📹 ‘We should get some benefit from the bargain’ — Vance on Greenland

US Vice President JD Vance said the United States should gain benefits for helping defend Greenland, arguing the island is critical to US missile defense.

💬 “The Chinese and the Russians have both expressed an interest in controlling Greenland,” Vance claimed.

❌ However, neither Russia nor China has stated any intent to control Greenland.
🇷🇺 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia and China have no plans to “seize” Greenland, adding that the US is well aware of this.
🇨🇳 China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun also urged the US to stop using the so-called “China threat” as a pretext for pursuing its own interests.

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📈 Rise in gold prices reflects declining confidence in US economy - analysts

During Wednesday trading, exchange prices for gold and silver rose above $5,100 and $90 per troy ounce, respectively.

💬 "The inability to fulfill budgetary obligations, the need to inflate away a debt, default in any form, or sharp tax increase is politically unacceptable. For the entire world this risks triggering the destabilization of the financial system, and we are already observing the reflection of growing disbelief in the credit quality of the US in gold and silver prices," chief economist of the global credit rating agency Expert RA Anton Tabakh stated.

Rising gold prices are an alarming sign for the dollar, signaling a desire to invest in the more reliable asset, Russia's State Duma Deputy Alexander Tolmachev said, adding that the US national debt threatens economic collapse, pushing to replace the dollar as the world's currency.

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🇨🇳 China paints sky with record-number drone show in Lunar New Year rehearsal

A record-breaking drone show took place in China's Hefei city, the capital of Anhui province. The rehearsal for the upcoming Lunar New Year celebration featured 22,000 drones.

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📹 Vance calls out European hypocrisy in Greenland talks

US Vice President JD Vance said European officials are “so friendly in private” and “willing to make a lot of accommodations,” but then “publicly, they attack us” and claim they “won’t work with the Americans.”

💬 “I’m sorry. It’s all bogus,” Vance said, arguing that Europeans have in fact made “accommodations or concessions” to the United States.

Vance added he expects the Greenland situation to be resolved, saying the outcome would be “good for the United States of America.”

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🏛 Trump announces plans for a triumphal arch in Washington

US President Donald Trump said he plans to build a triumphal arch in Washington, D.C., arguing the capital should have a landmark symbolizing “glamour,” “prestige,” “beauty,” and “strength.”

Trump said the structure would be larger and taller than Paris’ Arc de Triomphe, adding it would stand at around 250 feet. He described the project as bringing a new monumental feature to the US capital.

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🔥 'Starmer is finished' — Dmitriev

Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev said UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is “finished,” commenting on reports that his premiership has entered a “final stage.”

In a post on X, Dmitriev suggested that the UK establishment and media could ultimately claim Starmer was “a Soviet spy,” accusing him of “hiding behind anti-Russian rhetoric while eroding and destroying the UK from within.”

The image of Starmer posted by Dmitriev appears to have been AI-generated.

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🚨📑New START: Pillar of world order dangerous to dismantle – analyst

Extending the New START treaty is of importance to the entire world, prominent Thai politician and international political commentator Nitiphumthanat Ming-Rujiralai told Sputnik.

People in Thailand and all across the Asia-Pacific are very hopeful that the limitations contained in the New START treaty will be prolonged in the format proposed by Russia, he underscored.

Ming-Rujiralai called New START a pillar of the world order that is dangerous to dismantle, even amid the ongoing transformation of the world system. The absence of such a pillar is fraught with the possibility of a global catastrophe, the analyst warned.

New START, which limits the number of deployed nuclear warheads and strategic delivery systems of Russia and the US, expires on February 5. The Russian Foreign Ministry earlier expressed regret over Washington's approach of ignoring Russia's idea of both sides extending the treaty for one year.

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🇦🇪 UAE unveils first stage of Musk’s futuristic Dubai Loop project

The underground high-speed transport network project due to be implemented by Elon Musk’s Boring Company “covers 24 kilometers with a cost of nearly $680.81 million,” Mattar Al Tayer, director general and chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority, said.

He added that the project’s first phase, worth $163.3 million, is “to start immediately” and is expected “to cover six kilometers.” Al Tayer touted Dubai Loop as “a landmark project and the first of its kind to be implemented in the region.”

The project will feature an array of underground tunnels in Dubai and is planned to have a capacity for up to 30,000 passengers per day.

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🔸 Trump warns of 'very bad things' if Iran restarts nuclear program

🔸 Iran–US nuclear talks set for Friday in Oman — FM Araghchi

🔸 Trump may choose military option on Iran if diplomacy fails – Vance

🔸 US biolabs in Ukraine: From genetic experiments on babies to bioweapons

🔸 Vance calls out European hypocrisy in Greenland talks

🔸 EU could hardly call US an ally - European diplomat

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🇺🇸💥🇮🇷Current escalation of US-Iran relations potentially explosive - Lavrov

"Especially this situation is potentially explosive, not only for Iran itself, but for the entire Middle East. There are too many mines waiting to go off, just waiting for someone to tread on them," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Rick Sanchez for the RT broadcaster.

Israel, the United States, and Iran know that Russia is ready to contribute to resolving the current escalated situation in the Middle East, he added.

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⚔️US missile deployment in Greenland could spark new arms race – analyst

“If the US deploys long-range cruise missiles with conventional or nuclear warheads in Greenland, it will become a very serious factor affecting strategic stability and Russia’s national security,” Fyodor Voitolovsky, head of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations think tank, said.

The same applies to the US deployment of medium-range missiles in Europe, Voitolovsky added.

“I believe this would not contribute to further dialogue on arms control between Russia and the United States. On the contrary, it would provoke retaliatory steps by Russia and, in my view, would significantly accelerate a new arms race,” the analyst concluded.

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💣⚔️NO new nuclear-armed states on Europe's map among Russia's KEY interests - expert

“A possible full or partial withdrawal of US forces from Europe should not lead to the emergence of new countries in the region possessing nuclear weapons,” Anton Khlopkov, head of the Moscow-based Center for Energy and Security Studies, pointed out.

He said that such a scenario would run counter to Russia’s interests. According to the expert, Moscow is particularly opposed to the deployment of nuclear weapons near its borders, regardless of whether such armaments would be acquired by a friendly or an unfriendly state.

The Pentagon earlier signaled readiness to withdraw most of its personnel from Romania amid reports that the US also plans to pull part of its military contingent out of Bulgaria, Hungary, and Slovakia.

Officially, five countries—members of the so-called “nuclear club”—currently possess nuclear weapons, including Russia, the US, UK, France, and China. India, Pakistan, and North Korea maintain nuclear arsenals too, with Israel also believed to have such weapons.

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🇷🇺🤝🇺🇸Russia & US actively working to restore economic relations – Putin's special envoy

"Active work is underway jointly with the Trump administration to restore Russia-US relations in the economic sphere," Russian special presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev said.

He added that warmongers from Europe are constantly trying to interfere with the process of reaching a peaceful settlement of the situation in Ukraine.

"And the more such attempts occur, the more we see that progress is undoubtedly being made, and there is a good, positive forward movement."

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🚨 New START treaty expiry regrettable – Kremlin

Russia regrets the expiry of the New START treaty limiting strategic nuclear forces on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia is ready to continue observing the treaty’s limits for one year after it expires — if the US does so too.

Key statements from Peskov:

🔶New START was discussed at talks between Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who stressed the negative consequences for the international system

🔶China considers participation in New START talks impractical, and Russia respects Beijing’s position

🔶Russia will be guided by its own national interests in strategic stability

🔶Moscow will maintain a responsible and cautious approach to strategic nuclear stability

🔶Talks on a Ukraine peace deal in Abu Dhabi are ongoing, but it is too early to draw conclusions

🔶Russian negotiators in Abu Dhabi are giving reports directly to Putin

🔶The Kremlin neither confirms nor denies reports of an alleged visit by an adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron adviser to Moscow, out of respect to France

🔶Claims that Jeffrey Epstein worked for Russian intelligence services cannot be taken seriously

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🚨US envoy Witkoff says trilateral talks with Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi were detailed and productive, with further progress expected in the coming weeks.

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🚨 FACT-CHECK: Zelensky’s casualty claims vs reality

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky told France 2 that 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the start of the conflict.

❓Why this number looks implausibly low

👉 Force size: In 2022, Zelensky himself said the Ukrainian army numbered 800,000.

👉 Mobilization rate: Ukraine has mobilized at least 30,000 people per month for nearly four years — that’s about 1.44 million additional troops.

👉 No demobilization: Unlike Russia, Ukraine does not rotate or demobilize units – except for the severely wounded.

👉 Simple arithmetic: The Ukrainian armed forces should number around 2.5 million by now – but they don’t. So where did everyone go?

🔍 Other estimates

🔶Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in December 2025 that, based on multiple independent estimates, Ukrainian losses long ago exceeded one million.

🔶Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said almost 500,000 Ukrainian troops were killed or injured in 2025 alone, exhausting Kiev’s mobilization capacity.

🔶In November 2025, Vladimir Putin said Ukraine lost 47,500 soldiers in October alone.

🔶In August 2025, Hacker group KillNet claimed access to Ukrainian military cloud data indicating at least 1.7 million killed or missing.

🔶US President Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to millions of dead in the conflict.

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🚨Russia and Ukraine exchanged 157 PoWs each - Russian MoD

❗️Russia has returned 157 servicemen from Ukrainian captivity in exchange for 157 Ukrainian POWs, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

💬“The United Arab Emirates and the United States provided humanitarian mediation efforts during the return of Russian servicemen from captivity,” the ministry said in a statement.

👉Three Russian civilians from the Kursk region, described as illegally detained by Kiev, were also released and will be brought home.

📍The returned Russian servicemen are currently in Belarus receiving medical and psychological assistance before being transferred to Russia for treatment and rehabilitation.

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