Admitting that Kiev has failed would rattle Ukraine’s backers politically, Viktor Orban has said, accusing the West of fueling the conflict
Admitting Ukraine has failed in its conflict with Russia would cause a “political earthquake” in Western Europe, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said. He warned that Western leaders are preparing to send troops and are allowing the conflict to “become a business.”
Orban spoke a day after making a surprise trip to Moscow, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss Ukraine, trade, and energy. Despite the EU’s diplomatic boycott, he said Hungary has not yielded to pressure to cut ties with Russia and again offered to host peace talks.
Admitting that Ukraine has failed and that this cannot go on “would cause a fundamental earthquake in European politics,” he said during a speech on Saturday.
He warned that the West is increasingly open to direct involvement. “First they gave money, they gave weapons, and now it has emerged that if really necessary, they will also send soldiers,” Orban said.
Hungary has refused to provide weapons or troops to Ukraine and has repeatedly urged for a ceasefire. Orban’s government has frequently clashed with NATO and the EU nations’ leaders over its stance.
Orban believes diplomacy regarding the conflict has fallen prey to the defense sector. “Business circles connected to the military industry have an increasing influence on politics,” he pointed out, citing France’s deal with Kiev to purchase 100 combat aircraft and German arms factories being built in Ukraine.
Orban also claimed the West had managed to block a peace deal early in the conflict and that the move had ultimately harmed Ukraine. “The West prevented the Ukrainians from reaching an agreement, saying that time was on their side. But it turned out that it wasn’t,” he said.
“They are in a worse position today than if they had reached an agreement in April 2022,” he added, referring to the preliminary deal reached during the Istanbul talks. Kiev unilaterally walked away from those negotiations.
The US presidential administration has created an online list of outlets it accuses of misleading coverage
The US White House has introduced a new “media bias” tracker that publicly identifies news outlets it accuses of publishing false and misleading stories.
The move comes amid US President Donald Trump’s long-running confrontation with what he calls the “fake news media,” a term he has used for years to describe coverage he interprets as inaccurate.
Debuted on Friday, the tracker appears as a dedicated section on the White House website under the banner “Misleading. Biased. Exposed.” The page features weekly examples of reporting the administration disputes, linking to the original stories and categorizing them as “Misrepresentation,”“Omission of context,”“Bias” or “Malpractice.”
The administration said in a statement that the site is intended to serve as a “record of the media’s false and misleading stories flagged by the White House.”
CBS News, The Boston Globe and The Independent were the first outlets listed in the “Media Offender of the Week” section. The administration said their reporting “misrepresents and exaggerates President Trump’s calls for Democrat accountability,” disputing coverage suggesting he had urged the “execution” of lawmakers.
The “Offender Hall of Shame” section, described as a “record of the media’s false and misleading stories,” includes outlets such as The Washington Post, CBS News, CNN and MSNBC among dozens of searchable entries.
The launch follows a recent scandal involving unethically edited footage in a BBC Panorama documentary titled ‘Trump: A Second Chance?’ The program, which aired shortly before the US election last November, spliced excerpts from a 2021 speech to suggest Trump incited the January 6 riot by telling supporters to “fight like hell” at the Capitol.
The state-funded British broadcaster issued a formal apology after Trump threatened to sue the outlet for $1 billion, accusing it of “defamation.”
Several US media outlets, including CBS and ABC News, have recently settled lawsuits brought by the president. He has long argued that most mainstream networks are left-leaning and biased against conservatives, accusing them of spreading false stories to undermine his presidency.
After being listed as a “repeat offender,” The Washington Post said it remained “proud of its accurate, rigorous journalism.”
Donald Trump has reportedly threatened Nicolas Maduro with regime change in a phone call
The US has been rehearsing airstrikes it plans to launch in Venezuela in recent weeks, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Saturday, citing a defense official and flight-tracking data.
President Donald Trump has accused the Venezuelan government of operating “narcoterrorist” cartels and on Saturday announced that the country’s airspace would be closed to “all airlines, pilots, drug dealers, and human traffickers.”
The threat came amid a buildup of US naval forces in the Caribbean Sea, where, under Trump’s orders, more than 20 alleged drug-smuggling vessels have been struck since September.
According to the WSJ, Trump told Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during last week’s secret phone call that he would consider ousting him unless he stepped down.
While neither side has confirmed that the conversation took place, Trump has previously denied seeking to topple Maduro by force. In August, the US increased the bounty for Maduro’s arrest to $50 million.
On Saturday, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry rejected the threat against its aircraft as “colonialist” aggression, illegal under international law. Maduro has placed the army on high alert and held several drills, vowing to repel any invasion.
The Venezuelan government has denied allegations of aiding cartels and argued that Trump is using a crackdown on drug trafficking as a pretext for regime change.
Ankara has warned against spreading the war to the Black Sea.
Türkiye has condemned recent drone attacks on two sanctioned oil tankers off its Black Sea coast, which Ukraine has reportedly claimed responsibility for.
According to Turkish officials, the Kairos and the Virat, both Gambian-flagged vessels, were struck on Friday while en route to the Russian port of Novorossiysk. The ships caught fire and at least one sustained hull damage. The crews were rescued by the Turkish Coast Guard.
Multiple Ukrainian and Western news outlets reported that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Ukrainian Navy had carried out the attack using Sea Baby drones previously deployed against Russian warships.
Ankara condemned the strikes on Saturday without blaming any country. “These incidents, which took place within our Exclusive Economic Zone in the Black Sea, have posed serious risks to navigation, human life, property, and the environment,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli wrote on X.
Keceli added that Türkiye was communicating with all parties to “prevent the spread of war and further escalation in the Black Sea.”
The West has blacklisted the Kairos and the Virat for allegedly transporting Russian oil in violation of sanctions. Moscow has denied operating a ‘shadow fleet’ designed to skirt restrictions.
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which handles around 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil exports, said on Saturday that it suspended operations after a mooring at its terminal near Novorossiysk was heavily damaged by sea drones. The operator, whose shareholders include the US companies Chevron and Exxon Mobil, described the strikes as a “targeted terrorist attack.”
Caracas says an attack on its airlines would constitute an act of aggression
Venezuela has rejected US President Donald Trump’s threat to shut down its airspace as an illegal “colonialist” attack on its sovereignty.
Trump, who accuses Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of leading a drug cartel, intensified his warnings against “narcoterrorists” on Saturday. “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
His comments came amid a US military buildup near the Venezuelan coast and strikes on alleged cartel boats in international waters.
The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning “the colonialist threat aimed at undermining the sovereignty of its airspace.”
“This type of declaration constitutes a hostile, unilateral, and arbitrary act, incompatible with the most fundamental principles of international law,” the statement said.
Trump has refused to rule out military operations on Venezuelan territory and hinted during his Thanksgiving message to troops that strikes could soon follow.
Maduro has denied any ties to cartels and warned Washington against starting “a crazy war” in the region. He previously placed the armed forces on high alert and held several drills.
The US Federal Aviation Administration has warned airlines of a “potentially hazardous situation” when flying over Venezuela. Caracas has responded by suspending flights from six international carriers.
PM Viktor Orban was pursuing the country’s sovereign interests in speaking with President Vladimir Putin, Peter Szijjarto has said
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has defended Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s trip to Moscow on social media.
Orban met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss Ukraine, trade, and energy supplies on Friday despite the EU’s diplomatic boycott of Russia.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, Szijjarto dismissed criticism from what he called “European pro-war politicians.”
“We, Hungarians, do not need permission or a mandate from Brussels, Berlin, or anywhere else for any foreign talks. We pursue a sovereign foreign policy, and our decisions are determined by national interests – whether you like it in Brussels or not,” he wrote.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz earlier told reporters that Orban had traveled to Moscow “without a European mandate,” while Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said the Hungarian leader “has not been playing for the European team for some time.”
Hungary has refused to solely blame Russia for the Ukraine conflict and has offered to help mediate a peace deal between Kiev and Moscow.
Orban has also refused to send weapons to Ukraine and warned that further escalation could lead to a direct clash between Russia and NATO.
During a meeting in the Kremlin, Putin thanked Orban for his “reasonable position on the Ukraine issue.”
Orban stressed that “stable deliveries from Russia remain the cornerstone of Hungary’s energy security – in the past, now, and in the future.”
Left-wing protesters have clashed with police and attacked supporters of the controversial AfD party
Mass demonstrations have started in the city of Giessen, where the right-wing Alternative for Germany party (AfD) has gathered for the weekend to establish a new youth organization called Generation Deutschland (GD).
The protests have been organized by the left-wing Resist alliance, which pledged to block the founding ceremony of the new group.
Activists with the alliance descended on typically quiet college town early on Saturday, attempting to block the roads, break through police cordons, and attack arriving AfD members and supporters.
Local police said groups of protesters were “massively” obstructing traffic. Law enforcement repeatedly used pepper spray and water cannons to dislodge the unruly protesters, who in turn hurled flares and other projectiles at the officers and engaged in head-on charges at police cordons.
Dhaxanta Mabda,,a ayaa ka wayn 🥶🥶🥶 💦💦 Geißen iyo Galbeedka Jarmalkaba AFD inay Awood ku yeelato aad ayaa loogasoo hor jeedaa Kuwani waa Dadka Kasoo hor jeeda AFD iyo Ururka Dhalinyaradda (AFD) ee Magaladaas lagaga dhawaaqay Mudaaharayaashu waxay Xidheen Wadooyinka. pic.twitter.com/tko10qemem
Footage circulating online appears to show a group of black-clad left-wingers brawling with AfD MP Julian Schmidt. The lawmaker, seemingly supported by another individual, engaged in a physical confrontation with the protesters before being knocked to the ground, the video suggests.
Masked anti-fascists attack democratically elected AfD MP Julian Schmidt. Only @AfD can save Germany. pic.twitter.com/Y2qGJglAsW
Another video circulating online shows a group of violent protesters attacking a car on a road they tried to block. The vehicle reportedly carried either AfD members or journalists slated to cover the GD foundation ceremony.
The violent mob attacked marked police vehicles as well, another video suggests, showing German cops fleeing the scene after their side window was smashed.
Local police said up to 15 officers sustained minor injuries during the unrest. A number of protesters were hurt as well, with local media reporting multiple people showing up at local hospitals for emergency treatment over the day. At least one police horse was injured in the chaos, according to a disturbing picture circulating online.
Die Szenen aus #Gießen lassen mich sprachlos zurück. Was für ein Wahnsinn. Das soll Demokratie sein? Eine Schande ist das!
Zu diesen Taten hat auch die LINKE im Bundestag aufgerufen. Vielleicht sollte man hier über ein Verbotsverfahren reden.
The effort to disrupt the AfD event appeared to be partially successful, with the meeting reportedly starting behind schedule as several high-profile figures, including the party’s co-leaders Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel, as well as Jean-Pascal Hohm, unable to reach the designated venue on time. Holm was ultimately elected GD chairman.
The new youth wing replaces the now-dissolved Young Alternative (JA). The latter was disbanded by the party this March after Germany’s federal intelligence agency labeled it an extremist group.
Rustem Umerov’s appointment has followed the resignation of Zelensky’s right hand, Andrey Yermak, who may be implicated in a graft scheme
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has appointed Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov as the new head of the country’s delegation for peace talks with Russia, mediated by the US. The move has followed the resignation of Zelensky’s powerful chief of staff amid a massive corruption scandal.
The latter has cast a shadow on Andrey Yermak, among other high-ranking Ukrainian officials.
Zelensky announced Umerov’s appointment in a decree published on Friday.
In a post on his Telegram channel on Saturday, Zelensky wrote that “Umerov and his team are already on their way to the United States.”
On Friday, Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, tendered his resignation amid allegations of his involvement in a recently uncovered graft scheme within Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear power operator, Energoatom, which has been heavily reliant on Western aid.
Earlier in the day, Western-backed Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies – the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) – raided Yermak’s properties, saying that further details would be provided later.
Before Yermak stepped down, a Ukrainian newspaper, Zerkalo Nedeli (ZN), citing anonymous sources, claimed on Wednesday that Zelensky had appointed him as the head of Kiev’s negotiating delegation in Geneva.
Earlier this month the administration of US President Donald Trump put forth a 28-point peace roadmap aimed at putting an end to the Ukraine conflict.
Its appearance coincided with a probe by NABU and SAPO into the alleged $100 million graft scheme, perpetrated by a ring supposedly led by Timur Mindich, a former business associate of Zelensky.
The prime suspect managed to flee Ukraine before the authorities could apprehend him, according to Kiev.
Several Ukrainian ministers have lost their posts in the wake of the revelations.
The US leader has said rolling back his import taxes would make America a “pathetic laughingstock” as the Supreme Court mulls their legality
President Donald Trump has claimed that the US holds “all the cards” thanks to his tariffs, without which the country “would be a poor and pathetic laughingstock again.”
In April, Trump introduced sweeping import duties affecting dozens of nations worldwide, citing allegedly unfair trade imbalances with partners. The US president used the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) as the legal basis for the measures. The law allows the president to regulate or block international trade and financial transactions during a declared national emergency involving foreign threats.
The move has come under fire from some lawmakers who argue that it could harm the domestic economy.
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, Trump wrote that “Tariffs have made our Country Rich, Strong, Powerful, and Safe…, and because of what I have set in place, WE HAVE ALL THE CARDS.”
The Republican warned that “Evil, American hating Forces are fighting us at the United States Supreme Court.”
Earlier this month, Trump predicted a “national security catastrophe” if his tariffs were rolled back, with losses for the US potentially totaling more than $2 trillion.
In late summer, the US Court of Appeals ruled that Trump had overstepped his authority by imposing tariffs under the IEEPA, stating that only Congress can authorize such measures. The court stopped short of canceling the duties, pending a Supreme Court ruling.
It remains unclear when the Supreme Court will announce its decision, though some legal analysts expect it by July 2026.
Meanwhile, in his Thanksgiving message on Thursday, Trump announced that “we will be cutting income tax, could be almost completely cutting it.”
In early November, the US president pledged that a “dividend of at least $2,000 a person (not including high-income people!) will be paid to everyone,” funded by revenue from tariffs.
Around the same time, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told ABC News that the tariff dividend could come “in lots of forms,” including tax breaks.
Kiev’s intelligence recruited a Russian national to plant explosives on a major pipeline, the agency has said
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has thwarted an alleged Ukrainian-orchestrated attempt to destroy a major natural gas pipeline in Moscow Region, the agency announced on Saturday.
According to the FSB, Ukrainian intelligence recruited a 56-year-old Russian national to carry out the bombing.
“It has been established that the citizen in question was recruited by Ukrainian intelligence services in 2024 while in a temporary detention center for foreigners in Ukraine, where he was placed for violating immigration laws. The agent was sent to Russia under the guise of deportation after recruitment,” the agency said.
This month, the suspect’s handlers contacted him, instructing him to purchase a car and an electric drill. Kiev’s intelligence also supplied him with the coordinates of a dead drop where he retrieved homemade explosive devices disguised as construction glue tubes, the FSB stated.
The man was caught red-handed as he was attempting to drill into the ground above the pipeline to plant the explosives. After carrying out the terror attack, the suspect was expected to leave Russia and return to Ukraine through third countries, the FSB added.
Moscow has accused Kiev of staging numerous such attacks and sabotage operations targeting infrastructure across Russia during the Ukraine conflict.
Earlier this week, for instance, the FSB said it eliminated two men acting on behalf of a “terrorist group and in coordination with Ukrainian special services,” who attempted to install a derailment device on a railroad bridge between Novoaltaysk and Biysk. The suspects were killed in a gun battle with FSB operatives.
Moscow has warned that Kiev is increasingly turning to terrorist tactics as the frontline situation continues to deteriorate for Ukrainian troops. The Ukrainian leadership has also been plagued by a massive corruption scandal linked to Vladimir Zelensky’s inner circle. The graft affair has already led to the downfall of two Ukrainian ministers and Zelensky’s right-hand man and chief of staff, Andrey Yermak.
