Q: Putin said he will meet you if you come to Moscow.
Zelenskyy: He can come to Kyiv. I can’t go to Moscow when my country is under daily missile attacks. Putin just plays games to delay meetings. We can’t trust him — he even plays games with the US.
1/
Q: Do you think the possibility for a bilateral meeting is dead?
Zelenskyy: No. I told President Trump I’m ready for any meeting — bilateral or trilateral — but not in Russia. First ceasefire, then talks on security guarantees. I thank the US for joining those guarantees.
2/
Zelenskyy: We need pressure from the US. President Trump. Some Europeans keep buying Russian oil and gas. That must stop. Energy is Putin’s weapon. The White House has the power to take it away. 3/
Q: Did sanctions backfire after Modi met Putin, with Trump saying India and China went to the dark side?
Zelenskyy: No. I think tariffs on countries that keep making deals with Russia is the right idea.
4/
Q: What did you think when you saw Putin on the red carpet at the Alaska summit talking about Ukraine?
Zelenskyy: It was a pity Ukraine was not there. Trump gave Putin what he wanted — a meeting with the US president. Putin wants those images to show everyone.
5/
Q: Will European security guarantees mean thousands of troops, not US?
Zelenskyy: Any guarantees start with a strong Ukrainian army. Then US weapons — Patriots, long-range missiles, HIMARS — which only America has. EU and US generals understand this.
6/
Q: How about air support?
Zelenskyy: We need an air defense shield — not only systems but also jets. We use old F-16s, but they work. Better than nothing. We are thankful for everything.
7/
Q: Are you 100% confident the Trump administration will see you through to peace?
Zelenskyy: No. I think President Trump wants to finish this war and he can do it. But real peace means no new aggression in 6 months, a year, or 2 years. It must be lasting, with security.
8/
Q: What does victory look like in Ukraine?
Zelenskyy: Putin’s goal is to occupy Ukraine and destroy us. He failed. We still have our country. For him, victory is total occupation. For us, victory is survival — keeping our land, our identity, our independence.
9X
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Hillary Clinton: If Trump thinks he can dominate the Western Hemisphere and give Europe to Putin, he’s mistaken — and Europeans must prove it.
If you want a just, lasting peace in Ukraine, you have to better equip them. That’s the only thing Putin understands. 1/
Clinton: One of the biggest threats we face is Trump and Putin forcing an insecure, unjust end to the war in Ukraine that favors Putin.
There is reporting about corruption among their allies and oligarchs trying to profit from the misery and death of the Ukrainian people. 2/
Clinton: The rift between Europe and the US is deep. For a year, Trump and his administration have baited and insulted European leaders, countries and civilization.
After disbelief that a close ally would act this way, Europeans are pulling together and facing the reality. 3/
Ukraine’s former army chief Zaluzhnyi: Tensions with Zelenskyy began soon after the 2022 invasion over how to defend Ukraine.
It peaked when SBU agents raided my office. I called Yermak and warned: I will fight you. The 2023 counteroffensive dispute was especially bitter, AP. 1/
Zaluzhnyi: Dozens of SBU officers entered my Kyiv headquarters in 2022. I stopped them from searching documents and computers. I viewed the raid as intimidation.
2/
Zaluzhnyi: My 2023 plan concentrated forces into a single fist toward Zaporizhzhia and the Sea of Azov to cut Russia’s land corridor to Crimea. Political decisions dispersed the troops and diluted the strike.
3/
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.
1/
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.
2/
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.
2/
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/