Russia Says US Must Commit to Equal Dialogue, Ukraine Calls for Gazprom Sanctions

LOCAL NEWS

• FM Ryabkov says US should commit to equal dialogue wit Russia in the field of security and stability and show a willingness to change its destabilising course.
  • Says both sides agreed to stabilise relations and develop predictability and prevent an arms race – but it remains to be seen if the US will take Russia's legitimate security interests and concerns into account.
  • He did say, however, that some positive steps had been taken to find solutions to persistent problems
• On Friday, Ukraine called for Germany & the US to impose sanctions on Russia's export monopoly Gazprom over its controversial deal with Hungary that has sidestepped Ukraine as the transport route with 4.5bn cubic meters of gas/yr through to 2036.
  • Ukraine's Naftogas accused Gazprom of weaponizing gas exports and that sanctions would be an appropriate response from the West. This comes as some EU parliamentarians call for investigation of possible market manipulation from Gazprom amid the EU supply shortage
• Lavrov warns that the AUKUS alliance erodes cooperation format in ASEAN and is now among one of the "most fashionable trends today" to establish Indo-Pacific strategies formulated by the US.
  • Meanwhile, Lukashenko said that the West won't prevent Russia & Belarus from achieving their joint goals
• Russian logs a new record high for covid deaths at 890 and 25,769 new cases over the weekend.