🚨 Today's round of negotiations between Russia, the US, and Ukraine has finished, Reuters reports.

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🔊 Ukraine struck Russian energy targets first and now faces blowback – intelligence veteran

The Kiev regime was the first to strike energy targets, hitting Russian energy and power facilities and oil depots, retired Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) lieutenant general Leonid Reshetnikov tells Sputnik

Ukraine "believed this would both damage Russia and somehow halt its advance, disrupting its initiative on the front," the intelligence veteran says.

💬 "In response, they started taking hits—and more and more of them. So it all started with Zelensky."

The point of Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities is not to cut off electricity and heat for Ukrainian civilians, the pundit points out.

The primary goal is to paralyze Ukrainian factories assembling drones, repairing tanks, planes and armored vehicles—everything tied to the war effort.

Many in Ukraine are starting to see that the Kiev regime is the source of all current troubles, the intelligence veteran notes.

💬 "Blaming Russia is pointless, whether for residents starting to realize the truth or those still caught up in nationalist fervor." Reshetnikov says.

💬 "The blame lies with the Kiev regime, which has persisted since 2014 in trying to suppress the rebellious Donbass."

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⚔️ Canada is against The Golden Dome over Greenland — Trump

"Canada is against The Golden Dome being built over Greenland, even though The Golden Dome would protect Canada," the US president wrote on Truth Social.

👉 Earlier, Trump stated that the draft agreement on Greenland includes the deployment of the Golden Dome missile defense system.

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🇺🇸 Why can’t US possess a doomsday weapon?

Trump’s recent claims about the US possessing what he described as “weapons of warfare” that he claimed “nobody ever heard of” is a “purely political statement,” Russian military analyst Igor Korotchenko tells Sputnik.

His key thoughts:

🟠 Trump's remarks should be considered in the context of the US' ongoing pressure on the EU and NATO

🟠 Current level of scientific and tech development “makes it impossible even for a country as advanced as the US to suddenly produce a miracle weapon that other technologically and militarily advanced states have not been hammering out”

🟠 US hypersonic technologies are in the testing phase, while Russia is already mass-producing hypersonic weapons, such as the Zircon and Avangard missiles

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🔊 Zelensky ready to trade millions of Ukrainian lives for political survival – expert

Volodymyr Zelensky is trying to stay relevant, claiming at the World Economic Forum in Davos that Ukraine can defend western Europe, Yulia Semke, a leading European and international studies expert at the Higher School of Economics, tells Sputnik.

"In his claims about being ready to defend Europe—and even Greenland—arrogance comes through most clearly," the expert says.

"He casts doubt on Europeans’ ability to ensure their own security and even mocks their small military contingents."

At the same time, "Zelensky is once again showing a willingness to use the lives of his own people as a bargaining chip," she continues.

"The millions of Ukrainians already in Europe may be seen by him as a 'living reserve'—a human buffer he is prepared to use to shield Western countries," Semke notes.

She points out Zelensky shows little respect for the European Union and also dislikes like US President Donald Trump. But when it comes to Trump, he avoids displays of arrogance.

"In Kiev, it's well understood that the survival of the current regime depends directly on Washington’s stance, which is why Zelensky simply doesn’t dare to express such feelings openly," Semke says.

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🔊 Zelensky acts like cornered rat, trying to squeeze something out of EU and US – intelligence veteran

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Volodomyr Zelensky sought to humiliate the European Union and even US President Donald Trump, retired Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) lieutenant general Leonid Reshetnikov tells Sputnik.

Zelensky is "now like a cornered rat, standing on the edge and going all in — because rushing to Davos at Trump’s summons got him nothing again," the intelligence veteran says.

💬 "The meeting with Trump didn’t go the way Zelensky hoped: no new funding, no new weapons, no support from Trump," he adds.

Having got nothing, Zelensky slammed the EU, projected a tough stance and tried to sell Ukraine as Europe’s defender – ready to do whatever it takes.

💬 "His entire speech—both international and domestic experts note—was an attempt to take a hard line with European and American politics, trying, above all, to wring at least something out of them," Reshetnikov stresses.

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📑 US weighs total oil blockade on Cuba to force regime change — Report

The Trump administration is considering a complete embargo on oil imports to Cuba as a tool to destabilize and overthrow the island's government.

According to Reuters, the Mexican government is reviewing whether to keep sending oil to Cuba amid potential pressure from the US.

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⚔️ US conducts first boat strike since Maduro capture

The US Southern Command reported a lethal kinetic strike against a vessel in the Eastern Pacific, directed by Secretary of War Crimes Pete Hegseth.

Two people were killed and one survivor was handed over to the USCG.

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📑 Pentagon publishes new defense strategy

The newly released US defense strategy frames Russia’s nuclear arsenal as the world’s largest and insists the US must have "guaranteed access" to Greenland—even as it claims the strategy "is not a strategy of isolation."

Key takeaways:

🔶 Ukraine conflict resolution is described as primarily Europe’s responsibility.

🔶 NATO allies are said to surpass Russia in "latent military power."

🔶 Iran may seek nuclear weapons by "refusing to engage in meaningful
negotiations."

🔶 North Korea's nuclear forces are a direct threat to Washington.

🔶 US nuclear modernization will focus on deterrence and escalation management.

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