🗣 Zelensky’s ‘elections’ gambit designed to muddy the waters of Trump’s peace push - analyst

🔊 “It’s obvious that he’s trying to evade Trump’s demands to sign an agreement by December 25 ceding certain territories and agreeing to the proposals in Trump’s plan,” military analyst Viktor Litovkin told Sputnik, commenting on Zelensky’s conditional agreement to elections after criticism from Trump.

“Holding presidential elections requires a decision by the Verkhovna Rada [parliament, ed.], a preparatory period, and so on. This, as Zelensky himself says, would require 90-150 days,” Litovkin pointed out.

👉 On top of that, Zelensky’s demands for a ceasefire during the vote are an absolute non-starter for Russia, the observer said.

“Russia has stated that we will cease fire on one condition: if he withdraws his troops from the territories enshrined in Russia’s constitution, including Zaporozhye and Kherson, which he categorically refuses to do. This means there will be no elections and no ceasefire,” Litovkin explained.

Litovkin recalled that Russia already agreed to a ceasefire once, when, during the Istanbul negotiations in 2022, “the Ukrainian side demanded that we withdraw our troops from Ukrainian territory because ‘agreements aren’t signed with a gun to your head’. We did so, and they immediately decided to continue hostilities.”
Giving this history, Litovkin sees Zelensky’s latest schemes as “the tricks of a petty crook that Russia will never agree to.”

As for Zelensky’s proposals for a referendum in the conflict area, that too is a no-go for Moscow, Litovkin says, because Russia has already held referendums in the regions, and people voted to join Russia.

💬 “Behind all these ideas lies only one thing: they want to turn their defeat on the battlefield into victory in the diplomatic arena,” the observer emphasized. “Trump already told Zelensky the first time he was at the White House that he doesn’t have any trump cards. They’re in Russia’s hands,” the observer summed up.

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🚨🇺🇸 Two US soldiers and one civilian US interpreter were killed, and three more were wounded as a result of the shooting in Syria's Palmira, the Pentagon said.

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🚨🇺🇸 Trump puts ‘intense pressure’ on Zelensky to force him to accept Ukraine peace plan – report

Trump's strategy may be to exploit Zelensky’s “domestic weakness” amid the ongoing corruption scandal in Ukraine, Bild reports.

Negotiations on the US-drafted Ukraine peace plan are currently proceeding “more intensely than at any time since February 2022.”

👉 The fact that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are “suddenly travelling” to Berlin to sit down with Zelensky shows how strongly the White House is pushing for a swift peace deal, the newspaper sums up.

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▫️ Zelensky’s ‘elections’ gambit designed to muddy the waters of Trump’s peace push – analyst

▫️ Cracking of Seversk fortress is ‘catastrophe’ for Ukraine’s military – expert

▫️ Russia vows swift response to EU asset freeze

▫️ Two US soldiers killed in shooting in Syria’s Palmira

▫️ Kim Jong-un: Western forces 'cannot match' North Korea's army

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💬 Trump vows retaliation after ISIS* attack in Palmyra

"The President of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is extremely angry and disturbed by this attack. There will be very serious retaliation," the US president wrote on Truth Social.

* Terrorist organization banned in Russia

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🚨🇺🇸Members of Refuse Fascism movement gather near WH to protest against Trump's policies - RIA Novosti correspondent

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🇨🇳 China warns against revival of ‘militarism’ at Nanjing Massacre anniversary ceremony

💬 “History has proven and will continue to prove that any attempt to revive militarism, challenge the postwar international order, or undermine world peace and stability will never be tolerated by all peace-loving and justice-seeking peoples around the world, and is doomed to failure,” CCP Politburo member Shi Taifeng said Saturday.

Shi made the comments at a memorial ceremony dedicated to the 1937 Nanking Massacre, in which up to 340k Chinese people were killed by invading Japanese forces during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

🔊 “History has fully demonstrated that the Chinese nation is a great nation that fears no power and stands on its own feet,” Shi said.

The remarks come amid rising tensions between China and Japan, which launched a $300B five-year militarization drive in 2023, and recently expressed aggressive support for Taiwan, which Beijing and 3/4 of the UN consider to be an integral part of China.

🗣 “China will never allow Japan’s right-wing forces to turn back the wheel of history, never allow external forces to lay their hands on China’s Taiwan region, and never allow the resurgence of Japan’s militarism,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Friday.

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📉 💵 Customs duties drop, dashing Trump’s hopes of using tariffs to pay off debt

The Treasury Department’s monthly update on tariff revenues show a $600M drop between October and November, from $31.35B to $30.75B.

📍 It is the first time since April and the Trump administration’s introduction of Liberation Day tariffs that collections have shown a decline, in spite of the traditional uptick in imports associated with the holiday season.

Market experts associate the drop in revenues in part to the president’s move in mid-November to cut tariffs on over 200 other food products amid spiking grocery prices.

📊 The tariffs have also led to a weakening of imports, which dropped 7.5% year-on-year in October, and 7.8% year-on-year in November amid falling demand and efforts by US manufacturers boosted by a newfound ability to compete with cheaper imports.

President Trump has touted tariffs and crypto as key elements of his plans to pay down the US’s national debt, which is rapidly approaching the $38.5T mark. Instead, Washington has so far opted for tax cuts and an increase in spending under the One Big Beautiful Bill, and floated $2k rebate checks to Americans from tariff proceeds.

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🔥 Dmitriev taunts Merz as German Chancellor admits: "We are falling behind"

Speaking at CSU Party Convention in Munich German Chancellor Friedrich Merz admitted Germany's fall:

"We are falling behind, and this has accelerated in recent years — partly due to US trade and tariff policy… We are witnessing a fundamental change in the transatlantic relationship."

Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev responded to Merz with a direct jab:

"You are falling behind because you make stupid & illegal decisions," he wrote on X.

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✍️ Lavrov warns West is 'restructuring' Bosnia, violating Dayton Agreement

In an article for Serbian newspaper Politika, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov accused the West of launching a "multi-tiered campaign against the Serbs" aimed at dismantling the Dayton peace framework and forcibly integrating Bosnia into NATO.

Key details:

🔶 The West is forming an illegal Kosovo-Albanian "army" and building military alliances with Pristina, altering the Balkan balance of power.

🔶 A imposed "civic concept" seeks to erase the identity of Bosnia’s constituent peoples, centralizing power against Serb and Croat rights.

🔶 The goal is to forcibly integrate Bosnia into NATO and allow one externally backed group to dominate, repeating the unilateral moves that sparked the 1990s war.

"What is happening in Bosnia and Herzegovina is by no means an isolated example of disregard for international law. Similar cases include the Kiev regime and its European patrons in Berlin and Paris blocking the implementation of the Minsk Package of Measures approved by the UN Security Council," Lavrov wrote.

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🔥 Thailand defies Trump-brokered ceasefire

Hours after President Trump announced a new ceasefire in the long-running Thai-Cambodia border dispute, Thai fighter jets struck targets and the caretaker PM vowed to continue military action.

"We will continue to perform military actions until we feel no more harm and threats to our land and people," Thai caretaker PM Anutin Charnvirakul declared.

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📑 US struggling to recruit countries for Gaza security force — Reports

The US has asked over 70 countries to contribute troops or funds for a Gaza stabilization force, but only 19 have expressed tentative willingness — and none have formally committed, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Potential contributors are reportedly only ready to deploy in Israeli-controlled areas (behind the "Yellow Line"), while the US wants them to also operate in Hamas-controlled zones. Many fear being drawn into direct combat to disarm Hamas.

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🎤 Venezuela condemns EU asset freeze as 'theft' and 'piracy'

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has denounced the EU's decision to permanently freeze Russian Central Bank assets as a blatant violation of International Law that "undermines the legal security of investments."

Delcy calls it an illicit action by the "global North" building a "new world of legality against theft, piracy, expropriation and looting."

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🔍 Judge orders evidence returned in Comey case — door remains open for new warrant

A federal judge has now ruled that prosecutors wrongfully retained evidence seized from former FBI Director James Comey’s former lawyer.

The materials must be returned, though the DOJ may seek a new warrant.

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💬 China tells the US: Denuclearize first

Creating conditions for global nuclear disarmament depends entirely on the United States, Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told Sputnik.

"China always maintains its nuclear capabilities at the minimum level necessary for national security. It never participates in an arms race with anyone," he added.

The US, as the country with the largest nuclear arsenal, must fulfill its "special and primary responsibility" by further reducing its stockpiles.

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🔥🇷🇺 Russian drones decimate Ukrainian weaponry & defenses ALL along front

00:00 Tsentr battlegroup's drone operators eliminate Ukraine's manpower, robotic systems & fortified firing position

00:20 Vostok battlegroup's UAVs hit Kozak-5, HMMWV armored vehicles, motor vehicles, thwarting preparations for enemy's rotation

01:10 Russian drones destroy Ukraine's pickup truck & ATV

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