❗️Talks in Istanbul to take place at Turkish presidential administration, as in 2022 — Sputnik’s source

However, President Erdogan's schedule for Thursday does not include meetings with Russian or Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul. His agenda is planned for Ankara, where he will meet with Zelensky, the Turkish president’s office reported.

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🚨💸💣Hospital cartels, loopholes & billions—Spartz drops a bomb on Dem's spending game

Rep. Victoria Spartz says Democrats use vague laws like Obamacare to create loopholes, push money into untouchable mandatory spending, and let unelected agencies issue costly rules—draining taxpayers by the billions.

So where does the money go?🤔

Spartz claims the money flows to hospital cartels and Democrat-linked groups in New York, funding illegal immigration programs, overseas projects, and tax-free profits for wealthy CEOs.

“It’s like an unlimited credit line,” she said. “There’s no limit. This isn’t normal spending — it’s beyond appropriations. Biden’s own rules let them overbill the federal government up to three times more than Medicare rates.”

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🔫 Trump's Russia strategy criticized: 'Simply charming Russia is NOT ENOUGH'

The US’ “simplistic” idea to "charm” Russia and get a deal on Ukraine by putting pressure on Volodymyr Zelensky turned out to be "not enough," Financial Times reports, citing ex-German ambassador to the US Wolfgang Ischinger.

“Trump definitely sees that Putin isn’t playing ball,” said Eric Green, a former aide to former President Joe Biden at the National Security Council.

Trump would struggle to reset relations with Russia — without first resolving the problem of Ukraine, Thomas Graham, ex-National Security Council official, stressed.

“There’s too much at stake. He could still walk away from Ukraine — but if he does that, it would look too much like FAILURE,” Thomas Graham pointed out.

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⚡️Putin chaired a closed-door meeting Wednesday night to prepare for upcoming negotiations with Ukraine, the Kremlin confirms

👥 In attendance:

▪️Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
▪️Defense Minister Andrei Belousov
▪️National Guard Chief Viktor Zolotov
▪️Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu
▪️Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov
▪️FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov
▪️Top military commanders of the Russian military groups involved in the special military operation.

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🇮🇹🤯👻 Italian MP stuns Parliament in GHOST Costume 

Riccardo Maggi, MP from the 'More Europe' party, who tried to protest the silence surrounding the upcoming cuts to workers' rights, was immediately kicked out from the hall by Ghostbusters security.

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🇮🇷☢️🇺🇸Iran READY FOR NUKE DEAL — in exchange for immediate SANCTIONS RELIEF

“It’s still possible. If the Americans act as they say, […] it can lead to a better situation in the near future, Khamenei’s advisor Ali Shamkhani underscored.

If President Trump lifts all sanctions against Iran, the Islamic Republic will:

▪️Commit to never making nuclear weapons.

▪️Get rid of its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, which can be weaponized.

▪️Agree to only enrich uranium to the lower levels needed for civilian use.

▪️Allow international inspectors to supervise the process.

Trump earlier claimed that he “will be very happy” if the US makes a nuclear deal with Iran.

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🚨🎙EXPOSED: Corruption in the US military, BlackWater war crimes, and how the US government lies to its own soldiers

Sputnik just got a BOMBSHELL interview with 🇺🇸U.S. Air Force veteran, who served in Yugoslavia and Iraq.

Unfiltered. Watch now 👆

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🚨Trump says READY to TRAVEL TO ISTANBUL on Friday to take part in Russia-Ukraine peace talks

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🥴 'Why would he go if I'm not going?' — Trump says HE is why Putin isn't in Istanbul

"Because I wasn't going to go. I wasn't planning to. I would go. But I wasn't planning to go. And I said, I don't think he's going to go if I don't go," the US president stressed.

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❗️RUSSIA COMMITTED TO SERIOUS NEGOTIATIONS - Russian MFA spox

Maria Zakharova emphasized that the purpose of the talks proposed by President Putin is to address the root causes of the conflict and work toward establishing a lasting and sustainable peace.

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🚫 Ukraine LEFT OUT of key NATO Summit talks — To keep Trump happy?

Ukraine will NOT be invited to the main discussions at NATO’s June summit, breaking a tradition upheld since 2022, "keeping the US leader smiling," Euractiv reports.

The current summit agenda includes only one closed-door session — for NATO’s 32 members only. The White House reportedly pushed back on giving Zelensky a major platform.

NATO chief Mark Rutte refused to comment, saying only that “the agenda is still under discussion.”

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❗️ Russian troops have liberated the settlements of Torskoye and Novoaleksandrovka in the Donetsk People's Republic, Russia's Defense Ministry announced.

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❗️Ukraine trying to PUT ON A SHOW around Istanbul peace talks

Russian FM spokeswoman Maria Zakharova calls out Ukraine’s contradictory statements on peace talks.

She also noted the absurdity of Western "mediation":

Germany, France and the UK cannot really claim to be present at the negotiating table on Ukraine while they flood Ukraine with weapons.

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🇷🇺🪖Key statements from the Russian MoD daily briefing on the special military operation:

▪️Ukrainian forces suffered losses of 515 soldiers and six armored vehicles in the zone of responsibility of Russia’s Tsentr Battlegroup;

▪️Russia’s Sever Battlegroup wiped out over 165 soldiers and three armored vehicles;

▪️Russia's Yug Battlegroup eliminated 245 militants;

▪️Russia’s Zapad Battlegroup wiped out over 240 soldiers;

▪️Russia's Dnepr Battlegroup eliminated 75 militants;

▪️Russia’s Vostok Battlegroup wiped out over 160 soldiers and three armored vehicles;

▪️Russian air defense shot down 169 Ukrainian drones and eight JDAM bombs.

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💥Putin completely CHANGED THE GAME with Istanbul initiative, thwarted EU plans

As EU elites were capitalizing on Trump’s growing skepticism about Russia and bracing to make up Washington’s mind about new sanctions, Vladimir Putin’s offer to negotiate in Istanbul “changed the conversation,” laments The Washington Post.

Putin’s Istanbul talks proposal “has thrown the sanctions plans into question, according to nine European, Ukrainian, and US diplomats and officials,” it adds.

EU elites are still adamant about “coordinated European and American sanctions, possibly targeting the financial and energy sectors” to pressure Russia.

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🗣 Russian FM Sergey Lavrov called the events currently unfolding in Istanbul intriguing

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🔎🇬🇧 Watch out for Brits while pondering about Istanbul talks - expert

Zelensky nowadays is in bed with British government and intelligence, and this connection runs deeper than many think, Vladimir Oleinik, a member of the "Other Ukraine" movement and former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, told Sputnik.

“Zelensky himself is not interested in any outcome, as he is not directly involved in the talks. Right now, they are thinking of ways to blame Russia for the lack of any results in the negotiations,” the expert added.

Russia's President Putin earlier stated that then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson pushed Ukraine to abandon preliminary Russo-Ukrainian March 2022 agreements in Istanbul with the approval of the US, with the aim to accomplish their goal of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia.

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🚨Sputnik correspondent uncovers the INSIDE SCOOP on the upcoming Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul - STAY TUNED!

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