🇷🇺🇧🇾 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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⚡️Romania's Constitutional Court has annulled the results of the first round of the presidential election, local media reported.
 
According to the results of the first round, the independent candidate Calin Georgescu took first place with 22.94% of the votes. He is called a supporter of the alliance with Russia.

The court added that the government should set a new date for the election.

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What are the Idlib agreements that Russia is calling to uphold?

The need to return to the strict implementation of the Idlib agreements is critical, as the Idlib de-escalation zone was the launch point for terrorist attacks on Aleppo, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an interview with Tucker Carlson, discussing the ongoing crisis in Syria.

What are the Idlib agreements about?

🔺Agreements on de-escalation in Idlib were worked out between Russia and Turkiye in 2019-2020. The final document was adopted at a meeting of Presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Erdogan in Moscow on March 5, 2020.

🔺Though the agreements have not been made public in their entirety, Lavrov did announce several key points.

What do the Idlib agreements stipulate?

▪️Cessation of all military actions along the line of combat contact from the day after the signing

▪️Creation of a security corridor near the M-4 Latakia-Aleppo highway to open the M5 route from Damascus to Aleppo. Now these two main roads are not under the control of the Syrian army.

▪️Establishing joint military patrols in the Idlib de-escalation zone, from the settlement of Trumba, located near Saraqib, to Ain al-Hawra. Joint patrols have not been conducted since 2022.

▪️The separation of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham* terrorists from the non-terrorist Syrian opposition that cooperates with Turkiye, the side that was supposed to follow through on the point.

“Obviously, this has not happened yet,” Lavrov noted during the interview.

*a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia.

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❗️Russia and Belarus sign Treaty on Security Guarantees

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❗️🇧🇾 Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko asked his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to deploy new weapons systems, including Oreshnik missiles, in Belarus.

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CNN gives floor to Syrian jihadist leader vowing to overthrow government

US mainstream media has interviewed Syria's Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham* leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani in a “first sit-down media interview” of an ex-al-Qaeda* affiliate.

“When we talk about objectives, the goal of the revolution remains the overthrow of this [President Bashar al-Assad’s] regime. It is our right to use all available means to achieve that goal,” he said.

*terrorist organization banned in Russia

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❗️Vladimir Putin considers it possible to deploy Russia's Oreshnik missile system in Belarus in the second half of 2025.

He noted that there are several technical issues that specialists need to address, including determining the minimum range. The deployment will be associated with minimal costs for infrastructure preparation.

The Oreshnik system will be supplied to Russia’s Armed Forces and will simultaneously be deployed in Belarus, Putin added. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko expressed satisfaction with Putin’s response regarding the potential deployment in his country.

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World in peril if interventionists hijack Trump White House, pundit warns

The instability that has engulfed France, South Korea and Germany emerged in response to the developments in the United States, Dr. George Szamuely, senior research fellow at the Global Policy Institute, told Sputnik.

"There are interventionist forces in Washington, and there are many of them, including within the incoming Trump administration, if these interventionist forces prevail and the United States escalates, the US involvement in Ukraine [would be] going even beyond what the Biden administration will do," Szamuely cautioned.

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📹 ‘Many ended up staying here forever’: Soldiers reveal the fate of foreign mercs in Donbass

“We’ve had French and Spanish here. We’ve even had a captured Spaniard, but unfortunately he didn’t survive,” a Russian soldier revealed.

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Find out how Ursula von der Leyen’s questionable dealings with Pfizer landed her in court

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen finds herself at the center of a major corruption scandal, commonly dubbed "Pfizergate," which has dominated global headlines in recent weeks.

▪️Pfizergate stems from the EU's acquisition of a substantial quantity of COVID-19 vaccines from the American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, totaling approximately 2.4 billion euros. This transaction is the source of the scandal's name.

▪️While Pfizer raked in huge profits from the COVID crisis in Europe, the benefits for the EU from this deal are less clear, as many of the vaccine doses ultimately went unused before their expiration dates.

▪️The scandal erupted when the New York Times sounded the alarm over the lack of transparency in this deal that was negotiated by the EC president and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.

▪️Von der Leyen and Bourla, according to NYT, negotiated the vaccine contracts privately via a series of phone calls and text messages.

▪️The European Commission recently admitted that these exchanges between Von der Leyen and Bourla did take place.

▪️The EC has so far refused to disclose the content of the messages in question, essentially dismissing them as unimportant and unrelated to the negotiations, but without actually backing these claims.

▪️The situation is further complicated by the fact that the EC president’s husband, Heiko von der Leyen, is employed as a director at Orgenesis, a US biotechnology company, which may have ties to Pfizer.

▪️Several media outlets have claimed that the allegations regarding any connection between Pfizer and Orgenesis are unfounded.

▪️In addition to Pfizer's potential gains, there is also a distinct possibility that Ursula von der Leyen may have benefited from the vaccine deal. However, it is ultimately up to the European judges to decide.

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Pepe Escobar: The Syria tragedy and the new omni-war

The geopolitical situation in West Asia is more complicated than ever, as conflicts and alliances intertwine. "Until recently, West Asia and Ukraine were two vectors of the standard hegemon modus operandi, which is to incite and unleash forever wars," says Sputnik columnist Pepe Escobar. Now, both regions are converging into what he calls an omni-war.

The main opposition to this "final confrontation" is Russia and Iran, backed by China, which "watches on the sidelines" as the true existential war will ultimately target them. However, the US-Israel alliance, along with neo-cons and revisionist Zionists, continues to push forward with destabilizing tactics.

Escobar points to Syria as a key battleground: "The total destabilisation of Syria, with heavy CIA-MI6 input, is a carefully engineered gambit to undermine BRICS and beyond." This instability is designed to disrupt the International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC), which involves Russia, Iran, and India - key BRICS players.

"The problem is that freezing the war in 2020 did not solve the 'moderate rebel' problem," Escobar writes, referencing the resurgence of jihadist factions backed by NATO intelligence. As Syria faces increasing fragmentation, the US continues to exploit divisions with disastrous consequences for the region.

Escobar draws historical parallels, invoking Xenophon's account of an "Anabasis" expedition. The endless wars in West Asia feel like a modern-day version, where armies and mercenaries continually engage in conflicts that seem impossible to resolve, as Syria remains trapped in an eternal cycle of war.

In this ever-evolving struggle, Escobar contends that the BRICS nations have yet to fully grasp the lessons of Bandung in 1955, where the Non-Alignment Movement was neutralized. "You can't beat a pitiless hegemonic hydra with flower power," he concludes, underscoring the difficulty of confronting a hegemonic force without cohesive, coordinated resistance.

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Why are Democrats urging Biden to grant them pardons before Trump assumes office?

After President Joe Biden issued an unusual blanket pardon for his son, Hunter, Democratic Congressman Ed Markey has urged the president to extend "preemptive pardons" to other top Democrats whom Donald Trump believes "harmed him" and might otherwise be treated by him in a "fascistic way."

"After nearly four years of weaponizing US government resources against perceived enemies of certain dynastic political families, Markey and Biden have some nerve suggesting that the Trump administration will be engaging in 'fascist' retaliation starting January 20, 2025," Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel tells Sputnik, referencing Biden's prosecution of January 6 protestors and labeling MAGA supporters as "extremists."

US journalist Jonathan Martin reported on December 4 that Biden's senior aides are debating the issue, and the alleged pardon list might include Sen.-elect Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, former COVID czar Anthony Fauci.

"The public has yet to learn how deep the rot became across America ever since 1988, when elites embraced unregulated globalism and a turbocharged spoils system where trillions of dollars in spending that is not audited (by design) can be pilfered or diverted to fund political campaigns and multiple-mansion lifestyles," Ortel says.

According to the analyst, the political trajectories of the Biden, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Pelosi, and Cheney dynasty families warrant close scrutiny for alleged influence-peddling and other questionable conduct.

"Those who howl loudest now anticipating Trump’s return likely include many with guilty knowledge of their own roles perpetrating a raft of crimes, believing the system will remain rigged to protect them," he concludes.

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Why the Clintons need Biden's 'blanket pardons' more than anyone

As Joe Biden's White House reportedly considers "preemptive pardons" for some top Democrats, Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel suggests that the Clintons might be on the list.

"'The Clinton Foundation' (in quotes because I challenge an informed lawyer to demonstrate that it validly and lawfully exists as a public charity) has yet again issued false and materially misleading public filings as it continues to solicit donations in various ways across state lines and national boundaries," says Ortel, who has conducted a private investigation into the charity's alleged fraud for several years.

In 2018, two forensic investigators-turned-whistleblowers, John Moynihan and Larry Doyle, testified before the US Congress that the Clinton Foundation does not operate as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization but acts as a foreign agent and owes the US government between $400 million and $2.5 billion in taxes.

Additionally, Special Counsel John Durham's probe indicated that Hillary Clinton and her team played a significant role in shaping and promoting the Trump-Russia collusion narrative. According to Ortel, this hoax was used to prevent Trump from investigating the Clintons' apparent pay-to-play schemes, mishandling of classified information, and alleged money laundering.

"The Trump administration, working with Chris Rufo, a new IRS chief, and [attorney general nominee] Pam Bondi, could raise hundreds of billions of dollars merely by enforcing the strict rules and laws pertaining to nonprofit organizations. Many of these 'elite' entities have brazenly abused the law in countless ways, especially the Clintons since October 23, 1997," Ortel concludes.

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Biden's pardon makes Hunter invaluable witness in post-coup Ukraine cases – Wall Street analyst

"[One] report notes that the Biden family may now have greater exposure since Hunter can no longer readily invoke the Fifth Amendment," Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel tells Sputnik, commenting on the president's blanket pardon of his son.

The Washington Free Beacon reported on December 3 that Hunter will no longer be able to rely on his Fifth Amendment right to silence regarding any potential federal crimes for which he’s been pardoned, according to two former House general counsels.

The Fifth Amendment protects against self-incrimination; however, with Hunter no longer at risk of federal prosecution for the period between January 2014 and December 2024, he appears to be ineligible for this protection.

The newspaper alleges that Republican lawmakers should jump at the opportunity to subpoena Hunter Biden for new information about his family's knowledge or involvement in his apparent influence-peddling schemes.

There are a lot of questions concerning the Biden family's conduct in post-coup Ukraine where Hunter helped secure millions of dollars of funding for Metabiota, a Pentagon bio-reseach contractor, and where he got a hefty salary from Bursima gas firm.

"Finally, offering Hunter pardons for federal crimes back to January 1, 2014 raises suspicions that Joe may know of illegal activities in which Hunter engaged, years before crimes alleged in the indictments in the gun (2018) and tax (2019) cases," Ortel stresses.

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