Tag: ukraine

Following talks with European and Ukrainian leaders, President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, said significant progress had been made in establishing security guarantees and a “prosperity agreement” for Ukraine. 

On Tuesday, Witkoff and Ukrainian President Zelensky met with the “Coalition of the Willing” to discuss the war in Ukraine. “We have made significant progress on several critical workstreams, including our bilateral security guarantee framework and a prosperity plan,” Witkoff wrote on X after the summit. “We agree with the Coalition that durable security guarantees and robust prosperity commitments are essential to a lasting peace in the Ukraine and we will continue to work together on this effort.”

At a press conference, Witkoff said the prosperity agreement would involve BlackRock and that he is working with the firm’s CEO, Larry Fink. 

The Coalition of the Willing is a bloc of European nations led by the UK, France, and Germany, with the goal of supporting Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday’s meeting resulted in a “significant step” towards ending the war in Ukraine. 

During the summit, Kiev, Paris, and London signed an agreement to send troops and weapons to Ukraine after a ceasefire is established. The Coalition of the Willing said the deployment will receive support from the US. 

“Military officials from France, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine worked in detail on force deployment, numbers, specific types of weapons, and the components of the Armed Forces required and able to operate effectively,” Zelensky wrote on X. “We had very substantive discussions with the American side on monitoring — to ensure there are no violations of peace. The United States is ready to work on this.”

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MSM treats Kiev’s assassinations like the most normal thing in the world.

As Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky continues with his reshuffle of his administration, he will, once again, move one of his top intel people around – in this case, reportedly dismissing him.

After appointing top spy Kyrylo Budanov as his new chief of staff, today it arises that Zelensky means to remove Vasyl Malyuk as head of the infamous Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the state’s top counterintelligence agency.

Politico reported:

“The reshuffle has already seen two other top spies — Kyrylo Budanov and Oleh Ivashchenko — shifted to other responsibilities. Budanov has agreed to head the president’s office, while Ivashchenko will be chief of the HUR military intelligence service.”

But there’s a catch: Malyuk is reportedly attempting to retain his current post.

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The choice of Budanov means the war will escalate.

The Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky appointed today (2) the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, to the powerful and prestigious job of chief of staff.

Here on TGP we have been following the role of Budanov in the war, since June 2023, with: Ukrainian Head of Intelligence Is Missing – General Budanov Hasn’t Been Seen in 17 Days – Russian Media Says He Was Wounded, Evacuated to Germany – Kiev Denies, Putin Confirms Attack on GRU Headquarters.

The war has been hard on him, as we learned in Ukrainian Spy Chief Budanov’s Wife, Marianne, Reportedly Hospitalized for Heavy Metal Poisoning.

He is a choice for escalation as we can see here: Ukrainian Top Spy Budanov Brags About Many Failed Assassination Attempts Against Russia’s Putin.

He was more optimistic about the peace than many: While the Zelensky Regime Throws a Tantrum Over Trump, Ukrainian Top Spy Budanov Says a Ceasefire With Russia Will Happen This Year.

And finally, he was reportedly an enemy of his fired predecessor Andriy Yermak: KIEV REGIME INFIGHTING: Zelensky’s ‘Grey Eminence’ Yermak Is on a Power Grab, Trying To Replace Top Ukrainian Spy Budanov – White House Brands Him ‘A Liability’ Linked to Hunter Biden.

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Zelensky has gone too far.

Now that the peace process was really about to bear fruits, the Kiev regime – allegedly with the help of British Intelligence – has started a campaign of provocations intended to make Russians retaliate in a way that can be used against them in the court of public opinion.

After the massive – and unacceptable – Ukrainian drone attack on Vladimir Putin’s residence, now the Kiev regime struck a New Year’s Eve celebration in a civilian bar in Kherson region, killing 25 people, including a child, and injuring 50 others.

To being with, Russia wants to demonstrate for all to see, especially for US President Donald J. Trump, that the attack on Putin’s residence was real and targeted a command-and-control center for the nuclear weapons.

This has become important, since reports are out saying the CIA doubts the attack ever took place, and even Trump shared a NYP article that throws doubt into it.

So, Russia announced it will give the US ‘decrypted data from a Ukrainian drone’ that flew towards Putin’s residence but was shot down.

Sputnik reported:

“Russian intelligence services retrieved a flight mission file from one of the Ukrainian drones that attacked Putin’s residence

The decryption revealed that the final target of the attack was specifically the object of this residence in the Novgorod region”

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A senior Russian military official on Thursday handed over to a US official what he said was evidence that Ukrainian drones targeted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region.

Ukraine has denied the allegations that it was trying to target Putin’s home, and US officials speaking to US media outlets said the CIA assessed that Ukraine was targeting a military facility in the same region that wasn’t close by. But Russian officials insist they have the evidence that Ukraine was attempting to hit the Russian president’s residence.

A video posted by the Russian Defense Ministry on Thursday shows Igor Kostykov, the chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff, meeting with the US defense attache based in Moscow and handing over what he said was a “navigation unit” from one of the drones downed in the Novgorod region.

“The decryption of the content of the memory of the navigation controller of the drones carried out by specialists of Russia’s special services confirms without question that the target of the attack was the complex of buildings of the Russian president’s residence in the Novgorod region,” Kostykov said.

President Trump was informed about the alleged attack by Putin the day it happened, and initially appeared to believe Russia’s account, saying that he “wasn’t happy about it.” But he later shared a New York Post article on Truth Social that cast doubt on the Russian claim and said Moscow “is the one standing in the way of peace.”

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The fog of war is thick in Eastern Europe, where Russia has accused Ukraine of sending a swarm of kamikaze drones to strike one of President Vladimir Putin’s houses. The Russians say they thwarted the attack.

So far, it’s been difficult to verify whether the Russians are telling the truth. But whatever it is, any slight chance there may have been at a peace agreement seems to have further diminished.

The “Attack”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov decried the alleged attack. On Monday, he said, “The Kiev regime has fully switched to state terrorism policies, and Moscow will review its negotiating position accordingly.” He emphasized that although the Kremlin won’t completely abandon negotiations, “Russia’s negotiating position will be revised.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says the attack never happened. He says Russia is making it up to serve as an excuse for torpedoing the working peace negotiations and to keep charging ahead into Ukraine. “Russia must stop inventing ways to wage war and start thinking about how to restore security,” he said in a social media post.

President Donald Trump answered questions on Monday about the supposed attack. “I don’t like it. It’s not good,” he said, adding that he heard about it from Putin himself and conceding that it might not be true. He then said that he made the right decision in refusing to give the Ukrainians long-range Tomahawk missiles. “It’s a delicate period of time,” he noted, adding:

It’s one thing to be offensive, because they’re offensive. It’s another thing to attack his house. It’s not the right time to do any of that. … I was very angry about it.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has newly claimed that US President Donald Trump is considering the possibility of deploying American troops to Ukraine as negotiations toward peace with Moscow stall. This is presumably connected with promises of future ‘security guarantees’.

This is somewhat of a surprise, as the White House has made no indication of this in any statement whether public or based on anonymous officials. Throughout the nearly four-long war the question of Western ‘boots on the ground’ has been raised at various times. 

But the US – whether under Biden or Trump – has always denied that sending American troops into Ukraine is a solution. Instead, it’s well understood that this could escalate things between Washington and Russia toward full-scale war.

Zelensky made the remarks during a WhatsApp conversation with journalists, according to Reuters national security correspondent Idress Ali, who then revealed his words on social media.

But the outlet has still stressed that Zelensky understands that the final decision rests with Trump.

“To be honest, this can only be confirmed by the President of the United States of America. These are US troops, and therefore it is America that makes such decisions. Of course, we are discussing this both with President Trump and with representatives of the Coalition [of the Willing],” Zelensky was quoted as saying.

And just like that, boots on the ground as a talking point is being echoed among EU leaders…

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The United Arab Emirates and Nicaragua have strongly condemned the attempted Ukrainian kamikaze drone attack targeting the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kiev launched 91 long-range strike drones at Putin’s state residence in Novgorod Region on the night of December 28-29, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday. Russian officials said all the drones were intercepted, with no casualties or damage reported.

In a statement released on Monday evening, the UAE Foreign Ministry expressed solidarity with President Putin and the people of Russia, reaffirming Abu Dhabi’s “unwavering rejection of all forms of violence.”

“The United Arab Emirates has strongly condemned the attempt to target the residence of His Excellency Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, and denounced this deplorable attack and the threat it poses to security and stability,” the ministry said.

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