rferl--2020-06-22--Talks To Salvage Last Major Nuclear Treaty Between U.S., Russia Begin In Vienna

The United States and Russia have opened two days of talks on June 22 on their last major nuclear agreement , the New START treaty , which caps the number of deployed long-range nuclear warheads each can have .
The United States announced last week that its top arms control negotiator , Marshall Billingslea , would travel to Austria for the talks with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov .
Russia has called for an extension of New START , which limits Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenals to 1,550 deployed long-range nuclear warheads each .
It is the last remaining @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Russia and it expires in February .
Both Billingslea and Ryabkov were guarded in their statements as they arrived for the discussions in Vienna .
`` We 'll see , '' Billingslea said when asked what he expected to come of the talks .
He declined to elaborate on their content .
Ryabkov was equally cautious , telling reporters , `` Let 's see , let 's see .
We are always very hopeful . ''
On June 20 , Ryabkov told Interfax that Russia has run out of arguments for extending @ @ @ @ @ @ @ idea .
`` We have repeatedly explained to the Americans why we think a decision in favor of an extension is right , '' he said at the time .
`` We wo n't find any more arguments for what we have already told them many times .
Of course , we will use the opportunity to remind of our position . ''
While Russia would consider it `` right and logical '' to extend New START , `` by and large this treaty is not everything , '' Ryabkov told Interfax .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the danger of a new arms race if the treaty is not renewed .
Ultimately , it will be up to what U.S. President Donald Trump 's government decides , he added .
Trump has pulled out of or let expire a number of international agreements , including the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and the Iran nuclear deal .
But his administration has voiced a general interest in preserving New START .
The United States has said that its bilateral arms control agreements with Russia are outdated and that it wants China @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on nuclear weapons .
A State Department statement announcing Billingslea ’ s travel to Austria also said the United States has extended an invitation to China to join the discussions “ and has made clear the need for all three countries to pursue arms control negotiations in good faith.
” China has repeatedly rejected attempts to get it to join the talks .
While China has been expanding its nuclear arsenal , it is still far smaller than the U.S. and Russian programs .
Russia , whose nuclear arsenal is a key element @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on defense by the United States , says it wants to ensure parity with Washington .
It also wants a broader discussion with Washington on arms control , including on U.S. threats to resume nuclear tests after a suspension of nearly three decades .
Billingslea said last month that the United States was concerned not only about China but Russia , accusing Moscow of modernizing thousands of `` nonstrategic '' nuclear weapons that fall outside of the New START treaty .
`` They have adopted a highly provocative nuclear doctrine that embraces early @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' Billingslea said , calling for any successor treaty to put more Russian arms under monitoring .
With reporting by AFP , Interfax , and dpa

The United States and Russia on June 22 opened two days of talks on their last remaining nuclear arms control, the New START treaty, which caps the number of deployed long-range nuclear warheads each can have.
The top U.S. arms control negotiator, Marshall Billingslea, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov headed the delegations in Vienna, with little prospect of an imminent agreement on New START, which expires in February 2021.
Russia has called for an extension of the accord limiting Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenals to 1,550 deployed long-range nuclear warheads each.
However, Washington has said that its bilateral arms control agreements with Moscow are outdated and that it wants Beijing to be included in any future agreements on nuclear weapons.
China has repeatedly rejected attempts to get it to join the talks. While the country has been expanding its nuclear arsenal, it is still far smaller than the U.S. and Russian programs.
Russia's UN envoy in the Austrian capital, Mikhail Ulyanov, tweeted just before 7 p.m. local time that the meeting in Vienna had ended, adding: "Official comments will follow."
Both Billingslea and Ryabkov were guarded in their statements as they arrived for the discussions.
"We'll see," the U.S. envoy said when asked what he expected to come of the talks. He declined to elaborate on their content.
Ryabkov was equally cautious, telling reporters, "Let's see, let's see. We are always very hopeful."
Ahead of the talks, Billingslea posted on Twitter a photo of Chinese flags at empty chairs at the Vienna negotiating table.
"China is a no-show. Beijing still hiding behind 'Great Wall of Secrecy' on its crash nuclear build-up, and so many other things. We will proceed with Russia, notwithstanding," he wrote.
On June 20, Ryabkov told Interfax that Russia has run out of arguments for extending the pact but will still raise the idea.
"We have repeatedly explained to the Americans why we think a decision in favor of an extension is right," he said at the time. "We won't find any more arguments for what we have already told them many times. Of course, we will use the opportunity to remind of our position."
While Russia would consider it "right and logical" to extend New START, "by and large this treaty is not everything," Ryabkov told Interfax.
Moscow, however, has repeatedly warned of the danger of a new arms race if the treaty is not renewed.
Ultimately, it will be up to what U.S. President Donald Trump's government decides, he added.
Trump has pulled out of or let expire a number of international agreements, including the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and the Iran nuclear deal. But his administration has voiced a general interest in preserving New START.
Russia, whose nuclear arsenal is a key element of power while it is vastly outspent on defense by the United States, says it wants to ensure parity with Washington.
It also wants a broader discussion with Washington on arms control, including on U.S. threats to resume nuclear tests after a suspension of nearly three decades.
Last month, Billingslea accused Moscow of modernizing thousands of "nonstrategic" nuclear weapons that fall outside of the New START treaty.
"They have adopted a highly provocative nuclear doctrine that embraces early escalation and use of nuclear weapons," he said, calling for any successor treaty to put more Russian arms under monitoring.
With reporting by AFP, Interfax, and dpa


rferl--2020-06-22--Tehran Ships Food To Venezuela To Establish Country's First Iranian Supermarket

An Iranian cargo ship was expected to dock in Venezuela on June 21 with food that will stock the first Iranian supermarket in the South American country , Iran 's embassy in Caracas said .
The delivery marks “ another success in friendly and fraternal relations between two countries , ” officials at the embassy announced in a tweet on June 20 , which provided no further details .
The food shipment comes after Iran supplied 1.5 million barrels of fuel to Venezuela last month , helping to alleviate a shortage amid a collapse of refinery operations and tightening sanctions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ once South America 's top oil-producer , is suffering from a gasoline shortage amid a deep economic crisis .
Iran also provided Venezuela with key ingredients needed to restart refineries and resume producing its own gasoline .
Both Iran and Venezuela are under U.S. sanctions , and Washington has warned governments , seaports , shippers , and insurers that they could face measures if they aid the tankers .
President Donald Trump softened his tone toward Venezuela slightly in an interview last week in which he said he would consider meeting Maduro .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Trump said in the interview on June 19 with the news website Axios .
He expressed an openness to meeting Maduro once before , in 2018 , and the Venezuelan leader also made overtures for talks , but nothing materialized and the United States instead added extensive sanctions that have added to the South American country ’ s economic woes .
He also indicated waning confidence in Juan Guaido , who was recognized by the United States and other Western countries as the legitimate leader of Venezuela in January 2019 after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kept Maduro in power .
While the United States has maintained pressure on the Maduro regime , largely through sanctions , Maduro has retained the support of the military as well as the backing of Russia , Cuba , China , and Iran .
Maduro earlier this month said he would visit Iran shortly to sign cooperation agreements in energy and other sectors after Iran sent the oil , which arrived in five tankers .
With reporting by AP , Reuters , and Axios

A polytechnic school in Russia’s Tatarstan, a region some 900 kilometers east of Moscow, is using manufacturing facilities that are part of a nearby special economic zone to assemble Iranian attack drones and are increasingly turning to underage students as laborers, many of whom often work in exploitative conditions.
The revelations at Alabuga Polytechnic University raise troubling implications about the lengths that Russian authorities are going to in order to boost the war effort and how the advanced Iranian weaponry -- which is increasingly used to bombard Ukrainian cities and has only recently begun to be manufactured inside Russia -- could contribute to escalating tensions and rising civilian casualties.
The use of underage students as drone factory workers and the details of the manufacturing facilities were first reported by Russian independent media outlets Protokol and Razvorot, which published a series of investigations in July.
Since then, RFE/RL’s Idel.Realities has spoken with students who describe grueling working conditions and interviewed dozens of parents whose children have been enrolled at Alabuga Polytechnic University -- some as young at 15 -- who say that their children were forced to work exceedingly long hours, often without proper breaks or meals, and under hostile conditions that have deeply affected their mental health.
“My son enrolled and 2 1/2 months later he called for me to take him away,” Zhanna, who asked to be identified only by her first name to protect against reprisals for speaking about the operation, told RFE/RL. “He said to me on the phone, ‘Come and get me or I’ll die,’ so I picked him up immediately.”
Zhanna, who asked that her underage son’s name also not be used, says that she sent him from Nizhny Novgorod to study at Alabuga Polytechnic University in 2022 because of its reputation as a leading technical institution inside Russia.
The school offered students -- often between the ages of 15-18 -- an opportunity to get vocational training as part of a dual program that combines a classroom education with practical work experience. Students were also promised an opportunity to work and earn a locally competitive salary of up to 70,000 rubles ($700) a month as part of the work experience program that could further their career growth.
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.
But, instead, those enrolled were encouraged and in some cases pressured into working at the drone facility, where the salaries of the mostly underage laborers are contingent on meeting tough production quotas.
“This is a textbook definition of what constitutes exploitation,” Sergei Podsytnik, an investigative journalist at Protokol who worked on the series of reports, told RFE/RL. “[Students] assemble drones, with the work taking priority over their studies.”
The pressure to fulfill these quotas has allegedly led to strenuous back-to-back days -- with some shifts lasting up to 15 hours -- with little time for sleep or adequate sustenance. Overtime work is often unpaid, further highlighting potential labor violations. Exhausted students also reported not always meeting their quotas, which led to them not earning the salary initially promised by the school. Many students came from disadvantaged backgrounds and relied on their earnings to cover costs for tuition, room, and board and would send the remainder home.
Other parents, such as Marina, said she decided to take her daughter out of the program when she discovered that she was working in apparent unsafe conditions and that staff from the school had instructed students not to tell their parents about the drone assembly work.
“This was the last straw for me,” Marina, who also asked for her identity to be concealed, told RFE/RL. “This is a dangerous production process that involves dangerous chemicals. They also forbid the kids from telling everything to their parents.”
RFE/RL sent multiple requests for comment to various staff and administrators at Alabuga Polytechnic University but received no replies.
Making Iranian Drones In Russia
The complicated and concerning dynamic at Alabuga Polytechnic University stems from growing military cooperation between Iran and Russia that has accelerated since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Iran has said it provided drones to Russia before the start of the war, but not since. However, U.S. intelligence officials have warned for months of continued deliveries and deepening cooperation between Moscow and Tehran, saying the two sides were exploring how to set up a manufacturing plant for Iranian drones inside Russia.
According to The Wall Street Journal, an Iranian delegation visited Yelabuga in Tatarstan on January 5, touring a potential site for such a factory at the Alabuga special economic zone close to Alabuga Polytechnic University. U.S. officials released satellite images in April of the plant being built.
Russia already possesses an array of unarmed aerial vehicles, or UAVs, which are used mainly for surveillance and artillery spotting, but has turned increasingly to Tehran for attack drones.
After being forced to abandon Ukrainian territory that its troops captured in the early stretches of the war, Moscow shifted to a strategy of relentless air assaults on Ukrainian cities. These attacks often rely on a combination of cruise missiles and self-detonating drones packed with explosives to knock out electricity and running water for the civilian population in Ukraine.
So far, Iran has provided Russia mostly with so-called "suicide" drones, known as the Shahed-136, that contain a modest amount of explosives that can detonate when the drones crash into targets, military experts say.
In acquiring its own domestic assembly line, Russia could dramatically increase its stockpile of the relatively inexpensive but highly destructive weapons systems.
WATCH: Russia has resorted to using Shahed-136 drones from Iran in its war on Ukraine. Ukraine says it's already downed many of the drones, which work by slamming into their intended target, laden with explosives. Ordinary Ukrainians say they can already recognize the sound of the drones, which use two-stroke engines like lawnmowers or motorbikes. Iran has denied supplying the drones to Russia.
The arrangement also offers substantial economic and political benefits for Iran, which has sought to portray itself as neutral in the Ukraine war. The appearance of Iranian-made drones over Ukrainian cities, however, has triggered threats of new economic sanctions from the West. The United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom have also all issued rules in recent months designed to cut off the flow of drone components to Russia and Iran.
The Washington Post reported in November 2022, citing unnamed U.S. intelligence officials, that the agreement to deliver Iranian drone schematics and materials for manufacture in Russia resulted from Iranian leaders believing that the arrangement would allow Tehran to avert new sanctions.
Foreign Recruitment And Patriotic Education
Alabuga Polytechnic University is formally not a college. All of its students are officially enrolled at nearby Yelabuga Polytechnic College, with the Alabuga institution existing on paper as a specialized program for students looking to break into high-tech industries.
Currently, about 1,000 students are studying at Alabuga Polytechnic University, with several hundred of them -- most of whom are between the ages of 15 and 17 -- involved in assembling the Iranian drones.
In addition to the work on the drones, there are other signs that point to blurred lines in Russia between the education system and the country’s military amid the war in Ukraine.
According to current and former Alabuga Polytechnic University students, team-building and organized extracurricular activities through the school often take on a “patriotic” character that may be designed to expose students to official government narratives of international events or echo talking points from state television.
Organized paintball games have become a mainstay for students, especially first-year arrivals, in which they are encouraged to compete against one another and then play together against more experienced outside players. Teachers and administration officials regularly refer to paintball as being part of a “patriotic” education needed to complement the technical aspect of their studies.
In one instance, a group of new students competed in paintball as Soviet soldiers against outside players who were dressed as troops from Nazi Germany in a capture-the-flag competition meant to simulate the World War II battle of Stalingrad. According to one student, the Nazi flag contained the compass symbol used by the NATO military alliance instead of the swastika used by Nazi Germany.
Other instances of political teachings from staff are more direct. In a recording obtained by RFE/RL from June 16, a senior administrator can be heard telling the teenagers that NATO launched a hybrid war against Russia back in 2011 and that it has slowly become more overt. The man then goes on to tell students that their hard work and exceeding long days at the drone factory are part of a nationwide struggle against the West and that their patriotism will be rewarded.
Several students and parents identified the man in the recording as Timur Shagivaleev, the director-general of the special economic zone where Alabuga Polytechnic University and the drone factory operate.
Shagivaleev did not respond to RFE/RL’s request for comment.
The man in the recording then goes on to tell students not to take holidays and to continue working “even if it's mom's birthday,” before ending his speech with, “Long live our great country.”
WATCH: Amid a new wave of Russian drone attacks on Ukraine, analysts in Kyiv are gaining useful intelligence from a collection of downed Russian aerial weapons. They have been studying the remains of Iranian Shahed drones and Russian Kinzhal missiles, among others.
Multiple current and former students told RFE/RL that students who work in the drone factory are often praised by staff, while those who have refused or asked to be reassigned due to the high workload are often publicly shamed. In some instances -- according to recordings heard by RFE/RL -- staff even encourage students to bully others who are not deemed “patriotic” enough.
According to Protokol and Razvorot’s investigations, Alabuga Polytechnic University has also turned toward recruiting foreign students to enroll. The majority of them come from African countries, but also from Central Asia and Azerbaijan, where they are promised “world class” salaries as part of the dual-track world experience program.
However, these foreign students are then given low-skill and menial tasks around the campus and the special economic zone, such as janitorial work, and are also paid lower salaries than initially promised.
Written by Reid Standish based on reporting by RFE/RL’s Idel.Realities


rferl--2020-06-22--Coronavirus Spreads Among Tennis Players, Footballers

Three more people involved in Novak Djokovic 's Adria Tour tennis exhibition series have been infected by the coronavirus , Croatian officials said on June 22 , a day after Bulgarian player Grigor Dimitrov said he had tested positive .
One of the three players , who have not been named by officials , is Croatian player Borna Coric , who himself confirmed that he was infected .
`` Hi everyone , I wanted to inform you that I tested positive for COVID-19 , '' Coric said on Instagram .
`` I want to make sure anyone who has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ few days gets tested ! ''
He said that he was displaying no symptoms and apologized `` for any harm '' he may have caused .
The final of the tournament in Zadar , which should have been played a week after the inaugural leg in Belgrade , was canceled before its scheduled conclusion on June 21 after Dimitrov , ranked 19th in the world , announced his illness on Instagram on June 21 .
The finalists were Djokovic and Russian Andrei Rublev .
Separately , Serbian media reported that Djokovic 's coach @ @ @ @ @ @ @ world No .
1 , came under fire for organizing the tournament with few health precautions and for publicly partying after the Belgrade round , even as the tennis world remains in lockdown .
He reportedly refused to be tested and has returned to Belgrade to consider his steps .
Others , including Croatia 's Marin Cilic and Germany 's Alexander Zverev , showed up at the local clinic for testing , according to media reports .
Djokovic had frequently come under fire over his public position against vaccinations and his promotion of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Red Star Belgrade have tested positive for the coronavirus .
The Serbian champions said in a statement that the players -- Marko Gobeljic , Njegos Petrovic , Dusan Jovancic , Marko Konatar , and Branko Jovicic -- are feeling fine and remain in isolation .
Four of the players have displayed symptoms of COVID-19 while one has shown no symptoms , Red Star said .
The five players did not attend the match against Proleter Novi Sad on June 20 when the team celebrated the title , the statement said .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Serbian Cup semifinals this month in front of about 20,000 fans .
The crowds that attended both games did not respect social-distancing rules and few wore face masks .
Serbia continues to record nearly 100 infections daily , and the decision to allow fans in stadiums has drawn widespread criticism at home and abroad .
With reporting by AP , AFP , and dpa

Three more people involved in Novak Djokovic's Adria Tour tennis exhibition series have been infected by the coronavirus, Croatian officials said on June 22, a day after Bulgarian player Grigor Dimitrov said he had tested positive.
One of the three players, who have not been named by officials, is Croatian player Borna Coric, who himself confirmed that he was infected.
"Hi everyone, I wanted to inform you that I tested positive for COVID-19," Coric said on Instagram. "I want to make sure anyone who has been in contact with me during the last few days gets tested!"
He said that he was displaying no symptoms and apologized "for any harm" he may have caused.
The final of the tournament in Zadar, which should have been played a week after the inaugural leg in Belgrade, was canceled before its scheduled conclusion on June 21 after Dimitrov, ranked 19th in the world, announced his illness on Instagram on June 21.
The finalists were Djokovic and Russian Andrei Rublev.
Separately, Serbian media reported that Djokovic's coach was also infected.
Djokovic, the world No. 1, came under fire for organizing the tournament with few health precautions and for publicly partying after the Belgrade round, even as the tennis world remains in lockdown. He reportedly refused to be tested and has returned to Belgrade to consider his steps.
Others, including Croatia's Marin Cilic and Germany's Alexander Zverev, showed up at the local clinic for testing, according to media reports.
Djokovic had frequently come under fire over his public position against vaccinations and his promotion of pseudo-medicine.
Meanwhile, five football players from Red Star Belgrade have tested positive for the coronavirus.
The Serbian champions said in a statement that the players -- Marko Gobeljic, Njegos Petrovic, Dusan Jovancic, Marko Konatar, and Branko Jovicic -- are feeling fine and remain in isolation.
Four of the players have displayed symptoms of COVID-19 while one has shown no symptoms, Red Star said.
The five players did not attend the match against Proleter Novi Sad on June 20 when the team celebrated the title, the statement said.
But they did play against Partizan Belgrade in the Serbian Cup semifinals this month in front of about 20,000 fans.
The crowds that attended both games did not respect social-distancing rules and few wore face masks.
Serbia continues to record nearly 100 infections daily, and the decision to allow fans in stadiums has drawn widespread criticism at home and abroad.
With reporting by AP, AFP, and dpa


rferl--2020-06-21--Election Showing Of Serbian President's Party Strengthens Position Ahead Of Kosovo Talks

President Aleksandar Vucic 's Serbian Progressive Party ( SNS ) appears to have scored a landslide victory in parliamentary elections over the weekend , strengthening his position as he heads into internationally mediated peace negotiations on the future of Serbia ’ s former province of Kosovo .
Results published on June 22 by election authorities after counting more than 60 percent of the ballots showed the SNS with around 61 percent of the vote , followed by his ally , the Socialist Party , with around 10 percent in a vote tarnished by a boycott from parts of the opposition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the strong showing , Vucic said he would have little time to savor the victory with the expected arrival of the EU 's special representative for the Serbia-Kosovo dialogue , Miroslav Lajcak , in Belgrade on June 22 , and a trip to Moscow the day after .
“ Then I do n't know if I 'm going to Brussels or Washington , then to Slovenia , '' Vucic said after claiming victory for his ruling party .
Projections showed the right-wing Serbian Patriotic Alliance in third place , tentatively with about 4 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ failed to reach the minimum 3 percent threshold to gain places in the 250-seat legislature .
“ I have been in politics for a long time , but I have never experienced a moment like this , ” Vucic said .
“ Tonight we gained the great trust of the people , the greatest ever in Serbia , in conditions when few believed in it . ''
At the same time , he added , the SNS received a warning from the people that the party must `` be even more responsible and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ harder and make the best possible results for the citizens . ''
The new four-year mandate comes amid intensified international efforts to restart dialogue with Kosovo , which used to be an ethnic Albanian-majority province of Serbia .
In 1998-99 , an armed uprising by ethnic Albanians triggered a Serbian crackdown in Kosovo that caused numerous deaths among civilians and triggered a wave of refugees .
In March 1999 , NATO launched a 78-day bombing campaign to force Serbian troops out of Kosovo and protect the civilian population .
In 2008 , Kosovo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the United States and the majority of the international community , but not by Serbia , Russia , and a handful of EU states .
Richard Grenell , the U.S. special envoy for Serbia and Kosovo negotiations , said on June 15 that he had received commitments from Vucic and his Kosovar counterpart , Hashim Thaci , to meet at the White House on June 27 .
Vucic ’ s trip to Moscow for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to begin three days before the planned White House meeting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ became prime minister of Kosovo after winning a vote in parliament by a razor-thin margin .
The new government moved swiftly to scrap all trade sanctions against Serbia , opening the door to restart normalization talks with Belgrade .
Serbia has sought European Union membership for years , but talks with the bloc stalled in 2018 .
Its membership bid is contingent on settling its disputes with Kosovo .
The EU 's enlargement commissioner , Oliver Varhelyi , welcomed the SNS 's victory in a message on Twitter , saying he was ready @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to advance Serbia 's EU aspirations .
`` Looking forward to working with new government on # EU-related reforms .
Committed to help Serbia move forward quickly towards EU accession and to support economic recovery in the wake of # COVID-19 crisis , '' Varhelyi wrote .
With reporting by Maja Zivanovic of RFE/RL 's Balkan Service

Serbia’s parliamentary elections that appear to have given President Aleksandar Vucic's ruling party a landslide victory were administered fairly but media coverage was largely one-sided, monitors of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) says.
Vucic’s government benefited from extensive coverage on TV editorial programs and on broadcaster’s websites, the OSCE said in a June 22 statement, a day after the vote. However, opponents were provided with free airtime and equal access to regular election programming as required by law.
“Most major TV channels and newspapers promoted the policies of the government and gave it extensive editorial coverage, limiting the diversity of views,” the OSCE statement said.
Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) was leading with around 61 percent of the vote, followed by his ally, the Socialist Party, with around 10 percent, based on results published by election authorities with nearly two-thirds of the ballots counted.
The vote had been tarnished by a boycott from parts of the opposition and concerns about the coronavirus.
Urszula Gacek, head of the mission of the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), said the dominance of the ruling party "risks the neutrality of the country’s democratic institutions, and dialogue is needed to bridge the deep political divisions and protect pluralism.”
Vucic's victory over the weekend strengthens his position as he heads into internationally mediated peace negotiations on the future of Serbia’s former province of Kosovo.
The Serbian president met with EU Special Representative for the Serbia-Kosovo Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak on June 22, pledging support for the EU-mediated effort to reach an agreement in the long-standing dispute.
"I expect that EU-facilitated dialogue resumes in July in Brussels," said Lajcak, who is a former Slovak foreign minister.
A U.S.-brokered Serbia-Kosovo meeting is set for June 27 in Washington.
Projections showed the right-wing Serbian Patriotic Alliance in third place, tentatively with about 4 percent of the vote. Other groupings failed to reach the minimum 3 percent threshold to gain places in the 250-seat legislature.
“I have been in politics for a long time, but I have never experienced a moment like this,” Vucic said. “Tonight we gained the great trust of the people, the greatest ever in Serbia, in conditions when few believed in it."
At the same time, he added, the SNS received a warning from the people that the party must "be even more responsible and serious and that we have to work harder and make the best possible results for the citizens."
The new four-year mandate comes amid intensified international efforts to restart dialogue with Kosovo, which used to be an ethnic Albanian-majority province of Serbia.
In 1998-99, an armed uprising by ethnic Albanians triggered a Serbian crackdown in Kosovo that caused numerous deaths among civilians and triggered a wave of refugees.
In March 1999, NATO launched a 78-day bombing campaign to force Serbian troops out of Kosovo and protect the civilian population. In 2008, Kosovo declared independence, a move recognized by the United States and the majority of the international community, but not by Serbia, Russia, and a handful of EU states.
Richard Grenell, the U.S. special envoy for Serbia and Kosovo negotiations, said on June 15 that he had received commitments from Vucic and his Kosovar counterpart, Hashim Thaci, to meet at the White House on June 27.
Vucic’s trip to Moscow for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to begin three days before the planned White House meeting.
Early this month, Avdullah Hoti became prime minister of Kosovo after winning a vote in parliament by a razor-thin margin. The new government moved swiftly to scrap all trade sanctions against Serbia, opening the door to restart normalization talks with Belgrade.
Serbia has sought European Union membership for years, but talks with the bloc stalled in 2018. Its membership bid is contingent on settling its disputes with Kosovo.
The EU's enlargement commissioner, Oliver Varhelyi, welcomed the SNS's victory in a message on Twitter, saying he was ready to work with Belgrade on reforms needed to advance Serbia's EU aspirations.
"Looking forward to working with new government on #EU-related reforms. Committed to help Serbia move forward quickly towards EU accession and to support economic recovery in the wake of #COVID-19 crisis," Varhelyi wrote.
With reporting by Maja Zivanovic of RFE/RL's Balkan Service


rferl--2020-06-23--Senate Democrats Rebuke White House For Withdrawal From Open Skies Treaty With Russia

WASHINGTON -- A group of top Democratic senators rebuked the Trump administration for unilaterally withdrawing from a treaty that permits the United States and Russia to conduct reconnaissance flights over each other ’ s territory , saying it impairs national defense .
In a letter addressed to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper on June 22 , the senators also called the timing of the withdrawal “ suspect , ” saying it would be completed just days before U.S. presidential elections in November and limited the next administration if the Democrats occupy the White House in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ violated the National Defense Appropriations Act by not notifying Congress 120 days prior to the start of the five-month withdrawal process .
The Trump administration notified Congress on May 22 of its plans to immediately withdraw from the treaty .
“ Beginning the U.S. withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty , without complying with U.S. domestic law or constitutional practice , is an obvious political maneuver in an attempt to bind a future administration , ” the senators said in the letter .
The letter was signed by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Minority @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer ( Democrat-N.Y. ) , Senate Armed Services Committee Minority Leader Jack Reed ( Democrat-R.I. ) , and Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Mark Warner ( Democrat-Va. ) .
The Trump administration has accused Russia of repeatedly violating the Open Skies Treaty as its reason for withdrawing .
The Open Skies Treaty was signed in 1992 and entered force ten years later .
There are currently 34 states party to the agreement .
The treaty allows each state to conduct short-notice , unarmed flights over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on military forces and activities .
Satellites today can provide the same detailed information .
The Democrats said in their letter that the treaty is far from perfect as Russia has limited overflights of its Baltic enclave Kaliningrad as well as Georgia , which borders the North Caucasus region .
Nonetheless , they said the treaty ’ s benefits still outweighed its drawbacks , with the United States flying over Russia ’ s territory nearly three times more than Russian surveillance planes overfly the United States .
“ The United States relies on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ information on Russian military activities , including Russian activities in Ukraine .
Furthermore , our Treaty partners view our participation as a gauge for our commitment to ensuring the security of their respective nations .
By withdrawing from the Open Skies Treaty , the United States is leaving an agreement our partners have repeatedly communicated they value and believe improves their security , ” the letter said .

WASHINGTON -- A group of top Democratic senators rebuked the Trump administration for unilaterally withdrawing from a treaty that permits the United States and Russia to conduct reconnaissance flights over each other’s territory, saying it impairs national defense.
In a letter addressed to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper on June 22, the senators also called the timing of the withdrawal “suspect,” saying it would be completed just days before the U.S. presidential election in November and would limit the next administration if the Democrats occupy the White House in January.
The senators said the administration violated the National Defense Appropriations Act by not notifying Congress 120 days prior to the start of the five-month withdrawal process. The Trump administration notified Congress on May 22 of its plans to immediately withdraw from the treaty.
“Beginning the U.S. withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty, without complying with U.S. domestic law or constitutional practice, is an obvious political maneuver in an attempt to bind a future administration,” the senators said in the letter.
The letter was signed by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Minority Leader Bob Menendez (Democrat-New Jersey), Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (Democrat-New York), Senate Armed Services Committee Minority Leader Jack Reed (Democrat-Rhode Island), and Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Mark Warner (Democrat-Virginia).
The Trump administration has accused Russia of repeatedly violating the Open Skies Treaty as its reason for withdrawing.
The Open Skies Treaty was signed in 1992 and entered into force 10 years later. There are currently 34 states party to the agreement. The treaty allows each state to conduct short-notice, unarmed flights over the others' territories to collect data on military forces and activities. Satellites today can provide the same detailed information.
The Democrats said in their letter that the treaty is far from perfect as Russia has limited overflights of its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad as well as Georgia, which borders the North Caucasus region.
Nonetheless, they said the treaty’s benefits still outweighed its drawbacks, with the United States flying over Russia’s territory nearly three times more than Russian surveillance planes overfly the United States.
“The United States relies on the treaty to attain important, real-time information on Russian military activities, including Russian activities in Ukraine. Furthermore, our treaty partners view our participation as a gauge for our commitment to ensuring the security of their respective nations. By withdrawing from the Open Skies Treaty, the United States is leaving an agreement our partners have repeatedly communicated they value and believe improves their security,” the letter said.


rferl--2020-06-23--Media Watchdog Slams Belarus For Press Crackdown Ahead Of Elections

Belarusian journalists covering protests and events leading up to upcoming elections in the country should be able to report without fear of prosecution or harassment , a media watchdog said .
The Committee to Protect Journalist ( CPJ ) on June 22 decried a crackdown on media in Belarus in which at least 14 journalists were detained and three convicted for their coverage of protests against President Alyaksandr Lukashenka .
“ Belarusian authorities should stop detentions , arrests , and prosecutions of journalists covering protests in the run-up to Belarus ’ presidential election , and ensure their safety , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Europe and Central Asia program coordinator .
“ Journalists should be allowed to freely report on important public events without fear of arrest or harassment.
” Dozens of trails , including at least four dozen in the capital Minsk , were held on June 22 against participants in so-called “ chains of solidarity ” protests .
Most of the trials are being held on charges of participating in an “ unauthorized event ” or “ disobedience to the police.
” RFE/RL ’ s Belarus Service reported that dozens of participants in the June @ @ @ @ @ @ @ short jail terms on June 22 .
Among them are journalists .
CPJ said a court in the western city of Hancevicy convicted Alyaksandr Pozniak and Serhei Bagrov , journalists for the independent news website Gantsavitski Chas .
Pozniak was fined $ 340 and Bagrov was sentenced to 15 days in detention .
Elsewhere , a court in Babruysk , in eastern Belarus , convicted Serhey Latinsky , a journalist for human rights news outlet Viasna .
He was sentenced to 10 days in jail for allegedly participating in the protests .
CPJ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Barys Haretski , the head of the Belarusian Association of Journalists .
Herekski said police beat both Bagrov and Pozniak while in detention .
Among those detained on June 19 were RFE/RL reporter Alyaksandra Dynko and her cameraman , Andrey Rabchyk .
`` These are direct attacks on the independent press and the rights of Belarus citizens to be informed about important developments in their country , '' she said on June 20 .
The harassment of media comes as Lukashenka widens a crackdown on opposition leaders and activists , including the arrest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ People turned out on June 19 , the last day to sign ballot petitions for those seeking to run in the Belarusian presidential election on August 9 , when Lukashenka , 65 , will be seeking a sixth term in office .
Lukashenka , in power since 1994 , is facing what experts say is his biggest challenge yet .

Belarus has come under international pressure for a crackdown on media in which at least 14 journalists were detained and three convicted for their coverage of protests against President Alyaksandr Lukashenka last week.
Dozens of trials, including around 50 in the capital, Minsk, were held on June 22 for participants of the so-called “chains of solidarity” protests. Most were charged with participating in an “unauthorized event” or “disobeying the police.”
Some of those who faced trials were journalists who were covering protests on June 19-20 supporting potential independent and opposition presidential candidates.
In an e-mail to RFE/RL, the U.S. State Department called on the government of Belarus to improve its record with respect to human rights and democracy and meet its human rights obligations and OSCE commitments, including those related to free and fair elections.
"Free and fair elections are about more than what happens on election day. We call on the government of Belarus to ensure a level playing field for all who wish to take part in the election, including in regards to candidate registration, access to media, and other aspects of the campaign," the State Department said, adding that "respecting fundamental freedoms, including the freedoms of peaceful assembly, expression, and association is crucial to strengthening the U.S.-Belarus bilateral relationship."
People turned out on June 19, the last day to sign ballot petitions for those seeking to run in the Belarusian presidential election on August 9, when Lukashenka, 65, will be seeking a sixth term in office.
The harassment of media comes as Lukashenka widens a crackdown on opposition leaders and activists, including the arrest of a top potential presidential candidate, in what experts say is the biggest challenge yet to Lukashenka's rule.
The Belarusian Association of Journalists and 40 media outlets in the country issued a joint statement on June 23 demanding from the government stop the "persecution of journalists" and accused authorities of violence against media members.
"Some of the detained reporters, namely Alyaksandr Paznyak and Syarhey Bahrou in [the southwestern city of] Hantsavichy, were beaten during detention. And often police attacked journalists even during live broadcasts, and the violations of the journalists' rights were obvious," the statement said, adding that Belarusian laws guarantee journalists the right to carry out their professional duties.
Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) accused the Belarusian authorities of “trying to gag the media and keep suppressing all forms of pluralism, both political and journalistic.”
In a statement, the head of the Paris-based media freedom watchdog’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, Jeanne Cavelier, urged the European Union to press the Belarusian government to end the harassment of journalists and release of all those held behind bars.
A day earlier, the Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ) decried Minsk's crackdown on the media ahead of the election.
“Belarusian authorities should stop the detentions, arrests, and prosecutions of journalists covering protests in the run-up to Belarus’ presidential election, and ensure their safety,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Journalists should be allowed to freely report on important public events without fear of arrest or harassment.”
The CPJ said Paznyak and Bahrou, journalists for the independent news website Hantsavitski Chas (Hantsavichy Time) were convicted. Paznyak was fined $340 and Bahrou was sentenced to 15 days in detention.
A court in Babruysk, in eastern Belarus, convicted Syarhey Latsinski, a journalist for the human rights news outlet Viasna, and sentenced him to 10 days in jail for allegedly participating in the protests.
The CPJ said it had learned of the convictions from Barys Haretski, the head of the Belarusian Association of Journalists.
Haretski said police beat both Bahrou and Paznyak while in detention.
Among those detained on June 19 were RFE/RL reporter Alyaksandra Dynko and her cameraman, Andrey Rabchyk.
Acting RFE/RL President Daisy Sindelar condemned the journalists' detention.
"These are direct attacks on the independent press and the rights of Belarus citizens to be informed about important developments in their country," she said on June 20.
Belarus is ranked 153rd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2020 World Press Freedom Index.


rferl--2020-06-22--Iran Says It Will Send Black Boxes Of Downed Ukrainian Airliner To France

Iran says it will send in the `` next few days '' the black boxes of a downed Ukrainian airliner to France for analysis and expresses readiness to resolve the issue of compensations to the families of the victims .
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made the remarks in a phone call with his Canadian counterpart , Francois-Philippe Champagne , his ministry said in a statement on June 22 .
Champagne said in the statement that Zarif had committed to sending the flight recorders to France without further delay .
The Canadian minister , who has consistently pressed Iran @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also said Iran had `` agreed to enter into negotiations for reparations . ''
According to the Iranian Foreign Ministry , Tehran has told Kyiv it was ready to `` resolve legal issues and discuss how to compensate the families '' of victims , but was yet to receive a delegation from the other party .
Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down by Iran ’ s air defenses after taking off from Tehran 's main airport on January 8 .
All 176 people on board the Kyiv-bound aircraft were killed in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mistake . ''
Iranian forces had been on high alert at the time of the tragedy , which came hours after Iran launched missile strikes on an Iraqi military base housing U.S. troops .
The Iranian strikes were carried out in response to the killing of a top Iranian general , Qasem Soleimani , in a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad airport .
The Ukrainian airliner 's cockpit voice and data `` black box '' recorders were the subject of an international standoff after the plane was shot down .
They are expected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before the aircraft was struck and crashed .
The 176 victims included 82 Iranian citizens and 63 Canadians , many of them of Iranian origin .
France 's BEA air accident investigation agency is known as one of the world 's leading organizations for reading flight recorders .
With reporting by AFP and Reuters


rferl--2020-06-22--Member Of Russia's Pussy Riot Jailed For 'Swearing At Police'

A court in Moscow on June 22 sentenced a founding member of the protest music group Pussy Riot to 15 days in jail for allegedly swearing at police , local media reported .
Pyotr Verzilov , who is also a publisher of Mediazona , was detained on June 21 after police searched his residence in connection with an investigation into Moscow protests last year .
Verzilov said that when he was released later that day after questioning and was walking toward the subway , he was followed by a group of people he believed were police officers .
One of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and police arrested them for fighting , keeping Verzilov in jail overnight .
“ The description of this situation leaves no doubt that we were in a situation of a classic police provocation , which played out very badly , ” he told the court .
Verzilov said he did not fight back and a medical examination on the morning of June 22 showed no signs of physical altercation on either the activist or the individual he described as a provocateur .
Thereafter , he said , the police decided to charge him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ subway station .
He said there is no evidence that he swore and that police were 500 meters away .
Verzilov said police questioned him on June 21 about his ties to popular opposition figure Aleksei Navalny and a violent protest that occurred in Moscow last year .
Russian police arrested hundreds of protesters in Moscow on July 27 , 2019 following weeks of street demonstrations against an electoral process they deemed rigged .
Verzilov said he was in Estonia on that day .
Pussy Riot staged a video performance in a Moscow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ performed in the video were sentenced to prison terms for charges that included offending religious believers .
In 2018 , Verzilov drew worldwide attention when he and three other Pussy Riot activists ran onto a field during the World Cup soccer match in Moscow to protest police brutality .
He and the others served 15 days in jail .

A court in Moscow on June 22 sentenced a founding member of the protest music group Pussy Riot to 15 days in jail for allegedly swearing at police, local media reported.
Pyotr Verzilov, who is also a publisher of Mediazona, was detained on June 21 after police searched his residence in connection with an investigation into Moscow protests last year.
Verzilov said that when he was released later that day after questioning and was walking toward the subway, he was followed by a group of people he believed were police officers.
One of them attempted to trip the activist twice and police arrested them for fighting, keeping Verzilov in jail overnight.
“The description of this situation leaves no doubt that we were in a situation of a classic police provocation, which played out very badly,” he told the court.
Verzilov said he did not fight back and a medical examination on the morning of June 22 showed no signs of physical altercation on either the activist or the individual he described as a provocateur.
Thereafter, he said, the police decided to charge him with swearing by the entrance to the subway station. He said there is no evidence that he swore and that police were 500 meters away.
Verzilov said police questioned him on June 21 about his ties to popular opposition figure Aleksei Navalny and a violent protest that occurred in Moscow last year.
Russian police arrested hundreds of protesters in Moscow on July 27, 2019 following weeks of street demonstrations against an electoral process they deemed rigged. Verzilov said he was in Estonia on that day.
Pussy Riot staged a video performance in a Moscow cathedral in 2012. Several women who performed in the video were sentenced to prison terms for charges that included offending religious believers.
In 2018, Verzilov drew worldwide attention when he and three other Pussy Riot activists ran onto a field during the World Cup soccer match in Moscow to protest police brutality. He and the others served 15 days in jail.
With reporting by Novaya gazeta


rferl--2020-06-22--Armenian Parliament Adopts Amendments On Constitutional Court

The Armenian parliament has adopted proposed changes to the constitution that would lead to the removal of Constitutional Court judges , potentially opening the door for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to exert more influence over the South Caucasian nation .
A total of 89 members of the National Assembly -- all affiliated with the ruling My Step bloc -- backed the draft constitutional amendments in the first and second readings on June 22 .
The votes were boycotted by the two opposition parties represented in the 132-seat legislature -- the Prosperous Armenia Party ( BHK ) and the Bright Armenia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ changes , unveiled last week by the My Step bloc of Pashinian , would lead to the immediate dismissal of three of the nine Constitutional Court members .
It would also require the court to elect a new chairman .
The current court chairman , Hrayr Tovmasian , and six other judges have been under strong government pressure to step down over the past year .
Pashinian has accused them of maintaining close ties to the country ’ s former government and impeding his judicial reforms .
The seven judges have refused to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pashinian ’ s claims and in turn accused the prime minister of seeking to take control of the Constitutional Court .
Under the proposed amendments , the current and future Constitutional Court judges would be barred from serving more than 12 years .
The 12-year term limit was already included in the constitution which took effect in April 2018 , but it didn ’ t apply to the judges already serving .
WATCH : Fight Breaks Out In Armenian Parliament The draft changes approved by parliament would eliminate a clause in the amended @ @ @ @ @ @ @ positions until reaching retirement age .
The move would trigger the immediate resignation of three judges who had taken the bench in the mid-1990s .
Two other Constitutional Court members would have to resign in 2022 .
Tovmasian would have to quit as court chairman but would remain one of the nine justices .
In an opinion made public on June 22 , the Venice Commission largely backed the proposed changes to the constitution , but said it “ regrets ” that the proposed amendments do not provide for a transitional period that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the composition of the Court in order to avoid any abrupt and immediate change endangering the independence of this institution.
” The Strasbourg-based Venice Commission also said that My Step should not rush to have Tovmasian replaced by another Constitutional Court chairman .

The Armenian parliament has adopted proposed changes to the constitution that would lead to the removal of Constitutional Court judges, potentially opening the door for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to exert more influence over the South Caucasian nation.
A total of 89 members of the National Assembly -- all affiliated with the ruling My Step bloc -- backed the draft constitutional amendments in the first and second readings on June 22.
The votes were boycotted by the two opposition parties represented in the 132-seat legislature -- the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) and the Bright Armenia Party (LHK).
The draft changes, unveiled last week by the My Step bloc of Pashinian, would lead to the immediate dismissal of three of the nine Constitutional Court members.
It would also require the court to elect a new chairman.
The current court chairman, Hrayr Tovmasian, and six other judges have been under strong government pressure to step down over the past year.
Pashinian has accused them of maintaining close ties to the country’s former government and impeding his judicial reforms. The seven judges have refused to quit.
12-Year Term Limit
Tovmasian and opposition figures dismissed Pashinian’s claims and in turn accused the prime minister of seeking to take control of the Constitutional Court.
Under the proposed amendments, the current and future Constitutional Court judges would be barred from serving more than 12 years.
The 12-year term limit was already included in the constitution which took effect in April 2018, but it didn’t apply to the judges already serving.
WATCH: Fight Breaks Out In Armenian Parliament
The draft changes approved by parliament would eliminate a clause in the amended constitution allowing these judges to retain their positions until reaching retirement age.
The move would trigger the immediate resignation of three judges who had taken the bench in the mid-1990s. Two other Constitutional Court members would have to resign in 2022. Tovmasian would have to quit as court chairman but would remain one of the nine justices.
In an opinion made public on June 22, the Venice Commission largely backed the proposed changes to the constitution, but said it “regrets” that the proposed amendments do not provide for a transitional period that would “allow for a gradual change in the composition of the court in order to avoid any abrupt and immediate change endangering the independence of this institution.”
The Strasbourg-based Venice Commission also said that My Step should not rush to have Tovmasian replaced by another Constitutional Court chairman.


rferl--2020-06-22--Kremlin Denies Eyeing Territorial Claims After Putin's Comments In Documentary

MOSCOW -- The Kremlin has denied it has any territorial claims on former Soviet republics after President Vladimir Putin appeared to question the redrawn borders of Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union .
`` No , Russia does not have territorial claims against its neighbors , '' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on June 22 .
Peskov was responding to a question about Putin 's statement during the documentary `` Russia .
Kremlin .
Putin . ''
that some republics were able to leave the Soviet Union with “ gifts ” during the country 's disintegration in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ aired on June 21 , Putin did not say exactly which of 14 republics other than the Russian Federation `` took '' what he called `` Russia 's traditionally historic territories , '' stressing that `` when the Soviet Union was created , the right to quit the Union was written in the agreement , but the procedure was not outlined . ''
Putin also said that Moscow ’ s illegal annexation of Ukraine 's Crimea in 2014 was `` a democratic choice of the peninsula 's population . ''
`` Crimea has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ judicial point of view , '' Putin said .
Russia ’ s takeover of Crimea in February-March 2014 and subsequent support of pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine in a conflict that has killed some 13,200 people have strained Moscow-Kyiv relations , sparking concerns among other former Soviet republics , especially Belarus and Kazakhstan , which have long borders with Russia and a significant ethnic-Russian population residing in the areas close to the borders .
`` [ Putin ] talked about previous systemic mistakes in the constitution that failed to envision a whole number @ @ @ @ @ @ @ negative consequences for our state , '' Peskov said , though he refused to comment on Putin 's use of the phrase `` gifts . ''

MOSCOW -- The Kremlin has denied it has any territorial claims on former Soviet republics after President Vladimir Putin appeared to question the redrawn borders of Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
"No, Russia does not have territorial claims against its neighbors," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on June 22.
Peskov was responding to a question about Putin's statement during the documentary "Russia. Kremlin. Putin." that some republics were able to leave the Soviet Union with “gifts” during the country's disintegration in 1991.
In the documentary, which aired on June 21, Putin did not say exactly which of 14 republics other than the Russian Federation "took" what he called "Russia's traditionally historic territories," stressing that "when the Soviet Union was created, the right to quit the Union was written in the agreement, but the procedure was not outlined."
Putin also said that Moscow’s illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimea in 2014 was "a democratic choice of the peninsula's population."
"Crimea has always been ours. Even from the judicial point of view," Putin said.
Russia’s takeover of Crimea in February-March 2014 and subsequent support of pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine in a conflict that has killed some 13,200 people have strained Moscow-Kyiv relations, sparking concerns among other former Soviet republics, especially Belarus and Kazakhstan, which have long borders with Russia and a significant ethnic-Russian population residing in the areas close to the borders.
"[Putin] talked about previous systemic mistakes in the constitution that failed to envision a whole number of situations, developments which could have negative consequences for our state," Peskov said, though he refused to comment on Putin's use of the phrase "gifts."


rferl--2020-06-22--Remains Of People Executed By Nazis Reburied In Russia

The remains of more than 500 men , women , and children executed by Nazi troops during World War II have been reburied in Russia 's northwestern region of Novgorod as the country commemorates Germany 's attack on the Soviet Union .
A June 22 ceremony marked the Day of Memory and Sorrow in the village of Zhestyanaya Gorka , where the remains of hundreds of people were discovered last year .
Further investigations revealed that the people found at several sites were executed during the Nazi occupation in 1942-1943 .
Last month , Russia 's Investigative Committee launched a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ residents of the Novgorod and Pskov regions . ''
On June 22 , as all flags on Russian territory were flown at half-staff , Russian President Vladimir Putin and a group of World War II veterans laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin wall .
The Defense Ministry said that servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces at all military units and facilities across Russia observed a minute of silence to honor the memory of the war heroes at 12:15 p.m. Moscow time .
The Soviet Union 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the highest among all countries involved in the war .
According to official data , in all , the Soviet Union lost some 27 million people between 1941-1945 .
However , some experts and historians disagree , saying that the total is actually higher .
Based on reporting by Novgorodskiye Vedomosti , TASS , and Interfax

The remains of more than 500 men, women, and children executed by Nazi troops during World War II have been reburied in Russia's northwestern region of Novgorod as the country commemorates Germany's attack on the Soviet Union.
A June 22 ceremony marked the Day of Memory and Sorrow in the village of Zhestyanaya Gorka, where the remains of hundreds of people were discovered last year. Further investigations revealed that the people found at several sites were executed during the Nazi occupation in 1942-1943.
Last month, Russia's Investigative Committee launched a probe into the "genocide of the residents of the Novgorod and Pskov regions."
On June 22, as all flags on Russian territory were flown at half-staff, Russian President Vladimir Putin and a group of World War II veterans laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin wall.
The Defense Ministry said that servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces at all military units and facilities across Russia observed a minute of silence to honor the memory of the war heroes at 12:15 p.m. Moscow time.
The Soviet Union's death toll in World War II was the highest among all countries involved in the war. According to official data, in all, the Soviet Union lost some 27 million people between 1941-1945. However, some experts and historians disagree, saying that the total is actually higher.
Based on reporting by Novgorodskiye Vedomosti, TASS, and Interfax


rferl--2020-06-22--Nearly 300 Afghan Security Forces Killed Over Past Week, Official Says

KABUL -- A top Afghan government official has accused the Taliban of unleashing a wave of attacks ahead of potential talks between the warring sides , saying the insurgents had killed 291 local security personnel and wounded 550 others over the past week .
“ The past week was the deadliest ” in Afghanistan 's 18-year war , Javid Faisal , spokesman for the National Security Council , tweeted on June 22 , adding that the Taliban carried out 422 attacks in 32 provinces .
“ Taliban 's commitment to reduce violence is meaningless , and their actions inconsistent with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also wrote .
A Taliban spokesman rejected the latest government figures , saying “ the enemy aims to hurt the peace process and intra-Afghan talks by releasing such false reports . ''
The militant group launched “ some attacks last week , but they were mostly in defense , '' Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP .
Violence in Afghanistan had dropped after the Taliban announced a three-day cease-fire that ended on May 26 to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr , but officials have accused the militants of stepping up attacks in recent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on June 22 , President Ashraf Ghani said that the government sees the violence `` as running against the spirit of commitment for peace . ''
In an attack on the outskirts of Kabul the same day , gunmen shot dead two prosecutors and three other employees of the Attorney General 's Office .
The attackers opened fire on the car they were travelling in , the Interior Ministry said .
No one immediately claimed responsibility and the Taliban denied involvement .
A spokesman for the Attorney General 's Office , Jamshed Rasooli @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the team supervising the release of Taliban prisoners .
He blamed the attack on the “ enemies of peace . ''
Kabul and the Taliban have signaled they were getting closer to launching much-delayed talks aimed at putting an end to the Afghan conflict .
Earlier this month , Ghani vowed to complete a Taliban prisoner release to pave the way for the negotiations .
The government said it had so far released 3,000 Taliban prisoners and vowed to free another 2,000 .
The insurgents have released 500 prisoners they were holding .
@ @ @ @ @ @

The education of girls and women is universally accepted in more than 200 countries and territories, including nearly 50 Muslim-majority nations.
But Afghanistan’s hard-line Islamist Taliban rulers have banned teenage girls from attending school after the sixth grade since they returned to power two years ago. The ban was extended in December to women in universities.
Countless protests by Afghans inside the country, pressure from the international community, and lobbying by Muslim scholars and clerics have failed to convince the fundamentalist Taliban leaders to reopen schools.
Experts are divided over whether the ban is rooted in how the Taliban’s interpretation of Islam is shaped by conservative Pashtun tribal customs and cultural practices or if it is prompted by how senior Taliban ideologues interpret Islamic teachings.
Most Taliban leaders are ethnic Pashtun, Sunni Muslim clerics. Many were educated in Deobandi madrasahs in neighboring Pakistan. Deobandism emerged as a puritanical Islamic revivalist movement in 19-century British Colonial India. Based on the Sunni Hanafi school of jurisprudence, it is a prominent strain among Islamists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Tribal Influences
Sami Yousafzai, a veteran Afghan journalist and commentator, argues that the Taliban restrictions against women are linked to social customs and cultural practices in eastern and southern Afghanistan.
Most Taliban leaders come from various Pashtun rural tribal communities in these regions bordering Pakistan.
"They believe that a woman's place is either inside a house or in a grave," Yousafzai said of the basic Taliban belief influenced by the status of women in the families of clerics and religious leaders in these Pashtun regions.
“Women living in the households of the current Taliban policymakers were never educated and never left their homes,” said Yousafzai, who has tracked the Islamist group since it emerged as a ragtag militia in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar in late 1994. “These women never performed any government or nongovernmental jobs.”
Yousafzai says the Taliban backs policies shaped by this worldview by leaning on Islamic teachings supporting such ideas. He says Taliban leaders rely on sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad that discourage women from leaving their homes.
“Their primary belief is that pubescent girls should not leave home under any circumstance,” he said. “This is why they view women leaving home for education or work as engaging in moral corruption.”
In Afghanistan, a Muslim nation of some 40 million people, activists and rights advocates accuse the Taliban of implementing "gender apartheid" by denying women education, work, freedom of movement, and deciding how they can appear in public.
Most Muslims agree that Islam allows women to get an education. Yet the Taliban publicly says that it will allow girls access to education only after ensuring complete gender segregation and other unspecified conditions.
Almost all Afghan secondary schools were gender segregated and universities imposed a strict separation between men and women after the Taliban takeover.
Yousafzai says in conservative and traditional Muslim societies around the world, some clerics also favor restrictions on women's education, work, and their role in public life. But the governments in those countries usually oppose or limit such ideas.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia -- one of the most conservative Sunni Muslim nations -- has allowed women to drive and granted them freedom of movement without a male guardian. These steps are part of a reform and modernity drive by Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.
The Taliban ban on education has invited universal condemnation from Muslims globally.
“The Taliban's ban on women's education is not rooted in [the Islamic] Shari’a law but rather reflects cultural biases that contradict the teachings of Islam,” said Salam al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in the United States.
He said that contrary to Taliban practices, “Islam emphasizes the importance of seeking knowledge and encourages all individuals, regardless of gender, to acquire an education.”
Historical Conflict
But Islamic scholars and those who have attempted to convince the Taliban about reopening girls schools offer a different explanation.
John Mohammad Butt, an Islamic scholar and former BBC broadcaster who is the only Westerner to graduate from India’s Darul Uloom Deoband, argues that the Taliban's policy on girls' education is not tribal but shaped by the century-old conflict over modern education.
“The problem is that girls' education in Afghanistan -- indeed, contemporary education in general -- has generally been introduced in Afghanistan in line with a secular agenda,” he said.
In the 1920s, a coalition of conservative clerics and tribal and community leaders deposed reformist King Amanullah Khan. He wanted to modernize Afghanistan along Turkish leader Kamal Ataturk's secular lines and championed modern education and rights for women.
This opposition to modernity and secularism continued, and conservative clerics opposed women's education and work. It became a key part of the Islamist opposition to the pro-Soviet Afghan communist governments after the April 1978 military coup that ended the Afghan monarchy. The mujahedin accused the communists of spreading immorality by promoting women’s education and empowerment.
“This has led to particular wariness on the part of conservative circles in Afghanistan with regard to girls' education,” Butt said.
'Deep Ideological Conviction'
Obaidullah Baheer, a political science lecturer at the American University of Afghanistan, became part of an effort to rescind the ban by talking to the Taliban last year.
But he says the effort failed because “the ban is a matter of deep ideological conviction” for the current supreme leader of the Taliban, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada.
Baheer says that the most prominent Taliban leaders have studied in Pakistani madrasahs and were thus disconnected from village and tribal life.
“They have been indoctrinated by the Deobandi school of thought so that they now enforce the strictest version of Islam on the Afghan population,” he said.
He argues that the ban on girls’ schools is a deliberate policy championed by Akhundzada, who he says has endorsed Taliban Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani's Arabic language book The Islamic Emirate And Its System. In this book, Haqqani supports a fringe Islamic opinion of preferring the choice of one of the Prophet Muhammad's wives, Sawdah Bint Zam'ah, who chose to stay at home until her death.
Baheer says Haqqani ignores his other wives and other female companions that played an active role in many sectors of society and how they served as students and teachers for men.
“This fringe opinion is not held by all Taliban leaders but is one that the current absolute sovereign, the Taliban emir, seems to be convinced of,” he said.
Butt says that even Haqqani has acknowledged the principle that if there is something that women need to act upon, then that is also something that women need to learn about.
“I hope the Taliban authorities will come to realize in the not-too-distant future that education for women will make Afghan women into better Muslims,” he says. “It will enable them to make a stronger contribution to the well-being of their country.”
Two years after grappling with the issue, Western diplomats appear to be encouraging Afghan conservative and clerical circles to find ways to end the ban.
Tom West, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, recently tweeted that Afghan women must be educated and contribute to the economy to help their country stand on its own two feet.
“If change to policies is made, it will be because Afghans have asked for it, not a result of foreign requests,” he wrote.


rferl--2020-06-22--Another Russian Scientist Sentenced On High Treason Charge

Another Russian scientist has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term on a high treason charge in an ongoing spate of similar secretive cases targeting Russian academics .
The Moscow Regional Court on June 22 sentenced Roman Kovalyov , a former senior official at the Central Research Institute of Machine Building ( TsNIIMash ) , to 7 years in prison .
TsNIIMash is Russia 's leading rocket and spacecraft scientific center located in the city of Korolyov near Moscow .
Kovalyov was arrested in June last year and charged with treason after his apartment and summer house near the Russian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the case have not been made public as its materials were classified .
Kovalyov was working with Viktor Kudryavtsev , a 75-year-old researcher at the TsNIIMash .
Kudryavtsev was arrested in July 2018 on suspicion of passing classified data on hypersonic technology to a research group in Belgium .
Kudryavtsev ’ s lawyers have said that he had rejected a deal with investigators who wanted him to testify against Kovalyov in exchange for being transferred from pretrial detention to house arrest .
Kudryavtsev suffered a heart attack while in custody and was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ordered not to leave Moscow while investigations were under way .
The case against Kovalyov and Kudryavtsev is one of several in recent years in which Russian scholars and scientists have been accused of treason or disseminating classified or sensitive information .
Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax

Another Russian scientist has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term on a high treason charge in an ongoing spate of similar secretive cases targeting Russian academics.
The Moscow Regional Court on June 22 sentenced Roman Kovalyov, a former senior official at the Central Research Institute of Machine Building (TsNIIMash), to 7 years in prison.
TsNIIMash is Russia's leading rocket and spacecraft scientific center located in the city of Korolyov near Moscow.
Kovalyov was arrested in June last year and charged with treason after his apartment and summer house near the Russian capital were searched by police.
Details of the case have not been made public as its materials were classified.
Kovalyov was working with Viktor Kudryavtsev, a 75-year-old researcher at the TsNIIMash.
Kudryavtsev was arrested in July 2018 on suspicion of passing classified data on hypersonic technology to a research group in Belgium.
Kudryavtsev’s lawyers have said that he had rejected a deal with investigators who wanted him to testify against Kovalyov in exchange for being transferred from pretrial detention to house arrest.
Kudryavtsev suffered a heart attack while in custody and was released from pretrial detention in late-September and ordered not to leave Moscow while investigations were under way.
The case against Kovalyov and Kudryavtsev is one of several in recent years in which Russian scholars and scientists have been accused of treason or disseminating classified or sensitive information.
Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax


rferl--2020-06-22--Clooney Foundation To Monitor Russian Journalist's Trial For 'Justifying Terrorism'

PSKOV , Russia -- The Clooney Foundation for Justice ( CFJ ) , a human rights watchdog founded by Hollywood star George Clooney and his wife , Lebanese-British lawyer Amal Clooney , will be monitoring the high-profile trial of Russian journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva , who is accused of `` justifying terrorism . ''
Prokopyeva ’ s lawyer Tatyana Martynova told RFE/RL on June 22 that the CFJ will be represented at the trial in the northwestern Russian city of Pskov by lawyer Maksim Kuznetsov , who will monitor the trial 's legality .
Prokopyeva told RFE/RL that the monitoring `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ searchlight ' that will permit the evaluation of the case that we were hoping to get , '' adding that because of coronavirus restrictions many international organizations have been unable to attend the trial .
On June 16 , when the trial resumed , Prokopyeva reiterated her stance , rejecting charges that she had `` justified terrorism '' by publishing an online commentary that linked a suicide bombing to the country 's political climate .
Prokopyeva , a freelance contributor to RFE/RL 's Russian Service , was charged in connection with a commentary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the Pskov affiliate of Ekho Moskvy radio .
In the text , she discussed a bombing outside the Federal Security Service ( FSB ) offices in the northern city of Arkhangelsk .
The Russian media had reported that the suspected bomber , who died in the explosion , had posted statements on social media accusing the FSB of tampering with criminal cases .
In her commentary , Prokopyeva linked the teenager 's statements to the political climate under President Vladimir Putin .
She suggested that political activism in the country was severely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Prokopyeva has described the case against her as an attempt to `` assassinate freedom of speech '' in Russia .
If found guilty , she faces up to seven years in prison .
`` The charges against Svetlana are bogus and should be dropped , so that she and other Russian journalists can continue their efforts to address the important questions that Russians are contending with without fear of legal penalty , '' RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said in a statement .
Human Rights Watch called Prokopyeva 's prosecution `` a violation of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hers . ''
`` It sends yet another chilling message that in Russia , raising uncomfortable questions can have severe repercussions -- a lesson the authorities have been giving the media for years , '' the New York-based rights group said .
The case has drawn criticism from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe , and media-rights groups like Reporters Without Borders , the Committee to Protect Journalists , and the European Federation of Journalists .

PSKOV, Russia -- The Clooney Foundation for Justice (CFJ), a human rights watchdog founded by Hollywood star George Clooney and his wife, Lebanese-British lawyer Amal Clooney, will be monitoring the high-profile trial of Russian journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva, who is accused of "justifying terrorism."
Prokopyeva’s lawyer Tatyana Martynova told RFE/RL on June 22 that the CFJ will be represented at the trial in the northwestern Russian city of Pskov by lawyer Maksim Kuznetsov, who will monitor the trial's legality.
Prokopyeva told RFE/RL that the monitoring "will play the role of a 'social searchlight' that will permit the evaluation of the case that we were hoping to get," adding that because of coronavirus restrictions many international organizations have been unable to attend the trial.
On June 16, when the trial resumed, Prokopyeva reiterated her stance, rejecting charges that she had "justified terrorism" by publishing an online commentary that linked a suicide bombing to the country's political climate.
Prokopyeva, a freelance contributor to RFE/RL's Russian Service, was charged in connection with a commentary she wrote in November 2018, published by the Pskov affiliate of Ekho Moskvy radio. In the text, she discussed a bombing outside the Federal Security Service (FSB) offices in the northern city of Arkhangelsk.
The Russian media had reported that the suspected bomber, who died in the explosion, had posted statements on social media accusing the FSB of tampering with criminal cases.
In her commentary, Prokopyeva linked the teenager's statements to the political climate under President Vladimir Putin. She suggested that political activism in the country was severely restricted, leading people to despair.
Prokopyeva has described the case against her as an attempt to "assassinate freedom of speech" in Russia.
If found guilty, she faces up to seven years in prison.
"The charges against Svetlana are bogus and should be dropped, so that she and other Russian journalists can continue their efforts to address the important questions that Russians are contending with without fear of legal penalty," RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said in a statement.
Human Rights Watch called Prokopyeva's prosecution "a violation of freedom of expression, but not just hers."
"It sends yet another chilling message that in Russia, raising uncomfortable questions can have severe repercussions -- a lesson the authorities have been giving the media for years," the New York-based rights group said.
The case has drawn criticism from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and media-rights groups like Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the European Federation of Journalists.


rferl--2020-06-22--U.S., Russian Envoys End First Day Of Talks On Nuclear Arms Treaty

The United States and Russia on June 22 opened two days of talks on their last remaining nuclear arms control , the New START treaty , which caps the number of deployed long-range nuclear warheads each can have .
The top U.S. arms control negotiator , Marshall Billingslea , and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov headed the delegations in Vienna , with little prospect of an imminent agreement on New START , which expires in February 2021 .
Russia has called for an extension of the accord limiting Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenals to 1,550 deployed long-range nuclear warheads @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that its bilateral arms control agreements with Moscow are outdated and that it wants Beijing to be included in any future agreements on nuclear weapons .
China has repeatedly rejected attempts to get it to join the talks .
While the country has been expanding its nuclear arsenal , it is still far smaller than the U.S. and Russian programs .
Russia 's UN envoy in the Austrian capital , Mikhail Ulyanov , tweeted just before 7 p.m. local time that the meeting in Vienna had ended , adding : `` Official comments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ryabkov were guarded in their statements as they arrived for the discussions .
`` We 'll see , '' the U.S. envoy said when asked what he expected to come of the talks .
He declined to elaborate on their content .
Ryabkov was equally cautious , telling reporters , `` Let 's see , let 's see .
We are always very hopeful . ''
Ahead of the talks , Billingslea posted on Twitter a photo of Chinese flags at empty chairs at the Vienna negotiating table .
`` China is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wall of Secrecy ' on its crash nuclear build-up , and so many other things .
We will proceed with Russia , notwithstanding , '' he wrote .
On June 20 , Ryabkov told Interfax that Russia has run out of arguments for extending the pact but will still raise the idea .
`` We have repeatedly explained to the Americans why we think a decision in favor of an extension is right , '' he said at the time .
`` We wo n't find any more arguments for what we have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ course , we will use the opportunity to remind of our position . ''
While Russia would consider it `` right and logical '' to extend New START , `` by and large this treaty is not everything , '' Ryabkov told Interfax .
Moscow , however , has repeatedly warned of the danger of a new arms race if the treaty is not renewed .
Ultimately , it will be up to what U.S. President Donald Trump 's government decides , he added .
Trump has pulled out of or let expire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and the Iran nuclear deal .
But his administration has voiced a general interest in preserving New START .
Russia , whose nuclear arsenal is a key element of power while it is vastly outspent on defense by the United States , says it wants to ensure parity with Washington .
It also wants a broader discussion with Washington on arms control , including on U.S. threats to resume nuclear tests after a suspension of nearly three decades .
Last month , Billingslea accused Moscow of modernizing thousands @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fall outside of the New START treaty .
`` They have adopted a highly provocative nuclear doctrine that embraces early escalation and use of nuclear weapons , '' he said , calling for any successor treaty to put more Russian arms under monitoring .
With reporting by AFP , Interfax , and dpa


rferl--2020-06-23--Iranian Currency Plunges To New Lows Against Dollar As Rohani Denounces 'Psychological Warfare'

The Iranian currency plunged to new depths against the U.S. dollar on June 23 , as the country continues to wrestle against the economic effects of U.S. sanctions , the coronavirus , and low oil prices .
The value of one U.S. dollar rose as high as 205,000 rials on the street market , up from 193,400 rials three days earlier , according to the foreign exchange site Bonbast.com .
The official rate , cited by the central bank website , is 42,000 .
The Iranian currency has plummeted against the dollar since Iran and world powers signed a nuclear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018 and reimposed crushing sanctions that sent the economy into a tailspin and fueled inflation .
The latest fall comes four days after the UN atomic watchdog urged Tehran to stop denying its inspectors access to two suspected former nuclear sites .
The coronavirus pandemic and falling oil prices have contributed to the bleak economic outlook .
However , President Hassan Rohani on June 23 sought to downplay the slump in the rial , saying it was `` temporary and has no fundamental economic reason , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Psychological warfare against Iran as well as the creation of an unrealistic anxiety among people , are the main causes of the recent fluctuations in the foreign exchange market , '' Rohani said .
Iran has been the Middle East ’ s hardest-hit nation by the epidemic with more than 209,000 positive cases so far .
The country on June 23 reported 121 new coronavirus deaths , its highest daily toll in over two months , bringing the overall virus death toll to over 9,800 .
With reporting by AFP and Reuters


rferl--2020-06-23--Putin Announces Tax Hike For High Earners Ahead Of Constitutional Vote

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed raising income tax on high earners as of next year , as he laid out measures to tackle the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic .
Putin made the announcement in an address to the nation on June 23 , a week before the country is set to hold a national vote on controversial amendments to the constitution that would open the door for the Russian leader staying in power until 2036 .
The president proposed that the tax be raised by 2 percentage points to 15 percent for annual personal income that exceeds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ starting January 1 , 2021 .
The hike would give the state treasury an extra 60 billion rubles ( $ 864.6 million ) , Putin said , adding that the money raised from the new tax rate could be used to treat children with `` severe , rare diseases . ''
The current 13 percent income tax was introduced during Putin ’ s first presidential term in 2001 .
In his televised speech , Putin promised that subsidies to families with children and other categories of the population introduced during the coronavirus pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ruble ( $ 144 ) allowances paid in June to families with children under 16 will be extended to next month .
He said the government will also continue in July and August to provide financial support to citizens who were left without work during the outbreak , and that a program of subsidized mortgage rates to make new housing more affordable will also be extended .
The president also proposed cutting taxes on profits for IT companies from 20 percent to 3 percent .
Russia has reported nearly 600,000 cases of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The country has largely ended its lockdown , but the crisis is expected to cause a 6 percent economic contraction this year .
Putin ended his address by calling on Russian voters to take part in the national vote on proposed constitutional changes scheduled for July 1 .
If approved , the reform would mean the 67-year-old former KGB officer could run for two further six-year terms , if he chooses , after his current term ends in 2024 .
Putin has served as Russian president or prime minister since 1999 .

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed raising income tax on high earners as of next year, as he laid out measures to tackle the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
Putin made the announcement in an address to the nation on June 23, a week before the country is set to hold a national vote on controversial amendments to the constitution that would open the door for the Russian leader staying in power until 2036.
The president proposed that the tax be raised by 2 percentage points to 15 percent for annual personal income that exceeds 5 million rubles ($72,700) starting January 1, 2021. The hike is lower than what some officials had been calling for in recent years.
The current 13 percent income tax for all citizens was introduced during Putin’s first presidential term in 2001 and has remained unchanged ever since.
The hike would give the state treasury an extra 60 billion rubles ($864.6 million), Putin said, adding that the money raised from the new tax rate could be used to treat children with "severe, rare diseases."
The measure will have little impact on the nation’s budget and reserves, economists said. Russia already has the world’s fourth-largest foreign currency reserves at $570 billion as of June, including more than $100 billion in a so-called “rainy-day” fund to be used during tough times.
Yet Putin has been cautious to tap the reserves despite the significant impact low oil prices and the coronavirus have had on the nation’s economy. Revenues from oil, the nation's main export, slumped amid a price war with Saudi Arabia earlier this year and falling global demand caused by the pandemic.
The tax hike is the second he has announced this year on the wealthy.
In March, Putin called for raising taxes on the dividends Russian companies pay to their owners’ offshore bank accounts.
Isaak Bekker, a Russian financial consultant and Forbes columnist, predicted last year that domestic politics, rather than budgetary needs, would force Putin to soon impose higher taxes on the wealthy.
A tax increase on the rich could play the role of a "national idea," he said, ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections in 2021 and 2024, respectively.
For the strategy to be effective, Bekker said, Putin should offer to spend the money on concrete projects or issues. Bekker made his prediction prior to Putin announcing a surprise vote on constitutional changes.
The tax increase on the wealthy could result in a “potential easing of some social tensions,” ING Bank said in a report. Social discontent has increased in Russia in recent years over stagnant living standards, leading to an increase in protest activity and a decline in Putin's ratings.
In his televised speech, Putin promised that subsidies to families with children and other categories of the population introduced during the coronavirus pandemic will be extended.
He said 10,000 ruble ($144) allowances paid in June to families with children under 16 will be extended to next month.
He said the government will also continue in July and August to provide financial support to citizens who were left without work during the outbreak, and that a program of subsidized mortgage rates to make new housing more affordable will also be extended.
The president also proposed cutting taxes on profits for IT companies from 20 percent to 3 percent.
Russia has reported nearly 600,000 cases of the coronavirus, the world's third-largest caseload.
The country has largely ended its lockdown, but the crisis is expected to cause a 6 percent economic contraction this year.
Putin ended his address by calling on Russian voters to take part in the national vote on proposed constitutional changes scheduled for July 1.
If approved, the reform would mean the 67-year-old former KGB officer could run for two further six-year terms, if he chooses, after his current term ends in 2024.
Putin has served as Russian president or prime minister since 1999.


rferl--2020-06-23--India, Pakistan Expel Embassy Staff In Latest Spying Row

India says it has decided to expel half the staff in Pakistan 's Embassy in New Delhi , saying they have been engaged in `` acts of espionage '' and maintained contacts with `` terrorist organizations . ''
India will cut staff in its own embassy in Islamabad by the same amount , the Indian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on June 23 .
It said the decisions , which are to be implemented in seven days , were conveyed to the Pakistani charge d ’ affaires in New Delhi .
Pakistan 's Foreign Ministry later dismissed India 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ diplomatic staff in New Delhi `` always function within the parameters of international law and diplomatic norms . ''
It said the ministry summoned India 's charge d'affaires in Islamabad to inform him of Pakistan 's decision to reduce staff at the Indian Embassy by half as a `` reciprocal measure . ''
Relations between the nuclear-armed rivals are strained and tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats are common .
Neither country has a permanent ambassador in place .
India expelled two Pakistani diplomats on May 31 after they were held for alleged spying , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' In the last month , each country has accused the other of the illegal detention and ill-treatment of diplomats .

India says it has decided to expel half the staff in Pakistan's Embassy in New Delhi, saying they have been engaged in "acts of espionage" and maintained contacts with "terrorist organizations."
India will cut staff in its own embassy in Islamabad by the same amount, the Indian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on June 23.
It said the decisions, which are to be implemented in seven days, were conveyed to the Pakistani charge d’affaires in New Delhi.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry later dismissed India's "baseless allegations" and said Pakistani diplomatic staff in New Delhi "always function within the parameters of international law and diplomatic norms."
It said the ministry summoned India's charge d'affaires in Islamabad to inform him of Pakistan's decision to reduce staff at the Indian Embassy by half as a "reciprocal measure."
Relations between the nuclear-armed rivals are strained and tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats are common.
Neither country has a permanent ambassador in place.
India expelled two Pakistani diplomats on May 31 after they were held for alleged spying, claims Islamabad said were "baseless."
In the last month, each country has accused the other of the illegal detention and ill-treatment of diplomats.
With reporting by Reuters