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UKRAINE: Zelensky enlisted Senator Mark Kelly’s twin brother to raise $2.8B for a USAID-created propaganda arm targeting US voters and politicians. Much of the money moves anonymously via crypto. Observers note the conflict of interest: the brother of Sen. Mark Kelly helping run a foreign influence operation targeting the very government his twin serves in. United24, created by Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation using a USAID-funded infrastructure, appointed Scott Kelly, Senator Mark Kelly's twin brother, as its ambassador to help raise money for the propaganda outlet. Since then it has raised $2.72 billion, much of it routed quietly via cryptocurrency....

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that head of the office of the president of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, had written a letter of resignation.

Over nearly four years of wartime leadership, analysts say the Ukrainian leader has repeatedly played weak hands wisely. A U.S. peace plan may be his biggest test.It is another make-or-break moment of wartime leadership for President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. Late last week, the Trump administration delivered to Mr. Zelensky a 28-point peace plan that many Ukrainians and their Western allies have called a wish list for Russia, a reward for its aggression and a betrayal of Ukraine. The Ukrainian leader was given seven days to either accept it or potentially watch the United States walk away from any remaining...

In a video released to social media on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke about coming talks to end the Russia-Ukraine War.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine faces one of the most difficult moments in its history, after Donald Trump demanded Kyiv accepts within days a US-backed “peace plan” that would force it to give up territory to Russia and make other painful concessions. Trump confirmed on Friday morning that next Thursday – Thanksgiving in the US – would be an “acceptable” deadline for Zelenskyy to sign the deal, which European and Ukrainian officials have said amounts to a “capitulation”. In a sombre 10-minute speech outside his presidential palace, Zelenskyy said his country had an impossible choice. It could keep its national...

Grok Summary of Video Transcript:In short, the draft is widely seen in Kyiv and Europe as a forced settlement that rewards Russian aggression and permanently weakens Ukraine, while Zelensky walks a tightrope: dependent on U.S. support, battered domestically, and unwilling to accept the proposed concessions without major changes and real security guarantees. A final deal remains distant.A leaked 28-point U.S.-drafted peace plan, negotiated directly between Washington and Moscow without Ukrainian or European involvement, has caused alarm in Kyiv and European capitals. Key elements of the proposal include:Ukraine formally cedes the occupied Donbas territories (most of Donetsk and Luhansk) to Russia.Permanent...

Summary Two sources say US gives Kyiv one-week deadline to accept framework Washington threatens to withhold intelligence, weapons unless Kyiv makes deal Kremlin says Kyiv should make 'responsible decision' now White House says plan was hammered out by Rubio, Witkoff KYIV, Nov 21 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appealed to Ukrainians for unity on Friday and vowed he would never betray Ukraine, in a solemn address to the nation after the United States presented Kyiv with a peace plan that endorses key Russian demands.Speaking in the street outside his office, a location he uses only rarely for major addresses,...

Volodymyr Zelensky will speak to Donald Trump after the US presented Ukraine with a draft peace plan to end the war with Russia. The plan was reportedly drafted by US special envoy Steve Witkoff and his Russian counterpart Kirill Dmitriev, without Ukraine's involvement. In a statement, Zelensky's office said the US believed the draft plan could "help reinvigorate diplomacy" and added that Ukraine had "agreed to work on the plan's provisions in a way that would bring about a just end to the war". Kyiv supported "all substantive proposals capable of bringing genuine peace closer," the statement said. The Ukrainians...

Zelensky has been hit with an ugly corruption scandal in which some of his closest allies stand accused of war profiteering. His reaction was to sign a letter of intent to buy 100 French Rafale jets and 150 Swedish Gripen fighters. Kyiv doesn’t have enough to fill its $60bn budget black hole, let alone to buy billions in jets. Ukraine is going to run out of money by February unless the EU agrees to raise a €140bn loan secured against Russian assets held mostly in Belgium. It has no hope of repaying that loan unless the Kremlin is compelled to...

The NABU (National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine) names another batch of corrupt Ukraine officials connected to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Quickly jumping into action, Zelenskyy shouts ‘prosecute them’.Having previously said the NABU needs to be shutdown, “President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has [now] said he supports the ongoing investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) into corruption in the energy sector. Although Zelenskyy did not name names, reports suggest that an associate of his may be involved in the case.” {source}I have personally seen these corrupt Ukraine characters (politicians and private sector oligarchs) in action,...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday he wants to order 25 Patriot air defense systems from the United States, as Ukraine desperately tries to fend off relentless Russian aerial attacks that have brought rolling blackouts across Ukraine on the brink of winter.Zelenskyy acknowledged that the Patriot systems are expensive and that such a large batch could take years to manufacture. But he said European countries could give their Patriots to Ukraine and await replacements, stressing that “we would not like to wait.”Combined missile and drone strikes on the power grid have coincided with Ukraine’s frantic efforts to...

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is not “afraid” of Donald Trump unlike other western leaders and dismissed reports that their last meeting in Washington was volatile, adding that he had good relations with the US president. He also said in an exclusive interview with the Guardian that King Charles had helped build relations with Trump and described the British monarch as “very supportive” of Ukraine. The Ukrainian president denied claims Trump had tossed maps of the battlefield aside in a stormy exchange in October at the White House, where he had arrived hoping to secure supplies of US Tomahawk cruise...

President Donald Trump’s working lunch with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday turned acrimonious when the US leader insisted Ukraine make territorial concessions to Russia to end the war, according to European officials briefed on the meeting. Trump, who would later endorse a freeze in current battle lines as part of a peace settlement, grew frustrated and raised his voice multiple times, the officials said. The episode was the latest chapter in the fraught relationship between the two men, and amounted to another shift in Trump’s approach to how the war will be settled. Last month, after meeting Zelensky...

President Trump has denied telling President Volodymyr Zelensky he should surrender Ukraine’s entire Donbas region to Russia to end the war — but said Kyiv should give up the land already taken by Russia. Trump insisted that the two leaders “never discussed” giving up the entire region during their closed-door meeting last week, after reports claimed his White House meeting with Zelensky on Friday had descended into an explosive “shouting match.” “We never discussed that,” Trump told reporters on Sunday when pressed on whether pushed for Ukraine to accept President Vladimir Putin’s terms for a cease-fire. “We think that what...

Ukraine may import gas worth around $2 billion from Europe, the United States, and Azerbaijan this winter, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, after its gas infrastructure was severely damaged by Russian attacks. He did not specify how much gas Ukraine planned to purchase. Kyiv had expected to import 4.6 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas before a series of Russian strikes hit Ukraine's gas sector earlier this autumn. Due to the damage, energy minister Svitlana Hrynchuk said imports would need to be increased by 30%, while analysts estimated total gas import requirements at no less than 6.3 bcm. "We expect that...

Another meeting between President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky has reportedly ended with a fiery shouting match—this time behind closed doors.Trump was pressuring his Ukrainian counterpart to accept Russia’s terms for a ceasefire during an explosive White House meeting on Friday, according to the Financial Times, reportedly telling Zelensky that Russia would “destroy” Ukraine if he didn’t agree.Multiple sources told the outlet that the meeting—where Zelensky was hoping, but ultimately failed, to secure long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles—quickly descended into a “shouting match” with “cursing all the time.”

Donald Trump urged Volodymyr Zelensky to accept Putin's terms for ending its two-year-long war in an explosive meeting at the White House on Friday.Ukraine's President travelled to Washington this week to push for more military support at a time when Kyiv and Moscow are escalating the war with massive attacks on energy systems.But Trump and Zelensky's meeting on Friday turned sour after the two leaders got into a 'screaming match', according to the Financial Times - who cited sources close to the matter. The US leader also reportedly told Zelensky that Putin insisted the conflict was a 'special operation, not...

U.S. President Donald Trump pushed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to give up swaths of territory to Russia during a tense meeting on Friday that left the Ukrainian delegation disappointed, according to two people briefed on the discussion. Trump also declined to provide Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine's use, and mused about giving security guarantees to both Kyiv and Moscow, comments that the Ukrainian delegation found confusing, added the two sources, who requested anonymity to discuss a private conversation. After his meeting with Zelenskiy, Trump publicly called for a ceasefire on the current frontlines, a position that the Ukrainian president then embraced...

In his video address, Zelensky said that Ukraine will not make any concessions to Russia, emphasizing that "nothing will be given as a gift" and that Kyiv will continue to defend its territory and sovereignty. "In the recent Trump-Putin phone call, Russian President Putin demanded Ukraine surrender the rest of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, in exchange Moscow will drop claims for the remaining Kherson and Zaporozhye regions," - The Washington Post.

President Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a tense meeting on Friday that he doesn't intend to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles, at least for now, two sources briefed on the meeting tell Axios. Behind the scenes: One of the sources said the meeting "was not easy," while the other simply said "it was bad." "Nobody shouted, but Trump was tough," according to the first source. "Trump gave several strong statements during meeting and at some points it got a bit emotional," the second source said.