The US president’s day one decree has faced repeated roadblocks in lower courts
US President Donald Trump’s administration has asked the Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of his executive order ending birthright citizenship for children whose parents entered the United States illegally, CNN reported Friday.
Signed on January 20, Trump’s first day back in office, the order directs federal agencies to deny citizenship to children born on US soil if neither parent is an American citizen or a lawful permanent resident. The policy has since faced a series of nationwide injunctions, with judges declaring it unconstitutional.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer, the administration’s top appellate lawyer, argued in the US Supreme Court filing that longstanding interpretations of the 14th Amendment have been “mistaken” and have had “destructive consequences,” according to the appeal obtained by CNN. He claimed lower courts had “undermined border security” by striking down “a policy of prime importance to the president.”
The administration is challenging rulings from a federal appeals court in San Francisco and a district court in New Hampshire, both of which blocked enforcement of the order in July. In one case, a coalition of Democratic-led states argued that the decree threatened billions in funding tied to citizenship status. In another, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) won a class-action lawsuit halting the policy nationwide.
“This executive order is illegal, full stop, and no amount of maneuvering from the administration is going to change that,” ACLU attorney Cody Wofsy said after Friday’s filing. “We will continue to ensure that no baby’s citizenship is ever stripped away by this cruel and senseless order.”
The administration insists that the Supreme Court’s landmark 1898 ruling in US v. Wong Kim Ark, which established birthright citizenship for the children of immigrants, has been misapplied for decades. Sauer argued the precedent only applied to children of parents with “permanent domicile and residence” in the United States, not those who are in the country unlawfully or temporarily.
The Supreme Court has yet to docket the case, and it is unclear if four justices will vote to hear it. In June, the justices issued a procedural decision limiting the power of lower courts to block presidential policies, but left open other pathways for nationwide injunctions.
Republicans have accused their rivals of failing to release documents that contain the names of their backers
Congressional Democrats have released a new batch of documents from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate that mention billionaire Elon Musk, ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon, and investor Peter Thiel, fueling the political controversy over the late financier’s ties to powerful men.
The Democratic members of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability published six heavily redacted pages on Friday, part of the 8,544 documents turned over by Epstein’s estate. Among them was a 2014 calendar entry reading: “Reminder: Elon Musk to island Dec. 6 (is this still happening?)”
Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, Little Saint James, was a notorious getaway vacation for the rich and powerful, who were provided with underage American girls.
Musk denied that he had ever traveled to the island, posting on X on Friday: “This is false.” The Tesla and SpaceX chief has previously acknowledged meeting Epstein at his New York townhouse years earlier, but said he rejected repeated invitations to the island and considered Epstein “obviously a creep.”
Other entries listed a planned lunch with Thiel in November 2017 and a February 2019 breakfast with Bannon. It remains unclear whether the meetings actually occurred. None of the three has been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, who allegedly committed suicide in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial for the sex trafficking of minors.
Democratic committee spokeswoman Sara Guerrero said documents showed Epstein was “friends with some of the most powerful and wealthiest men in the world” and pledged to continue releasing records. “Every new document produced provides new information as we work to bring justice for the survivors and victims,” she said.
Republicans pushed back, accusing Democrats of selectively publishing material that highlights only their political opponents. “They are intentionally withholding documents that contain names of Democrat officials, and the information they released today is old news,” a GOP Oversight spokesperson told Fox News.
Republicans said they intend to publish the files in full at a later date.
The release also included a flight log showing the UK’s Prince Andrew traveling with Epstein from New Jersey to Florida in 2000. The files mentioned that Epstein booked a “tentative breakfast party” with Microsoft founder Bill Gates in December 2014.
Both men have long faced scrutiny over their ties to Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of sex trafficking and sentenced to 20 years in federal prison in 2022.
From ICBMs to hypersonic glide vehicles, Beijing has built a layered arsenal that rivals – and in some ways outpaces – the United States and Russia
Missiles are the new calling card of Chinese power. Not aircraft carriers, not tanks, not fighter jets – but rockets that can fly halfway across the planet or tear through a US Navy fleet in the Pacific.
On September 3, 2025, Beijing rolled out its arsenal in a parade that looked less like a military review and more like a warning shot. Sleek ICBMs, hypersonic gliders, and “carrier killer” missiles rumbled through Tiananmen Square, broadcasting a simple message: China has arrived, and it’s not playing catch-up anymore.
Unlike Russia and the United States, China was never shackled by Cold War arms treaties. That freedom has given the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force the widest menu of missiles in the world – intercontinental, intermediate, hypersonic, submarine-launched, even air-dropped. This isn’t just hardware. It’s Beijing’s way of telling the world: the balance of power is shifting, one rocket at a time.
China’s missile story began with reverse-engineering Soviet R-2s handed over to the PLA. Fast forward to today, and Beijing now fields the full spectrum of land- and sea-based ballistic missiles: heavy liquid-fuel silo ICBMs, mobile solid-fuel systems, and SLBMs (the naval leg we’ll cover later). Across the board, warheads can be fitted with MIRVs.
DF-61 and DF-41: China’s mobile heavy hitters
The September 3, 2025 parade featured the public debut of the DF-61, a new road-mobile solid-fuel ICBM. By appearance and scale, it looks like an evolution of the DF-41, which has been in service since 2017. The upgrade is logical: the DF-41 has been in development since 1986, and by the time it reached mass production, parts of its design were already dated. That may also explain the lag in rolling out the silo and rail-mobile versions, both tested but delayed. With DF-61, those hurdles may finally be cleared. The two systems likely share many of the same technical solutions and performance specs.
Their launchers resemble Russia’s Topol-M and Yars: eight-axle TELs carrying missiles in sealed canisters. Each missile weighs roughly 80 tons, and China almost certainly has the technology to fire them from anywhere along their patrol routes, not just prepared pads. DF-41 is thought to be bulkier than its Russian cousins and was originally designed to deliver up to 10 low-yield warheads (~150 kt each) to ranges of 12,000–14,000 km.
Western estimates suggest that since 2017, at least 300 DF-41s in various basing modes have been deployed, with the newer DF-61 now entering the mix. This blend of mobile and fixed deployments diversifies China’s deterrent and guarantees a survivable second-strike capability.
Parade commentary in Beijing described the DF-5C as able to hit “any target in the world,” with a range up to 20,000 km. In Russian parlance that would qualify as a “global missile,” though technically that term often refers to systems that loft payloads into near-Earth orbit before de-orbiting. The mismatch here likely comes down to translation rather than capability.
The DF-5C is the latest version of the liquid-fuel DF-5, which first flew back in 1971. Technologically, it sits in the lineage of late-1960s Soviet R-36 designs, while the DF-5C might more closely resemble the R-36M2 “Satan.” First tested in 2017, it’s reported to carry 10–12 medium-yield warheads and is based in silos. Today, China fields about 20of these missiles.
DF-31 family: China’s first solid-fuel road-mobile ICBM
China’s first road-mobile solid-fuel ICBM, the DF-31, is often described as Beijing’s version of Russia’s Topol: a three-stage missile with a 12,000 km range and a single 200–300 kt warhead. Developed through the 1990s and 2000s, it entered service in 2006.
The DF-31AG, first sighted in 2017, made its parade debut in September 2025, mounted on a beefed-up multi-axle TEL that echoes the DF-41. A more advanced variant, the DF-31BJ, was also displayed; its notably longer canister has fueled speculation it carries a hypersonic maneuverable warhead. In total, more than 80 DF-31-series missiles may be deployed across China.
Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs): JL-2 and JL-3
Since the 1990s, China has been building out the sea leg of its strategic forces: nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines armed with solid-fuel SLBMs. Since 2007, the PLA Navy has operated Type 094 SSBNs, each carrying 12 JL-2 missiles. Six boats are in service today, with two more under construction.
The JL-2 draws on technology from the DF-31 – and likely the DF-41—ICBMs. It offers a range of up to 8,000 km and can carry either a single megaton-class warhead or up to eight MIRVed warheads.
Beginning in 2022, JL-2s have reportedly been gradually replaced by the more advanced JL-3, which shares similar dimensions. The JL-3 made its public debut at the September 3, 2025 parade. Estimates put its range at about 10,000 km, with MIRV payloads as standard.
With the new Type 096 SSBNs already under construction, it’s clear Beijing is prioritizing the maritime component of its strategic nuclear forces.
Intermediate- and Medium-Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBM / MRBM) & Hypersonics
Before diving into the intercontinental heavyweights, it’s worth pausing on the class of missiles that may matter most in a real fight over Taiwan or the South China Sea: intermediate- and medium-range systems. Unlike the United States and Russia, which were long constrained by the INF Treaty, China never faced limits on building weapons in the 500–5,500 km range. That freedom has given Beijing a decisive edge across Asia. These missiles form the backbone of its regional strike force – designed to hold US bases, allied infrastructure, and naval task groups at risk – and they’ve become the sharpest tool in China’s anti-access/area-denial strategy.
DF-26 and DF-21 – the region-shapers
The DF-26 has earned a blunt nickname: the “carrier killer.” This two-stage, solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile can reach up to ~4,000 km and is fielded in variants with either conventional or nuclear payloads. One variant is believed to carry a hypersonic maneuverable warhead designed to engage moving maritime targets – a capability that directly threatens carrier strike groups and gives Beijing a potent anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) tool.
The DF-26 began entering service in 2016 and is gradually replacing the older DF-21, China’s first solid-fuel medium-range missile adopted in the early 1990s. The DF-21 family still exists in multiple configurations; the text estimates at least ~80 DF-21 systems deployed in various roles. Together, DF-21 and DF-26 mobile launchers give China reach across Southeast Asia, much of the western Pacific, and even into parts of Russian territory – a geographic coverage that reshapes operational options across the region.
DF-17 – China’s fielded hypersonic glide vehicle system
China tested its first hypersonic glide vehicle concept in 2014, apparently using a DF-16 booster. Mobile systems carrying the DF-17 hypersonic glide vehicle entered service from 2019. What makes the DF-17 notable is not simply speed but maneuverability: the glide vehicle flies at hypersonic speeds along the edge of the atmosphere and can maneuver both laterally and vertically, complicating tracking and interception for modern missile-defense systems.
Reported performance figures put the DF-17’s effective range at about 2,500 km, with payloads (even conventional ones) delivered at speeds exceeding Mach 5. While that range limits oceanic reach, it enables strikes across coastal waters and land areas well within China’s periphery – precisely the zones Beijing is most likely to contest. Open estimates suggest several dozen DF-17 units are deployed today.
Hypersonic glide vehicles like the DF-17 are expressly attractive because they compress decision time for defenders and reduce the effectiveness of interception architectures that rely on predictable ballistic trajectories. That is why China has prioritized them as part of the layered deterrent and area-denial posture.
Air-launched Missile Systems (JL-1, H-6 / CJ-10 / YJ family)
China’s strategic missile posture isn’t limited to silos and submarines – the PLAAF also fields a heavy air-launched arsenal built around the venerable H-6 bomber family. The H-6N, the most advanced variant on display, serves as the launch platform for a new generation of air-dropped ballistic and cruise missiles, extending Beijing’s strike reach well beyond coastal waters.
JL-1: a new air-launched ballistic option
At the September 3 parade Beijing unveiled the JL-1 (Jīng Léi-Yī), a two-stage air-launched ballistic missile carried by the H-6N. The JL-1 is launched from a pylon under the aircraft and then follows a ballistic arc to its target. Each H-6N can carry a single JL-1, and pairing the missile with the bomber yields a strike radius of up to ~8,000 km – sufficient for precision strikes against naval task forces and fixed targets across long distances. Deployment of JL-1 within PLAAF strategic aviation appears to be underway this year.
H-6 as a versatile missile truck
The H-6 family, essentially a domestic evolution of the Soviet Tu-16, remains China’s principal long-range bomber fleet. Modern H-6 variants can carry a variety of payloads under the wings, including CJ-10/CJ-12 cruise missiles (descended from Soviet Kh-55 tech captured after the USSR collapsed). These subsonic cruise missiles – with ranges in the 1,500–2,000 km band – trade speed for payload and endurance, letting H-6s strike fixed targets or naval assets at standoff ranges, albeit at the cost of reduced ferry range for the bomber itself.
YJ family: supersonic and hypersonic anti-ship missiles
Most worrying for surface fleets is China’s growing inventory of high-speed anti-ship missiles. The H-6 can carry the YJ-12, a supersonic anti-ship missile with reported speeds between Mach 2.5 and Mach 4 and a range up to ~500 km – performance that narrows the window for naval defenses. At the Beijing parade, China also showcased a family of next-generation missiles – YJ-15 and possible YJ-17, YJ-19, YJ-20, and YJ-21 – some of which appear to be supersonic or hypersonic designs. The YJ-17 reportedly uses a two-stage booster and a hypersonic glide vehicle to push ranges toward ~1,000 km; the YJ-19 is said to employ a scramjet and to operate in the ~500 km class; YJ-20 and YJ-21 resemble aeroballistic or aeroballistic-style missiles with 300–400 km reach similar in role to Iskander-M or Kinzhal. Many of these may still be prototypes, but their public appearance signals China’s emphasis on fast, hard-to-intercept anti-ship and coastal-defense weapons.
Taken together, the H-6 fleet and its missile family give China the ability to strike across much of the western Pacific from land bases – a capability central to any PLA campaign to control nearby seas or threaten distant task groups.
While the ICBMs and hypersonics draw headlines, China’s short- and medium-range ballistic missiles are the instruments most likely to be used in a regional fight – especially over Taiwan and in the South and East China Seas. These systems are purpose-built to deny access, saturate defences, and cripple launch or basing infrastructure before an adversary can respond.
China fielded the DF-12 in 2013: a modern, high-precision tactical missile system that – by many accounts – outperforms US ATACMS in range and mobility. Launched from inclined transport-launch containers on a four-axle chassis, DF-12 rockets can reach 400–500 km. Beijing also exports an M20 derivative for the Belarusian Polonez launchers with a reduced ~300 km range.
Complementing DF-12 are short-range solid ballistic systems such as the DF-15 (up to 600 km) and the DF-16 (around 1,000 km). Both families come in multiple variants and can be fitted with conventional or nuclear warheads – including precision, terminally guided payloads that improve hit probability against point targets. Put together, the PLA likely operates hundreds of launchers for these systems.
That density and depth of launchers matter. In any operation aimed at Taiwan, the PLA could employ massed strikes with SRBMs and MRBMs to suppress air defences, blind surveillance systems, and batter runways and ports. The integrated use of these missiles – layered with cruise and anti-ship systems – would make sustaining an effective defensive posture extremely difficult for any opponent.
At the 2025 parade Beijing also highlighted supersonic and hypersonic anti-ship missiles with reported ranges up to 1,000 km (YJ family). Even if some items remain prototypes, the trend is clear: China is stacking its littoral and theater forces with fast, hard-to-intercept weapons that complicate naval operations in the first island chain.
From catch-up to takeover
China’s missile arsenal today is not just catching up with the world’s leading nuclear powers – in some areas, it’s already out in front. The sheer variety of systems on display in Beijing – from heavy silo ICBMs to road-mobile launchers, from submarine- and air-launched systems to hypersonic glide vehicles and supersonic anti-ship weapons – points to a layered, flexible, and modern strategic deterrent.
In fact, Beijing is pressing hardest in the one domain where its rivals lag badly: hypersonics. While Washington is still in the research-and-testing phase, China fields operational hypersonic glide vehicles and is expanding its hypersonic anti-ship arsenal. Russia is the only other country in that club, and both Moscow and Beijing are moving faster than the United States.
The September 3, 2025 parade wasn’t just pomp. It was a signal. China is building a missile force designed not only to guarantee a second strike in nuclear war, but also to deny access to its coastal zones, threaten adversary fleets, and keep rivals guessing in any regional conflict. For the first time in modern history, Beijing isn’t playing catch-up in missile technology. It’s setting the tempo – and daring others to keep pace.
The leader of ‘Greater Moldova’ has vowed to appeal the move
Moldova’s Central Election Commission (CEC) has barred another opposition party from participating in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, in what critics say is part of an escalating campaign of political persecution by the pro-Western government.
The CEC voted to annul the registration of the Greater Moldova (Moldova Mare) party and remove all of its candidates from the ballot, commission chair Angela Karaman announced on Friday. Six were in favor of the measure and there were three abstentions.
Party leader Victoria Furtuna has condemned the ruling as “unjust” and vowed to challenge it in the Court of Appeal. She argued that she was given just 90 minutes’ notice before the hearing and had no time to review the case materials, accusing the CEC of showing “excessive loyalty” to the ruling Action and Solidarity Party (PAS).
“Those abusing their positions today will one day be held criminally responsible,” Furtuna said.
Authorities accused Greater Moldova of illegally using foreign funds and failing to declare campaign finances. The CEC also alleged that the group had participated in a disguised electoral bloc alongside other banned movements.
Earlier on Friday, the opposition Heart of Moldova party, part of the Patriotic Bloc, was also excluded from the race under similar accusations. Its leader, Irina Vlah, likewise denounced the measure as “lawfare.”
Moldova’s ruling party has repeatedly defended its actions as necessary to combat “Russian influence.” President Maia Sandu, who narrowly won reelection in a contested vote last year and faces growing domestic discontent, has claimed that Moscow is conducting a “hybrid war” to destabilize the country.
Critics, however, argue that Chisinau has weaponized this narrative to silence rivals. Over the past two years, Moldovan authorities have dismantled or sidelined multiple parties that advocate neutrality or closer relations with Russia.
The SOR Party, led by exiled businessman Ilan Shor, was declared unconstitutional and banned in June 2023. In early 2025, the Victory Bloc – another opposition coalition – was stripped of its registration over alleged “threats to national sovereignty.” Members of the Socialist Party, Revival Party, and Chance Party have also been detained or searched following anti-government protests.
The government has imposed sweeping restrictions on the media as well. Citing the need to combat Russian disinformation, the Security and Intelligence Service (SIS), which reports directly to the president, has revoked the licenses of multiple TV channels known for their critical stance.
Broadcasts from Russian networks were suspended, while dozens of opposition-linked websites and Telegram channels were blocked.
Parliamentary elections are scheduled for September 28, with polls showing PAS in a tight race against the opposition Patriotic Bloc.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi has said his commitment to engaging all leaders may help resolve conflicts
The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi has said he would like to become the next UN Secretary-General to restore the organization’s credibility and effectiveness.
In an exclusive interview with RT on Friday, Grossi, who is in Moscow for the Global Atomic Forum, stated that the many military conflicts currently raging across the globe seem to have one thing in common – the “UN is absent” from them as far as meaningful peace efforts are concerned.
”I think that we have to restore the ability of the United Nations to be part of the solution” to military conflagrations, the IAEA chief argued. He suggested that his commitment to maintaining dialogue with all parties in any given conflict, as opposed to self-righteous finger-pointing, could help achieve this goal.
Grossi noted that he has “been in constant dialogue with [Russian] President Vladimir Putin” since 2022, “when many people in the West” dismissed the very idea of having a conversation with him due to the Ukraine conflict.
When asked about Ukrainian attacks on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, which has been under Russian control since 2022, Grossi said that “tension there is palpable.” The official, who has visited the facility several times himself, noted that “for more than three years, [the IAEA has] had experts that are living there, at the plant.”
Given the fact that the power plant contains “six big nuclear reactors that are situated almost at the contact line, front line,” the watchdog is “trying to manage the situation so we can avoid a nuclear accident before a ceasefire [or] a peace agreement” is agreed upon, he clarified.
Grossi also dismissed Iranian allegations that the IAEA had effectively sided with the US and Israel as they conducted massive airstrikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities earlier this year. He insisted that the organization has sought to maintain “dialogue among [the] belligerents.”
The official emphasized that “we don’t want to see attacks on nuclear facilities of any kind. There is no ambiguity.”
Grossi also warned against sidelining international bodies such as the IAEA as this risks undermining their mandate to “work with everybody.”
Sources have claimed that discussions broke down over West Jerusalem’s territorial demands
Negotiations between Israel and Syria have “hit a last-minute snag” over the former’s demand that it be allowed a secure conduit on Syrian territory, several Reuters sources have said.
Israel had asked to open a “humanitarian corridor” to Sweida province to deliver aid, but Damascus rejected the request as a breach of its sovereignty, Reuters wrote on Friday. Israeli forces invaded southern Syria after the fall of the Bashar Assad government in December.
According to Syrian and US sources, it was West Jerusalem’s demand that derailed the deal.
Earlier on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the countries had begun talks.
”Israel’s victories over the Iranian terror axis have opened up possibilities of peace that were unthinkable two years ago. Take Syria, today we have begun serious negotiations with the new Syrian government,” the PM said.
In recent weeks, Damascus and West Jerusalem had come close to agreeing on the broad outlines of a pact after months of US-brokered discussions. US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack said on Tuesday that they were already close to striking a “de-escalation” agreement.
Under the terms, Israel would stop its attacks while Syria would agree not to place any machinery or heavy equipment near the Israeli border. A demilitarized zone would include the province of Sweida, where hundreds of people from the Druze community were killed in recent months.
The talks come as Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose forces ousted Assad, made a landmark visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly. He voiced hope for a security agreement, adding that Damascus is not “creating problems for Israel.”“We are scared of Israel, not the other way around,” he claimed.
Sharaa also downplayed prospects for a more historic agreement in which Syria would recognize Israel.
West Jerusalem, which has a 120,000-strong Druze minority whose men serve in the Israeli military, has said it will protect Druze in Syria and carried out military strikes under the banner of defending them.
Vladimir Zelensky has claimed that Hungarian reconnaissance drones have been detected in western Ukraine
Vladimir Zelensky has claimed Hungarian reconnaissance drones were spotted in the west of Ukraine. Budapest quickly dismissed the allegation.
Relations between the neighboring countries have been strained. Unlike many EU states, Hungary has refused to provide weapons to Ukraine, and has opposed the bloc’s sanctions against Russia. Budapest has repeatedly spoken out against Kiev joining the EU and NATO, and has accused the Ukrainian authorities of discriminating against the Hungarian ethnic minority in the country’s Western Transcarpathia region.
In a statement posted to social media on Friday, Zelensky said that the Ukrainian military had informed him about alleged “recent drone incidents along the Ukrainian-Hungarian border.”
“Ukrainian forces recorded violations of our airspace by reconnaissance drones, which are likely Hungarian,” Zelensky claimed, suggesting that the supposed UAVs “may have been conducting reconnaissance on the industrial potential of Ukraine’s border areas.”
Responding to the allegation in an X post of his own, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto wrote that Zelensky “is losing his mind to his anti-Hungarian obsession [and is]… now starting to see things that aren’t there.”
Commenting on a decision to declare three senior Hungarian military officials persona non grata earlier in the day, Szijjarto accused Ukraine of carrying out an “anti-Hungarian policy.” The diplomat expressed incredulity that Kiev still expects Hungary to back its EU membership bid.
Following repeated Ukrainian strikes on the Druzhba (‘Friendship’) pipeline that carries Russian oil to Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban last month accused Kiev of attempting to undermine his country’s energy security in retaliation for refusing to back Ukraine’s EU membership bid.
In late June, Hungary vetoed a joint EU statement on Ukraine, effectively blocking Kiev’s accession talks. Budapest has repeatedly expressed concern that Ukraine’s potential admission to the bloc would adversely affect the Hungarian economy.
In May, Orban accused Ukraine of stepping up a covert interference campaign in Hungary. The allegation came shortly after both countries expelled each other’s diplomats amid mutual espionage recriminations.
“Taking Putin’s money” could prompt other nations to withdraw their reserves held in the bloc, Bart De Wever has warned
Belgium has slammed the brakes on a new German plan to use frozen Russian central bank assets to bankroll Ukraine – a veto that matters because Brussels holds the keys to the vault.
Prime Minister Bart De Wever said on Thursday that the proposal by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to funnel €140 billion from frozen Russian reserves into an “interest-free loan” for Kiev “will never happen.” His warning carries unusual weight: some €200 billion of Moscow’s immobilized assets are parked at Euroclear, the Brussels-based clearinghouse.
“If countries see that central bank money can disappear if European politicians see fit, they might decide to withdraw their reserves from the eurozone,” De Wever said at the UN General Assembly in New York, calling the plan reckless and a “dangerous precedent.”
“Taking Putin’s money and leaving the risks with us. That’s not going to happen, let me be very clear about that,” he stressed.
Western countries have long sought to tap into the frozen funds to bankroll Kiev, with attempts to do so repeatedly frustrated by lack of a legal mechanism and broader concerns about the implications. Last year, the G7 backed a plan to use the accrued interest to secure $50 billion in loans for Ukraine – with the EU pledging $21 billion and disbursing about half so far.
Moscow has repeatedly condemned the asset freeze and any effort to seize or redirect Russian funds as a violation of international law and undermining trust in the global financial system. Russia has also pledged it would retaliate, adding that further military and financial aid to Ukraine only prolongs hostilities.
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman cited media reports claiming Ukraine could be planning attacks on NATO countries in order to accuse Moscow
Ukraine is planning a possible false-flag operation in Romania or Poland that could escalate into a third world war, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.
In a Telegram post on Friday, she pointed to reports in Hungarian media alleging that Kiev intends to stage acts of sabotage in neighboring NATO countries and place responsibility on Moscow.
”Europe has never been so close to the outbreak of World War 3 in modern history,” Zakharova wrote.
According to the information available, the Kiev regime’s plan is to repair several downed or intercepted Russian UAVs, fit them with lethal warheads, and – controlled by Ukrainian specialists – send them disguised as “Russian drones” to major NATO transport hubs in Poland and Romania, Zakharova continued. At the same time, they would run a disinformation campaign across Europe to pin the blame on Moscow and thereby try to provoke an armed conflict between the Russian Federation and NATO, she added.
In order to carry out this alleged provocation, Russian-made ‘Geran’ drones were reportedly delivered on September 16 to the Yavorov training ground in western Ukraine, which hosts the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security of the Hetman Petro Sagaidachny National Academy. The UAVs had reportedly earlier been repaired at the LORTA plant in Lviv.
Zakharova cited Hungarian journalists as saying that the reason for these actions by Vladimir Zelensky is straightforward: the Ukrainian armed forces are suffering a crushing defeat. The collapse of the army, they argued, is no longer limited to the tactical level but has taken on a strategic dimension.
If all this is confirmed, it means that Europe has never been so close to the start of World War 3, Zakharova concluded.
The US president has struck an optimistic note after the Israeli PM vowed to eliminate Hamas in the Palestinian enclave
US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that a deal on ending the war in Gaza is close, but without providing any details.
His comments came just hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly he would “finish the job” of eliminating Hamas in the enclave.
“I think we have maybe a deal on Gaza, and very close to a deal on Gaza, it’s looking like we have a deal,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday.
Trump and Netanyahu are planning to meet in Washington on Monday.
”I think it’s a deal that will get the hostages back. It’s going to be a deal that will end the war,” Trump added.
Earlier this week, Trump and senior US officials presented a 21-point peace plan to Arab and Islamic leaders, the president’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said at the UNGA. The plan calls for a permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages, new governance for Gaza without Hamas, and a phased Israeli withdrawal, according to media sources.
”I think it addresses Israeli concerns and, as well, the concerns of all the neighbors in the in the region,” Witkoff said. “And we’re hopeful, and I might say, even confident, that in the coming days, we’ll be able to announce some sort of breakthrough.”
Trump’s position on the future of Gaza has not been consistent. In March, Trump said that “nobody is expelling any Palestinians” from the enclave, but later in May, he reiterated his desire for the US to take over the territory and “make it a freedom zone,” urging residents to leave.
However, ahead of Netanyahu’s UN speech on Friday, Trump said he would not allow the annexation of the occupied West Bank, rejecting calls from some far-right politicians in Israel who want to extend sovereignty over the area. “It’s not going to happen,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, adding: “There’s been enough. It’s time to stop now.”
Netanyahu signed a controversial West Bank settlement expansion plan this month.
