Drone production in Ukraine in January was tenfold compared to January 2024: https://armyinform.com.ua/2025/02/2...ylosya-v-10-raziv-porivnyano-z-mynulym-rokom/ I'd assume that the easy optimizations have been done and that the increase to 2026 will be more modest.
Few times i did that in the local graveyard, which is located in the middle of our city,when exercising, would stop at one specific grave, - 5 nameless French soldiers, who died in German captivity, during WW1. ,, Speak '' with them while doing pushups. Must be paying off.
https://www.reuters.com/world/zelen...t-trump-minerals-deal-sources-say-2025-02-25/ US, Ukraine agree to terms of critical minerals deal By Tom Balmforth, Erin Banco and Jarrett Renshaw February 26, 20252:39 AM GMT+2Updated an hour ago Summary Draft minerals deal lacks U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine Trump seeks peacekeeping troops in Ukraine if conflict ends Ukraine's mineral wealth could benefit U.S. under new deal LONDON/WASHINGTON, Feb 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. and Ukraine have agreed on the terms of a draft minerals deal central to Kyiv's push to win Washington's support as President Donald Trump seeks to rapidly end the war with Russia, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday. A source familiar with the contents of the draft agreement said that it does not specify any U.S. security guarantees or continued flow of weapons but says that the United States wants Ukraine to be “free, sovereign and secure.” One of the sources familiar with the deal said future weapons shipments are still being discussed between Washington and Kyiv. Trump told reporters that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wants to come to Washington on Friday to sign a "very big deal." This came after the two leaders exchanged hostile words last week. The U.S. president, who has cast the deal as a repayment for billions of dollars in aid to Kyiv, also said some form of peacekeeping troops are needed in Ukraine if an agreement to end the conflict is struck. Moscow, which launched an invasion of Ukraine three years ago, has refused to accept any deployment of NATO forces. Some European countries have said they would be willing to send peacekeeping forces to Ukraine. Trump said on Monday that Moscow would accept such peacekeepers, but the Kremlin denied that on Tuesday. Trump's rush to impose an end to Russia's war in Ukraine and his lurch toward Moscow has stoked fears of far-reaching U.S. concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin that could undermine security in Ukraine and Europe and alter the geopolitical landscape. Trump last week falsely called Zelenskiy an unpopular "dictator" who needed to cut a quick peace deal or lose his country. The Ukrainian leader said the U.S. president was living in a "disinformation bubble." Officials on both sides have agreed to the draft and advised it should be signed, the sources said. MONEY BACK FOR "THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER" The deal could open up Ukraine's vast mineral wealth to the U.S. "What we're doing is now we're saying, look, we want to be secured," Trump said. "The American taxpayer now is going to get their money back, plus." Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meet at Trump Tower in New York City, U.S., September 27, 2024. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab Zelenskiy refused to sign an earlier draft of a minerals agreement as Washington sought rights to $500 billion in Ukraine's natural wealth. Kyiv protested it had received far less than that in U.S. aid and the deal lacked the security guarantees Ukraine needs. Under the terms of a draft minerals agreement, according to sources familiar with its contents, the United States and Ukraine would establish a Reconstruction Investment Fund to collect and reinvest revenues from Ukrainian sources including minerals, hydrocarbons and other extractable materials. Ukraine would contribute to the fund 50% of the revenue minus operating expenses and continue until the contributions reach the sum of $500 billion. The United States would provide a long-term financial commitment to the development of a “stable and economically prosperous Ukraine.” Asked what Ukraine would get in return for the minerals deal, Trump cited what he said was $350 billion already provided by the U.S. "and lots of ... military equipment and the right to fight on." Scott Anderson, a fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, said that while the minerals deal would look like "a kind of piracy" to much of the world it is necessary to get buy-in from Trump and Republican lawmakers. "They say this gives him (Trump) real skin in the game. I think there is real logic to that," Anderson said. EUROPEAN ALLIES SCRAMBLE “I hear that he's coming on Friday," Trump told reporters. "Certainly it's okay with me if he'd like to. And he would like to sign it together with me." European officials have been left flat-footed by Trump's decisions to hold talks on ending the war in Ukraine with Russia, spurning both Kyiv and Europe, and by his administration's warning that the U.S. was no longer primarily focused on Europe's security. A White House meeting could give Zelenskiy a chance to make his case for continued U.S. support directly to Trump, who last week falsely accused Kyiv of starting the war. Ukraine has deposits of 22 of the 34 minerals identified by the European Union as critical, according to Ukrainian data. They include industrial and construction materials, ferroalloy, precious and non-ferrous metals, and some rare earth elements. Ukraine's reserves of graphite, a key component in electric vehicle batteries and nuclear reactors, represent 20% of global resources. The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. Reporting by Tom Balmforth, Jarrett Renshaw, and Erin Banco; Additional reporting by Steve Holland, Patricia Zengerle and David Brunstrom; writing by Matt Spetalnick; editing by Don Durfee, David Gregorio and Cynthia Osterman Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Look at the size of NATO post-1990 and look at the size of Russia, but somehow Russia (Putin) is the one who feels threatened!!!!
Yeah and let's remember who made us join NATO and why. Because the notion that NATO "threatens" Russia is absurd. They can quit invading neighboring countries and there will be no problems. They were entirely fine with leaving the border to Finland practically undefended to stack everything in Ukraine BTW.
Of course, Finland is not an optimal way to invade Russia, it's food production is marginal, and it's irrelevant for defending Sevastopol. It's fine for staging more NATO missiles aimed at Russia, of course.
Does not refute the premise that Russia invaded Ukraine because of previous NATO expansion, and attempts to install NATO in Ukraine (yes, I mean install).