💬 UK and France unable to accept defeat in Ukraine

France and Britain’s efforts to escalate the Ukrainian conflict stem from them being “worried about their relevance” and refusing to “accept that the conflict is lost,” former British MP Matthew Gordon-Banks tells Sputnik.

“I do have a fear that President [Donald] Trump may need to fully pull out of support for Ukraine in order to make the point that this conflict is over,” says Gordon-Banks, a retired research fellow of the UK Defense Academy & international relations consultant.

Whereas Russia and the US are willing to set aside their differences and negotiate to avoid WWIII, “many Europeans are just simply set in a continuing Russophobic mindset,” he remarks.

“But the Europeans themselves are nothing without the US military, and the United States has made it quite clear that it will not back any so-called peacekeeping hand-holding exercise by... any European countries in Ukraine or on its borders.”

Earlier, Volodymyr Zelensky practically confirmed a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry that said that the Ukrainian attack on a Russian gas metering station in Sudzha, which clearly violates the terms of ‘energy ceasefire,’ was coordinated by the UK and France.

Commenting on this development, Gordon-Banks says he finds it surprising how there was little Western European media coverage of the events in Sudzha, even though BBC is normally quick to back the Ukrainian narrative in such instances.

“This is not the Russian Federation breaking an agreement. It is the Ukrainians,” he says.

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❗️The Israeli army announced the start of a ground operation in the Al Janina area in Rafah "in order to expand the security zone in the southern Gaza Strip."

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📹WATCH: Israeli aircraft bomb the western part of Gaza City

On March 18, the Israeli military resumed operations in the Gaza Strip, launching massive strikes on the enclave and effectively ending the ceasefire agreement that had been established in January this year.

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💬 Foreign mercs in Kursk region tormented civilians and raped and killed women - resident

Mercenaries who entered the Kursk region alongside Ukrainian forces were stationed in small villages where they abused locals, recalls a survivor of the occupation in a conversation with Sputnik.

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🥶 Russia vs US: Who HOLDS THE ICE in the Arctic fleet race?

US Vice President JD Vance said the US needs to make sure it's leading in the Arctic to outperform Russia. Is this viable given the state of the US Arctic Fleet compared to Russia's?

Arctic Fleet of Russia

🔸 The Arctic missions-capable Russian icebreaker fleet is the world’s largest and currently includes 42 vehicles, among them 8 nuclear and 34 diesel-electric ones.
🔸 These comprise five heavy nuclear icebreakers of Project 22220 (the Arktika, the Ural, the Sibir, the Yakutia, the Chukotka) with a capacity of 60 MW each, as well as the world's most powerful non-nuclear icebreaker Viktor Chernomyrdin (25 MW).
🔸 Adding to Russia’s assertiveness in the Arctic is the Russian Northern Fleet, which includes the Ilya Muromets heavy duty icebreaker, the large anti-submarine ship Vice-Admiral Kulakov, and the large landing ship Alexander Otrakovsky.
🔸 Also able to operate in the Arctic are Russian nuclear submarines of Borei class, each capable of carrying 16 Bulava ballistic missiles, and Yasen-class nuclear submarines with Onyx, Kalibr, and Zircon missiles.

Arctic Fleet of the US

🔸 The Polar Star remains the US’ only operational heavy icebreaker capable of tackling Arctic ice. The medium icebreaker Healy has been out of action in the Arctic.
🔸 Some naval surface ships, like Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and Ticonderoga-class cruisers can navigate the Arctic.
🔸 Nuclear-powered attack submarines of Los Angeles-, Virginia-and Seawolf-class are capable of navigating under the Arctic ice.
🔸 Referring to the US being “severely outnumbered” in terms of icebreakers compared to Russia, Gregory Guillot, the commander of US Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, admitted that it “does limit our freedom of maneuver in that [Arctic] region."

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💯Ukraine learns the hard way that US never gives weapons for free

Donald Trump’s efforts to make Ukraine pay for all the US aid highlights the fact that the United States “doesn't give weapons in an altruistic way,” Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov, managing editor of CovertAction Magazine, tells Sputnik.

Despite what “most traditional American leaders” might claim, “there's always the underlying agenda of US foreign policy to control mineral resources and extend American domination.”

“But Trump is more of a straight shooter, and that's why some people like him, although it's not really pretty what he's saying. I mean, it's a naked economic self-interest that the US goes into these countries,” Dr. Kuzmarov notes.

Initially, the US sought to use Ukraine as a tool for weakening and destabilizing Russia. Now, it is clear that this scheme failed and, as Russia is getting even stronger than before, the US seems to be looking to profit in a different way.

To be fair, US profiteering from the Ukrainian conflict started under the Biden administration which set up a “reconstruction agency” headed by former Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, set on “turning the country over to Wall Street banks.”

“Already a lot of Ukraine land had been sold off to Wall Street banks, and companies like Monsanto have gained land in Ukraine. So these elements already have extended a greater and greater influence on Ukraine and its economy.”

Thus, Trump is essentially being upfront about “a process that has been occurring already,” and is simply trying to take things to the next level by “seizing control over Ukraine mineral wealth.”

The way things currently stand, the people of Ukraine, who thought that all that foreign aid was just to help them prevail over Russia, emerge as “the biggest losers of this conflict.”

“That's why I think Zelensky will go down as one of the worst leaders in Ukrainian history as somebody who totally sold out the country and betrayed his own population,” Dr. Kuzmarov says.

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🟠 UK and France unable to accept defeat in Ukraine

🟠 Ukraine learns the hard way that US never gives weapons for free

🟠 Boris Johnson’s 'holiday sacrifice' plan for Europe

🟠 Russia vs US: Who HOLDS THE ICE in the Arctic fleet race?

🟠 Myanmar's earthquake danger: A deadly fault line

🟠 Same as the old boss: Mark Carney becomes yet another Canadian PM mired in controversy

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🥴 Getting high, Zelensky style: Ukraine wants its own space forces

Ukraine today may lack money to pay salaries and retirement benefits, but such trivialities do not stop the country’s leadership from desiring a new branch of the military, and an expensive one to boot.

This week, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry announced the creation of a space policy department that is expected to pave the way for Ukraine’s very own space forces.

With its economy in shambles, Ukraine somehow intends to set up its own constellation of military satellites.

How is Ukraine going to accomplish it and who is going to pay for it? Who knows.


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Hamas agrees to a ceasefire proposal, will Israel accept it?

"Two days ago, we received a proposal from the mediators in Egypt and Qatar. We dealt with it positively and accepted it," said a senior Hamas official.

Netanyahu's office had earlier confirmed that it had also received a proposal, but had "conveyed a counter-proposal to the mediators in full coordination with the US."

Meanwhile, IDF announced a strike against Hamas in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.

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💬 How could external governance work and why it failed in Bosnia and Kosovo

There’s no single recipe for establishing international governance in a certain country, Branko Brankovic, former permanent representative of Yugoslavia to the UN, tells Sputnik.

“The most important thing is to ensure an appropriate balance of interests of all participants in the process, including the UN,” he points out.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier suggested an interim international government for Ukraine under UN auspices, recalling that "such practice does exist."

Brankovic also warns against turning an external governance body into “a cumbersome and therefore sluggish structure," which he says should be free of veto power and be based on the decisions taken by majority vote.

As for the UN-led international governance in Yugoslavia’s parts Bosnia and Kosovo after the country’s breakup in 1991, it was degraded due to the US’ actions, according to Nikola Sainovic, former prime minister of Serbia.

“At first, everything worked smoothly, but then the Americans, who adhered to the same steps they made in Bosnia, began to violate a [peace] agreement and belittle the role of a UN mission in Kosovo,” Sainovic tells Sputnik.

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⛳️ Trump's meets Stubb on the golf course

The US and Finnish presidents discussed the purchase of icebreakers for the US Arctic fleet. They also won a golf tournament in the process, Trump wrote on Truth Social.

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Zelensky is on the 'Life is too short list' — David Sacks

US crypto czar slammed Volodymyr Zelensky for his reluctance to sign the minerals deal with the US.

"In Hollywood, it’s called the Life’s Too Short List. An actor develops a reputation for being so difficult, so demanding, so spoiled and temperamental that no one wants to deal with them. After that, they fade from view," he wrote on X.

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Trump is 'the president of peace' — no institute needed

Most employees at the US Institute of Peace, which was created and funded by Congress, have received layoff notices, NBC reports.

USIP was on the "kill list" of Trump's executive order to eliminate federal bureaucracy.

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❗️ Syria announces new government - what has changed?

🔶 Key ministers, including the foreign, interior and defense ministers, retained their posts in Syria's new interim government.

🔶 Ex-Prime Minister Mohammed Bashir was appointed Minister of Energy.

🔶 Syria's new cabinet includes only one woman - former opposition politician Hind Kabawat, who became minister of social affairs and labor.

🔶 Two new ministries have appeared in the new government - the Ministry of Emergencies and Disasters and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

🔶 Speaking after the swearing-in ceremony, FM Asaad Shaibani promised to "open Syria to the world and restore its status".

"The new Syrian government will be a government of change and construction, and we will focus on protecting citizens," said Syrian Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

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🚨 "We'll get Greenland. Yeah, 100%," Trump told NBC News in a new interview

He noted there's a "good possibility that we could do it without military force", but he's not taking "anything off the table."

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