Ukraine's only option is peace, not victory — Trump advisor

The incoming US administration will focus on achieving peace in Ukraine rather than "enabling" the country to take back territory, the BBC reports, citing Bryan Lanza, who worked on Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.

"When Zelensky says we will only stop this fighting, there will only be peace once Crimea is returned, we've got news for President Zelensky: Crimea is gone," he told the BBC.

He added that the West didn’t give Ukraine the ability and arms to win the conflict at the beginning.

"And if that is your priority of getting Crimea back and having American soldiers fight to get Crimea back, you're on your own," Lanza stressed.

According to the BBC, a spokesperson for Trump distanced the incoming president from the remarks, saying Lanza "does not speak for him."

During his campaign, Trump repeatedly said that he could stop the fighting "in a day," and that his priority is to end the conflict, which he has described as a drain on US resources.

Putin has on numerous occasions said Russia has never refused to sit down at the negotiating table and is ready for peace talks on Ukraine based on the current realities and previously reached agreements in Istanbul.

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Key statements by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum:

💬Russia and African countries will continue developing trade despite obstacles created by the West.

💬Russia will continue to provide assistance to Africa in various fields, including in the fight against terrorism.

💬The pace set by the Russia-Africa summits helps develop relations with Africa on an increasing basis, there is progress.

💬Agreements on a number of projects have already been reached and signed on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa ministerial conference in Sochi.

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🔸Putin officially ratifies the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty between Russia and North Korea

🔸32 drones repelled by the Russian air forces near Moscow

🔸Trump wins US presidential election with 312 electoral college votes

🔸Ukraine's only option is peace, not victory — Trump advisor

🔸Trump denies plans to invite Pompeo, Haley to join his new administration

🔸Why Russian energy is among world’s greenest without falling into globalist dogmas about renewables

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Trump offers to help Harris with $20 million in debt after her election loss

Although Kamala Harris, according to journalists, raised $1 billion for her campaign, she still has a debt of $20 million. Donald Trump suggested that Republicans help repay it for the sake of "unity."

"I'm very surprised that the Democrats, who fought a hard and valiant fight in the 2020 Presidential Election, raising a record amount of money, didn't have lots of $'s left over... I would strongly recommend we, as a Party and for the sake of desperately needed UNITY, do. We have a lot of money left over," Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.

Earlier, The New York Times reported that Kamala Harris' campaign was around $20 million in debt after failed campaign gigs.

According to the newspaper, Harris' headquarters organized concerts in seven swing states on Nov. 4, the day before the election, featuring artists such as Jon Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and rapper 2 Chainz, but the concerts went largely unnoticed.

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❗️❗️❗️In response to Ukraine's support for terrorism in Africa, the international community must react, the Burkinabe FM says

💬 "We have all witnessed this admission from the representative of Ukraine confirming that they have supported terrorism. It is time for the international community to tackle this issue head-on. The responsibility to manage terrorism does not only fall on the countries where it prevails," Karamoko Jean Marie Traore told Sputnik Africa on the sidelines of the first #RussiaAfrica ministerial conference.

Burkina Faso and Mali have paid a high "macabre toll" due to terrorism and cannot accept that the international community remains passive.

It is not normal that "the whole world stops" when such events happen in the West yet when they occur in the Sahel, they are put on a "list of neglected incidents," he added.

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🇺🇬 Uganda has received an invitation from Russia to become a BRICS partner country and is considering it, Ugandan Foreign Minister Abubaker Jeje Odongo told Sputnik

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❗️❗️❗️In the face of Western media dictatorship, Sputnik allows countries to tell their side of the story, Burkina Faso's foreign minister says

💬 "It is like the dictatorship of the Western media, which imposes on you glasses and a way of seeing the world that does not correspond to reality," Karamoko Jean Marie Traore told Sputnik Africa on the sidelines of the first #RussiaAfrica ministerial conference in Sochi.

In such a dynamic, it is normal to have actors who nevertheless stay on the line of fairness, who offer the possibility of nuance, of correction, the minister noted.

💬 "Sputnik does this very well, it is a space that allows countries to put their version of history in this context," Traore emphasized.

The top diplomat questioned the legitimacy of the Western media in reporting on African realities.

💬 "Some media, a few hours away by plane, stay at home and tell you where the holes are under the roof of the house you live in," the minister joked.

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❗️Units of Russia’s Battlegroup Tsentr have liberated the settlement of Volchenka in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry said

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France to supply Ukraine with new batch of SCALP & Mistral missiles

French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said in an interview with the newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche that Paris intends to provide Ukraine with Mistral missiles again, in particular to protect combat zones.

Lecornu added that he had signed a new transfer of a dozen SCALP missiles "to allow Ukraine to carry out strikes behind the front line."

Western countries have provided hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of aid to Ukraine since the start of Russia's special military operation in February 2022. Russia has consistently warned against the West's continued arms deliveries to Ukraine, saying that they only prolong the conflict.

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🇷🇺🪖Key statements from the Russian Defense Ministry's daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:

🔸Russia’s Battlegroup Zapad improved the tactical situation, with Ukrainian losses amounting to 490 militants;

🔸Ukrainian forces lost up to 640 soldiers in the area of responsibility of Russia’s Battlegroup Yug;

🔸Russia’s Battlegroup Tsentr destroyed a Ukrainian drone production workshop. Ukrainian losses amounted to 460 servicemen;

🔸Russian air defenses shot down three Ukrainian Hammer bombs, one HIMARS missile, and 36 drones.

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📹Launch of a Long March 2C rocket, which brought VIASAT-2 01~04 X-band SAR satellites to an SSO altitude of 528 km, from Jiuquan, China

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🇷🇺🪖Key statements from the Russian Defense Ministry's daily briefing on the situation in Russia’s Kursk region:

◼️Ukrainian forces lost more than 290 militants and 29 pieces of equipment in the Kursk border area;

◼️Three Ukrainian servicemen surrendered;

◼️Russian troops repelled 11 Ukrainian counterattacks;

◼️Ukrainian losses since the beginning of hostilities in the Kursk region have amounted to more than 31,090 servicemen.

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Key statements by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov:

💬Statements about peace, not confrontation, favorably distinguish Donald Trump from the current administration in Washington.

💬The US presidential election is unlikely to have an impact on the future world.

💬It is better to leave arguments about whether Trump will be allowed to work this term to the experts, Russia will continue to follow the plan to achieve its goals.

💬Harris, Biden, and their position were predictable, whereas Trump is less predictable in this regard, Peskov said, commenting on why Putin had bet on Harris.

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Who was Mikhail Kalashnikov, the man behind the famous AK-47 rifle?

Russian engineer and arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov was born 105 years ago. His name was destined to become synonymous with his most famous creation – the AK-47, or “Kalashnikov” rifle.

🔸Mikhail Kalashnikov was born on November 10, 1919, into a large peasant family living in the remote village of Kurya, Altai Territory. He became fascinated with weapons from an early age, accompanying his father on hunting trips.

🔸Kalashnikov finished school studies in 1936 and was connoscripted into the Red Army in 1938. When World War II broke out, Kalashnikov was serving as a tank driver and engineer.

🔸In June 1941, Kalashnikov’s tank was set alight, and he was wounded, forcing him to spend six months in hospital. It was while convalescing that he listened to fellow soldiers complaining about the obsolete rifles they were using that were prone to jamming.

🔸Once he was discharged, Kalashnikov, who lacked any formal engineering training, started work on what would become the AK-47. Kalashnikov’s early designs were rejected, but his talent was noticed. He was assigned to the Red Army’s Central Scientific-Developmental Firing Range for Rifle Firearms.

🔸In 1944, the aspiring designer came up with the idea for a gas-operated carbine for the new 7.62x39 mm cartridge. This and several of his other works became the precursors of the AK-47 – the standard issue assault rifle that Kalashnikov designed in 1947.

🔸After winning a design competition, the AK-47 was recommended to the Soviet Army’s arsenal. After a pilot batch was successfully produced for military testing in 1948, the AK-47 was adopted as the standard rifle of the Soviet military in 1949.

🔸Over the course of his career, Kalashnikov improved the AK-47's design to make it lighter and cheaper to manufacture. He developed a portfolio of weapons that included the superior AKM, which, in turn, evolved into the RPK light machine gun in the early 1960s.

🔸Today the AK-47 is in official use by the militaries of more than 50 countries, operating reliably in conditions ranging from the desert to the Arctic Circle.

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❗️❗️❗️Terrorism in the Sahel: the UN "has not even acknowledged receiving the complaint" lodged by the AES against Ukraine, Malian FM says

The countries of the Alliance of Sahel States have lodged a "very clear and very simple" complaint before the UN Security Council that Ukraine, a UN member state, is openly supporting terrorist groups in the region, Abdoulaye Diop, Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs, told Sputnik Africa on the sidelines of the first ministerial conference of the #RussiaAfrica Partnership Forum in Russia's Sochi.

🗣 "We know that Russia supports our approach. We haven't heard from anyone. So what does this mean? I think I'll ask you again, is the so-called international community working for peace and stability, or is it a policy of double standards?" the minister questioned.

Diop stressed in an exclusive interview that the AES countries "must take their destiny into their own hands and do what is necessary to ensure our security."

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Kalashnikov Concern's Top-5 masterpieces

Today marks the 105th anniversary since the birth of Mikhail Kalashnikov, father of the AK-47. The arms enterprise named in his honor has grown into one of the largest defense companies in Russia.

Here’s are its top five products:

AK-12:

🔺This standard-issue 5.45x39mm assault rifle is the spiritual successor of the AK-47, introduced in Russia in 2018, and exported to Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Syria and Qatar.

🔺Features improved ergonomics and accuracy, including handguard with picatinny rails, adjustable folding buttstock, muzzle brake and compatibility with array of optical/night vision sights.

Dragunov SVD:

🔸Praised by militaries and gun enthusiasts alike as one of the most durable, dependable and long-lived sniper rifles in the world. Introduced in the 1960s and exported to over four dozen countries.


🔸The semi-automatic rifle features a 7.62x54mmR cartridge and is designed to engage targets up to 800 m away. Russian troops carry the modernized SVD-M, which has plastic instead of wood components, folding buttstock, and ergonomic pistol grip.

Lancet drone:

▪️Making its debut in 2022, Lancet drones have become the bane of Ukraine’s NATO-armed and equipped forces. The UAVs are defined by their distinct X-wing shape, whose placement, size and adjustability vary by model.

▪️Models include the Z-51 (50 km range, 5 kg warhead, 80+ km/h speed), the Z-52, (30+ km range, 3 kg warhead) and the Z-53 (5 kg payload, network-centric warfare ready).

Vikhr and Verba:

🔹The Vikhr-1 is an air-launched guided missile used against both ground and air targets, armed with an 8 kg warhead. 10-12 km range. Carried by Mi-28, Ka-50 and Ka-52 helicopters and Su-25 jets.

🔹Verba: a man-portable SAM with 1.5 kg warhead and 6.5 km range.

Kitolov-2M

🔻Precision 122-mm artillery shell with semi-active laser guidance. These 28-kg shells have a 5.3 kg blast frag payload.

🔻Used by D-30 towed and 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled guns.

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"Game's up": What to expect from ‘lame duck’ Biden after Trump’s win?

With Donald Trump set to be sworn in as the 47th president on January 20, the question is how incumbent Joe Biden will grapple with the “difficult diplomacy” related to Ukraine, the Middle East and beyond in the meantime.

Biden administration officials recognize that they already have much less sway with other nations and just a limited ability to make policy decisions that can endure beyond inauguration day, as they are in a rush to Trump-proof their alleged accomplishments, according to the Washington Post.

🔸On Ukraine, the WP argues that the Biden administration may focus on shipping as much military supplies as they can to the Kiev regime amid their fears that Trump may pull the plug. Biden could decide on taking “a maximalist approach toward helping Ukraine over the next couple of months, even though some White House officials “oppose the idea.”

Reports that Biden plans to send 500 Patriot and NASAMS missiles to Kiev are “not implausible but even if he goes through with it, everyone knows that this is a final gesture and that US largess is at an end,” Dan Lazare, US constitutional historian and political commentator, tells Sputnik.

🔸As for the Middle East, there are three separate conflicts in which Israel is now involved — Gaza, Lebanon and Iran — and “none is likely to be resolved before Trump takes office,” per the WP. The Foreign Policy claimed that Biden may opt not to veto a resolution stipulating sanctions on Israel if it doesn’t agree to accept a Gaza ceasefire deal.

In this vein, Lazare stresses that “while Biden may engage in a few holding actions, the game is up” because Trump’s “margin of victory was so decisive that he’ll effectively be calling the shots from here on out.”

🔸In the Asia Pacific, Biden is due to attend the upcoming APEC summit in Peru as his administration braces for disruption of regional alliances, per Al Jazeera. The outgoing US president “may put in an appearance” at the upcoming G20 and APEC summits, “but it’s doubtful that he’ll even get a round of applause” there, Lazare says.

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