NEW: Western officials left convinced that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth planned to withdraw tens of thousands of U.S. troops from Europe at the recent NATO defense ministers’ meeting.

Source: WaPo

Racism & its consequences: An Israeli man in Miami Beach shot two people, thinking that they were Palestinians.

He said "I killed two Palestinians" while in custody.

But, both victims were Israeli.

And they assumed their attacker was Arab and shouted, “Death to Arabs.”

Swedish Foreign Minister:

We do not rule out sending peacekeeping forces to Ukraine.

There is now a DOGE Department of Defense account on X.

It was earlier reported that Elon Musk's DOGE would review the Pentagon's budget and slash billions from the department's budget.

Can Europe defend itself against Russia without the U.S.?

Clash Report is now on YouTube!

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Ukrainian President Zelensky says Ukraine needs security guarantees similar to those provided to Israel by its allies.

Referring to Iran’s missile attack on Israel last year, Zelensky highlighted how the U.S., France, the UK, and other nations, including Jordan, helped intercept the strikes.

“Israel is not a NATO member… It was great that these countries destroyed Iranian missiles. This means Israel has real security guarantees—from the U.S., France, the UK, and other allies. I believe we need this as well.”

Trump on Russian military:

They have a big, powerful war machine.

They defeated Hitler and Napoleon. They have been fighting for a long time. They have done it before.

European defense stocks are surging as governments promise to raise defense spendings.

Rheinmetall jumped 9% in Frankfurt, BAE Systems gained 5% in London, and Thales rose 4% in Paris.

The Stoxx Europe aerospace and defense index reached a 30-year high.

Source: FT

Former Ukrainian President Poroshenko laments the impact of sanctions against him:

“I can’t buy coffee at a gas station because my cards are blocked, my accounts are frozen, and my assets are seized.”

Israel reportedly assassinated a very senior Hezbollah official in Lebanon.

The Kremlin said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy advisor to Putin, will on Tuesday take part in talks with U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia on restoring U.S.-Russia relations.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov:

Western brands will be able to return to the Russian Federation on a competitive basis, this would be in the interests of Russian consumers.

Russia will likely maintain a reduced military presence in Syria.

Russia is close to a deal with the new Syrian government that would allow it to maintain some staff and equipment in the country.

Russia hopes to keep the same naval and air bases it used in Syria until the fall of the Assad regime.

Source: Bloomberg

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu:

Ousting Bashar al-Assad was not in Israel's interest.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov:

Europe has already had several chances to be involved in a settlement of Ukraine.

If Europe wants to continue the war in Ukraine, then why would they be invited to the negotiations?

Iraqi government spokesman:

We will invite Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to attend the Arab Summit.

Israel reportedly killed Muhammad Shahin (Abu Imad), the person responsible for training security personnel for Hamas' military wing outside Gaza.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has arrived in Saudi Arabia, he will meet Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov tomorrow.