Stubb: Is it in U.S. interests that Finland, with its 1,340 km Russia border, has a strong army?
That Sweden and Norway defend the Arctic? That Russia creates no spheres of influence in Europe? Yes. Right now, interests matter more than values.
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Stubb: Europe and America’s interests sometimes align, sometimes don’t — values are complicated.
One strand is MAGA, which sees Europe as too liberal, “killing itself with immigration,” and attacks places like London as multicultural melting pots.
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Stubb: The other strand is policy — America First. There’s a pecking order: 1) Western Hemisphere, 2) Pacific, 3) Europe, 4) Middle East, 5) Africa. That’s the reality we live in now.
Kasparov: Any real compromise removes the causes of conflict. Ukraine-Russia “peace talks” are cowardly and corrupt, openly corrupt on Trump’s side.
Europe isn’t ready to admit this isn’t just a standoff, but a real war. Even after four years, it’s still living in illusions. 1/
Kasparov: The cause of this war is Putin’s desire to destroy Ukrainian statehood, restore imperial influence in Eastern Europe, and revise the Cold War’s outcome.
A “compromise” just lets him regroup — his war is against the liberal democratic West.
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Kasparov: Witkoff is basically a mid-level real estate speculator now trying to “sell property the size of New Jersey.”
Europe makes a brave face but avoids saying the simple words: Ukraine must win. Instead, it keeps searching for a middle ground to avoid decisive action.
Ukraine recaptured 78 sq miles of land in 5 days — its fastest pace since summer 2023.
That equals Russia’s total gains for the entire December, due to Russian battlefield communications collapsed, The Telegraph. 1/
After Starlink access was restricted to verified Ukrainian terminals, up to 90% of Russian units reportedly lost connectivity — crippling drone coordination and command links. 2/
ISW: Ukrainian counterattacks likely leveraged the Starlink block.
Russian milbloggers report C2 disruption. Drones were grounded. Armored vehicles advanced through the grey zone — normally a kill zone. 3/
The war is hurting usual Russians' pockets. Food inflation in Russia is accelerating — now hitting households directly.
Alexander, a Moscow ad specialist, saw his monthly food budget jump 22% in one month — from 35,000 to 43,000 rubles. Even his daily Americano rose 26%, BBC. 1/
Rosstat: supermarket prices jumped 2.3% in less than a month at the start of 2026.
BBC’s 59-item basket in Moscow rose from 7,358 rubles in 2024 to 8,724 in Jan 2026 — +18.6%, in line with official food inflation of 18.1%. 2/
Dairy prices in the basket surged 41% in two years.
Fruit and vegetables +15%, sensitive to ruble swings and import disruptions. Russia depends heavily on imported produce. 3/
When will war in Ukraine end? The question is meaningless.
Viktor Frankl: The first to break were those who believed it would end soon, and those who believed it would never end.
N. Gumenyuk writes in NYT how Ukrainian soldiers treat the question of when the war will end. 1/
Capt. Mykola Serga, a former entertainer who joined the army in 2022, says those who endure focus on the task at hand.
Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning (1940s) is now a wartime bestseller in Ukraine and is delivered to trenches to sustain morale. 2/
The war no longer feels like a temporary disruption. Soldiers describe it as the only reality they know. The Ukrainian military is exhausted but battle-hardened. 3/