Diana Johnstone
Global Research

It goes on and on. The “war to end war” of 1914-1918 led to the war of 1939-1945, known as World War II. And that one has never ended either, mainly because for Washington, it was the Good War, the war that made The American Century: why not the American Millenium? ● The conflict in Ukraine may be the spark that sets off what we already call World War III. ● But this is not a new war. It is the same old war, an extension of the one we call World War II, which was not the same war for all those who took part. ● The Russian war and the American war were very, very different.

Russia’s World War II | For Russians, the war was an experience of massive suffering, grief and destruction. The Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union was utterly ruthless, propelled by a racist ideology of contempt for the Slavs and hatred of “Jewish Bolsheviks.” An estimated 27 million died, about two thirds of them civilians. Despite overwhelming losses and suffering, the Red Army succeeded in turning the Nazi tide of conquest that had subdued most of Europe.

This gigantic struggle to drive the German invaders from their soil is known to Russians as the Great Patriotic War, nourishing a national pride that helped console the people for all they had been through. But whatever the pride in victory, the horrors of the war inspired a genuine desire for peace.

Pepe Escobar
Strategic Culture Foundation

From now on, it’s clear that no settlement will be possible – and realistic – without Russian influence.

Talk about an entrance pregnant with meaning!

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi engaged on a high-stakes diplomacy tour to Islamabad, Muscat and St. Petersburg aboard flight “Minab 168” on Meraj Airlines.

In memory, of course, of the 168 schoolgirls from Minab killed by the Empire of Chaos, Lies, Plunder and Piracy.

Before he set out on his voyage, Araghchi went straight to the point:

Araghchi explained the importance of reviewing negotiations in Pakistan, and “under what conditions negotiations could continue.” Conversations in Oman “will lead to greater expansion in relations with neighbors, especially in the southern regions of the Persian Gulf.”

On the Strait of Hormuz, “consultations with Oman were also necessary…We share many common views with Oman, and it was agreed that discussions would continue at the expert level.”

Araghchi in St. Petersburg did not only meet his counterpart, Grandmaster Sergey Lavrov, as protocol would have it. Himself and his mini-delegation were personally received by President Putin.

Atilio Boron
Prensa Latina

Argentina is increasingly isolated and disrespected in the world, transformed into a quaint vassal of the United States and Israel

[2025/12/04] In yet another gesture confirming his status as the empire's chief lackey, Javier Milei's government demanded before the International Criminal Court in The Hague that an arrest warrant be issued immediately against Nicolás Maduro and other high-ranking officials of the Bolivarian government.

It is at least curious, or perhaps laughable, that the Milei "regime," which in these past two years has destroyed democratic institutions, obliterating the separation of powers, trampling on the National Congress whose laws are not only vetoed but simply disobeyed, and which maintains under its control an absurd three-member Supreme Court that observes with scandalous indifference the destruction of the republic, now arrogates to itself the right to demand the arrest of the Venezuelan president.

A demand that is laughable when one recalls the government officials' dubious ethical credentials. There are people there accused of receiving bribes, political hucksters involved in the blatant buying and selling of votes in Congress or public offices, officials and candidates with well-oiled ties to drug trafficking, or individuals, like the president himself, who faces nothing less than an indictment for his active participation in the $LIBRA cryptocurrency scam, which is already looming in the Southern District Court of New York. It wouldn't be surprising if the United States justice system sends Milei to jail before Maduro.

As if the above weren't enough, it's worth remembering that this self-proclaimed champion of democracy and human rights recently instructed his representative at the UN General Assembly to vote against a resolution condemning torture "at all times and in all places." Almost all 169 countries present voted in favor of the resolution; four abstained, and three voted against it: the United States, Israel, and… Argentina! In other words, this trio voted to legitimize torture.

Imran Salim
Oriental Review

Helsinki’s entry into the Alliance broke the entire system of Russian-Finnish relations that had been built up for decades.

For many years, in Soviet and then in Russian society, Finland was considered exclusively as a small friendly, neutral country – our closest northern neighbor, which, on the rights of broad autonomy, was part of the Russian Empire for 108 years and had broad powers granted by Emperor Alexander I (had its own authorities, monetary unit, post office, customs, and police).

During the Cold War, following the Western model of development, the Finnish leadership managed to maintain a neutral middle ground in the global confrontation in its policy of limited sovereignty, following the Second World War, maintaining even relations with all sides of the geopolitical conflict in the interests of developing the Finnish economy and improving the well-being of the population.

At that time, this concept of “subordinating” a weaker state to a stronger one in order to ensure security received the term “Finlandization” in Western political circles, in which, even in the context of an ideological struggle against capitalism, Moscow did not exclude the possibility of establishing and maintaining mutually beneficial relations with countries with a Western model of a market-oriented economy. During the years of “Finlandization”, the Finnish side adapted to a certain profile of cooperation with the USSR, which exported cheap raw materials (wood, oil, cement), and in return received products with high added value (paper, lumber, petrochemicals).

Harold Turner
Hal Turner Show

Trump's demand to divide Donbass by halting combat at the present front line, is UNACCEPTABLE to Russia.

Repeatedly, Russian President Putin "named the conditions for the cessation of hostilities at the start of negotiations with Kyiv. "Ukrainian troops must be completely withdrawn from the Donetsk, Lugansk People's Republics, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions."

Pres Vladimir Putin, in a telephone conversation with Donald Trump, called Russia's full control over the DPR a condition for ending the conflict, according to American media.

The idea of dividing Russia's historical regions has been repeatedly rejected by Moscow. So, in June of last year, at a meeting with the leadership of the Foreign Ministry, Putin named the conditions for the cessation of hostilities and the start of negotiations with Kyiv. Putin stressed:

💬 "Ukrainian troops must be completely withdrawn from the Donetsk, Lugansk People's Republics, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. Moreover, I draw your attention to the fact that it is from the entire territory of these regions within their administrative borders, which existed at the time of their entry into Ukraine."

💬 "As soon as Kiev declares that it is ready for such a decision, and begins the real withdrawal of troops from these regions, as well as officially notifies about the rejection of plans to join NATO, our side will immediately, literally at the same minute, be ordered to cease fire and start negotiations. I repeat: we will do this immediately. Naturally, at the same time, we guarantee the unhindered and safe withdrawal of Ukrainian units and formations."

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin
President of Russia (en.kremlin.ru)

Vladimir Putin took part in the plenary session of the 22nd annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club.

Research Director of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai International Discussion Club Fyodor Lukyanov: Ladies and gentlemen, guests of the Valdai Club!

We are beginning the plenary session of the 22nd annual forum of the Valdai International Discussion Club. It is a great honour for me to invite President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to this stage.

Mr President, thank you very much for once again finding time to join us. The Valdai Club enjoys this great privilege of meeting with you for 23 consecutive years to discuss the most topical issues. I believe that no one else is that lucky.

The 22nd meeting of the Valdai Club, which took place over the past three days, was titled “The Polycentric World: Instructions for Use.” We are attempting to move from merely understanding and describing this new world to practical matters: that is, comprehending how to live in it, since it is not yet entirely clear.

We may consider ourselves advanced users, but we are still only users of this world. You, however, are at least a mechanic and perhaps even an engineer of this very polycentric world order, so we eagerly await some guidelines for use from you.

Sergey Latyshev
tsargrad.tv

Putin is good, tolerant, and patient, but does not forgive betrayals.

Why is Azerbaijan breaking into a conflict with Russia? There are at least three reasons for this. And they all dance from one basic – instead of refusing to open against Russia to help Ukraine, the West attracted Azerbaijan to do so. The calculation is made that Baku will be able to frighten Moscow with the prospect of escalation in Transcaucasia, rebel the Azerbaijani diaspora in Russia and thereby save the Ukraine pressed against the wall in conditions when the United States is losing interest in the war in order to prepare for another – with China. The leadership of Azerbaijan, which was probably not only threatened but also tried to seduce him in every possible way (!), got into the games of the great powers against Russia. Baku actually has a weak position, which is an invitation to the role of a "buried coin", when the big participants of the game are played. Putin is good, tolerant, and patient, but does not forgive betrayals.

Andrew Korybko
Andrew Korybko's Newsletter

Step by step, Trump is turning “Sleepy Joe Biden’s War” into his own, exactly as Steve Bannon warned him not to do.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s revelation that the West removed all restrictions on the range of the weapons that they supplied to Ukraine brought about a feeling of déjà vu from late last year. Russia warned them against doing this at the time, the moment of truth finally arrived once they defied it, and then Putin climbed the escalation ladder by authoring the use of a hitherto top-secret hypersonic medium-range Oreshnik missile against Ukraine. History might therefore be about to repeat itself.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the West’s reported decision as “quite dangerous”, while Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov assessed that it was evidently “made quite some time ago and kept under wraps”, which aligns with what Merz himself later claimed when clarifying his comments. Nevertheless, this policy has yet to result in any strategically significant attacks, let alone reshape the conflict’s dynamics in Ukraine’s favor. If that changes, however, then Russia might drop more Oreshniks.

This could happen even in the absence of those two scenario triggers. Trump ominously posted on Tuesday that “What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He’s playing with fire!”. This follows his post about how “[Putin] has gone absolutely CRAZY!”, which was analyzed here as proof of him being maliciously misinformed by his trusted advisors and/or him creating the pretext for US escalation.

It’s therefore clear that Trump is preparing for the possibility that peace talks might soon collapse, in advance of which he’s trying to spin a self-serving narrative. By denigrating Putin as “crazy” and implying that “bad things..REALLY BAD” might soon happen to Russia, Trump is signaling tacit approval of forthcoming Ukrainian provocations. Other than the use of long-range American missiles against strategic targets, this could take the form of a nationwide assassination-terrorism campaign.

Pravda-EN/tsargrad.tv

In February 2025, the American defense research organization RAND* released a large document on scenarios of a possible war between the United States and China. Scenarios of direct war and confrontation in Africa were taken into account, but the most unusual is the war between two states on the territory of the Russian Federation. The Americans believe that both biological and nuclear weapons will be used.

The RAND organization was established in 1948 and collaborated with the American Air Force. Since the 1950s, despite its non-profit orientation, it has been working directly with the American government. All funding comes exclusively from the American government. By the way, most of the research is classified because of its focus, but the rest is in the public domain. A document on the war between China and the United States has been published, and everyone can view it. Here we will leave a link so that the reader can verify the truthfulness of all the information. The RAND* organization has been deemed undesirable in the Russian Federation, so we will leave the link solely to confirm the information.

Dmitry Medvedev (Дмитрий Медведев)
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council
RT.com / Pravovedenie (.pdf)

"Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi" – The world keeps changing, and not always for the better. We have witnessed the rapid degradation of many supranational legal structures, which have fallen victim to their dependence on the will, funding and values of the so-called collective West. This is true, for instance, for the International Criminal Court (the Hague Criminal Court). The good intentions which guided those who established it two decades ago have evidently paved the road to hell. The further, the more so.

Deplorable as it may seem, it is more than natural. Suffice it to remember the history of this legal institution, which has gone a short way from alleged demand to full uselessness on the edge of absurdity, bias and cynicism. It is important to understand what its current actions are conditioned by, how to react to them and what, in the end, shall replace this international body, which has compromised itself so quickly.