NATO Troops In Ukraine Can’t be Ruled Out – Macron
French President Emmanuel Macron has argued that deployments of troops to Ukraine by NATO members and other allies cannot be ruled out because Western powers must stop at nothing to ensure that Russia does not defeat Kiev’s forces.
“There’s no consensus today to send, in an official manner, troops on the ground,” Macron told reporters after hosting a meeting of European leaders on Monday in Paris. “But in terms of dynamics, we cannot exclude anything. We will do everything necessary to prevent Russia from winning this war.”
France hosted Monday’s summit of Ukraine backers to demonstrate steadfast support and European unity amid concerns that US aid to Kiev may stop, especially if Donald Trump wins this year’s presidential election. Macron said that while Ukraine’s European allies want to avoid escalating the conflict into a direct war with Russia, they agree that they must do more to ensure that Moscow doesn’t win.
“We have to take stock of the situation and realize our collective security is at stake,” the French leader said. “We have to ratchet up. Russia must not win, not only for Ukraine, but secondly, we are, by doing so, ensuring our collective security for today and for the future.”
Macron noted that the allies who say “never, ever” today about direct troop deployments to Ukraine are the same ones that previously ruled out escalations of military aid that were later granted, including long-range missiles and fighter jets. “Two years ago, a lot around this table said that we will offer helmets and sleeping bags, and now they’re saying we need to do more to get missiles and tanks to Ukraine. We have to be humble and realize that we’ve always been six to eight months late, so we’ll do what is needed to achieve our aim.”
There is broad consensus among the nations represented at Monday’s meeting that the allies must provide more aid to Ukraine and step up more quickly, Macron claimed. “We are not at war with the Russian people, but we cannot let them win in Ukraine,” he said, adding, “We are determined to do everything necessary for as long as necessary. That is the key takeaway from this evening.”
Washington ran out of money for Ukraine last month, after burning through $113 billion in congressionally approved aid packages. US President Joe Biden is seeking an additional $60 billion in Ukraine funding as part of an emergency spending bill that also includes aid for Israel and Taiwan. Conservative Republican lawmakers have balked at approving more aid for Ukraine, saying Biden is merely prolonging the conflict without changing its outcome. Trump has claimed he will end the crisis within 24 hours by forcing Ukrainian and Russian leaders to the negotiating table.
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Bill Gates Praises India’s Sweeping Digital ID System as a Model for Other Nations
India’s digital ID system may have its critics among those opposed to digitization of people’s identities, but it has received praise from Bill Gates as one of the country’s innovations that are “changing the world.”
Gates, as well as EU and UN officials, refers to such systems as digital public infrastructure (DPI) – a buzzword for introduction of digital ID and payments by 2030.
Gates announced on his blog that he is visiting India, and made sure to note that the Gates Foundation is involved in what he calls “efforts that are saving millions of lives.”
This is a reference to India’s production of another of Gates’ “passions” – vaccines. As for DPI, Gates expressed his “admiration” for the country’s massive biometric identity DPI component, Aadhaar, and the fact that over 12 billion transactions are processed by it.
And, the Microsoft founder has another “passion” – agriculture. He made sure to note that he would be visiting a monitoring center where agriculture meets Aadhaar. More whopping numbers: the government uses the center in Odisha that has a registry of 7.5 million farmers to give them “real-time guidance,” Gates said.
It sounds like a surveillance state dream, at least as far as the “right” infrastructure is concerned: “Officials can keep track of who is growing what,” Gates continued, but he says this is done for the sake of providing those farmers with “advice.”
It has almost become a rule that projects like DPI effectively get tested in developing countries, orchestrated by globalist financial institutions like the World Bank.
Gates mentions that the developments around the implementation of DPI in Odisha are monitored by the World Bank, as well as Ethiopia and Sri Lanka, ostensibly in order for the example to be replicated there.
Last fall, the United National Development Program (UNDP) unveiled a campaign called “50-in-5” that aims to “help” 50 countries “design, launch, and scale components of their digital public infrastructure.”
This effort is one of those where the Gates Foundation shows up as a partner, while the program is supposed to promote “safe, inclusive and interoperable DPI” introduction in those countries.
When the campaign was announced, India was mentioned as a “success story” in the world of DPIs, while Africa was singled out as a particular target for “greater development of DPI.”
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Iran Has Enough Near-Weapons Grade Uranium For Almost 3 Nuclear Weapons: IAEA
At a moment the Middle East region stands at the precipice of spiraling toward a major regional war in relation to Gaza conflict spillover, the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has issued a fresh warning of ‘concern’ over Iran’s nuclear program.
IAEA head Rafael Grossi said Monday that “public statements made in Iran regarding its technical capabilities to produce nuclear weapons” have only served to increase “concerns about the correctness and completeness of Iran’s safeguards declarations.”
Grossi urged Tehran to “cooperate fully and unambiguously with the UN nuclear watchdog” after in recent years it has deactivated its nuclear program surveillance devices as well as barred inspectors while arguing that the US unilaterally collapsed the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal.
But the perhaps most significant revelation from the IAEA contained in a new detailed report it issued is that Iran’s estimated stockpile of enriched uranium is currently at 27 times the limits imposed by the 2015 JCPOA (which again is no longer functioning as an active agreement).
The AFP reports further of the findings:
According to a confidential International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report seen by AFP, Iran’s total enriched uranium stockpile was estimated at 5,525.5 kilogrammes as of February 10, up by 1,038.7 kilogrammes from the last quarterly report in November.
Without doubt, Tel Aviv will be paying close attention, given also Israel is increasingly coming into a fuller proxy war with Iran in the region, and given the daily exchanges of fire with Tehran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the weekly Israeli attacks on Damascus and Syrian territory.
But there’s an important caveat to the fresh reporting. While Iran’s enriched uranium is at this significantly higher level compared to 2015, the IAEA says the last several months have actually seen a reduction of its overall stockpile:
Iran reduced its stockpile of near weapons-grade nuclear material over the past 3½ months, the United Nations’ atomic watchdog said Monday, a surprise step likely to be welcomed by Western countries who have been alarmed by Iran’s buildup of highly enriched nuclear fuel.
Iran still has enough near-weapons grade material to fuel almost three nuclear weapons, underlining its status as a threshold nuclear-weapon state. However, by diluting some of its 60% enriched uranium in recent weeks to lower-grade material, its stockpile fell for the first time since it started producing the 60% nuclear fuel in 2021.
This could be Iran’s way of signaling that it wishes to avoid escalating tensions with Israel, also at a time the Shia Houthis continue blocking Red Sea commercial transit, especially to Israeli and US ships.
The Wall Street Journal concludes that “The reduction in 60% enriched uranium will offer some respite to the U.S. and its European partners who have grown increasingly concerned about the expansion of Iran’s nuclear program.”
The Islamic Republic’s leadership, particularly the Ayatollah, has officially denied and rejected that its seeking a nuclear bomb, issuing fatwas saying it is ‘unIslamic’. However the past years have seen a dramatic ramping up of uranium enrichment which definitely points to keeping the potential achievement of a nuclear weapon as an ‘option’.
Meanwhile, in new alarming statements Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said Israel’s air force lacks the necessary resources to completely stop Iran’s nuclear program even if the military devoted everything to it.
Olmert said in an interview with The National that “We can destroy their headquarters, important projects, railways, roads, and airports .. Israel can do a lot to damage Iran’s infrastructure, but Israel has no means to be able to destroy the nuclear program of Iran.” Of course, this would involve an all-out attack by Israel on Iran, but as yet there is no evidence that Tehran is currently seeking to attack Israeli directly.
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Ukraine’s Top Spy Chief Says Navalny Died From Blood Clot, Rejects ‘Murder’ Narrative
In a very unexpected plot twist, Ukraine appears to be in agreement with the Kremlin on Alexei Navalny’s death inside a far northern Russian prison which occurred on Feb. 16 and was listed by Russian authorities as officially due to “natural causes”. The dominant Western narrative has thus far been that Putin had him “murdered”.
Yet now Kiev sources are saying that the anti-Putin activist supported by the West died of a blood clot. Surprisingly, this explanation is being advanced among Ukraine media sources after none other than Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR), bluntly stated it to a group of journalists on Sunday. “I may disappoint you, but as far as we know, he indeed died as a result of a blood clot. And this has been more or less confirmed,” Budanov stated.
“This wasn’t sourced from the internet, but, unfortunately, natural [causes],” he added in the remarks which were also caught on video. The spy chief’s words were also picked up in The Daily Mail, though predictably US mainstream outlets have been slow to acknowledge the assessment.
Further, the NATO-friendly pundit Anton Gerashchenko, who also served as former Ukrainian Advisor to Internal Affairs Minister, has said the following:
Vladimir Osechkin, founder of Gulagu. Net, says that, according to his sources, Navalny was killed (finished off with a blow to the chest) after being tortured with frost.
Head of Ukrainian military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov said that according to his sources, “it was a blood clot.”
Over the weekend Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, said her son’s body was finally released to the family. She has said Russian officials are seeking to pressure the family into doing a ‘secret funeral’ so as not to attract public demonstrations. “We do not know if the authorities will interfere to carry it out as the family wants and as Alexey deserves,” she said previously.
Navalny’s wife has laid ultimate blame on Putin for his death, while President Biden too and other Western leaders have said “Putin is responsible.”
“What has happened to Navalny is yet more proof of Putin’s brutality,” Biden had said immediately after Navalny’s death was announced by Russian prison services. Some European leaders quickly branded Putin’s government a “rogue regime” as a result, urging that Moscow “must be held accountable”. The whole situation seems akin to the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage, where there was a rush to blame Moscow, but allegation which were later quieted and walked back.
Meanwhile, Russia hawks in the US are urging the administration to go beyond last Friday’s large round of new anti-Moscow sanctions…
Lindsay Graham: “Let’s make Russia a state sponsor of terrorism under U.S. law. Let’s make them pay for Navalny’s death…”
— Ben Swann (@BenSwann_) February 21, 2024
“President Biden told Putin, if something happens to Navalny, you’re going to pay a price.
President Biden: I agree with you. The price they should pay… pic.twitter.com/FXFBey68UH
Another stunning development and further plot twist has emerged via Bloomberg reporting on Monday. Navalny was supposedly very close to being released amid secret talks involving the US and Germany:
Alexey Navalny had been close to release in a prisoner exchange with the US and Germany shortly before his death in an Arctic prison, a top aide to the Russian opposition leader said.
“Navalny was supposed to be freed in the coming days,” Maria Pevchikh said in a video statement posted Monday. Russian President Vladimir Putin was offered an assassin imprisoned in Germany in exchange for Navalny and two US citizens, she said.
Moscow has long been seeking to gain the freedom of Vadim Krasikov, who is currently serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 assassination of a former Chechen rebel in a Berlin park. Krasikov is widely believed to be part of Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB. Washington had reportedly previously rebuffed any prisoner swap deal involving Krasikov (related to talks in the context of the Brittney Griner and Viktor Bout swap).
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, ex-Marine Paul Whelan, and schoolteacher Marc Fogel are all still in Russian custody. Two Americans were supposed to be part of this alleged impending Navalny swap. According to more from Bloomberg, citing a Navalny family spokesperson:
Pevchikh didn’t name the two Americans involved in the deal. “Putin was clearly told that the only way to get Krasikov is to exchange him for Navalny,” said Pevchikh. Instead, he decided to “get rid of the bargaining chip” and “offer someone else when the time comes.”
Meanwhile, news of Navalny’s funeral arrangements will likely emerge in the coming days. His family has hinted at their desire to see it happen in Moscow, which could spark anti-Kremlin protests.
As for the aforementioned blood clot narrative offered by Ukraine’s military intelligence chief and possible context helping to explain why such a top level Kiev official would essentially “side” with the Kremlin on this, what’s missed in the West is the fact that Navalny had always been a fairly hardline nationalist. From a Ukrainian perspective, he wasn’t necessarily seen as an “ally” per se, even though he was anti-Putin. For more crucial context, see the below brief segment discussing Navalny’s checkered past…
Surprising observations by @Alexey__Kovalev on PodSave w/ @TVietor08 @brhodes
— Erik Sperling ? (@ErikSperling) January 29, 2021
He says Navalny is actually to the right of Putin on key issues, and is anti-immigrant like Trump
Looked into it more and found a horrific skit by Navalny doing a mock execution of a Muslim immigrant pic.twitter.com/fr5gogPmXn
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Netherlands Pledges Over $100M to Provide Ukraine With Artillery Shells
The Netherlands will allocate more than 100 million euros ($108.5 million) to the Czech initiative to purchase artillery shells for Ukraine, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Tuesday.
“It is essential, first and foremost, that we deliver what we’ve promised. And look at what else we can do. That is why the Netherlands is contributing more than 100 million euros to the Czech initiative to quickly deliver hundreds of thousands of artillery shells to Ukraine,” Rutte said on X.
He also recalled that the Netherlands is negotiating with Ukraine a security agreement “to continue to support the country for at least the next 10 years.”
Earlier in the month, Czech President Petr Pavel told the Munich Security Conference that Prague had identified an unnamed country outside the bloc with 500,000 155mm rounds and another 300,000 122mm rounds that could be delivered to Ukraine within weeks if quick funding was provided.
In December, Rutte said that he had informed Volodymyr Zelensky about the government’s decision to prepare the first 18 F-16 fighters for delivery to Ukraine. The delivery of the first fighters was expected in 2024, The Hague said. In February, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said that the Netherlands was preparing to send six more F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.
Western countries, including member states of the European Union, have been providing military and financial aid to Kiev since the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. The Kremlin has consistently warned against continued arms deliveries to Kiev, saying it would lead to further escalation of the conflict.
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Democrat Party Publicist Announces Plan To Decertify Trump If He Is Reelected
Alex Jones breaks the latest on the Deep State’s campaign to keep Trump out of the Oval Office:
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