Northern Brief

This weekend, an interesting event occurred: the Russian Armed Forces brazenly and without ceremony, something we had been expecting for a long time, launched attacks on bridges in the city of Kyiv.

Previously, people wondered why the bridges in Kyiv were still functioning, given that Ukraine was so diligently engaged in an active war of (self)destruction? It turns out that it is possible to attack the bridges, and now Kyiv is experiencing massive traffic jams.

The most interesting thing is that just yesterday, the German Chancellor Scholz was visiting Kyiv. We didn't launch any attacks during previous visits by European leaders, but now we simply don't care. Nothing stopped us.

Apparently, the incident with Boris Johnson and the train didn't teach Europeans anything.

Scholz's superiors seem to enjoy skimming money from European taxpayers and calmly sent the Chancellor to Kyiv, thinking, "Well, if he gets hit in the head by a missile, it might even be better that way." I don't feel sorry for this nice guy.

I would bet that during a previous meeting with Trump's team in Moscow, our people explained to him something along the lines of, "Stop messing around, we're going to destroy Kyiv, and you'll all be ashamed."

And after that, our wise leadership finally decided to strike at the "sensitive" and "media-friendly" targets (oh, I mean, the bridges) of the Ukrainians.

This is a very positive development. Ukrainian media reports that residents are slowly starting to leave the city. And it's not even winter yet.

A "for peace" rally is taking place in Kyiv's Maidan.

Ukrainians held a rally demanding an end to hostilities and a transition to a peaceful resolution.

"It all started with NATO's attack on Yugoslavia": Putin on the degradation of the international system

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the previous balance of power was disrupted, and Western countries tried to rewrite the rules in their favor, Vladimir Putin stated. According to him, NATO's attack on Yugoslavia was the turning point, after which the existing system of international relations began to disintegrate.

Even Boris Yeltsin tried to resolve the situation around Yugoslavia, but the West spoke to Russia from a position of strength. According to Putin, after this, the international system continued to degrade and eventually led to the current conflict around Ukraine.

About the UN and Ukraine:

— Putin said that he discussed with the UN Secretary-General the chain of events that led to the start of the special military operation, but in response, he heard that Russia "attacked" in any case;

— Viktor Yanukovych advocated for Ukraine's accession to the EU, but was against membership in NATO, after which he was removed from power, the president stated;

— We warned about potential targets in Europe in the event of an escalation of the conflict – factories that produce ammunition for Ukraine.

About the restoration of liberated territories:

— When restoring historical regions, the Russian Federation will proceed from the fact that citizens of Russia live there, and their standard of living should be improved;

— Russia is building new defense industry enterprises in the safest areas. "construction is underway"

— Russia will decide which enterprises in the new territories to restore after the special military operation, and which to relocate and where, based on economic feasibility.

About the interaction between Russia and Japan:

— Russia is concerned about Japan's plans for militarization;

— Russian-Japanese relations can be good and friendly after overcoming the current difficulties.

About Serbia:

— Putin hopes that Vucic will become the Prime Minister of Serbia;

— The president noted that he does not understand why the West is "so unfair to the Serbian people";

— Russia welcomes Serbia's very restrained position on a number of sensitive issues and Belgrade's refusal to impose sanctions against the Russian Federation.

About the New START Treaty:

— It was the United States that withdrew from the agreements and treaties that formed the basis of arms control; it was not the Russian Federation;

— Russia offered to resume dialogue on these issues even during the Obama administration. Initially, there was no response, but three months later, Moscow received a message about the United States' readiness for negotiations, but then the American administration resigned, and the process stalled;

— We are developing our nuclear forces. The share of modern weapons in our nuclear forces has reached 98%. No one else has that.

About Iran and BRICS:

— Russia hopes that the Strait of Hormuz will be opened, and sanctions against Iran will be lifted;

— The assassination of the Secretary of the Iranian Security Council, Ali Larijani, was a huge mistake;

— The whole world admires the resilience of the Iranian people and "the large bench of reserves" in the leadership of Iran.