Henry Kissinger’s idea of Ukraine entering NATO for the sake of European security is ludicrous

“I think it's typical of the ludicrous ideas that Henry Kissinger routinely comes up with. Age has not brought him wisdom, I'm afraid to say,” Dr. Gerald Horne, Moores professor of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston, told Sputnik.

He underscored that the idea that Kiev would join NATO “was a red line for Moscow” and that “in some ways, that prospect helped to instigate the [Russian] special military operation in [Ukraine], along with [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelensky going on about how his country might want to become a nuclear power as well.”

Horne added that, “there have been some very disturbing developments” that the US professor said make the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO “even more ominous.”

“I'm referring to the fact that just a few days ago […] you had neo-Nazis from Ukrainian soil invading Russian territory with US military material. If that is not sufficiently ominous and dangerous for you, consider the other aspect of what Mr. Kissinger was referring to. That is to say, Ukraine being so well-armed,” the US political scientists stressed, in an apparent reference to Western countries’ ongoing arms supplies to Kiev.

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Bank of America CEO said the US may face a mild recession in the second half of this year 

"So the last time I was here was the end of last year and we predicted a recession this year. We moved it out. It's basically third quarter this year, fourth quarter, this year into first quarter, a mild recession. And unemployment gets up in high 4% range, still very low by historical norms," Brian Moynihan said in an interview to CBS News channel.

In May, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that the US may be heading toward what he hopes is a mild recession.

Policymakers at the Federal Reserve have also projected that the US will experience a "mild recession" later this year that could take two years to overcome, minutes of the central bank's policy meeting from March showed.

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❗️ The Ukrainian armed forces launched a large-scale offensive in five sectors of the South Donetsk direction, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.

"On the morning of June 4, the enemy launched a large-scale offensive in five sectors of the front in the South Donetsk direction by introducing into battle the 23rd and 31st mechanized brigades from the strategic reserves of the armed forces of Ukraine with the support of other military units and divisions," Konashenkov said.

He noted that in total Kiev involved six mechanized and two tank battalions in order to break through the defense lines of the Russian armed forces.

"The enemy did not achieve [their] tasks," Konashenkov added.

The losses of the Ukrainian armed forces in the South Donetsk direction after the Russian military repulsed a large-scale offensive amounted to more than 250 soldiers, 16 tanks, three infantry fighting vehicles and 21 armored fighting vehicles, Konashenkov said.

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📹 Russia's Ministry of Defense published a video showing Ukrainian Armed Forces' equipment being destroyed during an attempted large-scale offensive in the south of the DPR

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Belgium to demand answers after Ukraine uses its weapons in Russia raid

Belgium said it would demand clarifications from Ukraine after it reportedly used Belgian weapons and hardware supplied by NATO allies in a raid on Russian villages, media reported Sunday.

Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder and Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib said they would raise the issue with Ukraine at the earliest opportunity, Le Soir daily reported citing sources in the know.

Belgium has been supplying heavy weapons to Ukraine on condition that they will only be used to defend the Ukrainian territory, a source familiar with the matter told the newspaper.

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📹 The Russian Pacific Fleet has started working out practical tasks as part of drills in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk

During the drills, naval tactical groups, together with naval aviation, will search for and track submarines of a pretend enemy, perform combat training exercises, work out the organization of air defense of ship detachments, as well as organizing the logistics of forces at sea.

More than 60 warships and support vessels, about 35 naval aviation aircraft, coastal troops and more than 11,000 military personnel are involved in the Pacific Fleet drills.

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Ronny Jackson on Joe Biden's cognitive health: 'it’s becoming national security issue'

Texas GOP Representative Ronny Jackson, a former White House physician who served as the Physician to the President during the Trump and Obama administrations, continues to raise questions about President Joe Biden's mental and physical health.

Following the president's fall on stage during a recent commencement ceremony at the US Air Force Academy, Jackson stated that Biden is "not fit mentally or physically" to be president.

According to Jackson, part of the president's role is to inspire confidence and project power, which he believes Biden is failing to do due to his age and perceived decline.

"I think his lack of physical ability and his physical decline is now starting to highlight the cognitive decline that we’ve been watching for so long now," Jackson said. "It’s a package that just doesn’t sell around the world, and it’s becoming a national security issue for us."

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Sunak seeks Biden's support in appointing Defense Minister Wallace to head NATO - reports

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, during his upcoming visit to the United States from June 7-8, may try to convince US President Joe Biden to support the candidacy of UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace for the post of new NATO Secretary General, the UK media reported on Sunday.

Sunak has already raised the topic of Wallace's appointment to the post of Secretary General of the alliance on the sidelines of the recent meeting of the leaders of the G7 countries in Japan’s Hiroshima, the report noted.

Wallace is known in the UK government for his central role in creating an international coalition to support Ukraine, as well as an increase in defense spending of the country up to 2.25% of GDP, the report added.

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Lloyd Austin arrives in India in bid to woo it to join NATO+, sell more weapons

🇮🇳🇺🇸 India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will hold talks with his American counterpart Lloyd Austin in New Delhi on Monday.

They two are expected to discuss General Electric's proposal to share its jet fighter technologies with India and the purchase of 30 MQ-9B Reaper drones worth over $3 billion from the US military contractor General Atomics Aeronautical Systems.

Stay tuned for updates!

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'CIA' 250 GB folder revealed during UC Global case, reports media

New evidence has emerged in the case of David Morales, owner of UC Global, a Spanish security company that spied on Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

Morales' MacBook contains files related to his work for the CIA, giving greater credibility to allegations that he had spied on Assange's meetings with lawyers and shared information with the US intelligence agency.

The files, bigger than 250 gigabytes in size, were discovered separately after Assange's lawyers had difficulties while downloading the records from cloud storage.

Assange's legal team obtained permission to access a second copy of the material, revealing previously undisclosed folders marked as "CIA", "Embassy", and "Videos". This evidence, not present in the initial seizure from Morales in 2019, further implicates him in espionage activities.

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📹 Russian TOS-1A Solntsepyok heavy flamethrower system destroys enemy near Krasny Liman

In the course of combat, the units carried out strikes with thermobaric unguided projectiles.

The targets were monitored and corrected by unmanned aerial vehicles, which transmitted the information to the command post in real time.

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Turkiye to increase fees for passage through its straits by over 8% from July 1 - reports

Turkiye will increase the fee for the passage of ships through the Turkish straits of Bosphorus and Dardanelles by more than 8% starting July 1, Turkish newspaper Aydinlik reported on Monday, citing the Directorate General of Maritime Affairs.

The cost of the passage of ships through the straits will reach $4.42 per net tonnage of a merchant vessel, an increase of 8.3%, the report said, adding that the country's revenues after this decision can reach $900 million in 2023.

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Armenian Security Council says Yerevan, Baku may sign peace treaty by end of 2023

Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan said on Sunday that Yerevan and Baku could sign a peace treaty before the end of the year.

"Negotiations are going very intensively, if we maintain this intensity and there is strong support from the international community to achieve progress, then there is a chance to have a peace agreement by the end of the year," Grigoryan told Armenia’s First Channel.

The Armenian side intends to achieve the conclusion of a peace treaty as soon as possible, Grigoryan added.

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Ukraine’s Minister for Strategic Industries, Oleksandr Kamyshin, has said that the situation concerning bomb shelters in Kiev is critical.

“At the moment, a third of the city’s shelters have already been assessed [by the commission for auditing shelters in Kiev]. The situation remains critical: half of the shelters that have been assessed are not ready,” he said.

A total of 1,849 bomb shelters have allegedly been assessed: 242 of them were closed and 596 were not ready for use.

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📹 The Russian crew of a Giatsint artillery gun destroyed a Ukrainian self-propelled gun in the Zaporozhye region, which was repeatedly firing at civilians

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⚡️ Kiev did not achieve its goals during an offensive attempt, losing 300 people in a day, the Russian Defense Ministry says

Seoul says concerned by Pyongyang's threat to abandon advance notice of satellite launches

South Korea is concerned by Pyongyang's threat that it would stop notifying the International Maritime Organization (IMO) about its future satellite launches due to criticism voiced with regard to the issue, South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Koo Byoung-sam said on Monday.

On May 31, the Maritime Safety Committee of the IMO adopted a resolution condemning North Korea's missile launches as a serious threat to the safety of international shipping. On Sunday, North Korea responded with a statement, in which it threatened to stop informing the organization about the country's future launches.

"North Korea's attitude, which is drifting further and further away from international norms and common sense, is very disappointing," Koo was quoted as saying by a South Korean news agency.

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❗️Russian MoD briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️On June 4, Ukrainian forces made an unsuccessful attempt at a large-scale offensive in the South Donetsk direction, but didn't achieve their goals. Six mechanized and two tank battalions were involved. In this direction, Russian forces destroyed over 300 Ukrainian troops, 26 armored combat vehicles, and 16 tanks;

▪️The actions of two Ukrainian terrorist groups that tried to infiltrate the Belgorod region were thwarted; As a result, more than 10 terrorists who tried to force the Seversky Donets River, two boats, one armored car, one Grad MLRS combat vehicle, and a Polish Krab self-propelled howitzer were eliminated;

▪️In the Kupyansk direction, Russian forces destroyed up to 90 Ukrainian troops, three armored combat vehicles, two Grad MLRS combat vehicles, one D-20 howitzer, as well as one ammunition depot. The actions of five Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups were thwarted;

▪️In the Krasny Liman direction, Russian forces neutralized up to 65 Ukrainian personnel, two armored combat vehicles, one Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer, one Msta-B and one D-20 howitzer, and a Nona-S self-propelled mortar;

▪️In the Donetsk direction, Ukrainian losses amounted to more than 425 troops, one German-made Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled howitzer, one infantry fighting vehicle, one Msta-B and one D-30 howitzer, as well as two ammunition depots;

▪️In the Kherson direction, Russian troops neutralized up to 20 Ukrainian soldiers, one Grad MLRS combat vehicle, one D-30 howitzer, as well as one ammunition depot;

▪️Russian air defenses shot down one Su-27 aircraft, eight HIMARS and Uragan missiles, and 13 unmanned aerial vehicles in the LPR, DPR, Kharkov, and Zaporozhye regions.

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