House Speaker Anthony Rota praised Yaroslav Hunka, 98, as a ‘Ukrainian hero’ at Canada’s Parliament, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Justin Trudeau attending and applauding.
The speaker of Canada’s House of Commons has apologised for praising an individual who served in a Nazi unit during World War II in a session attended by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Speaker Anthony Rota recognised Yaroslav Hunka, 98, as a “Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero”, saying “we thank him for all his service” before the Canadian Parliament on Friday. Hunka served in World War II as a member of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, according to the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights group, that demanded an apology. The centre said Hunka’s ties to the Nazi war machine “are well-documented”. Both Zelenskyy and Trudeau joined in acknowledging Hunka during the parliament session with applause. Rota took responsibility for what he characterised as an oversight, calling the initiative “entirely my own”. “I have subsequently become aware of more information which causes me to regret my decision,” he said in a statement issued on Sunday, offering his “deepest apologies to Jewish communities in Canada and around the world”. The recognition came following the visit to parliament by Zelenskyy, who thanked Canada for its assistance in Ukraine’s war against Russia. Rota said no one, including fellow parliamentarians or the Ukrainian delegation, was aware of his plans or remarks beforehand.
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Meanwhile, public debt is surging and the budget deficit is widening despite Western aid, according to Azarov.“The best illustration of the catastrophic state of affairs is that the budget of the country at war lacks more than $6 billion to pay the Ukrainian military alone,” he said. Azarov claimed that the families of Polish mercenaries killed during the conflict had not received any compensation despite promises from Kiev. “As a result, the Ukrainian economy increasingly resembles a ‘zombie’ – it shows signs of life only with foreign financial assistance, which it requires more and more,” the former prime minister argued. According to Azarov, Ukraine’s “closest analogues” in terms of economic woes are Afghanistan and Haiti, which are faced with similar problems. He added that the “most daring” forecasts show that Ukraine will need more than 30 years to catch up with the current economic level of Romania or Poland.
Russian authorities have confirmed that a private jet with Wagner Group founder Evgeny Prigozhin listed as a passenger crashed between Moscow and St. Petersburg on Wednesday, killing all on board. What details have been confirmed? The Russian Emergencies Ministry confirmed that the jet plunged to the ground in Tver Region, and that all three crew and seven passengers on board were killed. The ministry said that the jet, an Embraer 135BJ Legacy 600, was traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg at the time of the incident. Rosaviatsiya, the Russian federal air transport agency, said that Prighozhin was on board, along with several high-ranking Wagner commanders. Was the crash caught on camera? Several short clips of the crash have circulated on social media. Videos published by the Mash and Baza Telegram channels appear to show the jet plummeting toward the ground in a seemingly uncontrolled spin, leaving behind a trail of black smoke. It is unclear from the clips which part of the aircraft had caught fire.
After levelling off at 28,000 feet at 6:10pm (15:10 GMT) Flightradar24 says the aircraft continued in level flight at consistent speed until 6:19pm (15:19GMT) at which point the vertical rate decreased dramatically causing the aircraft to descend briefly before climbing to a maximum altitude of 30,100 feet and then dropping to roughly 27,500 feet. Flightradar24 says the plane then climbed once more reaching 29,300 feet and levelling off once again before eventually spiralling into a fall to the ground.
Is Prigozhin definitely dead? Although Rosaviatsiya listed Prigozhin’s name among those aboard, it did not explicitly pronounce the Wagner chief dead. As of late Wednesday evening, Russian officials said that they had recovered eight bodies, though none had been named by that time. All were described as badly burned. Some Russian outlets identified the plane’s tail number as RA-02795, which is believed to belong to Prigozhin. According to flight-tracking site FlightRadar24, a second plane linked to Prigozhin with the tail number RA-02878 departed Moscow shortly after the first, but returned to land after news of the crash broke. None of these reports have been officially confirmed. Who else was on board? In addition to Prigozhin, Rosaviatsiya said Dmitry Utkin – a former Russian special forces operator and alleged co-founder of the PMC – was also traveling on the jet, as was Valery Chekalov, whom the US considers to be the deputy head of Wagner. The remaining passengers listed were Sergey Propustin, Evgeny Makaryan, Alexander Totmin, and Nikolay Matuseev, identified by Russian news outlets as Wagner. Who is Evgeny Prigozhin? A successful businessman in the catering industry and a confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin founded the Wagner Group, a private military company (PMC), in 2014. Although the Wagner Group was founded in 2014 and took part in hostilities in the formerly Ukrainian Donbass region, Prigozhin refused to confirm his role in the company until last year. Wagner troops have operated in multiple African countries and in Syria, where they reportedly clashed with US forces in 2018. With his troops fighting in the months-long battle for the city of Artyomovsk (known as Bakhmut in Ukraine), Prigozhin made regular statements to the media and publicly feuded with the Russian Defense Ministry earlier this year, accusing top officials of mismanaging the conflict and denying him adequate ammunition. How did Wagner’s mutiny play out? Prigozhin claimed in June that Russian forces shelled a Wagner field camp, where the PMC’s troops had been resting and rearming following the capture of Artyomovsk the previous month. The Wagner founder then announced that he would lead his forces in a march on Moscow to remove allegedly corrupt military officials. Putin described the mutiny as a “stab in the back” and promised “decisive actions” to restore order. However, less than a day after it began, the rebellion was defused thanks to mediation by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Prigozhin agreed that the men who took part in the mutiny would be redeployed to Belarus, while those who refused would be incorporated into units under the control of the Russian Defense Ministry. The Netherlands and Denmark said on Sunday that they would give Ukraine long-demanded F-16 fighter jets. The move was announced during a meeting between Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, as the leaders toured an airbase in Eindhoven.
“Today we can announce that the Netherlands and Denmark commit to the transfer of F-16 aircraft to Ukraine and the Ukrainian Air Force, including cooperation with the United States and other partners once the conditions for such a transfer have been met,” Rutte said during a joint press conference with Zelensky. The prime minister noted that his country has 42 aircraft of this type, but that it is too early to say how many will be donated to Kiev. At least 12 of the aircraft had been up for sale, with the Netherlands and Argentina negotiating a potential deal for the planes for several years. Zelensky hailed the decision as a “historic” breakthrough, and implied that Amsterdam would hand over its entire F-16 inventory to Ukraine. “Mark Rutte and I agreed on the number of F-16s that will be provided to Ukraine – after training our pilots and engineers. 42 planes. And this is just the beginning,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram. Simultaneously, the Danish Defense Ministry released a statement, confirming the country will provide Kiev with F-16s. The ministry did not disclose the exact number of planes to be sent, confirming the aircraft will be supplied under certain “conditions,” which “include, but are not limited to, successfully selected, tested and trained Ukrainian F-16 personnel as well as necessary authorizations, infrastructure and logistics.” “Denmark’s support for Ukraine is unwavering, and with the donation of F16 aircraft, Denmark is now leading the way,” Defense Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen stated. Both the Netherlands and Denmark are in the process of phasing out older US-made F-16 fighter jets and replacing them with modern F-35s. Denmark has around 40 aircraft of the older type in its inventory. Kiev has long demanded combat aircraft from its Western backers, arguing that F-16s – and, potentially, planes of other types – would help turn the tide in the conflict with Russia. Moscow has repeatedly urged the West to stop “pumping” Ukraine with sophisticated weaponry, arguing that it will only prolong the hostilities without changing the outcome.
Why? Because Kissinger was one of the key figures in the construction of the US-China diplomatic relationship which followed on from Richard Nixon’s groundbreaking visit to the country in 1972 and his meeting with Mao Zedong. This marked one of the biggest geopolitical shifts of the 20th century, leading to the opening up of China and its integration into the global economy. For this legacy, Beijing is extraordinarily grateful to Kissinger and treats him as an “old friend.” This of course, provides the backdrop as to precisely why he is visiting now, and what this means politically.
Kissinger’s legacy paved the way for an open, stable, and cooperative relationship between the US and China which lasted over 40 years, but that era is now gone. In fact, the mood among some in Washington is to try and dismantle this legacy, framing US engagement with China as a mistake which emboldened a hostile power. That is the message Mike Pompeo sought to convey in 2020 when he was secretary of state. Attempting to reset the US-China relationship into a new “epoch,” Pompeo gave a provocative speech at the Richard Nixon Presidential library in California titled ‘Communist China and the Free World’s Future’. Since the Trump administration, US-China ties have been going steadily downhill, as strategic competition in the fields of military, diplomacy, and technology have accelerated. The Biden presidency has arguably been more aggressive than its predecessor in some of the measures it has taken. It is little surprise that US politicians see engagement with China as a form of appeasement and politically unfavorable. Therefore, while officials talk of so-called ‘guardrails’ in dialogue with China, their strategic intentions do not change, and neither do they make any concessions in the diplomacy they pursue. Given this, China is courting Henry Kissinger for a critical reason. He is a living symbol of the relationship Beijing would like to have with Washington, and of what diplomatic ties ought to be like. His presence in Beijing is a political statement. China is displeased with the actions of the US, but ultimately continues to seek engagement, stability, cooperation and openness in its relationship, and nobody is a bigger representation of that than the man with whom it all began, who now believes the US and China must find a path to co-existence to avoid conflict. In doing so, Beijing calculates that it is a waste of time to try to engage with US politicians directly. The mudslinging and paranoia such attempts are met with is of such a scale that it is damaging for anyone, especially at the level of Congress. Instead, it has utilized a pragmatic strategy of targeting individuals that it believes can promote stability in the relationship, and inviting them on highly publicized visits. This has included businessmen and public figures such as Tim Cook, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates, who have all visited China in recent months. They are used to convey a message that China is open and still willing to do business, and that ties with the US do not have to be the way they currently are. In addition, these individuals act as back channels. They may not have direct political power, but through their networks and ties they wield influence, especially when it comes to lobbying. Kissinger is elderly, but he is a highly respected member of the foreign policy community. Despite the geopolitical competition with the US, China is above all cautious of rocking the boat. It is aware that the US political class cannot be swayed in its disposition, but Beijing seeks to contain and minimize its influence through diplomacy, as opposed to confrontation. Empowering Washington’s hawks is one of the worst strategic mistakes China can make. Thus, it is critical to Beijing’s objectives to slow down the ‘decoupling’ and prevent the US from gaining political capital to force other countries, in both Europe and Asia, to get on board with its agenda. Beijing does not see this as a sprint, but as a marathon. From its perspective, the use of Kissinger sends a message of hope and reconciliation, an idealistic perspective on how US-China ties should be. Of course, there is no turning back the clock, and stability might be all there is to hope for at this stage.
In an undated video shared on Sunday by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, President Vladimir Zelensky is seen signing a missile attached to a Su-24 jet. The projectile is marked as SCALP-EG with the French flag and a mix of the Ukrainian coat of arms with the Eiffel Tower inside. It remains unclear how many French missiles were delivered and when. Ukraine's Defense Ministry referred to the missiles by their British name Storm Shadow, and hinted that the Zelensky-signed projectile was used in a recent strike on two bridges connecting the Crimean Peninsula to Russia’s Kherson Region.
The British-French Storm Shadow / SCALP-EG is an air-launched cruise missile with a firing range of around 250 kilometers (155 miles). It was developed in the 1990s and used in a number of Western military operations, including the NATO intervention in Libya and a strike in Syria that the US, the UK and France conducted jointly in 2018. Kiev has repeatedly used the missiles to target civilian facilities, since receiving an unspecified number of Storm Shadows from the UK. According to Russian officials, they were fired at two civilian plants in the Russian city of Lugansk in May, injuring several people, including six children. On Saturday, Ukraine launched some 12 Storm Shadows / SCALP-EGs at bridges connecting Crimea to the Kherson Region. At least three missiles made it through Russian-air defenses, according to local authorities, damaging two bridges across the Strait of Chongar and the Tonkiy Strait. The attack also damaged a rural school and ruptured a local gas pipeline, leaving the nearby town of Genichesk without supply, according to the Kherson region’s acting governor, Vladimir Saldo. The damaged bridges have also hardly been used for military needs and are purely civilian infrastructure installations, he stressed. NATO leaders met Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Lithuanian capital as they wrap up a summit that has included an emphasis on supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion and discussion of Ukraine’s future within the alliance.Zelenskyy said at a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that he understands that some allies do not want to consider Ukraine joining the alliance right now because of fears of a world war, and that it is clear that Ukraine cannot join during the conflict . with Russia in progress.
NATO leaders said in a written declaration on Tuesday that the bloc “will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the alliance when allies agree and conditions are met,” reiterating its position that it supports Ukraine’s membership but does not pass any specific commitments or timeline Zelenskyy has sought. Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that he understood the statement to mean that the conditions will be met once Ukraine’s territory is secure. Stoltenberg highlighted a three-pronged package to more closely integrate Ukraine with NATO, including work on interoperability between Ukrainian and NATO forces, a new NATO-Ukraine Council that held its first meeting on Wednesday and removing the requirement for Ukraine to complete an action plan for membership about its path to becoming a member. “Today we meet as equals,” Stoltenberg said. “I look forward to the day we meet as allies.” Russia has made several statements during the summit that security assistance to Ukraine and NATO’s expansion pose a threat to Russia. Asked if that could engulf the situation, Stoltenberg said there is already a “total war in Europe” and there is no risk-free alternative. He said the “biggest risk is about the president [Vladimir] Putin wins.” Stoltenberg reiterated NATO’s position that it is only for Ukraine and NATO allies to decide whether Ukraine should join the alliance and that “Moscow does not have a veto.” Britain said members of the Group of Seven, or G7, leading industrialized nations plan to announce a new framework for allies providing long-term security support to Ukraine. Zelenskyy welcomed the move, saying that while the best security guarantee for Ukraine would be NATO membership, the G7 action would be a concrete step in support of Ukraine’s security. He added that Ukraine has already spoken to nations outside the G7 that are also interested in joining. Stoltenberg said that while guarantees, documents and meetings are important, the most urgent task for allies is to provide Ukraine with enough weapons. Zelenskyy was also scheduled to hold separate talks with US President Joe Biden on Wednesday. The US leader is scheduled to deliver a speech that “highlights how the United States, together with our allies and partners, is supporting Ukraine, defending democratic values and taking action to address global challenges,” the White House said. After the two-day summit, Biden will travel to Helsinki on Thursday to meet with leaders of Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Denmark. When Sweden has joined NATO, all five Nordic countries will be members of the military alliance.
One of the world’s biggest snack companies, Mondelez International, has been labeled an enemy of Ukraine due to its reluctance to exit Russia, Ukrainian media reported on Thursday.
The Ukrainian National Corruption Prevention Agency (NCPA) has designated the producer of Milka and Alpen Gold chocolate, Oreo and Barni biscuits, Picnic bars and Dirol chewing gum an “international sponsor of war” in an effort to “put pressure on those involved in the war.” Headquartered in Chicago, Mondelez is among the largest foreign companies still operating in Russia. The US company is the Russian market leader in chocolate, sweets, and biscuits and is also ranked second in the chewing gum and lollipops categories. In March 2022, Mondelez CEO Dirk Van De Put declared the company would be “scaling back all non-essential activities in Russia while helping maintain continuity of the food supply during the challenging times ahead.” In 2022 alone, the firm’s Russian subsidiary paid more than $61 million in taxes to the Russian budget, according to the NCPA. Mondelez has three large production facilities in the country employing some 3,200 people. The Ukrainian agency claimed that the “company continues to promote its products in Russia and import new products to this market” and by doing so is indirectly involved in financing the conflict. The Oreo manufacturer has been branded an enemy of Ukraine along with Raiffeisen Bank International, Auchan, Metro, Procter & Gamble, Bonduelle, Leroy Merlin, Xiaomi and many other international companies. Some Arab leaders are ignoring Russia’s “illegal” conduct in Ukraine, President Vladimir Zelensky claimed at the Arab League summit on Friday. He made the statement while attending the gathering in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in person. Without mentioning any names, Zelensky remarked that some attendees “have a different view on the war on our land.” “Unfortunately, there are some in the world and here, among you, who turn a blind eye to [prisoner of war] cages and illegal annexations,” the president insisted. “I am here so that everyone can take an honest look. No matter how hard the Russians try to influence [others], there must still be independence.”
Unlike many Western countries, Arab states have refused to impose sanctions on Moscow over its military operation in the neighboring state. Oil-rich nations in the Persian Gulf worked with Moscow through OPEC+ to enact coordinated production cuts, prompting criticism from Washington, which is seeking to curtail Russia’s oil exports. peaking on Friday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that Riyadh sees itself as a potential broker for peace. “We reaffirm the kingdom’s readiness to continue mediating efforts between Russia and Ukraine, and to support all international efforts aimed at resolving the crisis politically in a way that contributes to achieving security,” he said, as cited by Al Jazeera. Last year, Saudi Arabia and the UAE helped to negotiate a high-profile prisoner exchange between Kiev and Moscow. Bin Salman spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin over the phone last month. During the “friendly and constructive” conversation, the leaders agreed to bolster relations between the two countries, the Kremlin said. Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has told CBS News that the conflict in Ukraine may be approaching a turning point, and that Chinese-brokered peace talks could begin by the end of 2023. "Now that China has entered the negotiation, it will come to a head, I think by the end of the year," the 99-year-old diplomat told CBS in an interview broadcast on Sunday. By that time, he continued, "we will be talking about negotiating processes and even actual negotiations."
With the release of its ‘Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis’ in February, China put itself forward as a potential mediator between Moscow and Kiev. The Chinese plan was rejected outright by the US and EU, while Russian President Vladimir Putin described some of its 12 points as “in tune” with Moscow’s position, and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky welcomed only a handful of its points, but maintains that Kiev will not compromise with Russia in any way. Zelensky’s refusal to negotiate with Putin’s government – the Ukrainian leader banned contact with the Kremlin in a decree last October – is just one stumbling block faced by China or any other potential middleman. Russia considers the conflict in Ukraine a proxy war between itself and NATO, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that any negotiations would not be held “with Zelensky, who is a puppet in the hands of the West, but directly with his masters.” In Washington, the administration of President Joe Biden publicly claims that it is up to Ukraine to decide when to seek peace. Zelensky has been offered no incentives by the US to do so, with Biden offering to continue supplying him with weapons “for as long as it takes” to achieve his war aims. Among these aims is the capture of Crimea, a Russian territory since 2014. American military leaders have publicly admitted that the chances of this happening are slim to none. Kissinger drew the ire of Kiev last year when he suggested that Ukraine should accept a return to the “status quo ante,” or relinquish its territorial claims to Crimea and grant autonomy to the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, in the name of peace. He has since suggested that these territories become the basis of negotiations after a ceasefire and Russian withdrawal. Moscow has repeatedly said that it is open to talks with Kiev but only if Ukraine “recognizes the reality on the ground,” including the new status of the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye as parts of Russia. Otherwise, the Kremlin has stated, Russia will settle the conflict by military means. US House and Senate lawmakers have raised alarm bells about the potential use of artificial intelligence in America’s nuclear arsenal, arguing that the technology must not be put in a position to fire off warheads on its own. A group of three Democrats and one Republican introduced a bill that calls for banning AI from being used in a way that could lead to it launching nuclear weapons. If enacted, the legislation would codify a current Pentagon policy that requires a human to be “in the loop” on any launch decisions.
“We want to make sure there’s a human in the process of launching a nuclear weapon if, at any point time, we need to launch a nuclear weapon,” US Representative Ken Buck, a Colorado Republican, said on Friday in a Fox News interview. “So you see sci-fi movies, and the world is out of control because AI has taken over – we’re going to have humans in this process.” Buck alluded to Hollywood’s portrayal of a nightmare scenario in which AI systems gain control of nuclear weapons, as depicted in such films as ‘WarGames’ and ‘Colossus: The Forbidden Project.’ He warned that the use of AI without a human chain of command would be “reckless” and “dangerous.” Representative Ted Lieu agreed, saying, “AI is amazing. It’s going to help society in many different ways. It can also kill us.” Lieu, a California Democrat, is a lead backer of the AI legislation, along with two other Democrats – Representative Don Beyer of Virginia and Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts. Although the idea of an AI-instigated nuclear war might have been dismissed in the past as science fiction, many scientists believe that it’s no longer a far-fetched risk. A poll released earlier this month by the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence found that 36% of AI researchers agreed that the technology could cause a “nuclear-level catastrophe.” US Central Command (CENTCOM) last week announced the hiring of a former Google executive as its first-ever AI adviser. The Pentagon has asked Congress for $1.8 billion in funding for AI research in its next fiscal year. The history of Russia and Ukraine is a complex and intertwined one that spans over a millennium. The two countries have been connected by cultural, religious, and political ties for centuries, but also marked by periods of conflict and rivalry. In this essay, we will explore the key events and turning points that have shaped the history of Russia and Ukraine.
Early history and Kievan Rus The earliest history of the region that is now Russia and Ukraine dates back to the 9th century, when a loose federation of Slavic tribes known as the Kievan Rus emerged in the area. The Kievan Rus were ruled by a series of princes, and Kiev became the center of a powerful state that extended from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. The Kievan Rus adopted Eastern Orthodox Christianity in the 10th century, which became a unifying force for the region. Mongol invasion and the rise of Moscow In the 13th century, the Kievan Rus was invaded by the Mongols, who destroyed Kiev and other major cities. The Mongol Empire ruled over the region for several centuries, but gradually declined, allowing the rise of the Grand Duchy of Moscow in the 14th and 15th centuries. Moscow gradually gained power and influence, and by the 16th century, it had become the center of a new Russian state. Expansion and imperial Russia Under the rule of Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century, Russia expanded its territories, conquering Siberia and expanding its influence in Central Asia. By the 18th century, Russia had become a major European power under the rule of Peter the Great, who modernized the country and expanded its territories even further. In the 19th century, Russia became an imperial power, colonizing Central Asia and parts of Eastern Europe. The Soviet era In 1917, the Russian Revolution overthrew the imperial government and established a communist government under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin. Ukraine, which had been part of the Russian Empire, declared its independence and established a republic. However, the new Soviet government quickly reasserted control over Ukraine and other parts of the former empire. Under Soviet rule, Ukraine and Russia were united as part of the Soviet Union, which became a superpower in the 20th century. The Soviet government imposed a system of collectivized agriculture and industrialization that transformed the economy, but also led to widespread famine and repression. Ukraine was particularly hard hit by the Soviet policies, which led to the deaths of millions of people in the 1930s. Post-Soviet era and current relations In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, and Ukraine declared its independence. Russia also underwent a period of political and economic upheaval, as it transitioned to a market economy and a democratic government. However, relations between Russia and Ukraine have been fraught with tension since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ukraine has sought closer ties with Europe and the West, while Russia has sought to maintain its influence in the region. In 2014, a political crisis in Ukraine led to the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych, who was seen as pro-Russian. Russia annexed Crimea, a region of Ukraine with a majority Russian-speaking population, and supported separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine. The conflict has led to thousands of deaths and ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Conclusion The history of Russia and Ukraine is one of complex relations, marked by periods of cooperation and conflict. The two countries have been connected by cultural, religious, and political ties for centuries, but also have different visions for their future. The current conflict between Russia and Ukraine is a reminder of the challenges that the two countries face in maintaining a peaceful and stable relationship. The US Department of Commerce has labeled the Russian private military company Wagner Group a “military end user,” potentially restricting its access to any technology made with American equipment anywhere in the world. Undersecretary for Industry and Security Alan Estevez called Wagner “one of the most notorious mercenary organizations in the world” in a statement released to Reuters on Wednesday.
Wager has been under US sanctions since 2017, to little effect. Earlier this month, the State Department designated it an “entity of particular concern” with regard to religious freedom in Africa, putting it in the same category as Islamic State (ISIS), Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. In November, the State Department claimed Wagner was seeking to purchase drones from Iran, and labeled the group as part of the Russian defense sector. Commerce’s move falls short of the rumored designation of Wagner as a “terrorist” entity, advocated by some outspoken Democrats in Washington since this summer. Wagner was founded in 2014, and has mainly operated as a security contractor in Africa and the Middle East. More recently, its members have taken part in battles with the Ukrainian military in the Donbass.The group’s boss, Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, gave an ironic reaction to the news on Thursday. “Of course, this will create problems for the repair depot and ammunition supply for the triple-sevens. Oh, and also the HAWK AA. Lovely system, but breaks down a lot, unfortunately,” he said, referring to the M-777 howitzers and Raytheon’s anti-aircraft rockets that the US has supplied to Kiev’s military, with some presumably getting captured. “I hope that we will be able to order [parts] through Poland or the Baltic states, where we have close contacts with the defense ministries,” he added, needling the most anti-Russian NATO members. Prigozhin has trolled the Western media and governments on many occasions, including in November when he “admitted” to meddling in US elections with a movie quote, which most US and EU outlets rushed to report at face value. The breaking news throughout the first half of November has been dominated by coverage of the sudden collapse of FTX, one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges. The crash has shaken the crypto market, lost institutional investors billions – and individual customers millions – led to official investigations of FTX in several countries, and made some question whether the Bitcoin sphere might crash and burn outright, and perhaps cause wider problems for the financial system.
Some take the view that FTX was a fraud all along, ever since its launch in April 2019. If that’s the case, it has grave implications for the US Democratic Party and Ukrainian government, as the company’s corrupt activity may have been used to fund both, openly and secretly. The Ukraine connection On March 14, FTX launched a new online portal for cryptocurrency donations, Aid for Ukraine, in partnership with Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation. Through this, crypto traders, both large and small, could donate bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which FTX would convert into cash for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense to spend on weapons and other war-related expenses. Very rapidly, the fund claimed to have amassed “over” $60 million in donations. By April 14, it was reported that just over $45.15 million of that sum had been splurged on digital rifle scopes, thermal imagers, monoculars, rations, armor, helmets, military clothing, tactical backpacks, fuel, communication devices, laptops, drones, medical supplies, and a “worldwide anti-war media campaign.” The same records show a further $10 million was spent over the next three months – leaving around $5 million in the bank, so to speak. An Aid for Ukraine social media post on November 15 said this sum was still held in reserve, and that $60 million remained of the total amount of donations received through the portal to date.This seems very odd, particularly given that Ukraine was reported to have received $100 million in bitcoin donations, and then spent almost all of it, between February 24 and March 11 alone, before Aid for Ukraine’s establishment. Are we to believe that – over the course of seven months, from the time the $60 million figure was first publicized to today – no further funds at all have been donated through Aid for Ukraine? Despite the entire crypto community having been able to do so, and being actively encouraged to do so that whole time? Official investigations into FTX, and its founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, have only just begun. However, it seems clear already that he secretly and illegally moved billions stored in the FTX exchange to its sister company Alameda Research, a quantitative trading firm that he also runs. The gaping black hole Bankman-Fried’s sleight-of-hand created meant that, when customers sought to withdraw their money from the exchange, FTX didn’t have the funds to keep up with demand. It seems he was assisted in this underhand ploy by a “back-door” specially created for him in the company’s accounting, which meant sums could be moved into and out of the exchange off the books, and without auditors or FTX employees noticing. Much of the money taken out of FTX by Bankman-Fried has disappeared completely. The US Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission are particularly looking at whether these stolen client deposits were used to prop up Alameda in any way, which was reportedly struggling financially. There is, as yet, no sign though that these authorities are probing an obvious lead – Aid for Ukraine. Was money moved from FTX to Alameda, then channelled to Kiev to be spent on Western – mainly US – weapons, and indeed other activities that the government and its backers in Washington, London, and elsewhere in Europe and North America would prefer to be kept hidden? Conversely, money raised beyond the initial $60 million total could’ve been funnelled out of Aid for Ukraine by Bankman-Fried to enrich himself, or secretly spent for very different purposes – such as funding the US Democratic Party’s election campaigns. The Democratic Party connection Bankman-Fried is a very well-connected figure in US politics, especially to the Democratic Party. Over the course of the 2020 presidential election cycle, he contributed $5.2 million to two super PACs supporting Joe Biden’s campaign and was the overall second-largest individual donor to Biden that year. Such extravagant spending appears trivial today. In 2021/22, he provided tens of millions to Democratic causes and candidates, becoming the party’s second-largest donor, behind only “spyless coup” specialist George Soros. Bankman-Fried has boasted of meeting policymakers in Washington “every two or three weeks for the last year.” Over 2022, this has included multiple audiences with senior government officials and top Biden advisers at the White House. These meetings escalated in volume around the time that the Ukraine conflict began. On March 7, exactly one week before Aid for Ukraine was launched, his brother Gabe Bankman-Fried – who directs his political operations – visited the White House along with Jenna Narayanan, a Democratic strategist who once worked for the Democracy Alliance, which has been called the “most powerful liberal donor club” in the US. Bankman-Fried himself then visited the White House on numerous occasions in April and May, concurrent with him donating $865,000 to the Democratic National Committee. In early June, mere days after his last recorded White House meet-and-greet, Bankman-Fried announced he would invest up to $1 billion in further funds between then and 2024 to guarantee Biden – or whoever might take his place – won the next presidential election. These activities have been interpreted by many as an attempt by Bankman-Fried to ingratiate himself with politicians to further his commercial interests. It is certainly true that, at the same time, he and FTX high rankers were attempting to influence US lawmakers on crypto regulation, to make the market more favourable for his company. In this context, the promised $1 billion appears to be a dangled carrot, an implied promise of future financing if Bankman-Fried got his way. Accompanying him on some of these visits was Mark Wetjen, FTX head of policy and regulatory strategy, who previously served as commissioner on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under President Barack Obama – but only some. Were the other meetings related to Ukraine? If so, the $1 billion pledge may have reflected what Bankman-Fried thought could be secretly skimmed from Aid for Ukraine for Democratic Party purposes. It’s conspicuous that in mid-October, he completely disowned that enormous commitment, saying, “That was a dumb quote. I think my messaging was sloppy and inconsistent in some cases.” In repudiating his $1 billion promise, Bankman-Fried also quietly added that he would stop giving any money at all to political causes. It was just days later that it was announced FTX was subject to investigation in Texas for allegedly selling unregistered securities. Jump to a few weeks later, and the company had filed for bankruptcy. Bankman-Fried clearly said something he shouldn’t have back in June – whether he got carried away by all the positive press and high-level access his political donations were receiving and wrote a proverbial check in public he couldn’t privately cash, or his comments drew unwanted attention to how much money was actually flowing into Aid for Ukraine, we do not currently know. But the truth must out. |
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