‘More Disgusting, More Vile’: Palestinian Hostage Shot Dead After Delivering Message by IDF - Report

©AP Photo/Fatima Shbair

Negotiations over a possible cease-fire in Gaza appear to have come to a standstill, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue military attacks in Palestine. The death toll in Gaza has climbed to over 28,000 since October 7, the Gaza Health Ministry has said.

A recent report from the Middle East Eye on Tuesday shows that Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian hostage, whom they had sent into al-Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis to warn others to evacuate. Footage that was shared online shows the man wearing protective clothing with his hands zip tied together. According to video testimony by Palestinian journalist Mohammaed Akram al-Helo, the man was detained and arrested in the hospital before he was sent back with his message from Israeli forces. After delivering his message and following Israeli orders he was shot three times in cold blood, says the journalist. James Carey, the host of the Left is Dead podcast, said that this recent report shows that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) fear any form of Israeli opposition.

James Carey, the host of the Left is Dead podcast, said that this recent report shows that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) fear any form of Israeli opposition. “These stories continue to get more disgusting and just more vile, and I think that the atrophy of the IDF, its inability, and its fear of Israel opposition is really on display here as they're using the same tactics they decry Hamas for, whether it's human shields or, you know, the arrests of thousands of Palestinian children that we've discussed in the past,” said Carey, most likely referencing a report from two months ago that revealed Israel had inflated the death tolls of Israelis killed by Hamas, including the ages of those killed.

“As you know, they inflate these stories of children killed on October 7th or anything like that. And we find out later they're false. And they killed their own hostages trying to go into Gaza to supposedly save them. I think that the real, the projection coming off the IDF is just so strong at this point that if you can't see that this is exactly what they're about, you have to be intentionally missing it,” he added.

During the interview, Sputnik’s Garland Nixon noted that the Palestinian civilian was viewed by the IDF as “just another Palestinian”. This thought echoes statements made by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, he suggested. It was reported by the Middle East Eye that during a cabinet meeting, Ben-Gvir demanded the military shoot women and children in Gaza if they come near the Israeli border. “Yeah, I think that's what makes this so disgusting. Because after the man is told to warn everyone in the hospital to evacuate, what do they do but start shooting people in the entryway of the hospital, at the gates of the hospital,” said Carey.

Sputnik’s Wilmer Leon also suggested that the Palestinians who were told to evacuate the hospital appeared to have been told to move into a particular direction or space so that they could be more easily killed, in a way that could be compared to herd culling. “They just told them to essentially line up targets for them. And I think that you see this sort of it's a disgusting analog, but you see this sort of disgusting analog to say some of the horrible crimes of World War II, this sort of corralling and penning of people. And I think that you see this a lot in Palestine and obviously all of Gaza," Carey continued.

“Gaza is a pen, this is what it was made for and I think that the fact is that the Israeli military seems pretty cowardly. They seem pretty inept, in my opinion, and I think that this is pretty standard order for them. They just want to line up targets. And as you said, any Palestinian is a Palestinian. Therefore their life is not as valuable as an Israeli. I think that people can't see how these crimes sort of repeat genocides of the past is really baffling to me, because it's so obvious that there's just no regard for civilian life, in this case.”

Per one report, the al-Nasser hospital has been a lifeline for displaced Palestinians and an estimated 10,000 people are believed to be sheltering there. The young man, Abu Al-Ola, who had passed on the evacuation order was reportedly begged to not return to Israeli soldiers afterward by his own mother.

'Al-Ola reportedly protested and explained that he had to return to Israeli soldiers after having been beaten, abused and threatened by them. He had also been told that if he did not leave the hospital doing so would “put all the civilians in danger”. Al-Ola was then shot three times in the chest and abdomen while still inside the gates of the hospital. And despite the IDF telling displaced Palestinians where to exit the hospital in a “secure way” they still shot three of those evacuating under their orders'.

The Israeli military has claimed that Hamas is using the hospital for military operations, but medical staff have repeatedly denied the allegations.

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Bombshell New Report Obama CIA Colluded with Foreign Powers in Massive Spy Op Against Trump

New reporting suggests the lengths the US deep state went to to undermine former US President Donald Trump.

Since 2016, Democratic Party officials have accused former US President Donald Trump of illegally colluding with the Russian government as part of the discredited “Russiagate” narrative. Now, it appears such claims may represent a case of projection on the part of Trump’s critics.

That’s the takeaway from a bombshell report by “Twitter Files” journalists Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger this week that suggests that CIA officials under former US President Barack Obama worked through English-speaking intelligence partners to spy on Trump’s presidential campaign.

WMD, Part II: CIA "Cooked The Intelligence" To Hide That Russia Favored Clinton, Not Trump In 2016https://t.co/sTUGiGdsRx

Russia didn't fear Hillary Clinton. “It was a relationship they were comfortable with,” some CIA analysts believed, but intelligence was suppressed. On the… pic.twitter.com/pE87LwE5vr

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) February 15, 2024

The report alleges that the CIA under intelligence chief John Brennan worked with Five Eyes intelligence partners to circumvent legal restrictions against domestic spying by the agency. Five Eyes is an alliance of intelligence agencies in the United States, the UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

Brennan’s CIA allegedly colluded with these foreign intelligence agencies to conduct surveillance on the Trump campaign. The spy agency also reportedly targeted prominent people associated with the campaign, operating from a list of 26 figures that intelligence assets could attempt to extract information from.

Attorney Steve Gill and analyst Daniel McAdams joined Sputnik’s Fault Lines program on Thursday to discuss the shocking revelations.

"It's now becoming clear that despite all the claims that Trump didn't know what he was talking about when he said that his campaign operatives were being spied on by the federal government – they were,” noted Gill.

“It is deplorable that we have a federal government that is spying on our citizens, not because of a legitimate national security interest, but because the deep state is trying to protect their interests rather than the interests of fair and free elections,” he added. “You know, they're targeting their political opponent. This is the stuff that you see in third-world countries and allegedly in Russia, and it is despicable that it's not getting the backlash from the public and the media that it deserves.”

Host Jamarl Thomas then cut to a clip of a 2020 appearance by Trump on the 60 Minutes television program. “The biggest scandal was when they spied on my campaign,” said Trump to reporter Leslie Stahl. “They spied on my campaign.” An argument then ensued between Trump and Stahl over whether the alleged spying actually took place.

“He was right,” Thomas observed after playing the clip.

“Leslie Stahl should be fired by 60 Minutes today,” said Gill. “All these people that have collected their Emmys and their awards for their journalistic integrity and their successes, including those that denied that the Russia hoax was being pushed by Hillary Clinton… at the very least they should be turning in their awards as they exit their positions of power in the media.”

Daniel McAdams, the executive director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, also commented on the bombshell report during the final hour of the program Thursday.

“The revelations about the spying on the Trump campaign now that have come out thanks to Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger… [are] astonishing because it tells you that the US was not able to spy on Trump legally [through] the intelligence community,” McAdams said. “So they asked their allies, 'Hey, spy on someone and tell us what's going on.'”

“The one thing about [CIA director] John Brennan is that I wouldn't put anything past him,” he said. “He has such a history of mendacity… I mean, the guy, he's an absolute thug.”

The US Central Intelligence Agency is responsible for a long list of crimes and abuses, including torture, assassinations, human experimentation, sexual abuse, infiltration of the US media, plane hijacking, drug trafficking, terrorism, domestic spying, foreign spying, spying on members of Congress, lying to Congress, human rights violations, recruitment of Nazis, illegal funding of death squads, and political interference and coups in Ukraine, Haiti, El Salvador, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bulgaria, Panama, Nicaragua, Libya, Morocco, Grenada, Angola, Australia, Guatemala, Bolivia, Greece, Chile, Uruguay, Ghana, Indonesia, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Brazil, the Congo, Ecuador, France, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Italy, Syria, Costa Rica, Iran, Albania, Korea, the Philippines, and China, among other countries, according to author William Blum who extensively documented such efforts in his acclaimed and eye-opening book Killing Hope.

Jepang Jatuh Tergelincir dalam Resesi Ekonomi

The Japanese economy contracted at the end of last year, pushing the country into a recession. Credit... Issei Kato/Reuters

Perekonomian Jepang mengalami kontraksi yang tidak terduga karena lemahnya konsumsi domestik, sehingga mendorong negara tersebut ke dalam resesi dan kehilangan posisinya sebagai negara dengan perekonomian terbesar ketiga di dunia setelah Jerman.

Produk domestik bruto (PDB) menyusut pada laju tahunan sebesar 0,4% dalam tiga bulan terakhir tahun 2023, kata Kantor Kabinet pada hari Kamis, setelah mengalami kontraksi tahunan sebesar 3,3% pada kuartal sebelumnya. Resesi biasanya didefinisikan sebagai kontraksi ekonomi selama dua kuartal berturut-turut.

Angka-angka tersebut mengaburkan prospek perekonomian Jepang. Keuntungan perusahaan mencapai rekor tertinggi, pasar saham melonjak dan tingkat pengangguran rendah. Namun belanja konsumen dan investasi bisnis – dua pendorong utama perekonomian – masih tertinggal.

Shinichiro Kobayashi, ekonom utama di Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting, mengatakan perekonomian “terpolarisasi” karena harga yang lebih tinggi. Ketika keuntungan perusahaan melonjak, harga barang juga naik, namun upah tidak bisa mengimbangi dan konsumen enggan berbelanja, katanya.

Pertanyaan besarnya adalah apakah pekerja Jepang dapat memperoleh kenaikan gaji yang berarti pada tahun ini.

“Keputusan ada di tangan sektor korporasi,” kata Kobayashi.

“Keputusan ada di tangan sektor korporasi,” kata Kobayashi. Pertumbuhan negatif selama dua kuartal berturut-turut berarti perekonomian secara teknis berada dalam resesi, namun angka tersebut masih bersifat sementara. Revisi lebih tinggi yang cukup besar bisa menghilangkan label resesi.

Data ekonomi yang lemah juga memperumit keputusan Bank of Japan yang akan datang mengenai apakah akan melanjutkan kenaikan suku bunga pertama negara tersebut sejak tahun 2007.

Bank sentral Jepang dengan keras kepala mempertahankan kebijakan yang dimaksudkan untuk menjaga suku bunga tetap rendah dan memacu pengeluaran – sebuah sisa dari perjuangan jangka panjang untuk memerangi deflasi. Banyak ekonom yang berspekulasi bahwa bank sentral mungkin akan mengubah kebijakannya pada awal bulan April jika perekonomian tampak berada pada pijakan yang lebih kuat.

Jepang baru saja kehilangan mahkotanya sebagai negara dengan perekonomian terbesar ketiga di dunia

Penurunan laju ekonomi Jepang jauh di bawah perkiraan pasar. Ekonom yang disurvei oleh Reuters memperkirakan PDB akan tumbuh sebesar 1,4% secara tahunan pada kuartal ke kuartal pada bulan Oktober hingga Desember.

Data tersebut menegaskan bahwa perekonomian Jepang merupakan negara keempat terbesar di dunia setelah Jerman dalam hal dolar AS pada tahun lalu.

Permintaan domestik sangat lemah. Seluruh kategori permintaan domestik utama, termasuk belanja konsumen, bernilai negatif. Hanya permintaan eksternal, yang berasal dari ekspor barang dan jasa, yang memberikan kontribusi positif.

Konsumsi swasta – yang mencakup separuh perekonomian – turun sebesar 0,9% secara tahunan pada kuartal keempat, karena konsumen Jepang berjuang melawan kenaikan harga makanan, bahan bakar, dan barang-barang lainnya. Ini menandai penurunan ketiga berturut-turut.

Jepang mengimpor 94% kebutuhan energi dasar dan 63% makanannya, sehingga melemahnya yen secara signifikan berkontribusi terhadap biaya hidup yang lebih tinggi, kata Neil Newman, ahli strategi Japanmacro yang berbasis di Tokyo.

Yen telah anjlok 6,6% terhadap dolar AS sejak awal tahun ini, menjadikannya salah satu mata uang dengan kinerja terburuk di antara mata uang yang digunakan oleh negara-negara industri Kelompok 10.

“Konsumsi swasta sangat lemah, [dan] ekspektasi pasar akan tetap datar,” katanya. “Sayangnya hal ini akan bertambah buruk pada bulan Januari setelah gempa Laut Jepang. Orang-orang berhenti berbelanja pada saat terjadi bencana alam.”

Gempa mengguncang Semenanjung Noto di prefektur tengah Ishikawa pada tanggal 1 Januari, meruntuhkan bangunan, memicu kebakaran dan memicu peringatan tsunami hingga ke Rusia bagian timur. Lebih dari 200 orang tewas dan lebih dari 1.000 orang terluka.

Tingkat pengangguran turun ke level terendah dalam sebelas bulan sebesar 2,4% di bulan Desember. Terlebih lagi, survei Tankan yang dilakukan oleh Bank Jepang menunjukkan bahwa kondisi bisnis di semua industri dan ukuran perusahaan berada dalam kondisi terkuat sejak kuartal keempat tahun 2018, kata mereka

Selama kuartal keempat, belanja modal juga turun selama tiga kuartal berturut-turut, turun sebesar 0,3%. Investasi perumahan oleh sektor swasta anjlok sebesar 4%.

Namun permintaan eksternal mendukung pertumbuhan secara keseluruhan. Ekspor melonjak sebesar 11% secara tahunan dibandingkan kuartal sebelumnya, dibantu oleh lemahnya yen. Secara khusus, konsumsi dalam negeri, termasuk belanja wisatawan, meningkat tajam.

Meskipun jatuh ke dalam resesi teknis, pasar Jepang tetap optimis, dengan indeks acuan Nikkei 225 menguat 1,2% dan ditutup di atas level 38.000 untuk pertama kalinya sejak tahun 1990.

Prabowo Dapat Ucapan Selamat dari Pemimpin Negara Tetangga

Capres Nomor Urut 2 Prabowo Subianto menerima ucapan selamat dari sejumlah pemimpin negara sahabat/Ist

Penghitungan suara

Pemilu Pilpres 2024

sumber: kpu.go.id

25.27%

56.87%

17.86%

Data masuk: 49.48% 15-02-2024 06:30 WIB

Beberapa pemimpin negara sahabat menyampaikan ucapan selamat atas kemenangan Capres Nomor Urut 2 Prabowo Subianto. Mereka adalah Perdana Menteri Australia, Perdana Menteri Singapura, Perdana Menteri Malaysia, dan Presiden Sri Lanka.

"Pada pagi hari ini mendapat sambungan telfon berisi ucapan selamat atas hasil pemilu yang masih berlangsung dari beberapa pimpinan negara," tulis Prabowo dalam akun X, dikutip pada hari Jumat, 16/02/2024.

Pada pagi hari ini mendapat sambungan telfon berisi ucapan selamat atas hasil pemilu yang masih berlangsung dari beberapa pimpinan negara,

Perdana Menteri Australia, PM Anthony Albanese
Perdana Menteri Singapore, PM Lee Hsien Loong
Perdana Menteri Malaysia, PM Anwar Ibrahim,… pic.twitter.com/Vb9j6fi9jH

— Prabowo Subianto (@prabowo) February 15, 2024

Pemimpin negara-negara sahabat yang pertama kali menyampaikan selamat kepada Prabowo adalah Perdana Menteri Australia, PM Anthony Albanese; Perdana Menteri Singapura, PM Lee Hsien Loong; Perdana Menteri Malaysia, PM Anwar Ibrahim, dan Presiden Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe.

"Alhamdulillah, kita wajib bersyukur dan terus mengawal hasil resmi KPU," kata Ketua Umum Partai Gerindra itu.

Diketahui, sejumlah lembaga survei memastikan kemenangan Prabowo-Gibran dalam Pilpres 2024 versi quick count atau hitung cepat. Tidak hanya itu, dari laman pemilu2024.kpu.go.id, hasil real count Prabowo-Gibran pun unggul dari paslon lainnya.

Pasangan Prabowo-Gibran masih unggul diikuti paslon Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar berada di posisi dua dan paslon Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD posisi tiga.

15 TPS di Aceh akan Gelar Pencoblosan Ulang

Panitia Pengawas Pemilihan (Panwaslih) Aceh memperkirakan ada 15 TPS di seluruh Aceh yang berpotensi dilakukan pemungutan suara ulang.

Ketua Panwaslih Aceh Agus Syahputra mengatakan, kabupaten/kota yang berpotensi dilakukan pemungutan suara ulang, di antaranya Aceh Barat Daya (Abdya), Nagan Raya, Bener Meriah, Aceh Tenggara, Aceh Singkil, Kota Banda Aceh, Kota Sabang, Aceh Utara, Pidie Jaya, dan Aceh Selatan.

"Iya ini (daerah) yang berpotensi dilakukan pemungutan suara ulang," kata Agus dikutip dari Kantor Berita RMOLAceh, hari Jumat, 16/02/2024.

Agus mengatakan, hingga kini pihaknya baru menerima satu laporan terkait adanya dugaan pelanggaran video kampanye Tim Pemenangan Nasional (TPN) Prabowo-Gibran di Meulaboh, Aceh Barat.

Selain itu, ihwal video dugaan pelanggaran pemilu di Pidie Jaya, dimana seorang warga memasukkan sekantong surat suara ke dalam kotak suara, akan ditangani oleh Panwaslih setempat.

"Karena locusnya di sana (Pidie Jaya)," kata Agus.

Disamping itu, Agus juga mengimbau petugas Panwaslih kabupaten/kota hingga desa tetap melakukan pengawasan melekat terhadap seluruh proses pemilu hingga selesai.

"Kita imbau mereka menjaga semangat dan kesehatan dan taat pada aturan perundang-undangan," demikian Agus

KPU Semarang tanggapi surat suara ditempel gambar palu arit

Penghitungan suara

Pemilu Pilpres 2024

sumber: kpu.go.id

25.27%

56.87%

17.86%

Data masuk: 49.48% 15-02-2024 06:30 WIB

Ketua Komisi Pemilihan Umum (KPU) Kota Semarang Henry Casandra Gultom. (ANTARA/Zuhdiar Laeis)

Komisi Pemilihan Umum (KPU) Kota Semarang memberikan tanggapan atas temuan surat suara yang ditempel secarik kertas bergambar palu arit di salah satu tempat pemungutan suara (tps).

"Kami fokusnya kan lebih kepada pemungutan suara, penghitungan surat suara, kemudian surat suara sah atau tidak sah," kata Ketua KPU Kota Semarang Henry Casandra Gultom di Semarang, Kamis.

Sosok yang akrab disapa Nanda itu menjelaskan bahwa pemilih datang ke tps tidak dilakukan proses penggeledahan, dan sebagainya, kemudian mendapatkan surat suara dan menuju ke bilik suara.

Karena ada konsep kerahasiaan, kata dia, artinya tidak boleh ada intervensi atau aktivitas mengintip segala aktivitas di dalam proses pemberian hak pilih di bilik suara.

Ia pun menampik jika dikatakan kecolongan dengan kejadian tersebut, sebab pihaknya fokus terhadap pelayanan pemilih yang ingin menyalurkan hak pilih dan konteks-konteks terkait teknis penyelenggaraan, khususnya mekanisme pembacaan surat suara sah atau tidak sah.

"Makanya, saya fokusnya adalah bahwa yang penting kami menyatakan surat suara itu sah atau tidak sah. Karena ada lebih dari satu coblosan. Dari informasi yang kami terima kan surat suaranya distaples (gambar palu arit)," katanya.

Artinya, kata dia, surat suara itu menjadi tidak sah karena terdapat lebih dari satu coblosan atau lubang dari bekas staples, baik di dalam maupun di luar kolom.

Secara konteks, kata dia, perlakuannya sama, misalnya surat suara yang ditempel gambar-gambar, melampirkan kertas lain di surat suara, atau mencorat-coret surat suara yang membuat surat surat suara menjadi tidak sah.

"Kami fokusnya bukan di kontennya tapi konteksnya. Bagaimana kemudian ada tambahan barang, yang kemudian merusak atau menambah jumlah coblosan yang ada di kertas suara tersebut," pungkas Nanda.

Sebelumnya, petugas TPS 3 Kelurahan Pandansari, Semarang, Jawa Tengah, mendapati surat suara Pemilu 2024 yang ditempeli secarik kertas bergambar palu arit saat penghitungan suara, Rabu (14/2) kemarin.

Ketua Panitia Pemungutan Suara (PPS) Kelurahan Pandansari Dedi Taruna mengatakan bahwa kertas bergambar lambang palu arit tersebut ditempel dengan menggunakan staples di surat suara Pemilu Presiden RI.

"Diduga disengaja karena ditempel dengan staples," katanya, seraya mengatakan bahwa temuan itu sempat mengagetkan warga yang mengikuti penghitungan suara di TPS tersebut.

Meski demikian, kata dia, petugas tidak bisa menuduh warga yang melakukan aksi tidak terpuji itu, sebab terdapat 237 orang yang menggunakan hak pilihnya di tps tersebut.

Namun, Dedi menegaskan bahwa temuan tersebut sudah dilaporkan ke kepolisian untuk langkah hukum lebih lanjut.

Putin on West's Reaction to Carlson Interview: 'Good That They Listen to What I Have to Say

©Sputnik/POOL/Go to the mediabank

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that it is good that the interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson made the West listen to what Russia has to say.

"First of all, it is good that they watch and listen to what I say," Putin told Rossiya 1 reporter Pavel Zarubin, commenting on the negative assessment of his interview.

It is not possible to have a direct dialogue with the West today and Moscow is grateful to Carlson for the mediation, Putin said.

"If today, for some reason related to them [the West], we are unable to conduct a direct dialogue, then we should be grateful to Mr. Carlson for the fact that we can do this through him as an intermediary," Putin said.

The only thing to regret is that the Russia did not start active actions in Ukraine earlier, the president clarified.

Putin recalled the Minsk agreements and the recognition of the then German Chancellor and French President that they did not intend to fulfill the agreements, but simply bought time.

"The only thing we can regret is that we did not start our active actions [in Ukraine] earlier, believing that we were dealing with decent people," the president highlighted.

NATO is a tool of US foreign policy, if Washington believes that it does not need it, this is its decision, Putin said.

"I think that NATO is no longer necessary at all, there is no point. It only has one meaning — it is an instrument of US foreign policy. But if the United States believes that it does not need this tool, this is its decision," Putin said.

Former President Donald Trump has his own view on how the United States should approach its relations with its allies, Putin clarified.

“Trump has always been called a non-systemic politician. He has his own view about how the United States should develop relations with its allies,” said, when asked to comment on Trump's relations with European leaders.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is hostile toward Russia but is also hostile toward its own country and neglects Berlin's economic interests, Putin stressed.

"People like the German Foreign Minister, they are, of course, in this case, she is, of course, hostile towards our country... But she is, in my opinion, also hostile toward her own country. Because it is hard to think of a politician of such a rank treating the economic interests of his country, his people, with such neglect," the president emphasized.

The president said that US journalist Tucker Carlson is a "dangerous man" because he chose an unexpected tactic for the interview.

"I think that Carlson... is a dangerous man... Because, to be honest, I thought that he would behave aggressively and ask these so-called pressing questions. And I was not just ready for it — I wanted it. Because it would give me the opportunity to respond just as sharply, which, in my opinion, would give a certain specificity to our entire conversation," Putin emphasized.

Carlson chose a different tactic, and was surprisingly rather patient for a Western journalist, Putin said.

"He went through his plan, as I said and as I understood, and that is it, he did not go beyond this plan. There were some other topics that I think it would be important to talk about. But I did not further promote topics that the journalist did not bring up in conversation with me. Therefore, the issue of demonizing Russia, related, say, to the same interethnic events, to the Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire, well, of course, they should have arisen during such an official part," Putin told Rossiya 1 reporter Pavel Zarubin.

Off the record Carlson and Putin discussed the demonization of Russia in the West.

"But one of the topics that we talked about with him already when the cameras were turned off is exactly what the US Secretary of State talked about several times, he talked about it, Mr. [Antony] Blinken, that his relative, his great-grandfather, fled Russia from the Jewish pogroms. And in different countries of the world, in Europe, in the United States, this topic constantly arises, I repeat, it arises with the aim of demonizing Russia," Putin said, adding that Blinken should not make such public personal statements as they can lead to problems.

US sanctions against American journalist Tucker Carlson after his visit to Russia would show the true face of the modern liberal and democratic dictatorship in the United States, Putin stressed.

“But from the point of view of making people all over the world understand what a modern liberal-democratic, in quotes, dictatorship, which is allegedly represented in today’s ruling class of the United States, is, this would be nice. They would then show their true face,” the president highlighted.

He said everything is possible these days in the United States.

Putin Says UK's Johnson Could Not Have Traveled to Ukraine in 2022 Without Consulting US

Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson could not have traveled to Ukraine in 2022 without consulting with Washington when he asked Kiev not to negotiate with Moscow, his trip was at the expense of the US administration, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"Former Prime Minister Mr. Johnson could not have traveled [to Ukraine] on his own personal initiative without consulting Washington on the matter. Probably, not only were there such consultations, but I think he simply went on the business trip at the expense of the US administration. They paid him travel expenses for this," Putin said in an interview with Rossiya 1 reporter Pavel Zarubin.

In November 2023, David Arakhamia, the head of Ukraine's ruling Servant of the People party's faction in parliament and the former chief negotiator with Russia, said former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson talked Kiev out of signing an agreement with Moscow to end the conflict in the spring of 2022. He also said Ukraine rejected the ceasefire deal due to its contradicting the constitution's clause on the country's Euro-Atlantic aspiration.

Russia and Ukraine held a few rounds of talks in the early phase of the conflict, but the negotiation eventually stalled.

Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Western countries responded by imposing comprehensive sanctions against Moscow while also ramping up its military support for Kiev.