NATO members to postpone spending hike – Reuters
NATO members have agreed to delay the timeline for raising defense spending to the level sought by US President Donald Trump due to Spain’s opposition, Reuters reported on Monday.
Mark Rutte, secretary general of the US-led military bloc, had aimed to secure approval this week for a declaration increasing the defense spending target from the current 2% of GDP to 3.5%, with an additional 1.5% allocated to broader security initiatives, such as bridge renovations to support troop movements.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, Reuters said the draft deadline was pushed back from 2032 to 2035, and the wording was changed from “we commit” to “allies commit,” after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez publicly declined to endorse the proposal.
Spain is among the NATO members not currently meeting the 2% threshold. On Sunday afternoon, Sanchez announced that Spain would not adhere to the bloc’s new objectives and instead would raise military spending to 2.1% of GDP – “nothing more, nothing less.”
“We fully respect the legitimate desire of other countries to increase their defense investment but we won’t do it,” Sanchez said on national television. The remarks were reportedly made after amendments to the draft declaration had been finalized.
Trump on Friday criticized Spain as “notorious” for failing to meet NATO’s existing targets and argued that the US, unlike other members, should not be required to hit the 5% mark due to its historically high defense expenditures.
Politico reported that the agenda for the NATO leaders summit in The Hague, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, had been modified to reduce the focus on Ukraine. Vladimir Zelensky was reportedly invited only to a welcome dinner, which he may skip, the outlet noted.
On Saturday, Zelensky called on Western nations to pledge 0.25% of their GDP to supporting Ukraine’s arms industry.
Last week, Trump departed the G7 summit in Canada ahead of schedule, missing a session attended by the Ukrainian leader. No joint G7 statement on the conflict between Kiev and Moscow was issued.
NATO maintains that rising defense budgets are a response to threats posed by Russia – a claim Moscow has rejected as fearmongering intended to silence public criticism over future declines in living standards caused by military spending.
Remember, the real purpose of NATO is to act as the storefront for Western War Industries.
If NATO wanted to be useful, it could lead the War Industry into retooling to make something useful besides methods of killing people.
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Jar of tomatoes saves Ukrainian man from forced mobilization
A Ukrainian man reportedly managed to escape forced conscription in the city of Lutsk after neighbors hurled a jar of pickled tomatoes from a nearby building at military recruiters, according to a new video highlighting Kiev’s increasingly harsh mobilization efforts.
It is unclear when the video was filmed, but it is the latest in a wave of viral clips showing public resistance to military draft efforts across Ukraine.
The footage circulated on Ukrainian and Russian Telegram channels on Sunday, showing a barefoot man resisting four local draft officers from Ukraine’s Territorial Centers of Recruitment and Social Support (TCR) as they attempted to push him into a minivan.
“Please take a picture of me. My name is Denis Tkachuk, born in 1997,” the man can be heard shouting while clinging to the open door.
Moments later, a glass jar – apparently filled with pickled tomatoes – flies from above and shatters beside him, prompting the person filming to yell at the officers: “Let him go already.”
“They want to kill me – that’s why they feel embarrassed,” the struggling man screams. He eventually manages to break free and run off, while the draft officers appear to abandon the effort and drive away.
The incident comes amid rising frustration over Kiev’s mobilization campaign, which intensified after Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky signed a new draft law lowering the enlistment age and tightening enforcement.
According to lawmaker Roman Kostenko, fewer than one in four recruits enlist voluntarily, with most entering service through what he described as “brutal compulsory conscription.” Another Ukrainian MP, Yury Kamelchuk, said conscription officers are under orders to bring in 12 new recruits per day and are using aggressive tactics to meet quotas, including luring food couriers with fake delivery requests.
Videos have repeatedly surfaced online showing Ukrainian officials using force to detain men in public areas, in what has become known locally as “busification” – a term which refers to the forcible loading of recruits into unmarked vans.
Moscow has accused Kiev of waging a war “to the last Ukrainian” against Russia on behalf of Western nations, with President Vladimir Putin saying that Ukraine’s recruitment officers are grabbing people “like dogs on the street.”
I'm pretty sure this is all bluster. The problem with bluster is that there are always fools trying to make it happen.
Russia: Other nations ready to supply Iran with nukes after U.S. strike
Gen. Dan Caine said at a Pentagon press conference Sunday that measuring the damage at the sites would take time but that an initial assessment indicates that all three sites sustained "severe damage and destruction." He revealed that the mission involved 75 precision-guided munitions, including 14 GBU-57 bunker-busters.
"Do you remember that the operation was beginning, I promised you that Iran's nuclear facilities would be destroyed, one way or another. This promise is kept," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on social media, revealing that the strike was carried out by the United States in "full coordination" with the Israeli Defense Forces.
While Israeli and American authorities have indicated major damage at Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan, Iranian and Russian authorities have indicated only minor damage to Iran's capabilities for nuclear enrichment.
Related
"What have the Americans accomplished with their nighttime strikes on three nuclear sites in Iran?" Medvedev questioned in a post on social media. "The enrichment of nuclear material -- and, now we can say it outright, the future production of nuclear weapons -- will continue. A number of countries are ready to directly supply Iran with their own nuclear warheads."
Medvedev said Iran's political leadership has survived despite Israel's apparent pursuit of a regime change and may have "come out even stronger."
Like Russia, Iran ally Pakistan is armed with nuclear weapons but said Thursday that it had not yet received requests for any military assistance from Iran while expressing alignment with its neighbor. It has since condemned the U.S. attack on Iran.
"The unprecedented escalation of tension and violence, owing to ongoing aggression against Iran, is deeply disturbing. Any further escalation of tensions will have severely damaging implications for the region and beyond," Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Sunday.
Sa'eed Iravani, Iran's ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations in New York, has called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council, Iranian state media reported Sunday. Iran is calling for the Security Council to rebuke the United States, which is a permanent member of the UNSC.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also released a statement condemning the strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, calling them a violation of international law and the United Nations charter. It called the attack a "substantial blow to the global non-proliferation regime built around the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons."
Surely the NPA did not allow Iran to build a nuclear bomb as it constantly threatens the existence of Israel?
Was there ever any evidence that Iran was using nuclear research for peaceful means?
"They have significantly undermined both the credibility of the NPT and the integrity of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) monitoring and verification mechanisms that underpin it," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The IAEA was never permitted by Iran to inspect military nuclear research sites.
China's Foreign Ministry likewise said the United States had violated the U.N. charter and international law as it called for Israel to reach a ceasefire "as soon as possible."
"China stands ready to work with the international community to pool efforts together and uphold justice, and work for restoring peace and stability in the Middle East.
Restoring peace? What peace? And Stability? while Iran goes nuclear.
A Telegram account affiliated with the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps said Sunday that satellite images show Iran had evacuated everything from the Fordow site 48 hours before the US attack and moved it to a safe location.
"This image shows a large number of trucks that had quickly evacuated enrichment materials, equipment and other supplies from the Fordow site," the post reads. "It is clear that Trump's failed and dramatic attack not only did not damage the underground Fordow facilities, but the site was empty."
Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director-general of the IAEA, said Sunday he will call an emergency meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors on Monday after the American strike. He said Iranian nuclear officials had not recorded an increase in off-site radiation levels.
"As of this time, we don't expect that there will be any health consequences for people or the environment outside the targeted sites," Grossi said. "We will continue to monitor and assess the situation in Iran and provide further updates as additional information becomes available."
In apparent criticism of the United States, Grossi said he had "repeatedly stated that nuclear facilities should never be attacked." He called for Israel and the U.S. to stop their "hostilities" against Iran so that the IAEA's "vital inspection work" in Iran could continue.
Meanwhile, the IRGC-affiliated Telegram channel said Sunday that Iran struck Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, as well as a biological research center that reportedly housed research into biological warfare, among other military targets.
"This time, sirens sounded after the precise hits, throwing the enemy off balance," the statement said. "We announce that the main parts of the capacity of the Islamic Republic of Iran's armed forces in this sacred defense have not yet been put into operation."
Meanwhile, Israel's war against Gaza continues. The Gaza Health Ministry said Sunday that the death toll has risen to 55,959 people while medical facilities are facing blood shortages.
The WAFA news agency reported Sunday that Israeli forces reportedly detained at least 26 Palestinians in the West Bank on Sunday after conducting overnight raids.
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