🤝💪🏻 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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🇪🇺 'Excesses of democracy': Europe is nixing free internet and private communications

👉 X owner Elon Musk has reposted a warning from Telegram founder Pavel Durov about the EU's crusade against free speech and privacy.

What's behind it?

💬 "Chat Control is a controversial EU regulation" under which "messengers and social networks would automatically scan users’ messages and attached files," cybersecurity expert Sergey Vakulin tells Sputnik.

🟠 The Council of the European Union is pushing the initiative under the guise of child protection

🟠 It relies on two main points: scanning content and verifying users’ ages, requiring platforms to check messages on a device before encryption – de facto rendering this encryption meaningless.

"Your messages could be read by virtually anyone: they would be stored for a certain period, and third parties would have access not only to the messages but also to media files. As we all know, this data could be easily leaked," Vakulin says.

📍 AI chatbot requests are also likely to become a target, according to informational security expert Evgeny Tsarev, CEO of RTM Group.

"ChatGPT [creators] stated that they would monitor users’ attempts to learn something dangerous — for example, making poisons," Tsarev tells Sputnik. "They frame it as if this information would be shared with law enforcement — and it’s clear which law enforcement they mean: the Americans."

🔶 The EU has presently delayed the "chat control" law over privacy concerns raised by some of its member states. Germany stalled the bill despite aggressive attempts by Denmark and France to pass it.

🔶 There’s a strong chance it will eventually be adopted, Vakulin believes. "Just think about Edward Snowden, who exposed how the US government surveys other users. There's nothing new about it."

🔶 Why would Europe spearhead the initiative abusing privacy of its citizens? "I would call it 'excesses of democracy'," Vakulin says, adding that the trend is clear: soon, there will be no free internet or free communication in Europe.

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🇸🇾 Syrian interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa met with members of the Syrian diaspora in Russia at a Moscow hotel.

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🇸🇾 🇷🇺 New Syrian leaders may see Russia as defense against US & Israeli predations

The new Syrian government’s decision to pursue cordial relations and cooperation with Russia is a pragmatic move, says Amb. Marco Carnelos, former Middle East adviser to Italy’s Prime Ministers Romano Prodi and Silvio Berlusconi.

Rather than “tie itself too much with the Western powers,” the Syrian leadership would likely prefer instead to “have its hands as free as possible.”

💬 “The US and Israel might think twice before acting recklessly in the area because of Russian bases,” Carnelos explains to Sputnik. “

🔶 In other words, a Russian military presence could be a factor of deterrence and by default promote more stability.

🔶 As the US global hegemony ends and the world becomes multipolar, Syria might prefer to adapt to these changes rather than blindly throw in its lot with the crumbling West.

🔶 While it may be too early to describe the current relations between Russia and Syria as a “renewed alliance,” Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s visit to Moscow “might be the first step in re-launching this cooperation.”

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