July 3, 2024 | Seppo Niemi

Hot Spots in media coverage, early July 2024

Biden-Trump TV show

Thursday night’s Trump-Biden debate, June 27, has turned into a disaster for Biden and the Democrats. Biden’s performance was sad, pathetic and inferior. Trump-Biden debate furthers replacement talks. This is how CNN opened its debate analysis.

“Right now, there is a deep, a wide, and a very aggressive panic in the Democratic Party. It started minutes into the debate, and it continues right now. It involves party strategists and involves elected officials. It involves fundraisers, and they’re having conversations about the President’s performance, which they think was abysmal, which they think will hurt other people down the party on the ticket. They’re having conversations about what they should do about it. Some of those conversations include: Should we go to the White House and ask the president to step aside? Should prominent Democrats go public with that call?”

The front page of TIME magazine tells all of today’s situation.

So far, Biden refuses to step aside and continues his campaign and his wife will decide his fate. What will happen in the next few weeks, remains to be seen. The link of the full debate video is below.

Full Debate: Biden and Trump in the First 2024 Presidential Debate | WSJ

The Wall Street Journal , June 28, 2024

Europe in turmoil

New top positions in the EU

Kaja Kallas, from Estonia, seeks Russia’s total defeat and for it to be broken up into smaller countries just got selected as the EU’s new chief “diplomat”, the 3rd most important role in the EU. The policy and procedures of Ursula von der Leyen are well-known already. The current EU aid program for Ukraine is mainly orchestrated by Ms Leyen. Europe is entering a spiral of self-destruction.

NATO’s new Secretary General, Mark Rutte

“Similar changes to similar”, this way can be characterized the change of Stoltenberg to Rutte.

Mark Rutte was confirmed as the new NATO Secretary General. The former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, who is called “Teflon Mark”, will become NATO Secretary General on October 1. He has promised to “do everything possible for Ukraine to defeat Russia”, tried to convince China to condemn Russia and stop economic cooperation with it and pushed recognition of Russia as a “sponsor of terrorism” in the Dutch parliament.

In June, Jens Stoltenberg has made some important statements:

“NATO is negotiating to put nuclear weapons on combat readiness. NATO is negotiating to deploy more nuclear weapons in the face of the growing threat from Russia and China. Stoltenberg added that the bloc should demonstrate its nuclear arsenal to the world to send a direct signal to its enemies. He said that there had been consultations among NATO members on putting the missiles on combat readinesse used as a deterrent. The UK is estimated to have around 40 of its 225 nuclear warheads deployed, while the US has around 1,700 of its 3,700. France does not make its nuclear arsenal available to NATO because of a long-standing decision to remain independent on deterrence.”

“Arms supplies to Kiev will become mandatory for NATO countries. There were promises but they were not fulfilled, now they become mandatory,” Stoltenberg said. He added that Europe’s first F-35 fighter jets, based in the Netherlands, would be ready for NATO nuclear missions in June. He said the alliance must adapt its nuclear capabilities and demonstrate the effectiveness of nuclear deterrence in the face of Russia’s “dangerous rhetoric”.

Stoltenberg sees that in order to join NATO, Ukraine must defeat Russia: “I hope that at the summit the allies will make several important statements regarding the transfer to Ukraine of military equipment, air defense systems and artillery shells necessary for Ukraine’s victory. Without this, of course, the question of membership will not be discussed. We must be confident that Ukraine will win. This is the absolute minimum required for Ukraine to become a member of the alliance.”

Mark Rutte is committed to all the same goals as Stoltenberg.

Parliament elections in France

France’s snap election campaign is over and voters appear ready to hand the National Rally (RN) party a historic victory in parliamentary elections. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal warned it would unleash “impulses of hate and aggression”. But the party of Marine Le Pen and 28-year-old Jordan Bardella, who could be the next prime minister, seems to be cemented its lead in the opinion polls.

After European elections on 9 June, turned most of the electoral map of France dark blue. That was the moment Emmanuel Macron chose to stun the French people with a decision to call a general election in just three weeks. The big question now is, whether RN can win an absolute majority in two rounds over the next two Sundays.

National Rally (RN) is gearing up for a big night on Sunday, with one opinion poll hours before the campaign ended showing support at 36.5%. Its candidates are hoping to win dozens of seats in the National Assembly outright on the night, with more than 50% of the vote. But most seats will be decided in run-off votes on 7 July, between two, three or even four contenders. So, opinion polls do not tell the whole story, and a hastily arranged left-wing alliance, the New Popular Front, also has its eye on victory, only a few points behind RN with 29%. Macron’s Ensemble alliance, led by Gabriel Attal, lies in third on 20.5%, according to the Ifop poll.

France’s far right is in pole position after the first round of parliamentary elections, June 30, that confirmed their dominance in French politics and brought them to the gates of power. Supporters of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) cheered as she said the president’s “Macron bloc has been all but wiped out”. RN won 33.1% of the vote, with a left-wing alliance behind on 28%, and the Macron camp behind on 20.76%. “I aim to be prime minister for all the French people, if the French give us their votes,” said 28-year-old RN party leader Jordan Bardella.

President Macron has promised he is not going anywhere until his term ends in 2027, and it is his task to appoint the next prime minister after the second round of these elections on 7 July.

If the results will be “revolutionary”, France’s parliament elections have far-reaching implications, not only in France, but very much also in the EU, overall Europe, in the NATO and worldwide.

Nigel Farage in UK elections

Britain in 2024 is a nation with huge, systemic problems, few of which have been addressed in the five weeks of campaigning thus far.

The UK economy has been on life support for years, oscillating along with negligible or negative growth. At the same time, the nation’s debt interest payments have soared by tens of billions of pounds, choking off any real investment in neglected and crumbling public services. The government’s tax take is already at near-record levels and record-high energy prices are squeezing British consumers into poverty.

The 2024 UK general election has been anything but boring from its surprising beginning. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was taking the nation by surprise with a snap poll notice, the opposition Labour Party appearing on course for a record-busting victory and “the third choice” Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, is going to make a miracle in the British politics.

Latest poll puts Nigel Farage’s Reform Party at second place with a whopping 24% of the votes. This comes shortly after they announced their manifesto where they REJECT the WEF agenda. Labour: 35% Reform: 24% Conservatives: 15% Lib Dems: 12% Greens: 8% Source: PeoplePolling, June 20, 2024.

It is a real possibility that the national bi-party political setting in the UK will face a fundamental and historical change in these July elections.

Putin’s visits in North Korea and Vietnam

Russian President Vladimir Putin had two important visits in mid-June, the first in North Korea and the second in Vietnam.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a two-day state visit to North Korea, where he met with the country’s leadership for talks on economic, security and international issues. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un personally greeted Putin at the Pyongyang airport, for the Russian president’s first visit since 2000. The trip, which kicked off on June 18, involved a “very busy agenda” with the two sides signing several agreements. The Russian president has already authorized the signing of a landmark Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement with North Korea. Putin and Kim were expected to hold lengthy face-to-face talks to discuss “the most important, the most sensitive issues.” The visit was largely focused on the international agenda.

Summarizing the first visit:

Russia and North Korea have signed a deal to help each other in the event of aggression against them. Kim Jong Un has said he fully supports Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as Putin visits North Korea after 24 years. Putin received a red-carpet welcome, including roses, waving crowds and ceremonial gunfire following his overnight arrival. The Russian president thanked Kim for inviting him to Pyongyang, and said he hopes the next meeting will take place in Moscow. The US and South Korea accuse the North of supplying Russia with artillery ammunition in exchange for food and military aid but both countries deny this while Putin is strengthening allies’ relations. Russia will likely arm and provide military technology to North Korea, as a response for the west providing F-16s and cruise missiles to Ukraine. This essentially means, South Korea and Japan have to deal with Russia and North Korea together.

Full Text of Russia-North Korea Strategic Agreement, June 20, 2024

After North Korea, Putin visited long-time ally Vietnam, where he is expected to discuss trade.

The leaders of Vietnam and Russia have said they want to boost ties as the pair met in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. Vietnamese President To Lam was full of praise for his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, congratulating him on his recent re-election. Putin, in return, said strengthening a strategic partnership with the south-east Asian country was one of Russia’s priorities. His trip to Vietnam, which comes on the heels of his lavish visit to North Korea, is being interpreted as a demonstration of the diplomatic support Russia still enjoys in the region.

The United States has criticized the visit for giving a platform for President Putin to promote his war of aggression in Ukraine. Vietnam still values the historic ties it has with Russia even as it works to improve its relationship with Europe and the US. Vietnam’s ties to Russia are close and go back many decades.

Vietnam accepts Putin and respects Russia, ignoring criticism from the United States. Vietnam sees in Russia “strategic protection” and support in a whole list of areas, including energy business and weapons. The Russian Federation and Vietnam are switching to national currencies, when making payments. Vladimir Putin and To Lam had face-to-face negotiations and signed several agreements on cooperation in various fields, among others agreements on cooperation in the field of education and a memorandum on the creation of a nuclear technology center in Vietnam. Russia and Vietnam expressed interest in building a reliable security architecture in the Asia-Pacific region; cooperation on the development of the Vladivostok-Ho Chi Minh City transport corridor; the importance of a consistent transition to national currencies (now up to 60%).

Ukraine war, situation report

AFU losses in June – early July

In June, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) troops losses have been increasing up to 1500 per a day (totaling up to 45,000 per a month) and on June 11-30, the AFU troops losses have been over 2,000 in several days. Taking into account air strikes and bombings in rear areas, total number of losses is highly likely up to 50,000 in June.

The Heat | Major Breakthroughs On Multiple Fronts | Panic Is Growing. Military Summary For 2024.6.29

The Heat🔥Russian Offensive Is Gaining Momentum | Sabotage Groups In Sumy. Military Summary 2024.7.1

WW 3 has never been so close as now. Ukrainian analysis of the current situation confirmed that the Russian army is constantly advancing and winning on all fronts. The Ukrainian loss of life is downright dire, approx. 2,000 human lives per day. No army can afford such a thing. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, in the vicinity of Kharkiv, the army is breaking through Ukrainian defense forces, defeating and dispersing them. It destroys their equipment and, as already written, the loss of life is huge. The exact description, maps and short videos are available from the frontlines and that is exactly what the West does not want in any case.

As the well-known and respected political expert, Professor John Mearsheimer says, a significant number of members of the American government still somehow believe that the Ukrainians can stabilize the situation and, with the help of Western weapons, will be able to defeat the Russian army.

But that is not the case. Their situation is hopeless and the Ukrainians are unable to win the war, not even holding their country together. NATO knows, what is coming, NATO is aware that its defeat is inevitable and is trying to save the situation as much as it can. With unwavering confidence, they still hope to defeat Russia and are willing to use nuclear weapons to do so. At least 300,000 of their troops are already ready for war with Russia, which they say is expected to break out sometime in the next 3 months.

The Pentagon is also preparing for war, and they mean nuclear war. Now they have even issued an amendment (H.R. 8070) to the ‘National Defense Authorization Act’, which calls for the mandatory conscription of all citizens between the ages of 18-26. Like the Ukrainians, they are trying to force their women and girls into the war.

ATACMS strike on Sevastopol

On June 23,2024, Statement by Russian Defence Ministry:

Today at 12.15, a terrorist missile strike by five US-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles equipped by cluster warheads was deliberately delivered at Sevastopol. The alerted air defense units intercepted four US-made ATACMS missiles. The explosion of the fragmentation warhead of the fifth US-made missile in the air led to high number of casualties among peaceful residents of Sevastopol.

The American specialists input all flight tasks in the US-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles on the basis of data of the US satellite reconnaissance. That is why Washington is mostly responsible for the deliberate missile strike at peaceful residents of Sevastopol by delivering this weaponry to Ukraine, as well as the Kiev regime, from the territory of which the strike was launched. Such actions are not going to be left unanswered.

At the moment, when ATACMS missiles were launched at Sevastopol, a US RQ-4 Global Hawk long-range surveillance drone was detected over the Black Sea guiding the operation.

Russia warning the US on its UAV-operations over Black Sea

While the NATO alliance has agreed to consider Russia as a threat, Russia says it is considering downgrading its relations with certain NATO countries due to the deeper involvement of the US and its allies in the Ukraine war.

“The issue of lowering the level of diplomatic relations is a standard practice for states that face unfriendly or hostile manifestations,” Russia’s presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday. “Due to the growing involvement of the West in the conflict over Ukraine, the Russian Federation cannot but consider various options for responding to such hostile Western intervention in the Ukrainian crisis.”

The Russian government has criticized the United States for continuing to provide military assistance to Ukraine. Washington recently approved Kiev’s use of long-range missiles supplied by the West on targets inside Russia, further escalating tensions with Moscow. The Kremlin issued a warning on Monday, cautioning Washington against the potential “consequences” of attacks inside Russia.

The Kremlin summoned the US ambassador to Russia after a Ukrainian attack using an American-supplied missile killed four people in Crimea. Peskov said Russia was considering different ways to retaliate against the United States and its Western allies. President Vladimir Putin has warned that one of Moscow’s many available options to retaliate could be to supply arms to other countries to hit targets inside Western countries.

On June 28, 2024, Statement by Russian Defense Ministry:

The Russian Defense Ministry noted the increased intensity of US strategic unmanned aerial vehicles over the Black Sea waters, which are conducting reconnaissance and targeting high-precision weapons supplied to the Armed Forces of Ukraine by Western states to launch strikes at Russian facilities.

This demonstrates the increasing involvement of the United States and NATO countries in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of the Kiev regime. Such flights increase the possibility of air incidents involving the Russian Aerospace Forces’ aircraft, increasing the risk of a direct confrontation between the alliance and the Russian Federation. The NATO countries will be responsible for this.

The Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Andrei Belousov has instructed the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces to make proposals on measures for rapid response to provocations.

NATO’s Nordic connection

Finland, Sweden and Norway will create a corridor for the rapid transfer of NATO troops to the border with the Russian Federation – Norwegian Prime Minister Støre It is reported that the corridor will pass through the northern territories of these countries, which will ensure the rapid transfer of troops to the eastern border of Finland.

Russia fears a NATO attack

On June 20th, the Russian RT News issued an English-language translation, titled “Russia fears a NATO attack. Here’s why.”, by Professor Igor Istomin, who is the acting head of the Department of Applied Analysis of International Problems, at MGIMO University, which is a part of Russia’s Foreign Ministry. This article would not be so published if it did not express accurately the views and policies of Russia’s Government.

The article stated that there are three things, which would spark a Russian response to eliminate the notorious decision centers within NATO:

Russia’s decision that in, order to complete its win in Ukraine, the increase of NATO’s involvement had become so large that conquering all of NATO will be needed in order to protect Russia’s national security against the threat from NATO
NATO’s “restricting Moscow’s access to the Baltic Sea, which ignores the inevitable response to threats to Kaliningrad.”
Any major measure that would threaten Russia’s most important naval base, which is in the Black Sea (at Sevastopol in Crimea).

Publishing this article in English, and issued by Professor Istomin instead of from Putin or even Lavrov, is unofficially giving notice in the West, that in any of those three conditions, Russia will immediately eliminate them.