Back in the 1970s, it was the oil crisis that paved the way for cooperation between Europe and the Soviet Union. With the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Russia can now reduce discounts on the price of its crude oil. Although Brussels, at least for the moment, does not seem willing to ease restrictions on gas imports.
According to an estimate released in December and immediately withdrawn, 250,000 people have returned from the war in Ukraine and are now looking for work. For them, the TV channel Rossija-1 airs the program Budem Žit, “We Will Live Again.” There is a risk of a repeat of the situation in the 1980s, when the “Afghans” were a long-standing unresolved problem in Moscow.
The Russian president visited the annual Forum showcasing the fruits of the labour of researchers and scientists. From synthetic chocolate to portable devices for reading genetic codes, the sovereignist path to the new ‘possibilities’ of tomorrow's world.
The peoples of the world are tired of war. Pope Leo XIV's appeals for "humanity to advance towards a genuine and lasting peace" are multiplying, but these calls are heard in very different ways in the various regions of the world devastated by neo-imperial conflicts.
While the outcome of the negotiations between Iran and the United States appears uncertain, analysts are questioning the impact of the new Russian military supplies to Tehran. These systems are unlikely to shift the balance of power in play, and Moscow would have preferred not to divert them from the Ukrainian front. However, they serve to ease Iranian irritation over the limited support provided, despite the “strategic partnership.”
A new bill under consideration by the Duma seeks to limit the right to hold religious services in private buildings in order to ‘prevent the spread of hostile radical ideas.’ All religious denominations, including the Russian Orthodox Church, are opposed to the bill. Protestant communities would be the most affected, as they have been unable to obtain land to build their own churches since Soviet times.
