The IAEA and OPCW – How International Organisations Became Tools of War
21st Century Wire | July 2, 2025
Dr. Piers Robinson is a political scientist, a former professor at the University of Sheffield, as well a research director at the International Center for 9/11 Justice, whose recent article on Substack is titled, “The IAEA and OPCW: Watchdogs for Peace or Propagandists for War?” looks at the IAEA’s questionable operations in Iran, and the similarities to the abused OPCW in Syria, and in general the role of “lying through institutions”, and plying war-propaganda through third-party institutions.
Recent events in Iran have all but exposed how these supposed ‘watchdog’ institutions have been coopted and used by US and British intelligence in order to fabricate another case for war.
Pascal Lottaz, host of Neutrality Studies, talks with the co-director for the Organisation for Propaganda Studies, Dr Piers Robinson, about this, as well as the broader geopolitical implications at play here. Watch:
BRICS leaders demand ceasefire in Gaza, condemn strikes on Iran
Al Mayadeen | July 6, 2025
Leaders of the BRICS bloc, comprising 11 emerging economies, issued a strong and unified call on Sunday for an immediate, permanent, and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, as the war enters its 22nd month.
In the final declaration of their summit held in Rio de Janeiro, BRICS leaders urged all parties to engage in good-faith negotiations to halt the war on Gaza and demanded a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Strip and all other parts of the occupied Palestinian territories.
“We exhort the parties to engage in good faith in further negotiations to achieve an immediate, permanent and unconditional ceasefire,” the 11-nation bloc said in a final summit statement.
The statement comes as indirect truce negotiations between the Israeli occupation and Hamas resumed in Doha, with international pressure mounting for a resolution to the war.
BRICS condemns strikes on Iran
The summit also addressed the recent escalation between Iran and “Israel”, during which the latter launched an unprovoked 12-day war on the Islamic Republic, culminating in US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June.
“We condemn the military strikes against the Islamic Republic of Iran since June 13, 2025,” the statement read, without directly naming the United States or “Israel”.
It added, “We express serious concern over deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure and peaceful nuclear facilities, which constitute a violation of international law.”
BRICS demands Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon
Moreover, the statement called for a ceasefire in Lebanon and for all “parties to strictly adhere to its terms and fully implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701,” adding, “We condemn the ongoing violations of the ceasefire, as well as the violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“We urge Israel to respect the terms agreed upon with the Lebanese government and to withdraw its occupying forces from all Lebanese territory, including the five remaining sites in southern Lebanon.”
BRICS demands Israeli withdrawal from Syria
Regarding Syria, the BRICS leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the country, calling on “Israel” to withdraw troops from Syrian territory without delay, according to the statement.
“We reaffirm our commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Syria and call for a peaceful and inclusive Syrian-led and Syrian-owned, UN-facilitated political process, based on the principles of Security Council Resolution 2254 (2015), in a manner that ensures the security and well-being of the civilian population, without discrimination,” it read.
The statement further condemned the threat posed by foreign terrorists in Syria and the risk of the spread of terrorists from Syria to regional countries.
“Syria should firmly oppose all forms of terrorism and extremism and take concrete actions to respond to concerns of the international community about terrorism,” it added.
The BRICS leaders welcomed the lifting of sanctions on Syria and expressed their hope that the country’s economy will be rebuilt.
It is worth noting that the next BRICS summit will be held in India in 2026, a final declaration of the Rio De Janeiro summit said.
BRICS encourages diplomatic efforts on Ukraine
On the Ukrainian issue, the leaders expressed hope that ongoing diplomatic efforts, including the African Peace Initiative and the Group of Friends for Peace, would lead to a sustainable resolution, advocating for dialogue and diplomacy to this end.
“We recall our national positions concerning the conflict in Ukraine as expressed in the appropriate fora, including the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly. We note with appreciation relevant proposals of mediation and good offices, including the creation of the African Peace Initiative and the Group of Friends for Peace, aimed at peaceful resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy. We expect that current efforts will lead to a sustainable peace settlement,” the statement read.
Criticism of Trump’s trade policies
In addition to Middle East affairs, the summit took aim at US economic policy. BRICS leaders expressed “serious concerns” over US President Donald Trump’s recent wave of unilateral tariffs, calling them “indiscriminate” and damaging to global trade.
“We voice serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures which distort trade and are inconsistent with WTO rules,” the statement said.
The bloc warned that these actions could “disrupt global supply chains” and increase economic uncertainty, particularly as Trump has threatened new tariffs on trading partners unless “deals” are reached by August 1.
Lula urges BRICS action on Gaza
In his opening remarks at the summit, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva drew a parallel with the Cold War’s Non-Aligned Movement, a group of developing nations that resisted formally joining either side of a polarized global order.
“BRICS is the heir to the Non-Aligned Movement,” Lula told leaders. “With multilateralism under attack, our autonomy is in check once again.”
BRICS nations now represent more than half the world’s population and 40% of its economic output, Lula noted in remarks on Saturday to business leaders, warning of rising protectionism.
“If international governance does not reflect the new multipolar reality of the 21st century, it is up to BRICS to help bring it up to date,” Lula added in his opening remarks.
Furthermore, he defended the integrity of Iran’s borders, following the Israeli war and the US bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities, highlighting the failure of US-led wars in the Middle East.
“We cannot remain indifferent to the genocide carried out by Israel in Gaza, the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians and the use of hunger as a weapon of war,” Lula told fellow BRICS leaders, including those from China, India, and other key emerging economies.
The renewed BRICS stance comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to meet with Trump at the White House on Monday. Trump has been pushing for an end to the war and expressed hope for a ceasefire agreement in the coming week.
Putin calls era of liberal globalization ‘obsolete’
In his video statement, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed the formation of a new BRICS investment platform to be developed through the New Development Bank.
“This is a matter of jointly developing harmonized tools to support and raise funds for the economies of our countries and those of the global South and East,” Putin stated, underlining the growing use of national currencies in intra-BRICS trade and calling for further expansion of this practice to reduce dependence on external systems.
Growing global influence
Putin noted that BRICS’ global authority and influence continue to grow each year, surpassing the G7 in terms of purchasing power parity.
“The authority and influence of our association in the world are growing from year to year. BRICS has rightfully established itself among the key centers of global governance,” he said.
He added that BRICS has many like-minded partners in the Global South and East and that the shift away from a unipolar world order is accelerating.
Speaking via video link to the summit in Rio de Janeiro, Putin told BRICS leaders that the era of liberal globalization was obsolete and that the future belonged to swiftly growing emerging markets, which should enhance the use of their national currencies for trade.
“Everything indicates that the model of liberal globalization is becoming obsolete,” Putin said, adding, “The center of business activity is shifting toward the emerging markets.”
Putin also called on the BRICS countries to step up cooperation in a range of spheres, including natural resources, logistics, trade, and finance.
Araghchi mourns Iranians killed by ‘Israel’ in BRICS speech
At the BRICS summit, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi delivered a moving speech where he mourned the Iranians killed by the recent Israeli aggression on Iran.
Araghchi expressed gratitude to fellow BRICS members who recognized the seriousness of recent escalations and condemned the aggression, detailing the destruction of residential areas, military sites, and civilian infrastructure.
The attacks, he said, resulted in the deaths of off-duty soldiers, scientists, university professors, and civilians, including women and children.
Particularly alarming, he noted, was the targeting of Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities, which are under strict International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) oversight. The foreign minister accused the US of direct involvement in the strikes, reinforcing its complicity in what he called “Israel’s” broader campaign of occupation, apartheid, and regional destabilization.
He warned that these attacks not only inflicted human and infrastructural damage but also delivered a “lethal blow” to diplomacy and the international rule of law, occurring just days before a scheduled round of nuclear talks between Iran and the United States.
Calling for international accountability, the top Iranian diplomat urged BRICS leaders to recognize the dangerous precedent set by what he described as unprovoked, lawless aggression by two nuclear-armed states.
Details of Qatari negotiations framework for Gaza ceasefire revealed
Al Mayadeen | July 6, 2025
Qatari mediators put forward a negotiation framework to secure a lasting ceasefire deal between the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza and the Israeli occupation.
The Qatari proposal outlined the ceasefire’s terms and phases of implementation, though officials clarified that the published document was unofficial.
The proposed agreement calls for a 60-day ceasefire that would temporarily halt all military operations by both sides and includes a guarantee from US President Donald Trump that “Israel” will adhere to the truce throughout the agreed-upon period.
A complete halt to Israeli offensive operations in Gaza
The Qatari proposal states that all Israeli offensive military operations in Gaza will cease when the agreement takes effect, with the occupation’s aerial activities (both military and reconnaissance) halting daily for 10 to 12 hours during prisoner exchange days.
Additionally, the proposed terms outline “Israel’s” military redeployment in Gaza, specifying that on Day 1 after releasing 8 living Israeli captives, occupation forces will withdraw from northern areas and the Netzarim corridor to positions defined in previous agreement maps, with minor mutually agreed adjustments to be finalized later.
On day seven, following the release of 5 Israeli bodies, the occupation forces will redeploy in southern areas to positions previously agreed upon in the same past agreement maps, with minor adjustments to be finalized later.
Phased captive exchange
The proposed deal includes a prisoner exchange provision under which 10 living Israeli captives and 18 bodies from the previously agreed list of 58 would be released according to a phased schedule, with releases taking place on days 1, 7, 30, 50, and 60 following the ceasefire’s implementation.
The agreement outlines a specific release schedule, with 8 living Israeli captives to be released on the first day, 5 bodies to be returned on day 7, another 5 bodies on day 30, 2 living prisoners on day 50, and finally 8 bodies to be released on day 60 of the ceasefire period.
The proposal stipulates that “Israel” will simultaneously release Palestinian prisoners through a prearranged mechanism in exchange for both living Israeli captives and remains, with the process conducted discreetly without public displays or ceremonial events.
Ten days after the ceasefire takes effect, Hamas will provide complete documentation, including proof of life, medical reports, or death certificates, for all remaining Israeli captives. In return, “Israel” will provide complete records of Palestinians detained in Gaza since October 7, 2023, along with the number of deceased Gazans held in Israeli custody.
The Qatari proposal notes that Hamas is committed to ensuring the health, safety, and security of the captives throughout the ceasefire period.
A framework for negotiation
Moreover, Qatar supports continuing negotiations to establish the necessary arrangements for reaching a permanent ceasefire within 60 days while stipulating that upon reaching such an agreement, all remaining Israeli captives (both living and deceased) from “Israel’s” list of 58 individuals would be released. The proposal states that the temporary ceasefire may be extended if permanent ceasefire terms aren’t finalized in the given period.
The proposal affirms that negotiations mediated and guaranteed by international parties will begin on the first day to work out terms for a permanent ceasefire.
The negotiations will cover several key areas, including the terms for releasing all remaining Israeli captives in exchange for an agreed number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, the issues surrounding Israeli troop redeployment and withdrawal, along long-term security arrangements in Gaza. Additionally, the talks will cover post-war governance and reconstruction plans for Gaza that either party may propose, and announce a permanent ceasefire.
Support and guarantees
The document points out that Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is “serious about both parties’ commitment to the ceasefire agreement, and insists that the negotiations during the temporary ceasefire period, if successfully concluded through an agreement between the two sides, should lead to a permanent resolution of the conflict.”
Mediators, the United States, Egypt, and Qatar, will ensure the ceasefire holds throughout the 60 days and will guarantee that serious discussions take place regarding arrangements for a permanent ceasefire.
The mediators will also ensure negotiations continue seriously for an extended period until both parties reach an agreement and maintain all measures outlined in this framework.
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will arrive in the region to finalize the agreement and will lead the negotiations. Meanwhile, Trump announces a ceasefire, and the document states that the United States and President Trump are committed to working toward ensuring that fair negotiations continue until a final agreement is reached.
Humanitarian aid on the agenda
Regarding humanitarian aid, the proposal stipulates that assistance will be delivered to Gaza immediately upon Hamas’ acceptance of the ceasefire agreement, specifying that the delivery mechanism will align with the provisions outlined in the January 19th agreement.
The aid package covers rebuilding water, power, and sewage systems, restoring hospitals and bakeries, providing equipment for rubble clearance, and reopening the Rafah crossing for travelers, patients, and trade.
The Qatari proposal emphasized that humanitarian aid would be distributed to Gaza’s population through the United Nations and its agencies, along with the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Over 6,000 People Killed or Injured in Iran During Conflict With Israel
Sputnik – 06.07.2025
TEHRAN – More than 6,000 people have been killed or injured in Iran as a result of the 12-day active phase of the Iran-Israel conflict, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday.
“The Israeli regime’s aggression against Iran was a clear violation of Article 2, item 4 of the UN Charter and an act of aggression. More than 6,000 innocent people have been killed or injured in these unlawful attacks, and our infrastructure, residential areas and nuclear facilities have been severely damaged,” Araghchi was quoted as saying at the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro in his social media.
On June 25, Hossein Kermanpour, a spokesman for the Iranian Health Ministry, said that a total of 627 people had been killed and 4,870 wounded as a result of Israeli attacks on the Iranian territory.
On the night of June 13, Israel launched an operation against Iran, accusing it of implementing a secret military nuclear program. Iran rejected the accusations, responding with its own attacks. The parties exchanged strikes for 12 days, which were joined by the United States, which carried out a one-time attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities on the night of June 22. The following evening, Tehran launched missile strikes on the US base Al Udeid in Qatar. US President Donald Trump said on June 23 that Israel and Iran had agreed to a ceasefire to end the “12-day war.”
Iran denies the military dimension of its nuclear program. The IAEA has not seen concrete evidence that Iran has an active nuclear weapons program, Director General Rafael Grossi said on June 18.
Nvidia expands in ‘Israel’ amid outcry over Gaza genocide
Al Mayadeen | July 6, 2025
US tech giant Nvidia has unveiled controversial plans to expand its footprint in “Israel” with the construction of a sprawling new campus spanning up to 30 acres, despite growing international outcry and BDS movement in the aftermath of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, which has so far claimed the lives of more than 56,000 Palestinians.
According to the company, the project is expected to triple its local workforce over the coming years, marking one of Nvidia’s most significant international expansions to date.
Currently employing around 5,000 people in its Israeli Research and Development Center, its largest outside the United States, Nvidia’s latest move underscores its deepening integration into the Israeli tech sector.
The company made the announcement on Sunday, issuing a Request for Information (RFI) seeking land purchase proposals for the new site. Submissions are due by July 23.
The future campus is slated to rise near Nvidia’s existing headquarters in Yokneam, located in the north of the occupied Palestinian territories, reportedly offering proximity to major transportation infrastructure and tech corridors.
$500M data center and supercomputing infrastructure
The expansion follows Nvidia’s $500 million investment announced in January to construct a 10,000-square-meter data center, which will become the largest of its kind in “Israel”. The facility, dedicated exclusively to Nvidia’s internal operations, is part of a broader strategy to scale its artificial intelligence and hardware development capacity.
Nvidia already operates Israel-1, a supercomputer designed and developed locally, which in 2024 ranked 34th on the global TOP500 list of the world’s most powerful supercomputers. While currently reserved for internal use, the system is expected to “later serve the local high-tech industry,” according to the company.
The upcoming campus will reportedly host hundreds of labs and systems, supporting a wide array of engineering teams working on AI, communication hardware and software, CPU architecture, and other advanced technologies. The expansion is also viewed as a continuation of Nvidia’s growing presence following its 2020 acquisition of Mellanox Technologies, a key turning point in solidifying its R&D presence in “Israel”.
Wider context
The Israeli military has increasingly relied on artificial intelligence (AI) systems to generate targets with minimal human intervention. While the extent of direct involvement by foreign tech companies remains unclear, it’s evident that these firms provide much of the essential infrastructure, ranging from advanced computer chips to software and cloud computing, that enables such programs to function.
Despite the use of AI in the ongoing genocide in Gaza, major US tech corporations continue to engage with “Israel” without interruption. This ongoing collaboration is far from new. For decades, Silicon Valley has supported the Israeli entity, providing both technological tools and financial investments that bolster its economy and sustain its occupation of Palestine.
Big Tech’s role in enabling the occupation and oppression of Palestinians has taken many forms. Most notably, these companies have facilitated widespread surveillance of Palestinians living under occupation.
Benjamin Netanyahu Is Coming to Town Again
Will Donald Trump surrender or will Bibi resort to a false flag?
By Philip Giraldi • Unz Review • July 4, 2025
Benjamin Netanyahu is on his way for his third visit to Washington during the first six months of the second term of President Donald Trump. Bibi requested the visit because he clearly wants something and he never likes to hear anyone tell him “No!” The American Jewish community and the state of Israel working together are already mustering their substantial resources to give the Prime Minister anything he wants, whatever that might be. If necessary, the so-called Israel Lobby, which controls many aspects of what is referred to colloquially as the United States Government, has a unique ability to lay down a serious guilt trip on anyone who tries to interfere with their prerogatives. Their ability to persuade is frequently based on repeated invocations of a semi-mythical event called the “holocaust,” which has been and will continue to be a burden on all the rest of humanity forever.
Many Jews have consequently successfully turned themselves into something like caricatures, where they are always the victims of an irrational hatred and therefore are entitled to extraordinary measures to protect themselves. Indeed, it all means that whatever happens that involves either Jews or Israel will ipso facto grant a “license to kill” in response to ensure that there will be “never again.” South African journalist Ilana Mercer describes the current process succinctly: “Israel’s ‘strategic perspective’ requires everywhere and always an enemy. This designated enemy will be tarnished by a blood libel, an abstraction: he, she or they will be said to be antisemitic, baying for Jewish blood. This blood libel ignores the truth, because when facts and reality are scrutinized, it’s Arabs that are being exterminated daily en masse, with western grants of government privilege, not Israelis. You have to hand it to Israel. It has positioned itself as the world’s cross, a curse that every individual not Jewish-Israeli is born into and must carry like an albatross.”
It is too bad that Netanyahu will be landing in Washington, where his arrival will no doubt be protected by the battalions of soldiers brought into the Capital two weeks ago to march down Constitution Avenue in their celebration of Vietnam War draft dodger Donald Trump’s birthday. If Bibi were to land in New York he just might be arrested on the warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. The Democratic candidate for New York mayor Zohran Mamdani has the Israeli Lobby and assorted Jewish identity groups hounding him relentlessly in part because he is a Muslim but also because he declared that if he is elected mayor he would arrest Netanyahu if/when he showed up in the city. The declaration had me and others cheering but we also wished that there were some mechanism for also arresting Genocide Joe Biden and Antony Blinken. Presumably Donald Trump, another genocide enabler, is untouchable except by impeachment as he is in office, which is a shame as he and his own batch of war criminals to match those around Biden richly deserve a bit of hard time.
Some journalists are speculating that while at the White House, Trump will pressure Netanyahu to agree to a new sixty day truce in Gaza, but Bibi is unlikely to have asked for the meeting if he thought he might be trapped into stopping the killing of Palestinians. I have my own theory about why Netanyahu will be in Washington and apart from the part where he has his butt kissed by Trump and four hundred bought-and-paid-for congressmen, it won’t be pretty. You see, Bibi wants to establish Israeli hegemony “from the rivers to the sea,” which means from the Euphrates, Litani and Nile rivers and all along the seafront with the Mediterranean. That will require regime change in Iran eliminating that nation as an adversary but the recent short war against the Iranians has made it clear that Israel cannot do it alone unless it goes nuclear, which would do possibly fatal damage to Tel Aviv’s ability to deal with the rest of the world and could easily mean the de facto end of the Jewish state. So he has to convince a gullible Donald Trump to do it for him and is prepared to lie effusively about the threat posed by Iran to make that happen.
Obviously, the problem confronting Netanyahu is that Iran really does not pose any threat to the United States or, indeed, even to Israel if the Israelis were willing to cease their quest for dominance and regional expansion. So he will have to make something up, which admittedly he has a great deal of experience in doing. But what will happen if Trump does not take the bait, whatever that will turn out to be? Will Trump Riviera Resort Gaza be enough to sway the New York Real Estate man who is pretending to be the President of the United States? I rather think that Netanyahu will have several possible schemes in reserve if he runs into a wall in Washington, including false flag operations plausibly blamed on Iran that will kill a lot of Americans to get across the message that the Iranians pose a real danger to the United States.
To be sure, Israel has demonstrated that it is not shy and will not hesitate to kill Americans when its own interests suggest a need for extreme measures, witness the deliberate killing of 34 US Navy sailors on the USS Liberty in 1967 and the recent deaths of US citizens in Gaza which the American government has done nothing about. Israel knows it can get away with murder, both figuratively and literally, and even though the American people might be sick of the slaughter of Palestinians the Israel Lobby knows that it has the support of both Congress and the media no matter what it does.
I rather think that what Israel will do will rely on the White House’s apparent belief that renewing war with Iran will result in attacks on some of the many US bases in the Persian Gulf region. As Iran is not likely to want to carry out that kind of escalation, Israel might decide to do the job itself but leaving evidence behind that it was Iran or an Iranian proxy that carried it out. Israel has many active agents run by Mossad throughout the region, as was evident in the assassinations of senior Iranian government officials and scientists together with their entire families back when the first phase of the so-called “twelve day war” began with an Israeli attack back a month ago. So Israel will blow up an American base or two and then loudly proclaim that the deed was done by Iran to get revenge for the US bombing of the Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow nuclear facilities.
Or if one really wants to explore options on the dark side, Israel might decide to really float the false flag, so it just might use one of its own nukes to do the job, embellishing the tale by pointing out that the blast was clear evidence of the claim that Iran had and still has a secret nuclear weapons program. Clowns in congress like Lindsey Graham, Tom Cotton and Ted Cruz will immediately take up the cry and loudly call for revenge. Trump will be unable to resist, or at least that is what Netanyahu will be thinking, and if a nuke was used on an American base the willingness to reciprocate in kind will be overwhelming in Washington. As both Bibi and the Donald have several times recommended that the 10 million plus folks living in Iran’s capital Tehran should evacuate their homes, it is, in my opinion, quite possible that both Israel and the US have in any event been thinking of going nuke for some time. So, if all goes well for Bibi they will get what they want, i.e. regime change in a devastated Iran and the end of the Iranian challenge to Israel. Let us hope that instead of that outcome, Trump will be listening to his better angel, if he has one, and Netanyahu will be rebuffed and will go home with his tail between his legs next week!
Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is inform@cnionline.org.
Moscow outlines why Zelensky wants to meet with Putin
RT | July 6, 2025
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky is seeking a personal meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to defend his claims to legitimacy and resist Western attempts to push him out of power, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said. Zelensky’s presidential term expired last year, and Moscow views him as illegitimate.
In an interview with First Sevastopol TV released on Saturday, Zakharova was asked why she believes the Ukrainian leader is so insistent on meeting with Putin. “Because he needs to reaffirm his legitimacy, not through legal procedures, but by any other means to prove that he is in power,” she stated.
Zelensky’s five-year presidential term ended in May 2024, but he refused to hold a new election, citing martial law. Moscow has declared him illegitimate, insisting that under Ukrainian law, legal authority now rests with the parliament.
According to Zakharova, Zelensky also seeks a meeting with Putin because he is driven by “a monstrous fear of being consigned to oblivion.”
“He is insanely afraid of being forgotten, of becoming unnecessary for the West. That somehow the West will sideline him. And you can see he doesn’t step away from the microphones. I think he already sleeps with a webcam,” she said.
Zelensky has on numerous occasions insisted that he wants to meet with Putin, describing this as a prerequisite for peace.
In May, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggested that a meeting between Putin and Zelensky could be possible, but only after negotiations between Moscow and Kiev reach “specific arrangements” on various diplomatic tracks. This year, Russia and Ukraine held two rounds of direct talks, which did not result in a breakthrough with regard to ending the conflict, but led to several prisoner exchanges.
In June, Putin said he was open to meeting with Zelensky, but suggested that the Ukrainian leader lacks legitimacy for signing binding agreements. “I am ready to meet with anyone, including Zelensky. That’s not the issue – if the Ukrainian state trusts someone to conduct negotiations, by all means, let it be Zelensky. The question is different: Who will sign the documents?”
In autumn 2022, Zelensky signed a presidential decree banning talks with the current Russian leadership, after the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye voted in referendums to join Russia. Though Zelensky has not canceled the decree, he has since insisted that it only applies to other Ukrainian politicians, not to himself.
US/Israel Versus Iran – Round One
By William Schryver – imetatronink – July 5, 2025
My summary assessment of the missile war over Israel during the 12-day-long first act of the ongoing war between Israel et alia and Iran et alia :
The first Iranian counterstrike against Israel (14 June) began with a few hundred drones and relatively antiquated subsonic cruise missiles, whose primary mission was to soak up air to air and Iron Dome magazine depth.
Additionally, the IDF claims the Iranians fired over 200 ballistic missiles on 14 June. I think that is probably an exaggeration. But, in any case, the overwhelming majority were older Iranian missile stock and purpose-built decoys.
My sense is that no more than about three dozen strikes in the 14 June attack were carried out by later generation Iranian ballistic missile models. Most, if not all, got through unscathed.
Over the next week (15-21 June), in addition to continuing drone strikes, Iran fired, on average, ~25 ballistic missiles per day (again, according to the IDF).
By this time, reports began swirling in Israeli and western analytical circles that US/Israel air defenses had been severely attrited and were proving to be far less effective than advertised.
US land-based THAAD, SM-3 and SM-6 from US ships in the eastern Mediterranean, and Israeli Arrow anti-ballistic missile interceptors were being consumed at a prodigious rate, but achieving few, if any, interceptions of the few dozens of upper-tier ballistic missiles fired from Iran.
On 22 June, a large Iranian counterstrike took place, including ~100 ballistic missiles.
By this stage of the battle, the Iron Dome had been significantly depleted, and even the slow-flying Iranian drones were defeating it in many instances. THAAD had more or less disappeared, and the Israeli Arrow systems were attesting multiple “malfunctions” and what (based on OSINT video evidence) appeared to be almost frantic firing patterns against single-digit salvos of Iranian hypersonic missiles.
A half-dozen or more Israeli missiles were being fired without success against individual incoming Iranian missiles, which blew right through them, their plasma envelope glowing brightly in the night sky as they streaked down to their targets.
By the time a ceasefire was agreed on 24 June, Israeli and American air defense capability in the theater of battle had reached near-exhaustion, even as the Iranians had begun to employ modest but increasing numbers of impressively capable higher-end strike missiles.
There is no doubt the Iranians welcomed a break in the fighting in order to catch their breath and reorganize their own defenses. But it was the Israelis who were, by far, most desperate to stem the tide of events.
The Israelis suffered damage far in excess of anything inflicted upon them in their history. They also expended long-developed on-the-ground sabotage and intel assets within Iran, and the round-up of those exposed assets continues.
The Iranians have proven beyond dispute that they are capable of delivering large-warhead hypersonic strikes with high accuracy (<10m CEP). And while it remains to be seen how many of these top-shelf missiles they truly possess and what their rate of production is, the bottom line is that Iran has achieved a major strategic victory which carries a strong deterrence effect in its wake.
With each passing month, the Iranians will grow stronger – and the Israelis will become more desperate to try to do something about it.
I doubt making peace will be on their agenda.
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From the Archives
The lies about the 1967 war are still more powerful than the truth
By Alan Hart | June 4, 2012
In retrospect it can be seen that the 1967 war, the Six Days War, was the turning point in the relationship between the Zionist state of Israel and the Jews of the world (the majority of Jews who prefer to live not in Israel but as citizens of many other nations). Until the 1967 war, and with the exception of a minority of who were politically active, most non-Israeli Jews did not have – how can I put it? – a great empathy with Zionism’s child. Israel was there and, in the sub-consciousness, a refuge of last resort; but the Jewish nationalism it represented had not generated the overtly enthusiastic support of the Jews of the world. The Jews of Israel were in their chosen place and the Jews of the world were in their chosen places. There was not, so to speak, a great feeling of togetherness. At a point David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s founding father and first prime minister, was so disillusioned by the indifference of world Jewry that he went public with his criticism – not enough Jews were coming to live in Israel.
So how and why did the 1967 war transform the relationship between the Jews of the world and Israel? … continue
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- Gaza is crumbling, but its people persevere – Not a Ceasefire Day 69
- Pro-Israel billionaire Miriam Adelson green-lights a Trump 3rd term
- Australians Being Massacred Shouldn’t Bother Us More Than Palestinians Being Massacred
- Garbage, stench, sewage, and rats plague Gaza – Not a Ceasefire Day 68
- The Zionist Billionaire Circle Hiding in Plain Sight
- No Tricks Zone
- New Study: 8000 Years Ago Relative Sea Level Was 30 Meters Higher Than Today Across East Antarctica
- The Wind Energy Paradox: “Why More Wind Turbines Don’t Always Mean More Power”
- New Study Reopens Questions About Our Ability To Meaningfully Assess Global Mean Temperature
- Dialing Back The Panic: German Physics Prof Sees No Evidence Of Climate Tipping Points!
- Astrophysicist Dr. Willie Soon Challenges The Climate Consensus … It’s The Sun, Not CO2
- Regional Cooling Since The 1980s Has Driven Glacier Advance In The Karakoram Mountains
- Greenland Petermann Glacier Has Grown 30 Kilometers Since 2012!
- New Study: Temperature-Driven CO2 Outgassing Explains 83 Percent Of CO2 Rise Since 1959
- Climate Extremists Ordered By Hamburg Court To Pay €400,000 In Damages
- More Evidence NE China Is Not Cooperating With The Alarmist Global Warming Narrative
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