Congress can protect Ukraine from Trump’s volatility — the same way it protected Taiwan in 1979 and forced Clinton’s hand on Bosnia in 1995.
A bipartisan Ukraine Relations Act could do the same today, write Brendan Simms and Edward Siddl in FA. 1/
The problem: Trump has taken contradictory positions.
In September 2025 he said Ukraine should “get their land back” and called Russia “a paper tiger.” Two months later he presented a 28-point peace plan widely seen as favorable to Russia. 2/
Trump said Ukraine would “lose in a short period of time” if it didn’t agree to the plan.
Since then he has pushed to end the war as quickly as possible — even if that means a bad deal for Ukraine. 3/
Keane: The Iranians shut down the Strait of Hormuz and got a ceasefire. The war stopped. That's what they wanted, because we are pounding the daylights out of them.
We are shutting down Iran's source of income. Economic warfare. The administration has more leverage. 1/
Keane: The Iranians made two miscalculations. They went into negotiations thinking the administration will make concessions because of pressure. Wrong.
We stood our ground. The president says I want everything. Iran had to go home with their tail between their legs. 2/
Keane: This is phase one. The blockade, taking revenue away from them, make certain no ships go in or out dealing with Iranian oil.
My judgment is it probably won't open up. That brings the operation to open up the straits: clear it, get the mines out, make it secure. 3/
Russian troops surrendered to robots. Drones and ground bots took a Russian position without infantry and without losses on Ukraine’s side — Telegraph.
Zelenskyy: For the first time in the history of this war, an enemy position was taken exclusively by unmanned systems. 1/
Ground robots now carry out assault, evacuation, mine-clearing, logistics, supply runs and reconnaissance.
Zelenskyy: they completed 22,000+ missions in the last three months. Syrskyi says robotic systems handled 50% more tasks in March than in Feb. 2/
Ukraine now has 280+ companies building ground robots. Kyiv aims to produce 20,000+ this year, with 99% made in Ukraine.
Front-line models can operate up to 31 miles away, and many cost £7,500-£22,000. Some brigades already created dedicated UGV units. 3/
Hodges: Crimea is still the decisive terrain of the war. For Putin it is symbolic, because the whole war started with seizing it.
It also anchors Russia’s ports and its ability to project power across the Black Sea. 1/
Hodges: If Russia can no longer use Crimea’s ports, bridge, and ferries safely, the peninsula loses real value.
The Black Sea Fleet has already been pushed out of Sevastopol, and isolating Crimea further would strip Moscow of a key military asset. 2/
Hodges: Ukraine does not need a frontal assault on Crimea right now.
It should keep isolating it, keep hitting airfields and air defenses, and make the Kerch bridge unusable. Crimea is still on Zelenskyy, Syrskyi, and Budanov’s objective list. 3X
Trump deployed 10,000 sailors, a dozen warships, and dozens of aircraft to blockade the Strait of Hormuz. He promised to stop "any and all ships."
In First 24 hours 6 ships turned back. Zero seized. Iran's ghost tankers kept moving — The Times. 1/
Trump ordered the Navy to block "any and all Ships" at the Strait of Hormuz. He warned that anyone who paid Iran's transit toll would lose safe passage.
Central Command narrowed the mission to vessels heading to or from Iranian ports. 2/
The Elpis is a Comoros-flagged tanker under US sanctions for ferrying Iranian oil to China. In March it loaded methanol at Bushehr port and sat in the Gulf for two weeks.
After the blockade started, tracker websites showed it came to a virtual standstill outside the strait. 3/