White House does not reciprocate Russia’s calls for dialogue on nuclear weapons in space

While Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to “frank and genuine negotiation with the US on the placement of nuclear arms in outer space,” he is yet to receive “any signal" from his counterpart on the matter, says Dr. Marco Marsili, a researcher at Cà Foscari University of Venice who holds research positions in major civil and military institutions in Portugal, the UK and Italy.

Commenting on Putin’s recent address to the Russian parliament, Dr. Marsili acknowledged that while Russia previously brought “some solutions within the UN Conference on Disarmament to avoid the placement of nuclear arms in space,” the US and its European allies have always “refused to negotiate them as international legally-binding instruments” in order to maintain their technological advantage.

“Today, Russia is in a stronger position due to its technological advances in missile defence, and has developed hypersonic capabilities, like the Avangard rocket cited by President Putin in his speech, which place the country far away from its Western competitors. Notwithstanding, President Putin is still seeking a dialogue with the White House, but does not receive any response,” the scholar remarked.

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📹 A Russian crew operating Zala reconnaissance drones spotted a Ukrainian tank and self-propelled guns on the right bank of the Dnepr River. They then successfully pinpointed the targets' positions in preparation for an attack using Lancet drones.

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Google stock pictures of shoplifting are highly likely to depict white people only

While searching for "Shoplifting stock photo" it is nearly impossible to find even a single stock photo of a non-white shoplifter on Google.

The netizens on X, formerly known as Twitter, roast Google:

“They will gaslight us in every way possible as we can see here.”

“So no white people in important eras in history but shoplifting...”

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has arrived in Turkiye to participate in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

Lavrov is expected to hold talks with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan, as well as with the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and King of Eswatini.

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The heads of the G20 finance ministers and central bankers failed to agree on a joint statement at a meeting in Brazil due to disagreements over Ukraine, DPA reported.

The US armed services are spending more money than they are permitted to do by law in their efforts to maintain and continue to operate many weapons systems, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) warned in a report.

"The GAO looked at DOD [the Department of Defense]'s Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 sustainment reviews, and found that seven out of 16 weapon systems had sustainment cost growth above the thresholds identified in law," the report said.

The GAO recommended that the Defense Department address the issue, the report stated.

"The Department of Defense spends billions of dollars a year to operate and maintain its weapon systems. These "sustainment" costs - such as for repair parts or personnel - account for about 70% of a weapon system's total cost, the GAO said.

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The International Monetary Fund has released its updated World Economic Outlook, which projects global economic forecasts for the next two years.

The IMF's data clearly illustrates that the steady rise of the Global South is not a mirage or an overstatement, but, in fact, a locomotive that has taken off. The estimates suggest that the global growth (3.1% in 2023) is likely to stay the same this year and rise to 3.2% in 2025. The 2024 forecast reflects upgrades for China, the US, as well as receptive emerging markets and developing economies.

As for the impacts of the developed economies and emerging markets, view Sputnik’s infographic to learn more.

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"A new multipolar world is rising"

The US is doing everything it can to counter China and Russia to prevent “economic inevitabilities,” but a multipolar world is rising, Mark Sleboda, an international relations and security expert told Sputnik’s Fault Lines.

The West has continued its domestic propaganda war against Russia even as the message has become increasingly muddled.

“At the same time [they say] Russia is losing and it’s Nigeria with snow and they’re fighting with shovels,’ on the other hand ‘Russia is building doomsday weapons in space and it’s about to take over everything.’”

The reason for this contradictory propaganda stems back to the loosening grip of Western countries on the global economy. “Since 2014, but especially since 2022, Russia’s economy grew faster than the American economy… there is an argument to be made that in the medium to long term, these [Western] sanctions [on Russia] have made Russia stronger.”

“A new multipolar world is rising and these are economic inevitabilities. However, the US doesn’t take to competitors well, and they’re doing everything possible – not just economically but politically and militarily – to stop, in particular, China and Russia [and] do everything possible to reverse that economic decline.”

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The past and future of BRICS and G7 economics

The share of BRICS in the global economy at purchasing power parity will increase to 36.6% by 2028, while the G7's share will drop to 27.8%, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his 2024 address to the Federal Assembly.

"Ten to 15 years ago, the situation was completely different ... Global trends are objective in nature ... By 2028, the situation will change even more toward the BRICS, it will be 36.6%. For the G7, the forecast for 2028 year is 27.8%. This has to happen. This is an objective reality. And so it will be. No matter what happens, including even in Ukraine," Putin stated.

View Sputnik’s infographic to learn a bit more

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There has always been “an awareness of veterans coming out of military engagement and seeing things differently,” Garett Reppenhagen, a former US Army sniper and peace activist, told Sputnik’s Political Misfits.

“You certainly don’t usually think the same things going in as you do coming out, and yeah, I think it’s [a part of] a hidden history of veterans and military service members protesting," stated Reppenhagen.

Last week, US Air Force active duty member Aaron Bushnell self-immolated in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington D.C. to protest what he called Israel’s genocide in Gaza with several US military veterans burned their uniforms at a vigil held for Bushnell in Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday.

The change in soldiers shouldn’t be attributed solely to PTSD, but also a “moral injury” that co-host Michelle Witte suggested there is “nothing in place” to help veterans heal from.

Reppenhagen agreed. “It’s been hidden there all along, if you look all the way back to the Civil War, PTSD was called ‘soldiers’ heart,’ that doesn’t sound like just someone who’s experienced trauma,” he explained.

“We’re told about these myths that we’re defending out neighbors in our communities and that we’re fighting for democracy and freeing people. But we see Exxon and Halliburton and Lockheed Martin getting rich and all of our families and friends suffering,” Reppenhagen said.

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Russia is ready to hand over to Ukraine the bodies of those killed in the crash of the Russian cargo plane Il-76 in the Belgorod Region, Russian human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova told Sputnik.

"Yes, we are ready, everything necessary in terms of the procedure is in place ... The bodies can be handed over in accordance with the existing procedures," she said.

Moskalkova has told Sputnik earlier that she maintains contact with her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Lubinets, on the downing of the Il-76 aircraft.

On January 24, six Russian crew members, three Russian servicepeople and 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war aboard the airplane were killed after a missile hit the Il-76 airplane. The aircraft was en route for a planned prisoner exchange that was subsequently canceled.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said following the incident that Ukrainian intelligence knew that there were Ukrainian prisoners of war on board the Il-76 military transport plane, but struck it anyway. The Russian Investigative Committee said that the Ukrainian armed forces used the MIM-104A guided missile of the Patriot system to shoot down the plane.

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Russian air defense systems destroyed one Ukrainian drone over the territory of the Belgorod region, and three drones were intercepted over the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod region, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The pace of Russian economy's growth

Russian President Vladimir Putin noted in his 2024 address to the Federal Assembly that in 2023 Russia's economy was growing at a rate higher than the global economy, outperforming not only the leading countries of the EU, but also all the G7 states.

According to the President, a colossal role in this was played by the fundamental margin of safety, which was made over the past decades, and the Russian economy itself has become more complex, technological, and therefore much more sustainable.

To find out more details about the growth rates shown by the Russian economy in the last 10 years, see Sputnik's infographic.

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📹 Su-25 aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces destroyed the stronghold of the Ukrainian armed forces in the Avdeyevka region.

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▪️Russia is ready to hand over to Ukraine the bodies of PoWs killed in the Il-76 crash in Belgorod region

▪️US arms race against Russia will backfire and lead to self-destruction - expert

▪️White House does not reciprocate Russia’s calls for dialogue on nuclear weapons in space

▪️The US army is spending more money than it's permitted to do by law in their efforts to maintain weapons systems

More stories:

▪️Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov arrives in Turkiye to participate in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum

▪️Check out the growth rate of Russian economy which has outperformed both that of the EU and the G7 states.

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Macron's idea to send NATO ground troops to Ukraine 'made him look very foolish' - analyst

"There has long been a certain antagonism between French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and the issue of aid to Ukraine has only exacerbated the existing contradictions," Dr. Gregor Spitzen, German political analyst and independent journalist, told Sputnik.

"France's ill-considered initiative to send NATO ground troops to Ukraine made Macron look very foolish. The initiative was not even supported by NATO's main anti-Russian hawks - the United Kingdom and Poland," Spitzen remarked. "Most soldiers in European armies are not eager to take part in modern warfare, where the risk of dying in a missile attack without even seeing the enemy is high," he added.

Spitzen's views were echoed by Gilbert Doctorow, an analyst of international relations and Russian affairs, who believes "the Germans were outraged by Macron's audacity to publish a new initiative that can easily lead to an escalation of the war and to Germany being targeted by Russian missiles."

On the question of whether European countries will avoid further confrontation with Russia after Macron's statement, Doctorow argued that they "will probably continue their confrontation with Russia, but in less risky places," and that if Donald Trump comes to power in the US, "they will have to come to terms with Russia over a new security architecture for the continent."

Macron earlier refused to rule out the deployment of troops to Ukraine, an idea that was rejected by Scholz, who said that "there will be no soldiers on Ukrainian soil sent there" by European states or NATO members.

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Is Germany preparing strikes against Russia?

Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of RT and Rossiya Segodnya, Sputnik's parent media group, said she had obtained an audio recording of high-ranking officers of the German Bundeswehr discussing "how they will bomb the Crimean bridge".

The recording lasts 40 minutes, Simonyan writes. The German officers also mention colleagues from the United States and Britain, "discussing that these people have been directly involved in the conflict for a long time".

"What does this mean? Isn't it time for Russia to actively remind Germany of what happened last time when Russian bridges were blown up? I would like to see the answer, as is customary for all requests from your media, by noon today," Simonyan wrote on her Telegram channel.

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European nations fear Russian economic retaliation for assets’ confiscation - report

France, Germany and the European Central Bank executives fear that using Russian assets to fund Ukraine will trigger Russia to target European assets on its territory, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.

Another concern is that such a move could undermine trust in Western currencies with nations of the Global South deciding to avoid dealing with the European financial system.

Earlier, Russian officials, including Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, vowed a harsh response if Russian assets frozen abroad were somehow used.

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Scholz refuses to supply Taurus due to lack of trust in Ukraine - report

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's refusal to supply long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine is linked to his mistrust of the Kiev regime. This opinion was expressed by Fabian Hoffman, an expert at the University of Oslo, in the material of the news portal Focus-online.

"The refusal to supply cannot be explained by the technical characteristics of the Taurus cruise missiles and the peculiarities of their operation. The real problem lies in the Chancellor's mistrust of Ukraine. ... In fact, Scholz fears that the Ukrainians will use Taurus missiles not only on Ukrainian territory but also against targets in Russia," despite Kiev's repeated attempts to convince its (alleged) Western allies of the absence of such intentions.

Earlier, speaking at a conference organised by the DPA agency, Scholz opposed supplying Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, arguing that refusing them would risk his country being drawn into the conflict. The chancellor said he was "very annoyed" by the "lack of balance" between what Kiev really needed and the discussions about Taurus.

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France will not send its troops to Ukraine to conduct military operations, the French will not die for Ukraine, said the foreign minister of the republic.

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