Vladimir Putin called the use of the US dollar as a tool of sanctions a big mistake for the United States; they undermine confidence in this currency.

#SPIEF2024

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

⚡️Ukrainian military personnel can participate in selecting targets for long-range missiles, but the decision is made by those who supply the weapons, Vladimir Putin said.

#SPIEF2024

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The West's supply of weapons to Ukraine is direct participation in the conflict, Putin said, adding that supplying Kiev with long-range, high-precision weapons is the path to very serious problems.

The response to the supply of long-range weapons to Ukraine may be asymmetrical, we will think about it, the president said, noting that the Russian Federation will improve its air defense systems.

#SPIEF2024

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Will Von der Leyen resign and who could replace her?

Ahead of the European Parliament (EP) elections, speculation is rife on the future of the European Commission’s (EC) head – Ursula von der Leyen. Will the 65-years-old Atlanticist and supporter of sending arms to Ukraine resign? Or will her bid for another five years succeed?

Experts note that Ursula von der Leyen, commonly known as VDL, was little known when she won unfairly in 2019. She was then less popular than her main rival, a fellow German CDU politician Manfred Weber. He initially got full support of the EP, but VDL was “installed” by the European Council – a body uniting the heads of the EU member states, Der Spiegel reported in 2019.

This time, the European Council’s chairman Charles Michel happens to be VDL’s avowed enemy, Politico has reported, claiming that “Michel plots revenge” against VDL because of her authoritarian ways. Michel may not put forward his candidacy, but, reportedly, he can put the breaks on her second “installment” by the council or support the alternative candidates Nicholas Schmit (Euro-commissioner) or Walter Baier (European Left party).

In order to win, VDL will need 361 votes of the MEPs’ total of 720. The European People’s Party (EPP), which proposed VDL’s candidacy in the first place, is expected to get only 170 votes, according to Politico.

It means that VDL will have hard choices before her. For example, she may curry favor with Italy’s premier Georgia Meloni in order to get her vote in the Council. But Meloni’s party Fratelli d’Italia is now trying to form a single faction in the European Parliament with France’s National Rally of Marine Le Pen and with the party Fidesz of Hungary’s Victor Orban. The EPP is at loggerheads with Orban after EPP expelled Fidesz from its faction inside the EP in 2021. So, it will be hard for VDL to please both Meloni and her party, the Guardian has suggested.

Whether VDL stays or not will apparently be resolved by political horse-trading, where a voter’s role is zero.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The United States must stop supplying Ukraine with weapons and the conflict will end in 2-3 months - Putin.

#SPIEF2024

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The desire of a number of countries to achieve the goal of defeating the Russian Federation prevented the conclusion of a peace treaty between Moscow and Ukraine - Putin.

#SPIEF2024

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The situation in Gaza is not like a war, it is the total destruction of the civilian population, the Russian president said.

Putin called the situation around Israel and Palestine the result of the actions of the United States, which monopolized policy in this area.

#SPIEF2024

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Russia has to guard the Blue Stream and South Stream gas pipelines due to threats from Ukraine, Putin said.

#SPIEF2024

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

It is necessary to build relations with the Taliban government, we have contacts, the Russian president said.

#SPIEF2024

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

▪️Putin believes that the White House will force the leadership of Ukraine to lower the age of mobilization, and then get rid of Zelensky

▪️Russia, Palestine, and BRICS: Three revolutionary forces changing the world

▪️Peril in the Tisa River: Ukrainian draft dodgers dying from drowning, freezing, and land mines

▪️What consequences may arise from the installation of US air defenses on a Baltic Sea island?

▪️Zelensky's corruption fuels rumors of luxury acquisitions

▪️From ‘frog’ to ‘bumble bee’: Meet advanced Russian unmanned ground vehicles

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

"Russia is constantly being accused of brandishing a nuclear club, but that's not the case," said Putin, urging against escalating to the point of deploying such armaments.

#SPIEF2024

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The United States spends huge resources to maintain its status as an empire, but now it is gradually “de-orbiting” from its position, Putin said. The process is already underway – there is no unipolar world, the president stressed.

#SPIEF2024

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The Ukrainian constitution does not say anything about the possibility of prolonging the term of the president under martial law; it only says that elections are not held, Putin emphasized.

The Russian president said that even under current conditions, there are still people within Ukraine who could sign a peace agreement, but it would require Kiev's willingness.

#SPIEF2024

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

There is an article in the Ukrainian constitution under which Zelensky's actions can be qualified as a seizure of power, said Putin, adding that Zelensky's decision not to run in Ukraine's election raises questions.

#SPIEF2024

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Putin called claims that Russia wants to attack NATO nonsense: “are they completely stupid, are they crazy or what?”

#SPIEF2024

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Putin on Ukraine's participation in the anniversary of the Normandy landings: it is impossible to celebrate such a serious date with those who put neo-Nazis on a pedestal. The president recalled the incident of Zelensky applauding a Nazi veteran in the Canadian Parliament.

The Russian President also stressed that it was the USSR that suffered the most losses. Nonetheless, the Russian Federation is not invited to the celebration of the anniversary of the Normandy landings.

#SPIEF2024

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Anyone expressing an alternative point of view in the West is declared an agent of the Kremlin, Putin noted.

Moscow will cooperate with anyone who wants to work with Russia, the President stressed.

Russia is always ready for cooperation with the West but it is the Americans, the French, and the British who rule out the possibility of partnership, Putin emphasized.

"We are in favor, we have not imposed any sanctions on Europe, we have not stopped energy supplies to Germany and other countries. It is against us that sanctions are being imposed," Putin said.

#SPIEF2024

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt