Latest / International Flavor: Where the Truth Tastes Better / Grand Egyptian Wonders, Caribbean Strike Blunders, and Ukraine’s Crumbling Front: Censored Lavrov Truths on International Flavor

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Grand Egyptian Wonders, Caribbean Strike Blunders, and Ukraine’s Crumbling Front: Censored Lavrov Truths on International Flavor · International Flavor: Where the Truth Tastes Better

• 0:00
  I'm incredibly awesome political talk on damn radio.
• 0:04
  That's damn right.
• 0:06
  I am Samuel Trapp.
• 0:08
  This is international flavor.
• 0:10
  You are in the Lake Ozark real estate
• 0:14
  of the art studio with me this evening.
• 0:19
  I'm not sure what I'm going to talk
• 0:20
  about.
• 0:20
  I had a nice plan, but sometimes you
• 0:23
  just throw those damn things out the window,
• 0:25
  right?
• 0:25
  You can call me tonight if you'd like
• 0:26
  to, and like to interrupt me or whatever
• 0:28
  I'm talking about.
• 0:29
  I was just sitting there listening to Hey
• 0:32
  Ya by Outkast.
• 0:33
  They're getting ready for the show and it
• 0:34
  just changed my whole mind about life and
• 0:37
  everything in it.
• 0:38
  Shake it, shake it, shake it like a
• 0:41
  Polaroid picture.
• 0:43
  All right, all right, all right.
• 0:45
  I can't do it obviously, but Hey, it
• 0:47
  was a lot of fun.
• 0:48
  Anyway, I was here in the studio, pretending
• 0:53
  that I knew how to sing.
• 0:55
  However, I do not.
• 0:57
  So that important safety tip, if you'd like
• 0:59
  to call in five, seven, three, seven, four,
• 1:00
  six, eight, zero, two zero.
• 1:04
  Um, I had something, so I got some
• 1:06
  topics to discuss that I've been going through.
• 1:09
  I'm a little grumpy after last night's show
• 1:11
  anyway, and I put in a lot of
• 1:14
  a discussion on the corruption in Ukraine.
• 1:17
  There's been plenty more uh, news on that
• 1:23
  end, plenty more, but I got something that
• 1:26
  kind of kicked me off of that topic
• 1:29
  for just a little bit.
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  It's quite interesting.
• 1:32
  Did you know, as a matter of fact,
• 1:36
  there is the new opening came about three,
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  four days ago and it is new and
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  I really want to go there.
• 1:45
  Now I have not been to Egypt.
• 1:48
  Okay.
• 1:49
  I lived in Qatar for a while and
• 1:51
  I went to Morocco.
• 1:53
  That's in Africa, African continent at least, but
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  I haven't been close enough.
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  I haven't been there and I've, you know,
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  I've been, I've, I've been flown over it
• 2:02
  I think, but I've never been at, well,
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  I know I've never been to Egypt, but
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  I want to go to Egypt.
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  I've always wanted to see the pyramids, Giza,
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  all that stuff.
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  And there's, now there's something even more exciting
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  that what makes me want to go there
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  and there's a, there's, I could put on
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  videos about it.
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  I found a couple and I have seen
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  there's fantastic pictures all over a new museum
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  called it and it's newly unveiled an Al
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  Jazeera article I was checking into cost at
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  a look inside of Egypt's newly unveiled grand
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  Egyptian museum, 5,381,900
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  square feet.
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  Now, how big is that?
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  How big is 5,381,900 square feet?
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  What are we talking about there?
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  So a million square feet, a perfectly square
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  million would be 1,000 feet by 1
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  ,000 feet would be a, would be a
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  perfect square.
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  So if you have 5 million, what would
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  that be?
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  Wouldn't that be in that, in that contrast
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  with 5 million, wouldn't it be if you
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  took that same thousand feet and instead of
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  5,000 feet, you went 25,000 feet,
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  right?
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  Would that be right or would that not
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  be?
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  I don't know.
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  I can't figure it out, but the acreage
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  on that per, so let's talk about football
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  fields.
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  First, a football field, approximately 15.4 American
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  football fields, including the end zone would fit
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  in a 1 million square foot building or
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  that's 1 million square feet is approximately 23
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  acres of land.
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  So imagine you're, I don't know, one acre
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  plot of of land somewhere and then multiply
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  that by 23 and then multiply that by
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  five, which is 115.
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  Yes.
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  115 acres under roof.
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  Now that's a hell of a day, don't
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  you think?
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  That's a, uh, how many, how many large
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  warehouses of Amazon would that be?
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  You know, if they have a million square
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  foot Amazon, that's huge, right?
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  But this is a, what would it fit
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  inside a million square foot warehouse?
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  Quite a bit.
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  If you were thinking about it, here's a
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  question to ponder when it comes to Washington.
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  Um, I'm sorry, when it comes to warehouses,
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  how big is big, several individual warehouses.
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  Um, what can you fit inside?
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  You could fit a couple of Eiffel towers
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  depending on how you arrange them.
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  50 Boeing, seven 37s.
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  Those are pretty big.
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  Um, so have you ever seen any of
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  these 10,000 square foot houses?
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  You know, you can fit quite a few
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  of those in there.
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  Um, I'm not so sure.
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  These are a thousand school buses in, uh,
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  um, you know, in a, in a, uh,
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  what do you call it?
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  In a, in a large million square foot
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  warehouses, you could put a lot of them
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  in there.
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  Now these are huge, but I'm not interested
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  in that.
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  Really.
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  I want to look inside.
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  Here's the article for you because it took
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  them two decades to build this thing.
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  And for, they first started talking about it
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  in like 1993 or 94.
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  And so two decades, $1 billion, little bit
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  over the grand Egyptian museum opened its doors
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  to the public two days ago.
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  It is the world's largest archeological facility for
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  a single civilization, meaning they're not covering a
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  whole bunch of them.
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  So, uh, just a few days after the
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  official opening ceremony on Saturday.
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  So the official was open on Saturday.
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  Um, let's see here.
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  The complex spans with the 5,381,000
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  and will house more than 100,000 artifacts
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  from 30 different dynasties of ancient Europe.
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  The main attractions are some of them, 3
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  ,200 years old and a 37 foot high
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  statue of King Ramesses II.
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  The complete collection of Tutankhamen's treasures, a 4
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  ,500 year old boat, one of the oldest
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  intact ships in the world that belonged to
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  Khufu, the pharaoh renowned for building the great
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  pyramid of Giza.
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  And let's see, the museum has been called
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  the fourth pyramid of the Giza Plateau, which
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  is home to three pyramids that are about
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  4,500 years old, um, which are the
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  great pyramid of Giza built for pharaoh Khufu,
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  the pyramid of Khafre built for pharaoh Khafre
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  and the pyramid of Menkaure.
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  I don't know if I said any of
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  those right, but visitors can view the pyramids
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  from inside the museum, which is designed in
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  the shape of a triangle, which echoes the
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  geometry of the pyramids.
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  The museum's north and south walls are aligned
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  with the pyramids.
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  The design created by an Irish architecture firm
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  uses sand colored concrete and then alabaster stone
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  while the main facade is frosted glass panels.
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  It's, it's quite striking the pictures of it
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  that you see.
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  The complex was announced in 1992, but construction
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  didn't begin until 2005 and it was delayed
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  by politics.
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  You know, they had a 2011 Arab Spring
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  and they had COVID.
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  Everybody's blames COVID for everything.
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  COVID did not slow me down.
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  I did not wear a freaking mask except
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  one time on an airplane and I wrote
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  the F word on the front of it
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  and wore it on the plane.
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  American Airlines from, um, Corpus Christi, Texas, uh,
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  to, um, where was that?
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  Oh, Columbia, Missouri.
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  Yeah.
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  Through Dallas.
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  Uh, some area, the museum actually had a
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  soft launch in 2024.
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  It, uh, the museum complex includes a main
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  building, a conference center, a Nile park, a
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  boat museum and a huge conservation area.
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  So if you go looking inside it, when
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  you enter, you're greeted by the 3,200
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  year old statue of Ramesses the second, which
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  weighs about 83 tons.
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  Holy schmoly.
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  And then from 1954 to 2006 the statue
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  stood in Ramesses Square in front of Cairo's
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  main train station before it was located to
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  its new location near the museum to facilitate
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  the move.
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  The statue was transported upright in one piece
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  on a 128 wheeled vehicle and went 19
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  miles to its new resting place.
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  Holy shnikes.
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  That is amazing that they were able to
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  move it that way.
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  There's a little video of that.
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  So after the entrance, there's a six story
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  tall grand staircase that is lined with about
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  60 artifacts, including statues of deities, sarcophagi, that
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  hold the deceased columns showcasing ancient architectural artistry
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  and a certain, uh, what do they call
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  them?
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  Columns, I suppose.
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  Um, they, there's a specific word for them,
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  but I don't know what that is.
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  And they have a significant text in historic
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  stuff put in it.
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  So the museum has 12 main permanent exhibit
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  halls that opened last year and are organized
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  by era like a prehistory through Greco Roman
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  period.
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  And then they have themes, they have society,
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  kingship, beliefs.
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  Um, there's a, uh, 12 exhibition halls.
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  Let's see the grand staircase, the Tutankhamen gallery
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  has just has more than 5,000 objects
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  from his tomb.
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  And it's huge.
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  It's bigger than all the rest, you know,
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  uh, on its own.
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  It's, uh, among the museum's prominent and largest
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  display is a Tutankhamen gallery, which is an
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  80,000 square foot space that features the
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  5,000 artifacts that came from the tomb
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  of Tutankhamen who ascended the throne at nine
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  years old and ruled during the eighth dynasty
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  about 3,400 years ago.
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  And despite his brief reign, which ended with
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  his unexpected death at about 18 or 19
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  years old, he is one of the most
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  famous pharaohs, mostly owing to the fact that
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  they discovered his nearly intact tomb in 1922
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  in the Valley of the Kings on the
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  West side of the Nile opposite the city
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  of Luxor.
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  I thought Luxor was in Las Vegas.
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  Hmm.
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  That was a slight joke there.
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  But visitors can see his golden mask, his
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  throne, the sarcophagus, his chariots and jewelry all
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  presented to recreate the atmosphere of his royal
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  burial chamber.
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  The pictures are unbelievable.
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  I mean, that says it's, you know, sometimes
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  you just gotta go places.
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  I went to the Tretyakov gallery in Moscow
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  several months ago and I came across this,
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  I couldn't get in.
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  It was closed.
• 13:19
  Red Square was closed because there was a
• 13:22
  festival of military parades from all around the
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  world.
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  So they had been, and I saw two
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  of them.
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  The one was an African army group that
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  was there that was doing theirs.
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  But anyway, they blocked off all of Red
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  Square.
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  So I haven't been on Red Square since
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  the nineties and I didn't get to go
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  this year and you could only look into
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  it.
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  So I ended up going to the the,
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  it was also unbelievable.
• 13:53
  It's a, it's another world history museum and
• 13:57
  somebody else famous, but it wasn't Tretyakov.
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  It was, man, I have it somewhere and
• 14:02
  it was also a great big name.
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  I just can't remember it off the top
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  of my head.
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  And that was an all day affair in
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  and of itself.
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  And I only got to go to two
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  of the four floors, you know, the, so
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  these, these museums, I mean, imagine if you're
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  going to 5 million square feet of a
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  museum space.
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  I mean, that's, that's a week to get
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  through it.
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  I mean, unless I know people that run
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  through these type of museums, I am not
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  one of them.
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  I like to go and enjoy and walk
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  around and read the, read the what you
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  call it, the in, not the inscriptions, the
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  little cards, the placards underneath that explain to
• 14:49
  you what it is and stuff like that.
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  Right?
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  So this, the grand Egyptian museum has 484
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  ,000 exhibition space that makes it, the display
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  area is the sixth largest museum in the
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  world.
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  The Louvre is the top, right?
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  Is a 72,000 square meters.
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  The Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, where
• 15:28
  I really want to go.
• 15:30
  And I was hoping to go over Christmas
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  this year for new years for Russian new
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  years, because their Christmas is January 7th, I
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  believe.
• 15:41
  And so new year's comes first and then
• 15:43
  goes Christmas.
• 15:44
  And I was hoping to get there this
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  year cause my visa expires in in March
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  or April.
• 15:51
  And I wanted to go for winter.
• 15:53
  I've never been to Russia in the winter
• 15:56
  and I wanted to go especially this year,
• 15:59
  but my schedule doesn't look like it's going
• 16:01
  to allow me to do it, which is
• 16:03
  extremely grumpy for me.
• 16:05
  But that doesn't mean I'm not going to
• 16:07
  get another visa.
• 16:09
  I'm going to get another three year visa
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  cause I like going over there.
• 16:12
  Anyway, the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg, Russia
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  is the second largest, right?
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  And then the third is the national museum
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  of China and Beijing, the metropolitan museum of
• 16:25
  art in New York city and the Museo
• 16:28
  de Prado in Madrid, Spain is the fifth.
• 16:33
  And so the sixth is this grand Egyptian
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  museum.
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  So by exhibition space.
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  Now the Vatican is pretty close after that.
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  And I've been in the Vatican museum.
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  That was unbelievable.
• 16:48
  But tourism is a major source of currency
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  for Egypt.
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  In 2024 a record 15.7 million tourists
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  visited Egypt and the travel and tourism sector
• 17:01
  is about 8% of the GDP according
• 17:05
  to official figures.
• 17:06
  Um, I mean, hell everybody wants to go.
• 17:09
  I mean, if you don't want to go,
• 17:10
  that's, that's a bit nutty.
• 17:12
  Why wouldn't you?
• 17:13
  Um, most people do and uh, I don't
• 17:16
  know.
• 17:16
  I'm, I'm eager to figure out a time
• 17:20
  to go there.
• 17:21
  Um, I've said this before, but I'll repeat
• 17:24
  it again.
• 17:25
  I've been to all 50 States and 57
• 17:28
  countries and I need some more, you know,
• 17:32
  before I kick the bucket, you don't want
• 17:34
  to kick the, but what else is there
• 17:35
  to see?
• 17:36
  I mean, what else is there to do?
• 17:37
  Really?
• 17:38
  You're not going to take your money with
• 17:40
  you, but if there is something else, you
• 17:42
  might take your experiences with you.
• 17:44
  Isn't that so, well, that's what I believe
• 17:47
  anyway.
• 17:48
  At any rate, I'm a, um, that was
• 17:51
  sent to me by someone, um, this evening
• 17:55
  and I went out and had to look
• 17:57
  at it because it was a, I mean,
• 17:59
  I'm interested in that kind of thing and
• 18:01
  I love museums.
• 18:02
  I love travel.
• 18:03
  I like, I like history and as you're
• 18:05
  not going to find his, well, I already
• 18:08
  told you my stories about going to Kazakhstan,
• 18:11
  Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and going down the silk road,
• 18:16
  which has been around for at least the
• 18:18
  same amount of time as these.
• 18:20
  There are mosques over there that are so
• 18:22
  old and that are just amazing to go
• 18:25
  into because they're so old and they're all
• 18:27
  redone and all of these, uh, UNESCO sites
• 18:31
  that they're redoing.
• 18:32
  So UNESCO is dedicated to saving world history,
• 18:37
  right?
• 18:38
  And there isn't a whole lot of that
• 18:41
  available in America.
• 18:42
  All of ours is only 250 years old.
• 18:45
  So you go and you see these ancient
• 18:47
  sites and these ancient things.
• 18:49
  For me, I think it's just, uh, it,
• 18:52
  it is unbelievable and incredible.
• 18:55
  I mean, even Russia, they've been around a
• 18:56
  thousand years as a country and they have
• 18:58
  some old stuff.
• 19:00
  And then when you go over to Uzbekistan
• 19:02
  and Kazakhstan and you travel to silk road
• 19:04
  and, and, and it's really unbelievable.
• 19:07
  It's just, uh, uh, something to, something to
• 19:11
  be amazed by for sure.
• 19:13
  And I would like to go to this,
• 19:15
  uh, cultural center and all of this stuff
• 19:21
  from, uh, Egypt, I would definitely love to
• 19:24
  see that.
• 19:25
  And if I have a, uh, a, uh,
• 19:28
  what do you call it?
• 19:29
  A bucket list would be a bucket list
• 19:33
  that, that just might be on the old
• 19:37
  bucket list.
• 19:39
  So at any rate, that's enough of that.
• 19:42
  I I've spent a little bit of time
• 19:43
  on that, um, on the, uh, on the
• 19:47
  view of what that is.
• 19:49
  I very much, um, enjoy that kind of
• 19:53
  thing.
• 19:53
  And I hope you enjoyed the, uh, the
• 19:57
  content of that.
• 19:58
  I wanted to talk to you right now.
• 20:03
  There are so many stories to go into
• 20:07
  from the other side of the planet.
• 20:08
  Last night, I spent a lot of time
• 20:11
  going over the corruption in Ukraine and, and
• 20:16
  all of the, um, uh, political commentators from
• 20:22
  around the, the planet are discussing how, um,
• 20:29
  corrupted is in Ukraine.
• 20:31
  Now we've been saying that for a long
• 20:32
  time, but let's go to, and we have
• 20:36
  a censored interview of Sergei Lavrov that I
• 20:39
  want to cover with you tonight.
• 20:41
  Um, and then here it is.
• 20:43
  This is the article.
• 20:45
  So last night I told you about Timur
• 20:46
  Mindy and, and, uh, he was charged with
• 20:51
  running a high profile graph scheme.
• 20:53
  I went through the entire thing last night.
• 20:55
  If you're interested, you should, uh, go back
• 20:59
  to, uh, internationalflavor.com.
• 21:01
  Go to last night's show, listen to what
• 21:04
  the corruption scheme is inside of Ukraine or
• 21:09
  was.
• 21:10
  And now we see Zelensky trying to save
• 21:13
  his hind end.
• 21:16
  Right now he's trying to save his butt.
• 21:18
  So here's what happened, uh, today.
• 21:21
  And so this came out, I don't know,
• 21:24
  seven, eight hours ago.
• 21:25
  And Zelensky himself has been, and remember last
• 21:30
  night we went over this.
• 21:31
  I think he's probably trying to do whatever
• 21:35
  he can from his leash that he wants
• 21:39
  to, uh, try to keep himself on the
• 21:45
  leash for as long as possible.
• 21:47
  And he doesn't want to be cut off
• 21:49
  of the least leash by the West.
• 21:52
  And so he put sanctions on his fugitive
• 21:56
  ex-business partner.
• 21:58
  And I'm going to share this story with
• 21:59
  you because to me, and of course, I'm
• 22:02
  a doubting Samuel.
• 22:03
  I don't believe anything that he says anyway.
• 22:05
  I don't believe anything that any of them
• 22:07
  say.
• 22:07
  I, I, I don't, I don't believe most
• 22:10
  news sources and, uh, uh, here, especially when
• 22:13
  people are trying to save their rear ends.
• 22:15
  And I don't believe government at all.
• 22:17
  It's full of a bunch of liars.
• 22:19
  So Timur Mindik, the longtime associate of Vladimir
• 22:24
  Zelensky, and now the central figure in the
• 22:28
  major corruption investigation in Kiev has been placed
• 22:32
  under personal sanctions by the Ukrainian government.
• 22:36
  So Mindik co-owns the entertainment studio founded
• 22:41
  by Zelensky and himself.
• 22:43
  And he's known as a longtime personal friend
• 22:45
  of Ukrainian leader from the Kvartal 95 days,
• 22:48
  like I told you last night.
• 22:50
  So his role in the government has dramatically
• 22:53
  increased in recent years, particularly in energy and
• 22:57
  defense.
• 22:57
  And we went over all of that last
• 22:59
  night.
• 23:00
  So on Thursday, that was Wednesday, but on
• 23:02
  Thursday, as I told you, Zelensky is afraid
• 23:05
  this is going to come back and knock
• 23:08
  him off the top post in the country.
• 23:10
  And frankly, I think it will too.
• 23:12
  If anything's going to take care of him,
• 23:14
  this'll be it.
• 23:15
  You know, they have energy gate, how the
• 23:18
  scandal, uh, come about and what, how it
• 23:20
  works out.
• 23:21
  Again, I encourage you to go back and
• 23:23
  listen to that because it's nothing but corruption
• 23:25
  over there.
• 23:26
  Um, Zelensky signed off on a security and
• 23:31
  defense council decision, to sanction Mindy and another
• 23:37
  suspect in the investigation, a guy named Alexander
• 23:40
  Zuckerman.
• 23:41
  The sanctions which are legally valid only in
• 23:45
  Ukraine were announced only after both men, uh,
• 23:50
  were able to flee to Israel.
• 23:52
  So those guys, as I told you last
• 23:54
  night, they've already run out.
• 23:55
  Somebody reported all of that and, uh, and
• 23:59
  got rid of them and allowed them to
• 24:02
  run away.
• 24:02
  So Mindy's departure on Monday came just hours
• 24:06
  before his residence was raided.
• 24:08
  That, you know, of course, everybody wants to
• 24:10
  know if it's because he was tipped off
• 24:13
  and both of these guys are Israeli citizens
• 24:16
  and he got away with a hundred million
• 24:18
  bucks.
• 24:18
  So the sanctions range from personal asset freezes
• 24:22
  to bans on bidding for privatized state property.
• 24:26
  You can't buy any more property in Ukraine.
• 24:29
  Oh, gee, bummer.
• 24:30
  He has to take his hundred million and
• 24:33
  get out.
• 24:34
  Um, and then he has a prohibition on
• 24:36
  radio broadcasting inside of Ukraine.
• 24:38
  So none of that he could broadcast from
• 24:40
  Israel, I suppose.
• 24:41
  So according to Ukraine's national anti-corruption bureau,
• 24:45
  which I told you about last night, also
• 24:46
  Nabu Mindy and his co-conspirators pressured Energoatom
• 24:50
  contractors to pay kickbacks, a hundred million bucks
• 24:54
  in losses to the Ukrainian budget.
• 24:55
  Investigators believe the group helped launder money for
• 24:59
  other criminal networks.
• 25:01
  So this is a huge scandal.
• 25:03
  Um, they are like I told you last
• 25:06
  night, arrested, blah, blah, blah, lots of, uh,
• 25:09
  lots of important people, um, that have been
• 25:11
  arrested and are, are taken a, um, taken
• 25:14
  a serious hit over this and EU foreign
• 25:17
  policy chief of the genius Kaya Collis described
• 25:21
  the situation as extremely unfortunate.
• 25:23
  And so Zelensky is now saying, uh, you
• 25:27
  know, he's distancing himself from Mindy saying those
• 25:30
  guilty of corruption have to be tried and
• 25:33
  sentenced, but we should warn them first.
• 25:36
  So they have a chance to get away
• 25:37
  and go to Israel with their money.
• 25:39
  The leader of a nation at war cannot
• 25:41
  have any friends.
• 25:43
  He told Bloomberg on Wednesday, well, listen to
• 25:46
  the last night's article, uh, or my last,
• 25:49
  last night's, uh, broadcast.
• 25:51
  It'll tell you, uh, you, you, you know,
• 25:54
  I've, I've put out all the facts on
• 25:56
  that.
• 25:56
  So anyway, that's an, an interesting story.
• 25:59
  So, uh, there you have it.
• 26:01
  He is, uh, now sanctioning his friend, but
• 26:05
  his friend ain't going to come back to
• 26:06
  Ukraine.
• 26:07
  That's everybody who has the money is taking
• 26:09
  all their stuff and running.
• 26:11
  That's how it works.
• 26:12
  Right.
• 26:13
  Um, what else do we have for interesting
• 26:17
  stories?
• 26:18
  Um, um, let's see the, uh, U S
• 26:24
  listen to this.
• 26:26
  Everybody knows this already knows my position on
• 26:29
  this.
• 26:29
  I'm very much against what the U S
• 26:31
  is doing in, uh, in, uh, South America,
• 26:35
  this, this alleged war on drugs.
• 26:37
  This is nonsense.
• 26:38
  So, um, the U S according to Rubio,
• 26:43
  isn't going to accept lectures from the EU
• 26:46
  on how it conducts its national security operations.
• 26:51
  He said on Wednesday and he dismissed criticism
• 26:54
  by block members of U S strikes on
• 26:56
  boats in the Caribbean.
• 26:58
  U S forces have hit at least 20
• 27:01
  boats off the Venezuelan coast.
• 27:04
  And they claim that they are involved in
• 27:06
  narco terrorism, several countries, several people.
• 27:10
  I'm one of them.
• 27:11
  And including European NATO States have questioned whether
• 27:15
  the strikes are lawful under international norms.
• 27:18
  So Rubio says, I don't think the European
• 27:20
  union gets to determine what international law is.
• 27:23
  Apparently he doesn't get to either.
• 27:26
  He can just do whatever he wants.
• 27:28
  We, we, you know, which is what we're
• 27:30
  doing.
• 27:31
  This is not the law.
• 27:33
  I already went through that a couple of
• 27:35
  weeks ago on, on what this is.
• 27:36
  And they don't get to determine how the
• 27:39
  U S defends its national security.
• 27:42
  Oh, so we get to condemn other countries,
• 27:46
  but then we just blow people up and
• 27:48
  we don't we don't have to provide any
• 27:53
  proof unless you want to, you know, swim
• 27:55
  down the bottom of the ocean and pick
• 27:57
  it up after you blow up these alleged
• 27:59
  narco terrorists.
• 28:01
  This is, this is, this is such crap.
• 28:04
  You know, anybody who justifies this is living
• 28:07
  in a fantasy world where the U S
• 28:11
  is always right.
• 28:12
  You know, and unfortunately that there's far too
• 28:15
  many of that.
• 28:16
  And the UK has even stopped sharing alleged
• 28:19
  drug boat intelligence with the U S because
• 28:22
  they don't like what we're doing.
• 28:24
  You can't just blow people up first and
• 28:26
  ask questions later.
• 28:28
  Nonsense.
• 28:29
  So Rubio added that the same European governments
• 28:33
  that are criticizing Washington want us to send
• 28:37
  and supply nuclear capable Tomahawk missiles to defend
• 28:41
  Europe.
• 28:43
  But when the U S puts aircraft carriers
• 28:45
  where we live, that's a problem.
• 28:48
  Well I don't have a problem putting those
• 28:49
  aircraft carriers wherever you want.
• 28:51
  I have a problem with you blowing up
• 28:53
  boats that you could just as easily stop.
• 28:57
  That's what I got a problem with.
• 28:59
  You got the biggest Navy, you got a
• 29:00
  huge aircraft carrier and you can't stop a
• 29:03
  boat.
• 29:03
  Come on.
• 29:04
  You got to blow them up and kill
• 29:06
  them all and provide zero evidence of any
• 29:08
  kind.
• 29:10
  Nonsensical nonsense.
• 29:11
  Hello.
• 29:12
  How's the family?
• 29:13
  Ukraine has repeatedly urged Washington to give it
• 29:16
  Tomahawk missiles on its territory since 2024 when
• 29:21
  Ukraine's Zelensky made a pitch for his victory
• 29:27
  plan, right?
• 29:28
  And he renewed these appeals this year to
• 29:31
  president Trump.
• 29:33
  Moscow has warned that such systems are going
• 29:36
  to do nothing but consist of major escalation.
• 29:40
  So the concentration of us military assets near
• 29:43
  Venezuela fuels concerns in Caracas that Washington is
• 29:48
  preparing a regime change operation.
• 29:51
  Gee, that would be a surprise, wouldn't it?
• 29:53
  Here we are again, going to change a
• 29:55
  regime.
• 29:56
  That's okay.
• 29:57
  It's our hemisphere.
• 29:59
  We can do whatever we want.
• 30:01
  It doesn't matter if a country decides its
• 30:05
  own fate or not.
• 30:06
  They aren't permitted to do that.
• 30:08
  We decide that, right?
• 30:11
  Well, not right, but that doesn't mean we're
• 30:14
  not going to do it.
• 30:15
  The Trump administration administration says that president Maduro
• 30:19
  is a cartel leader.
• 30:21
  They get to decide that too and that
• 30:23
  he lacks legitimacy and the US has previously
• 30:28
  backed attempts to stage a coup by this
• 30:33
  guy, Juan Guaido, who is obviously an opposition
• 30:36
  leader.
• 30:38
  Russia condemns the Caribbean strikes as do many
• 30:41
  others.
• 30:42
  And Sergei Lavrov said this week that Washington's
• 30:45
  efforts to fight drug crime should better be
• 30:48
  applied to Belgium, which a local judge described
• 30:53
  a Belgian local judge described as he, as
• 30:57
  having evolved into a narco state, right?
• 31:00
  So what are we going to do about
• 31:03
  Belgium and their drug problem?
• 31:05
  Anything?
• 31:06
  I suppose not.
• 31:07
  Cause, because Belgium keeps all their drugs right
• 31:09
  there.
• 31:10
  Yeah.
• 31:11
  Hmm.
• 31:12
  Maybe we should send warships over there and
• 31:14
  blow boats up in, uh, in, uh, the,
• 31:16
  the, the, the Belgian countries.
• 31:18
  Wouldn't that be entertaining for the world to
• 31:21
  watch?
• 31:23
  Um, let's see.
• 31:25
  And Heg set, um, you know, um, don't
• 31:30
  get me started.
• 31:31
  I won't say anything because I don't want
• 31:33
  to go too far in that regard.
• 31:37
  Let's see.
• 31:38
  I want to, where is that story?
• 31:42
  Hello.
• 31:43
  How is the family Ukraine energy gate?
• 31:48
  Here you go.
• 31:49
  The censoring of Sergei Lavrov.
• 31:52
  And since this was so blatant, I want
• 31:56
  to share all of it with you.
• 32:00
  And so Sergei Lavrov was interviewed on an
• 32:04
  Italian newspaper, a liberal Italian newspaper, and that
• 32:09
  newspaper then censored his interview.
• 32:13
  So after the interview, they refused to publish
• 32:16
  his remarks because they are in their words,
• 32:23
  controversial.
• 32:25
  Well, how can you have controversy?
• 32:27
  Oh my God.
• 32:28
  Words may actually hurt us, right?
• 32:30
  We don't want to be hurt by words.
• 32:32
  That would be terrible.
• 32:34
  And what if somebody actually believed him?
• 32:37
  Wouldn't that be horrible?
• 32:39
  Sergei Lavrov is the longest, uh, serving foreign
• 32:44
  minister on the planet.
• 32:47
  Okay.
• 32:48
  I want to say 20, he's in 25
• 32:50
  and a half years.
• 32:51
  He's been there for a long time running
• 32:54
  the foreign ministry of Russia.
• 32:57
  So I'm going to share this story to
• 32:59
  you in its entirety and then give you
• 33:04
  the full text of what he said.
• 33:07
  And so, because nobody else is going to,
• 33:11
  and so I'll provide the questions and I
• 33:15
  will provide the responses.
• 33:18
  And then, um, there was a response by
• 33:21
  Italy as well after somebody went ahead and
• 33:25
  published these, but not in Italy.
• 33:27
  You know, you got to censor it in
• 33:29
  Italy.
• 33:30
  So the story goes like this.
• 33:32
  The, uh, liberal Italian newspaper, which is called
• 33:36
  Correa della Sera has refused to publish its
• 33:39
  interview with Russian foreign ministry Lavrov.
• 33:41
  And they said it was controversial claims in
• 33:45
  his remarks.
• 33:47
  So the editors refused to print an abridged
• 33:50
  version of the interview and they didn't post
• 33:53
  the full text online.
• 33:55
  So the foreign ministry of Russia on Wednesday
• 33:58
  said this was outrageous censorship.
• 34:01
  And so they posted full interview online.
• 34:04
  And it was very short with the, uh,
• 34:07
  and it's in Italian.
• 34:08
  I can't read it, but it was so
• 34:09
  small.
• 34:10
  There's no way they provided anything remotely similar
• 34:13
  to what he was saying.
• 34:14
  So the ministry offered the outlet an exclusive
• 34:16
  interview with Lavrov after, uh, noticing a growing
• 34:21
  amount of misinformation about Russia in the Italian
• 34:24
  media.
• 34:26
  The newspapers editors initially agreed enthusiastically and then
• 34:32
  submitted a list of questions.
• 34:35
  Lavrov answered all of them and provided detailed
• 34:38
  responses and the text was ready for publication.
• 34:41
  However, after receiving the material, the newspaper declined
• 34:47
  to publish it.
• 34:48
  They explained to us that Lavrov's words contain
• 34:53
  controversial assertions that might require fact checking or
• 34:58
  additional clarification and the publication of which might
• 35:02
  lead to exceeding reasonable volume.
• 35:06
  And it's really not that long because I'm
• 35:07
  going to, I'm going to share it all
• 35:08
  with you.
• 35:09
  You could say what you want.
• 35:10
  So commenting on this matter, the outlet stated
• 35:13
  that Russian foreign ministry had provided a lengthy
• 35:16
  text of propaganda, right?
• 35:20
  This is all propaganda.
• 35:21
  So I'm about to provide to you some
• 35:24
  Russian propaganda according to the Italian newspaper and
• 35:29
  the sources.
• 35:30
  The media outlet relayed that when it requested
• 35:34
  a proper interview and challenge points, the foreign
• 35:41
  ministry released the full and the edited versions
• 35:44
  of the interview and said the editorial team
• 35:47
  had removed all uncomfortable points for the official
• 35:51
  Roman newspaper.
• 35:54
  In the published transcript, Lavrov commented on the
• 35:57
  aborted meeting between Putin and Donald Trump in
• 36:01
  Budapest and suggested that Trump had received behind
• 36:04
  the scenes reports that led him to cancel
• 36:07
  the talks.
• 36:09
  Lavrov rejected accusations that Russia is not ready
• 36:13
  for negotiation.
• 36:14
  I've said the same thing.
• 36:15
  Of course they are, because they said they
• 36:18
  have been saying the same thing for years.
• 36:21
  In the interview, Lavrov said that the goal
• 36:23
  of Russia's military operation in Ukraine is not
• 36:26
  the capture of territory, but the protection of
• 36:30
  the population and to secure Russia's own security.
• 36:34
  Well, if Russia is, is allowed to, or
• 36:37
  I'm sorry, if the U S is allowed
• 36:39
  to ensure its security by parking warships outside
• 36:43
  of Venezuela and blowing up 20, what was
• 36:46
  it?
• 36:47
  23, something like that boat so far.
• 36:50
  Why isn't Russia allowed to protect its population,
• 36:53
  you know, here and do the same thing?
• 36:56
  They're not, they've been a lot more reasonable
• 36:58
  about it.
• 36:59
  They don't just blow people up and ask
• 37:01
  questions later.
• 37:02
  So Russia seeks neutral and non-aligned status
• 37:05
  for Ukraine, right?
• 37:08
  And the U S seeks regime change in
• 37:11
  Venezuela.
• 37:13
  Hmm.
• 37:14
  And Russia accuses the West of a proxy
• 37:17
  war.
• 37:17
  So does everybody else.
• 37:18
  Everybody knows that's the truth now.
• 37:21
  Um, and addressing relations with Italy, Lavrov said
• 37:24
  that that is not the people who are
• 37:26
  unfriendly, but the government.
• 37:28
  That's true.
• 37:29
  He stated that Moscow is open to restoring
• 37:31
  dialogue with Italy, but only if Italy shows
• 37:34
  willingness to engage in a mutual respect, a
• 37:37
  respectful relationship.
• 37:39
  So the interview, um, Lavrov talks about Russophobia
• 37:48
  frenzy in the EU and you know, below
• 37:53
  is the full text of the interview question
• 37:56
  and then answer all of it.
• 37:59
  Okay.
• 37:59
  So I'm going to share it all with
• 38:01
  you.
• 38:01
  It takes me about 15 minutes probably to
• 38:04
  get through the whole shooting match.
• 38:07
  Okay.
• 38:08
  And it's a, a, a, a pretty long
• 38:11
  deal.
• 38:11
  And Lavrov does speak English, but this wasn't
• 38:14
  done in English, or I'd share it with
• 38:15
  you.
• 38:16
  So the question, here's the first question.
• 38:19
  It has been reported that Donald Putin's next,
• 38:24
  did I just say that the Vladimir Putin's
• 38:27
  next meeting with Donald Trump, in Budapest did
• 38:31
  not happen because even the U S administration
• 38:35
  realized that you are not ready for talks
• 38:39
  on Ukraine.
• 38:40
  What went wrong after the Anchorage summit that
• 38:44
  inspired hope for the launch of a genuine
• 38:47
  peace process?
• 38:48
  Why does Russia remain?
• 38:51
  Why does Russia adhere to the demands that
• 38:53
  Vladimir Putin put forward in June 2024 and
• 38:57
  on what issues would Russia be willing to
• 39:00
  compromise?
• 39:02
  Here's Lavrov's answer.
• 39:04
  The understanding reached in Anchorage was an important
• 39:07
  milestone in the search for longterm peace in
• 39:11
  Ukraine through overcoming the consequences of the violent
• 39:16
  anti-constitutional state coup in Kiev organized by
• 39:21
  the Obama administration in February of 2014 the
• 39:26
  understanding is based upon the existing realities and
• 39:30
  closely bound to the conditions of just in
• 39:32
  lasting resolution of the Ukrainian crisis proposed by
• 39:37
  president Putin in June of 2024 as far
• 39:41
  as we know, those conditions were heard and
• 39:45
  received, including publicly by the Trump administration, mainly
• 39:50
  the conditions that are acceptable that are, I'm
• 39:54
  sorry, that are unacceptable to drag Ukraine into
• 39:57
  NATO to create strategic military threat to Russia
• 40:01
  directly on its borders.
• 40:03
  Washington openly admitted that it will not be
• 40:07
  able to ignore the territorial issue following the
• 40:10
  referendums in Russia's five historic regions whose residents
• 40:16
  unambiguously chose self-determination apart from the Kiev
• 40:21
  regime that labeled them as subhuman creatures and
• 40:25
  terrorists and chose instead reunification with Russia.
• 40:31
  The American concept that at the president's instruction,
• 40:36
  the special envoy Steve Whitkoff brought to my
• 40:38
  Moscow the week before the Alaska summit was
• 40:42
  also built around the issue of security and
• 40:45
  territorial reality.
• 40:47
  President Putin told Trump in Anchorage that we
• 40:51
  agree to use this concept as the basis
• 40:54
  while proposing specific steps that open the way
• 40:59
  for practical implementation.
• 41:01
  The U S leader said that he should
• 41:03
  consult with his allies said that he would
• 41:06
  consult with his allies.
• 41:07
  However, after the meeting with his allies took
• 41:10
  place in Washington the next day, we did
• 41:13
  not receive reaction to our positive responses to
• 41:16
  the proposal that Whitkoff delivered to Moscow before
• 41:19
  Alaska.
• 41:20
  No reaction was communicated during my meeting with
• 41:24
  secretary of state Marco Rubio in September in
• 41:28
  New York when I reminded him that we
• 41:30
  were still expecting an answer to help our
• 41:33
  colleagues from America decide on their own.
• 41:36
  We set the Alaska understanding and delivered it
• 41:40
  to Washington several days later at Trump's request.
• 41:44
  He and Putin had a telephone conversation and
• 41:47
  reached a preliminary agreement to meet in Budapest
• 41:50
  after a thorough preparation for the summit.
• 41:53
  There was no doubt that they would discuss
• 41:55
  the understandings that had already been discussed in
• 41:58
  Anchorage.
• 41:59
  A few days later, I spoke with Marco
• 42:01
  Rubio over the phone.
• 42:03
  Washington described the conversation as constructive.
• 42:07
  It was indeed constructive and useful and then
• 42:11
  announced that after the conversation and in person
• 42:14
  meeting between secretary of state Rubio and the
• 42:17
  Russian foreign minister in preparation for the top
• 42:21
  level meeting between Trump and Putin was unnecessary.
• 42:25
  Who and how submitted covert reports to the
• 42:29
  American leader after which he postponed or canceled
• 42:32
  the Budapest summit?
• 42:33
  I do not know, but I have described
• 42:36
  the general timeline strictly based on the facts
• 42:39
  for which I am responsible.
• 42:42
  I will not take responsibility for bluntly fake
• 42:45
  news about Russia's lack of readiness for talks
• 42:48
  or sabotaging the outcomes of the Anchorage meeting.
• 42:51
  Please speak to the financial times that as
• 42:53
  far as I know, planted this misleading version
• 42:56
  of what happened distorted the uh, sequence of
• 43:02
  events to put the blame on Moscow and
• 43:05
  lead Donald Trump off the road he himself
• 43:08
  suggested a road to lasting steady peace rather
• 43:12
  than an immediate ceasefire where Zelensky's European masters
• 43:16
  are pulling him.
• 43:18
  This is due to their own obsessive intention
• 43:20
  to get, um, to inject the Nazi regime
• 43:23
  with more weapons and continue the war against
• 43:27
  Russia.
• 43:28
  If the BBC can produce a fake re
• 43:30
  video featuring Trump calling for assaulting on the
• 43:34
  Capitol, the financial times is capable of something
• 43:38
  similar in Russia.
• 43:40
  We say they wouldn't have the scruples to
• 43:44
  tell a lie.
• 43:45
  We are still ready to hold another Russia
• 43:48
  us summit in Budapest.
• 43:50
  If it is genuinely based on the well
• 43:52
  -described outcomes of the Alaska summit, the date
• 43:56
  is not yet set, but Russia and us
• 43:59
  contact continues.
• 44:01
  Now that's a hell of a long answer,
• 44:04
  but it's also pretty involved and it covers
• 44:07
  everything that they asked in the question.
• 44:10
  He's saying basically what happened?
• 44:13
  Oh, you can believe it's propaganda if you
• 44:15
  like, but the, the, this, this meeting didn't
• 44:19
  happen, but they say, you're not ready for
• 44:21
  meetings.
• 44:22
  And he says, we're ready for meetings.
• 44:23
  We've always said the same thing.
• 44:24
  We don't want these meetings to result in
• 44:29
  a ceasefire.
• 44:32
  We don't want to ceasefire.
• 44:33
  They've said that forever.
• 44:35
  How many times do I personally have to
• 44:37
  explain this to people?
• 44:38
  They've said the exact same thing over and
• 44:41
  over and over.
• 44:43
  No ceasefire.
• 44:44
  We will agree to peace.
• 44:47
  We will agree to a permanent ceasefire, but
• 44:50
  that has to recognize realities on the ground
• 44:53
  and recognize the root causes of the conflict
• 44:57
  in which he said the exact same thing
• 44:59
  right here.
• 45:01
  Nobody wants peace.
• 45:02
  They just want to keep on acting like
• 45:05
  they're going to bring Russia to their knees.
• 45:07
  So here's question number two.
• 45:09
  Units of the Russian armed forces are currently
• 45:12
  controlling less territory than in 2022, several weeks
• 45:17
  into the special military operation.
• 45:20
  If you are prevailing, why don't you deliver
• 45:24
  a decisive strike?
• 45:25
  Could you explain why you are not publicizing
• 45:29
  your official losses?
• 45:32
  Sergei Lavrov says the special military operation is
• 45:36
  not a war for territory, but an operation
• 45:39
  to save the lives of people who have
• 45:41
  lived in these territories for centuries and whom
• 45:45
  the Kiev junta seek to eradicate legally by
• 45:49
  prohibiting their history, language, culture, and physically using
• 45:55
  Western weapons.
• 45:56
  Another important goal of this special military operation
• 46:00
  is to ensure Russia's security to undermine the
• 46:05
  plans of NATO and the EU to create
• 46:08
  a hostile puppet government on our Western border
• 46:12
  that by law and in reality relies on
• 46:15
  Nazi ideology.
• 46:18
  This is not the first time we have
• 46:19
  stopped fascist and Nazi aggressors that happened during
• 46:23
  world war two and appears to be happening
• 46:26
  again.
• 46:27
  Unlike Westerners who have wiped out entire neighborhoods,
• 46:31
  we are sparing people, both civilians and military
• 46:36
  personnel.
• 46:37
  Our armed forces are acting responsibly and delivering
• 46:40
  high precision strikes at military targets and associated
• 46:45
  transport and energy infrastructure.
• 46:48
  It is not customary to publicize battlefield losses.
• 46:53
  I can only tell you this.
• 46:55
  Think about these numbers.
• 46:57
  I heard these numbers several times in the
• 47:00
  last couple of days and they all come
• 47:02
  from this interview and it says, I can
• 47:05
  only say that this year Russia has transferred
• 47:10
  9,000 bodies of Ukrainian personnel in an
• 47:15
  effort at repatriation.
• 47:17
  In return, we have received 143 bodies of
• 47:23
  our fighters that have, you know, died and
• 47:25
  were taken by the Ukrainian sides.
• 47:28
  You can come to your own conclusions based
• 47:31
  upon those numbers.
• 47:32
  Now those are some frightening numbers.
• 47:35
  Now one of the obvious things that you
• 47:37
  can talk about this, if you want to
• 47:39
  say it's propaganda, the Russians are advancing.
• 47:42
  So as they advance, they are covering territory
• 47:47
  where there are a lot of Ukrainian fallen.
• 47:52
  And so since they are advancing, obviously they're
• 47:56
  going forward.
• 47:57
  If it was going the other direction, then
• 48:00
  Ukraine would have far more bodies, you know,
• 48:03
  if the, if the Russia, so, so of
• 48:05
  anything, this is an indication of Russian progress
• 48:08
  on the battlefield.
• 48:11
  And, and these numbers, I mean, I've heard
• 48:13
  these numbers forever.
• 48:14
  When we started since the Trump year, when
• 48:18
  they started talking in Istanbul and then they
• 48:20
  had these swaps of every prisoner for every
• 48:23
  prisoner and the Russians gave up a hell
• 48:26
  of a lot of prisoners and received in
• 48:28
  return, not very many.
• 48:30
  Then the bodies started.
• 48:33
  And remember there were 6,000 bodies that
• 48:35
  were in refrigerator trucks held on the line
• 48:37
  and Ukraine didn't want to take them because
• 48:40
  they had to, when, when they have to
• 48:43
  recognize the bodies is dead, there's payouts that
• 48:46
  go to the families equivalent of about, I
• 48:49
  can't remember the exact amount, but I want
• 48:50
  to say like $240,000 or equivalent that
• 48:54
  gets paid to the family.
• 48:56
  Upon the death.
• 48:58
  And so they didn't want to accept the
• 49:00
  bodies because he didn't have the money.
• 49:02
  And so that that's the end of question.
• 49:05
  Number two, question number three.
• 49:08
  And I liked this one.
• 49:10
  This is, I've spoken about this one myself,
• 49:13
  your appearance, Lavrov's personal appearance at the Anchorage
• 49:16
  summit in a sweatshirt that said USSR raised
• 49:22
  many questions.
• 49:23
  Some regarded it as a confirmation of your
• 49:28
  personal ambition to recreate if possible, a former
• 49:33
  Soviet Union, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Baltic countries, or
• 49:40
  to restore the USSR. Was that a coded
• 49:44
  message or a joke?
• 49:46
  Sergei says, I am proud of my country
• 49:51
  where I was born and raised, got a
• 49:53
  good education, started and continued my diplomatic career.
• 49:59
  As is well known, Russia is the successor
• 50:02
  to the USSR. And in general, our country
• 50:07
  and civilization dates back a thousand years.
• 50:11
  The Novgorod Vichy emerged long before the West
• 50:15
  started playing democracy.
• 50:17
  By the way, I also have a t
• 50:20
  -shirt with the national coat of arms of
• 50:22
  the Russian empire, but it does not mean
• 50:25
  that we want to restore the Russian empire.
• 50:28
  One of our greatest assets, which we are
• 50:30
  rightly proud is the continuity of developing and
• 50:34
  strengthening our state through its great history of
• 50:38
  uniting and consolidating Russian and all other peoples
• 50:42
  of the country.
• 50:44
  President Putin recently highlighted that in his remarks
• 50:48
  on national unity day.
• 50:50
  So please do not look for any political
• 50:52
  signals from my shirt.
• 50:55
  Maybe the feeling of patriotism and loyalty to
• 50:58
  one's motherland is fading away in the West,
• 51:02
  but to us, it is part of our
• 51:05
  genetic code.
• 51:06
  Now that's a pretty good answer is what
• 51:09
  I say.
• 51:10
  Um, now, and, and I, when I was
• 51:13
  in Russia, I told you this already several
• 51:15
  months ago, I tried to find a USSR
• 51:18
  shirt cause I wanted to wear it back.
• 51:21
  I wanted to find a sweatshirt just like
• 51:23
  the one Lavrov was wearing when he showed
• 51:25
  up in, uh, uh, Alaska.
• 51:27
  And I wanted to find one, but I
• 51:28
  couldn't find one.
• 51:29
  All I could find was a cheap ass
• 51:30
  t-shirt that had, you know, crappy iron
• 51:33
  on letters on it.
• 51:35
  And it wasn't of any quality at all.
• 51:38
  And in one of the, it was in
• 51:40
  some stall in a, in a, uh, in
• 51:43
  a food court.
• 51:43
  And so I didn't want that.
• 51:45
  I wanted to, I wanted a really nice
• 51:47
  one, but I never found one.
• 51:48
  So that, that got me all depressed.
• 51:50
  Okay.
• 51:51
  Next question.
• 51:53
  If one of the goals of the special
• 51:54
  military operation is to return Ukraine to be
• 51:59
  under Russian influence, for example, it may seem
• 52:03
  based on your demand to be able to
• 52:05
  determine the number of its armaments.
• 52:08
  Don't you think that the current armed conflict,
• 52:10
  whatever the outcome gives Kiev a specific international
• 52:14
  role that is increasingly distant from Moscow.
• 52:20
  Here's Lavrov.
• 52:22
  The goals of the special military operation were
• 52:24
  determined by Putin in 2022 and remain the
• 52:28
  same to this day.
• 52:29
  It's not about spheres of influence, but about
• 52:32
  Ukraine's return to a neutral, non-aligned non
• 52:37
  -nuclear status in strict observance of human rights
• 52:41
  and the rights of the Russian and other
• 52:44
  national minorities.
• 52:46
  And here they're talking about Russian and Hungarians
• 52:50
  and others, Polish.
• 52:53
  This is how these obligations were stipulated by
• 52:57
  Ukraine's declaration of independence of 1990 and in
• 53:01
  its constitution and is precisely in view of
• 53:04
  these obligations that Russia recognize the independence of
• 53:08
  the Ukrainian state.
• 53:10
  We are seeking and will achieve the return
• 53:13
  of Ukraine to healthy and stable origins of
• 53:16
  statehood, which implies that Ukraine will no longer
• 53:20
  be subservient under, under the territory to NATO
• 53:24
  for military development, as well as to the
• 53:27
  European Union, which is quickly turning into a
• 53:30
  similarly aggressive military block.
• 53:33
  We will sweep out Nazi ideology prohibited in
• 53:36
  Nuremberg return of all the rights of Russians,
• 53:40
  Hungarians, and other national minorities.
• 53:42
  It is indicative that while dragging the Kiev
• 53:45
  regime into the EU, the Brussels elites remain
• 53:50
  silent about outrageous discrimination of non-indigenous ethnicities
• 53:56
  as cave at Kiev.
• 53:58
  Kiev contemptuously calls Russians who have lived in
• 54:02
  Ukraine for centuries and praise Zelensky's junta for
• 54:06
  defending so-called European values.
• 54:09
  This is just another proof that Nazism is
• 54:12
  resurging in Europe.
• 54:14
  It is something to think about, especially after
• 54:17
  Germany and Italy together with Japan recently began
• 54:21
  to vote against a general assembly's annual resolution
• 54:25
  on the unacceptability of glorifying Nazism.
• 54:30
  Western governments do not hide the fact that
• 54:33
  in reality they're waging a proxy war against
• 54:37
  Russia through Ukraine.
• 54:40
  And this war will not be finished even
• 54:42
  after the current crisis.
• 54:44
  NATO secretary general Mark Rutte, British prime minister,
• 54:48
  Keir Starmer, Brussels bureaucrats Ursula von der Leyen
• 54:52
  and Kajsa Kallis and US president special envoy
• 54:56
  for Ukraine Keith Kellogg have spoken about this
• 54:59
  on many occasions.
• 55:01
  It is evident that Russia's determination to protect
• 55:03
  itself from such threats created by the West
• 55:07
  using the regime under its control are legitimate
• 55:10
  and reasonable.
• 55:12
  Now that makes sense to me because they've
• 55:13
  been saying the exact same thing for years,
• 55:17
  at least since 2014 and probably before that.
• 55:21
  So next question, the US supplies weapons to
• 55:27
  Ukraine and there was a recent discussion on
• 55:30
  the possibility of delivering Tomahawk cruise missiles to
• 55:33
  Kiev.
• 55:34
  Why do you hold different views and assessments
• 55:37
  of the US and Europe's policy?
• 55:39
  Here's Lavrov.
• 55:41
  Most of the European capitals currently make up
• 55:44
  the core of the so-called coalition of
• 55:46
  the willing whose sole desire is to keep
• 55:50
  hostilities in Ukraine running for as long as
• 55:53
  possible.
• 55:54
  I agree with that.
• 55:55
  Absolutely.
• 55:56
  Apparently they have no other way of distracting
• 55:59
  their voters from the sharply deteriorating domestic socioeconomic
• 56:04
  problems in their countries.
• 56:06
  They sponsor the terrorist regime in Kiev using
• 56:10
  European taxpayer money to supply weapons, which are
• 56:14
  used as part of a consistent effort by
• 56:17
  Ukraine to kill civilians in Russian regions as
• 56:21
  well as Ukrainians who are trying to flee
• 56:23
  the war and the Nazi henchmen in Ukraine.
• 56:27
  They undermine any peace efforts and refuse to
• 56:30
  have direct contact with Moscow.
• 56:32
  They impose more and more sanctions that are
• 56:35
  having a boomerang effect on their own economies.
• 56:38
  They're openly preparing Europe for a new big
• 56:41
  war against Russia and trying to talk Washington
• 56:44
  into rejecting honest and fair settlement efforts.
• 56:50
  Their key objective is to compromise the position
• 56:54
  of the current US administration that has from
• 56:57
  the outset advocated dialogue, looked into Russia's position
• 57:03
  and showed a willingness to seek lasting peace.
• 57:07
  Donald Trump repeatedly said in public that one
• 57:11
  of the reasons for Russia's action was NATO
• 57:14
  expansion and the advancement of the alliances infrastructure
• 57:19
  to our country's borders.
• 57:21
  That is what president Putin and Russia have
• 57:24
  been warning about for the past 20 years.
• 57:28
  This is absolutely correct.
• 57:30
  We hope that common sense prevails in Washington,
• 57:33
  that it will hold on to principled positions
• 57:36
  and will refrain from actions which can propel
• 57:39
  the conflict to the next level of escalation.
• 57:43
  With all that in view, whether the weapons
• 57:45
  are coming from Europe or the US makes
• 57:48
  no difference to our military for they are
• 57:50
  immediately destroying any military targets.
• 57:55
  Let's see you.
• 57:58
  Uh, here's another question.
• 57:59
  You were the one who pressed the reset
• 58:02
  button together with Hillary Clinton.
• 58:05
  Even if the events took a different turn,
• 58:08
  can relations with Europe be reset?
• 58:11
  Can common security serve as a platform for
• 58:15
  improving current relations?
• 58:18
  This is an interesting question and here's an
• 58:20
  interesting answer.
• 58:22
  The confrontation which has arisen from the European
• 58:26
  elites thoughtless and stillborn policy is not Russia's
• 58:31
  choice.
• 58:32
  The present situation does not meet the interests
• 58:35
  of the people of Russia.
• 58:37
  We would like to see the awareness of
• 58:39
  such disastrous policies sink in with European governments,
• 58:44
  most of whom are pursuing a rabid anti
• 58:47
  -Russia agenda.
• 58:49
  Europe already waged wars against us under the
• 58:53
  flag of Napoleon and last century, uh, and
• 58:57
  under the Hitler Nazi banners and colors.
• 59:01
  Some European leaders have a very short memory
• 59:04
  when this Russophobic obsession, I am at a
• 59:08
  loss for a better phrase than that finally
• 59:11
  fades away.
• 59:12
  We will be open for contact, ready to
• 59:15
  hear if our former partners are going to
• 59:17
  do business with us further.
• 59:19
  Then we will decide if there are prospects
• 59:22
  for building fair and honest ties.
• 59:26
  The West's efforts have totally discredited and dismantled
• 59:30
  the Euro-Atlantic security system in its pre
• 59:34
  -2022 form.
• 59:37
  In that regard, President Putin came up with
• 59:40
  an initiative to set up a new architecture
• 59:45
  of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia.
• 59:49
  It is open for all the nations of
• 59:51
  the continent, including European counterparts, but it requires
• 59:56
  polite behavior devoid of neocolonial arrogance on the
• 1:00:01
  basis of equality, mutual respect, and a balancing
• 1:00:05
  of interests.
• 1:00:07
  I find that to be a very detailed,
• 1:00:11
  competent, uh, middle of the road approach and,
• 1:00:15
  and quite reasonable.
• 1:00:16
  And he's absolutely right.
• 1:00:18
  You know, that these, uh, that we in
• 1:00:22
  the West have created a, a, a, an
• 1:00:25
  enemy out of Russia that frankly didn't exist
• 1:00:29
  when I was in arms control 30 years
• 1:00:31
  ago and truly doesn't exist right now.
• 1:00:35
  Next question.
• 1:00:37
  And remember, this is in Italy.
• 1:00:39
  And all of these were the only reason
• 1:00:41
  I'm telling you all of these is because
• 1:00:42
  they were, they were, uh, refused to publish
• 1:00:45
  them as propaganda.
• 1:00:47
  So, uh, in Italy, right?
• 1:00:51
  The armed conflict in Ukraine and the subsequent
• 1:00:54
  international isolation of Russia might have made it
• 1:00:58
  impossible for you to act more effectively in
• 1:01:01
  other crisis areas such as the Middle East.
• 1:01:06
  Is that so?
• 1:01:08
  Here's Lavrov's answer.
• 1:01:09
  If the historical West decided to fence itself
• 1:01:13
  off from someone that is called self-isolation.
• 1:01:18
  However, the ranks there are not solid anyway.
• 1:01:21
  This year, Vladimir Putin has had meetings with
• 1:01:24
  leaders of the United States, Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia.
• 1:01:29
  Clearly today's world cannot be reduced to the
• 1:01:32
  Western minority.
• 1:01:34
  That is an age gone by since multi
• 1:01:37
  polarity has emerged.
• 1:01:39
  Our relationships with the global South and the
• 1:01:43
  global East, which make up 85% of
• 1:01:47
  the earth's population keep progressing.
• 1:01:52
  In September, Vladimir Putin paid a visit to
• 1:01:55
  China in the past few months alone.
• 1:01:59
  Vladimir Putin took part in the SCO BRICS
• 1:02:02
  CIS and Russia Central Asia summits.
• 1:02:05
  Whereas our high level government delegations attended the
• 1:02:09
  APEC ACN summits and are now preparing for
• 1:02:13
  the G20 summit.
• 1:02:15
  Summits and ministerial meetings in Russia, Africa and
• 1:02:18
  Russia Gulf cooperation council formats are regularly held.
• 1:02:23
  The global majority countries are guided by their
• 1:02:25
  core national interests rather than instructions from their
• 1:02:30
  former colonial powers.
• 1:02:33
  That's a smack in it.
• 1:02:36
  Our Arab friends appreciate Russia's constructive participation in
• 1:02:40
  setting settling regional conflicts in the Middle East.
• 1:02:46
  Ongoing discussions at the UN on the Palestine
• 1:02:49
  issue confirmed that capabilities of all influential external
• 1:02:54
  actors must be pulled together.
• 1:02:57
  Otherwise nothing lasting will come out save for
• 1:03:02
  a colorful ceremonies.
• 1:03:04
  We share close or convergent positions with our
• 1:03:08
  Middle Eastern friends which facilitate our interaction at
• 1:03:12
  the UN and other multilateral platforms.
• 1:03:17
  Again, a comprehensive response.
• 1:03:20
  I don't see a lot of propaganda in
• 1:03:22
  there.
• 1:03:22
  Those are true.
• 1:03:24
  Next question.
• 1:03:26
  Do you think that in the new multipolar
• 1:03:28
  world order that you promote and support, Russia
• 1:03:31
  has become more dependent on China economically and
• 1:03:35
  militarily, which creates an imbalance in your historical
• 1:03:38
  alliance with Beijing.
• 1:03:41
  Interesting question.
• 1:03:43
  We do not promote a multipolar world order
• 1:03:46
  as its emergence results from an objective process
• 1:03:49
  instead of conquest, enslavement subjugation or exploitation, which
• 1:03:55
  is how colonial powers built their order and
• 1:03:59
  went on to bring about a quote capitalism.
• 1:04:03
  This PR our process implies cooperation, which takes
• 1:04:08
  into account each other's interests and ensures the
• 1:04:12
  smart division of labor based on comparative competitive
• 1:04:16
  advantages and the participating countries and integrated structures.
• 1:04:21
  As for Russia, China, this is not an
• 1:04:25
  alliance in the traditional sense of the word,
• 1:04:27
  but an effective and advanced form of interaction.
• 1:04:30
  Our cooperation does not imply creating a specific
• 1:04:35
  block, does not target any third country.
• 1:04:39
  It is quite common for cold war era
• 1:04:42
  alliances to consist of those who lead and
• 1:04:46
  those who are led, but these categories are
• 1:04:49
  irrelevant in our case.
• 1:04:51
  Therefore speculating about any kind of imbalance is
• 1:04:56
  inappropriate.
• 1:04:57
  Moscow and Beijing have built their ties on
• 1:05:01
  an equal footing and made themselves sufficient.
• 1:05:04
  They did this based on mutual trust and
• 1:05:07
  support that are rooted in many countries of
• 1:05:11
  neighboring relationships.
• 1:05:14
  Russia reaffirms its commitment to the principle of
• 1:05:17
  non-interference in domestic affairs.
• 1:05:20
  Russia and China cooperation in trade, investment and
• 1:05:24
  technology benefit both countries and foster steady sustainable
• 1:05:29
  economic growth growth while also improving the wellbeing
• 1:05:34
  of both people.
• 1:05:35
  As for the close military to military ties,
• 1:05:39
  they ensure that we compliment each other, enable
• 1:05:42
  our countries to assert national interests in terms
• 1:05:45
  of global security and strategic stability while effectively
• 1:05:49
  countering conventional and new challenges and threats.
• 1:05:54
  How is that propaganda?
• 1:05:56
  That question, I don't see any propaganda there.
• 1:06:00
  That's a straightforward answer and they've said the
• 1:06:04
  same thing.
• 1:06:05
  You know, it's only the West in the
• 1:06:07
  US that force, well force our way that
• 1:06:13
  create rules for everybody else, but don't follow
• 1:06:16
  them ourselves.
• 1:06:17
  You know, if some other country was blowing
• 1:06:20
  up boats in the ocean, say narco terrorists
• 1:06:23
  or otherwise, the US had have a fit.
• 1:06:26
  Imagine if the Houthis were blowing up boats
• 1:06:30
  in the ocean and said, wait a minute,
• 1:06:32
  that's because they're full of drugs.
• 1:06:35
  Does that mean we're not, we're just going
• 1:06:36
  to allow that to happen?
• 1:06:37
  We're not going to complain about it.
• 1:06:40
  Hmm.
• 1:06:41
  Curious, isn't it?
• 1:06:42
  It's always rules for everybody else, but none
• 1:06:46
  for us.
• 1:06:47
  We don't have any and we never have
• 1:06:49
  to follow any rules because those rules are
• 1:06:51
  for other people.
• 1:06:53
  We set the rules for us, but then
• 1:06:57
  apply them differently to others.
• 1:06:59
  That's how it works.
• 1:07:01
  And that's how it's always worked.
• 1:07:02
  You know, it's worked, worked that way for
• 1:07:04
  England, you know, the work that way for
• 1:07:06
  France, for Italy, for, for, or for Spain
• 1:07:10
  when they were in their colonialist eras.
• 1:07:15
  And what they're saying, what Lavrov is saying
• 1:07:18
  is that China and Russia, they're not colonialists.
• 1:07:22
  You know, they, they engage in economic partnerships.
• 1:07:28
  Now you don't have to agree with that.
• 1:07:31
  I don't care if you do or don't,
• 1:07:32
  but they've consistently said it that way.
• 1:07:35
  Right?
• 1:07:37
  Next question.
• 1:07:38
  We're nearing the end here.
• 1:07:40
  Um, Italy carries the label of an end
• 1:07:43
  friendly country, as you have said many times,
• 1:07:45
  including in November of 2024, you made a
• 1:07:49
  special point about it.
• 1:07:50
  However, in recent months, the Italian government has
• 1:07:53
  been demonstrating solidarity with the U S even
• 1:07:58
  on the Ukrainian topic.
• 1:08:00
  While Vladimir Putin used the word partner to
• 1:08:04
  refer to the United States, even if he
• 1:08:08
  did not go as far as to call
• 1:08:10
  the U S an ally, considering the appointment
• 1:08:14
  of a new ambassador to Moscow, there are
• 1:08:18
  reasons to believe that Rome is seeking some
• 1:08:21
  kind of evenness.
• 1:08:24
  How would you assess the level of our,
• 1:08:27
  meaning Italy and Russia bilateral relationships?
• 1:08:31
  Here's Lavrov for Russia.
• 1:08:34
  There are no unfriendly nations or people, but
• 1:08:38
  there are countries with unfriendly governments.
• 1:08:41
  And since this is the case for Rome,
• 1:08:43
  the relations between Russia and Italy are going
• 1:08:46
  through a serious crisis in post-war history.
• 1:08:50
  We are not the ones who got that
• 1:08:52
  ball rolling, the ease and swiftness, which with
• 1:08:55
  Italy joined those who placed their bets on
• 1:08:58
  inflicting what they call a strategic defeat of
• 1:09:01
  Russia.
• 1:09:02
  And the fact that Italy's actions run counter
• 1:09:06
  to its own national interests really surprises us.
• 1:09:11
  So far we have not seen any meaningful
• 1:09:13
  move to change this aggressive approach.
• 1:09:17
  Rome persists in providing it's all around support
• 1:09:20
  to neo-Nazis in Kiev.
• 1:09:22
  It's resolute effort to sever all cultural ties
• 1:09:27
  and civil society context is equally perplexing.
• 1:09:32
  Italian authorities have been canceling performances by outstanding
• 1:09:36
  Russian orchestra conductors and opera singers and have
• 1:09:40
  been refusing to authorize the Verona dialogue on
• 1:09:44
  Eurasian cooperation for several years.
• 1:09:47
  Despite the fact that it was established in
• 1:09:50
  Italy, Italians have a reputation of art lovers
• 1:09:54
  who are open to promoting people to people
• 1:09:57
  ties.
• 1:09:58
  But these actions are quite unnatural for Italy
• 1:10:02
  itself.
• 1:10:03
  At the same time, there are quite a
• 1:10:05
  few people in Italy who are seeking to
• 1:10:08
  get to the bottom of what is causing
• 1:10:10
  the Ukrainian tragedy.
• 1:10:12
  For example, Alessio Bertolasi, a prominent Italian civil
• 1:10:17
  activist presented documentary evidence of the way in
• 1:10:21
  which authorities in Kiev have been violating international
• 1:10:25
  law in his book, The Conflict in Ukraine
• 1:10:28
  Through the Eyes of an Italian Journalist.
• 1:10:31
  I would like to recommend that you read
• 1:10:33
  this book.
• 1:10:34
  In fact, finding truth about Ukraine in Europe
• 1:10:38
  is a quite daunting task these days.
• 1:10:42
  The people of Russia and Italy stand to
• 1:10:44
  benefit from equal and mutually beneficial cooperation between
• 1:10:49
  our two countries.
• 1:10:51
  If Rome is ready to move toward restoring
• 1:10:53
  dialogue based on mutual trust and taking into
• 1:10:57
  consideration each other's interests, they should send us
• 1:11:01
  a signal since we are always ready to
• 1:11:04
  hear what you have to say, including your
• 1:11:08
  ambassador to Russia.
• 1:11:09
  And those are all of the questions that
• 1:11:13
  were asked of him and all of his
• 1:11:15
  answers.
• 1:11:16
  And, uh, they didn't, um, they didn't want
• 1:11:22
  to publish them.
• 1:11:23
  Are those that fearful?
• 1:11:24
  Seriously?
• 1:11:25
  There's no, how are you going to call
• 1:11:28
  that just straight up propaganda?
• 1:11:31
  I don't believe it is.
• 1:11:32
  And so, um, there was another story right
• 1:11:35
  on this side from a guy named foreign
• 1:11:37
  minister Antonio Tajani for Italy.
• 1:11:40
  And he said, well, the story, and I'll
• 1:11:43
  get to some of the things he said
• 1:11:45
  in that story.
• 1:11:46
  Putin is not interested in igniting a global
• 1:11:50
  conflict or world war three said Italian foreign
• 1:11:54
  minister Antonio Tajani on Sunday.
• 1:11:59
  And he replied to claims that Moscow could
• 1:12:02
  send drones against, uh, the EU nation.
• 1:12:06
  Ukraine's Zelensky claims that Russia will target Italy
• 1:12:10
  or other European nations.
• 1:12:13
  This month, Poland and Estonia also accused Moscow
• 1:12:16
  of such things.
• 1:12:18
  And Tajani said in a speech in Italy,
• 1:12:21
  I don't think Putin wants to start world
• 1:12:24
  war three.
• 1:12:25
  So I want to reassure all Italians.
• 1:12:28
  He does not want to send drones to
• 1:12:30
  swarm us either.
• 1:12:32
  Isn't that crazy?
• 1:12:35
  Um, what else did he say?
• 1:12:36
  If they are the ones we're thinking of,
• 1:12:39
  let's see, according to Lavrov, the drones found,
• 1:12:43
  uh, we've already heard that story, but the,
• 1:12:45
  the drones on, on there, um, let's see,
• 1:12:50
  did you hear this story?
• 1:12:53
  This one came out today.
• 1:12:55
  Colombian leader, Gustavo Petro says that the U
• 1:12:59
  S president's actions are not to stop drug
• 1:13:03
  traffickers.
• 1:13:05
  And he calls Trump a barbarian ready.
• 1:13:09
  Colombian president Gustavo Petro denounces the U S
• 1:13:14
  strikes on alleged cartel vessels in the Caribbean
• 1:13:17
  sea, just as the Pentagon announces new operation
• 1:13:22
  to allegedly fight drug traffickers.
• 1:13:25
  In an interview with NBC, Petro did not
• 1:13:29
  mince words.
• 1:13:30
  He said, Trump is a barbarian.
• 1:13:33
  He wants to frighten us.
• 1:13:36
  Uh, but the Colombian president did not rule
• 1:13:39
  out that some of the vessels hit by
• 1:13:41
  strikes were linked to cartel maybe, or maybe
• 1:13:44
  not.
• 1:13:45
  We do not know.
• 1:13:46
  He said, and added that according to due
• 1:13:49
  process and the civilized treatment of people, the
• 1:13:54
  boat should be seized and detained.
• 1:13:57
  That's the common belief.
• 1:14:00
  Petro described the victims as poor boatman hired
• 1:14:04
  by cartel tells when one of those missiles
• 1:14:07
  arrives, it kills the boatman.
• 1:14:09
  It doesn't kill the drug trafficker.
• 1:14:11
  He says, he previously said that some of
• 1:14:15
  the victims are ordinary fishermen, not involved in
• 1:14:19
  organized crime.
• 1:14:21
  The U S imposed sanctions on Petro last
• 1:14:24
  month because Trump labeled him a drug leader,
• 1:14:28
  Columbia restricted intelligence sharing with the U S
• 1:14:32
  this week, although interior minister Armando Benedetti later
• 1:14:37
  clarified that Bogota will continue to cooperate with
• 1:14:40
  U S federal agencies, including the drug enforcement
• 1:14:43
  agency and the FBI.
• 1:14:45
  The U S has hit at least 20
• 1:14:47
  boats since September killing 80 people.
• 1:14:52
  Pete Hegg says, I don't want to call
• 1:14:55
  him secretary of war.
• 1:14:56
  I think that's BS.
• 1:14:57
  But, um, he announced Thursday the launch of
• 1:15:00
  operations Southern spear against narco terrorists in the
• 1:15:05
  region.
• 1:15:06
  CNN reports that as part of that operation,
• 1:15:10
  Trump has been briefed on targeted option or
• 1:15:14
  target options in Venezuela, who he, uh, also
• 1:15:19
  accuses of having a president that is, uh,
• 1:15:22
  that is helping cartels smuggle drugs to the
• 1:15:25
  U S.
• 1:15:25
  So we blow up fishermen, right?
• 1:15:28
  That's the way we do it in America.
• 1:15:32
  We just blow you up and then, uh,
• 1:15:36
  you know, complain that you're the guilty one.
• 1:15:38
  You should be blown up.
• 1:15:39
  This is not the way to run a
• 1:15:42
  railroad friends and neighbors.
• 1:15:44
  That's, that's the opinion of Sam.
• 1:15:48
  The opinion of Sam, let's see the poll,
• 1:15:55
  uh, Polish are allegedly a threat to Germany
• 1:15:58
  says their opposition leader.
• 1:15:59
  Um, where else, where else are we going?
• 1:16:05
  Um, Lavrov complains that Selenski is, uh, awarding
• 1:16:13
  medals to Nazis.
• 1:16:15
  Uh, we already read about that one.
• 1:16:19
  The censored interview, Russia will fight as long
• 1:16:24
  as it takes according to Peskov.
• 1:16:29
  Um, and where are my news?
• 1:16:34
  Here we go.
• 1:16:37
  I wanted to talk about where we are
• 1:16:39
  in the, um, collapse of the front Western
• 1:16:44
  delusions and how the war really ends, you
• 1:16:49
  know, um, nobody in Washington or in the
• 1:16:52
  Western media is willing to walk anybody through
• 1:16:56
  the realities of the front lines.
• 1:16:58
  And just today in Pokrovsk, Myrnograd, Kupyansk, Kulia,
• 1:17:04
  Polia, Zaporizhia, and, uh, you know, Dnipro the
• 1:17:08
  creeping approach to the Dnipro river.
• 1:17:10
  This is some pretty big stuff.
• 1:17:13
  And there's a Ukrainian insider accounts like Alexey
• 1:17:16
  Rastovich guy who I like to listen to.
• 1:17:18
  Although I don't necessarily believe everything he has
• 1:17:21
  to say.
• 1:17:21
  US military analysts like, uh, Daniel Davis, Larry
• 1:17:26
  Johnson, who are finally saying the math, you
• 1:17:30
  know, or given us the real math and
• 1:17:32
  then the map.
• 1:17:33
  All you gotta do is watch the map.
• 1:17:36
  What did, what did we say here just
• 1:17:37
  a few minutes ago about the, uh, amount
• 1:17:42
  of bodies turned over by the Russians, 9
• 1:17:44
  ,000 to about 145.
• 1:17:47
  That's because the Russians are advancing.
• 1:17:50
  So let's, uh, let's have a look at
• 1:17:54
  Pokrovsk, Myrnograd and the Donbass wall.
• 1:17:57
  Right?
• 1:17:58
  So right now it's very, very foggy time
• 1:18:01
  of year in Donbass and in that fog,
• 1:18:04
  according to Ukrainian, um, MP, Mariana Bezulia, not
• 1:18:11
  Russian propaganda, by the way, there are 350
• 1:18:15
  Russian soldiers inside of Pokrovsk.
• 1:18:19
  Erastovich jokes about that saying, I mean, nobody
• 1:18:23
  really knows.
• 1:18:23
  I think it's far more than that, but
• 1:18:25
  he goes, all right, let's say it's 351.
• 1:18:29
  Maybe they miscounted in all of the fog.
• 1:18:33
  That's what, uh, what's his name?
• 1:18:36
  Um, Erastovich said, but this point is pretty
• 1:18:39
  damn serious.
• 1:18:40
  Russian infantry is in the city, not approaching
• 1:18:44
  somewhere in the region.
• 1:18:46
  At the same time, Ukrainian social media is
• 1:18:49
  screaming about encirclement of Gulyapolian talking about bypassing
• 1:18:56
  the long advertised defensive lines in South Parisia.
• 1:19:00
  The official Ukrainian channels finally have done something
• 1:19:05
  quite unusual.
• 1:19:06
  They admit that Ukrainian forces are withdrawing from
• 1:19:12
  Uspinovka and that the situation there is difficult.
• 1:19:17
  Erastovich sums up moments like this, you know,
• 1:19:20
  I'll paraphrase it in what he says.
• 1:19:23
  Events are developing so fast and so catastrophically
• 1:19:27
  that the military office decided to get ahead
• 1:19:32
  of it.
• 1:19:33
  They have given the command to play the
• 1:19:36
  harsh truth now because they can use it
• 1:19:39
  to their own advantage.
• 1:19:42
  Look how bad the front is and you
• 1:19:44
  want to have protests in the street.
• 1:19:46
  You're helping Moscow.
• 1:19:49
  In other words, they'll tell part of the
• 1:19:51
  truth but only as a weapon against their
• 1:19:54
  own population.
• 1:19:57
  That's Erastovich and he's as Ukrainian as they
• 1:20:00
  get, right?
• 1:20:02
  Let's talk about the trap that's been going
• 1:20:05
  on for some time in Pokrovsk where Putin
• 1:20:09
  said they were encircled there to the tune
• 1:20:12
  of four to 5,000 soldiers.
• 1:20:16
  But according to Erastovich, the media and political
• 1:20:19
  attention is pinned and looking at Pokrovsk and
• 1:20:23
  Dobropillia, the new fortress of Pokrovsk is pumping
• 1:20:28
  it up for PR.
• 1:20:30
  Russian generals are doing something pretty old school
• 1:20:34
  and quite effective.
• 1:20:35
  And this is, again, is according to Erastovich.
• 1:20:38
  The generals are inflating the symbolic importance of
• 1:20:47
  Pokrovsk.
• 1:20:47
  Putin himself publicly says the city is already
• 1:20:51
  taken and he invited foreign journalists to come
• 1:20:55
  and check it out.
• 1:20:56
  So Ukrainian experts and Ukrainian bloggers mock him.
• 1:21:01
  Huh?
• 1:21:02
  Look, Putin miscalculated will prove that Pokrovsk is
• 1:21:06
  still ours.
• 1:21:08
  So Kiev addicted to the PR and terrified
• 1:21:10
  of losing face to the West throws its
• 1:21:13
  last usable reserves to Pokrovsk to humiliate Putin
• 1:21:17
  and show a Ukrainian flag there.
• 1:21:21
  Hmm.
• 1:21:22
  While those reserves are being swallowed up in
• 1:21:25
  semi encirclement under Russian fire, the Russians hit
• 1:21:29
  everywhere else.
• 1:21:30
  Zaporizhia front from South to North, Nipro center
• 1:21:34
  section to threaten the rear of Guliapolya groupings
• 1:21:38
  and a 25 kilometer wide breach in Kharkov.
• 1:21:43
  Those are all true and actual and reported
• 1:21:46
  in Ukraine, but nowhere else in the West.
• 1:21:50
  So the image Erastovich uses is pretty, pretty
• 1:21:54
  brutal.
• 1:21:55
  It's like water undermining a wall, he says.
• 1:22:00
  First the wall gets damp, then droplets appear
• 1:22:03
  on the other side, then little rivulets and
• 1:22:07
  finally the wall collapses under a flood.
• 1:22:11
  So Pokrovsk is not yet the flood, but
• 1:22:13
  you are seeing it as a lot of
• 1:22:15
  visible cracks.
• 1:22:17
  The flood is the overall erosion of the
• 1:22:19
  Ukrainian defense from Donbass to Zaporizhia at a
• 1:22:24
  time when Kiev has no real reserves left.
• 1:22:28
  He even points out that when Kiev pulled
• 1:22:31
  elite units like Azov brigades from the Serebryanka
• 1:22:34
  forest to plug holes at Turetsk and then
• 1:22:37
  at Dobropolia, the Russians immediately pushed near Lyman
• 1:22:41
  north of there because the sector immediately went
• 1:22:44
  quite thin.
• 1:22:45
  So what does he conclude?
• 1:22:47
  Without 100 to 150,000 fresh trained, supplied
• 1:22:52
  and competent reserves, you cannot solve Pokrovsk or
• 1:22:57
  Mirnograd because those reserves do not exist.
• 1:23:02
  There's a mirage of a counter offensive near
• 1:23:04
  Mirnograd.
• 1:23:05
  You'll hear Ukrainian outlets that a counter offensive
• 1:23:08
  is coming near Rodinsk and Novy Ashokov advancing
• 1:23:12
  three kilometers here, pushing Russian back there.
• 1:23:16
  The Kiev is calling it a counter attack,
• 1:23:20
  but Russian bloggers and military mappers call it
• 1:23:24
  a minor setback, little tiny one.
• 1:23:28
  So Rastovich himself cuts through the spin.
• 1:23:31
  He says these are local counter attacks and
• 1:23:35
  not real counter offensive.
• 1:23:37
  They might slow things down or straighten a
• 1:23:40
  small line, but Mirnograd cannot be held without
• 1:23:44
  major reserves.
• 1:23:46
  Those reserves have already burned in Kursk and
• 1:23:49
  Sumy escapades in Dobropolia and an earlier PR
• 1:23:54
  driven, uh, heroics.
• 1:23:56
  Flatly, he says there is no imminent collapse
• 1:24:00
  with tanks driving through 50 kilometer holes, but
• 1:24:03
  the sum of the decisions and the logic
• 1:24:05
  of how they fight all point to one
• 1:24:08
  clear outcome.
• 1:24:10
  The front will crumble after the reserves are
• 1:24:13
  exhausted and that is the key.
• 1:24:16
  Pokrovsk is already operationally doomed.
• 1:24:19
  Everybody sees it.
• 1:24:21
  The question is not, will they be able
• 1:24:23
  to save it?
• 1:24:24
  The question is how many brigades will they
• 1:24:27
  leave to die in the cauldron for the
• 1:24:30
  sake of PR?
• 1:24:32
  And that brings us to the big, big
• 1:24:34
  ugly truth that no one in the West
• 1:24:37
  will say.
• 1:24:38
  You can't simultaneously fight a skilled, well supplied
• 1:24:42
  Russian army and run your war as a
• 1:24:47
  social media campaign without paying for it in
• 1:24:50
  the men in the ground and in eventually
• 1:24:54
  the state itself.
• 1:24:57
  The math, what's the math of defeat?
• 1:24:59
  You know, we haven't talked about the math
• 1:25:01
  in a while, but let's talk about the
• 1:25:03
  math in numbers.
• 1:25:05
  The part of the war that doesn't care
• 1:25:07
  about slogans, right?
• 1:25:09
  And Erastovich gives us some brutally simple numbers.
• 1:25:15
  All Ukrainian defense forces, including police, border guard,
• 1:25:19
  national guard total about 1.2 million of
• 1:25:23
  those around 800,000 are armed forces.
• 1:25:26
  100,000 national guard, 70,000 border troops.
• 1:25:30
  Let's call it a million folks in uniform.
• 1:25:33
  Roughly every third one has a criminal case
• 1:25:37
  opened for draft evasion or related offensive.
• 1:25:40
  They've said that number could be as high
• 1:25:42
  as 400,000, right?
• 1:25:45
  Then he does operational math based on that
• 1:25:48
  of the entire thousand plus kilometer front.
• 1:25:52
  There are maybe 250,000 Ukrainian troops inside
• 1:25:56
  line units fighting units and they are losing
• 1:26:00
  at least 10,000 a month dead wounded
• 1:26:04
  missing.
• 1:26:05
  And his conservative estimate, once you factor in
• 1:26:09
  support, troop logistics, staff training units, rear services,
• 1:26:13
  you end up maybe 150,000 total soldiers
• 1:26:18
  holding a 1000 kilometer front.
• 1:26:21
  So that means on one kilometer front you
• 1:26:25
  have three to six Ukrainian soldiers maybe less.
• 1:26:30
  That's according to him.
• 1:26:31
  Now flip the map and according to him,
• 1:26:34
  Russian grouping inside Ukraine, Russian military uniformed in
• 1:26:40
  Ukraine are over 700,000.
• 1:26:44
  So even if only 200 to 250,000
• 1:26:48
  are in active combat units, that is still
• 1:26:50
  a massive advantage and it allows Russia to
• 1:26:55
  operate at a five to one superiority where
• 1:26:59
  it wants to be, which is Pokrovsk-Kupyansk
• 1:27:02
  -Zaporizhia.
• 1:27:03
  Now overlay that with what Larry Johnson and
• 1:27:06
  Colonel Daniel Davis are seeing from the US.
• 1:27:09
  Johnson says it took him a couple of
• 1:27:11
  years to see it clearly, but he said
• 1:27:13
  Russia did one partial mobilization early in the
• 1:27:16
  war and has quietly built up its forces
• 1:27:18
  through volunteers, conscripts and contracts.
• 1:27:21
  Everywhere you go, there are billboards over there
• 1:27:23
  that give you 8 million rubles, approximately, what
• 1:27:29
  is that?
• 1:27:29
  $10,000.
• 1:27:31
  I'm sorry, $100,000 overtime to to be
• 1:27:36
  a soldier over there, right?
• 1:27:37
  And because they actually train these soldiers for
• 1:27:40
  three to six months before pushing them to
• 1:27:42
  the front, it took until 2025 for Russia
• 1:27:45
  to reach the strength needed for its large
• 1:27:47
  operations, large scale that it's running right now.
• 1:27:50
  Russia is running nine separate offensive operations along
• 1:27:55
  a 1300 kilometer line of contact.
• 1:27:59
  Nine operations.
• 1:28:01
  While Ukraine is scraping together platoons size, that's
• 1:28:05
  it.
• 1:28:06
  Johnson and Davis estimate that Ukraine is losing
• 1:28:09
  40,000 troops a month.
• 1:28:13
  Killed, wounded, captured.
• 1:28:15
  That means a half a million casualties in
• 1:28:18
  a year.
• 1:28:19
  There's a lot of people saying that they've
• 1:28:21
  lost 1.5 million soldiers.
• 1:28:23
  So Russia has created an entire branch of
• 1:28:26
  service just for drones.
• 1:28:28
  They're deploying AI driven drones that operate autonomously
• 1:28:32
  using fiber optic FPV drones.
• 1:28:36
  And in recent months they have shifted to
• 1:28:38
  hunting Ukrainian drone operators themselves as priority targets.
• 1:28:43
  So Johnson sums it up as David devastating
• 1:28:46
  for NATO mythology.
• 1:28:47
  There isn't one single area of weapons development
• 1:28:51
  or technology where the West has an advantage
• 1:28:55
  over Russia.
• 1:28:56
  Now not one.
• 1:28:58
  The reality is Ukraine 150,000 troops trying
• 1:29:02
  to hold a thousand kilometers bleeding 10 to
• 1:29:05
  40,000 per month, limited training, exhausted officers,
• 1:29:09
  zero rotation and a political leadership that does
• 1:29:13
  not reduce the front line.
• 1:29:16
  Russia, 700,000 troops in theater, nine offenses
• 1:29:20
  at once, industrial ramp up drone Corps, and
• 1:29:23
  no need to declare full national mobilization.
• 1:29:28
  Those are the numbers.
• 1:29:29
  You can't win at these numbers.
• 1:29:32
  My name is Samuel trap.
• 1:29:34
  This is international flavor.
• 1:29:35
  Glad you've been here tonight.
• 1:29:37
  Won't be here again until Sunday, 9 PM.
• 1:29:40
  Glad to have you love to see you
• 1:29:43
  again on Sunday and Sunday through Thursday, nine
• 1:29:46
  to 10 30.
• 1:29:48
  You have a very good night.
• 1:29:50
  See you soon.
• 1:29:53
  Damn radio.