Europe at watershed moment. French Senator Claude Malhuret's historic speech on Trump/Ukraine/Europe

EUROPE is at a watershed moment. Here is a must-see video showing right wing French Senator Claude Malhuret's historic speech on Trump/Ukraine/Europe (in English AI dubbed) followed by 5 related reports.

Sub-titles in many languages, including Arabic, can be found (speech starts 1:18:29) here:  https://www.youtube.com/live/Nd2RyML2Ry4

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or view same clip with English sub-titles at X here:
https://x.com/frontlinekit/status/1897400210223140968

Hat tip: Richard Woodruff @frontlinekit and 

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL 

@campbellclaret

https://x.com/campbellclaret/status/1897536704250056998

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Related

Here is a summary from BBC News of what unfolded Wed 5 Mar 2025:

- The US suspended intelligence sharing with Ukraine, after pausing military support on Monday

- Senior US officials suggested the suspensions could be revoked if Ukraine takes what the American administration considers to be sufficient steps on joining peace talks

- Halting intelligence support would likely have serious consequences on the battlefield, says the BBC's Tom Bateman. And our security correspondent Frank Gardner says the move is a rude shock for the US's closest intelligence partners

- In an address to the French people, Macron said European defence chiefs will meet in Paris next week, and he told his citizens: "I want to believe the US will stay at our side, but we must be ready if that is not the case"

- Earlier in the day, Starmer insisted in the House of Commons that he believes the US remains a reliable ally

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cly28qvp83pt

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Here is a BBC News report

Published Wed 5 Mar 2025

US pauses intelligence sharing with Ukraine

Mick Mulroy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defence and retired CIA paramilitary officer, told the BBC that cutting off intelligence to Ukraine "will have an immediate impact" on its ability to defend itself.

"There is no way to replace the capabilities that the US intelligence can provide from our European allies," he said.

"This will likely inspire Russia to push harder on their efforts to take more terrain from Ukraine and away from the negotiating table."

Full story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwygxvvrd8do

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Here is a video report from Times Radio

Published Wed 5 Mar 2025

Trump and JD Vance’s ‘disturbing’ contempt for Europe | Tim Willasey-Wilsey

Description:

“You can deal with policy disagreements, but I think if there is actually fundamental underlying contempt, that's going to be a lot more difficult to address.”

Trump and JD Vance show a ‘disturbing’ shared contempt for Europe, says former diplomat Tim Willasey-Wilsey.

Source: YouTube https://youtu.be/qP0iE8u-C44

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Here is a video report from Times Radio
Published Tue 4 Mar 2025
Andrew Neil fact checks Donald Trump's 'litany of falsehoods'
Description:

“Trump says America has given Ukraine $350 billion in military, financial, humanitarian aid, with nothing to show for it. Wrong.”

Andrew Neil rips into Donald Trump’s “litany of falsehoods” about US aid to Ukraine.

Source: YouTube https://youtu.be/0wyoG-N0tuI

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Here is a video report from Times Radio

Published Tue 4 Mar 2025

Putin's capabilities are suffering, Ukraine can still win | General Sir Richard Shirreff

Description:

"If we can give enough for Ukraine to survive and not to blink, Russia will blink."

Putin wants the West to think that Europe cannot take on Russia but "the facts" are Putin

has suffered major losses at the hands of Ukraine so "this is not hopeless", says former 

NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander in Europe General Sir Richard Shirreff.

Source: YouTube https://youtu.be/CMI6tc05Jzk

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POSTSCRIPT from Sudan Watch Editor: 

In order to increase spending on defence, the UK Government has cut its foreign aid budget but not for Sudan, Gaza and Ukraine. ❤️

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Former MI6 boss Sir Alex Younger on Trump, Putin and a 'new era' for international relations (BBC)

Video report by BBC Newsnight 

Published Friday 21 February 2025

Former MI6 boss on Trump, Putin and a 'new era' for international relations

As Donald Trump calls Ukraine’s President Zelensky a “dictator” and the US enters peace negotiations with Putin’s Russia, former MI6 boss Sir Alex Younger and former Financial Times Moscow Correspondent Catherine Belton discuss how the White House is paving the way for a “new era” of international relations. Presented by BBC Newsnight's Victoria Derbyshire.

 

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View original and 2,076 comments on YouTube here

'Former MI6 boss on Trump, Putin and a 'new era' for international relations'

Broadcast date Friday 21 February 2025

https://youtu.be/FocQITpJnaQ

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'No obstacles' to Russian Red Sea base - Sudan

Sudan-Russia deal: Final agreement reached over Red Sea naval base, says Sudan. Moscow has for years sought to establish a base near Port Sudan. The port agreement, which was to last for 25 years, had been for Russia to establish a naval logistics hub, with warships including nuclear-powered vessels, and up to 300 personnel. Read full story.

From BBC News online

By Basillioh Rukanga

BBC News

Dated Thursday, 13 February 2025, 08:22 GMT - excerpts:

'No obstacles' to Russian Red Sea base - Sudan

IMAGE SOURCE, EPA. 

Image caption, Sudan's Foreign Minister Ali Youssef (L) met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow

Sudan has said a final deal has been agreed with Russia to establish a naval base on the war-torn country's Red Sea coast, saying there were "no obstacles" to it. 

An agreement was discussed under former President Omar al-Bashir, but the military government that overthrew him had later said the matter was under review.

Sudan's Foreign Minister Ali Youssef said on Wednesday a deal had been signed and they were in "complete agreement" with Russia over the establishment of the port. He said what remained was only the ratification of the deal.

The US, China and France already have a naval presence in the seas off the Horn of Africa - a key strategic and trading route.

“Sudan and Russia have reached an understanding on the agreement regarding the Russian naval base," Youssif told a press briefing on Wednesday with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.

"The matter is very simple… We have agreed on everything," he said.

No further details were provided and Lavrov did not comment on the matter.

The deal was discussed under Bashir's rule in 2019 and initially signed in November 2020, soon after the military takeover, but its fate had been unclear since war broke out in 2023.

Moscow has for years sought to establish a base near Port Sudan.

The port agreement, which was to last for 25 years, had been for Russia to establish a naval logistics hub, with warships including nuclear-powered vessels, and up to 300 personnel.

The Red Sea provides a strategic route that is vital to global commerce as well as a defence and geopolitical hotspot.

Russian interests in Port Sudan are said to have grown amid fears of losing its military assets in Syria. The new government in Syria last month terminated a treaty granting Russia a long-term lease for a port where Russia has had its only foreign naval base.

In recent months, Russian officials have reportedly visited Port Sudan - the de facto capital of Sudan during the war - and has sought to cultivate ties with both warring sides in the civil war.

Russia has also been expanding its influence in other African countries, including signing military co-operation agreements and displacing traditional Western allies.

You may also be interested in:

• How Russia is trying to influence Africa

Why Wagner is winning hearts in the Central African Republic
Putin offers African countries Russia’s ‘total support’
Wagner - built by blood and treasure in Africa
Russia in Africa: How disinformation operations target the continent

Full story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c30del8dz51o

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US freezes nearly all foreign assistance worldwide. UK announces £20M in additional funding to Sudan

SUDAN must not be forgotten said UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

"Refugees fleeing war-torn Sudan will receive further UK support to increase food production and lifesaving sexual and reproductive health services, as Foreign Secretary announces £20 million in additional funding while visiting the Adré on the Chad-Sudan border.

This builds on the doubling of UK aid in November to address the humanitarian emergency in Sudan to £226.5 million. These UK funds are providing emergency food assistance to nearly 800,000 displaced people, of whom over 88% are women and children, as well as improving access to shelter, drinking water, emergency health care and education.

Meanwhile, US freezes nearly all foreign assistance worldwide, effective immediately, days after President Donald J Trump issued a sweeping executive order Monday to put a hold on such aid for 90 days. The new orders specifically exempted emergency food programs, such as those helping to feed millions in a widening famine in warring Sudan.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: 

“Sudanese people are facing violence on an unimaginable scale. This is the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world.

“Millions have already fled their homes – in the face of a struggle for power that has led to abhorrent atrocities against civilians and famine on an unconscionable scale. 

“The international community must wake up and act urgently to avoid this horrific death toll escalating further in the coming months, driving instability and irregular migration into Europe and the UK. Under this government’s Plan for Change, we are addressing upstream drivers of migration to secure UK borders.

“The UK will not let Sudan be forgotten. To do so would be unforgivable.”

Foreign Secretary David Lammy meets Sudanese refugees in the border town of Adré, Chad. Crown copyright.

Meanwhile, the US has frozen nearly all foreign assistance worldwide, effective immediately, days after President Donald Trump issued a sweeping executive order Monday to put a hold on such aid for 90 days. 

It is the policy of United States that no further United States foreign assistance shall be disbursed in a manner that is not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States. Exempted are emergency food programs, such as those helping to feed millions in a widening famine in warring Sudan.

Full story:

UK Gov Press Release from Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and The Rt Hon David Lammy MP 25 January 2025 “Sudan must not be forgotten - David Lammy announces political and humanitarian action to address "catastrophe" in Sudan

 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/sudan-must-not-be-forgotten-david-lammy-announces-political-and-humanitarian-action-to-address-catastrophe-in-sudan

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UK Gov Press Release from Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and The Rt Hon David Lammy MP  25 January 2025 - “Sudan must not be forgotten" UK Foreign Secretary announces £20 million in additional funding while visiting the Adré on the Chad-Sudan border.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/sudan-must-not-be-forgotten-david-lammy-announces-political-and-humanitarian-action-to-address-catastrophe-in-sudan

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US Gov Executive Order from The White House 20 January 2025 - REEVALUATING AND REALIGNING UNITED STATES FOREIGN AID

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/reevaluating-and-realigning-united-states-foreign-aid/

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Associated Press report 25 January 2025 - "The US State Department ordered a sweeping freeze Friday on new funding for almost all US foreign assistance, making exceptions for emergency food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s order, delivered in a cable sent to US embassies worldwide, specifically exempted emergency food programs, such as those helping to feed millions in a widening famine in warring Sudan."

https://apnews.com/article/state-department-trump-foreign-aid-bf047e17ef64cb42a1a1b7fdf05caffa

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