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French presidential hopeful Pecresse switches to Russian, while on TV, to call for peace

Europe should speak in a single voice with Russia, Valerie Pecresse added

PARIS, February 7. /TASS/. Valerie Pecresse, a French presidential candidate nominated by the Republicans party, switched to Russian while appearing on France 5 television channel on Sunday, to call for building peace in Europe.

"I want to tell the proud Russian people that we should together build peace in Europe," she said, adding that hostilities in Ukraine "would be a big mistake."

When a child, Pecresse studied Russian and stayed at Artek, a summer camp for children in Crimea.

On TV, she also called for a dialogue.

"The dialogue resumed. It’s good," the politician said, now in French. Europe should speak in a single voice with Russia, she added.

"I think France, together with the EU, should offer [Russian President] Vladimir Putin a new conference for European security" to achieve greater stability on the continent, Pecresse said.

French Government Spokesperson Gabriel Attal said earlier that French President Emmanuel Macron’s visits to Moscow on February 7 and Kiev on February 8 will continue the efforts by Paris to de-escalate the situation around Ukraine. Putin and Macron discussed the subject by phone three times over the past two weeks.

There has been a flurry of statements in the West and Kiev lately that Russia could invade Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said they were unsubstantiated escalation and that Russia doesn’t threaten anyone. At the same time, he didn’t rule out provocations to corroborate these Western statements and warned that the use of force to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine will have serious consequences.

France is scheduled to hold presidential elections on April 10 and may hold a runoff on April 24. Candidates may be nominated before the start of March, and about 40 politicians are now campaigning.

Bulgarian politician sees Oreshnik missile strike as wake-up call for peace

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US vote at UNSC rejected chance of stopping 'horrific bloodshed' in Gaza, Russian MFA says

"Once again, a chance to free the hostages, who include Russian nationals, has been missed," the statement reads

Russian air defense deflects attacks with Western missiles — Putin

"As a result, the goals that the enemy apparently set have not been achieved," the Russian leader said

Russian army pushes Ukraine out of Kurakhovo water reservoir’s north shore

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Zelensky to have no input if Russia, US negotiate, ex-Prime Minister says

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Bundeswehr prepares plan for Operation Germany in case of war with Russia — newspaper

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German politician slams Ukraine’s ‘irresponsible’ strike on Russia with UK-made missiles

"A diplomatic search for balance and mutual understanding should be the goal, instead of further escalation," Alice Weidel said

Russia interested in security of Baltic undersea infrastructure — embassy in Denmark

"It is important to ensure a thorough investigation and clarify the reasons why underwater cables in the Baltic Sea are now out of order," embassy said

Nuclear escalation of Ukraine conflict unlikely, says ex-French envoy

"In my opinion, as long as Russia has an advantage on the battlefield, and at this point it does, the risk of nuclear escalation is low," Jean de Gliniasty poited out

Russian forces cut off key Ukrainian supply route in Velikaya Novoselka, DPR

According to the security services, Ukrainian troops still have access to several unpaved roads, which are also under Russian fire control

Pentagon sees possibility of sending more antipersonnel landmines to Ukraine

Department of Defense Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh gave no direct answer to the question of how Washington was planning to control Kiev’s use of US landmines

Zelensky shook up by Russia’s response to permission to attack it — Lavrov

According to the Russian foreign minister, the West is directly involved in the use of long-range weapons against Russia, as not a single missile could be launched without its involvement

West irrational, fails to understand it cannot intercept Russia's new missiles — Kneissl

The former Austrian foreign minister stressed that she "counted on rational Western decision-makers, but irrationality is unfortunately on the rise among them"

Romanian presidential candidate vows to end military aid to Ukraine

It is pointed out that Simion’s popularity has propelled him to number two in the polls after Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu

West beginning to realize only part of Ukraine will remain — Lavrov

According to the Russian foreign minister, this represents the "confrontational logic" of the West

Time of Maduro’s visit to Russia being coordinated via diplomatic channels — embassy

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Soyuz rocket carrying Progress MS-29 cargo spaceship blasts off from Baikonur spaceport

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NATO enters conflict, Russia has every right to attack its targets now — expert

Col. (Ret.) Lawrence Wilkerson confirmed to TASS that the launch of ATACMS missiles would be impossible without "US/NATO satellite feeds and/or personnel"

Russian forces successfully advancing in all areas in special military op zone — Putin

The Russian president said that "all the goals we set for ourselves are being achieved"

Russia’s reaction to Austrian OMV’s failure to pay for gas justified — MFA

The company stated it would seek damages amounting to 230 million euro for failing to receive the contracted volume of gas from the Russian company for delivery to Germany

Ukraine was warned about possible missile strike — Pentagon

Department of Defense Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh gave no answer to the question of how could Ukraine prepare for this kind of attack

China holds US responsible for disrupted defense ministers' meeting in Laos

Wu Qian stated that the United States must immediately correct its mistakes, "honestly respect China’s main interests, and seek to create favorable conditions for high-level contacts between the military of the two countries"

China urges restraint after Russia, Ukraine's exchange of attacks — foreign ministry

Lin Jian also reaffirmed Beijing's position on the Ukrainian issue

German chancellor reiterates decision not to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine

Olaf Scholz stated that only the Social Democratic Party of Germany could maintain a balance between caution and clear support for Ukraine

Signal to West and 'red card': experts weigh in on Putin’s missile launch statements

The important message in Vladimir Putin’s speech was that "Russia does believe that the West has shifted from a proxy-war to direct war" and that the parties find themselves in "a global conflict" now, Dmitry Suslov said

Residents of Kupyansk, Kovsharovka in Kharkov Region returning to their homes

People are refusing to go to safer places because of Ukraine's unwillingness to provide basic sanitation for refugees

Putin’s remarks on hypersonic missiles send serious warning to West — Turkish politician

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Ukraine should consider territorial concessions to Russia in return for peace — magazine

Foreign Policy pointed out that Western officials should stop insisting in public speeches on the need to achieve a strategic defeat for Russia

Kremlin confident Putin's statement got through to US administration

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on November 21 that the United States and its NATO allies had earlier announced that they would authorize Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons to hit inside Russia, after which American and British missiles struck Russian military facilities in the Kursk and Bryansk regions

Ex-German chancellor never expected Russia to tolerate Ukraine’s NATO membership — memoir

Angela Merkel added that another fallacy was the belief that the status "would act as a deterrent," and that Moscow "would accept these developments without taking action"

IN BRIEF: What Putin said about Russia’s new missile, and Moscow’s response to the West

Moscow used its new Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile in response to the West’s decision to authorize strategic-depth strikes on Russia

Washington has no plans of updating nuclear posture after Russia’s test of new missile

"We haven't seen any adjustments that we've observed in their nuclear posture, and we haven't adjusted our nuclear posture in exchange," Department of Defense Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said

Putin stays open to contacts to reach 'peaceful track' — Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a televised address to the nation on November 21, announcing that in response to the West’s decision to authorize strategic-depth strikes on Russia, Moscow used its new Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile for the first time

Russian troops destroy Ukrainian fortification in LPR’s Makeyevka, strengthen positions

Andrey Marochko noted that the Russian forces' advances along this stretch of the front are facilitated by their control over an earlier seized strategic position, as "the activities of the assault groups are provided with cover," and "the Russian Armed Forces outnumber Ukrainian units"

ICC issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant for alleged crimes in Gaza Strip

The Israeli side's objections concerned the court's jurisdiction over the situation in Palestine in general and Israeli citizens in particular, as well as the right of states to conduct investigations independently before referring cases to the ICC

US, European officials suggest returning nukes to Ukraine — NYT

US officials believe that ramping up weapons supplies to Ukraine is unlikely to change the situation in the combat zone short term, but it may help Kiev strengthen its stance in case a truce is reached

Russia’s re-election to UNCITRAL confirms its global reputation — Foreign Ministry

Russia got the support of 129 countries in a November 20 vote in New York at the 40th plenary session of the UN General Assembly

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Andrey Belousov stressed that Russian troops have accelerated their advance in the special military operation zone and have effectively disrupted Kiev's 2025 military campaign

Putin warns West that Russia can respond to any turn of events

"There will always be an answer," the president said

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Kiev suffering fiasco on entire front line — aide to DPR head

Igor Kimakovsky said that "if the West is not physically involved in this war, that is, if NATO is not involved, then Ukraine is actually losing"

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US administration chooses to escalate Ukraine conflict — Kremlin

Earlier, Putin stressed that the Ukrainian army is unable to fire the latest Western-made long-range missiles on its own without support from NATO satellite feeds and the involvement of the bloc’s military

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US makes mistake by destroying INF Treaty — Putin

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Moscow hopes West will thoroughly analyze Russia's nuclear doctrine — ambassador

Andrey Kelin also recalled that the policy of the Russian leadership enjoys the full support and confidence of the country's population

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Top stories from the Russian press on Thursday, November 21st

Russian embassy warns UK about dangers of calling for Moscow’s ‘defeat’

According to th statement, London is promoting new rounds of escalation

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According to the report, at least 15 Ukrainian servicemen were killed as a result of the attack

Russia fires ballistic, non-nuclear-tipped missile at Ukrainian aerospace plant — Putin

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Zelensky fine with conflict continuing due to Western help — Slovak PM

Robert Fico pointed out that "more and more evidence show that the West seeks to prolong the war in Ukraine for various reasons"

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Kremlin clarifies notification process for Oreshnik missile launch

"An automated warning was sent 30 minutes before the launch," Dmitry Peskov said

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Dmitry Suslov pointed to a crucial message in the President's speech: "Russia firmly believes that the West has moved from a proxy war to a direct war" and that the sides are already "in a state of global conflict"

US missile defense base in Poland long among Russian army’s targets — Foreign Ministry

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Russia hit Ukrainian military-industrial facility in response to use of Western missiles

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Biden's decision to use ATACMS on Russia threatens to kill Americans — Tucker Carlson

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Department of Defense Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh also claimed that Washington, while helping Ukraine, is not attempting to turn the conflict into a large-scale regional confrontation that spills beyond the country’s borders

Western nations should take Putin's statement seriously, warns Hungarian PM

Viktor Orban recalled that Russia has "one of the most powerful armies in the world, which boasts the most advanced, most powerful weapons"

Russia to hold informal UN Security Council meeting on unilateral restrictions

It will be held on November 25

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North Korean leader warns of growing risk of nuclear war — KCNA

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Ukrainian frontline may 'collapse' under onslaught of Russian forces — BBC

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West launched missiles targeting Russia’s Bryansk, Kursk Regions — Putin

Russian air defenses repulsed all attacks, the Russian president said

Oreshnik test aims to persuade West to avoid escalation in Ukraine — media

According to the report, the use of Oreshnik has become "part of a new era of missile warfare"

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US, NATO decision on strikes continues policy of escalation — Putin

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Zelensky begs ‘for his country to be flattened’ — US journalist

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Russia's Oreshnik missile poses significant threat to West, Turkish expert warns

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Western countries should 'be afraid, tremble' after Putin's statement — lawmaker

Andrey Kartapolov added that the special military operation in Ukraine "will continue its course until all tasks are completed"

US, West have no capabilities to intercept new Russian hypersonic missile — expert

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