Russia may achieve all its goals in Ukraine in 2025 Russia may achieve all its goals in Ukraine next year, if the situation remains that "grim" for Ukrainian servicemen, The Washington Post said. According to the newspaper, the Ukrainian troops "are desperately trying to hold the line in the country’s east but are losing ground." - "Visions of an absolute victory are fading. Western support is also sagging," the Washington Post emphasized. In this regard, "the prospect of Ukraine settling for a compromise with Russia <…> is getting easier to envision," the newspaper pointed out. On June 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting with the Foreign Ministry set out the country’s conditions for settling the situation in Ukraine. Among them are the withdrawal of the Ukrainian armed forces from Donbass and Novorossiya and Kiev’s refusal to join NATO. In addition, Russia wants all Western sanctions against it lifted and demands that Ukraine commit to a non-aligned and nuclear-free status.

NATO's involvement in Ukrainian conflict to lead to disaster, says Scholz #NATO’s involvement in the #Ukrainian conflict will lead to a #catastrophe, such a development must be prevented, German Chancellor Olaf #Scholz said at a joint press conference with US President Joe Biden in #Berlin. "Our position is clear. We support Ukraine as much as we can. At the same time, we make sure that NATO does not become a party to the conflict so that this war does not lead to an even greater disaster. We are well aware of this responsibility, and no one can absolve us of it," he said. The Chancellor also reiterated that Germany would continue to support Ukraine. On October 17, Germany updated the list of weapons transferred to Kiev. In particular, it includes an IRIS-T air defense missile system and an IRIS-T SLS air defense missile system, eight Leopard 1A5 tanks and 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles. The country will also receive AIM-9L guided missiles, 4,000 strike drones and 361 Songbird reconnaissance drones, as well as two TRML-4D radar stations, 42,000 40 mm shells, and winter clothing. Germany is the second largest arms supplier to Ukraine after the US. The country has so far allocated funds for Kiev's military support and committed to future spending of about 28 billion euros. Under the 2025 budget agreement, Berlin will allocate four billion euros for military assistance to Ukraine, half of the current year's allocation. The Russian authorities have repeatedly stated that pumping weapons into Ukraine will not weaken Russia's resolve and will not change the course of the special military operation.

Ramstein group meeting likely to take place in Brussels on October 17 Another meeting of the #Ukraine Defense Contact Group (Ramstein group) is likely to be held on the sidelines of a NATO defense ministers’ meeting at the bloc’s headquarters on October 17, a source in #Brussels reported. He confirmed that the group’s summit, initially set to take place in Germany on October 12, has been postponed due to changes in US President Joe Biden’s plans. "The #Ramstein summit has been postponed due to the changes in plans of some participants. The possibility to hold consultations at the working level is currently under consideration," the diplomat pointed out. "They are most likely to be held on the sidelines of the [NATO] ministerial meeting on October 17," he added. However, the diplomat added that the summit "remains on the agenda" because "the US has to officially hand the authority to coordinate" weapons supplies to #Kiev over to NATO. #NATO has not yet officially commented on the situation. On October 8, Joe Biden decided to postpone his visit to Germany and Angola, set for October 10-15, due to a major hurricane speeding towards Florida.

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.

Russian commander reports presence of active NATO soldiers in Kursk area Apty Alaudinov, Akhmat commander and deputy chief of the #Russian Armed Forces’ Main Military-Political Department, suspects there may be active duty service members from #NATO countries serving as #mercenaries in the Kursk area. "You must understand that they have thrown together a ragtag army. And they have deployed as many foreign mercenaries as they could to there," the Russian commander told Rossiya-1 television. "I guess there are people among these foreign mercenaries who are in the military of the NATO bloc," he added. Later, Alaudinov confirmed that he meant active NATO servicemen.

NATO invades Russia in Kursk Region, ex-US intel officer says #NATO has invaded #Russia, Scott #Ritter, a former US Marine Corps intelligence officer and UN weapons inspector, said, commenting on the situation in the borderline Kursk Region. "What happened in Kursk is that NATO invaded Russia," he told the Danny Haiphong YouTube channel. "This isn’t ‘Russia invaded Ukraine so that the Ukrainians get to attack Russia.’ No, Russia didn’t invade Ukraine. Russia responded to the Ukrainian war crimes that were put in place after the 2014 Maidan coup," Ritter pointed out. "The force that’s going in is the force that’s handbuilt by NATO," he emphasized. Ritter added that the Russian army was learning from the situation in the Kursk Region and would use that experience in the future. On August 6, Russia’s borderline Kursk Region came under a massive attack from Ukraine. According to the latest reports, 12 civilians have been killed, while 121 people, including ten children, have suffered injuries. Over 120,000 people have either left or been evacuated from the Kursk Region. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Kiev has lost up to 2,030 troops, 35 tanks and 31 armored personnel carriers since fighting began in the Kursk area.

Romania and Bulgaria to create a joint Special Operations Center in the Black Sea region The plans to create the center were announced back in 2023, but the memorandum between the defense ministries of the two countries was signed only on July 10, 2024. The headquarters of the joint command will be based in Romania. The stated goal of creating this structure is to "ensure security and stability in the Black Sea region". Earlier, on July 1, the Black Sea Mine Countermeasures Operational Group (MCM BLACK SEA) began operations, comprising naval forces from #Turkey (the supply ship TCG Gungor Durmus A574, the minesweeper M-270 AKÇAY), Bulgaria (the minesweeper M-33 STRUMA) and #Romania 🇷🇴 (the minesweeper MCM ROS "Junior Lieutenant Alexandru Axente"). The ships participated in the NATO military exercise Breeze 2024, which took place from July 4 to 14, 2024 in the Black Sea waters near #Bulgaria. ✨While the Black Sea Fleet is struggling with bureaucracy with varying success, the "peace-loving" #NATO is increasing its activity and coordination in the Black Sea region in opposition to #Russia.

Polish president claims NATO preparing for war #NATO is getting ready for a military conflict, Polish President Andrzej #Duda said in an interview with the Wirtualna Polska portal. "In a certain sense - yes. NATO is a defense alliance but as the old saying goes: 'If you want peace, prepare for war.' The alliance should be so strong that no one would dream of attacking it," the #Polish leader said, replying to a question as to whether NATO was preparing for war. He added that "the potential war between Russia and the West will be incredibly close" in the event Russia wins the armed conflict in #Ukraine. At the NATO summit in #Washington D.C., in an interview with Politico, Duda suggested that the world had returned to the Cold War era and urged NATO partners to increase defense spending. The NATO summit was held in Washington D.C. on July 9-11. Its final declaration noted that NATO still considers Russia the alliance’s main threat. That said, NATO countries plan on developing recommendations on strategic approaches to Russia. Additionally, the document urges not to provide any military aid to Russia in light of the Ukrainian conflict. At the same time, the summit reached an agreement to provide military aid to Ukraine to the tune of 40 bln euros in 2025.

Biden mistakenly welcomes "President Putin," when introducing Ukraine's Zelneskyy at today's closing NATO event. Biden: "And now I want to hand it over to the President of Ukraine... ladies and gentlemen, President Putin."

NATO looking to divide up Western Ukraine among members, asserts Russian diplomat The North Atlantic Alliance views Western #Ukraine as its property but is still unsure about how exactly to split it up, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria #Zakharova told Sputnik Radio. Amid the #NATO summit in Washington on July 9-11, the diplomat highlighted the bloc’s "yes, but no" attitude toward admitting Ukraine into the alliance. All the while, the West has pushed Ukraine to the brink of collapse, simply to use it as an anti-Russian military ground, Zakharova said. "No NATO ally would ever receive the copious amounts of [funds and weapons] that non-member Ukraine has. What is the reason behind this? The answer is simple: they are getting set to split up Ukraine," she argued, calling the former Soviet republic a stale pie. "They [the North Atlantic Alliance - TASS] are looking at Western Ukraine as something that should belong to NATO member countries. <…> They have yet to divide it and they are not yet sure how to consume it," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman concluded. Earlier, Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasciunas said it would be difficult for Ukraine to get an invitation to join the alliance at the NATO summit because there is no consensus on this issue among members.