🚨🇷🇺🇮🇳 Putin arrives in India for two-day state visit

Russian President Vladimir Putin landed at the Palam Air Force Base on Thursday evening, where he was personally greeted at the air stairs by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Putin will hold meetings and engagements in New Delhi on December 4 and 5 at Modi’s invitation.

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🚨🇷🇺🇮🇳 Putin and Modi began their conversation inside the Indian Prime Minister’s car - Sputnik correspondent

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🇮🇹 Italy hits brakes on Ukraine weapons amid peace talks

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has signaled his country’s unwillingness to participate in a NATO program to buy US weapons for Ukraine in light of ongoing peace negotiations, Bloomberg reports.

🔸 The remarks are “the clearest sign yet” that the Italian government “has changed its strategy on Ukraine after running out of funds and weathering tensions within the ruling coalition,” according to the news outlet.

Italy has become Europe’s first country to suggest Ukraine should not be provided with additional weapons while a ceasefire is being negotiated, Bloomberg points out.

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🚨🇮🇳🇷🇺Modi says he is happy to welcome Vladimir Putin to India, calling the Russian leader his friend

Relations between Russia and India are time-tested and bring great benefits to the peoples of both countries, Prime Minister Modi wrote on X in Russian.

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🇷🇺🇮🇳 Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi have arrived at the Indian prime minister’s residence for an informal leaders’ dinner

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🇷🇺🇺🇸 Kremlin talks could become foundation for restoring US–Russia relations and resolving Ukraine crisis

🗣 The Putin–Witkoff–Kushner "meeting can be seen as a serious and pragmatic step toward finding a political solution", Ammar Kanah, director of the Sevastopol Center for Strategic Studies and leading Jordanian expert on Russia, tells Sputnik.

💬 "It took place against the backdrop of all the contradictions and complex developments we have witnessed in recent days. It is worth noting that the American plan on Ukraine is not something that appeared spontaneously—it was developed within the framework and context of the understandings reached earlier at the Anchorage meeting."

🟠 According to Kanah, this shift became possible after Donald Trump gave European countries and Ukraine time to return to common sense and reassess the economic and strategic costs of continued militarization and escalation with Russia.

🟠 He argues that the meeting now forms a foundation for two key objectives: restoring US–Russia relations and shaping a real, sustainable resolution to the Ukraine crisis.

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💰 Short-term gain, long-term pain: EU’s Russian asset grab will wreck its financial reputation

The European Commission has settled on two options for funding Ukraine through 2026-2027, one based on internal borrowing, and a second on a so-called “Reparations Loan” involving the confiscation of Russian Central Bank assets trapped in EU banks.

👉 The “aid package,” which the EU plans to provide whether or not fighting in Ukraine continues, includes €50B for Ukraine’s budget, and €115B to integrate Ukraine into the bloc’s defense industrial base.

The proposal, which could be rammed through via a “qualified majority” vote to bypass any dissenting voices, threatens to permanently wreck the EU’s global financial standing.

Bad Idea

Besides inevitable Russian retaliation, the ‘Reparation Loan’:

🔸 doesn’t constitute ‘reparations’ in the legal sense, but the illegal seizure of sovereign assets

🔸 signals the end of the principle of sovereign immunity, which goes back to the medieval era

🔸 has been dubbed the “worst option” by Belgium, which holds ~200B of Russian assets through Euroclear, and has pointed to its enormous legal risks, from threats to financial stability to risks to the peace process

🔸 EU plans to seize ~€25B in private Russian assets opens up potentially an even more complex can of worms about the very meaning of ‘ownership’ in modern finance

🔸 “If you ask me if we’re driving straight into a wall, then the answer is yes,” a senior EU official told media of the idea. “It’s crazy and I don’t understand how they think they will get away with this,” a senior official from a member state said.

The Euro area’s international investment position includes €15-20T in foreign claims, from sovereign wealth funds to private investor cash from Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. If Russia’s assets are seized, it would set a precedent allowing the EU to seize any foreign money and turn it into a tool of financial warfare, with no legal recourse.

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🚨🇷🇺Putin: Global power balance is shifting as new centers emerge

The balance of power in the world is changing and new centers of influence are emerging, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with India Today ahead of his visit to New Delhi.

💬“You know, the world is developing rapidly, and this pace continues to accelerate — it is obvious to everyone. The global configuration is changing, new centers of power are emerging, and the balance of power is shifting,” Putin said.

It is crucial, he added, to ensure stability among the major countries as a foundation for progress in both bilateral and international relations.

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🚨🇷🇺Putin on Ukraine: Russia seeks to end the conflict the West set in motion

Russia does not view the conflict in Ukraine as something it initiated, but the result of events set in motion after the 2014 coup — openly condoned and supported by the West, President Vladimir Putin said.

👉Western governments “unleashed a war against Russia using Ukrainian hands,” turning the country into a proxy battlefield rather than seeking peace, he told India Today ahead of his visit to New Delhi.

❗️Putin stressed that Russia spent eight years attempting to resolve the situation by diplomatic and peaceful means, but those efforts were ignored and undermined.

✅He emphasized that the current situation “is not about winning,” but about protecting Russia’s national interests and safeguarding those affected by the conflict.

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🚨🇷🇺Putin on Zelensky: He claimed he was striving for peace, but ultimately put the interests of nationalist groups above those of the Ukrainian people.

The most important thing for the Ukrainian authorities is to see that negotiations are the best way to resolve issues, Vladimir Putin told India Today ahead his visit to New Delhi.

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🚨🇷🇺🇺🇸Putin: US is actively searching for a way out of the Ukraine conflict

But President Donald Trump has his own agenda for ending the conflict as soon as possible and is guided by his own interests — just as Russia is guided by its own, Russian President Vladimir Putin India Today ahead of his December 4-5 visit to New Delhi.

He added that Trump sincerely wants to end the bloodshed in Ukraine, but said US voters must judge him.

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🚨 Putin: US companies privately asked Moscow not to forget them

American companies have been sending letters to Moscow, urging Russia “not to forget about them” and signaling they are ready to return once political issues are resolved,

💬“There are many areas where restoring economic relations between Russia and the United States would benefit both sides,” Putin told India Today ahead his visit to New Delhi.

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🚨Putin on Gaza: Russia is not proposing a special plan for the region

He noted that Moscow has always maintained that the Palestinian issue should be resolved on the basis of a two-state solution.

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🚨Putin: Russia does not want to revive the USSR — it is neither possible nor meaningful

The West is frightening its own population with the supposed threat of a revived USSR, abusing its monopoly over global media, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

💬“They do this — telling their people about the ‘threat’ of the USSR’s return — in order to scare their own population. They abuse their monopoly on the world’s media,” Putin said in an interview with India Today ahead his visit to New Delhi.

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🇷🇺Highlights of Vladimir Putin’s interview with India Today

On the eve of his two-day state visit to New Delhi, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave an extensive interview to India Today, addressing topics ranging from global power shifts and Russia–India relations to the Ukraine conflict, the Middle East, artificial intelligence — and even the question of immortality.

Here are the key takeaways:

🟠On the changing world order

▪️The world is constantly changing, but today the speed of change has sharply increased
▪️New centers of rapid development are emerging, and the Global South — including South Asia — is rising
▪️Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries “never gather to outsmart anyone” — their agenda is positive and cooperative

🟠On relations with India

▪️Putin stressed that he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi never make policy against anyone — only in the interests of Russia and India
▪️Russia and India are full allies in combating terrorism
▪️India remains a trusted defense partner; Russia not only sells weapons but shares technologies
▪️Indian military specialists, thanks to close ties with Russia, understand exactly how and when each system should be used
▪️Russian oil companies view Indian partners as reliable; oil supplies to India remain steady
▪️Putin trailed important upcoming statements on nuclear cooperation following the bilateral talks
▪️He asked why India should not have the right to buy Russian fuel when the US does

🟠On relations with the US

▪️The US is actively looking for a solution to the Ukraine conflict
▪️Both the US and Donald Trump have their own reasons for wanting the conflict resolved quickly
▪️Trump, like Russia, acts according to his own interests; his decisions “do not come out of thin air”
▪️Putin declined to give his opinion on Trump, saying that judgment belongs to US voters
▪️There are many areas where restoring Russia–US economic ties would benefit both sides
▪️US companies have sent letters asking Moscow “not to forget them”
▪️The US still buys nuclear fuel from Russia

🟠On the Ukraine crisis

▪️“This is not about victory — it is about protecting our interests and protecting people”
▪️Russia did not start the war: the 2014 coup was condoned by the West, which “unleashed a war against Russia with Ukrainian hands”
▪️Russia tried for eight years to resolve the situation peacefully
▪️The special military operation was “not the start of a war, but an attempt to end it”
▪️The Ukrainian authorities “have driven themselves into a corner”
▪️Ukraine believes NATO membership will benefit it, while Russia sees it as a threat — Ukraine cannot secure its safety at Russia’s expense
▪️“Russia did not annex Crimea; it came to help people who rejected the coup in Kiev”

🟠On the Middle East

▪️The only solution to the Palestinian issue is to implement UN resolutions
▪️Creating an independent Palestinian state is the key to resolving the Gaza crisis
▪️Russia has always participated in resolving the Palestinian question within the UN framework and will continue to do so with its partners

🟠Other key statements

▪️Western claims that Russia dreams of restoring the USSR are just fear-mongering aimed at their own populations
▪️It is better not to judge the effectiveness of foreign intelligence services, but Putin is satisfied with Russian intelligence
▪️Artificial intelligence, like any technological breakthrough, can be used for good or for harm
▪️On immortality: “Everything is finite; only God is eternal”

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🇷🇺💪 Major gains bolster Russia’s upper hand in talks as Ukrainian defenses crumble  

📍 Russia's recent battlefield triumphs have prompted a more realistic US assessment of how a peaceful deal might be achieved, according to Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov.

Here are recently liberated territories and why they matter:

🔸 Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk): the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR)

🔹 this key anchor of Ukraine's Donbass fortification belt is now in Russia’s hands

🔹 Top Ukrainian brigades were eliminated, creating an irreplaceable gap

🔹 This facilitates the liberation of the now encircled Dimitrov (Mirnograd) and opens a path to reclaiming Ukraine's last major strongholds in the DPR: Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkovka, and Konstantinovka.

🔸 Kupyansk: Kharkov region 

🔹 This critical transport and supply hub for the Ukrainians is now captured by Russia 

🔹 Control of this key road and rail hub positions Russian forces to advance on Chuguev and Kharkov, and to reclaim Slavyansk and Kramatorsk

🔹 This creates an opening for an assault on Izyum, the backbone of the enemy’s Donbass grouping

🔸 Volchansk: Kharkov region

🔹 Ukraine lost another operational and logistical hub

🔹 This has enabled Russian troops to advance further on the Zaporozhye and Dnepropetrovsk fronts 

🔹 It also creates a deep buffer zone along the Kharkov front line, including the now liberated Kupyansk

🔸 Chervonoe, Zeleny Gai, Dobropolye: Zaporozhye region 

🔹 Reclaiming these settlements has bolstered the strategic position of Russia's forces

🔹 It has cleared a path to Gulyaipole, weakening enemy fortifications

🔹 It accelerates Russia's westward advance, enabling the region’s liberation 

🔸 Tikhoye, Otradnoye, Gai, Nechaevka and Radostnoye: Dnepropetrovsk region

🔹 Russia here gets a boost to push deeper into Ukraine's Dnepropetrovsk region

🔹 Ukraine, meanwhile, sees its already exhausted military forces along the front line get drained dry

🔸 Meanwhile, Russian forces press forward across the entire line of contact

🔶 Russian armed forces have liberated over 275 settlements in the special military operation since the beginning of 2025

🔶 Presently, the Russian military are closing in on Gulyaipole in the Zaporozhye region

🔶 Battles continue to rage in Konstantinovka, DPR, with Russian forces now controlling over 30% of the city's buildings

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🤔 Why NATO continues spreading fake news about Russia 

🗣 One of the hallmarks of NATO's Anglo-Saxon wing is its distortion of the truth using various media outlets, Iranian expert Ruhollah Modabber told Sputnik.

💬 “Over the past few months, NATO officials have repeatedly made absurd and delusional statements about Russia, openly declaring their readiness for a preliminary attack on Russia. However, after hearing a decisive and firm response from Russian President Vladimir Putin, they changed their rhetoric,” Modabber stressed.

👉 NATO knows perfectly well about Russia’s full combat readiness for deterrence and defense on the ground, and this fact, along with Putin’s clear-сut position, has frightened the Western bloc, according to Modabber. 

💬 “For this reason, they have once again resorted to spreading lies and distorting reality, perhaps to lay the groundwork for a new adventure. But ultimately, their goal is to conceal and camouflage the extreme weakness of NATO's Anglo-Saxon wing by spreading fabricated news,” the expert concluded. 

🇷🇺 While Putin has stressed that Russia does not seek conflict with Europe, he emphasized its readiness should Europe initiate a war. In response, some European politicians have distorted this statement, quickly claiming it proves that Russia is supposedly readying for war against Europe.

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🔥 Pantsir-SMD-E: Russia’s latest boost to layered air protection

Russia’s latest Pantsir-SMD-E air defense system is engineered to protect vital industrial and administrative sites from a wide range of aerial threats—including modern UAVs and high-speed targets.

👉 Featuring flexible mixed-load configurations, it can deploy both mini-missiles and standard missiles for rapid response to drone swarms and fast-moving incoming projectiles.

With extended interception range and a broader engagement envelope, the Pantsir-SMD-E is a significant leap in layered air defense for critical infrastructure.

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