I told CNN Ukraine’s shift on NATO creates an opening: “fine, no NATO — but give us NATO-level protection.” Labels don’t matter, guarantees do.
Now it’s on the U.S. and Europe to build real security — money, structure, and the ability to act if Russia strikes. 1/
Q: If Trump pressures Zelenskyy, not Moscow, why would Russia give anything?
Me: I agree. Early on the US pushed Ukraine more than Russia. Now it’s shifting to real guarantees and reconstruction funds. Russia’s line is keep the Donbas grind or pause a few years.
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Q: Zelenskyy can drop NATO but not territory. What if he agreed to give land?
Me: He can’t. The Constitution forbids it, and changing it takes years. Ukraine cannot legally surrender territory. The only realistic path is a ceasefire with a demilitarized zone and observers.
Rutte: Putin has to know, if he would try to attack Ukraine again [after a peace deal], the reaction will be devastating.
Ukraine’s armed forces will be the first line of defense, followed by the Coalition of the willing, with leadership from the UK and France. 1/
Rutte: The key question is how to prevent Russia from attacking, avoiding a repeat of the Minsk 2 failure in 2014. Security guarantees will be essential to prevent future Russian aggression. 2/
Rutte: The current deate on US role in security guarantees is creating a practical NATO-like security system to safeguard Ukraine post-peace deal. 3X
Zelenskyy: There’s still a key question I don’t have an answer to. If Ukraine is not in NATO, how do security guarantees actually work?
What exactly will the United States do if Russia attacks again? How will these guarantees function in practice?
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Zelenskyy: We can’t let Ukraine face next year without answers on financing. The risk is real: a $45–50 billion deficit, possibly more.
Russia talks more about war than peace. Ukraine must stay strong — this isn’t just about the front, it’s about our ability to survive.
2/
Zelenskyy: Ukraine’s accession to the European Union can be accelerated.
It depends on our steps and on EU leaders — as long as the process isn’t blocked politically. For Ukraine, EU membership is a security guarantee, part of the protections we seek and rely on.
Russians smashed the locks of Oleksandr’s clinic in Melitopol, ripped out his equipment screw by screw, and moved an occupation lawyer into his private apartment. 15 years of work vanished.
Le Libre writes how Russians steal Ukrainian businesses. 1/
Denys Katyoukha: I weighed every word on my website, now Russians copy-pasted it all.
They declared his "Admiral" resort in Kyrylivka "ownerless" and handed it to a businessman from Crimea. Denys watches his life's work through a screen while occupiers swim in his pool. 2/
The scheme is identical: the owner flees or refuses a Russian passport — the property gets seized.
Denys reads fresh reviews from Russian tourists. The new "owners" turned his jewel into a dump in months. 3/
Russia has tripled attacks on Ukraine's railways in six months — over 600 strikes since July.
Lozova station, hit by 15 drones, is back running in two days. But daily trains dropped from 32 before the invasion to just 8 now — The Times. 1/
Nina Zabiela, whose family worked the railway for generations, rushed to the station in her nightclothes to find the 19th-century building ablaze. Two killed, including a railway engineer.
"The railway is like my family. Why did they have to destroy this beautiful building?" 2/
Lozova station predates the town — built in tsarist times as an intersection connecting western Russia through Sumy and Kharkiv to the Sea of Azov, plus lines to Crimea and Donbas.
Russia is targeting these connections to break Ukraine apart. 3/