🎙️Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s answers to questions from Rossiya 1 television channel (Riyadh, February 18, 2025)
❓Question: When will President of Russia Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump meet?
Sergey Lavrov: When the presidents come to an agreement.
❓Question: Has a dedicated negotiation team been established?
Sergey Lavrov: It was agreed that teams from both sides would be formed following reports to our respective heads of state.
❓Question: Do you consider today’s negotiations successful? Sergey Lavrov: I would characterise them as positive.
❓Question: Were you acquainted with Mr Marco Rubio prior to this meeting, or was this your first interaction?
Sergey Lavrov: This was our first meeting.
❓Question: What impression did the other negotiators leave? Sergey Lavrov: We engaged in good, positive negotiations. The atmosphere was exceedingly positive. A positive atmosphere is cultivated by positive individuals.
❓Question: Reports suggest you employed humour extensively during the talks. Sergey Lavrov:Those are intimate details. Who precisely alleges this?
❓Question: American representatives claim you made jokes during negotiations.
Sergey Lavrov: I am gratified that they enjoyed it, given their comments.
🎙️Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s answers to questions from Rossiya 1 television channel (Riyadh, February 18, 2025)
❓Question: When will President of Russia Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump meet?
Sergey Lavrov: When the presidents come to an agreement.
❓Question: Has a dedicated negotiation team been established?
Sergey Lavrov: It was agreed that teams from both sides would be formed following reports to our respective heads of state.
❓Question: Do you consider today’s negotiations successful? Sergey Lavrov: I would characterise them as positive.
❓Question: Were you acquainted with Mr Marco Rubio prior to this meeting, or was this your first interaction?
Sergey Lavrov: This was our first meeting.
❓Question: What impression did the other negotiators leave? Sergey Lavrov: We engaged in good, positive negotiations. The atmosphere was exceedingly positive. A positive atmosphere is cultivated by positive individuals.
❓Question: Reports suggest you employed humour extensively during the talks. Sergey Lavrov:Those are intimate details. Who precisely alleges this?
❓Question: American representatives claim you made jokes during negotiations.
Sergey Lavrov: I am gratified that they enjoyed it, given their comments.
BY Embassy of Russia in the USA / Посольство России в США
The next bit isn’t clear, but Durov reportedly claimed that his resignation, dated March 21st, was an April Fools’ prank. TechCrunch implies that it was a matter of principle, but it’s hard to be clear on the wheres, whos and whys. Similarly, on April 17th, the Moscow Times quoted Durov as saying that he quit the company after being pressured to reveal account details about Ukrainians protesting the then-president Viktor Yanukovych. Crude oil prices edged higher after tumbling on Thursday, when U.S. West Texas intermediate slid back below $110 per barrel after topping as much as $130 a barrel in recent sessions. Still, gas prices at the pump rose to fresh highs. You may recall that, back when Facebook started changing WhatsApp’s terms of service, a number of news outlets reported on, and even recommended, switching to Telegram. Pavel Durov even said that users should delete WhatsApp “unless you are cool with all of your photos and messages becoming public one day.” But Telegram can’t be described as a more-secure version of WhatsApp. Just days after Russia invaded Ukraine, Durov wrote that Telegram was "increasingly becoming a source of unverified information," and he worried about the app being used to "incite ethnic hatred." Right now the digital security needs of Russians and Ukrainians are very different, and they lead to very different caveats about how to mitigate the risks associated with using Telegram. For Ukrainians in Ukraine, whose physical safety is at risk because they are in a war zone, digital security is probably not their highest priority. They may value access to news and communication with their loved ones over making sure that all of their communications are encrypted in such a manner that they are indecipherable to Telegram, its employees, or governments with court orders.
from pl
