Kiev must withdraw its troops from Russia’s new territories, the president has said | Ukraine must remove its troops from Russia’s new regions before any meaningful peace talks can begin, President Vladimir Putin has said. ● Moscow rejects Kiev’s claims of sovereignty over five formerly Ukrainian regions, four of which have joined Russia amid the ongoing hostilities. People in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions voted for the transition in late 2022, though hostilities continue in all of them. ● Ukrainian troops must be removed from these territories, Putin said on Friday at a meeting with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other senior Russian diplomats.

👉 Возможны ли дальнейшие переговоры? Да, возможны. (Дмитрий Медведев)
■ S-500 Deployed Earlier Than Expected; Posture Now Consistent with Nuclear First-Strike (Hal Turner)
■ Ukraine rejects Russia's peace proposal offered by President Putin (aNews)
■ Biggest danger to EU is the US – Putin (RT.com)

BRICS countries are abandoning the greenback because it is being used as a political tool, Vyacheslav Volodin has said | Washington has completely undermined trust in the US dollar as a global reserve currency by using it as a political tool to impose “illegal” sanctions on Russia, State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin has said. ● The US government announced a new batch of sanctions against Russia on Wednesday, targeting the energy, metals, and mining industries, as well as the Moscow Stock Exchange and major lenders Sber and VTB. The measures, which cover 300 additional individuals and entities, are aimed at impacting trade between Russia and its partners in China, Türkiye, and Kyrgyzstan, as well as other nations in Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Caribbean.

■ The Collapse of the Petrodollar: Exposing the End of U.S. Dollar Dominance and the Rise of BRICS Power (MEDIA)
■ The Petrodollar Ended On June 9th; Sauds No Longer Ally w. U.S. (Eric Zuesse/Paul Hoffman)
■ Do the new US sanctions mark Russia’s final divorce from the dollar? (Henry Johnston)
■ U.S. Empire Is Now Falling Apart (Eric Zuesse)

The Israeli occupation continues to intensify its aggression against the Gaza Strip, killing and injuring more Palestinians. | Israeli warplanes continue raiding Palestinian homes across the entirety of the Gaza Strip on day 252 of the genocidal war the occupation has launched against Palestinians, killing more martyrs and injuring more civilians. ● According to Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza, the occupation intensified, over the past few hours, its bombardment of the al-Zaytoun, al-Daraj, and al-Tuffah neighborhoods in central Gaza, as well as Jabalia in northern Gaza. ● During the early hours of Friday, Israeli warplanes targeted the entrance to the al-Bureij camp in central Gaza. Local Palestinian media reported that a child was killed, while other Palestinians were injured when "Israel" struck their home in al-Bureij. The child martyr and the injured were all transported to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah.

■ Child dies from malnutrition as 'famine-like conditions' return (MEE)
■ LIVE: Boy dies of malnutrition in Gaza amid Israel’s ‘normalised brutality’ (Al Jazeera)

The US-built port has delivered very little actual aid to starving Palestinians while the area next to it was used as part of the Israeli operation to massacre hundreds of Palestinians and rescue four captives | The US military is considering temporarily dismantling the pier it constructed off the coast of Gaza and moving it back to Israel amid concerns that rough seas could once again break it apart, CNN reported on 14 June. ● Earlier this month, the fragile pier and causeway system, known as Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS), broke apart due to heavy waves and had to be towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod to be repaired. It was moved back to Gaza last week, and operations resumed on Saturday. However, were paused again on Monday and Tuesday due to heavy seas. Poor weather and rough waters are again expected this weekend. ● Meanwhile, the World Food Programme’s (WFP) aid distribution operations at the pier have been suspended. WFP Director Cindy McCain announced on Sunday the organization was pausing its work there after the Israeli army used the area next to the pier to extract by helicopter four Israelis rescued from Hamas captivity in Gaza.

The spokesperson of the YAF says that the Verbena cargo ship was targeted and hit in the Arabian Sea, leading to a fire erupting onboard. | The Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) targeted three ships in the Red and Arabian Seas as part of the operations in support of Gaza, and in retaliation to the US-UK aggression on Yemen, spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree stated on Thursday, as the ongoing Israeli genocide in the Strip has now surpassed 250 consecutive days. ● The first operation was carried out by the YAF's missile force against the Verbena cargo ship in the Arabian Sea, Saree said, confirming that it was hit, leading to a fire erupting on board.

■ Houthis Attack Three More Ships In Gulf Of Aden, Red Sea (South Front)

As the world focuses on the arrival of a Russian Naval group on a "visit" to Havana, Cuba, the United States has sent the USS Helena, a Los Angeles Class, Fast-Attack submarine, to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba...for a...visit. | US Southern Command announced: 💬 "The fast-attack submarine USS Helena is in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as part of a routine port visit as it transits the U.S. Southern Command geographic area of responsibility while conducting its global maritime security and national defense mission. The vessel's location and transit were previously planned."

Hal Turner: So now, all those Russian surface vessels, can be torpedoed by the USS Helena. The Helena can be torpedoed by the Russian Submarine "Kazan" which accompanied the Russian surface group. And all of them are in Cuba, right now. No big deal, what could go wrong?

■ Russian Ships Arrive in Cuba in Latest Blow to US Hegemony (Sputnik News)

Mohamad Hasan Sweidan | Facing internal resignations and significant military setbacks, Israel is at a crucial tipping point: it must choose between stopping its war on Gaza and cutting its losses, or escalating conflict in Gaza and Lebanon and risking further strategic defeat. | On the evening of 9 June, Israeli war cabinet ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot announced their resignation from the emergency government. This is not a step two war ministers in a government heading for victory would take. On the contrary. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they say, is “preventing us from advancing toward true victory.” ■ By resigning, Gantz and Eisenkot aim at two main objectives. First, they want to alleviate the pressure on Netanyahu to accept a deal to stop the war, a strategy likely coordinated with Washington.  ■ Second, being among the most informed Israeli officials on the state of the war, they chose to jump ship, anticipating that Netanyahu’s continued insistence on prolonging the war would only lead to further disaster. In military terms, this means they have assessed that Israel’s Gaza operations have “peaked.”

■ Hezbollah Shells Israeli Military Sites, Settlements (Videos) (South Front)
■ Fierce Hezbollah strikes hammer Israeli army HQs, key defense factory (The Cradle)
■ North 'under massive attack': Hezbollah unleashes rocket barrage on northern Israel (The Jerusalem Post)