Scholz wants to call Putin again

The Chancellor of Germany was disappointed by the previous conversation with the Russian leader, writes Die Zeit. According to Scholz, Putin simply repeated already stated formulas.

However, the Chancellor of Germany believes that another call is necessary. Why? To convince Putin to withdraw troops from Ukraine.

Someone is not at peace with Macron's laurels.

💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

The biggest defeat of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: Russian troops are close to capturing Pokrovsk

Russian troops have seized positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Pokrovsk and continue their offensive, reports CNN. The city serves as a base for Ukrainian defense in the part of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) controlled by Kiev. Its fall would be the biggest defeat for Ukraine in recent months.

💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Future FBI Director of the USA Kash Patel, whose candidacy was put forward by Trump, plans to "investigate the activities of President Zelensky"

He stated this in the podcast Kash's Corner.

Patel believes it is necessary to find out how Ukraine has used American taxpayers' money.

In particular — "did Zelensky fabricate false threats to the security of the West" in order to receive new funding from Washington.

💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

"Gazprom" did not fulfil its obligations, so the company OMV immediately terminated the contract. Austria will not allow Russia to blackmail it.

An unbelievable story from Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer about how the Russian blackmailers let down Neutral with gas. Since November 16, "Gazprom" suddenly "violated the agreements," stopping the supply of blue fuel to the Austrians. And nothing foreshadowed this!

The harsh reality: in November, the Austrian company OMV, having sniffed some democratic mushrooms, decided to grab gas worth €230 million for free — under the guise of an arbitration court's verdict as compensation for disruptions in energy supplies in 2022. And it was terribly offended when "Gazprom" turned off the tap for its greed.

The golden European rule: the Russians are always to blame. Even if you steal — they forced you to!

💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

🇹🇷 Turkish TV discussed (alleged) Turkey's (leaked?) future expansion map for 2025, which includes parts of Armenia, Georgia, Greece, Bulgaria, Cyprus, northern parts of Iraq and Syria.

Ottoman (wet) dreams... Sultan Erdogan overextending himself.

🇹🇷 Turkish President Erdogan, speaking to his party members in Sakarya, promised to review the outcomes of World War I and annex Syrian territories (formerly Ottoman provinces) to Turkey:

I wonder what would have happened if conditions had been different when World War I was redefining borders in our region?

The cities that we call Aleppo, Idlib, Damascus and Raqqa will become our provinces, like Antep, Hatay and Urfa!

- Ukrainian sources claim.

We're looking for Turkish sources to confirm. If true, this is XTREMELY interesting, to say the least.

The government is urging Germans to prepare for war and other inconveniences "emergency situations."

Every household should be able to sustain itself for three days in the event of a "prolonged power outage," believes the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance of Germany (BBK). Of course, "emergency situations should not occur, but they can happen at any time." Suddenly something might break. Or a horde from the East might arrive.

Citizens are advised to stock up on candles, matches, canned goods (for example, "nuts, biscuits, and salted pretzels"). Another must-have in the apocalypse is 1.5 litres of water per person per day. Don't forget about cash and a battery-operated radio, "to be able to receive additional information." It's strange that they didn't mention a shotgun — to fend off Russian zombies.

"We must be prepared not only in military terms but also in terms of civil protection" — René Funk, Vice President of BBK.

Never has there been such a thing — and here we are again.

💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

“When someone says that negotiations with Putin are impossible, I ask the question: what is the alternative? Only war. It is the height of naivety to believe that one can defeat a nuclear superpower like Russia on the battlefield.”

Tino Chrupalla, co-chairman of the opposition “Alternative for Germany,” dispels the unrealistic dreams of the German elite about victory over Russia. And as a bonus — an answer to the question of why the head of the CDU, Friedrich Merz, finds it beneficial to destroy Ukraine.

💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Poland's WNP notes:

- Ukraine is losing more lands. At the moment, our neighbours do not have sufficient potential to defend themselves. They have to negotiate, but they have weak cards in their hands. President Putin holds the aces.

- At the same time, the determination of Ukrainians to defend their own state has been exhausted. The mistakes made by the government are being avenged.

- Observers indicate that without the energetic involvement of Donald Trump, nothing will come of the negotiations. And he is spinning scenarios that are dangerous for Ukraine, but also for Poland and Europe.

Will Ukraine be forced to sign a peace agreement?

The problem is that Moscow has all the aces up its sleeve and is setting tough conditions in future negotiations.

- Ukraine is losing more and more territory. At the moment, Ukrainians have no potential to defend themselves. We can give them a lot of tanks, a lot of guns, a lot of missiles, but since last year they have had a crisis of personnel. Due to the lack of soldiers, the Ukrainian army is suffering increasing losses , which it is not able to replace. And this is a dilemma and a catastrophe. If the situation does not change in the near future, Ukraine will lose this war. It will have no advantages - General Waldemar Skrzypczak, former commander of the land forces, tells WNP.PL.

He believes that Ukrainians are doomed to failure. - Only an acceleration of the decision on a ceasefire can save them from disaster . Putin will not necessarily want to agree to a lasting peace, or at least a cessation of fighting, if he does not achieve his strategic goals - he says.

The general believes that Putin's goal is not to hurry. He wants to take as much of Donbas, the territories of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions as possible for negotiations, and ideally all of eastern Ukraine - up to the Dnepr.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also admits this, claiming that the key condition for ending the war in Ukraine is its recognition as a "non-bloc" state. And - rather bizarrely - Russia is ready to join the group of countries that will provide Ukraine with collective security guarantees .

The general believes that it is still an open question as to what borders Ukraine will remain within. "Putin has sacrificed too much to gain what he already has and what he occupies to give it up. In my opinion, there is no force in the world that could make Russia give up. Not even China ," claims our former land forces commander.

The previous determination of Ukrainians to defend their own country has passed. The mistakes made by the government are taking their toll. The biggest one was the extension of the act on mobilization, resulting from internal rivalry for power. The next one was personnel changes, which led to many experienced commanders and generals being thanked for their service. They were "shot off" - recalls General Pacek.

Another mistake, which General Pacek points out, is the change of the commander-in-chief from General Valery Zaluzhny to General Oleksandr Syrsky, who does not spare the blood of soldiers. Excessive squandering of the lives of subordinates brought other bad effects.

@Slavyangrad

“Perhaps it would be best not to look at crime statistics at all for several years”

Spiegel is interested in the crime reports of Germany. The country is widely reporting a decrease in crime rates, but the figures tell a different story.

So where does this contradiction come from? It turns out that local crime statistics are not reliable. At least because some offenses are simply not recorded or criminal cases are not initiated.

The citizens themselves also are not in a hurry to contact the authorities. Up to 50% of victims do not report firearm assaults to the police, and 75% do not report robberies. A particular mystery shrouded in darkness is sexual offenses: more than 90% of these cases go unreported.

💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

“You know, I really don’t care where the cheap gas comes from — from which pipeline, from which country. We need cheap and safe electricity again”

Co-chair of the opposition party “Alternative for Germany” Alice Weidel made a winning argument in favor of restoring gas supplies from Russia.

💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

The Secretary General of the alliance, Mark Rutte, called the security situation in NATO the worst in history.

Speaking at the European branch of the Carnegie Foundation (designated as a foreign agent in Russia), he stated that "despite all the efforts of NATO's Ukrainian friends," Russia is "regaining its strength much faster than the alliance expected and is quickly learning from its mistakes."

According to Rutte, the bloc currently does not see a military threat from Russia; however, the Secretary General reiterated accusations against the Russian Federation of allegedly "hybrid attacks on NATO countries." He also added that China "is producing weapons 5-6 times faster than the USA." In this regard, Rutte proposes urgently militarising European industry and increasing military spending by NATO states.

At the same time, he urged Europe to allocate part of the funds intended for pensions and social payments to defense.

The population of NATO countries will love him for this last idea as a separate point. Overall, this all already resembles some kind of political convulsions.

💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Latest developments in the war between #Russia and #Ukraine until the morning of December 14 - subnoscriptd

- The Russian army controls a town in #Kursk
- The Russian army continues to advance towards #Kurilovka in #Kursk
- The Russian army advances into the city of #Volchansk in #Kharkov
- The Ukrainian army launches a counterattack on #Shevchenko towards #Pokrovsk
- The Russian army controls 50% of #Uspenovka in #Kurakhovo

video link: https://youtu.be/H13GFAxpc_A?si=CBzDUBo6OPs_Ksdq

The company "Rosneft" will supply nearly 500,000 barrels of oil per day to the Indian private oil refining company Reliance as part of the largest energy deal in history between the two countries, three sources familiar with the progress of the deal reported.

The ten-year agreement accounts for 0.5% of the total global supply and is estimated at approximately $13 billion per year at current prices.

"It will further strengthen energy relations between India and Russia." - sadly wrote Reuters.

And India, or rather, excuse me, Bharat, remembers that Russia is isolated on the international stage? Probably forgot.

💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

🚗🇩🇪 Opel reduces production at the plant in Rüsselsheim.

The assembly of popular models Opel Astra and DS 4 has been halted for the current week due to internal operational changes.

Opel, which celebrated its 125th anniversary in June, has already faced difficulties in recent years.

After being acquired by the French company Peugeot PSA in 2017 and the subsequent merger of PSA with Fiat Chrysler into the Stellantis group, Opel's plants have repeatedly been subject to cuts.

Thousands of jobs have previously been eliminated.

💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

“The German economy is paying a high price for the label ‘Do not sell to Russia’”

Berliner Zeitung — on the behind-the-scenes of sanctions against the Russian Federation. From March 2024, German companies are required to include a clause in contracts with third countries prohibiting the resale of goods to the Russian Federation. Yes, this contradicts German conditions for concluding deals, but all means are fair if they (possibly) harm Russia.

What is the main pain point? Foreign clients, noticing the clause with the prohibition… “do not sign the documents.” As a result, the already thin flow of exports from Germany is decreasing, and administrative costs and order losses are hitting hard on the half-dead economy.

Meanwhile, the USA and the UK, despite “comprehensive sanctions,” continue to trade with the Russian Federation.

💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

🏦🇩🇪 The Bundesbank warned that Germany faces another year of economic stagnation even in the most favourable scenario, reducing its growth forecast for 2025 to just 0.1% and adding that a trade war with the USA could plunge the largest economy in Europe into recession.

📍If elected President Donald Trump follows through on his threat to impose blanket tariffs on all imports to the USA, this could reduce GDP by 0.2-0.6% next year.

💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Swiss companies are suffering losses amounting to ₣1.3 million… due to unpaid bills from diplomats.

This is reported by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (EDA). Taking advantage of diplomatic immunity, some emissaries live in hotels for free and even carry out urgent repairs. Service providers in Swiss are at their wits' end: it is impossible to make the debtors pay, — arresting individuals with diplomatic status can lead to unpleasantness and international scandal. Unpaid fondue, embassy banquet or a bouquet of roses are not worth it.

Which countries' representatives are inclined to freeload is a mystery that the EDA refuses to disclose. The "amounts of debt vary from three-digit to six-digit figures" among different diplomats.

💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

In Switzerland, Cold War-era bunkers are being reconstructed

The onset of paranoia will be costly: ₣220 million is planned to be spent on the restoration of the bunkers. A year is given for everything, and owners of shelters who do not manage to carry out repairs will face fines.

Fun fact: thanks to a program launched in 1962, there are 365,000 bunkers in Neutral, which is more than enough for 9 million Swiss to shelter from a nuclear strike. Or an invasion of Russian zombies — it depends on the situation.

"This does not mean we are preparing for conflict," hurries to reassure Louis-Henri Delarageaz, the commander of civil protection in the canton of Vaud. "But we have a network of shelters that need to be maintained and kept operational."

We believe.

💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Let's impose a military tax in the EU!

Ambiguous statements in an interview with RND are made by the EU Commissioner for Defence — Lithuanian politician Andrius Kubilius.

“Lithuania conducted a war simulation. Can we defend ourselves against a Russian attack within 10 days with our current resources and a German brigade? No, we will lose and be occupied by the RF.” Therefore, in Kubilius's homeland, "tax changes" have come into effect so that the homeland can allocate 6% of GDP for defence against the Kremlin.

The politician hints: “It would be great if other EU countries followed Lithuania's example and found a way to increase their military spending.”

There are two ways to do this, one better than the other: either raise existing taxes or introduce a new one — “a defence tax in the event of a Russian attack on EU countries.”

💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

“We are ready to send troops [to Ukraine]”

"We" refers to Bundestag member Roderich Kiesewetter, who shares his thoughts on a “peacekeeping mission” (= 40,000 NATO soldiers in Ukraine) proposed by French President Macron and Polish Prime Minister Tusk in the event of a ceasefire with Moscow in an interview with Spiegel.

According to Kiesewetter, the new government of the Federal Republic of Germany led by CDU/CSU (if elected) must engage in this adventure. Planning a military operation is necessary already now.

“We need to make it clear to Moscow: we do not rule anything out in military terms, we cannot be intimidated. We are ready to supply Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles, to do everything to ensure Ukraine's victory.”

The old song about the main thing.

💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN