Ukraine May 2025-

U.S. – Russia relations
Putin’s War Russia-Ukraine

21-24 July
Ukraine’s Cardboard Maidan Shows That the People Still Matter
Mass protests forced Zelensky to reverse course on the firing of a popular minister.
(Foreign Policy) It took the crowds outside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office less than one week to get the leader to reverse a recent decision. On July 15, Zelensky fired Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, the technocrat who digitized the Ukrainian state and was trying to do the same to its army, and named Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the Soviet-schooled commander that Fedorov had pressed the president to remove, as his replacement. A week later, Zelensky reversed course.
… But even though Zelensky has accepted the fact that the military needs to change, he has yet to decide whether Fedorov should be given the power to lead that change. The president has offered Fedorov vague government posts, but protest organizers said the demonstrations will continue until he is back in his old position.
… Zelensky dismissed Fedorov after a meeting with military leadership, which came as part of a shakeup that also removed Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and replaced her with Serhiy Koretsky, a former chief of Ukraine’s state-owned gas company Naftogaz. The fallout was immediate. Col. Pavlo Yelizarov, one of Fedorov’s own appointees, resigned from his position as deputy commander of the air force. Two well-known advisors—Serhii Sternenko, a drone fundraiser, and Serhii Beskrestnov, a military technology expert—also resigned.

Why is Zelensky firing top leaders as Ukraine’s outlook improves?
(WaPo) … The possible explanations include a generational fight over how to wage a modern war, conflicts over corruption, simmering turf battles between the Defense Ministry and the generals, and a president who is prone to removing subordinates when they grow too popular.
Whatever the reasons, Zelensky is facing a crisis he plainly did not expect. He is scrambling to contain the fallout at home and keep it from roiling Ukraine’s critical relationships, including with the White House and NATO headquarters.
At the least, the blowup reveals deep institutional tensions in Ukraine’s command structures that have been brewing for months, according to Mykola Bielieskov, a defense analyst in Kyiv. Old-guard battlefield tacticians were not always on board with the disruptor-style hacks championed by younger officials, Fedorov chief among them. Many NATO officials were fans of Fedorov’s innovative approach and told reporters privately that they were disappointed in Zelensky’s move against him. …
Zelensky Dismisses Ukraine’s Top General After Protests
The move followed the firing of a popular defense minister, who had clashed with the general over how to fight the war.
(NYT) President Volodymyr Zelensky removed his top general on Tuesday night amid swelling public protests and growing concerns that the national unity that had helped the country survive nearly five years of war was in danger of fracturing.
The dismissal of the general, Oleksandr Syrskyi, was a major reversal for Mr. Zelensky, who just days earlier sided with him and fired Ukraine’s defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov.
Mr. Zelensky said he was replacing General Syrskyi with Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapatyi, the commander of the Joint Forces. The choice was likely to please the protesters, after Mr. Drapatyi had publicly sided with Mr. Fedorov in his clash with General Syrskyi over warfighting strategy.

16-17 July
Ukraine fights under an interim defense chief after Zelenskyy’s contested government shake-up
(AP) — Ukraine fought Russia’s more than 4-year-old invasion under an interim defense minister Friday, a day after a government reshuffle exposed a deep split between the military’s old guard and young innovators over how to fight the war.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s major shake-up of his government on Thursday, which included the dismissal of Mykhailo Fedorov as defense minister and the appointment of a new prime minister, unsettled the country’s military leadership and triggered a public outcry. It tested Zelenskyy’s authority and was an unwelcome difficulty after Ukraine in recent months gained traction in the war.
Ukraine’s Ousted Defense Minister Attacks the Military’s Old Guard
(NYT) Mykhailo Fedorov defended his efforts to modernize the Ukrainian armed forces as thousands of people protested his dismissal
(The World) Hundreds of protesters gathered in downtown Kyiv and in other Ukrainian cities Thursday after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy moved to dismiss his defense minister, as parliament appointed a new prime minister as part of a major government reshuffle. The shake-up could become a test of Zelenskyy’s political authority as Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion approaches 4½ years. Zelenskyy has remained in office under martial law because wartime elections are prohibited and has periodically reshuffled his government. Ukraine’s parliament approved Serhii Koretskyi, the head of state energy company Naftogaz, as the country’s new prime minister. Zelenskyy nominated Koretskyi, citing his record in the energy sector and arguing that he was best placed to help prepare Ukraine for another wartime winter, when Russian attacks on the power grid intensify. He was approved in a 289-1 vote, with 21 abstentions. Outgoing Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, 35, is considered a modernizer whose technological expertise is credited in part with a significant improvement in Ukraine’s military performance in recent months against Russia’s larger army. He was leaving the government after just six months in the post.

9 July
Ukraine Finally Has a Theory of Victory. Will It Work?
Kyiv has developed a strategy for winning the war. Now all it needs is time.
By Christian Caryl, former Moscow bureau chief for Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report
(Foreign Policy) … For the first time since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine’s military leaders have worked out a coherent strategy for victory—a plan designed to play to Kyiv’s strengths and exploit Russian weaknesses. Mykhailo Gonchar, the president of the Strategy XXI Center for Global Studies in Kyiv, told me that the Ukrainian leadership now believes that it can “cut off a significant share of the revenues financing the [Russian] war budget, trigger a fuel crisis, and surgically sever the critical links in the defense-industrial supply chain, thereby reducing—or even preventing—the production of precision-guided weapons.” The ultimate goal of this and other elements of the new strategy: to stymie Moscow’s ability to continue the war while keeping Ukrainian casualties to a minimum.
The underlying vision is not entirely new. In a paper published last year, former Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk provided a detailed outline for what he called “strategic neutralization” of Russia’s military capacities. As an illustration, he pointed to Ukraine’s stunning success at chasing Russia’s vaunted Black Sea Fleet out of its home port in the Crimean city of Sevastopol and essentially eliminating it as a threat. Ukraine did this without a traditional surface fleet of its own, relying instead on the use of naval drones to destroy enemy ships.
What former British Armed Forces Minister James Heappey described as the “functional defeat” of the Russian fleet—in other words, not its total destruction but its reduction to impotence—now serves as a model for what Ukraine hopes to achieve in other domains. Rather than trying to grind down Russian forces at the cost of huge losses (an approach exemplified by the disastrous summer counteroffensive of 2023), the Ukrainians plan to render Russian forces in Crimea ineffective by degrading their sources of supply.

6 July
Why This Year’s NATO Summit Is Different for Ukraine
(Foreign Policy) For more than four years, the Russia-Ukraine war has dominated discussions among NATO allies and played an immeasurable role in shaping the alliance’s approach to collective defense. Ukraine is once again poised to be a central topic at this year’s NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, which begins on July 7. Kyiv is hopeful that a shifting dynamic in the fight, which has made it more difficult for Russian President Vladimir Putin to hide the war’s costs from the Russian public, will push the conversation in a fresh direction.

2-4 July

Kyiv Residents Pick Up the Pieces After the Latest Russian Assault
The latest deadly night in Ukraine, more than four years into the war with Russia, showed how the toll for civilians continues to mount amid slow, grinding fighting on the battlefield. As Ukrainian forces have struck deeper inside Russia in recent weeks, causing casualties and supply challenges for President Vladimir V. Putin’s forces, Moscow has struck back with waves of assaults on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.

In Strike After Strike, Ukraine Is Bringing the War to Crimea
(NYT) Crimea’s geography makes it an invaluable military prize but also a vulnerable target. The Kerch Strait Bridge is its lone direct connection to Russia, and Ukraine has hit it before.
Ukraine has ramped up attacks in recent weeks, trying to sever vital supply lines. It targeted bridges and roads last month, according to a New York Times analysis of satellite imagery and verified videos, many of which were posted by the Ukrainian military.
Moscow has spent years fortifying Crimea, tripling its troop presence, deploying advanced air defenses and coastal batteries, and studding the land with missile launch systems. Fighter jets and bombers packed airfields, new vessels joined the Black Sea Fleet, and the $3.7 billion Kerch Strait Bridge gave Russia direct access to Crimea.
None of that could change geography.
Crimea juts out into the sea, leaving it initially vulnerable to Ukraine’s maritime drones. In the first years of the war, Ukraine targeted Russia’s naval headquarters in Sevastopol, drove its warships from Crimean ports and turned the peninsula’s waters into a hunting ground.
Its efforts to strike at Crimea, though, were limited by the weapons Ukraine had at the time. Now Ukrainian officials say their ever-evolving arsenal can inflict more pain, potentially enough, they hope, to bring Moscow back to the negotiating table.

30 June
Ukraine’s Plan to Unnerve Putin
Recent drone attacks in the Moscow area reveal a multifaceted strategy.
By Phillips Payson O’Brien
(The Atlantic) Over the past two weeks, Ukraine has launched a series of drone attacks on targets deep inside Russian territory—most consequentially in and near Moscow. Last night, near the Russian capital, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian weaponry attacked the Dubna Space Communications Center, which Russia uses to collect intelligence and coordinate operations by its army units in occupied Ukraine. This was Ukraine’s second strike on the Dubna facility in about a week.
Zelensky’s announcement of the latest attacks taunted Vladimir Putin, declaring matter-of-factly that “relevant actions are also being prepared against other similar enemy facilities.” The intended message to the Russian public is that the drone campaign, which Ukraine coyly describes as “long-range sanctions” against the country that invaded its territory, is nowhere near plateauing.
The recent focus on Moscow-area targets reveals how the Ukrainian government and military, in addition to trying to defend their territory from Russian aerial attack, are now taking the war to Putin’s doorstep. They are trying to put political and economic pressure on Putin’s regime and disable his war machine by starving it of money, supplies, and soldiers. Recent attacks on the Dubna facility and on a major Moscow oil refinery typify distinct parts of the Ukrainian strategy to make the war unsustainable for the Russian dictator.

18 June
EU leaders hail ‘new momentum’ as ‘tide is turning’ for Ukraine
(The Guardian) European Council president António Costa says it’s “a historic week for Ukraine,” as the formal accession negotiations are now under way, and the G7 leaders agreed on “clear and strong support” for the war-torn country.
“The EU, the US, and our partners from Canada, Japan, the UK – all of us – are working together to continue to support Ukraine,” he says.
He says there is “a new momentum” in the pursuit of peace in Ukraine.
Von der Leyen hits similar tone, saying Ukraine “deserves it, because you have been working so hard to move forward with the necessary reforms.”
She, too, says “the tide is turning,” as “Ukraine is holding the line, even partially regaining its territory.”
In his response, Zelensky says it is “a really great moment for Ukraine.”
He says he hopes to discuss the next steps during the summit tonight, and talk about how they can further support Ukraine and pressure Putin to the negotiating table.

16 June
Trump offers Ukraine olive branch at G7 — with a price tag
The U.S. president’s overtures left EU leaders more upbeat on the second day of the G7 summit in France.
(Politico Eu) Trump’s apparent openness to increasing pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his war against Ukraine, and his need for help from allies to stabilize a framework ceasefire agreement with Iran. The contours of a deal in which Trump backs Europe on Ukraine in exchange for European help securing the Strait of Hormuz…appear to be taking shape.
“The discussions we’ve had among ourselves and with the U.S. president — both in official meetings and in informal encounters on the sidelines — give me a certain sense of optimism,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told journalists on Tuesday.
While diplomats cautioned against being too optimistic, pointing out that Trump has previously reversed himself after making pro-Ukraine statements, they also echoed the German leader’s assessment of transatlantic relations despite Trump’s individual spats with many of the G7 leaders.
A day earlier, Trump had triggered a wave of anxiety by suggesting that the pact between Washington and Tehran would allow him to refocus his attention on a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Concern that the U.S. president could unwind months of efforts by Ukraine’s allies to ramp up pressure on Moscow added to bad blood over the Iran war — which had widely criticized by EU leaders, including Merz — as well as individual spats with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.

15 June
With Its Biggest E.U. Opponent Gone, Ukraine Is Advancing in Its Bid to Join
Even though negotiations will begin for Ukraine to join the bloc, the path ahead is a long one.
(NYT) Ukraine is poised to take an important step toward European Union membership on Monday. It’s a symbolic victory after many months of gridlock, and progress toward an affiliation that both Kyiv and European leaders hope could deter Russian aggression.
At a meeting in Luxembourg, European Union officials are expected to officially kick off work on a first set of important reforms that Ukraine must prove it has made in order to join the 27-nation bloc. Ambassadors cleared the way for the move late last week. Moldova will also advance.
The requirements the two nations must now satisfy include commitments to protect the rule of law and basic rights, like privacy and expression — both core values of the European Union.
The recent electoral loss of Former Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, Russia’s closest ally within the European Union, has paved the way for Ukraine’s bid to advance.

14 June
Ukraine and Moldova to enter first phase of EU membership negotiations
Election of new Hungarian government in April has paved way for EU member states to agree to open talks
(The Guardian) Ukraine and Moldova will take a decisive step towards joining the EU on Monday, as they embark on the first phase of membership negotiations.
The start of substantive negotiations, launched by senior EU officials and ministers from both countries in Luxembourg on Monday, will be a highly symbolic moment for the two countries that were both part of the former Soviet Union. It comes after Russia has intensified its bombardment of Ukrainian towns and cities, while sustaining huge losses for little territorial gain.
Ukraine and Moldova were quickly accepted as EU candidate countries in 2022, having filed applications days after Russia’s full-scale invasion. But despite a symbolic decision to open talks in June 2024, substantive negotiations were blocked by Hungary’s pro-Russian prime minister, Viktor Orbán.

22 May
What the world gets wrong about Ukraine
(Politico via Spotify) Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States Olga Stefanishyna joins Dasha Burns on “The Conversation” to discuss whether the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran could pull American attention and weapons away from Kyiv, the state of Ukraine-Russia peace talks and why President Trump and Volodmyr Zelenskyy’s once-rocky relationship has become “iconic.”
How big is the gap between what you want from the U.S. and where the U.S. is right now?
Probably now, the gap is smaller in terms of understanding what is realistic or not realistic. There’s understanding that it’s not only about Donbas and the line where the Russians or Ukrainian army stands. It’s a bigger picture. But I would put it this way: the gap between diplomatic efforts and the situation on the ground and the Russian aggression is huge. It’s been only growing. Whatever political and diplomatic efforts we were taking, the aggression was only scaling up.

15 May
In northern Ukraine, it was boy vs. Russian drone. The boy won.
A soldier taught a 12-year-old how to disable the fiber-optic drones that Russia has been using to hunt Ukrainian civilians in a campaign the U.N. has labeled a war crime.
(WaPo) Increasingly, civilians are tracked, chased and attacked by small, commercially available drones equipped with cameras, rigged with explosives and steered by fingers-on-joysticks a dozen miles away.
Ukrainians, darkly, have dubbed this Xbox-inflected hunting of civilians as Russia’s “human safari” — a terror campaign that started in the once-occupied southern city of Kherson. In recent months, it has evolved with new technology and spread to border areas around the country.

11 – 12 May
Kyiv’s corruption scandal threatens Zelenskyy’s EU push
New charges against a former aide test Ukraine’s claim that it is ready for fast-track membership.
The timing couldn’t be worse for Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Just as the Ukrainian president is pushing to secure rapid EU membership for Ukraine, a deepening corruption scandal in Kyiv is undermining his case that the country is ready to join.
On Monday, prosecutors charged Andriy Yermak — once one of Zelenskyy’s closest confidantes — with corruption and money laundering.
Zelenskyy’s former chief of staff charged with corruption
Andriy Yermak used to be the second-most-powerful person in Ukraine after the president.

8 May
Europe tires of Zelenskyy’s lectures
(Politico) … Fueled by a renewed confidence in Ukraine’s resilience, having survived another yet diabolical winter and impatient with what he sees as the timidity of his country’s allies, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been throwing caution to the wind when it comes to how he engages with Europe.
“Zelenskyy is unhappy with the way in which the support has been mobilized by the Europeans.”
Maybe so, but having weathered yet another harsh winter, possibly the worst of the war so far, Zelenskyy’s confidence in Ukraine’s ability to persevere in the conflict is growing by leaps and bounds, making him even more determined to get his way with allies and shaping his rhetoric.
That confidence is also being boosted by Ukraine’s moves toward becoming a self-sufficient defense hub. It already manufactures almost half of its weaponry needs — that includes drones, ammunition and armored vehicles. And Ukraine is set to export drones, having signed defense export agreements with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, potentially giving it more wherewithal to fund high-speed production and to build out its defense-industrial capacity. Ukraine’s resilience means it doesn’t have to depend on others as much as it did.

26 April
Meet the New Leader of the Free World
David French
(NYT) A remarkable thing has happened on the world’s battlefields. Ukraine — a nation that was supposed to dissolve within days of a Russian invasion — has fought Russia to a stalemate, revolutionizing land warfare in the process. It has become an indispensable security partner in the western alliance, including in the war against Iran.
Now, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, is taking the next step, one that would have been unthinkable even as recently as 2024. By word and deed, he’s showing Europe and the world how the post-American free world can preserve its liberty and independence. This is what happens when, as Phillips Payson O’Brien wrote in a piece for The Atlantic, “Kyiv appears to have given up on the United States.”
If that is true — and it looks as though it is — it may be worse news for the United States than it is for Ukraine.
Events on the ground and in world capitals are moving so quickly that it’s hard to keep up. First, the strategic situation in the Ukraine war seems to have changed. Last week, Mick Ryan, a retired Australian major general and one of the most astute analysts of the war, wrote that Ukraine has largely stabilized the frontline in eastern Ukraine, deepened its coalition, isolated Russia diplomatically and developed an indigenous arms industry that makes it less dependent on external support.
… No one should minimize Ukraine’s manpower issues (more recent estimates place its total number of active troops well below the million-body peak) or the fact that it has no nuclear weapons and Russia has thousands. But its army is still vast, and its military is the only western force that has fully adapted to modern drone warfare. Indeed, Ukraine is arguably the world’s leader in drone warfare.

26 March
Ukraine using strikes on oil facilities to keep pressure on Russia after sanctions eased, Zelenskiy says
Zelenskiy criticizes easing of international oil sanctions on Russia
Washington’s waiver allows purchase of stranded Russian oil
Ukraine’s drone attacks halt 40% of Russia’s oil export capacity
(Reuters) – Ukraine is using ​long-range strikes on energy infrastructure to maintain pressure on Russia after international oil sanctions on Moscow were ‌eased in the wake of the Iran war, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.
Ukraine destroys 40% of Russia’s oil export capacity in single attack (video)
Today, as extraordinary Ukrainian strikes in the Baltic region reportedly knock out around 40 per cent of Russia’s crude oil export capacity in a single attack – and achieve the first known successful strike on a Russian military ship in the Baltic Sea, hundreds of kilometres from Ukraine – we assess the strategic impact on Russia’s war economy. We also take the temperature from high-level meetings in Germany and Finland, and examine reports that Moscow is supplying Iran with vital assistance in its confrontation with the United States and Israel. What vulnerabilities has this widening conflict exposed for Washington, D.C.?

25 March
Trump pressuring Ukraine to cede territory to Russia, Zelenskyy says
“The Middle East definitely has an impact on President Trump,” Ukraine’s president said.
(Politico) The United States has tied its offer of security guarantees for a Ukraine peace deal to Kyiv’s giving up its entire eastern Donbas region to Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday.
“The Americans are prepared to finalize these guarantees at a high level once Ukraine is ready to withdraw from Donbas,” Zelenskyy told Reuters, warning the move would hand Russia key defensive positions and weaken Ukrainian — and European — security in the long term.

10 March
Ukraine sends drone experts to three countries in Middle East, Zelenskiy says
By Yuliia Dysa and Max Hunder
Gulf states seeking Ukraine’s expertise in downing drones
They have been attacked by Iranian drones in recent days
Zelenskiy says in return Ukraine needs air defence missiles
(Reuters) – Ukraine has sent air defence teams to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and ‌Saudi Arabia to help them in their fight against Iran’s aerial attacks, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday.
Gulf states have expended large quantities of precious air defence missiles to counter Iran’s attack drones and have sought Ukraine’s expertise in downing ​them. Kyiv downs Russian drones every night using an array of weaponry including cheaper, ​smaller drones or jamming equipment.
“Regarding the situation in the Middle East, we have ⁠sent our teams: three professional, equipped teams,” Zelenskiy told reporters. He did not give details ​on the teams but said they should all be in place this week. …
Zelenskiy said the presence of Ukrainian pilots was key to the effectiveness of interceptor drone operations.
“Even those countries that were quietly buying ​interceptors have, I think, realised that without our military, our operators, our software… without all of ​that, the interceptors simply don’t work.”
Exclusive: U.S. dismissed Ukraine deal for anti-Iran drone tech last year
Nearly seven months ago, Ukrainian officials tried to sell the U.S. their battle-proven technology for downing Iranian-made attack drones. They even made a PowerPoint presentation — obtained exclusively by Axios — showing how it could protect American forces and their allies in a Middle East war.
The Trump administration dismissed the Ukrainians, only to reverse course last week because of more-than-expected drone strikes from Iran.
Why it matters: Snubbing Ukraine’s offer ranks as one of the biggest tactical miscalculations by the administration since the bombing of Iran began Feb. 28, two U.S. officials tell Axios.

24 February
Four years in: Ukraine war grinds on, and so do the talks
(GZERO media) At the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, many experts gave Ukraine’s government a few days, maybe weeks, to survive. They predicted Russia’s military would roll into Kyiv, a puppet government would be installed, and the world would be left to decide how to respond to a fait accompli.
Instead, the war became the longest and deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II, and as of this anniversary, there’s no end in sight.
With little progress in negotiations, the war in Ukraine is steadily rolling into its fifth year… But inside Ukraine, the mood is neither defeatist nor triumphalist; it’s something more stubborn than anything else. Kreynovich is clear that while more Ukrainians may now be open to more compromise than before, nobody envisions simply laying down arms and moving on. The soldiers in the trenches, he says, aren’t fighting because Zelensky orders them to. “This is the will of the people, both those who have died and those who are sensitive about giving up their sacrifice in vain.”
The fourth anniversary happens to fall on Trump’s State of the Union address, a moment for the president to tout his wins and lay out what he hopes to still accomplish in front of a large audience. Volker says the president should seize the moment, call for an immediate ceasefire by a certain date, and make clear that failure to comply will trigger secondary sanctions, oil market pressure, and the lifting of weapons restrictions on Ukraine. The US, he notes, still wields significant leverage over Russia. The country’s oil revenues last month hit their lowest level in five years, and Urals oil, Russia’s flagship crude, is trading at its widest discount since 2023. Secondary US sanctions could crush the Kremlin’s budget. “He should make clear that he’s given Vladimir Putin a year to end the war, [since] Putin has rejected him every step of the way,” says Volker.

13 February
Zelenskyy offers elections for ceasefire
ZELENSKYY SPEAKS TO POLITICO: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy just spoke with Playbook’s Dasha Burns for more than 40 minutes at the Munich Security Conference’s POLITICO Pub — and he heaped pressure on President Donald Trump, Congress and Europe to bring the war in Ukraine to a close.
HIS RESPONSE TO TRUMP: As Trump left the White House this morning, he was asked if there was any progress in Ukraine negotiations and whether the country would hold elections by the summer. Trump told reporters Zelenskyy needs to “get moving, otherwise he’s going to miss a great opportunity.”
That seemed to be news to Zelenskyy. “He said something to me?” he asked when presented with Trump’s comments. Zelenskyy agreed that it would be a “great idea” to hold elections — but only “when the war stops.” Zelenskyy clarified that elections wouldn’t require “necessarily an end to the war,” but that he would need a ceasefire.
Zelenskyy said he would hold elections if Trump successfully pushes Russian President Vladimir Putin to a two- or three-month ceasefire.
Zelenskyy emphasized the outsized role that the U.S. holds in the ongoing negotiations. “Today, only [the] United States can stop Putin,” he told Dasha. He went on to suggest that the White House doesn’t fully understand his refusal to compromise on land with Russia, adding that it is “a big mistake to allow [the] aggressor to take something.”

12 February
Ukrainian President Zelensky Honors Skeleton Athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych with Order of Freedom

Zelensky rips IOC over Olympian’s disqualification for helmet honoring war dead
(The Hill) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pushed back Thursday on the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to disqualify a Ukrainian skeleton racer from competition in the Winter Olympic Games, who insisted on wearing a helmet honoring athletes and coaches killed in the nation‘s nearly four-year-long war with Russia.
“Sport shouldn’t mean amnesia, and the Olympic movement should help stop wars, not play into the hands of aggressors,” Zelensky wrote in a post on social platform X. “Unfortunately, the decision of the International Olympic Committee to disqualify Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych says otherwise.”

2025

22 November
Trump Was Told By Europeans That His Ukraine Plan Needs Work
Takeaways by Bloomberg AI
– European leaders told the US that its peace plan for Ukraine needed “additional work” in response to a plan that offers concessions to Russia.
– The US plan includes terms such as land concessions to Russia, capping the size of the Ukrainian army, and stopping Ukraine from joining the NATO military alliance.
– European leaders are pushing back against the plan, with a senior European military official saying there’s a real chance they fail to convince Trump to change his stance, and are working on a counter-proposal to be discussed in the coming days.

19-20 November
Zelensky Says Ukraine Ready to ‘Honestly’ Engage With U.S. Peace Plan
The proposal, which the White House confirmed on Thursday without providing details, echoes many long-held Russian demands.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that Ukraine would engage “constructively, honestly and operationally” on a peace plan that the Trump administration proposed after consulting with Russia — but not with Ukraine.
The 28-point settlement plan echoes long-held Russian demands, including that Ukraine surrender territory, limit the size of its army and forgo any role for a Western peacekeeping force after a cease-fire, according to officials familiar with the proposal.
Mr. Zelensky’s comments came after a meeting with the U.S. Army secretary, Dan Driscoll, whom the Trump administration had sent to Ukraine to help restart peace talks. Mr. Zelensky said American and Ukrainian teams would begin work on what he described as the “points of the plan to end the war,” without elaborating on what those were.
U.S.-Russian Peace Plan Would Force Ukraine to Cede Land and Cut Army
The 28-point proposal, which comes as the Trump administration tries to restart settlement talks, includes demands long rejected by Kyiv as nonstarters.
Zelenskyy to negotiate with Trump over US-Russia peace deal requiring painful concessions
Ukrainian president’s office issues statement after other officials condemn ‘absurd’ plan to end conflict
(The Guardian) According to reports, the sweeping 28-point proposal closely resembles demands made by Moscow soon after its full-scale invasion in early 2022. It was reportedly drawn up by Russian and US officials, with support from Trump. Kyiv was not consulted. One European diplomat said they learned of the plan only when they turned on the news.

19 November
Russian attack kills 25 in Ukraine’s Ternopil as Zelenskyy meets Erdogan in Turkey
… “Every brazen attack against ordinary life indicates that the pressure on Russia (to stop the war) is insufficient,” Zelenskyy wrote on the messaging app Telegram.
Zelenskyy met with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara later Wednesday as part of his efforts to diplomatically isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin and bring more international pressure to bear on him. Putin has so far resisted making compromises, despite U.S. pressure.
In brief statements to the press, Zelenskyy and Erdogan expressed their commitment to finding a peaceful settlement. Turkey is a key broker in the Black Sea region, preserving relations with both Ukraine and Russia.
“We count on the strength of Turkish diplomacy, on (how) it’s understood in Moscow,” Zelensky said.
Zelenskyy said before the talks that he had seen “some positions and signals from the United States” about the war. He didn’t elaborate but tough new American sanctions on Russia’s oil industry, devised to push Putin to the negotiating table, are due to take effect on Friday.

Ukraine’s energy sector corruption crisis – what we know so far and who was involved
Anti-corruption investigators allege high-level kickback scheme involving Energoatom
Ukraine’s national anti-corruption bureau, known as Nabu, says it has uncovered a high-level criminal scheme at the heart of government. It involves Ukraine’s nuclear energy body, Energoatom, that runs three nuclear power plants supplying Ukraine with more than half of its electricity.
What is the scandal?
A group of insiders allegedly received kickbacks of 10-15% from Energoatom’s commercial partners. If these suppliers failed to pay up, they were removed from a list of approved counter-parties or not reimbursed for services already given. About $100m (£76m) was received in this way, Nabu says.
The alleged conspiracy had old-school touches. Its beneficiaries used code names for each other, such as “Professor”, “Karlson” and “Sugarman”. They carried blocks of cash around Kyiv in large and unwieldy bags, sometimes delivering it on foot. On one occasion, a plotter allegedly sent his wife to collect a stash of dollars, which she hid in her car.
16 November
Zelenskyy pledges to clean up Ukraine’s energy sector amid corruption scandal
President to overhaul state energy firms after $100m kickback scheme alleged by anti-corruption investigators

15 November
Russia increasingly targeting trains as attacks on Ukraine’s rail network intensify
Ukrainian minister says more than 800 attacks recorded since start of year as Moscow seeks to destroy country’s logistical capabilities

2 October
Calls during UNGA to investigate thousands of Ukrainian children being forcibly transferred to Russia
(The World) Canada organized a summit at this year’s UN General Assembly to address the thousands of Ukrainian children who have been forcibly transferred to Russia over the past several years. The
Two major conflicts were top of mind at the United Nations General Assembly this year: the wars in Gaza and in Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump addressed delegates at the UN headquarters in New York and said he had thought Ukraine would be the easiest war to end but that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has proven to be recalcitrant. Trump also mocked Putin’s management of the war.
“It was supposed to be just a quick little skirmish. It’s not making Russia look good. It’s making them look bad,” Trump said. “No matter what happens, from here on out, this was something that should have taken a matter of days, certainly less than a week, and they’ve been fighting for three and a half years.”
A short time later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took part in a summit at the UN organized by Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney laid out the need for the conference.
“Putin has stolen Ukrainian children,” Carney said. “Thousands of children have been abducted by Russia. Russia has repeatedly targeted the most vulnerable groups of children, including orphans, children with disabilities, children from poor families.”
23 September
Ukraine and Canada Organized the Leaders’ Summit of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children in New York
On the sidelines of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, the Leaders’ Summit of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children was held, co-chaired by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy also announced that Ukraine is launching a pilot mechanism to collect information on illegally displaced Ukrainian children in Russia and in occupied territories.
“And I urge you – please, in every sanctions package, increase the pressure on those Russian politicians, officials, judges, propagandists, and others involved in child abductions and the attempt to “reprogram” their minds,” the Head of State added.

24 September
‘Ukraine is in a position to fight and win all of Ukraine back’ — Trump says following meeting with Zelensky
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect comments made by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
(Kyiv Independent) U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his view that Kyiv will retake territories occupied by Russia following a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 23.
“After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social following his meeting with the Ukrainian president.
“With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option,” Trump said, adding that Russia has been fighting its war “aimlessly for three and a half years.”

Ukraine’s Plan to Starve the Russian War Machine
Negotiations have stalled. Trump keeps changing his policies. Ukrainians, backed by Europeans, are taking matters into their own hands. ​​​
By Anne Applebaum
(The Atlantic) Once almost entirely dependent on imports of weapons from abroad, the Ukrainians are now producing millions of drones, large and small, as well as other kinds of weapons, every year. They are using them most famously on the front line, where they have prevented the Russians from making large-scale gains this year, despite dire headlines, and where they have ensured that any territory occupied by the Russians comes at a terrible price, in equipment and lives. The Ukrainians have also used sea drones to clear their Black Sea coast of Russian ships, an accomplishment that seemed impossible even to imagine at the start of the war.
Finally, they are using drones to hit distant targets, deep inside Russia, and lately they are hitting so many military objects, refineries, and pipelines that some Ukrainians believe they can do enough damage to force the Russians to end the war. On Monday, they once again struck Gazprom’s fuel-processing plant in Astrakhan, for example, one of the largest gas-chemical complexes in the world and an important source of both gasoline and diesel. Yesterday, they hit a key part of an oil pipeline in Bryansk. Presumably President Volodymyr Zelensky transmitted this optimism to President Donald Trump, who again upended his administration’s previous policies yesterday and declared that Ukraine is “in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.”
Trump’s about-face on Ukraine baffles leaders on both sides of conflict
(Globe & Mail) Politicians in Kyiv and Moscow were left scratching their heads Wednesday, trying to understand Donald Trump’s latest about-face on the war, after the U.S. President posted on social media that he now believed Ukraine could emerge victorious.
Ukrainian politicians were delighted, and Russian figures openly baffled, by the latest twist, which came barely a month after Mr. Trump greeted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House with a situation map and told Mr. Zelensky that Russia was “so clearly much more powerful” than Ukraine. Both sides are now wondering whether Mr. Trump intends to back up his latest position with any new help for Ukraine’s war effort.

17 September
Ukraine expects $3.5 billion fund for US weapons to sustain fight against Russia, Zelenskyy says
(AP) — Ukraine expects there will be around $3.5 billion by next month in a fund to buy weapons from the United States and help sustain its more than three-year fight against Russia’s all-out invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday.
The financial arrangement known as the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL, pools contributions from NATO members, except the United States, to purchase American weapons, munitions and equipment.
“We received more than $2 billion from our partners specifically for the PURL program,” Zelenskyy said at a joint news conference in Kyiv with visiting European Parliament President Roberta Metsola. “We will receive additional money in October. I think we will have somewhere around $3.5-3.6 billion.”

24 August
Zelensky Marks Independence Day With Diplomacy in Kyiv and a Plea for Peace
(NYT) Amid continuing diplomatic efforts to end the long war in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday marked the country’s Independence Day with a speech in Kyiv’s central square, reminding Ukrainians that they are still fighting for freedom.
He later met with Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada, who arrived in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, in a show of diplomatic support. President Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, also arrived in Kyiv over the weekend for talks with Mr. Zelensky. Both Mr. Carney and Mr. Kellogg attended the Independence Day celebrations.
Russia accuses Ukraine of strike on nuclear plant in wave of drone attacks
Moscow says operating capacity of reactor at Kursk site reduced by 50% as Kyiv celebrates independence day
Ukraine’s outgunned army has relied heavily on drones to respond to Russia’s invasion, notably targeting oil infrastructure to hit one of the main sources of Moscow’s revenues for funding the war. Ukraine, meanwhile, said Russia had attacked with a ballistic missile and 72 Iranian-made Shahed attack drones, 48 of which the air force said had been shot down.

Trump’s Ukraine diplomacy has been a merry-go-round
While Trump has moved away from some of Putin’s positions, there has been little tangible progress in ending the war in Ukraine.
When seven European leaders joined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House last week, the stagecraft was everything their host could have desired. … Calculating that Trump’s positions tend to be shaped by the last people he spoke to, his visitors left the White House relieved: They had edged the U.S. president back from some of what he had appeared ready to grant Moscow after meeting three days earlier in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

23 July
Zelenskyy faces major anti-corruption protests as Ukraine prepares for Russia talks
The president defended new measures curbing the independence of two agencies.
A spokesperson for the European Commission warned the move could undermine Ukraine’s potential bid to join the EU. Kyiv’s European funding, they added, is “conditional on progress on transparency, judicial reform and democratic government.”
Transparency International’s Ukraine branch, meanwhile, said the move represented a “massive setback in anti-corruption reform” and a “direct threat to Ukraine’s path to the EU.”
(The World) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is facing major backlash after signing a bill that critics say significantly lowers the independence of two anti-corruption groups. Protestors have taken to the streets, even violating the nighttime curfew imposed by Ukrainian authorities as a guard against Russian strikes. The two affected bodies, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, will now be moved under the direct control of the Prosecutor General’s Office.

17 July
Zelenskiy says he and Trump are considering a drone ‘mega-deal’
(Reuters) – President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy are considering a deal that involves Washington buying battlefield-tested Ukrainian drones in exchange for Kyiv purchasing weapons from the U.S., Zelenskiy said in an interview with the New York Post.
Zelenskiy said his latest talks with Trump focused on a deal that would help each country bolster its aerial technology.

11-14 July
Trump to supply missiles to Ukraine, gives Russia 50-day ultimatum
President Trump announced Monday that the U.S. will dramatically increase weapons supplies to European allies, with those countries then sending arms to Ukraine.
A source familiar with the plan tells Axios the U.S. will sell around $10 billion in weapons to NATO allies in the first wave.
The supplies ultimately bound for Ukraine include missiles, air defense weaponry and artillery shells.
Why it matters: This is a seismic policy shift from Trump, who originally refused to side with Ukraine and until very recently insisted he would only supply defensive weapons so as not to escalate the war.
Trump also said he was giving Russia 50 days to make a deal or else face 100% “secondary tariffs,” seemingly referring to a plan to impose tariffs on countries like China and India that buy Russian oil. That would have a major impact on global oil markets.
President Tells Russia It Has 50 Days to Make Peace With Ukraine
(NYT) Speaking from the Oval Office, where he met with NATO’s secretary general, Mark Rutte​, Mr. Trump said the weapons would be “quickly distributed to the battlefield.” He also threatened to impose secondary sanctions, which are penalties imposed on other countries or parties that trade with nations under sanctions.
Trump says he will help Europe speed weapons to Ukraine.
(GZER0) Trump to unveil major new arms support for Ukraine
Apparently fed up with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unwillingness to pause an intensified air and ground offensive against Ukraine, US President Donald Trump says Washington will provide Kyiv with Patriot missile systems and other powerful weapons. To skirt the need for approval from Congress, where support for Ukraine is contentious, Trump says the US will sell the weapons to NATO allies, who will then dispatch them to Ukraine. The package may also include long-range missiles. This is all bad news for Russia, which seems to be hoping that its relentless airstrikes will break the military stalemate and force concessions from Kyiv in eventual ceasefire talks.
US is selling weapons to NATO allies to give to Ukraine, Trump says
(AP) — The United States is selling weapons to its NATO allies in Europe so they can provide them to Ukraine as it struggles to fend off a recent escalation in Russia’s drone and missile attacks, President Donald Trump and his chief diplomat said.
“We’re sending weapons to NATO, and NATO is paying for those weapons, 100%,” Trump said in an interview with NBC News late Thursday. “So what we’re doing is, the weapons that are going out are going to NATO, and then NATO is going to be giving those weapons (to Ukraine), and NATO is paying for those weapons.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that some of the U.S.-made weapons that Ukraine is seeking are deployed with NATO allies in Europe. Those weapons could be transferred to Ukraine, with European countries buying replacements from the U.S., he said.

4 July
Trump has ‘good conversation’ with Zelenskyy after heavy bombardment of Ukraine by Russia
US munitions slated for Ukraine held up over shortage as Trump ‘disappointed’ by Putin’s refusal to make concessions
(The Guardian) The call with Zelenskyy comes as Washington has halted its latest shipment of military aid to Ukraine including Patriot air defense missiles and other crucial munitions meant to support the country’s defenses, and hours after Russia launched a devastating air attack on Kyiv using a record number of drones and ballistic missiles.
Zelenskyy called the conversation “important and useful” and said in a post said that he and Trump had discussed Ukraine’s air defense capabilities, joint defense production and “mutual purchases and investments”, all potentially avenues for Ukraine to restart aid from the United States by providing incentives for the Trump administration to rush crucial munitions to Kyiv.
Dutch intelligence services say Russia has stepped up use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine
(AP) — Two Dutch intelligence agencies said on Friday that Russia is increasing its use of prohibited chemical weapons in Ukraine, including the World War I-era poison gas chloropicrin.
The Netherlands’ military intelligence and the security service, together with the German intelligence service, found that the use of prohibited chemical weapons by the Russian military had become “standardized and commonplace” in Ukraine.
According to the findings, the Russian military uses chloropicrin and riot control agent CS against sheltering Ukrainian soldiers, who are then forced out into the open and shot.

2 July
Trump’s Betrayal of Ukraine
Bridget Brink, the former ambassador to Ukraine, on that country’s war with Russia, America’s betrayal of Ukraine, and why she resigned
By David Frum
… The Ukrainian cause is a great cause. It’s one that deserves respect and support from Americans, as it has gained and deserves support from America’s allies. Ukraine has done so much by itself. It has fought and struggled and defended itself, but it probably cannot win by itself. To win, it needs help. That help was forthcoming—inadequately, but forthcoming—from the Biden administration, and it’s been dialed back by the Trump administration. It needs to be a top-of-mind issue in our national discussion today.
What can be done to help Ukraine? Why won’t Donald Trump do it? How can it be pressured to do it? In that debate, Ambassador Brink has been and will be one of the most important voices, first as a successful and effective ambassador, then as a powerful critic of the administration she served, and now as a candidate for Congress. …

17 June
Ukraine left in lurch as Trump rushes out of G7 without meeting Zelenskyy
US president said he had to leave to focus on Israel-Iran conflict, without addressing Russia-Ukraine ceasefire
(The Guardian) In a further blow for Kyiv the US vetoed a joint statement on Ukraine from the summit, on the grounds that the wording was too anti-Russian and could compromise negotiations with Vladimir Putin.

6 June
‘He’s a bulldog’: the man behind the success of Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb
(The Guardian) The number of Russian aircraft permanently put out of action by the attack on four bases on Sunday is disputed, with Ukraine claiming to have destroyed 41. US intelligence officials suggest that 10 combat aircraft were destroyed and up to 20 damaged.
Whatever the physical cost, the footage of the 117 drones flying out from the top of lorries to strike deep into Russia, and without the aid of western weaponry, has struck a psychological blow.
Ukraine’s foreign affairs minister, Sergiy Kyslytsya, claimed it had “changed the paradigm and dynamics” of the faltering peace talks with Russia in Istanbul on Tuesday. It was followed by a massive underwater blast targeting the key road and rail bridge connecting the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula to Russia, damaging its supports.
2 June
How Ukraine’s Operation “Spider’s Web” Redefines Asymmetric Warfare
(Center for Strategic and International Studies/CSIS) On June 1, Russia’s Military Transport Aviation Day, a significant holiday for the Russian armed forces, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) carried out a bold and unprecedented coordinated drone strike deep inside Russian territory. The operation targeted four strategic air bases and delivered a major blow to Moscow’s long-range bomber fleet. Codenamed “Spider’s Web”—or simply “Web”—the operation was named for its wide geographic coverage across remote Russian locations previously thought to be beyond the reach of Ukraine’s long-range drone capabilities.