Ukraine News. Friday 20 April. [Ukrainian sources]

FRIDAY HEADLINES:
Putin made a new statement about his meeting with Trump.   Trump's adviser on national security described the conditions for improving US-Russia relations.  Putin could not say Trump about the beauty of Russian prostitutes, - Peskov about the memoirs of the ex-director of the FBI.  Bush Jr. gave Trump an important tip for Putin.  White House described the conditions for improving relations between Russia and the United States.  The head of the US Treasury Department announced the achievement of the desired effect from sanctions against Russian oligarchs and did not rule out "additional financial shocks".  There will be no compromise: in the West it was explained why relations with Russia will not move from dead point..  Neither Putin nor Trump will tolerate a military confrontation between Russia and the United States, Lavrov.  In the West, they predicted a blow in response to the Kremlin's US sanctions.  Ukrainians need to learn to filter off fake news and question information, - US Ambassador.  The Ukrainian prosecutor turned out to be an ex-militant of the DPR: the photo and details have been published.  I am ashamed: the main propagandist, Sputnik of Putin blew up the network of posts about the realities of life in Russia.  It is not necessary to rely on them: Ukraine made an important remark about Volker's negotiations with Surkov about Donbas.  The United States accuses Russia and Syria of attempting to put an end to chemist's tracks.  Pentagon says Russian manufactured air defense systems totally ineffective.  In the United States, a sharp accusation was brought to Russia.  The US will spend $ 1 billion on the development of a hypersonic missile.  

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Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov said that with the agreement of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump is not yet preparing.

This is reported by RIA Novosti.

According to Lavrov, the Russian side gave his American counterparts to know what he expected from Trump to concretise the proposal for a meeting.

At the same time, the head of the Foreign Ministry stressed that Putin is ready for negotiations with the head of the White House.

Lavrov added that he will inform journalists as soon as there is any progress on this issue.

As reported by the "Apostrophe", Russian oppositionist Konstantin Borovyy believes that the meeting between Trump and Putin is necessary in order to try to reduce the level of tension in the international arena because of the earlier imposed US sanctions against Russia and the scandal surrounding the poisoning of the former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

National Security Advisor John Bolton discussed bilateral relations with the Russian Ambassador.
As informs Tsensor.NET, the "Voice of America" reports.

To improve Russia's bilateral relations, it is necessary to remove the US concern about alleged interference with the American elections, the assassination of a former double agent in the United Kingdom and the role of Moscow in the events in Syria and Ukraine.

This was stated by Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov, US National Security Advisor John Bolton. Their first meeting took place on Thursday in the White House.

The duration of the talks is not reported, but the White House statement states that Bolton and Antonov "discussed the state of relations between the United States and Russia."

"Bolton emphasized that improving relations is in the interests of both the United States and Russia, but this requires the removal of our concern about Russia's interference in the 2016 election, the irresponsible use of chemical weapons in the UK and the situation in Syria and Ukraine," the statement reads. .

The fact that this "concern" should be eliminated is not explained in the document.

The US government accuses Russia of interfering in the 2016 presidential election, and also supports the assessment of the UK, according to which Russia has probably applied the nerve-paralysis "Novachok" during an assassination attempt by former Grievance agent Sergei Skripal.

Russia both strongly rejects the allegations.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that between Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, there has never been talk of Russia's most beautiful prostitutes in the world.
As informs Censor.NET, informs Interfax-Ukraine.

During a conversation with the presidential press secretary, one of the journalists asked if the memoirs of the former director of the FBI, James Comi, were read in the Kremlin. According to the correspondent, the book contains an excerpt that documents V. Putin's conversation with D.Tramp. It says that the Russian president told his interlocutor that Russia is the most beautiful prostitute in the world.

"If this is so written in the book, at least this part does not correspond to reality. President Putin could not say this and did not tell President Trump," Peskov told journalists.

Peskov added that the leaders of the two countries never talked to the point until D.Tramp was elected president of the United States.

"As for the rest of the content of the book, I do not go to judge, I did not read it," said the spokeswoman for the Russian president.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

White House National Security Advisor John Bolton told Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Anatoly Antonov, that the improvement of relations between the US and Russia depends on solving the problems created by her.

This was reported by Reuters.

According to the advisor, it would be in the interests of both countries to have better relations, but the RF should "solve problems with allegations of interference in the 2016 US elections and the poisoning of the former Russian intelligence officer, Sergei Skripal, in Britain."

Bolton also stressed that the United States is concerned about the situation in Ukraine, where Russia supports the separatists, and in Syria, where for seven years of civil war Moscow has been providing military support to the Damascus Government.

It should be noted that this was the first meeting of the Russian Ambassador to the United States Antonov and Bolton since his appointment as a National Security Advisor.

Recall March 23 Trump fired a councilor from the national security McMaster.

hromadske.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The sanctions imposed by the United States on April 6 against 24 Russian businessmen and high-ranking officials, as well as 15 companies, have reached the "necessary effect".

According to Censor.NET, referring to the League, US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin said in an interview with Fox Business, Bloomberg.

According to him, US sanctions against Russian oligarchs who lowered the ruble and shaken the metals markets had the effect demanded by the administration of US President Donald Trump.

Thus, Mnuchin said that sanctions against magnates close to the Russian government have a "necessary effect".

It is noted that the head of the Ministry of Finance did not rule out the introduction of additional sanctions, stating that the administration is not afraid to use these instruments.

"We will use these tools, but we are not going to broadcast the entire world of our thoughts," he said.

Recall that the United States introduced new sanctions against Russia on April 6. The sanction list included businessmen Oleg Deripaska, Igor Rothenberg, Suleiman Kerimov and Cyril Shamalov. Also on the list of sanctions were the head of Russia's Gazprom Alexei Miller, secretary of the Security Council Mykola Patrushev and the head of Roskomnadzor Alexander Zharov. Sanctions were also imposed on 15 Russian companies.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Relations between the West and Russia in the near future will not undergo significant changes because of the way of thinking, which for centuries consisted of Russians.

James Sherr, an associate scientist at the Royal Institute of International Relations (Chatham House, UK), told this "Apostrophe".

According to him, Russia has for hundreds of years been the bearer of thinking, which does not include good-neighborly relations with other countries and has an aggressive temper.

"In our relations with Russia, there will be no fundamental changes until the critical number of people there does not understand that this is the essence of the problem and the difference between them and the rest. In the past, this was not something unique - think like huge empires, Austro-Hungary once had a similar perception Russia is the only empire with this kind of mentality that still remains in Europe", - the expert believes.

According to Sherr, the current processes in Russia only remove a possible compromise with the West.

"First, as I have already mentioned, the image of an external enemy has become even more important for domestic political purposes than before, and secondly, their current perception of the West is very emotional. It is based on profound indignation and no less deep feeling of insult and contempt for the revived pride in Russia at the state level. This is a very strong and volatile compound with which it will not be possible to find a compromise - you can only defend it, "Sherr summed up.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump and two-state military forces will not allow a military confrontation.

As informs Censor.NET with reference to RIA Novosti, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"Turning to the question of the risks of military confrontation, I am 100% of the fact that the military will not allow this, and this, of course, will not be tolerated by either President Putin or, sure, President Trump. They are nonetheless the leaders elected by their own the peoples, they respond to these peoples for peace and tranquility", - said Lavrov.

Earlier, adviser to US President Donald Trump of national security John Bolton described the conditions for improving US relations with Russia.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

In response to US sanctions against Russian oligarchs, officials and defense companies, Russia may introduce counter-sanctions or exacerbate worsening of the Donbass and Syria.

This is stated in the material of the private American intelligence-analytical company Stratfor, which is at the disposal of the "Apostrophe".

Analysts point out that Russia is considering counter-sanctions. So, in the State Duma of the Russian Federation introduced a bill on the prohibition of imports of American products. In addition, the ban on US participation in Russian privatization deals and the suspension of sales of titanium to the American company BoeingCo is considered.

In Stratfor, too, it is noted that the Russian Federation may not dwell only on counter-sanctions and, in this context, recall the tension between Moscow and Washington in connection with the war in Syria and exacerbation in the Donbass. As the US strengthens sanctions, the Kremlin can go asymmetrically in these conflicts. This will create consequences that affect the policies and security that Washington did not mean, reinforcing Russia's economic isolation from the West.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

It is crucial for Ukrainians to develop skills in filtering off untruthful information and critical thinking abilities.

This was said by U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch at the 6th annual International Media Literacy and Education Conference on Friday, Censor.NET reports citing Interfax-Ukraine.

According to the diplomat, people, especially young people, often trust media reports without filtering them, making no inquiries as to how messages are created, who fund them, and what is their ultimate goal. She said that entities, politicians, or even criminals can be behind such messages.

When we talk about fake information, she said, we often have media reports in mind. According to the ambassador, this applies to all of us, and therefore we need skills, the ability to question everything we see or hear.

In this regard, Yovanovitch stressed that it was vital for the teachers of media colleges to teach their students to analyze information, evaluate the information space with a critical eye.

The U.S. diplomat believes critical thinking is also very important for solving a number of challenges that Ukraine faces starting from the war in the country’s east and the occupation of Crimea to combating corruption, further integration and building a democratic society.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Law enforcers in the Donetsk region found that one of the employees of the local prosecutor's office had previously collaborated with terrorist "DPR" fighters.

Evgeniy Bondarenko, prosecutor of the Donetsk region, reports on this in Facebook.

According to Bondarenko, the said man, working as a civil servant of the executive service of the Department of Justice of the Donetsk region, tried his forces at a job placement contest in the prosecutor's offices in 2016. As a result of the competition, he was hired by the prosecutor from 2017.

Now it has been established that in 2014, this civil servant carried out an armed patrolling of so-called blockbacks for a long period of time. "DNR" to counter the units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The Prosecutor's Office of the Donetsk region informed the prosecutor's office of suspicion of committing a criminal offense under Part 2 of Art. 260 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (participation in unforeseen paramilitary or armed formations).



apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The editor-in-chief of the propaganda channel Russia Today and the Sputnik agency, Margarita Simonian, roused the network of a post about life in the Russian Federation.

She posted the corresponding post on her Facebook page.

According to a propagandist, she has children, and she has to call a free "fast", since the pay goes very long.

"In general, I call free. And I see these people - always very tired, always exhausted, always poorly busted and, apparently, very poor - here they climb to the second floor in the son's room on the oak staircase in our beautiful home in a good neighborhood of Moscow. And I'm terribly ashamed for this oak parquet, for this second floor, for a separate bedroom at a three-year-old boy, for the English wallpaper and vintage Italian chandelier, as if I had stolen all of it.These tired people in bad shoes who came to save my child"- noted Simonian.

"You have stolen: the RT budget is 18 billion rubles, and this money is stolen in medicine and education, to finance a poor channel with an audience of one and a half diggers and to build homes with mediocre clandestine clowns that work there," said Russian oppositionist Alexei Navalny.

"Margo Simmonian, apparently, by virtue of the great natural intelligence, does not understand that billions of dollars of infusion in her propaganda is a real theft of doctors, teachers, and pensioners," added Lana Svetin.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

There is no good reason to hope for talks between the US State Department's special envoy Kurt Volcker and the assistant to the Russian President, Vladislav Surkov, on the Donbass issue .

About this security expert, Lt. Gen. Vasily Bogdan told the "Apostrophe".

The expert spoke about the importance of the EU position on conflict in the Donbass. "Kurt Volker has said that the EU, for its part, must also take all measures to strengthen sanctions against Russia, and, incidentally, the Lithuanian Foreign Minister [Linas Linkevičius] has stated that the EU sanctions will continue for six months and a year, since Russia does not come up against both the implementation of the Minsk agreements and the reduction of escalation on the eastern front, "he said.

At the same time, the United States, on the one hand, exerted sanctions, and on the other hand, leaves the negotiating door open to Russia in the hope of "fitting into the international legal field."

The talks between Volker and Surkov, recently suspended, are especially important because they hold the problem of the war on the Donbass in the global information field and are concerned about Russia accordingly.

"But it is not necessary to hope for them, because there are no good reasons for this. Most importantly, this mission will have a result when there is a third party, which is Ukraine, because all negotiations conducted without Ukraine have the risk of separate arrangements. and the fact that Ukrainian interests will not be fully taken into account, because there were examples of compromises that could only be offered to a defeated country, "Sherr summed up.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The US State Department said that the Russian Federation, together with the Syrian government, prevented the arrival of the Syrian Duma of experts from the OPCW and tried to prevent the investigation of probable chemotac.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Noyert said this, according to DW.

She noted that the countries tried to clear the territory of the alleged attack and hide the evidence of the use of chemical weapons.

"The United States has reliable information that the Russian authorities, together with the Syrian regime, deliberately hinder the arrival of the Duma of Experts on the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)," Neuert emphasized.

At the same time, the RF Ministry of Foreign Affairs denies statements that Russia is preventing the arrival of the OPCW mission to Eastern Gut. The department emphasizes that the Russian side is not "organizer of this trip."

Let's remind, in Great Britain have declared that Russia did not let inspectors of OPCW to the Syrian Duma.

On April 18, the OPCW experts postponed an investigation into the chemotac in Syria.

On the night of April 14, the United States, Great Britain and France struck Syria , Trump called them "perfect mission."

Attacks by the United States, Britain and France over Syria have supported NATO as well as Ukraine .

The Russian Foreign Ministry reacted to attacks on Khimobjects in Syria. Russia convened an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council due to strikes in Syria, but the UN Security Council rejected the draft resolution of Russia.

The French Ministry of Defense has published a video of a strike on Syria .

On April 8, the city ​​of Duma, in the Eastern Guate , controlled the rebels, which killed at least 70 people and injured more than 1,000.

hromadske.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Russia falsely claimed Syria air defenses shot down a significant number of missiles when in fact all of the targets were hit.

There have been no reports of civilian casualties from the strikes on Syria carried out by the United States, United Kingdom and France, said Dana W. White, Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs in a news conference on April 19, Censor.NET reports.

"Following our operations, Russia falsely claimed Syria air defenses shot down a significant number of missiles, when in fact we hit all of our targets. Of the surface-to-air missiles that the Assad regime launched, nearly every one was launched after the last of our missiles hit their targets," White said.

Read more: Trump on punishment for Russia's support of Syria's chemical attack: "We'll do sanctions as soon as they very much deserve it"

"The Russian manufactured air defense systems were totally ineffective. Russia and the regime demonstrated the ineffectiveness of their systems again two days later when those systems engaged accidentally," Pentagon chief spokesperson said.

France, the United States and United Kingdom launched joint military action late on April 14, firing 105 missiles at the three sites in Syria. Shortly after the airstrikes began, President Donald Trump said all three sites were "associated" with the Syria's chemical weapon program.

Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White told reporters on Saturday the strikes "successfully hit every target." Russia, Syria's military backer, disagreed with that report, saying that Syrian air defense systems intercepted 71 out of 103 cruise missiles.

And although the Russians reported a number of Syrian military airfields, industrial sites and research facilities were hit, the Syrians said otherwise.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Russia and the Assad regime do not allow the inspectors of the International Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in the Syrian city of the Duma, where on April 7 there was a chemical attack with a hundred dead.

This was stated by the official representative of the US Department of State Heather Naurer during a regular briefing for journalists, reports UNN.

"We have reliable information that indicates that the Russian authorities are working with the Syrian regime in order to prohibit and delay the permission of OCXF inspectors to the Duma," she said.

In addition, the United States is confident that the regime of Assad and his allies are going to conduct in Syria "their own recruited investigations."

"The Russian authorities worked with the Syrian regime, we believe, to disinfect places of possible attacks and to eliminate evidence of the use of chemical weapons," added Naurer.

At the same time, as far as the disinfection of chemical weapons in the Syrian Duma was successful, she did not specify.

"We just know that they are trying to disinfect it," said the US spokeswoman, citing intelligence.

In addition, according to Naurer, Russia and Assad's regime are likely to put pressure on people to "change their impressions of what really happened that night."

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The US Air Force has commissioned the development of a hypersonic cruise missile at the Lockhead Martin defensive giant.

It is reported by Independent.

If the hypersonic weapon is successfully developed, Lockhead Martin can earn up to 928 million dollars.

It is noted that the US Air Force announced it shortly after the head of the US Strategic Command, General John Hythens warned American senators that the country currently has no "no protection" from hypersonic missiles.

"Both Russia and China are actively using hypersonic capabilities. We watched them check these opportunities, "he said at a hearing in the Senate.

There is a division into "subsonic", "supersonic" and "hypersonic" missiles. The latter can plan much longer than usual, as planning becomes "dynamic".

Recall that on March 1, President Vladimir Putin during his appeal to the so-called "Federal Assembly" 1 stated that Russia had tested a new cruise missile with a nuclear power plant. According to him, the new missile has an unlimited radius of action and an unpredictable flight path.

hromadske.ua  In Ukrainian/український