Kellogg: Zelenskyy's a tough son of a b*tch. He's stubborn. He has his opinion. He's unafraid to say that. He knows how to use media.
I said [to Trump] he was an embattled and courageous leader. We in the United States have not seen a leader like him since Abraham Lincoln. 1/
Kellogg: There are some malevolent actors out there. You have North Korea, China, what's left of Iran, and Russia. In the past, we didn't allow those four to come together. We kept them separated. Now they've come together. The point is to separate them. 2/
Kellogg: I don't think Putin wants Ukraine to succeed. Putin as a former KGB officer, I don't think they ever outlived their roots. He's got a goal in mind. What we want in the West is not necessarily what he wants. 3/
Is the British Army ready to deploy to Ukraine after a ceasefire?
Former UK defence secretary Ben Wallace questions whether the proposed “coalition of the willing” has the troops, funding, and logistics to succeed. — The Telegraph. 1/
The Paris Declaration suggests Britain and France could put boots on the ground in Ukraine after a ceasefire. Wallace points to funding gaps among coalition leaders.
Wallace: “Britain and France aren’t spending any extra money on defence — only Germany is.” 2/
Wallace questions how long the UK could sustain a deployment without weakening other commitments.
Wallace: “We could do it for a short period of time, but it would come at the expense of something else.”
That “something else” is likely the UK’s 500-soldier NATO battlegroup in Estonia. 3/
Ukraine is two steps away from a ceasefire, but the price is high. True peace arrives only with EU membership; now, it’s about a "grand truce."
The main hurdles are the status of Ukraine-controlled Donbas and security guarantees — former FM of Ukraine Kuleba, 24 Channel. 1/
Kuleba: We are standing "at the door." Opening it means a unified position between Ukraine, Europe, and the US. Crossing the threshold means forcing Putin to sign. The US needs a quick result for a Trump diplomatic win, so the pressure on Kyiv is immense. 2/
Kuleba: Ukraine-controlled Donetsk region. Russia demands Ukraine withdrawal and entry of Rosgvardia (de facto sovereignty loss). Ukraine is ready to consider withdrawal only as a tactical move (like in Kyiv 2022), without political concession of the land. 3/
Trump told NYT: “I feel strongly they [Russia] wouldn’t re-invade [Ukraine], or I wouldn’t agree to it.”
Trump is ready to commit to the US being involved in Ukraine’s future defense, but only because he is confident that Russia would not try to invade the country again. 1/
Trump made the comment while discussing hypothetical US security guarantees for Ukraine after a ceasefire.
He conditioned any US involvement on his belief that Russia would not invade again — avoiding a direct commitment to fight if a ceasefire collapses. 2/
Trump has previously avoided such commitments.
Zelenskyy is seeking security guarantees that would obligate Western countries, especially the US, to help defend Ukraine after a ceasefire. 2/