Simple As That.

Connecting through quantum teleportation.

“If I was stuck on a deserted island with only one source of news, News Items would be it.” — Jack Leslie, professor at Georgetown University and former chairman, Weber Shandwick.

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1. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard:

Donald Trump’s demand for a $500 billion (£400 billion) “payback” from Ukraine goes far beyond US control over the country’s critical minerals. It covers everything from ports and infrastructure to oil and gas, and the larger resource base of the country.

The terms of the contract that landed at Volodymyr Zelensky’s office a week ago amount to the US economic colonization of Ukraine, in legal perpetuity. It implies a burden of reparations that cannot possibly be achieved. The document has caused consternation and panic in Kyiv.

The Telegraph has obtained a draft of the pre-decisional contract, marked “Privileged & Confidential’ and dated Feb 7 2025. It states that the US and Ukraine should form a joint investment fund to ensure that “hostile parties to the conflict do not benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine”.

The agreement covers the “economic value associated with resources of Ukraine”, including “mineral resources, oil and gas resources, ports, other infrastructure (as agreed)”, leaving it unclear what else might be encompassed. “This agreement shall be governed by New York law, without regard to conflict of laws principles,” it states. (Source: telegraph.co.uk)

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2. Wolfgang Munchau:

The outlines of a peace deal are emerging: no Nato membership for Ukraine; a frontier that respects the current military situation; a demilitarized zone around the new frontier; and, I presume, a return of Russia’s frozen assets, and a gradual lifting of the sanctions. Trump even wants Russia back in the G7….

The Ukraine war must end because Ukraine has lost. It’s as simple as that. Russia has shifted to a war economy, and outproduces the West in military gear and ammunition by a large margin. There’s no way it can lose now. A Ukrainian victory would have required the US and Europe to have taken different policy decisions early on: a complete oil and gas embargo on day one, a total cut-off of all Russian banks from international financial networks, an immediate increase in defense industrial investments, and a readiness to make sacrifices. Ukraine needed brave supporters. It got cheerleaders instead. (Sources: eurointelligence.com, unherd.com, italics mine)