This article appears in the March 18, 2022 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

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International Briefs

Modi Blocks Quad Statement from Condemning Russia, Stresses Diplomacy

The March 3 meeting of the four-nation “Quad” grouping—Australia, India, Japan, and the U.S.—didn’t end quite as the U.S. had planned. As India’s WION-TV reported, Washington’s hope was that this emergency virtual meeting, attended by U.S. President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan, Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, would form a united front and issue a statement that condemned Russia’s military operation, or “invasion,” of Ukraine; but Modi wouldn’t go along, calling instead for an end of hostilities and diplomacy.

The White House readout of the meeting thus only mentioned that the group discussed the Ukrainian situation, “assessed its broader implications,” and otherwise committed the group to “a free and open Indo-Pacific in which the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states is respected, and countries are free from military, economic and political coercion.”

Notably, the readout issued by India’s Ministry of External Affairs underscored Modi’s insistence that the Quad remain focused on its core objective “of promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.” On Ukraine, the readout mentions that Modi emphasized “the need to return to a path of dialogue and diplomacy.”

Imran Khan Rebuffs Pressure to Denounce Russia

In response to a letter signed by 20 European Union ambassadors in Islamabad, demanding that Pakistan denounce Russia, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan retorted, while speaking at a political event: “What do you think of us? Are we your slaves ... that whatever you say, we will do?”

The EU letter was in response to Pakistan’s abstention from voting on the March 2 UN General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.

On March 4, a spokesman for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry stated at the press briefing that it was “not usual diplomatic practice “for envoys to make public requests as in their letter, “and we have made that clear.” He further explained, “We took note of that and in a subsequent meeting with a group of ambassadors, we expressed our concern about it, because as I said that is not the way diplomacy should be practiced, and I think they have realized it.”

On March 6, Khan said that Pakistan is “friends with Russia, and we are also friends with America; we are friends with China and with Europe; we are not in any camp.” He went on to say that Pakistan would remain “neutral” and collaborate with those working to end the Ukraine conflict.

Russian Economist Glazyev Sees a New World System Forming

In a March 6 interview with Open Studio internet TV posted on YouTube, Sergei Glazyev, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Minister of Integration and Macroeconomics at the EAEU (Eurasian Economic Union), presented his view that a new world economic order is developing, to replace the current bankrupt one. Glazyev’s book, Genocide: Russia and the New World Order was published in English by EIR in 2008, and he has been a knowledgeable friend of the international LaRouche movement for many years.

According to a machine translation of the Open Studio video, Glazyev said that the Anglo-American theft of hundreds of billions of dollars of Russia’s money is an act typical of piracy. He likened this to the British Empire’s accumulation of wealth through plundering others. He called it an inherent disease of the Anglo-Saxon financial system.

Just as the Soviet system collapsed 30 years ago, now the American-centered system collapsing, he said.

He continued, Anglo-Saxon politics may have the goal of destroying Russia, but in reality, the West is destroying itself through imposing sanctions. Russians and others must understand that it is necessary to get rid of the dollar. It is poisonous. What need does anyone have for a currency that you can’t work with, can’t buy anything with, and which may be frozen tomorrow?

He concluded by saying that if Russia creates a broad international coalition along with China and India, all American power will be blown away.

World Focus on U.S. ‘Biolabs’ in Ukraine; Nuland Remonstrates

Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, Commander of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Protection Troops, announced March 7 that Russia has seen documents—apparently seized during Russia’s military operations in Ukraine—indicating that work on both anthrax and plague was done in U.S.-funded labs in Ukraine. He further charged that the Kiev government was now attempting to destroy all samples, so as to cover up proof of their violations of the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC).

Kirillov asserted that there are up to 30 labs in Ukraine that have partnered with the Pentagon’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.

On March 8, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian insisted that the Ukrainian biolabs are just “the tip of the iceberg.” The U.S. Department of Defense “controls 336 biological laboratories in 30 countries around the world,” he stated. The U.S., “as the party which knows these laboratories best, should publish the relevant details as soon as possible, including which viruses are stored and which research has been carried out.” The U.S. “has been exclusively obstructing” independent verification mechanisms, which “further aggravates the concerns of the international community.”

The public exposure of the issue has reached the point that U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland had to engage in damage control in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee March 8. To Sen. Marco Rubio’s set-up question “Does Ukraine have chemical or biological weapons?” Nuland responded carefully:

“Ukraine has biological research facilities, which, in fact, we are now quite concerned Russian troops, Russian forces may be seeking to gain control of, so we are working with the Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces should they approach.”

On March 11, the UN Security Council met at Russia’s request to discuss the matter of U.S.-backed biological labs in Ukraine. Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzya, presented a lengthy statement to the Council, presenting extensive evidence of the labs, from the documents Russia had obtained in Ukraine. He discounted that the U.S. and allies may say that the information is fake Russian propaganda, reporting that the documents have been posted online.

Sweden’s Prime Minister Opposes NATO Membership, at Present

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson took NATO membership off the table for Sweden, at least under present circumstances. In a March 8 press conference as reported by Reuters, she stated,

“If Sweden were to choose to send in an application to join NATO in the current situation, it would further destabilize this area of Europe and increase tensions. I have been clear during this whole time in saying that what is best for Sweden’s security and for the security of this region of Europe is that the government has a long-term, consistent, and predictable policy and that is my continued belief.”

Potsdam Climate Guru Wants Total Ban on Russian Fuel to Germany

Leading German “climate protector” Ottmar Edenhofer of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) has called on Germany to join the U.S. in imposing an instant import ban on Russian gas and oil. “We need massive sanctions now. Europe cannot afford to continue financing Putin’s war through gas and oil imports. And yes, we could enforce this import ban,” Edenhofer told German media March 9.

Edenhofer said he is aware that it may cause high costs and create shortages: “It will involve higher costs and massive intervention in the gas market.”

German industries could then be faced with having to shut down:

“For next winter, it would be conceivable that if we don’t manage to fill the storage facilities accordingly ... private households would be prioritized for gas supply, and industrial customers would have to take a back seat. We are talking about wartime scenarios here.”

The Malthusians at PIK oppose fossil fuels, nuclear power, and, most important, the existence of humanity, so Edenhofer’s statements come as no surprise. How many other environmentalists are secretly happy that the Anglo-American/NATO created conflict may drive up the prices of energy that humans require?

Facebook Decides Nazi Postings Are Just Fine

Facebook, which claims it is oh-so-careful to ban “fake news,” or posts that promote violence, has reversed its ban on postings by the infamous neo-Nazi Azov Brigade in Ukraine, according to a Feb. 24 article in The Intercept. Another case of “they may be Nazis, but they’re our Nazis.”

A spokesman for “Meta” (Facebook’s new name), said:

“For the time being, we are making a narrow exception for praise of the Azov Regiment strictly in the context of defending Ukraine, or in their role as part of the Ukraine National Guard. But we are continuing to ban all hate speech, hate symbolism, praise of violence, generic praise, support, or representation of the Azov Regiment, and any other content that violates our community standards.

What Facebook declares as “our community standards” clearly includes burning people alive—as was done at the trade union building in Odessa, and other atrocities, but only if they are carried out against Russians or anti-Nazi Ukrainians.