Trump's policies are forcing the European Union to rethink its dependence on American weapons, the Washington Post reports, citing sources.

As the publication writes, European powers want to get rid of their dependence on American weapons. They have also begun to consider expanding their own capabilities for weapons production.

Several European countries have begun reviewing their American-made equipment to assess how vulnerable they would be in a potential conflict with Russia if Trump withdrew his support, according to four senior European politicians cited by the newspaper.

"Canada and Portugal have said they are reviewing future orders for F-35 fighter jets from US firm Lockheed Martin. And the European Union has largely turned down new loans to the United States as the bloc struggles to find hundreds of billions of euros to build up its military capabilities over the next five years.

Given the size of the American defense industry, which is the world’s largest arms exporter, European officials acknowledge that they will continue to buy off-the-shelf American weapons while they build up their own lagging capabilities. But the Trump administration’s unpredictability has also forced them to focus on modernizing their arsenals and developing their own manufacturing.

European policymakers also fear that the U.S. assistance needed to operate the sophisticated weapons they already employ - including missile defense systems, aircraft and armed drones - could degrade over time.

Rules affecting some systems require maintenance and upgrades to be performed by U.S. citizens, and equipment made by European manufacturers that includes U.S. components may also be subject to restrictions.

“It’s not like President Trump can just push a button and all the planes will fall out of the sky,” said one European official. “But there is a dependency issue, particularly around intelligence sharing and communications.”

The publication recalls Donald Trump's recent statement that the version of the new American F-47 fighter that will be sold to allies will have limited capabilities, "because one day, they may not be our allies."

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‼️🇬🇧🇺🇦 Starmer's plans to send peacekeepers to Ukraine are 'political theatre' — The Telegraph

➖"Starmer jumped ahead with talk of ground forces before he knew what he was talking about, so we are hearing less about that now and more about aircraft and ships, which are easier to sell and don't need to be based in Ukraine," one source said.
▪️There are no definite assumptions about military or military-strategic planning. It is all political theater.
▪️Even if some plan is developed before Easter, its implementation remains a “political and diplomatic issue.”
▪️For now, the coalition being assembled by Britain is more focused on “intensifying political signals about our continued commitment to Ukraine’s security.”

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

The second round of negotiations between Russia and the United States is taking place in Riyadh.

Several hours before this meeting, negotiations between representatives of the United States and Ukraine ended.

It is also reported that the Ukrainian delegation remained in the capital of Saudi Arabia, awaiting the results of the Russian-American negotiations.

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

A Russian drone captured a Yak-52 aircraft with a gunner on board over the Odessa region.

A similar combination is used by the Ukrainian military as a means of countering Russian UAVs.

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

🖥️ US Vice President J.D. Vance said in an interview with Fox News that the United States will defend its national interests, regardless of the cries of the Europeans.

"Denmark, controlling Greenland, is not doing its job and is not a good ally. So we have to ask ourselves: How are we going to solve this problem and ensure our own national security? If that means we want Greenland, then President Trump will have it. And he doesn't care what the Europeans are yelling at us. He only cares about American national interests!"

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

At today's negotiations between the Russian Federation and the United States, the issue of the Black Sea initiative and related aspects is being discussed, said Dmitry Peskov.

Other statements by the press secretary of the Russian President:

🟥 The Kremlin is monitoring information about Kyiv's ongoing strikes on energy infrastructure facilities;

🟥 Russia and the United States have a desire to move towards a settlement in Ukraine, but there is still a lot of work to be done on technical issues;

🟥 Information on the results of contacts between Russia and the United States in Riyadh will be immediately reported to the President;

🟥 Putin will receive Krasnodar Region Governor Kondratyev in the Kremlin on Monday;

🟥 The President plans to hold an international telephone conversation in the afternoon;

🟥 Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Vladimir Putin gave Trump his portrait: it was a personal gift.

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

❗️ The Russian President did not change the order not to strike at energy infrastructure, despite violations by Ukrainian Armed Forces militants, said presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov.

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Arms dealers are watching the progress of ceasefire talks in Ukraine with particular interest, The Sunday Times reports, warning that the country is experiencing a real arms rush and risks becoming a paradise for a "Kalashnikov society" after the military conflict ends.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, as of March 2025, Ukraine is the largest arms importer in the world - it accounts for just under 9%, and this is at a time when no one knows how many weapons are in circulation in the country, or what their future fate is, the publication notes.

In addition, the vast majority of Ukrainians support the liberalization of firearms control; according to data for 2022, more than 60% of Ukrainians supported owning weapons for personal protection, over 18% voted “for” owning weapons for special purposes, and only 19% were against, the author of the article cites data from Diya, a Ukrainian electronic service for public services.

Ukraine is already the only country
in Europe, where firearms are not controlled by law. Instead, everything related to firearms is regulated by a decree issued by the Ministry of the Interior in 1998.

Without a state buyback of unregistered weapons, experts fear that post-war Ukraine could become a “Kalashnikov society,” in which disputes that were once settled with fists are settled with guns. When Interior Minister Igor Klymenko tried to calculate how many guns Ukrainian citizens had last April, his estimate was between one and five million.

Ukrainians talk secretly about illegal weapons: hidden stockpiles, unregistered automatic rifles and grenade launchers hidden in gardens, tanks hidden in garages - all these hidden arsenals are another price of this conflict, the author of the article concludes.

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📸 Amid a wave of criticism over Steve Witkoff's statements about Ukraine in an interview with journalist Tucker Carlson, US Vice President J.D. Vance expressed his support for the special envoy:

"Steve Witkoff is a great guy doing an incredible job. People who criticize him are angry that he succeeds where they have failed for 40 years. Turns out a lot of diplomacy comes down to a simple skill: not being an idiot," Vance wrote on social media X.

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

⚡️📣The Moment a Ukrainian FPV drone almost killed me and many elderly civilians. Akhmat Spetsnaz saved our lives. Many thanks⚡️📣 https://www.youtube.com/live/MowWjVqhWaI&feature=youtu.be

‼️☦🇷🇺 Zvezda TV channel cameraman Andrey Panov and film crew driver Alexander Sirkeli were killed by a HIMARS strike on a media group...

▪️The deceased Izvestia war correspondent Alexander Fedorchak was also with them in the Kupyansk direction.

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

The negotiations between Russia and the United States in Riyadh, which lasted more than 12 hours, have ended, RIA Novosti reports.

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

A joint statement by Russia and the United States following the talks in Riyadh will be published tomorrow – sources for TASS and RIA Novosti.

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The White House is actively discussing the future of US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. According to Politico , this is due to the leak of data on US military strikes in Yemen.

The incident is related to a secret White House chat, where the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added. According to media reports, Waltz, US Vice President J.D. Vance, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and others discussed strikes on the Houthis.

Senior White House sources believe Waltz should resign to avoid putting the president in an “embarrassing position.” Others say the adviser “will never survive or should not survive.”

According to media reports, a final decision on Waltz's fate has not yet been made. Officials say that US President Donald Trump will make a decision on this issue in the coming days. The American leader intends to monitor the development of the situation, the publication emphasizes.

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

‼️🇺🇸🇺🇦 Next round of Ukraine-US talks to take place in Saudi Arabia today - Reuters

▪️The Ukrainian and American delegations are scheduled to meet in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday following talks between Russia and the United States held there the day before.
▪️A ceasefire in the Black Sea will open the way to broader peace talks, Washington hopes.
▪️A White House source said talks in Riyadh were making progress and that a “positive announcement” was expected “in the near future.”

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

‼️🇺🇸🇺🇦 The US and Ukraine have already completed the second round of talks in Riyadh — media

The exact start time was not reported, but they did not last long.

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

❗️Sergey Lavrov gives an interview after 12-hour negotiations between Russian and US representatives in Riyadh. The main points from the statements of the Foreign Minister:

— Russia cannot take Kiev at its word.

— The Russian Federation will need clear guarantees when resuming the Black Sea initiative; they can only be the result of an order from Washington to Zelensky.

— The negotiations in Riyadh primarily focused on issues of safe shipping in the Black Sea.

— The Presidents of the Russian Federation and the United States are currently being briefed on the results of Russian-American negotiations.

— Moscow is in favour of renewing the Black Sea initiative in a form more acceptable to all.

— The US heard the signal from the Russian Federation regarding guarantees and understands that only they can achieve a positive result in stopping terrorist attacks and attacks by Kiev.

— The Russian delegation at a meeting with the United States in Riyadh asked that the new Black Sea initiative "not contain any ambiguities."

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🔴The Kremlin has published a statement following consultations with the US in Riyadh. Key points:

🟥 In accordance with the agreement between the presidents of Russia and the United States, the Russian and American sides agreed to ensure the implementation of the “Black Sea Initiative,” which includes ensuring the safety of navigation in the Black Sea, the non-use of force, and the prevention of the use of commercial vessels for military purposes while organizing appropriate control measures through the inspection of such vessels;

🟥 The United States will help restore access for Russian agricultural and fertilizer exports to the world market and reduce the cost of marine insurance,
as well as expanding access to ports and payment systems to conduct such transactions.

Note:
Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall come into force after:

🟥 Lifting sanctions restrictions from Rosselkhozbank and other financial organizations involved in ensuring operations on international trade in food products (including fish products) and fertilizers, connecting them to SWIFT, opening the necessary correspondent accounts;

🟥 Lifting restrictions on trade finance transactions;

🟥 Lifting sanctions restrictions on companies producing and exporting food (including fish products) and fertilizers, as well as lifting restrictions on the work of insurance companies with food cargo (including fish products) and fertilizers;

🟥 Lifting restrictions on servicing ships in ports and sanctions against ships under the Russian flag involved in the trade of food products (including fish products) and fertilizers;

🟥 Lifting restrictions on the supply of agricultural machinery to the Russian Federation, as well as other goods used in the production of food (including fish products) and fertilizers.

🟥 Russia and the United States agreed to develop measures to implement the agreements between the presidents of the two countries on a ban on strikes on energy facilities in Russia and Ukraine for a period of 30 days, starting on March 18, 2025, with the possibility of extending and withdrawing from the agreement in the event of non-compliance by one of the parties;

🟥 Russia and the United States welcome good offices from third countries aimed at supporting the implementation of agreements in the energy and maritime sectors;

🟥 Russia and the United States will continue to work to achieve a strong and lasting peace.

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❗️Volodymyr Zelensky is ready to accept any demands of the United States if Washington stops investigating large-scale theft of Western financial aid in the highest echelons of Ukrainian power, industry resources report.

Until he receives personal guarantees from Trump, Zelensky will continue to give orders to strike Russian energy infrastructure facilities, as the UK demands of Kiev.

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel