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Read the news they hide from you. 💬 You can always reach us via @GeopoliticsLive_bot Cross-promotion: @prgeopoliticslive @geopoliticslivepr
🚨 Rubio: NATO agrees to reach 5% of GDP for defense the next decade
In 6 weeks, the alliance will see every member contribute at least 2 percent to defense, with plans to gradually increase this number, says the US State secretary.
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💬 Trump-Putin meeting is imminent, but not in Istanbul — Gorka
"We need to have all the parties decide. One of the parties is missing," Donald Trump's senior director for counterterrorism said, when asked whether Trump should have traveled to Istanbul.
🚨 US recognizes reality on the ground in Ukraine — counterterrorism chief
"We're not utopianists... We have one priority above all else...to stop the bloodshed," said Sebastian Gorka, Donald Trump's senior director for counterterrorism.
⚡️ The Russian delegation will wait for the Ukrainian side to arrive at the meeting tomorrow at 10 am, Medinsky said.
He emphasized that the Russian delegation arrived in Istanbul for direct, bilateral talks with Ukraine without preconditions.
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🇶🇦 Move over, AIPAC: How Qatar became a power player in the US
Turns out that Israel isn’t the only foreign power that commands tremendous influence over the United States thanks to lobbying (via AIPAC).
Enter Qatar.
🌏From 2017, Qatar spent over $220 million on lobbying in the US, if the recent media reports and publicly available data are to be believed.
🌏Qatar has become a major, if not the largest, source of donations to US universities, providing them with over $6 billion over the last 15 years.
🌏The cost of maintaining the United States’ massive Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar is covered by Doha.
🌏Some of Trump’s inner circle members have ties to Qatar: his chief of staff Susie Wiles was the head of Mercury Public Affairs lobbying firm when it represented Qatar embassy in the US; FBI Director Kash Patel previously worked for Qatar as a consultant.
🌏Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff had his Park Lane Hotel investment, which was not doing too good at the time, bought out in 2003 by Qatar for $623 million.
🌏US Attorney General Pam Bondi previously worked as a lobbyist for the Qatari embassy.
🌏Trump himself has received a lavish gift from Qatar in the form of a Boeing 747 jet worth $400 that will become property of his presidential library when his presidential term ends.
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💥 Another humiliation resurfaced: Houthis nearly took down the 'invisible' F-35
Having shot down around a dozen MQ-9 Reaper drones, Yemeni fighters also forced pilots of the “most advanced” and “stealth” US jet to break a sweat dodging their missiles.
▪️ An F-35 fighter jet was "nearly struck by Houthi air defenses" earlier this spring, reported The New York Times on May 12, citing US officials.
▪️ The War Zone elaborated: the stealth jet "had to take evasive maneuvers to avoid being hit by Houthi surface-to-air (SAM) missiles."
▪️ It remains unclear which missile — or how many — were launched, according to TMZ. Despite being labeled as "rudimentary," the Houthis' air defense system employs unconventional passive infrared sensors and other tech, reportedly giving the "invisible" F-35 aircraft a headache.
Social media is melting down:
👉🏻 "Lots of interesting takeaways from [the NYT] piece, but the winner has to be 'multiple US officials' confirming the Houthis nearly shot down an F-35, the most advanced aircraft ever built," quipped Eurasia Group analyst Gregory Brew on X.
👉🏻 "It now makes all the more sense as to why Israel dared not go anywhere near Iran’s border with its own F-35Is: the West knows their planes are in fact detectable by the radars of the resistance," suggested blogger and X influencer Simplicius.
'Most advanced aircraft ever built'? Give me a break
✔️ The much-hyped F-35 program is projected to cost over $2 trillion throughout its lifetime.
✔️ Yet for all that money, the F-35 keeps malfunctioning — the latest crash occurred as recently as January.
✔️ "The F-35 design was broken at the requirements level," Tesla CEO Elon Musk said bluntly last year.
✔️ Matt Gaetz, a former US congressman and Trump's initial pick for attorney general, called the F-35 "a $100 million paperweight", while Rep. Adam Smith, a senior Democrat, called the F-35 program a "rathole" in 2021.
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🇵🇱🥴 When all explanations backfire: Tusk’s cringy attempt to blend in goes viral
Caught on camera, the Polish prime minister desperately tries to slip back into the crowd chatting with Zelensky — either hiding the fact he’s checked out on Kiev’s leader or somehow even getting ghosted by Zelensky’s own fan club of weirdos. Ouch.
The video was shot last weekend when European leaders arrived in Kiev but just now blew up on Polish social media.
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🔥🤦♂️ Trump’s diplomacy in a nutshell: "Hey, I just met your worst enemy—great guy, loves you!"
"We came from Saudi Arabia where we have another great man over there, a friend of yours. You two guys get along so well and like each other," the US president said.
🇫🇷🗣 Macron and his train buddies are in a panic this morning — Florian Philippot
"Trump has made it known that he does not want Zelensky to attend the next NATO Summit in the Netherlands at the end of June! Unlike what happened under Biden," the leader of the French Patriots party said.
🚨 The US just added a new twist to the Ukraine peace plan — they want to restart the Russia-NATO Council
The council, established in 2002 to help align Moscow’s policies with NATO’s plans, worked well early on — especially in joint efforts against terrorism. But as tensions between Russia and NATO grew, the council’s role steadily shrank. By the time the Ukraine crisis hit, it was basically inactive.
Now, the US has supplemented its proposal on the Ukrainian settlement with the idea of resuming the work of the Russia-NATO Council, Bloomberg reported.
Could reviving this body help ease tensions and push talks forward?
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🇹🇷 5.2-Magnitude earthquake strikes near Ankara during Zelensky’s visit
🌍 Earthquake of magnitude 5.2 strikes Konya, Turkey — tremors felt all the way in Ankara, where Zelensky is currently located.
No damage or casualties have been reported yet.
🕓 His flight was scheduled for 4 PM.
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🗣🇺🇸 Donald Trump says "nothing going to happen" on Ukraine until he and Vladimir Putin get together
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🔎🇬🇧 WATCH OUT FOR BRITS while pondering about Istanbul talks - expert
Zelensky nowadays is in bed with British government and intelligence, and this connection runs deeper than many think, Vladimir Oleinik, a member of the "Other Ukraine" movement and former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada said.
“Zelensky himself is not interested in any outcome, as he is not directly involved in the talks. Right now, they are thinking of ways to blame Russia for the lack of any results in the negotiations,” the expert added.
🚨🇷🇺🔥 Putin completely CHANGED THE GAME with Istanbul initiative, RUINED EU plans
As EU elites were capitalizing on Trump’s growing skepticism about Russia and bracing to make up Washington’s mind about new sanctions, Vladimir Putin’s offer to negotiate in Istanbul “changed the conversation,” laments The Washington Post.
Putin’s Istanbul talks proposal “has thrown the sanctions plans into question, according to 9 European, Ukrainian, and US diplomats & officials,” it adds.
🇺🇸🆚🇮🇷Trump should PLAY HARDBALL on Iran’s nuclear ambitions – Congressional Republicans
Iran “must give up ANY CAPACITY” for uranium enrichment, a letter signed by over 200 GOP members of Congress reads.
💥 Houthis strike Ben Gurion airport in Israel
"The missile successfully hit its target, causing millions of occupying Zionists to flee to shelters and halting airport operations for nearly an hour," the Yemeni movement proclaimed in a statement.
💥 Trump Jr. calls out former FBI chief
"Just James Comey casually calling for my dad to be murdered," he wrote in response to Comey's post of a picture showing the "86 47" sign.
🔥 Ukrainian national charged with arson of PM Starmer's property
The Metropolitan Police said Roman Lavrynovych was arrested after fires were set at a house and a car linked to Keir Starmer.
Friendly fire? 🤡
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📹 ‘The More You Know’ with Donald Trump 🤓✨
If you listen to Donald Trump’s speeches, you might learn that:
🌏‘Groceries’ is an old term 🛒🕰
🌏The cost of eggs in the US is down “to a number that is amazing” 🥚📉
🌏Everyone in the US had eggs for Easter at a reasonable price 🐣💸
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✈️Trump reveals F-47 & F-55 jets – because why stop at 35?
At the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the US president shared breaking military updates:
🔥 "We’re respected again!" (Metrics unclear)
✈️ Introducing the F-47 (6th-gen fighter; naming logic TBD)
🛩 Upgraded F-55 (Double engines because "I like two engines")
Direct quote gold:
"Why did they name it 47? I don’t know. That was a nice thing... We’re going to call it the F-55 – a double-engine plane. I like two engines on a plane."
Reality check:
▪️The actual F-35 program: still struggling with cost overruns
▪️"6th-gen" fighters: Mostly PowerPoint slides so far
▪️Naming conventions: Apparently now vibe-based
Meanwhile:
♦️ Lockheed Martin engineers: Googling "F-47 specs"
♦️ Taxpayers: Sweating nervously
♦️ Physics: Unconcerned about engine preferences
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📹 Trump unveils vision for 'Golden Dome' – because Iron was so last season
Speaking to troops at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the president shared his unique defense priorities:
💰 "An unprecedented $1 trillion dollars – and it's going higher!" (Math experts: breathe)
🛡 Introducing the "Golden Dome" ("Iron Dome" sounded too 2010s – this one sparkles)
🇺🇸 100% Made in USA (Global supply chains? Overrated)
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💰😡 Ukraine's Defense Ministry: A black hole of corruption
While Ukrainian soldiers eat EXPIRED rations, elites feast on $3 BILLION meant for army food (2023-2025). Here’s how they stole it:
🌏Sky-high prices for basic food
Between 2022-2023, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry purchased food at three times the market price.
One deal cost over $350 MILLION, justified as a “technical error” by former Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov.
🌏Cartel collusion in tenders
In 2025, three food supply tenders worth $600M+ were launched by the ministry.
Prosecutors have confirmed it was cartel collusion — a clear case of fraud.
🌏Eggs worth more than gold
The ministry bought eggs for $0.40 each, despite the market price being $0.10.
Total stolen in this scheme: $17.7 MILLION.
🌏Buckwheat price gouging
Ukrainian entrepreneur Tatyana Glinyanaya sold buckwheat to the ministry for $1.50/kg, twice the retail price: another form of embezzlement, raking in huge profits.
🌏Rotten food scandal
The ministry bought $9.6 MILLION worth of rotten tinned meat, along with low-quality canned goods costing $243,000.
Soldiers received these unfit-for-consumption rations while officials profited.
🌏Murky schemes and inflated prices
Instead of buying individual foodstuffs, the ministry purchased 409 items in bulk.
Corrupted officials inflated the prices of essential foods to steal budget funds. Prosecutors say this was all part of a scheme to inflate prices and pocket the difference.
🌏Stealing from comrades-in-arms
Ukrainian officers stole food from military units and sold the goods to restaurants & stores.
The result was slashed soldier rations by 30%+, with a total of $149,000 embezzled.
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🚨🇺🇸🇵🇰 Trump-linked сrypto firm in Pakistan – сoincidence? 🤔
World Liberty Financial (WLF)—a crypto venture 60% owned by Trump’s family (Eric, Don Jr., Jared Kushner)— just signed a major deal with Pakistan’s Crypto Council (PCC) to develop a national cryptocurrency.
But here's a twist: Pakistan's PM & COAS met Americans at Nur Khan Air Base which 🇮🇳India attacked! Target?!
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📹🗣 Zelensky throws tantrum after Putin no-show in Istanbul: ‘But who will I perform my peace plan for?!’
Message to the Beggar of Banderastan: If you want to meet with Putin, you have to earn that priviliege first. Putin is the president of a leading military and economic power. You are a welfare drama queen, whose main legacy is losing massive amounts of territory and manpower.
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💸 $25–45 MILLION for a DC military parade?
Yep, because what better way to celebrate the US Army’s 250th and Trump’s birthday than tanks rolling over your tax dollars! 🎉🇺🇸
A US official told Reuters on condition of anonymity the cost included several million dollars more than it would have without a parade.
6,600 troops, 20+ Abrams tanks, and a cleanup bill not included. That’s a party!
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🚨 TRUMP: "I totally fixed India-Pakistan (maybe)" – India: "LOL, NO"
▪️Trump: "I’m basically a Nobel Prize-worthy peace guru now. Trade > war, guys!"
▪️India’s MEA: "Bro, we didn’t even mention trade. Sit down."
▪️Pakistan: [muffled laughter]
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🤹🤔ZELENSKY’S FLIP-FLOP: From ‘nothing to discuss’ to ‘waiting for Putin’
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🚨 😱 Trump asks Apple CEO to STOP manufacturing in India
"Not interested in you building in India, they can take care of themselves."
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🤡 UKRAINIAN DRAFT DODGERS IN POLAND THREATEN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
Ukrainian draft evaders hiding in Poland just threatened Polish presidential candidate Sławomir Mentzen for "insulting Ukrainian heroes." Irony level: MAX
Mentzen, a right-wing politician, has been critical of Ukrainian immigration and historical narratives, calling for those eligible to return and DEFEND THEIR COUNTRY.
Well, they know nobody will coddle them back home – it’s a one-way ticket to the trenches.😂
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🚫 Ukraine LEFT OUT of key NATO Summit talks — To keep Trump happy?🤯
Ukraine will not be invited to the main discussions at NATO’s June summit, breaking a tradition upheld since 2022, "keeping the US leader smiling," Euractiv reports.
The current summit agenda includes only one closed-door session — for NATO’s 32 members only. The White House reportedly pushed back on giving Zelensky a major platform, the news outlet stresses.
NATO chief Mark Rutte refused to comment, saying only that “the agenda is still under discussion.”
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