Trump: I must meet Putin — now. If he won’t play ball, sanctions hit. Putin’s tired of war. Zelensky? Tough to deal with. Delegating peace doesn’t work.
So if Trump finally steps in, hard and direct, and gets the deal — he’ll stand above all. Or maybe Putin’s has played him. 0/
Trump: I have a very good relationship with Putin. We have to get together fast. We'll probably schedule it up.
I'm tired of having other people go and meet and everything else. I'm the only one that's going to be able to get the deal done. 1/
Trump: Nobody uses leverage better than me. Look what I did to Iran.
Q: Why not do it with Russia?
Trump: Honestly, I will [impose sanctions], if we don’t get a deal.
This is Turkey time. 2/
Trump: Putin is tired of this whole thing. He's not looking good and he wants to look good.
Don't forget this [war] was supposed to end in one week.
If he didn't get stuck in the mud with his army tanks all over the place, they would have been in Kyiv in about 5 hours. 3/
Q: Is Putin now the obstacle to peace?
Trump: I had a real rough session with Zelensky because I didn’t like what he said.
He was not making it easy. I always said he doesn’t have the cards. You know I’m being honest. 4/
Trump: I hated to see the way it [aid to Ukraine] was pissed away. Zelensky's the greatest salesman in the world, far better than me.
Every time he comes to Washington, he walks out with 100 billion.
Now his abilities are shrinking - the last time he only got 60 billion. 5/
Trump: Putin wanted the whole thing [Ukraine]. He didn’t want a chunk. He didn’t want a peace.
Somebody said ‘Well, what do we get out of it in terms of let’s say Ukraine?’
You know what they get out of it? A large portion of the country. 6/
Trump: Putin was making a fortune out of oil. Now I have it down. So nobody's making a fortune anymore.
And it's going to go down further because I'm drill, baby, drill. 7X
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NYT writer a fantastic profile about the only female combat pilot in Ukraine!
Senior Lt. Kateryna is flying Mi-8 helicopter missions against Russian troops since 2023, with more than 30 combat missions completed. 1/
Facing a need for troops, Ukraine is ramping up efforts to recruit women. Since 2022, female service members have increased by 20%.
About 70,000 women serve today, but only 5,500 hold combat roles. 2/
Kateryna was inspired to fly after a childhood helicopter ride. Despite doubts [and I am sure boases] from male instructors, she successfully graduated flight school. 3/
Ukraine is building weapons faster and cheaper than the West, and 35X more than in 2022. It still can do twice more, lack financing.
WSJ: Ukraine’s arms output grew from $1B in 2022 to $35B in 2025, but it still can’t fight Russia alone. 1/
When Russia invaded, Ukraine had just one Bohdana howitzer prototype —used in parades. In 2024, it built more artillery guns than all NATO countries combined. Now it makes over 20 Bohdanas per month. 85% of parts are local. 2/
The Bohdana helped retake Snake Island in 2022. It costs €2.8M, vs €8.76M for Sweden’s Archer or €4M for France’s Caesar. It’s easier to repair. Spare parts arrive in 24 hours. 3/
Rubio is not bluffing. Sanctions are coming — against Russia for refusing a good faith peace effort. But he gives Trump cover, pointing to Congress: even if the administration wanted to go soft, Congress would force sanctions anyway. 0/
Rubio: Trump wants to meet Putin as soon as possible. We're deciding on the time and place now. 1/
Rubio: Lavrov told me that Moscow will prepare a document outlining their terms for a ceasefire in Ukraine. 2/
Putin is turning Russia into a North Korea-style dictatorship to suppress elite dissent.
After the Prigozhin mutiny, he began purging elites, replacing them with veterans and loyalists.
He nationalized hundreds of firms and pushed changes to reopen cases from the 1990s. 0/
Yakovlev, Dubrovskiy & Danilov in Foreign Affairs argue Russian regime now depends on war, not as a tactic, but as the political system’s core and the main force holding it together. 1/
Russia’s military spending has increased from $65.9bn in 2021 to $149bn in 2024 - 32.5% of the federal budget - while social spending is being cut for the first time.
Persistent deficits, shrinking reserves ($35.4bn), and inflation over 10% signal growing fiscal stress. 2/
FT: Putin rejected the U.S. 22-point peace plan for Ukraine and refuses to discuss it further.
Witkoff postponed his previously scheduled meeting with Putin. 1/
European diplomat: Putin does just enough to convince Trump he seeks peace in Ukraine, yet does everything possible to undermine it. Trump bought it. 2/
Senior Ukrainian official: the situation as a geopolitical blackjack game between Zelensky and Putin, with Trump dealing the cards. 3/