Page 27 - RusRPTJan21

Putin then continued to compare Russian policy with the actions of the Western countries over past decades. "Did we withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty [which the US unilaterally withdrew from in 2002, one of the major Cold War security arrangements]? It wasn’t us who did that. And we are forced to respond by creating new weapon systems that curb threats. Then our colleagues withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty [another Cold War missile treaty that US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from in 2018]. Was it us who withdrew? No, that was our American partners. Accordingly, we said that we won’t produce and deploy such weapon systems as long as American weapons don’t arrive in Europe. Yet nobody responds to this, nobody reacts. Then they withdrew from the Open Skies Treaty [ditto that allowed both sides to fly over the other’s territory to assure against military build up fears]. What are we supposed to do then? I don’t want to ask you this question but what are we supposed to do after this? Just let it be? So you, as a NATO country, will fly over us and report everything to the American partners and we will be deprived of this opportunity regarding American territory," he said, addressing Rosenberg.
"Why do you think that we are idiots? Why do you think that we cannot see some obvious things? There are some other issues that cause our concern. We are forced to react to them," the Russian leader added.
Next up with be the Start II missile treaty that limits nuclear missile numbers that is due to expire in February 2021. Russia says it has asked the US for meetings to negotiate extending the treaty multiple times, but the Trump administration has ignored the requests. The incoming Biden administration has indicated that the treaty will be extended.
2.8 ​ ​Russia’s environment disasters in 2020
January
Russia sees the second-hottest January in its recorded history at the onset of 2020, with 70 towns and cities nationwide additionally experiencing their warmest January ever.
The Russian government publishes a climate change plan of action which acknowledges that increasingly warm temperatures pose public health risks and increase the chance of natural disasters — but also offer benefits such as increasing the country’s arable land.
May
A freak heat wave hits Siberia, with temperatures ranging from 30 degrees Celsius to 35 C in some places. An international team of researchers says that the heatwave would be “almost impossible” without manmade climate change.
On May 29, more than 20,000 metric tons of diesel fuel spills into surrounding soil and rivers near the city of Norilsk when a fuel reservoir at a power plant owned by Russian mining giant Nornickel collapses. The spill, the largest-ever of its kind in the world, is estimated to cost $1.4 billion in damages to Arctic waterways and is projected to take years to fully clean up.
27 ​RUSSIA Country Report​ January 2021 ​ ​www.intellinews.com