Another Naive Official Named to Resolve Russian War in Ukraine

President Trump is hard at work trying to fulfill his campaign promise to end Russia’s war against Ukraine in days, which sounds as ridiculously empty as Putin’s claim at the start of the war to seize Kyiv in a couple of days and all of Ukraine in a couple of months.

Trump on Feb. 3 officially appointed retired Gen. Keith Kellogg as a special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Voice of America and other news media reported. “We made a lot of progress on Russia-Ukraine,” Trump was quoted as saying after signing the decree without providing further details. Truthfully, there are no further dertails.

Kellogg joins a fraternity of White House officials that don’t know Ukraine, its people and history, and the extent of Russia’s hatred for Ukrainians that has led it to invade again its peaceful neighbor the last time three years ago. But they were nonetheless given this important post.

Earlier, when Kellogg’s name was first bandied about in the news media, a headline for an RFE/RL article read: “Trump Able to End Ukraine War In ‘Months, Not Years,’ Aide Keith Kellogg Says.”

US officials would be making another fatal mistake if they were working against a timeline to end the war. If haste is their goal, then all Trump, Rubio and Kellogg have to do is convince President Zelenskyy to drop his guns and the war would be over in the next minute.

However, if the White House is interested in fairness and justice, then the Administration will have to apply itself toward that higher goal.

Beyond working for previous White House officials, there is no evidence that Kellogg knows anything about Ukraine, its history or the reason for this or any other war from the Kremlin’s point of view.

Word Inside the Beltway indicates that the American President intends to meet with Putin to pave the way for negotiations. This would be another obnoxious or naïve step in the race to bring the war to an end.

In an interview published on February 1 by the Associated Press, Zelenskyy said that direct talks between Washington and Moscow without including Ukraine could be “very dangerous.” The fifth president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, had succinctly and rightly observed: “Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.”

Zelenskyy said Trump and Putin “may have their own relations, but talking about Ukraine without us — it is dangerous for everyone.” Zelenskyy also said his team has been in contact with the Trump administration at a “general level,” but he said he hopes face-to-face meetings will take place soon.

Kellogg opined that the war can be resolved within the “near term,” which he defines as 100 days out from the inauguration, and said it was his personal and professional goal to help Trump broker a solution by that point.

In addition to a slew of errors in thinking about this war, the biggest of all is that the United States believes both Ukraine and Russia are equally culpable, that the perceived transgressions are equal, that there are no criminal actions, that there is parity.

That line of thinking will not bring peace to the region. It will not unveil a sustainable peace in the words of Secretary of State Rubio. Indeed, he seems to be rather aware of the repetitious wars against Ukraine that have been launched by Moscow for centuries.

The late Bishop Desmond Tutu was correct in stating that if you are neutral – even when endeavoring to resolve a conflict – you choose the oppressor. The White House is playing the ill-fated neutral hand which will only benefit Russia just like meddling in Ukraine’s elections. Only Ukrainian laws, lawmakers and electorate can decide that question.

Sadly, Russia’s war against Ukraine will likely continue even after a ceasefire, turning the region into a hotbed of bloodshed like the Middle East. The free world tried to hogtie Germany into submission as punishment for World War One only to spur it to commence World War Two. Israel can’t once and for all rid itself of its historical enemies.

Russia also has an insatiable appetite for aggression and imperialism and a deep, ancient hatred for Ukraine and Ukrainians. To achieve even a semblance of peace in Ukraine and neighboring x-captive nations, the United States must continue supplying weapons to the region so that the threatened can demonstrate their genuine prowess against Russia. Washington must also sit on Ukraine’s side of the table when and if negotiations with Russia begin and strongly support only Kyiv’s position. Russian cutthroats must evacuate to Russia, its war criminals must be apprehended reparations must be paid. Even if Russia enjoys the support of Iran and North Korea, Ukraine has on its side old Europe and Eastern Europe, Canada and the United States, which should be enough to immobilize Russia and its bloodthirsty plans.

Such a militarized, polarized world may unfortunately be the only workable solution to Russia’s desire to invade Ukraine every decade. The other would be to annihilate Russia.

United Nations Takes Note of Russian ‘Alarming’ Murders of Ukrainian POWs; Ukrainian Officials Identify Severed Head of Murdered Ukrainian Soldier

I’ve been writing about the latest Russian war against Ukraine since Moscow’s cutthroats invaded Ukraine in 2014 and occupied Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk. War is hell but Russia’s behavior in Ukraine during the past decade at least is appalling and inhuman.

Two categories of premeditated Russian crimes against humanity, specifically the Ukrainian part of it, stand out as especially heartless and merciless. One is its rape, theft and killing of children. The other one, which I’m addressing in this blog, is its execution of captured Ukrainian soldiers, in other words prisoners of war who are granted internationally recognized protection. International humanitarian law prohibits the killing of prisoners of war and the wounded and regards it as a war crime.

The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission has taken note of these particularly heinous crimes.

It recorded an “alarming rise” in reported executions of Ukrainian soldiers captured by the Russian cutthroats during the war in recent months, it said on Monday, February 3.

The mission in Ukraine said it had received reports of 79 executions in 24 separate incidents since the end of August 2024 – a half a year.

“Many Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered or were in physical custody of the Russian armed forces were shot dead on the spot. Witness accounts also described the killings of unarmed and injured Ukrainian soldiers,” the UN mission said in a statement.

Commenting on the report, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the Russian atrocities demand urgent international action and condemnation.

“Russia’s horrific executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war demonstrate that Ukraine confronts true beasts,” he said on X. “We need new and effective international legal tools, and concrete steps to hold the perpetrators accountable.”

The Russian defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, the UN admitted naively.

The UN body obtained and analyzed video and photographic material published by Ukrainian and Russian sources showing executions or dead bodies and conducted detailed interviews with witnesses. It said the reported executions took place in areas where Russian offensive operations were underway. Some Russian cutthroats have been seen taking selfies of themselves killing Ukrainian POWs.

Danielle Bell, head of the mission, said some Russian officials “have explicitly called for inhumane treatment, and even execution” of captured Ukrainian soldiers.

The Ukrainian prosecutor’s office earlier said it was investigating dozens of cases of executions of Ukrainian military personnel by Russian forces. Earlier, Russians were recording beheading and castrating Ukrainian soldiers, the latter crime was perpetrated to reduce the Ukrainian birthrate.

How can the Ukrainian government sit across a negotiating table and talk with them about a cessation of hostilities? How can President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio pay the Russians any respect. They wouldn’t show any deference to Nazis in World War Two, would they?

FOLLOW UP: The Kyiv Independent reported that Ukrainian officials identified the body of a beheaded Ukrainian soldier. A photograph, circulated on the Internet by Russians shows the severed head of a Ukrainian soldier being held, presumably, by a Russian soldier.

The National Police will conduct investigations to clarify the circumstances of the incident, locate the body, and gather further details, Artur Dobroserdov, the commissioner for Persons Missing in Special Circumstances, said on Feb. 3.

“We urge you to refrain from spreading unverified information and trust only official sources of information,” he added.

Ukrainian authorities have documented widespread violations of the Geneva Conventions by Russia, including the execution of 177 captured Ukrainian soldiers as of mid-December 2024. Cases of Russian forces decapitating Ukrainian troops have also surfaced in June and August 2024.

No Negotiations with Russia; NATO Membership is a Must

Ukraine is not a nation or a country whose sole place in the 21st century is on a stage impressively performing folk and classical music and songs or dancing world-famous choreography. Ukraine has been wrongly and dangerously deprived of its rightful place under the sun for far longer than other righteous and unrighteous peoples which has created a lopsided global political constellation of independent nation-states. To be sure, independent Ukraine has a great deal to offer the international community.

The malicious gatekeepers that have traditionally been the historical enemies of the Ukrainian nation, which for their own national selfish reasons kept immensely naturally rich Ukraine shackled in a dungeon, are tsarist, communist and Putin’s Russia, Austro-Hungarian empire, Nazi Germany, Poland, Hungary and a few others. On the benign side we find countries that support Ukraine but not wholeheartedly due ignorance or confusion about Ukraine such as the United States, and the other NATO member-states.

Today the Ukrainian nation is again embroiled in a war for its existence, which is fast turning into the biggest war on the European continent since the Allies defeat Nazi Germany. The unfortunate but well-known external scenario is repeating itself: the usual allies are more or less advocating for Ukraine with the exception of its Eastern European allies that have experienced Russian aggression and subjugation while the enemy, Russia and its confederates, Belarus, North Korea and Iran, are brazenly seeking Ukraine’s defeat, re-subjugation and eradication. 

And herein lies the quandary about Ukraine’s future. What can the free world do to preserve Ukrainian independence, sovereignty and indivisibility without too much collateral damage? As for Russia, the Kremlin doesn’t care about its image so long as the geographic territory and people known as Ukraine and Ukrainians are its captives regardless of the collateral damage.

Does the free world want to see Ukraine free and mighty, allied with its side regardless of the consequences or not? Russia certainly doesn’t care about the consequences so long as its goals are reached. Thus, it is regularly bombing civilian residences, hospitals and infrastructures and killing unarmed Ukrainian men, women and children not to mention prisoners or war.

Since the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States, the Kremlin hasn’t diminished its deadly air attacks against civilian targets in Ukraine. Among its recent targets has been historic Odesa, the Ukrainian city on the Black Sea. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that Regional Governor Oleh Kiper said the center of Odesa, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was among the areas hit during the assault.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Odesa’s grand historic opera house and the five-star Hotel Bristol, a landmark constructed 19th century, were damaged during the shelling. Zelenskyy added that Norwegian diplomatic representatives were in the epicenter of the attack but avoided harm.

Later this month, the latest Russian war against Ukraine will have lasted three years. By anecdotal accounts, the war, which early on attracted the attention of the mainstream media, now has fallen off their front pages and evening telecasts. Ukraine may be restocking its arsenals due to the good will of allies, but Russia continues to be unrelenting in fulfilling its coldhearted mission. Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s permanent representative and ambassador to the United Nations, testified in the Security Council that Russians believe that Ukrainian soldiers and civilians do not deserve to live and must be killed.

The non-combatant bloodshed and unrestrained destruction of cities and farmlands have prompted many outsiders to raise the clarion call for an end to the war, a ceasefire and even surrender of temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory to Russia. For them it matters not how the war ends. They just want the shooting and bombing to end. President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are part of that ignorant, naïve and dangerous fraternity. Surely, Washington would not agree to surrender an acre of American land to Hamas or another Islamist terrorist group.

For Ukrainians and its strongest advocates, regional peace is not a cheap commodity. As was demanded by some during the Vietnam War, Ukrainians also today insist on peace with victory, peace with honor.

President Zelenskyy, who talks about peace more than Putin and some other leaders, understands that a cessation of hostilities between Ukraine and Russia, a ceasefire, cannot be merely a declared intention but a realistic and moral conclusion. And the onus of fulfillment is not Ukraine but rather Russia. Since Moscow invaded Ukraine and has been waging war on its fertile black soil for nearly 36 months, it first and foremost must stop shooting, pack up its weapons and cutthroats, and return to Russia. There is no justifiable reason for negotiating anything with the aggressor. Countries that are suggesting discussions are playing into the hands of the Kremlin. Putin knows based on the Trump’s behavior that the United States will strongly endeavor to force Ukraine to make concessions to wrongly placate Moscow.

However, Zelenskyy understands that the concept of a tripartite meeting about the war might be a deal breaker. Even though Ukraine is firmly sticking to the adage of “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” Trump said his team is already engaged in “very serious” discussions with the Russian side on how to end the war in Ukraine.

Talks about the war that do not include Ukraine are “very dangerous,” Zelenskyy told the news media. “They may have their own relations but talking about Ukraine without us — it is dangerous for everyone.”

Zelenskyy said the first step for Ukraine is to hold a high-level meeting with Trump, so that Kyiv and Washington can develop their own plans for a ceasefire. Then the parties can move on to discussions that involve Russia.  

“I believe that, first and foremost, we (must) hold a meeting with (Trump), and that is important. And that is, by the way, something that everyone in Europe wants,” Zelenskyy said.

If I were asked, I believe Ukraine should squeeze Russia until it crawls to the negotiating table and surrenders unconditionally, like Nazi Germany did in 1945.

As for the future, all thinking pundits know Russians will never abandon their dream of capturing and subjugating Ukraine. To protect itself, Kyiv must promote the idea of NATO membership for Ukraine as the “cheapest” possible security guarantee.

“I really believe that these are the cheapest security guarantees that Ukraine can get, the cheapest for everyone,” Zelenskyy said. “It will be a signal that it is not for Russia to decide who should be in NATO and who should not, but for the United States of America to decide. I think this is a great victory for Trump.”

Hopefully he’s listening.

 

80th Anniversary of Auschwitz Liberation

The following statement was issued by the Ukrainian World Congress on the occasion of the liberation of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp. In addition to the primary victims, Jews, the camp was also the site of the incarceration and mass murder of Ukrainians, anti-Nazi fighters and liberation leaders, and members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN).

On January 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) and global Ukrainian communities honor the memory of the 6 million Jewish victims executed and tortured by the Nazis, including nearly 1.5 million Ukrainian Jews.

We pray for all the innocent lives taken by the murderous totalitarian Nazi regime, which cultivated hatred, racism, and xenophobia. We also pay tribute to those who risked their lives to save innocent victims doomed to death.

Eighty years ago today, soldiers from the Soviet Red Army’s 1st Ukrainian Front, primarily composed of Ukrainians, liberated Auschwitz – a Nazi concentration and extermination camp in occupied Poland where more than a million people were murdered as part of the Nazis’ “final solution” to the “Jewish question.” On January 27, 1945, soldiers of the 100th Lviv Rifle Division’s battalion led by Anatoly Shapiro, a Ukrainian of Jewish origin from Poltava, were the first to open the gates of the main camp.

As commemoration events occur worldwide, Ukraine approaches the third anniversary of the Russian Federation’s full-scale brutal and genocidal invasion. The brave Ukrainian people continue their fight for freedom and sovereignty against the deadly Russian terrorist state.

Just like the Nazis, Putin’s authoritarian regime hides its imperialistic ambitions and dreams of “global domination” behind disinformation, lies, and criminal propaganda. With appalling cynicism, the Russians have been distorting and manipulating the memory of the Holocaust and the Second World War to justify their rapacious invasion of Ukraine.

The hatred that Russian occupiers have brought to Ukrainian soil after almost 80 years since the victory over Nazism in Europe has shocked the world. The massacres in Bucha, Izyum, and Mariupol, multiple sadistic atrocities committed by the Russian armed forces throughout Ukraine’s occupied territories, and the deliberate bombing of residential buildings, hospitals, and even memorial sites like the Babyn Yar National Memorial in Kyiv and the Drobytsky Yar Memorial in Kharkiv, must not go unanswered. The perpetrators must be held accountable.

While honoring the victims of the Holocaust, we call on all peace-loving nations to unite their efforts to help the Ukrainian people stop the Russian evil and defend the free world from descending into authoritarian darkness once again.

Just like Nazism, Putinism must be stopped.

Can President Trump trump Putin and save Ukraine?
President Donald J. Trump, the 47th President of the United States, is settling into his duties and projects at the Oval Office while the world is wondering how he will fulfill his pledge to end Russia’s “ridiculous” war against Ukraine in a couple of days.
None of the signals emanating from the White House or the State Department bode well for Ukraine. They reveal a profound lack of understanding or knowledge about Ukraine’s historical situation and point of view. Or, worse, an arrogant disregard for Ukraine’s interests. Finally, Trump et al have placed the victim, Ukraine, and the perpetrator, Russia, on the same plane.
Since assuming office, the Trump Administration has coined a name for its policy goal toward Ukraine: sustainable peace. According to the new Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, the goal is that the war with Russia won’t begin again in a few years. 
“We are going to engage in making it (the war) end in a way that is sustainable, meaning we don’t just want the conflict to end and then restart in two, three, or four years down the road,” Rubio said on the CBS Mornings program.
“We want to bring stability. It is a stalemate. It’s a war that was started by Russia, but it is now a stalemate, a protracted bloody conflict,” Rubio elaborated, adding that the war has been “incredibly destructive” for both Ukraine and Russia. Parity. Imagine claiming equality for England and Nazi Germany.
Rubio nevertheless said that Ukraine “is paying the biggest price of all to its energy infrastructure, to the people, the lives that are lost, to the millions of Ukrainians that have had to leave their countries and are living overseas.”
When asked about the expired 24-hour deadline for ending the war, Rubio reportedly evaded commenting on any possible timeframe and merely said that ending the war would be the “priority” and “policy of the United States.”
“It needs to end” — Rubio’s hopeful but naïve position on Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The secretary of state presumably is reading mainstream American newspapers rather than translations of Ukrainian news articles that give a different impression of the war. 
In any case, the current Administration unfortunately is unaware of the duration of this war, and it behooves them to learn about it. It has lasted far longer than three years. It’s lasted for centuries, and it was caused almost always by the same aggressor – Russia. Trump and his Cabinet – and all Republicans on the Hill and their johnny come lately supplicants – must absorb that concept.
As for negotiating an end to the war, in the words of the Israeli prime minister, the late Gold Meier, how do you negotiate with someone that wants you dead. You want to live, and the brutal enemy wants you dead. Where’s the midpoint?
The New York Times reported on Monday that Trump commented on the war in Ukraine, saying Putin is “destroying Russia [by wagging the war] ... he’s not doing so well... that’s no way to run a country.” News media quoted Trump saying he would do a very big favor to Russia and Putin by getting them to bring an end to “this ridiculous war” which he claimed was “destroying” Russia. That’s too much sympathy for the aggressor.
Trump said last week that he would likely impose sanctions on Russia if its Putin, refuses to negotiate about ending the war in Ukraine. Those restrictions could possibly have succeeded if they’ve never been tried but the United States and the international community has been applying sanctions against Moscow, its international businesses and businessmen since before this war started. The United States has already sanctioned Russia heavily for its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte last week urged the US to continue supplying arms to Kyiv and said Europe would pay the bill. Speaking at an event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the NATO chief stressed that it was vital Russia did not win as it could result in Putin “high fiving” the leaders of North Korea and China.
“We really have to step up and not scale back our support for Ukraine,” he added. “The frontline is moving in the wrong direction.”
Rutte also warned that a Russian victory over Ukraine would undermine the dissuasive force of the world’s biggest military alliance and that its credibility could cost trillions to restore.
“If Ukraine loses then to restore the deterrence of the rest of NATO again, it will be a much, much higher price than what we are contemplating at this moment in terms of ramping up our spending and ramping up our industrial production,” Rutte said. “It will not be billions extra; it will be trillions extra,” he said, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk, chairman of the Kyiv Security Forum and former prime minister of Ukraine (2014-16), in an article in the Atlantic Council, offered that “the war will only end when Ukrainian security is assured. To achieve this, Ukraine needs ironclad security guarantees that will keep the country safe from further Russian aggression until it is able to join NATO. A Trump Plan modeled on the post-World War II Marshall Plan and funded by confiscated Russian sovereign assets can fuel Ukraine’s postwar recovery.
“I am convinced that a just and sustainable peace can be achieved through negotiations. These talks should take place in a four-way format involving Ukraine, the United States, the European Union, and Russia. In 2014, I was one of the initiators of this format, which was established in Geneva. The alternative, with Ukraine alone against Russia, would mean the capitulation of the United States and the entire Western world.
“While adherents of realpolitik call for concessions, in reality the future of international security depends on a steadfast defense of the rules-based order against Russia’s onslaught. The West has the requisite strength and resources to do this. All that is needed is strong leadership from the United States.”
If the world indeed hopes for a negotiated end to the latest war against Ukraine that Russia started, it will have to force Moscow to concede on its knees to such a conclusion just like Nazi Germany. Ukraine is not the problem; it never was but Russia is and has always been the problem. Putin will have to be hit hard to force him to the negotiating table and Ukraine and its allies have that ability. The United States and the free world should continue supplying Ukraine with the appropriate long-range and short-range weapons, tanks and other armaments. They also should continue investing in the big and small businesses of Ukraine to raise the gross the domestic product and give the people a fighting chance to rebuild their country and give it a sustainable economy. They should also provide humanitarian aid for the people.
The onus of returning peace, security and stability to the region must be glued onto Russia and every Russian and not Ukraine. As for saving Ukraine now and in the future, Trump must comprehend, acknowledge and support Ukraine’s 1,000-year history.
By the way, Russia launched more than 1,250 bombs, 750 drones at Ukraine during Trump’s first week in office. The war goes on.

Russia’s Geopolitical Ambitions Go Far Beyond Ukraine

Occasionally a dose of bitter cynicism can also teach a valuable lesson.

Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya, permanent representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, known for his hard-hitting condemnations of Russia’s aggression and its other forms of hostile behavior, recently resorted to mockery to hopefully right Moscow’s wrongs.

Speaking at the UN Security Council meeting on “Maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine” on January 16, 2025, Kyslytsya advised the member-states that the most productive way to react to Russians’ tantrums is to avoid matching the volume of their hysteria.

“We need to stay calm and carry on calmly explaining to them that they cannot and that they will not have what they want,” Kyslytsya said.

It’s like “101 Parenting, if you wish,” he quipped.

Would it be that the global community is merely dealing with an enfant terrible. But sadly, Russia is a maniacal culture dedicated to re-subjugating the former captive nations and annihilating as many of the peoples as possible beginning with Ukrainians.

The Ukrainian diplomat pointed this out when he said, “Russia’s geopolitical ambitions go well beyond Ukraine. For those who may have forgotten the ultimatums Russia issued before the invasion, I would remind their core demand: ‘NATO must revert to its 1997 borders.’ This is a point worth keeping in mind by some nations that joined the Alliance at a later stage.

“If we want to live in a safe and secure world, we must spare no effort to counteract Russia's aggressive imperialistic policies. The implementation of the concept of "peace through strength" is the only effective tool to stop the aggressor and ensure a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in line with the principles of the UN Charter.”

Kyslytsya repeated what has been understood by regional observers for many decades that for Ukraine this remains a war for survival.

As many Kremlin leaders have threatened, “This harsh reality was reconfirmed recently by one of Putin’s closest accomplices, Nikolai Patrushev, who expressed in an interview his hope that ‘Ukraine will cease to exist in 2025.’”

Kyslytsya continued: “Let me reiterate that this destructive ambition has guided Russian policy for decades. (Perhaps centuries – ID) It began with hybrid operations and economic pressure, escalated into the aggression in Crimea and Donbas, and culminated in the launch of the full-scale war in 2022.

“Statements like these, exposing the true intentions of the Russian leadership, deserve the utmost attention—particularly from those who refrain from contributing to efforts to hold the aggressor accountable, mostly – in exchange for short-term economic benefits.”

Amid UN debates, the war continues, missiles fly and Ukrainians die. “In satisfying its irrational Nazi-like hatred towards Ukrainians,” Kyslytsya said, “Russia particularly relies on terrorist missile attacks targeting civilian infrastructure. The latest one was carried out yesterday. In the depths of winter, the Russian target remains the same: our energy infrastructure. Yesterday Russia tried to hit gas facilities and critical energy systems essential for maintaining the everyday life of Ukrainian people.

To this end Russia launched 43 ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as 74 combat drones.

“At least 30 missiles and 47 drones were intercepted and Ukraine has managed to keep its energy system operational. At the same time, those missiles that reached their target caused damage and destruction that resulted in the disruption of electricity and heat supply in various regions. This again testifies to the urgent need to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense capabilities.”

The price tag for Russia is not cheap. Kyslytsya said since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russia has spent more than $18 billion on missile and drone strikes against Ukraine. “And Russia will persist with escalation as long as it has the financial resources to fuel this war,” he added. “Oil and gas revenues constitute the main source to this end. It is essential therefore to dry up these revenue streams by strengthening primary and secondary sanctions against Russia's economy.”

This is the sound reasoning behind the wide range of sanctions against Russian businesses and businessmen – to drain the Russian economy of every last ruble.

“Russia’s war budget for 2025 is 25% bigger than last year’s. If we want to stop the war, we should cut off Putin’s cash flow. Putin will start thinking about peace only when his inner circle tells him he is out of money,” he said.

However, in reality, Ukraine more than any other country wants peace but not peace at any price. That concept will not bring real and lasting peace at all but it “will just encourage the aggressor to continue violating international law, and not only in Ukraine.”

Kyslytsya said the diplomatic path to peace lies through the implementation of the Peace Formula. “We are also ready to consider other nations’ peace ideas that take into account the need to restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine, do not equate the victim with the aggressor, and are based on the principle of ‘nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.’ They can be discussed in the formats offered by the Peace Formula.”

Ukraine demands and needs geopolitical relationships and partnerships based on equality and respect, not arm twisting like we see coming from Washington, DC. The United Kingdon’s recent 100-year document is typical of what Ukraine deserves. During an unannounced trip to Kyiv, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged to put Ukraine in the “strongest possible position.”

“Our 100 Year Partnership is a promise that we are with you, not just today or tomorrow, but for a hundred years — long after this war is over and Ukraine is free and thriving once again,” he said in a post on X.

According to a UK government press release, the treaty will boost military collaboration on maritime security across the Baltic Sea, Black Sea, and Azov Sea in an effort to deter Russian aggression. The deal will also seek to advance the countries' scientific and technology partnerships in areas such as space and 30,000 drones, it said.

European countries and the former captive nations regard Russian threats seriously. Among them, Lithuania, has decided to raise its spending on defense to 5-6% of overall national economic output starting in 2026 due to the threat of Russian aggression in the region, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said last week.

With his pledge, the Baltic nation bordering Russia becomes the first NATO nation to vow to reach a 5% goal called for by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. It currently spends a bit over 3%.

Nausėda said the “historic decision” was taken by the State Defense Council on Friday. “The possibility of Russian military aggression is still real, but not imminent,” Nausėda told reporters after the meeting in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. “We need to increase our efforts to strengthen defense and deterrence significantly, devoting more resources to this end.”

Nonetheless, with the war dragging on and a new President getting comfortable in the Oval Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues to emphasizes his country’s hope for sustained US support under the incoming Trump administration.

“We are waiting for the inauguration of the US president. I think the whole world is waiting because the United States is a strategic partner in global stability,” Zelenskyy said this week during a joint press conference in Warsaw with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, another close ally of Ukraine.

Zelenskyy described the US as “the largest donor supporting Ukraine in its war for survival against Russian aggression” and expressed optimism for deepened cooperation under the principle of “peace through strength.”

Ukrainians continue to scare the bee Jesús out of Russian cutthroats, who are violently scared of Ukrainian witches – vid’ma. So, Ukrainians named their latest fleet of heavy drone bombers Baba Yaga – euphemism for witches.

“Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.”

Ukraine Delegation at UN Declares Russia Adopts Nazi Tactics

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, claiming, among other things, that had embarked on its never-ending futile quest for Nazis. However, as to be expected, the prey turns out to be the hounds.

The widespread death and destruction that the Russian cutthroats have spread across Ukraine has correctly likened them to Nazis who also mercilessly shed blood across Europe some 80 years ago.

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya, speaking on January 13, 2025, at the UN Security Council Arria-formula meeting on “Violations of international humanitarian law against Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian detainees” bluntly compared Russian soldiers with Nazis.

“Russia in turn, has fully adopted the practices of the Third Reich – ranging from the annexation of sovereign territories and the razing of Ukrainian cities to the ground, to the deliberate execution of Ukrainian POWs and civilians,” Kyslytsya declared unequivocally.

The dreadful testimonies from the Ukrainian briefers that day or on earlier occasions have confirmed that the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Russia are not isolated incidents, but rather “systematic practices endorsed at all levels of Russian leadership,” the Ukrainian diplomat said.

“All Ukrainians are their targets, be they military or civilians, men or women, children or the elderly. Less than a week ago, on January 8, Russia again demonstrated its adherence to this inhumane modus operandi. Thirteen civilians were killed and 127 were wounded by the aerial bombs that Russia dropped on a crowded street of the city of Zaporizhzhia. As the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported, this heinous attack caused the highest number of civilian casualties in a single incident in almost two years,” he elaborated.

In addition to the indiscriminate murder of unarmed Ukrainian civilians, Kyslytsya pointed out that Russians are also killing Ukrainian soldiers who have surrendered and thus who should enjoy protection under international law.

Citing an incident on January 3, 2025, Kyslytsya recounted that in the village of Vremivka, Volnovakha district, Russian forces captured two Ukrainian servicemen, executed them at close range, and then fired additional shots to ensure their deaths. He said the Russians killed in cold blood 202 Ukrainian POWs but “the true number is likely much higher.”

Another humanitarian transgression of the Russian invaders is their incommunicado detention of Ukrainian civilians and military personnel that denies access to UN and ICRC representatives. “The ungrounded persecution and detention of civilians is a clear violation of international humanitarian law, and all such detained civilians must be unconditionally released,” Kyslytsya demanded.

“We urge the UN Security Council and all responsible Member-States to demand that Russia cease the torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian POWs and detainees. Humanitarian and human rights mechanisms must be granted immediate and unrestricted access to ensure humane treatment and safe repatriation,” he added.

The Ukrainian delegation has previously brought to the Security Council’s attention how Russian recruits train to operate drones by targeting and killing innocent civilians in the streets of the city of Kherson. In Russian schools, war criminals are holding diabolical lessons for Russian children, “encouraging them to learn how to kill Ukrainians,” Kyslytsya said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also not surprisingly joined this charade by training its diplomats across the globe, including in New York, to disseminate lies and maintain smear campaigns. “Producing fakes about Azov Brigade has been among the main tools of Russian propaganda since 2014,” he pointed out.

Kyslytsya said this is in stark contrast to realty created by this Ukrainian military unit: “The full-scale war has ultimately revealed the truth. Soldiers of the Azov Brigade were among the courageous defenders of Mariupol in 2022, staying in the besieged city and protecting its residents, who Russia killed on an industrial scale, until the very end.”

He demanded that “Russia’s open defiance of international law must end.” It is imperative for the international community and the UN member-states to ensure accountability for Russia’s crimes and justice for the victims, Kyslytsya added.

“That’s why, if Russian diplomats are truly eager to combat neo-Nazism, they might start by calling the Russian Ministry of Defense. They may ask, for instance, about the ‘Rusich’ unit, which operates as part of the Russian army. Its members openly embrace their neo-Nazi views and their commander Milchakov openly declares, ‘I’m a Nazi, I speak about it directly. [I] can even raise a hand [in Nazi greeting.]’”

Milchakov’s subordinates bear a striking resemblance to their commander, Kyslytsya continued. “They could play with a severed head of a prisoner, boasting about it in interviews, or post ads on social media seeking a ‘Crimean Tatar for ritual sacrifice’ and then brag about carrying out such a ritual.”

The Ukrainian diplomat astonishingly said that these are just some of many examples illustrating how war crimes and crimes against humanity have become standard practice for the Russian army.

Responsibility for this is inevitable, he concluded, and hopefully there will be hell to pay.