There are evils beyond your ken. And there isn’t any doubt for whom Boris Johnson works anymore. Having run out of native debtors, the bankers turned to mass immigration to create new ones. And having subquently discovered that populations with lower time preferences are considerably less inclined to service their debts, they’re now desperately casting about for ways to seduce more people into debt servitude, with or without their consent, or even knowledge. This is obviously all coming to an end soon, even without the external pressure of the BRICSIA forces on the foundations of the neo-liberal world order and its proxy armies.

UK to pledge to 'do everything possible to ensure Ukraine wins war' (Ground News)

It is one of the largest recent findings on the Russian shelf, energy giant Rosneft says.

Russian energy major Rosneft has announced the discovery of a huge oil deposit in the Pechora Sea containing an estimated 82 million tons of oil. The field was discovered thanks to a drilling campaign in the Medynsko-Varandeysky area. “During the tests, a free flow of oil was obtained with a maximum flow rate of 220 cubic meters a day,” the company’s statement read on Wednesday, noting that the “oil is light, low-sulfur, low viscosity.” Rosneft noted that the exploration works in the waters of the Pechora Sea proved the “significant oil potential of the Timan-Pechora province on the shelf and became the basis for continuing the study and development of the region.”

Kit Knightly | It’s no secret that, according to politicians and the corporate press, “food shortages” and a “food supply crises” have been on the way for a while now. They have been regularly predicted for several years. What’s really strange is that despite its near-constant incipience, the food shortage never seems to actually arrive and is always blamed on something new. [...] You’d be forgiven for thinking that – since the food crisis is always expected but never arrives, and is always blamed on the current thing – that it doesn’t really exist. That it’s nothing but a psy-op designed to spread panic and give suppliers an excuse to jack up their prices in response to fake “scarcity” created by the press. However, there are indications that this may be about to change.

The REAL agenda behind the created food crisis Kit Knightly | The created food crisis, whether real or a smoke-and-mirrors psy-op, is all about tearing down the global food system and “building back better” – a new dystopian food system built by corporate monoliths and rigidly controlled in the name of the greater good.

To nobody’s shock or surprise, and in a message that echoes previous statements from Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said while attending the G7 summit in Germany it’s a price “worth paying.”

💬 “In terms of staying the course, imagine if you didn’t,” the prime minister said in comments made to BBC. He stressed that if Putin should get away with achieving “violent acquisition of huge chunks” of another country, then “the lessons for that would be absolutely chilling in all of the countries of the former Soviet Union.”

EU leaders are in Brussels to discuss the membership bids of Ukraine and Moldova. Meanwhile, the European Parliament has voted heavily in favor of the two countries' getting candidate status.

The European Parliament has voted in favor of granting Ukraine and Moldova EU candidate status while leaders are meeting in Brussels to discuss the issue on Thursday. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said the vote had been "unequivocal" and that the European Council "should grant candidate status today" to the two countries. "This will show leadership, resolve and vision in context of Russia's war against Ukraine," she tweeted. [...] North Macedonia and Albania still in limbo: Meanwhile, leaders failed to break a deadlock over a stalled membership bids from North Macedonia and Albania.

NATO Begins Land Blockade of Russian Enclave of Kaliningrad, Little Russia, in an Effort to Provoke Further Conflict.

Kaliningrad is an enclave of Russia on the Baltic Sea, with a population of around 450,000 Russians. Kaliningrad is surrounded by NATO countries Lithuania to the north and Poland to the south. Land access for Russia to Kaliningrad is a matter of treaties between Russia and Lithuania providing transit to the Russian enclave through Suwalski gap where railroads connect Kaliningrad to Belarus. In an intentionally provocative move, the NATO alliance has now decided to use Lithuania to cut off access to Kaliningrad by land. [...] This action is being taken as the same time as EU NATO countries are threatening to rush NATO membership for Ukraine into place. There is no other way to look at this decision by NATO member states as anything except a deliberate effort to increase the likelihood of war between Russia and the western alliance. Moscow warned of ‘very tough actions’ against the Western security alliance member after deliveries of coal, metals, construction materials and advanced technology were stopped from entering the Russian territory. The Lithuanian chargé d’affaires in Moscow was told that unless cargo transit was resumed in the near future, Russia reserves the right to act to protect its national interests. The Russian foreign ministry said:

💬 ‘We consider provocative measures of the Lithuanian side which violate Lithuania’s international legal obligations, primarily the 2002 Joint Statement of the Russian Federation and the European Union on transit between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of the Russian Federation, to be openly hostile.’

Russia has vowed to respond to Lithuania's decision to block sanctioned goods from being delivered to Kaliningrad via rail.

Lithuania’s president on Wednesday said the Baltic nation is prepared for Russian retaliation over its decision to block the transit of sanctioned goods to Kaliningrad, the Russian enclave sandwiched in between Lithuania and Poland. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda told Reuters that Vilnius is ready for “unfriendly steps” such as Russia cutting the Baltic nation from a shared power grid, but doesn’t expect a military response. [...] While Lithuania has a small military, it’s not afraid of Russian military action due to its NATO membership. “I do not believe that Russia will challenge us in military sense, because we are a NATO member,” Nauseda said.

The Chinese regime is using COVID-19 control measures to stop depositors whose savings were frozen by rural banks from protesting.

Several depositors told The Epoch Times on June 14 that the health code on their COVID-19 app turned red as soon as they scanned venue barcodes at Zhengzhou, the provincial capital city of central China’s Henan Province. A red health code—indicating a potential COVID-19 patient—means that the carrier is barred access to all public places from public toilets to shops to train stations and faces mandatory quarantine in centralized isolation centers. They’re among tens of thousands of bank depositors who have fought to recover their savings for more than two months.

Aggrieved depositors across the country planned another protest in Zhengzhou on June 13 to demand an answer, although previous gatherings were met with silence from local authorities and violence from plainclothes police officers. However, their plan was thwarted again as their health codes turned red at the city’s train stations or highway entrances. A red code indicates the highest level of risk, meaning the person tests positive, has been close to a COVID-19 patient, or has visited high-COVID-risk areas in the past 14 days. Residents with a red code face two weeks of centralized isolation.

The transit of some goods through Lithuania has been blocked, raising concerns over shortages in Russia's exclave.

Lithuania blocked the rail transit of some Russian goods to the country’s Kaliningrad Region on Saturday. Vilnius explained the move by stating that the goods in question were sanctioned by the EU in connection with the conflict in Ukraine, and therefore can no longer pass through the bloc's territory even if they travel from one part of Russia to another.

Russia Demands Lithuania Lifts Ban on Transit of Goods to Kaliningrad (Antiwar.com)
Russia threatens Lithuania with ‘serious’ consequences (RT.com)
Putin gives update on newest Sarmat ICBM deployment (RT.com)
Putin announces deployment of S-500 air defense systems (RT.com)
US Vassal State Lithuania Risks Direct Confrontation with Russia (Stephen Lendman)
'Violation of Everything': Kremlin Blasts Lithuania's Rail Blockade of Russia's Kaliningrad Region (06/20/22)

Company cites "non-pandemic-related morbidity" and "unusual claims adjustments" in explanation of losses from group life insurance business: Stock falling, replaces CEO.

Five months after breaking the story of the CEO of One America insurance company saying deaths among working people ages 18-64 were up 40% in the third quarter of 2021, I can report that a much larger life insurance company, Lincoln National, reported a 163% increase in death benefits paid out under its group life insurance policies in 2021. This is according to the annual statements filed with state insurance departments — statements that were provided exclusively to Crossroads Report in response to public records requests.

The reports show a more extreme situation than the 40% increase in deaths in the third quarter of 2021 that was cited in late December by One America CEO Scott Davison — an increase that he said was industry-wide and that he described at the time as “unheard of” and “huge, huge numbers” and the highest death rates that have ever been seen in the history of the life insurance business.

On Saturday, Kaliningrad governor Anton Alikhanov reported that Lithuanian Railways, a state-owned enterprise, had stopped the rail-based transit of sanctioned goods between Russia and its Baltic Sea exclave, citing "EU restrictions". The measure has cut the region off from up to half of all its rail-based imports.

💬 "This decision is truly unprecedented. It is a violation of everything. We understand it to be connected to the relevant decision made by the European Union - to extend sanctions to transit. We also consider it illegal," Peskov said, speaking to reporters on Monday. "We need a serious, in-depth analysis to work out our response decisions," Peskov said

Vilnius began enforcing a ban on the transit of goods subject to EU sanctions between mainland Russia and Kaliningrad on Saturday. Governor Alikhanov said construction materials, metal products, coal, cement, high tech products and other goods would be affected. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has indicated that the rail transit restrictions were introduced "after consultations with the European Commission and under its leadership."

Biden Admin. escalating Ukraine to Nuclear War with Russia - VIDEO (06/19/22)
Russia Demands Lithuania Lift "Openly Hostile" Blockade; Panic Buying Ensues (ZeroHedge)
Lithuania Bans Transit Of Sanctioned Russian Goods To Kaliningrad (ABN)
Panic Buying in Kaliningrad as Lithuania "Sanctions" Russian Railroad (Hal Turner)
Lithuania’s ban on transit of some goods to Kaliningrad region illegal - governor (TASS)

NATO Wants World War | Vox Popoli | That’s the only possible conclusion, which makes it obvious that the neocons – who have been banging the drums for war with Russia for years – are in full control of US, EU, and UK foreign policy. It appears the neocons are finally going to get the world war for which they have been agitating. However, I very much doubt it is going to go the way they planned for it to go, since they thought China was going to be on their side rather than the most powerful force against them.

Tom Luongo | Russia is done with the West. The divorce is nearly complete. In the past few days we’ve heard from all major Russian leaders the same thing, “The West will play by our rules now.” You can decide for yourselves whether Russia is writing checks they can’t cash, but in the words of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov telling the BBC bluntly, “We do not care about the eyes of the West.” Lavrov has always been the soul of politeness and discretion when dealing with European media. [...] Russia knows it has the West on the ropes. We need what they produce and now they are determined to set the rules on who gets them and for what price. It knows that European leaders are puppets with Klaus Schwab’s hand up their asses. And it knows Davos has zero leverage over Russia’s actions from here on out.

Britain wants to ‘bring Russia to its knees’ – Lavrov (RT.com)

Russian leader has buried the old world order and outlined his view on Russia’s and the world’s future, in a key address.

New centers of power have emerged, the unipolar world order isn’t coming back, and the “colonial” way of thinking has failed, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Friday, in what the Kremlin described as an “extremely important” speech.

Full text of Vladimir Putin’s speech at SPIEF June 17, 2022: transcript (eprimefeed.com)
What Putin Said Today in Case the Lie Machine Doesn’t Tell you (06/17/22)

💬 “The European Union has completely lost its political sovereignty, and its bureaucratic elites are dancing to someone else’s tune, accepting whatever they are told from above, causing harm to their own population and their own economy....Such a detachment from reality, from the demands of society, will inevitably lead to a surge of populism and the growth of radical movements, to serious social and economic changes, to degradation, and in the near future, to a change of elites...It is a mistake to suggest that the times of turbulent changes can be waited out and that things will return to normal; that everything will be as it was. It won’t...The West’s elites cling to the shadows of the past. They believe that the dominance of the West in global politics and economy is a constant, eternal value, but nothing is eternal.” — Vladimir Putin, St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, June 17, 2022

Putin: Unipolar Order Has Ended, West Headed For "Change Of Elites" As Russia Emerges Stronger (ZeroHedge)
FM Sergey Lavrov’s interview with the BBC TV channel (Russian MFA - Telegram)
FM Sergey Lavrov’s interview with the NTV network (Russian MFA - Telegram)

Full Interview HERE (English subtitles + Transcript) (Syriana Analysis)

The sea port of Mariupol has witnessed a blazing fire that left all grains unfit for consumption.

Despite the looming danger of global food shortage, Ukrainian troops set fire to tons of grain in storage facilities in Mariupol hoping to impact food security in the Donetsk People’s Republic. Yan Gagin, the adviser to the chairman of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), said:

💬 "There is a large amount of grain on the territory of the Mariupol port, this is both corn and wheat. Judging by the smell and appearance, it is unsuitable for further use… And this is due to the fact that the enemy, retreating from the port, set fire to the granaries so that this grain would not go to the Donetsk People's Republic, so that it would be impossible to use it in any way.”

💬 “The ferocity of the confrontation in Ukraine shows that we’re talking about much more than the fate of the regime in Kiev. The architecture of the entire world order is at stake.” – Sergei Naryshkin, Director of Foreign Intelligence.

You’re kidding me? You mean the ruble is surging and Putin is raking in more dough on commodities than ever before? Yep, and it’s the same deal with Russia’s trade surplus. Let me get this straight: The sanctions are actually hurting the US and helping Russia, so the experts think we should impose more sanctions? Is that it? Precisely. Now that we have shot ourselves in the foot, the experts think it would be wise to shoot the other one too. Am I the only one who is struck by the insanity of this policy? So the revenues from gas and oil sales are literally flooding Moscow’s coffers like never before. Meanwhile, energy prices in the EU and America have skyrocketed to 40-year highs. Can you see how counterproductive this policy is?

Imagine if the Ukrainians use Biden’s new artillery battery (HIMARS) to shell cities in Russia? Then what? Then Putin takes off the gloves and shuts off the flow of hydrocarbons to Europe immediately. That’s what’s going to happen if Washington continues to escalate. You can bet on it. If Russia’s “Special Military Operation” suddenly becomes a war, the lights across Europe will go dark, homes will begin to freeze, factories will go silent, and the continent will slide headlong into a protracted and painful depression. Does anyone in Washington think about these things or are they all so drunk on their own press clippings they’ve completely lost touch with reality?

The supply of Russian crude to the US has almost doubled despite Washington’s claims of giving up on it, the parliament speaker says.

The US has revealed its “hypocrisy” by announcing a ban on Russian oil, while continuing to purchase it in large quantities, Vyacheslav Volodin, Russian State Duma speaker said. The US moved to restrict all imports of Russian crude oil, some petroleum products, liquefied natural gas and coal in early March as part of sanctions imposed on Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine.

“Russian oil will no longer be accepted at US ports,” US President Joe Biden vowed back then. But the statement wasn’t backed by action, Volodin pointed out in a post on Telegram on Wednesday. The data from the US Department of Energy suggests that “oil deliveries from Russia almost doubled in March compared to February - from 2,325 to 4,218 million barrels, respectively,” the parliament speaker wrote.

Grain burned by Ukrainian nationalists – Moscow (RT.com)

Putin proposes options for grain exports from Ukraine (Vanessa Beeley -Telegram)

The Russian leader pointed to the US “printing press” and EU “green energy” policies.

Inflation in the US is a consequence of mistakes by American financial authorities, which they admitted to, while in the EU it has more to do with short-sighted energy policies in Brussels, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday. Either way, it has nothing to do with Moscow or its actions in Ukraine, he added. Attempts to blame the turmoil in Ukraine for the skyrocketing cost of living in the West amount to dodging responsibility, Putin said in a TV interview that followed his meeting with the African Union head Macky Sall in Sochi. [...] As for the EU, Putin suggested the inflation there was due to the “short-sighted policy” of the European Commission in the energy sector in promoting the “green agenda” out of climate concerns. The Europeans also rejected Russian proposals for long-term natural gas contracts, which drove up prices on the spot market. “Everything is interconnected,” the Russian leader said, noting that rising gas prices then “dramatically” drove up the price of fertilizer – among other things – and turned many industries unprofitable, forcing them to close.

Looming Price Hikes on Food Set to Hit Americans This Fall (The Epoch Times)

The union updated its personal sanctions list, and it now includes retired Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva, who allegedly has personal ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sputnik news agency reported. Moreover, the EU imposed sanctions against family members of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov and co-founder of Yandex Arkady Volozh. The sanctions are also imposed against several Russian entities, including Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant (UAZ), vehicle developer KAMAZ and aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi. This visit comes a day after the European Union officially approved the sixth package of sanctions against Moscow, including a gradual phase-out of Russian oil and desconnection of more Russian banks from SWIFT.

Russia strengthens ties with Africa despite Western sanctions (Anadolu)
Sanctioned citizens to be able to sell shares of Russian cos without payment of personal income tax (Interfax)
EU adopts sixth package of anti-Russia sanctions, including partial oil embargo (TASS)

Food prices were rising long before Russia’s military operation began in Ukraine, a senior Russian official says.

The looming global food crisis that could result from skyrocketing food prices was enabled by a series of policy mistakes by Washington and Brussels, Maksim Oreshkin, economic adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, told RT. The conflict in Ukraine alone could not have caused the crisis on such a massive scale, Oreshkin said.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization's international food price index shows that between April 2020 and April 2022, global food prices rose by more than 60%. The increase occurred for the most part before February 2022, when Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine. In the four years from 2016 to 2020, the index grew by less than 7 points, but it increased by a whopping 27 points, from 98.1 to 125.7, in 2020-21. After the second year of the pandemic, the index stood at 141.1. Since Russia’s military operation began, the index has risen by a further 17 points.

💬 “Swings like that, with such huge increases in prices, are not happening due to one reason. It’s always a combination of a number of reasons which is leading to such a result,” Oreshkin, Russia’s economic development minister from 2016 to 2020, said.

Putin: Europe's 'Stupid, Short-Sighted' Policies Provoked Energy, Food Crises: European politicians' short-sightedness, not Russia, provoked the energy crisis, and Russia is ready to take necessary measures to alleviate a global food crisis, President Vladimir Putin has said. "We see attempts to shift the blame for what is happening on the food market on Russia, but this is an attempt to pin the blame on someone else," Putin said in an interview with Rossiya-1 on Friday. He recalled that contrary to Western politicians' claims, problems on the global food market began during the COVID-19 pandemic, long before Russia kicked off its special military operation in Ukraine.

Kit Knightly | The created food crisis, whether real or a smoke-and-mirrors psy-op, is all about tearing down the global food system and “building back better” – a new dystopian food system built by corporate monoliths and rigidly controlled in the name of the greater good. [...] e’re in the early stages of a food crisis. The press has been predicting this for years, but up until now it always appeared to be nothing more than fearmongering, designed to worry or distract people, but the signs are there that this time, to quote Joe Biden, it “is going to be real”. Nobody knows how bad it could get, except the people who are creating it. Because the evidence is pretty clear, it is being deliberately & cold-bloodedly created.