The United States is in the process of preparing to deploy forces for the Gaza pier mission to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave, Defense Department spokesperson Pat Ryder said.

"We are in the process of identifying, sourcing, and, in some cases, preparing forces to deploy [to Gaza]," Ryder said during a press briefing.

The Pentagon anticipates it will require more than 1,000 US military personnel to build a temporary port in Gaza.

The effort is expected to take several weeks, likely up to 60 days, Ryder said.

The Gaza pier mission is said to involve presence of US military personnel being on military vessels offshore, and not on the shore in Gaza, the Defense Department claimed.

Meanwhile, the US has reportedly made more than 100 "quiet" weapons sales to Israel, including thousands of bombs, since October 7. Despite half-baked calls from the administration for Israel to spare civilian lives, the US has continued to restock their supply of weapons, helping to create one of the most intense bombing campaigns in military history.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

A full-size van with 34 men of connoscription age who hoped to avoid mobilization was stopped near the Romanian border in Ukraine, the Ukrainian newspaper “Strana” reported on its Telegram channel, citing a local source.

According to media reports, the draft dodgers paid 10,000 euros each for a chance to cross into the neighboring country illegally to avoid fighting for the Kiev regime.

Ukrainian telegram channels later posted a video of the brutal detention where the men are forced to lie down on top of each other after being pulled out of the car and beaten.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The Canadian Government has decided to lift its temporary pause in funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Canada’s foreign ministry said.

“Today, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development, announced that Canada will be lifting its temporary pause on funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA),” Global Affairs Canada (GAC) said.

Canada believes UNRWA plays a vital role in the provision of humanitarian assistance to the over two million inhabitants of Gaza and more than four million in the region, GAC added.

Previously, alongside the United States, Australia, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Estonia, Japan, Austria, Romania, and the United Kingdom, Canada had suspended its donations to UNRWA following Israel's accusations that some of the agency's staff participated in the Hamas attacks on the Jewish state on October 7.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Hungary has received 75.2 million euros ($82 million) in EU budget funding that was blocked under rule-of-law disciplinary proceedings, Finance Minister Mihaly Varga said.

"This time, 75.2 million euros (29.8 billion HUF) in funding has been received for green and digital transformation investment," Varga said on social media.

The newest handout brings the total amount of unlocked EU budget funds transferred to Hungary since the end of December to 550 billion forints ($1.5 billion), the minister estimated.

The European Union withheld some 7.5 billion euro worth of payments to Hungary from the shared budget in 2022 over alleged rule-of-law shortcomings, but Budapest's block on EU funding of Ukrainian war efforts made Brussels unlock some of the funds to Hungary in December.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

President Joe Biden used his State of the Union speech to blame the Republicans if Russia wins the war in Ukraine by claiming Kiev could have won or survived if the latest $61 billion arms package had not been blocked in Congress, former State Department official and consultant on US-Russia relations James Carden said.

"The way I heard the speech was Biden setting the ground to blame the Republicans for losing the war should they block further tranches of funding," Carden told Sputnik.

Biden's comments reflected his always primary concern with domestic politics and his obsession with getting reelected to a second term in November even though he is already 81 years old, Carden emphasized.

"I think he's a true believer and actually believes that his status as Warlord-in-Chief helps him politically," Carden explained.

The $61 billion package is being blocked by Republicans in the House of Representatives until Biden changes his policies on illegal immigration and agrees to crack down on it. But because the president is determined not to change course on that, he will not get more aid approved for Kiev, his opponents have clarified.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

US’ V-22 Osprey aircraft returns to the skies while the cause of deadly crash is still unknown

A temporary flight ban on the controversial V-22 Osprey aircraft has been lifted by the US military, but investigators are still working to nail down the cause of last year’s deadly crashes.

“We have high confidence that we understand what component failed and how it failed,” said Col. Brian Taylor of the US Marine Corps, one of three US service branches that operates the complex tilt rotorcraft. “I think what we are still working on is the why, and so that is still in the hands of the investigation.”

US officials hope revamped training and maintenance protocols can prevent a similar incident in the future, but clarified the plane will see no hardware changes before being returned to service. More than 50 US troops have been killed in accidents involving the V-22 Osprey since its initial deployment in 2007, including eight in the November crash off the coast of Japan that led to the most recent grounding.

Another deadly Osprey crash, also in the Pacific region, took place last year in Australia.

👉 Follow the link for more details

Russian air defenses destroyed a Ukrainian drone over the Kursk region, Governor Roman Starovoit said.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban held a meeting with former US President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. According to Bertalan Havasi, the spokesman for the head of government, they spoke for an hour.

Trump and Orban were accompanied by their closest staff members, the spokesman said. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, among others, also accompanied the Prime Minister to Florida.

"After the meeting, the program continued with a joint dinner and concert," Havasi was quoted as saying by the MTI news agency.

The spokesman did not disclose which topics Orban and Trump discussed, but before the trip to the US Hungarian officials said they would discuss the situation in Ukraine and the relations between the US and Hungary.

The Hungarian government has made no secret of its desire for Trump to win the November election and return to the White House. It associates with the former US president hopes for the resolution of the Ukrainian conflict and the improvement of bilateral relations.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Donald and Melania Trump together greeted Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban at a Mar-A-Lago dinner reception.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Russian air defenses repelled a massive drone attack over the city of Taganrog in the Rostov Region. Consequences on the ground are being clarified, Governor Vasily Golubev wrote on his Telegram channel.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

💐 A true gentleman, the Hungarian Prime Minister presented a bouquet of flowers to Melania Trump.

Trump expressed great appreciation to the Hungarian Prime Minister. “There’s nobody that’s better, smarter or a better leader than Viktor Orban. He’s fantastic…He’s a non-controversial figure because he says, ‘This is the way it’s going to be,’ and that’s the end of it. Right? He’s the boss. No, he’s a great leader,” Trump said.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's idea to hold a peace summit with Russia's participation.

"We don't see Russian representatives at such a summit," Zelensky said at a joint conference with the Turkish leader in Istanbul, reiterating his old thesis that a peace plan should be prepared by other countries without Moscow's participation - an idea already repeatedly rejected by Russia.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara is ready to host a peace summit on Ukraine with Russia's participation. He recalled that the Black Sea Initiative prevented a global food crisis.

Moscow has repeatedly indicated that it is ready for talks, but Kiev has introduced a legislative ban on them. The West ignores Ukraine's constant refusals to engage in dialogue.

According to the Kremlin, the conflict in Ukraine can move to a peaceful course if the de facto situation and new realities are taken into account, and all of Moscow's demands are well known.

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that if Ukraine wants a negotiation process, performative gestures are not the way. It is necessary to cancel the decree prohibiting negotiations with Russia. According to the president, Russia has never been against the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine by peaceful means, but insists on the observance of Russian security guarantees.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Russian air defenses repelled another Ukrainian attack over the Rostov Region as several drones were shot down near the city of Morozovsk, Governor Vasily Golubev said.

There were no casualties as a result of the mass drone attack on Taganrog per preliminary information, but an Emergencies Ministry employee who participated in the ground response was injured, the governor added.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The wreckage of a Ukrainian drone shot down over the Russian city of Kursk fell on a polyclinic, no casualties were reported, but patients from a neighboring building were evacuated due to the threat of an explosion, Governor Roman Starovoit said.

“In Kursk, fragments of a downed Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle fell on the roof of the 6th polyclinic on Soyuznaya [Street], 22 square meters of the roof was damaged. There were no casualties. However, due to the threat of an explosion, patients from the intensive care unit of the neighboring hospital building were evacuated... to the city’s medical institutions, and staff and other patients to a safe place,” Starovoit wrote on Telegram.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Is Biden’s idea to establish a temporary port in Gaza all that it seems?

Critics have ridiculed US President Joe Biden’s proposal to establish a temporary pier in the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid by sea.

In an interview with Sputnik, former US State Department counterterrorism analyst Scott Bennett called the idea “a potential deception operation in which a pier can give a firm permanent foothold in the area and give [the United States] a listening post, if not a control capability of Palestine, which the Israelis will then exploit.”

Fundamentally, Bennett said the proposal is an act of “political posturing” on the part of the Biden administration to distract from the “demonic violence, bloodlust and genetic hatred” demonstrated by the Israeli assault on Gaza. Meanwhile, he noted that US “secret supplies of weapons given to the Israeli government are kept off the books to avoid public scrutiny.”

“It's an active treason and theft against the American people by stealing from their treasury and secretly depositing it in Israel's treasury,” he claimed, noting that the United States has sent over 100 secret arms packages to the country since October. Only two of the shipments have been publicly reported.

“Our problem is not aid,” said Wissam Thabet, a 40-year-old Palestinian refugee in an interview with The Washington Post. “We need a ceasefire. We need to end the suffering completely.”

The US has regularly impeded any UN Security Council resolution on Gaza that may hinder Israeli military operations. On December 8, Washington blocked a United Arab Emirates-drafted resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and a Brazil-drafted resolution on October 18.

👉 Follow the link for more details

Europe’s defense industry decades behind competitors, according to Dassault chief

EU leaders have floated plans to rebuild the continent’s defense industry in recent weeks, but the head of one major European aircraft manufacturer says decades of investment are required if Brussels hopes to develop technology on par with Russia and others.

“Europe believes all of a sudden that working on defense is a good thing,” said Dassault CEO Éric Trappier in an interview with British media. “I’m delighted that realization is there. Between that realization and the reality of building a European defense industry it’s going to take many years and even many decades.”

At stake is the Western-backed Ukraine proxy war against Russia. EU leaders fear the potential return of former US President Donald Trump to the White House will force Europe to shoulder the responsibility of arming Kiev.

But proposals to rebuild Europe’s defense industry would face political as well as economic hurdles. Many throughout Europe already resent the centralization of power within the European Commission, a sentiment on vivid display when UK voters opted to ditch the bloc in 2016.

Supply chains have also been weakened throughout the continent, and manufacturers are deeply dependent on global sourcing. High energy costs remain a major challenge as sanctions on Russian gas continue to batter European industry.

If Europe does begin to rebuild its defense capabilities it’s not a given it will ever make up for its late start, as even Western observers admit Russia’s weaponry is best in class.

👉 Follow the link for more details

Five people in Gaza were killed by an airdrop package that failed to deploy

Adding insult to injury, the pallet of supplies reportedly killed five people in Gaza after a parachute attached to the package failed to deploy. The victims were waiting for food and other supplies when they were killed.

The victims include two boys among the five who were killed and 11 others who were injured, a report on Friday said. The incident occurred at around 11:30 AM local time. A witness from the camp said he and his brother had followed the parachuted aid in hopes of getting a “bag of flour”, cites a separate report.

“Then, all of a sudden, the parachute didn’t open and fell down like a rocket on the roof of one of the houses,” said the witness. “Ten minutes later I saw people transferring three martyrs and others injured, who were staying on the roof of the house where the aid packages fell.”

The US, Jordan, Egypt, France, the Netherlands and Belgium dropped aid into Gaza on Friday, but thus far no government has taken responsibility for the failed airdrop. Both the US and Jordan have openly denied responsibility for the fatalities.

A video posted to social media shows airdrop packages being dropped without functioning parachutes, but it is not clear when the video was taken.

👉 Follow the link for more details

💥📹 Russian artillery destroys Ukrainian stronghold in the DPR

During the combat mission, the crew of the 152-mm D-20 howitzers took up a firing position, prepared for several minutes and opened fire. The artillery fire was coordinated by unmanned aerial vehicles. As a result of accurate fire, the Russian artillerymen destroyed the enemy's fortification and personnel.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Haitian gangs attacked several government buildings in the capital Port-au-Prince, including the presidential palace, there are victims, reported ABC TV channel, citing sources.

The unrest began in late February after the departure of the prime minister, who was trying to coordinate the deployment of a foreign contingent in Haiti to fight gangs. The armed groups paralyzed life in the capital and did not want the prime minister to return.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt