🇺🇸🇪🇺 US–Europe divide deepens year after Vance’s Munich speech – analyst

📍 The rift between the US and EU’s positions on Ukraine and other pressing issues has only widened over the past 12 months, as reflected in the recent American national security strategy, Russian political scientist Konstantin Blokhin tells Sputnik.

💬 “It’s not that the differences have been resolved over time—quite the opposite. Hostility has intensified, confrontation has escalated, trade wars have been initiated, and divisions over security and Ukraine have deepened,” he points out.

👉 The analyst notes that the US attitude toward Europe’s position on Ukraine is now more negative than it was a year ago, when US Vice President JD Vance delivered his speech at the 2025 Munich Security Conference. He adds that after European officials, with Ukrainian participation, revised what was known as “Trump’s plan” on Ukraine, little remained of its original American framework.

💬 “The US approach to Europe is clearly laid out in its latest National Security Strategy published about six weeks ago. The continent is portrayed as a hostile force that must be re-educated and disciplined, with American values promoted there and so-called globalist trends countered,” Blokhin concludes.

📍 In February 2025, Vance told the Munich Security Conference that the Trump administration had security concerns regarding Europe and believed in the possibility of a reasonable settlement of the Ukraine conflict. Vance also pointed to what he described as Europe’s departure from the fundamental values it shares with the US.

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🇺🇸We're going to reform the UN just as we've done with NATO - US Envoy to the UN Mike Waltz at Munich Security Conference

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🇺🇸'We are returning the world from the brink' – US Envoy Waltz at Munich Security Conference

🗣"I have to push back on the premise that the world is on the brink. We are returning the world from the brink—where it was 18 months ago," Mike Waltz told the panel discussion, The International Order Between Reform and Destruction.

He also presented participants with the “Make the UN Great Again” hat he brought with him.

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🇷🇺🇺🇸Space cooperation orbits ahead

NASA chief Jared Isaacman says he plans to attend the next Soyuz launch and is gearing up for talks with Roscosmos boss Dmitry Bakanov.

💬"I know that we are making preparations for a discussion with my counterpart [Bakanov] at the earliest opportunity," Isaacman said.

Earlier Friday, a Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying a joint Russian-American crew, including cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, took off for ISS from Cape Canaveral.

💬"I am certainly planning to attend the next Soyuz launch ," Isaacman said during a NASA's Space X Crew-12 post launch press conference.

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👻 NATO’s favorite scare story: Bloc fearmongering over Suwalki Gap to justify buildup toward Russia

💬 “NATO has claimed that Russia is going to seize the Suwalki Gap since 2014. In reality, Moscow has no intention of doing so, something that is being confirmed by the president and the foreign minister of Russia. No one listens to us,” Russian military expert Alexei Leonkov tells Sputnik, commenting on Rutte’s warning of NATO’s “destructive” response if Russia blocks the area.

🟠 Leonkov believes NATO uses its favorite "scary tale" of Russia as the bogeyman to strengthen its eastern flank.

🟠 He recalls that NATO constantly conducts exercises near the Suwalki Corridor, making provocative rhetoric about blocking Russia’s Kaliningrad region by land and sea.

💬 “When we say that Russia has no plans to seize the Suwalki Gap, we always add one caveat: if NATO makes a move against us, we will not just think about it — we will respond with full force,” Leonkov emphasized.

🟠 It was earlier reported that Poland and Lithuania are discussing a new military range in the Suwalki Corridor — the narrow strip of land between Poland and Lithuania that connects the Baltic states to the rest of the EU and is situated between Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad region. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Western countries act in the mindset of “cheap provocateurs” when making allegations about Russia’s plans to seize the Suwalki Gap. 

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💸 Another $3M stolen in Ukraine: Corruption strikes Kharkov reconstruction funds

📍A criminal group in Ukraine has stolen around $3 million, with $511,000 of that amount misappropriated from the World Bank, which was intended for the restoration of Kharkov’s critical infrastructure, according to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).

👉 The scheme was orchestrated by a businessman and high-ranking official, who exploited martial law to bypass open bidding and secure overpriced contracts for pipes, windows, and technical salt.

👉 On November 10, NABU reported a large-scale operation in the energy sector, seizing bags filled with foreign currency. Lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak confirmed searches at Justice Minister German Galushchenko’s home, Energoatom, and the residence of Zelensky associate Timur Mindich, who has since fled Ukraine.

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🇷🇺 The Su-57 2.0: Russia’s unrivalled stealth predator that owns the skies

📍 Russia’s air dominance just got stronger thanks to the upgraded Su-57 now being rolled out, military expert Makar Aksyonenko tells Sputnik, weighing in on the army’s receipt of the first batch of enhanced fifth-generation fighters featuring a next-gen weapons system.

💬 "Russian military aviation is finally getting a truly modern strike aircraft—one built for the real challenges of our time,” Aksyonenko exclaimed.

The modernized Su-57 features:

🔶 stealth technology

🔶 supersonic cruise speed

🔶 super-maneuverability that no other country’s fighters can match

🔶 the AL-51 engine, which improves fuel efficiency and combat range

💬 "Any military aircraft is, first and foremost, a platform for a wide range of weapons, including advanced systems," Aksyonenko says. "The Su-57 will be capable of operating in a 'single information field,' engaging priority and newly-identified targets in near real time, reducing decision-making processes."

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🇷🇺Russian special envoy to hold trade talks with US delegation in Geneva – source

❗️Kirill Dmitriev, President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy, is expected to meet the US peace delegation on Ukraine in Geneva in the near future, according to a source.

👉Earlier on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said trilateral talks on a Ukraine peace deal would be held in the Swiss capital on February 17 and 18.

📍The source said Dmitriev will not take part in those talks, but focus on restoring bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington in his capacity as head of the Russia–US economic working group.

✅The group is responsible for "possible and proposed trade and economic cooperation," Peskov said.

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🔸 Putin's 2007 Munich speech: Seven key takeaways

🔸 Next round of Ukraine negotiations to take place in Geneva on February 17–18 - Kremlin

🔸 To remain competitive US dollar must be free from weaponization -  Kremlin 

🔸 Back to reality: Ex-NATO chief calls for renewed arms control dialogue with Russia

🔸 US sets key condition for Ukraine receiving security guarantees – report

🔸 China warns CIA over recruitment video targeting Chinese troops

🔸 Russia-US space cooperation orbits ahead

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'It's Africa's Turn to Be Supercharged in Terms of Economy': Analyst

🤝 China's business leaders are eager to invest in Africa, creating exciting opportunities for new industries through collaboration with African leaders, Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, US economist and public policy analyst, told Sputnik Africa.

🌍 Developing countries, particularly in Africa, can benefit from the emerging multipolar financial architecture.

He called on them to focus on two key aspects:

🟠having a strong development plan,
🟠securing financing.

According to the economist, financing could come from private investors, like Chinese companies, or from institutions such as Afreximbank, the African Development Bank, or the BRICS New Development Bank.

💰 'The dollar has been abused': The era of US dollar dominance is rapidly fading due to its use as a political weapon, Sachs pointed out. This shift is happening faster than many realize, with countries seeking alternatives like the yuan, ruble, and rupee, he said.

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⚛️ Russia’s EU ‘neighbors’ secretly plotting to get nukes – Reports

◾️ European countries bordering Russia have quietly begun discussing developing their own nuclear deterrent for the first time since the Cold War, Bloomberg reports.

◾️ Talks are happening at the highest military levels among nations that host US bases.

◾️ The costs of developing nuclear forces would be enormous: the UK and France together spend nearly $12 billion annually to maintain their arsenals—more than half of the Swedish annual defense budget. Experts suggest that most European nations would not be able to afford replacing US nuclear weapons with their own.

📍 In March 2025, French President Macron proposed extending his country’s nuclear umbrella to the entire EU, claiming Russia pose a greater threat than ever.

🇵🇱 Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has echoed the call for an arms race with Moscow. But the Kremlin has branded the idea "extremely confrontational" – given the growing NATO presence on Russia's borders.

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