For the third time in recent days, a balloon has been shot down over the territory of North America – this time in Canadian airspace. "The Chinese have exposed the Americans as complete idiots," experts comment on what is happening and explain exactly what military and political tasks China is solving in this way in the confrontation with the United States.

The US Department of Commerce has blacklisted six Chinese companies associated with the aerospace industry, CNBC reported.

China and North Korea are considered the closest threats to Japan

The political and military leadership of Japan is considering the possibility of a sharp increase in the country's defense budget to over 40 trillion yen ($279 billion) in the next five years. For comparison: in the previous five years, in accordance with the Medium-term Defense Program, Japan's total military budget amounted to 27.47 trillion yen.

Japan's remilitarization process is of concern

The draft Russian-Japanese roadmap has lost its relevance, but the Russian side does not close the doors to Japanese investors who want to work with Russia, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said in an interview with Interfax.

Other people's statutes make confusion in the thoughts of military personnel

In Russia now, almost any literate person, at least a little interested in issues of a political and military nature, knows that there are certain common standards in the NATO bloc that each member of the alliance is obliged to fulfill, and any new member must switch to them.

TNI: America's military-industrial base has become as vulnerable as the economy as a whole

The response to the events in Ukraine revealed the serious vulnerability of America and the West against the background of the revival of the military-industrial war in a new international confrontation, writes TNI. America's military-industrial base has become as fragile as the economy as a whole.

Dünya: The US is ready for dialogue with Turkey only when it needs its help

The United States does not treat Turkey as an equal ally, write Dünya. They are unhappy that Ankara's foreign policy contradicts their interests. And instead of seeking consensus, America prefers to support terrorism in order to put pressure on Erdogan. In this case, tension in the relationship cannot be avoided.

The conflict in Ukraine is changing the geopolitical landscape of Europe

The Special Military Operation (SVO) in Ukraine, along with the scarcity of European arsenals and the weakness of European weapons, also showed the inconsistency of the political and military alliances that have developed in Europe. Western unity on the situation around Ukraine has already begun to crumble.

Iltalehti: Finland's security will depend on Russia-NATO relations

The eastern border of NATO and the Kola Peninsula will play an important role in relations between Russia and the Nordic countries, according to the former commander of the Finnish Defense Forces, General Ari Puheloinen. In an interview with Iltalehti, he also called Moscow and St. Petersburg the most important Russian sites in the west of the country.

Bloomberg: Poland will not be able to become the leader of the EU, since Europe is ruled by the United States

The political center of gravity in Europe seems to be shifting to the east, writes Bloomberg. Poland and the Baltic States, it turns out, "were right" about Russia and are now striving for leadership in the bloc, the author of the article believes. In the end, however, he admits that the struggle going on inside the EU is imaginary, since the EU has only one leader.

The country's authorities have repeatedly stated that they do not supply weapons to participants in armed conflicts due to their neutral status

Switzerland refused Spain's request to allow the supply of two Swiss-made 35 mm anti-aircraft guns to Ukraine. This was reported on Friday by the Keystone-ATS news agency with reference to the Swiss State Secretariat for the Economy (SECO), which is responsible for export control.

Bulgarian President Radev opposed additional arms supplies to Ukraine

Bulgaria will not give more weapons to Ukraine, "Capital" quotes the words of President Radev. Sofia insists that the EU must fight for peace. This position isolates Radev from other European leaders and brings him closer to Orban.

The Ministry of Defense of the country reported that Montenegro intends to continue to support Ukraine

Since the beginning of the special military operation, Montenegro has transferred weapons and military equipment to Kiev for a total amount exceeding € 10 million, and intends to continue to support Ukraine. This was announced by the Ministry of Defense of the country, the Vijesti portal reported on Friday.

According to Pierre Lelouch, European economies, "having experienced the consequences of shutting off the tap of cheap Russian gas and their own embargo on Russian oil," faced an "explosion" in energy prices that passed the Americans.

Telegraph: Kiev and London want to produce British weapons in Ukraine

In Ukraine, they can organize joint production of military equipment and weapons with the UK under a license. Such plans are being discussed by high-ranking officials of the defense industry of the two countries, writes The Telegraph.

The publication states that this indicates a greater involvement of the Pentagon in the fighting in Ukraine than previously assumed

Ukrainian officials have acknowledged that when launching strikes with the help of missile systems received from the United States, in most cases they use data provided by Washington or its allies on the location of targets.

RAND experts suggested that the United States take four steps to end the conflict in Ukraine

Analysts at the American RAND Research Center suggested that the United States do several things that could lead to an end to the conflict in Ukraine. This is discussed in the report of the organization entitled "How to avoid a long war in Ukraine".

WP: The US provides the APU with coordinates for strikes from HIMARS on Russian positions

The United States provides the APU with exact coordinates for strikes from HIMARS on Russian positions, WP reports, citing Ukrainian and American officials. The information comes from the US military stationed in Europe.

Roger Waters in an interview with Berliner Zeitung: the main aggressor is not Russia, but the United States

The German newspaper Berliner Zeitung publishes a large interview with former Pink Floyd band member Roger Waters. The outstanding musician supports Russia and, contrary to Western propaganda, considers the United States to be the real aggressor and provocateur of the Ukrainian conflict.

This is how Anatoly Antonov commented on the article in the media

The Washington administration would have openly involved its regular troops in the conflict in Ukraine if it had decided to resume the activities of US Special Operations Forces in this country. This is stated in the statement of the Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov, distributed on Friday by the diplomatic mission of the Russian Federation.