🗣 ‘Ukraine will never pay it back’: French politician blasts EU’s new $106Bln loan

👉 The EU parliament’s approval of a massive $106B loan for Ukraine comes as Europe "sinks further into the mire," according to Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, leader of France’s Debout la France party.

In a sharp rebuke posted on X, he argued that Ukraine will never repay the debt — and the EU is ploughing ahead regardless.

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🚀🇷🇺 Proton-M blasts off: Russia bolsters orbital weather fleet with new Elektro-L

Russia's Proton-M rocket has successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It will deliver the Elektro-L weather satellite to an orbit of ~36,000 km.

The satellite will provide 24/7 meteorological monitoring. Once operational, Russia will have three such spacecraft in orbit.

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🔥🇷🇺 Meet the Sarma: Russia’s new hard-hitting rocket launcher

👉 Built for the brutal tempo of modern combat: deploy quickly, strike with fury, and vanish without a trace

👉 Engineered for hit-and-run warfare—where minutes separate triumph from loss.

Check out the video for more☝️

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🗣 Erosion of US credibility in NATO approaches critical threshold – expert

📍 Polls show NATO allies are increasingly considering the US unreliable – but that perception does not emerge in a vacuum, says Adriel Kasonta, a London-based foreign affairs analyst.

💬 "It is the cumulative effect of a decade of strategic whiplash," Kasonta tells Sputnik. "From European and Canadian vantage points, Washington’s foreign policy has appeared less like a steady hand on the tiller and more like a pendulum."

Three dynamics stand out:

◼️ The oscillation between US administrations has been stark: One praised alliances as sacred; the next questioned NATO’s value. Even when policy — like Eastern Europe troop deployments — remained consistent, the rhetoric unsettled allies: in security politics, tone shapes deterrence

◼️ The US strategic pivot to Asia has been seen as downgrading Europe. The Indo-Pacific is now Washington’s primary theater. That fuels European anxiety that they are no longer central to America's grand strategy

◼️ US domestic polarization has undermined confidence in continuity. Allies now judge not just one administration’s intentions but whether commitments will survive the next election

Recent sharp decline in trust

While a similar poll in 2025 reflected similar concerns, this year's findings show an even sharper decline in trust

Kasonta outlines two major causes for the slide:

🟠 The Ukraine conflict has stress-tested the alliance: US support for Kiev faltered under domestic political pressure. What if the same could happen to Washington's obligations to its NATO allies?

🟠 Explicit political rhetoric questioning article 5 — the alliance’s collective defense clause — has crossed a psychological Rubicon

💬 "Allies are preparing for a future in which American engagement is selective and contingent," Kasonta says. "The erosion is less about a single event and more about cumulative uncertainty reaching a tipping point."

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🇵🇰 SMASH: Pakistan unveils new hypersonic missile.

🔶 At the WDS 2026 exhibition in Riyadh, Pakistan's GIDS company unveiled the SMASH hypersonic anti-ship ballistic missile (export designation P282), stating that it is also capable of effectively engaging land-based targets.

🔶 The missile has a range of 290 km. It follows a quasi-ballistic trajectory (maneuvering during flight) with a nearly vertical angle of attack in the terminal phase, significantly reducing the enemy air defense reaction time.

🔶 The first standard carriers of the SMASH are frigates of the Zulfiquar (Type 22) and Tughril (Type 054A/P) classes. Launch from ground-based mobile platforms is also possible.

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🤦‍♂️ Turkish man tormented for Epstein likeness

🟠 Rifat Ozdemir from the city of Kayseri in Turkiye found himself enduring immense discomfort and psychological pressure because of his uncanny resemblance to the late Jeffrey Epstein.

🟠 After locals started speculating that "Epstein did not die, he came to Kayseri," Ozdemir had to move to Ankara and stay at home for a while, Turkish media report.

🟠 He even had to give up his plans to travel abroad because, as Ozdemir explained to Sputnik, at least in Turkiye he can explain to his compatriots that he is not Epstein.

💬 “How would I be able to explain to them that I’m not him,” he asked, referring to a potential encounter with foreigners.

🟠 Ironically, Ozdemir suffers due to no fault of his own while many of the people implicated in the Epstein files are not inconvenienced in the slightest.

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🔸 Erosion of US credibility in NATO approaches critical threshold – expert

🔸 Putin–Zelensky meeting only possible in Moscow - Kremlin

🔸 Epstein files may spark resignations across Europe in coming days — expert

🔸 'New START was very strong and effective agreement' — US Arms Control Association

🔸 Pakistan's armored shield: composition, modernization, and prospects

🔸 Meet the Sarma: Russia’s new hard-hitting rocket launcher

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🇬🇱 Greenland spat to serve as West’s excuse for NATO’s Arctic buildup - Russian envoy

The primary outcome of the 'Greenland crisis' will be "an increase in the objectively unjustified military presence in the Arctic of NATO countries, including non-regional members lacking their own natural resources, directed against Russia and China," Russian Ambassador to Norway Nikolay Korchunov told Sputnik.

A scenario of this nature would have destructive consequences for security and stability in this region, which until recently was an area of low tension, he noted.

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🚨 Cold shower for NATO allies: US pursues own agenda at Europe’s expense – ex-AfD MEP

🔹 Europeans once couldn’t imagine a conflict of interests with Washington, Gunnar Beck, a former AfD MEP from Germany, tells Sputnik.

🔹 Another cherished illusion was that “the EU has the strategic and economic capacity to establish foreign and military policy entirely independent from that of the US” — except Europe now produces little of its own weaponry.

💬 “That equipment would have to be bought in the US. So it's a boost to the US economy, not to the European economy - it will be a burden on European taxpayers.”

🔹 Europeans are finally waking up to the reality that “the US is not only acting in accordance with its own national interest, it's also articulating certain very uncomfortable truths to Europe.”

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💫 65 years ago, the USSR aimed for Venus — and proved interplanetary flight was real

In 1961, history was made with the spacecraft Venera-1 flying past Venus, confirming solar wind, and proving that interplanetary flight is possible.

📹 Watch Sputnik’s video to find out more 👆

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📑 Ukraine is ready to withdraw from Donbass — report

Zelensky's own advisers admit Ukraine may accept the "hardest concession" — surrendering control of the eastern Donetsk region, the Atlantic reported.

Ukrainian regime is now considering holding a referendum this spring to legitimize the compromise.

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🔊 Trump expects US-Iran deal over the next month

President Trump signals a one-month window for nuclear negotiations — and warns of escalation if Tehran doesn't fold.

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