MOSCOW: Russia’s top economic negotiator said Thursday that certain countries were trying to “derail” Moscow’s talks with the United States, as the two sides work toward normalizing ties.
President Donald Trump has upended US foreign policy since his return to the White House in January, reaching out directly to Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in an attempt to broker a ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict.
US and Russian officials have met multiple times since, including on restoring embassy staffing levels after years of diplomatic expulsions, but Trump’s efforts to broker a Ukraine truce have so far failed to bear fruit.
“There are a lot of people, structures, countries trying to derail our dialogue with the United States,” Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, told reporters.
“There is very active propaganda against Russia in the United States on various mass media. So it is very important to convey the Russian position directly,” he added.
Dmitriev did not say which countries he was referring to, but Moscow has redirected much of its criticism over the Ukraine conflict toward Europe since Trump took office, accusing the EU and UK of being the main obstacles to peace.
Dmitriev’s comments came moments before French President Emmanuel Macron, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US envoy Steve Witkoff began a meeting in Paris on crafting a Ukraine ceasefire.
Russia says certain countries trying to ‘derail’ its talks with US
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Russia says certain countries trying to ‘derail’ its talks with US
- “There are a lot of people, structures, countries trying to derail our dialogue with the United States,” Dmitriev said
- “There is very active propaganda against Russia in the United States on various mass media”
‘Solar sheep’ help rural Australia go green
- The panels have had another surprising side effect: Because the grass is shielded from the elements, it’s of more consistent quality
DUBBO: Australian farmer Tom Warren’s solar panels look like any other — until you spot the dozens of sheep grazing and napping, helping the country transition to green energy and earning him a decent income while doing it.
More than 30,000 solar panels are deployed across approximately 50 hectares at Warren’s farm on the outskirts of Dubbo, around 400 kilometers west of Sydney.
The farmer and landowner has been working with renewables firm Neoen for more than a decade and said he was initially worried the panels would restrict his sheep’s grazing.
It quickly became clear those fears were unfounded.
“Normally they would seek out trees and camp under the trees, but you can see that the sheep are seeking out the shade of the panels,” he told AFP at the farm in Dubbo.
“So, it’s a much better environment for them as well.”
The farm produces about 20 megawatts of power, he said — a “substantial amount” of the energy needs of the local area.
While he can’t disclose how much he earns from the panels, he said he’s taking in much more than he would from just farming.
“The solar farm income is greater than I would ever get off agriculture in this area — regardless of whether I have sheep running under the panels or not,” he said.
The panels have had another surprising side effect: Because the grass is shielded from the elements, it’s of more consistent quality.
That, in turn, has improved the wool produced by the sheep.
“The wool is actually better and cleaner,” Warren said.
“All over, we’ve had about a 15 percent increase in the gross revenue coming from the sheep running under the solar farm.”
Fellow farmer Tony Inder, based around 50 kilometers south in the town of Wellington, agrees.
His flock is much larger — 6,000 sheep grazing on two plots of land covering 4,000 hectares.
