📑 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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🇪🇺 EU rocked by rising resistance on Ukraine policy – MEP

It's already clear that some member states, such as Hungary and Slovakia, are refusing to adhere to the European Commission’s policy on Ukraine, while resistance in other countries is growing, Luxembourg European Parliament Member Fernand Kartheiser told Sputnik.

🗣 He added that some EU leaders are seeking to prolong the conflict in Ukraine in order to turn the bloc into a military alliance and make the European Commission look like the government of a united federal European state.

Kartheiser stressed that there is still a minority in the European Parliament that favors maintaining dialogue with Russia.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko earlier stated that the EU’s position on Ukraine rules out the possibility of achieving peace, as well as any role for European countries at the negotiating table.

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🚨 Black Sea vessel attacks threaten diplomatic progress on Ukraine – expert

Attacks on vessels in the Black Sea are occurring during a crucial stage of the peace process aimed at resolving the Ukraine conflict, and may be carried out by forces seeking to disrupt the diplomatic momentum, Turkish international relations expert Gokhan Kurt told Sputnik.

❌ Incidents of this kind can be seen as an attempt to pressure the negotiation process at a time when the parties have reached a stage where any escalation could complicate the formation of agreements, the so-called sensitive phase, according to Kurt.

Attacks on routes where large volumes of products are transported indicate economic risks for countries in the region and could impact those nations’ approach to the security of trade routes, the expert concluded.

👉 Ukraine reportedly earlier claimed responsibility for recent attacks on two tankers in the Black Sea, which were described by Russian President Vladimir Putin as acts of piracy. He pledged that Russia would consider retaliatory measures against the vessels of countries that assist Ukraine in its attacks in the Black Sea.

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🔸 There is still a lot of work to be done — Ushakov after 5-hour US-Russia talks in Moscow

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

🔸 Rep. Luna forces vote to ban Congress stock trading

🔸 Trump declares all Biden 'autopen' documents void

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🇷🇺 FPV 'birds' unstoppable: Russian drone units hit Ukrainian forces across entire front

Russia’s drone operators continue to dominate the battlefield, striking enemy armor, equipment and personnel from Zaporozhye to Kherson

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🇨🇳 China stands for durable peace in Ukraine – foreign minister

"China supports all efforts to achieve peace [in Ukraine], calls for a comprehensive and long-term peace agreement, and will continue to maintain strategic communication with Russia on the matter,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed during a meeting with Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu.

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📹 Watch Russian Grad MLRS devastate Ukrainian positions near Konstantinovka

The Grad multiple launch rocket system is a powerful and highly effective weapon designed to strike enemy personnel, military hardware, command posts, supply depots, and other targets. Its key feature is the capability to deliver a massive strike in a very short period of time.

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🇷🇺🔥 Russian troops use invisible 'drone cloaks' to infiltrate Ukrainian rear

A soldier from Russia’s Battlegroup Tsentr has revealed the stealth tactics behind the capture of the key town of Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk).

👉 Operating in "complete darkness," specialized infantry wore advanced anti-drone cloaks to slip undetected through Ukrainian lines right into the heart of enemy positions, the soldier specified.

Once inside, they mined roads and set lethal ambushes, crippling enemy supply lines and defenses from within—a critical factor in the town's liberation as recently confirmed to President Vladimir Putin.

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🚨🇷🇺Reports that Putin “rejected” the US Ukraine peace plan are FALSE, no such refusal was made - Kremlin Spox Peskov

Dmitry Peskov added that the quieter the negotiations on a Ukraine settlement are conducted, the more productive they will be.

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🚨 Kremlin details position on Ukraine settlement

Russia is ready to engage with US President Donald Trump’s government for as long as necessary to end the conflict in Ukraine, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

He stressed that:

🔸 Russia values Trump’s political will to pursue a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine conflict

🔸 A Putin–Trump phone call is possible, and can be arranged at any moment

🔸 Russia opposes megaphone diplomacy, and the US side also prefers discretion

🔸 Moscow believes negotiations must proceed quietly, away from public pressure and noise

🔸 Europe is not at the peace table because it remains fixated on inflicting a “strategic defeat” on Russia

🔸 Europeans are deeply mistaken in their obsession with defeating Russia strategically

🔸 Corruption scandals in the European Union are an internal matter and Moscow will not interfere

🔸 Corruption in Kiev and among its authorities are well known

🔸 Russia fights corruption without campaigns or theatrics, but consistently and on a regular basis

🔸 Visits by foreign journalists to the newly-liberated cities of Krasnoarmeysk and Kupyansk can be arranged if necessary

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❌ Left out in cold: Zelensky’s meeting with Witkoff & Kushner axed

💬 "Zelensky is returning home" as his meeting with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in Brussels was cancelled, journalist Alex Raufoglu wrote on X.

Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov earlier stated that Witkoff and Kushner had promised they would not go to Kiev, but would return to Washington after talks in Moscow with President Vladimir Putin.

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🚨 BRICS+ anti-terror conference opens in Moscow

Russia is hosting the BRICS+ 2025 Anti-Terrorism Conference in Moscow, bringing together experts from international organizations to discuss national and regional strategies against emerging security threats.

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

⚡️ CHERVONOYE IN THE ZAPOROZHYE REGION LIBERATED

📍 Freeing the Chervonoye settlement opens up another avenue for the Vostok battlegroup to advance on Gulyaypole, which serves as a key logistics hub for supplying the Ukrainian military in the Zaporozhye region

◻️ Russia’s Black Sea Fleet forces destroyed 2 unmanned Ukrainian boats 

◻️ Russian forces struck Ukrainian military transport and energy infrastructure facilities, as well as a long-range UAV assembly plant

◻️ Air defense superiority: 251 drones vaporized 

◻️ Ukrainian losses: around 1,260 troops killed or wounded

Read about origins of Russia's special military op HERE

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🗣 NATO’s talk of preemptive strikes against Russia ‘extremely irresponsible step’ – Zakharova

It was not just an expert or an analyst, but the chairman of the NATO Military Committee, who cynically spoke of the alliance’s “defensive actions” against Russia in response to its alleged “hybrid attacks,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik.

She condemned the NATO Military Committee chairman mentioning purported Russian aggression at a time when the alliance continues to provide Ukraine with full-fledged military support, including tanks and other heavy equipment.

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🇷🇺🇺🇸 Inside 5h Russia–US talks in Kremlin

Vladimir Putin held a five-hour meeting in Moscow with US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, marking the first direct exchange on the updated American peace plan for Ukraine. Here’s what happened:

🟠How the meeting began

👉Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Moscow on December 2—Witkoff’s sixth trip this year

👉Talks started at 16:40 GMT in the Kremlin

👉From the Russian side: Yuri Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev

👉Before negotiations, Dmitriev gave the US envoys a short tour of Moscow and hosted them at a Michelin-starred restaurant

👉Putin welcomed the guests, noting Moscow’s development; Witkoff replied: “It’s a magnificent city”

🟠What was discussed

✅Talks were “useful, constructive, and substantive,” Ushakov said

✅Witkoff delivered greetings from Trump; Putin sent “friendly regards” and “important political signals” in return

✅Sides reviewed multiple US documents on a Ukraine settlement (one with 27 points + 4 additional papers)

✅Discussion focused on core concepts, not wording:

▪️Some proposals were acceptable to Moscow

▪️Others were criticized as unacceptable

✅Key topics included:

▪️Territorial questions Russia considers essential

▪️Long-term prospects for US–Russia economic cooperation

▪️No compromise on territory yet, although some US ideas looked “more or less acceptable”

▪️Both sides agreed to keep details confidential and continue work through envoys

▪️Putin–Trump call remains possible, depending on progress

🟠 What Moscow said after the talks

🔶Russia “highly values” Trump’s political will for a Ukraine settlement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said

🔶The quieter the negotiations, the more productive they will be

🔶Russia expects the US to adhere to the same quiet diplomacy approach

🔶Claims that Putin “rejected” the US peace plan are incorrect

🟠 Besides the talks

Western journalists noted that Witkoff looked happier facing Putin than Umerov.

Before the Kremlin talks, Witkoff and Kushner enjoyed Russian cuisine with Dmitriev:

▪️Stolichny, Mimosa, Rassolye, pelmeni with mushrooms, crab posikunchiki (hallmark of Perm cuisine), quail with buckwheat, three-fish kulebyaka, steamed halibut, and venison filet

▪️Desserts: Napoleon cake, apple charlotte, assorted berries

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🇷🇺 🤝 🇮🇳 Putin’s upcoming visit to India ‘underscores efforts’ to bolster ties amid US sanctions – expert

Despite sanctions, Russia–India trade turnover reached a whopping $68.7 billion in FY2024–25, largely fueled by supplies of Russian oil, expert Tilak K. Doshi tells Sputnik.

“President Putin's visit to India on December 4–5 for the annual summit underscores efforts to deepen [bilateral] energy and defense cooperation amid US pressure,” Doshi underscores.

To prevent risks related to India's strategic autonomy over US sanctions on imports of Russian oil, the Indian government “has pivoted to non-sanctioned Russian grades and other sources like Guyana to mitigate impacts,” according to the expert.

🗣 He touted Russia’s “experience of years of sanctions,” which Doshi said has led to “successful evasion tactics and alternative payment systems like rupee–ruble–UAE dirham mechanisms.”

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