🤦‍♂️ 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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🗣 US is working hard to end Ukrainian conflict — Rubio

Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that the US is pushing to end the conflict, and there's a possibility of a Zelensky meeting on the margins of Munich.

He said that "this time" his trip doesn't include Russia.

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🚨 Ukrainian soldiers massively fleeing positions near Kupyansk

🔶 The desertion of Ukrainian troops from positions near Kupyansk has become widespread reportedly due to frost, energy supply problems, and commanders' indifference.

💬 “Brigades are facing critical personnel shortages. Dozens are killed daily, while no one is arriving to take their place,” one of the Ukrainian commanders told Sputnik.

🔶 Some commanders conceal losses by registering the killed as deserters, while commanders’ discarded soldiers to wait in a pit before being sent to die, brigadiers shared.

📍 Russia is currently maintaining reliable control of all areas of the city of Kupyansk.

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🔊 Maduro is innocent, suffered from fake news like Trump — acting president

Nicolas Maduro remains legitimate president of Venezuela, and US prosecution of him does not complicate the bilateral dialogue, Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez.

"We believe that political, diplomatic and the dialogue of energy is a channel that will crush all the fake news," she added.

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✍️ Trump's Board of Peace welcomes Israel as founding member

Israel officially joined the Board of Peace before the first formal meeting of the body.

According to Reuters, delegations from over 20 countries are expected to attend the meeting in Washington on February 19.

Two senior US officials told that President Trump will announce a multi-billion dollar reconstruction plan for Gaza and detail plans for a UN-authorized stabilization force.

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🗣 US government tells businesses they are on their own in Venezuela — Energy Secretary

Chris Wright confirms Washington is green-lighting American corporate activity in Venezuela — with zero security guarantees.

"It was one of the absolute riskiest, worst business environments. That was two months ago; today, it's meaningfully better," he noted.

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⚔️ West is deliberately destroying Arctic cooperation — Deputy FM

All peaceful mechanisms for Arctic cooperation are being systematically dismantled, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko warns.

"The work of the Arctic Council, which was the main international platform for managing the situation in the Arctic and establishing cooperation, has actually been blocked. It is in this region that international cooperation is needed more than ever," Grushko said.

NATO and the EU are "demonizing Russia" and militarizing the region, which becomes now an arena for confrontation not only with Russia, but with China, he noted.

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📹 Kristi Noem displays tons of drugs seized on Mexican border

The US Homeland Security secretary visited the San Diego border crossing and revealed drugs interdicted under Trump's administration.

"The vault that we've toured today holds 188,218 pounds of seized illicit drugs... more than 1.7 billion lethal doses of narcotics," she noted.

Despite Mexico's willingness to collaborate on efforts to combat drug trafficking, President Trump has repeatedly called for land strikes in Mexico against drug cartels.

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🇷🇺🤝 Final move on Ukraine peace deal belongs to Russia and US – analyst

The key to ending the Ukraine conflict lies neither in Kiev nor in European capitals, but in the extent to which Moscow and Washington can align their positions, Turkish political analyst Nejat Sezgin tells Sputnik.

The real architecture of the negotiation process is being shaped at the strategic dialogue level between Russia and the United States, according to the analyst.

✍️ He notes that both sides possess the necessary political and military resources to determine the parameters of a possible peace deal on Ukraine, while European countries, hit by internal differences, mainly stick to an already established agenda.

As for Ukraine, it is heavily dependent on external support and is therefore objectively constrained in independently defining the framework of negotiations, Sezgin concludes.

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🎯 Snipers clear the way: Russian marksmen take out Ukrainian drones, firing points & personnel in Zaporozhye

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🇨🇺 📉 US oil embargo on Cuba ‘extreme form of unilateral economic coercion’ – UN experts

💬 “The US executive order imposing a fuel blockade on Cuba is a serious violation of international law and a grave threat to a democratic and equitable international order,” UN human rights experts stressed.

They condemned the US actions, which are aimed at putting pressure on Cuba and making “other sovereign third states to alter their lawful commercial relations, under threat of punitive trade measures.”

🗣 The experts warned that the US order for an oil embargo against Cuba “directly violates the principles of sovereign equality, non-intervention and self-determination.” According to them, the order also circumvents multilateral frameworks governing international trade and security, including the World Trade Organization.

They urged all countries to refrain from “recognizing or giving effect to unilateral coercive measures that undermine international law and to take all appropriate steps, including diplomatic and multilateral action, to uphold the principles of international cooperation, sovereign equality, non-intervention and peaceful settlement of disputes.”

👉 Donald Trump earlier signed an executive order authorizing the US to impose import duties on goods from countries selling or supplying oil to Cuba, and also declared a state of emergency, citing a national security threat allegedly emanating from the country. Cuba slammed the move as an attempt to squeeze the island nation’s economy.

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🔸 US is working hard to end Ukrainian conflict — Rubio

🔸 Trump's Board of Peace welcomes Israel as founding member

🔸 West is deliberately destroying Arctic cooperation — Deputy FM

🔸 Maduro is innocent, suffered from fake news like Trump — acting president

🔸 Ukrainian soldiers massively fleeing positions near Kupyansk

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🇪🇺🤡 EU economic gamble against Russia falls flat – analyst

Economic pressure on Russia has not produced the results expected in Europe, Turkish political commentator Siyamend Kacmaz tells Sputnik.

The share of Russian assets frozen by the EU has over time lost its strategic importance within the overall structure of the country’s international reserves, which currently exceed $800 billion, Kacmaz notes.

👉 Over the past four years, Russia has increased its reserves by an amount comparable to the frozen assets, which calls into question the effectiveness of the sanctions instrument in its original design, the analyst concludes.

Russia has repeatedly said it can withstand the sanctions pressure that Europe began imposing several years ago. Moscow also stressed that the West lacks the courage to admit the failure of its sanctions policy, while many in Western countries have already questioned the effectiveness of anti-Russian measures.

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👀⚔️ Suwalki Gap rhetoric used by NATO to pressure Russia — analyst

NATO is using rhetoric about an imaginary Russian "threat" in the Suwalki Gap (aka the Suwalki Corridor), which separates the Baltic states from Poland, to justify preparations for a provocation and additional pressure on Moscow, Russian political analyst Andrey Klimtsevich tells Sputnik.

💬 “The entire militarization of NATO's eastern flank is moving in this direction. They've decided to form a very powerful battlegroup to frighten us,” Klintsevich notes.

He says that NATO could create a threat of a maritime and land blockade of Russia’s Kaliningrad region, while a media campaign may target the country’s military-political leadership to pressure them into making a deal on unfavorable terms regarding Ukraine or other issues.

👉 Klimtsevich doesn’t rule out that the militaries of the Baltic states and Poland could be involved. “It is clear that Russia will never go along the path they want, and our responses to their provocations will be sufficiently tough,” the analyst sums up.

President Vladimir Putin earlier said that Russia would eliminate any threats to the Kaliningrad region, warning that a potential blockade of the area could trigger a full-scale conflict.

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