The French singing La Marseillaise in a nuclear submarine base is deeply symbolic.
France built its own independent nuclear deterrent after WWII to never again have to suffer a similar humiliation. Now France is offering to ”advance” that deterrent to other European countries.
👀👀👀
Anyone surprised by this story has been living in a fantasy world. Since Jan 2025, the Trump administration has been using lots of different tactics to force Ukraine to commit strategic suicide. This is just the latest.
The real story is that people have not grasped this reality.
Can't help but feel the quote marks are in the wrong place
Everything Trump says here is verifiably untrue. During this period of time the number of US installations on Greenland went from 17 to 1 as a result of US determinations that they were not needed.
Russia's full scale war against Ukraine, which Moscow started on 24th February of 2022, lasts now exactly as long as the German-Soviet war in WW2, exactly 1,418 days.
It's New Year, so time to look back and forward. These are 10 things I think we need to recognise in 2026. It’s a response to what I think are profoundly damaging mistaken assumptions I’ve heard and read from practitioners, journalists, and analysts in 2025. Warning: very long🧵
On the last day of 2025, I tried to sum up in this free piece the big stories of the year. Boil it down, however, and one story surpasses all others, be that for the Russo-Ukraine war or global geopolitics overall.
2025 was the year when the USA changed sides
open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
We put Putin's 19 December speech next to Hitler's 1939 Reichstag address.
Seven steps. Same sequence. Same wording.
"I wanted peace." "They rejected everything." "I was forced to act."
We have a deal.
Decision to provide 90 billion euros of support to Ukraine for 2026-27 approved.
We committed, we delivered.
If the US can seize a Venezuelan tanker carrying sanctioned oil, then can other tankers in other places, say the Baltic or the Black Sea, also be seized?
Ukraine received almost no US government aid in 2025 with all support coming from Europe and other countries, Kiel Institute tracker shows.
www.kielinstitut.de/topics/war-a...
Thread on the huge shift in US policy towards Russia visible in the new National Security Strategy - the biggest change since the collapse of the USSR. 🧵
One thing that is not getting enough attention is that Trump has normalized the idea of the United States supporting the transfer of territory and millions of people from a democracy to a dictatorship.
The ending of freedom for millions is now the official US position.
1/ What a Russian breaking of the ceasefire will look like, step by step.
There are far better experts on this, but I was an Australian diplomat in Ukraine in 2014 so I've seen this play out up close.
So join me, brothers and sisters, as we count down to a fullscale re-invasion.
Some notable things in what's being called the "Trump peace plan" but which could not have been more clearly written in Moscow if it came with a 2 for 1 deal on tickets to the Bolshoi Ballet. 🧵
Kherson streets covered with anti-drone nets.
Good morning readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.
In the towns near Ukraine's frontline, Russian FPV drones hunt civilians, a new tactic called a "human safari".
Yana, who lives in Kherson, regularly sees these drones and the damage they cause.
Dear Europe, especially Germany,
Stop obsessing over what Trump will or won’t do. Hoping & praying America will step up so we don’t have to is dangerously stupid.
Step up yourself, destroy Russia’s war economy, & give Ukraine what they need to win.
Europe must defend Europe.
Phase one involved taking no action against Russia for the first 8 months of the Trump presidency. Phase two will involve taking no action against Russia for the remaining 3 years and 4 months of the Trump presidency.
Following my EU "Wall of Shame" post this weekend, I got a lot of requests to add countries. This "Wall of Shame" adds the Baltics, Sweden, Finland and France. Countries in orange have cracked down on transshipments to Russia via Kyrgyzstan. Countries in blue keep looking the other way for 3 years.
Is there the Convention on the Promotion of Torture for Russia to join? They are qualified for a honorary membership with the right of veto.
The Pentagon is blocking Ukraine from using long-range missiles to hit Russian military targets.
No wonder Putin still thinks he can win the war
www.wsj.com/politics/nat...
To my opinion, the Rutte-doctrine of being nice to Trump has failed. we need to look into ways to wack the American mule. Hard.
Economic, financial, pressure, and if necessary deterrence.
Ukraine's eminent former defense minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk has published an outstanding article on a Ukrainian victory:
1. No end in sight: Russia wants to continue.
2. Ukraine needs to nullify Russia's war aims by building a successful nation.
carnegieendowment.org/research/202...
Trump on April 27: „In two weeks“
On May 19: „Two weeks.“
On May 28 this clip aired.
Today on June 11 another two weeks have passed.
