❗️Ukraine must withdraw troops from Novorossiya - Kremlin spokesman

Withdrawal from the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, Kherson and Zaporozhya is necessary to end the conflict, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told France’s Le Point Magazine.

Here are his other key statements:

🔸 Russia is in favor of negotiations, European powers want to continue the conflict. Presidents Putin and Trump agree that it’s absurd to reject dialog. Moscow considers it inappropriate to set deadlines on a ceasefire; President Trump has not set such a deadline.

🔸 Russia is ready to achieve its goals in Ukraine by peaceful or military means. Moscow has no intention to attack anyone, and has no territorial claims against the Baltic countries.

🔸 Preparatory work on a meeting between Presidents Putin and Trump continues. Putin respects Trump as a “strong political figure” and a “strong personality.” The meeting is expected to be “productive.”

🔸 Relations with Europe remain at an impasse; Russia is attempting to mend ties with the US.

🔸 Neither French President Macron nor other European leaders listened to President Putin when he warned (in 2021) that Russia had been driven into a corner in terms of threats to its security.

🔸 Russia has learned to live under sanctions, while restrictions have created “big problems” for the EU.

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❓Why were Ukraine talks in London scrapped? Kiev threw a spanner in the works

Ukraine threw a tantrum just before big talks between the UK, US, France and Germany, demanding no negotiations on territory until there was a "complete and unconditional ceasefire," Reuters reported.

And just like that, the talks were postponed. Now it’s lower-level officials handling things instead.

That happened right after Trump threatened to pull the US out if there was no progress. The timing is perfect—just when things were supposed to reach crunch point.

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◻️ Jeffrey Sachs just gave a BOMBSHELL interview to Sputnik on Ukraine, Iran & Trump trade wars!

◻️ Trump FED UP with Zelensky’s nagging, European chickenhawks' warmongering

◻️ Davos unmasked: Turmoil and scandal jolt World Economic Forum

◻️ India freezes key water treaty with Pakistan, orders Pakistani nationals out in wake of Kashmir terror

◻️ Archbishop Markell calls out groups that did not back his quest to bring Holy Fire to Moldova

◻️ Istanbul shaken by major earthquake: here are the details

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🇺🇸US troops ‘need to be fit, not fat, sharp, not shabby’ – Hegseth

The Pentagon is “reviewing” its fitness standards to check whether they’ve dropped, especially over the last four years, the Secretary of Defense said in a speech at the US Army War College.

The Defense Department needs troops “physically” capable of performing as required “under fire,” Hegseth said.

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❌ ‘Enough is enough’ – Trump is FRUSTRATED with Zelensky – WH Press Sec. Leavitt

💬 “His patience is running VERY THIN,” stressed White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

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💸 Monopolist whack-a-mole: US regulators’ crackdown on Google may benefit OpenAI

The DOJ’s efforts to split up US tech monopolies took an unexpected turn this week after a senior OpenAI exec told a judge in the Google anti-trust case that the AI giant would like to buy Chrome if Google is forced to sell to nix its ‘online search monopolist’ label.

Alphabet Inc reportedly declined an OpenAI partnership offer in 2024 on the use of Google’s proprietary search tech, forcing the large language model maker to use Bing instead for its training models and data.

Google was found last August to have engaged in monopolist behavior in the search engine market by signing an exclusive deal with Samsung to make Chrome the default search engine installed on new phones.

The remedy phase of Google’s trial began this week, with OpenAI eager to take Chrome and its estimated 4 billion users (67%) off Alphabet Inc’s hands.

Families are always rising and falling in America. So too are monopolist tech giants, aided by government, it seems.

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❗️ Dealing with Zelensky has been HARDER than expected – Trump

💬 “I think Russia is ready,” the US president stated.

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🗣 ‘I have NO favorites,’ says Trump while ARMING Ukraine

💬 “We’re spending hundreds of billions, maybe $350 billion we’ve given to Ukraine,” Trump said, conveniently ignoring who’s clearly the teacher’s pet.

💬 “If I can stop that because of an ability I have to do things, I wanna see if I can do that,” the US president said, overlooking the possibility of stopping the money flow to Ukraine.

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🤡 ‘As black women, we DON’T ARTICULATE our pain’ – Michelle Obama

🤨 “Nobody ever gave us PERMISSION to do that,” she declared.

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📹 Israeli strikes west of Nuseirat in Central Gaza Strip kill three people – local media reports

Footage from social media

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🗣 ‘This is a form of EVASION’ – Jen Psaki SLAMS Hegseth for installing Signal on Pentagon PC

A Washington Post report revealed that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth installed Signal on his Pentagon desktop, bypassing security protocols that ban personal devices in classified areas.

This allowed him to communicate with officials and family members outside the military headquarters. The Pentagon's response denies Hegseth used the app, while the report insists he installed it.

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🥴 ‘Have some BACKBONE, my friend. Show some STRENGTH… You’re WEAK’ – O’Leary SLAMS Gerber, calls for a hard stance against China

🤭 “Do you want a world where you can't find SOCKS?” – businessman Ross Gerber

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