President Stubb: I’m not optimistic about a ceasefire or peace talks in Ukraine this year — maybe by February or March.
Until then, we must maximize pressure on Russia and force Putin to rethink his aim of denying Ukraine’s independence. 1/
Stubb: Ukraine needs two things: financial support, using €140-180B in frozen Russian assets as collateral to get through winter — and increased military pressure.
West must keep supplying weapons. With Putin, only the stick works, he won’t negotiate unless forced. 2/
Stubb: Sanctioning Lukoil and Rosneft was the right move — it hits Russia’s oil sector and the machine funding the war.
Ukraine now needs maximum firepower, not just Tomahawks but anything that can strike Russia’s military and defense industry. 3/
Stubb: Peace mediation requires patience and realism. I’ve focused on building security guarantees for Ukraine, exploring how a ceasefire at the contact line could start, and defining parameters for future talks.
It’s a grind — but in diplomacy, patience matters. 4/
Stubb: Zelenskyy must clear this corruption case fast, and he has already begun. War leaves no space for corruption.
Russia exploits every scandal to weaken Ukraine. I want this cleaned up so we can keep building Europe’s and America’s defense of Ukraine. 5/
Stubb: Budapest meeting cancelled because Trump and his team saw that Russia isn’t interested in a ceasefire or peace.
They saw it first in Alaska, then in Trump’s call with Putin and again when Rubio and Lavrov spoke about the agenda for a meeting. 6/
Stubb: Russia won’t come to talks voluntarily. They’ve gained 1% of Ukraine in 1,000 days while losing 5-7,000 troops a week, over a 1M killed or wounded.
They’re nowhere near Kyiv and won’t get there. What could bring them to talks? Security guarantees, the economy and land. 7/
Stubb: Nuclear use is very unlikely — China and India already pushed Putin to drop early threats. My worry is key arms-control treaties are expiring while more states can access nuclear tech.
Major powers [U.S., Russia and China] must restart nuclear-control talks. 8/
Stubb: Be Finnish — calm and firm. Russia fights a hybrid war: pushing asylum seekers over our border, damaging undersea cables and violating our airspace with drones.
Each time, we acted fast and set up NATO’s Baltic and Eastern Sentry operations and the incidents stopped. 9X
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I told CNN that Zelenskyy must act as harshly as possible on the corruption scandal with energy company “Energoatom,” or he risks losing public support among Ukrainians.
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People say: “Let’s see how Zelenskyy acts. If he’s not acting, then he’s with the accused. If he really sanctions them, arrests them, prosecutes those who allow this to happen, then, okay, he’s good.”
2/
CNN: It remains unclear whether the scandal will damage Zelenskyy’s standing, as recent KIIS polling still shows about 60% trust in the president.
Ukrainians’ tolerance for corruption has decreased, but not dramatically. 3/
Ukraine’s ground robot is now fighting like an infantryman.
Droid TW 12.7 held a frontline position for six weeks, writes Militarnyi. Operators sent it to a key crossroads each morning and pulled it back at night.
Russians tried to break through — the robot stopped them.
1/
The robot fired its M2 Browning 12.7 mm and cut down Russian assault groups.
It replaced a full infantry team.
2/
Training operators takes time and money. From zero: 1–1.5 months. A veteran operator needs a week.
Commanders now move operators deeper behind the line to keep them alive.
3/
Q3 2025 GDP grew just 0.6% y/y, down from 1.1% in Q2, and the Central Bank now sees only 0.5-1% growth for the year.
War costs and sanctions are finally biting, writes The Moscow Times. 1/
Two years of war spending kept factories busy but lit an inflation fire: prices are still rising 8% a year.
To fight that, the Central Bank holds rates high, and the civilian economy pays the price with weaker demand and stalled investment. 2/
Russian businesses say lending costs are killing new projects and jobs.
At the same time, the budget is already about $50B in the red this year, so the Kremlin plans to hike VAT from 20% to 22% — pushing the bill onto households and small firms. 3/
Belgium is blocking the EU’s plan to lend $213B to Ukraine because PM Bart De Wever fears massive financial liabilities for Belgium.
EU officials warn Kyiv could run out of money by spring without this lifeline, WSJ. 1/
Belgian officials argue the loan, backed by Russian assets frozen in Belgium, could expose the country to losses equal to one-third of its GDP.
The domestic budget crisis increases political pressure on De Wever to resist. 2/
De Wever told Ursula von der Leyen he wants stronger guarantees before the summit next month. He insists Belgium must be protected if courts overturn the plan or sanctions change. 3/
What’s new in the scandal over Ukraine’s largest electricity producer, Energoatom?
1. Ukraine’s migration service canceled Timur Mindich’s citizenship — he holds Israeli citizenship. Mindich fled Ukraine hours before NABU raids on Nov. 10.
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2. Zelensky removed Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk and Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko from the National Security and Defense Council.
Both ministers filed resignation letters after NABU exposed the bribery scheme.
2/
3. Courts took bail for two Energoatom “back-office” employees — Lesia Ustymenko (₴25M) and Liudmyla Zorina (₴12M), says RBK-Ukraine.
Five suspects are already detained; Mindich and businessman Oleksandr Zukerman escaped abroad.
3/