New draft of Kiev’s deal with Washington covers all Ukrainian natural resources, says lawmaker The latest draft agreement between #Ukraine and the United States submitted by #Washington on March 23 encompasses all natural resources, including oil and gas, across Kiev-controlled areas, Verkhovna Rada member Yaroslav Zheleznyak said, citing the document. "It covers all natural resources, including oil and gas. New as well as existing [mineral resources] projects. Across Ukraine," the Ukrainian lawmaker wrote on his Telegram channel. Under the US proposal, Ukraine will have to allocate revenues from its resources, while the aid Washington has provided to Kiev since 2022 will be considered a US contribution to the fund. "They (the Americans) will be able to capitalize on their decision, and they will be first to get royalties from the fund, with Ukraine being the next in line," he explained. Also, Zheleznyak shared, a board of five, including three US members "with a full veto right," will control the proposed investment fund. Earlier, Ukraine’s #Zelensky confirmed that the United States had proposed a new draft of its #minerals deal to Ukraine that outlines establishing an investment fund.

Kremlin spokesman accuses France of lying, violating agreements Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry #Peskov accused #France of lying about such issues as the #Minsk agreements and guarantees for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich. He made the statement in an interview with television host Pavel Zarubin in response to comments by French President #Macron, who said Russia wasn’t honest about the Ukrainian crisis. "There were a lot of lies on the part of France. After all, we remember [former French President Francois] Hollande's statement when he said that, in fact, no one took the Minsk agreements seriously. We remember that in 2014, among other Europeans, the French foreign minister put his signature under a document that guaranteed the then-legitimate Ukrainian President #Yanukovich a political future. That was followed by a coup. That means France, like other countries, did not make good on its guarantees. Was that not a lie? It was a very real lie, and Mr. Macron did not mention that at all," Peskov said, according to a video that the television host posted to Telegram. On March 5, Macron said in an address to the nation that he would begin discussions with allies about the possibility of applying the French nuclear deterrence capability to other countries in Europe, in response to an appeal from Friedrich #Merz, a candidate for German chancellor. The French president also spoke about rising threats to his country and the rest of Europe, including threats that allegedly emanate from Russia. Macron used them as a reason to call for raising defense spending above the previously approved plan. He also stated his intention to continue supporting #Ukraine in the conflict with #Russia. https://thinktank.x-pulse.org//posts/3429

Plot to assassinate Putin is direct path to nuclear war, says State Duma speaker A plot to #assassinate Russian President Vladimir #Putin and discussions on the subject constitute a crime and a serious threat to global security, said Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the State Duma (the Russian parliament’s lower chamber). "The plot to assassinate Putin, mere discussions of it is a crime, a serious threat to global security, a direct path to nuclear war. All international institutions should view it as a basis for an investigation," Volodin wrote on Telegram. He believes that amid the current tough confrontation, the Russian society needs to "understand the level of challenges and threats that we are facing, and, therefore, understand their own responsibility." According to Tucker #Carlson, the Joe #Biden administration considered assassinating Putin. The US journalist said that, in general, the US authorities intended to engage in a suicidal confrontation with Moscow. In particular, former US Secretary of State Antony #Blinken was "pushing so hard for a real war" between the US and Russia in his last two months in office.

Russian forces evacuating from Syria A special #Russian air force flight from the Khmeimim air base in #Syria has evacuated some of the Russian diplomatic personnel in #Damascus as well as Belarusian and North Korean diplomats, the Russian foreign ministry says. “The work of the Russian Embassy in Damascus continues,” the crisis situation department of the Russian foreign ministry says on its Telegram channel. Russia’s RIA state news agency reports, citing the Belarusian foreign ministry, that all Belarusian diplomats have been evacuated from Syria. In an other Hand, the serial production of the Oreshnik intermediate-range missile will begin shortly, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. "As you know, the #Oreshnik intermediate-range missile system has become Russia’s newest powerful weapon. It was successfully used in November in response to the strikes on our country’s territory - a ballistic missile with a non-nuclear hypersonic payload was used," the Russian leader said, speaking at the Russian Defense Ministry’s board meeting. "The serial production of such systems is supposed to be established in shortly in order ensure the security of Russia and its allies."

Tehran to launch new centrifuges in response to IAEA anti-Iran resolution, statement reads The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (#AEOI) will commission a significant number of new centrifuges for uranium enrichment in response to the anti-Iran resolution adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (#IAEA) Board of Governors on Thursday, a joint statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the AEOI said. "#Iran's specialized agencies at various levels have previously warned that taking any confrontational measures and using the [IAEA] Board of Governors to promote illegal, politically motivated statements will face retaliation. <...> In this regard, the AEOI chief ordered to take appropriate measures, including launching a significant number of new advanced centrifuges of different types," the statement posted on the Iranian Foreign Ministry's Telegram channel said. According to it, any further retaliatory measures will be taken only "to protect national interests and further develop the peaceful nuclear industry" in accordance with the country's growing needs "within the framework of its rights and obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty." On November 21, the IAEA Board of Governors adopted a Western resolution criticizing Iran for allegedly insufficient cooperation with the agency. According to the document, the IAEA must prepare a detailed report on Iran's nuclear program by the spring of 2025. The resolution passed with 19 votes in favor, three against and 12 abstentions.

Houthis say they attacked Tel Aviv, Ashkelon The #Houthis from Yemen's rebel Ansar Allah movement have delivered strike on Tel Aviv’s #Jaffa neighborhood and on the city of #Ashkelon, the movement’s military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said. "The air forces <…> conducted a military operation and delivered strikes on a number of military and vital facilities of the Israeli enemy in Jaffa and Ashkelon in the south of occupied Palestine," he said in a statement posted on his Telegram channel. According to Sarea, the Houthi drones "successfully hit their targets" in Israel.

Geomagnetic storm begins on Earth, said Specialist A G3-class, or "strong" #geomagnetic #storm has begun on the Earth, said Mikhail Leus, a leading expert at the Fobos weather center. "A geomagnetic storm began on the Earth on Saturday evening. After 6:00 p.m. <…> it was consistent with the moderate G1 magnetic storm. Disturbances in the geomagnetic field continued to intensify further, reaching the G3 class at 8:46 p.m. ," Leus wrote on his Telegram channel. The geomagnetic storm is expected to continue at least until Sunday noon, with its severity fluctuating from strong to weak over that period.

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Ukraine’s Syrsky approves admission of French instructors to military training centers Commander-in-Chief of #Ukraine’s armed forces Alexander #Syrsky has signed documents that will allow #French instructors to visit #training centers. "I welcome France's initiative to send instructors to Ukraine to train Ukrainian servicemen. I have already signed documents that will allow the first French instructors to visit our training centers soon and familiarize themselves with their infrastructure and personnel," he wrote on his Telegram channel following online talks with French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu. Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov also took part in the negotiations. Syrsky expressed hope that Kiev's other Western partners would join Paris' initiative. Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron did not rule out the possibility of sending Western countries’ ground troops to the zone of the special military operation. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky supported this idea, admitting that he could not publicly ask Western partners to send troops to the country, but would like them to do so and would never refuse. The chief of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergey Naryshkin, said that according to Moscow's sources, this contingent could reach 2,000 men. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that French instructors along with other representatives of military and special services of European countries were already functioning in Ukraine. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the appearance of foreign military contingents in Ukraine would be fraught with extremely negative consequences, including irreparable ones.

Medvedev gives warning amid talk of deploying Western troops to Ukraine The deployment of Western troops to Ukraine would be akin to these countries declaring war on #Russia, and lead to a catastrophe on a global scale, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry #Medvedev said. "Sending their troops to the territory of former Ukraine will mean their direct involvement in the war. We will have to respond to this. And, alas, not on the territory of former #Ukraine," he wrote on his Telegram channel. He added that in this case, Western leaders "won’t be able to hide on Capitol Hill, or in the Elysee Palace, or on 10 Downing Street."- "A global catastrophe will ensue," Medvedev concluded. According to him, the cause of the discussion on dispatching Western troops to Ukraine, launched by French President Emmanuel #Macron, is a "shameless calculation for political bonus points." "Some kind of a total degradation of the ruling class in the West is underway," Medvedev clarified and reiterated that the extent of the catastrophic nature of such a clash was something "Kennedy and Khrushchev could grasp over 60 years ago." - "Yet current immature imbeciles who got to power in the West keep failing to recognize this," he added.