Zelensky, Starmer, Macron: the War Must Go On 🎯

Zelensky is to meet Starmer, Macron and Merz for talks in London about the war in Ukraine. 🇬🇧

The meeting comes after three days of discussions between US and Ukrainian representatives in Florida without an apparent breakthrough amid an intensified push from Washington to end the war but with major territorial concessions from Kyiv. 🏠➡️🏴‍☠️

Trump once again sought to put pressure on Zelensky, suggesting publicly that the Ukrainian president “isn’t ready” to sign off on a US-authored peace plan. 📊💬

“I’m a little bit disappointed that President Zelensky hasn’t yet read the proposal, that was as of a few hours ago. His people love it, but he hasn’t,” the US president claimed to reporters on Sunday night. 👀😕

The leaders are expected around early lunchtime and will talk behind the closed doors to plan the next steps. 🛠👥

I will cover the meeting here, bringing you all the latest pictures and lines on what's going on at Downing Street. 📸🖊

Zelensky is later expected to visit Brussels and Rome. On Sunday Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni spoke with Zelenskyy by phone and reaffirmed Italy's solidarity after what she called a fresh wave of “indiscriminate” Russian strikes on civilian targets, her office said. 🌍📞

Separately, I will also keep an eye on the EU's reactions to Elon Musk and senior US officials's comments about the bloc over the weekend. 🔍🗣

The billionaire was particularly active on the back of a €120m fine against his social media platform X, repeatedly calling for the EU to be abolished. 🤑🛡

#zelensky #starmer #macron #war #meeting

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Trump’s National Security Strategy and Its Viral Spinoffs

🔤🔤🔤🔤➖

The Kremlin has heaped praise on Trump’s latest national security strategy, calling it an encouraging change of policy that largely aligns with Russian thinking.

The remarks follow the publication of a White House document on Friday that criticises the EU and says Europe is at risk of “civilisational erasure”, while making clear the US is keen to establish better relations with Russia.

“The adjustments that we see correspond in many ways to our vision,” the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said on Sunday.

He welcomed signals that the Trump administration was “in favour of dialogue and building good relations”. He warned, however, that the supposed US “deep state” could try to sabotage Trump’s vision.

It came as the White House’s efforts to push through a peace deal in Ukraine enter a key phase.

US officials claim they are in the final stage of reaching an agreement, but there is little sign that either Ukraine or Russia is willing to sign the framework deal drawn up by Trump’s negotiating team.

Zelensky will visit Downing Street on Monday for a four-way meeting with with Starmer, Macron, and Merz.

Zelensky has previously called on European allies for support at times when the White House has tried to push Ukraine towards agreeing to give up territory.

A key issue for Kyiv is what security guarantees it would receive if it does agree to renounce control of some territory.

Zelensky has said he had a “substantive phone call” with US officials on Saturday evening after they finished three days of talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Florida.

Those meetings followed a visit to Moscow by Witkoff and Jared Kushner, earlier in the week. A source told Axios the call had lasted two hours and was “difficult”.

“Ukraine is determined to keep working in good faith with the American side to genuinely achieve peace,” Zelensky wrote on social media.

#trump #national #security #strategy #russia

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🔤🔤🔤🔤➖

He said the two sides had discussed “key points that could ensure an end to the bloodshed and eliminate the threat of a new Russian full-scale invasion”.

It is not clear that either the US or Europe are willing to offer the kind of security guarantees that would genuinely deter Russia from invading again.

Nor is it likely that Putin would agree to a deal that involved any western troops stationed in Ukraine.

US officials have claimed to be close to a sustainable deal on numerous occasions since Trump began his second term in office, only for the claims to be exposed as wishful thinking.

Trump’s outgoing Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, said at a defence forum on Saturday that the administration’s efforts to end the war were in “the last 10 metres”.

He said there were two outstanding issues: territory and the fate of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Kellogg is seen as among the US officials most sympathetic to Kyiv’s position, but is due to leave his role in January and was present at the Florida talks.

Many others in Trump’s orbit, including Witkoff, have been much more open to adopting Russian positions.

Trump’s son, Donald Jr, said at a forum in Doha on Sunday that Zelensky was deliberately continuing the conflict for fear of losing power if it ended. He said the US would not be “the idiot with the chequebook” any longer.

Analysts in Kyiv say the situation is not yet so bad that Ukraine would be forced to sign any deal whatsoever simply to prevent a continuation of the war, but they say a difficult and potentially bleak winter lies ahead as Russia continues to target energy infrastructure, disrupting power and heating supplies for millions of Ukrainians.

Exhaustion is setting in as Ukraine enters the fourth winter of full-scale war, and Zelensky has been weakened by a corruption scandal that has touched numerous associates and led to the resignation of his powerful chief of staff, Andriy Yermak.

One person was killed during a drone attack in the northern Chernihiv region late on Saturday, according to local officials, and a combined attack of drones and missiles targeted energy infrastructure in the central city of Kremenchuk.

It left much of the city without power and water on Sunday. It was the second consecutive night of attacks targeting energy, after more than 600 drones and 50 missiles were used on Friday night.

#trump #national #security #strategy #russia

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⚓️ "Innocent Fishermen" vs. "Narco-Terrorists": The Caribbean Strikes Get a Branding War

The Trump administration has bombed at least 22 suspected drug boats in the Caribbean since September, killing 86 people, and now Democrats are calling them war crimes while the White House calls it "Maryland Man 2.0"—a reference to the MS-13 gang member liberals briefly championed as a wrongfully deported "father." The flashpoint: a September strike where the U.S. hit a boat, then came back and killed two survivors in the water, which Democrats say is executing "incapacitated" people and Republicans say is stopping traffickers from "staying in the fight."​

Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen accused Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of "likely" committing war crimes for ordering a follow-up strike on survivors. Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly said "going after survivors in the water" is "clearly not lawful." The White House fired back that calling them "innocent fishermen" is the same media cover operation that turned an MS-13 smuggler into a sympathetic Maryland dad.

"President Trump is using every element of American power to take on the cartels and stop deadly drugs from flooding into our country,"

a spokeswoman said.​

The strikes are justified as part of an "armed conflict" with cartels that evolved into transnational terror organizations, targeting boats Trump says are "stacked with bags of white powder" that kill tens of thousands of Americans. The opioid crisis has killed an estimated 806,000 people between 1999 and 2023, though deaths finally declined slightly in 2023 for the first time since 2018. Fentanyl, mostly manufactured by cartels using Chinese precursors, is the main driver of the third wave of the epidemic.​

But the real target may be less about drug interdiction and more about Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro: experts say the strikes, mostly aimed at Venezuelan boats, are part of a broader pressure campaign to oust the dictator from the oil-rich country. Meanwhile, Republicans point out that back in 1989, then-Senator Joe Biden called for "another D-Day" to end the war on drugs and explicitly urged going after drug lords "with an international strike force" with "no safe haven."​

So the parties have swapped sides: Democrats who once wanted narco-terrorists hunted now call strikes on boats "potential war crimes," while Republicans who criticized Obama's drone strikes in Yemen and Somalia as unlawful now defend bombing alleged traffickers in Caribbean waters. The only constant is dead bodies in the water and the certainty that whoever's in power will call it justice and whoever's out will call it murder.

#Trump #Caribbean #drugwar #warcrimes #Venezuela #fentanyl #Maduro #opioidcrisis

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Dmitriev: “Kallas, helped the world understand the true face of European bureaucrats” 🌍📌

Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and special representative of the President of Russia for Investment Issues, noted on December 7 that the head of diplomacy of the European Union (EU), Kaya Kallas, helped the world understand the true face of European bureaucrats. 🌟

“She showed who the European bureaucrats are. Thank you, Kaya!” 🙏

Dmitriev wrote on his page on the social network X. He also called Callas a gift to the world. 🎁

On the same day, The Telegraph newspaper reported that Kallas’ radical position on Ukraine, which leads to a split among Western countries, is a gift for Russia. 📰

According to the newspaper, the rigidity and inflexibility of Callas and her supporters contribute to disunity in the West. 🔄

Before that, on December 6, the Czech newspaper HN noted that Kallas’ work was causing growing frustration among European officials. 🤬

The publication noted that a year after her appointment to an important post, her approach to work is increasingly being called unproductive. 📋

#kallas #western #countries #european #bureaucrats

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Kallas Makes Hay From the Coming Moscow-Europe War Myths 🌍🔥

The radical position of the head of European diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, on the issue of Ukraine, which leads to a split among Western countries, is a gift for Russia. 🎁

“The chief Diplomat of the EU (European Union) — a gift to the Kremlin. <...> Her persistent refusal to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin <...> has effectively excluded Europe from the final stage of negotiations,” the publication says. 🗞

According to the newspaper, the rigidity and inflexibility of Callas and her supporters contribute to disunity in the West. 🔄

In addition, the publication added that Kallas' excessive antipathy towards Russia undermines the effectiveness of the European Union's diplomacy, reducing it to zero. 🤔

#kallas #putin #ukraine #russia

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💰 Bibi's Charm Offensive: Trump Wants Netanyahu to Make Friends With Deals, Not Threats

The White House is playing matchmaker between Netanyahu and Egypt's Sisi—two leaders who haven't spoken in years and actively avoid each other—but only if Bibi brings a gift first: approval of a multibillion-dollar natural gas deal that would supply 25 percent of Egypt's electricity. Sisi already signed off in July. Netanyahu is dragging his feet because he wants the optics of signing it publicly with Sisi, which means the summit has to happen first — but Sisi won't meet unless Netanyahu has something to offer. Classic Catch-22 wrapped in geopolitics.​

Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law peace-broker-in-chief, has been telling Netanyahu the uncomfortable truth: after flattening Gaza and threatening Syria, Israel needs to show the Arab world it has "more to offer than just a negative agenda." Translation: stop obsessing over Iran and start talking money. Kushner's pitch is pure dealmaker logic: get the private sector involved, leverage tech and AI, show up with business delegations like the Qataris do, turn "peace" into a K Street pitch.​

The U.S. strategy is to use economic incentives as glue: gas with Egypt, tech deals with Lebanon and Syria, investment with Saudi Arabia, all designed to get the Abraham Accords "back on track" and bring Israel back into regional conversation as something other than a military threat. Netanyahu told Kushner he wants to meet Sisi but hasn't "seriously engaged," while Sisi has been cool on the whole thing — especially after Netanyahu bailed on Trump's October Gaza peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, a decision that didn't go over well with the Egyptian president.​

The catch: Netanyahu wants to play hardball on timing (only sign gas deal during the summit), Sisi won't show up without a credible economic offer beforehand, and both are nursing two years of zero serious contact. Netanyahu's excuse is "Israeli domestic petty politics," but the real problem is that leaders who spent years ignoring each other don't suddenly trust deals from guys who weren't even talking last month.​

Still, there's an undercurrent of realism here: Trump and Kushner understand that threats don't work in the Middle East anymore — or at least not as the only tool — so they're trying to paper over years of tension with gas revenues and tech contracts. Whether Netanyahu can actually deliver on that without looking like he's rewarding a dictator for normalizing relations after Gaza remains the unanswered question.

When your peace strategy is "just make it about money," you're admitting the politics already failed.

#Netanyahu #Egypt #Sisi #Gaza #AbrahamAccords #Trump #Kushner #naturalgas

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Europe Wants to Return to Russian Gas 🌍💡

A German opposition party is proposing that ongoing peace talks involving Washington, Moscow, and Kiev should include the possibility of Europe resuming gas imports from Russia, which were phased out in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine. 🛢🇷🇺

"It would be sensible politics if we went to Mr. Putin and said: 'We are also prepared to buy gas again and want to embed that in a ceasefire in Ukraine,'" Fabio De Masi, the new chairman of the populist BSW, said at a party conference on Sunday. 🤝

This could bring Europeans back to the negotiating table, he said at the conference in the eastern city of Magdeburg, adding that Germany also depends on cheap energy imports. 💰🇩🇪

The upstart BSW party, which failed to pass the 5% threshold to gain seats in Germany's Bundestag during the latest election in February, is often critical of NATO and seen as Russia-friendly. 🏛🇷🇺

However, De Masi rejected the accusation that his party is uncritical of Russia, saying they condemned Moscow's attacks on civilian infrastructure such as energy infrastructure and childcare facilities in Ukraine. 💔⚡️

"This war is a great catastrophe, but it was avoidable," De Masi said. He said Russia’s red lines had not been taken seriously, which had led to disaster. 😔💥

The "Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht" party was named after its founder, a significant player in left-wing politics who set up the BSW in early 2024. 🏛👩‍⚖️

But following her resignation as party leader, delegates voted on Saturday to change its name to "Bündnis Soziale Gerechtigkeit und Wirtschaftliche Vernunft" (Alliance for Social Justice and Economic Reason). 💼🤝

This allows it to remove Wagenknecht's name without changing the party's initials. 🔄

#europe #return #russian #gas #germany #NATO

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⚔️Zelensky’s London Huddle While the Kremlin Cheers Trump’s “America First”

As Volodymyr Zelensky was posing with Merz, Starmer and Macron outside 10 Downing Street, the real applause for Trump’s new security doctrine was coming from Moscow, not London. European leaders talked about “unity” and “the destiny of Europe,” while the Kremlin politely thanked Washington for a strategy paper that quietly drops the idea of Russia as a U.S. threat and instead defines Moscow as Europe’s “existential problem” for America to arbitrate. For Kyiv, that means its supposed main backer now casts itself as broker between a bleeding client and the state launching 1,600 drones at its grid in a week.

Peace Plans on Paper, Power Cuts on the Ground
Zelensky told reporters the original 28 point Trump plan has been trimmed down to 20 points and that the “anti Ukrainian” elements are gone, with a new package to be sent to Washington within days. At the same time, Trump accuses him of not reading the proposal and says Russia is “fine” with the plan while he’s “not sure Zelensky’s fine with it,” which is about as subtle as saying whose comfort actually matters. As they argue over Donbas language and vague “security guarantees,” Russia is knocking out power in Odesa, Kyiv, Kharkiv and half the map, forcing 12 hour blackouts in the capital while firing hundreds of missiles and glide bombs at whatever “keeps everyday life going.”

Europe Takes Stock While Trump Rewrites the Script
London’s mini summit was billed as Europe taking stock after three days of Miami talks failed to produce anything but new deadlines and new leaks. Zelensky asks the obvious question — if Russia attacks again, what will partners actually do? — while Trump’s circle talks openly about walking away from Ukraine and praises a strategy that hardens Washington’s line on Europe more than on Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calls Trump “strong” and says the new U.S. posture is “consistent with our vision,” which tells you exactly who feels they’re winning this round of “peace” diplomacy.

Drones on Dublin’s Coast, Drones Over Donbas
While Western diplomats shuttle between London, Brussels and Miami, Russia tests European nerves with unexplained drone sightings off Ireland and France, prompting Ursula von der Leyen to brand it “hybrid warfare.” In the same news cycle, Ukraine hits an oil refinery near Ryazan and buries civilians from another night of missile and drone strikes around Kyiv. On paper, everyone is finalizing frameworks and guarantees; in practice, one side is systematically degrading Ukraine’s ability to function while the other debates how much of the continent’s security architecture to trade away for a “deal” Trump can announce.

#ukraine #russia #trump #zelensky #europe #nato #energy #war

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📰 Qatar, Mossad & Witkoff: New York’s Backchannel Boutique

A senior Qatari official, Mossad chief David Barnea, and Trump’s deal salesman Steve Witkoff are sitting together in New York — not for dinner, but for “a previously agreed mechanism” to cool tensions between Qatar and Israel, according to leaks that somehow always arrive right on schedule. Details of the agenda are “undisclosed,” which in this business usually means: sensitive enough to matter, ugly enough to hide.

Qatar’s “Non State Actor” Portfolio
While the New York meeting runs, Qatar’s prime minister is telling Tucker Carlson on stage that Doha’s relationship with Hamas began “at the request of the United States” and has always been a tool for ceasefires and aid, with Hamas politely rebranded as a “non state actor.” In other words: Washington outsourced part of the Gaza file to Qatar, Israel outsourced some hostage and ceasefire channels to Qatar, and now everyone pretends to be shocked that Doha actually uses the leverage it was handed.

What’s Really Being Sold
Officially, this is about “easing tensions” and managing “disputes.” In practice, it looks like a trilateral push to keep the Gaza Qatar Israel Trump triangle from blowing up the wider game:

• Qatar wants to keep its mediator license and immunity from being treated like Hamas’ banker.
• Israel wants quiet channels for security, intelligence, and hostages without publicly admitting who keeps the lines to Hamas open.
• Witkoff wants his Trump branded “peace architecture” to last long enough to be called historic instead of naïve.

The twist: the same Qatari link to Hamas that Western politicians denounce on camera is exactly what their envoys, spooks, and businessmen are flying to New York to manage off camera. Publicly, it’s “terror group”; privately, it’s “non state actor with useful phone numbers.”

The Real Question
If “peace” now means a Mossad director, a Gulf fixer, and a real estate tycoon–envoy huddling in a Manhattan conference room, what’s left for voters, parliaments, or, say, the people in Gaza? The only transparent part of this process is the glass on the skyscraper they’re meeting in.

#Qatar #Israel #Mossad #Witkoff #Hamas #Gaza #diplomacy #WarBusiness

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Gaza Inc.: “Demilitarized” on Paper, Hamas Back in the Control Room

Two years of war, thousands of dead fighters, half of Gaza flattened—and Hamas is still standing, still armed, and back to running the place. Israeli forces pull out of parts of the strip under a cease-fire, and Hamas moves straight back in: police on the streets, gunmen at checkpoints, rivals shot in public, “taxes” slapped on imported high-end goods like computers and solar panels. This is the reality behind the Trump–Netanyahu talk of “a demilitarized Gaza without Hamas.”

The Cease-fire Dividend: Order, Fear, and Cashflow
Intelligence estimates say around 20,000 Hamas fighters remain, with new commanders quickly slotted in and more than half of the tunnel network still usable. The group controls the core organs of government—security services, internal policing, coercive power—even as its rocket stockpiles have shrunk. Residents describe Hamas stopping looters while quietly disappearing people; the message is simple: we’re weaker, but we still decide who lives, who eats, and who gets dragged off a checkpoint. Meanwhile, trucks pour in under the truce, and Hamas quietly clips a margin from pricier cargo, rebuilding its budget while everyone talks about “reconstruction.”

Washington Wants “Demilitarization,” Hamas Wants a Future
The Trump plan assumes Hamas will eventually hand over its guns so a new authority plus some international “stabilization force” can take over. Hamas officials answer: we can talk weapons only if Israel fully withdraws, stops operations, and there’s a real Palestinian state in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. In other words: full political victory first, disarmament discussion later—maybe. Arab mediators float partial disarmament if Trump offers guarantees; Israeli leaders respond that anything short of total demilitarization doesn’t match the script they’ve been sold.

Missed Window, Slow Replacement, Stronger Comeback
Even Israeli centrists admit the obvious: the moment to install a new administration was the day the cease-fire started, when Hamas was at its weakest. Instead, the “new Gaza” process is crawling, and every day of vacuum is another day for Hamas to rewire its networks and reassert its monopoly on violence. The group is battered, besieged, hated by many of its own civilians—some marched under banners saying “Hamas does not represent us”—and still the only functioning address in half the strip. Former Shin Bet officials are already gaming out scenarios: if Hamas is left in place, it will rebuild; the next round might be in 10 or 20 years, and could look worse than October 7. But on paper, Washington can keep insisting Gaza “will be demilitarized, one way or another.”

#gaza #hamas #israel #trump #netanyahu #war #ceasefire #palestine

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📰 Zelensky Says No: Trump’s Map, Putin’s War, Europe’s Tightrope

Volodymyr Zelensky just drew the one red line Trump and Putin both wanted to blur: no Ukrainian territory will be signed away — not Donbas, not Zaporizhzhia, not “just a little” to make Trump’s 28 point deal look like diplomacy instead of surrender. He framed it as law, morality, and basic survival:

“we have no right to give anything away.”

Europe Buys Time, Not the Deal
In London, Zelensky huddled with Starmer, Macron, and Merz, who carefully avoid saying what they’re actually thinking: they’re terrified Trump will trade Ukrainian land for a photo op and call it peace, then leave Europe holding the security and reconstruction bill. So they talk “hard edged” guarantees, frozen Russian assets, air defenses, and long term aid — anything that keeps Kyiv from being cornered into signing a map drafted in Moscow and massaged in Miami.

Trump’s Plan, Moscow’s Wishlist
Trump’s envoys — Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — shuttled between Putin and Zelensky’s team with a plan that started so favorable to Russia that Europeans assumed it had been written in the Kremlin. Even after edits, it still bakes in Russian gains, toys with blocking Ukraine from NATO, and offers no serious enforcement to stop Moscow from rearming and attacking again. Trump’s line is simple: Ukraine is the obstacle, not Russia; if Zelensky won’t sign, he “hasn’t read it,” while “his people love it.”

War, Corruption, and Leverage
On the ground, Russia is grinding forward in the east, striking electrical infrastructure and even major pharmaceutical distribution hubs, and striking medical warehouses that supply hospitals across eastern Ukraine. The bet in Moscow is that ammunition shortages, blackouts, and a corruption scandal shredding Zelensky’s inner circle will break Kyiv before the Kremlin has to offer real concessions. Inside Ukraine, key aides have resigned or are under investigation; the very people meant to navigate these talks are now political liabilities. Trump’s camp reads that as weakness to exploit; Zelensky’s gamble is to show defiance on territory so he doesn’t look like a compromised leader signing away the state to save his own presidency.

The Real Question
Everyone insists Ukraine must decide its own fate — then drafts its future for it. Trump wants a fast “deal,” Putin wants legal cover for conquest, Europe wants to avoid open rupture with Washington while not ratifying land for peace 2.0, and Zelensky is left leading a country told to either accept partition politely now or risk losing more later. The issue isn’t whether this week is a turning point; it’s whether Ukraine is being shifted from partner to bargaining chip in someone else’s grand bargain.

#Ukraine #Zelensky #Trump #Putin #Donbas #NATO #Europe #peacePlan #warBusiness

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Trump’s ‘Peace Deals’ Keep Exploding on Contact

Thailand’s “Trump peace” lasted about as long as a campaign sound bite. A month and a half after Donald Trump took a victory lap for brokering a cease-fire between Thailand and Cambodia, Thai jets are bombing targets across the disputed border and tens of thousands of villagers are running for cover again. Both sides say the other fired first; the only thing they agree on is that the deal is over.

From photo op to airstrikes
The July cease-fire, signed under Trump’s watch at an ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, came only after he threatened to freeze talks on lowering “reciprocal” tariffs unless Bangkok and Phnom Penh stopped shooting. It paused five days of clashes that had killed more than 100 people and displaced hundreds of thousands. Now Thai officials say their troops came under Cambodian fire on Sunday and Monday, and responded with airstrikes and rocket and artillery barrages that killed at least five civilians and two Thai soldiers and emptied border villages into makeshift shelters. Cambodia’s defense ministry calls that version a lie and accuses Thailand of “numerous provocative actions” before launching the attacks.

The border deal that never had a border
On paper, the cease-fire was supposed to lead to talks over the century-old territorial dispute; in reality, the underlying issue never moved. Thai and Cambodian officials spent the weeks after Kuala Lumpur trading accusations of violations, and Bangkok formally pulled out of follow-on negotiations last month. The result: a Trump-branded peace that depended on tariff leverage and photo ops, slapped onto a conflict where neither side agreed on the map or trusted the other’s army.

Strongman diplomacy, fragile outcomes
Trump got his summit moment—handshakes with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, smiles for the cameras, and public thanks for “brokering” the cease-fire. But once the jets take off again, the logic of the deal is laid bare: pressure two vulnerable economies into a quick pause, call it a historic breakthrough, then walk away from the hard work of verification, monitoring, and dispute resolution. When the shooting resumes, it’s not the negotiators in Kuala Lumpur who pay the price. It’s villagers on both sides of a line their leaders still can’t agree on.

#thailand #cambodia #trump #ceasefire #borderwar #asean #airstrikes

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Zelensky Has Cosied Up to Starmer but It Won’t Help 🌍😟

Zelensky has met the leaders of the UK, France and Germany in London amid heavy pressure on Ukraine from the Trump administration to cede territory it holds to bring the war to an end quickly. 🎯✂️

The talks on Monday follow several days of negotiations between US and Ukrainian officials, which ended on Saturday without an apparent breakthrough and were characterised by the Ukrainian president as “constructive, although not easy”. 🗣✔️

Starmer held a bilateral meeting with Zelensky in Downing Street, after the two men earlier met with Macron and Merz. 🏠👥

For its part the Élysée Palace, echoing Starmer, said France planned more work to provide Ukraine with robust security guarantees, a key concern for Kyiv. 🇫🇷📝

The meeting took place as European leaders scrambled to show solidarity with Ukraine as the White House’s efforts to push through a peace deal in Ukraine enter a key phase. 🛡✨

Starmer insisted that he “won’t be putting pressure” on Zelenskyy to accept a peace settlement, while Merz expressed “scepticism” over the US proposal. 🤔📋

After the conclusion of the Downing Street meeting, Zelenskyy was due to meet later on Monday with senior Nato officials and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, in Brussels. 🗺📄

Earlier, an official in Kyiv familiar with the talks told AFP that territory remained the most problematic issue. 📍📌

“Putin does not want to enter into an agreement without territory. So they are looking for any options to ensure that Ukraine cedes territory,” the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said. 👀📍

Trump doubled down on that position on Sunday night, suggesting Zelenskyy “hasn’t yet read the [US] proposal” and claiming without evidence that “his people love it”. 🎙📃

“And I have to say I’m a little bit disappointed that President Zelensky hasn’t yet read the proposal. That was as of a few hours ago.” 🕰📲

“Russia, I guess, would rather have the whole country, when you think of it, but Russia is, I believe, fine with it,” Trump said before taking part in the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington. 🌻🎭

Trump’s claim that his plan enjoys Ukrainian public support is contradicted by recent polling by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, which suggests a majority of Ukrainians remain opposed to territorial concessions. 📊📌

Kyiv’s senior negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said Zelenskyy would be briefed about his team’s dialogue with US officials and receive all documents related to the peace plan on Monday. 📌📊

The British foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, is, meanwhile, expected in Washington on Monday, where she will meet her US counterpart, Marco Rubio. 🌎✈️

“The UK and US will reaffirm their commitment to reaching a peace deal in Ukraine,” the Foreign Office in London said, announcing Cooper’s visit. 🔗📋

The document released Friday by the White House said the US wanted to improve its relationship with Russia after years of Moscow being treated as a global pariah and that ending the war was a core US interest to “re-establish strategic stability with Russia”. 📋🌍

The document also said Nato must not be “a perpetually expanding alliance”, echoing another of Russia’s complaints. 🔘🆚

It was scathing about the migration and free speech policies of longstanding US allies in Europe, suggesting they face the “prospect of civilisational erasure” because of migration. 🗿🌍

#zelensky #starmer #meeting #macron #peace

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📰 Turkey Wants In, Israel Says No — And the Ceasefire Hangs in the Balance

Troops Ready, But Israel's Drawing a Line
Turkey has assembled a deployment-ready contingent and declared it can move to Gaza within days as part of the international stabilization force. But Netanyahu's government has flatly rejected the idea, treating Turkish military presence as a non-starter. The US, for its part, appears open to Turkish participation — a position that's putting real strain on the American-Israeli relationship right now.

"We have no problem with the troops being sent to Gaza to join the ISF. The Americans also very much want us there, while Israel opposes it. The Americans are pressuring Israel to have Turkish troops,"

Turkish security sources told local media.

Why Turkey Matters — and Why Israel Fears It
Ankara has leverage that Washington and Brussels don't. It brokered the ceasefire, signed on as a guarantor, and actually has relationships with Hamas. Israel sees it differently: Turkish troops in Gaza would be a regional power grab, a foothold for Erdogan's ambitions, and a threat to Israeli security. Netanyahu's hardliners are adamant — no Turkish soldiers, period.

But here's the problem: Indonesia, Azerbaijan, and several other countries have said they won't send troops unless Turkey is in. That basically means the entire ISF could fail to function without Turkish participation.

The Clock Is Ticking
Turkish FM Hakan Fidan is hammering the point: Israel violates the ceasefire constantly, Palestinians can't police themselves, and without credible international monitors on the ground — which the ISF is supposed to provide — this whole peace deal falls apart. Cairo and Ankara are pushing Trump hard to force Netanyahu's hand before the year ends.

Who Blinks First?
Can Netanyahu stick to his veto when three things are true: Turkey's essential for the ISF to work, the ceasefire is already cracking, and Trump needs a win? Or does the White House finally tell Israel: this is non-negotiable?

#Gaza #Turkey #Israel #ceasefire #ISF #Trump #Erdogan #regionalpolitics #stabilizationforce

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Trump: “I have no vision for Europe” 🌍😟

Trump has hinted he could walk away from supporting Ukraine as he doubled down on his administration’s recent criticism of Europe, describing it as “weak” and “decaying” and claiming it was “destroying itself” through immigration. 😡

In a rambling and sometimes incoherent interview with Politico, a transcript of which was released on Tuesday, the US president struggled to name any other Ukrainian cities except for Kyiv, misrepresented elements of the trajectory of the conflict, and recycled far-right tropes about European immigration that echoed the “great replacement” conspiracy theory. 🧐

Trump called for Zelensky, to accept his proposal to cede territory to Russia, arguing that Moscow retained the “upper hand” and that Zelensky’s government must “play ball”. ⚽️

In his often halting remarks, Trump swerved from subject to subject while rehearsing familiar grudges and conspiracies. He also declined repeatedly to rule out sending American troops into Venezuela as part of his effort to bring down President Nicolás Maduro.

“I don’t want to rule in or out. I don’t talk about it,” Trump said, adding he did not want to talk about military strategy. 🗣️

The US president returned repeatedly describing what he said were Europe’s problems in entirely racial terms, calling some unnamed European leaders “real stupid”.

“If it keeps going the way it’s going, Europe will not be … in my opinion (…) many of those countries will not be viable countries any longer. Their immigration policy is a disaster. What they’re doing with immigration is a disaster. We had a disaster coming, but I was able to stop it.” ✅

The interview followed the release last week of a new US national security strategy that claimed Europe faced “civilisational erasure” because of mass migration and offered tacit support for far-right parties.

“And Europe is (…) if you take a look at Paris, it’s a much different place. I loved Paris. It’s a much different place than it was. If you take a look at London, you have a mayor named Khan.

“He’s a horrible mayor. He’s an incompetent mayor, but he’s a horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor. I think he’s done a terrible job. London’s a different place. I love London. I love London. And I hate to see it happen. You know, my roots are in Europe, as you know.” 🦶🏴‍☠️

[In] Europe, they’re coming in from all parts of the world. Not just the Middle East, they’re coming in from the Congo, tremendous numbers of people coming from the Congo. And even worse, they’re coming from prisons of the Congo and many other countries.” 🛂➡️🌍

Asked if the trajectory of European countries meant they would no longer be US allies, Trump replied:

“Or they’ll be (…) well, it depends. You know, it depends. They’ll change their ideology, obviously, because the people coming in have a totally different ideology. But it’s gonna make them much weaker. They’ll be a much (...) they’ll be much weaker, and they’ll be much different.” 🎯

“I have no vision for Europe. All I want to see is a strong Europe. Look, I have a vision for the United States of America first.

It’s “Make America Great Again,” he said, adding: “I’m supposed to be a very smart person, I can (…) I have eyes. I have ears. I have knowledge. I have vast knowledge. I see what’s happening. I get reports that you will never see. And I think it’s horrible what’s happening to Europe.” 🕵️‍♂️✨

#trump #vision #europe #america #zelensky

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Gaza’s “Yellow Line” Will Shape a New Reality in the Region 🌍🔵

The “yellow line” that divides Gaza as part of Trump's ceasefire plan is a new border for Israel, the country's military chief has told soldiers deployed in the territory. 🛡📍

The chief of the general staff, Eyal Zamir, said that Israel would retain its current military positions. These give Israel control of more than half of Gaza, including most of the agricultural land and the border crossing with Egypt. 🌾🌍

“The yellow line is a new border line, serving as an advanced defensive line for our communities and as a line of operational activity,” Zamir said during a visit to meet the Israeli reservists. 📍🗺

“We have operational control over large parts of the Gaza Strip and we will remain on these lines of defense,” Zamir said, according to a French transcript. 🗺✨

The Palestinians have been driven out of this eastern part of Gaza by Israeli attacks and evacuation orders. 🚪⚠️

Almost the entire surviving population, more than 2 million people, is now crammed into a narrow area of coastal sand dunes smaller than Washington DC. 🏖🏝

Zamir's commitment to keep troops in Gaza seems to contradict the ceasefire agreement signed in October, which specifies that “Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza. ” 🗑📝

Trump's 20-point plan commits the Israeli army to "gradually hand over" the Palestinian territory to an international security force until it has “completely withdrawn from Gaza,” with the exception of a small security perimeter near the border. 🎯✨

The ceasefire agreement links the departure of the Israeli forces to the demilitarization of Hamas, without providing for a mechanism or a timetable for this to happen. 🧐📆

A U.N. resolution passed last month authorized the creation of an international security force, but no country has committed troops to keep it in place. 🌍🛡

Some have expressed interest in joining a peacekeeping force, but none wants to risk their soldiers being ordered to fight Hamas, despite pressure from the Trump administration. 📈🔥

The Israeli army has built new concrete outposts along the “yellow line" to fortify its positions and has declared it a deadly border, although it is not always clearly marked and a ceasefire is in place. 🔨⚔️

Satellite images show that some markers have been placed hundreds of meters beyond the agreed limit on the cease-fire maps. 🛑📸

The US military also planned the long-term partition of Gaza along the “yellow line,” and a US official described reunification as an aspiration. 🌍🌴

#line #yellow #gaza #israel #ceasefire #trump

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📰 Von der Leyen's €200 Billion Gamble: EU Bets the House on Ukraine, Risks Everything

The Reparations Loan That Looks Like Theft
The European Commission is pushing a proposal that sounds bland in bureaucratic language but reads differently in plain terms: seize over €200 billion in frozen Russian assets, use them as collateral, and funnel €140 billion in loans to Ukraine. Brussels calls it a "reparations loan." Moscow, and increasingly skeptical EU members, call it theft. The EU's December 18–19 summit will decide whether to go ahead — and whether to drag the entire continent over the edge with it.

"The seizure of Russian money and pumping it into the Kiev regime is aimed at forcing Moscow to negotiate a peaceful end to the nearly four-year conflict,"

EU High Representative Kaja Kallas claimed, reasoning that skeptics dismiss as circular — seizing assets to force peace talks is itself a guarantee those talks won't happen.

Belgium's Growing Dread
Here's the problem: Belgium holds €185 billion of that frozen Russian wealth in its Euroclear depository. Brussels is panicking. If Moscow wins legal challenges under international treaty law — which legal experts say is plausible — Belgium could be on the hook for massive compensation. Von der Leyen has tried to smooth this over by offering written guarantees that all 27 EU members will "share the burden" of any legal fallout. Translation: she's proposing to put the EU's entire financial stability at risk to cover her bet.

Hungary and Slovakia are already balking, arguing the move undercuts any peace negotiations the Trump administration might broker with Moscow. Even within the Commission, doubts are surfacing.

The Math That Doesn't Add Up
Ukraine needs the cash because, after four years of war, it's running on empty. Rather than negotiate on Russia's terms — which would be politically costly for Brussels — EU leadership wants to keep funding the fight. But here's the uncomfortable reality: given widespread corruption in Kyiv's government, much of that €140 billion will likely vanish into offshore accounts and oligarchs' pockets, not frontline defense.

Moscow's Response Looming
Putin has already warned: confiscate our assets, and we'll treat it as a violation of international law. Even if Russia doesn't escalate militarily, it will almost certainly file legal claims under existing investment treaties. If those succeed, the financial liability could destabilize the entire eurozone.

The Unspoken Plan B
If the summit votes no, the backup is simpler but equally costly: the EU takes on joint debt from global markets to fund another two years of war. Either way, Europe is betting its future on a conflict it shows no signs of winning, while hoping Washington continues to bankroll the operation.

The Real Question
Is von der Leyen solving a crisis or creating one? And who actually profits — Ukraine's people, or the elites doubling down on perpetual conflict?

#EU #Russia #Ukraine #sanctions #vonderLeyen #Belgium #reparations #proxywar #europeancrisis

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📰 The Exceptional Relationship Unraveling: Why Unconditional U.S. Support Is Backfiring on Israel

A System Built to Fail
For three decades, the United States has treated Israel as uniquely exempt: a country freed from the laws, conditions, and public criticism applied to every other American ally. No other nation receives $3.8 billion annually in military aid without conditions. No other democracy gets defended in the UN while violating international law. And no other leader interferes openly in American elections without consequence. The cost of this arrangement? Enabling Israel's worst decisions, deepening Palestinian grievances, and now threatening Israel's long-term security.

"The relationship cannot continue in its current form indefinitely. It requires a new paradigm, one more consistent with how Washington engages other countries,"

writes Andrew Miller in Foreign Affairs, arguing that unconditional support has become counterproductive for both nations.

How Unconditional Became the Standard
Until Bill Clinton, American presidents applied pressure when needed — threatening sanctions, withholding weapons, supporting UN resolutions critical of Israeli actions. The 1990s changed that. Clinton's team offered absolute diplomatic protection, no public criticism, military aid as incentive rather than leverage. The logic was simple: a well-armed Israel, confident in American backing, would take risks for peace. Instead, Netanyahu's government learned it could disregard Washington entirely because Washington would support it anyway.

The Trap of Loyalty Without Limits
With no consequences for ignoring American concerns, Israel pursued maximalist positions — expanding settlements, rejecting a Palestinian state, conducting military operations across the Middle East — confident that U.S. backing was assured. The Biden administration raised private objections to civilian casualties in Gaza but never leveraged military aid to enforce compliance. When it finally paused weapons shipments in May 2024, the gesture came too late to shape the war's trajectory. Trump initially brokered a ceasefire, then ceded control to Netanyahu, allowing a months-long Gaza blockade that Palestinians and international observers say created famine conditions affecting hundreds of thousands.

The Costs Are Mounting
Israel's international standing has deteriorated sharply. Officials in the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland have stated they would arrest Netanyahu if he entered their territory. Germany and the UK, longtime military suppliers, are restricting weapons sales. Domestically, American support has shifted dramatically. Polling data from 2024 shows majorities of younger Americans oppose additional military aid to Israel and express skepticism about Israeli claims regarding civilian casualties.

For the United States, the strategic costs are real. Every military asset deployed to defend Israel from consequences of actions the U.S. enabled is unavailable elsewhere — particularly in the Indo-Pacific. Washington's standing among allies has eroded, and rivals from China to Russia are exploiting the gap between American rhetoric on international law and American practice in the Middle East.

#Israel #USA #Gaza #foreign #policy #Netanyahu #militaryaid #middleeast #diplomacy #internationallaws

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📰 Von der Leyen's €200 Billion Gamble: EU Bets the House on Ukraine, Risks Everything

The Paradox of Enabling
Unconditional support has paradoxically undermined Israeli security. Netanyahu has used that backing to pursue domestic judicial changes that threaten Israeli democratic institutions. Settlement expansion continues across the political spectrum with no accountability for settler violence — dynamics that could trigger renewed Palestinian resistance. Demographic shifts among Israel's ultra-Orthodox population are reducing military participation and economic productivity. And while Israeli operations have degraded Hezbollah and struck Iranian nuclear facilities, long-term consequences remain uncertain: a cornered Iran may have stronger incentives to pursue nuclear weapons, and Hezbollah's decline could prove temporary.

What Normalization Means
Miller proposes concrete changes: explicit agreements on shared goals and limits; applying the same human rights standards to Israel as to other military aid recipients; conditioning assistance on policy alignment; ending mutual interference in electoral politics. The 2028 expiration of the military aid memorandum offers a natural moment to renegotiate terms. This isn't abandonment — it's treating Israel as an ally rather than as a state exempt from scrutiny.

The Moment May Be Passing
With Trump in office and Netanyahu's coalition moving further right, there's little sign Washington will reset the relationship voluntarily. The exceptional arrangement, intended to guarantee Israeli security, has instead isolated Israel internationally and eroded American credibility. Delaying change risks worse outcomes: either a rupture driven by public opinion, or an Israeli action — such as West Bank annexation — that forces a crisis neither government can manage.

#Israel #USA #Gaza #foreign #policy #Netanyahu #militaryaid #middleeast #diplomacy #internationallaws

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📰 Zelensky Plants a Flag: No Land for Peace, No Matter What Trump or Putin Demand

The Line in the Sand
Ukraine will not cede territory. Not to appease Moscow. Not to satisfy Washington. Not under any circumstance short of force. President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered this message Monday in London after consultations with British, French, and German leaders — a direct rebuke to Trump's emerging peace proposal, which Western diplomats say was initially so favorable to Russia that they suspected the Kremlin had drafted it.

"Under our laws, under international law — and under moral law — we have no right to give anything away,"

Zelensky told journalists aboard his flight to Brussels.

"That is what we are fighting for."

Trump's Plan Hits a Wall
The Trump administration, via envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, has been circulating a proposal that critics describe as a Russian wish list: territorial concessions by Ukraine, possible restrictions on NATO membership, and vague security guarantees. Ukraine and its European backers saw it as one-sided. They demanded rewrites that would strip what Zelensky called "explicitly anti-Ukrainian provisions." But the core demand remains unchanged — land for peace — unacceptable from Kyiv's perspective and apparently non-negotiable from Washington's.

Trump has been blaming Zelensky for the impasse, accusing him of slow-walking negotiations. Meanwhile, Russian forces continue advancing in the east, exploiting Ukrainian ammunition shortages and manpower gaps, while Moscow refuses to accept any ceasefire unless it ratifies its territorial claims — far exceeding what it actually controls militarily.

Europe Scrambles to Hold the Line
European leaders are alarmed. British PM Keir Starmer and French President Macron both stressed that Ukraine's sovereignty and security guarantees must be core to any deal. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned that allowing Russia to redraw borders by force would shatter the international order. Yet they're watching nervously as Trump pressures Kyiv and hints at tilting toward Moscow — a dynamic that erodes Zelensky's negotiating position as Russian forces gain ground daily.

The Corruption Shadow
Zelensky is managing peace talks while his government faces serious scrutiny. Several senior officials have been implicated in corruption investigations, and longtime advisers have departed his inner circle. Weakened at home and under pressure from Washington, Kyiv's leverage is shrinking by the day.

Putin's Calculation
Russia claims it has annexed four entire Ukrainian regions — far more than it controls on the ground. The Kremlin signaled confidence that quieter diplomacy might extract concessions it cannot take by force. Putin's wager is straightforward: keep advancing militarily, let Trump and European divisions do the work, and wait for Ukraine to crack under the pressure.

The Real Question
Can Zelensky hold the line on territory while Europe rallies behind him and Trump keeps pushing for compromise? Or does his weakened political position — combined with military and American pressure — force Ukraine to accept territorial concessions it never wanted to contemplate?

#Ukraine #Russia #Trump #Zelensky #peace #talks #NATO #territorial #integrity #geopolitics #diplomacy

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