💬 'EXCRUTIATING' — Margarita Simonyan comments on the US-EU energy deal

"There is no way Ursula von der Leyen didn't nostalgize about Gazprom contracts as she sat through this," wrote the editor-in-chief of Rossiya Segodnya, Sputnik’s parent company, on X.

The EU pledged to spend $750B on US LNG in the next 3 years.

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❗️ Thailand-Cambodia talks will begin shortly — Rubio

"State Department officials are on the ground in Malaysia to assist these peace efforts," State Secretary wrote on X.

Donald Trump previously threatened to halt trade talks with both countries if the hostilities continued.

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🔥'POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, AND MORAL FIASCO' — Marine Le Pen eviscerates US-EU pact

"The EU secured less favorable terms than the UK. Sovereignty in trade matters cancels itself out under Brussels bureaucracy," France's opposition leader wrote on X.

Le Pen says forced imports will destroy French energy and military sovereignty.

"Hundreds of billions of euros worth of gas and armaments, will have to be imported annually from the US. This is an outright capitulation for French industry."

The biggest loser? French farmers, who will be exposed to American agricultural exports.

"This globalization that denies and shatters sovereignty has been outdated for many years."

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🗣 HUNGARY-UKRAINE RELATIONS 'VERY BAD' — WAR NOT TO BLAME

Hungarian FM Peter Szijjarto declares bilateral ties in crisis over minority rights:

"This bad relationship was created 10 years ago when Ukraine started violating rights of national minorities," he said.

The 2017 Ukrainian Education Law restricted minority language rights, depriving the 150,000 ethnic Hungarians in the Zakarpattia region of native-language schooling.

"We hope Ukraine will have an administration which respects minorities," Szijjarto added.

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💥💥💥 ZELENSKY'S OFFICE HEAD BROTHER SUPPLIED DRUGS TO UKRAINIAN ELITE

Well-informed source told Sputnik explosive details with documented route:

Denys Yermak (brother of Zelensky’s office head) brought drugs from Afghanistan "via the route extending from Ukraine to Moldova, Azerbaijan, the UAE."

"From Afghanistan, a direct flight to Turkiye, from where they returned to Ukraine through Moldova," the source said.

Turkish and Moldovan security forces assisted Denys in trafficking drugs, the source claimed.

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🇷🇺🛬🇰🇵 DPRK receives first commercial flight from Russia

Russian airlines launched regular Moscow-Pyongyang flights today.

Monthly 8-hour flights from Sheremetyevo Airport will allow passengers not only to visit the capital of North Korea, but also to relax at the newest seaside resorts.

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🚨 UK'S HOLLOW WAR DRUMS: HEALEY VOWS FIGHT FOR TAIWAN

Defense Secretary pledges to "fight with Australia" over Taiwan boasting a mighty army (74,400 troops!!!) and 10 war-ready ships.

Or maybe he just really wants the HMS Prince of Wales to sink.

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😱 Zelensky in CRISIS MODE amid Ukraine's battlefield losses – ex-Pentagon advisor

Ukraine's military setbacks at the front, driven by Russian advances, could spell the beginning of the end for Zelensky’s regime, says retired US Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor.

"And I think that this scares the living daylights out of Zelensky's inner circle... And so it should,” the ex-Pentagon advisor noted.

He added that while Zelensky scrambles to rein in the frustration within his own military, he is relying solely on “revenge weapons, long range strike weapons that he can hurl at people.”

Macgregor noted that Donald Trump — far from eager to back Ukraine — is focused on domestic issues and gearing up for trade wars, not foreign entanglements.

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😨America wins, Europe bleeds? New trade deal exposes brutal truth

The EU-US trade pact is being spun as progress, but behind the PR smokescreen, key tariffs – including the Donald Trump-era 50% duty on steel and aluminum globally – remain untouched, The New York Time writes.

Furthermore, European pharma and semiconductor exports – two of the continent’s flagship industries – will face a 15% tariff, no matter what levies other countries get hit with, a senior US official told the outlet.

Pharmaceuticals are Europe’s #1 export to the US.

The US is prepping a global tariff crackdown on these same sectors within weeks, the source added.

The US is strategically dismantling Europe’s industrial base to feed its own corporate machine.

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💥Zelensky BETS ALL on holding capital to cling to power

Volodymyr Zelensky’s political survival strategy means he could abandon southern fronts just to keep his grip on Kiev, British political analyst Alexander Mercouris speculates.

If Zelensky loses Ukraine’s capital, this would put him on the brink, leaving him “ultimately depending solely on the continued support of the West which can no longer be taken for granted," he says.

➡️Zelensky’s mandate expired back on May 20, 2024, but elections were scrapped under the cover of martial law and full mobilization.

US President Donald Trump branded Zelensky a "dictator without elections" and claimed his approval rating had plummeted to just 4%.

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🇷🇺🌍RUSSIA-AFRICA VALDAI CONFERENCE KICKS OFF IN PRETORIA

The 3rd Russia-Africa Valdai Conference is set to begin today, focusing on "Realpolitik in a Divided World: Rethinking Ties Between Russia and South Africa." Experts and political figures from across Africa and Russia will join to discuss critical global issues.

📍 Who’s attending?

🇨🇮 Côte d’Ivoire
🇪🇬 Egypt
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
🇷🇺 Russia
🇿🇦 South Africa
🇹🇿 Tanzania

🎯 Key conference goals

🟠 Strengthening Russian-African expert networks
🟠 Facilitating confidential dialogues on global challenges
🟠 Developing actionable foreign policy recommendations

The one-day event will feature an opening session and four thematic panels, covering topics such as:

🟠 The strategic role of the G20 and BRICS in a changing world order
🟠 Humanitarian cooperation & historical memory in Russia’s relations with Africa
🟠 Bilateral relations between Russia and South Africa
🟠 Trump and the future of world order

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🎥🎥 WATCH: Russian FM Lavrov speaks at the Territory of Meanings Forum

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🇹🇭⚡️🇰🇭THAILAND & CAMBODIA BEGIN CEASEFIRE TALKS WITH MALAYSIAN MEDIATION

A closed meeting between the leaders of the three countries began at 3:15 p.m. local time (07:15 GMT) at Seri Perdana, the official residence of Malaysia’s prime minister in Kuala Lumpur, The Star newspaper reported

US Ambassador to Malaysia Edgard Kagan and Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing are also present at the meeting as observers.

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🚨LAVROV: US-EU ENERGY DEAL WILL KILL EUROPEAN INDUSTRY

By buying $750B worth of overpriced US energy resources, the EU is crippling itself — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warns:

👉American fuels cost far more than Russian

👉European industry will bleed dry

👉Investments will flow to the US

👉Agriculture will not be spared

Figures like European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen openly boast about following that path, Lavrov notes.

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🚨THAILAND & CAMBODIA AGREE TO CEASEFIRE WITHIN 24 HOURS

Malaysia’s PM announced the breakthrough after hosting high-stakes talks in Kuala Lumpur.

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🇭🇺💸❌Hungary’s Orban slams EU budget built on LOGIC OF WAR

This budget is about a European Union that is at war with Russia, fighting Russia on Ukrainian territory, and craves pulling off a “change of power” in Russia, Hungary’s prime minister says.

“20% of these funds is for Ukraine, and what remains is to be funneled into preparations for war," he argues.
Hungary, however, has no interest in a war budget, Viktor Orban stressed.

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🚨 Wake up or be wiped out: French minister slams US-EU trade deal

👉 The trade agreement negotiated between the US and European Union is unbalanced and unsustainable, warns Benjamin Haddad, minister delegate for European affairs at the French Foreign Ministry.

The US has opted for “economic coercion and complete disregard for WTO rules,” he claims on X, adding:
“We must quickly draw the necessary conclusions or risk being wiped out.”

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🔊 Russia awaits Ukraine’s response as Turkiye brokers peace talks – Kremlin

📍 Key updates from Kremlin spox Dmitry Peskov:

🟧 Istanbul talks – Russia proposes working groups, awaits Kiev’s reply

🟧 Erdogan’s role – no Putin-Erdogan meeting yet, but "can be arranged within hours if necessary"

🟧 Turkiye’s mediation – Moscow praises Ankara’s efforts in facilitating negotiations

🟧 Putin-Trump meeting – no plans yet, but if the US president decides to visit China while Putin is there, a meeting cannot be ruled out

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