Canada to bolster Ukraine’s defense with $500M and pilot training

"Canada plans to reinforce Ukraine’s defence with $500 million more in military support — and train more Ukrainian fighter pilots to defend their skies against Russia," Canadian PM Justin Trudeau announced on his X account.

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◻️ Pentagon’s push to put Tomahawks in Germany signals 'death rattle' of US hawks failing to defeat Russia

◻️ How Putin’s whirl of diplomatic engagement left Western elite biting the dust

◻️ West’s ‘open season’ on Hungary’s Orban for his trip to Russia

◻️ Violator-in-chief: How US systematically sullied INF Treaty before scrapping it

◻️ Aegis Ashore: 'Defensive' missile platform or irritant for itchy trigger fingers?

◻️ The Taliban government is building the most expensive canal in its history. Why are its neighbors worried?

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NATO’s tantrum about Chinese ‘challenge’ to ‘rules-based order’ signals terminal decline of West’s hegemony

NATO’s shortsighted decision to label China a “challenge” to the alliance and a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine is another sign that the sun is setting on the West’s unipolar moment, veteran geopolitical analyst and former US Marine Brian Berletic told Sputnik.

“It’s important first to understand that when NATO mentions a ‘rules-based international order’, they are referring to a geopolitical order in which wealthy Western nations determine the ‘rules’ in order to serve their own best interests,” Berletic explained.

“These ‘rules’ are enforced by what was until now the West’s monopoly on global financial, economic and military power,” according to the observer. “China’s rise, its cooperation with nations like Russia and the many members of BRICS undermine both the monopolies the West has enjoyed for decades, as well as the impunity those monopolies granted the West.”

The rise of China, Russia, and the developing world undermines the “primacy” and “hegemony” of the West, but is not any sort of actual threat to the national security of NATO’s members, Berletic believes.

NATO’s communique says loudly that the alliance has no intention to find a constructive role. In its pursuit to impose its ‘rules’, NATO exposes itself as the greatest threat to global peace, stability and prosperity, Berletic summed up.

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Volyn massacre: a crime of Ukrainian Nazis played down in Poland, hushed up in Ukraine

On July 11 1943, Nazi-allied groups of Ukrainian nationalists began their massacre of the Polish minority in the region of Volyn. The aim of the ethnic cleansing was “to remove anti-Ukrainian elements” before the Wehrmacht left Ukraine. The Banderites, followers of Ukrainian Nazi Stepan Bandera who did the killing, wanted to rule an “ethnically pure” Ukraine without Poles.

The issue of Volyn still divides Poland and Ukraine, despite their apparent friendship in recent years. In 2023, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski said that without resolving the issue of exhumation of the remains of Poles in Ukraine from mass graves of the victims of the Volyn massacre, Ukraine "has nothing to dream of joining the EU."

In 2017, Polish foreign minister Witold Waszczikowski said that Poland “would not allow Ukraine to enter Europe if Kiev wants to take Bandera along.”

Why was the Volyn massacre one of the worst crimes of the World War II?

◻️ The estimated number of the victims is about 150,000

◻️ The Banderite gangs left almost no witnesses. They encircled Polish villages on Sundays when Polish Catholics were attending church. Whole families were killed and even babies were slaughtered.

◻️ One of the few survivors was Polish astronaut Miroslaw Germaszewski, who lived in the village of Lipniki in Volyn. 19 members of his family were killed in one day in 1943. Germaszewski, then a small boy, survived by hiding in a forest. His village no longer exists, since all the other inhabitants were killed.

The impunity enjoyed by the Banderite groups which perpetrated the massacre is now played down in Poland and hushed up in Ukraine. The UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army)* and the OUN (Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists)* that were responsible for the massacre continue to exist with support of the Kiev's government.

*terrorist groups banned in Russia.

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Ukrainian drone strike that injured children is a ‘deliberate terrorist attack’ - Moscow

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described a Ukrainian drone strike that injured children in the Belgorod Region as a deliberate terrorist attack.

"Another terrorist attack by the Kiev regime. In Shebekino, a Ukrainian drone dropped an explosive device on children playing in the courtyard … A deliberate terrorist attack against children! ‘Bloody creatures’ from the Bankova [street] must be immediately subjected to international condemnation!" Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel.

Earlier in the day, Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said that the attack on a playground in Shebekino injured five children.

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US is working with Ukraine on a forceful response to the Kiev hospital incident - Security Advisor

"We are working with the Ukrainians to deal with that attack and to respond with force and vigor," said Jake Sullivan, US National Security Advisor.

Kiev and Washington unsubstantiatedly blame Russia for the incident with the Okhmatdyt hospital, which, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, was damaged by a Ukrainian air defense missile.

Footage from Kiev shows that the damage to the children's hospital was caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile launched from a system in the city, the ministry said earlier.

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Joe Biden has announced a new aid package for Ukraine, valued at $225 million, which includes an additional Patriot missile system.

This package aims to bolster Ukraine's air defenses against Russian airstrikes. The announcement was made during a meeting between Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

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US State Department tried to prevent PM Modi from visiting Russia - reports

The US State Department tried to prevent Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi from visiting Russia, the Washington Post reported, citing sources in the US administration.

Sources note that this week there was widespread concern in Joe Biden's administration regarding the timing of the meeting between PM Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell contacted Indian Foreign Minister Vinay Kwatra in early July hoping to delay Modi’s trip, which coincided with the NATO summit in Washington, sources say.

Modi paid a state visit to Russia on July 8-9, his first trip to the country in five years.

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Patience is a virtue

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was spotted rolling her eyes and checking her non-existing watch waiting for Joe Biden's arrival at the NATO summit.

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Biden’s back at it: ‘President of Ukraine… President Putin’

Joe Biden just introduced Vladimir Putin as Ukrainian president at the NATO summit.

“And now I want to hand it over to the President of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination. Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin!”

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The IDF reported strikes on a number of Hezbollah military targets in southern Lebanon, including military structures in the areas of Yarine and Ramyeh and infrastructure sites in the areas of Jibbain and Tayr Harfa.

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Israel’s partnership with NATO is ‘unacceptable’ - President Erdogan

The fact that the Israeli administration continues its partnership with NATO is unacceptable. Such demands for cooperation with Israel will not be accepted by Turkiye in NATO until after there is a ceasefire and peace is established, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters in Washington.

"A great massacre has been taking place in Gaza since October 7. Nearly 40,000 civilians have died as a result of Israel's attacks. I have emphasized this in all my contacts. There can be no peace without a final solution to the question of Palestine."

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Biden called Trump his Vice President

US President got mixed up during his press conference and confused former POTUS Donald Trump with VP Kamala Harris.

“I wouldn't have picked vice president Trump to be vice president [inaudible] if I think she's not qualified to be president.”

The blunder came shortly after Biden introduced Vladimir Putin as courageous Ukrainian president.

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The IDF announced that following the projectiles launched from the area of Rafah at communities near the Gaza Strip, the Israeli Aerial Forces struck and eliminated those who carried out the launches. 

In a combined aerial and ground strike, the IAF struck targets in the area from which the launches were carried out, the IDF added.

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Biden has ‘no good reason to talk to Putin’, unless Putin calls

During the solo press event, Biden said he has no reason to talk to the Russian president, though the POTUS then went on to note that he is, in fact, ready to talk if Putin calls. 

"I have no good reason to talk to Putin right now. There's not much that he is prepared to do in terms of accommodating any change in his behavior," Biden said. "I'm not ready to talk to Putin. Unless Putin is ready to change his behavior.” 

A moment later, Biden then added that he is prepared to talk to any leader who wants to talk, "including if Putin calls me and wants to talk."

“Last time I talked to Putin I was trying to get him to work on an arms control agreement related to nuclear weapons in space. That didn’t go very far,” he concluded.

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Birds of prey: Always on the prowl, day or night, Russian drones take no prisoners as they persistently hunt down Ukrainian militants and hardware.

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US and satellites are ‘raising maximum resources to preserve their failing hegemony’ - Russian Ambassador on NATO summit

NATO declares the right to use force anywhere in the world, whether under the pretext of democracy or battling terrorism, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said, summarizing the results of the NATO summit.

"The 'golden billion' countries seek to keep all regions of the world suppressed and to keep sucking them dry. For the sake of imposing its neocolonial orders, NATO actually declares the right to use force anywhere in the world, whether under the pretext of exporting democracy, protecting human rights or fighting terrorism," he noted.

The summit showed that NATO countries "have irrevocably embarked on the path of confrontation and material preparation for war," and that "the US and its satellites are mobilizing maximum resources to preserve their failing hegemony."

"The hawks do not want to listen and hear anyone but themselves, and, apparently, are not capable of doing so," Antonov concluded.

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Kamala Harris: "The one thing we know about our president Joe Biden is that he is a fighter!"

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Key statements on the closing day of the NATO summit:

🔸 Over 20 countries, as well as the European Union (EU) signed a document to ramp up military aid to Ukraine;

🔸 NATO countries have pledged 40 billion euros in support for Ukraine, but only for 2025, further details to be discussed later;

🔸 NATO will advise the development and implementation of the Ukrainian air and missile defenses to be fully compatible with the bloc's;

🔸A high NATO representative to be appointed in Kiev in order to coordinate efforts with local authorities;

🔸 NATO countries will extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the bloc (if the allies give their consent and Kiev fulfills its necessary conditions), and will support Ukraine’s efforts while it continues reforms in the country;

🔸 A new NATO Training Center for Ukraine, located in Poland, will be dedicated to conflict studies;

🔸 French President Emmanuel Macron declared his support for Ukraine for "as long as necessary";

🔸 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan found it "unacceptable" that NATO should become a party to the Ukraine conflict;

🔸 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised to discuss ammunition supplies for Ukrainian F-16 fighters, if asked to do so.

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