International

Putin: NATO will be at war with Russia if it authorizes the use of missiles against Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that if NATO authorizes Ukraine to use long-range missiles to hit targets on Russian territory, it will mean that it will be at war with Russia.

“If that decision is made, it will mean nothing other than the direct participation of NATO countries, the United States and European countries in the war in Ukraine (…), that will mean that NATO countries, the United States and European countries, are fighting against Russia,” Putin told public television after speaking at a cultural forum in St. Petersburg.

This decision will change “the very nature of the conflict”

Putin stressed that this decision will change “the very nature of the conflict,” alluding to the fat that it will no longer be reduced to a war between the Russian and Ukrainian armies.

“If that is the case (…), we will make the corresponding decisions based on the threats that create us,” he said.

Ukraine does not have technical capacity

He insisted that, in reality, NATO is not authorizing Kiev to use those long-range missiles, whether the ATCAMS or the Storm Shadow, since the Ukrainian army does not have the technical capacity to do so.

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Putin stressed that, according to the opinion of Russian and Western experts, these missiles can only be launched against Russian territory with the help of intelligence data from US satellites or European Union countries, since Ukraine lacks them.

“And most importantly, in fact, flight missions can only be determined by the military of NATO countries,” he said.

Last May, the Kremlin leader already used the same argument against the use of Western weapons against targets on Russian territory.

Then, he warned European countries with “serious consequences,” alluding to the fact that, normally, “these are states with small, but densely populated territories.”

Lavrov: The West already gave permission “a long time ago”

In this regard, the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, assured today that the West has already given permission “a long time ago” to Ukraine to attack Russian territory with long-range missiles.

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Lavrov described Wednesday’s visit to Kiev by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UK Foreign Minister David Lammy, who would have addressed these issues with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “staging”.

“Every day the number of (Ukrainian) attacks against civilian targets and shootings against civilians increases drastically. (…) Western military specialists literally manually coordinate attacks with high-precision weapons,” he said.

Accuses NATO of providing Kiev with data

He also accused NATO of providing Kiev with data from its intelligence satellites, which are used to “hit targets within Russian territory,” which includes energy and industrial infrastructure, but also homes, schools and hospitals.

During their visit to Kiev, both Blinken and Lammy stressed that the authorization for the use of long-range missiles will be dealt with by their respective heads of state at the meeting that both will hold tomorrow, Friday, in Washington.

“It is (Russian President Vladimir) Putin who has escalated (the situation) this week with the shipment of ballistic missiles from Iran,” Lammy said.

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International

Security Council to Hold Emergency Meeting on Middle East Crisis

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday condemned the “military escalation in the Middle East” following attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes, just hours before an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council.

“I call for the immediate cessation of hostilities and de-escalation,” Guterres said in a statement.

The Security Council is scheduled to meet on Saturday at 21:00 GMT (4:00 p.m. in New York) to address “the situation in the Middle East,” the United Nations announced.

The meeting, during which Guterres will deliver remarks, was convened at the request of France, Bahrain, Colombia, Russia and China, according to a diplomatic source.

International

Trump Floats “Friendly Takeover” of Cuba Amid Rising Tensions

U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration is considering what he described as a “friendly takeover” of Cuba, as Washington continues to increase pressure on the island’s communist government.

“The Cuban government is talking to us and they have very serious problems, as you know. They have no money, they have nothing at this moment, but they are talking to us and maybe we will see a friendly takeover of Cuba,” Trump told reporters as he departed the White House for a trip to Texas.

Earlier in the week, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Cuba needed a “radical change,” shortly after Washington eased restrictions on oil exports to the island for what officials described as “humanitarian reasons,” amid a deep economic crisis.

The United States has imposed an energy blockade on Cuba since January, citing what it calls an “extraordinary threat” posed by the communist-run island, located roughly 150 kilometers (90 miles) off the coast of Florida, to U.S. national security.

International

Argentina’s Senate Reviews Milei-Backed Labor Overhaul

Argentina’s Senate on Friday began reviewing the Labor Modernization Law promoted by the administration of President Javier Milei, a proposal that would significantly reshape labor rules across the country.

The upper chamber opened its final discussion of the contentious initiative, which revises the method used to calculate severance payments — lowering the amounts owed in dismissal cases — and introduces an “hour bank” mechanism that allows overtime to be offset with paid leave rather than extra wages.

The legislation also broadens the classification of essential services, a change that would place new limits on the right to strike in designated sectors.

The bill was initially approved by the Senate on February 11 and then moved to the Chamber of Deputies, where lawmakers passed it with amendments. It has now returned to the Senate for definitive approval.

Outside the Congress building in Buenos Aires, workers, trade unions and left-wing organizations staged demonstrations beginning at midday. The gathering later thinned out amid reports of disturbances and a strong police presence. Security forces had secured the area surrounding the legislature since early morning hours.

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Union leaders contend that the reform weakens labor protections, while many business representatives back the measure but stress that sustainable formal employment will require economic expansion, improved credit conditions, greater investment and a more dynamic domestic market.