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TV

Zelensky treats peace talks as 'political show' - ex-Ukrainian diplomat

Zelensky
© Global Look Press/Ukrainian President's Office/fileUkraine leader Vladimir Zelensky
Kiev is ready to derail negotiations with Russia, Andrey Telizhenko.

Vladimir Zelensky is looking to make a "political show" out of the expected peace talks with Russia in Istanbul, even if it means disrupting the negotiations, former Ukrainian diplomat Andrey Telizhenko has told RT.

Russian chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said he would be waiting for the Ukrainian team starting at 10am local time on Friday for the first direct talks since 2022. During a visit to Ankara on Thursday, Zelensky criticized what he described as the "low-level" composition of the Russian delegation, but nevertheless promised to send his own negotiators to Istanbul.

Telizhenko told RT that Zelensky has been relying on France and the UK for weapons and financial aid because he "does not listen to Washington anymore." If the Ukrainian leader secures more support from the West, he "may agree and move forward with the negotiations, or he may sabotage them," the ex-diplomat said, expressing doubts that real talks could 'ever happen'. "This is just a political show, not diplomacy," he said. "Zelensky is not thinking about Ukrainians. He is trying to play this game for himself," Telizhenko argued.

Comment: The actor has written the script. It is a tragedy. Exit stage left.


Chess

Trump administration working on plan to move 1 million Palestinians to Libya

gaza
© Bashar Taleb / AFP - Getty ImagesPalestinians carry their belongings as they flee Gaza City on Friday
The Trump administration is working on a plan to permanently relocate up to 1 million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Libya, five people with knowledge of the effort told NBC News.

The plan is under serious enough consideration that the administration has discussed it with Libya's leadership, two people with direct knowledge of the plans and a former U.S. official said.

In exchange for the resettling of Palestinians, the administration would potentially release to Libya billions of dollars of funds that the U.S. froze more than a decade ago, those three people said.

No final agreement has been reached, and Israel has been kept informed of the administration's discussions, the same three sources said.

The State Department and the National Security Council did not respond to multiple requests for comment before this article was published. After publication, a spokesperson told NBC News, "these reports are untrue."

Black Magic

Trump says ex-FBI Director James Comey's '86 47' post called for his 'assassination'

trump
© Getty Images
President Trump slammed his former FBI director, James Comey, for posting a coded photo that he said called for his assassination.

"He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant ... That meant 'assassination,'" Trump said in an interview with Bret Baier on Friday.

Comey had posted a picture Thursday of seashells formed in the shape of "86 47" — a message that could be interpreted as "eliminating" him, since he's the 47th president.

One Webster's Dictionary definition of "eighty-six" says the term means "to get rid of." In the restaurant and bar industry, the phrase is used to indicate to staff that a menu item has run out, or that a customer is banned.

"Cool shell formation on my beach walk," Comey had captioned the photo on Instagram.

Handcuffs

Rep. LaMonica McIver repeatedly ignores journalist questions about assaulting ICE agents: Criminal investigation looms

Rep. Lamonica McIver assault ice agent
Rep. Lamonica McIver repeatedly ignores questions after assaulting federal agents and storming the ICE facility at Delaney Hall Detention Center
Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver, who infamously body rammed federal agents at the Delaney Hall Detention Center last week when she and her Democrat colleagues stormed the ICE facility, ignored questions from The Gateway Pundit multiple times throughout the day on Thursday.

McIver, who has come within the scope of a federal investigation announced by US Attorney Alina Habba this week, was fittingly sporting a prison orange suit as she faces potential felony charges.

Democratic New Jersey Congressmen LaMonica McIver, Bonnie Watson Coleman, and Robert Menendez stormed into the facility in Newark, New Jersey, where aliens are being housed, without following protocols. A rowdy confrontation with police then ensued.

Sheriff

Kash Patel announces FBI ditching DC headquarters, relocating 1,500 agents around the country

FBI building washington
© Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
FBI Director Kash Patel announced Friday that the bureau is leaving its longtime DC headquarters in the J. Edgar Hoover Building and transferring 1,500 employees to locations around the country.

"This FBI is leaving the [J. Edgar] Hoover Building because this building is unsafe for our workforce," Patel told Fox Business Network anchor Maria Bartiromo in an interview set to air on Fox News Channel's "Sunday Morning Futures."

"We want the American men and women to know if you're going to come work at the premier law enforcement agency in the world, we're going to give you a building that's commensurate with that, and that's not this place," the FBI chief added.

Comment: Putting investigators where crime actually happens. What a novel idea. Not that DC isn't full of crime too, but they don't need 11,000 people in one area. Added bonus: anyone there just for the DC grift will quit.


Stop

MAHA Chief Medical Advisor demands mRNA COVID jab moratorium

twitter thing
British cardiologist and author Dr. Aseem Malhotra, the newly appointed Chief Medical Advisor to the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative, says there is "overwhelming evidence" to ban the COVID-19 mRNA shots.

Dr. Malhotra is a former U.K. government and long-time ally of MAHA leaders like HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.) and NIH head Dr. Jay Bhattacharya.

He's campaigned for taxes on sugary drinks, worked to lower the amount of Brits taking statins unnecessarily, and worked with government leaders to remove ultraprocessed foods from hospitals and schools, per The Daily Mail.

Though Malhotra is not formally employed by the federal government, he will serve as a leading voice of the movement and work closely with grassroots groups to advance its policy agenda.

Pistol

Cool?

numbers
© UnknownNumbers in the sand - a deadly message
"I'm very concerned for [the president's] life. And James Comey, in my view, should be held accountable and put behind bars for this."
— DNI Tulsi Gabbard
"Cool shell formation on my beach walk," Jim Comey, former FBI Director wrote on Instagram about the message "86 47" laid out in seashells on the sand that he came across, innocently. You'd have to ask yourself: what was "cool" about that, exactly? Especially if, as Mr. Comey claimed on X soon after, that he didn't know what it meant. Are things that you don't understand "cool"? Is it just "cool" to learn that you can spell stuff out with seashells? (Who knew?)

Maybe he was surprised to learn that people other than Jim Comey fans might see his cute coded clip and conclude that it wasn't such an innocent little gag. "47," of course, refers to Donald Trump in the cavalcade of US presidents. Among the not-strrictly-fans was DNI Tulsi Gabbard, who went on TV hours later and said that Mr. Comey should go to prison for it — in so many words. You must suppose she meant after the appropriate procedures: an FBI deposition, a grand jury, an indictment, a trial. After all that, we'd probably get to the bottom of what JC meant by "cool."

Arrow Up

Washington ready to resume Russia-NATO security talks - Bloomberg

Session NRC
© NATO/Getty Images/Anadolu AgencyA session of the NATO-Russia Council in Brussels, Belgium • January 12, 2022
The US has proposed resuming long-stalled security talks under the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) framework as part of efforts to negotiate a peace deal in the Ukraine conflict, Bloomberg has reported.

The report comes ahead of direct negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations.

The NRC, a forum created in 2002 for dialogue between the US-led military bloc and Moscow, effectively ceased practical operations in 2014. That year, Crimea joined the Russian Federation after holding a referendum following a Western-backed armed coup in Kiev. The council met to discuss the situation in Ukraine 11 times, until the conflict's escalation in 2022, after which NATO cut off all communication.

The US has reportedly offered to revive the NRC format as part of its efforts to talk Russia into freezing the Ukraine conflict. Last month, White House special envoy Steve Witkoff visited Moscow and reportedly attempted to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire that would suspend fighting along current front lines, in exchange for sanctions relief and US recognition of Crimea.

"The US has since added new details to the proposal, including an offer to revive security talks under the NATO-Russia Council," the outlet wrote on Thursday, citing an anonymous source familiar with the matter.

Bad Guys

Why the Russia-Ukraine peace talks are doomed

Dolmabahce Palace Russian, Turkish Ukrainian flags
© Sputnik / Sergei KarpukhinRussian, Turkish and Ukrainian flags are seen ahead of the Russian-Ukrainian talks at the Dolmabahce Palace, in Istanbul, Turkey.
Diplomatic tensions are rising once again. Just days ago, the focus was on Moscow's 80th anniversary Victory Day parade. Now, all eyes are suddenly on Istanbul, where direct talks between Russia and Ukraine - the first since the spring of 2022 - could take place as early as Thursday.

The significance of these prospective talks has snowballed. What began with Russian President Vladimir Putin responding to a Western call for a 30-day ceasefire starting May 12 has now escalated into a high-stakes international spectacle. Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky initially appeared ready to reject the proposal outright, but after pressure - bordering on an ultimatum - from Donald Trump, he reversed course.

Zelensky, however, introduced his own conditions. He demanded that talks be held at the highest level immediately, or not at all, and threatened new sanctions against Russia if his terms were ignored.

Stormtrooper

France leading West's 'party of war' - Russia

Gendarmes parade on July 14, 2018 in Paris.
© Luc Nobout / IP3 / Getty ImagesGendarmes parade on July 14, 2018 in Paris.
Moscow has slammed President Emmanuel Macron's push for more sanctions over Ukraine.

France has emerged as one of the leaders of the "hybrid war" against Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said. She made her remarks after the EU agreed to its 17th package of sanctions.

France, together with the United Kingdom, proposed the 'Coalition of the Willing' to take a more proactive role supporting Ukraine in its fight with Russia in February 2025 after the new administration of US President Donald Trump moved to adopt a more conciliatory stance towards resolving the conflict.

"It is common knowledge that since 2022, Paris has been one of the most uncompromising participants in the West's hybrid war against our country," Zakharova said during a press call on Thursday.