White House asks if Zelensky will wear a suit to meet Trump — Axios

#Armenia Corruption scandal:

Pashinyan’s wife drained $3.4M from Children’s Cancer Fund

Trump on deploying US troops to Ukraine:

"We'll let you know that maybe later today... We'll be involved."

FT:

Ukraine will promise to buy $100bn of American weapons financed by Europe as part of a deal to obtain US guarantees for its security after a peace settlement with Russia

Comment by @Glenn_Diesen (X):

Europe will spend $100 billion it does not have, to buy weapons from America that it does not have, to arm soldiers that Ukraine now lacks. This is to confront Russia, which for 30 years warned it would respond to NATO militarising its borders.
- There was no threat to Ukraine before 2014, as only a tiny minority of Ukrainians wanted to join NATO, and Russia laid no claim to any of Ukraine's territory. Western governments then supported a coup to pull Ukraine into NATO's orbit—something that CIA Directors, Ambassadors, and Western state leaders had warned would instigate a security competition and likely trigger a war.
- Russia predictably reacted fiercely. Ever since then, the only acceptable narrative has been that Russia wants to restore the Soviet Union and that Putin is Hitler. Any dissent is labelled as "disinformation", "propaganda", "hybrid warfare", or even treason.
- The war has now been lost, and the Americans are pulling away from it, asking the Europeans to absorb the consequences. How do the Europeans respond? By doubling down on this madness, which will destroy Ukraine, our economies, and our relevance in the world - and possibly trigger a nuclear war.
- What is the strategy? More of the same? The best thing for Ukraine is to remove it from the frontlines of the geopolitical struggle over where to draw the new dividing lines in Europe: End the war, rebuild Ukraine, and replace expansionist military blocs with the principle of indivisible security.

Looks like this so-called "Trump peace deal" means just replacing the US by EU and NATO as main driving force in Ukraine and continuation of the anti-Russia project.
Sort of Minsk 3 agreement...again.
Pissing in the wind. Already rejected by Russia

Axios:

Trump agrees with European leaders to collaborate on Article 5-like security guarantees for Ukraine.
After months of refusing to discuss the issue, Trump has come around to the idea of US involvement in such a scheme.
Trump stressed there will be no U.S. boots on the ground but said he is open to providing American military air support to any European military forces stationed in Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Ministry said it "categorically" rejects the possibility of "a military contingent with the participation of NATO countries" inside Ukraine.

Trump said he's ready to give US security assurances to Ukraine without committing US troops. "We will help by air," Trump said.

Russian Foreign Ministry Comments on Possibility of Deploying NATO Troops in Ukraine:

"We reaffirm our repeatedly stated position on our categorical rejection of any scenarios that envisage the appearance in Ukraine of military contingent with the participation of NATO countries, which is fraught with an uncontrolled escalation of the conflict with unpredictable consequences," reads a commentary on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry, against the backdrop of statements by Western countries regarding the possibility of sending such a contingent.

#US Trump 'peace deal'

Here we go...

White House Press Secretary Leavitt does not rule out deploying U.S. Airmen and aircraft to Ukraine, deferring to Trump's comments on supporting Ukraine "with things by air."

Putin was right:

"Soon they will all — mark my words — stand at their master’s feet and wag their tails obediently."

#Ukraine

At the front, 50% of the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine remain empty due to a lack of personnel!
The General Staff cannot fill the gaps, as the million-strong army exists only on paper, while the actual number of military personnel is 200-300 thousand.

Trump unhinged 🤦‍♂️ Cognitive dissonance?

It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invaders country. It’s like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defense, but is not allowed to play offense. There is no chance of winning! It is like that with Ukraine and Russia. Crooked and grossly incompetent Joe Biden would not let Ukraine FIGHT BACK, only DEFEND. How did that work out? Regardless, this is a war that would have NEVER happened if I were President - ZERO CHANCE. Interesting times ahead!!! President DJT

So on one hand he blames Biden for not allowing Ukraine to attack Russia, on the other hand he said this war would never happen if he was a president?! Did he mean he would let Ukraine to attack Russia from the start?
Worth remembering that it was Trump in his first presidential term who started sending lethal weapons to Ukraine...

#Gaza #Israel

Interesting if true...

Tel Aviv is paying close attention to a new player in Gaza: the Ahmat-Haji Kadyrov Foundation has launched a large-scale humanitarian operation expected to reach over one million people. The aid includes 50,000 ready meals, hundreds of tons of rice, flour, sugar, and pasta, along with 500 tons of drinking water.

Senior Chechen officials are directly overseeing the effort. Akhmed Dudayev, Chechnya’s Minister for National Policy and External Relations, and Zamid Chalayev, commander of the Chechen special battalion, are both on the ground in Egypt to coordinate logistics.

The foundation frames the operation as a humanitarian mission to ease Gaza’s suffering. But for Israel, the presence of an external actor, especially one with political and military ties to Russia, raises strategic questions. It’s not just about aid delivery, but about influence: who’s allowed to operate in Gaza, under whose authority, and with what long-term agenda.

Israel now faces the optics of a Muslim-majority force with Kremlin links stepping into a vacuum it created, and doing so in coordination with Egypt, not Tel Aviv. The operation sets a precedent: Gaza’s humanitarian corridors aren’t controlled exclusively by Western NGOs or Israeli checkpoints anymore. Other actors are entering, and they’re doing it openly.

https://x.com/iwasnevrhere_/status/1958465447872860259?t=uGjhfL9EzWVKa5lsGPJcMg&s=19

Perfect answer!

India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar:
If you have a problem buying oil from India, don’t buy it. Nobody forced you.

Italian professor Alessandro Orsini, on the pages of the newspaper il Fatto Quotidiano today, presents 10 facts proving that Russia is defeating NATO:

1) Russia's military industry dwarfs that of NATO, as Mark Rutte declared on January 13, 2025: "Russia's military industry produces in three months what NATO produces from Los Angeles to Ankara in a whole year";
2) the Russian military is well-armed and motivated;
3) Europe's air defense is incapable of intercepting Russia's most advanced missiles; 4) Europe counts for nothing militarily and politically, so much so that Europe has been excluded from talks on Ukraine's future; 5) the Russian economy supports the war effort despite Western sanctions;
6) Russia is perfectly integrated into the international system and can boast a very long list of friends and allies, including China, Brazil, and India;
7) Putin is a fearsome strategist, not the clueless man described by  Corriere della Sera  in its 2022/23 articles;
8) the Russians are aligned with Putin and hate NATO;
9) NATO calls for a ceasefire, and Russia refuses;
10) Trump begs Putin to stop, and Putin continues bombing, heedless of all threats.

After listing the ten facts demonstrating Putin's triumph over NATO, we can draw an initial conclusion: Trump is not the man of peace; he is the man managing NATO's strategic defeat in Ukraine at the hands of Russia.

#Ukraine

Former Azov chief of staff Bohdan Krotevich stated that currently the Armed Forces of Ukraine have no reserves, and those being redeployed were taken from somewhere else.
On the front line, brigades are only at 30% of their full strength.

"Brigades are positioned on the front line at 30% of capacity. According to regulations, they are completely combat ineffective. However, they constantly receive orders to advance, restore tactical positions, retake positions, and so on. But they can't even defend themselves," added the former Azov chief of staff.

Sergey Lavrov called Zelensky an illegitimate president according to the Ukrainian constitution in an interview with the American TV channel NBC. The Russian Foreign Minister also stated that, despite this, Russia recognizes him de facto as the "head of the regime" and is ready to hold a meeting. Key points:

— A meeting between Putin and Zelensky was not discussed in Alaska; this issue was raised later.

— Russia will inevitably participate in negotiations on security guarantees for Ukraine.

— Ukraine has the right to exist provided it "releases" the people who determined their own fate in referendums and whom the Kyiv regime is trying to destroy.

— Russia has never and under no circumstances intentionally targeted anything not related to Ukrainian military forces.

— Our intelligence has reliable information, and we strike exclusively, as I said, either military enterprises, military facilities, or industrial enterprises directly involved in the production of weapons for the Ukrainian army.

— I do not recall Western media expressing any concern about the actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces when, for example, a year ago they invaded the Kursk region, where there are no military targets at all. All the targets they strike daily are civilian.

— If you seriously believe that the presence of American, Hungarian, or any other capital in an enterprise producing weapons to kill Russians grants immunity to those who create weapons to kill us, I do not think so and do not consider such an approach fair. I would call it an imperialist approach.

Sergey Lavrov also said that a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Zelensky was not discussed in Alaska. In addition, he added that the Russian and Ukrainian delegations will continue meetings in Istanbul — where they will discuss specific military and humanitarian issues.

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

#Russia

Lavrov:

"We recognize Zelensky as de facto head of the regime, and in this capacity we are ready to meet. But when it comes to signing documents, we would need a clear understanding the person signing is legitimate. And according to Ukraine's constitution, Mr Zelensky is not."

Journalist:

Why Putin doesn't want to meet Zelensky?

Trump:

Because he doesn't like him ¯\_(ツ)_/¯