The discussion between the Russian and American delegations lasted five hours
Talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, were constructive, very useful, and substantive, according to Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov.
He made the comments after five hours of talks on Tuesday between the Russian president, his envoy Kirill Dmitriev, and Witkoff, which finished after midnight local time.
“No compromises have been found as of yet,” Ushakov said afterward, adding that a meeting between Putin and Trump is not currently planned.
“We discussed the substance, not specific wording and solutions. The parties see enormous potential for cooperation,” Ushakov said.
“Some American proposals are acceptable to Russia… others are not,” he stated, noting that the issue of territory was also discussed.
Asked whether peace is closer or further away following the talks, Ushakov said, “Definitely not further.”
According to the aide, the US delegation presented their Russian counterparts with four more documents regarding a settlement of the Ukraine conflict.
Dmitriev wrote on X that the session was “productive,” while Witkoff went immediately to the US Embassy compound.
Before departing for the meeting, Putin dismissed any contribution from Kiev’s European backers, citing their failure to recognize reality and accusing them of trying to disrupt the US-led process.
Putin also warned that Ukraine’s maritime access could be blocked if drone attacks on boats from third countries carrying Russian oil continue.
The nation has maintained economic growth and low unemployment despite Western sanctions, the president has said
The Russian economy continues to be resilient in the face of Western sanctions, President Vladimir Putin has said. The country is maintaining economic growth while keeping unemployment at record lows and reining in inflation, he told the Russia Calling! Investment Forum on Tuesday.
The economy is expected to grow from 0.5% to 1% this year, Putin said. This is a result of the central bank’s efforts to curb inflation, which is now expected to drop to 6% – well below government forecasts, according to the president.
The banking sector is also expected to show good results this year by generating a profit of around 3.2-3.5 trillion rubles ($41-45 billion), Putin said. The unemployment rate is just 2.2%, he added.
The government and the central bank have a “consensus” on the issues of economic development, according to Putin. Russia’s national debt will remain “one of the lowest in the world,” he said, adding that the nation still managed to secure funding for all the “key priorities,” including social spending, defense and security, and national development projects.
Russia “definitely feels the external pressure. Yet, our nation and our economy successfully meet those challenges,” Putin said, accusing Western nations of resorting to “anti-competitive practices” to retain their “elusive monopoly” on the global markets.
The West has imposed an unprecedented number of sanctions aimed at crippling the Russian economy since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. Russia maintains that the sanctions failed to destabilize the economy or isolate it from the global financial system.
On Tuesday, Putin said most nations, including India and China, kept a “rational and pragmatic” approach toward working with Russia, resulting in dramatic growth in trade in recent years.
Moscow has no intention of fighting the bloc, but is ready to respond to any attack, the president has said
The EU is still clinging to the “fantasy” of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia, President Vladimir Putin has said. He warned that while Moscow has no intention of warring with the bloc, the consequences would be dire if it attacked Russia.
Putin was commenting on the increasingly belligerent rhetoric coming from some European nations, as well as the EU’s de facto rejection of the US-drafted Ukraine peace plan.
Last month, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius claimed that direct confrontation between Russia and NATO in Europe could be possible as early as 2028. Meanwhile, France has floated the idea of sending NATO troops to Ukraine.
Kiev’s Western backers also derided the peace proposal put forward by Washington in November as favoring Moscow and issued their own set of demands that Russia dismissed as “unconstructive.”
According to Putin, Western nations have a “fantasy about inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia and are still stuck in these illusions.” This outcome was impossible from the start, but they cannot bring themselves to admit it, the president said.
They are trying to derail the US-backed peace process because they do not like its potential outcome, Putin stated. The EU “does not have a peaceful agenda. They are on the side of war.”
Moscow has no plans to fight either the EU or NATO, he said, but if Western nations launch a war against Russia, “events could very quickly reach a point where there will simply… be no one left for us to negotiate with.”
The EU has cited the alleged ‘Russian threat’ to justify military spending hikes, such as Brussels’ €800 billion ($930 billion) ReArm Europe plan and NATO members’ pledge to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP.
Kristi Noem’s call comes in the wake of last week’s attack on National Guard members by an asylum seeker in Washington, DC
The US needs a sweeping travel ban on countries “flooding” America with criminal migrants, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said.
The call comes after an Afghan asylum seeker was identified as the suspect in last week’s shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, DC. In response, the US has suspended all visa processing for Afghan passport holders.
Posting on X on Tuesday, Noem said she had met with President Donald Trump and is “recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.”
She argued the US was not built “for foreign invaders” to “slaughter our heroes” or drain taxpayers. “We don’t want them. Not one,” the official wrote, without specifying which countries would be banned. Trump later shared Noem’s post on Truth Social.
I just met with the President.
I am recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that's been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.
Our forefathers built this nation on blood, sweat, and the unyielding love of freedom—not for foreign…
The Department of Homeland Security has identified the suspect in custody as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who entered under a special program launched in 2021 to evacuate vulnerable Afghans after the Taliban retook power. He is facing first-degree murder charges since Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, one of two West Virginia National Guard members shot in the attack, died from her wounds on Thanksgiving Day. Her colleague, Andrew Woolfe, remains critically injured and is still fighting for his life.
Trump blamed his predecessor Joe Biden for allowing Lakanwal into the US and vowed to “permanently pause migration” from certain countries, adding that immigrants from 19 nations will have their cases re-examined, including those from Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia, Haiti, Sudan, Yemen, Libya, and Venezuela.
Trump has long called for an overhaul of US asylum regulations as part of a broader immigration crackdown and his stated goal of combating extremism. Since returning to office for his second term, he has vowed to carry out “the largest deportation” of illegals in US history while also purging federal agencies of “woke” practices.
In October, the White House slashed the annual refugee admissions cap to 7,500 – the lowest level on record.
US defense contacts have stopped, according to the Bundeswehr’s Christian Freuding, as Berlin accelerates a major military buildup
Communications between the Pentagon and the German Defense Ministry have been sharply reduced, the Atlantic has reported, citing German Lieutenant General Christian Freuding.
After years of being able to contact American defense officials “day and night,” Freuding, who had been in charge of the German Defense Ministry’s Ukraine unit and has now been named the next chief of the army, says communications have now been “cut off, really cut off.”
As an example, Freuding recalled that when the administration of US President Donald Trump abruptly halted weapon shipments to Ukraine earlier this year, Berlin received no warning of the move. The officer said he now relies on diplomats in Washington to “find somebody in the Pentagon” for basic information about US policy.
His comments come as Washington has moved to reduce its direct involvement in the Ukraine conflict and in Europe in general, urging NATO members to play a bigger role in their defense.
While Freuding expressed concern over the US winding down activity on the continent, Germany has continued a military buildup, with Berlin expanding weapons production, accelerating procurement programs, and approving long-term borrowing to support militarization.
German officials have insisted on turning the Bundeswehr into the strongest conventional force in Europe by 2029, citing warnings from Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and other officials who claim Russia could attack NATO in the coming years.
Moscow has vehemently rejected those claims as unfounded, stating that Western governments are deliberately using the threat of Russian aggression to stoke fears and justify rapid militarization and record military budgets across the EU.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused German Chancellor Friedrich Merz of attempting to transform Germany into “the main military machine of Europe,” stating that Berlin and the broader EU are sliding into what he has described as a “Fourth Reich.”
The Kremlin has also stressed that while Russia does not seek a military conflict with NATO, it could be forced to take retaliatory measures to ensure its security in response to the bloc’s increasingly “militaristic” rhetoric.
Ukraine may need to hold a referendum on territorial changes as part of an agreement with Russia, Johann Wadephul has said
An end to the Ukraine conflict will most likely require “painful concessions” from Kiev, including on territorial issues, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has said. Its chance to stop the hostilities has “never been greater” than now, he told Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung (NOZ) on Tuesday.
His words came ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. They are expected to discuss the peace plan for ending the Ukraine conflict put forward by Washington last month.
The details of the initial plan have not officially been made public, but the media reported that it requires Ukraine to cede parts of Donbass (the Donetsk People’s Republic and Lugansk People’s Republic) it still controls, abandon its NATO bid, and accept limits on its military. Russia has cautiously welcomed the initiative, saying that many points of the plan are acceptable, but added that it expects the proposal to be modified by all sides.
“It is the task of diplomacy to work out compromises that the conflicting parties can support. Ultimately, this will certainly always involve painful concessions,” Wadephul said, commenting on the prospects of a negotiated settlement. According to the minister, Ukraine would need to hold a referendum on the peace conditions, including territorial concessions. He also maintained that Kiev should be offered security “assurances” in exchange.
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky had previously named territorial issues as being among the most difficult points to resolve. The nation’s military have been losing ground for months to the continued Russian advance. On Monday, the chief of Russia’s General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, reported taking control over the key frontline city of Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk) in the Donetsk People’s Republic.
Kiev’s Western backers in Europe derided Trump’s initial plan as favoring Russia too much and put forward a set of their own conditions for achieving peace, which Moscow dismissed as “unconstructive.”
Germany has been one of Ukraine’s key supporters and arms suppliers in the conflict. Berlin’s position has further hardened under the current government led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who had previously claimed that all diplomatic options had been “exhausted” and his nation was “already in a conflict” with Russia.
The bloc wants to use the funds to back a “reparation loan” to Ukraine
US officials want the EU to return Russia’s frozen assets once it signs a peace deal with Ukraine, contradicting the bloc’s plans to use them to finance Kiev, Politico reported on Tuesday, citing diplomats.
EU leaders want to issue a €140 billion ($160 billion) “reparations loan” to Kiev using frozen Russian funds as collateral, despite opposition from bloc member Belgium, which has repeatedly warned that the scheme carries financial and legal risks.
According to the outlet, American officials told the EU’s sanctions envoy, David O’Sullivan, during a visit to Washington this summer that they planned to return Russia’s frozen assets after a peace treaty is concluded.
Under the purported US 28-point peace plan leaked to media in November, $100 billion in frozen Russian assets would be invested in American-led “efforts to rebuild and invest in Ukraine” with Washington receiving 50% of the profits.
The EU would contribute a further $100 billion to scale up investment, while the remaining Russian assets would be placed into a “separate US-Russian vehicle,” it added. Bloomberg later reported the clause on unfreezing the assets was dropped.
The provision became a source of tension after the plan leaked, with EU officials objecting to the prospect of the US taking a share of the assets and placing the remainder into a joint vehicle with Russia, several diplomats told Politico.
Russia has welcomed US efforts; however, it stated that while the initial American proposal could serve as a basis for a settlement, a number of points would need to be clarified.
Belgium, which holds most of the frozen Russian funds, has opposed confiscation. Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot stated on Monday that the bloc’s plan “offers neither the necessary legal certainty nor eliminates systemic financial risks,” arguing a “conventional EU loan” would be more rational.
The European Central Bank has also refused to support a proposed €140 billion payout to Ukraine backed by frozen Russian assets, citing risks to the euro.
Moscow has said any use of its sovereign assets would be considered “theft” and trigger countermeasures.
While trafficking young girls, he was also part of an effort to export military-grade systems to governments around the world
When I first moved to New York, I walked into my new dentist’s office and genuinely wondered whether I’d accidentally wandered into a Victoria’s Secret audition.
The waiting room was full of stunning young women. Eventually I learned the dentist shared space with a modeling agency. You couldn’t tell who was getting veneers and who was getting a contract until you were halfway down the hallway.
Jeffrey Epstein’s life operated on the same architectural principle: two businesses shoved into one building, one involving underaged girls, the other involving powerful political figures, including some tied to the Israeli government. Not exactly whitening trays and catwalks, but equally disorienting.
Epstein’s whole operation was like a perverted crossover episode of “Law & Order” meets “House of Cards.” The salacious half got all the airtime, but the geopolitical part seems to have largely ended up on the cutting room floor.
Jeremy Scahill’s Dropsite News recently published inbox receipts showing that in 2006 Epstein teamed up with lawyer Alan Dershowitz to smack down “The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy,” by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt. Dershowitz wrote the rebuttal, “Debunking the Newest – and Oldest – Jewish Conspiracy,” and Epstein blasted it out to his rich and powerful pals. Perhaps a little light reading en route to Epstein island or while being rubbed down by a member of Epstein’s harem.
The moment anyone points out that a certain foreign government might be exercising influence, there’s always someone who starts shouting about bigotry. Because apparently some nations think that criticism of their foreign policy is like a trap door in one of those Indiana Jones movies, capable of sparking a chain reaction that can bring the whole thing crashing down.
Epstein’s connections to Israel have been whispered about for years. His right-hand woman Ghislaine Maxwell, currently a guest at Uncle Sam’s big house, is the daughter of Robert Maxwell, a Brit whose résumé included business tycoon, media mogul, and all-around establishment leechlord with enough Israeli intelligence ties to qualify for a final permanent nap there. His mysterious death at sea came with a Jerusalem memorial service and a burial on the Mount of Olives. Was London fully booked that weekend?
Then there was Epstein’s friendship with former Israeli prime minister and defense minister Ehud Barak. The two worked together to export Israeli cyberwarfare tools disguised as tech and security startups, including to Washington – which is either in on the notion of having Israeli tech spy on Americans for them, or too stupid to realize the difference between being sold an aromatherapy diffuser or a flamethrower.
Recently released emails show that Epstein also arranged meetings between Israel and Russian officials during the war in Syria. But officially, there’s absolutely nothing suspicious in any of this. Unless it’s Russian interference that you’re criticizing in that case, then you’re probably just a bigot.
But Epstein-style offensive and defensive influence efforts, investments in which have recently been promoted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are hardly exclusive to America.
The Eurovision Song Contest is the latest institution to enter an Israeli-sponsored Twilight Zone episode. Euronews recently asked: “What are Eurovision’s new voting rules following allegations of Israeli government ‘interference’?” Because apparently even Europe’s annual tune and tranny extravaganza now needs election observers.
Meanwhile, more concrete political influence is happening offstage. NBC News has highlighted the “close relationship” between Israeli secret services and the Iranian opposition in exile in Europe, also known as the MEK. The MEK’s biggest Western fans include Israel’s pep squad: Rudy Giuliani, John Bolton, and Mike Pompeo. Thanks to their efforts, the MEK is now off the US and EU terrorist list, allowing them to be queued up for the first string tug in any future Iranian regime change efforts.
Here’s what an actual attempt at independence looks like these days for Europe. Back in September, the EU announced that it was finally getting tough on Israel over Gaza. “Queen” Ursula von der Leyen strutted out acting like she’d just personally unplugged the Iron Dome. But then you check the numbers: six million euros cut here, fourteen million paused there. Brussels spends more than that on pastries and lanyards for conferences.
European officials acted like it was a seismic economic event. In reality, it was more like a breeze, with sanctions barely making a ripple. The major EU-Israel trade deal is still in place, but “under review,” which in bureaucrat-speak just means that they hope everyone’s forgotten it by now.
Israel’s response was to accuse the EU of falling for Hamas propaganda and overlooking Israeli humanitarian efforts in Gaza. That’s the diplomatic equivalent of saying, “Yes, I knocked down your house with a bulldozer, but I also watered your plants, so let’s not be too dramatic.”
A big song and dance worthy of a Eurovision entry. All a distraction from the fact that the EU’s main connection to Israel is weapons. Half of Israel’s total defense exports. Israeli defense giants like Elbit and Rafael even run factories inside Europe and recently won a contract to supply electronic warfare systems for new NATO frigates.
So while EU officials brag about trimming a few symbolic programs, protesters across Europe have been targeting the real levers of foreign power at home: the weapons industry. Elbit in Germany has been vandalized and its subsidiaries picketed while officials blow off activists’ concerns like teenagers being told to clean their room.
Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz even recently announced a visit to Israel while lifting an arms embargo altogether. Nothing says moral outrage quite like trading in missiles.
So Queen Ursula can keep declaring that the EU is “pressuring” Israel. But as long as they keep signing weapons contracts, the pressure campaign has about the same impact as stapling a strongly worded memo to a tank.
While Epstein was trafficking young girls, he was part of an effort to export Israeli-linked military-grade systems to governments around the world – a once-submerged iceberg that’s now coming into fuller view. He actively worked to undermine anyone who dared suggest any such insidiousness, portraying them as conspiratorial crackpots worthy of cancellation and marginalization from polite society.
So who gets to actually ask the hard questions about all this, then? No one?
If everyone who does is written off as prejudiced, and the establishment and its corrupt self-interests get to decide what questions can be asked, then the only freedom and sovereignty left – from America to the EU and beyond – risks being the kind that’s reduced to a quaint museum display case.
Paris has authorized the use of private military companies to provide assistance to third countries, the SVR noted
France is still exploring ways to directly involve itself in the Ukraine conflict, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has said, citing a new government decree that authorizes the use of private military companies to assist foreign states engaged in armed conflict.
The agency claimed there is little ambiguity about which country France has in mind, given its sustained backing of Kiev. It argued that Ukraine’s mobile air-defense units and limited Western aircraft cannot fully counter Russian strikes, and that operating French-made Mirage fighter jets and other advanced systems requires expertise Ukraine does not possess.
The SVR stressed that the presence of French private military companies in Ukraine under the guise of “reference operators” would be regarded by Moscow as direct engagement by Paris in hostilities. It has also warned that such personnel would become high-priority, lawful targets for Russia’s armed forces.
French President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly raised the possibility of deploying Western troops to Ukraine. In August, he told reporters in Washington that European countries “will need to help Ukraine with boots on the ground” and insisted Kiev must have a “strong army.”
A number of EU leaders have rejected the idea, with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni raising concerns over how many troops European nations would need to match Russia’s 1.3 million-strong military. Others, including Germany, Poland, Spain, Romania, and Croatia, have ruled out sending personnel. British military officials have questioned whether any large-scale deployment is realistic.
Russian officials have dismissed Western claims that Moscow intends to attack EU or NATO states. Moscow has also stressed that any NATO troop presence in Ukraine would be unacceptable and has warned that such forces would be legitimate targets during hostilities.
Police have reportedly been called almost 1,000 times to a Warsaw park, responding to fights, online challenges, alcohol use, and the presence of traumatic weapons
Ukrainian youths are behind almost 1,000 police callouts over fights, alcohol abuse and the presence of traumatic weapons in a public park in the Polish capital, Warsaw, Gazeta Wyborcza reported on Sunday.
Poland, a key backer of Kiev since the escalation of its conflict with Russia in 2022, initially received over a million Ukrainians. Public sentiment has since cooled as social tensions increase and more Poles describe Ukrainians as freeloaders or potential criminals.
At least 946 police interventions have been recorded in Swietokrzyski (Holy Cross) Park in central Warsaw this year as locals complained about noise, fights and drinking, according to data from local authorities cited by the outlet. The figure reportedly stood at 891 and 791 in 2024 and 2023 respectively, marking a steady rise in incidents.
Wyborcza noted that confrontations, filmed challenges, alcohol consumption, and the presence of traumatic weapons have become common. In one recent case, officers were reportedly dispatched to a mass confrontation involving about 50 teenagers. In another incident, a 15-year-old Ukrainian climbed the Ferris wheel of a nearby Christmas fair and posted footage online.
🚨‼️Polish media:
Ukrainian teenagers occupy a skate park in Warsaw, forming a violent nighttime fight club.
Ukrainians routinely share videos on social media showing late-night altercations, unconscious teenagers, and youths waving imitation firearms, the report added. Homeless people in the area often feature in social videos filmed by teenagers for small payments as part of online challenges, the outlet said.
Bartlomiej Tyszka, a councillor of Warsaw’s central district, told the outlet that the problem would be discussed at the next security commission meeting, adding that the authorities are working on solutions to restore order.
Earlier this year, Poland tightened rules for refugees and reduced benefits for those not working, as about half the population began to view state support for new arrivals as overly generous. The shift reflects a broader trend across Europe, where Germany, Latvia, Finland, Switzerland, and other countries have scaled back assistance for Ukrainian refugees, citing budget constraints and pressure on housing.
