Keane: The Abu Dhabi talks are unique — the US, Ukraine, and Russia at the same table. Will there be concessions?

I’m highly skeptical. Russia uses talks to stall, promise sincerity, and deliver no deal. That’s been Putin’s pattern.

1/ Keane: Eleven months ago Zelenskyy agreed to a temporary, unconditional ceasefire. Putin never did.

We’ve worked on a big peace deal, but Putin remains the obstacle and hasn’t budged on land concessions.

2/

Russian aviation makes a sharp dive downward. In December 2025 alone, Rosaviatsiya recorded 8 in-flight incidents in one week — all linked to engines.

Fires, vibrations, shutdowns, emergency landings. Aircraft are flying at the edge of technical survival. — UP 1/ Boeing 777, 737, 767, Airbus A320, Sukhoi Superjet — Western and Russian-made jets alike.

Engines shut down mid-air, oil leaks, abnormal vibrations. Planes return after dumping fuel over cities. Airlines call fires “parameter changes.” 2/

Ukraine has eased arms exports by launching Defense City to speed up export permits — United24.

The Cabinet approved a simplified procedure for exporting military goods. For Defense City residents, permit review time drops from 90 days to 15 days. 1/ In 2026, the drone manufacturer Vampir became the first official resident of Defense City.

The goal: cut bureaucracy while keeping exports under state control. 2/

I told CNN I share Zelenskyy’s sharp criticism of Europe — and I’d expand it to the U.S. too.

This hasn’t just been true today, but throughout the entire war.

1/ Me: Ukraine needs peace — but on what terms? The key issue is territory. Trump and Putin want Ukraine to give up land.

Ukraine needs Europe unified, with funding and military support, to have real leverage. Greenland unity is encouraging, but actions matter more than words.

2/

Serhii Sternenko — the new advisor to Ukraine’s Minister of Defense on UAVs.

Serhii Sternenko is 30 years old. He is a volunteer, civic activist, and one of the key public figures behind Ukraine’s wartime drone movement. 1/ Since 2022, Sternenko has worked systematically to supply Ukraine’s Defense Forces with drones.

This is not occasional fundraising. It includes procurement, testing, delivery to combat units, frontline feedback, and public analysis of UAV effectiveness. 2/

Zelenskyy: By 2030 Russia will have a 2–2.5m army. Ceasefire or not, nobody knows Russia’s goals or if it will come back.

My suggestion to Europe: Russia will test who is strong — have common forces, not less than 3m. Better to have them than use them.

1/ Zelenskyy: I’m not sure Putin wants to end this war. Russia’s economy and army are tired — so is ours.

Around 35,000 Russian soldiers die each month, and losses are growing. We want to stop the war. Trump can talk to Putin. Russia will not win this war.

2/

Zelenskyy: Our teams will meet for the first trilateral talks[Ukraine, U.S., Russia] in the UAE.

The US team goes to Moscow today.

1/ Zelenskyy: We’re building interceptor drones—about 1,000 a day—but it’s not enough.

Russia launches 500 Iranian drones daily plus dozens of missiles. Partner systems help, but they must deliver more.

2/

In 1986, the Chornobyl disaster took her husband. In 2025, a Russian drone killed her too.

This is the story of Natalia Khodymchuk, born four kilometers from the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

She spent her entire life paying for catastrophes she never chose — Hromadske. 1/ On the night of April 26, 1986, Reactor No. 4 exploded.

Her husband, Valerii Khodemchuk, a senior main circulation pump operator, became the first victim of the Chornobyl disaster.

His body was never found. Where he stood, there was only a void. 2/

Merz: China is challenging the US global pole position.

China is now one of the great powers.

Washington answers by radically reshaping its foreign and security policy.

1/ Merz: A world where only power counts is dangerous.

First for small states, then for middle powers, and eventually for the great ones.

Germany learned this the hard way in the 20th century. Our real strength is alliances among equals, built on trust and respect.

2/

Witkoff: Trump has talked about a tariff-free zone for Ukraine. That would be game-changing—industry would move in fast.

Ukrainian producers could ship to the US without tariffs and out-compete others. Ukrainians earned this with their courage in the fight.

1/ Witkoff: We’re heading to Moscow, then straight to Abu Dhabi. There, working groups will focus on military-to-military talks and prosperity.

Prosperity matters. Jared and I push it hard and Larry Fink is advising us. He volunteered for the job.

2/

Putin on Greenland: It does us concern at all what is hapenning there. But we have experience resolving such issues with the US.

In the 19th century, Russia sold Alaska to the US for $7.2 million. Greenland would cost about $200–250 million. 1/ Putin: We could send $1 billion Trump's "Board of Peace” from assets frozen in US under previous administration.

We should use the remaining frozen assets to rebuild territories after Russia and Ukraine sign a peace treaty. 2/

Kellogg: Putin does not want to become Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia.

He has sacrificed Russia so much and caused so much pain that he is trying to find a way out. He knows he will not win this war in Ukraine. 1/ Kellogg: Russia is not winning this war.

Putin’s definition of winning is different from mine. He measures progress in meters, not miles. Russia is not in Odesa, not in Kyiv, and has not really moved beyond the Donbas. 2/

“When you recover 100 bodies in a single day, you cannot talk or eat.

The perfume of war is the smell of death and decomposition. It follows you everywhere,” says Oleksii Yukov — a man who has spent 27 years searching for the bodies of the dead and missing — UP 1/ During Russia’s full-scale war, Yukov’s search group Platsdarm has recovered more than 3,500 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers.

Before 2022, they had already returned thousands of victims of past wars and political repression. 2/

For 67 days, Yehor “Kahor” Verbytskyi defended Donetsk Airport — one of the most brutal battlefields of the war.

Across 11 kilometers of a destroyed airport, there were only 128 Ukrainian volunteers holding the line against tanks, mortars, and constant assaults — Hromadske. 1/ Kahor: I do not call myself a Cyborg. I was at the airport, yes. I helped it hold out longer. But I was simply doing my job. It was simple — stay alert and shoot. 2/

Veronika Melkozerova, Politico’s correspondent wrote about her survival guide to the Kremlin’s winter of terror in Kyiv. Russian attack came in the harshest winter since Feb 2022: drones destroyed power and heating systems, freezing temperatures make damage impossible to fix. 1/ Without electricity for 12 hours a day, the fridge is no longer any use. But it’s a stable minus 10 degrees Celsius on the balcony, so I store my food there. Russia’s latest attack disrupted heating for 5,600 residential buildings in Kyiv, including mine. 2/

68 days encircled. No water. Under FPV drones, artillery, tanks, and chemical munitions. Russian fire flattened their dugouts to field level.

For this defense, 26-year-old Vladyslav “Vohon” Stotskyi received the title Hero of Ukraine, reports Ukrainska Pravda. 1/ On July 11, 2024, Vohon entered the “Adolf” position on the Siversk axis at night with three fighters. He was warned the situation was dire and previous groups had not made it. They reached the position—and were surrounded. 2/

AI-powered air defense could counter Moscow’s greatest advantage — mass missile attacks, writes David Ignatius in WP.

Since 2022, Ukraine’s defense manufacturing grew from $1B to $35B. In 2025 alone, it approved 1,300+ new domestic weapons. 1/ Russia’s strategy is physical and simple: bomb power plants, cut heat, freeze cities, and force surrender.

In January, Kyiv faced temperatures below −12°C while Russian strikes damaged electricity and heating infrastructure across the country. 2/

Serhii Plokhy: The war in Ukraine may become a catalyst for Russia’s collapse.

The Harvard historian in United24 argues that Russia’s attempt to preserve its empire through war follows a historical pattern that usually ends in exhaustion and disintegration. 1/ Empires rarely collapse overnight. They erode under pressure, miscalculation, and prolonged conflict. In the 20th century, the biggest imperial collapses followed World War I, World War II, and the Cold War.

War speeds up every internal weakness. 2/

Trump: A military option against Iran is possible.

They were going to hang 837 people. We made it clear to them that if they did that, things would go very badly for them.

And they didn't do it.

1/ Trump: I have lost a lot of respect for Norway.

I am convinced that Norway controls the Nobel Prize.

I have settled eight wars, and they didn't give it to me. They don't understand anything.

2/

Hodges: The U.S. reputation is under enormous strain because of Trump’s threats to “buy Greenland,” a territory of a NATO ally.

When I first heard it, I thought it couldn’t be true. This is the kind of thing that undermines trust. 1/ Hodges: The Soviets never attacked NATO because they respected its unity. That cohesion, knowing we’d all stand together — was the secret sauce.

Russians have tried for decades to erode that trust. It feels like the American president is doing it for them right now. 2/

Trump’s split with Europe over Greenland is a double-edged sword for Russia — CNN.

For years, Russia tried to split the US and Europe and weaken NATO. Trump’s pressure on Denmark over Greenland does exactly that — at first glance. 1/ Pro-Kremlin voices call it a “catastrophic blow to NATO.” Less Western unity usually means less support for Ukraine.

But there’s a second layer: US control of Greenland would strengthen Washington in the Arctic and directly challenge Russia. A real risk for the Kremlin. 2/