Monday, September 15, 2025
Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal said at the annual YES conference in Kyiv. “If the war ends, we will need not much less in order to simply keep our army in good shape in case of a secondary attack from Russia”, Shmyhal added. In this context, he supports the idea of using frozen Russian assets until Russia delivers compensation for all of the costs Ukraine and its allies have incurred during the war.
The defense minister also proposed creating a so-called Kill Zone, which is currently being established on the front line to prevent future aggression. “These are drone lines covering 10, 15, or even 30 kilometers of territory”, he explained.
Ukraine currently spends 31% of its GDP on defense, the highest percentage in the world. According to analysts, last year’s defense and security spending was about $95B, with forecasts for this year rising to approximately $100-105B, where half of this comes from the national budget, and the other half from partners.
Additionally, Ukraine receives approximately $40B annually in external financial assistance for non-military purposes, freeing it to fund its military needs. For next year, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko estimates a need for $45B in external financing for the state budget deficit, with the €16B currently lacking sources.
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US and Ukrainian leaders are set to meet in New York at the UN General Assembly session.
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
According to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a meeting between the Ukrainian and US presidents is a possibility, and Trump still intends to mediate a peace agreement between Kyiv and Moscow. Meanwhile, President Zelenskyy has confirmed that Trump plans to visit Europe this week and that the US leader is the only one with the power to stop Putin. He noted that Kyiv is working closely with its European partners to prepare joint decisions that will increase pressure on Russia. However, the West has allowed him to emerge from isolation despite the escalating war in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy admits that Trump is not in a hurry to impose sanctions on the Kremlin, fearing it would hinder efforts to end the war. Nevertheless, he believes that Washington should not wait for the EU to act: “I think the US is strong enough on its own. They can move faster, and all that’s missing now is a strong package of sanctions from America”, Zelenskyy said, adding that Trump has the power to make Putin fear him.
Instead, Putin is trying to deceive the US and its president to delay the introduction of new sanctions. The Ukrainian president also emphasized that the only way to end the fighting is to provide Ukraine with substantial security guarantees, established in a joint document with the participation of the US and European partners.
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The US is no longer pushing for a peace treaty between Ukraine and Russia; a ceasefire would be a sufficient compromise.
Friday, September 12, 2025
Although US President Donald Trump previously discussed the need for a direct peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia to ensure lasting peace, now the US is considering a ceasefire agreement instead. A ceasefire would be a middle ground between a temporary halt and a full peace treaty.
Unlike a peace treaty, which is more formal and detailed, a ceasefire doesn’t legally conclude the state of war or resolve key political and territorial issues. In contrast, a peace treaty officially ends the war and establishes a new legal framework for relations.
“A truce could become a compromise. Ultimately, the peace treaty might never be signed. After all, there’s still no peace treaty between South and North Korea, Japan and Russia – countries that signed armistice agreements decades ago”,experts say.
Many global examples have shown that a truce can often just delay further conflict, especially when monitoring mechanisms are weak. So, Ukraine should insist on a clear and strict monitoring mechanism for the ceasefire, including international observers, so that a temporary truce can lay the groundwork for future peace.
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“In this context, he supports the idea of using frozen Russian assets until Russia delivers compensation for all of the costs Ukraine and its allies have incurred during the war.”
I don’t quite get that. How does spending that $300 billion encourage the putinaZis to pay compensation? (They must take it and spend it anyway. Now : on killing orcs).
It doesn’t. They never will pay anything until they give up fascism, which could take another 100 years.
The cunts owe Ukraine $3 trillion: For the Holodomor, and every genocide since.
That money must be recovered bit by bit over time by a calibrated system of tariffs, sanctions, property seizures, banking levies etc.
How is it the US the only power to stop Putin? Russia has a crap economy, even during good times the Russian economy never rose above a top 15 economy. Their defense industry is in shambles and its only asset is using citizens as meat pies at the front. Only the US, I call bullshit.
I also have a hard time figuring out why 500,000,000 people need 350,000,000 people to save them from 140,000,000 people. Not to mention the monster economy that the EU has compared to the shithole’s. It just baffles the mind.