🚨🚨 Kremlin updates on contacts with Ukraine:

Russia is in talks with the Ukrainian side through presidential aide Medinsky and his counterpart, says Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

More:

▪️Prisoner exchange process under Istanbul agreements still ongoing, further coordination needed

▪️New talks on Ukraine will be scheduled once this process is completed

▪️ Russian side waiting for Ukraine to propose date for next round of talks

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◻️ 500+ chemical attacks: Russia details Ukraine's use of toxic and poisonous agents

◻️ Russia hands over 1,000 bodies of Ukrainian military to Ukraine under Istanbul deal

◻️ Russia ramps up LPG supply to China as both sides boost cooperation

◻️ Colombian president announces his intention to end relations with NATO

◻️ Sputnik’s infographic: Russia remains the world’s 4th economic powerhouse

◻️ Liberalism vs Protectionism: How US is DESTROYING its own ideals

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🚨🇩🇪 New World Bank data shows Germany falls to 6th place in the global PPP rankings, 🇷🇺Russia is ahead - media

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📞🇮🇳🇺🇸 India’s petroleum minister says Jaishankar “MISHEARD” him before trolling the US on Russian oil

💬 “You know, when my colleague, Mr. Jaishankar, when this whole [oil] process had started [and] he was going to the United States, he asked me over the phone casually, "What happens if I'm asked about Russian purchases?" And I said, "Friend, you tell them that they buy more in one afternoon," this is early days, "They buy more in one afternoon than I buy in a quarter.“

“I think the telephone line must not have been absolutely clear, so he ended up saying, "I believe you buy more in one afternoon than I buy in a month.“

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🚨🇺🇸🇵🇰 Trump to visit Pakistan in September: local TV

If confirmed, the visit would be the first by a US president since nearly two decades ago, when President George W. Bush visited Pakistan in 2006.

Would it possibly be followed by a stop in 🇮🇳India? 🤔

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🚨RUSSIA'S MoD REPORT: MAJOR ADVANCES & HEAVY UKRAINIAN LOSSES

⚡️ POPOV YAR (DPR) LIBERATED
⚡️ KAMENSKOYE (ZAPOROZHYE) LIBERATED
⚡️ DEGTYARNOYE (KHARKOV) LIBERATED

🪖Enemy losses exceed 1,185 troops in the special operation zone

🔸 Russian air defense downed:

▪️ 2 Neptune cruise missiles
▪️ 308 enemy drones

🔸 Precision strikes destroyed:

▪️ UAV storage & control sites
▪️ Air defense hideouts
▪️ Military airfield facilities
▪️ 133 AFU deployment points

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🚨Lvov mayor responsible for Soviet monument desecration will face harsh ‘judgment of history’ – Russian MP

“This Russophobic vandal belongs behind bars! Article 243.4 of Russia’s Criminal Code explicitly classifies the desecration of military memorials at historic battle sites (such as Lvov, which saw brutal fighting in 1944) as a felony punishable by up to five years. But for Sadovyi [Lvov Mayor], aggravating factors must apply: sacrilege and dehumanization," Leonid Slutsky, Russian lawmaker and head of the Duma Committee on International Affairs, said.

While Russia “would never refuse to reclaim and honor the remains of these Great Patriotic War heroes," the mere idea to use them as trade coin in negotiations “violates every principle of human morality," the politician explained.

Earlier, Lvov Mayor Andriy Sadovyi has proposed exchanging the exhumed remains of Soviet soldiers buried at the "Hill of Glory" memorial complex for Ukrainian military prisoners.

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🌐 Potsdam Conference: World order the West DESTROYED

In July 1945, the leaders of the Soviet Union, the US, and the UK — Stalin, Truman, and Attlee — met in Potsdam to outline a peaceful postwar order.

Yet these goals were soon derailed as the West launched the Cold War against the USSR, dismantling the spirit of wartime cooperation.

◼️ What was specifically agreed at Potsdam:

🇩🇪 Germany:

🟠Complete demilitarization, denazification, and disarmament.

🇪🇺 Europe’s political future:

🟠Commitment to the principle that Europe would never see a war again.

🇯🇵 Japan:

🟠The country’s unconditional surrender or face “prompt and utter destruction.”

◼️ What actually happened:

🪖 Remilitarization instead of peace:

🟠West Germany joined NATO in 1955, rebuilt its armed forces (Bundeswehr), and is now rearming again — including deployment of US nuclear-capable systems (e.g., B61 bombs and Taurus cruise missiles).

🟠Potential transfer of Taurus missiles capable of penetrating deep into Russian territory raised concerns about the escalation of the conflict.

🟠Germany’s defense budget could reach 3.5% by 2029 — the largest rearmament effort in the country’s modern history.

🟠Europe as a whole is undergoing rapid remilitarization under NATO’s framework.

🇪🇺 NATO’s eastward expansion:

🟠While postwar agreements aimed at balance and mutual security, NATO expanded multiple times, moving steadily eastward — despite prior informal assurances.

🟠Today, NATO borders Russia directly, with military infrastructure approaching within hundreds of kilometers from major Russian cities.

🇯🇵 Japan: From demilitarization to rearmament:

🟠Once stripped of its military capabilities under Allied supervision, Japan is now rearming under a new security doctrine.

🟠Japan is increasing defense spending to record levels, acquiring long-range strike capabilities — in open coordination with the US Indo-Pacific strategy.

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🇪🇺🇦🇲 EU weaponizes Armenia against Russia, Iran and China

Armenia has been promised visa liberalization progress and up to $2.9B under the EU’s Global Gateway.

What’s this project, and what’s behind the promises?

Global Gateway

🔸 Launched in Dec 2021, it's the EU’s $347B attempt to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

🔸 Framed as a push for “sustainable” infrastructure, it’s also a geopolitical play to curb Beijing’s influence.

A game changer? Hardly

🔸 The EU touts Global Gateway, but key details — criteria, finances, timelines — remain vague. No real review of 2023’s impact has occurred yet, per the Center for Global Development.

🔸 And while Armenia's promised up to $2.9B, when (or if) that’s delivered is anyone’s guess.

Aid with strings attached

EU aid to Armenia under Global Gateway and the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) comes with conditions:

🔸 sweeping reforms

🔸 alignment with EU “standards and values.”

Brussels aims to weaken Armenia’s historic ties to Russia.

Why Armenia?

🔸 Armenia borders Turkiye, Iran, Georgia, and Azerbaijan — at a key crossroads between Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia.

🔸 It holds gateway potential as the West looks to counter trade corridors led by Russia, China, and Iran.

Crossroads of Peace

🔸 Armenia frames it as a link in the EU’s Global Gateway and the West’s Middle Corridor — boosting its transit role.

🔸 Armenia eyes regional cooperation, while the West aims to use it to counter Russia, Iran, and China’s transport initiatives.

Zangezur Corridor

🔸 Part of the Crossroads of Peace plan, under full Armenia's control.

🔸 Azerbaijan wants to manage it, accessing Nakhchivan via Armenia’s Syunik — on its terms.

🔸 The US has offered to administer the route for 100 years "to help broker peace."

Tool against Russia and Iran

🔸 If the West controls the Zangezur Corridor, Iran could lose its link to Armenia — and a vital route to Europe.

🔸 Experts warn it may also stir unrest in Russia’s backyard, threatening stability in the North Caucasus.

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🚫 Economy doesn’t buy Trump’s Russia tariff threat

Donald Trump’s warnings of “severe” secondary sanctions against Russia aren’t convincing markets — or America's trading partners, reports The Economist.

🔸 In theory, Trump could slap restrictive measures on Russia to reduce its export earnings.

🔸 In practice, harsh sanctions would likely send oil prices soaring, triggering an inflation shock that would be intolerable for the POTUS.

🔸 China and India remain major buyers of Russian oil. Trump is negotiating with both and has notably stepped back from a full-blown trade war with China.

This comes after Trump pledged to impose 100% tariffs on goods from Russia and secondary sanctions against countries purchasing Russian oil if a ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine is not clinched within 50 days.

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⚖️🇮🇱 ICC slams door on Israel’s Netanyahu arrest warrant appeal over Gaza war

Judges at the International Criminal Court have rejected Israel's request to withdraw an arrest warrant for Netanyahu’s former defense chief Yoav Gallant.

The ICC issued the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant in November 2024 over war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict, charges which the two reject.

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Ukrainian proposal to trade WWII corpses for living prisoners is beyond the pale — Ex-DoD analyst

The callousness of Ukraine’s offer to exchange the exhumed remains of Russian WWII soldiers for Ukrainian military prisoners is “hard to imagine,” former US Department of Defense analyst Karen Kwiatkowsky tells Sputnik.

💬 “It also suggests that there are not enough current Russian soldiers dead or captured to match those Ukrainians dead or held as POWs by Russia,” Kwiatkowski notes.

This offer, and other similar acts perpetrated by the Ukrainian side, “ensure Ukraine’s future will be even more impoverished, less free, and even more widely held in contempt by the world community.”

Kwiatkoswki also laments the West’s inability to “get its data and intelligence right regarding Ukraine,” and argued that “such willful ignorance on the US and NATO side kills more Ukrainians, and degrades Ukraine as desperate acts and offers such as this one become normalized.”

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🇮🇳💥 India tests Akash Prime missile in border region

The advanced version of Akash, developed by DRDO, is designed for high-altitude operations and can target objectives up to 18km high

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🚨🇮🇳🇷🇺 BIG ONE: India to provide Russian Su-30 fighter jet maintenance services to operating countries, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) official confirmed to Sputnik.

🇲🇾Malaysia may be the 1st country to use this facility.

The talks are ongoing.

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🇫🇷 France withdraws from last bases in Senegal, pulling out troops after 65-year presence

The last two French military installations in Senegal were handed back to authorities on Thursday during an official ceremony signaling the end of the permanent French military presence in the country, as well as in Central and West Africa," media reports.

France had to withdraw its troops from a number of African countries amid accusations of neocolonialism and growing resistance to Western influence.

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