💬 "Ibrahim Raisi was a very kind and open person who could engage in honest dialogue," Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said about the deceased President of Iran.

"He cared about the development of his state and protected the interests of his people," Lukashenko added.

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Poland, Baltics unite to build flimsy Maginot-style barrier on border with Russia and Belarus

Polish Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk has announced plans to join forces with Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to build a defense line on the Russian and Belarusian borders.

◾️ The initiative, dubbed ‘Baltic Shield’, comes on the heels of plans by Warsaw announced last week to spend about $2.5 billion to create a network of forts, roadblocks, flood zones, anti-tank ditches and firing positions near the borders with Russia’s Kaliningrad and Belarus known as ‘Shield East’. The two projects will be combined.

◾️ Poland’s frontier defenses will take “several years” to create, and will add to the 187 km-long $400 million wall Poland already erected on the border with Belarus in 2021.

◾️ Details on ‘Baltic Shield’ are scarce, but Latvian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasciunas said his country’s defenses would include anti-tank hedgehogs, reinforced concrete forts, and dragon’s teeth. Estonia plans to build 600 bunkers.

◾️ Warsaw should expect problems with ‘Shield East’ – including environmental concerns from local administrators of protected areas like Bialowieza National Park – whose wildlife has already suffered thanks to the border wall. The ‘Shield’ is also likely to result in the forcible expropriation of privately owned lands for fixed payouts.

◾️ Militarily, there are an array of problems with the project. Moscow has stressed it has no plans to attack NATO countries, but if the bloc starts the conflict, the ‘shield’ can be eliminated by FAB-series bombs, artillery, drones, and missile strikes. Russia has amassed experience in this area while smashing fortified defenses Ukraine set up in Donbass.

◾️ The timing of the initiative is peculiar, asking Polish and Baltic taxpayers to shell out billions for defense as their countries flirt with recession and spiking energy costs.

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💬"It was the disgusting position taken by the United States that led to this," Lukashenko said about Raisi's death.

"First of all, the sanctions. Those bastards didn't have the right to impose sanctions against the ships and aircraft carrying people."

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Hungary to ‘redefine’ its NATO membership as bloc plans to join Ukraine conflict — Orban

The Hungarian government is reassessing its country's role in NATO as it does not want to get involved in the alliance's military mission in Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told the country’s Kossuth radio station.

He said military planning was underway in Brussels “on how NATO could participate in this war.”

“Hungary is opposed to this. There is quite a lot of work going on in the government to determine how we can remain a member of NATO without taking part” in the conflict, Orban said.

He added that Brussels was aware of this and had even coined the term ‘non-participant’ for Hungary.

Hungary will neither provide funds for Ukraine nor send weapons there. It will not even allow the storage of weapons intended for the Ukrainian armed forces on its territory.

The PM explained that his position stemmed from the conviction that the conflict in Ukraine could not be resolved militarily, that there could be no winner, and that it could be settled only through peaceful negotiations.

Orban also recalled that NATO was meant to be a defensive alliance, and no-one had attacked it. The conflict in Ukraine concerns only that country and Russia, and the talks about the ‘Russian threat’ should be regarded as “maneuvers of the West and Europe to prepare to enter the war,” he said.

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Biden’s 11: US President to skip Ukraine ‘peace conference’ in favor of star-studded Hollywood fundraiser

US President Joe Biden will give the upcoming so-called "peace conference" on Ukraine in Switzerland a miss, Bloomberg reported.
Instead of the summit set for June 15 to 16 in Lucerne, Biden will be hobnobbing with Hollywood A-listers like George Clooney and Julia Roberts at a glitzy fundraiser in Los Angeles.

With rival Donald Trump narrowing the campaign donation gap, it seems the conference to promote the so-called "Zelensky peace formula" will have to take a back seat – especially since Ukraine has been failing miserably on the battlefield.

Only 50 out of 160 invited national and other delegations have confirmed they will attend the Ukraine peace conference, according to Swiss public radio RTS. Among those turning up are:

◻️ German Chancellor Olaf Scholz

◻️ President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen

◻️ President of the European Council Charles Michel

◻️ Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

◻️ French President Emmanuel Macron.

◻️ Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

◻️ Japanese Premier Fumio Kishida

A number of countries in South America, Africa and the Middle East had confirmed they would come, according to Swiss President Viola Amherd.

Who else, besides Biden, is giving it a miss? Vice President Kamala Harris is not planning to pay a visit, according to US media – which shows how much attention Americans are really paying to the summit.

Moscow has dismissed the event it was not invited to, stressing that without Russia such a ‘peace conference’ is meaningless.

Leaders of China, Brazil and South Africa have also refused to attend the event. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed his country’s participation, but not his own attendance at the summit.

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Russia muting Musk’s Starlink satellites as Ukraine is losing electronic warfare - reports

The Russian military continues to ramp up its ability to disrupt the Starlink internet capabilities Ukraine’s troops use to coordinate their forces, collect intel and launch drone attacks on Russian frontline positions, causing mass “outages” in the Kharkov area of the front and playing a role in the rapid pace of Russia’s recent advances.

That’s according to Ukrainian officials, soldiers and electronic warfare specialists queried by the New York Times to find out why Russia’s EW operations had slowed frontline troops’ ability to communicate using Starlink internet to a crawl.

The report warned that if Russia’s efforts to disrupt Starlink “continue to succeed, it could mark a tactical shift in the conflict, highlighting Ukraine’s vulnerability and dependence on the service provided by Mr. Musk’s company,” while raising “broader questions about Starlink’s reliability against a technically sophisticated adversary.”

“We’re losing the electronic warfare fight,” a deputy commander from the Ukrainian 92nd Assault Brigade’s drone battalion told the newspaper. “One day before the attacks, it just shut down. It became super, super slow,” he complained.

A Ukrainian drone operator confirmed the connectivity issues. “During the first hours the front line was very dynamic. The enemy was moving, and we were moving as well. We needed to be fast in communicating,” the soldier said, complaining that the loss of Starlink connectivity “made everything more complicated” and “time consuming.”

Experts from NATO countries aren’t entirely sure what’s causing the signal loss – improved and more precise Russian jamming equipment, or a new breed of special electronic warfare weapons mounted on drones to confuse GPS signals. The report also didn’t rule out that “solar storms” may be responsible for random outages.

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❗️US announces a $275 million weapons package for Ukraine - Blinken

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Two birds, one stone: Biden lets Kenya do heavy lifting in Haiti to avoid repeat of Niger fiasco

Standing alongside Kenyan President William Ruto during his visit to Washington on Thursday, Joe Biden said the US would not send troops to Haiti or elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere because it “just raises all kinds of questions that can be easily misinterpreted.”

Instead, Biden said, the US will provide logistical, intel and equipment support to Kenya – which has committed 1,000 militarized police to a 2,500 personnel-strong force deploying in Haiti in June – ostensibly to restore order in Port-au-Prince.

Washington’s cunning plan hopes to use Kenya as a proxy to push the interests of the American ‘rules-based order’ in the Caribbean without getting its hands dirty.

It also means the US has learned its lesson from the diplomatic ‘bloody nose’ it got in Chad and Niger – which recently forced American troops to leave.

What Nairobi gets out of the arrangement is unclear. Professor Alexis Habiyaremye, a political analyst from the University of Johannesburg, told Sputnik that Kenya has allowed itself to become a US “vassal.”

“Such a vassal status implies that Kenya will from now on have to consider as its enemies whoever the Americans designate as their enemies, and as friends whoever the US sees as its friends,” he said.

Habiyaremye believes the ‘sweetener’ of major non-NATO ally status decreases Kenya’s security, since the US is a hegemon in decline. “It would only be useful if Kenya had enemies and would need to benefit from US protection. As Kenya does not conduct any hostile policies [toward] its neighbors, let alone remote territories, any US support will be limited to joint military exercises and more symbolic honors if any Kenyan president happens to visit Washington.”

With its sly moves, the US threatens to plop Nairobi into a US-backed misadventure into one such “remote territory” – Haiti.

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◻️ Russia considers Zelensky's legitimacy to have ended — Putin

◻️ Ukrainian soldiers flaunting neo-Nazi symbols welcomed for training in France

◻️ Russia muting Musk’s Starlink satellites as Ukraine is losing electronic warfare - reports

◻️ Hungary to ‘redefine’ its NATO membership as bloc plans to join Ukraine conflict — Orban

◻️ Biden’s 11: US President to skip Ukraine ‘peace conference’ in favor of star-studded Hollywood fundraiser

◻️ Poland, Baltics unite to build flimsy Maginot-style barrier on border with Russia and Belarus

◻️ US not planning to let post-war Gaza slip out of its grasp

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Deep European divisions bubble to the surface in spat over common air defense

Poland and Greece on one side and Germany on the other have proposed competing visions of a common European air defense system. Polish political observer Mateusz Piskorski says the spat has seen an array of normally hidden political, economic and geostrategic tensions bubbling to the surface.

First, there is the political competition between the European People’s Party and the Socialists & Democrats in the European Parliament, represented by the Polish and Greece prime ministers on one side, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the other. The Polish and Greek air defense initiative shows the EPP “trying to demonstrate in the framework of pre-election activities that they have their own version and vision of a European air defense system,” Piskorski explained.

“Secondly, of course, there are certain political subtleties,” Piskorski said, pointing to lingering Greek animosity toward Berlin over its treatment of Athens a decade-and-a-half ago when Greece faced economic collapse and German-approved austerity. Poland too has “historical and political grounds” of its own to be skeptical of German initiatives, Piskorski said.

Of course, one of the primary reasons Europe already doesn’t already have a common air defense system comes down to the influence of its “Anglo-Saxon friends,” with Washington “protecting its own interests and seeing continental Europe as their protectorate,” Piskorski said.

Any attempt “to create large, powerful structures in the military-industrial complex of continental Europe” required for a joint air defense system would “contradict the main economic and geopolitical interests of the United States,” Piskorski stressed.

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US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin temporarily transferred his duties to Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks ahead of a scheduled medical procedure later on Friday, Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder said.

"The Secretary has determined he will be temporarily unable to perform his functions and duties during the procedure, so Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks will assume the functions and duties of the Secretary of Defense and serve as the Acting Secretary of Defense," Ryder said.

The current medical issue has no effect on Austin’s previous cancer treatment, Ryder added.

Earlier on Friday, the Pentagon announced that Austin is expected to travel to Singapore next week.

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🗣 Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the planned summit on Ukraine in Switzerland another “hoax” invented by the Biden State Department.

“It is just another hoax invented by the US State Department. And everyone understands this. How can a 'peace conference' be organized by those who simultaneously supply weapons to the conflict zone with supposedly pacifist initiatives?” the spokeswoman argued.

Zakharova recalled the Russian president’s statement that Moscow has never refused to negotiate since April 2022, when, at Britain's request, the Kiev regime terminated the negotiation process, which it itself had requested, and this thesis [that Moscow has never refused to negotiate] was reiterated in "thousands of interviews, statements and speeches of Russian officials.'"

“Let me remind you that [EU foreign policy chief Josep] Borrel recently said that stopping the supply of arms to the Kiev regime would end the bloodshed in a couple of weeks. This is the real 'peace formula,'" the spokeswoman insisted.

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The United States should stop sending money to Ukraine and attempt to negotiate peace as soon as possible, US Congressman Thomas Massie told Sputnik.

“I think we should quit sending money there. I think we should try to negotiate peace as soon as possible,” Massie said on the sidelines of the 2024 Libertarian National Convention.

US lawmakers are showing dwindling support for sending military aid to Ukraine each time the matter comes to a vote, Massie highlighted.

“The support for sending weapons to Ukraine is weakening in the US Congress, as you can see with each subsequent vote,” the congressman emphasized.

Russia has repeatedly warned NATO countries that arms supplies to Ukraine would be considered legitimate targets. Moscow has accused NATO countries of "playing with fire" by arming Ukraine, emphasizing that such actions hinder the possibility of Russia-Ukraine negotiations.

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There should be some effort made to bring both Ukraine and Russia to the upcoming conference in Switzerland as it is hard to imagine negotiations without Russia, US Congressman Thomas Massie told Sputnik.

“This sounds kind of hard to negotiate a peace if they don't have Russia at the table. So I think there should be some effort to have Ukraine and Russia there,” Massie said on the sidelines of the 2024 Libertarian National Convention.

Moscow has repeatedly signaled readiness for negotiations, yet Kiev has legislatively imposed a ban on them. The West calls on Russia for talks, to which Moscow shows willingness, but Western countries overlook Kiev's consistent refusal for dialog.

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Talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden could help solve the conflict in Ukraine, and even lower-level discussions between top diplomats could help achieve progress, US Congressman Thomas Massie told Sputnik.

"I think it could help," Massie said when asked whether talks between Biden and Putin could help solve the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. "Although, even lower-level negotiations would help as well, I think."

When asked at what level such discussion should be held, Massie said, "Maybe at the secretary of state level, for instance."

Massie expressed his view that it is "wrong" that communications between the US and Russia are limited.

"I think there should be talks," he said.

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Germany currently has no plans to recognize Palestine as a state, since a token recognition would lead nowhere, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.

"I think we have no reason to recognize the Palestinian Authority as an independent state at the moment. There is no clarity about its national territory or any other aspects," Scholz said at a joint press briefing with Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro.

What is needed is a "negotiated solution between Israel and the Palestinians that would amount to a two-state solution," the German leader added.

"It is about a Palestinian administration that would control both the West bank and the Gaza Strip, but we are still far from that. All we need to do now is achieve a lasting ceasefire. It is also a matter of getting all parties involved to commit to the two-state solution," Scholz also said, adding that he believed a token recognition of Palestine would lead nowhere.

Earlier this week, the Palestinian ambassador to Austria and permanent observer to the United Nations in Vienna, Salah Abdel Shafi, told Sputnik that each new recognition of Palestine as a state would bring it one step closer to the implementation of the two-state solution.

On Wednesday, Norway and Spain said they would formally recognize Palestine as a state on May 28. Later in the day, Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris announced his country's recognition of Palestine.

Until Wednesday, Palestine was recognized by nine EU member states. Eight countries — Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania and Slovakia — recognized it in 1988 before joining the European Union, and Sweden in 2014.

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The US government freezing of foreign assets, including those of Russia, is a very short-sighted policy and sends a message to the international community that the United States may stop honoring transactions, US Congressman Thomas Massie told Sputnik on Friday.

"I think it's very short sighted of our government to freeze for instance, Treasury assets, that are held by other countries, such as Russia, because it sends a message to the world that if you buy our debt, then we may not honor the transaction at some point," Massie said on the sidelines of the 2024 Libertarian National Convention.

Massie also said US moves to freeze foreign assets are "extremely dangerous" because they will increase the price that Washington has to pay to finance its debt.

"I'm sure that our closest allies will still trust that we'll be good on our word, but other sovereign funds will have a diminished appetite for financing our debt," Massie said. "So, I think it's very short-sighted of us to do that."

Moscow has maintained that any attempt to confiscate its frozen assets would violate international law, with the Russian Foreign Ministry labeling such an action as theft.

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has also said that Moscow is willing to issue a "symmetrical" response to this form of Western financial aggression.

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Barry Pollack, the lawyer who represents Julian Assange in the United States, told Sputnik that there has been no progress on US President Joe Biden's consideration to end the prosecution against his client and the US Justice Department has continued to proceed with its extradition request.

In April, Biden told reporters that he was considering Australia's request to drop the prosecution against Assange.

"No news here in the [United] States. The Justice Department is proceeding with its extradition request," Pollack said.

Earlier this week, the UK High Court of Justice in London ruled that Assange will be allowed to appeal his extradition to the US.

Polack said the prosecutor and the defense teams submitted filings to the UK court on Friday regarding Assange’s appeal not to be extradited to the United States.

In the United States, he faces prosecution under the Espionage Act for obtaining and disclosing classified information that shed light on numerous war crimes and human rights violations committed by US troops during the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

If convicted, Assange could face up to 175 years in prison. One of the last means of preventing his transfer to the US may be an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. Assange lost his previous appeal at the UK High Court last June.

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Russia and Ukraine stand "very far" from potential peace talks and one of the reasons is that Kiev does not formally allow itself to start any negotiations, Russian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky told Sputnik.

"So far, we're very far from any practical move towards negotiations. The reasons are quite clear. First of all, the Kiev regime and the leader of the Kiev regime forbids himself to enter into any negotiations with Russia," Polyansky said. The Russian diplomat noted that Volodymyr Zelensky, whose term in office expired on May 20, had adopted a decree at the end of 2022 to not enter peace negotiations with Russia."

In addition, there is the issue of legitimacy regarding Zelensky, who continues to be in power without having held elections as required, in case of signing any official documents, Polyanskiy said.

Ukraine was due to hold a presidential election on March 31 but it was called off allegedly because of the martial law and general mobilization that are in effect. Zelensky said now was not the right time to hold elections.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine's political and legal systems themselves should answer the question of Zelensky's legitimacy after his term expires.

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