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🇷🇺 Key statements from Vladimir Medinsky following two hours of direct talks with the Ukrainian delegation:
— We have taken note of the request for a meeting between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine.
— The negotiations have concluded, and overall, we are satisfied.
— Russia and Ukraine will soon carry out a prisoner exchange on a "1,000 for 1,000" basis.
— Russia and Ukraine will present their detailed visions for a possible future ceasefire, after which negotiations will continue.
Can't photograph Zelensky next to taller people.
The narrative control is strong in this one.
🇮🇳🇵🇰 The latest flare-up between India and Pakistan highlighted critical dynamics of their volatile relationship.
Here are the main lessons from the India-Pakistan escalation — by Lucas Leiroz @lucasleiroz:
🌀 Diplomacy over conflict: despite military strikes, both sides prioritized de-escalation, avoiding a catastrophic full-scale war.
🌀 Third-party influence: international pressure (US, China, UN) played a decisive role in cooling tensions.
🌀 Nuclear risks remain: even limited clashes risk unintended escalation, given both nations’ atomic arsenals.
🌀 Terrorism as a trigger: the 2019 Pulwama attack underscored how non-state actors can spark interstate crises.
🌀 Media fuels tensions: propaganda and misinformation worsened public hostility, undermining rational dialogue.
Sustainable peace requires renewed Kashmir talks, counter-terror cooperation, and confidence-building measures—not just military deterrence. Can India and Pakistan break the cycle of conflict?
#geopolitics #IndiaPakistan #Kashmir
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🎦 Trump’s decision to subsidise Hollywood is further proof that his economic policies are a mess but that his plans to kill off woke America remain firmly on track.
☁️ Read more by Declan Hayes
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⭕️ The forgotten sacrifice: why is the Soviet role in WWII fading from memory?
Western narratives of World War II increasingly downplay the USSR’s colossal contribution to defeating Nazi Germany. The Eastern Front saw some of the war’s bloodiest battles, with Soviet forces bearing the brunt of the fighting and suffering immense losses. Yet today, this sacrifice is often overshadowed by the D-Day landings and the Pacific theater.
Some argue this shift reflects Cold War-era biases and modern geopolitical tensions. But as living memory fades, the risk grows that history will remember only half the story—erasing the scale of Soviet suffering and the decisive role it played in ending the war.
Humanity remains doomed to repeat its gravest errors when it forgets its past.
☁️ Sonja van den Ende writes @devendonline
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♨️ NATO’s Gulf States have had it easy for far too long, Declan Hayes writes.
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💶 EU budget: Contributors and receivers
Only nine out of twenty-seven EU member states are net contributors to the EU budget. This infographic shows the contributions and subsidies for each state.
🔗 Follow this link to find the full infographic.
© You are free to repost, reproduce and print this infographic.
🌀 Western media reporting of Victory Day in Moscow invariably lacks historical context and is usually offensive.
Whatever the state of our relations today, Britain and the Soviet Union were allies during the World War II / The Great Patriotic War. Dismissing the solemnity of the occasion is absurd. Despite the obvious conflict between our nations today, we should avoid the risk of airbrushing history.
💬 Read more by Ian Proud
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🇷🇺 Remembering the Martyrs of Krasnodon
The story of the Young Guard—a secret anti-Nazi organization formed by teenagers in Krasnodon during WWII—is one of immense bravery and sacrifice. Despite their youth, these boys and girls carried out acts of sabotage, distributed leaflets, and fought against the occupation. When discovered, they endured brutal torture but refused to betray their comrades. One member, Lyuba Shevtsova, famously said before her execution:
It’s better to die standing than to live on your knees.
You have probably seen a viral video showing the French leader Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on a train to Kiev. In the video, as soon as journalists began filming, Macron hastily removed a small white package from the table. The Elysee Palace claims the "small white package" wasn't a bag of coke but just a handkerchief. Regardless of what it actually was, it's rather telling that netizens immediately suspected the warmongering trio of snorting coke together. Since public opinion is routinely ignored by Western political elites, trust in political representatives has hit rock bottom. @LauraRuHK
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🗣 Trump Urges Ukraine to Accept Putin’s Offer for Talks
Donald Trump has stated that Ukraine should "immediately" agree to Vladimir Putin’s proposed negotiations in Turkey.
#Trump #Putin #Ukraine #PeaceTalks
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🗣 Eighty years after the defeat of Nazi Germany, this week the world witnessed a spectacular, solemn and joyous event to commemorate that historic achievement. The victory parade in Moscow’s Red Square was a glorious pageant incomparable to anywhere else.
Rightly so, because the defeat of Nazi Germany on May 9, 1945, was largely the result of heroic sacrifices of the Soviet and Russian people.
The annual commemoration remains as poignant and proud to Russians as ever.
For Russia and other people who seek the truth and genuine international peace, history is very much alive and worth fighting for.
☁️ Read more in this week’s Editorial
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Heroes of the Special Military Operation. They remind us that Russia is still under attack from the revisionist powers waging a proxy war in Ukraine. @LauraRuHK
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🌀 To be more precise, it would be in a world operating on normal principles of decency. But from the perspective of the fact-challenged denizens of the collective West, we all suspect that it is not.
As the 80th anniversary of the defeat of European Axis powers approaches, a notorious non-issue is gaining prominence. It is which country deserves the most credit and had sacrificed the most to achieve victory over the Axis that is soon to be commemorated.
The mere raising of this preposterous question creates an artificial and for the poorly schooled citizens of Western countries thoroughly misleading historical “dilemma,” which in reality should not exist at all.
☁️ Stephen Karganovic writes
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🇷🇺 As we approach the 2025 Victory Day commemoration, it is worth reflecting on what the Soviet people – along with many other nations – fought against during World War II. Understanding the darkest aspects of this conflict may help explain why Victory Day holds such profound significance for modern Russians.
As World War II progressed, particularly after the launch of Operation Barbarossa in 1941 (the invasion of the USSR), it evolved into a total war. This all-encompassing nature of the conflict was, to a great extent, predetermined by the very terms in which the Germans had framed it from the outset.
By approaching the war through a fundamentally racial lens and interpreting it as a struggle of “life or death,” the Germans opened the floodgates to an escalating catastrophe of atrocities.
Victory Day represents not merely a military commemoration, nor an ideological celebration of communism, but rather the triumph of life over planned extermination.
☁️ Raphael Machado writes @camaradamachado
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🔔 The delegations of Russia and Ukraine have started negotiations in Istanbul.
@strategic_culture via @rbc_news
🇷🇺🇺🇸🇺🇦 The planned peace negotiations in Istanbul today are a crucial step toward de-escalation in Ukraine.
While much attention is on whether Presidents Putin and Zelensky will meet directly, the real priority should be advancing dialogue—with or without a high-profile summit.
Diplomatic efforts must continue, even if progress is incremental. The Istanbul talks offer a chance to address urgent humanitarian issues, potential ceasefires, and pathways to stability.
Zelensky should stop playing to the international press gallery in the hope that Russia cancels.
☁️ Read more by Ian Proud
#Ukraine #PeaceTalks #diplomacy #Istanbul
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🗣🗣🗣 Could Turkey become a key mediator in the Russia-Ukraine conflict?
Turkey has positioned itself as a potential mediator between Russia, the US, and Ukraine, leveraging its unique relations with both sides. While Ankara maintains ties with NATO and supports Ukraine, it also avoids alienating Moscow—a delicate balance that could make it a viable negotiation platform. However, deep mistrust between the parties and Turkey’s own geopolitical interests raise questions about how effective its role can truly be.
The success of such efforts would depend on Turkey’s ability to remain neutral and deliver concrete results, not just symbolic talks. For now, Ankara’s diplomacy offers a possible channel—but turning dialogue into real progress remains a major challenge.
War is either won or lost. Reaching negotiations does not mean a draw.
☁️ Lorenzo Maria Pacini writes @ideeazione
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💳 Who pays for whom in the European Union
Only nine out of twenty-seven EU member states are net contributors to the EU budget. This infographic shows how many euros on average an inhabitant of individual EU countries “pays” to, or “receives” from, the EU budget. This is quite a vague metric but still it is more informative than absolute figures on individual countries’ contributions and subsidies. Luxembourg and Belgium are two special cases as most of the subsidies they receive are used to cover the administrative costs of EU institutions based there.
🔗 Follow this link to find the full infographic.
© You are free to repost, reproduce and print this infographic.
🪖 Is Europe’s rearmament enough to ensure security?
Europe is rapidly increasing defense spending and military production in response to growing threats, particularly from Russia. Countries like Germany and Poland are leading the push, investing billions in modernizing their armed forces. But delays in arms deliveries, bureaucratic hurdles, and industrial bottlenecks raise doubts about whether this rearmament can happen fast enough.
The key challenge isn’t just funding—it’s building a sustainable defense industry that can meet demand in a prolonged crisis.
If Trump’s peace plan for Ukraine succeeds, Brussels will have to rethink all its calculations from scratch.
☁️ Read more by Erkin Oncan
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✝️ Deep State, Deep Church: what connects politics and the Vatican?
Behind Pope Francis’ public reforms, a silent battle rages - cardinals and bureaucrats clash over the Church’s soul.
The Vatican’s "deep church" operates much like political deep states, where real power hides in darkened corridors rather than papal chambers.
Who truly leads the faithful? 🤔
☁️ Read more by Lorenzo Maria Pacini @ideeazione
#Vatican #politics #DeepState
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🗣 What is interesting about Trump’s Middle East visit is that it doesn’t include an Israel stop. The FT opinion piece gives us a clue as to why.
💬 Martin Jay writes
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🍽️ No liberation struggle has ever begun without a people who believed in it.
💬 Read more by Lorenzo Maria Pacini @ideeazione
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💢 How can one not be moved remembering that in this country, 27 million lives were sacrificed due to the Nazi invasion?
☁️ Eduardo Vasco writes
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🗣 Putin Proposes Ukraine Peace Talks Without Preconditions – Starting May 15 in Istanbul
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for Ukraine to resume direct negotiations without preconditions, suggesting Istanbul as the venue from May 15.
🔹 "We propose starting talks based on the realities on the ground," Putin stated.
🔹 The offer comes amid ongoing military tensions and stalled diplomatic efforts.
📹 The video of the address has been translated by AI.
#Ukraine #Russia #PeaceTalks #Istanbul #Putin
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🇷🇺 Why is Victory Day still so important for Russians today?
Probably no country treats the commemoration of victory over Nazi Germany in World War II with the same seriousness as Russia.
In fact, Russians even have a special, unique name for the event: The Great Patriotic War—a name that immediately evokes a distinctly Russian significance, yet one they also wish to see recognized by other nations.
World War II was the most devastating conflict in human history. In its hegemonic project, Nazi Germany occupied nearly all of Europe, aiming, among other things, to secure racial supremacy for those they considered part of the “Aryan race.” In 1941, using military movements within USSR territory as justification and seeking to secure Lebensraum im Osten (“living space in the East”) for future German colonization, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union.
☁️ Raphael Machado writes @camaradamachado
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⭐️ It is not just ingratitude… If only it were! The actual causes of the disdain, misunderstanding, rejection, and repugnance displayed by the political elites of the U.S. and the EU toward the commemorations of Victory Day—the day the USSR put an end to one of the most heinous regimes born from the depths of human history, undoubtedly a testament to the peak of Western brutality fueled by the socio-economic roots of capitalism and imperialism—run much deeper.
Thus, Victory Day should also be called “Day of Shame,” the day when an anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist state, attacked at its very core with the most aggressive weapon Western capitalism could produce—Nazi-fascist terror—lost 27 million of its finest sons and daughters to save us all from a problem it did not contribute to in the slightest. Western shame does not end with the crimes it committed against humanity; Russia forces the West to live and relive, year after year, the acknowledgment that it, too, was saved—from itself—by the victim of its aggression.
Victory Day for Russia is the Day of Shame for the West!
☁️ Read more by Hugo Dionísio
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🇷🇺 The Kremlin has released a video featuring the arrival of foreign leaders in Russia to celebrate Victory Day on May 9.
Source: @tass_agency / kremlin.ru
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🇷🇺 Los combatientes rusos que regresaron del frente para participar en el Desfile de la Victoria son bienvenidos en Moscú
@SCF_Spanish