The Russian delegation has conducted constructive talks with several nations at the summit, Maksim Oreshkin has said
A number of countries that Russia considers “unfriendly” have privately pitched proposals on improving economic cooperation during the G20 Summit, the head of the Russian delegation, Kremlin aide Maksim Oreshkin, told reporters on Sunday.
The summit brought together leaders representing the world’s 20 largest economies in Johannesburg, South Africa, this weekend.
“A number of countries we consider unfriendly have approached us with specific proposals for cooperation – on how to improve economic relations with Russia and implement joint projects,” Oreshkin said at a press conference.
He added that he would not elaborate on which countries made the offers “lest their colleagues be offended later.”
Constructive discussions took place with several nations, according to the Kremlin aide, who formerly served as Russia’s minister of economic development.
Many Western countries severed or curtailed economic cooperation with Moscow and imposed wide-reaching sanctions on Russia following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. The Kremlin says the country has since adapted to the restrictions and even grown more resilient due to them.
In 2022, Russia formally branded dozens of Western countries “unfriendly states,” accusing them of carrying out hostile actions against Russian citizens and companies. The designation allows for diplomatic curbs and entails increased scrutiny and special approval requirements for businesses from those nations.
However, Moscow has since stressed that it only considers governments, rather than countries themselves, to be “unfriendly.”
“For Russia, there are no unfriendly nations or people, but there are countries with unfriendly governments,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Italian outlet Corriere della Sera in an interview earlier this month. While the newspaper refused to publish the exclusive, it was later released by the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry.
The Russian delegation has conducted constructive talks with several nations at the summit, Maksim Oreshkin has said
A number of countries that Russia considers “unfriendly” have privately pitched proposals on improving economic cooperation during the G20 Summit, the head of the Russian delegation, Kremlin aide Maksim Oreshkin, told reporters on Sunday.
The summit brought together leaders representing the world’s 20 largest economies in Johannesburg, South Africa, this weekend.
“A number of countries we consider unfriendly have approached us with specific proposals for cooperation – on how to improve economic relations with Russia and implement joint projects,” Oreshkin said at a press conference.
He added that he would not elaborate on which countries made the offers “lest their colleagues be offended later.”
Constructive discussions took place with several nations, according to the Kremlin aide, who formerly served as Russia’s minister of economic development.
Many Western countries severed or curtailed economic cooperation with Moscow and imposed wide-reaching sanctions on Russia following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. The Kremlin says the country has since adapted to the restrictions and even grown more resilient due to them.
In 2022, Russia formally branded dozens of Western countries “unfriendly states,” accusing them of carrying out hostile actions against Russian citizens and companies. The designation allows for diplomatic curbs and entails increased scrutiny and special approval requirements for businesses from those nations.
However, Moscow has since stressed that it only considers governments, rather than countries themselves, to be “unfriendly.”
“For Russia, there are no unfriendly nations or people, but there are countries with unfriendly governments,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Italian outlet Corriere della Sera in an interview earlier this month. While the newspaper refused to publish the exclusive, it was later released by the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Processing of applications reportedly remains slow following a temporary pause linked to President Trump’s border security measures
Some 200,000 Ukrainians in the US could lose their legal status because of Washington’s border security crackdown, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing internal US government data.
A humanitarian program for Ukrainian immigrants was launched by the previous US administration shortly after the February 2022 escalation of the Ukraine conflict, and allowed roughly 260,000 to enter the country for an initial two-year period. President Donald Trump paused the processing of applications and renewals earlier this year as part of a broader freeze on several nationality-based humanitarian programs, citing security concerns.
In March, Trump said he was considering revoking the Ukrainians’ legal status entirely, but ultimately did not end the program. In May, processing of renewals was resumed.
Immigration officials have, however, processed only 1,900 renewal applications for Ukrainians and other nationalities since then, representing a fraction of those with expiring status, the news agency noted. Meanwhile, those waiting for decisions on extensions could be detained by federal immigration authorities once their status expires, former immigration officials told Reuters.
Across Europe, public and political support for hosting Ukrainians has been declining. Last month, the European Commission formally notified Kiev that the temporary protection scheme will not be extended beyond the current term.
In August, Germany, which hosts over 1.25 million Ukrainian immigrants, announced plans to reduce welfare payments due to sustainability concerns. Polish officials have recently raised questions over the scale of support provided to Ukrainians and President Karol Nawrocki suggested earlier this month that preferential treatment for them could end.
In the UK, the authorities reportedly have increasingly denied long-term protection and work visas for Ukrainians, arguing that western regions of Ukraine are now safe.
Several million Ukrainians have fled their country over the past three years. Almost 4.4 million have received temporary protection in the EU. Russia has said that 5.5 million Ukrainians arrived by the end of 2023. Many left not only due to the conflict, but also tighter mobilization practices that have led to confrontations between draft officers and men trying to avoid conscription.
Processing of applications reportedly remains slow following a temporary pause linked to President Trump’s border security measures
Some 200,000 Ukrainians in the US could lose their legal status because of Washington’s border security crackdown, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing internal US government data.
A humanitarian program for Ukrainian immigrants was launched by the previous US administration shortly after the February 2022 escalation of the Ukraine conflict, and allowed roughly 260,000 to enter the country for an initial two-year period. President Donald Trump paused the processing of applications and renewals earlier this year as part of a broader freeze on several nationality-based humanitarian programs, citing security concerns.
In March, Trump said he was considering revoking the Ukrainians’ legal status entirely, but ultimately did not end the program. In May, processing of renewals was resumed.
Immigration officials have, however, processed only 1,900 renewal applications for Ukrainians and other nationalities since then, representing a fraction of those with expiring status, the news agency noted. Meanwhile, those waiting for decisions on extensions could be detained by federal immigration authorities once their status expires, former immigration officials told Reuters.
Across Europe, public and political support for hosting Ukrainians has been declining. Last month, the European Commission formally notified Kiev that the temporary protection scheme will not be extended beyond the current term.
In August, Germany, which hosts over 1.25 million Ukrainian immigrants, announced plans to reduce welfare payments due to sustainability concerns. Polish officials have recently raised questions over the scale of support provided to Ukrainians and President Karol Nawrocki suggested earlier this month that preferential treatment for them could end.
In the UK, the authorities reportedly have increasingly denied long-term protection and work visas for Ukrainians, arguing that western regions of Ukraine are now safe.
Several million Ukrainians have fled their country over the past three years. Almost 4.4 million have received temporary protection in the EU. Russia has said that 5.5 million Ukrainians arrived by the end of 2023. Many left not only due to the conflict, but also tighter mobilization practices that have led to confrontations between draft officers and men trying to avoid conscription.
Western governments continue to try and suppress the broadcaster for telling the truth about Ukraine, Margarita Simonyan has said
RT will continue its work despite attempts by the West to silence it, Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan has said. Posting on her Telegram channel on Friday, she said the European Union is continuing to extend sanctions against the Russian media for telling the truth about Ukraine. She did not clarify whether she had information about future sanctions or was simply commenting on the current measures in place.
Western countries have imposed more than 110 sanctions on the outlet, freezing accounts, surveilling staff, and introducing other restrictions. Germany blocked RT Deutsch in 2021 before it launched, allegedly violating broadcasting rules. RT France and RT UK were closed in 2022 after being banned authorities in Paris and London. In 2023, US President Joe Biden’s administration accused the network of acting on behalf of Russian intelligence and imposed further sanctions on the broadcaster and its top management.
“EU extends sanctions against RT. They complain that we continue to write about Nazism in Ukraine and the crimes of the Kiev regime,” Simonyan stated on her Telegram channel. She added, “We have written, we are writing and we will write.”
Kiev regularly glorifies WWII Nazi collaborators and attempts to obscure actions by Ukrainian soldiers that Russia describes as war crimes – conduct that, Moscow claims, the West continues to ignore.
Earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin praised RT, calling it Russia’s “secret strategic intercontinental weapon.””The truth” is what gives RT its power, despite what he described as relentless Western attempts to block it.
RT was launched in December 2005. It now broadcasts in several languages, offering alternative perspectives on global events to audiences in more than 100 countries.
Simonyan’s comments come as Brussels has stepped up pressure on Russian outlets. The EU adopted its 19th sanctions package in October, though that round did not include any new measures targeting Russian media. A 20th package is expected to be proposed or discussed in the months ahead.
Western governments continue to try and suppress the broadcaster for telling the truth about Ukraine, Margarita Simonyan has said
RT will continue its work despite attempts by the West to silence it, Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan has said. Posting on her Telegram channel on Friday, she said the European Union is continuing to extend sanctions against the Russian media for telling the truth about Ukraine. She did not clarify whether she had information about future sanctions or was simply commenting on the current measures in place.
Western countries have imposed more than 110 sanctions on the outlet, freezing accounts, surveilling staff, and introducing other restrictions. Germany blocked RT Deutsch in 2021 before it launched, allegedly violating broadcasting rules. RT France and RT UK were closed in 2022 after being banned authorities in Paris and London. In 2023, US President Joe Biden’s administration accused the network of acting on behalf of Russian intelligence and imposed further sanctions on the broadcaster and its top management.
“EU extends sanctions against RT. They complain that we continue to write about Nazism in Ukraine and the crimes of the Kiev regime,” Simonyan stated on her Telegram channel. She added, “We have written, we are writing and we will write.”
Kiev regularly glorifies WWII Nazi collaborators and attempts to obscure actions by Ukrainian soldiers that Russia describes as war crimes – conduct that, Moscow claims, the West continues to ignore.
Earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin praised RT, calling it Russia’s “secret strategic intercontinental weapon.””The truth” is what gives RT its power, despite what he described as relentless Western attempts to block it.
RT was launched in December 2005. It now broadcasts in several languages, offering alternative perspectives on global events to audiences in more than 100 countries.
Simonyan’s comments come as Brussels has stepped up pressure on Russian outlets. The EU adopted its 19th sanctions package in October, though that round did not include any new measures targeting Russian media. A 20th package is expected to be proposed or discussed in the months ahead.
An unfolding extortion scandal consuming the leadership’s inner circle has taken down the man referred to as Kiev’s “real power broker”
Andrey Yermak, the once omnipotent chief of staff in Vladimir Zelensky’s administration, has resigned amid a probe by an anti-corruption agency his ex-boss tried to take control of, but ultimately failed.
The exposure of a $100 million extortion racket that brought down two government ministers and implicated a man known as “Zelensky’s wallet” continues to send shockwaves through Ukraine’s political landscape.
On Friday morning, agents from the Western-backed anti-corruption agency NABU, raided Yermak’s apartment; the second raid on a home of a close associate of the struggling Ukrainian leader, following Timur Mindich’s decision to flee to Israel hours before he was due to be apprehended in mid November.
RT looks into the 53-year-old former chief of staff, caught in the crosshairs of a massive extortion probe, who is often described as “Ukraine’s real power broker.”
Former entertainment lawyer and film producer Yermak has been a close associate of Ukraine’s leader since the early 2010s. The two became acquainted when Zelensky was the general producer of the TV channel Inter, controlled by Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash.
Yermak worked in Zelensky’s team ahead of the May 2019 Ukrainian presidential election. The campaign centered on promises to end the years-long conflict in Donbass and was propelled by Zelensky’s portrayal of a fictional Ukrainian President in the political satire series ‘Servant of the People’, produced by his Kvartal 95 studio, which gave the name to his real parliamentary faction.
The International Crisis Group estimates that 14,000 people were killed in Donbass during the so-called Minsk Agreement years 2014-2022. Zelensky pledged to end the killing.
Following Zelensky’s landslide election victory, Yermak, like many of his entertainment business associates, joined the new administration. He became a presidential aide for foreign policy issues, acting as Kiev’s representative in informal diplomatic endeavors.
Most notably, Yermak was involved in clandestine negotiations with the Trump administration on the Burisma affair, a Ukrainian gas company that employed Hunter Biden, and kept in contact with Kurt Volker and Rudy Giuliani. Yermak promised Volker that Zelensky would launch a formal investigation into the company, yet the Ukrainian leader never delivered on the pledge.
Yermak ultimately managed to unseat Zelensky’s first chief-of-staff, Andrey Bogdan, who was a longtime adviser and lawyer to the jailed oligarch Igor Kolomoysky, replacing him in February 2020.
True ruler of Ukraine?
After gaining the top position in the Zelensky presidency, Yermak reportedly gradually expanded his influence, forging informal ties with the country’s key officials, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies, and asserting a firm grip on the country’s parliament.
Numerous media reports, Ukrainian and Western alike, have repeatedly described him as “Zelensky’s right-hand man” and “Ukraine’s real power broker.” Some have claimed that amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Yermak was the true ruler of the country, with no decisions made without his input. The former chief of staff accompanied his nominal boss on most, if not all, overseas trips and key diplomatic events, somewhat sidelining Ukraine’s official diplomats.
Zelensky even appointed Yermak his chief negotiator amid a US-led diplomatic initiative to bring the Ukraine conflict to an end, reportedly in an attempt to protect him from anti-corruption investigators.
The exposure by the Western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) of a “high-level criminal organization” involving members of Zelensky’s inner circle has heavily damaged him internationally, and now his right-hand man.
A criminal ring allegedly led by Timur Mindich, a former business associate of Zelensky’s, extorted some $100 million from state-owned nuclear power operator Energoatom, all while the public suffers power blackouts. Mindich somehow managed to flee Ukraine hours before investigators arrived at his apartment in a scene that reportedly sparked the infamous ‘golden toilet’ image.
Opposition lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezhnyak has claimed that Yermak was among the individuals captured on incriminating recordings made by NABU. The chief of staff was purportedly “well aware” of the graft scheme and was reportedly known by a code name “Ali Baba” – an apparent wordplay on his given name and patronymic, Andrey Borisovich.
Not too big to fail
Yermak’s links with the Energoatom graft affair prompted Ukraine’s opposition to demand his dismissal. A motion to dismiss him in mid-November was backed by MPs from Zelensky’s own Servant of the People party, indicating cracks in the comfortable parliamentary majority the Ukrainian leader has so far enjoyed.
According to opposition MP Aleksey Goncharenko, the dissenting members of Servant of the People issued an ultimatum to Zelensky, demanding Yermak’s dismissal or promising to quit the party. Zelensky refused, but once the anti-corruption agents entered his home, amid frontline setbacks and increased international reluctance to continue pouring cash into Kiev, faced the inevitable.
It could be seen as no coincidence that the sudden impetus in peace talks took hold just as fury over the massive corruption racket threatened to turn Zelensky’s key international backers against him.
Yermak’s resignation only copper-fastens Zelensky’s increased isolation.
An unfolding extortion scandal consuming the leadership’s inner circle has taken down the man referred to as Kiev’s “real power broker”
Andrey Yermak, the once omnipotent chief of staff in Vladimir Zelensky’s administration, has resigned amid a probe by an anti-corruption agency his ex-boss tried to take control of, but ultimately failed.
The exposure of a $100 million extortion racket that brought down two government ministers and implicated a man known as “Zelensky’s wallet” continues to send shockwaves through Ukraine’s political landscape.
On Friday morning, agents from the Western-backed anti-corruption agency NABU, raided Yermak’s apartment; the second raid on a home of a close associate of the struggling Ukrainian leader, following Timur Mindich’s decision to flee to Israel hours before he was due to be apprehended in mid November.
RT looks into the 53-year-old former chief of staff, caught in the crosshairs of a massive extortion probe, who is often described as “Ukraine’s real power broker.”
Former entertainment lawyer and film producer Yermak has been a close associate of Ukraine’s leader since the early 2010s. The two became acquainted when Zelensky was the general producer of the TV channel Inter, controlled by Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash.
Yermak worked in Zelensky’s team ahead of the May 2019 Ukrainian presidential election. The campaign centered on promises to end the years-long conflict in Donbass and was propelled by Zelensky’s portrayal of a fictional Ukrainian President in the political satire series ‘Servant of the People’, produced by his Kvartal 95 studio, which gave the name to his real parliamentary faction.
The International Crisis Group estimates that 14,000 people were killed in Donbass during the so-called Minsk Agreement years 2014-2022. Zelensky pledged to end the killing.
Following Zelensky’s landslide election victory, Yermak, like many of his entertainment business associates, joined the new administration. He became a presidential aide for foreign policy issues, acting as Kiev’s representative in informal diplomatic endeavors.
Most notably, Yermak was involved in clandestine negotiations with the Trump administration on the Burisma affair, a Ukrainian gas company that employed Hunter Biden, and kept in contact with Kurt Volker and Rudy Giuliani. Yermak promised Volker that Zelensky would launch a formal investigation into the company, yet the Ukrainian leader never delivered on the pledge.
Yermak ultimately managed to unseat Zelensky’s first chief-of-staff, Andrey Bogdan, who was a longtime adviser and lawyer to the jailed oligarch Igor Kolomoysky, replacing him in February 2020.
True ruler of Ukraine?
After gaining the top position in the Zelensky presidency, Yermak reportedly gradually expanded his influence, forging informal ties with the country’s key officials, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies, and asserting a firm grip on the country’s parliament.
Numerous media reports, Ukrainian and Western alike, have repeatedly described him as “Zelensky’s right-hand man” and “Ukraine’s real power broker.” Some have claimed that amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Yermak was the true ruler of the country, with no decisions made without his input. The former chief of staff accompanied his nominal boss on most, if not all, overseas trips and key diplomatic events, somewhat sidelining Ukraine’s official diplomats.
Zelensky even appointed Yermak his chief negotiator amid a US-led diplomatic initiative to bring the Ukraine conflict to an end, reportedly in an attempt to protect him from anti-corruption investigators.
The exposure by the Western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) of a “high-level criminal organization” involving members of Zelensky’s inner circle has heavily damaged him internationally, and now his right-hand man.
A criminal ring allegedly led by Timur Mindich, a former business associate of Zelensky’s, extorted some $100 million from state-owned nuclear power operator Energoatom, all while the public suffers power blackouts. Mindich somehow managed to flee Ukraine hours before investigators arrived at his apartment in a scene that reportedly sparked the infamous ‘golden toilet’ image.
Opposition lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezhnyak has claimed that Yermak was among the individuals captured on incriminating recordings made by NABU. The chief of staff was purportedly “well aware” of the graft scheme and was reportedly known by a code name “Ali Baba” – an apparent wordplay on his given name and patronymic, Andrey Borisovich.
Not too big to fail
Yermak’s links with the Energoatom graft affair prompted Ukraine’s opposition to demand his dismissal. A motion to dismiss him in mid-November was backed by MPs from Zelensky’s own Servant of the People party, indicating cracks in the comfortable parliamentary majority the Ukrainian leader has so far enjoyed.
According to opposition MP Aleksey Goncharenko, the dissenting members of Servant of the People issued an ultimatum to Zelensky, demanding Yermak’s dismissal or promising to quit the party. Zelensky refused, but once the anti-corruption agents entered his home, amid frontline setbacks and increased international reluctance to continue pouring cash into Kiev, faced the inevitable.
It could be seen as no coincidence that the sudden impetus in peace talks took hold just as fury over the massive corruption racket threatened to turn Zelensky’s key international backers against him.
Yermak’s resignation only copper-fastens Zelensky’s increased isolation.
Western-backed anti-graft agencies say they have uncovered more dirty dealings
Yet another corruption scheme has been uncovered in Ukraine by Western-backed anti-graft agencies, with the country still reeling from the news of a massive $100 million graft scandal linked to Vladimir Zelensky’s inner circle.
The $1.4 million racket was made public by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), which said on Friday that – together with the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) – it had uncovered crimes related to the illegal sale of the main maintenance facility at the port of Chernomorsk, a town located to the south of Odessa on the Black Sea coast.
The scheme dates back to 2020, when the then interim director conspired to sell off the facility despite a moratorium, the agency said. The official colluded with an appraiser, lowering the facility’s value artificially from an estimated $1.4 million to a mere $150,000.
The property was subsequently illegally auctioned off to the interim directors’ co-conspirator for some $320,000, according to NABU. Moreover, nearly all the funds the port received from the shady sale ended up siphoned under the pretext of servicing two vessels – which were at the time nowhere near Chernomorsk and were likely in India.
The appraiser and the ex-interim director of the port have been detained, NABU said. Several other individuals involved in the transactions have received “notices of suspicion.”
The new scandal comes atop a massive $100 million graft scheme uncovered in a high-profile probe into a crime ring allegedly led by a former business associate of Zelensky, Timur Mindich, announced by NABU last week. According to the investigators, the group siphoned some $100 million from state-owned nuclear power operator Energoatom, which has been heavily reliant on Western funding.
Multiple high-profile individuals have been implicated in the affair, including the head of Zelensky’s office, Andrey Yermak, former defense minister and current head of the National Security Council, Rustem Umerov, and former Deputy PM Aleksey Chernyshov. The scandal has badly hit the country’s energy sector, prompting Justice Minister German Galushchenko and Energy Minister Svetlana Grinchuk to resign.
Western-backed anti-graft agencies say they have uncovered more dirty dealings
Yet another corruption scheme has been uncovered in Ukraine by Western-backed anti-graft agencies, with the country still reeling from the news of a massive $100 million graft scandal linked to Vladimir Zelensky’s inner circle.
The $1.4 million racket was made public by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), which said on Friday that – together with the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) – it had uncovered crimes related to the illegal sale of the main maintenance facility at the port of Chernomorsk, a town located to the south of Odessa on the Black Sea coast.
The scheme dates back to 2020, when the then interim director conspired to sell off the facility despite a moratorium, the agency said. The official colluded with an appraiser, lowering the facility’s value artificially from an estimated $1.4 million to a mere $150,000.
The property was subsequently illegally auctioned off to the interim directors’ co-conspirator for some $320,000, according to NABU. Moreover, nearly all the funds the port received from the shady sale ended up siphoned under the pretext of servicing two vessels – which were at the time nowhere near Chernomorsk and were likely in India.
The appraiser and the ex-interim director of the port have been detained, NABU said. Several other individuals involved in the transactions have received “notices of suspicion.”
The new scandal comes atop a massive $100 million graft scheme uncovered in a high-profile probe into a crime ring allegedly led by a former business associate of Zelensky, Timur Mindich, announced by NABU last week. According to the investigators, the group siphoned some $100 million from state-owned nuclear power operator Energoatom, which has been heavily reliant on Western funding.
Multiple high-profile individuals have been implicated in the affair, including the head of Zelensky’s office, Andrey Yermak, former defense minister and current head of the National Security Council, Rustem Umerov, and former Deputy PM Aleksey Chernyshov. The scandal has badly hit the country’s energy sector, prompting Justice Minister German Galushchenko and Energy Minister Svetlana Grinchuk to resign.
