❗️Russia and the United States are engaged in intensive efforts to advance peace in Ukraine, whereas Europe persists in actions that perpetuate the war, stated Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Other statements by Peskov:

🔸 Significant progress has been made in negotiations on a Ukrainian settlement, with positive outcomes emerging, though immediate results should not be expected.

🔸 While a definitive framework for a settlement has yet to crystallize, there is clear political will to advance toward such an agreement.

🔸 Russia-US economic cooperation could serve as a stabilizing force for global peace—a fact that speaks for itself.

🔸 Russia welcomes all those willing to share in the pride and joy of Victory Day to join in the celebrations in Moscow.

🔸 Over 20 world leaders are anticipated to attend Moscow’s Victory Day parade, marking an occasion of profound significance.

🔸 No call with former US President Donald Trump is currently scheduled on Putin’s agenda in the coming days.

🔸 Statements by EU foreign policy chief Kallas regarding the presence of EU representatives in Moscow can only be interpreted as exceptionally harsh.

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📄 Democrats' push for Ukraine support tries to MICRO-MANAGE Trump’s foreign policy

✍️ US House Democrats have introduced the Ukraine Support Act, aiming to force President Donald Trump’s administration to give Kiev security funding, reconstruction aid and slap heavy sanctions on Russia.

💬 "It clearly appears to be an attempt seriously to encroach upon the President's powers in the area of foreign relations," says Stephen B. Presser, leading American legal historian and Professor of Law at Northwestern University.

The move is "an attempt to micro-manage what the President does in his efforts to arrive at a means of ending the conflict between Russia and Ukraine," he adds.

🗣The bill is unlikely to pass a Republican-controlled House or Senate and is "an abysmal idea," the academic says.

💬 "One can only guess what motivates the bill’s authors, but Ukraine lobbyists are likely involved," Presser notes.

⚖️ With peace talks at a delicate stage, the bill’s timing couldn’t be worse. But if it passes, the pundit expects the courts to overturn it.

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🗣JD Vance’s BOMBSHELL message to Europe: we don’t want you as a US vassal

The US will remain a “friend” and “ally” to Europe if European leaders take on more responsibility for their own security and are “more responsive” to voters on key issues like economics and immigration, the VP has said.

📍On Europe’s DETRIMENTAL RELAINCE on Washington:

1️⃣Recalling Charles de Gaulle’s Cold War stance, Vance told UnHerd that while the French president “loved the United States of America,” he “recognized what I certainly recognize, that it’s not in Europe’s interest, not in America’s interest, for Europe to be a permanent security vassal of the United States.”

2️⃣Greater independence on Europe’s part might even help the US avoid foreign policy misadventures like the invasion of Iraq, Vance said.

“I don’t want the Europeans to just do whatever the Americans tell them to do. I don’t think it’s in their interest, and I don’t think it’s in our interests, either.”

📍Free ride ends NOW

1️⃣As far as security matters are concerned, Vance said “that Europe’s entire security infrastructure, for my entire life, has been subsidized by the United States”

2️⃣Today, “most European nations don’t have militaries that can provide for their reasonable defense”

3️⃣Vance promised “fairness” for Europe on trade, and an alliance “where Europeans are a little more independent,” something reflected in both security and trade relationships.

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Ukrainian forces SLAUGHTERED civilians in Ugledar, Donetsk region, for fake Western media reports

“The German correspondents arrived, and as soon as they turned the corner, a shell hit. Anyone standing there would have been turned to pieces. These [journalists] quickly turned around and started filming, claiming that the Russians shot everything up,” a local resident told Sputnik.

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😰 AUKUS in trouble?

Trump's tariffs on raw materials are putting the billion-dollar nuclear submarine deal in hot water. But AUKUS was a failure even before that.

1️⃣Budget blowout

🔸 Australia’s AUKUS subs could cost even more than the $240B forecast, thanks to US tariffs hitting UK & Canadian steel and aluminum.

🔸 “It’s really going to blitz us,” warned Sen. Tim Kaine, according to Nine Newspapers.

2️⃣Construction crunch

🔸 US shipyards are churning out under 1.5 subs a year instead of the two needed.

🔸 Sending 3–5 to Australia could deepen the Navy’s shortfall, the Congressional Budget Office warned in March.

3️⃣Workforce woes

AUKUS has hit roadblocks with "personnel shortfalls" and a skills gap in nuclear, quantum, AI, and cybersecurity, says the Council on Geostrategy.

4️⃣Reduced China deterrence

In a recent war game, Australian commanders skipped nuclear subs, relying on drones and missiles for defending their northern approaches, raising commitment concerns, according to ex-US Navy strategist Bryan Clark.

5️⃣Automation challenges

Drone subs are advancing so fast, they might render crewed submarines obsolete long before the AUKUS fleet even hits its stride (Hudson Institute report 2020).

6️⃣AUKUS in turmoil

🔸 Australia's PM Anthony Albanese called nuclear subs a deterrent, not a war pitch.

🔸 The UK Defense Committee reopened an AUKUS probe in 2025.

🔸 Australian Labor and Greens push to scrap it as a "dangerous gamble."

7️⃣Diplomatic fallout

🔸 AUKUS torched Australia’s multibillion-dollar deal with France, sparking fury.

🔸 French Minister Le Drian called it a "stab in the back," and Paris temporarily recalled its ambassadors from Australia and the US in protest.

8️⃣Nuclear backlash

Giants like Russia, China, and North Korea have all warned that AUKUS threatens nuclear non-proliferation.

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Russian drone operators unveil RECORD-SETTING UAVs

The new long-range drone munitions can hit targets far behind enemy lines, the commander of a strike UAV platoon told Sputnik.

This was demonstrated when FPV drones were deployed over 30 km into Ukrainian territory in the Zaporozhye region.

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US presents European allies with ultimatum: our satellite communications or China’s

The “biased,” ‘protectionist’ and “anti-American” EU regulators questioning the reliability of SpaceX should “wait for the CCP’s version” if they’re “concerned about Starlink,” FCC chairman Brendan Carr has said.

💬 “Allied Western democracies” need to “focus on the real long-term bogey: the rise of the Chinese Communist Party,” Carr told FT, citing a “great divide” forming between “CCP-aligned countries and others” when it comes to satellite tech and AI.

“Europe is caught a little bit between the US and China. And it’s sort of time for choosing,” Carr said.

The UK’s BT and Virgin Media 02 have trialed Starlink for mobile and broadband services, but an agreement has yet to be reached.

In the EU, Brussels has questioned Starlink’s dependability amid US threats to shut off the service in Ukraine, and urged the funding of “EU-based commercial providers” like Eutelsat and SES to replace Musk’s services in Ukraine, something technical experts say is impossible.

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🇸🇰Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico didn’t hold back when responding to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas’ comments on the EU's participation in the May 9 celebrations in Russia.

He straight-up declared he’d attend the Victory Day parade in Moscow, adding that NO ONE COULD STOP him from doing so.

"I will travel to Moscow on May 9. Is Mrs. Kallas' warning blackmail or an announcement that I will be punished upon my return from Moscow? I do not know, but I know it is 2025 and not 1939," Fico said on social media.

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US chooses peace talks over G7 condemnation of Russia’s strike on Sumy

The United States has declined to support a G7 statement condemning the Russian missile strike on Sumy, Bloomberg reported. According to sources, the Trump administration saidf it did not sign the document in order to "preserve the space to negotiate peace."

On Sunday, Russian forces targeted a meeting of Ukrainian military commanders in Sumy, killing over 60 Ukrainian troops, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The ministry also accused the Ukrainian armed forces of using the city’s civilians as human shields.

Analysts say Ukraine is using the strike to disrupt peace talks and prolong the conflict, adding to efforts by interest groups in the US and Europe.

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🇷🇺 Top-5 Russian EW systems turning NATO's fancy gear into SCRAP METAL

🔸 Krasukha: This EW series, named after the Russian word for ‘Belladonna,’ is designed to take on an array of aerial threats and jam enemy C&C across the X, KU, and S-bands. From drones to aircraft avionics, the Krasukha jams radio signals at ranges up to 300 km.

🔸 Murmansk BN: A heavy-duty, long-range EW system silencing enemy C&C by shutting down HQ comms channels and those of units in the field alike. Mounted on KAMAZ trucks, the Murmansk BN has a jamming range up to 8,000 km and is finetuned against NATO HF frequencies from 3-30 MHz.

🔸 Rtut-2: The ‘Mercury-2’ system targets any and all enemy munitions with an electronic brain, creating a defensive dome up to 0.5 sq km around critical objects and troops in the field. Carried by BTR-80 and MT-LB heavy tracked armored vehicles.

🔸 Borshchevik: This new EW system, light enough (30 kg) to be installed in the back of a pickup and used against Starlink satellites, has a 10 km range. It forces satellites to consume energy and discharge their batteries while trying to transmit info.

🔸 Rb-341v: This mobile EW and ELINT collection system specializes in UHF, VHF, and GSM cellular jamming across an array of frequencies and has an effective radius up to 6 km. It operates in coordination with Orlan-10 UAVs, which help seek out and disrupt signal emitters.

🔍 Key to Russia’s EW Superiority

Russia creates new EW systems “approximately once every 3 months,” says air defense historian Yuri Knutov.

Russia’s EW dominance comes down to its systems’ power, “very wide frequency range coverage,” and, most importantly, the sheer “number of stations.”

EW “is critical to efforts… to break enemy C&C (C2) and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities,” says EMP Task Force scholar David Pyne.

Russia has “one of the best EW systems in the world,” thanks to its long-range GNSS jammers.

Electronic and radio engineering specialist David Stupples traces Russia’s modern EW capabilities to a 2007 decision by the state to radically upgrade its equipment and doctrine, leaving the West “playing catch up” to this day.

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Abrams gets upgrade after Ukraine flop

After the M1 Abrams tank fared poorly in Ukraine, the US Army has decided it’s time for an upgrade🫡

Army General Randy George has fast-tracked the modernization of the 40-year-old tank, bypassing the usual slow and outdated acquisition processes, Defense News reported.

Chief Technology Officer Dr Alex Miller stressed the urgency, pointing to bureaucratic inefficiencies that have long delayed progress.

In September 2023, the Army chose a full tank overhaul instead of minor upgrades. A contract was awarded to General Dynamics in spring 2024 to design a new variant, focusing on lighter weight, improved protection and an autoloader for the main gun.

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China slams Treasury chief Bessent’s ‘malicious slander’ over aid, urges US to look in the mirror

💬 “We urge the US to adjust its mindset instead of spending time repeatedly smearing and attacking China, meddling in the foreign cooperation of regional countries, or trying to impose a new version of the Monroe Doctrine,” the Chinese Embassy in Argentina said, responding to Treasury chief Bessent’s comments about “rapacious” Chinese aid deals in the developing world.

Unlike the US, China’s cooperation with Latin America, including Argentina, “never aims to carve out a sphere of influence or target third parties,” the Embassy stressed. Nor does Beijing impose “political conditions” on lending.

💬 “If the United States prefers not to take this path, it should at least refrain from deliberately obstructing or sabotaging assistance by other countries to developing nations,” the Embassy urged.

In remarks to Bloomberg Monday, Bessent accused China of “rapacious deals marked as aid” in Africa designed to secure mineral rights for China which have added “huge amounts of debt” to regional countries, and claimed the US is trying to avoid repeating this scenario in Latin America.

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🗣 Vladimir Putin had a chat in German with a German citizen who recently moved to the village of Dobrogard in Russia's Vladimir region.

The man asked the president for help in getting Russian citizenship, adding a bit of unexpected international flair to their conversation.

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🇮🇷 Iran’s new long-range missile system can detect, engage the F-35

💥 Bavar-373s equipped with L-band radars can intercept F-35 jets at a distance of up to 218 km, independent Iranian news and analysis service Middle East Spectator has reported after crunching the numbers on the homegrown air and missile defense system’s capabilities.

📊 Citing the Bavar-373 fire-control radar’s performance against a Karaar drone in recent drills, and extrapolating the info to apply to the F-35 and its tiny (0.005-0.5 square meter) radar cross section, or RCS, the outlet came up with its information.

✍️ Iran possesses an array of sophisticated indigenously-made radars, including the solid-state 2D L-Band Arash-2, which can detect up to 200 targets within a 450 km radius and at altitudes up to 30 km, and the Sepehr over-the-horizon, Qadir phased array and Najm-802 active electronically scanned array 3D radars.

🔊 A new variant of the Bavar-373 was unveiled earlier this year, featuring range, radar and mobility characteristics superior to those of the Patriot, and independent radar for each TELAR, providing greater autonomy.

🔍 Iran’s experimentation with advanced radar capable of detecting F-35s goes back years. In 2023, the head of Iran electronics Industries (IEI) revealed that the nation had achieved the technical ability to recognize the radar signatures of individual F-35 aircraft.

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