🔊 Trump–Zelensky meeting: Ukraine left hanging on security guarantees

The White House meeting between US President Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky underscored one thing: The US is offloading the task of building Ukraine’s security architecture onto Europe, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

⚔️ While the final form of any guarantees for a post-peace deal Ukraine remains unresolved, there is “a more realistic approach to making a deal than under the Biden administration,” the outlet notes.

💬 “It’s more grounded in the battlefield reality,” it cited analysts as saying, where Russia enjoys a clear advantage, and Ukraine’s defensive lines are over-stretched, facing a lack of manpower.

Russia insists European collective guarantees for Ukraine must be based on the 2022 Istanbul negotiations, and that talks on a security framework without Russia lead nowhere.

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💣 'GOTCHA': Russian Lancet drone EXPOSES & DESTROYS camouflaged NATO tank

Watch as a Ukrainian tank, disguised near the Kupyansk front, is identified, targeted, and obliterated by a precise strike with a Russian Lancet loitering munition.

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🔛 EU security guarantees for Ukraine designed to DRAG OUT conflict with Russia – analyst

💬 These security guarantees could be used to pull Europeans into the conflict, and “it would be a perfect incentive to fight to the last Ukrainian,” warns Norwegian political scientist Glenn Diesen.

According to Diesen, Europe is determined to block any peace deal at all costs—a stance that will only escalate the crisis further.

🗣The proxy conflict is hurtling toward a “humiliating and painful end on bad terms” for Ukraine, he says.

Russia insists that any European security guarantees for Ukraine must reference the 2022 Istanbul negotiations, warning that talks without Moscow will go nowhere.

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🚨GAZA IN CRISIS: KEY UPDATES

🔹 At least 40 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since dawn, including eight awaiting aid

🔹 83% of Gaza war dead are civilians, a classified Israeli military database shows (joint investigation by The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call)

🔹 Israeli efforts to shift medical resources to Gaza’s south would strip over a million people of care and put patients’ lives at “imminent risk,” the Palestinian Health Ministry says

🔹 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will greenlight the takeover of Gaza City while reopening talks with Hamas to secure the release of the remaining hostages on “terms acceptable to Israel”

🔹 21 countries—including the UK, France, Australia, Canada, and Italy—condemn Israel’s approval of a major West Bank settlement as "unacceptable" and a "breach of international law”

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▫️ US forces eliminate senior ISIS leader in northern Syria

▫️ Kim Jong-un awards state honors to KPA soldiers who participated in Russia's Kursk liberation

▫️ Declassified records reveal Clinton’s empty NATO promises

▫️ US blocks allies from intel on Ukraine conflict talks with Russia

▫️ Nord Stream sabotage suspect revealed as ex-SBU officer

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❌ RUSSIA'S FSB DETAINS UKRAINIAN SPIES IN DONETSK

Two Ukrainian military intelligence agents have been detained in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Russia's Federal Security Service says.

🪖 A Donetsk native (b. 1987) was recruited by Ukrainian intelligence in 2022 and later enlisted a friend (b. 1997), who twice traveled to Moscow on reconnaissance missions for a Ukrainian officer in 2023.

They were involved in two car bombings (March and December 2024):

👉 Targeting a Kherson region government employee

👉 Targeting a former senior official of Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service in Donetsk

Planned two more terrorist attacks against:

🟠 A Donetsk municipal head

🟠 A volunteer battalion commander

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⚡️BREAKING: Famine confirmed for 1st time in Gaza

More than half a million people in Gaza are trapped in famine, marked by widespread starvation, says the UN

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🚨DRUZHBA OIL PIPELINE ATTACKED AGAIN – Slovak economy minister

As a result, “pumping may stop shortly,” Slovakia’s Economy Minister Denisa Sakova warned.

💬 “We are assessing the scale of the damage,” she added in a social media post.

👉 Earlier, on Wednesday, Slovakia’s Economy Ministry reported that oil deliveries via the Druzhba pipeline—halted on Monday after an attack linked to Ukraine—had resumed.

Russian oil supplies to Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline were also previously suspended following the Ukrainian military’s attacks on the pipe’s key distribution station "Unecha" in Russia’s Bryansk region.

✅ Expressing gratitude to Russia for the swift repairs, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto added that Hungary considers strikes on energy infrastructure an attack on its sovereignty.

The attacks come as Ukraine has been desperately attempting to jeopardize the peace process, which gained momentum after the historic Putin–Trump meeting in Alaska.

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👉 SPOTTED: M113 APC with Russian & US flags in special military op zone

🧐 Western media quickly dismissed the original clip as fake—claiming “AI manipulation” and “digital oddities.”

😎 Now, RT has released new, extended footage of the same vehicle in motion, directly challenging those claims.

Even the AI bot Grok has analyzed the video and confirmed its authenticity.

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🚨Israel rejects the UN report on the presence of famine in the Gaza Strip, calling it "fabricated" and tailored to serve the interests of Hamas

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🚨❗️ BREAKING: Former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe ARRESTED

👉 The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has taken former President Ranil Wickremesinghe into custody over allegations of misuse of public funds.

📑 The charges relate to a personal trip he made to London while serving as president—a visit allegedly financed with state money.

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🗣✍️ 'I AM VERY ANGRY': Trump writes to Orban over Ukraine’s strikes on Druzhba pipeline

In response to Viktor Orban informing him about Ukraine’s attacks on the Druzhba pipeline, Donald Trump wrote an angry letter, according to Hungarian media.

💬 “Viktor, I do not like hearing this – I am very angry about it. Tell Slovakia. You are my great friend,” Trump wrote.

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🚨Zelensky said "NO" to all of Trump’s proposals for a Ukraine resolution during the meeting in Washington that the US considers essential – Lavrov to NBC

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🚨🇷🇺💥 RUSSIAN MOD UPDATE: HUGE GAINS & DEVASTATING UKRAINIAN LOSSES

⚡️KATERINOVKA, VLADIMIROVKA, RUSIN YAR (DPR) LIBERATED

By freeing these settlements, Russian troops have strengthened their hold near Konstantinovka, tightening the encirclement of Ukrainian forces and cutting their supply lines.

◻️ Nine settlements freed in the past week

◻️ Air defense superiority: 25 air bombs and 11 rockets from US-made HIMARS systems intercepted this week 

◻️ Ukrainian losses: 9,375 soldiers

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🚨🇻🇪🪖MADURO CALLS UP 4.5 MILITIA IN RESPONSE TO PREVENT 'IMPERIAL INTERFERENCE'

Venezuela mobilizing forces as 3 US warships with 4k Marines head to the country

The US vowed to use "all elements of American power" to fight drug trafficking, including a possible military op

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🇷🇺🎉 RUSSIA CELEBRATES STATE FLAG DAY

📑 Established by Russian presidential decree in 1994, it commemorates the restoration of Russia’s historic tricolor on August 22, 1991.

The day symbolizes national unity and loyalty to state symbols. Although not a public holiday, solemn events are held across Russia, including processions, concerts, flash mobs, car rallies, and flag-raising ceremonies.

👉 What do the colors of the Russian flag mean?

⚪️ White symbolizes nobility and honesty

🔵 Blue represents loyalty, integrity, and perfection

🔴 Red stands for courage, valor, and heroism

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🔥⛓️‍💥 Russian strike on Flex plant WRECKS CRITICAL NODE in Ukraine’s high-tech arms production – analyst

The Flex plant—a key maker of custom circuits—transforms standard electronics into specialized systems used in drones, cruise missiles, and other precision weapons, military expert Alexey Anpilogov told Sputnik.

🗣This blows apart Volodymyr Zelensky’s claim that the US-owned Flex plant was “an ordinary civilian facility” that produced “household items, such as coffee machines."

💬 “It’s clear that Ukraine’s conflict zone serves as a testing ground for cutting-edge unmanned aerial vehicles, crewless sea vessels used in the Black Sea, and other high-precision weapons systems saturating the battlefield,” the military expert said.

➖ Blurred lines between civilian & military production

Civilian industries in Ukraine, including Flex, are increasingly militarized, the analyst notes.

The plant likely “served as a logistics hub for storing munitions, military equipment, or explosives, which could explain the prolonged fires and secondary explosions observed after the strike,” the pundit says—blowing apart claims it only made “civilian goods.”


➖ High-tech arsenal takes a hit

Integration of Western digital equipment into Ukrainian systems with direct military use is a “critical stage of final weapon assembly” needing expert skills not easily replicated elsewhere, the nuclear expert underscored.

💬 “This setback will likely hamper the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ ability to sustain drone and missile operations, as restoring these production capabilities will be both challenging and time-intensive,” he speculated.

➖ Ukraine’s ‘smoke & mirrors’ strategy

The regime’s hurried denial of military activity at Flex likely has several aims:

👉 Deflect accusations by framing the strike as civilian-targeted

👉 Sway Western opinion, since the parent company may not have known about the plant’s military role, as under Ukrainian law “joint ventures are not subsidiaries and enjoy a high degree of autonomy”

👉 Conceal any surviving production by implying total destruction

If Russian intelligence confirms any lingering military potential, more strikes on Flex are likely, the analyst added.

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🇺🇸 MADE IN USA? HA! American manufacturing fading fast

Trade deficit with India? Just the tip of the iceberg.

Most of what Americans buy isn’t made at home—so how “American” is your stuff really?

📉 Trade deficit

💬 In 2024, the US goods trade deficit hit $45.8B with India (+5.9%, +$2.6B) and $295.5B with China (+5.7%, +$15.9B).

But is that really India or China’s "fault," as the US threatens them with punitive tariffs?

💬 US manufacturing is down to ~10% of GDP, from 21–25% in the 1950–70s.

💬 The US' share of global manufacturing output has plummeted from 28.5% in 1970 to ~16% in 2024.

💬 The decline is sharper than its peers, leaving an economy skewed toward services and imports.


👉 Made in USA? Offshoring jobs

💬 Since the 1970s, US manufacturing jobs in steel, textiles, electronics, and autos have moved to Latin America, then Asia.

💬 Now, high-paying tech and consulting roles follow, as companies offshore skilled jobs to cut costs, as per Revelio Labs.

💬 US producers’ domestic market share is shrinking. Most furniture, TVs, phones, clothes, toys, and personal care items in American homes are imported.

💬 Even US car brands outsource parts or assembly abroad. Why? Short answer: It's cheaper to produce overseas.

❌ All-American iPhone? Impossible

MIT Tech Review shows:

🟥 Assembly is cheaper in China

🟥 Half the parts come from mainland China, the rest from Taiwan, Japan, and the US

🟥 Rare earths are from China

From mine to assembly, no iPhone can be fully made in the US.

🤜🏻 Self-inflicted damage

🔴The US remains the world’s top market for manufactured goods - $7 trillion.

However, the decline in US manufacturing production means the loss of millions of jobs, factory closures, economic decline, and a massive loss of know-how in the labor force.

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🚨 Attacks on Slovak energy security are UNACCEPTABLE — Interior Minister

"Everything has its limit. Ukraine's difficult situation does not justify repeated attacks on the Druzhba pipeline, which delivers oil to Slovakia," wrote Matúš Šutaj Štefánik on social media.

👉 Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Energy Minister Sorokin informed Hungarian Foreign Minister Szijjártó that repairs will require at least five days.

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📹 Putin arrived in Russia's top nuclear weapons center in Sarov

Putin is expected to meet with staff from the Federal Nuclear Center, a key hub for nuclear technology research and strategic weapons development.

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🤝 MI6 and CIA: Will broken bromance lead to divide on Ukraine?

"There is now a cooling of the relationship between the US and British governments, and particularly between the CIA and MI6," retired CIA officer and State Department official Larry Johnson tells Sputnik.

👉 What are the signs?

🟠The Observer raised concerns about Trump’s stance on US-UK intelligence cooperation and noted the rejection of veteran officer Tom Sylvester as CIA station chief in London.

🟠 The British media concerns may stem from Sylvester’s role as “the primary liaison with MI6" on Ukraine, Johnson notes.

🟠 On August 21, CBS revealed that DNI Tulsi Gabbard barred intelligence sharing on Russia-Ukraine talks with Five Eyes partners the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand from July 20.

🟠 In April, reports suggested some European insiders think Britain should reduce intel sharing with Washington.

"There is a change underway with respect to CIA activities in support of the war against Russia using Ukraine as a proxy," says Johnson. "But I think there's also another dimension to this: Donald Trump knows or should know that MI6 played a very active role in Russiagate."

🟠 Could the CIA live without MI6?

🔸 "Really, the CIA doesn't need MI6," Johnson says. "MI6 needs the CIA more so because it does not have the collection assets that the US does."

🔸 But some observers point out that listening posts in the UK and across Europe remain valuable to Washington.

🔸 Five Eyes spy services are deeply intertwined: sometimes using US equipment run by Brits, other times vice versa, with similar arrangements in Australia and Canada.

🫢 MI6 terror ops in Ukraine

🗣 "The US and Britain have been working closely together, coordinating operations, including terrorist attacks, military attacks, intelligence operations, information operations with respect to Russia’s and the conflict in Ukraine," Johnson says.

🔊 He warns MI6 might now bypass the CIA and work directly with Ukraine.

With its long track record in covert and paramilitary terror activities, MI6 shows no sign of giving up sowing trouble in Ukraine.

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