Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa:

We should never be forced to choose between Israeli ambitions and Iranian ambitions in the region.

The region itself must have its own independent policy and its own independent identity.

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa:

In its natural course, a national renaissance takes about 20 to 25 years before its full results become visible.

When we talk about Singapore, Rwanda today, Türkiye, or even the Gulf Cooperation Council countries—every country that has achieved this kind of success took time. It took around 20 to 25 years.

But that doesn't mean we have to wait 20 years before we see change in Syria. What matters is that the trajectory is upward.

Progress should become visible gradually. Every month there should be something new. Every two months there should be another achievement. These gains accumulate over time until we reach a new stage.

Then Syria will become comparable to—perhaps even surpass—many of these successful models.

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa:

Let's distinguish between the SDF and the Kurdish people.

The Kurdish community is a large community spread across Syria; it is not confined to one specific area.

A segment of the Kurdish population had been denied Syrian citizenship under the previous regime.

This is an old issue that we inherited, but we were determined to resolve it. We issued a decree granting citizenship and nationality rights, and many have already received them.

Their cultural rights have also been recognized, and even their national celebration has been officially recognized as a public holiday in Syria.

Some parties tried to tie the SDF issue to the Kurdish issue, but we worked to separate the two tracks. We reached good results.

Agreements were signed several times, although they were not always implemented. In the latest agreement, implementation became more decisive.

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Lebanon:

We are not considering military intervention. Rather, we are trying to help Lebanon.

Syria has several cards it can offer, and we place them at the disposal of the Lebanese state, which can use them as it sees fit.

AI Trump is now on the front lines, wearing a "FAFO" hat.

Trump:

THE MAN WHO SAVED AMERICA!

Trump:

AI Trump travels back in time to save George Washington.

Senior Iranian MP Ebrahim Azizi:

Any attack on Iran always comes with a cost, and that remains true today; the U.S. and Israel are well aware of this.

Ukraine, too, may soon come to understand that Iran does not let actions go unanswered.

The list of those who have miscalculated continues to increase!

Oil dropped ~7% (WTI near 8%) as the US and Iran paused strikes, easing Strait of Hormuz supply fears.

Mutual US-Iran halt after ~2 weeks of strikes.

US cited limited effectiveness and low interceptor stocks.

Pakistan/China pushing to revive talks.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is expected to sign a deal with Zelensky allowing Ukraine to mass-produce UK-designed Stone Cloak signal jammers.

The devices are fitted to attack drones to disrupt Russian air defenses, making them harder to detect.

Britain will transfer the intellectual property while continuing its support for Ukraine, and both countries will use battlefield data to improve future weapons.

Source: The Telegraph

Q: Are you worried about Iran potentially attacking Ukraine? They've threatened because of what happened with their vessel. Or is that not a concern?

Zelensky: Iran has already attacked us by supplying weapons to Russia.

We have to be cautious. We have to do everything not to open a new front in any way. But we have to be honest: Iranians and North Koreans already attacked us.

I hope that they will not increase these attacks, but we have to be ready for everything. We can't trust these people because at the very beginning, without any escalation from our side, Iranians gave weapons.

Source: Sky News

Zelensky:

We are on the right side of history. We are on our land and our house. This is my family. This is my country.

I love this country, and nobody can push me out. Because if we will be weak, and if Putin will be successful, I'm sure we will lose everything—the future of our children, grandchildren.

And we can't give this, because he will never stop. Only in Ukraine? Never. He will continue the war.

Source: Sky News

Zelensky:

I want to build a big (drone) factory in Britain, offer new technologies and share them with our partners.

Of course, we're ready to share all our experience with the UK, and I hope that the UK will do the same.

Source: Sky News

Zelensky:

I had a big problem—not for days or weeks, but for months—in the work and dialogue between the Chief of the Army and the Ministry of Defense.

There are some things we have to manage, and you can manage them only if the ministry works with the army. You can't manage it one side or another.

The big challenge is mobilization. We may face 500,000 more Russian troops.

We need a new attitude to mobilization and new steps. I need unanimity between these two institutions.

The second point is air defense. We don't have enough anti-ballistic systems.

I don't have time for talks. Look, I don't have time to listen to one side, then listen to another side, because the two sides are not ready to meet every day—they have to meet every hour until our sky is protected.

I don't need to find who is right and who is not right.

Source: Sky News

Zelensky:

Putin has a lot of questions—internal questions—from people: "Where is petrol? What to do? How to live without logistics? Without diesel?"

So it's really very, very difficult.

Putin is afraid of his society, internal challenges, internal questions to him, and the internal mood.

Source: Sky News

U.S. officials worry Putin and Xi may see depleted American munitions stockpiles — drained by the Iran war — as an opening for moves against Ukraine/Europe and Taiwan.

Chinese analysts have called the U.S. a “giant with a limp.”

Source: NYT