❗️Sweden, following Finland, is expected to announce its decision to join NATO in coming days.

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❗️Russia poses “most direct threat” to world order, says EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.

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Sen. Rand Paul blocks quick passage of $40 billion Ukraine aid bill.

“If this gift to Ukraine passes, our total aid to Ukraine will almost equal the entire military budget of Russia. And it’s not as if we have that money lying around. […] This proposal towers over domestic priorities. […] We cannot save Ukraine by dooming the U.S. economy.”

Paul is demanding changes to the legislation that would create a special inspector general to oversee how the Ukraine military aid is spent.

The bill is still expected to pass despite objections from Sen. Paul, however, procedural steps will now delay the process into next week.

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Polish Prime Minister: The entire Russian world must be destroyed.

"The Russian world is a cancer which is consuming not only the majority of Russian society, but also poses a deadly threat to the whole of Europe. Therefore it is not enough to support Ukraine in its military struggle with Russia. We must root out this monstrous new ideology entirely," writes Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in The Telegraph.

At the core of the Russian world concept is the idea of preserving and protecting the distinctive Russian identity, along with its spirituality, morality, culture and language.

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Erdogan says Turkey not supportive of Finland, Sweden joining NATO. Ankara’s opposition could pose a problem given that accession of new members requires unanimous agreement within the alliance.

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Lavrov: The West, which has become an empire of lies, is no longer perceived as a beacon of democracy, freedom and prosperity. No one is safe from their expropriation and state piracy. In fact, this is why many countries are reducing their dependence on the US dollar, Western technologies and markets.

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Russian ruble gains make it world’s best-performing currency of 2022.

Headlines like these can’t help but remind of Joe Biden’s March 26 statement:

“As a result of unprecedented sanctions, the ruble is reduced to rubble. It takes about 200 rubles to equal one dollar.”

The exchange rate is currently at 63 rubles per dollar.

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U.S. wants Russia to withdraw troops and repent for the operation in Ukraine, says Amb. Antonov.

In response, the message from the Russian diplomats is as follows:

“There will never be any capitulation [from Moscow]. […] We are confident that all the objectives set by the commander-in-chief before our armed forces will be fully achieved. We will never give up or back down."

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❗️NATO to change Russia’s status from “partner” to “direct threat” in key strategic document.

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Russia-led CSTO military bloc will expand to include dozens of countries, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin believes.

“I think the organization will expand as the world order changes. […] In a few years it will no longer be just six countries, but dozens of states,” Khrenin said in an interview.

The alliance is currently comprised of six member states: Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

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Ukraine is counting on American and European taxpayers to keep its economy afloat.

According to Ukraine’s Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko, the country’s GDP will shrink by a whopping 44% in 2022. If the war lasts into fall, painful measures will be needed, involving huge tax rises and spending cuts.

Marchenko admits that he now spends most of his time at work lobbying foreign governments for assistance. America is where he has the highest hopes.

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EU caves to Putin's ruble payment scheme for Russian natural gas.

At least 34 major European energy companies have already opened or are in the process of opening ruble accounts at Gazprombank.

Last month, Putin warned that unless European nations open up ruble accounts in a Russia bank, Moscow will terminate its gas contracts.

Initially, the bloc rejected Putin’s plan, saying that the new payment mechanism would give Putin complete control over the process, breached contracts, and would also be a violation of EU sanctions.

Later, however, the Commission reportedly told EU states that companies would not be in violation of sanctions if they open accounts at Gazprombank as ordered by the Kremlin.

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❗️Ukrainian fighters who spent two months pinned down in Mariupol’s Azovstal steelworks finally surrender to Russian forces.

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Realists John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt take on liberal interventionists Michael McFaul and Radosław Sikorski in a Munk Debate on the Russia-Ukraine War.

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