🇲🇩 'BLATANTLY DICTATORIAL' – Russian MFA spox on oppression of Moldova's opposition

💬 "Some say it's a failure of pro-Western forces, others say it's a triumph of Western powers. I believe it's a global failure of the West. Of course, it’s a failure. Because everything has been done so blatantly in a dictatorial manner that no one has the opportunity to argue otherwise," Maria Zakharova told Sputnik.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🚨EU moves $4.7B from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine

The EU has transferred €4 billion ($4.7 billion) from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, with another €2 billion earmarked for UAV production.

👉Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov warned earlie that countries and individuals involved in the illegal seizure of Russian property will face accountability.

👉The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly condemned this move as theft, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hinted at retaliatory actions, including withholding assets held in Russia by Western nations.

After the start of Russia’s special military operation in 2022, the EU and G7 froze nearly half of Russia’s foreign currency reserves, totaling about €300 billion, with €200 billion held in European accounts, primarily by Belgium's Euroclear.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🔊 Putin–Zelensky meeting can only be prepared through expert-level process – Kremlin

📍 Earlier, US President Donald Trump insisted that a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky was needed to settle the Ukraine conflict.

More statements by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov:

🟠 European Commission plans to give €2 billion to Ukraine for drones using frozen Russian assets are “theft”

🟠 Zelensky’s claims that Russia is damaging the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant are “stupid,” as it is a Russian-operated facility

🟠 Russia is doing everything possible to ensure the safety of the Zaporozhye NPP and remains in constant contact with the IAEA

🟠 Russia prefers to strengthen its armed forces while remaining a proponent of peace

🟠 Russian Armed Forces are sometimes forced to take “measures to maintain order” in response to provocations from European countries that disrupt navigation in the Baltic

🟠 High-level contacts between Russia and Ukraine cannot be prepared at this time, as Ukraine has put negotiations on hold

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

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

⚡️ VERBOVOYE IN THE DNEPROPETROVSK REGION LIBERATED

The liberation of Verbovoye marks another step towards expanding the Russian military’s foothold toward the Zaporozhye and Dnepropetrovsk regions.

🟠 Russian forces unleashed strikes on energy facilities, amphibious boat production workshops, and UAV launch sites used by the Ukrainian military-industrial complex.

🟠 Air defense superiority: 97 drones were shot down

🟠 Ukrainian losses: 1,495 troops killed or wounded

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇺🇸Florida congressman says federal workers should keep working during budget shutdown

Republican Florida Representative Mike Haridopolos argues that furloughed federal workers should go to work during the ‘shutdown’ caused by Democrats blocking the budget.

He said it was part of the “give and take” of having a public sector job.

💬“They’re very generous federal benefits versus a lot of people in the private sector,” Haridopolos told CNN “They should recognize when you’re a federal worker, that when they have these political events happening, that they know they’re going to be paid it on the backside.”

Congress members will still get their pay checks during the budget freeze.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🚨🇭🇺 Orban: No alternative to Russian oil for Hungary

Oil supplies from Russia via the Druzhba pipeline are of critical importance for Hungary, the country's prime minister said after arriving at the EU summit.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇷🇺 Russian forces hoist flag over Verbovoye in Dnepropetrovsk Region

▫️ The assault units from the 36th Army within the Vostok Battlegroup have liberated the settlement, gaining over 10 sq km of territory.

▫️ Capturing this town means that Ukrainian supply lines to Gulyaypole are now under threat and this could drive Kiev to make costly miscalculations in allocating resources.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇪🇺 EU summit to be ‘cage fight’ over Ukraine – Orban

💬 "Hungarians will not send money to Ukraine,” Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said, calling the upcoming informal EU summit in Copenhagen on Ukraine "dangerous" and a "cage fight."

He stressed that there is no European unity on Ukrainian EU membership, and it’s impossible without Hungary to make a decision.

“Hungarian reality is that this is not our war next door," Orban emphasized.

The Hungarian PM referenced statements from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the prime ministers of Poland and Sweden, Donald Tusk and Ulf Kristersson, claiming the EU is “in a state of war” and that pressure should be applied to Hungary to support Ukraine as well as Ukrainian EU membership.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇺🇸🇶🇦Trump makes security promise to Qatar

President Trump has signed an executive order pledging complete US military protection for Qatar—three weeks after the Israeli air raid on the capital Doha.

The order states that any attack on Qatar will be treated as a direct threat to US security, giving reassurance to the Gulf ally that hosts Washington’s largest Middle East military base.

That came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized for violating Qatari sovereignty—although he justified his attempt to kill Hamas leaders who had gathered to consider a US ceasefire proposal for Gaza.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🚨🇺🇸Vance to Democrats: ‘Stop holding economy hostage over healthcare’

US Vice-President JD Vance has called on Congress Democrats to end their opposition to the federal, accusing opponents of taking the economy "hostage" in demand of healthcare spending.

🗣With the White House offering to work with Senate Democrats, Vance urges: "Let's fix it, reopen the government, and do something for the American people."

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇵🇰🤝🇸🇦 Pakistan–Saudi Arabia military deal: Historic strengthening of ties

🔊 According to Majid Ehsan, president of the Islamabad Policy Research Institute, the recent military agreement between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is not just a diplomatic move, but a reflection of deeply rooted, decades-old relations between the two countries.

💬 "This agreement is going to play a very major role in ensuring the security of both the countries," he notes.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

💥 ISKANDER STRIKES: Russian missiles destroy Ukrainian drone convoy

In a precise strike near Lavy, east of Chernigov, Iskander-M tactical ballistic mussles and Geran-2 kamikaze drones obliterated 20 trucks carrying 100 long-range Lyutyi drones.

💣 The attack also killed or injured 60 Ukrainian troops, including drone operators and truck drivers.

Five more trucks went up in flames in a follow-up Geran-2 strike.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇫🇷Macron announces France is modernizing its nuclear doctrine

🗣"The French nuclear umbrella exists. I am currently working on updating our doctrine and want to deepen strategic dialogue with Europeans who wish it," French President Emmanuel Macron told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

👉Macron also announced that he would deliver a keynote speech on France's nuclear doctrine in early 2026.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇪🇺😰 Panic among European leaders drives calls for new missiles to Ukraine – expert

The increasing urgency in Europe’s calls for more advanced weapons is the result of growing anxiety over Russia’s persistence in achieving its goals and the ongoing conflict, Richard Sakwa, honorary professor of political science at the University of Kent, UK, told Sputnik at the XXII Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club.

👉 The panic among Western European leaders is evident, pushing them to advocate for the sale of advanced weapons like Tomahawk or Taurus missiles, Sakwa said. While these supplies have not yet materialized, if they do, it will mark another step in escalating the conflict, he added.

❗️Sakwa pointed out that European leaders are particularly rattled by the US administration’s approach, with President Donald Trump focused on finding a resolution to the Ukraine crisis. He further explained that the prolonged nature of the confrontation and apparent stalemate is pushing European leaders to take extreme measures, feeling as though they can no longer handle the situation.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt