❗️Key statements from Putin and Orban after talks in Moscow

🇷🇺 Putin:

▪️Ukraine does not allow the idea of a ceasefire because it would remove the pretext for extending martial law.

▪️If Ukraine ends martial law, it will have to hold presidential elections. The chances of the current Ukrainian authorities winning are close to zero.

▪️There should not be a truce or a pause for the additional armament of the Kiev regime; Moscow stands for a complete and final end to the conflict.

▪️Russia insists on the complete withdrawal of all Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk People's Republic, Lugansk People's Republic, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.

▪️It is important that even in the current difficult geopolitical situation, Moscow and Budapest continue their dialogue.

🇭🇺 Orban:

▪️The positions of Russia and Ukraine are very far from each other, much needs to be done to bring the end of the conflict closer.

▪️He said that he discussed with Putin the achievement of peace in Ukraine and the shortest path to this.

▪️The conflict in Ukraine has begun to have an impact on the European economy and its competitiveness.

▪️I heard what Putin thinks about the existing peace initiatives, the ceasefire and negotiations, the vision of Europe after the war.

▪️He promised to continue his efforts to resolve the Ukrainian conflict.

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The United States postpones military exercises with Georgia indefinitely due to a comprehensive review of bilateral relations, the Pentagon said.

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The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, was gifted a flag captured from Ukraine's 128th Mountain Assault Brigade in the special military operation.

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🇭🇺 Viktor Orban: After trips to Kiev and Moscow, I realized that the positions of the parties are far from each other.

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‘No technological problems here’: Russia ready to match US in intermediate-range missile race

The United States’ efforts to develop and deploy missile systems previously banned under the INF Treaty virtually left Russia no choice but to respond in kind, argues Dmitry Stefanovich, research fellow at the Moscow-based Institute of World Economy and International Relations with the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).

Russia’s hand was forced in this matter, Stefanovich says, noting that a veritable small- and intermediate-range missile race is now taking place in the world, and Russia and the United States are not the only participants.

“We have been watching the US’ actions all this time. Perhaps it was due to self-restraint or perhaps there were, shall we say, more important matters at the time,” he said, adding that the demonstration and deployment of new Russian missile systems may soon follow.

According to Stefanovich, new Russian land-based missile systems may include the ground-launched versions of Kalibr cruise missile and Zircon hypersonic cruise missile, as well as (possibly) new Iskander ballistic missiles with a longer range.

He also recalls that Russia has been working on Rubezh, a “light intercontinental ballistic missile” that could possibly be turned into a short- or intermediate-range missile.

“There are no technological problems here,” Stefanovich remarks.

Unlike the air- and sea-based missile systems, ground-based missile launchers are cheaper to maintain to deploy and harder to detect as they are being moved around Russia’s vast territory.

As for the regions where they could be deployed, Stefanovich suggests that it may be either the Far East – closer to where similar US missile systems showed up recently – or the Leningrad Military District that was created in response to NATO’s encroachment on Russia’s western borders.

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A group of influential businessmen and donors to the US Democratic Party sent a letter to Biden asking him to withdraw his candidacy in the upcoming elections, the Washington Post writes.

“We respectfully urge you to withdraw from being a candidate for reelection for the sake of our democracy and the future of our nation,” the document reads.

At the time of sending the letter to the White House, it had been signed by 168 people, including civil society leaders, influential businessmen and politicians.

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🔥 Russian Airborne Troops eliminate Ukrainian hardware and troops using drones on right bank of Dnepr River.

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Is Kiev attempting to expand Ukrainian conflict into Belarus?

Ukrainian troop movements near the border with Belarus hint at Kiev’s desire to drag Minsk into the ongoing conflict, says veteran military and international affairs specialist Andrei Koshkin.

Donald Trump’s campaign promises to quickly end the Ukrainian conflict also make Kiev nervous enough to consider staging a bloody provocation that might prompt Western powers to send more weapons and money to Ukraine, he suggests.

“First of all, Kiev seeks to expand the geography of the conflict, to drag Belarus into it while hoping that Poland would become involved as well,” Koshkin tells Sputnik.

“Secondly, to highlight the fact – amid the ongoing election campaign in the US – that if Joe Biden does not resort to radical measures then Donald Trump would end the conflict (if Trump gets elected as president) and investigations into the Biden family affairs in Ukraine would begin.”

Thirdly, he adds, Ukraine wants to signal to Europe that, if the latter won’t help, then Ukraine is not going to defend “European democracy.”

Despite that, Koshkin appears skeptical about Ukraine’s ability to force a direct military confrontation with Belarus.

“This is a provocation staged by the Kiev regime in an attempt to destabilize Belarus, to attract the attention of the Western countries,” he says, adding that he does not think Poland would directly enter the conflict either.

That said, Ukrainian troops massed on the border with Belarus do concern both in Minsk and Moscow, and it does destabilize the situation in the region, Koshkin remarks.

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▪️Key statements from Putin and Orban after talks in Moscow

▪️Pepe Escobar: Why the SCO summit in Kazakhstan was a game-changer

▪️Where does US deploy missiles previously banned by INF Treaty?

▪️UK’s new Prime Minister Keir Starmer: Regurgitated imitator of “Biden’s journey to power”

▪️NATO's Ukraine 'hawks' go down in flames

▪️Russian Hawk UAV specialists destroyed Ukrainian positions using the Scorpion-M1 automated platform

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📹 Polling centers in the Iranian capital of Tehran are receiving voters well into the night thanks to enthusiastic participation and a high turnout in the country's presidential election.

The cutoff time has been extended for the second time, until midnight.

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What desperate measures does Macron’s campaign use against Le Pen?

After French President Emmanuel Macron’s coalition lost the first round of elections on June 30 to Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN), France lives in agitation awaiting the second round. As Macron’s Ensemble coalition came third after RN and the left-wing New Popular Front, Macron is reportedly using fear and division to mobilize his electorate.

These are the tactics used by Macron’s team to prevent RN’s victory:

▪️"De-Macronization" of the campaign. The French president's Renaissance Party candidates avoid using his name and image and Macron himself left the public eye. The reason is that he "underestimated how much the public were turned off by his personality," reports Politico, quoting party official as saying that Macron was "forced to hear the message."

▪️An "anti-Le Pen" block. As part of an agreement, both Macron's and the left coalitions have withdrawn their candidates in favor of each other depending on whose rating is higher, hoping to snatch as many seats as possible from RN candidates. Le Monde reports that 224 candidates have quit the race already.

▪️Demonization of Russia as some "force behind Marine Le Pen." Le Monde led with an obviously misleading headline: "Putin’s Russia backs far-right Rassemblement nationale." What was labeled as "meddling", in truth is a message from Russia’s deputy foreign minister, noting "the people of France" are "seeking a sovereign foreign policy that serves their national interests."

▪️The French mainstream media continue to scare the public of "ultra-right rule" under Le Pen’s party or by the allegedly presumed violent protests of the leftists following RN’s victory.

Ukraine is also used to stir voters, but Le Pen has promised that if her party wins the election, the appointed prime minister will block the sending of French troops to the crisis.

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