If the E.U. canβt come together to approve the reparations loan to Kyiv β and shoulder the legal risks that come with it β it will be that much harder to take the Europeans seriously on the Ukraine war. I know itβs being squeezed to say no by Washington and Moscow alike, but thems the breaks.
Interesting: a Ukrainian delegation headed by Umerov is also expected to arrive in Miami later this week for talks with Witkoff and Kushner, but no trilateral meeting is currently planned. Puts some pressure on the weekend meeting with the Russians. Do your thing, Florida sunshine! https://www.axios.com/2025/12/18/trump-russia-ukraine-war-peace-talks-putin-envoy-miami
Alarming headline from The Guardian, though the actual story is pretty light on details about this intimidation. Apart from Euroclear execs hiring private security + promised legal/economic retaliation against Belgium, we're left only with some anon speculation about the GRU.
"U.S. & Russian officials are expected to meet in Miami this weekend as part of the Trump adminβs push to bring an end to nearly four years of war." Will be interesting to see if the Kremlin can reject the 20-pt deal (assured) while convincing Trump that it's Kyiv's fault (jury's still out). https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/17/us-russia-ukraine-war-miami-00695305
Oho: "Turkey is seeking to return S-400 air defense systems it bought from Russia nearly a decade ago. [...] Ankara is also seeking a refund for the billions of dollars it spent to buy the air defense system [...] raising the possibility of Turkey asking for a deduction from its oil and natural gas imports bill from Russia."
