Ukraine

Ukraine War: Selected news, views, & analysis

A few good sources of news & analysis
• Moon of Alabama, blog

• Antiwar.com, blog

• Consortium News, blog

• Caitlin Johnstone, blog

• Judge Andrew Napolitano, podcast

• Larry Johnson, blog & podcast

• Douglas MacGregor, interviews & articles

• Alastair Crooke, blog

• The Grayzone, blog

• Simplicius, blog

• SouthFront, video

• St. Pete for Peace, website

• The Duran, podcast

• The Automatic Earth, blog

Ukraine's top "disinformation" sources -- we respect and read many of them.

To understand we must think and compare. We do not agree with all the postings on all these sites. That would be an unrealistic expectation anywhere.

December 2025

Dec 31, 2025

Featured • NY Times Expose: CIA Fights Russia – Trump’s Peace Deal Runs on Illusion, Moon of Alabama, Dec 31, 2025

Featured • Some thoughts regarding the Ukrainian drone attack that targeted President Putin, Scott Ritter, Dec 31, 2025

The attack meets two of the criterion set forth in the “Fundamentals of State Policy of the Russian Federation on Nuclear Deterrence”, published on December 3, 2024, regarding acts of aggression designed to be deterred by Russia’s nuclear deterrence forces.

This includes “Aggression by any state from a military coalition (bloc, alliance) against the Russian Federation and (or) its allies is considered as the aggression by this coalition (bloc, alliance) as a whole”, and “Aggression against the Russian Federation and (or) its allies by any non-nuclear state with the participation or support of a nuclear state is considered as their joint attack.”

Ukraine operates as part of a NATO bloc whose stated objective is the strategic defeat of Russia. Ukraine’s targeting of the Russian President constitutes “actions by an adversary affecting elements of critically important state or military infrastructure of the Russian Federation, the disablement of which would disrupt response actions by nuclear forces.”

Had the Ukrainian attack succeeded, Russia would have carried out massive nuclear retaliation against all of Europe.

I don’t think the world understands how close it came to nuclear Armageddon.

So far, Ritter has been right about this war. A year ago, he told our Los Alamos audience that despite the election of a new President, there were no signs that peace in Ukraine would come in any way other than the battlefield ("In Los Alamos, Scott Ritter and Dmitri Trenin discuss paths to peace in Ukraine; other resources," press release, Jan 20, 2025). That statement has proven accurate.

Featured • 2025 End of Year Wrap-Up and Battlefield Projections for 2026, Simplicius, Dec 30, 2025

Then there is the infrastructure aspect. Ukraine’s energy grid, industrial, and economic infrastructure is being targeted by Russia like never before: from railways, ports, factories, power plants, etc. This will likewise continue to worsen to unseen levels and add to the questions of how much longer Ukraine can hold out amidst worsening conditions from all of the mentioned fields.

...Then there is the political aspect. This past year has brought major political pressure, from the corruption scandals slowly tightening the noose over Zelensky himself, to major figures being forced out, from Podolyak, Yermak, and many others. How much longer can Zelensky’s regime bear this pressure and societal exhaustion, particularly with the pressures of elections growing more intense as well?

So the real question is not how much territory Russia seizes, per se. That’s just one of the many elements of Russia’s overall hybrid war which will add intense pressure to the teetering structure of Ukraine as a whole.

Imagine, for a moment if Ukraine makes it to the end of 2026, politically speaking, and the AFU manages to hang on as well. The situation will likely be terminally dismal, and nearing a breaking point. Now imagine precisely at this time of greatest despair—with energy infrastructure totally destroyed, complete political and societal exhaustion, economic collapse or near-terminal hardship, etc.—and right at this moment, Russian troops capture Zaporozhye and Kramatorsk-Slavyansk. The blow from these liberations could reverberate so loudly as to finish off any remaining morale in the nation, or at least send it veering into the final death spiral.

I predict that by the end of 2026, as a result of the culminating pressure (political, economic, and military at the front and in rear areas), Ukraine will be unable to offer meaningful resistance to Russia and the present Ukrainian government will cease to exist. What will happen will be decided by other countries, principally Russia and the United States but also Europe. This is the rosy scenario. Russia cannot afford to leave a powerful, rump Ukraine that is a de facto NATO member on its (new) border, so neutrality and denazification are going to be part of the picture, either by treaty or by force. Europe, as well as the U.S. and U.K., will need to make some kind of peace with Russia sooner or later, which will, in its deeper aspects, be a gradual process. The alternatives are much, much worse.

The really dangerous scenario we face right now is that Anglo-American-Ukrainian sabotage, terror strikes, false flags, naval piracy, assassinations, and attempted strategic decapitations become successful enough to cause a massive Russian response. That is precisely what they are designed to do -- trigger a Russian response that in turn brings NATO countries openly into the war and thereby cause, in these strategists' minds, the final defeat of Russia as a whole, followed by expropriation of its assets. The strategy of those fools is to edge closer and closer to nuclear war. It is based on deeply mistaken assessments of the Russian economy, society, military, and government -- and on a moral carelessness or even an unconscious death wish that is purely evil, the same kind of evil that Eichmann and his colleagues embodied.

I suspect many of the good people reading this cannot fathom this level of institutionalized sociopathy or even psychopathy. For many powerful people who have devoted their lives, careers, and positions to a particular belief system, with which they completely identify, and who have learned to be very callous with respect to human life as a result of their jobs, it is easier for them to order, or cause, the death of thousands or millions than to change their minds. The latter would be an ego-death more terrible than the death of their bodies, as they see it. This has always been the great danger of nuclear weapons, which magnify death-dealing powers far, far beyond the comprehension and imagination of the individuals in charge and hence beyond the human capacity to control. Nuclear weapons offer power far beyond any conceivable human scale, but it is only the power to destroy. There is no power to create. To the war planners and human cogs at the top of the nuclear deterrence chain of command, the numbers of projected dead are just blips on a screen, or numbers on a page. As the two dogs in Riddley Walker told Eusa after he pulled the Adom apart, the Little Man who had stood between the antlers of the Hart of the Wud before Eusa killed it, "As many as there are leaves in this forest, that is how many people you will kill." Eusa didn't stop, and neither will the generals and the robotic soldiers and sailors in the silos and submarines, if C.S. Lewis's "Deplorable Word" is spoken into the microphones of the universal death machine we have built.

Technically, we may call this machine demonic as it possesses a certain consciousness and contingent goal-seeking behavior, a kind of anti-life, of its own. The great invention of the Manhattan Project was to devise a prototype system in which individual all-too-human moral weaknesses could be coherently gathered together and, as it were, summed into something far more deadly and vicious than nearly anyone involved ever really wanted. The most important "chain reaction" created was not nuclear. It was institutional.

An even greater fall was yet to come. In October 1949, the General Advisory Committee to the Atomic Energy Commission unanimously opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb, calling it a potential weapon of genocide. Fermi and Rabi wrote their own addendum to the report, saying: "It is clear that such a weapon cannot be justified on any ethical ground... The fact that no limits exist to the destructiveness of this weapon makes its very existence and the knowledge of its construction a danger to humanity as a whole. It is necessarily an evil thing considered in any light." Truman subsequently ordered a crash program to develop the H-bomb on January 31, 1950. The demon was loose and at prey.

Obviously, there will be no advances in arms control or disarmament under present conditions. All efforts now are stage-setting ones, foundational ones -- which are now what progress looks like. What is needed now above all is peace. Not a ceasefire to re-arm, a peace in name only in which the current of war goes underground for a moment, but a new understanding that security must be mutual, an understanding that is gradually institutionalized and enters our culture, economy, and beliefs. It has to become personal. The ignorance and hatred in the heart of Western political elites and in sycophantic NGOs and journalists toward Russia and China must be gradually expunged. That means above all a change in personnel in these institutions, which will take time. Deep institutional trauma, and retirements, are needed. As Max Planck said, science progresses only when the adherents of old ideas die and a new generation rises. (Or more harshly, “Science advances one funeral at a time.”) That is what we face. We need far more than a mere policy change or a treaty, although that is how visible peace starts. Even before that, it begins with us, in our own seemingly powerless discourse and actions. The stronger the tyranny and totalitarian nature of control, the greater the latent "power of the powerless," as Havel called that power. It is critical that we recognize this -- all of which is only to say, "remember your humanity, and forget the rest."

Dec 30, 2025

Featured • Ukraine – Negotiations At A Standstill, The War Progresses, Moon of Alabama, Dec 29, 2025

The speed of progress Russian troops are making has increased. During the last weeks several significant Ukrainian cities – Kupiansk, Siversk, Pokrovsk, Myronograd, Huleipole – have fallen into Russian hands. The Ukrainian command seems to ignore this reality. It took weeks to admit that Siverks had fallen. It still claims to hold ground in Myrnograd and Huleipole. It loudly claims a successful counteroffensive in Kupiansk while its troops there get bombed to smithereens.

Meanwhile Russia has widely succeeded in de-energizing Ukraine. Electricity in Ukraine’s big cities is limited to less than 12 hours per day. The countryside has largely been turned off completely. Central heating and water supply barely function.

The Russian side keeps emphasizing that its attacks on infrastructure in Ukraine are in retaliation for Ukrainian drone attacks on oil processing facilities in Russia. Russia has a significant overcapacity in the refining business. It can afford the losses the Ukrainian side is able to inflict. Ukraine however can not afford a total blackout. Nevertheless it continues its self-destructive efforts.

The war has gone on much longer than I had expected nearly four years ago. The reasons were a very careful Russian campaign that had tried to avoid civilian casualties and damage on one side and, on the other side, an immense amount of support Ukraine has received from its allies.

Both parameters are changing. The campaign to de-energize Ukraine is hurting those civilians who so far could avoid to be impacted by the war. The U.S. has largely stopped its delivery of weapons to Ukraine. The Europeans are cutting back their provisions of arms and money.

In the new year we can expect that the Ukrainian public willingness to continue the war will break down. At the same time the Ukrainian army efforts to defend against Russian onslaughts will falter. Troops will revolt, commanders will leave their positions.

But when, where and how this will end are still open questions.

Good overall top-level summary.

• Kiev needs a public mandate to sign peace treaty – Lavrov, RT, Dec 30, 2025

A new Ukrainian government must be elected by a legitimate inclusive vote before a peace treaty can be signed with Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.

Presidential and parliamentary elections have been suspended in Ukraine under martial law, with Vladimir Zelensky’s mandate to lead the country expiring last year. In an interview with Rossiya Segodnya media group, Lavrov dismissed the idea that a temporary ceasefire is needed so that the current Ukrainian administration can hold a referendum on peace terms.

“The leadership in Kiev needs a mandate to seal a peace agreement. Only an election following a transparent and fair electoral campaign, in which all interested political forces take part, can provide that,” Lavrov said.

“The Ukrainian people, including many who live in Russia, have to finally be given an opportunity to determine their fate,” he added. “Organizing the ballot must not be used as a pretext for a temporary ceasefire to rearm the Ukrainian army.”

• Response to Kiev’s attack on Putin’s residence will not be diplomatic – Moscow, RT, Dec 29, 2025

Russia’s response to a failed Ukrainian drone attack on President Vladimir Putin’s state residence will not be diplomatic, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned on Monday.

Earlier in the day, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that on the night of December 28-29, “the Kiev regime launched a terrorist attack using 91 long-range strike unmanned aerial vehicles on the state residence of the president of the Russian Federation in Novgorod Region.”

He noted that all 91 UAVs were intercepted, with no casualties or material damage reported.

Lavrov noted that while Moscow remains committed to the US-mediated peace process, “Russia’s negotiating position will be revised” in light of Ukraine’s “reckless actions.”

“Targets for retaliatory strikes and the time for their implementation by the Russian Armed Forces have been determined,” the minister warned.

“The answers will not be diplomatic. Let them not get their hopes up,” Zakharova told Russian media late Monday, calling the attempted attack unprecedented.

• Did Ukraine Try to Kill Putin?, Larry C. Johnson, SONAR21, Dec 29, 2025

The Ukrainian claim that Russia did this in order to “harden its negotiating position” does not pass the smell test because Russia’s position is already hardened. Moscow was not looking for an excuse to hit Ukraine harder… They already are doing so.

Did Zelensky approve the attack? I doubt it. I think this was ordered and executed by Ukrainian intelligence, with assistance from at least the British services, in order to sabotage the talks and damage Zelensky. This was not an actual attack to kill Putin because he has been living in the Kremlin for the last four years in order to reduce his vulnerability to an attack like this. The Ukrainian officials who ordered this were more intent on embarrassing Zelensky than on killing Putin.

I believe this is one more indicator that Zelensky’s days are numbered as his opponents in Ukraine, with encouragement from Western intelligence operatives, appear to be maneuvering to replace him and keep the war going. News broke over the weekend that General Zaluzhny, who has been in London for more than a year as the ostensible Ukrainian ambassador to the UK, is heading back to Kiev at the end of this week. The chess pieces in this iteration of Game of Thrones are moving.

Yes, this marks a milestone in Ukraine's looming defeat.

• Trump ‘very angry’ about Ukrainian attack on Putin’s residence, RT, Dec 29, 2025

US President Donald Trump has condemned the attempted Ukrainian drone strike on the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, stating the attack made him “very angry” and came at a “delicate period of time.”

Earlier on Monday, Moscow said Putin’s residence in Novgorod Region came under a concentrated long-range drone attack overnight. A total of 91 kamikaze drones were used in the strike, all of which were intercepted. Top Russian officials condemned the attempted strike as a terrorist attack, vowing retaliation and signaling the incident was bound to affect Moscow’s position in the ongoing negotiations to settle the Ukraine conflict.

Speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the White House, Trump confirmed he learned about the attack from Putin during a phone conversation earlier in the day. The incident made the US president “very angry,” particularly since it came during “a delicate period of time,” he said.

“Early in the morning [Putin] said he was attacked. It’s not good. Don’t forget, you know, the Tomahawks. I stopped the Tomahawks. I didn’t want that,” Trump said, referring to US-made cruise missiles that have been repeatedly requested by Kiev.

The exchange between the two presidents was earlier confirmed by Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov, who said Trump was “shocked” by the attack on Putin’s residence and said, “Thank God, we did not give the Tomahawks” to Kiev.

Dec 27, 2025

Featured • Netanyahu’s new slant to lure Trump into war with Iran, Alastair Crooke, Strategic Culture Foundation, Dec 26, 2025

What this suggests is that the National Strategy Statement (NSS) in respect to China (it states that Washington views China as no longer constituting a ‘prime threat’, but only as an economic competitor) is meaningless rhetoric. China is being treated as an adversarial threat and will respond as such.

China and Russia will ‘read’ the Trump Administration by its actions, rather than its NSS rhetoric. And the signals speak plainly to escalatory steps.

Put all this into the context of ‘leaks’ by senior Trump officials which Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard says are “lies and propaganda”. She says the claims that “the ‘U.S. intelligence community’ agrees to, and supports the EU/NATO viewpoint, that Russia’s aim is to invade/conquer Europe (in order to ‘gin up support’ for their pro-war policies)” — that these are lies being pushed by what she terms “Deep State warmongers and their Propaganda Media … to undermine Trump’s efforts to bring peace to Ukraine”.

“The truth”, Gabbard writes on Twitter, is the opposite:

“[That] the U.S. intelligence community has briefed policymakers, including the Democrat HPSCI member quoted by Reuters, that U.S. Intelligence assesses that Russia seeks to avoid a larger war with NATO. It also assesses that, as the last few years have shown, Russia … does not have the capability to invade and occupy Europe” — and that “U.S. Intelligence assesses that Russia seeks to avoid a larger war with NATO”.

So, what Gabbard is telling us is that there is open intra-warfare at the top of the Trump Administration. On one side, there is the CIA, the hawks and their European collaborators, and on the other, Gabbard’s Intelligence analysts and a larger U.S. constituency.

Where is Trump in this brew? Why is he positioning himself at the cusp of another round of conflict with China? Why would he do that when U.S. economic structures are so fragile, and when China has shown that it has economic leverage with which to fight? Is the explanation the simplistic response that it is a diversion from the release of further Epstein images?

Emphasis added. More questions follow but no answers, other than the allusion to Netanyahu's visit to Mar-a-lago and Israel's aims, which are indeed powerful determinants. Much of Trump's see-sawing is reactive to the "intra-warfare" in his administration. It is not just that he is weak, or indecisive, or ignorant. It is also a testament to the power of the forces at work, which largely control this and any President. I am thinking of Simone's Weil's comments on the effects of threatened deadly force:
How much more varied in its processes, how much more surprising in its effects is the other force, the force that does not kill, i.e., that does not kill just yet. It will surely kill, it will possibly kill, or perhaps it merely hangs, poised and ready, over the head of the creature it can kill, at any moment, which is to say at every moment. In whatever aspect, its effect is the same: it turns a man into a stone. From its first property (the ability to turn a human being into a thing by the simple method of killing him) flows another, quite prodigious too in its own way, the ability to turn a human being into a thing while he is still alive.
This is the plight of the any would-be President, if he lacks almost supernatural strength of mind and character. He is mainly a puppet, a thing, as are the members of Congress, puppets not just of Israel but of the warring factions of the Deep State overall. As are the major news media -- just clever things, these days. Their careers and indeed employment are the most fragile of all.

Featured • Russia is ‘El Dorado’ for Trump’s inner circle – WSJ, RT, Dec 26, 2025

US President Donald Trump’s envoys in negotiations with Moscow, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, see Russia as an “El Dorado” with vast natural resources and rich investment opportunities, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with their thinking.

Both believe that lifting sanctions and reintegrating Russia back into the world economy could make money for US investors and smooth out its relations with Ukraine and Europe, the newspaper wrote.

The West imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, which Moscow maintains have only served to strengthen the Russian economy.

US firms could return to Russia after a peace deal with Ukraine is reached, Witkoff has stated.

Brief, and important.

• Stockman: The Real Story Behind The Russia–Ukraine War... And What Happens Next, ZeroHedge, Dec 27, 2025
A bit of history, again.

• Latest strike map, X, Geroman, Dec 27, 2025

• SITREP 12/26/25: AFU Flees Gulyaipole, as Russia Stumbles in Murky Kupyansk, Simplicius, Dec 26, 2025
No doubt Zelensky is telling Trump how "great" Ukraine is doing in Kupyansk. Hope dies last. You can apparently join a group swimming across the Dniester for 10,000 hryvnias ($240).

Dec 25, 2025

Featured • Highly recommended: Jeffery Sachs: Two Centuries of Russophobia & Rejection of Peace, Consortium News, Dec 24, 2025

• Kremlin responds to Zelensky’s ‘unhinged’ Christmas address, RT, Dec 25, 2025

Vladimir Zelensky’s “strange” Christmas address raises concerns over the Ukrainian leader’s ability to make any rational decisions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

Zelensky published a video on his Telegram channel on Wednesday in which he wished Ukrainians a happy upcoming Christmas. However, in the same video, he also wished for a certain unnamed person – presumably Russian President Vladimir Putin – “to perish” before urging everyone to pray for peace.

Commenting on the video, Peskov said it appeared “uncultured, embittered, and coming from a seemingly unhinged person.”

“One wonders if he’s capable of making any rational decisions towards a political and diplomatic settlement,” the Kremlin spokesman added, referring to the ongoing Russia-US efforts to end the Ukraine conflict. Moscow has accused Kiev and its European backers of repeatedly undermining peace talks by making unacceptable demands.

• McNamara’s Ghost, James Carden, Antiwar.com, Dec 24, 2025

Reprinted from The Realist Review:
Recently, the New York Times relayed Tucker Carlson’s view that, “The most depressing thing about the United States in 2025 is that we’re led not just by bad people, but by unimpressive, dumb, totally noncreative people.” This is unarguable – and the Times made no attempt to counter the point. Indeed, this judgement applies doubly to the team of grifters and double-digit IQ Machiavellians who staff upper echelons of the Trump administration.

Yet, a fascinating new book by the scholars (and brothers) William and Philip Taubman shows that even smart and impressive people can, if they lack vision, character and empathy, lead the country to disaster. One such leader was Robert S. McNamara, the architect of the war in Vietnam...

• US Sanctions EU Officials for Free Speech Suppression in Major Widening of US-European Rift, Simplicius, Dec 24, 2025
And Vladimir Zelensky, full of grace, offers the Christmas wish that Putin may drop dead, which he claims is shared by all Ukrainians.

Dec 23, 2025

Featured • What Russia Could Do, Larry C. Johnson, SONAR21, Dec 23, 2025
An outstanding piece. If you have a hankering for authoritative clarity on the subject of theft of Russian assets and the interest thereon, and what that means under EU law and ALL law, you can find it here. The historical glances are shocking, but make sense because of Merz's important and apparently defining relationship with his Nazi grandfather. Absent 1984-level lack of freedom, Merz would be political toast. the whole tyrannical package goes together: war, theft, imposition of debt by the unelected, censorship and democracy prevention.

Featured • No Treaty, No Deal (With Apologies to Bob Marley), Larry C. Johnson, SONAR21, Dec 22, 2025

Many in the West, especially among US politicians and the US-mainstream media, harbor the fantasy that there will be a negotiated settlement to the war in Ukraine that conforms with the 28-point plan that was leaked to the press more than a month ago. Let’s assume for the sake of argument that Donald Trump is serious about reaching a deal with Russia that meets the demands that President Putin outlined last Friday during his end of the year press conference (see here, Vladimir Putin Leaves No Doubt About Russia’s Demands to End the War in Ukraine… Do Donald Trump and Steve Witkoff Understand?).

I believe there is one demand that Putin did not mention and, to my knowledge, has not stated in public… The deal with the US must be a treaty that is ratified by the US Senate. Unless the agreement is concluded as a treaty, any promise by Donald Trump comes with an expiration date and will be ignored or rejected by US politicians and the Deep State.

Why do I say that? Let’s review what Senator Lindsey Graham said on Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press where he discussed ongoing efforts to negotiate a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. He expressed support for a deal but emphasized strong conditions and consequences if Russia rejects it. Graham said that he wants a peace deal “that would prevent a third invasion” of Ukraine by Russia (referring to the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the 2022 full-scale invasion). He even conceded that not all Russian-occupied territory would be returned: “We’re not going to evict every Russian out of Ukraine, I understand that.”

But he called for robust security guarantees for Ukraine, including potential European troops on the ground and US commitments. That is a deal breaker for the Russians.

The conditions Graham calls for (listed by Johnson) are wildly impossible.

• Senior Russian General Killed in Moscow Car Bombing, Dave DeCamp, Dec 22, 2025

Dec 21, 2025

• Despite Dire US Predictions About a Collapsing Russian Economy, Russia is Doing Just Fine… But the US Ain’t, Larry C. Johnson, SONAR21, Dec 20, 2025
I am not sure how Larry manages to put all this together so quickly. AI must help, guided by his own in-depth knowledge? In any case I wish Trump would read this.

Dec 20, 2025

Featured • The EU’s ‘Russian Asset’ Scam Failed But Warmongers Still Grab Other’s Money, Moon of Alabama, Dec 20, 2025

They threatened Brussels, launched a campaign of anti-Russian propaganda and came up with fake legal reasoning to justify their attempt of the biggest bank robbery in history.

On Thursday night, December 18, their plan crashed:
European governments failed to reach a deal on sending Russian frozen state assets to Ukraine after a 16-hour summit in Brussels, in a major setback for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Countries were forced instead to agree on an emergency backup plan based on EU joint debt that was pushed for weeks by Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and was deemed a long shot until hours before the deal was done. In a further blow to EU unity, three countries - Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic - won’t take part.

…

Though the accord allows everyone to claim victory, this wasn’t the solution that Germany and the Commission had been pushing for in the lead-up to this summit.

…

For weeks, the EU executive and Berlin have been pressuring member countries to finalize a controversial plan to use up to €210 billion Russian frozen state assets to finance Ukraine. De Wever ensured once again that didn’t happen after already derailing the Russian assets scheme during a previous summit in October.

Instead, leaders agreed to jointly borrow €90 billion to fund a loan to Ukraine over two years. This will be guaranteed by the common EU budget.
The original plan was to take €135 billion from the Russia assets of which €45 billion would be used by Ukraine to pay back an older loan it had received from the EU. €90 billion would thus go towards Ukraine’s budget.

The new plan is to give Ukraine €90 billion. How much of that will have to be used to pay back the old loan to the EU has not yet been mentioned. Could it be that the EU will have to pay for the total €135 billion? Why didn’t anyone write about it?

Ukraine will only have to pay back the new loan if Russia agrees to pay reparations to Ukraine. As Prime Minster Viktor Orban of Hungary notes:
For this money to ever be recovered, Russia would have to be defeated. That is not the logic of peace but the logic of war. A war loan inevitably makes its financiers interested in the continuation and escalation of the conflict, because defeat would also mean a financial loss. From this moment on, we are no longer talking merely about political or moral decisions, but about hard financial constraints that push Europe in one direction: into war.

The Brusselian war logic is therefore intensifying. It is not slowing down, not easing, but becoming institutionalised. The risk today is greater than ever before, because the continuation of the war is now coupled with a financial interest.
As Russia can not be defeated by the rest of Europe (not even with U.S. support) the €90 billion will have to be paid by EU tax payers. One wonders how national parliaments of already overextended states (see France) will handle this issue.

Those are not the only problem with the new loan. No details have been spelled out yet how it will be structured or financed. The official Conclusions of the EU meeting ominously notes:
The European Council will revert to this issue at its next meeting.

Featured • Vladimir Putin Leaves No Doubt About Russia’s Demands to End the War in Ukraine… Do Donald Trump and Steve Witkoff Understand?, Larry C. Johnson, SONAR21, Dec 19, 2025

• ‘We didn’t live in vain’: Putin’s time-capsule message for future generations (FULL TEXT), RT, Dec 19, 2025
People in this country can't understand this.

Dec 19, 2025

Featured • Jeffrey Sachs: European Security Includes Russia, Consortium News, Dec 19, 2025

Featured • EU’s plan to steal Russian assets for Ukraine fails, RT, Dec 19, 2025

The EU’s plan to steal Russian assets held in the bloc in order to fund Ukraine’s military and prolong its disastrous war has failed to get the backing of bloc leaders. The other key EU summit pillar – approving a contentious trade deal with the South American bloc Mercosur – was also aborted at the last minute amid chaotic protests by several thousand farmers in the Belgian capital.

Following some 14 hours of talks, during which the deep divisions within the bloc were exacerbated by legislative overreach pushed by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and her compatriot German Chancellor Friederich Merz, the European Council talks finished without conclusion.

Desperation. This is not about Ukraine any more, if it ever was. The veil has been torn.

Dec 18, 2025

Featured • Russia Is In A Security Dilemma – Europe Pretends To Be In One, Moon of Alabama, Dec 18, 2025

Belousov echos this (machine translation, emph. add.):
Analysis of the military-political situation shows that threats to military security have changed significantly over the past three years. The North Atlantic Alliance continues to build up its coalition forces, actively preparing for the deployment of intermediate-range missiles, updating the range of nuclear weapons, modernizing air and missile defense, and changing the system of mobilization deployment. The efficiency of the transfer of alliance troops to the eastern flank is increasing, for which it is planned to introduce the so-called military “Schengen”.

Military spending is increasing significantly. Today, the alliance has an annual budget of $ 1.6 trillion. Taking into account its gradual increase to five percent of the national GDP, the NATO budget will grow by more than one and a half times – up to $ 2.7 trillion.

All this indicates that NATO is preparing for a military clash with Russia. The alliance plans to achieve readiness for such actions by the turn of the 2030s. This was repeatedly openly stated by official representatives of the NATO bloc. We don’t threaten – we are threatened.

In accordance with the significant threats to military security, the construction of modern and high-tech Armed Forces is being carried out. I will focus on the most important points. …
Followed by Putin in his second part with regards to Ukraine:
They engineered a coup, initiated military operations, and deliberately – I am convinced, deliberately – precipitated a war.

President Trump has said that had he been in office at the time, none of this would have happened. He may well be right. Because the previous administration deliberately brought matters to an armed conflict. And I think the reason is clear: they believed Russia could be swiftly broken up and dismantled. European “swine underlings”1 immediately joined the efforts of that previous American administration, hoping to profit from our country’s collapse: to reclaim what had been lost in earlier historical periods and to exact a form of revenge. As has now become evident to all, every one of those attempts, every destructive design against Russia, has ended in complete and total failure.

Russia has demonstrated its resilience in the economy, finance, domestic politics, the state of society, and, ultimately, in its defence capability.

…

And our Armed Forces are on the rise. I repeat, much remains to be done, but it will all be done. We have always stated – and I want to reaffirm this – that we remain ready for negotiations and ready to resolve all the problems that have arisen in recent years through peaceful means. The United States administration has demonstrated such readiness, and we are engaged in dialogue with it. I hope the same will eventually occur in Europe. It is unlikely with the current political elites, but it will be inevitable as we continue to strengthen, if not with the present politicians, then with a change of political elites in Europe.

1 ‘swine underlings’ is a verbal translation from the Russian ‘under-pigs’. It means ‘small piglets’ who are completely depending on the mother sow.

"And when Russia's scared, brother, I'm scared," to paraphrase the "Talking Atom Blues" by Sam Hinton.

Featured • Trump Announces Full Naval Blockade of Venezuela's "Sanctioned" Oil Exports, Simplicius, Dec 17, 2025
Trump ascribes to the theory -- which I think is correct -- that hard assets are needed to prop up the U.S. empire of debt. Venezuela has those, which also must be denied to others in order to reap their full power potential. As stated yesterday in my comment on Alastair Crooke, I believe that Trump's National Security Strategy, and more so his actions vis-a-vis Venezuela, indicate a desire to use (and prop up, again) the U.S. military as a primary currency of international power. It is not enough to gain full access to Venezuelan oil. It has to lead to a monopoly, and it has to be done militarily. Other countries (read: China) have money, lots of it, and are very good at international development, so there's no point in trying to compete in that dimension. It has to involve overwhelming military force. Trump's energy advisors have also told him that U.S. primacy depends not just on adequate primary energy but abundant primary energy, of which oil is the most versatile and needful. At present the energy cost of acquiring energy in the U.S. is approaching or has surpassed the cost at which prosperity can be maintained without massive structural changes, specifically much greater efficiency in the quasi-predatory systems of health care and defense, for starters. The massive energy needed for U.S.-style AI does not precisely require oil, but the American way of life as a whole does. The illegality and immorality of what he is doing does not phase him much, but it does phase much of his MAGA base, many of whom voted for him because they were sick of foreign wars. He has brought his Party along with him on this, in the House, but his support in Congress is fragile. Where oh where is the peace movement? It seems to have died on the Ukrainian steppes, or it sits on couches watching Netflix, or it marches for identity politics, unaware it is being manipulated.

Featured • US Officials, Including Witkoff and Kushner, Are Getting Russia Wrong, Larry C. Johnson, SONAR21, Dec 17, 2025
There is nothing to summarize here. This is a summary, and an excellent one. It appears that the President is under the sway of the mind-controllers at Langley. Nothing new, but utterly frightening. Not just Sy Hersh is old. Trump is also old, and he is hyperactive without any time or obvious means to break out of the echo chamber created for him.

Dec 17, 2025

Featured • Trump’s geo-politics: Correcting the imperial model & shaping the incoming economic architecture, Alastair Crooke, Strategic Culture Foundation, Dec 17, 2025

How does this new business approach work geo-politically? In Ukraine, the ‘business approach’ presumes that the solution to the protracted conflict requires a system where the opportunity for financial benefit continues. i.e. that the strategic problem is about dividing the ‘Ukraine economic cake’ between ‘stakeholders’.

“Written in polite diplomatic terms, the continued payments are identified as “the prosperity agenda which aims to support Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction; the mooted joint US-Ukraine economic initiatives and the Ukraine recovery projects.” (This is code speak for the US Senate and EU retaining a financial mechanism to exploit for personal benefit”. (i.e. how to continue the usual boondoggle laundering of pay-offs).

“From the language, it appears that Witkoff and Kushner are confident they can construct a financial reward system for western banks, investors, politicians and Ukraine officials that will retain the benefits of war without the ancillary ingredient of bloodshed”.

“If the U.S. delegation can pull this off, then Russia can gain the territory they want, corrupt Ukraine officials can keep skimming investment money, the EU can retain the power it wants to extract financial payments, American politicians can use the “long-term recovery projects” for money laundering and quasi-public/private investment banks can benefit from the exploitation of Ukraine resources”.

This obviously is derived from experience in putting together a New York real estate deal.

Whilst it is true that financial interests are present in the Ukraine conflict, they are not the only interests at stake: Russia has an existential interest in creating a solid, water-tight security environment and in defeating NATO and its European adherents in a lasting fashion. And the Euro-élites have an equal and opposing desperation to land a crushing defeat on Russia.

And regarding the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, Crooke dances around a little bit but part of what he means, or should have said, is that the U.S. "system" must prevail, and that "system" includes military force. The hawks must have their "snack of meat" (Jeffers) or they will develop that "lean and hungry look." Only judiciously-applied military force -- not globalism or global peace-keeping responsibilities -- can "Make America Great Again," the NSS is saying. Only that is the precise thing military force cannot do. In fact nothing can. The only way America can be "great again" is morally, with a renewal of values that have been undermined by what amounts to hustling, in its several left- and right-wing forms. Materially, we will be poorer no matter what.

Featured • Flim Flam Theater Of Peace Talks On Ukraine, Moon of Alabama, Dec 16, 2025

The whole delusion plan the European leaders have put out in their joint statement is designed to prolong the conflict. As Elijah Magnier summarizes the joint statement:
Rather than integrating Ukraine into a post-war European security order, the EU plan institutionalises Ukraine as a frontline security asset, not a normalised state. The EU want Ukraine to become a permanently militarised society.
The current negotiated parameters can not lead to a peace agreement with Russia.

The Trump administration needs to take a step back. It can deliver the currently negotiated package to Russia which will study it and ask for negotiations of ‘details’ that will take several years to find some end point. Or it can put the whole issue aside for now and go for a retry in six to twelve months.

By then Ukraine will be much worse off than it is today: All of Ukraine will have been de-electrified, Zelenski may well be gone, Zaparozhia and Kerson may well have fallen to Russian forces, European willingness to support Ukraine will have dwindled further.

By then resistance to a peace agreement, be it by Ukraine or Europe, will have decreased. Only then will peace in Ukraine and Europe become a real possibility.

Thank you, b.

• Putin Dismisses EU Leaders As 'European Swine' Who've Failed To Collapse Russia, ZeroHedge, Dec 17, 2025

Putin in his Wednesday remarks remained undeterred, vowing that Russia will accomplish its goals in Ukraine by diplomatic or military means. Currently, Moscow forces are expanding a "security buffer zone" there.

"First, the goals of the special military operation will undoubtedly be achieved. We would prefer to do this and address the root causes of the conflict through diplomacy," Putin said.

"If the opposing side and their foreign patrons refuse to engage in substantive discussions, Russia will achieve the liberation of its historical lands by military means. The task of creating and expanding a security buffer zone will also be consistently addressed."

Among the more interesting parts of the speech came as follows:
"And the European piglets immediately joined in this work of the former American [Biden] administration, hoping to profit from the collapse of our country. To regain something that had been lost in previous historical periods and try to take revenge.

As is now obvious to everyone, all these attempts and all these destructive plans against Russia have completely failed."
The aforementioned 'historical lands' at the very least is a reference to the Donbas, and Putin could have in mind up to one-third of all of Ukraine. Already, Russian forces are said to control some 20% of Ukraine.

• EU needs Russian cash to avoid collapse – Orban, RT, Dec 16, 2025

The EU nations’ leaders, who have spent more than €100 billion (over $118 billion) on Ukraine, now hope to confiscate frozen Russian assets in order to prevent the collapse of their governments, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said.

Last week, the EU temporarily immobilized roughly $230 billion in Russian central bank assets by invoking Article 122, an emergency treaty clause that allows approval by a qualified majority rather than unanimity. Moscow has condemned the freeze as illegal and called any use of the funds “theft,” after European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen proposed using the money to back a loan to Ukraine.

Speaking to the Patriota YouTube channel on Tuesday, Orban said EU leaders were “chasing their money” after spending heavily on the conflict and having previously assured voters it “won’t cost them a single penny” because support for Ukraine would be financed from Russian assets rather than taxpayers.

Orban said that if taxpayers end up footing the bill after all those promises, it could trigger an “explosive realization in Western Europe” and the “immediate fall of several governments.”

He argued that EU leaders are now trying to secure financing “outside taxpayers’ pockets,” pointing to frozen Russian assets as the target and warning of political trouble if Brussels fails to obtain them.

Orban has previously accused EU officials of “raping European law in broad daylight,” by invoking Article 122 to bypass his country’s potential veto, and said Budapest would take the matter to the bloc’s top court. He also noted that Washington opposes the confiscation and wants the issue handled as part of a broader settlement with Moscow.

Russia’s central bank has filed a lawsuit against Belgium-based depositary Euroclear, which holds most of its assets. The EU insists that freezing the funds complies with international law, however, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has warned that using the money to back a loan to Kiev raises legal risks for the country.

International financial institutions, including the European Central Bank and the IMF, have also cautioned that using immobilized sovereign assets could undermine confidence in the euro.

Dec 16, 2025

Featured • Ukraine's Energy Grid Reaching Final Tipping Point as Fears Rise Kiev May Face Total Blackout, Simplicius, Dec 15, 2025
Good review as usual. No country can indefinitely withstand the collapse of most of its electrical grid, in winter no less. The news clips from the UK and EU are shocking.

• Watch: Ukrainian Sea Drone In Direct Hit On Docked Russian Submarine, ZeroHedge, Dec 15, 2025
Russia claims the damage was less. Attacks by sea may strengthen the hand of those in Russia who argue for a military solution for Odessa.

• It is Time to Dissolve the European Union!, Larry C. Johnson, SONAR21, Dec 15, 2025

You know it is a serious matter of egregious abuse of power when Dr. Gilbert Doctorow and I are in firm agreement… Here is part of a message Gil sent to Judge Nap and several of us who regularly appear on the Judge’s podcast:
An hour ago one of my subscribers sent me notification that the EU has just put Jacques Baud on its sanction list along with traders in Russian oil! Baud is nailed for ‘disseminating false information’ about the Kiev regime. Below I have a quote from Radio Free Europe’s website today.

The sanctions mean that Baud, who is Swiss, may not receive a visa to enter the EU. And more.

The sanctions now imposed on Baud can with the same justification be applied to any and all persons hosting and/or appearing on Judging Freedom as well as on most Alternative Media.

This has to be brought to the attention of J.D. Vance and Elon Musk – it is grist for the mills of those who rightly say that the European Union should br dissolved since it has become a War Project and is practicing vicious censorship inside and outside its borders.
I share Gil’s outrage. Colonel Baud is a scholar and a gentleman. Telling the truth about the neo-Nazis who infest the Government of Ukraine is not a crime… It is the duty of every person committed to truth. The lilliputian cretins that serve in leadership positions in the EU are nothing more than neo-fascist authoritarians who project onto Russia their own malevolent intent. It is up to the people of the countries that are members of the European Union to remove these clowns and reaffirm the right of free expression.

These authoritarian attitudes and urge to cancel and censor infiltrate the nuclear disarmament movement in attenuated but still poisonous form. They live in U.S. journalism and government. Anti-liberal liberalism is the corner into which many have painted themselves, or been painted. Well, there's no way out, no democratic solution without freer discourse.

Dec 15, 2025

Featured • EU Sanctions Swiss Intelligence Expert Jacques Baud, Moon of Alabama, Dec 15, 2025

• Karaganov’s Vision for Russia’s Future is Becoming Reality, Larry C. Johnson, SONAR21, Dec 14, 2025

Sergei Karaganov’s advocacy for Russia’s strategic pivot toward the East (particularly Asia and Eurasia) is a reaction to Western hostility, moral decay, and economic decline. He views the Greater Eurasia focus as essential for Russia’s survival and resurgence. In his 2025 article “Eastern Turn 2.0,” he argued that Russia must reject Western liberalism—characterized by individualism, consumerism, and “moral degradation” like LGBT rights and multiculturalism gone awry—and instead embrace a “civilizational turn” toward Eurasian alliances, emphasizing state devotion, traditional values, and partnerships with rising powers like China and India. Karaganov’s view is not just an academic exercise… It is a concrete vision to galvanize the Russian belief in cooperation and collaboration, rather than exalt individual achievements or pursue imperialist objectives, to create a viable foreign and economic policy that produces tangible benefits and security for Russia and its partners.

Dec 13, 2025

Featured • Brussels "Crosses Rubicon" in Final Act of Self-Destruction to Seize Russian Assets, Simplicius, Dec 12, 2025

The problem is, as I have been outlining in the past two articles, the US has ramped up its pointed war on the current EU superstructure in quite surprising but logical ways. According to new reports, the US intends to pull Austria, Hungary, Italy, and Poland from the EU, pulling the rug from under the decrepit bloc.
The USA wants to achieve the withdrawal of Austria, Hungary, Italy, and Poland from the European Union.

This is stated by the publication Defense One, citing an unpublished version of the US national security strategy, which was privately sent to journalists.
...In fact, Trump’s team has had some surprising ideas of late, like the new C5 (Core Five) to replace the outmoded G7. The C5 countries would be the five biggest economic superpowers: China, US, India, Russia, Japan—a tad humiliating for Germany to be left out of such a group, but reality isn’t ‘polite’ or pleasant.

Trump is reportedly going even farther:
Another appendix offers America’s broad-strokes vision for bringing Russia’s economy in from the cold, with U.S. companies investing in strategic sectors from rare-earth extraction to drilling for oil in the Arctic, and helping to restore Russian energy flows to Western Europe and the rest of the world.
...For a long time skeptics scoffed at the more speculative sides of ‘BlackRock’ conspiracy theories vis-a-vis Ukraine—that BlackRock was taking a driver’s seat in selling off and pillaging the country’s assets, etc. Now, it seems, the rumors have come to absurdist fruition, with Zelensky himself posting a meeting with Witkoff, Kushner, and Larry Fink—via video link—on the ‘reconstruction of Ukraine’:

...Meanwhile, Ukraine’s energy situation continues to be dire according to reports:
The situation in Kiev according to my contacts, is terrible. 4 Hours of electricity that start at 1 am in the morning. So many people cannot flush the toilets or have showers unless between their scheduled electricity slot.

Time slots vary, but everyone is limited to about 4 hours per day...
As of this writing new strikes on Odessa have reportedly brought the region to 95% power loss.

Lots of news in this summary. Of course there is a classified National Security Strategy. There always is. Omitted here: the front-lines report.

• Member states step up opposition to EU seizing Russian funds – Politico, RT, Dec 13, 2025

Italy, Belgium, Bulgaria, and Malta have urged the EU to explore alternatives to seizing frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine, Politico Europe reported on Friday, citing an internal document.

The European Commission hopes to pressure individual member states into approving the plan ahead of the European Council meeting on December 18-19.

Dec 12, 2025

Featured • Russia Counters EU Shenanigans To Steal Its Frozen Assets, Moon of Alabama, Dec 12, 2025

The prime minister of Hungary Victor Orbán posted this morning:
Today, the Brusselians are crossing the Rubicon. At noon, a written vote will take place that will cause irreparable damage to the Union.

The subject of the vote is the frozen Russian assets, on which the EU member states have so far voted every 6 months and adopted a unanimous decision. With today’s procedure, the Brusselians are abolishing the requirement of unanimity with a single stroke of the pen, which is clearly unlawful.

With today’s decision, the rule of law in the European Union comes to an end, and Europe’s leaders are placing themselves above the rules. Instead of safeguarding compliance with the EU treaties, the European Commission is systematically raping European law. It is doing this in order to continue the war in Ukraine, a war that clearly isn’t winnable. All this is happening in broad daylight, less than a week before the meeting of the European Council, the Union’s most important decision-making body, bringing together heads of state and government. With this, the rule of law in the European Union is being replaced by the rule of bureaucrats. In other words, a Brusselian dictatorship has taken hold.

Hungary protests this decision and will do everything in its power to restore a lawful order.
...When the war in Ukraine started it was quite obvious that it would damage NATO and probably lead to its demise. But I did not expect how much damage it would do to the EU. Brussels is de-legitimizing itself. That damage will last and may well lead to significant changes in whatever is by then left of the European Union.

Featured • NATO declared to be ‘not forever’ – A critical reading of the new U.S. National Security Strategy, Alastair Crooke, Strategic Culture Foundation, Dec 11, 2025

...In a set-up bathed eerily in red and black light, at the historic Independence Hall, Biden unequivocally extended the threats from abroad to warn against the threat of a different terror, closer to home – from “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans”, who he said, “represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic”.

The core precept to this apocalyptic message duly crept across the Atlantic to capture and convert the Brussels’ leadership class. This should not be surprising: The EU’s regulation-based internal market was precisely intended to replace all political ‘contention’ with Tech-Managerialism. The Euro-élites were in desperate need of a Values System to fill the EU identity lacuna. The solution, however, was at hand:

“Appetites of the autocrat cannot be appeased. They must be opposed. Autocrats only understand one word: “No.” “No.” “No.” (Applause.). “No, you will not take my country.” “No, you will not take my freedom.” “No, you will not take my future … A dictator bent on rebuilding an empire will never be able to ease [erase] the people’s love of liberty. Brutality will never grind down the will of the free. And Ukraine — Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia. Never”. (Applause)”.

“Stand with us. We will stand with you. Let us move forward … with an abiding commitment to be allies not of darkness, but of light. Not of oppression, but of liberation. Not of captivity, but, yes, of freedom”.

Biden’s later speech (above) in Warsaw – complete with lighting effects and a dramatic backdrop reminiscent of his Liberty Hall speech – sought to portray the domestic MAGA opposition as a grave security threat to America and lent on radical Manicheanism to depict – this time – Russia (Russia being the external counterpoint to the related U.S. MAGA threat). This was his framing to the epic battle between the forces of light and of darkness that needed to be fought endlessly and won crushingly.

Once again, Biden was trying to cement America’s deep-seated missionary ethos as the ‘City on the Hill’ a beacon to the world – to a ‘forever’ cosmic war against Russian ‘evil’. He hoped to tie the American ruling class to the metaphysical struggle for the ‘light’.

...Put plainly, this thought-code precisely gave the Euro-élites their shiny new cult of absolute purity and stainless virtue – filling the for the EU its all too evident identity-gap lacuna. It resulted in the summoning of a vanguard whose proselytizing fury is to be focused on ‘the Other’.

...Despite the cleaving together of the American ‘Bobos’ with the EU liberal warriors, many around the world nonetheless were astonished at the sheer alacrity by which the leadership in Brussels embraced the Biden ‘line’ advocating for a long war against Russia – a compliance that appeared so clearly to run contrary to European economic interests and social stability.

Simply put, it was a war of choice that seemed to be rooted ultimately in radical Manicheanism.

...Thus, the European élite’s outcry at the NSS’ devastating critique of Europe is not just that of America very obviously turning its back on an European ruling class who had dropped all to fawn on America. The NSS castigates their subversion of democracy – and even questions whether they will be suitable as allies for the future.

NATO is now declared to be “not forever”.

The European ruling strata now stand isolated, widely unpopular and bereft.

Escobar, yesterday: "Does the Empire care? Not at all. The Beauty expires as the Beast moves on." The ground of Russophobia is also the soil in which mass formation grows: a vacuum where real values should be, which has to be filled. In the absence of meaning and maturity, hatred is born. Emmanuel Todd's "zero religion." (Emmanuel Todd: Defeat of the West - Collapse of Power & Values, interview Nov 17, 2025). Within the policy elite, inside and outside government, this is then fused with career imperatives. We usually focus on the economic and governance aspect of this: the military-industrial faction of the Deep State requires Russophobia to create contracts and advance downstream careers, which feeds back into politicians' campaigns and pockets. The narrative aspect, the ideological, is also essential. Vaclav Havel called it the nervous system of the post-totalitarian state in The Power of the Powerless, which now seemingly applies here in its prescriptive as well as descriptive aspects in the same way, if not in the same degree, as it did in Czechoslovakia in the 1970s. Russophobia and Sinophobia drive enormous economic, social, and political commitments. It is impossible to "live in truth" without challenging those commitments. Attempting to live authentically in a state which has fused hatred and war into its foundation is not going to be possible without personal resistance. There can be no separate, individualized peace. Absent civic engagement against the empire's values and their expressions, churches become cults. Art becomes entertainment. Addictions replace fulfillment.

• Ukraine’s military losses top 1 million – Lavrov, RT, Dec 11, 2025
Ukraine's losses are generally comparable to U.S. KIA in WWII, from a much smaller population base.

Dec 11, 2025

Featured • Ukraine and EU: Buckling Bedfellows Together on the Ropes, Simplicius, Dec 10, 2025

It feels like things have sharply taken a turn for the worse in the unraveling of the doomed ‘star-crossed-lovers’ of Ukraine and its tipsy European maiden.

...Options are running out fast, with Brussels’ flunked high-noon piracy attempt, and the Euro-circus-roadshow’s increasingly spastic and humiliatingly empty huddles and desperate powwows, virtually no options remain beyond the self-flagellating throes of despair we’re now being made painfully witness to.

The club of losers with combined approval rating below 50%.

The sad thing is, this carnival hardly even has an audience any longer—who, precisely, is this overextended charade for, anymore?

It is clear there remains no vision forward, no workable contingencies, and the last few stalwart globalist puppet holdouts of Macron, Merz, and Starmer are merely play-acting chickens with their heads cut-off as they gadabout from one slumping European capital to another for their endless procession of humiliation rituals.

I wish he didn't indulge in so much colorful and entertaining rhetoric, which leads to exaggeration and error, but I think he is mostly right, although one should not underestimate the damage the EU countries could do and are doing. Thousands of lives are being lost because of their antics and the danger of nuclear war persists. None of it is funny -- except we are laughing, so perhaps humor is a coping mechanism in dark times. The article continues behind the paywall. The following may be the most useful insight there, which we had already come to see:

We can only assume that the narco-fuhrer’s sole remaining mandate is to clear out of dodge in a way that would not make him a target for vengeful elimination by Ukraine’s turbo-militant nationalist groups. That means he’s likely ready to give up the throne “democratically” so long as he can first secure a ‘favorable’ ceasefire which would appease the Banderist bloc, which has already recently threatened him multiple times.

Also, as Simplicius points out, for Ukraine to offer to cease strikes on Russia's energy system in return for the same favor amounts to offering to give up Ukraine's last remaining somewhat credible threat, a reflection of its truly desperate situation. Elsewhere, see Rep. Thomas Massie's bill to withdraw from NATO, a worthwhile educational endeavor. Saying "it won't pass" misses the point.

• The Beauty and the Beast: Pepe Escobar on the US National Security Strategy, Pepe Escobar, Sputnik International, Dec 11, 2025

The collapse of the EU – an artificial construct to start with - is as inevitable as death and taxes: looming in the dark horizon is a toxic cloud of Brexit-style exits; an ungovernable euro-zone; serial capital flights; rising and rising bond yields; unsustainable public debt; a collapse of the single market; institutional paralysis; and total, irretrievable, final loss of the legitimacy they never had in the first place.

A book just published in Italy by a young economist, Gabrielle Guzzi, tells it all in the title: Eurosuicidio. Spengler remarked that every civilization sooner or later dies; this current European project may be the swansong – political, military, spiritual - of a geographical area, a peninsula of Eurasia, playing its final role in History, after learning nothing from two previous suicide attempts: WWI and WWII.

Does the Empire care? Not at all. The Beauty expires as the Beast moves on.

Dec 10, 2025

Featured • Zelenski Defies Trump, Rejects Peace Deal, Moon of Alabama, Dec 9, 2025
Is comment necessary?

• Do You Believe in Coincidence… Was the CIA Involved in Operation Spiderweb and Israel’s June 12 Attack on Iran?, Larry C. Johnson, SONAR21, Dec 9, 2025

Dec 9, 2025

• Zelensky Definitively Shuts Door On Trump Peace Plan, Won't Cede Territory, ZeroHedge, Dec 9, 2025
Includes the EU counterplan. What a joke. Only intense arrogance and ignorance could produce such an outline.

• The new US National Security Strategy respects those who stood up to Washington, but expects vassals to keep obeying, Tarik Cyril Amar, RT, Dec 8, 2025

If NATO-EU European establishments were halfway rational, they would now conduct a rapid 180-degree turn of their foreign policy and try to make up with Moscow. (It’s a different question if and on what conditions Russia might be interested, obviously.) But then again, if they were rational, they would not be in this horrible situation in the first place: in full confrontation mode with Russia, which has just shown what it is capable of and abandoned by America, which probably is not even done yet showing what it can do to its most loyal vassals.

Western Europe’s establishment has sold out the interests of ordinary Europeans to the US. Now the US seems poised to sell Europe out to a great new alignment with the great powers Washington actually has earned to respect, Russia and China. The price of foolishness and spinelessness will be steep.

Dec 8, 2025

Featured • Bait and switch stage two – Shooting the breeze in Moscow, Alastair Crooke, Strategic Culture Foundation, Dec 8, 2025

Putin thus explicitly renounces ‘a deal’. Witkoff and Kushner were intent on seeking to extract concessions from Russia: they sought a temporary ceasefire (rather than any binding settlement), sweetened by sanctions relief that would incremental: i.e. as ‘periodic rewards’ for continued Russian good behaviour (rather as rats in a laboratory are trained to press the food button).

Why is the U.S. so stuck on a ceasefire rather than a comprehensive security framework including a new security architecture for East Europe?

The answer is that Trump wants a ‘win’ – an outcome that can be presented to the American public as another war ‘stopped by Trump’ (he claims it would be the eighth), whilst simultaneously sold to the deep powers as merely a hiatus in a conflict that will be resumed after a pause – when the Europeans (‘security guarantors’) have rebuilt the Ukrainian army. It would represent ‘a win’ for the ‘hawks’ because it can be ‘narrated’ that resumed military conflict would eat into the Russian economy, and might even end with Putin’s removal from office.

Wishful thinking, of course. But so many western narratives are wishful, rather than realist thinking.

In short, the overall aim to the American opaque and ambiguous ‘talking points’ is to corner Putin, and push him off his fundamental principles – such as his insistence on eliminating the root causes to the conflict, and not just the symptoms. There is no hint in this or earlier drafts or of any recognition of root causes (expansion of NATO and missile emplacements), beyond the vague promise of a “dialogue [that] will be conducted between Russia and NATO, mediated by the United States, to resolve all security issues and create conditions for de-escalation, thereby ensuring global security and increasing opportunities for cooperation and future economic development”.

The Sherlock Holmesian ‘dog that significantly did not bark in the night’ consists in the odd absence of Rubio, who is the formal Secretary of State, and the man, who, in normal circumstances would negotiate a legal and binding treaty.

Instead, we have Trump’s New York real estate friend and his son-in-law. Neither are formal members of the U.S. Administration; neither are mandated by the official organs of the U.S. state to negotiate on behalf of the United States.

So should America decide to resume its war on Russia, it would be possible to say, as per the “not one inch eastward” (as after the reunification of Germany), ‘but was that not-an-inch further’ commitment written on paper?

Witkoff and Kushner? ‘They were but Trump’s friends shooting the breeze during a visit to Moscow’.

A must-read. Crooke is among the best at this business. This looks absolutely spot-on to me. To those interested in peace -- anybody home?

• Ukrainian Propaganda Merchants Working in Overdrive to Deny Reality, Larry C. Johnson, SONAR21, Dec 8, 2025
From my limited contacts, I think most of the Democratic Party is on the same deluded page as Donald Trump about this. And they don't want to talk or think about it, because they are frightened of the rest of the herd.

• NATO Is a Menace, Not a Benefit, to America, Ted Galen Carpenter, Antiwar.com, Dec 8, 2025
Indeed.

• SITREP 12/7/25: Russian Tech Advances, New Mass Energy Grid Attacks, Mirnograd Enters Final Phase, Simplicius, Dec 7, 2025

From Zelensky's former press secretary:

Every subsequent deal for Ukraine will only be worse — because we are losing. We are losing people, territory, and the economy.

The EU (which by the way has paid Russia more than €311 billion for energy and goods since February 2022) has no real strategy, no way to stop fueling Russian budget or support Ukraine enough to win, no direct dialogue with Moscow, and no meaningful leverage over either the Kremlin or Washington.

Arguments that "Russia has gained so little land" sound almost childish when you consider the human cost. We have lost more people in three years than some European nations have as the whole population.

My country is bleeding out. Many who reflexively oppose every peace proposal believe they are defending Ukraine. With all respect, that is the clearest proof they have no idea what is actually happening on the front lines and inside the country right now.

War is not a Hollywood movie. I will never abandon the values that God and democracy both place at the very foundation of human existence: human life is the highest good, and people — living, breathing people — are the ones who must be saved.

Amen, sister.

Dec 7, 2025

• Ukraine – Roadblocks To A Peace Agreement, Moon of Alabama, Dec 6, 2025

• A War Of Exhaustion: Russia Pushes Forward As Ukraine’s Reserves Run Thin, South Front, Dec 5, 2025
About right, I ween.

Dec 5, 2025

• Damage Control: Major Blows to EU as von der Leyen's Rotten Regime Teeters, Simplicius, Dec 4, 2025
Good review of recent developments. Want mutual nuclear disarmament -- as, for example the NPT requires? First, enter the real world. For many people poisoned by propaganda, that step is seemingly insurmountable. Bonhoeffer said that for many "stupid" people, including the highly-educated ones, such an awakening would require a change "in material conditions." For many, those changing "conditions" included the sound of artillery heard from their Berlin homes. That's when many Germans woke up, in the spring of 1945. We must do better. It is no wonder that many observers as diverse as Emmanuel Todd and Jane Jacobs speak of the collective loss of reality in Western elites as causative of our downfall.

• So Much for the Claim that Russia is Only Making Incremental Gains, Larry C. Johnson, SONAR21, Dec 4, 2025

Based on consolidated reports from Russian, Ukrainian, and international sources as of December 4, 2025, Russia has returned 13,300 Ukrainian bodies to Ukraine while Ukraine delivered the remains of 350 Russian bodies to Russian authorities during 2025… That is a ratio of 38 dead Ukrainians for one dead Russian soldier. That metric alone reveals the dire situation confronting the Ukrainian military and, if the war continues, it will get much worse for the Ukrainians.

Johnson's assessments have aged quite well, despite the fog of war.

Dec 4, 2025 Featured

• Russia will liberate all of Donbass – Putin, RT, Dec 4, 2025

Russia will drive Ukrainian troops from Donbass and fully liberate the region, whether through military action or diplomatic efforts, President Vladimir Putin has said.

Putin made the remarks in an interview with India Today on Thursday, ahead of his state visit to the country and two days after talks in the Kremlin with US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff which centered on an American-drafted peace plan for the Ukraine conflict.

The initial 28-point version of the roadmap leaked to the media last week reportedly asked Kiev to relinquish territory in the Russian Donbass regions of Donetsk and Lugansk still under its control, abandon its NATO ambitions, and limit the size of its military – conditions Kiev has rejected.

Putin, however, signaled that the Ukrainian Army will soon lose the parts of Donbass it still controls.

He also suggested that the devastating fighting in the area was entirely avoidable. “We told Ukraine from the start: ‘The people don’t want to stay with you, they took part in referendums [in 2022], voted for their independence; pull back your troops, and there will be no fighting’. But they chose to fight,” Putin said, adding that Kiev’s mistake is now becoming obvious.

Putin does not let words fall idly.

• Ukraine, Along with Some Europeans, Are Playing a Dangerous Game, Larry C. Johnson, SONAR21, Dec 4, 2025

Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the incidents during a press interaction in Moscow. His remarks, broadcast on state-run Rossiya 24 TV, framed the attacks as “piracy” and outlined a tiered escalation ladder for Russian retaliation. These comments came shortly after his five-hour meeting with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Putin’s response was direct and escalatory, responding to a reporter’s query about the strikes on vessels in the Black Sea. He structured his remarks around immediate, conditional, and “radical” countermeasures. Putin said:
Russia would first “expand the range of strikes” on Ukrainian ports and ships entering them.

Secondly, if this continues, we will consider the possibility – I’m not saying we will do this, but we will consider the possibility – of retaliatory measures against the vessels of those countries that assist Ukraine.

The most radical option is to cut Ukraine off from the sea, then piracy will be impossible in principle.

I hope that the Ukrainian military leadership, the political leadership, and those behind them will consider whether it’s worth continuing this practice.

It is rare to see the possible escalatory steps laid out clearly. This is real deterrence in action. Reminds me of the "letters of marque and reprisal" clause in the U.S. Constitution. In principle, reprisal is recognized in U.S. constitutional law.

Dec 3, 2025

• Putin Again Signals Defiance While Invoking War with Europe, Simplicius, Dec 2, 2025

• Ukraine must accept ‘tactical defeat’ – former foreign minister, RT, Dec 2 2025

Kiev must accept an “agreement that no one will like” if it wants to avoid many more years of conflict with Russia and a potential complete collapse, former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba has said.

Speaking at a conference in Kiev on Monday, Kuleba, who held his post between 2020 and 2024, said both Ukraine and Russia have the resources to keep the fight going for years, while predicting that the front line “will move every year” without a political decision.

“We are in a situation where Russia has the ability to destroy us, and we are not strong enough to fully protect ourselves,” he said, adding that only a deal “that no one will like” which locks in a “tactical defeat and strategic victory” could prevent “many more years of war… even worse.”

• Putin Says 'Ready For War' Against Europe If Attacks On Russian Tankers, Energy Continue, ZeroHedge, Dec 2, 2025

US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law and unofficial diplomat Jared Kushner have been at the Kremlin on Tuesday for high-level talks with President Vladimir Putin. The Americans are presenting Trump's Ukraine peace plan in its current form after the high stakes Miami meeting with the Ukrainian delegation, which focused on ceding territory and what future boundaries might look like in the Donbass.

President Putin's public words in the context of the meeting wherein the US side is formally pitching the plan have presented an opportunity for him to lash out at Europe. If Europe starts a war with Russia, soon there will be "no one left to negotiate with" - he warned after several EU and NATO officials have lately issued hawkish words and threats.

Russia is not planning to fight European countries, but if Europe starts a war, Russia is "ready right now" - the Russian leader said.

Dec 2, 2025

Featured • In the Russia/Ukraine War, Economic Power is Just as Important as Military Power, Larry C. Johnson, SONAR21, Dec 2, 2025
What part of this was not obvious years ago?

Featured • NATO Thinks Of ‘Pre-emptive Strikes’ Against Russia To ‘Defend’ Against Something That Did Not Happen, Moon of Alabama, Dec 2, 2025
It's really frightening what state propaganda can do when they set their minds to it.

• Another Russian Shadow-Fleet Tanker Hit By Drones, ZeroHedge, Dec 2, 2025
Sunflower oil? Not a legitimate target.

• Ukraine must accept ‘tactical defeat’ – former foreign minister, RT, Dec 2, 2025

Kiev must accept an “agreement that no one will like” if it wants to avoid many more years of conflict with Russia and a potential complete collapse, former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba has said.

Speaking at a conference in Kiev on Monday, Kuleba, who held his post between 2020 and 2024, said both Ukraine and Russia have the resources to keep the fight going for years, while predicting that the front line “will move every year” without a political decision.

“We are in a situation where Russia has the ability to destroy us, and we are not strong enough to fully protect ourselves,” he said, adding that only a deal “that no one will like” which locks in a “tactical defeat and strategic victory” could prevent “many more years of war… even worse.”

• Putin Says 'Ready For War' Against Europe If Attacks On Russian Tankers, Energy Continue, ZeroHedge, Dec 2, 2025

US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law and unofficial diplomat Jared Kushner have been at the Kremlin on Tuesday for high-level talks with President Vladimir Putin. The Americans are presenting Trump's Ukraine peace plan in its current form after the high stakes Miami meeting with the Ukrainian delegation, which focused on ceding territory and what future boundaries might look like in the Donbass.

President Putin's public words in the context of the meeting wherein the US side is formally pitching the plan have presented an opportunity for him to lash out at Europe. If Europe starts a war with Russia, soon there will be "no one left to negotiate with" - he warned after several EU and NATO officials have lately issued hawkish words and threats.

Russia is not planning to fight European countries, but if Europe starts a war, Russia is "ready right now" - the Russian leader said.

Dec 1, 2025

Featured • Ignoring JFK’s Warning on Russia, Joe Lauria, Consortium News, Dec 1, 2025 (updated from Nov 26, 2024)

Featured • Going on the 'Offensive' Against Russia: Desperate Europe Dreams of Changing Calculus of Its Decline, Simplicius, Nov 30, 2025