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MAHMOUD KHALIL FILES $20 MILLION LAWSUIT OVER ARREST.
From Gunther Eagleman™
7:12 AM · Jul 11, 2025
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https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1943629439125864894
Mahmoud Khalil sues State Department for $20 million — would accept an apology instead.
11 Jul, 2025 10:19
Merz pressuring Trump for more Patriot missiles for Kiev
Germany is ready to buy US-made air defense systems for Ukraine, its chancellor has claimed
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has urged US President Donald Trump to join the EU in its drive to supply weapons to Ukraine, including more missile defense systems.
Trump has been critical of providing aid without reciprocal benefits, and his administration has not approved any new Ukraine assistance since he took office. Earlier this month, the Pentagon suspended shipments of certain air defense missiles and other precision munitions to Ukraine. However, deliveries were resumed earlier this week.
Speaking at a conference in Rome on Thursday, Merz urged the US president to transfer additional Patriot systems – something Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has repeatedly requested.
Merz claimed that he is “in close contact” with the US government and Trump on the matter, adding that Berlin is ready to buy “patriot systems from the US in order to make them available to Ukraine.” He noted that while the US “needs some of them themselves,” there are “a lot of them” available, and thatdefense ministers are currently negotiating their potential delivery, although a final decision has not been made.
Russia maintains that foreign arms supplies to Ukraine exacerbate the violence without altering the conflict’s outcome.
Trump earlier reflected on the cost of Patriot systems – valued at around $1 billion per battery – saying that Kiev’s request for another unit remains under review. “It’s a shame that we have to spend so much money” on supporting Ukraine, he said, calling the missile system “very rare… and very expensive.”
He suggested the US “simply cannot produce [Patriot] missiles in the necessary quantities.”
In response to Merz’s statements, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov remarked on Fridaythat the German Chancellor has made a clear choice for a military path, saying Merz believes diplomatic efforts to resolve the Ukrainian conflict have reached their limit.
“If Mr. Merz believes that the options for peace are depleted, he has likely chosen to fully commit himself to the militarization of Germany at the expense of his own people,” Lavrov said. He added thatMerz has repeatedly articulated his primary objective: to establish Germany as Europe’s foremost military power.
(What to fuck U.S. wrong with Merz, he sounds and acts like a Adolf Hitler, demanding bombs for the Nazis in Kiev. Merz go fuck yourself and your proxy war!)
https://www.rt.com/news/621336-merz-trump-ukraine-patriots/
11 Jul, 2025 10:42
NATO countries will pay full price for American weapons – Trump
Some of the arms could later be handed over to Ukraine, the US president has indicated
America’s NATO partners will pay full price for US-made arms, US President Donald Trump has said, signaling that some of the weapons could go to Ukraine.
The US president has been pressuring Europe’s NATO members to take responsibility for their own defensesince his first term in office, including by raising related spending.
In an interview with NBC released on Friday, the US president outlined his approach to sending arms to the military bloc in the future. “We send weapons to NATO, and NATO is going to reimburse the full cost of those weapons,” he said. “NATO is paying for those weapons, 100%.”
He added that after Washington’s NATO allies acquire the weapons, “then NATO is going to be giving those weapons [to Ukraine].”
According to NBC, it was not immediately clear if Trump was referring to reports of European NATO countries discussing a scheme for buying weapons on behalf of Kiev. A Politico source said last week thatwhile the proposal is now under review, any arms transfers would still require US approval, meaning that indirect deliveries could become mired in additional negotiations.
Trump has repeatedly argued that Washington’s NATO partners depend too heavily on the US, pointing to what he has called chronic underfunding. In February, he went so far as to suggest that America would not protect member states which had not met their financial obligations from a potential Russian attack.
At the NATO summit in the Netherlands last month, alliance members endorsed a new goal to spend at least 5% of GDP on defense procurement and military aid, up from the longstanding 2% target, which many members had failed to achieve for many years.
The reported discussion about the procurement scheme came after the US temporarily halted shipments of weapons to Ukraine, arguing that Washington must maintain its weapons stockpiles to ensure “our own success on the battlefield.”
The pause, which was reportedly ordered by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth without the approval of the White House, has since been lifted, with Trump confirming that “some defensive weapons” are now flowing to Kiev.
Moscow has consistently condemned Western arms shipments to Ukraine, saying they only prolong the conflict without changing its outcome. Russia has also rejected media speculation that it harbors plans to attack NATO countries.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov this week accused Western leaders of trying to distract their citizens from domestic economic and social problems by “demonizing” Russia and painting it as a threat.
https://www.rt.com/news/621340-nato-pay-full-price-us-weapons/
11 Jul, 2025 09:25
Trump teases ‘major statement’ on Russia
The US president has reiterated that he is “disappointed” with Moscow
US President Donald Trump has said he is planning to make a “major statement” regarding Russia and the settlement of the Ukraine conflict in the coming days.
The announcement comes after Trump criticized his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin earlier this week, accusing him of not wanting to stop the fighting with Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow treats Trump’s comments “calmly” and remains committed to finding a diplomatic solution with Kiev and rebuilding ties with Washington.
In an interview with NBC News on Thursday, Trump again stressed that he is “disappointed in Russia, but we will see what happens over the next couple of weeks.”
“I think I will have a major statement to make on Russia on Monday,” he said, declining to reveal any further details.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the ASEAN forum in Malaysia on Thursday. Washington’s top diplomat said afterwards that they talked about “new and different” ideas on resolving the Ukraine conflict. When asked by journalists on Friday about his discussions with Rubio,Lavrov said he would reply in Trump’s style. “As if I would tell you,” he stated.KEK
The US president said that he expects the Senate to vote in the legislation, spearheaded by hawkish Senator Lindsey Graham, that would impose a 500% tariff on countries buying Russian energy and other goods in an attempt to make Moscow compromise on the Ukraine conflict.
“They are going to pass a very major and very biting sanctions bill,but it is up to the president as to whether or not he wants to exercise it,”Trump said, referring to a clause in the legislation granting the head of state the power to halt the tariff for up to 180 days.
On Thursday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov asserted that Moscow will adapt if the US imposes 500% secondary tariffs on Russian trade partners and maintain its sovereign course. “We know how to work in these conditions,” he noted.
https://www.rt.com/news/621329-trump-announcement-ukraine-us/
11 Jul, 2025 09:58
EU ‘has no money except for war’ – Hungarian official
Brussels is reportedly considering sending an additional €100 billion to Ukraine
The EU is placing Ukraine’s military needs above the priorities of the bloc’s member states, Hungarian government adviser Balazs Orban has said. He accused EU leaders of always finding money for “war” but not other causes.
Leaders of EU nations are considering the creation of a new €100 billion ($117 billion) fund under the bloc’s upcoming seven-year budget to cover expenses for the Ukrainian government, Bloomberg reported this week, citing people familiar with the discussions. Budapest, however, has been a vocal critic of the bloc’s approach to the Russia-Ukraine conflict since its onset.
“Europe has run out of money – except when it comes to war. There is always 100 billion euros for that,” Orban wrote on Wednesday on social media. He warned that such an allocation of funds would likely lead to further proposals to spend EU taxpayers’ money on Ukraine.
Orban pointed toKiev’s estimate that it would require $1 trillion over 14 years for reconstruction and modernization, a figure shared by Prime Minister Denis Shmigal during a donors conference in Rome this week.
“While Europe cannot climb out of its own economic, social and security crisis, Brussels would continue to finance the war– weapons instead of peace, new debt instead of a competitive Europe,” Orban said.
Last week, Bloomberg reported thatUS investment firm BlackRock had abandoned efforts to attract private investors for an Ukraine reconstruction program. The fund was expected to be launched at the Rome conference, but potential participants reportedlyexpressed “a lack of interest amid increased uncertainty” over the country’s future.
Ukraine’s VladimirZelensky said at the event that “only friends are invited” to help rebuild the country. He reiterated his call to confiscate Russian state assets frozen by Western nations and transfer them to Kiev. (Zelensky is the biggest asshole ever!)
Moscow has warned that such actions would constitute international theft. EU members have voiced concern that expropriating Russian assets could significantly erode global confidence in their financial systems. As an alternative, Ukraine’s backers have been imposing a “windfall tax” on profits from the immobilized Russian funds and channeling the money to Kiev – an approach Moscow has described as another form of criminality.
Hungary has accused the EU leadership of inflicting major economic harm on member states through sanctions on Russia, and of wasting resources on a war effort that it argues cannot deliver a military victory over Moscow.
https://www.rt.com/news/621327-hungary-eu-ukraine-fund/
9 Jul, 2025 19:46
Dmitry Trenin: The West’s war on Russia will go beyond Ukraine
For Moscow, the real war is global, and it’s just begun
The trademark style of the current US president, Donald Trump, is verbal spectacle.His statements – brash, contradictory, sometimes theatrical– should be monitored, but not overestimated.They are not inherently favorable or hostile to Russia. And we must remember: Trump is not the ‘king’ of America. The ‘Trump revolution’ that many anticipated at the beginning of the year appears to have given way to Trump’s own evolution – a drift toward accommodation with the American establishment.
In that light, it’s time to assess the interim results of our ‘special diplomatic operation’. There have now been six presidential phone calls, several rounds of talks between foreign ministers and national security aides, and sustained contact at other levels.
The most obvious positive outcome is the restoration of dialogue between Russia and the United States – a process that had been severed under the Biden administration. Crucially, this revived dialogue extends beyond Ukraine. A range of potential areas for cooperation have been mapped out, from geopolitical stability to transportation and sport. These may not carry immediate strategic weight, but they lay the groundwork for future engagement. Under Trump, the dialogue is unlikely to break off again – though its tone and pace may shift.
One visible result of this diplomacy was the resumption of talks with the Ukrainian side in Istanbul. While these negotiations currently hold little political substance – and the recent prisoner exchanges occurred independently of them – theynonetheless reaffirm a core tenet of Russian diplomacy: we are ready for a political resolution to the conflict.
Still, these are technical and tactical achievements. The strategic reality remains unchanged.
It was never realistic to expect Trump to offer Russia a deal on Ukraine that met our security requirements. Nor for that matter would Russia accept one that compromised its long-term security interests. Likewise, any notion that Trump would ‘deliver’ Ukraine to the Kremlin, join Moscow in undermining the EU, or push for a new Yalta agreement with Russia and China was always fantasy.
So the page has turned. What comes next?
Trump will almost certainly sign the new US sanctions bill into law – but he’ll try to preserve discretion in how those measures are applied. The sanctions will add friction to global trade, but they will not derail Russian policy.
On the military front, Trump will deliver the remaining aid packages approved under Biden, and perhaps supplement them with modest contributions of his own.But going forward, it will be Western Europe – especially Germany – that supplies Ukraine, often by buying US-made systems and re-exporting them.
Meanwhile, the United States will continue to furnish Kiev with battlefield intelligence – particularly for deep strikes inside Russian territory.
None of this suggests the conflict will end in 2025.Nor will it end when hostilities in Ukraine eventually wind down.
That’s because the fight is not fundamentally about Ukraine.
==What we are witnessing is an indirect war between the West and Russia – part of a much broader global confrontation. The West is fighting to preserve its dominance. And Russia, in defending itself, is asserting its sovereign right to exist on its own terms.
This war will be long. And the United States – with Trump or without him – will remain our adversary. The outcome will shape not just the fate of Ukraine, but the future of Russia itself.
https://www.rt.com/news/621262-dmitry-trenin-long-war/
10 Jul, 2025 23:58
Hungary summons Ukrainian envoy over death of recruit from ‘forced conscription’
Budapest has accused Kiev of the “senseless killing” of an ethnic Hungarian
Hungary summoned Ukrainian Ambassador Fyodor Shandor on Thursday following reports thatUkrainian recruitment officers had beaten a Hungarian man to death.
The incident allegedly took place in Ukraine’s western Zakarpatye Region, which has a sizable ethnic Hungarian minority.
“It is outrageous and unacceptable to beat someone to death, especially a Hungarian, simply because he refused to go to war and take part in senseless killing,” Hungarian Parliamentary State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Trade Levente Magyar said.
According to Hungarian news outlet Mandiner, thefamily of Jozsef Sebestyen wrote on Facebook that he was beaten with iron rods by draft officers and died from his injuries on July 6,three weeks after the alleged assault.
The outlet cited an unnamed acquaintance who claimed that officers “ambushed” Sebestyen in the city of Beregovo,forced him into a van, and assaulted him at a recruitment office in Uzhgorod.A second source told the outlet that Sebestyen was conscripted into the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade andwas later beaten in a forest near Mukachevo, where the unit is based.
“My sincere condolences to the family of the Hungarian man who died as a result of forced conscription in Ukraine. We stand with you in these difficult hours,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wrote on Facebook.
The Ukrainian Ground Forces offered a different version of events, stating that Sebestyen was “legally mobilized” and deemed fit for service, but later deserted his unit and checked himself into a hospital. According to the military, the 45-year-old showed no signs of physical violence, and his death on July 6 was ruled as a pulmonary embolism.
Ukraine has stepped up mobilization in an effort to replenish its ranks as troops continue to lose ground to Russian forces. Ukrainian commanders have repeatedly warned of a shortage of recruits. Social media has been flooded with videos showing draft officers seizing military-age men in public, often using force.
https://www.rt.com/news/621321-hungary-ukraine-recruit-death/
10 Jul, 2025 21:53
Trump to send $300 million worth of weapons to Ukraine – Reuters
The package could reportedly include Patriot surface-to-air missiles
US President Donald Trump will for the first time use his authority to send weapons drawn from Pentagon stockpiles directly to Ukraine, Reutersreported on Thursday, citing two people familiar with the decision.
While the Trump administration has so far only delivered weapons approved under his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) allows Trump to supply arms to Ukraine in an emergency.
The new shipment could reportedly be worth around $300 million and may include Patriot surface-to-air missiles as well as medium-range rockets.
The move would mark a reversal of the Pentagon’s recent decision to halt some deliveries over concerns about depleting domestic stockpiles. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a longtime skeptic of expanded aid to Kiev, reportedly ordered the pause without consulting Trump.
The president confirmed earlier this week that he would send additional arms to Ukraine, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio later told reporters that the pause “unfortunately was mischaracterized.”
During his election campaign, Trump criticized Biden’s unconditional aid to Kiev and called Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky “the greatest salesman on Earth” for persuading Democrats to keep weapons flowing.
Weapons supplies remain critical, as Ukrainian forces continue to lose ground to Russia and face increasing difficulties replenishing their ranks with new conscripts.
Moscow has maintained that foreign arms will not prevent it from achieving its objectives. Last month, President Vladimir Putin reiterated that Russia considers Western countries supplying weapons to Ukraine as “de facto direct participants in the conflict.”
(There it is, Trump and America is fully dragged in, the war will never end)
https://www.rt.com/news/621320-trump-sends-more-weapons-ukraine/