❗️The Russian Army has liberated the settlements of Pustynka and Sukhiye Yaly in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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'Sense of joy and relief': CNN journalist on terrorists taking Syrian city Aleppo
 
CNN is pretty proud of being the first Western media to arrive in Aleppo after the rebelling Hayat Tahrir al-Sham* organization captured the city.
 
❗️A quick reminder:
 
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham traces its origins to al-Qaeda*, was designated as a terror group by Russia in 2020, and is recognized as a terrorist organization by the UN.
 
*banned for terrorism in Russia and many other countries

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

🔸 Ukraine lost over 3,600 militants during the week in the Russia's Battlegroup Tsentr area of responsibility;

🔸 Ukraine lost over 3,565 militants during the week in the Russia's Battlegroup Zapad area of responsibility;

🔸 During the week Ukrainian forces lost up to 435 militants and six warehouses in the Russia's Battlegroup Dnepr area of responsibility;

🔸 Ukraine lost over 2,210 militants during the week in the Russia's Battlegroup Sever area of responsibility;

🔸 Russian troops carried out six group strikes with high-precision weapons and drones in a week. Ukrainian military-industrial facilities and deployment sites were hit;

🔸 Russia's Black Sea Fleet naval aviation destroyed eight unmanned Ukrainian boats.

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Current Russia-US tensions ‘more dangerous than the Cuban Missile Crisis’

Commenting on Russian FM Sergey Lavrov’s interview with Tucker Carlson, where the top diplomat spoke on the Ukraine crisis, retired CIA intelligence officer and State Department official Larry Johnson criticized Washington’s involvement in the conflict.

“If the shoe was on the other foot, and Russia was supplying weapons to groups in Mexico or groups in Canada, and those groups were attacking the US, the US would hold Russia accountable for that. It would be viewed as an act of war,” he tells Sputnik.

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UK, Australia face spy shortage in their armies - report

Witnessing world events from 9/11, Iraq and Afghanistan to armed conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon, the new generation does not want to take the job because the intelligence services "are not doing any good," ABC News reported, citing a former MI6 agent.

In a desperate attempt to entice young people to take the job, the Secret Intelligence Service has eased recruitment rules for citizens with foreign-born parents to join the security agencies and launched a social media campaign that tries to "humanize the experience of young workers to persuade disillusioned millennials to apply," the outlet noted.

Australian youth, meanwhile, are more concerned about climate change, which they see as "a bigger threat to the country than hostile nations," the report added.

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❗️Russian President Vladimir Putin's 'direct line' to take place on December 19, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

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❗️Vladimir Putin's direct line, which will take place on December 19, will be combined with a press conference including several Western media outlets, Dmitry Peskov has said.

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Unlike the US, Russia treats its partners as equals

Russia has now made a very serious pivot in its relations. It has decided to partner and join forces with China, retired CIA intelligence officer and State Department official Larry Johnson tells Sputnik.

“In creating a new international order, an order that's based upon mutual respect, an order that treats all countries, regardless of size, regardless of whether they have nuclear weapons or not, regardless of whether they have critical mineral deposits, treat them all as equals,” he says.

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🇷🇴 What makes Romania so important for the US’ anti-Russia strategy?

The first round of Romania’s presidential election saw candidate Calin Georgescu, who is critical of NATO, gain significant support, prompting a swift response from the US with veiled threats. Why is Romania so crucial to US interests that it would threaten to withhold security cooperation and investments over political shifts?

◼️ A former member of the Warsaw Pact, Romania is now a part of NATO’s eastern flank and stands at the forefront of the bloc’s efforts to threaten Russia.

◼️ Romania’s Black Sea coast make it a convenient route for shipping weapons to Kiev.

◼️ NATO military infrastructure in Romania serves as a springboard to launch drones – such as the MQ-9 Reaper, for example – to spy from neutral airspace over the Black Sea on Russia’s activities and to potentially coordinate Ukrainian attacks against Russian territory.

◼️ Its status as a Black Sea country helps NATO justify its naval presence in that particular part of the globe.

◼️ Romania’s border with Moldova allows NATO to threaten Transnistria, a breakaway Moldovan enclave locked between Moldova and Ukraine, where a contingent of Russian peacekeepers is stationed.

◼️ The Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base located near Constanta is currently undergoing expansion and is expected to become NATO’s largest military base in Europe. This expansion threatens to turn Romania into an “unsinkable aircraft carrier” of sorts that sits right on Russia’s doorstep.

◼️ The Deveselu Military Base near Caracal hosts the US Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense system, whose Mk 41 launchers may be used to lob missiles (such as, for example, Tomahawk cruise missiles) at Russia.

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Europe and the US are not the center of the universe

BRICS brings a new business order, through which Russia has recognized that it doesn’t need the West, retired CIA intelligence officer and State Department official Larry Johnson tells Sputnik.

“In fact, the countries that have broken economic relations with Russia are the ones that are suffering. Russia is thriving because Russia recognizes that Europe and the United States are not the center of the universe,” he says.

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🇹🇷 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a statement on the situation in Syria:

"Idlib, Hama, Homs and, of course, Damascus. Opposition forces are advancing towards Damascus. We hope that this advance will continue without any incidents. We called Assad. We said, 'Let's decide the future of Syria together.' Unfortunately, we did not get a positive answer on this issue," he said.

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🎥🎥 Putin, Lukashenko hold Supreme State Council meeting of Russia-Belarus union state

👉Watch the livestream here or on Sputnik's website

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🇷🇺🇧🇾Russia's President Vladimir Putin and his Belarus counterpart Alexander Lukashenko at the Palace of Independence in Minsk, Belarus partake in joint photography before the meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State

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How hardline pro-US policies fuel political earthquakes in S. Korea, France and Germany

A series of political earthquakes has rocked France, South Korea, and Germany. Despite each crisis having its unique internal dynamics, their common thread lies in their pro-US orientation and anti-Russia policies, veteran foreign affairs analyst Gilbert Doctorow told Sputnik.

🇫🇷 France: French President Emmanuel Macron's "enormous unpopularity" has been exacerbated by his staunch pro-US policies regarding the Ukraine conflict, including plans to send French troops to fight against Russia. Marine Le Pen and her party, the National Rally, which opposes Ukraine's militarization, have recently challenged Macron’s government, leading to the downfall of his prime minister, Michel Barnier, according to the pundit.

🇰🇷 South Korea: President Yoon Suk-yeol has closely aligned with Washington to bolster deterrence and pressure on Pyongyang in line with Team Biden. However, the mutual defense treaty between Russia and North Korea has shifted perspectives. Yoon's failed attempt to impose martial law was a response to the opposition's effort to liberate the country from "its colonial overlords in Washington," according to Doctorow.

🇩🇪 Germany: Chancellor Olaf Scholz is under fire from both the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance and the Alternative for Germany (AfD), who advocate for normalized relations with Moscow, due to his Ukraine policy aligned with the United States. Ironically, he is also criticized by the Greens and the Christian Democrats for his hesitation to send Taurus long-range missiles to the Kiev regime.

Potential impact on US:

"It is much too early to speculate on this," Doctorow said. "We have to first see the practical consequences of the present turmoil in each country."

Doctorow expects South Korea to possibly shift away from US-fuelled militarization in the event Yoon is impeached.

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🇷🇺🇧🇾 Relations between Russia and Belarus are based on the principles of friendship and mutual respect for each other's interests, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State in Minsk.

He noted that the economic ministries of both countries are pursuing a coordinated macroeconomic policy.

Putin also highlighted the joint efforts of Moscow and Minsk to minimize the damage caused by sanctions and restrictions. This collaborative approach is aimed at overcoming economic challenges and maintaining stability despite external pressures.

Earlier, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated that the trade turnover between Belarus and Russia could reach $60 billion this year, reflecting the strong economic ties between the two nations.

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🇷🇺🤝🇧🇾At the meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State in Minsk, Belarus, President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia and Belarus are intensifying cooperation in defense and security.

💬He highlighted that the security guarantee agreement, which will be signed in Minsk, includes provisions for the potential use of Russia's tactical nuclear weapons in the interests of Belarus.

This agreement is set to be signed by the leaders on Friday, marking a significant milestone in the bilateral military and strategic partnership.

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🛡What is known about Russia-Belarus Treaty on Security Guarantees

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko are due to sign the Treaty on Security Guarantees within the Union State of Russia and Belarus during talks in Minsk on December 6. What is the treaty all about?

▪️The document contains bilateral obligations to ensure each other’s security, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, touting the treaty as “the highest level of alliance-related activity.”

▪️This is “an action plan to tackle a real threat to the sovereignty of the Union State’s one or both members states,” Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Boris Gryzlov earlier told Sputnik.

▪️The treaty includes provisions related to the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory.

▪️The deployment aims to tackle possible provocations on the western flank of the Union State.

▪️Part of the treaty pertains to Russia’s updated nuclear doctrine, which stipulates Moscow’s nuclear response in case of an attack on Belarus as a member of the Union State.

▪️In other words, Russia can press the red button if there is an attack with the use of conventional weapons against Russia and (or) Belarus as members of the Union State, which poses “a critical threat to their sovereignty and (or) territorial integrity”.

▪️Lukashenko, for his part, stressed last year that Minsk needs guarantees that in the event of an attack on Belarus, Russia will defend it "as its own territory”.

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📹Plan of Russia and Belarus to sign a security agreement on Friday overexcites "partners in the West" — Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko

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Macron's resistance to stepping down will drag on internal political crisis - professor

"More and more French people would like [French President] Emmanuel Macron to resign. But he is clinging to the letter of the Constitution, and there is no article that obliges him to resign... So the crisis will continue," Professor Edouard Husson, French historian, co-founder and director of the Brennus Anticipation Institute, told Sputnik.

The French government is in disarray after Prime Minister Michel Barnier lost a no-confidence vote filed by Marine Le Pen and her right-wing National Rally party. Remarkably, the left-wing New Popular Front coalition followed Le Pen's suit following a dispute over the 2025 budget.

"Foreign policy did not play a direct role in the debate. But Mr. Barnier failed in his negotiations with Madame Le Pen over the sum of €3 billion [$3.17 billion]. Meanwhile, Emmanuel Macron announced €3 billion for Ukraine...", Husson noted.

The academic anticipates that Macron will appoint a center-left prime minister to succeed Barnier, while Le Pen will persist in her opposition to the president, who is committed to remaining in office until the end of his term in May 2027.

Several game-changing events could worsen the challenges that Macron is up against, the professor maintains. These include a potential loss of confidence among global investors, the emergence of a social movement similar to the Yellow Vests, Donald Trump's announcement of new policies regarding the EU, and the results of Germany's upcoming snap elections.

"No change in foreign policy is to be expected, as Emmanuel Macron believes that his alignment with NATO also protects him from investor mistrust," the pundit concluded.

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