🛢🇷🇺 West’s sanctions ‘failed miserably’ against Russia’s oil trade

📍 Russia has deep experience in selling its oil “even under the most atrocious Western sanctions,” Dr Mamdouh G. Salameh, an international oil economist and a global energy expert, tells Sputnik.

🟠 He agrees with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, who told a briefing for Indian media organized by Sputnik India ahead of President Vladimir Putin’s official visit to India that Russia is successfully ensuring that its buyers have access to reliable supplies of energy products.

🟠 Western sanctions have “failed miserably to make even a small dent on both Russia’s economy and its oil and gas exports,” Dr Salameh says.

🇺🇸 US tariffs against India will be powerless to affect its energy partnership with Russia, he believes, since India’s decisions prioritize its national interests.

💬 “The India-Russian partnership is underpinned by trust, mutual benefits and huge gratitude by India towards Russia which has always stood solidly behind India and aided its struggle for independence since the days of the USSR,” the expert notes.

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🚨🇺🇸 Trump said the US is no longer bankrolling the Ukraine conflict — and slammed Biden for “handing out money like candy.”

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🚨 Putin on Black Sea attacks: This is PIRACY and Russia will respond

🇷🇺 President Vladimir Putin sharply criticized the recent attacks on ships in the Black Sea, calling them outright piracy. He outlined Moscow’s possible response and warned that continued Ukrainian strikes will carry serious consequences.

Key points:

🔶 Putin labeled the attacks on vessels in the Black Sea as piracy.

🔶 Russia will consider response measures against ships belonging to countries that assist Ukraine in conducting such attacks.

🔶 He noted that previous Russian responses targeted vessels delivering ammunition used for strikes on Russian ports.

🔶 Moscow will expand the scope of strikes on ports and ships entering Ukrainian harbors if attacks on Russian vessels continue.

🔶 Putin expressed hope that Russia’s response to Ukrainian “piracy” in the Black Sea will make the Kiev regime reconsider whether it is worth continuing these practices.

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🚨🇺🇸Trump: The US will soon begin targeting suspected drug traffickers ON LAND as well as at sea, declaring that authorities “know where they live” and “know the routes they take.”

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🔸 Putin hosts Witkoff, Kushner at the Kremlin

🔸 Putin on Pokrovsk: A key stronghold and an open invitation to doubters

🔸 Real US goal in Venezuela is oil — former Argentinian diplomat

🔸 Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov made some BIG REVELATIONS ahead of Putin’s visit to India

🔸 Former EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini detained for fraud

🔸 West’s sanctions ‘failed miserably’ against Russia’s oil trade

🔸 EDEX 2025 exhibition: Day 2

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🤝 Negotiations between President Vladimir Putin and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff are ongoing in the Kremlin, having already extended beyond 3 hours.

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🇺🇸🇻🇪The US has “only just begun” sinking suspected drug-running boats in the Caribbean, War Secretary Pete Hegseth said, adding the military even paused operations because “it’s hard to find boats to strike right now.”

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🤝 Trump and Lula hold 'great' call

President Trump described his conversation with Brazilian President Lula da Silva as a "great talk," confirming they discussed trade, sanctions, and security.

Key outcomes from the call:

▫️ US will remove 40% tariffs on Brazilian products like meat, coffee, and fruits

▫️ Both agreed to review remaining tariffs to accelerate bilateral trade negotiations

▫️ Lula emphasized expanding joint efforts to combat transnational criminal organizations

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🚨 The meeting between Vladimir Putin and Steve Witkoff ended

It lasted nearly 5 hours.

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🗣 'Productive': Presidential Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev's assessment of the US-Russia talks at the Kremlin

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🗣 There is still a lot of work to be done — Ushakov on the results of the talks between Putin and Witkoff

According to the Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov, the two sides discussed the essence of the US plan for settlement rather than specific proposals.

Russia and the US have agreed not to disclose the substance of the talks.

Vladimir Putin told the American delegation that Russia could agree to some parts of the US plan, but that some parts caused criticism.

The sides declared their readiness to continue working together to reach a deal on Ukraine.

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🎥🎥 Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov briefs media after Putin–Witkoff talks

👉 Watch live in our Telegram

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📑 Honduras election in chaos: Nasralla takes thin lead amid system failures

Salvador Nasralla has pulled ahead of Trump-backed candidate Nasry Asfura by just 0.16% with 60% of votes counted, following a total system failure that halted results for over a day.

💬 Trump earlier warned on Truth Social: "If they try to change the results, there will be hell to pay!"

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✍️ Trump declares all Biden 'autopen' documents void

"Anyone receiving 'Pardons,' 'Commutations,' or any other Legal Document so signed, please be advised that said Document has been fully and completely terminated," he wrote on Truth Social.

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📑 Trump sends handwritten letter to Syria's Al-Sharaa: 'You will be a great leader'

President Trump sent a personal note to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa via US envoy Tom Barrack, reaffirming strong US support and declaring:

"Ahmed, you will be a great leader, and the United States will help."

The letter coincides with high-level talks on Israeli military incursions — an issue Trump raised directly with Netanyahu.

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🚨 Rep. Luna forces vote to ban Congress stock trading

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna filed a discharge petition to bypass leadership and force a floor vote on banning members of Congress from trading stocks, exposing the "legalized corruption" scheme.

◼️ Both parties publicly support reform but privately kill it behind closed doors.

◼️ Members beat market returns by 12% annually — information that would jail ordinary Americans.

◼️ Example: Paul Pelosi bought $5M in Nvidia options weeks before CHIPS Act passed.

◼️ This year, 27 members violated weak disclosure rules; penalty: only $200.

The petition needs 218 signatures to force a vote. Luna is calling Congress’s bluff: publicly defend insider trading or ban it.

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🗣There has been no talk of a New Year's ceasefire in the special operations zone, Peskov said

According to him, a different process is currently underway.

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🗣 Rubio blasts 'unlimited Ukraine funding' crowd: 'That is not reality'

Secretary of State Marco Rubio scorched politicians and media pushing for endless Ukraine war funding, calling their stance detached from reality.

"Some of these people think our policy should be funding Ukraine at unlimited amounts for as long as the war takes. That’s not reality," he told Fox News.

He commended President Trump for pursuing an end to the war rather than fueling endless conflict.

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💬 Brussels prolong Ukraine war to forge military alliance — EU MP

Luxembourg MEP Fernand Kartheiser accused EU leaders of deliberately blocking a peace deal in Ukraine to advance their own political integration agenda.

"Some European leaders are seeking to prolong the conflict in order to transform the EU into a military alliance and turn the Commission into the government of a unified European federal state — without any consent from member states," Fernand told RIA Novosti.

▫️ EU ignores ground reality, backs Kiev's most radical demands

▫️ Applies territorial integrity double standards (ignores Serbia, Cyprus)

▫️ Uses prolonged conflict to bypass treaty changes and force federalization

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