the calculations of one, I think, of the British research centers, where our spending on purchasing power parity was calculated. <em><strong>Last year, the United States had, in my opinion, already 968 billion dollars, and if you add up Russian and Chinese expenditures, then the figures are roughly equal-–Russian and Chinese together, if you compare them with American ones</strong></em>.</p><p>First, we need to calculate all this. Calculations of the British center; this may be correct, or it may not be very correct or completely incorrect, you need to look at it. First.</p><p>Second. I can't comment in any way on how the People's Republic of China will react to this. There were various approaches from the American side regarding strategic offensive weapons and other very serious issues. Therefore, this is a matter for the People's Republic of China. But we could negotiate with the United States, and we don't mind. I think the idea is good: the United States would cut by 50 percent, and we would cut by 50 percent. and the People's Republic of China would then join if it wants to.<em><strong> We believe that the proposal is good and we are ready to discuss it.</strong></em></p><p><strong>Pavel Zarubin:</strong> Trump also imposed tariffs on 25 percent of steel and aluminum imports from all countries. And we once worked well with the United States on the topic of aluminum. How do you like this trade policy?</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Right now I don't want to comment on the trade policy of the United States, which has been linked to sanctions for many years. We consider these sanctions illegal and harmful for world trade and the economy. And it, in my opinion, damages both us and those who impose these sanctions.</p><p>And as for trade policy, increased rates, duties, and so on: it is each country that determines independently what is profitable and what is unprofitable for it. I can understand the logic-–to drag production to myself, create jobs, force taxes to be paid to all levels of the tax system, and so on.<em><strong> But at some stage, of course, these actions will face certain difficulties associated with inflationary pressures, with an increase in the cost of goods, and so on</strong></em>. But experts know this, and they will tell you in detail.</p><p>As for aluminum, in 2017, in my opinion, we supplied about 15 percent of all American imports–-about 15 percent came from Russia. In general, the United States, if my memory serves me correctly, produces about 60 percent of the necessary aluminum itself, while 40 percent is imported. Here 15 percent came from the Russian Federation. The main importer today is Canada.</p><p>If a decision is made to open the American market to our producers, we could sell about 2 million tons on the American market. This would not significantly affect the price formation, but, in my opinion, it would still have a restraining effect on price stabilization.</p><p>In addition, and what is most important, in my opinion, is that we could think together with American companies about working together in this area. For example, in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, back in Soviet times, there were plans to build a new hydroelectric power station and create additional aluminum production facilities. <em><strong>After all, aluminum is, first of all, energy, and preferably cheap energy.</strong></em> Hydroelectric power is cheap, and among other things, it is also environmentally friendly.</p><p><em><strong>That is why, I repeat, there are such plans since the Soviet era, but these are capital-intensive, investment-intensive projects: according to preliminary estimates, it cost or will cost about $15 billion at today's prices.</strong></em> We can think about it.</p><p>Yes, the policy of the current President today is to place production on the territory of the United States. But if American companies work for us, this is also a benefit, and a considerable one, because both companies will earn decent money, and the corresponding volumes of aluminum will be supplied to the domestic market at absolutely acceptable market prices. There is much to think about here, as well as joint work on rare and rare-earth metals, and in other areas, including, for example, energy.</p><p><strong>Pavel Zarubin:</strong> By the way, a few minutes ago I read another piece of news from the United States: President Trump said that the United States and Russia are discussing major economic projects in the framework of negotiations on Ukraine.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin: </strong><em><strong>Yes, some of our companies are in contact with each other and discuss such projects.</strong></em></p><p><strong>Pavel Zarubin:</strong> Thank you very much.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Thank you. [My Emphasis]</p></blockquote><p>Putin is dangling carrots in front of Trump. But today in Trump’s meeting with Macron and at the following presser he again stepped on a rake. I reported this news posted by Dr. Gilbert Doctorow at MoA about an hour ago:</p><blockquote><p>Indeed, and judging from what I heard in the televised press conference of Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump in Washington earlier today, the road to peace just got that much longer and more problematic due to Trump’s seeming acceptance of the latest French suggestions about a European peace-keeping force to be deployed in Ukraine with unspecified back-up from the Americans.</p><p>The underlying assumptions stated clearly by Macron are unworkable because they cannot and will not be accepted by the Russian side. It is precisely the Minsk 3.0 formula that Moscow has denounced. </p></blockquote><p>Here’s my commentary to the above: “And there's more. So far Doctorow reports there's been no official reaction; he thinks one or several will appear tomorrow. Trump's words today show why Russia sees the Outlaw US Empire as agreement incapable because it has less than zero credibility. Trump might say tomorrow that he was merely telling Macron what he wanted to hear, but that excuse worsens the situation. The Riyadh meeting was to begin a series of confidence building actions by both sides. Trump just undermined all that today.”</p><p>Were Trump’s words based on “emotions”? I wonder how Russians will feel about having the Outlaw US Empire that has spent 11 years at war with their nation becoming a partner in some very key, strategic, undertakings that as Putin has stated are vital to Russia’s security and its future. IMO, the reaction will be mixed and likely heated. Will the economic carrots be seen correctly or will reaction to Trump/Macron drown all that out? </p><p>*<br>*<br>*<br><em>Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a <strong>monthly/yearly pledge</strong> to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!</em></p><p></p><p></p><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe now","action":null,"class":null}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>   </p><p></p>

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guid: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/the-ukraine-conflicts-legal-issues
title: The Ukraine Conflict's Legal Issues
author: ;Karl Sanchez
link: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/the-ukraine-conflicts-legal-issues
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content:
<div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1f7f033-4783-4438-a184-1abb1ffaa932_1024x850.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1f7f033-4783-4438-a184-1abb1ffaa932_1024x850.jpeg" width="1024" height="850" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d1f7f033-4783-4438-a184-1abb1ffaa932_1024x850.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":850,"width":1024,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":108062,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/157926046?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1f7f033-4783-4438-a184-1abb1ffaa932_1024x850.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt="" fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p><p>Today’s primary topic at the Moon of Alabama blog was “<a href="https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/02/does-trump-really-have-a-plan-for-ukraine.html">Does Trump Really Have A Plan For Ukraine</a>?” The question elicited many comments some of which actually sought to provide an answer. For many months now, my approach to finding a solution for the Ukraine conflict rests on a pile of legalities that begin with the 2014 Coup. My initial comment and answer started the second page of comments and said the following:</p><blockquote><p>In <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0pOQpvUYCw">his chat with Judge Napolitano</a>, Ambassador Chas Freeman said that Trump is "foreclosing" on Ukraine, but aside from that Trump has no outstanding plan as he has no cards to play. Putin in his <a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/p/zarubin-interviews-putin">interview with Zarubin</a> presented a variety of carrots aimed at furthering the improvement of relations. However, it's very clear that Russia is in no hurry to reach a negotiated end, although it does want one that specifically conforms to Russia's desires. That sentence paraphrases numerous Russian officials recently and over many previous months and must be considered Russian policy.</p><p>But the issue is whether or not Trump has an actual plan. Perhaps Witkoff's statement about using the abandoned Istanbul grounds as a starting point--a position that Putin has forwarded--IMO is what the US will use as its initial negotiating point, and some of the points raised within that aborted treaty have been floated as balloons by Team Trump.</p><p>The big disconnect by many that swallowed the false narrative for this war is that NATO/Outlaw US Empire have/are suffered/suffering a decisive defeat at the hands of Russia--no matter how badly they thirst to defeat Russia they cannot in any way whatsoever attain that goal, now or at anytime in the future. <strong>The very longstanding War against the Russian Empire, USSR, and Russian Federation is over</strong>, and all those Hawks cannot accept that primary fact.</p><p>Some in the EU have a plan for the future, but the vast majority don't. They are stuck inside a hamster wheel of their own creation and don't know how or don't want to leave it. Trump clearly has escaped the hamster wheel but remains in the cage and is looking for an exit. Rhetorically he's trying very hard to absolve the Outlaw US Empire of its guilt in having started this war of aggression against Russia. Witkoff and others have flipped the Narrative and now say the war was provoked, which we all know since the world's aware of Nuland's confession to Pyatt. No amount of spin can deny that basic fact. But I don't see Trump's rhetoric fooling much of the world.</p><p>IMO, Trump will have some inner disappointment that the treaty ending the Empire's conflict with Russia won't be ready to sign on 9 May. I'll be surprised if it's ready by 4 July. Remember, the biggest, most important part of this treaty will be the new Eurasian Security Structure, for that will need to be ready for Russia to end its SMO. Does Team Trump know that's what it will be tasked to do? Gabbard might. IMO, Trump may also be realizing he has few cards to play against China, too. Trump has slowed the speed of the Outlaw US Empire's plumet into the abyss created by its decline but it's still headed downward. What his administration does until the next one supplants it will determine how hard the landing is.</p><p>Posted by: <a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/">karlof1</a> | Feb 25 2025 19:52 utc | <a href="https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/02/does-trump-really-have-a-plan-for-ukraine.html?cid=6a00d8341c640e53ef02e860e3852f200b#comment-6a00d8341c640e53ef02e860e3852f200b">101</a></p></blockquote><p>It was a rather general comment that answered the question but posed another, which is why doesn’t Trump have a plan? The thread’s content deviated wildly from the initial question because of the news that some sort of deal was made over the funding/rare earths issue that in reality is neither here nor there as many have noted since they’re mostly within the territory Russia controls and those that exist are economically unviable—too expensive to extract. Fellow substack author Roger Boyd then replied and noted Russia’s military situation will dominate the outcome to which i replied:</p><blockquote><p>Roger Boyd | Feb 25 2025 20:19 utc | 114--</p><p>Thanks for your reply. it appears my analysis is too long for barflies to read and comment upon. Yes, Russia's military hasn't stopped and is currently creating more hotspots along the FEBA. Russia just completed the capture of a very stubborn locale that will allow it to bound forward. The decision to end the Kusk incursion instead of using it as a major meat grinder is now in motion with the aim of turning it into a vast cauldron. And there remains the need to secure all the new oblasts which means crossing the Dnieper to retake Kherson and beyond.</p><p>IMO, Russia's political position is rock solid and immovable. <a href="https://sonar21.com/trump-and-europe-fail-to-realize-that-russia-has-a-vote/">Larry Johnson offers evidence</a> related to what I wrote about the inability of the Cold Warriors to accept the reality that they've lost the longstanding War against Russia:</p></blockquote><blockquote><p>I hope the Russians understand that Donald Trump’s views towards Russia reflect a minority view in the United States. Most of the Republican and Democrat politicians, as well as the majority of intelligence and defense officers, see no difference between the Russia that exists today and the Soviet Union. Today, for example, a friend shared an email with me that he received from his buddy, a recently retired CIA case officer who is still doing contract work for the Agency. I am an acquaintance of that former CIA officer. In the email he voiced outrage at Trump “<strong>cozying up</strong>” to Putin and exclaimed: “<strong>I’ve spent forty years fighting those bastards and Trump is surrendering</strong>.” [Emphasis Original]</p></blockquote><blockquote><p>IMO, Russia's well aware of that since it's constantly reminded by Europeans daily.</p><p>Another reason for Trump's seeming inaction/lack of plan is that he knows getting any treaty ratified that can be interpreted as the US being the loser will have little chance of getting the required 2/3s Senate approval. That's a very real consideration I've seen no one mention. In other words, attaining peace with Russia doesn't depend on Trump; it depends on the US Senate.</p><p>Posted by: <a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/">karlof1</a> | Feb 25 2025 21:40 utc | <a href="https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/02/does-trump-really-have-a-plan-for-ukraine.html?cid=6a00d8341c640e53ef02e860fa9072200d#comment-6a00d8341c640e53ef02e860fa9072200d">158</a></p></blockquote><p>This was the first major legal consideration I mentioned aside from who was responsible for the war. Further replies caused further musings with this one being the first:</p><blockquote><p>Absolutely an issue, especially about the Senate and public opinion. Nothing will get through the Senate right now. RF knows this for certain.</p><p>But I'm not really sure peace requires the US to be a party to any treaties. The US is not a belligerent even though a case may be made to the contrary. It depends upon the scope of the security architecture.</p><p>Posted by: frithguild | Feb 25 2025 21:48 utc | <a href="https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/02/does-trump-really-have-a-plan-for-ukraine.html?cid=6a00d8341c640e53ef02e860e387e7200b#comment-6a00d8341c640e53ef02e860e387e7200b">161</a></p></blockquote><p> This prompted the following reply:</p><blockquote><p>frithguild | Feb 25 2025 21:48 utc | 161--</p><p>Thanks for your reply. Several months ago I wrote about the legal snags related to the composing of any peace treaty. Legally, the war began with the 2014 Coup that was instigated by the Outlaw US Empire that amounted to a declaration of war for we know the aim was to capture Crimea for use by NATO and to destroy any pro-Russian sympathy and resistance by ethnic Russians and Russian speaking Ukrainians. Russia effectively declared war with its alliance with the Donbass Republics that it then legally annexed upon the choice of the Republic's citizenry. Although the Outlaw US Empire was the clear initiator, NATO soon became the main Ukrainian ally and thus partner in the Empire's war against Russia. So, we have four main players: Russia, NATO, Ukraine, and the Outlaw US Empire. IMO, those are the parties that will need to agree on the peace treaty, which makes that treaty the perfect vehicle for the establishment of a new Eurasian Security Structure that doesn't include NATO.</p><p>Now, given that we can see that it will take months of negotiations to arrive at what Russia will accept. So, militarily Ukraine may well be defeated in 2025 but the treaty formally ending the war might not be concluded until 2027. And even then, it's very possible the US Senate will reject it. Indeed, the 2026 midterm elections for the Senate may well be decided on that one issue.</p><p>Posted by: <a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/">karlof1</a> | Feb 25 2025 22:10 utc | <a href="https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/02/does-trump-really-have-a-plan-for-ukraine.html?cid=6a00d8341c640e53ef02c8d3cce908200c#comment-6a00d8341c640e53ef02c8d3cce908200c">169</a></p></blockquote><p>While I was composing the above, by buddy psychohistorian wrote:</p><blockquote><p>In response to<br>"<br>Another reason for Trump's seeming inaction/lack of plan is that he knows getting any treaty ratified that can be interpreted as the US being the loser will have little chance of getting the required 2/3s Senate approval. That's a very real consideration I've seen no one mention. In other words, attaining peace with Russia doesn't depend on Trump; it depends on the US Senate.</p><p>Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 25 2025 21:40 utc | 158<br>"</p><p>You are correct and it says that Russia needs to continue its SMO until Ukraine surrenders and exclude the US from negotiations of surrender.....how can they assert agency in conflict if no boots on the ground?.../s</p><p>Russia executing their SMO to conclusion in Ukraine makes some things simpler. Since Ukraine is not part of NATO, Europe will have to stand back and decide how they want to proceed into the new normal. Trump can resume relations with Russia unhindered by the Ukraine situation, eh?</p><p>I posit that Ukraine will surrender before any potential Trump/Putin meeting to focus on Ukraine. I have been wrong with most of my prognostications but that doesn't stop me, though it might have slowed me down.</p><p>Posted by: <a href="http://www.lettinggobreath.com/">psychohistorian</a> | Feb 25 2025 22:02 utc | <a href="https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/02/does-trump-really-have-a-plan-for-ukraine.html?cid=6a00d8341c640e53ef02e860fa90d4200d#comment-6a00d8341c640e53ef02e860fa90d4200d">166</a></p></blockquote><p>He then followed with this:</p><blockquote><p>@ karlof1 | Feb 25 2025 22:10 utc | 169 who seemingly differs with me in believing that the US has agency to end a proxy war with a US treaty approved by congress.</p><p>I think the SMO is between Russia and Ukraine and it will be concluded between those two parties w/o a US treaty in the middle......in 2025</p><p>Posted by: <a href="http://www.lettinggobreath.com/">psychohistorian</a> | Feb 25 2025 22:20 utc | <a href="https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/02/does-trump-really-have-a-plan-for-ukraine.html?cid=6a00d8341c640e53ef02e860fa9106200d#comment-6a00d8341c640e53ef02e860fa9106200d">174</a></p></blockquote><p>You see how cross-posting messes with the discourse. Here’s my reply:</p><blockquote><p>psychohistorian | Feb 25 2025 22:02 utc | 166--</p><p>Thanks for your reply. The legal issues are bigtime queer, some of which I outlined @169. Indeed, Putin has hammered the point that Zelensky is illegitimate and thus cannot legally sign anything. That the head of the Rada might do so is possible but not 100% certain the last time I heard Putin mention that possibility. Given all that, it appears that there are only two parties to any peace treaty--Russia and Ukraine. Thus, there's no place for any NATO state or any other. Now, it's possible for another party to negotiate on Ukraine's behalf--be its power of attorney in the matter--but such an entity must be assigned by Ukraine, and as far as I'm aware, Trump nor anyone else has been so empowered. But the entity that must agree and sign is Ukraine and no one else.</p><p>All that seems to me to be correct. There are no direct, legal declarations of war by any of the parties, only de facto declarations. Now, the 2014 Outlaw US Empire coup could or perhaps ought to be seen as an act of aggression against Ukraine and that the war began between the Empire and Ukraine with the Empire employing its Terrorist Nazi Expeditionary Legion as its troops at the outset. The question arises: How were proxy or undeclared wars legally resolved in the past? I presume many never had any legal resolution.</p><p>And all of that prompts more musings.</p><p>Posted by: <a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/">karlof1</a> | Feb 25 2025 22:39 utc | <a href="https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/02/does-trump-really-have-a-plan-for-ukraine.html?cid=6a00d8341c640e53ef02e860fa915d200d#comment-6a00d8341c640e53ef02e860fa915d200d">180</a></p></blockquote><p> And again:</p><blockquote><p>psychohistorian | Feb 25 2025 22:20 utc | 174--</p><p>Again, thanks for your replies--they prod me to think. AS you see at my @180, I agree that Trump has no agency to negotiate for Ukraine. Perhaps that's why at Riyadh only the resumption of relations were discussed. Imagine a court case built around the events before, during and after the coup. We have a confession as to who was responsible for the Maidan and coup violence as provided by Nuland which establishes the fact that the Outlaw US Empire invaded and took over the Ukraine government. Thus, it must be assumed that all further actions beyond then were driven by the Outlaw US Empire as there was no freedom allowed for Ukrainians to declare their self-determination. In other words, everything that has occurred within Ukraine since the coup is illegitimate--<strong>everything</strong>.</p><p>I recall an interview with Putin from 2024 when he shrugged his shoulders and asked who do I negotiate with--who's legitimate? Where's Judge Judy?</p><p>Posted by: <a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/">karlof1</a> | Feb 25 2025 22:55 utc | <a href="https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/02/does-trump-really-have-a-plan-for-ukraine.html?cid=6a00d8341c640e53ef02e860fa918c200d#comment-6a00d8341c640e53ef02e860fa918c200d">182</a></p></blockquote><p>My buddy appears to be getting flustered, but I know it’s because we’re not conversing naturally as we do when we chat. Here’s my next:</p><blockquote><p>In response to my friend Karl<br>"<br>How were proxy or undeclared wars legally resolved in the past? I presume many never had any legal resolution.</p><p>And all of that prompts more musings.</p><p>Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 25 2025 22:39 utc | 180<br>"</p><p>How about Korea, Afghanistan, ???? was something signed with Vietnam?</p><p>Might-Makes-Right has been the only 'legal' resolution for humans for a long time....the paper niceties are part of the show.</p><p>Let me be clear, Trump wants peace through hegemony, not win-win cooperation and we have yet to see him having to face the loss of God Of Mammon empire....increased bloviating and threatening.</p><p>Again, let me remind that there is reality and then there is narratives created and pushed by those that can't accept reality. Europe is going to push its narrative just like Trump will push his but Russia has the straight-flush reality on the ground.</p><p>Posted by: <a href="http://www.lettinggobreath.com/">psychohistorian</a> | Feb 25 2025 23:08 utc | <a href="https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/02/does-trump-really-have-a-plan-for-ukraine.html?cid=6a00d8341c640e53ef02c8d3cce9f6200c#comment-6a00d8341c640e53ef02c8d3cce9f6200c">188</a></p></blockquote><p>And my reply and attempt to ease his frustrations:</p><blockquote><p>psychohistorian | Feb 25 2025 23:08 utc | 188--</p><p>Thanks for your reply. Yes, I understand the Might Makes Right solution. The problem is that can't become the basis for the solution because the Eurasian Security Pact must be a collective, law-based, solution, and arriving at that Pact is the key to establishing the peace. Fortunately, the Outlaw US Empire isn't going to be invited to that Pact, so the Senate is no worry.</p><p>The basic issue of ending the SMO once Russia attains its goals is simple. Putin, however, is a strict constructionist type and will insist on following international legalities--something the West never does--and self-determination will be offered those remaining within the confines of the current Ukraine as if it's a colony undergoing decolonization, which is very close to the situation's reality. Will a Ukraine state even exist after that? If it does, will it be held responsible for the debts of the previous Ukraine? I would think not.</p><p>The world--Humanity--must evolve to the rule of law instead of the rule of the gunman/gunmen otherwise wars will continue to be waged, and the Cult of Mammon will never be defeated.</p><p>Posted by: <a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/">karlof1</a> | Feb 25 2025 23:48 utc | <a href="https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/02/does-trump-really-have-a-plan-for-ukraine.html?cid=6a00d8341c640e53ef02c8d3cceaaa200c#comment-6a00d8341c640e53ef02c8d3cceaaa200c">204</a></p></blockquote><p> And now we get closer to the heart of the bigger problem with Trump:</p><blockquote><p>@ karlof1 | Feb 25 2025 23:48 utc | 204 with the follow up...thx</p><p>I think Ukraine is facing unconditional surrender whereas the deal Trump just made with Ukraine may complicate that...what will Russia say to a conditional surrender that honors the new US/Ukraine agreement? I think they will say, "Stuff it!"</p><p>The problem for Trump is that it is going to be hard to move through this transition to multipolarity and equality of nations....Trump will push for a section of the world to rule over and will be politely told NO FUCKING WAY! by both Russia and China and the RoW.</p><p>Posted by: <a href="http://www.lettinggobreath.com/">psychohistorian</a> | Feb 25 2025 23:59 utc | <a href="https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/02/does-trump-really-have-a-plan-for-ukraine.html?cid=6a00d8341c640e53ef02e860fa9269200d#comment-6a00d8341c640e53ef02e860fa9269200d">206</a></p></blockquote><p>I appreciate my buddy psychohistorian for carrying on the discourse since no other participant really entered. A Might is Right conclusion would see most of Ukraine absorbed back into Russia from whence it came with the odd outliers returning to the nations they were snipped from. The Eurasian Security Pact would be concluded with non-NATO Eurasia since most are already in favor. Once NATO dissolves then individual nations could apply to enter the Pact. All Cold Warriors would be as livid as they are now and will die that way. That’s the simple solution.</p><p>A negotiated peace poses many more legal issues as I outlined above. The first point involves determining who the genuine parties are to the negotiating process. Russia clearly invaded Ukraine citing UN Charter Article 51 that it was defending the Donbass Republics, but against who? As noted above, no legitimate entity ever replaced the Outlaw US Empire running Ukrainian political processes—Ukrainians were he puppets with the string-pullers always backstage. It could be argued that the regime that signed the Minsk Agreements was deemed legitimate by the UNSC as it became a UNSC Resolution. I that case, then there are only wo parties to the negotiations—Russia and Ukraine: No NATO since Ukraine’s government is deemed   legitimate. So, why is Trump involved or the EU/NATO? They deny being at war with Russia but insist on being part of the negotiating process. Sorry, but only those officially at war are allowed—unless one or both of the parties appoints an agent(s) to represent it. (An aside, Ukrainians ought to sue the Outlaw US Empire for waging war on it in 2014 that caused the change in government and subsequent hostilities with Russia and demand many Trillions in damages.) Not only has Zelensky issued an edict not to negotiate with Russia, he hasn’t appointed any agent to represent Ukraine as to do so would violate his edict. As Putin has said many times, the edict must be removed before talks can commence. In this scenario, some portion of the current Ukraine is assumed to remain under the control of the current government, meaning that some form of non-NATO security arrangement will need to be agreed; and IMO, Russia will not sign a peace agreement that lacks a security arrangement it agrees with. And since Russia has said the SMO will continue until the peace settlement is finalized, denazification and demilitarization will continue. That’s the complicated solution. </p><p>Again, Trump needs no plan unless the Empire is to negotiate for Ukraine. If Team Trump is to negotiate for Ukraine, it will need to execute what Ukraine wants since the Empire is its agent, not its boss. Of course, Ukraine could choose another agent. And again, Zelensky’s illegitimate and thus has no standing to name any agent. IMO, he can’t even rescind his edict.  I’d love to run all this by a Russian official for an opinion. Russia says its position hasn’t changed, but there’re many little points that aren’t expressed in that overall position. As usual, the devil’s in the details. </p><p>How will Russia act? As a Great Power and impose Might is Right. Or will it stand by the legal UN process and confirm its word to be a defender of the UN Charter and pursue that slower route to arrive at the lasting peace it seeks?</p><p>*<br>*<br>*<br><em>Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a <strong>monthly/yearly pledge</strong> to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!</em></p><p></p><p></p><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe now","action":null,"class":null}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>        </p><p></p>

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guid: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/lavrov-in-qatar-important-remarks
title: Lavrov in Qatar: Important Remarks &amp; Q&amp;A
author: ;Karl Sanchez
link: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/lavrov-in-qatar-important-remarks
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content:
<div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff73f3b30-f9aa-4fbe-86fd-0f12d80f8be4_720x480.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff73f3b30-f9aa-4fbe-86fd-0f12d80f8be4_720x480.jpeg" width="720" height="480" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/f73f3b30-f9aa-4fbe-86fd-0f12d80f8be4_720x480.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":480,"width":720,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":81309,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/157974548?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff73f3b30-f9aa-4fbe-86fd-0f12d80f8be4_720x480.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt="" fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>More Shuttle Diplomacy by Lavrov as <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/2000130/">he visits Qatar</a> for critical talks. Much more than Ukraine was discussed as you’ll read:</p><blockquote><p>Dear Colleagues,</p><p>We completed our visit to Qatar, where we held meetings with Emir of the State of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.</p><p>We have long-standing good relations. Today, we reaffirmed our commitment to their all-round development based on the agreements reached during previous <a href="http://www.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/74468">contacts</a> between President Vladimir Putin and Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.</p><p>We talked about continuing meetings at various levels on various issues. The immediate task is to hold a regular meeting of the Joint Russian-Qatari Commission on Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation. It is scheduled for next month in Doha. Contacts between our foreign ministries are also ahead. We always keep in mind the possibility of holding high-level meetings. Both sides are interested in this.</p><p>We agreed to step up work in all areas, primarily in trade, the economy and energy within the framework of organisations such as the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Doha, including cooperation between the Qatar Investment Agency and the Russian Direct Investment Fund. There are also many plans for humanitarian exchanges, the encouragement of tourist trips and other cultural events.</p><p>We talked a lot and in detail about Middle Eastern affairs. First of all, from the point of view of the process that is unfolding in the Syrian Arab Republic after the change of power. <em><strong>We are interested in ensuring that this process does not get out of control and does not lead to internecine strife. </strong></em>Such risks remain. In some places, there are still clashes between various groups after the new government was established in Damascus. Many parts of Syrian territory are striving to separate themselves from the central authorities. This applies not only to the Kurds, who for many years under the Biden administration nurtured the idea of separatism (<em><strong>which is categorically unacceptable for all countries in the region, since it could lead to a major war</strong></em>), but also to other ethnic and religious groups that are not averse to taking advantage of the current situation to claim their rights to a certain autonomy.</p><p>In order to streamline these processes in some way and direct them into a single channel, the Syrian authorities recently held an All-Syrian National Congress, at which (as they announced) all political and ethnic and religious forces in Syria were represented.</p><p>A declaration has been adopted that positively calls for further work to be carried out transparently with the participation of all groups representing Syrian society and to create conditions for socioeconomic development and overcoming serious problems. They were "inherited" as a result of the unilateral "suffocating" sanctions that the United States and the Europeans imposed against the Assad government.</p><p>We spoke at the UN in favour of lifting all these sanctions immediately. They did not hit Bashar al-Assad and his government, but the Syrian people, and they continue to do the same under the government, which the West considers more acceptable than the previous government. We will raise this issue and seek the lifting of these unilateral sanctions without any conditions. <em><strong>The Europeans tried to put forward demands that any easing of the sanctions regime should involve "kicking out" Russia from the Syrian Arab Republic.</strong></em></p><p>This is the same mentality that has distinguished Europe in recent years – "either with us or against us." This was the case with preparing the ground for "tearing" Ukraine away from Russia, and in many other situations. <em><strong>This mentality everywhere has a disastrous effect on any processes</strong></em>. In general, even now, when the alignment of political forces in Ukraine (we talked about this today with Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani) is changing (which was evident <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1999857/">yesterday</a> in the UN vote), <em><strong>Europe is immediately trying to undermine this trend, announcing new large packages of military aid to Kiev, "instigating" it to continue hostilities, and openly declaring (as Danish Prime Minister Mark Frederiksen did) that in this situation peace for Ukraine is worse than war. Europe's role in "inflating" crises and its reputation in this field (which it has earned over many centuries of human development) remains in the same state.</strong></em></p><p>We are in favour of all external players (Arabs, the West, China, Russia and Iran) contributing to the normalisation of the situation in Syria. We know that the Syrian leadership (this was confirmed to us by our Qatari interlocutors) is interested in the fact that assistance to reforms and processes of normalisation of the situation in the country should proceed evenly and in a balanced manner, so that no one tries to subordinate these processes to their geopolitical goals. <em><strong>Syria no longer wants to be a territory where the geopolitical problems of external players are resolved.</strong></em></p><p>We paid special attention to another topic. This is the situation in the Palestinian-Israeli settlement and in relations between Israel and Lebanon. <em><strong>We are concerned that every day the Israeli army is taking additional steps that are not provided for in the agreements with Hamas and Lebanon, and which create facts on the ground that contradict the agreements and UN Security Council resolutions on Palestinian affairs and the Lebanese problem.</strong></em></p><p>In this regard, Qatar and the Russian Federation share the need to move the process towards compliance with the principles approved by the UN Security Council. The issue of creating a Palestinian state is a key one.<em><strong> If attempts are made to drag out these decisions of the Security Council and replace the creation of a Palestinian state with the "resettlement of Palestinians in the region", this will only plant a "time bomb", as has happened more than once in many decades of ignoring the demands for a two-state solution.</strong></em></p><p>We will continue consultations with Qatar. A useful dialogue is taking place between Russia and the League of Arab States within the framework of the joint format that exists between us. Our experts discuss all issues that need to be coordinated on a daily basis. We will use our opportunities in the international arena (including the UN) to ensure that the processes go on a constructive track. So far, this has not happened.</p><p>We pin our hopes on the conference of the League of Arab States, which they are convening in Cairo, where the future of the Gaza Strip will be discussed in the context of the initiatives that have been made, up to and including turning it into a tourist zone. <em><strong>The Arabs want the right of Palestinians to live on their land to be protected. This is what the summit will be about.</strong></em></p><p>On March 14, the Joint Committee of the League of Arab States and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation will meet in Istanbul, which will also consider approaches to regulating relations in the entire region. Israel – Palestine, Israel – Lebanon, Israel – Syria.</p><p>Israeli representatives, just as they decided to "linger" in southern Lebanon, have now "entered" the south of the Syrian Arab Republic. This creates a new situation and requires not just comprehension, but the development of some constructive steps that take into account the security and development interests of all countries in the region without exception, including, of course, Israel. But it is necessary to resolve issues of security and development not to the detriment of the security and development of others.</p><p><strong>Question: </strong>Qatar as a country has made a lot of efforts to ensure that children separated from their parents can be reunited. How do you see Qatar's further mediation in resolving the Ukrainian problem?</p><p><strong>Sergey Lavrov:</strong> Today, we once again expressed our appreciation and gratitude to Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani for the efforts that they are making in a business-like manner to assist in resolving humanitarian issues in relations between Russia and Ukraine. First of all, issues related to the return of children to their families. This work will continue, and we have been clearly told about this today.</p><p>We always welcome well-intentioned initiatives proposed by the countries of the region. In addition to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are doing useful work. We consider this to be a manifestation of goodwill, which benefits, first of all, specific people suffering from the conflict.</p><p>As for other areas of assistance from Qatar, we do not expect any special steps. <em><strong>We are waiting for our European colleagues to finally stop lying about Russia "blocking talks."</strong></em> President of Russia Vladimir Putin has repeatedly responded to these false statements, recalling that <em><strong>it is primarily the Ukrainian leadership, instigated by Europe, who refuses to negotiate.</strong></em> In addition to Vladimir Zelensky's notorious decree, which prohibits negotiations with the Russian Federation, <em><strong>we hear statements and assertions every day that there is no need to sit down at the negotiating table now, but that it is first necessary to ensure superiority on the battlefield. In this militant spirit, European countries are now promoting their hopelessly outdated and failed policy on Ukraine</strong></em>.</p><p>We proceed from the premise that the best help from those who sincerely want to help resolve the conflict is to understand its root causes. As US President Donald Trump did in his recent speeches, calling NATO expansion and the attempt to absorb Ukraine into the North Atlantic Alliance the biggest mistake of the Biden administration and one of the key reasons for unleashing this conflict.</p><p>Today, we once again drew attention to another outrageous reason that the West did its utmost to hush up until recently. Now it also continues to hush it up. The course of the regime that came to power as a result of a coup d'état and is aimed at exterminating everything Russian by adopting laws. Including in the field of education, the media and culture. Recently, the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church was banned. This is a direct violation of the <a href="https://www.un.org/ru/about-us/un-charter/full-text">UN Charter</a>, which demands respect for human rights, including and above all linguistic and religious rights. None of the Western representatives is talking about this.</p><p><em><strong>Therefore, promoting this truth, familiarizing ourselves with the facts that we constantly cite, and understanding the root causes will be the best contribution on the part of any country to creating the conditions for a fair settlement of this conflict.</strong></em></p><p><strong>Question: </strong>How do you see the prospects for further cooperation with Qatar in the energy sector?</p><p><strong>Sergey Lavrov:</strong> Qatar is one of the largest shareholders of Rosneft. This is a fairly stable process. Doha is the headquarters of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, an important structure that we value as ensuring harmony in the energy market, in particular natural gas.</p><p>Projects worth almost $1 billion are being implemented through cooperation between the Qatar Investment Agency and the Russian Direct Investment Fund. Projects worth an even larger amount are being considered for the future. Some of these agreements can be aimed at new forms of energy cooperation. This is up to the relevant ministries and companies to decide.</p><p><strong>Question:</strong> French President Emmanuel Macron said following talks with Donald Trump that the parties agreed on the need to deploy European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine after the end of the conflict. The Kremlin has repeatedly stated that Russia is not considering such a scenario. Which European countries (if not NATO) would Russia be ready to consider?</p><p><strong>Sergey Lavrov: </strong>We cannot consider any options. I do not know what President Emmanuel Macron said. He did not play his role very convincingly in Washington.</p><p>When this topic was touched upon at the news conference, President Donald Trump said that the decision to deploy peacekeeping forces is possible only with the consent of both sides.<em><strong> Apparently, he means us and Ukraine. No one asks us about this.</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>The approach imposed by the Europeans, primarily France, as well as the British, is again aimed at "heating up the conflict" further, suppressing any attempts to calm it down.</strong></em></p><p>In Washington, Emmanuel Macron spoke about the need for an urgent truce and the introduction of peacekeeping forces. Then, he said, we will talk about territories, the fate of people and other principles of settlement. This is cunning. It is impossible to reach an agreement that is aimed at achieving one single goal – to pump Ukraine with weapons again. <em><strong>On February 24, a large delegation from Europe arrived there and again announced multibillion-dollar arms supplies.</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>When the United States submits a resolution on the urgent need to move to peace, Europe votes against it. Then they confirm by their deeds that it does not want any peace, because its "wards" have not yet fulfilled their main tasks. True, these tasks are changing. Until recently, it was a "strategic defeat" against Russia, which the European Union and NATO repeated every day like a "mantra". Now President Emmanuel Macron said in Washington that it is necessary to achieve a settlement that will not look like capitulation.</strong></em></p><p>The "guys" navigate quickly, but not in everything. Therefore, talk about some kind of peacekeeping forces is all empty. <em><strong>The main thing is to destroy the root causes of the conflict.</strong></em> They are not in the absence of peacekeeping forces, but <em><strong>in drawing Ukraine into the North Atlantic Alliance with an eye to developing its territory to create a military infrastructure aimed against Russia and the total extermination of the rights of Russians and Russian speakers.</strong></em></p><p>Some say that there is an idea to leave the "line of contact". Firstly, this will not happen. There is a <a href="https://www.constitution.ru/">Constitution</a> based on the will of the people. Secondly, what "remains" of Ukraine should also be exempt from racist laws. People also remain there, who are more comfortable speaking Russian, and who want to preserve the traditions of their ancestors brought up in Russian culture.</p><p>Therefore, such "simple mechanical things" as the deployment of troops will not get off. It will be necessary to talk about the root causes.</p><p><strong>Question: </strong>Reuters previously reported that Moscow is considering the option of spending its frozen assets on the restoration of Ukraine, provided that some of them will be used for the needs of the new regions of Russia – the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions? Is Russia really considering this possibility or will it seek the full return of its assets?</p><p>Washington and Kiev are preparing to sign an agreement on rare earth metals, and a significant part of the reserves of these resources are located in four new regions of Russia. During the meeting in Riyadh and subsequent consultations, did you discuss production in these territories with the United States? When President Vladimir Putin invited American companies to mine in Russia, did he mean these four regions there?</p><p><strong>Sergey Lavrov:</strong> When the President or another representative of the Russian leadership invites foreign investors to participate in projects in Russia, he is of course referring to the entire territory of the Russian Federation, in full compliance with its Constitution.</p><p><em><strong>This issue was not touched upon or discussed at the meeting in Riyadh. </strong></em>We talked about the need to remove artificial obstacles to the development of mutually beneficial economic and other ties, which is in the interest of representatives of the relevant business structures in the United States and the Russian Federation, as it was emphasized in the telephone <a href="http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/76259">conversation</a> between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. But this is a "principle."<em><strong> First of all, we need to change the unhealthy and stupid situation that does not even allow for a conversation between the two leading great powers</strong></em>.</p><p>As for our assets that have been stolen by the Europeans. There have been no specific talks about this, but <em><strong>there is no doubt that this issue will not disappear as part of the settlement. The Americans also understand this.</strong></em></p><p>Secretary of State Miguel Rubio recently said that the issue of "frozen" Russian assets should be considered, and in conjunction with the steps taken by the Russian Federation in response that affect the interests of American companies. <em><strong>This is a healthy reflection on the need to abandon thieves' methods and not expect them to remain unanswered.</strong></em></p><p>Another interesting remark by French President Emmanuel Macron, who said "a lot of new things." When he was asked a question on the same topic, <em><strong>he said that Russian assets seized in Europe should not be touched, because this would be a violation of international law. And the profit they receive from these assets can be used to support Ukraine.</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>We would like to ask our French colleagues to explain in which international legal document it is allowed to use the profit from what you stole.</strong></em></p><p><strong>Question: </strong>You have already said that, first of all, you are going to resolve the issue with the embassies: Russia in the United States and the United States in Russia. Is there any scheme for discussing the topics or their sequence that will be discussed in the future? You said that Ribio is ready to discuss this issue. Will the issue be resolved? Will Russia insist on the return of these assets?</p><p><strong>Sergey Lavrov: </strong>This has nothing to do with the functioning of embassies. <em><strong>The issue of assets is a matter of the state level.</strong></em></p><p>We announced that our diplomats and high-level experts will meet and consider the systemic problems that have accumulated as a result of the previous administration's illegal activities to create artificial obstacles to the activities of the Russian embassy.</p><p>Naturally, we reciprocated this and also created uncomfortable conditions for the work of the American embassy in Moscow.</p><p><em><strong>Such a meeting will take place tomorrow in Istanbul. I think that its results will make it clear how quickly and effectively we can move.</strong></em></p><p><strong>Question: </strong>How can you comment on the results of the elections in Germany? What are Russia's expectations from Merz's policy?</p><p><strong>Sergey Lavrov: </strong>We have already made comments. Our ambassador to Berlin, Sergey Nechayev, gave his assessments. We see changes in Germany's domestic political landscape. Once again, there is a division into East and West of this country.</p><p>The East is more focused on resolving internal problems, which have been significantly exacerbated by Germany's thoughtless accession to anti-Russian sanctions, due to the fact that Germany "tucked its tail" after the terrorist attacks to blow up the Nord Stream gas pipelines and shamefully "dragged out" the investigation, although this undermined the sound foundations of the German economy, which allowed it to be a leader in European development for many decades. This is their choice.<em><strong> I think voters are beginning to better understand what is happening and who is advocating what.</strong></em></p><p>As for Mr Merz. He has specific approaches to Russia. For example, unlike Chancellor Olaf Scholz, he insisted on sending long-range Taurus missiles to the Ukrainians for attacks deep into the territory of the Russian Federation. When Germans actively nurture such ideas, it certainly evokes memories. <em><strong>But it must, first of all, bring back memories to the Germans themselves.</strong></em></p><p>Merz recently said that the United States can no longer be relied on. They will probably either remove their nuclear "umbrella" or will not use it, so it is necessary to reach a new agreement between the Europeans (within Europe, the European Union and NATO) <em><strong>that from now on France and Britain will provide a "nuclear umbrella" for Europe as two nuclear powers.</strong></em> There is no need to speculate how much this brings the "improvement of the situation" in Europe closer.</p><p>Therefore, so far, Mr Merz has quite aggressive views. It often happens that when a person turns from a candidate into a functioning political statesman, in this case, into a chancellor, the views become more realistic. Let's see how this will happen if Mr Merz takes the chair of the German Chancellor. [My Emphasis]</p></blockquote><p>As Lavrov explained, the talks happening between Russia and the Outlaw US Empire only relate to reestablishing normal working relations. Nothing has begun on the issue of the Ukraine conflict. Lavrov noted the importance of what Trump said about who is engaged in that conflict—it doesn’t include the Empire; thus, the Empire has no standing in negotiations unless it acts as Ukraine’s agent. I’m not too surprised Lavrov said nothing about the illegitimacy of the mineral deal between Ukraine and the Empire. Those known as European elites have made it clear to all Europeans they have no interest in promoting peace. Presumably that was known to the German electorate before the elections, yet enough voted for the warmonger to make his party the top vote getter.  </p><p>After the funeral for Nasrallah, I expect Hezbollah to resume its war against the Zionists. I also expect Ansarallah to modify their reasons for attacking the Zionists to include the attempted genocide of all Palestinians within Occupied Palestine so it can aid those being attacked in the West Bank. As for the Arab and global Islamic nations, I don’t see them being capable of doing any more: Diplomacy is useless, so all that remains is going to war or continue sitting on your hands. What Iran will do remains a mystery as one faction says an attack will occur while another says it won’t. Hypothetically there could be coordination between Iran, Egypt and Jordan, but that seems very unlikely.</p><p>Next up will from the Russian Foreign Ministry will be reaction to Starmer’s meeting with Trump and a recap of the talks in Istanbul.</p><p>*<br>*<br>*<br><em>Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a <strong>monthly/yearly pledge</strong> to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!</em></p><p></p><p></p><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe now","action":null,"class":null}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>        </p>

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guid: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/lukyanov-the-long-game-why-russia
author: ;Karl Sanchez
link: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/lukyanov-the-long-game-why-russia
hash: Ԏ<�B ��::4���?
title:
Lukyanov: The Long Game: Why Russia Should Resist the Temptation to Start a "New Romance" with the United States

content:
<div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F60196f6f-9b21-4fb7-9b51-15aa8741b945_1200x751.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F60196f6f-9b21-4fb7-9b51-15aa8741b945_1200x751.jpeg" width="1200" height="751" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/60196f6f-9b21-4fb7-9b51-15aa8741b945_1200x751.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":751,"width":1200,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":163150,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/158055401?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F60196f6f-9b21-4fb7-9b51-15aa8741b945_1200x751.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt="" fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p><p>This essay <a href="https://profile.ru/abroad/igra-vdolguju-pochemu-rossiya-ne-dolzhna-poddavatsya-soblaznu-zakrutit-novyj-roman-s-soedinennymi-shtatami-1665677/">was published</a> in the Russian journal <em>Profile</em> on 24 February then translated, edited and <a href="https://www.rt.com/russia/613324-trumps-america-is-no-friend/">republished in English</a> by <em>RT</em> on 26 February as “Trump’s America is no friend – Russia must stay the course: Moscow must resist the illusion of a new romance with Washington.” In several previous translations, I’ve warned readers about <em>RT</em>’s manipulation during its editing that often alters the thesis of the original or adds other points not provided by the author. As Lukyanov’s title implies. his essay is a warning to beware the Outlaw U S Empire because its motives still aim at global control but via non-military means that it now lacks. So, continue to keep the goals of the Long Game front-and-center while critically examining short term possibilities. The reestablishment of relations with the Outlaw US Empire doesn’t imply those relations will automatically be friendly:</p><blockquote><p>Announcing the start of a special military operation on the territory of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Vladimir Putin listed the reasons that forced the use of force. In particular, he pointed to the enemy—"the entire so-called Western bloc, formed by the United States in its own image and likeness." "There is no need to be modest: the United States is still a great country, a backbone power," Putin said at the time. " All its satellites not only meekly and obediently agree, sing along with it on any occasion, but also copy its behavior, enthusiastically accept the rules proposed to it ..." This meant the readiness of the "collective West" (this concept became firmly established in our everyday life during the NWO [SMO]) to act against Russia at the behest of the hegemonic country.</p><p>In that speech, the passage about the structure of the West, frankly speaking, was not the main one, and the main news overshadowed everything else. And the whirlpool of further dizzying events swallowed up speculation about the nature of the opposing side for a long time. Moreover, the thesis about the "image and likeness" seemed to be fully confirmed. Europe and the Asian allies of the United States, despite serious losses, initiated a break with Russia. All the subsequent time, none of them even stuttered about the resumption of relations.</p><p><em><strong>Three years later, the question "what is the West?" suddenly turned out to be almost the key to the outcome of this entire complex collision.</strong></em> Donald Trump's return to the White House had the effect of a powerful volcanic eruption or a tectonic shift. First of all, this applies specifically to the Western, transatlantic association, the ground of which is slipping from under its feet. More precisely, to develop this metaphor, one of the two "legs" of the community suddenly kicked the other in a big way. Apparently, to make it move in rhythm, but now to walk in the opposite direction. The "limbs" that received a kick are painful and bitter, but they are not allowed to calm down and recover, continuing to shower them if not with blows, then with offensive abuse.</p><p>How will relations between the shores of the Atlantic develop further? Vladimir Putin does not deviate from the version of three years ago: the Europeans, although they do not like Trump, "will stand at the owner's foot and gently wag their tails" because they are good for nothing else. But Stephen Walt, an outstanding American international affairs expert, believes that allies offended by the US president will come to their senses, group and find an effective way to resist. <em><strong>What is the probability of each of the scenarios? And what does this mean for Russia?</strong></em></p><p><strong>Good with evil</strong></p><p>The speed and radicality of the actions of the team of the new owner of the White House is stunning. The most fervent of Russian talk shows are lost against the background of what the Trumpists and their leader say about Ukraine and Europe. The latter are shocked, since their own standard mantras about democracy and freedom are now turned against them, and even in a very harsh form. Trump seems to be in a hurry to knock out from under the Western structure the support that has supported it for decades.</p><p>The fact that it was the Ukrainian conflict that turned out to be the immediate reason for the dismantling work is paradoxical in its own way. Trump is not interested in Ukraine itself, he sees no point in the fact that America is drawn into this collision when Washington has a lot of much more important things to do (China, North and possibly South America, the Arctic North, and to some extent the Middle East). However, <em><strong>thanks to the efforts of the previous US president, what is happening in Ukraine has been elevated to the rank of a global battle between good and evil. The stakes, including propaganda ones, have been raised to the point that a smooth exit from the conflict with the previous approach has simply become impossible</strong></em>. Only up the spiral of military-political tensions–-it is no coincidence that the Biden administration until the last days directed everything it could to support the war.</p><p>Now everything has turned the other way. Since his predecessors/adversaries claimed that Ukraine is the most fundamental issue, then we will prove that it is just an empty malicious place. And, of course, not an entity whose opinion matters-–a country that lives at someone else's expense should simply do what the donor tells it.<em><strong> In Trump's view, Europe is a parasite that feeds on American money.</strong></em></p><p>The Trumpists' attack on those who have always been considered the closest partners is discouraging, and in the mouth of the US president himself, it turns grotesque. Where does so much passion come from? In part, it can be attributed to the peculiarities of Donald Trump's general style: this is his usual manner of assertively creating an information flow. Throwing in a thesis that confuses everyone, including the incorrectness of the data, he does not explain it in response to perplexed questions, but simply repeats it over and over again almost verbatim, achieving an addictive effect. You see, for the twentieth time, the thought no longer seems so extravagant. <em><strong>But this is a tactic. Strategically, Trump's foreign policy, oddly enough, follows the principles of the liberal school of international relations in the sense that it, foreign policy, is a continuation of domestic policy.</strong></em></p><p><strong>Bismarck vs. the Pope</strong></p><p>The fact that Trump and his associates, including natives of Silicon Valley led by Elon Musk, have set their sights on the Second American Revolution is said by them and some commentators. <em><strong>The practical task is to reduce the powers and prerogatives of the state, which have grown over the past century.</strong></em> The social system was not among the original ideas of the founding fathers but was gradually formed under the influence of public demands and the movement of the world in this direction. From the point of view of libertarians of various persuasions, this led to a drop in efficiency and a restriction of freedom. To the extent that the state arrogated to itself the right to regulate everything–-up to the imposition of the most absurd ideas of modern liberals ("identity politics", in which form completely defeated content, but at the same time turned into diktat).</p><p>The Joe Biden administration has become a symbol of this course within the United States, the decline of the previous policy was even expressed visually–-an incapable leader, urgently replaced by a blatantly incompetent successor. It was under Biden that the Western community, which had long been going through complex internal processes, again became "collective"–-the Ukrainian collision acted as a catalyst for unity. <em><strong>For Trump, Europe is not a component of the "collective West", but of the "collective Biden", especially since the European establishment passionately sided with the latter, the bone of his rival throughout the campaign.</strong></em></p><p>The Trumpists responded in a mirror manner–-they began to interfere in European electoral processes, encouraging parties friendly to them. In such an unceremonious form, this has previously happened only in the post-Soviet space. <em><strong>Europe is confused, convinces itself of its ability to cope with everything without the Americans, but no one knows how to do it</strong></em>. In rhetoric, the Europeans are trying to follow the logic of Steve Walt, but in practice they act as described by Putin. However, simply submitting to the current Washington seems to be not enough. The United States is aimed at "regime change" in order to continue working with like-minded people. It is assumed that they will be the ones who will "wag their tails".</p><p>The above is, of course, a simplified scheme. The transatlantic conglomerate is a well-built fortification capable of withstanding serious blows. However, there has never been such a powerful attack on it, especially from within. The "collective West" may suffer fatally because of the desire to renew its support–-the United States. If the renovationists succeed, which is not yet guaranteed at all, Europe will have to adapt. What is happening to some extent refers to the concept of "Kulturkampf"–-the struggle of the Prussian government against the influence of the Roman Catholic Church after the unification of Germany. Globalist liberals on both sides of the Atlantic act as the Holy See, and populists (it is noteworthy that Vance and his associates use this concept, which until recently was abusive, in a positive sense) in the role of Bismarck.</p><p>The European problem is aggravated by the fact that a hypothetical refusal to participate in the "West" as it was formed after World War II (<em><strong>before which there was no single political West</strong></em>) promises to plunge into the unknown. In the modern world, even the largest European countries individually are not able to play a role that they would consider worthy of themselves. And fantasies about a Sino-European rapprochement against the background of the Russian-American entente, of course, have nothing to do with reality.</p><p><strong>Majority and minority</strong></p><p>The author of these lines has already written on the pages of "Profile" that the main international result of the special military operation was the emergence of a phenomenon that we usually call the world majority. The vast community of countries preferred to distance themselves from the conflict that broke out, they evaded the West's insistent demands to join the anti-Russian sanctions coalition and aimed at extracting benefits for themselves. This was an unpleasant surprise for the United States and showed that the international environment is now arranged differently. Russia has an opportunity to establish qualitatively different relations with the non-Western part of the world</p><p>Now we are witnessing the second consequence of the NWO within the Western world. And hypothetically, it also opens up opportunities for Russia. <em><strong>Such an ideological unison as now between Moscow and Washington has not been observed for a long time.</strong></em> In the past, when this happened, the common denominator was the American agenda, but now it is rather the opposite. Russia and the United States are demonstrating mutual courtesy, especially impressive in contrast to the recent balancing on the brink of real war. The desire to build on success is understandable, especially since the turn to constructiveness symbolically coincided with the round anniversary of the Yalta Conference. <em><strong>But let's maintain a sober approach.</strong></em></p><p>A battle is going on inside the West, which is fundamentally important for its future. <em><strong>It turned out to be useful for one of the parties (America) to attract Russia. To some extent, this rapprochement corresponds to Russia's interests, the main thing is not to get drawn into someone else's confrontation. </strong></em>Here it is appropriate for Russia to take the position of the world majority-–we understand your problems, we are ready to cooperate, but only so far as possible. This is not even due to the fact that historically, Russia's involvement in Western political and ideological disputes has always backfired. First of all, the question is in relations with the rest of the world. And the general trend towards moving away from the long-term dominance of the West will continue, although the trajectory of movement may be very tortuous.</p><p>Trump's intention to make relations with allies as profitable as possible [for the Empire] is in preparatory work. The main one will begin at the next stage, when the United States will take on rivals of a large caliber, primarily China. In this situation, it will be important for Trump that Russia does not serve as a factor in strengthening Beijing, as he insisted during the 2016 election campaign. In his first term, everything went downhill for domestic American reasons, now Trump's ability to implement his intentions has increased. <em><strong>The current complete carte blanche is unlikely to last forever, but so far the degree of general inability to resist his pressure is impressive.</strong></em></p><p>For historical and cultural reasons, Russia is more comfortable doing business with interlocutors in the West than with representatives of other regions. The experience of the last three years has shown how difficult it is to build ties with new partners. On the one hand, there is a different psychology of contacts, on the other hand, the entire world infrastructure is still adapted to the central role of the United States and the West, and alternatives are difficult to provide. <em><strong>So the temptation to turn to the "good old man" exists, and it is understandable. But you can't succumb to it.</strong></em></p><p><strong>Finale before the sequel</strong></p><p>And the point, in general, is not in the eternal swing of relations between Russia and the West, and not in the changeability of fortune in elections. <em><strong>The direction of global transformation is more important. </strong></em>Russia's return to the path of its usual interaction with the West means cementing the Cold War scheme. This model locks Russia into the US/West, while the rest of the world will increasingly seek maximum diversification and evasion of binding relationships</p><p>Among the world majority, there is an idea of Russia as a subject primarily seeking recognition from the West, including through conflict. Accordingly, as soon as Western countries, having changed their anger to mercy, turn to Russia, it immediately turns away from all others, rushing towards new relations with the "partners of its dreams." <em><strong>How fair this assessment is is a separate question, but it is very common. If Moscow really behaves in accordance with this stereotype, it will be almost fatal for its future policy.</strong></em></p><p>The Ukrainian collision, as I have already written about in these pages, is not a battle for the future world order, but the finale (let's hope) of the Cold War, which lasted throughout the second half of the twentieth century.<em><strong> A successful military-political and diplomatic end to the conflict will undoubtedly strengthen Russia's position in the coming period. But precisely as a significant and independent participant in the unfolding big and intricate game.</strong></em> Not for world order, but for the acquisition and use of comparative advantages for a long period of poorly regulated international politics.<em><strong> One in which there will be no "new division of the world", because it is impossible to consolidate it.</strong></em></p><p>In the process of the game, everything will change. The West, which has entered a period of painful systemic transformation, moreover, not identical in its various components. Russia, which will have to reformulate goal-setting and expand the range of tools used. China, which has reached a level at which it is necessary to either "take profits" or enter a much riskier game. And so on.</p><p>Well, we have to repeat the banality. It is possible to play in such an environment only if there is a strong rear—resistant to any stresses of the state, in harmony with society. Without this, there will be nothing to play for. [My Emphasis]</p></blockquote><p>Who “owns” the Europeans, Trump or the Empire’s Deep State? It’s assumed that the Deep State wants its war against Russia to continue and that’s what the Europeans are agreeing to do. So, it appears Putin’s assessment is correct. But it Trump really “in a hurry” as he and his team attack Europeans? Another assessment sees Trump is attempting to make all nations including Europe dependent on the Outlaw US Empire geoeconomically. That was recently explained during a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS1HQq-29cU">Wolff/Hudson discussion</a> that covers much ground. Although he misses much of the nuances, Lukyanov is correct about Trump’s domestic policy fueling his foreign policy—For MAGA to have any chance of success, the world must be made dependent on products made within the Empire: That’s the goal behind the demand that NATO members raise weapons procurement to 5% of GDP.   </p><p>What is described as the “Second American Revolution” is actually Trump’s war on what’s known as the Deep State but is also known by political scientists as the Administrative State. Part of that effort involves reforming certain agencies like USAID, NED and others that have been very active in subversive attacks on governments via media and direct payments to friendly politicians and has produced evidence of massive corruption fueled by the Empire. What Trump wants to do is to rechannel those efforts to his allies, not those of the Bidensphere.  </p><p>Indeed, maintain your sobriety as Team Trump’s vision of global relations is vastly different from Russia and its many friends. The main point of Outlaw US Empire dogma remains intact: <em><strong>Everything</strong></em> must benefit America, for Team Trump are Exceptionalists <em>par exellance </em>and will continue to seek hegemony as more so than Biden<em> </em>the UN Charter is to be ignored. Team Trump has its own version of the rules based order.   </p><p>No new divisions means the end of the spheres of influence concept since all nations are to be treated as equals, which also means no hegemony. Those are two major points that both China and Russia enunciate at every opportunity, as does BRICS and other multilateral institutions. Yet, what’s perhaps the least understandable is the concluding paragraph. Here’s what <em>RT</em> wrote as a substitute:</p><blockquote><p>In this unpredictable landscape, only nations with internal stability and strategic patience will emerge as winners. Russia’s path forward lies not in returning to the past, but in shaping a future where it stands as a sovereign force in an increasingly fragmented world. </p></blockquote><p>I must admit RT’s substitution makes more sense, but was that the author’s intent? Perhaps he meant to be purposefully obtuse. Perhaps that was his way of protecting his musings, to show that in reality he’s groping in the darkness as are so many others? </p><p>*<br>*<br>*<br><em>Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a <strong>monthly/yearly pledge</strong> to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!</em></p><p></p><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe now","action":null,"class":null}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p>

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guid: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/why-eu-persists-in-war-its-lost
title: Why EU Persists in War It's Lost
author: ;Karl Sanchez
link: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/why-eu-persists-in-war-its-lost
hash: ���'�m�}�1t]#�:
content:
<div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1f0578af-11a0-475b-bcca-69c7f1a24113_1144x640.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1f0578af-11a0-475b-bcca-69c7f1a24113_1144x640.jpeg" width="1144" height="640" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/1f0578af-11a0-475b-bcca-69c7f1a24113_1144x640.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":640,"width":1144,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":91307,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/158075263?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1f0578af-11a0-475b-bcca-69c7f1a24113_1144x640.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt="" fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p><p>Why is the EU being seemingly insane to pursue a war that is clearly decidedly lost, a destiny it has no ability to alter now that the conflict’s #1 instigator is calling it quits, since for the Outlaw US Empire to continue would mean the need to confront Russia directly with forces and arms proven incapable of doing the job? We know the EU was told to “Fuck Off!” by Nuland just before the coup, but European actors still had a role to play, and they did so in their refusal to honor he deal signed by them 24 hours before. Then of course we had major EU actors again refusing to honor international law with the Minsk Agreements, the plan to agree then to dishonor was confessed which cost the lives of thousands. We well know the Outlaw US Empire’s role, but what of the EU? Did it have its own plan while sharing the Outlaw US Empire’s goal of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia? I his SCF article today, ‘<a href="https://strategic-culture.su/news/2025/02/27/baltic-black-sea-power-games-and-red-lines-intersect-in-strange-war/">Baltic/Black Sea power games and red lines intersect in a “strange war</a>.”’ Pepe Escobar provides his hypothesis based on his own investigations plus a critical article by Ilya Fabrichnikov, a member of Russia’s Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, that he says is a shortened version of the original which he didn’t link to and I couldn’t find. However, that shortened version was linked, “<a href="https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/7516851">Make Europe Great Again</a>,” published by <em>Kommersant</em> on 20 February, which is in Russian naturally. I won’t reproduce Pepe’s essay, but what follows in the translation of Ilya’s article:</p><p><strong>Ilya Fabrichnikov on why the turn in American policy is not accompanied by the same turn in European policy</strong></p><blockquote><p>The other day, the EU member states announced the approval of the next, already the 16th package of economic sanctions against Russia. And this is against the background of negotiations between the delegations of the Russian Federation and the United States, which took place in a fairly constructive atmosphere, where the restoration of economic ties between the two countries was discussed, among other things.</p><p>It would seem, wasn’t that a reason for the European Union to reduce the degree of frenzy? After all, <em><strong>for many years it was believed that Brussels was a branch of Washington, obediently following in the wake of the White House's policy.</strong></em> Many believed, it may understand that its economic (and political) well-being largely depends on the supply of hydrocarbons from Russia and, in general, on cooperation with Moscow, with which it would like to be close friends.<em><strong> But allied obligations are pressing, NATO discipline does not give, overseas liberal-Atlanticists are in the way.</strong></em> And here is such a chance: the new US administration directly declares that it wants to end the conflict with Russia, that it now has no time for Europe at all.<em><strong> Does this mean that it is possible to break with the disastrous policy imposed from the outside?</strong></em> Sure. <em><strong>But what if these policies were not imposed from the outside?</strong></em></p></blockquote><blockquote><p><strong>What if the European Union is quite sovereign in its actions? And within the framework of this sovereignty, it sincerely considered and continues to consider the confrontation with Russia in Ukraine as its historical chance? </strong>[Emphasis Original]</p></blockquote><blockquote><p>No, not to get their hands on the abundant Ukrainian rare earth metals (which, most likely, are not there suitable for profitable extraction), not to gain access to fertile black soil, not to pick up a market of 45 million souls for themselves. <em><strong>Namely, to move their borders along with their military-political and economic infrastructure close to the Russian ones, to put under full control the strategic Black Sea trade corridor—which easily stretches further, to the north, along the Odessa-Gdansk route—in order to more conveniently and quickly develop the economic spaces of Asia and North Africa, to begin to dictate to Russia their terms for the supply of oil, gas and other resources needed in the European economy.</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>In short, Make Europe Great Again.</strong></em> As it was in the golden times of the late 80s, 90s and early noughties, which saw the heyday of European economic power, propped up on the one hand by cheap Russian energy carriers, on the other by the flow of Chinese-made consumer goods, and on the third by the "umbrella" of Article 5 of the NATO charter, supported by the military power of the American contingent.</p></blockquote><blockquote><p><strong>Excellent initial conditions for establishing itself as the largest continental center of power in the era of transformation of the system of international relations. To become, so to speak, a "supervisor of Eurasia." </strong>[Emphasis Original]</p><p>That is probably why we are now witnessing both Europe's confusion at the unexpected U-turn of its overseas partner and the same European frenzy: "This is not the time for peace! More sanctions! More money for Kyiv!" <em><strong>And it is unlikely that this would be the case if the EU had not relied on the "strategic defeat of Russia".</strong></em></p><p>That is why, apparently, the European collective of like-minded people is now confused: it is one thing to solve one's existential issues under the guise of a powerful military ally, which has bayonets, ships, and reconnaissance satellites. <em><strong>And it is quite another to do all this on one's own and at one's own expense.</strong></em> [My Emphasis]</p></blockquote><p>That also explains the UK’s deep involvement in all Black Sea military operations. As expected, the UK got nothing from Trump during Starmer’s visit. Alex Krainer continues <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzCu-inyCyI">to report</a> on the dire state of affairs within the UK, how it’s truly becoming an Orwellian dystopia. Barely mentioned by Pepe is he Baltic Sea gambit being attempted by some of the NATO states, which will very likely be joined by Germany now that Merz will become the presumed Chancellor. Hudson and Wolff had an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS1HQq-29cU">excellent recap</a> of the German election along with other excellent insights. I’ve seen no reports about what transpired in the Russian-Empire talks in Istanbul that were again just about the restoration of relations and nothing more. As for the carrots waved by Putin that Pepe describes in his own manner, I rather doubt much will happen regarding them as so many sanctions and other things must be unwound first along with the all too longstanding Cold War mantra present within the West.</p><p>*<br>*<br>*<br><em>Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a <strong>monthly/yearly pledge</strong> to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!</em></p><p></p><p></p><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe now","action":null,"class":null}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p> </p><p>  </p>

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guid: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/zelensky-blows-his-top
title: Zelensky Blows His Top
author: ;Karl Sanchez
link: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/zelensky-blows-his-top
hash: +����Ѳ��� H,y�X
content:
<div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F90ecfba9-1db9-4f66-ab8a-1a328b659f3b_1536x1024.webp" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F90ecfba9-1db9-4f66-ab8a-1a328b659f3b_1536x1024.webp" width="1456" height="971" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/90ecfba9-1db9-4f66-ab8a-1a328b659f3b_1536x1024.webp","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":20688,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/webp","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/158151006?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F90ecfba9-1db9-4f66-ab8a-1a328b659f3b_1536x1024.webp","isProcessing":false}' alt="" fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p><p>The now illegitimate once president of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky and his cheering section visited Team Trump at the White House and generated a scene that caused Trump to exclaim “Great TV!” before he essentially threw him and his rooting section out of the White House. There’s video all over showing this spectacular event, some with discussion. I suggest<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laUulwxQ8j8"> Judge Napolitano’s Intel Panel show</a> that lasts about 30 minutes before switching to Palestine. Readers will know from my previous article, “<a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/p/the-ukraine-conflicts-legal-issues">The Ukraine Conflict’s Legal Issues</a>,” that legally Zelensky is illegitimate and has zero agency to represent Ukraine or to sign anything for Ukraine—Zelensky legally only has agency over himself. And of course, that’s been President Putin’s primary issue when it comes to negotiations—Russia demands someone legitimate to talk with. The problem exists because no one in the West made an issue over his lack of legitimacy. Team Biden treated him as if he was legitimate until the former left office. And until today, Team Trump had done the same thing—Trump anticipated signing a contract with Zelensky that would be worth less than the paper but said nothing beforehand. Even today Zelensky’s legitimacy was never challenged, although Team Trump considers him a dictator because he’s unelected. But even dictators can be the legal head of government and sign contracts for their nation. </p><p>Zelensky today showed Team Trump that he must be put out to pasture fast. As Larry Johnson illustrated to Napolitano, Zelensky could have avoided the trap that awaited him and wrong-footed Team Trump. But IMO his fuse was already lit because of his inner desperation. He clearly is of no further use for Team Trump, but it appears the Europeans are foolish enough to continue their support for him and the conflict. Zelensky is a tragic figure, but IMO he deserves no sympathy. He reminds me of the similar tragic character in the film “Less Than Zero,” although Zelensky’s responsible for millions of dead and wounded. Were the Nazis lurking in the shadows behind him too much along with the Nazi Boris Johnson. I hope Zelensky confesses before he' becomes unable to tell how he was manipulated—His people and the world need to hear what he says. And he’d better do it real soon, like Sunday.   </p><p>*<br>*<br>*<br><em>Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a <strong>monthly/yearly pledge</strong> to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!</em></p><p></p><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe now","action":null,"class":null}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p>

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guid: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/peaceful-china-initiative-domestic
title: Peaceful China Initiative: Domestic Harmony
author: ;Karl Sanchez
link: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/peaceful-china-initiative-domestic
hash: �~d��Y5N՗V�Vk8
content:
<div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F84081a07-9269-439d-9987-a074d70b69db_1024x767.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F84081a07-9269-439d-9987-a074d70b69db_1024x767.jpeg" width="1024" height="767" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/84081a07-9269-439d-9987-a074d70b69db_1024x767.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":767,"width":1024,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":94643,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/158212072?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F84081a07-9269-439d-9987-a074d70b69db_1024x767.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt="" fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p><p>China’s annual Two Sessions that discusses domestic and foreign policy is due to begin next week. <em>Global Times</em> <a href="https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202503/1329297.shtml">reminds us</a>:</p><blockquote><p>The "two sessions" serve as a critical window to observe China's development plan for the coming year. Decisions and policy announcements made here will not only affect the lives of 1.4 billion Chinese but also have an impact outside the country's borders.</p></blockquote><p>Prior to the event numerous workshops, seminars and other dialogs are conducted to get delegates informed and ready for deeper governance related discussions. On 28 February, Xi Jinping while presiding over a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee <a href="https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202503/1329299.shtml">described</a> the Peaceful China Initiative which in general calls “for continuous efforts to make the country safer, the society more orderly, the governance more effective, and the people more satisfied.” Clearly, harmony in social relations between those within China’s 1.4 Billion-strong nation is seen as a key, not that it isn’t an ongoing primary goal. The linked report provided a few specifics:</p><blockquote><p>"A holistic approach to national security serves as a major guideline for advancing the Peaceful China Initiative to a higher level, which we must resolutely pursue," Xi said.<br><br>Party committees and governments at all levels should work to lay a solid foundation for the long-term stability of the country by promptly and effectively addressing security issues, Xi stressed.<br><br>Noting that the Peaceful China Initiative is for the people and relying on the people, Xi urged efforts to effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the people, as well as social fairness and justice.<br><br>"Preventing and defusing all kinds of risks is a major task of building a Peaceful China," Xi said, stressing the need to give top priority to safeguarding national political security.<br><br>Xi called for strengthened work in fields such as disaster prevention and mitigation, cyberspace security, artificial intelligence security and more, with focus on preventing risks in key areas.</p></blockquote><p>Other reports of this event focused on this aspect:</p><blockquote><p>[Xi] also called for upholding the absolute leadership of the CPC Central Committee over national security and judicial, procuratorial and public security work, and emphasized the need to leverage modern technologies to enhance social governance effectiveness.</p></blockquote><p>I found it amusing that Western connected Asian publications would criticize a central government for doing its job, with a focus on improving its performance to attain greater harmony. Given China’s socio-economic performance over 75+ years of Communist Party of China’s governance that the hen-pcking critiques would have ceased. Contempt was there are the start, now success has bred its own envy and contempt. For the Global Majority, China’s the opposite; it’s a leader and an example of what’s possible given the proper system, dedicated management and populous. </p><p>I’d enjoy having a government that sought Harmony instead of promoting chaos.</p><p>*<br>*<br>*<br><em>Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a <strong>monthly/yearly pledge</strong> to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. 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