Salvini said he had a high opinion of the Russian president “free of charge” and dismissed the billionaire philanthropist and liberal open-society advocate as a “speculator who 20 years ago caused one of the biggest Italian economic disasters,” when the lira was forced out of the European exchange rate mechanism (ERM) along with the pound.
“I have already sued people who said Russia was paying me,” said deputy premier and Interior Minister Salvini, adding that “I’ve never had a lira from Russia, or a matrioska, or a fur hat.” “There is a relationship of esteem with Putin, I believe he has done a lot for his people and with interventions against Islamist terrorism like the intervention in Syria: and I say that gratis, because I think so. Source Ansa news
OPEC+ headed for a clash with the U.S. as more members rejected President Joe Biden’s call for the group to raise oil production faster and help reduce gasoline prices. On Monday, Kuwait said the cartel should stick with its plan to increase output gradually because oil markets were well-balanced. That followed similar statements from other key members in recent days, including Iraq, Algeria, Angola and Nigeria. Source Al Jazeera
“If a state buys (weaponry) from us, it’s no longer a Turkish product. It might be manufactured in Turkey, but it belongs to Ukraine,” Cavusoglu told reporters after meeting his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on the margins of the G20 summit in Rome. “Turkey cannot be blamed for this,” he said. Source The Defence Post
Bulgaria has sent 350 additional military personnel to its border with Turkey amid rising migration levels. Defense Minister Georgi Panayotov told Bulgarian media that the troops were arriving to “support the border police”. Source EuroNews
