Macron in hot water as he discusses European defense, Ukraine ahead of elections

Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech at Paris' Sorbonne University, where the French president outlines his vision for a "stronger Europe" and reaffirms support for Ukraine as he faces challenges in his campaign for European Parliament elections in early June.

Thursday's speech comes amid Macron's efforts to gauge support for a plan to install former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, known for his pro-Ukrainian stance, in a new post of European Commission president. Draghi has previously said that Kiev's defeat would be "fatal" for the European Union and its values, and has regularly promoted arms supplies to Ukraine.

Before the speech, Macron sat down at the presidential palace to discuss the creation of a European defense architecture and further aid to Ukraine. Some experts at the meeting said he was "just laying out grand visions."

"…There’s no such thing as a real European defense today, and we’ve been downgrading our ambitions now for 25 years," a European political scientist said later.

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Ukraine is receiving no less support from the United States than Afghanistan received at the time, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

The situation is developing according to the same scenario, only "much more dramatic for the fate of the citizens of Ukraine as a people," she noted.

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The US' deployment of medium-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region undermines regional peace and stability and China will take decisive countermeasures, the Chinese Ministry of Defense has said.

The comments come after the Pentagon announced that it intends to deploy medium-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region by the end of the year.

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🇨🇳🇭🇺 Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Budapest in a fortnight and meet with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said the head of the Hungarian prime minister's administration, Gergely Gulyas.

"The Chinese president will be visiting Budapest from May 8 to 10. It comes 20 years after his last visit to Budapest. It is in the interests of the Hungarian economy and Hungary to maintain good relations with as many countries as possible. China is one of the leading world powers, after the EU, that is unfortunately weakened. It is among not even the three, but the two strongest economies in the world,” Guillas said at a government briefing broadcast by M1 TV.

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Relations between Russia and China are not affected by the external environment, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said, commenting on the visit of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to Beijing.

"As for US attempts to drive a wedge into the strategic partnership between Russia and China, the US is talking about them literally openly... This, alas, unfortunately, is the tactic of a certain part of the political establishment in the United States, which is based on the well-known historical expression 'divide and rule', and in this case: 'sow chaos and rule', they still manage to sow chaos, but they don't really rule anymore," Zakharova said at the briefing.

The Russian spokeswoman pointed out that Russia-China cooperation is based on the principles of respectful, equal, trust-based partnership, and mutual support on key issues for both sides, which is not directed against third countries.

"This is the value of the Russian-Chinese strategic bond, which is not influenced by the external environment," Zakharova explained.

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Russia building a ‘protective dome’ over Zaporozhye - Defense Ministry

S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems, together with the Buk system designed to destroy strategic and tactical aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles, and guided aerial bombs, are working on additional safety measures to protect the Zaporozhye region against Ukrainian attacks against civilians, Russia's Defense Ministry has said.

“No one will make a move in the region on our watch […] not a single missile or a jet,” the ministry quoted a soldier from an air defense unit as saying.

Pantsir surface-to-air missiles are also part of the ‘dome’ combating Ukrainian drones, the ministry added.

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❗Iran will launch missiles anywhere in Israel if necessary - Iranian Army chief Abdolrahim Mousavi

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What on earth is he doing again?

President Biden seen blessing himself with sign of the cross… while rallying for abortion.

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❗️Ukrainian troops lost a total of up to 1,000 soldiers over the last day, the Russian Ministry of Defense said.

The Russian military continued to occupy more advantageous positions and improve their tactical position.

The West Battlegroup destroyed three MLRS combat vehicles, Vampire, Grad and HIMARS. Russian air defenses shot down up to 200 drones.

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❗️The Russian Armed Forces have destroyed over 23,000 UAVs since the beginning of the special military operation;

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

▪️The Eastern Battlegroup occupied more advantageous positions. Ukrainian losses amounted to 90 soldiers;

▪️The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 350 military personnel in the area of responsibility of the Center Battlegroup in one day;

▪️Russian troops struck formations of mercenaries of the foreign legion;

▪️The Western Battlegroup occupied more advantageous positions and inflicted fire damage on the Ukrainian manpower and equipment;

▪️The Dnepr Battlegroup inflicted fire damage on the Ukrainian manpower and equipment, enemy losses amounted to 30 soldiers.

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🤡 Former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claims without any evidence that the pro-Palestine protest movement has “a Russian tinge to it.”

“It's in Putin's interest for 'What's His Name' to win, and therefore I see some encouragement on the part of the Russians.”

Pelosi has long promoted unfounded conspiracy theories about Russian and Chinese ‘involvement’ in US domestic politics.

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📹 French President Emmanuel Macron spoke about Europe's mortality while speaking at Paris' Sorbonne University.

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ATACMS missiles won’t help Ukraine win

The ATACMS missiles capable of striking targets at a range of up to 300 kilometers recently supplied by US to Ukraine will not help the Kiev regime tilt the battlefield in its favor, said Andrey Koshkin, a veteran Russian academic specializing in military and international affairs.

“Of course, Kiev needs to actively tout these weapon shipments in the media and boast about possible achievements for propaganda purposes,” Koshkin remarked. “But these missiles won’t help change the situation at the frontline for simple reasons. Firstly, there are not many of these missiles, and this technology is unusually complex for the Ukrainian forces, so they won’t be able to use them widely. Secondly, it remains to be seen whether these sporadic strikes will manage to bypass Russian defenses. Thus, there are too many “buts” for these missiles to be used successfully.”

According to him, these missiles will likely be used for terrorist strikes against civilian infrastructure deep within Russia’s territory, despite US’ claims of refraining Ukraine from such use.

He also observed that while the regime in Kiev has announced plans to hit the Crimean Peninsula and the bridge across the Kerch Strait, Russian forces have already demonstrated their ability to intercept such missiles.

“We have excellent Buk-M2 and S-300 [air defense] systems that are capable of dealing with these missiles, quite successfully at that,” Koshkin said.

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