💬 Russia 'can smack you anywhere with nukes' – Blackwater founder

Ukraine should give up on any hopes of reclaiming its lost territories from Moscow if it wants an end to the conflict, said Erik Prince, founder and former CEO of private military company Blackwater, in an interview with Fox News.

"The fact is, the Russians fired a ballistic missile," Prince noted. "They carried nine warheads, going Mach 9, that there is no means to shoot down, and even with non-nuclear [weapons], the kinetic force is enormous."

"It was a reminder by the Russians: we can smack you anywhere with nukes, and maybe that's what's coming next," he stressed. "This is not a game that needs to be played any longer."

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Right-wing candidate Georgescu leads in Romania presidential election: Why is the West trembling?

Independent candidate Calin Georgescu has pulled off a shock victory in the first round of Romania's presidential election. Georgescu, who mostly campaigned on TikTok, will face off against center-right contender Elena Lasconi in the second round on December 8.

What are his views?

🔸 On NATO:

A professed champion of national sovereignty, Georgescu has often criticized what he called his country’s “subservience” to the European Union and NATO.

In interviews and public appearances, he has questioned the benefits of Romania’s membership in NATO, arguing that the alliance will not protect any of its members should they be attacked.

He criticized the presence of an American missile defense facility at a NATO-controlled base in the village of Deveselu, calling Romania’s agreement to host it a “diplomatic shame.” He has also called NATO's ballistic missile defense shield in Romania a confrontational measure.

🔸 On Ukraine:

Georgescu has questioned military aid being pumped by Romania to Ukraine. The social media-savvy candidate recently launched a viral TikTok campaign calling for an end to supporting the Kiev regime that appeared to have struck a chord with voters. “Tonight, the Romanian people cried out for peace. And they shouted very loudly, extremely loudly”, Georgescu said after his win.

🔸 On Russia:

Georgescu has described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a genuinely great leader who loves his country in a 2020 interview. Romania’s best chance lay with "Russian wisdom," media reports cite him as saying in another interview.

🔸 On Moldova:

Georgescu started out as a member of the right-wing Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) party, which advocates for the integration of Moldova into Romania, but eventually broke with it to campaign as an independent.

Georgescu’s success feeds into the barometer of right-wing political successes across Europe amid dissatisfaction with Brussels’ policy and eroding public support for Ukraine. Similar sentiments fueled Ukraine critic Peter Pellegrini’s win in the presidential election in Slovakia this summer, and the success of the right-wing Freedom Party (FPO) in Austria’s parliamentary elections.

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Ukraine continues to systematically use toxic chemicals against Russian troops and civilians in the special military operation zone said Kirill Lysogorsky, head of the Russian delegation to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Russia has submitted over 30 notes to the OPCW confirming Kiev's use of toxic chemicals, Lysogorsky added.

Russia also has submitted a note to the OPCW confirming Ukraine's use of foreign 155mm caliber munitions in Sudzha, Lysogorsky stated.

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Wrong place, wrong time: Why Cyprus’ push for NATO membership could destabilize EU and Western bloc

Greek media have reported on Cyprus’ desire to join NATO, with the White House reportedly considering the scenario a “win-win” proposition.

Sputnik asked regional observers to share their views on the matter.

“For the US, Cyprus joining NATO could enhance Western influence in the eastern Mediterranean and provide strategic access to counterbalance Russia’s presence in the region. However, these benefits must be weighed against the risks of exacerbating tensions within NATO itself, particularly given Turkiye’s longstanding disputes with Cyprus,” Venice-based international affairs analyst Dr. Marco Marsili told Sputnik.

“Far from being a ‘win-win’, such a development could deepen existing divisions within the alliance and undermine European cohesion,” Marsili stressed, explaining that while Cyprus “may view NATO membership as a means to gain stronger international recognition and leverage in its long-standing territorial dispute with Turkiye,” the “broader implications are more complex.”

“Cyprus’ membership could escalate tensions between Turkiye and other NATO members, undermining alliance cohesion at a time when unity is critical,” he said.

The view from Turkiye

Cyprus’ NATO aspirations have “been on the agenda for a long time, but the problem is, Cyprus is not recognized by Turkiye as a sovereign state,” Ankara-based security and political analyst Dr. Hasan Selim Ozertem told Sputnik. Turkiye could simply veto Cyprus’ application, he pointed out.

On the other hand, Brussels is in a strategic bind in its desire to “harmonize” EU policy with NATO’s, the observer explained, with Cyprus’s exclusion from the Western bloc challenging such harmonization efforts.

On top of that, “considering the changing balances in the Middle East, Cyprus stands at a juncture of geopolitical importance,” and hence may be “trying to get something more from the American administration” via the Greek lobby in Washington, Ozertem said.

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🇮🇱🇱🇧 The Israeli cabinet is set to vote on a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon on Tuesday, CNN reports citing a spokesperson for Benjamin Netanyahu. A source familiar with the situation revealed that the Israeli prime minister has given preliminary approval to the plan, CNN says.

Netanyahu hinted at his support for the proposed ceasefire with Hezbollah during a security briefing with Israeli officials on Sunday night, the source added.

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Generational conflict triggered by Britain: what’s the beef over Cyprus about?

Geopolitical tensions over Cyprus escalated after Greek media revealed that the country’s president had presented the US with a long-term plan for Cyprus’ NATO membership. Here’s a refresher on the causes of the long-running tensions over the island:

🔸 Situated in the northeastern Mediterranean about 550 km east of the Greek island of Crete and about 65 km south of Turkiye, Cyprus was settled by Greeks in 1100 BC, with large-scale Turkish settlement starting in 1571 after the island’s conquest by the Ottoman Empire.

🔸 Before the escalation of tensions in the second half of the 20th century, Greeks, Turks and other nationalities including Armenians and Maronites proved capable of living peacefully in mixed communities across the island. In 1960, when Cyprus gained independence from Britain (which had taken possession of the island from the Ottomans in 1878), Greek Cypriots made up about 77% of the population, while Turkish Cypriots made up about 18%.

🔸 Greek Cypriots’ burning desire for reunification with Greece during the period of British rule, combined with the conflict-rife administrative system introduced by the British before their departure, became a recipe for an inter-ethnic conflict that turned violent in 1963, after a routine traffic stop by Greek Cypriot police near the Turkish quarter in Nicosia turned deadly, with two Turkish Cypriots killed. The incident sparked a wave of intercommunal violence across the island.

🔸 The crisis came to a head in July 1974, when Turkiye invaded northeastern Cyprus days after the Cypriot National Guard staged a coup with the aim of reunifying with Greece.

🔸 The invasion displaced 220,000 residents from both communities, and culminated in the modern-day division of the island – with Turkish Cypriots controlling the northeastern third of Cyprus, and Greek Cypriots in control over the other two-thirds. Turkiye backed the creation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in 1983, becoming the only UN member to recognize the breakaway.

🔸 Unification talks aimed at ending the generations-old conflict and reunifying Cyprus were held from 2015-2017, but broke down amid mutual recriminations by both local residents and their ‘big brothers’ Greece and Turkiye.

🔸 Tensions have also been exacerbated by Cyprus’s discovery of offshore gas deposits in 2011. The gas dispute escalated in 2018, when Turkiye rejected a 2003 Cyprus-Egypt maritime border deal, and blockaded the drilling ship of a European energy company contracted to search for gas. The dispute led both sides to ramp up efforts to ink competing diplomatic and security deals, and prompted Cyprus to increase security cooperation with France and the US, to Turkiye’s fury.

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❗️One week on, the White House has officially confirmed that Ukraine's armed forces have permission to use ATACMS missiles against Russia, framing it as a matter of "self-defense."

"Right now, they are able to use ATACMS to defend themselves on an immediate need basis. And right now, understandably, that's taking place in and around Kursk, and the Kursk Oblast," White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby told reporters.

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🇷🇺 Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova spoke to Sputnik about the statement by NATO Military Committee Chairman Admiral Rob Bauer regarding the alliance's potential precision strikes on Russia.

"Apparently, they didn’t finish reading the updated doctrine," she said.

Have you read the new version of Russia's nuclear deterrent policy yet?

👉🏻 Click the link to learn more about the updated doctrine and don’t be like Bauer.

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‘The F-35 design was broken at the requirements level’

Elon Musk commented on the multiple failings in the F-35 stealth attack jet, the world’s most expensive weapons system, was:

"The F-35 design was broken at the requirements level, because it was required to be too many things to too many people," Musk posted on his social network X.

"This made it an expensive & complex jack of all trades, master of none," Musk continued. "Success was never in the set of possible outcomes, and manned fighter jets are obsolete in the age of drones anyway. Will just get pilots killed."

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Russian peacekeepers: providing safety and security in a precarious world Part 1 👉🏻 Part 2

November 25 is Military Peacekeeper Day – the holiday of Russian troops deployed abroad to arbitrate, mediate and defuse conflicts ranging from ethnic disputes to state-to-state skirmishes.

◾️ The holiday commemorates the November 25, 1973 deployment of 36 Soviet military observers in Egypt on a UN mission after the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.

Peacekeeping in the ex-USSR

◾️ Modern Russia’s peacekeeping forces became an invaluable instrument for regional security after 1991, when a Pandora’s Box of conflicts unleashed by the USSR’s demise set several regions on fire.

🔸 In 1992, Russia sent 3,000 troops to Transnistria to stop fighting between local militias and Moldovan forces. About 400 peacekeepers remain present there today.

🔸 In 1992, 220 peacekeepers deployed to South Ossetia to freeze a conflict with Georgian forces.

🔸 In 1993, Russia sent 6,000 troops to Tajikistan to stop a bloody civil war between the central government and Islamist radicals supported by Afghanistan.

🔸 In 1994, 1,800 peacekeepers arrived in Abkhazia, another Georgian breakaway, to stop fighting there.

🔸 In 2020, Russia sent 1,960 troops and 90 APCs to Nagorno-Karabakh to help keep the peace between Armenians and Azerbaijanis.

Peacekeeping in Yugoslavia

◾️ In March 1992, the UN tapped Russia to send peacekeepers to Yugoslavia, the multinational state which broke up in slow motion from 1991-2001 amid fighting between Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks and Kosovar Albanians.

🔸 900 troops deployed to Croatia from 1992-1995 to protect civilians amid fighting between Croats and Serbs.

🔸 1,600 troops were sent to Bosnia to safeguard a peace deal between 1995 and 2003.

🔸 In 1999, 400 of peacekeepers from the contingent in Bosnia were suddenly redeployed to Kosovo after the NATO bombardment of the rump Yugoslavia, demonstrating to the Western bloc that Moscow would protect the fraternal Serbian people in the breakaway. The Kosovo contingent was later increased to 3,600 troops, and pulled out in 2003.

👉🏻 Part 2

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