Former Ukraine PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk: The position of the American administration is to avoid involving the EU in negotiations with Russia on Ukraine.
Zelenskyy performed here to the maximum — everything that could be said and everyone that could be met, he did it. 1/
Yatsenyuk: We have to prepare for the next winter. Russia caused $65B in damage to Ukraine's energy sector.
Without long-range missiles, without Tomahawks, without Ukraine having the ability to retaliate, we will not be able to ensure energy security for the next year. 2/
Yatsenyuk: Starmer's statement is very clear. Even if a peace agreement is signed — Great Britain, the EU, and everyone else must continue funding Ukraine's defense.
He is saying that even if a peace agreement is signed, Russia will continue preparing for the next offensive. 3/
Yatsenyuk: Putin is not really negotiating. He wants to drag out negotiations, delay sanctions, sow discord within the EU, and keep bombing Ukraine.
Come to Kyiv if you're tired. There isn't always water and almost never electricity. That's what Putin is counting on. 4/
Yatsenyuk: China's FM statement is a textbook example of cynicism — they completely repeated Lavrov's narrative. China finances Russian economy, supplies dual-use goods, cooperates on intelligence, sponsors North Korea. They are co-conspirators in Russia's war. 5/
Yatsenyuk: These are no negotiations — even Russian FM calls them consults. Medinsky is a nobody with no authority. Ukraine sent the head of President's Office, diplomats, military. Russia sent no one allowed to make decisions. There isn't even a hint of a real negotiations. 6/
Yatsenyuk: If NATO had accepted Ukraine in 2008, there would have been no Georgia, no Crimea, no great war. Rubio's arrival here is perceived far better than JD Vance's visit last year. But there are cracks in NATO — and they need to be mended. 7X
In Geneva, Ukraine tries to prevent Russia from getting Donbas but to no avail.
The latest round of talks ended without progress, as Moscow demands Kyiv hand over a 50×40 mile strip of territory in Donetsk as the price for ending the war. — NYT 1/
Russia wants a strip of land about 50 miles long and 40 miles wide between the frontline and the administrative border of Donetsk region, covering dozens of towns and villages.
Ukraine refuses to withdraw unilaterally. 2/
Kyiv argues that ceding land would embolden Russia to attack again, either in Ukraine or elsewhere.
Zelenskyy: “Allowing the aggressor to take something is a big mistake.” 3/
Ukrainian soldiers survive –25°C this winter — United24.
On the Sumy front, frozen trenches, failing engines, and constant drone surveillance define daily combat.
Commander “Bull”: “You’d doze off… open your eyes, and the snow had already covered you.” 1/
The temperature drops to –25°C. At dawn, 8 km from Russian positions, anti-drone netting covers Ukrainian artillery.
Snow hides positions and exposes them. Footprints can give coordinates away within minutes. 2/
Bull commands an artillery unit of the 47th Mechanized Brigade. “The first two days without heating are manageable. But by the third or fourth day at –10°C, it gets really hard. Frostbite becomes real.” 3/
A 15-year-old Yana wakes under rubble in Kyiv. A North Korean KN-23 missile hit her home. Inside that missile were Western components — including British-made converters.
Despite sanctions, Russia and others receive components for their weapons — The Telegraph. 1/
On April 24, 2025, 12 civilians were killed in their sleep in Kyiv. Yana’s parents and brother died. Her ribs and leg were shattered.
Zelenskyy said the missile contained 116 Western-made components. Sanctions exist. Yet the parts keep flowing. 2/
From 2022 to 2024, XP Power-labelled shipments worth $2.5M were imported into Russia. Nearly half moved via Hong Kong middlemen.
Dual-use electronics — as useful in a computer as in a ballistic missile. 3/