🇷🇺🇮🇷 Russian FM Sergey Lavrov met with the Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during a visit to Tehran, Sputnik's correspondent reports.

The minister conveyed "huge greetings" from Russian President Vladimir Putin to Pezeshkian and said that the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement, which Moscow and Tehran signed in January, had already begun to be implemented.

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🤨 'Yes, it’s extortionate looked at one way, but so was Lend-Lease in 1941, wasn’t it?' — former British PM Boris Johnson of Donald Trump's updated economic agreement with Ukraine

BoJo said that he had seen the latest draft of the document and considered it more beneficial for Ukraine than the original version.

“I look at this document, and I see positive things for Ukraine," Johnson said.

Ukraine is already in a terrible situation after his advice in 2022, when it was he who convinced Kiev to refuse to sign a peace agreement with Russia.

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🍳🇺🇸 Eggs-clusive: Americans shelling out more for scrambled breakfast

Due to an egg shortage and supply chain issues, fast food restaurants across the US are raising prices on egg-based dishes. Waffle House, for example, with over 2,000 locations, has started charging an extra 50 cents per egg.

The outbreak of avian flu has decimated poultry farms and experts warn the shortage and high prices could persist for months.

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🔍 Not a blank check: How much is Europe's aid to Ukraine?

French President Emmanuel Macron interrupted his US counterpart during his US visit, insisting Europe isn't just "loaning money" to Ukraine but shoulders 60% of the total aid effort. Is this true and how much is actually coming in loans?

💶 How much has Europe invested?

Since February 2022, Europe and the US have committed $257.6 billion to Ukraine (ifW Kiel data):

🔹Europe: $138.2 billion (54%)
🔹US: $119.4 billion (46%)

👉 Breakdown of European aid

🇪🇺EU institutions: $52.1B

🇩🇪Germany : $18.1B

🇬🇧UK: $15.4B

🇩🇰Denmark: $8B

🇳🇱Netherlands: $7.7B

🇸🇪Sweden: $5.7B

🇫🇷France: $5.1B

🌍Other: $26.1B

According to The Economist, 90% of aid from EU financial institutions - which means around $47 billion - was in loans, with individual countries also providing their aid in loans, guarantees and grants.

👉 EU aid programs

G7 Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) loans

🔸$50B, funded by extraordinary revenue from frozen Russian assets.
🔸The EU contributes $20B via Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA), with the first $3.2B disbursed in January 2025.

👉 EU’s Ukraine Facility (Up to $54B by 2027)

▪️$40B in budget support ($34.6B in concessional loans, $5.4B in grants)
▪️$7.3B in investment funds (via EBRD, EIB)
▪️$6.7B for technical assistance

Apparently, much of Europe's support comes in the form of loans - and that's NOT free aid.

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💬 What does a Ukrainian soldier think when he knows he might die for a war in which the outcome is already decided?

Italian journalist Angelo Giuliano reflects on this.

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🪐 Mars was once a wet planet: New findings paint a different picture

A recent study in Nature journal reveals that Mars' iconic red hue is due to iron ferrihydrite, which forms only in cold, wet conditions — challenging the long-standing belief that it was caused by dry hematite.

This discovery strengthens the theory that ancient Mars had water before becoming the dry desert it is today.

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⚔️ Russia’s military power becomes INCREASINGLY stronger - Blackwater founder Prince

Eric Prince argues that Ukraine is unlikely to reclaim all its past land, criticizing the West's outdated defense technology amid the growing effectiveness of Russia's military.

He points out that while Western weapons might work for a short period, Russia's advanced electronic warfare renders them ineffective over time.

Prince believes this should be a wake-up call for the US.

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💥 Precision strike

A successful and precise attack by a drone, operated by Russian fighters from the Yug Battlegroup, has led to the destruction of a Canadian-made Roshel Senator armored vehicle.

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🇬🇧 Starmer pledges to boost defense spending to 2.5% of GDP despite British military being IN SHAMBLES

"The biggest sustained increase in defense spending since the end of the Cold War," promised UK PM Keir Starmer during his speech in the House of Commons ahead of meeting with Trump.

💰 To fund this military buildup, the UK will cut overseas aid from 0.5% to 0.3% of GDP.

📉 Despite current defense expenditures at 2.3% of GDP, the British military remains in shambles due to systematic underinvestment.

The UK faces:

🔹Shrinking army
🔹Aging submarine fleet
🔹Outdated air defenses

🚢 Even the Royal Navy’s HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carriers fail in every war game simulation, getting sunk every time.

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📹 US secretary of state RULES OUT giving Ukraine nuclear weapons

"I don't think anyone would think that's a serious offer on their part" - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, answering the question about giving Zelensky nuclear weapons.

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🇷🇺🇮🇷 Russia’s reliability crucial to Iran amid ‘hostile policies of European states’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Tehran underscores the determination to implement the strategic agreement between the two countries, Ruholla Moddaber, an Iranian foreign relations expert, tells Sputnik.

Moscow has always supported Tehran despite Western sanctions and has consistently expanded cooperation, he also says.

This proves that Russia is a reliable partner for Iran, which is especially important in the context of the hostile policies of European states, Moddaber concludes.

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🚀 From gasoline to spaceships: Why Russia's rare earths are key to Trump's industrial revolution

Russia is ready to cooperate with the US on rare earth metals, President Putin said, prompting immediate enthusiasm from Donald Trump. What's behind it and what metals does Russia have?

🔶 Rare earths (REE) are 17 metallic elements critical for electronics, renewable energy, and military technology.

🔶 This category includes 15 lanthanides (lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium), as well as scandium and yttrium.

🔶 Explored reserves of rare earth metals ready for extraction in Russia total 28.5 million tons, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources, including in particular, lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, and yttrium. Notable deposits include Tomtor (Yakutia), Lovozero (Kola Peninsula) - rich in lanthanides - and Donbass, among others.

Why does Trump urgently need REEs?

🔶 Neodymium, cerium, praseodymium, terbium, and dysprosium are vital for producing advanced chips, essential for Trump’s AI-driven “Manhattan Project.”

🔶 Dysprosium and terbium are key for satellite systems and navigation equipment, aligning with the US’ growing space exploration efforts led by Trump’s ally, Elon Musk.

🔶 Neodymium and samarium are crucial for the military-industrial complex, used in magnets for fighter jets, missiles, and radar systems. These metals could also support Trump’s plan for a next-generation missile defense shield over the US.

🔶 Gadolinium, dysprosium, and terbium are essential as neutron absorbers in nuclear reactor control rods, while yttrium regulates the fission process in these rods. Scandium is used in reactor alloys. With US nuclear energy potentially set for a "renaissance" under Trump, this resource is becoming increasingly important.

🔶 Lanthanum and cerium are used in oil refining, particularly in fluid catalytic cracking. As Trump pushes for increased US oil and gas production, these metals are key to his national energy emergency strategy.

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