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WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US President Donald Trump said that the issue of Kiev's membership in NATO had been the cause of the Ukraine conflict, and it was not discussed in the context of the rare earth metals deal. "I see he [Volodymyr Zelensky] is trying to renegotiate the rare earth [deal],"Trump told reporters at the White House. "Through you [reporters], I heard that they now say 'Well, I'll only do the deal if we get into NATO' or something to that effect. Well, number one, that was never discussed." The issue of Ukraine's membership in NATO was the cause of...

The IRGC’s new missile bases on key islands near the Strait of Hormuz give Tehran the power to lock down a critical maritime chokepoint—and challenge US military primacy. Strategic Islands Armed The IRGC has deployed air & coastal missile systems on Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, & Abu Musa—3 critical islands west of the Hormuz Strait, gateway for 20% of the world’s energy trade. 600 km Strike Zone IRGC Navy commander Alireza Tangsiri says Iran can now strike “enemy bases, vessels, and assets” within 600 km—covering much of the Persian Gulf & beyond. What’s Deployed? Tangsiri didn’t name the systems, but...

Russian and US foreign ministers have held a phone conversation at the initiative of Washington, a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry told Sputnik. Agreed to maintain communication to tackle issues in Russian-American relations and remove unilateral barriers built by Biden's administration that hinder trade and investment cooperation. Expressed a mutual commitment to engage on pressing international issues, including the settlement of the situation around Ukraine, developments concerning Palestine, and broader issues in the Middle East and other regional matters.

After the leaders of Russia and the US discussed a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine crisis, a panicky reaction from European leaders was not long in coming

(2/8) Blocking the Ukraine-Russia Peace Deal (2022) 💥 Nuland advised Ukraine to reject a negotiated settlement, prolonging the war and increasing casualties. Instead of peace, the conflict escalated, costing thousands of lives.

Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree outlawing peace negotiations with Moscow in 2022, months after the West sabotaged a ready peace treaty to pursue an all-out proxy war against Russia.President Putin has expressed readiness to find negotiators to speak directly with Volodymyr Zelensky. "If he wants to take part in negotiations, I will select such people, it's not an issue. The question is about the final signing of the documents," Putin said in a TV interview Tuesday, noting that Zelensky's legitimacy has expired, and he therefore "does not have the right to sign anything." Under Ukrainian law, the end of the...

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Against the backdrop of pressure from the new US administration and calls for negotiations with Moscow, Volodymyr Zelensky said that he allegedly had not been subject to Ukrainian law banning negotiations with Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the day before that negotiations with Kiev under the current conditions would be illegitimate due to Ukraine's ban on them, which means that the results of these negotiations could also be declared illegitimate. According to him, the sponsors of the Kiev regime should force Zelensky to lift the ban. As Zelensky said at a press conference in Kiev, immediately...

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - German Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck called US President-elect Donald Trump's demand that NATO allies increase their defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product unrealistic, in an interview out on Thursday. "What Donald Trump is proposing is unrealistic. We will not end up with 5%," Habeck told the Funke media group. The Greens minister called for increasing defense spending to 3.5% of GDP, stressing that the increase would be temporary. "3.5% is roughly what is currently being discussed in NATO as a medium-term goal... If we ensure a reasonable level of security for Germany...

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US billionaire Elon Musk on Monday called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky an "all-time" champion for the US "greatest heist," commenting on US President Joe Biden’s decision to allocate another $2.5 billion to Ukraine. "All-time champ," Musk said on X in response to another user’s comment saying that the Ukrainian leader "has genuinely pulled off one of the greatest money heists of all time." Earlier in the day, Biden announced another package of aid to Ukraine worth nearly $2.5 billion. US President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to end the Ukraine conflict through talks. He has repeatedly said he...

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Reaching a truce in the Ukrainian conflict is a path to nowhere, and Russia will not be satisfied with idle talks about settlement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday."We cannot be satisfied with an idle talks. So far, all we hear is talk about the need to come up with some kind of truce... A truce is a path to nowhere, we need final legal agreements that will fix all the conditions for ensuring the security of Russia and the legitimate security interests of our neighbors, but in a context that will consolidate in an...

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, when asked if current events amounted to a world war 3, advised against sowing scare but admitted that dangers were growing and Russia's opponents were escalating the situation. "You know, there is no need to scare anyone. There are many dangers, they are growing. We can see what our current opponent is doing — they are escalating the situation. If that's what they want, fine," Putin told Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin. "We will always respond to any challenge. Always. When our current opponents and possible partners hear, understand and realize this,...

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Switzerland is actively working with the European Union, the United States, Russia and the G7 to organize a second conference on Ukraine, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said. "Work [on organizing the second conference] continues intensively with Moscow, Washington, as well as with the G7 and the EU … We are working intensively with many partners and have been trying to involve Russia since the first conference in Burgenstock," Cassis was quoted as saying by Le Temps newspaper on Monday. Cassis added that signals coming from the US and the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump "inspire...

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US President-elect Donald Trump said on Monday that Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky should be prepared to make a deal to end the conflict. "He should be prepared to make a deal," Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago. Trump added that his team is going to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky about ending the conflict in Ukraine. "We'll be talking to President Putin, and we'll be talking to Zelensky and representatives from Ukraine," Trump told reporters. Trump also mentioned that during the reopening of Notre Dame in Paris he had been approached by Zelensky. "He would like...

Ten months after Tucker Carlson's interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the American journalist returned to Moscow to talk with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The conversation is devoted to the most pressing issues, including the possible dialogue between Russia and the West. Read the full text of the interview below. Tucker Carlson: Minister Lavrov, thank you for doing this. Do you believe the United States and Russia are at war with each other right now? Sergey Lavrov: I wouldn't say so. And in any case, this is not what we want. We would like to have normal relations with...

Ten months after Tucker Carlson's interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the American journalist returned to Moscow to talk with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The conversation is devoted to the most pressing issues, including the possible dialogue between Russia and the West. Read the full text of the interview below.Tucker Carlson: Minister Lavrov, thank you for doing this. Do you believe the United States and Russia are at war with each other right now?Sergey Lavrov: I wouldn't say so. And in any case, this is not what we want. We would like to have normal relations with all our...

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Prominent American journalist Tucker Carlson announced on Wednesday that he had arrived in Moscow to conduct an interview with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Carlson noted that US diplomats could not offer any substantial insights or remarks on Russia-US relations. Consequently, the prominent American political commentator decided to engage in a conversation with Russia’s foreign policy chief. "We came back to Moscow yesterday to interview the Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergey Lavrov," Carlson revealed in a video posted on X. The veteran American journalist posed a series of questions to Lavrov, addressing topics such as Russia's pivot...

The Russian president made additional comments on the new Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile system at a meeting in the Kremlin on Friday evening with senior officials from the Ministry of Defense and representatives of the defense industry.Russia already has a stockpile of Oreshnik missile systems, and a decision on the system's mass production has been made, Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced. "We will continue these tests, including in combat conditions, depending on the situation and the nature of the security threats that are created for Russia, especially since we already have a stockpile of such systems ready for use,"...

Earlier in September during Russian Security Council's permanent meeting, Vladimir Putin proposed to discuss updating the foundations of Russia's state policy in the field of nuclear deterrence. Vladimir Putin expressed hope that Western governments heard his warnings against striking deep into Russia. “They did not report to me, but, I hope, they heard [my warning]," Putin said in an interview with Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin. Ukraine cannot independently use long-range weapons; this can only be done by specialists from NATO countries, which is why the issue is not about granting permission to Kiev to use such weapons against Russia, stated...

Iranian media claims that the missile attack destroyed 20 Israeli fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets and a “large number” of Israeli tanks in the Gaza Strip

◾️It is necessary to adapt the principles of state policy in the field of nuclear deterrence to current realities ◾️A deep and comprehensive analysis of Russia's approaches to the possible use of nuclear forces and their possible adjustments was conducted ◾️Russia has always approached the issues of using nuclear forces with the utmost responsibility, this is an extreme measure to protect the country's sovereignty ◾️It was proposed to introduce a number of clarifications in terms of defining the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons by Russia ◾️The modern military-political situation is changing dynamically, the Russian Federation is obliged to...