🚨 Putin–Trump meeting has NO Zelensky prerequisite — Trump

💬 “No, he doesn't,” US President Donald Trump said when asked if a meeting between Putin and Zelensky was a prerequisite for a potential Trump–Putin meeting.

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🗣Armenia cornered into unfavorable deal as Pashinyan claims 'no alternative'

🇦🇲Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s acceptance of Azeri President Ilham Aliyev's demands offers no guarantee that new ones won’t follow, Migran Shahzadeyan, Chairman of the Board of the Armenian Association of Political Scientists, told Sputnik.

"This is a common practice in conflict negotiations. The Armenian side is being forced into this path, allegedly due to the lack of a better alternative — what international practice calls the Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA).”

❓Does he really lack an alternative?

🟠Pashinyan’s actions reveal a striking lack of professionalism
🟠His government seems unaware of international law, lacks diplomatic skills and has no strategic vision
🟠Many suspect external influence and attempts to mask a plan of creating an ‘extraterritorial’ Zangezur corridor
🟠Talk of outsourcing control over Armenian infrastructure clearly violates the Republic’s sovereignty and international legal norms

🔍Zangezur corridor

👉Who benefits?

🟠Not Armenia and not even Azerbaijan, but Turkiye and the US

🟠“People often think of the Zangezur corridor as an Azerbaijani demand, but its biggest strategic value lies with Turkiye,” Shahzadeyan says.

“It offers the shortest and most direct access to the Caspian and Central Asia — enabling control over East–West trade routes from China.”

🟠"Through Turkiye, Washington is advancing its confrontation with China, Russia and Iran.”

👉Crossroads of geopolitical rivalries

“Pashinyan keeps promoting his ‘Crossroads of Peace’ vision for the South Caucasus. But this region has become a crossroads of geopolitical rivalries, not peace,” Shahzadeyan warns. “It is a critical hub for land-based transport, energy routes, and infrastructure — a space where the interests of Russia, Iran, and China clash with those of Turkiye and the collective West.”

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🗣US-backed Armenia-Azerbaijan ‘peace’ push aimed at marginalizing Russia - analyst

💬 “The possible signing of an agreement” between Armenia and Azerbaijan “can no longer be analyzed solely from the point of view of resolving a bilateral conflict,” says Hirad Mahiri, director of the Russian Foreign Policy and Caucasus Research Group, commenting on the upcoming meeting of Armenia’s prime minister and Azerbaijan president in Washington on Friday to sign a ‘peace’ deal.
US aims, which include securing access to a proposed strategic overland transit route known as the Zangezur Corridor, “is part of a larger strategy to rethink the regional order, with the aim of weakening Russia’s position and integrating the three South Caucasus republics – Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, into the orbit of Western interests,” Mahiri stresses.

The integration of Western security and economic interests is helped along by Armenia’s Prime Minister Pashinyan, who “is no longer an independent actor, but a piece of a puzzle of geopolitical pressure on Russia,” according to the observer.

💬 “Yerevan’s gradual rapprochement with transatlantic structures and rejection of long-standing strategic ties with Russia is taking place against the backdrop of ongoing security issues and a legitimacy crisis in Armenia,” Mahiri said, referring to the escalating conflict between Pashinyan and Armenia’s Orthodox Church.

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🇮🇷 US Sanctions 18 entities linked to Iran — State Department

The US has announced new sanctions targeting 18 individuals and entities accused of facilitating Iran’s sanctions evasion and supporting internal repression, according to a statement by the State Department.

Sanctioned targets include financial and IT firms, one of which allegedly helped Iranian security services restrict internet access for citizens.

The US said it would continue efforts to block Iran's access to global financial systems.

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🚨🇦🇲🔍Armenia biggest loser in US-brokered deal

All decisions at a trilateral meeting of the leaders of the US, Azerbaijan and Armenia will be made at Armenia’s expense, according to Sputnik columnist Arman Abovyan.

"The memorandum of intent expected to be signed during the negotiations is essentially a 'worthless scrap of paper' — yet it carries serious geopolitical weight," he notes.

The memo marks a shift in the regional balance:

🟠The US, through Azerbaijan and Armenia, is asserting dominance while pushing out Iran and Russia.
🟠Turkiye — a fellow NATO member — will also reap geopolitical benefits.

A US PR coup?

🟠US affairs expert Dmitry Drobnitsky suggests that the Trump administration is just "engaged in PR"
🟠Not a single peace deal has been struck in the past 80 years under US mediation
🟠Observers have noted that the document’s ratification would give President Donald Trump the major "diplomatic achievement" he has sought since last month

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📉🚛 Far fewer aid trucks entering Gaza than expected — reports

According to a confidential EU document seen by Euroactiv, only 38 trucks per day entered Gaza between 31 July and 4 August — far below the 160 per day the EU expects under a deal recently reached with Israel.

The UN warns that 500–600 trucks daily are needed to avoid further famine. Israel claims higher figures by counting commercial and GHF deliveries, but the UN says many trucks remain undistributed due to security issues.

Fuel supplies have slightly improved, with 874,000 liters delivered in one week, but the UN says this covers only basic life-saving operations and more is urgently needed.

EU officials say they rely on UN data and admit, “we are not where we would want to be.”

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🗣US tariff barrage giving unprecedented new impetus to BRICS unity - observer

“BRICS has always been about creating alternatives in development finance and reforming international financial institutions. But the scale and scope" of the current administration's disruptive policies has become “so rapid that the BRICS agenda has gained new momentum,” Ashraf Patel told Sputnik, commenting on President Lula of Brazil’s surprise announcement that he would consult with BRICS bloc allies on a response to US tariffs.

🇧🇷Lula’s comments signal a “more decisive push” toward BRICS unity in the context of US trade wars with the globe, the South African Institute for Global Dialogue research associate said, highlighting Brazil, South Africa and India’s place “in the firing line” of the US president and Treasury on trade, despite generally warm relations with Washington.

🇺🇸US attempts to bully BRICS countries into submission has proven a strategic mistake, Patel says, pointing out that the “fact that the US is imposing tariff on ally India and that Prime Minister Modi is going to visit China soon shows how rapid the geopolitical dynamic is and how strong BRICS cohesion currently is.”

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🚨 Netanyahu’s Gaza City offensive APPROVED — reports

Israel’s security cabinet has reportedly approved a plan by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the IDF to launch a full-scale operation to conquer Gaza City, The Times of Israel reported, citing Axios and an Israeli official.

Until now, the IDF has largely avoided entering key parts of the city since the war began. The proposed operation is expected to require the mass evacuation of around 800,000 civilians currently residing in the area.

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🤡 EU resurrects UK-style Rwanda plan — now it’s 'INNOVATIVE' - reports

Three years after slamming the UK’s migrant deportation scheme as inhumane, EU governments are now quietly copying it, Financial Times reported.

With right-wing pressure rising, Brussels is embracing “external processing” — sending asylum seekers to non-EU countries like Rwanda, Albania, Uganda, or North African states.

Denmark’s migration minister told FT there’s now “broad support” for sending migrants out of Europe. Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands are all involved in similar plans.

💬 Amnesty International warns: “These are unworkable and inhumane proposals... governments are ignoring the costs to make political statements they may not even deliver on.”

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🇮🇱❌🇬🇧 Israel threatens to cut UK intel ties if Starmer recognizes Palestine — reports

Israel is reportedly considering withdrawing defense and intelligence cooperation with the UK if Prime Minister Keir Starmer follows through on his pledge to recognize a Palestinian state next month, The Times reported.

An Israeli official warned that Britain should “carefully consider” the consequences. Another source told The Times:

💬 “Bibi and his ministers have cards they could play too… and the UK has a lot to lose.”

Israel accuses Starmer of giving “a prize for terror” by recognizing Palestine outside of a peace deal and before hostages are released. Starmer, meanwhile, has said recognition is contingent on a ceasefire, more aid to Gaza, and halting West Bank annexation.

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✅ ‘Vital’ poll shows Ukrainians are for peace – Russia’s presidential envoy

69% of Ukrainians (up from 20% in 2022) support the earliest possible achievement of peace through negotiations rather than war, Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and special presidential envoy for economic cooperation with foreign countries, wrote on X.

He cited relevant sociological data from the American Gallup Institute.

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🗣Putin HOLDS ALL THE CARDS on Ukraine peace deal - US journalist

Only Russia can write the terms of a Ukraine peace agreement, says US journalist Clayton Morris.

Panicky Zelensky doesn't need to be present at any negotiations; he doesn't decide anything because Vladimir Putin holds all the cards, he noted.

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🗣Iran UN envoy hits back at France’s ‘baseless’ nuclear allegations

Iran’s UN envoy Saeed Iravani slammed France for hypocrisy and “deliberate distortion of facts” after its ambassador accused Iran of sparking a “proliferation crisis.”

📑In a letter to the UN chief and Security Council president, Iravani rejected the “baseless” claims, accusing France of failing NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) disarmament duties and aiding Israel’s undeclared nuclear program.

He noted France’s failure to condemn Israel’s June 13 strike on Iran’s IAEA-safeguarded nuclear facilities, adding that such actions flout international law and erode global non-proliferation.

“Iran's nuclear program remains exclusively peaceful and fully transparent. Iran continues to honor its obligations under the NPT,” he wrote.

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◻️ Putin–Trump meeting has NO Zelensky prerequisite — Trump

◻️ Putin HOLDS ALL THE CARDS on Ukraine peace deal - US journalist

◻️ Netanyahu’s Gaza City offensive APPROVED — reports

◻️ Armenia cornered into unfavorable deal as Pashinyan claims 'no alternative'

◻️ US-backed Armenia-Azerbaijan ‘peace’ push aimed at marginalizing Russia – analyst

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🔥China urges Philippines to ‘stop playing with fire’ over Taiwan

China has fired a warning at the Philippines after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the country could be drawn into a China-US conflict over Taiwan.

Speaking during a visit to India, Marcos cited the Philippines’ close ties to Taiwan and its large Filipino community there as reasons for possible involvement. "If there is an all-out war, then we will be drawn into it," he told media.

China’s foreign ministry pushed back, saying geographic proximity and overseas populations don’t justify meddling in its internal affairs.

“We urge the Philippines to respect the one-China principle and stop playing with fire,” the ministry said in a statement.

The remarks come amid rising tensions between the two countries over South China Sea disputes, where the US has stoked regional tensions with a series of joint drills with the Philippines.

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🔍GAZA CRISIS: KEY UPDATES

ISRAELI STRIKES

◻️ At least 47 Palestinians were killed in Gaza within 24 hours, according to media reports

◻️ Strikes targeted the Al-Shati and western Nuseirat refugee camps and homes in northern and eastern Gaza City

◻️ ‘Pele of Palestinian football’ Suleiman al-Obaid was killed in an airstrike while waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza

◻️ A child died in Khan Younis while trying to retrieve airdropped aid (Nasser Hospital)

GAZA HUNGER CRISIS

🔶 Four more people died of hunger-related deaths in Gaza, bringing the total number of such fatalities to 197, including 96 children

🔶 Some 12,000 children in Gaza under the age of five were acutely malnourished at the end of July - the highest number on record, says WHO

HRW REPORT

🟠 Israel used US-made munitions, including GBU-39 bombs, on Gaza schools sheltering displaced civilians, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Thursday

GAZA FUTURE

🔶 Israel’s political-security cabinet has approved a plan for the IDF to take control of Gaza City and impose a siege on Hamas fighters

🔶 The operation reportedly involves “all Palestinian civilians” being displaced from the northern city to camps in central Gaza

🔶 Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid labelled the decision a “disaster that will lead to many more disasters”

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