Tag: russia

The Dangerous, Unhinged Reaction to Trump’s Ukraine Peace Plan

President Donald Trump has magicked up some unexpected momentum in Russia–Ukraine peace talks by proposing a 28-point settlement to the war. You might think Ukraine’s Western supporters would welcome the chance for peace, considering how dreadfully the war is going for Ukrainians.

You might be wrong.

Blowhards on both sides of the Atlantic reacted with moral outrage, depicting the proposal as a forced capitulation for Volodymyr Zelensky and a wish list for Vladimir Putin. A rumor even spread that the plan was literally Russian, authored by the Kremlin and transmitted to Washington for delivery to Kiev (a rumor swiftly batted down by Axios and the White House). Thomas Friedman of The New York Times wrote that, if the “surrender” plan is imposed on Zelensky by Thanksgiving, then Turkey Day “will become a Russian holiday.”

This is laughable stuff. But it’s also maddeningly counterproductive. Trump’s peace plan is about as balanced as Ukraine could realistically hope, given Russia’s momentum on the battlefield. Even so, Zelensky may not have the political leeway to accept it, since doing so would risk a revolt by hardline nationalists. One idea that I heard while in Kiev last month is that Zelensky needs Trump to play the bad guy and force him to accept a deal.

If that’s right, then the Thomas Friedmans of the world—the people insisting that Trump’s plan surrenders Ukraine’s freedom, so Zelensky cannot possibly accept it—are acting as peace-spoilers, not democracy-defenders. 

They are reducing the political cover the White House is providing Zelensky to “reluctantly” make a deal. Unwittingly (I hope), they are raising the pressure on Zelensky to continue a war that Ukraine is losing, and on Trump to insert poison pills into the agreement that Moscow cannot accept. They just might succeed. As always, the ones who will pay the costs are the Ukrainians themselves.

If the Trump deal really was a giveaway to Putin, then the critics would have a stronger case. But it’s not.

The very first point—Ukraine’s sovereignty will be confirmed—alone makes it a good deal for Kiev. Under the agreement, Ukraine would remain a sovereign nation-state free to join the European Union and become the Western-style democracy that so many Ukrainians want their nation to be. As Anatol Lieven of the Quincy Institute writes, “An agreement that leaves three quarters of Ukraine independent and with a path to EU membership would in fact be a Ukrainian victory, albeit a qualified one.”

So, what are the critics carping about? 


Keep reading

US Peace Plan Bears Striking Resemblance to German AfD Proposal — and Nobody in the Media Wants to Talk About It

US President Donald Trump has once again blown up the scripted narratives of Western foreign-policy elites by unveiling a sweeping 28-point peace plan for Ukraine.

His proposal doesn’t call for endless spending, escalation or for NATO brinkmanship—but for neutrality, security guarantees, territorial arrangements and economic rebuilding.

And here’s the part the media really doesn’t want discussed: Trump’s plan looks strikingly similar to a peace initiative introduced back in 2023 by the AfD in the German Bundestag under foreign policy spokesman Petr Bystron. In other words, the populists had the diplomatic roadmap long before the “serious” people running Europe.

Shared Strategic Premise: Endless War Is a Choice

Trump and the AfD start from the same inconvenient truth—Ukraine will not be “won” on the battlefield. Both proposals reject NATO expansion, call for permanent neutrality, and ban foreign troop deployments inside Ukraine. Both demand international security guarantees, a negotiated ceasefire and a phased military disengagement.

And both reject Washington and Brussels’ childish fantasy that shoveling weapons and cash into a corrupt war zone will magically produce peace.

Converging Approaches to Contested Territories

Even on the most explosive issue—territorial control—both plans take a sober, realistic approach. Trump outlines concrete territorial arrangements.

The AfD plan suggests internationally supervised transitional mandates followed by bilateral negotiations. Different mechanics, same logic: de-escalation, monitoring, and rebuilding instead of mass graves and propaganda slogans. The foreign-policy blob hates it because it acknowledges reality.

Key Differences Highlight Europe’s Failure

The AfD document, written in Europe rather than Washington, is actually the more diplomatic of the two. It doesn’t demand instant recognition of Russian-held territories.

It doesn’t dictate the size of Ukraine’s military or attempt to micromanage internal politics—features in Trump’s draft. Instead, it focuses on negotiations, UN or OSCE mandates and long-term stabilization. But the outcome is the same: stop the dying, stop the spending, stop the geopolitical LARPing.

Keep reading

Sacrifice your children for Ukraine, France’s army chief tells the plebs

France must be prepared “to accept losing its children” at a time where Emmanuel Macron and his intrusive touch have forged an unsuspected spiritual bond with his Ukrainian counterpart.

The French president has achieved the almost mystical feat of making France and Ukraine one and the same.

While the European Union has no say in the Russo-American chess game, Macron and Zelensky are lost together in a ballet of gesticulations and waking dreams. Zelensky displays faith in victory amid corruption cases, and it must be admitted that the French government is perhaps the last bastion of illusions in Europe to maintain this mirage.

The promised arms deliveries? A veritable fable, they won’t happen for a decade. Economic exchanges? A tale whose tangible ending no one will ever see. As for the “vital strategy” regarding a landlocked Kiev 2,400 km away from Paris, it is more of a geopolitical fairy tale than a concrete plan for the future of France and its people. Ukrainian lands have been unknown to French interests for two millennia, except for having given Henry I a wife and for a bloody expedition under Napoleon III, when France, supporting an Ottoman and British project, lost 95,000 men in the Crimean War.

Emmanuel Macron is an ultra-presidential figure with a record-low popularity of about 11% as of October 2025. No question of resigning; he will remain comfortably installed until 2027. While his 9th government (in 8 years in office) is rocking in the darkest political, economic and social storm ever seen, Macron is playing the international card, distancing himself from French worries.

As French public debt soars to 115% of GDP, every last citizen, including newborns, is drowning in €50,000 of debt. Covid-19 is in the past, but they had to find a new pretext to distract the plebs, and mobilization against Russia is the new refrain.

Keep reading

Ukraine & Europe Reject Trump’s Russia Peace Plan, Prepare Emergency Call

By all estimates, this is the first ever US-proposed peace plan which actually demands major concessions from Ukraine, but it also seeks to provide assurances for Kiev’s future protection modelled on NATO article five, according to Axios.

Among President Zelensky’s top objectives has long been to obtain a robust US and European security guarantee, and this new 28-point plan appears to give just that:

President Trump’s peace plan for Ukraine includes a security guarantee modeled on NATO’s Article 5, which would commit the U.S. and European allies to treat an attack on Ukraine as an attack on the entire “transatlantic community,” – writes Axios.

Such a pledge could be recipe for future war, however, and that’s precisely how Moscow might see it, especially if other pressing issues of territory or military NATOization on Russia’s doorstep aren’t resolved. The security guarantee would be for up to a decade and could be renewed, according to the draft.

There are also reports that the US is already advancing a very ambitious timeline – that it wants to see the plan signed by Thanksgiving, or as soon as next week.

There are even lines for signatures on the document, indicating places for Ukraine, Russia the US, and even NATO and the EU. It’s unclear just which representatives would sign from each country or bloc, and its as yet unclear whether Putin himself must sign.

A senior Kremlin official cited in Axios said he was “optimistic” about the plan’s prospects, arguing that it aligns more closely with Moscow’s views than previous diplomatic efforts. This is especially as a large portion of the Donbas will be recognized as under Russia’s control, and the size and capability of the Ukrainian army will be scaled back, which a commitment to no foreign troops on Ukrainian soil as well.

And yet, as predicted by many, Ukraine and its European backers stand ready to rejected the plan – though it’s still only in its draft form and hasn’t been seriously negotiated over by the warring sides. Newsweek reports:

European leaders are preparing an emergency call to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal to end the war in Ukraine.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz cancelled a scheduled appearance to join the discussion, which will also include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The 28‑point plan caught European capitals off guard. Leaders were not directly involved in the U.S. effort and learned the details only after the document was made public.

Indeed Ukraine wasn’t involved either, and the emerging complaint is that it too closely resembles earlier Russian talking points and proposals for ending the war.

EU High Representative Kaja Kallas said Thursday, “We have always supported a lasting and just peace, and we welcome any efforts to achieve it, but for any plan to work, Ukrainians and Europeans are needed.”

Keep reading

US pushes Ukraine to sign peace deal by Thanksgiving — or lose intel, weapons access: report

The Trump administration is insisting that Ukraine’s government agree by the Thanksgiving holiday to a much-criticized plan to end Russia’s invasion — or it will cut off intelligence sharing and shipments of weapons to the beleaguered European nation, according to a new report.

The 28-point plan, details of which were reported by The Post on Thursday, was presented to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll.

Reuters reported Friday that Kyiv has come under greater pressure from Washington to sign on to the deal than at any point in the 33-month-old conflict.

The framework calls for US recognition of the entire eastern Donbas region — which has been under attack by Moscow for 11 years — as Russian territory, while battle lines will be frozen in two other war-torn regions, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

Most controversially, Ukraine would have to limit its armed forces to 600,000 troops, enshrine permanent neutrality by pledging never to join NATO, and codify that ban in its own charter.

Keep reading

US calls on Ukraine to cede ‘territory,’ give up ‘some weapons’ for peace with Russia

The US is requesting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to accept a US-drafted deal to end the war with Russia that includes Kiev giving up “territory and some weapons,” Reuters reported on 19 November. Citing two anonymous sources familiar with the matter, the news agency stated that the proposals included reducing the size of the Ukrainian military, among other things.

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is leading the US effort to draft the plan and is working closely with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, a US official stated.

The request came shortly before Russian drone and missile attacks overnight killed at least 25 people, targeting apartment buildings in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil, according to Ukrainian officials.

The officials added that three children were among the dead, and that the number was expected to rise once missing people are accounted for.

About 80 others were injured in the attacks, which saw Russia fire 476 drones and 48 missiles at Ukrainian energy and transport infrastructure sites.

There appears to be no change in Russia’s conditions for ending the war. Moscow demands guarantees that Ukraine will not join NATO, and insists on the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from four eastern Ukrainian oblasts that Russia controls and claims it has annexed.  

On Wednesday, Axios reported that the new US plan calls for Ukraine to give up territory occupied by Russia in return for a US security guarantee for Kiev and Europe against future Russian attacks.

In response to the US plan, a European diplomat told Reuters that Trump may be trying to “push Kiev into a corner,” and that any successful proposal must take into account Ukrainian and European conditions.

The news agency added that according to another European diplomat, “the suggestion that Ukraine cut its army seemed like a Russian demand rather than a serious proposal.”

A US delegation led by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is in Kiev and plans to meet Zelensky on Thursday, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The US proposal also comes as Zelensky seeks to address the fallout from a $100 million corruption scandal involving his close associates. On Wednesday, Ukraine’s parliament sacked the energy and justice ministers after the results of a major investigation were announced.

Keep reading

Ukraine’s Corruption Scandal Might Pave The Way For Peace If It Takes Yermak Down

He’s Zelensky’s powerbroker so his downfall could undo the already shaky alliance between the armed forces, the oligarchs, the secret police, and parliament that keeps Zelensky in power, thus pressuring him into peace, especially if his warmongering grey cardinal is no longer pushing him to keep fighting.

It was earlier assessed here that Ukraine’s $100 million energy graft scandal might only result in a cabinet reshuffle at most, the sentiment of which RT chief Margarita Simonyan shared when writing on X “But we all know it won’t” in response to The Spectator predicting that it might bring Zelensky down. The events of the past week warrant a re-evaluation after members of the ruling party demanded the resignation of his powerful Chief of Staff Andrey Yermak on the grounds that he knew about this racket.

This coincided with Axios’ report that the US and Russia have been secretly working on a framework agreement for ending the Ukrainian Conflict, which Politico then reported could be agreed to “by the end of this month — and possibly ‘as soon as this week.’” The latter’s source also allegedly told them that “We don’t really care about the Europeans. It’s about Ukraine accepting”, which they said it might very well do since the plan will essentially “be presented to Zelensky as a fait accompli.”

Politico’s reporter elaborated that “They feel that Ukraine is in the position right now, given the corruption scandals that have been plaguing Zelenskyy, given where the battle lines are at this moment, that Ukraine is in a position where … they feel they can get them to accept this deal.” Accordingly, it can be reassessed that this corruption scandal championed by the US-backed “National Anti-Corruption Bureau” might facilitate an end an end to the conflict, especially if Yermak goes down as a result.

He’s considered to be Zelensky’s powerbroker so his downfall could undo the already shaky alliance between the armed forces, the oligarchs, the secret police, and parliament that keeps Zelensky in power.

Zelensky’s imprisoned former ally Igor Kolomoysky claimed that Timur Mindich, Zelensky’s longtime business partner at the center of this scandal who fled the country to avoid imminent arrest after being tipped off, is “a classic fall guy.”

This suggests that Yermak might be the one who managed everything.

Extrapolating upon this hypothesis, that would explain why the EU is downplaying this corruption scandal, spinning it as supposed proof that Ukraine’s state institutions are working properly, and actively trying to counter the spread of facts in relation to it. Yermak is Zelensky’s grey cardinal and suspected of being the reason why the Ukrainian leader continually rejects peace. If he goes down as a result of this scandal, then peace might finally be possible. He could also take down his European partners too.

Keep reading

Macron Commits to Send Ukraine 100 Fighter Jets After Zelensky Meeting

France has agreed for the first time to provide Ukraine with fighter jets, as part of an deal struck between President Emmanuel Macron and President Volodymyr Zelensky in Paris on Monday.

Ukraine will purchase “around 100 Rafale fighter jets, with their associated weapons” from France over the next decade, the Élysée Palace announced on Monday. The deal will also see Kyiv provided with next-generation air defence systems, drones, and bombs from French sources.

It comes amid a tour of European capitals by President Zelensky, who is seeking to shore up support from allies as the war with Russia continues to grind on. The Ukrainian leader already secured a deal in Athens on Sunday to receive American liquid natural gas shipments through Greece to ensure energy supplies during the harsh winter, and plans on visiting Spain on Tuesday.

In a Paris press conference on Monday afternoon, President Macron said that the arms deal represents a “new step” in French commitment to Ukraine, which he described as “Europe’s first line of defence”.

“This agreement demonstrates France’s commitment to placing its industrial and technological excellence at the heart of Ukraine and Europe,” Macron said per Le Figaro, while at the same time expressing a desire for a “fair and sustainable” peace.

“Russia alone has chosen war. Everything is ready for peace; Russia alone refuses to accept it,” he said, continuing: “Russia is pursuing the objective of taking control of Ukraine.”

Keep reading

Russia’s AI Enabled Drones: The Next Evolution of Warfare

Russia is now fielding long-range, fiber-optic–controlled drones while simultaneously accelerating development of fully autonomous, AI-driven attack drones that mark a dramatic shift in its battlefield strategy. Ukrainian officials confirm that Moscow is deploying jam-proof fiber-optic FPV platforms with a 50-kilometer range, forcing Ukrainian units to cover supply routes with netting to protect vehicles from incoming strikes.

At the same time, Russia is rolling out a new generation of AI-enabled systems powered by smuggled NVIDIA Jetson processors, which were supposed to be blocked by sanctions but are now appearing inside multiple Russian drones.

Ukrainian drone specialist Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov reports that Russia has adapted Ukrainian innovations for its V2U autonomous strike drone, while other captured systems, like the Shahed MS001 and Tyuvik, show that Russia is rapidly building an arsenal of “digital predators” capable of finding and attacking targets without human control.

The V2U remains Russia’s most advanced autonomous platform. First deployed in Ukraine’s Sumy region in February 2025, the drone was being used 30–50 times per day by mid-May across multiple fronts. It navigates by using machine vision to compare live imagery with digital terrain maps stored on a solid-state drive, upgraded to 128 GB in later versions. A 14-megapixel camera, laser rangefinder, and NVIDIA Jetson Orin processor enable the drone to identify targets, conduct terrain analysis, and strike without GPS or human commands.

Russian forces update its onboard code almost weekly, training the AI directly through battlefield experience. The drone’s AI is powerful enough to fly up and down roads searching for targets, though its limited ability to distinguish targets has led to mistakes, including striking civilian infrastructure such as a public toilet instead of a vehicle.

To extend range, Russian forces deploy large “mother drones” that transport smaller V2Us deep into contested airspace before releasing them for individual strikes. Russia is also experimenting with coordinated swarms of seven or eight V2Us, each painted with distinct wing colors to visually identify one another.

According to Ukrainian analysts, these drones can maintain formation, coordinate attack order, and perform anti-air evasive maneuvers if a member of the group is shot down. This behavior resembles early machine-driven swarm intelligence and may be adapted for Russia’s long-range Shahed drones, creating fully autonomous loitering-munitions swarms capable of saturating Ukrainian defenses.

Captured drones reveal the scale of Russia’s dependence on foreign components. The V2U relies on an NVIDIA Jetson Orin for AI processing, Intel wireless adapters, Sony optical sensors, and numerous Chinese-made motors, drives, and batteries. The MS001, an upgraded Shahed variant, also carries a Jetson Orin paired with a thermal imager and digital modem, allowing it to recognize ground objects and strike moving targets rather than simply flying to preset coordinates.

A third autonomous drone, the Tyuvik, resembles a miniature Shahed and is now reportedly in mass production. Tyuvik can locate and strike moving armored vehicles despite using inexpensive commercial hardware, suggesting it also depends on smuggled Western or Chinese AI processors.

Keep reading

‘Bloody hydra’ of Ukrainian corruption stretches worldwide – Moscow

A “many-headed bloody hydra” is draining Western taxpayers’ money through sprawling corruption schemes in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has warned, arguing that the latest scandal in Kiev exposes a network far larger than a simple case of graft.

In a social media post on Thursday, she described a global structure “wrapped around the planet,” channeling funds from Western taxpayers to the elites who profit from the conflict.

Her remarks followed the launch of a major probe by Ukraine’s Western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) into alleged embezzlement at the state nuclear operator Energoatom.

According to Zakharova, officials in Kiev serve merely as instruments within a broader machinery involving institutions such as the European Commission and NATO, while the real beneficiaries sit in the inner circles of Western liberal democracies.

Keep reading