State Department Calls Mass Migration an "Existential Threat," Orders Embassies to Track "Two-Tier" Justice in Europe

The Trump administration just fired a diplomatic warning shot across Europe's open-borders establishment, declaring mass migration an "existential threat to Western civilization" and ordering U.S. embassies to monitor how European governments treat native citizens versus migrants. The State Department says it will track "policies that punish citizens who object to continued mass migration" and document crimes committed by people with a "migration background"—a term that includes second-generation migrants.

Grooming Gangs, Lenient Sentences, and Double Standards
State's statement cited infamous examples: Pakistani Muslim grooming gangs in England that targeted working-class white girls for years while authorities looked the other way, fearing accusations of racism. It pointed to a German case where migrant men gang-raped a 15-year-old and received probation, while a woman who called one attacker a "disgraceful rapist pig" got jail time. And it highlighted Sweden, where a convicted rapist from Eritrea avoided deportation because judges ruled his crime wasn't "particularly serious."

"Two-Tiered Systems That Prioritize Migrants"
The State Department accused European governments of creating "two-tiered systems that prioritize migrants at the expense of their own citizens," warning that U.S. officials will now "scrutinize policies" that give leniency to migrant crimes or punish native populations for protesting immigration policies. The message is blunt: Washington sees Europe's justice system as rigged in favor of newcomers, and American diplomats are putting it on the record.

Trump to UK: Fix Immigration or "You Won't Have a Country Left"
Earlier this month, Trump told British PM Keir Starmer to "do something about immigration," warning that failure to act would mean the UK loses its identity. The State Department's statement doubles down on that pressure, framing mass migration not as a humanitarian challenge but as a civilizational crisis—and telling Europe that America's watching.

#statedepartment #trump #europe #migration #immigration #justicesystem #uk #germany #sweden

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Ethiopian volcano erupts for the first time in thousands of years

The eruption of the Hayli Gubbi volcano in northeastern Ethiopia has led to the release of a large ash cloud towards Yemen and Oman.

Volcanic eruptions have not been recorded for 10,000 years.

#hayli #gubbi #volcano #eruption

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#charlie #kirk #owens #macron

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Army Secretary Flies Solo to Abu Dhabi, Brings Revised Peace Plan to Russia

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is meeting Russian officials in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday with a slimmed-down Ukraine peace framework—without Secretary of State Marco Rubio or any other U.S. negotiators at the table. Driscoll is carrying a plan that's been cut from 28 points to around 19, after pushback from Kyiv and European allies forced Washington to drop some of Moscow's hardest-line demands, including immediate territorial handovers in Donbas. The toughest issues are now kicked upstairs to Trump and Zelensky.

From 28 to 19: What Got Cut, What's Still on the Table
The original plan—widely seen as a Russian wish list—demanded Ukraine cap its military, ban NATO membership forever, and cede land Moscow hasn't even occupied. After weekend talks in Geneva with Ukrainian and European officials, the U.S. revised key provisions, though details remain classified. What's clear: the revised framework still favors Moscow, and European diplomats warn "the Russians will certainly push."

Trump's "Drone Guy" Takes Center Stage
Driscoll—Trump's surprise diplomatic operator, known internally as the president's "drone guy" for his work on military tech—spent last week in Kyiv delivering an ultimatum: accept the plan by Thanksgiving or risk losing U.S. support. After intense negotiations in Geneva, Driscoll flew to the UAE alone while Rubio, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner all headed back to Washington. NATO's top commander went to Brussels to brief allies.

Europe Watches, Ukraine Waits, Russia Decides
British PM Keir Starmer is convening a virtual "coalition of the willing" meeting Tuesday to coordinate support for Ukraine and discuss the negotiations. Zelensky said "many of the right elements" are now in the framework, though much remains unresolved. The next move belongs to Moscow—and whether Putin sees the revised plan as concession enough, or just another opening to demand more.

#ukraine #russia #trump #driscoll #peaceplan #nato #abudhabi #geopolitics

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Europe to Trump: Hands Off Our Sanctions, Our Assets, Our Call

European leaders just drew a hard line in the sand: any peace deal involving EU sanctions, frozen Russian assets, or Ukraine's EU membership goes through Brussels—period. The message came after the U.S. and Russia drafted a 28-point plan without European input, sparking fears that Washington might trade away Europe's leverage for a quick deal with Moscow. EU Council President António Costa made it crystal clear:

"Issues that concern directly the European Union require the full involvement and decision by the European Union."

The Geneva Scramble: Amending the Russian Wish List
Sunday's talks in Geneva produced an "updated and refined" framework after Europeans pushed back hard on the original plan's most Moscow-friendly terms: lifting sanctions, releasing frozen Russian Central Bank assets, capping Ukraine's army, and handing Russia a NATO veto. European officials worked overtime on amendments insisting on a ceasefire, scrapping Russia's veto power, and earmarking frozen assets for Ukraine's reconstruction—not Moscow's coffers. Brussels is careful not to call it a "counterproposal," fearing it would antagonize Trump, but the changes are unmistakable.

The €135 Billion Question: Who Pays for Ukraine?
Europe's biggest weapon right now is a proposed reparations loan backed by frozen Russian assets—money Brussels argues should go to Ukraine, not back to the Kremlin or into American commercial hands. Von der Leyen and Nordic leaders are pushing hard for swift approval, calling it essential leverage before any deal gets finalized. One EU official called the idea of unblocking Russian assets for Moscow's benefit "economic brutality."

Rubio Blinks, Europe Breathes
Marco Rubio acknowledged after Geneva that issues like Russian assets are "equities" that need separate EU-NATO negotiations, and admitted the Thanksgiving deadline is flexible. Europeans took it as a small win—they're still in the game, at least for now. But with Trump driving the timeline and Putin waiting in the wings, Brussels knows the next few weeks will decide whether Europe gets sidelined or stays central to the continent's security.

#europe #ukraine #trump #eu #sanctions #frozenassets #rubio #nato #geopolitics

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Senators: Trump Lets China Buy Russian LNG While Putin Funds the War

Four Democratic senators are calling out the Trump administration for allowing China to buy billions of dollars' worth of discounted liquefied natural gas from Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project—a facility Biden sanctioned in 2023 to choke off Moscow's war funding. Senator Elizabeth Warren says Trump's "lax enforcement" is giving Beijing a "free pass" on cheap Russian energy while Putin uses the revenue to keep fighting in Ukraine. Since August, Chinese buyers have snapped up at least 14 cargoes at 30-40% discounts.

Billions for Putin, Discounts for Beijing
Arctic LNG 2 is operated by Novatek, co-owned by some of Putin's closest allies, and represents an energy revenue stream "worth billions for Putin's war machine," Warren said. The Trump administration imposed its first direct sanctions on Russia's oil giants—Rosneft and Lukoil—in October, but stopped short of targeting Arctic LNG 2 or the Chinese buyers scooping up the gas. The senators sent a letter in September urging action; the State Department's Friday response promised "careful consideration" but answered none of their questions.

The White House's "Flexibility" Defense
A White House official defended Trump's approach, saying the president "believes that there is a chance to end this senseless war if flexibility is shown." Translation: turning a blind eye to Russian energy sales is part of the "peace process." The senators aren't buying it, warning that Congress must review any rollback of Ukraine-related sanctions "instead of letting Trump cede the rest of our critical leverage."

Energy Revenue, Meet Diplomatic Leverage
The clash comes as U.S. and Ukrainian officials claim "meaningful progress" on a peace framework in Geneva, without specifying what changed. But if Trump's version of flexibility means letting Russia rake in energy cash while Beijing gets bargain LNG, senators say Washington is negotiating from weakness—not strength.

#trump #russia #lng #china #ukraine #sanctions #arctic #warren #energy

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Putin's Ultimate Hedge: Peace on His Terms, or Watch Trump Quit

Vladimir Putin is sitting this one out while Ukraine and Europe sprint to reshape Trump's 28-point peace plan—a proposal crafted with Russian input and tilted so far toward Moscow it practically speaks with a Kremlin accent. For Putin, it's win-win: either lock in a deal that guarantees Ukraine's permanent subordination, or watch Trump walk away and leave Kyiv twisting in the wind.

The Pain Contest: Autocracy vs. Exhaustion
As one analyst put it, the West is locked in a "pain contest" with Putin—and autocracies don't run out of patience the way democracies do. Ukraine's fighters are tough as nails, but they're short on troops, cash, and unified Western backing. Putin knows it, Trump knows it, and everyone in Geneva knows it. Moscow's economy is hurting—oil revenues tanked, military budgets trimmed—but Putin's betting he can outlast the other side.

Zelensky Under the Gun, Putin Under the Radar
Trump's Thanksgiving deadline has Zelensky racing to secure changes, while Putin casually notes that Russia can keep advancing "perhaps not as quickly as we would prefer, but inevitably." Translation: the clock's running, and Moscow's fine with either outcome. Meanwhile, Trump took to Truth Social accusing Zelensky of "ZERO GRATITUDE," as if diplomacy were a customer service review.

The 28-Point Ultimatum: NATO Ban, Territory Loss, Russian Amnesty
The original plan demands Ukraine give up more eastern territory, ban NATO membership forever, and grant blanket amnesty to Russians accused of war crimes. In exchange? A vague "transatlantic security guarantee" modeled on NATO's Article 5—minus the automatic trigger and with plenty of fine print. Ukrainian and European officials scrambled all weekend trying to tweak the language; Putin shrugged and said he's "ready" for substantive talks—or ready to keep fighting. Either way works.

Breaking Ukraine, Not Just Winning It
Putin's endgame isn't just grabbing Donetsk—it's ensuring Ukraine stays broken, dependent, and unable to integrate with the West. If Trump gets fed up and pulls support, Europe can't fill the gap alone. If the deal goes through as-is, Ukraine becomes a neutered buffer state. For the Kremlin, that's mission accomplished either way.

#putin #trump #ukraine #peaceplan #russia #nato #zelensky #geopolitics

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The U.S. Peace Plan Is Significantly Slimmed Down 🌍✨

🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

U.S. and Ukrainian mediators emerged from two days of talks on Monday with a slimmed-down peace framework that sets aside contentious issues, as Ukrainian officials underscored their country's “red lines” on territory, military capacity and foreign alliances. 😎🔥

Zelensky said that Ukraine was at a “critical moment” and would soon determine its next steps. He spoke after high-level discussions in Geneva on Sunday in which Ukraine and its European allies laid out concerns about a draft of a 28-point peace proposal that was favorable to Russia on many issues. 🗳💬

President Trump, who is pushing Ukraine to agree to a settlement by Thanksgiving but has indicated that talks could continue, said on Monday that “something good just may be happening.” 🤷‍♂️👏

As Ukrainian officials told news outlets that a significant reworking of the plan had brought it closer to Ukraine's position on several points, it raised questions about whether Russia would agree to any proposal that did not hew to its maximalist demands. ⚖️📊

The initial 28-point plan, drafted by the Trump administration with Russian input, called for Ukraine to cede land, shrink its army and forswear membership in NATO. 🇺🇸🏴‍☠️

With the uncertainty about how the most sensitive issues will be resolved by the American and Ukrainian presidents, it remained to be seen whether the latest flurry of diplomacy would produce concrete results or fizzle as previous bursts did. 🕰🧐

Until last week, the Trump administration’s efforts to broker an end to the war had been seemingly stalled. An August meeting in Alaska between Trump and Putin of Russia produced little in the way of substance. 🌫⛩

Trump canceled a planned meeting last month with Mr. Putin in Budapest after he said the Russian president had no intention of making a deal. 👉😡

The first public flickers of renewed movement came when Zelensky went to Turkey last week in hopes of reinvigorating efforts to end the war with what he said were new Ukrainian proposals. At the same time, Washington was sending a delegation of senior U.S. military officials to Kyiv for talks. ✈️📝

Reports emerged on Wednesday that the U.S. Army secretary, Dan Driscoll, had come bearing a 28-point proposal to end the war that reflected many Kremlin demands that Ukraine had consistently rejected. 📋📌

That set off alarm bells well before Driscoll, a friend and former classmate of Vice President JD Vance, presented the plan to Zelensky on Thursday. The Ukrainian president said in a statement that night that Ukraine would engage “constructively, honestly and operationally” with the points in the plan. 🙌🗣

The White House said Rubio and Witkoff, an envoy for peace missions, had been “quietly” working on the proposal for a month but described the details as in “flux.” 🌪🗯

The next day, as many Ukrainians and their European allies condemned the plan as akin to capitulation to Russia, Zelensky said in an address to the nation that Ukraine might have to choose between losing its dignity and forgoing U.S. support. 🤲🆘

Not long after, plans for urgent talks between Ukrainian and U.S. officials began to take shape. 🚦📅

Zelensky sent his powerful chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, to lead Kyiv’s delegation in Geneva. Washington sent Rubio and Mr. Witkoff, as well as Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law. 🗽✈️

#plan #trump #zelensky #ukraine #kremlin #witkoff

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🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

Kushner, who is not a U.S. government employee, had also been involved in the Trump administration’s efforts to end the war between Israel and Hamas. 🌍✨

Rubio struck an optimistic tone on Sunday after the talks, saying that the gaps that remained were not insurmountable. He said that some issues — like the role of the European Union or of NATO in any settlement — had been “segregated out” in the talks. 📌🤝

Things like that, he said, will need to be discussed with the parties involved. 🗣🔍

The White House and Ukraine’s presidency released a joint statement later that night saying the talks had resulted in an “updated and refined” draft, with “intensive work” to continue in the coming days. 📄🔄

On Monday, Zelensky said that Ukraine’s delegation was returning home and would deliver a full report about the progress of the talks. “Based on these reports, we will determine the next steps and the timing,” he said in a statement on X. 🚢📊

U.S. officials declined to say what parts of the proposal were adjusted in Geneva. 🤷‍♂️📋

Zelensky said that Kyiv had “managed to keep extremely sensitive points on the table,” including the release of all Ukrainian prisoners of war and the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. 🕊🤵

“But to achieve real peace, more, more is needed,” he told a parliamentary summit earlier on Monday, calling this a “critical moment” for Ukraine. 🎟🗣

“Of course, we’ll continue working with partners, especially the United States, and look for compromises that strengthen, but not weaken us,” he said. 💪✌️

Germany’s foreign minister, Wadephul, suggested on German public radio that the plan had been revised to address objections to a provision ruling out NATO membership for Ukraine. 🇩🇪🗣

“All questions concerning Europe, as well as those concerning NATO, have been removed from this plan,” Mr. Wadephul said. 🗑📃

“Now we must ensure,” he added, “that Ukraine’s sovereignty will be preserved.” 🌍🛡

Ruslan Stefanchuk, the speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, emphasized Ukraine’s red lines in a speech during an event on Crimea in Sweden on Monday, which Mr. Zelensky also addressed virtually. 🗳📞

“No legal recognition of Russia’s occupation of Ukrainian territories. No restrictions on the Ukrainian Defense Forces. No veto on Ukraine’s right to choose its future allies,” Stefanchuk said. 🌶🚫

As Ukraine and Europe pressed for better terms in the proposal, it remained unclear when the talks would turn to Moscow. 🌭🔍

The Kremlin said on Monday that it had not yet “officially” received any information about the outcome of the Geneva discussions. Russia is open to contacts and negotiations but has “no concrete details concerning talks involving us,” the Kremlin spokesman, Peskov, told reporters. He said Russia did not plan to hold talks with American officials this week. 📌🗣

European leaders held their own meeting about the peace proposal negotiations while in Angola for a summit with the African Union. 🌍🌟

Von der Leyen, the European Commission president, told reporters afterward that while “works remains to be done” on the peace plan, the Geneva talks had helped ensure that “there is now a solid basis for moving forward.” 📈🚀

#plan #trump #zelensky #ukraine #kremlin #witkoff

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The Abu Dhabi Peace Talks Meet Serious Problems 🌍📜

Discussions involving US, Russian and Ukrainian officials are taking place in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, the latest step in the Trump administration’s attempts to push through a peace deal to end the conflict in Ukraine. ☎️

The White House spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, put an optimistic spin on the talks, claiming the US had made “tremendous progress” on finding a resolution. There were “a few delicate, but not insurmountable, details” that needed to be ironed out which would require further talks, she said in a post on X. ✨

However, there was no sign that big issues such as territorial concessions or future security guarantees had been agreed in discussions between Ukrainian and US officials, nor was there any suggestion that a revised US-Ukraine agreement discussed in Geneva on Sunday would be something to which Russia would agree. 😕

Ukrainian officials announced earlier on Tuesday that they were close to accepting a framework of a deal with the US but said some details could only be discussed at presidential level. 🔍

“Our delegations reached a common understanding on the core terms of the agreement discussed in Geneva,” Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine’s security council, wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.

“We look forward to organising a visit of Ukraine’s president to the US at the earliest suitable date in November to complete final steps and make a deal with President Trump.” 🚀

The issue of territorial concessions was not covered by the agreement, according to Keir Starmer. 🏛‍

“My understanding is this is not a new agreement, it is Ukraine confirming they are happy with the draft that emerged in Geneva yesterday, which of course doesn’t cover the question of territory,” the UK prime minister told parliament on Tuesday. 🗳

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said that any amended peace plan would have to reflect the “spirit and letter” of what Trump and Putin discussed at their summit in Alaska in August. 🤝

After the Geneva talks, the US army secretary, Dan Driscoll, met a Russian delegation on Monday night in the Gulf emirate, and talks continued into Tuesday. 🧐

“The talks are going well and we remain optimistic. Secretary Driscoll is closely synchronised with the White House (...) as these talks progress,” his spokesperson told Reuters. 📊

Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Budanov, was also expected to participate in the talks, the Financial Times reported, though it was not clear whether there would be direct talks with Moscow’s representatives or separate bilateral talks with Driscoll. 💬

“Zelenskyy gave an overview of the latest situation. The future of Ukraine is for Ukraine to decide, and European security is for Europe to decide,” Stubb wrote on X. 👇

Zelensky also spoke to Starmer on Tuesday, while the French president Macron, cautioned against a peace deal that would be a “capitulation” for Ukraine. 🙈

“What was put on the table gives us an idea of what would be acceptable for the Russians. Does that mean that it is what must be accepted by the Ukrainians and the Europeans? The answer is no,” Macron said. 🖋

Driscoll, who is a university friend of the US vice-president, JD Vance, and has recently assumed a leading role in Ukraine negotiations, travelled to Kyiv to brief Zelensky on the plan and demand he sign up to it within days. 📆

The pressure, combined with the leaking of the plan, took Ukrainian and European officials by surprise. Zelenskyy said on Friday that the country was facing one of the most difficult moments in its history and was being forced to choose between “losing our dignity or losing a key ally”. 📌

“The sensitive issues, the most delicate points, I will discuss with President Trump,” Zelenskyy said on Monday night, hailing progress in the plan. 🌟

For all Driscoll’s optimism,however, the Kremlin has shown little interest in compromising on its maximalist goals in the conflict. 🦸

#abu #dhabi #peace #talks #problems

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🔥 Witkoff in Moscow Will Coax Putin Into Peace 🎯

✨ Trump said Tuesday that Special Envoy Witkoff will likely meet with Putin in Moscow next week, as the administration looks to broker an end to the war in Ukraine. 📌

🗣 “I think so,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on whether Witkoff will meet with the Russian leader. 💬

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Witkoff last met with Putin in Moscow in August. The president added that his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, may also join. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

📍 Witkoff, Kushner, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were part of the U.S. delegation that met with Ukrainian officials in Geneva over the weekend. The Hill has reached out to the State Department regarding whether Rubio will also be part of the Moscow delegation. 🗺

🏢 In Geneva, U.S. and Ukrainian officials, with input from European leaders, ironed out the details of a peace proposal from the Trump administration. 🎯

📃 The original plan, crafted by U.S. and Russian officials, called for — among other items — confirming Ukraine’s sovereignty, providing it with security guarantees from the U.S., and ensuring that Russia adopts a nonaggression policy toward Ukraine. 📄

🔍 The proposal has been tweaked amid negotiations in Switzerland, however. 🕵️‍♂️

📹 Earlier Tuesday, Ukrainian Zelensky said in a video on the social platform X that his negotiators are working with the U.S. to “ensure truly real, effective steps toward ending this war.” 🎥

📞 Bloomberg also reported Tuesday on an Oct. 14 phone call between the U.S. special envoy and Yuri Usakov, a foreign policy aide to Putin. 📈

🗣 During their conversation, Witkoff tells Ushakov that he thinks the three sides can agree to a plan similar to the 20-point outline Israel and Hamas agreed to days earlier. 💬

🎯 Witkoff also tells Ushakov to tell Putin to congratulate Trump on brokering the deal in the Middle East and to call the president a “man of peace.” 🌍

📱 Trump and Putin spoke via phone on Oct. 16, a day before Zelensky met with his American counterpart at the White House. 📞

💬 The president told reporters Tuesday that, while he had not previously heard of the phone call, it is a “standard thing,” and Witkoff likely gave similar instructions to Ukrainian officials. 🗣

😅 “He’s got to sell this to Ukraine, he’s got to sell Ukraine to Russia, that’s what a deal maker does,” Trump added. 🆘

🚀 Overnight on Tuesday, Russia struck residential buildings and civilian infrastructure in Kyiv, killing six and injuring 13, Zelensky said on X. The Ukrainian leader noted that Russia also struck the Odesa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Cherkasy regions. 🌍

#trump #witkoff #putin #meet

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Hard Deadline. Film Director: Donald Trump

🔤🔤🔤🔤➖

Trump set a hard deadline for Zelensky, to agree to the details of a 28-point draft peace deal with Russia. If he refused, Trump said, the Ukrainian leader would be left “to fight his little heart out.”

By Monday, that deadline, Thanksgiving Day, was gone. The 28-point plan, which was widely criticized as a series of one-sided concessions to Putin of Russia, had been shrunk to closer to 20 points.

Some of the most sensitive elements, including limits on the size of the Ukrainian military and a proposed ban on basing NATO troops inside Ukraine, were set aside for future negotiation.

So was the question of where the new boundaries between Russia and Ukraine would be drawn.

But the price of the changes, made during a series of meetings over 11 hours in Geneva led by Secretary of State Rubio, is clear. Putin, some Trump administration officials predict, is likely to dismiss the new draft out of hand, which would lead to a long and drawn-out negotiation — just what Trump was trying to short-circuit.

As the weekend played out, there were reminders everywhere that the players view the negotiation through entirely different lenses.

To some in the Trump administration, it is about finding middle ground by writing out each side’s demands, then making hard compromises.

To Putin, it is about restoring lands that have deep cultural, political and military import to Russia and, by his account, have for more than a millennium.

And for the Ukrainians and the Europeans, it is about demonstrating that nations that seize land by force are not ultimately rewarded for their aggression — and deterring Russia from attempting another invasion.

This account of how the U.S. peace plan touched off a firestorm in the United States and Europe is based on interviews with a half-dozen officials, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

The leak left the European allies angry about being left out, yet again. Ukrainians who had been courting Trump, hoping to stabilize the relationship with Washington and re-establish a pipeline of American-made, European-purchased weapons, were angry;

Zelensky said the country might have to choose between its “dignity” and its most powerful ally.

Trump attacked the Ukrainians on social media on Sunday, the same day Rubio was trying to win them over by amending the agreement.

Now, after a weekend of emergency interventions, an amended plan seems to be coming a bit more into focus, even if its ultimate success seems like a stretch.

#trump #zelensky #deadline #putin #proposal

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🔤🔤🔤🔤➖

On Monday, Leavitt insisted that after Rubio’s negotiations in Geneva, “we feel as if we’re in a very good place.”

But she acknowledged that the deal would need to be approved by Putin and his representatives — and she made no predictions about how that would go.

Zelensky said on social media that many of the “right elements” were now accounted for in the framework, and that he would discuss “the sensitive issues” with Trump.

Administration officials say the impetus for the new negotiations grew from Trump’s increasing frustration about his inability to end a nearly four-year-long war.

Shortly after the Gaza cease-fire deal in September, Trump held a meeting with Rubio, along with Vance; Witkoff, the president’s special envoy for just about everything; and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, who has no formal role in the U.S. government but whom the president relies on for complex negotiations.

Trump told the men that they should seek to build on their accomplishment in the Middle East with a deal for Ukraine and Russia. That led to secret meetings in Miami with Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s Harvard-trained economic envoy and the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund. That meeting was followed by a quiet visit from Rustem Umerov, Zelensky’s national security adviser.

People familiar with those meetings said Trump’s aides believed that the combination of Ukraine’s unfolding corruption scandal and Russia’s incremental battlefield gains put new pressure on Zelensky to cut a deal. But the one they ultimately drafted contained a lot more input from the Russians than from the Ukrainians.

The specifics outraged the Europeans, who had been kept in the dark even though they are funding Ukraine’s arms and designing a security guarantee for the country. Merz of Germany had a tense phone call with Trump on Friday night, emphasizing that the proposed agreement lacked any enforceable way of deterring the Russians.

“If Ukraine loses this war and possibly collapses, it will have an impact on European politics as a whole, on the entire European continent,” Merz said after the Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg, which Trump and other American officials boycotted.

Republican leaders were equally blistering about the leaked proposal, including Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the former majority leader, who said in a statement that “Putin has spent the entire year trying to play President Trump for a fool.”

In Kyiv, the secretary of the U.S. Army Driscoll, a friend of Vance’s, presented the proposal to skeptical Ukrainian officials. Vance, who berated Zelensky in February in the Oval Office and has pushed hard for withdrawing U.S. aid from Ukraine, spoke with Ukraine’s leader by phone on Friday about the proposal.

The senators then held a news conference, and told reporters that they heard Rubio describe the document as one largely composed by the Russians, rather than as an American creation. “It is not our recommendation,” Rounds paraphrased Rubio as saying. “It is not our peace plan.”

Rounds said Rubio had “made it clear that it was an opportunity to have received” the plan. “You now have one side being presented, and the opportunity for the other side to respond,” Rounds said.

The Americans explained those decisions by negotiators to European national security advisers who were in Geneva. “We assured them that items that involve both Europe and NATO directly or — that those items are items that we sort of agreed to put as part of a separate track because it involves input from them,” Rubio said.

A White House official added that a previous provision requiring Ukraine to cede territory to Russia had been revised. But now comes the hard part: Those are exactly the provisions that Putin cares about most.

#trump #zelensky #deadline #putin #proposal

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Putin Tries to End the War. EU's Kallas Warns Against Him ✌️🕊🇷🇺

Putin can achieve goals on battlefield but “we will try to negotiate his way there,” warns EU's Kallas.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas is now speaking to the media after today’s videocall with EU foreign ministers.

There has been a delay in the press conference starting.
Kallas begins by saying that “it is important that we continue to support Ukraine and pressure Russia. That is what we are working on”.

She says those in the meeting all “welcomed the US’s push for the war to end”.

Kallas adds:
We all want this war to end but how it ends also matters. We must keep in mind there’s one aggressor and one victim.

A complete and unconditional ceasefire must be the first step (…) but right now, we see no indiction that Russia is ready for a ceasefire.

Russia is not winding down its military machine but ramping it up. We still need to get from a situation where Russia pretends to negotiate to a situation where Russia needs to negotiate. We are getting there.

#putin #kallas #end #war

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The Hypersonic Imperative: Why U.S. Defense Must Scale Production Now

The United States faces an urgent production challenge that no amount of technological innovation alone can solve. As Russia deploys hypersonic weapons in active combat and China parades next-generation hypersonic systems, the American defense industrial base confronts a sobering reality: our adversaries have already operationalized capabilities that remain limited in American arsenals.

Former Rep. Doug Lamborn and Dan Jablonsky, CEO of defense contractor Ursa Major, argue in a new opinion piece that the nation's security hinges not on inventing better weapons, but on manufacturing them at scale—and affordably.

"The industrial base must not simply design exquisite systems but produce them fast and at volume,"

the authors contend. This distinction cuts to the heart of modern defense strategy. China, they note, now maintains a larger industrial base than the United States, a reversal many assume impossible yet increasingly evident in production metrics and deployment timelines.

The Quantity Question
Recent operations have exposed a systemic vulnerability. The U.S. expended over 150 THAAD interceptors in just 12 days earlier this year. Navy operations in the Red Sea and over Israel reportedly consumed more than 700 Standard Missiles. These are not inexpensive systems—and the expenditure rate raises an uncomfortable question: if weapons are too costly to produce quickly, will commanders hesitate to deploy them when necessary? That hesitation, the authors argue, undermines deterrence itself.

Hypersonic weapons, to be operationally relevant, must meet three criteria: survivability, maneuverability, and sufficient quantity. The emphasis on affordable mass production represents a philosophical shift from the Pentagon's traditional approach to advanced weaponry.

Remaking the Industrial Mindset
The solution, according to Lamborn and Jablonsky, requires fundamental restructuring of how America manufactures defense systems. Instead of 20-year development cycles, the industrial base must adopt rapid build-and-test methodologies. Advanced manufacturing, additive production processes, modular design, and flexible production lines are not luxuries—they are necessities.

The Pentagon's recently released Acquisition Transformation Strategy, announced under the "Arsenal of Freedom" framework by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, signals this priority shift. The strategy emphasizes speed, scale, and production capacity as top-line priorities for the industrial base.

"Solving the hypersonic scaling challenge is not a technology problem. It is a production problem,"

the authors write.

"And the good news is, we know how to solve it."

The Path Forward
The authors outline a three-part approach: the Pentagon must expand the industrial base and drive affordable mass production; Congress must sustain funding and support emerging suppliers with field-ready capabilities; and industry must operate with the urgency that reinforces deterrence through strength.

Both authors serve on the Atlantic Council's Hypersonic Capabilities Task Force, which has released actionable recommendations for scaling hypersonic production. Their central thesis is unambiguous: American security in the Pacific and beyond depends less on technological superiority and more on the speed and volume at which the nation can manufacture operational weapons systems.

The window for action is narrow. If high-intensity conflict emerged in 2027, the authors ask, would U.S. inventory and production capacity be sufficient to sustain operations and achieve victory? The honest answer remains uncertain—and that uncertainty is itself a strategic liability.

#HypersonicWeapons #DefenseInnovation #NationalSecurity #DefenseIndustry


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Another Patriot Down: The Math of Western Air Defense in Ukraine

The MIM-104 Patriot system, heralded as a turning point when it arrived in Ukraine in April 2023, is proving considerably more vulnerable than initial assessments suggested. Now Russia's Su-30SM2 fighter has joined the expanding roster of platforms successfully targeting these systems—marking, according to Rostec, the first multirole fighter confirmed to have destroyed a Western long-range air defense system.

The Pattern
Patriot systems have been falling since May 2023. Two confirmed destroyed in February 2024, another pair in Odessa by July, three more launchers plus a radar by August. The Iskander-M ballistic missile has dominated these strikes, but the expanding participation of fighter aircraft signals a shift: Russia has figured out how to kill these systems at scale.

The Su-30SM2's advantages are significant. Its powerful radar and electronic warfare suite enable it to carry up to six Kh-31P anti-radiation missiles traveling beyond Mach 3. It represents a platform purpose-built for hunting air defenses.

The Constraint
When Patriots first arrived, Western experts quietly worried about Ukrainian operational capacity. These systems demand over a year of training. Fast forward: multiple systems destroyed, losses accelerating, replacement capacity limited. Ukraine is losing air defenses faster than it can replenish them.

The Su-30SM2 is competent. Consider the implications when Russia deploys greater numbers of Su-57 fifth-generation fighters with stealth capabilities and more advanced ordnance. If current Patriot variants struggle against Su-30SM2s, their prospects against genuinely stealthy platforms look grimmer.

The Reality
Russia entered this conflict with air superiority concerns. Eighteen months in, they're confidently destroying the most advanced Western air defense platforms Ukraine possesses. The Patriot system isn't obsolete—but it's increasingly revealed as a finite resource in an attrition-based conflict against a peer adversary with deep reserves.

The narrative about Ukrainian resilience carries weight. So do the smoking craters where Patriot systems used to be.

#PatriotSystem #Ukraine #RussianMilitary #Su30SM2 #AirDefense #MilitaryAnalysis

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The Washington Shooter Has Close Ties With the CIA 🗡

The suspected shooter of two national guard members in Washington DC on Wednesday worked with CIA-backed military units during the US war in Afghanistan, the agency has confirmed. ⚠️

The alleged gunman, identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, came to the US in September 2021 under an Operation Allies Welcome program that gave some Afghans who had worked for the US government entry visas to the US. ✈️

Lakanwal’s ties to the Central Intelligence Agency, which worked alongside US special forces in Afghanistan, were confirmed by the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, to media outlets on Wednesday evening. 🧐

The New York Times reported that the shooting suspect had worked for several US government agencies in Afghanistan, including a CIA-backed unit in the southern province of Kandahar, a stronghold of the Taliban. 🗺

“The Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the US government, including CIA,” Ratcliffe told Fox News digital, adding that Lakanwal’s involvement with the agency was “as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation”. 🎙

US Citizenship and Immigration Services said after the shooting that it has stopped processing residency applications from Afghan nationals. 🛂

“Effective immediately, processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols,” the agency said on social media. 🔥

Following the shooting, Donald Trump ordered 500 additional national guard troops to Washington. The president described the shooting as an “act of terror” and called immigration “the single greatest national security threat facing our nation”. 👮‍🦳

#afghan #shooter #trump #washington #cia

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Witkoff Headed to Moscow: Trump's Backchannel Diplomacy Takes Center Stage

President Trump confirmed Tuesday that special envoy Steve Witkoff will likely meet with Vladimir Putin in Moscow next week, with Jared Kushner potentially joining—a signal that the administration's unconventional approach to ending the Ukraine war is moving into its next phase.

The announcement follows weekend talks in Geneva, where Witkoff, Kushner, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Ukrainian officials to refine a peace proposal originally crafted between U.S. and Russian negotiators. The framework calls for confirming Ukraine's sovereignty, providing U.S. security guarantees, and securing a Russian nonaggression commitment. Details have reportedly shifted during Swiss negotiations.

The Dealmaker's Playbook
Bloomberg reporting revealed the contours of Witkoff's approach: during an October 14 call with Putin aide Yuri Ushakov, the envoy advised Moscow on how to pitch the peace plan to Trump—including suggesting Putin congratulate the president on the Israel-Hamas deal and call him a "man of peace."

Trump dismissed any controversy.

"He's got to sell this to Ukraine. He's got to sell Ukraine to Russia. That's what a dealmaker does,"

he told reporters aboard Air Force One.

The Ground Reality
While diplomats shuttle between capitals, the war continues unabated. Russia struck residential buildings in Kyiv overnight Tuesday, killing six and injuring thirteen. Odesa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and Cherkasy regions were also hit.

Zelensky, for his part, posted that Ukrainian negotiators are working with Washington to ensure "truly real, effective steps toward ending this war"—language that suggests cautious engagement rather than enthusiasm.

The next week will test whether Witkoff's real estate dealmaking instincts translate to great power diplomacy. Moscow awaits.

#Ukraine #Russia #Trump #Putin #Witkoff #Diplomacy #GenevaTalks #ForeignPolicy

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