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

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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.

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💐 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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💥📹 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.

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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.

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▪️Hungarian PM Orban visits US ex-President Trump at his Florida estate

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

▪️Scott Bennet: Biden’s idea to establish a temporary port in Gaza ‘a potential deception op’

▪️Zelensky rejects proposed peace summit, negotiations with Russia

▪️34 Ukrainian draft dodgers who paid 10,000 euros each to flee to Romania were beaten up and arrested by the Kiev regime

More stories:

▪️Biden tries to blame Republicans for coming loss of Ukraine

▪️Europe’s defense industry decades behind competitors, Dassault chief says

▪️Hungary receives $82Mln in the unlocked EU funding

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France holds large-scale drills amid backlash from Macron’s hint at Western troops in Ukraine

The French armed forces are conducting exercises simulating a high-intensity conflict with an enemy of equal firepower at the combat training center (CENTAC) in Mailly-le-camp in eastern France, Politico reported.

While CENTAC officers aren't naming potential enemies, the training aims to drill troops “to fight a foe like Russia”, according to Politico. The experience of the Ukrainian conflict is widely used during the CENTAC exercises, the news outlet quoted them as saying.

The war games come after French President Emmanuel Macron said late last month that he refused to rule out sending EU troops to Ukraine – a move that provoked wide public uproar. Shortly after, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius of Germany said their country would not send its troops to Ukraine, with Scholz stressing that NATO countries as a whole were not going to do so.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that NATO troops’ potential boots on the ground in Ukraine will lead to an inevitable conflict between Russia and the alliance. He added that currently, Western countries have no consensus on the matter.

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'Taught us to hate Russians': Ukrainian prisoner recalls military training in Britain

British psychologists worked on Ukrainian soldiers so that they would "not like Russian soldiers... and kill them and treat them harshly" if they were captured by Ukrainian troops, a Ukrainian prisoner said.

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The Houthis carried out attacks on US destroyers in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden using 37 drones, the group's military spokesman Yahya Sarea said.

Earlier, the US Central Command said it, along with allies, had repelled a Houthi attack in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden by shooting down 15 drones.

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The former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valery Zaluzhny, was declared unfit for military service by the military medical commission before he was appointed ambassador of Ukraine to the United Kingdom, Ukrainian media reported.

It is noted that the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umerov and Volodymyr Zelensky did not offer him any significant military position corresponding to experience and training. After that, according to the media, Zaluzhny decided to resign.

The delay in the dismissal is explained by the fact that there are gaps in the legislation of Ukraine, in particular, it is not clearly established who should dismiss a general from military service - the Minister of Defense or Zelensky.

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75 years of NATO expansion in one pic

Although NATO casts itself as a purely defensive bloc, history has shown otherwise.

This alliance was established in 1949 to deter alleged Soviet expansion, yet after the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, NATO did not cease to exist. Despite promises given to late Soviet leaders by the US, NATO proceeded to expand eastward and encircle Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently admitted that he had a “naive idea” that after the end of the Cold War, the West and NATO had “no basis for confrontation with Russia”. However, after years of diplomatic efforts, Putin became “100% convinced” that NATO strategists want to “collapse Russia”.

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❗️In the Avdeyevka area, Russian troops repelled two attacks and seven counterattacks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and hit the Vampire MLRS combat vehicle.

🇷🇺🪖 Other statements from the Russian Defense Ministry briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️ In the DPR, Russian troops destroyed the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system. The Russian air defense system downed a MiG-29. The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost more than 300 servicemen, a tank and the Strela air defense system.

▪️The air defense of the Russian Federation shot down 197 drones during the day, and also intercepted 3 HIMARS projectiles, a Hammer guided aerial bomb.

▪️ In the Avdeyevka area, Ukrainian losses amounted to more than 450 servicemen, three infantry fighting vehicles and two armored vehicles.

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‘Cut a deal’: US billionaire investor urges America to seek detente with Russia to avert WWIII

In order to prevent a Third World War, the US should “cut a deal” and seek detente with Russia, which would provide a baseline for world peace, American entrepreneur David Sacks told a gala for the Republican think-tank American Moment in Washington.

Washington’s strategy aimed at prolonging the Ukrainian conflict and slapping sanctions on Russia has finally proved to be a complete failure, according to the billionaire investor.

“The idea that sanctions are working is totally delusional. The Russian economy stabilized and even outperformed G7 economies in 2023,” the 51-year-old stressed.

Russia has repeatedly indicated that it is ready for peace talks, but the Kiev regime introduced a legislative ban on them. The West, however, turns a blind eye to Ukraine's constant refusals to engage in dialogue.

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