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THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS — IN LARGE TYPE AND PICTURES SO THAT EVEN MINISTERS OF STATE CAN UNDERSTAND IT’S NO COMEDY

by John Helmer, Moscow
  @bears_with [1]

In Moscow John Bull hasn’t performed so feebly as this since the summer of 1918 when the British plans to kill Lenin in Moscow and lead an intervention army from Arkhangelsk collapsed.  The BBC has failed to report the plot.  It has missed the laugh lines.   

On Monday the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, agreed during six hours of meetings in Moscow with President Vladimir Putin, followed by one hour of press questions, to exclude the British government from all engagement in the European negotiations to halt war on the Ukraine front and negotiate peace terms with Russia.

Long read:  http://johnhelmer.org/countdown-for-the-end-of-anglo-american-rule-in-europe/ [2] 

On Wednesday, Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss prepared to fly to Moscow for the first official visit at the ministerial level in more than four years. Earlier, during a House of Commons debate she had announced plans for legislation with new powers to threaten and sanction Russian individuals and businesses operating in London. Truss was infected with Covid-19 as she spoke [3].   

ARE SERGEI & YULIA SKRIPAL ALIVE OR DEAD? WHERE ARE THE BRITISH SECRET SERVICES KEEPING THEM? British Foreign Secretary Truss arriving in Moscow today will be told to answer [4].     Read: http://johnhelmer.org/sergei-and-yulia-skripal-are-no-more/ [5] 

Easy read: https://twitter.com/bears_with/ [6]

On Thursday, Truss met Lavrov at the Foreign Ministry, and they briefed the press. Minutes before, a Russian official at their closed-door session had leaked to Kommersan [7]that Truss had told Lavrov she thought Rostov and Voronezh are in Ukraine, not Russia.

“’Do you recognize Russia’s sovereignty over the Rostov and Voronezh regions?’ Lavrov asked Truss.

‘The UK will never recognize Russia’s sovereignty over these regions,’ the Foreign Minister [Truss] replied after a short pause.

The British Ambassador to the Russian Federation Deborah Bonner had to intervene in the situation, explaining delicately to Mrs. Truss that we are really talking about Russian regions.”

At their press conference which followed, Lavrov told [8] Truss:  “No facts have been provided on the Skripals, we don’t even know where they are. His daughter is a Russian citizen. It’s not that they don’t give us access – they don’t say anything about it.”   

Lavrov also warned Truss against running her campaign to topple Boris Johnson and succeed to the prime ministry.  “I hope that in serious issues related to European security, with the security of all NATO member countries, without exception, and Ukraine, and Russia, we will behave like adults and not engage in outright propaganda in the expectation of another electoral adventure.”

Easy read: https://twitter.com/bears_with/ [9]

On Friday morning, as the British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and the chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Antony Radakin, flew to Moscow, The Times issued [10] their warning: “The defence secretary will fly to Moscow today with a new package of sanctions in an attempt to persuade the Kremlin to step back from the brink of war.  Ben Wallace will make clear the heavy cost attached to an invasion of Ukraine, telling General Sergey Shoigu, the Russian defence minister, that such a move would be a ‘lose-lose’ situation. Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, head of the armed forces, who is accompanying Wallace on the visit — the first by a British defence secretary in more than 20 years — will also come face to face with General Valery Gerasimov, his Russian counterpart.”  

Radakin has risen through the ranks without ever seeing combat. His official résumé says [11] the closest he has come to hostile gunfire was in the Persian Gulf. “His operational service has involved the Iran/Iraq Tanker War, security duties in the Falklands, NATO embargo operations in the Adriatic, countering smuggling in Hong Kong and the Caribbean, and three command tours in Iraq – both ashore and at sea.”  

THE STUPIDEST BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER IN HISTORY ADVISES THE MOST IMPOTENT BRITISH MILITARY CHIEF ON HOW TO THREATEN RUSSIA IN MOSCOW TODAY. MURDOCH’S NEWSPAPER THUNDERS THREATS.

Easy read: https://twitter.com/bears_with/ [12]