💣 US military carries out strikes on two boats in Eastern Pacific

US Southern Command said Joint Task Force Southern Spear carried out lethal strikes on two vessels it described as “operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations” in international waters.

The command claimed intelligence indicated the vessels were “transiting along known narco-trafficking routes” in the Eastern Pacific and were involved in “narco-trafficking operations.” According to the statement, five men were killed — three on one vessel and two on the other.

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🔥🇭🇺 Orban slams EU’s €90B Ukraine loan as 'lost money,' warns of asset risks — reports

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban criticized the EU’s planned 90-billion-euro support package for Ukraine for 2026–27, calling it “lost money” and arguing that future generations would bear the cost, Reuters reported.

📌 Key points from his statement:

🔹 It is “clear” Ukraine will not repay the EU loan, and that “children and grandchildren” of those who approved it will end up paying.

🔹 Hungary is not taking part in the initiative: “Good that we are not participating… This is lost money,” Reuters quoted him as saying.

🔹 Orban argued the EU dropped the idea of confiscating Russian assets after realizing private EU assets in Russia are larger and could be frozen in retaliation.

🔹 If Russia sued over confiscation, the EU could be forced to return “twice as much.”

Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are not participating in providing guarantees for the EU’s 90B-euro loan to Kiev, an EU Council statement said.

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💵🇪🇺Hungary, Slovakia, and Czech Republic opt out of EU’s $105B loan for Ukraine

Any mobilization of resources of the EU’s budget as a guarantee for this loan will not have an impact on the financial obligations of the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia, according to the EU Council.

European Council President Antonio Costa earlier announced that the EU will provide Ukraine with a 90 billion euro loan ($105.5 billion), secured by the EU budget and potentially reimbursable from frozen Russian assets.

🗣 Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned that “taking money of one side and giving it to the other would drag the EU into the conflict.”

Russia has repeatedly stated any move to confiscate frozen Russian assets by the EU would be met with an appropriate response as an act of robbery.

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❌ Russia will not compromise on deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine — MFA

Ukraine's membership in NATO, as well as the deployment of NATO military contingents and strike weapons on its territory, are absolutely unacceptable for Russia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said.

We have spoken about this many times and explained our position, it is well known," Grushko said when asked which NATO-related issues in the Ukrainian settlement Russia is unwilling to compromise on.

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🚨Coming soon: Putin’s End-of-Year Presser combined with live Q&A session

🗓 Date: December 19 (Friday)

⏰ Time: 9:00 GMT

📹Platforms: Telegram, X, Sputnik website

Tune in!

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🇪🇺 EU Summit fails to confiscate Russian assets: Here's what you need to know

🔸 EU members could not reach a consensus to expropriate Russian sovereign assets for a proposed €140 billion loan to Ukraine.

🔸 Instead, the bloc approved a €90 billion, 0% interest loan to finance Ukraine for the next two years, funded by joint EU borrowing.

🔸 Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia have legally opted out of participating in and funding this common European loan for Ukraine.

🔸The approved €90 billion is €50 billion less than the failed "reparations" scheme.

🔸 EC President von der Leyen stated the EU "has no intention" of returning the blocked Russian assets unless Russia pays reparations to Ukraine.

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🔸 BEHIND THE SCENES: How Putin’s year-end press conference is prepared

🔸 'I hope Ukraine moves quickly because Russia is there' - Trump on Ukraine settlement

🔸 EU to provide Ukraine €90 billion loan backed by EU budget — European Council

🔸 Orban slams EU’s €90B Ukraine loan as 'lost money,' warns of asset risks — reports

🔸 Trump signs record $901B US defense bill, with $400M in Ukraine aid

🔸 TikTok signs deal to sell US operations – reports

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💵 EU sanctions cost France billions in lost exports with Russia

Sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia have cost France at least 55% of its exports to the Russian market, according to a Sputnik analysis based on Eurostat data.

Over the first ten months of the current year, France has exported goods and services worth $3.6 billion to Russia, down from $8.5 billion in 2021.

France’s average monthly export revenue from trade with Russia fell by 2.2 times. While in 2021 France earned an average of $859.9 million per month from shipments to the Russian market, this year's revenues dropped to $387.5 million.

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📹 WATCH LIVE: Putin Holds Year-End Press Conference

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🚨The burning question: war or peace?

💬 “Russia still sees no readiness from Ukraine to discuss the territorial issue,” Vladimir Putin says.

He adds that Kiev is essentially refusing to end the conflict by peaceful means.

Read about the origins of Russia's special military op HERE

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🇷🇺Frontline update from Putin

🔶Putin says he has just received a frontline report from the Chief of the General Staff.

🔶Russian forces are advancing along the entire line of contact as the enemy pulls back.

🔶Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, and Konstantinovka remain Ukraine’s key fortified strongholds.

Read about the origins of Russia's special military op HERE

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