🚨🇸🇾🇷🇺 Syria seeks to relaunch its comprehensive ties with Russia, focusing on stability in the country and the region, President Ahmad al-Sharaa said during talks with Vladimir Putin.

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🤝💪🏻 OPEC+ celebrates strong partnership with Russia, eyes 10-year anniversary

At Russian Energy Week, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman emphasized that peace and the end of wars are key to global energy stability.

OPEC Secretary-General Haitham Al Ghais, in turn, praised the strong partnership with Russia, highlighting nearly a decade of productive OPEC+ cooperation.

💬 "We stay away from the noise. We stay focused on the business," Al Ghais said, calling Russia a solid and reliable partner since 2017.

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🇺🇸US gov't shutdown could cost up to $15 billion a day, US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent warns

The numbers are already starting to hurt the economy, he said.

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🪖💪🏻🇷🇺 Russian flag raised over liberated Alekseyevka

Russian Defense Ministry has released footage confirming full control of the Alekseyevka settlement in the Dnepropetrovsk region.

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🇺🇸🇨🇳US won’t harm China — and expects reciprocity from Beijing

Washington doesn’t aim to harm China’s economy — and believes Beijing feels the same, said US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

💬"We don't believe that they want to damage ours, but they are a command and control economy, and they are going to neither command nor control us, and we're going to assert sovereignty," he told CNBC.

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🇷🇺🇸🇾 Russia and Syria to deepen cooperation on energy, infrastructure, and humanitarian aid

The two nations are to hold an intergovernmental commission meeting soon, Deputy PM Alexander Novak announced following the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian Interim President Ahmen al-Sharaa in Moscow.

Moscow is ready to help rebuild Syria’s infrastructure and resume work on its oil fields, while Damascus seeks Russian wheat and medicines to support recovery efforts.

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🇺🇸🇨🇳Bessent: 85 US senators ready to back 500% tariff on China over Russian oil

💬"Eighty-five US senators are willing to give President Trump the authority to put up to 500% tariffs on China for the purchase of Russian oil. We are told that the European Parliament will not pass a similar measure," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said during a press conference.

He added that Europe must act first before Washington moves.

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🚨 🇦🇫 🇵🇰 48-hour ceasefire between Afghanistan and Pakistan

Following the Taliban’s request, a 48-hour ceasefire began at 5:30 pm Kabul time, confirmed spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid:

💬 “All our forces are ordered to observe it — unless fired upon.”

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry also confirmed the truce, saying both sides will make “sincere efforts to find a positive and constructive solution” to the ongoing border tensions.

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🇷🇺🇺🇸Trump’s Tomahawk remarks don’t affect what was discussed in Alaska - Lavrov

💬“None of his statements about the Tomahawks affect what was conceptually discussed in Alaska — I’d even say, conceptually and practically,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Russian media.

His other statements:

▪️ Russia still awaits a concrete US response to the results of the Alaska talks

▪️ Moscow is ready at any time to discuss practical issues with Washington at various levels, building on what was achieved at the Alaska summit

▪️ Possible Tomahawk deliveries to Ukraine would deal a colossal blow to prospects for the normalization of Russia–US relations

▪️ Russia took note of FT reports that the US supplies intelligence to Kiev for strikes on Russian territory — Moscow has requested clarification from Washington

▪️ Working contacts between Russia and the US continue through various channels, but no high-level meetings are planned yet

▪️ US special envoy Keith Kellogg calls to “seal off” the conflict in Ukraine

▪️ Witkoff is a reasonable man — Moscow would welcome if he shows his talents in Ukraine as he did in the Middle East

▪️ The US president’s wife plays a useful role in the Ukrainian conflict, particularly regarding the return of children

▪️ Russia awaits a response to its proposals on modernizing the Istanbul process on Ukraine — so far, complete silence

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🇮🇳🇷🇺 India begins paying for Russian oil in yuan

Delhi has started settling some oil payments in Chinese yuan, Russian Deputy PM Alexander Novak confirmed.

However, the share of yuan payments remains small — most transactions are still carried out in rubles.

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🚨Europe wants to turn Ukraine conflict into 'Trump's war'

💬“Europeans want the war to become ‘Donald Trump’s war’. That would be like ‘balm for their souls.’ Right now, they don’t know how to steal our [Russian] reserves. It seems they’ve even persuaded the Belgians that — as we say in the criminal world, ‘on the principle of collective responsibility’ — they’ll share the blame. French President Macron said he would never allow this, because it’s theft. At least there’s some understanding left in the Élysée Palace,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Russian media.

Lavrov also mocked Western claims about Russian drones and shadow fleet tankers, saying they “can’t even fly that far” and that Europe is “ready to sacrifice its own economy just to make Russia suffer.”

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🇲🇩Rutte just made it official: NATO is in 'close cooperation' with Moldova

NATO chief Mark Rutte said there is close cooperation between NATO and Moldova, praising Maia Sandu’s leadership but refusing to share details:

💬“This is an open press conference — I know Putin’s listening, so I don’t want to make him too wise.”

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🚨NATO politicians 'BEATING THEIR CHESTS' with empty threats

💬“NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte — another great ‘strategist’ — is joining the chorus. This is already a clear provocation. He said there is ‘a high probability that China will force its junior partner, Russia, to go against NATO to distract their attention.’ Meaning, to divert attention from whatever China is supposedly planning ‘there,’ while we act ‘here.’ And there are plenty of such statements,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Russian media.

Lavrov also criticized EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas for doubting that Russia and China jointly defeated Nazism in WWII:

🗣“And this is the head of European diplomacy! And you ask if diplomacy still has a chance?”

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🚨Gaza peace principles ignored when it comes to Ukraine conflict

The Sharm el-Sheikh declaration on Gaza highlights Western double standards, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Russian media.

👉He noted the document’s “golden words” about respect for the rights of Palestinians and Israelis, tolerance, and the fight against extremism, but asked why the same values aren’t extended to Russians in Ukraine.

Lavrov added that even US envoy Tom Barrack’s call for a federal system in Syria mirrors the ideas of the Minsk Agreements — principles, he said, that the West refuses to apply in Ukraine.

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🇺🇸Speaker Johnson slams 'No Kings' protest as 'Hate America Rally'

👉House Speaker Mike Johnson has blasted the upcoming “No Kings” protests planned for Saturday against the Trump administration, calling them a “Hate America rally.”

❗️He said the demonstrations would feature “pro-Hamas supporters, Antifa types, and Marxists,” and insisted that “the American people are not stupid — they see what’s going on.”

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