🇪🇺🤡 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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🌞 The Sun is staring back at Earth today — and it’s smiling

Two massive active regions, each about 10× the size of Earth, form the “eyes,” while a half-million-kilometre solar prominence curves into a quiet, unsettling grin, the Russian Solar Astronomy Lab reports.

Mercury, Venus, and Mars are all behind it.

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🚨 Next round of Ukraine talks expected next week, Kremlin confirms

The next round of negotiations on Ukraine is planned for next week, with the Kremlin set to announce the exact date and location later, Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

Earlier, media reported that a trilateral meeting involving Russia, the US, and Ukraine could take place in Miami or Abu Dhabi.

Key statements by Dmitry Peskov:

🔶Settlement on Ukraine is needed before discussing concrete expansion of Russia–US economic cooperation

🔶Russia and the US are discussing possible trade and economic interaction within a working group format

🔶Moscow is proposing areas of cooperation that could interest companies in both Russia and the US

🔶Russia has not yet finalized its position on the proposed Peace Council, with the Foreign Ministry continuing consultations with allies

🔶Russia remains the only country to have allocated $1 billion in aid to Palestine, which should not be forgotten

🔶No one has refused to use the dollar—the US itself has restricted some countries' ability to use it

🔶If the dollar remains attractive, countries will continue using it alongside other currencies

🔶Union State framework implies close coordination between Russia and Belarus across a wide range of issues, including foreign policy

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

💬 "As for the dollar, no one has actually abandoned its use. It is the issuing country—the United States—that has restricted a number of countries in their right to use the dollar, and those countries are naturally turning to alternative payments and alternative forms," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists when asked about the issue.

📍 He added that if the greenback remains attractive, countries will return to using the US currency alongside other currencies.

💬 "If the United States abandons this practice of restricting the use of the dollar, then the dollar will have to compete with other alternative currencies and with the national currencies that are being used more and more widely around the world," he emphasized.

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

The Russian delegation will be headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky.

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🇷🇺 Putin's 2007 Munich speech: Seven key takeaways

📍 Eighteen years ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a blunt warning to the West that still echoes today. Watch the full speech and see why many call it prophetic:

🔸 (00:00 – 00:45) "The unipolar world is over" – Putin's opening salvo against one superpower dominating everything.

🔸 (00:45 – 04:11) Why the unipolar model failed

🔸 (04:11 – 07:30) Hyper-use of force & collapse of international law: US/NATO acts on "expediency," not rules—sparking arms races and insecurity.

🔸 (07:30 – 10:00) Multipolar world is inevitable: the economic power is shifting to China, India, BRIC(S) — and political influence follows.

🔸 (10:00 – 13:30) Only the UN (not NATO/EU) can legitimize force: peaceful change is possible.

🔸 (13:30 – 18:00) Arms control unraveling: INF Treaty issues, US missile defenses in Europe, space militarization—Russia calls for new treaties.

🔸 (18:00 – 24:00) NATO expansion as betrayal: Broken 1990s promises of "not one inch eastward"—new divisions replacing old walls.

🔸 (24:00 – 30:30) Russia rejects lectures & containment: 1,000+ years of sovereignty—seeks equal partnership, not pressure or "guidance."

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🚨🇷🇺💥 RUSSIAN MOD WEEKLY UPDATE: HUGE GAINS AND DEVASTATING UKRAINIAN LOSSES

◻️ 4 settlements in the special military op's zone were liberated

◻️ The Russian Armed Forces carried out 7 strikes on energy, fuel and transport infrastructure facilities used by the Ukrainian army

◻️ Air defense superiority: 5 Flamingo long-range missiles, 39 HIMARS projectiles and 1,243 drones shot down

◻️ Ukrainian losses: around 8,485 troops killed or wounded

Read about the origins of Russia's special military op HERE

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🚨 Back to reality: Stoltenberg calls for renewed arms control dialogue with Russia

💬 “I believe that we must talk to Russia again on the basis of […] credible deterrence. We must find a way to establish a new order of arms control," former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told Augsburger Allgemeine.

🟠 Stoltenberg referenced the consensus on the START treaty during the Cold War, which is why he said the same could be “possible again in the future.”

🟠 He also bemoaned the fact that "the entire arms control architecture developed during and after the Cold War has ceased to exist."

🟠 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier stressed that Russia would be committed to arms limits after the expiration of New START on February 5 if the United States does the same.

📍 In September 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled Russia’s readiness to continue adhering New START limits for an additional year, stressing that would be viable only if the US follows suit. In early February, Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that nuclear experts should work on “a new, improved and modernized” arms control agreement accord rather than extending New START.

👉 Read more about the New START Treaty HERE

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🇺🇸 US sets key condition for Ukraine receiving security guarantees – report

👉 The White House has made it clear to Ukraine that it will not finalize a deal on providing it with security guarantees until Ukraine and Russia reach an overall agreement to end the conflict, US media cited unnamed sources as saying.

🔸 Donald Trump “wants to get a lot of things firmed up and solidified before actually signing. He doesn’t just want to sign it, and if that sort of impedes any further peace talks, what’s the point?” the sources pointed out.

🔸 They argued that the issue of territory remains “the main sticking point,” noting that although the negotiators “are pretty dug in, […] everyone feels that there’s a path forward.”

📍 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier underscored that security guarantees for Ukraine currently do not imply pan-European security, but rather a continuation of the conflict against Russia.

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🇺🇸🇪🇺 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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