Simplicius | Trump to ‘wash his hands’ of Zelensky and Ukraine at large, dumping them on Europe. | Some interesting developments have produced hints as to how Ukraine’s end game may shape up. Zelensky is being increasingly viewed as a problem by the Trump-Kellogg team, because of his mulishness and refusal to budge on any of the core concessions viewed as necessary to ending the war. Now, apparently a concensus around this same conclusion is forming in Europe as well. ■ As evidence of this, we have an official release from Russia’s foreign intelligence service of the SVR, which outlines a plan by NATO members to discredit Zelensky as the kickoff to a campaign to eventually flush him in order to install someone more amenable to unconditional peace talks.

■ UK to take over leadership of Ukraine defence group from US (The Telegraph)
■ UK trying to prevent peace – Ukrainian MP (RT)

Maria Zakharova emphasized that Russia requires "reliable, legally binding agreements and mechanisms that would guarantee the prevention of a resumption of the crisis" | A freeze of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict or temporary truce is unacceptable, as these measures will be exploited by the West to bolster the military capabilities of the Kiev regime, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated during a news briefing.

💬 "A temporary truce, or what many refer to as a freeze of the conflict, is simply unacceptable. The collective West and its individual representatives will use it to enhance the military potential of the Kiev regime and, of course, to pursue armed military revanche," she [said].

Zakharova emphasized that Russia requires "reliable, legally binding agreements and mechanisms that would guarantee the prevention of a resumption of the crisis."

■ Trump wants Ukraine’s ‘rare earths’ — What critical minerals does it actually have? (Kyiv Independent)
■ What are Ukraine's rare earths and why does Trump want them? (Reuters)
■ US-Russia war would be ‘good for Ukraine’ – Zelensky’s top aide (RT)
✅ Trump’s Special Envoy Shed More Light On His Boss’ Ukrainian Peace Plan (Andrew Korybko)
✅ Trump's peace plan for Ukraine has branched out: "Put pressure on Russia and send in foreign troops" (M. Plotnikov)
✅ В Киеве проговорились: Россию и США намеренно сталкивают лбами (Владимир ДЕМЧЕНКО)
✅ War to the Bitter End: Six Reasons Why Russia Will Not Have Peace With Ukraine (Alexander Chalenko)

The nation faces the risk of major defeat in future conflicts without immediate reforms to outdated weapons programs, the tech billionaire has warned | The US risks major defeat in the country’s next war unless it urgently reforms its outdated weapons programs, Elon Musk has warned in a stark assessment of the nation’s defense capabilities. ● Musk, who owns X and heads SpaceX and Tesla, has been appointed as a “special government employee” to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under US President Donald Trump, and is now among his key advisers.

💬 “American weapons programs need to be completely redone. The current strategy is to build a small number of weapons at a high price to fight yesterday’s war. Unless there are immediate and dramatic changes made, America will lose the next war very badly,” Musk wrote on X.

USAID openly acknowledged its role in regime change operations through "democracy" programs by 2006. |

💬 "USAID played a critical role in influencing color revolutions by providing financial, logistical, and strategic support to opposition movements" in Ukraine, Lebanon, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan, Dr. Marco Marsili of the Portuguese Catholic University’s Institute of Political Studies tells Sputnik. ● These regime change operations advanced US geopolitical interests but brought no real benefits to the affected nations, he argues. "USAID’s activities were framed as democracy promotion, electoral assistance, and civil society development," Marsili notes.

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin has vowed to keep pushing for a law which would brand foreign-funded NGOs as ‘foreign agents,’ amid Belgrade’s claims that protests rocking Serbia are being funded from abroad. | Vulin’s Movement of Socialists (PS) party, a junior member of the ruling coalition led by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), proposed the legislation in November. The same month, the country was hit with a wave of protests, apparently sparked by the collapse of a concrete canopy at a railway station in Novi Sad which killed 15 people. The demonstrations, primarily involving students, have since spread to the capital Belgrade, leading Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to claim that foreign agitators were behind the unrest.

Elena Pustovoitova | Since the beginning of 2022, Canada has allocated $4.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine with its direct participation, the official website of the Government of Canada reports. | The Honorable Chrystia Freeland is no longer the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Canada, Canadian and European media are echoing. She reset her high chairs herself, voluntarily and even enthusiastically. The outright scandal for the uninitiated has quite a prosaic background and only at first glance looks like a loud slamming of the door due to the dispute "about the great future of Canada" by Freeland, the second person in the government of Justin Trudeau, with the first. That's what the Canadian media thinks.