President Vladimir Putin said the development of Russia’s nuclear triad was an «absolute priority» Monday as he outlined the country’s stance on its weapons program, according to reports.

Marking Russia’s Defender of the Fatherland Day, the Russian leader spoke about strengthening the country’s nuclear capabilities before presenting state awards to officers involved in the invasion of Ukraine, the Moscow Times reported.

In his speech, Putin referred to the Russian nuclear triad, which is the country’s three-pronged system for delivering nuclear weapons, designed to ensure a credible second-strike capability. 

Putin described its development as «an absolute priority,» saying that it «guarantees Russia’s security and ensures effective strategic deterrence and a balance of forces in the world.»

Putin also emphasized his country would continue to strengthen its army and navy, «taking into account developments in the international situation, based on combat experience gained,» amid the Russia-Ukraine war.

He added that Russia would also «significantly» enhance the capabilities of other branches of the armed forces, increasing their combat readiness, mobility, and ability to operate in all conditions, even the most challenging.

«And, of course, we will accelerate the development of advanced systems for the armed forces,» he added.

Putin’s remarks came after Russia suspended its participation in the New START Treaty on Feb. 5, 2023, the last remaining nuclear arms control agreement between Moscow and Washington.

RUSSIA FIRES NEW HYPERSONIC MISSILE IN MASSIVE UKRAINE ATTACK, KREMLIN SAYS

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warns the Russian leader has launched «World War III.»

The treaty limited the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads and delivery systems each country could have.

Russian officials have said they will continue to take a «responsible» approach to managing their strategic nuclear arsenal and would respect previously established limits.

Putin’s announcement came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that the Russian leader had effectively launched «World War III» with his invasion of Ukraine four years ago.

«I believe that Putin has already started it. The question is how much territory he will be able to seize and how to stop him… Putin will not stop at Ukraine,» Zelenskyy told the BBC in an interview Feb. 23.

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Smoke rises over the Kyiv skyline after a Russian attack, Monday, July 8, 2024. Russian forces launched multiple ballistic and cruise missiles against Ukrainian targets on Monday, Ukraine’s air force said, with explosions felt and heard across the capital, Kyiv. (AP Photo/ Evgeniy Maloletka)

Zelenskyy described the war as part of Putin’s broader attempt to impose a «different way of life» on the world.

«Stopping Putin today and preventing him from occupying Ukraine is a victory for the whole world,» he said.

However, when asked about the possibility of ceding the embattled Donbas region to Moscow as part of a peace deal, he warned that Russia would likely rebuild its military strength within «no more than a couple of years» and launch another invasion.

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«Where would he go next? We do not know, but that he would want to continue [the war] is a fact,» Zelenskyy said.

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El liberal progresista Rob Jetten, pareja del jugador argentino de la selección masculina de hockey Nicolás Keenan, asumió este lunes como nuevo primer ministro de Países Bajos.

Jetten, líder de una coalición de centroderecha en minoría, juró el cargo ante el rey Guillermo Alejandro de Países Bajos, esposo de la reina Máxima Zorreguieta.

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De esa manera, comenzó una legislatura con una estabilidad cuestionada que dependerá de pactos con la oposición para sacar adelante su agenda.

Jetten, de 38 años, ganó las elecciones el 22 de octubre al imponerse al ultraderechista Geert Wilders. Así, se convirtió en el primer ministro más joven de la historia de su país.

Está comprometido con Nicolás Keenan, integrante de Los Leones, desde 2023. Hoy, el jugador argentino subió un video en sus redes sociales en el momento previo de la jura. .

Cómo será el nuevo gobierno neerlandés

El Ejecutivo de Jetten quedó investido tras la ceremonia de juramento ante el monarca en el palacio Huis ten Bosch, en la ciudad neerlandesa de La Haya, donde los ministros firmaron los decretos reales que formalizan el traspaso de poderes.

El gabinete, que gobernará en minoría, está compuesto por 18 ministros y 10 secretarios de Estado. Tras la ceremonia, los ministros posaron en la tradicional foto oficial en la escalera del palacio, una imagen reservada exclusivamente a los titulares de cartera y no a los secretarios de Estado.

La distribución de cargos refleja el equilibrio interno de la coalición en base a la representación parlamentaria de cada partido socio del gabinete: el liberal de izquierdas D66 aporta diez miembros al gabinete, el liberal de derechas VVD nueve y el democristiano CDA ocho.

Completa el gabinete la independiente Sandra Palmen, secretaria de Estado responsable del proceso de reparación del escándalo de las ayudas sociales a padres con hijos.

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En su cuenta personal, Jetten publicó una fotografía junto a los futuros representantes de D66 en el Ejecutivo, acompañada de un mensaje en el que expresó su “orgullo por asumir la responsabilidad de gobernar y su compromiso de construir lo que puede ir mejor” para todos los ciudadanos.

El nuevo gabinete inicia así una legislatura marcada por la necesidad de negociar con la oposición para sacar adelante sus iniciativas, en un Parlamento fragmentado que anticipa una legislatura exigente para el Ejecutivo recién investido.

Cuáles son las prioridades del nuevo gobierno

El acuerdo de gobierno, presentado a finales de enero, fija como prioridades el aumento del gasto en defensa hasta el 3,5% del PIB, un mayor control del asilo y un papel más activo de Países Bajos en la Unión Europea (UE), con especial énfasis en seguridad, tecnología (semiconductores) y autonomía.

En materia migratoria y de asilo, apuesta por una línea más restrictiva y coordinada a nivel europeo. Además, buscará que las solicitudes puedan tramitarse fuera de Europa, con la intención de reducir las llegadas y evitar que los procedimientos se desarrollen en territorio neerlandés.

El texto contempla acelerar procedimientos, reforzar centros de régimen estricto y, en caso de aumentar la presión migratoria, suspender temporalmente la reagrupación familiar.

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El nuevo gobierno también sitúa a la UE en el centro de su política exterior y defiende decisiones por mayoría cualificada en política exterior y seguridad, endurecer los mecanismos contra Estados miembros que vulneren los principios comunitarios y mantener el compromiso con el apoyo militar y financiero a Ucrania “de forma plurianual e ininterrumpida”.

El acuerdo señala que la relación transatlántica se mantendrá, aunque Países Bajos se reserva el derecho de “interpelar de forma creíble” a Washington cuando sus acciones afecten a valores e intereses europeos. Finalmente, defiende un mayor énfasis en sanciones y protección de tecnologías sensibles frente a países como Rusia, China e Irán.

(Con información de EFE)

A deadly confrontation at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, Sunday is the latest in a string of high-profile security incidents threatening President Donald Trump, as former Secret Service officials warn that low-tech, lone actors now pose one of the toughest challenges to presidential protection.

«It should be quite clear to all of us by now that Trump is the most threatened president in the history of the U.S.,» former Secret Service agent William «Bill» Gage told Fox News Digital Monday, pointing to multiple high-profile incidents in recent years. Unlike past presidencies, where threat levels often subsided over time, Gage said, «the longer he’s president, the more these attacks keep happening.»

Gage said the most difficult cases to prevent are often the least sophisticated. The recent incidents, he noted, were «super low-tech attacks by people with zero training,» using rudimentary weapons. «If you were standing behind them in line at Starbucks, you wouldn’t have given them a second look,» he said.

Gage said the threat landscape shifted over the course of his 12-year career as a Secret Service agent. When he joined the Secret Service in 2002, he said the agency was moving away from what he described as the traditional «lone gunman» model — figures like Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated John F. Kennedy, or international militants such as «Carlos the Jackal,» one of the world’s most wanted terrorists in the ‘70s and ’80s — and adapting to a post-9/11 world focused on coordinated terrorist networks like al Qaeda and later ISIS.

«But if you look at Butler and the two incidents at Mar-a-Lago, those were super low-tech attacks,» Gage said. «The low-tech actors are the ones that tend to slip through the cracks.»

He also warned of a potential copycat effect when details of such incidents become public. 

«If it were up to the Secret Service, they would never report any of these incidents ever,» Gage said, arguing that widespread coverage allows others to «study what happened» and attempt to refine it. 

In today’s hyperconnected political climate, he said, that dynamic adds another layer of complexity for agents trying to stop the next threat before it materializes.

In the early hours of Sunday, a 21-year-old man identified as Austin Tucker Martin of North Carolina was shot and killed by U.S. Secret Service agents and a local sheriff’s deputy after entering the secure perimeter of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

Authorities say Martin drove through the north gate carrying a shotgun and a gasoline can. After being ordered to drop both, he dropped the can but raised the shotgun toward officers, who fired and killed him at the scene. Trump and First lady Melania Trump were in Washington at the time.

The incident marked the third highly publicized security encounter involving Trump in less than two years. 

In July 2024, a gunman opened fire at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing Trump’s ear and killing an attendee before being shot by a Secret Service sniper. 

In September 2024, a man armed with a rifle was confronted by agents near Trump’s golf course while he was playing; that suspect was later convicted on attempted assassination charges.

While the incidents have drawn intense attention, former Deputy Assistant Director Don Mihalek said the latest Mar-a-Lago intrusion does not necessarily signal a breakdown in protective systems.

«He got through an exterior gate of an active club,» Mihalek told Fox News Digital. «This wasn’t someone reaching the president’s residence.» 

Agents confronted the suspect within seconds, he said, describing the rapid response as evidence that overlapping security layers functioned as designed.

Mihalek said presidential protection relies on multiple rings of security because outer perimeters at properties like Mar-a-Lago cannot be sealed in the same way as the White House. 

«If he ended up in the president’s house on Mar-a-Lago, that might be a different conversation,» he said.

He also cautioned against viewing recent incidents in isolation, noting that presidents routinely face roughly 2,000 threats per year, most of which are mitigated before the public ever becomes aware of them. 

«These just happen to be very public instances,» Mihalek said, arguing that the social media era amplifies perceptions of escalation.

Then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is whisked away by Secret Service after shots rang out at a campaign rally at Butler Farm Show Inc. July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania.  (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

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Mihalek pointed to the 2024 rally shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, as an example of how early intervention can be decisive, noting that local law enforcement had reportedly identified the suspect prior to the attack. 

«If somebody had walked up and said, ‘Hey, who are you?’ we wouldn’t be talking about Butler,» he said.

As Trump prepares to address Congress at the State of the Union, both former officials said the security posture at the Capitol is unlikely to change in response to the weekend incident.

The annual address is designated a National Special Security Event — the highest level of federal security planning — triggering coordination among the Secret Service, U.S. Capitol Police, FBI, War Department and other agencies. The designation allows for expanded perimeter controls, airspace restrictions and continuity-of-government planning.

Barricades go up around the Capitol ahead of the State of the Union. (Kylie Cooper/Reuters)

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Gage, who previously led advance planning for State of the Union addresses, said the event operates under a well-established security «blueprint» built to account for worst-case scenarios. «There’s really no way to increase it anymore,» he said.

Both former officials said the defining challenge for presidential protection today is unpredictability: individuals with minimal training, rudimentary weapons and the ability to find reinforcement online. Unlike organized extremist networks, such actors may leave few detectable signals before acting.

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