🇹🇷 Turkiye never needed help or support from the European Union, Erdogan said.

The Turkish President also called Sweden's steps to ratify its membership in NATO insufficient.

Ukraine has siphoned off all resources allocated for humanitarian efforts, although there are other hot spots across the globe that are in urgent need for assistance as well, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) Cindy McCain stressed.

"Ukraine, for better or worse, has sucked the oxygen out of the room. And... we certainly understand the need to support Ukraine. But there's other hot spots in the world that are deeply and as much desperate as Ukraine is," McCain told an American news agency.

McCain said that she had visited many countries where she had seen women with children fleeing from terrorist groups, which sometimes could be the only actors providing food for the local population. The official called it "an absolute national security issue."

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇷🇺🇩🇪 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s recent remarks on the conditions for the start of talks between Russia and Ukraine are glaring proof that Berlin hardly understands the facts on the ground, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

"This is not Scholz's demand, these are Scholz's thoughts. It is unlikely that these thoughts indicate that the German side understands the real state of affairs," Peskov told reporters.

The condition for the start of peace talks in the Ukraine conflict was the "withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory", German Chancellor Olaf Scholz suggested.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇷🇺 Russian scientists from Belgorod State University, collaborating with an international research team, have uncovered a connection between the structure of a gene responsible for heat shock proteins and the progression of ischemic stroke. Ischemic stroke, a condition affecting cerebral blood circulation, is a leading cause of death according to the World Health Organization.

The researchers have clarified that the origins of this condition are influenced by both external factors and an individual's genetics. They believe that the identified patterns could have significant medical implications for predicting stroke severity and recovery duration. Heat shock proteins play a crucial role in stressful situations like strokes by aiding in the restoration of proper protein structure in brain tissue, thus preventing potentially fatal clumping.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇺🇸💰 Yellen says US on ‘sustainable course’ as national debt hits $33 trillion

💬 “The president has proposed a series of measures that would reduce our deficits over time while investing in the economy and this is something we need to do going forward,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🪖 NYT blames Ukraine for deadly civilian strike in Kiev-controlled Konstantinovka the day Zelensky visits US

Evidence collected and analyzed by the US media outlet - including missile fragments, satellite imagery, witness accounts and social media posts - "strongly suggests" the 6 September missile strike on a market in Konstantinovka was the result of a Ukrainian missile fired by a Buk launch system, the report said.

Immediately after the strike, the Ukrainian authorities tried to prevent journalists from being able to access the impact area, but later visited the scene, interviewing witnesses and collecting parts of the weapon used. At that time, Volodymyr Zelensky blamed Russian “terrorists” for the attack and many media outlets swallowed this line.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

New Delhi Dismisses As 'Absurd' Accusations That It Was Involved in Acts of Violence in Canada

❗The ministry labels the accusations as "absurd", asserting that Canada is attempting to divert attention from Khalistani terrorists and extremists who have found shelter in that country and who pose a threat to India's sovereignty.

🇮🇳 🇨🇦 India's Foreign Ministry has rejected Canadian allegations that the Indian government was involved in acts of violence in Canada after Ottawa launched an investigation into a possible connection between New Delhi and the murder of a prominent Sikh nationalist in British Columbia.

◾The ministry also urged the Canadian government to take effective legal action against all anti-Indian elements operating within Canada.

Subscribe to @sputniknewsindia

🇷🇺⚓️ Russian MiG-31 fighter crews practice intercepting cruise missile during drills

The drills are a part of the Finval-2023 exercises, which involve approximately 10,000 military personnel and more than 50 pieces of military equipment. These include surface ships and support vessels, submarines, naval aircraft and helicopters, Bal and Bastion coastal missile systems, as well as wheeled and tracked armored vehicles.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇺🇸 US military’s problem child: Debris of missing F-35 jet found near military air base in South Carolina

The stealth fighter remained airborne for at least 70km before it crashed after the pilot ejected, military officials indicated.

Furthermore, Marine Corps commandant Eric Smith is reportedly issuing a two-day stand-down for all aircraft units inside and outside the US.

The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter program is due to cost more than $1.7 trillion dollars, with a single aircraft being around $100 million, according to a number of reports.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇷🇺🪖 Special operation in Ukraine gave boost to Russia's defense sector

💬 "Any military operation, especially one as large-scale as the special military operation in Ukraine, certainly affects the increase in state defense orders and the development of the military industry," Viktor Litovkin, a retired Russian Army colonel and veteran military analyst, told Sputnik.

While the Western press has largely brought its focus on the speeded-up production of munitions in Russia, the military innovations include manufacturing of small arms, artillery of various calibers, tanks, helicopters, and aircraft for various purposes, body armor and radios, binoculars, rangefinders, and so on and so forth, Litovkin noted.

📅 Russia is celebrating Gunsmith's Day on September 19 – a professional holiday for all employees of enterprises of the country's military-industrial complex.

👉 Sputnik takes a look at what is behind the industrial boost

🇷🇺📹 WATCH Russia’s Soltsepyok heavy flamethrower systems vaporize Ukrainian forces trying to cross the Dnepr River

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️US-supplied M1 Abrams to arrive soon in Ukraine, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin vows

The United States is also “supplementing [the] F-16 training coalition”, which consists of several European allies, “with US-based training,” the Defense Secretary noted, commenting on the progress of instructing Ukrainian pilots.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🪖 WATCH Ukrainian servicemen voluntarily surrender to Russian forces in Svatovo area of Donbass

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Azerbaijan launches 'anti-terrorist activities' in Nagorno-Karabakh, Defense Ministry says

The ministry said they have informed the command of the Russian peacekeepers and the leadership of the monitoring center about the ongoing events.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️📹 Azerbaijani media publish footage allegedly showing destruction of Armenian anti-aircraft missile system in Stepanakert

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Russia is in contact with Azerbaijan in light of Baku’s "anti-terrorist operation" in Karabakh, Russian MFA spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.

Baku is providing Moscow with information about the operation, Zakharova added.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Key points of Maria Zakharova's statement on the current situation in Nagorno-Karabakh:

▪️Moscow is concerned with the escalation of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and calls on Azerbaijan and Armenia to stop bloodshed and return to a diplomatic settlement.

▪️The Russian peacekeeping contingent continues to fulfill tasks amid the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.

▪️Russian peacekeepers are in contact with representatives of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and the Azerbaijani authorities for a ceasefire.

▪️Armenia's latest actions create fertile ground for the West's hostile policy towards Russia.

▪️Moscow remains committed to cooperation with Armenia.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Pepe Escobar: Russia, North Korea stage 'strategic coup' against Western hegemony

In his latest piece, Pepe Escobar focuses on the main geopolitical events of the past two weeks: the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok and the visit of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to Russia

💬 “The key themes all reflect the four main vectors of the New Great Game as it’s being played across the Global South: energy and energy resources; manufacturing and labor; market and trade rules; and logistics. But they go way beyond – exploring the subtle nuances of the current civilizational war.”

👉 Check it out!

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇰🇪 Kenyan lawmakers urge religious leaders to reprimand country's LGBTQ+ groups

In particular, the country's members of parliament stated that the said groups "have contributed to children’s moral deviation," according to local media.

The urge comes as earlier the country's Supreme Court allowed the registration of LGBTQ+ groups in Kenya, which, according to reports, received harsh reactions from both nation's politicians and clerics.

Earlier, Kenyan Archbishop Martin Kivuva Musonde regretted the Supreme Court's decision, saying "if you legalize something, it means you are promoting it."

Subscribe to @sputnik_africa

🔸 Sputnik Africa | TikTok | Odysee | Twitter 🔸

🇷🇺🇮🇷 First footage of Sergei Shoigu's visit to Iran courtesy of Iranian media

Russian delegation headed by Sergei Shoigu has arrived in Tehran for talks with Iranian leadership, the MoD said.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🪖 Russia’s MoD releases footage showing massive Ukrainian losses in Klescheevka near Artemovsk (Bakhmut)

Subscribe to @SputnikInt