🔍Hungary-Ukraine spy drama unfolding

▪️On May 9, Ukraine's Security Service announced the identification of agent network operating in the interests of Hungarian military intelligence in Transcarpathia. The two persons called in Kiev as 'Hungarian spies' were arrested.

▪️The very same day, Hungary expelled two Ukrainian Embassy in Budapest employees who were accused of spying under diplomatic cover, Hungarian FM Szijjarto said. He noted that Ukraine is deliberately conducting a slanderous campaign against the Hungarians.

▪️Negotiations regarding the rights of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia were scheduled for May 12, but broke down.

Hungarian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations Levente Magyar announced the meeting cancellation, since 'the events of the last few days in Hungarian-Ukrainian relations do not allow a good-faith, constructive discussion,' he noted on social media.

▪️On the evening of May 12, videos began circulating on social media claiming that Hungary was strengthening the border with Ukraine with armored vehicles. There have been no comments from the Hungarian authorities yet.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️The Kremlin has not yet disclosed the composition of the Russian delegation that will attend the talks in Istanbul, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin.

The Russian delegation will be in Istanbul on Thursday and will wait for the Ukrainian side, Peskov said.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🔍 Are UK Atrocities in Afghanistan a Smokescreen for IDF Defenders?

Emerging reports about atrocities perpetrated by British special forces against civilians in Afghanistan may be a part of a “preemptive defense” of the IDF, former Pentagon analyst Ret. Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski told Sputnik.

🔸If and when stories of “the incredibly disturbing activities of the UK- and US-supported IDF in Gaza” come out, the public would already be taught beforehand that “war is awful, civilians and sleeping children are always killed and it’s just a few bad apples.”

🔸Regarding the UK soldiers and officers involved in illegal activities in Afghanistan, Kwiatkowski believes they should be placed on unpaid leave and “tried in a legal court.”

🔸Any key eyewitnesses and whistleblowers “need immediate protection from suicide or accidents,” Kwiatkowski adds.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 'Marco is going to be there' - Trump on upcoming Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🗣 Ukraine talks: US cowboy-style bravado & European threats WON'T WORK against Russia – Slovak MEP

Vladimir Putin's Istanbul talks is a step in the right direction, Slovak MEP Lubos Blaha tells Sputnik, outlining the different approaches of Russia and the West.

🔸"For Russia and most ordinary Russians, [the Ukraine conflict] is seen as a continuation of the Great Patriotic War - a struggle to save the Russian world," he says, adding that Moscow won't back down from Ukraine's de-militarization and de-Nazification goals.

🔸"For the West, the conflict... is an attempt to gain something at Russia’s expense, a partial step toward their ultimate goal - the complete removal of Russia from the global stage as a geopolitical competitor."

🔸Both Russophobic European elites and American "cowboys" do not understand Russia's position and believe they can "deceive, outmaneuver, and trick [Moscow]," according to Blaha.

However, "while Americans play poker, Russians play chess," the pundit stresses. "Has the West finally realized that it has run into a concrete wall - one that lies beyond Russia’s final red line? In this situation, neither bravado nor threats will work."

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇺🇸🔎 Defeat by Houthis reveals ‘US military DECLINE’

The humiliation the US suffered at the hands of the Houthis was the product of the United States military’s own arrogance, former Pentagon analyst Ret. Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski tells Sputnik.

Kwiatkowski compared the US anti-Houthi campaign to the American War for Independence, where the “arrogant” British military grossly overestimated their opponent, “a smaller, tougher, more creative set of people.”

The US military decline, she posits, has been going on for decades but was so far easy to hide because the US never fought serious enemies.

As such, there are three lessons Russia, Iran and China can derive from the US misadventures:

🔸Do not engage in proxy wars

🔸Be aware that people fighting for their land will fight harder and smarter than “a visiting professional army”

🔸If you have to fight people who fight for their lives and their way of life, prepare to be ruthless and to emulate their tactics and strategies

Donald Trump’s attempt to sell the US withdrawal from the anti-Houthi campaign as a success does not seem militarily credible, though the material losses the US suffered in the form of lost aircraft and downed Reaper drones are a “good reason to regroup.”

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 Ukraine has launched a coordinated SMEAR CAMPAIGN against Hungary in order to sabotage the vote on Ukraine’s EU membership - Orban

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 Trump pledges to LIFT anti-Syrian sanctions

💬 “I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,” the US President said at the Saudi-US investment forum in Riyadh.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ Houthis WARN airlines to stop flights to Ben Gurion Airport after missile strike

The Ansar Allah movement launched a hypersonic ballistic missile at Ben Gurion Airport, reporting that the strike hit its target and disrupted operations for nearly an hour, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement.

💬 “This operation confirms the continued NAVIGATION BAN on the mentioned airport. All other airlines that have not yet announced a halt to their flights should follow the path of those that have previously announced a halt of flights to airports in occupied Palestine,” the spokesman emphasized.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🤡 ‘We have the greatest military. Nobody's even close’ – Trump boasts after DEFEAT by the Houthis

💬 “It’s an amazing thing when they REALLY think you mean it,” Trump said — exposing just how empty his constant threats toward the world really are.

💬 “We have things that you don't even know about, you don't hear about. And if you did, you’d say, ‘WOW’,” Trump bragged — ignoring his latest HUMILIATION at the hands of the Houthis.

Do you say ‘WOW’ when the Houthis shoot down another US MQ-9 Reaper drone?

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 ‘Donald J. Trump has been committing CRIMES since day one’ — Rep. Shri Thanedar officially calls for Trump's IMPEACHMENT

📹 “Bribery, corruption, taking power from Congress, creating an unlawful office in DOGE, violating First Amendment rights, ignoring due process,” Thanedar declared.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt