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Tough talks: Putin vows to extend Aleppo ceasefire as Merkel, Hollande accuse Russia of ‘war crimes’
RT,
19
October, 2016
Following
tense Normandy Four talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin told
reporters he had expressed Moscow’s readiness to extend the
humanitarian ceasefire in Aleppo for as long as needed. Meanwhile,
his EU counterparts accused Russia and Syria of “war crimes.”
German
Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande chose
to focus on Russia’s role in the Syrian conflict, claiming that
Moscow bears “responsibility” for
the start of the political process in Syria.
Merkel
alleged that the separation of terrorists from “moderate” rebels
in Aleppo – something Russia and Syria have been demanding – is
an impossible task without a complete ceasefire.
“It
will not be possible to separate terrorists from civilians under
bombardments,” Merkel
said at the briefing.
18
October, 2016Hollande
in turn called what is happening in Aleppo “a
real war crime,” calling
for “maximum” pressure
to be exerted on Russia. The Western powers also expect that Moscow
will put more pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad to stop the
bombing of rebel forces controlling eastern Aleppo, which comprise
Al-Nusra terrorists and the groups the West considers moderate, such
as the Free Syrian Army.
Merkel
went as far as calling Russian and Syrian air strikes on terrorist
hideouts in eastern Aleppo “inhumane.”
Merkel alleged that the separation of terrorists from “moderate” rebels in Aleppo – something Russia and Syria have been demanding – is an impossible task without a complete ceasefire.
“It will not be possible to separate terrorists from civilians under bombardments,” Merkel said at the briefing.
READ MORE: Planned humanitarian pause in Aleppo extended by 3 hours, 8 corridors to open – Russian military
“This
is a severe blow to the people of Aleppo, and we are sure that it is
impossible to separate terrorists and civilians when such
bombardments are taking place,” she
said.
While Hollande
admitted that “of
course, there are terrorists in Aleppo” he
stressed that “bombardments
should be out of question.”
Both
German and French leaders did not exclude that they may discuss new
sanctions against Russia during the upcoming EU summit.
“We
should not exclude this possibility,” Merkel
said, calling the Berlin negotiations on
Syria “tough” and “difficult.”
Putin
held a separate news conference, reiterating the Russian position on
Syria and lamenting that little progress achieved in talks on the
conflict in eastern Ukraine.
The
Russian leader said he had talked “about
the Russian side's plans to extend the pause in delivering airstrikes
[in Aleppo] for as long as possible, depending on the developments in
this territory.”
Hollande
cast doubt on the effectiveness of short-term pauses in fighting,
arguing that “several
hours” is
not enough time for humanitarian supplies to reach civilians and for
all those who want to leave Aleppo.
“There
is no sense in a ceasefire lasting several hours because it is
necessary to deliver humanitarian aid. Also, some groups need to
leave Aleppo,” he
said.
Putin
stressed that Moscow has been calling for the reinvigoration of work
on a new Syrian constitution, which would be the first step toward a
political transition in the war-torn country.
“I
once again reminded our colleagues that Russia proposes to step up
work in this sphere on devising and adopting a new constitution, on
the basis of which preliminary election may be held and positions of
all conflicting parties may be preliminarily coordinated,” Putin
said.
DETAILS
TO FOLLOW
“We should not exclude this possibility,” Merkel said, calling the Berlin negotiations on Syria “tough” and “difficult.”
Tales of the New Cold War: Biden Threatens to Cyber Attack Putin.
Stephen F. Cohen, @nyu, @princeton University. EastWestAccord.com, TheNation.com.
To
listen to podcast GO HERE
Russian military launches own ‘closed internet’ for classified data exchange – report
RT,
19 October, 2016
A source in the Defense Ministry has told popular Russian daily Izvestia that the official name of the network is the ‘Closed Data Transfer Segment’ and that the facilities it’s based on are partially owned by the military and partially rented from the state communications agency Rostelecom. Servers of the network will be located in every Russian military unit, but access to them will be heavily restricted.
The source also said that the Closed Data Transfer Segment was completed already in late summer and is now in fully functioning state, but works are under way to expand it with additional terminals in every military unit.
READ MORE: ‘Unhackable’: Russian firm develops totally surveillance-proof smartphone
The structure of the Russian ‘military internet’ is similar to the one of the conventional World Wide Web, but it is accessible only on computers that use the dedicated operating system developed by the Russian Military Forces.
The hardware also has to be certified by the
General Staff’s directorate for protection of state secrets to
ensure that it is impossible to even plug in an uncertified device,
including printers, scanners and flash drives.
The
military internet also has its own mail service that allows for
strictly internal exchange of messages.
Russian presidential adviser for internet issues, German Klimenko, said in comments that he considered it correct that the Closed Data Transfer Segment has absolutely no connection to the internet.
“Anything that is connected can be broken into and therefore is not safe,” he said.
READ MORE: iPhone ban during Russian military service claim false - Defense Ministry
The
head of the Russian Foundation for Development of Internet Technology
and Infrastructure, Dmitry Burkov, said that it was appropriate that
Russian military forces employed a unified approach to the problem,
unlike their US colleagues.
Americans
have had quite a lot of holes in their network. They were changing
network protocols on-the-go and besides, they had a lot of separate
networks for every branch of forces and lastly – their system has
too many connection points with the internet, which raises the danger
of unsecure access,”
he said.
“As far as I understand, Edward Snowden has been working for one of the NSA’s subcontractors and had access to this network which allowed him to gain access to the data that he made public. I hope our people have not made similar mistakes when they planned the network and that they have taken additional security measures.”
Russia's War Games Moves ICBM Closer To Europe
At
the time of our news cast we were not sure if this was a war game or
not but has been confirmed to be a war game. Moving Russian Yars
RS-24 ICBM's across the Yogar river. getting closer to the European
borders. Russia gives NATO a taste of the ir own
medicine.
Mikhail D.
Russia
to regard Belgian strikes in Aleppo as support for Nusra if no
criticism follows
Stop-Imperialism,
Stop-Imperialism,
19
October, 2016
Moscow
expects the US-led coalition and Belgium, in particular, as well as
all the international institutions to give an adequate response to
the airstrike that caused civilian casualties Moscow expects the
US-led coalition to provide an adequate response to the Belgian Air
Force’s bombing of Aleppo, Russia’s Foreign Ministry’s
spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.
“We
have information on the US-led coalition’s airstrikes, particularly
the Belgian Air Force’s bombing of Aleppo’s civil infrastructure,
with civilian casualties having been reported,” she said.
“We
expect the US-led coalition and Belgium, in particular, as well as
all the international institutions, who have been so deeply concerned
about the Russian Aerospace Force air raids, especially about alleged
strikes on civilian targets, to provide an adequate response,”
Zakharova said.
“We
believe that this fact cannot be ignored.” “If no one comments on
it, then we will conclude that the real concern is not about the
plight of Aleppo’s civilians,” the diplomat added.
“This
media buzz is aimed at protecting Jabhat al-Nusra (terrorist group
outlawed in Russia) and preventing the Russian Aerospace Forces from
eliminating the terrorist groups in Aleppo.”
“There
can be no other explanation. If no direct condemnation of the US-led
coalition, the Belgian Air Force actions follows, then we will have
to consider it as an attempt to shield the terrorist groups active on
Syria’s territory,” Zakharova stressed.
On
October 18, Russia’s Reconciliation Center in Syria reported the
Hassadjek village had been battered by an airstrike which left six
people dead and four injured.
At
that time, there were no Russian Aerospace Forces or Syrian Air Force
aircraft in the area in question while Belgian F-16 fighter jets were
detected. Source
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