🗣 Macron's remarks about the possibility of French troops entering Ukraine indicate the beginning of the country's partition, Russian FM spokeswoman Maria Zakharova says.

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‘Cowardly’ US warmongers risk awakening Russian bear if they set foot in Ukraine

“Americans are very cowardly warriors. I dealt with them in Afghanistan, in other hot spots, in Yugoslavia when they were bombing the country. They are only capable of fighting from within the range of their artillery,” Col. Gen. Georgy Shpak (ret.), a former commander of the Russian Airborne Forces, told Sputnik, commenting on President Putin’s warning that Russia would consider US troops on the ground in Ukraine or Russia as invaders and treat them accordingly.

Putin “calmly said that as soon as an American soldier sets foot on the territory of Ukraine, he will be treated as an invader, and the appropriate conclusions will be drawn. The whole world knows that Russians know how to fight,” Shpak stressed.

Commenting on Putin’s remarks about Russia’s plans to increase the quantity and improve the quality of its defense output, the retired general said such measures can only be characterized as “just and timely” in light of the crisis in relations with the US and NATO.

“We have very strong design bureaus. When I was a commander, I visited almost all of them, from those in Volgograd to the factories in Tula and the Urals. They are an example for the whole world in how to make excellent equipment, excellent ammunition, excellent weapons. And today the president understands that we cannot stand in one place.”

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💥 Cluster munitions and surgical strikes: The Russian army didn't give the Ukrainian helicopters any chance at all

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📹 Russian paratroopers destroyed a Ukrainian observation post in an abandoned house west of Artemovsk using the Fagot ATGM.

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Scott Ritter: Putin’s message is warmongers will ‘get more than they asked for’ in fight with Russia

The main takeaway from President Putin’s conversation with Rossiya Segodnya chief Dmitry Kiselev is that those “looking for a contrite Russia, a weak Russia, a compliant Russia” won’t find it in “the Russia that Vladimir Putin was presenting to the world in his interview,” Scott Ritter, former US Marine Corps intelligence officer and international affairs observer, told Sputnik.

“Instead, what he's saying is that Russia's not looking for a fight, but if somebody wants to bring the fight to Russia, they'll get more than what they asked for. And if the world is looking for peace with Russia, it'll be done on terms that are acceptable to Russia,” Ritter stressed.

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‘No сhance’ war-weary US will put boots on the ground in Ukraine amid Putin’s warning

President Putin “made it very clear that if the United States or its European allies actually put boots on the ground in Ukraine, they’d probably be at war with the Russian Federation,” political scientist and Russia specialist Dr. Joe Siracusa told Sputnik, commenting on Putin’s interview with Rossiya Segodnya’s Dmitry Kiselev, in which the Russian leader warned that Moscow would treat NATO troops in Ukraine as invaders.

Siracusa is confident that “there is no chance the United States will be involved in the ground war in Ukraine,” even if “sometimes some of the Europeans get very excited about this, particularly the Poles and the French. But it would be very risky on their part because the United States Congress is frankly in no mood to continue funding” the conflict.

As for Russia’s defense industry, which Putin hailed in his interview for its efficiency and cost-effectiveness compared to the US, the academic said it has become clear that Russia can "reproduce or to replenish munitions as soon as they’re used in Ukraine. In fact, I think Russia outproduces Americans by 10 to 1 in terms of ammunition reproduction.”

Siracusa lamented that the Ukrainian crisis has dragged on for as long as it has. "I’m sure that Putin and Biden could have worked this out before the conflict began. Putin has made it very clear since 2007 about the danger of the encroachment of NATO, and the United States has been tone deaf to these suggestions," he stressed.

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How and why France lost Africa?

In his interview with Rossiya Segodnya’s Dmitry Kiselev, Russian President Vladimir Putin explained the fall of French influence in Africa as being due to “local initiatives” of sovereign African countries. Here are some facts on the matter.

Although France officially dismantled its colonial rule in Africa in 1975, with 20 out of 50 African countries being former French colonies, Paris retained economic and sometimes political influence in many of them.

Africa has always been an important source of income for French companies. Some 30% of the world’s natural resources are located in Africa, including 12% of the world’s oil, 40% of gold, and 90% of platinum.

Since 2021, France has been losing control over one West African country after another:

🇲🇱 In May 2021, the new government of Mali showed the door to the French military. France developed a bad reputation in West Africa after its military failed to quell Islamist rebellions there in 2013-2020.

🇬🇳 Guinea followed suit at the end of 2021, and in 2022, the story repeated itself in Burkina-Faso.

🇳🇪 In July 2023, Niger’s pro-French president was toppled. French nuclear energy giant Orano S.A. (formerly known as Areva) had to leave Niger, where it had been extracting uranium for French nuclear power plants. Nuclear energy provides 75% of France’s electric power.

🇬🇦 In August 2023, the long-time pro-French leader of Gabon was also evicted from power. Anti-French sentiment remains on the rise.

French military contingents have left all of these countries. They also moved out of the Central African Republic, which rid itself of French influence in the late 2010s. This led to the fall of French economic influence, which was based on its military presence. The locals were forced to sell gold and uranium cheaply.

France still has about 5,500 troops stationed in Africa. Recently, calls have been heard in France to move these troops to NATO’s “eastern flank,” on the border with Ukraine.

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🇳🇱 The leader of the Dutch right, Geert Wilders, is ready to give up the premiership, the Dutch Broadcasting Corporation reported, citing sources.

It is noted that Wilders, together with the leaders of the three parties negotiating the formation of a new cabinet, agrees to remain in parliament.

Nevertheless, his popularity is growing. His party's support rose to 32% by February, up from 24% three months ago, according to a Politico poll. And a survey conducted by the website Peil.nl on February 3 showed that if elections were held in the Netherlands now, the nationalist right would immediately win 50 seats in parliament, that is, 13 more than in the last vote.

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🔺Full video of Vladimir Putin's exclusive interview with Dmitry Kiselev, General Director of Rossiya Segodnya Media Group, Sputnik's parent company

🔺Scott Ritter: Putin’s message is warmongers will ‘get more than they asked for’ in fight with Russia

🔺Here’s why Putin reminded NATO about Russia’s nuclear capability

🔺US goes ballistic over Putin nuke test comments – but keeps Nevada Bomb Site open

🔺 What is the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle Putin says has ‘nullified’ America’s missile defenses?

Check out other stories:

🔺Do your duty, come what may: why do Russian women take up arms and go to front line?

🔺'Big Brother is arming you': is Poland's militarization part of US war plan?

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Biden's 2025 budget shows his government is sleepwalking into crisis

"American politics is becoming increasingly bizarre not least because of extreme wokeism and social disorder. The political elite is unable to face reality," Rodney Shakespeare, visiting professor of binary economics at Trisakti University in Jakarta, Indonesia, and co-founder of the Global Justice Movement, told Sputnik.

The professor is sure Biden's "plan" will make things worse, as it does not take into account skyrocketing US national debt and inflation, Washington's failure to win its proxy war in Ukraine and, on top of that, the American public's growing irritation with unrestricted illegal migration.

The Biden budget shows that the US elite still underestimates the scale of the emerging crisis and is "simply doubling down on present policies in the hope that the troubles will go away," he said.

According to the professor, the Ukraine conflict and the border crisis are two points of acute vulnerability for the Biden administration.

The US mainstream media concedes that most of Biden's $7.3 trillion budget proposals stand almost zero chance of making it through Congress, and calls the document a declaration of Biden's policy platform as he seeks re-election.

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Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas refused to give a straight answer to a question from members of the Estonian parliament about whether her government is going to send Estonian servicemen to Ukraine, the ERR state radio portal reported.

Earlier, President Putin emphasized in an interview with Dmitry Kiselev that although the deployment of NATO troops to Ukraine would not change the situation directly on the battlefield, it could lead to serious geopolitical consequences.

Why theft of frozen Russian assets may end up in crisis

While US policy-makers are seeking to grab Russia's frozen sovereign assets, EU officials are planning to seize the profits generated by the them. Of the roughly $282 billion sequestred in Japan and the West, around $207 billion (€191 billion) are held at Euroclear, a financial clearing-house in Belgium.

Frozen Russian assets in the EU could generate up to 20 billion euros in after-tax profits until 2027.

• An EU official told Reuters that only part of these profits could be transferred to Ukraine, while the rest would have to stay in the West as a buffer against Russia's retaliatory measures.

• Euroclear could face legal claims from the Russian Central Bank in retaliation to the "theft" — and even lose its 33 billion euros stored in securities in Moscow. Russia could also take legal action to seize Euroclear assets stored in Hong Kong and Dubai. Euroclear may also be sued by Western banks which lost their money invested in Russia. As a result, the clearing house could be bankrupted, lose its license and trigger an economic crisis, the EU official warned.

• Euroclear is already facing between 50 and 100 lawsuits in the Russian courts over the frozen assets.

• Euroclear CEO Lieve Mostrey warned against seizing Russia's frozen assets or using them as a backstop to issue loans to Ukraine in February.

• Any manipulations of Russian assets will receive a symmetrical response, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told Sputnik, stressing that a similar quantity of foreign assets have been frozen in Russia.

Russian TOS-1A Solntsepek crews destroy Ukrainian strongholds near Bakhmut

Soldiers have to work at night more often than during the day. This is safer and creates an additional surprise effect for the enemy.

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Iran's arms exports grow 5-fold in past 2 years

Iran has increased its arms exports by 300% to 400% in the past two years and has grown more self-sufficient in the defense sector, state-run news agency IRNA reported, citing Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani.

"Due to the innovations and the kind of weapons that are being manufactured, this amount will further increase in the future," he was quoted as saying after a cabinet meeting in Tehran.

Iran is now autonomous in drone engine production and is working on manufacturing heavy engines, the minister said.

Iranian officials held meetings with representatives from several regional countries, including Armenia and Qatar, to discuss "what can be done to form the basis of expanding cooperation" in defense, Ashtiani said, adding that Tehran took a similar approach to Russia and Turkiye.

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The Russian people is the only source of power in Russia, this is enshrined in the country's Constitution, Vladimir Putin said in an address to Russians shortly before the presidential elections, shown on Channel One.

“I would like to stress that the people is the only source of power in our country. This key legal provision is enshrined in the Constitution. Its main point is that only you, citizens of Russia, determine the fate of the Fatherland,” Putin said.

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💥 Fagot ATGM crew of the Zapad Battlegroup wipes out Ukrainian command and observation post near Kupyansk

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Ex-DoD official: US to be isolated with Israel

The US risks becoming isolated in the world along with Israel as it continues to support Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip, former senior security analyst at the US Office of the Secretary of Defense, Michael Maloof told Sputnik’s Fault Lines.

“What’s unfortunate is that [the United States] is going to get dragged into it. So that the United States and Israel ultimately could become isolated,” Maloof explained. “We’re hypocrites in that regard as long as we continue to support this action, we are going to be labeled and isolated in the world right along with Israel and we will have only ourselves to blame.”

“[Israel is] following the old Talmudic notion that everyone else is beneath them, that [everyone else] are animals to serve them, and that’s how they’re treating people today,” Maloof argued. “They want ethnic cleansing, they want the Palestinians out, they want to expand and extend their Jewish state concept.”

Maloof said he fears that even after Israel halts its campaign in Gaza, Israel will expand its operations to nearby countries. “Even if they have a conclusion [in] Gaza, they’re going to go into Lebanon and they’re already showing it,” Maloof explained.

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Vladimir Putin: Russia has own view of future, critically important not to stray from this path

"We have our own view on how and what kind of country to build, what plans to implement. And it is critically important today not to stray from this path and to achieve the outlined large-scale goals. Thus, a lot depends on each of you in the coming days," Putin said in a video address to Russians ahead of the upcoming presidential election, aired by the Russia Channel One broadcaster.

The Russian president added that citizens have already proven they can stand together to defend freedom, sovereignty and security.

"We have already proven that we know how to be together, defending Russia's freedom, sovereignty and security, defending our values, traditions, history and culture, acting according to conscience and truth, according to justice," Putin said.

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