‼️🇷🇸🇷🇺 At least two world leaders secretly negotiated with Putin - Serbian President Vucic

▪️He noted that it was not Orban and Fico, but “many others.”
➖"Many of them secretly communicated with Putin. And I know at least two world leaders who secretly spoke with him. It is not Orban or Fico, it is many others," Vucic said in an interview.
▪️He also added that he had not seen Putin for 3 years, but would go to Moscow on May 9.

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The US government has temporarily suspended sanctions against Kirill Dmitriev so that he can obtain a visa and travel to Washington to participate in the talks, CNN reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.

In addition, CNN writes that Kirill Dmitriev will visit Washington this week to meet with senior Trump official Steve Witkoff for talks on strengthening relations between the two countries in their quest to end the war in Ukraine.

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🖥️ Keith Kellogg said that if Russia does not agree to a truce, one way to pressure it could be tough sanctions. Among them is the seizure of $300 billion frozen in Belgium.

"Sanctions are good, but the problem is that they need to be strictly observed. <..> If you evaluate sanctions on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is the simplest measures, and 10 is the most severe, then now we are somewhere at level 6. But the level of their implementation is only a "C". For sanctions to really work, they need to be applied much more decisively.

Take, for example, Russian state assets, the $300 billion frozen in Belgium. We can work through them. Or look at the “shadow fleet,” the ships that carry most of the illegally exported oil. Seventy percent of that comes through the Baltic. And that logistics can be shut down. President Trump took similar steps in his first term, when he effectively stopped North Korean coal exports to China. We can use Coast Guard cutters — that’s a last resort, but it works.

We have already imposed sanctions on the "shadow fleet" by identifying the ships by their hull numbers - we know where they are and where they are coming from. So if we really want to achieve results, we have the tools. The main thing is to apply sanctions effectively. But too often this is not done.

We are on the verge of a truce, I believe in it. But both sides will have to make concessions. Neither side will get everything they want. They will have to compromise to reach a solution. But Trump is the one who can do it."

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Iran closes airspace, puts army on alert over US threats - Mehr agency. (Ed. And Israeli threats)

Earlier, US officials said Iran would be "finished" if it did not reach a nuclear deal with the US.

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❗️Monitoring channels and state media deny reports that Iran has allegedly closed its airspace. The closure may be planned for later.

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The US Secretary of Defense will skip a multinational meeting on support for Ukraine for the first time, Defense News reports, citing European and US officials.

According to the website, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will not attend the 50-nation meeting to coordinate military support for Ukraine. The group will meet in Brussels on April 11 under the chairmanship of Germany and the UK. Hegseth attended the last meeting in February, although he became the first US defense secretary in the coalition's 26 meetings not to lead it.

Hegseth likely won’t even attend the meeting virtually, the U.S. official said. Moreover, the Pentagon is unlikely to send any of the senior officials who typically join the secretary on such trips. The U.S. is still evaluating how its officials will participate in various forums supporting Ukraine, including those that help manage security assistance and training, the official said.

For Europeans, the secretary’s absence is the latest sign that the Trump administration is not prioritizing arming Ukraine, something Hegseth made clear at the last meeting in February. Without the traditional U.S. presence, the group will be deprived of key U.S. intelligence, something European officials are already preparing for, the site concludes.

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Eamon Javers, CNBC's senior Washington correspondent, reports that the new tariffs on China will be 54%.

"One important point amid all the headlines: I was texting with press secretary Carolyn Leavitt during the event and she confirmed that the 34% tariff on China is IN ADDITION to the previous 20%. That means the tariffs on China will be 54% when these tariffs go into effect."

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

‼️🇺🇸🇷🇺 The White House explained why they did not impose duties against Russia

▪️Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that trade with Russia and Belarus is not conducted due to sanctions.
▪️White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt said sanctions against Russia already "preclude any meaningful trade."
▪️The Axios publication refutes the officials’ words, noting that trade continues, although its turnover has fallen more than 10 times.
➖"The US still trades more with Russia than with countries like Mauritius or Brunei, which were included in Trump's tariff list," the publication writes.

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

❗️ Companies from the United States are planning to participate in SPIEF-2025; applications have already been received, Roscongress announced.

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‼️🇺🇸 🇨🇳 China urges US to immediately lift tariffs, threatens retaliatory measures — Reuters

▪️The Chinese Ministry of Commerce condemned the American president’s move and threatened to take countermeasures.
▪️The imposed duties violate the balance of interests reached in multilateral trade negotiations over many years.
▪️Earlier, Trump imposed tariffs of 34% on China in addition to the previously imposed 20%, increasing them to a total of 54%.

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

❗️🇷🇺🇺🇦 Over the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked Russian energy infrastructure four times, the Ministry of Defense reported.

A branch of Rosseti was attacked in the Kursk region, leaving more than 1.2 thousand consumers without electricity.

In the Belgorod region, a branch of Rosseti was also attacked, leaving more than 1.7 thousand consumers without electricity.

In addition, in the Zaporizhia region, the Vasilyevka electrical substation was attacked, and in Lugansk, the Svatovo gas distribution station, where gas supply to more than 11 thousand consumers was cut off.

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

🇲🇱 🇺🇦 Mali considers Ukraine a terrorist state, Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said :

"Ukraine supports terrorists in the Sahel.

Ukraine is a sponsor of terrorism and must be stopped."

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

🇧🇪🇪🇺 Belgian MEP Marc Botenga slams EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas over Israel ‘very good partners’ remark, calling it a ‘shame for the European Union'

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🔴🔴🔴 "The dialogue with the US continues. There will be many important key meetings," said RDIF head Kirill Dmitriev during his visit to the US.

Other statements by the special representative of the Russian president:

🟥 We need to speak the same language with the Americans, but not deviate from Russia’s interests;

🟥 Significant progress has been made towards a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine;

🟥 The dates for new negotiations between Russia and the United States will be determined in the near future;

🟥 "The Trump administration is constructive and respectful in its dialogue with Russia. They hear Russia's position";

🟥 At meetings with representatives of the Trump administration, issues of cooperation in the Arctic region and in the field of rare earth metals were discussed;

🟥 Russia and the United States are discussing the restoration of direct flights between the countries.

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

‼️🇺🇸🤑 Trump's New Tariffs Shrink World's Richest People's Wealth by $208 Billion — Bloomberg

The biggest losers were:
▪️Mark Zuckerberg – $17.9 billion (Meta 9%);
▪️Jeff Bezos – $15.9 billion (Amazon 9%);
▪️Elon Musk - $11 billion (Tesla 5.5%);
▪️At the same time, Mexican Carlos Slim became richer by 4% ($3.3 billion), because Mexico was excluded from the US tariff list.

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

The EU is preparing a billion-dollar fine against Elon Musk's Platform X for violating the Digital Services Act, The New York Times reports.

EU regulators are preparing to fine Elon Musk's social media site X (formerly Twitter) for violating the Digital Services Act (DSA), which is aimed at combating illegal content and disinformation.

According to the publication, X faces not only a large fine — possibly exceeding $1 billion — but also a requirement to make changes to the way the platform operates. This could be the first major precedent under the new law, and the EU intends to make an example out of X so that other companies comply.

EU authorities suspect X of failing to be transparent about its advertising, policing the spread of disinformation, and verifying users. X has also allegedly refused to provide data to independent researchers, making it difficult to analyze the spread of harmful content.

In parallel, the EU is conducting a larger investigation into X, on suspicion of turning the platform into a hotbed of illegal hatred and destructive information that undermines democracy in Europe.

The EU is also considering including revenues from Musk's other companies, such as SpaceX, in the fine calculation, which could significantly increase the size of the sanctions. According to the law, the fine could reach 6% of global revenue.

Elon Musk has responded to the allegations against his platform and said he will fight in court, calling the EU's actions political censorship. Following the publication of the materials, X said it defends freedom of speech and will not comply with demands that it believes violate this principle.

Relations between the EU and the US continue to deteriorate. Following Donald Trump's 2024 election victory, Brussels temporarily froze the investigation into X, fearing political repercussions. However, given Trump's new trade tariffs, European authorities have decided to renew the pressure, the NYT sums up.

*Social network X is banned in Russia .

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel