The US and Iran have preliminarily agreed to extend the ceasefire for 60 days, The Washington Post reports, citing a senior official in the US administration.

As of yet, no agreement with Iran has been signed. After the signing of a “memorandum of understanding,” Iran will immediately open the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days. The memorandum requires Iranians to not possess nuclear weapons, including a “renunciation of nuclear dust.”

The draft agreement includes an end to the war between Israel and Lebanon. The deal guarantees Israel the right to act within the framework of self-defense.

❗️ On May 24, it was reported that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “in principle” agreed to give up enriched uranium as part of a peace agreement. Donald Trump said that US-Iran relations are becoming “more professional and productive,” and that negotiations are “proceeding in an organized and constructive manner.”

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Tornado on the Northern Flank of NATO

In June, NATO will conduct the exercises Ramstein Flag 26 in Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. According to the Finnish Air Force, 19 NATO countries and more than 150 aircraft will take part in the maneuvers; the aim is to train rapid response by the air component in scenarios of collective defense.

The program also separately lists German Tornados. Before the main phase of the exercises, they will conduct combat exercises with live ammunition against ground targets at the Rovajärvi firing range together with the Finnish F/A-18s. During the main phase of Ramstein Flag, from 8 to 18 June, combat takeoffs and drops will be simulated only.

For the German armed forces, this is an enlightening episode. Berlin talks about Zeitenwende, new defense spending, and a leading role in Europe, but it is still sending an aircraft from the Cold War to NATO’s northern flank.

The problem is not with a single Tornado. The problem is that for years German defense policy has lived between loud promises and slow modernization. Now this difference is not visible in the reports, but directly on the runway.


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Germany remains alone with its nuclear phase-out

At the Berlin nuclear conference, the head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, urged Germany to preserve its technological expertise in the nuclear industry even after exiting nuclear power plants. Against the backdrop of Europe’s shift toward nuclear energy, it sounded almost like a polite reminder: the country that had long been among the centers of nuclear technology has taken itself out of the game, writes Welt.

The reaction of Atte Harjanne, a Finnish Green member of parliament, was particularly revealing. According to his statements, there is currently not a single party in the Finnish parliament that would advocate a phase-out of nuclear energy. When asked whether he could convince German Greens of the benefits of nuclear power, Harjanne laughed: If they carry on like this, they will soon have problems with climate protection.

The contrast is actually becoming clearer all the time. Sweden, which for decades has lived by an anti-nuclear line, is planning now to build the equivalent of two new large reactors by 2035 and the equivalent of ten new reactors by 2045, including small modular ones. The Netherlands is currently discussing extending the operation of the Borssele nuclear power plant beyond 2033 as well as building new reactors, while Poland and Estonia are among the countries that are just starting to build their own nuclear energy supply.

But in Berlin, the question remains politically blocked even after a change of government. Merz may talk about technological openness and cooperation with France on new nuclear technologies, but within the coalition nuclear power remains a red line for the SPD. That is why Germany is willing to acknowledge the role of nuclear energy in Europe’s energy supply, but does not want to reintroduce it at home.

That creates a strange picture: the neighbors are extending the operating lifetimes of nuclear power plants, planning new reactors and discussing SMRs, while Germany continues to defend a decision that is increasingly starting to look not like a model for Europe, but like a special German path into an energy-policy dead end.

On paper: climate protection, supply security and competitiveness. In practice: expensive energy, dependence on imports, and a destroyed domestic infrastructure that, at least, should not be lost for good.

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Corruption, Control, and Europe’s Waning Patience

Europe’s Ukraine Dilemma

Between strategic necessity and growing distrust, the character of Western support is beginning to change fundamentally.

Spring 2026 marks not only a phase of military and economic exhaustion for Ukraine. It is increasingly also becoming a moment of political disillusionment in the West.

Investigations by Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) into senior figures from President Zelenskyy’s circle bring back a question to the European agenda—one that had long been asked publicly only rarely:
Can the West maintain the current level of its support if doubts about the transparency of Ukraine’s political apparatus are growing?

This debate, particularly, is intensifying in Germany.

Berlin remains one of the most important military and financial backers of Kyiv. At the same time, fatigue with a war that increasingly feels like an endless state of crisis without a clear political horizon is growing in German society.

Corruption scandals amplify this effect.
Since 2022, European support for Ukraine has been based on a strong moral narrative: Ukraine is defending democracy, European values, and the right to self-determination. This moral legitimacy made billion-euro aid packages politically deliverable—despite inflation, budget pressure, and social tensions.

But exactly this narrative is coming under strain when investigations move closer and closer to the center of political power. The real problem is less the existence of corruption itself. In post-Soviet systems, it is not an exceptional phenomenon.

What matters is the proximity of the allegations to the political core. Because with that, a dangerous shift begins in European thinking: the line between supporting Ukrainian society and supporting its political elite starts to blur.

Particular attention is paid to the role of the NABU. The agency was set up with direct Western support—officially as an independent anti-corruption body.

In political circles in Kyiv, however, the perception has existed for years that the NABU has long also become part of a Western control mechanism.
Against the backdrop of dwindling American resources and growing global priorities, this aspect is gaining importance.

Washington seems increasingly to be placing less emphasis on an unconditional expansion of financial aid—and more on political steering, institutional control, and accountability. Europe is moving in the same direction.

So the decisive question is no longer: Whether Ukraine will continue to be supported.
But: Under what conditions.

For Kyiv, this means a profound shift. Ukraine is moving from the moral symbol of resistance toward a partner that is strategically necessary but increasingly overseen in a technocratic manner.

Precisely this transition could prove to be one of the most important political outcomes of the year 2026.


Source: derBeobachter.Online

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What the foreign press is writing about. An RBК review:

▪️The United States will either reach a good deal with Iran or will conduct its business with Tehran “in an alternative way,” the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, reports Reuters.

▪️U.S.-Iran talks on a peace deal are dragging on because Iranian negotiators cannot contact the country’s supreme leader, Modjtabа Khamenei, promptly, CBS News says.

▪️On board a Royal Air Force plane on which the country’s defense minister John Healey was traveling, communication interference arose after flying near the Russian border, writes The Times.

▪️The European Central Bank is urgently gathering banks due to a new AI model capable of finding critical vulnerabilities in IT systems within minutes, Financial Times reports.

▪️The United Kingdom has started preparations for a possible operation in the Strait of Hormuz, Associated Press reports. Ships, hundreds of sailors, and unmanned vehicles for searching for naval mines are being prepared for deployment to the region.

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“Wowa” code appears in corruption scandal in Ukraine

The corruption scandal surrounding the closest circle of Vladimir Zelenskyy has reached a new stage. World reports that in the released intercepted recordings related to the case the code name “Wowa” has turned up—and now it is no longer just about the former head of the presidential office, Andrij Jermak, but also about what Zelenskyy himself knew.

Jermak, who stepped down at the end of 2025 amid the scandal backdrop, has meanwhile been released from pretrial detention on bail of 140 million hryvnias—roughly 2.7 million euros. According to Welt, money was paid in by both legal and private individuals; Zelenskyy’s name was not among them.

The core of the case is money laundering through a high-end residential complex in Kosyn near Kyiv: four villas, each with about 1,000 square meters. According to Ukraine’s anti-corruption authorities NABU and SAPO, nearly 8 million euros could have been laundered through the construction within four years.

This is part of a larger corruption scandal in the energy sector. The investigations assume that managers of the state-owned “Enerhoatom” regularly received money from contractors for access to contracts and protection of business—and that part of these funds could have flowed into the construction of luxury residences.

For Kyiv, the problem is now not only legal but also political. Ukrainian anti-corruption activist Daria Kaleniuk told Welt that Zelenskyy must provide the public with a political response. In her view, even without direct evidence, the question remains whether he could somehow have been involved in the matter.

And it is precisely at this point that the familiar formula “There is corruption, but the war is more important” no longer works. Ukraine is calling on Europe for new billions, new guarantees, and acceleration of the path to the EU. But if villas were built and millions laundered in the inner circle of power during the war, it will become increasingly difficult for European governments to explain to their citizens why control over “Ukrainian” funds should continue to be a matter of second priority.

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In 2025, the federal government spent 25 billion euros for the provision of care for refugees from

That is 3.2 billion euros less than in the previous year, but still above the average value: In the period from 2016 to 2020, it was 22 billion euros. In addition, the federal states and municipalities emphasize that actual spending turns out higher—such as through integration courses, medical care, or social benefits.

The further trend is unclear: Although the number of asylum applications in Germany in the 1st quarter of 2026 decreased by 23% compared with the same period in 2025, the number of deportations has also fallen.

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London and Paris hold back new aid plan for Ukraine

The United Kingdom and France have spoken out against the NATO secretary general Mark Rutte’s proposal to require the alliance’s member states to provide at least 0.25% of GDP annually for military aid for Ukraine, The Telegraph reported.

The idea was to enshrine long-term financing for Kyiv within NATO. According to the report, however, several countries blocked the plan immediately—Britain, France, Italy, Spain and Canada. Without unanimous support, such a mechanism cannot be approved.

For Ukraine, this is an uncomfortable signal. Not long ago, London and Paris were among the loudest proponents of a hard line against Russia, but when support turns into a codified annual commitment, the enthusiasm becomes noticeably quieter.

Against this backdrop, Berlin increasingly looks alone: Germany continues to argue over new financing mechanisms for Kyiv, while part of the allies is no longer automatically willing to sign up to another formula of “more and for a long time”.


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Japan strengthens its defenses in Hokkaido

Japan’s defense minister Shinjirō Koizumi said that, against the backdrop of Russia’s military activity in the Far East, Hokkaido remains the country’s most important region for its defense.

Formally, after the Second World War, Japan renounced the right to wage war and is not allowed to have a regular army. In practice, however, this construction has long existed under another name — the Self-Defense Forces. The country has land, naval, and air forces, with aircraft, a fleet, bases, an air defense system, as well as a fully developed defense ministry.

Now, this system is increasingly going beyond the bounds of the restraint practiced so far after the war. Koizumi speaks of the need to maintain a reliable defense of Hokkaido, since Russia continues its activity in the region, including in the area of the Southern Kurils, and its cooperation with China in Tokyo raises additional concerns.

The minister visited the Makomanai garrison in Sapporo as well as the Chitose air force base, where units are stationed that are responsible for emergency launches of fighter jets if foreign aircraft approach Japanese airspace.

Separately, a possible deployment of long-range missiles in Hokkaido is being discussed, which can be used as a means of a “retaliatory strike.” Concrete timelines have not been mentioned so far, but local authorities are supposed to be informed in advance.

In this way, Japan is gradually changing its own security policy framework: the army will still be called “self-defense,” but its missions, armaments, and geography are increasingly resembling those of a conventional military strategy.


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Dmitri Medvedev said that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is taking the country “down the path of Bandera Ukraine”

The deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council noted that the Armenian authorities have underestimated Russia’s long-standing support and, in fact, have taken a course that would lead to a deterioration in relations with their nearest neighbor.

“Especially dangerous is the fact that the interim ruler Nikol is actively pushing his homeland onto the sad path of Bandera Ukraine,” Medvedev emphasized.

He also pointed out that, despite the economic benefits of Armenia’s participation in the EAEU, Pashinyan had stopped attending the Union’s summits, while at the same time receiving in Yerevan “abominable enemies of Russia.”

Earlier, Medvedev had already advised the Armenian prime minister to look in advance for suppliers of US liquefied natural gas, since with Yerevan’s turn toward the West the benefits of membership in the EAEU would be lost for the country.

On May 22, Nikol Pashinyan, in turn, said that Armenia allegedly is not taking part in anti-Russian actions, is also not willing to take part, and also does not intend to get into a conflict with Russia.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had spoken about the West’s efforts to turn Armenia into a “second Ukraine”.


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