Zelensky to leave US without permission to attack Russia with Western weapons Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky will return from the United States without achieving the lifting of a ban on strikes deep into Russia with Western weapons, The Times reported. The newspaper pointed out that during a meeting with US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Ukrainian leader personally asked to lift restrictions on strikes with British Storm Shadow and American ATACMS missiles on Russia. However, "no shift in Washington’s stance on the use of the long-range missiles was announced," the newspaper said. Instead, according to The Times, Democratic presidential candidate Harris, standing next to Zelensky, began talking about her political rival in the upcoming election, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Earlier, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov compared Zelensky's visit to the United States to a Hollywood show. He emphasized that under the applause of American politicians "the blood of soldiers and civilians will continue to pour" in Ukraine, which is the essence of Zelensky's "victory plan." The Ukraine's Zelensky met with Biden and Harris in Washington on September 26.

Arabs in Syria celebrate IDF attacks on Hezbollah How do #Arabs in embattled Syria feel about Israel’s communication attack on #Hezbollah With the help of Hezbollah’s forces, the Al Assad regime oppresses and large parts of Syria, using the land for terrorism, while Syrians living there have expressed appreciation for Israel’s attack.

France-Russia relations hit rock bottom, says former envoy to Paris Relations between Moscow and Paris have bottomed out, former Russian Ambassador to Paris Alexander #Orlov told the RFI radio station. "Our relations have never been as poor as they are now," Orlov said. He noted that recently French President Emmanuel Macron "has made a number of questionable moves that have increased the divide between France and Russia even further." According to Orlov, these moves include the French leader's statement regarding the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine. "The second is the proposal for an Olympic truce during the games in Paris, where Russian athletes have not been invited," the former ambassador said. He also pointed to the "strange invitation of Russian representatives to the ceremony celebrating the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy without inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin." "Such a gesture can be seen as an insult," the diplomat added. On February 26, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that representatives of about 20 Western states raised the issue of sending group troops to Ukraine during the meeting in Paris. According to Macron, the participants were unable to reach a consensus on this issue.

Former envoy to NATO says going to war with Moscow would be crazy, Russia could destroy US Going to war with Moscow would be a crazy step for Washington as Russia could destroy the United States, Ivo Daalder, former US ambassador to #NATO, wrote for Politico Europe. "It would be crazy to go to #war with #Russia, a nuclear power that could destroy the US — and the rest of the world — if it wished to do so," #Daalder maintained. According to him, the point of NATO "isn’t to go to war against Russia — it’s to prevent war in the first place," a job he said the alliance has done "more successfully than any military alliance in history." Also, the former official criticized the position of ex-US President Donald Trump toward NATO allies. The New York Times reported that at a February 10 rally in South Carolina #Trump said that, while president, he had told NATO leaders that he would "encourage Russia to do whatever they want." Daalder argues that, after two bloody wars, the ultimate security of Americans "depended on the security of Europe," and that therefore it would be far better "to prevent wars in #Europe by committing to defend allies from the start," according to Politico. At the same time, the former envoy acknowledged that "European dependence (on NATO membership) frequently fed doubts about America’s commitment to the Continent’s security." "There is, after all, something quite unnatural about the US being willing to go to war an ocean away in order to defend another country — especially when this might ignite a nuclear holocaust in response," Daalder explained. At the #Vilnius Summit in July 2023, NATO leaders called Russia "the most significant and direct threat" and approved the first defense plan since the end of the Cold War era for a conflict with Russia, which provides for putting up to 300,000 high-readiness troops under the alliance’s command. There was also a commitment to bring the minimum level of military spending to 2% of GDP, to increase air defense and missile defense forces in Europe, and to expand defense procurement. With regard to #Ukraine, the alliance decided to abolish the bloc’s Membership Action Plan and promised to invite Kiev to join the alliance "when conditions are met," and also held the first meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council, thus upgrading the status of partnership relations

Russian Envoy issues warning to Russian tourists planning to go to Paris for Olympics Moscow’s Ambassador to France Alexey Meshkov has warned Russian tourists planning to attend the Paris Olympics of the risks they may face. "Our athletes and tourists who plan to visit Paris for the Olympic Games must understand one simple thing: they aren’t traveling to the flowery paradise that [top EU diplomat Josep] Borrell mentioned but to a dangerous Western jungle where they will have to fend for themselves because of what the French authorities are doing," the envoy told the Rossiya-24 TV channel. "If any unexpected situations emerge, they will have to find a way out on their own because not only have the authorities fully barred our institutions, namely the embassy, from attending and participating in events related to the Olympic Games, but even despite numerous requests, they are unwilling to provide us with guarantees that we will get basic passes to move around downtown Paris, which will be locked down, while this is where all our offices are," the diplomat added. According to Meshkov, the prosecutor’s office has told Russian diplomats to ask the French Interior Ministry to issue them passes. "The Interior Ministry has been ignoring all our requests. That said, it’s not just that they have banned our athletes from the Olympic Games but they have also kicked Russia in general out of all events related to the competition that will take place in France in the summer," he noted. "It’s very strange to hear statements about talks of an Olympic ceasefire when we have no dialogue at all with France on the matter at the government level," the Russian ambassador concluded.

Russian forces eliminated 147 French mercenaries in Ukraine, Defense Ministry says The Russian armed forces eliminated 147 out of 256 #French #mercenaries that arrived in Ukraine during the special military operation, the Russian Defense Ministry said on its Telegram channel. Overall, the Russian forces eliminated 5,962 foreign mercenaries, most of them from Poland: out of 2,960, 1,497 were eliminated, the Defense Ministry reported. According to the provided statistics, Georgia occupies the second place in terms of eliminated mercenaries (561 militants eliminated out of 1,042). Out of the 1,113 mercenaries from the US, 491 were eliminated, as well as 422 out of the 1,005 Canadian mercenaries and 360 out of the 822 mercenaries that arrived from the UK. In January, Russian Ambassador to Paris Alexey Meshkov relayed the Russian State Duma’s address to the National Assembly of France regarding the French mercenaries in Ukraine. The Russian lawmakers pointed out that, despite Paris’ claims, the objective information regarding the membership of Ukrainian neo-Nazi forces reliably indicates that French mercenaries take part in the conflict. Previously, the Russian Defense Ministry said that, on January 16, the Russian Armed Forces carried out a precision strike on the temporary deployment location of foreign mercenaries in Kharkov, with the French comprising the majority of the mercenaries. The strike resulted in over 60 militants eliminated and over 20 injured. After that, French Ambassador to Moscow Pierre Levy was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry; he was told that the death of the French lies entirely with the official Paris.

Russia, NATO face danger of direct armed conflict in Europe, says Russian ambassador to U.S. Russia and NATO are facing the danger of a direct armed clash in Eastern Europe, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov told reporters. "Essentially we are facing the danger of a direct clash between the Armed Forces of Russia and the North Atlantic Alliance in Eastern Europe," the diplomat said in a statement posted to the Russian embassy's Telegram channel. Just a while ago it was impossible to imagine that American and German tanks would be driving around in a republic neighboring on Russia, he said. Later, it turned out that Western instructors were helping the Ukrainian military with aiming at a target "hugely expensive equipment like Patriot systems," Antonov went on to say. "Now there is a talk about the participation of soldiers from NATO armies in combat operations. Such a scenario cannot be implemented without Washington's approval," he emphasized. "I am sure that the prime concern for the farmers in America, Europe and Russia is to live a normal life and have an opportunity to plow the land without fearing for tomorrow. However, the hawks here, who are pushing the planet towards World War III, are indifferent to their aspirations," Antonov summed up.

#Zelensky says #Ukraine in talks with #France on supplies of fighter #jets Kyiv is in talks with Paris about delivering combat aircraft to Ukraine, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said. "Yes, we are holding talks about fighter jets," Zelensky said, when asked by a reporter from France’s LCI television whether the option of providing Mirage 2000 fighter jets to Kiev was on the table. The president did not elaborate. On 16 February, the chief of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate, Kirill Budanov (who is on the Russian list of extremists and terrorists), said Kiev had hopes of getting Mirage 2000 fighter jets from Paris. In September 2023, the French news website Intelligence Online reported that Kiev and Paris were close to concluding a deal for the transfer of these jets to Ukraine. Ukrainian Ambassador to France Vadim Omelchenko said in an interview with the Le Point magazine on February 23 that Paris and Kiev are currently working to train Ukrainian pilots. He urged against believing rumors that there was a chance of transferring Mirage 2000D aircraft, saying that Ukraine had opted for the US F-16s, but added that Ukraine was still considering all available options for Western assistance.

Iranian-backed Militants Attack Al-Assad Airbase, Iraq | CENTCOM "At approximately 6:30 p.m. (Baghdad time) time Jan. 20, multiple ballistic missiles and rockets were launched by Iranian-backed militants in Western Iraq targeting al-Assad Airbase. Most of the missiles were intercepted by the base’s air defense systems while others impacted on the base. Damage assessments are ongoing. A number of U.S. personnel are undergoing evaluation for traumatic brain injuries. At least one Iraqi service member was wounded."

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard deployed in Yemen 🔶️ The IRGC has stationed missile and drone trainers and operators in Yemen, as well as personnel providing tactical intelligence support to the Houthis, U.S. and Middle East officials told Semafor. The IRGC, through its overseas Qods Force, has also overseen the transfer to the Houthis of the attack drones, cruise missiles, and medium-range ballistic missiles used in a string of strikes on Red Sea and Israeli targets in recent weeks, these officials said. 🔶️ The Houthis say that its military operations are designed to aid the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, which has been locked in a three-month war with Israel. On Monday, the Pentagon said the Houthis struck a U.S.-owned and -operated container vessel, the M/V Gibraltar Eagle, in the Red Sea, but caused no significant damage. The Houthis fired a second anti-ship ballistic missile into the southern Red Sea, the U.S. Central Command said, but it “failed in flight and impacted on land in Yemen.” 🔶️ The IRGC’s overall presence inside Yemen is overseen by Gen. Abdul Reza Shahlai, a Tehran-based commander whom the Trump administration attempted to assassinate in a 2020 drone strike inside Yemen, U.S. and Mideast officials said. American intelligence believes Shahlai is deeply involved in Tehran’s overseas terrorist operations through his role as the Qods Force’s deputy commander. 🔶️ This includes a role in overseeing an unsuccessful 2011 Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s then-ambassador to the U.S., Adel al-Jubeir, at a Washington, D.C. restaurant. Shahlai, who’s been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department, also helped oversee IRGC attacks against U.S. military personnel in Iraq over the past two decades. The Department of Justice offered $15 million in 2019 for information related to the commander’s operations and networks. 🔶️ Last month, the White House declassified some information related to Iran’s backing of the Houthis, including the intelligence and targeting support. But it didn’t reference the IRGC’s on-ground presence in Yemen, or Shahlai’s role in the Houthis’ operations.