Such delicate matters should be discussed behind closed doors, Radoslaw Sikorski says

Poland’s foreign minister has said President Andrzej Duda had no authority to speculate about Warsaw hosting part of the US nuclear arsenal on its soil.

In an interview with Polsat News TV on Friday, Radoslaw Sikorski weighed in on Duda’s statement earlier this week, when he said placing US nukes in Poland “has been a topic of Polish-American talks for some time” and that he had “declared readiness” to host to the weapons. Under the current political setup in Poland, Duda has found himself in opposition to the government, which was formed by a parliamentary majority.

“Mr President has already been told, at the highest levels… not to talk about it, that there is no chance for it now. I don’t know why he said it,” Sikorski stated.

The foreign minister also stressed that Duda, as head of state, is obligated to implement foreign policy in a way articulated by the Council of Ministers, the top executive decision-making body. “We have not given any authorization or encouragement to talk about it publicly,” Sikorski noted.

Read more US nuclear weapons in Poland would be priority military target – Moscow

He went on to dismiss speculation that Poland would itself become a nuclear power by potentially joining NATO’s nuclear sharing program. “These are very complicated issues that we discuss at NATO nuclear planning meetings,” he said, stressing that those conversations “should not take place in public.”

The minister also noted that Russia has already responded to Duda’s comments. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that if Poland were to host US nuclear weapons, the Russian military would “take all necessary countermeasures to ensure our security.” In similar remarks, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that the “relevant facilities” in Poland would “immediately be listed as legitimate targets in case of a direct military conflict with NATO.”

The US currently has nuclear weapons stationed in five fellow NATO states: Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Türkiye. If Poland were to host US nuclear arms, it would put NATO’s nuclear arsenal at the doorstep of Russia’s westernmost exclave of Kaliningrad, and also Belarus, Moscow’s key ally.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has signaled that the US-led military bloc has no plans to send its atomic arsenal to Poland, while French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu has warned that the potential move would violate key Russia-NATO arms control agreements.

The proposal in Gabon will be discussed at an ongoing national dialogue forum on Saturday

A Gabonese political commission has called for the closure of the French military base in the Central African nation and the review of defense agreements with Paris, Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported on Friday.

According to the outlet, the proposal was presented in a report at an ongoing national dialogue in the capital, Libreville, which was convened by the Gabonese military government with the goal of returning the country to civilian rule.

The resolution will reportedly be adopted on Saturday during the plenary session of participants of the Inclusive National Dialogue (DNI), which was launched on April 2 and is expected to conclude on Tuesday.

France has about 400 soldiers stationed at its base, located north of Libreville, who are tasked with training Gabonese troops. In September, Paris temporarily suspended military cooperation with the country in response to a coup that deposed longtime president Ali Bongo. However, just over a week after halting operations, the French Armed Forces Ministry announced that it was “slowly” resuming them.

French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu justified the move, claiming that the political situation in Libreville was incomparable to that of Niger, where Paris has repeatedly declared that it will not cooperate with what it considers an “illegitimate” military government.

Gabon’s call for an end to France’s military operations is the latest in a series of similar moves by other former French colonies in recent years. Military leaders in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have all severed defense ties with Paris for allegedly failing to combat jihadist insurgents in the Sahel region in a decade-long counterterrorism mission.

Gabonese military ruler General Brice Oligui Nguema, who led the August coup to prevent Bongo from serving a third term after 14 years in power, stated last month that he will respect DNI decisions. He has promised to hand back power in August 2025.

Read more Adieu, colonizer: France’s malign influence still hangs over Africa, and that needs to change

At the month-long national dialogue, which was reportedly attended by thousands of people, including opposition parties and religious leaders, the subcommittee on political institutions proposed that the mineral-rich African nation adopt a new constitution.

“They wanted a constitution that was rigid and therefore difficult to revise. The Gabonese people wanted the executive, particularly the President of the Republic, to have more time to carry out its various economic and social programs,” RFI cited the chairman of the committee, Telesphore Ondo, as saying.

It’s not clear what a victory over Russia is supposed to look like, the entrepreneur has claimed

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has challenged the administration of US President Joe Biden to define what “victory” would look like in the Ukraine conflict, after a senior White House official claimed that Kiev can defeat Russia.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan backed Ukraine’s capabilities on MSNBC on Friday, as he hailed Biden’s drawdown of an additional $1 billion worth of weapons for Kiev’s war effort against Moscow.

A delay in arms supplies caused by partisan clashes in the US Congress has put Ukrainian forces into a “hole” from which they are yet to dig themselves out, Sullivan said. He claimed, however, that Kiev’s “strategic position is strong” and that US officials “believe ultimately Ukraine can win this war.”

“Ukraine has the will to win this war, and we have the will to support them in that effort,” Sullivan vowed.

Reacting in a post on X (formerly Twitter), Musk asked: “What does victory look like?”

What does victory look like?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 26, 2024

The billionaire has long been skeptical about the Biden administration’s Ukraine strategy, including its declared willingness to let Kiev dictate the goals of the conflict and the ways of achieving them.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has insisted that a “just peace” requires nothing short of full control of all the territory claimed by Kiev.

Read more US has no Patriots to spare for Ukraine – White House

The Ukrainian demands, as outlined in the so-called ‘Zelensky formula’, also include war reparations, tribunals for senior Russian officials, and long-term international support of Ukraine’s security and reconstruction. Switzerland is set to host a summit in mid-June, where Kiev and its Western backers will try to convince neutral nations to sign up for the Ukrainian plan.

Moscow, which has not been invited to the event, has rejected the Ukrainian formula as being detached from reality. It perceives the hostilities as a Washington-driven proxy war against Russia, in which Ukrainians serve as ‘cannon fodder’. This week, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu estimated Ukrainian military casualties as approaching 500,000 in the conflict.

Explaining their opposition to continued arms supplies to Ukraine, US Republican lawmakers have cited the lack of a clear game plan by Zelensky and Biden. Instead, they argue that the funds would be better spent on America’s own needs, particularly the security of the southern US border.

Claims that Russia was to blame for the failure of negotiations are mere “speculation,” the Kremlin has said

Ukraine abandoned a draft peace treaty with Russia in 2022 under British pressure, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday.

The deal, which could have ended the Ukraine conflict weeks after it started, was approved by negotiators in Istanbul, but Kiev later pulled out of the talks.

The German newspaper Welt reported on Friday that Moscow had issued additional demands, such as making Russian the second official language in Ukraine, implying that this had ended any hopes of an agreement.

DETAILS TO FOLLOW

The grim warning comes as growth falls short of estimates

The latest macroeconomic data released by the US Department of Commerce indicates that the country’s economy could be moving towards stagflation, Business Insider has reported. The gloomy signs hint at tough challenges ahead, the outlet added.

Thursday’s report revealed that American GDP increased at an annualized rate of only 1.6% in the first quarter of the current year, well behind projections of 2.5%. The slower than expected growth followed a 3.4% gain recorded in October-December 2023 and 4.9% in the previous quarter.

“This was a worst of both worlds report – slower than expected growth, higher than expected inflation,” David Donabedian, chief investment officer of CIBC Private Wealth US, told the media outlet.

Weak growth and soaring consumer prices are distinct signs of stagflation, which is characterized by economic sluggishness and rising inflation over a prolonged period of time. The US was last hit with stagflation in the 1970s, when inflation surged into double digits as the economy tumbled. US policymakers responded by hiking the key interest rate to as much as 20%, cooling down prices but sending the economy into a deep recession.

Read more IMF lambasts US over ballooning debt

In March, the US Federal Reserve skipped an interest rate hike, leaving it unchanged between the 5.25%–5.5% target range. The next meeting of the Fed’s Open Market Committee is scheduled on May 1.

At the same time, the personal consumption expenditures price index, used as a key inflation measure by the Fed, increased at a 3.4% annualized pace, marking the biggest gain in a year. Consumer spending in the US saw a 2.5% increase in January through March, down from a 3.3% gain in the fourth quarter of 2023, and below the projected 3%, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported.

According to Business Insider, this puts serious limits on the Fed’s ability to take action, as the regulator has made clear it needs inflation to decline before any rate cuts can happen.

Kiev will receive munitions for the US-made air defense system, Madrid has announced

Spain will supply Ukraine with Patriot missiles, Defense Minister Margarita Robles confirmed on Friday, amid outside pressure to provide the weapons.

Robles made the announcement during a virtual meeting of the so-called Ramstein Group, which comprises Ukraine’s Western backers. A statement from the Defense Ministry in Madrid added that an unspecified number of munitions for the US-made missile system will arrive in Ukraine within the next four days.

The Spanish defense chief did not mention anything about deliveries of actual Patriot batteries to Ukraine. Each system consists of a phased array radar, an engagement control station, computers, power generating equipment, and up to eight missile launchers.

Spanish newspaper El Pais earlier reported that Madrid will supply Patriot missiles to Ukraine due to immense pressure from the EU and NATO. According to the outlet, Spain operates only three Patriot batteries and keeps a “war reserve” of about 50 missiles for them.

Read more Spain buckling to EU pressure on Patriots for Ukraine – El Pais

During an address to the Ramstein Group, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky insisted that Kiev needs “at least seven” Patriot batteries from its Western backers to be able to repel Russian missile attacks.

In late March, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at least five Patriots operated by Ukraine had been destroyed by Moscow’s forces since the start of the year. Spain is among six European nations – including Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, and Greece – that have Patriot systems in service.

While Berlin has promised to supply another Patriot system to Ukraine, taking its donated tally to three, Poland and Greece insisted earlier this week that they have no air defense systems to spare.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stated on Friday that Washington is also unable to provide Kiev with more air defense systems. “The US Patriot systems right now are being deployed around the world, including in the Middle East, to protect US troops,” Sullivan told MSNBC.

READ MORE: US has no Patriots to spare for Ukraine – White House

Russia has warned that deliveries of foreign weapons systems to Kiev will not prevent Moscow from achieving its military goals, but will merely prolong the fighting and could increase the risk of a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO. According to officials in Moscow, the provision of arms, the sharing of intelligence, and the training of Ukrainian troops means that Western nations have already become de-facto parties to the conflict.

The system was found to give drivers a false sense of security, according to US safety regulators

Tesla’s Autopilot, an advanced driver-assist feature that Elon Musk insists will eventually lead to fully autonomous cars, has been linked to hundreds of crashes and over a dozen deaths in the latest report by US auto-safety regulators, published on Thursday.

The US Transport Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said that their investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot had identified at least 14 fatal crashes in which the feature was involved.

During its three-year investigation, which started in 2021, the agency has examined nearly 1,000 reported crashes that occurred between 2018 and August 2023. It found that the misuse of the Autopilot system had caused at least 14 accidents which led to fatalities and “many more involving serious injuries.”

NHTSA’s Office of Defective Investigations (ODI) found evidence that Tesla’s “weak driver engagement system was not appropriate for Autopilot’s permissive operating capabilities,” which resulted in a “critical safety gap.”

Of the 956 crashes examined, officials revealed Autopilot-related trends in about half of them.

Of the remaining 467, ODI identified 211 crashes in which “the frontal plane of the Tesla struck a vehicle or obstacle in its path.” These accidents, which were often the most severe, had resulted in 14 deaths and 49 injuries. Over a hundred of the incidents also involved in roadway departures where Autosteer, a component of Autopilot, was “inadvertently disengaged by the driver’s inputs,” the report said.

Read more Tesla signs deal with Indian conglomerate – media

The investigators concluded that drivers using Autopilot, or the system’s more advanced Full Self-Driving feature, “were not sufficiently engaged in the driving task.” Tesla’s technology “did not adequately ensure that drivers maintained their attention on the driving task,” the NHTSA said.

The investigation also found that the electric carmaker’s claims did not match up with reality.

The NHTSA raised concerns that Tesla’s Autopilot name “may lead drivers to believe that the automation has greater capabilities than it does and invite drivers to overly trust the automation.”

US safety authorities said on Friday that they have opened another investigation into Tesla’s largest-ever recall in December, covering over 2 million US vehicles, or essentially all of its vehicles on US roads.

The recall was ordered by the NHTSA over Tesla’s software update, which is designed to limit the use of its Autopilot feature. The company plans to unveil its robotaxi on August 8.

Kiev would have committed to neutral status and received international security guarantees, according to a draft agreement

Russia and Ukraine were close to reaching a peace deal in the spring of 2022, under which Kiev was ready to commit to neutrality, Welt reported on Friday, citing a draft treaty. Moscow’s insistence that Ukraine make Russian its second official language was reportedly among the stumbling blocks.

Citing a 17-page document dated April 15, 2022, the German newspaper claimed that an agreement had largely been hammered out by Moscow and Kiev, and that any remaining differences would be discussed at a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Vladimir Zelensky.

According to Welt, Ukraine would have committed to “permanent neutrality,” would have agreed not to allow foreign weapons and troops into the country, and would have pledged not to “receive, produce or acquire” nuclear weapons. Kiev would also reportedly have guaranteed not to hold military drills with other countries.

Read more NATO responsible for Ukraine crisis – China

In return, Russia would have pledged not to attack Ukraine again, while agreeing that Kiev could receive security guarantees from the US, UK, France, and China. If Ukraine came under attack, its guarantors would support its right to self-defense within three days, with the relevant agreements being ratified by each participating state, making them legally binding.

Welt also claimed that the treaty had excluded Russia’s Crimean Peninsula, as well as parts of Donbass, from any security guarantees granted to Ukraine.

However, it is unclear which parts of Donbass were covered by the clause. The outlet noted that while Russia had wanted the exact borders to be determined at a Putin-Zelensky summit, Kiev had refused, insisting that they be based on the Ukrainian interpretation.

At the same time, Moscow had reportedly signaled it was ready to withdraw its troops from Ukrainian territory, but not from Crimea and Donbass. The details were said to have been slated for discussion by Putin and Zelensky.

The two sides also reportedly had major disagreements over the size of the Ukrainian military, as Kiev wanted to maintain far more troops than Moscow was prepared to allow.

Welt reported that while the belligerents were close to an agreement, Moscow subsequently demanded that Russian be made the second official language in Ukraine. It also purportedly wanted all mutual sanctions to be lifted and lawsuits dropped in international courts, while insisting that Kiev ban Nazism and “aggressive nationalism.” Those demands were rejected by Ukraine, the paper claims.

Commenting on the potential agreement, one Ukrainian negotiator told Welt: “That was the best deal we could have had,” arguing that Kiev was in a stronger negotiating position in 2022 than it is now.

Russian officials earlier confirmed that Ukraine and Russia had been close to a peace deal, but claimed that progress had been derailed by then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who allegedly advised Kiev to keep fighting. Johnson has denied the accusation.

Washington has seen “evidence of attempts” to influence the US ballot coming from Beijing, the secretary of state has said

There is evidence that China has attempted to manipulate US elections, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN on Friday, as he wrapped up his three-day visit to the Asian nation.

Host Kylie Atwood asked the senior diplomat about a pledge not to interfere in American democratic processes which Chinese President Xi Jinping gave to his US counterpart Joe Biden during their meeting in San Francisco last November. Recent reports have suggested that Beijing has failed to honor this promise, she claimed.

Blinken refused to discuss any specifics. In general, Washington would consider any election interference “unacceptable,” he stressed, and that is what he reiterated during talks with top Chinese officials this week.

”We have seen, generally speaking, evidence of attempts to influence and arguably interfere. And we want to make sure that’s cut off as quickly as possible,” the secretary of state added.

Read more Blinken threatens China over Russia ties (VIDEO)

Atwood’s conclusion from Blinken’s remarks was that China is “not heeding” US warnings.

A threat assessment issued by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in February stated that Beijing “aims to sow doubts about US leadership, undermine democracy, and extend Beijing’s influence” through information operations and possible election meddling.

”Even if Beijing sets limits on these activities, individuals not under its direct supervision may attempt election influence activities they perceive are in line with Beijing’s goals,” the document stated.

Claims that Chinese accounts online are trying to influence politics in the US came recently from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), a London-based think tank, and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington DC-based lobbying organization.

Both reports focused on ‘Spamouflage’, a purported Chinese online influence operation. FDD claimed its research demonstrates “that social media takedowns are necessary, but not sufficient, to combat foreign malign influence operations.”

READ MORE: US sets clock ticking for TikTok

Earlier this week, Biden signed into law a bill which gives the owner of TikTok nine months to divest or face a ban in the US market. Proponents claim that ByteDance, which owns the popular social media outlet, is beholden to the Chinese government.

Polls indicate that TikTok is a major news source for younger American voters, while older citizens prefer more traditional outlets, such as cable television and newspapers. Its management intends to challenge the law on First Amendment grounds.