Vance:
“If you take where the current line of contact between Russia and Ukraine is, we’re going to try to find some negotiated settlement that the Ukrainians and the Russians can live with, where they can live in relative peace, where the killing stops. It’s not going to make anybody super happy.”
“Both the Russians and the Ukrainians, probably at the end of the day, are going to be unhappy with it. But I don’t think you can actually sit down and have this negotiation absent the leadership of Donald J. Trump.”
AI:
How much Russian oil do European countries currently buy?
The EU is spending more money on Russian fossil fuels than on financial aid to Ukraine, a report marking the third anniversary of the invasion has found.
EU member states bought €21.9bn (£18.1bn) of Russian oil and gas in the third year of the war
The amount is one-sixth greater than the €18.7bn the EU allocated to Ukraine in financial aid in 2024
Any funds to repair breakage will be Russian for the new Russian territories (funded by Europe from this above revenue flow), and Europe will undoubtedly wind up paying for breakage in the western areas of Ukraine.
As for ongoing Ukraine funding, one is inclined to remind about the pipeline transit fees for flow from GAZPROM to Europe through Ukraine pipelines, but per the above reality of current Europe GAZPROM buys . . . most of current Europe gas buys from Russia is coming from record-setting 2024 Russian LNG flows to Europe ports. If it’s arriving via LNG, there would be lower transit fees through Ukraine.