❗️ UK adds 92 more individuals and entities from Russia to sanctions list - statement

▪️ London has also imposed sanctions against the head of the Russian Ministry of Digital Development Maksut Shadayev, Moscow deputy mayor Maksim Liksutov, as well as against Aeroflot's top management and governor of the Tula region.

Forget Cold War Stance & Politicization: What Did China Say in Its Position Paper on Ukraine Crisis?

In its highly-anticipated position paper, the Chinese Foreign Ministry outlined various initiatives to undertake in order to bring a solution to the Ukraine conflict, highlighting the importance of constructive talks and avoiding the threat of nuclear weapons.

China earlier indicated that it would be issuing its position paper on the ongoing Ukraine conflict, with representatives previously underscoring that Beijing fully intended to take on a “constructive role” in its closure. The release comes on the one-year anniversary of Russia’s special military operation.

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US May Reportedly Send Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier For Drills With South Korea

The joint US-South Korean Freedom Shield military drills are scheduled to take place in March for the first time since 2018 as the countries are going to conduct field maneuvers, simulate fighting and participate in military games.

If agreed, the US could send the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier to take part in the exercise, the news agency reported, adding that the South Korean Defense Ministry was yet to confirm the information.

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⚡️ UK defense head says there will be no deliveries of fighter jets to Kiev in near future

▪️ Supply of fighter jets to Kiev would require British to be sent to Ukraine, including engineers and pilots, London not ready for this - minister

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Euro Zone Core Inflation At New Record High As ECB Gears Up to Hike Interest Rates

Core inflation in the 20-nation euro area registered a new record high of 5,3%, which is a revision of the initial reading of 5.2%, the European Statistical Office (Eurostat) reported on February 23.

Core inflation reflects the change in the costs of goods and services except for food and energy prices.

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🇷🇺 🇹🇷 Active negotiations on the gas hub between Ankara and Moscow, which were suspended due to the devastating earthquakes in southeastern Turkiye, will resume in the near future, a source familiar with the talks told Sputnik on Friday.

🗣 "Yes, the 'catastrophe of the century' [the devastating earthquakes in southeastern Turkiye] has made certain adjustments. Active work is underway to eliminate the consequences, processes in the economy are being resumed. In the near future, active negotiations will resume," the source said, adding that Ankara considers the project a priority.

▪️ The cost of the gas hub project in Turkiye has not been finalized, the source said, adding that the parties are agreeing on the details.

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❗️ The newly announced $2 billion military assistance package for Ukraine includes additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and Switchblade 600 drones, among other weaponry, the Pentagon said

How US' False Flags Record Prompts Public to Trust Hersh's Nord Stream Bombshell Even More

Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Seymour Hersh previously teased about unveiling the mechanism of Nord Stream’s destruction. Despite the media silence surrounding his latest expose, the journalist's research keeps attracting the public’s attention, as the US and its Nordic allies remain tight-lipped about the incident.

"In my view, Hersh is facing a reality which he has never faced before in his long and distinguished life," Hans Mahncke, a US investigative journalist and lawyer, told Sputnik. "His life-long audience of traditional leftists has dissolved. Whereas a Hersh expose in the past would immediately cause a big furor both in media and politics, he is now being ignored. That is an entirely new situation for him. But it is not just Hersh. If the entire Edward Snowden story would play out now in 2023 instead of in 2013, no one would report it or care. This is the new reality we live in."

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John ‘Never Seen a War He Didn’t Like’ Bolton Lauds Biden’s Purported Plan to Send Troops to Taiwan

The hawkish former official, whom his former boss Donald Trump once famously characterized as someone who “has never seen a war he didn’t like,” assured that “the aim” of ramping up tensions with China in Taiwan via the troop deployment was “is not to win a war that China starts,” but “to deter China from doing it.” “And believe me, we can do a lot more to do that,” Bolton said.

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❗️ Russia warns US, NATO and Ukraine against bold steps amid accumulation of Ukrainian troops and equipment near transnistrian border, Russia’s MFA said

▪️ Russia will adequately respond to Kiev's provocation, will ensure protection of compatriots and peacekeepers in Transnistria, the ministry added

▪️ Any actions that pose security threat to Russians, peacekeepers and military in Transnistria will be regarded as attack on Russia, Moscow said

❗️Russia’s MoD briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️The Russian Army eliminated more than 60 Ukrainian servicemen in the Kupyansk direction;

▪️Russian troops eliminated about 140 Ukrainian servicemen in the Krasny Liman direction;

▪️Russian forces destroyed a Ukrainian ammunition depot in the Dnepropetrovsk region;

▪️Ukrainian losses in the Donetsk direction amounted to 240 servicemen, two tanks, and an M777 howitzer;

▪️Russian air defense systems destroyed four HIMARS and Uragan rockets and six Ukrainian UAVs;

▪️The Russian Army destroyed a Ukrainian command post and an ammunition depot in the Avdeevka area of the DPR;

▪️Russian troops eliminated more than 80 Ukrainian servicemen, and destroyed an M777 howitzer and an AHS Krab howitzer in the South Donetsk direction;

▪️Russian forces destroyed four Ukrainian ammunition depots in the DPR and Zaporozhye region.

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Why Western Sanctions Against Russia Failed

In the weeks and months following the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, the US and the EU rolled out some of the expansive sanctions packages in recent memory. Much to the dismay of Western politicians, however, not only did Russia survive the sanctions storm, but it has the potential to emerge even stronger than before.

Why did such unprecedented sanctions deliver such unimpressive results?

Click here for answers

🇨🇳 All efforts for a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis should be encouraged and supported, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

Earlier in the day, the Chinese Foreign Ministry released a 12-point position paper on the situation in Ukraine. The fourth point, devoted to the peace process in Ukraine, says that dialogue and negotiations are "the only viable solution to the Ukraine crisis." Beijing also points to the need to create conditions and provide a platform for the resumption of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

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❗️UK sanctions against Russia's Rosatom jeopardize international nuclear security - corporation's statement

Washington Finds No Evidence of US Aid to Kiev ‘Being Misused or Misspent’

The Biden administration has no reason to suspect that any of the $100+ billion in US assistance to Kiev has gone somewhere it’s not supposed to, US Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power has assured. What do you think? Does it sound plausible?

Read more of Power's comments here

❗️Key points of new US sanctions package on Russia:

▪️Biden signs proclamation to impose 200 percent tariff on Russian aluminum;

▪️66 Russian entities added to the export blacklist;

▪️'Luxury goods' sanctions to include 276 entries in Russia, Belarus;

▪️Additional tariff increases on variety of goods from Russia worth approximately $2.8 billion;

▪️Sanctions against nine Russian ministers, 22 individuals, 83 entities, and dozens of other Russian officials;

▪️Sanctions against 12 Russian banks and financial institutions;

▪️Sanctions on the company operating the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant;

▪️Visa restrictions applied to 1,219 members of the Russian military.

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Balloon Paranoia Much? Mystery Orb On Japanese Beach Sparks Wild Theories

A mysterious beige sphere, estimated to be 5 feet in diameter, was reported on by a local broadcaster on February 18. Soon, people outfitted in helmets and hazmat suits cordoned off the area, with an X-ray carried out by a bomb squad that was swiftly called in. The team determined that the spherical metal object was not explosive, but its origins continue to baffle authorities and experts.

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Aftermath of two new earthquakes that shook Turkiye's Hatay province just a couple weeks after a pair of major earthquakes devastated the area on February 6

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Ukrainian Crisis Endgame May Consist of West Forcing Kiev to Accept ‘Bastard Compromise’ With Moscow

“The likeliest outcome is some sort of bastard compromise – an armistice or an informal line of separation,” Philip Short, a veteran UK observer with over four decades of experience covering Russia, believes, saying Moscow will be almost certain to retain liberated territories in the Donbass, as well as Crimea, thus allowing the Kremlin “to claim a modicum of success,” while “the US will be able to argue that its support was decisive in enabling Ukraine to resist” Russia.

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China Reportedly Preparing to Launch 13,000-Satellite Network to ‘Suppress’ Starlink Supremacy

The team, led by Xu Can, an associate professor at the People’s Liberation Army’s Space Engineering University in Beijing, aims to do so “before the completion of Starlink,” he said. This would “ensure that our country has a place in low orbit and prevent the Starlink constellation from excessively pre-empting low-orbit resources”, Xu’s team wrote in the journal article.

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❗️Earthquake 4.7 magnitude registered in Sivas, Turkiye