14, June 2019
Putin says US-Russia relations getting ‘worse and worse’ 0
Russian President Vladimir Putin says relations between Moscow and Washington are getting “worse and worse” due to the current US administration’s sanctions against Russia.
Putin made the remarks in an interview with Russia’s Mir TV channel published on Thursday, ahead of a G20 summit in Japan later this month at which he might meet US President Donald Trump.
Our relations “are going downhill, they are getting worse and worse,” the Kremlin quoted Putin as saying in the interview.
“The current administration has approved, in my opinion, several dozen decisions on sanctions against Russia in recent years,” he added.
“We really hope that common sense will prevail in the end,” said Putin.
“That with all of our partners, including our American partners… we can reach some decisions in the framework of the forthcoming G20 that will be constructive and create the necessary stable conditions for economic cooperation,” the Russian president stated.
Trump said on Wednesday that he would meet the Russian leader at the G20 summit in Japan, a day after Moscow said the idea for the meeting was “hanging in the air” and that there were no discussions on specifics yet.
The US president also expressed hope that his country would have “a great relationship with Russia,” while at the same time pledging to deploy 1,000 US troops to Poland.
Relations between the two countries remain strained over such issues as Syria and Ukraine as well as allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election, which Moscow denies.
The Russian leader contrasted Moscow’s troubled relationship with Washington with what he referred to as ts blossoming ties with China, a deepening strategic friendship that has alarmed the US.
Putin also expressed certainty that his country will eventually restore its relations with Ukraine.
Source: Presstv
14, June 2019
Sudan: Ex-president Bashir charged with corruption 0
Sudan’s ex-president Omar al-Bashir was on Thursday formally charged with corruption, following the completion of an investigation by state prosecutors.
Bashir was overthrown and arrested in a coup by the military on April 11 after months of mass protests against his autocratic 30-year rule.
The charges were related to laws on “suspected illicit wealth and emergency orders”, the public prosecutor’s office said without giving more details.
Bashir had already been charged in May with incitement and involvement in the killing of protesters.
Prosecutors had also ordered his interrogation on suspicion of money laundering and financing terrorism.
It has not been possible to get a comment from Bashir since his ousting.
Sudan was placed on a U.S. list of sponsors of terrorism under Bashir, an Islamist former general who is also under indictment by the International Court of Justice over war crimes in the country’s western Darfur region.
On Wednesday, the top U.S. diplomat for Africa joined an international effort to press Sudan’s military rulers and the opposition toward a deal on a transition to democracy following the toppling of Bashir.
Stability in Sudan is crucial for a volatile region struggling against Islamist insurgencies from the Horn of Africa to Egypt and Libya. Various powers, including Russia and the Gulf Arab states, are trying to influence its path.
REUTERS