⚡️ President of Russia Vladimir Putin’s statement to the media following a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump (May 19, 2025)

💬 Vladimir Putin: Good evening.

Our colleagues asked me to briefly comment on the outcome of my telephone conversation with the President of the United States.

This conversation has effectively taken place and lasted more than two hours. I would like to emphasise that it was both substantive and quite candid. Overall, I believe it was a very productive exchange.

First and foremost, I expressed my gratitude to the President of the United States for the support provided by the United States in facilitating the resumption of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine aimed at potentially reaching a peace agreement and resuming the talks which, as we know, were thwarted by the Ukrainian side in 2022.

The President of the United States shared his position on the cessation of hostilities and the prospects for a ceasefire. For my part, I noted that Russia also supports a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis as well. What we need now is to identify the most effective ways towards achieving peace.

We agreed with the President of the United States that Russia would propose and is ready to engage with the Ukrainian side on drafting a memorandum regarding a potential future peace agreement. This would include outlining a range of provisions, such as the principles for settlement, the timeframe for a possible peace deal, and other matters, including a potential temporary ceasefire, should the necessary agreements be reached.

Contacts among participants of the Istanbul meeting and talks have resumed, which gives reason to believe that we are on the right track overall.

I would like to reiterate that the conversation was highly constructive, and I assess it positively.

The key issue, of course, is now for the Russian side and the Ukrainian side to show their firm commitment to peace and to forge a compromise that would be acceptable to all parties.

☝️ Notably, Russia’s position is clear. Eliminating the root causes of this crisis is what matters most to us.

Should any clarifications be necessary, Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov and my aide, Mr Yuri Ushakov, will provide further details on today’s telephone talks with President Trump.

JUST IN: Circle $USDC in "informal talks" to sell itself to Coinbase or Ripple, Fortune reports.

📰 Full Story

@WatcherGuru

🇮🇳🇵🇰 - Indian and Pakistan agree to withdraw forces to "peacetime" positions.

🇦🇷✅🔎 Milei dissolves the Task Investigation Unit after fulfilling its investigative mission

The Task Investigation Unit (UTI), created in February to investigate the $LIBRA cryptoasset, has been officially dissolved after successfully fulfilling its mandate, as published by Decree 332/2025 in the Official Gazette of the Nation.

🔎 The UTI gathered information from various agencies (UIF, CNV, BCRA, ARCA, Immigration, among others) and forwarded its findings to the Public Prosecutor's Office.

- JOIN /SCI/ -

⚠️ Confirmed: Network data show a disruption to internet connectivity in #Spain with high impact to Movistar as operator Telefónica says network upgrades have "unintentionally impacted" essential systems, with emergency calls also impacted for some users 📉

🇫🇮🇷🇺 Russia digs trenches near NATO borders — Finland prepares for the worst

Moscow is rapidly building up its military presence near the Finnish border. Satellite images have revealed new bases, hangars for fighter jets, and helicopter pads — in areas that were recently just overgrown fields and empty land.

According to NATO and Finnish military sources, the Kremlin is preparing for a “post-Ukraine reality”: the redeployment of thousands of troops to the EU’s borders may be the next step.

Helsinki warns that the number of Russian troops near its border could triple within the next five years. And judging by the current pace, the wait might not be long.

🔗 NEXTA

🇮🇱🇪🇸 - The Spanish Parliament has approved consideration of a proposal to ban arms trade with Israel.

@thewarreporterr

XRP Futures Start Trading on CME

CME began trading regulated XRP futures on Monday, the first of their kind in the U.S.

The contracts are cash-settled and priced off a daily reference rate, with sizes of 2,500 and 50,000 XRP.
The launch may support efforts to list a spot XRP ETF, which remains under SEC review.

XRP futures started trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s (CME) derivatives platform on Monday, becoming the first regulated futures tracking the price of XRP in the U.S.

Traders can trade two contract sizes: 2,500 XRP and 50,000 XRP, which will both be cash-settled and based on the SME CF XRP-Dollar Reference Rate, which tracks the price of XRP daily at 4:00 p.m. London time.

The existence of regulated futures could mark a big step in the right direction as it relates to a spot XRP exchange-traded fund which is currently under review to be approved or denied by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Several U.S. issuers have filed to launch such a fund but have yet to receive a decision.

"CME-traded XRP futures are now live," wrote ETF Store President Nate Geraci on X. "CFTC-regulated contracts on XRP. Spot XRP ETFs only a matter of time."

The former SEC under Chair Gary Gensler had previously told issuers that one of the reasons it approved the spot bitcoin and ethereum ETFs was that it already had an existing regulated futures market in the U.S.

https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/cryptocurrencies/xrp/xrp.html

https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/05/19/xrp-futures-start-trading-on-cme

@FelipeChannel