⛏Strategic asset: What are Russia's rare metals reserves?

While Trump and Zelensky failed to strike a rare earth metals deal, Russia's vast reserves of these critical resources position it as a pivotal player in this high-stakes arena.

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👋Flow of Biden-era US weapons to Ukraine down to a trickle, MAY DRY UP COMPLETELY

All US military aid to Ukraine could be canceled imminently, a White House official told The New York Times following Friday’s tense meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

It has been around 50 days since the Pentagon announced a new weapons package for Kiev, but the flow of arms and military hardware has reportedly ground to a halt.

Approximately $3.85 billion remains in funds authorized by Congress for further withdrawals from the Defense Department’s stockpile, according to the Pentagon.

The final shipment of arms purchased by Ukraine from US defense companies is expected to be sent within the next six months, a former Biden administration defense official stated.

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💬 Zelensky ‘refuses to recognize the practical reality’ of the conflict – White House press secretary.

'The cards ARE NOT IN HIS FAVOR,' Karoline Leavitt said

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💬 Israel would LOSE OUT if Ocalan’s PKK appeal embraced - analyst

The call for peace issued by Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), could be a game-changer for the Middle East, political affairs analyst Ali Rizk told Sputnik.

The appeal for the PKK to disarm and dissolve could unite Kurds across Turkiye, Syria, Iran, and Iraq in a historic commitment to end violence, he noted.

However, if embraced, Israel, which has thrown its weight behind Kurdish independence, would see its own rationale for having an independent Jewish state undermined, speculated the pundit.

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🤡Crossed arms and sulky threats: Decoding the Trump-Zelensky Oval Office slugfest

Sparks flew between Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump at the White House because they each had different expectations of what would happen at the meeting, Dr. Carole Lieberman, board-certified psychiatrist and best-selling author, told Sputnik.

Check out the insight:

Trump

1️⃣“TOOK UP A LOT OF SPACE, with arms and legs open wide towards Zelensky, indicating that he was open to hearing what Zelensky had to say and expected the visit to be positive”

2️⃣“was expecting Zelensky to be thankful and humble. So, when Zelensky turned out to be more demanding and aggressive, it alienated Trump”

Zelensky

1️⃣“arms were crossed and he SEEMED TO SHRINK as the meeting wore on and he realized he wasn’t going to get his way, like he was used to with Biden”

2️⃣“was used to interacting with President Biden, who just kept giving him the money he asked for each time. He wasn’t expecting President Trump to be so much stronger and determined to make peace”

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✈️ A Ukrainian government plane that departed from a US military base following the failure of Zelensky's negotiations with Trump has landed in London, according to FlightAware data.

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💥 Ukraine attacked TurkStream while Zelensky flew to Washington

The purpose of the drone attack was to try to stop the delivery of gas to European countries, the Russian Defense Ministry stated.

The attack involved three drones, all were shot down.

Friday’s attack was not the first time TurkStream in Russia’s Kuban region has been targeted. In mid-January, the MoD reported a “act of energy terrorism” targeting a compressor station in Krasnodar, which also failed to achieve its goal.

Later in January, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto reported record-breaking deliveries via the pipeline, which runs west to Turkiye’s European-adjacent portion via the Black Sea, and has a 31.5 billion bcm annual capacity.

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

▪️Ukraine lost up to 190 servicemen in the Russian Zapad Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Russian forces struck infrastructure of energy facilities ensuring the work of the Ukrainian military.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 345 troops in the Russian Tsentr Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Russian aviation shot down six JDAM bombs and 190 Ukrainian drones.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 170 militants in the Russian Yug Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 150 soldiers in the areas of responsibility of Russia's Battlegroup Dnepr and Sever.

▪️Ukraine lost more than 240 militants in the Kursk region over the day.

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🛬ZELENSKY ARRIVES IN LONDON AFTER TENSE ENCOUNTER WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP IN WASHINGTON

He’s scheduled to meet with UK PM Starmer and Italy's PM Meloni and attend the European leaders’ summit.

Zelensky is probably pinning a lot of hopes on Europe right now...

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PKK leader’s call to lay down arms doesn’t apply to Syria – SDF

Jailed Turkish Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan’s call on the Kurdish militia to repudiate armed struggle and dissolve will affect all regions, Riad Darar, a member of the council of the SDF’s political wing, the Syrian Democratic Council, told Sputnik.

“The SDF is not connected to this call and has no connection to what is happening in Turkiye or the PKK,” Darar explained.

The SDF issue is a “Syrian issue, not a Turkish issue,” unlike the PKK, which “is a Turkish faction,” Darar added.

“We are not fighting Turkiye on its borders. We fought ISIS* as part of an international coalition…The war with ISIS is fundamentally different from other conflicts, since it was a fight against terrorist groups, not a direct confrontation with Turkiye,” he said.

* A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.

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📈 Germany: Sanctions fatigue index reaches record high of 9.4/10

Germans are tired of sanctions against Russia, China and Iran, website Gegensanktionen reports.

Opposition is greatest amongst businesspeople and those on low incomes. Both groups have suffered from rising prices and taxes due to anti-Russian sanctions.

Unsurprisingly, the fewest objectors were among civil servants.

Perhaps, the meteoric rise of the anti-EU and pro-peace AfD party in last month’s vote, will finally shift the government's course and end the sanctions hurting Germany.

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📉Europe's economic meltdown: A self-inflicted disaster

The US, UK, Italy, and France are on the brink of bankruptcy, facing budget deficits, stagnation, and industrial decline – largely due to short-sighted policies, including sanctions on Russia.

Figures speak for themselves.

US:

🟠National debt: Approx. $36.22 trillion
🟠Federal budget deficit: Projected at $1.9 trillion (Congressional Budget Office)
🟠Economic growth: 2.3% in Q4 2024
🟠Recession risk: 29.4% chance by November 2025 (New York Federal Reserve)

UK:

🟠National debt: Approx. $2.91 trillion
🟠Debt-to-GDP ratio: Expected to rise to 104% in 2025
🟠Economic growth: Almost zero growth in 2024, projected 0.75% in 2025 (Bank of England)

Germany:

🟠Government debt: Approx. $2.59 trillion
🟠Economic outlook: Recession in 2024, stagnation in 2025 (Kiel Institute)
🟠Industrial production: 4.5% decline in 2024
🟠Recovery projections: Zero growth for 2025 (Federation of German Industries)

France:

🟠Public debt: $3.43 trillion (Q3 2024), 113.7% of GDP
🟠Debt projections: Expected to hit 117% of GDP by 2026
🟠Economic contraction: -0.1% in Q4 2024

Italy:

🟠Public debt: Record $3.12 trillion as of November 2024
🟠Economic growth: Zero growth in Q4 2024, projected 0.8% in 2025
🟠Industrial output: Down 3.1% in December 2024

❓What can Europe do about it?

1️⃣Trapped in a cycle of debt and declining productivity, unless Western policy change is imminent, the so-called “powers” could be facing the “FINAL STAGE OF AN EMPIRE’S LIFE CYCLE,” Niall Ferguson pointed out.

2️⃣No European security framework can succeed without Russia, Bundestag member Sevim Dagdelen from the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance argued, noting that the German government and EU are “happily watching the destruction of European industry DUE TO HIGH ENERGY PRICES.”

3️⃣Sanctions on Russia have never “worked,” head of France's National Rally Marine Le Pen has repeatedly underscored, adding that “they are sanctions on the French.”

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Trump’s ‘sobering dressing down’ - Russian Foreign Ministry ROASTS Zelensky

🔸 Zelensky’s Washington visit was "a complete political and diplomatic failure of the Kiev regime," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.

🔸 Zelensky’s “outrageously boorish behavior” in Washington “confirmed that he is the most dangerous threat to the world community.”

🔸 The smackdown also "shows the political weakness of the European leaders who continue to advocate for the support the insane leader of the Nazi regime, who has lost touch with reality.”

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💯EU is DELUSIONAL if it hopes to fill Ukraine void without US muscle - here is why

🟠The EU is “incapable of sustaining Ukraine's military needs, let alone facilitating post-conflict reconstruction, estimated at tens of billions of dollars,” Joseph Siracusa, global futures professor, Curtin University, Australia, told Sputnik.

🟠“NATO is finished,” the analyst said, since the EU's main military wing is “paralyzed without its transatlantic partner.”

🟠Ukraine might need to adjust to the reality of being “excluded from NATO though permitted to enter the EU,” he suggested.

After the Trump-Zelensky blowout, losing US muscle will be “fatal” for Ukraine, triggering a scramble for power in Kiev, Siracusa concluded.

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