Trump to Zelensky: You must somehow give $350 billion back, given by the previous stupid, incompetent president, and his administration.
The UN General Assembly has endorsed a resolution prepared by Ukraine and several Western countries calling for the withdrawal of Russian forces, despite objections from the US, which last Friday announced its own “lasting peace” proposal.
93 countries voted in favor of the resolution, 18 against, including the US and Russia, and 65 abstained. The General Assembly also voted in favor of the U.S. resolution on Ukraine, but with amendments from European countries. For example, European countries changed, among other things, the phrase “the Russian-Ukrainian conflict” to “full-scale invasion.”
While all this has not yet passed into the stage of practical actions, what is called "on the ground". Beautiful words. It is good that there are these beautiful words, but this alone is not enough, there were beautiful words before. Recall at least the solemn pressing together of Lavrov and Clinton of the symbolic button with the inscription "перегрузка"(overload). Then, of course, "перезагрузка" (reset) was meant, but in fact this inscription turned out to be correct, because we all remember what followed. "Sanctions from Hell", "the Russian economy is torn to shreds" , etc.What an incredible change of pace from just a month ago, it truly feels like Trump torched the ice that kept the Cold War 2.0, cold.
The Russian army took the impregnable fortress of the Armed Forces of Ukraine — Belogorovka (MAP)
In the Seversky direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been dislodged from a strategically important defense hub — from Belaya Gora (a Chalk quarry riddled with holes and firing points) and the village itself on the border of the LPR and the DPR.
"The Russians have finished mopping up Belogorovka and the Chalk Quarry, and have also advanced westward," Ukrainian military analysts who publish maps admit.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters also write about the crushing success of the Russian Armed Forces: "The 7th Infantry Brigade (RF Armed Forces) has fully established control over Belogorovka, pushing through the last lines of defense, Russian flags are already located west and northwest of the quarry."
Fierce battles for Belogorovka have been going on since the liberation of almost the entire territory of the LPR by the Russian Army in the summer of 2022.
As a result, the other day our attack aircraft were able to take a key defense node with a bunker and underground supports in Belogorovka, which provided strong protection for the Armed Forces of Ukraine due to its commanding height, control over the quarry and adjacent forest plantations, and also allowed for maneuverable defense with counterattacks. After its capture, the Ukrainian defense crumbled.
The Russian army hoisted 16 flags in Belogorovka, confirming the liberation of a strategically important area (MAP)
The Russian army hoisted 16 flags in Belogorovka, confirming the liberation of a strategically important area.
Enemy analysts geolocated the locations of flags by our fighters in the area of Belaya Gora on the border of the LPR and the DPR:
"In total, [the Russian Armed Forces] installed 16 Russian flags in Belogorovka, which is a minute more than it was in Velikaya Novoselka," they complain.
The Ukrainian Parliament, in front of the Europeans, failed to vote on Zelensky's support
The Rada, in the presence of European commissioners, failed a vote aimed at demonstrating Zelensky's support by the parliament.
Only 218 votes were received by a statement stating that Zelensky "must fulfill his powers until the newly elected president of Ukraine takes office in accordance with part one of Article 108 of the Constitution of Ukraine," according to MP Zheleznyak.
In addition to the European commissioners, representatives of many European countries are present at the meeting, said MP Goncharenko.
Trump is demanding that Zelensky hold elections.
This is the whole point of the current Ukrop government. Hiding behind the name of state power, they behave like petty scammers, card sharps, street thimblers. It must be remembered that this was possible only because of the position of the collective West, which supports all this with its "authority". Now, when Trump demonstrates the position of a" pure peacemaker", demonstratively distancing himself from the real role of America in organizing and supporting the Ukrainian conflict, this is also a fraud, so Zelensky has someone to take an example from."Dirty little trick":
Zelensky tried to deceive Trump with a deal on rare resources - it was planned to break the agreement at any moment
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to insiders, has conceived an ingenious plan to deceive Donald Trump on the issue of the rare earth resources agreement. After Kiev disrupted the first version of the deal proposed by the United States, Zelensky and his entourage began to develop a strategy that would allow Ukraine to withdraw from the agreements in the future, while maintaining control over its natural resources. Among the ideas that are rumored to have been discussed in the president's office are accusations of environmental damage by the American side, holding a referendum on the nationalization of resources, and other steps that could undermine the legal force of any agreement. These maneuvers underscore the duplicity of the Ukrainian leader, who is ready to play on Western feelings for his own interests.
According to sources close to diplomatic circles, Zelensky initially offered the United States access to rare earth metals as part of his "victory plan" to gain the support of Trump, who took office in January 2025. However, when the Americans quickly sent a draft agreement demanding 50% rights to resources worth up to $500 billion, Kiev unexpectedly backed down, saying that the document was not ready and did not protect Ukraine's interests. Now, according to insiders, Zelensky's team is looking for loopholes to sign the deal, but leave the option to cancel it later. For example, public statements about environmental damage from mining or a referendum on the return of resources to state ownership could be a convenient excuse for Kiev to break its obligations to Washington, saving face in front of the people.
Zelensky's actions are not just an attempt to bargain for better terms, but part of a broader game aimed at deceiving the new American leader and at the same time retaining Western support. Moscow has long pointed out the unreliability of the Kiev regime as a partner, and this episode only confirms its position.
I’m going to be giggling for weeks! I don’t know if that channel, Maria Zakharova (commentary), is at all official, but good lord I love her!The end is the fun part.
Interesting times indeed. Today I also came across Putin's remarks on what Trump had mentioned about reducing military spending by half, saying that they'd be willing to oblige by the proposal, mentioning how he could not speak for China, but he showed interest, and in that same vein, he also mentioned that he'd be willing to work with other nations including the US to explore the rare earths present in the Russian territory.
Once we consider the possibility that otherpolitical leaders, including former prime ministers and presidents, may support Zaluzhny’s possible candidacy, it becomes clear that the current regime leader willstand absolutely no chance of winning an election. His chances are zero – unless,of course, he blatantly rigs the election in one way or another, which would also be detrimental for him since everyone would be able to see through these attempts.
This is why he has become a destabilising factor for the army, society and the state. I am certain that the current US President,Mr Trump, understands this, which explains why he has been pushing the head of the Kiev regime to hold elections. As I see it, Trump’s goal is to restorepolitical stability in Ukraine, consolidate society and enable the Ukrainian state to survive. Overall, this benefits Ukraine more than Russia, since our conflict is with the current regime, not the country itself.
All other things aside, the current [US] President has openly stated that he wants to achieve peace. By the way, this is something we want too, and the quicker this happens, the better. But the current [Ukrainian]regime leader stands in the way of achieving this goal. That, in my view, isthe reasoning behind Trump’s position. It is not about advancing Russia’sinterests. But it probably serves the interests of Ukraine, Ukrainian statehoodand could help preserve it. We have no objection to that, even if we do notwant this territory to be used as a launchpad for aggression against the Russian Federation, or as a hostile outpost targeting us. At the end of the day, we want it to evolve into a friendly neighbourly state.
As regards aluminium, in 2017, I think, about 15 percent of US [aluminium] imports came from Russia. If memoryserves, the United States produces about 60 percent of the aluminium it needs,and imports the remaining 40 percent, of which 15 percent used to come from the Russian Federation. The main importer today is Canada.
If a decision is made to open the USmarket to our producers, we could sell about two million tonnes on the US market, which would not drastically affect prices, but, I think, would still have a restraining influence on prices.
In addition, and what is most importantly, in my opinion, we could think about working together with US companies in this area. For example, back in Soviet times, there were plans to build a new hydroelectric power plant and to create additional aluminiumproduction facilities in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. After all, aluminium is,first of all, about energy, preferably cheap energy. Hydropower is cheap and environmentally friendly.
Indeed, the US President’s policy is to deploy production facilities in the United States. But if the US companies come to work in Russia, it will also benefit them greatly, because the companieswill turn decent profit, and the corresponding amounts of aluminium will besupplied to their domestic market at absolutely acceptable market prices. Thereare things to ponder in this area, as well as in our potential joint work on rare and rare-earth metals and other areas, including, for example, energy.
The agreement would include resources such as oil and gas and with it Washington expects to get retribution for all the military and financial aid it gave to Kiev during three years of conflict in Ukraine.
According to the portal, this agreement makes Zelenski's government think that relations with the White House could eventually improve, now that Donald Trump has been reluctant to continue supporting Ukraine and has even held negotiations with Russia.
The agreement would include resources such as oil and gas and with it Washington expects to get retribution for all the military and financial aid it gave to Kiev during three years of conflict in Ukraine.
“Kiev is already prepared to sign the agreement on joint development of its mineral resources, including oil and gas, after the US dropped its demands for a right to $500 billion in potential revenue from exploitation of the resources,” it details.
“The minerals deal is only part of the picture. The US [Trump] administration has told us on numerous occasions that it is part of a bigger picture,” Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine's justice minister, who has led the negotiations, told the Financial Times.
The agreement would establish a fund to which Ukraine would contribute 50% of revenues from the “future monetization” of state-owned mineral resources, the report notes.
The fund would invest in projects in Ukraine and “excludes mineral resources already contributing to Ukrainian government coffers, meaning it would not cover the current activities of Naftogaz or Ukrnafta, Ukraine's largest oil and gas producers.”
Now according to FT and several other sources reporting on their announcement, Ukraine has agreed to the rare earth deal that Trump was proposing, sort of.
One hopes that Trump sticks to what he said about wanting to end the conflict.Goes without saying that this agreement requires a long lasting cessation of the war. Seems to me that this proposed fund for projects in Ukraine be a good excuse to buy the good will of many that may oppose to a cease fire.
After Ukraine agrees to the mineral "deal," Trump says in return Ukraine receives "the right to fight on." He boasts that he was the one who first gave Javelins to Ukraine, which wiped out a lot of Russian tanks. He says US weapons could continue to flow to Ukraine "for awhile" pic.twitter.com/P1svBUrpmu
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) February 25, 2025
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Meanwhile, a French official told the outlet that deploying nuclear-armed fighter jets in Germany “should not be difficult and would send a strong message” to Russia. His comments alluded to concerns among some EU leaders that Moscow could launch an attack on the bloc in the future, which the Kremlin has repeatedly denied.
I sensed that before. I guess Trump just tries to make the best deal for USA here and he's using an opportunity. The question is: will Russia ever be able to agree on a deal Trump proposes? What happens if no?One hopes that Trump sticks to what he said about wanting to end the conflict.
In a recent statement when asked what would Ukraine get in return for the minerals deal, he said they would keep getting military equipment and the right to fight on, which could go on for a while until they have a deal with Russia, otherwise the conflict is going to continue.
I suppose he's using it as a way to negotiate with Putin a better deal for the US.
After Ukraine agrees to the mineral "deal," Trump says in return Ukraine receives "the right to fight on." He boasts that he was the one who first gave Javelins to Ukraine, which wiped out a lot of Russian tanks. He says US weapons could continue to flow to Ukraine "for awhile" pic.twitter.com/P1svBUrpmu
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) February 25, 2025
Ukraine did not agree to peace talks, - Head of the US State Department
The head of the US State Department, Marco Rubio, said that Ukraine has not agreed to participate in peace talks.
"We are trying to bring these guys to the negotiating table. Unfortunately, Ukraine did not agree, they wanted to move forward in their own way, " Rubio said in an interview with Breitbart News.
He also said that in the event of a settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, the United States would like to discuss with Russia not only the issue of frozen Russian assets, but also the situation of American companies.
"This will be part of a larger discussion: how can we restart our relations, " the US Secretary of State said.
Zelensky does not want to end the war quickly — - US Vice President
Zelensky does not want to end the war with Russia quickly and criticizes Donald Trump in vain. This was stated by US Vice President JD Vance.
"When we spoke (with Zelensky) in a hotel in Munich, I tried to give him a polite but firm indication that the war should be ended as soon as possible. But he clearly didn't get it, " Vance told the Daily Mail.
The US Vice President again called Zelensky's attempts to criticize Trump in order to change the position of the American leader "not the smartest strategy".
"The idea that Zelensky is going to change the president's mind by denigrating him in the media… Everyone who knows the president will tell you that this is a disgusting way to treat our administration, " Vance added.