News & views related to the war in Palestine …

News & views related to the war in Ukraine …

News & views not related to the wars in Ukraine and Palestine …

To all commentators here a big THANKS for giving me so much!

My wish: May the next year be more interesting and peaceful than this one.

A Happy New Year to all moonkind!

Today the NY Times published a long piece on the relations between the Trump administration and the government of Ukraine.

The Separation: Inside the Unraveling U.S.-Ukraine Partnership (archived) – NY Times, Dec 30 2025

There is a lot of gossip about the back and forth between the U.S. Ukraine and Russia in it, but also some interesting nuggets which confirm U.S. intelligence involvement in attacks on Russia and Russia related shipping:

Even as Mr. Trump bullied Mr. Zelensky, he seemed to coddle Mr. Putin. When the Russian stiff-armed peace proposals and accelerated bombing campaigns on Ukrainian cities, Mr. Trump would lash out on Truth Social and ask his aides, “Do we sanction their banks or do we sanction their energy infrastructure?” For months, he did neither.

But in secret, the Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. military, with his blessing, supercharged a Ukrainian campaign of drone strikes on Russian oil facilities and tankers to hobble Mr. Putin’s war machine.

The CIA, like usual, seems to work at cross purpose of Pentagon policies:

Cont. reading: NY Times Expose: CIA Fights Russia – Trump’s Peace Deal Runs on Illusion

CNN claims that the CIA bombed Venezuela.

Exclusive: CIA carried out drone strike on port facility on Venezuelan coast

The CIA carried out a drone strike earlier this month on a port facility on the coast of Venezuela, sources familiar with the matter told CNN, marking the first known US attack on a target inside that country.

The drone strike, the details of which have not been previously reported, targeted a remote dock on the Venezuelan coast that the US government believed was being used by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to store drugs and move them onto boats for shipping, the sources said. No one was present at the facility at the time it was struck, so there were no casualties, according to the sources.

Two sources said US Special Operations Forces provided intelligence support to the operation, underscoring their continued involvement in the region. But Col. Allie Weiskopf, a spokesperson for US Special Operations Command, denied that, saying, “Special Operations did not support this operation to include intel support.”

President Donald Trump appeared to first acknowledge the attack in an interview last week that initially attracted little notice, though he offered few specifics, including when reporters asked directly about it on Monday.

The NY Times has a similar report (archived) which additionally claims that the strike has happened last Wednesday.

There is however zero evidence that any strike took place. Venezuela Analysis has found no mention of it or of any damage in Venezuelan media, open source data or Venezuelan government statements. Neither have I.

Did this strike even happen? Or is it part of a miscalculated psychological operation to convince the Venezuelan government that it is under immediate threat and needs to get out?

Yesterday’s negotiations between U.S. President Donald Trump and the acting President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelenski about a peace agreement with Russia went nowhere (archived):

A new round of peace talks between President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and President Trump seem to have produced little beyond a promise to meet again next month and a reminder of how distant a peace deal remains.
…
After the meeting on Sunday, Mr. Trump signaled that he would remain engaged in the negotiations — a win for Ukraine given his repeated threats to walk away. Mr. Trump also backed away from setting another deadline to reach a peace deal, after having previously floated Thanksgiving and Christmas as target dates.

“I don’t have deadlines,” Mr. Trump told reporters as he greeted Mr. Zelensky at Mar-a-Lago in Florida for the talks. “You know what my deadline is? Getting the war ended.”

Two weeks ago we were expecting this outcome:

The current negotiated parameters can not lead to a peace agreement with Russia.

The Trump administration needs to take a step back. It can deliver the currently negotiated package to Russia which will study it and ask for negotiations of ‘details’ that will take several years to find some end point. Or it can put the whole issue aside for now and go for a retry in six to twelve months.
…
By then resistance to a peace agreement, be it by Ukraine or Europe, will have decreased. Only then will peace in Ukraine and Europe become a real possibility.

A big win for Russia during this round of negotiations is that Trump has rejected the ceasefire which Zelenski and his European supporters have tried to impose to then prepare for a new round of fighting:

Cont. reading: Ukraine – Negotiations At A Standstill, The War Progresses

News & views related to the war in Palestine …

News & views related to the war in Ukraine …

Last week’s posts on Moon of Alabama:

• Dec 22 – Ukraine: ‘The GUR said …’
  Related:
  – The most likely thing to end the Ukraine war? Exhaustion (archived) – The Times
  – Trump’s security promise for Ukraine could risk war with Russia (archived) – Washington Post
  – Why Russia Is Likely to Reject the New U.S.-Ukrainian Peace Plan (archived) – NY Times

• Dec 23 – “What changed with the German Minister of Defense, and why did it change so fast?”
  Related:
  – Germany After “Pax Americana”: From Green Transition to Military Keynesianism – Umit Akcay
  – The Reparations Loan is Dead – Long live the reparations loan – Amerikanets

• Dec 24 – Happy Christmas
  Related:
  – I hope you all had some nice days. I for one caught up with family. It was fun. Unfortunately one of the kids, as usual, had some infection which immediately caught up with me and gave me the snivels. I am fine again now. On Monday I’ll be back with regular posting.

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Other issues:
Cont. reading: The MoA Week In Review – OT 2025-299

News & views related to the war in Palestine …

News & views related to the war in Ukraine …

News & views not related to the wars in Ukraine and Palestine …

Winter solstice has passed and the days are again getting longer. The dark is receding.

Time for a festivity that is about hope, about the birth of a revolutionary and savior who will, we hope, make the walls come down.

Picture courtesy of the Bethlehem AssociationIn my corner of the earth Christmas celebration starts on the eve of the day before Christmas (Heiligabend = holy evening). With kids the gifts that the Christkind (Christ child = Jesus) brought will usually appear between 4 pm and 6 pm followed by a family meal.

When all the unpacking and eating is done we’ll settle down, play some board games and have fun.

To all of you a Merry Christmas. May you have some happy time.

– b.

Act 1: “Europe’s last peaceful summer.” Russia may attack NATO sooner than expected – Nexta, Nov 17 2025

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the past summer may have been “the last peaceful one” for Europe.

“We always assumed that a Russian attack on NATO could happen in 2029. But now we’re hearing assessments pointing to possible escalation as early as 2028, and some military historians even believe we have already lived through the last peaceful summer,” the minister said.

Act 2: Pistorius cools NATO rhetoric — there will be no Third World War – Nexta, Dec 23 2025

Germany’s defence minister Boris Pistorius has distanced himself from alarmism within NATO. In an interview with Die Zeit, he said he does not believe in a scenario of a full-scale war between Russia and the Alliance.

He was commenting on remarks by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who said the Alliance must be prepared for a war “on the scale experienced by our grandfathers and great-grandfathers”.

Pistorius responded bluntly, saying this was most likely a figurative exaggeration. “I do not believe in such a scenario. In my view, Putin does not intend to wage a full-scale global war against NATO.”

Brian McDonald asks:

Just last month, Boris Pistorius warned a German newspaper that Europe may already have seen its last peaceful summer and that Russia and NATO could be at war next year.

Now he says there will be no Third World War and that talk of a NATO–Russia conflict is “figurative exaggeration.”

What changed, and why did it change so fast?

One Dimitry Medvedev asks a similar question:

The ‘European peacemakers’ are surprising. Pistorius said he doesn’t believe war will break out between NATO and Russia, and Stubb admitted our country has no interest in attacking alliance members.
So, what happened? Sobering up or have the Christmas holidays simply begun?

My answer to both is: Tulsi Gabbard

Cont. reading: “What changed with the German Minister of Defense, and why did it change so fast?”

Important!

If true …

Putin’s desperate troops ‘so short of food they’re eating each other’ in Ukraine

A radio intercept shows Vladimir Putin’s starving troops ‘revealing how they are resorting to cannibalism’.

The claim from Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence relates to invading soldiers in Zaporizhzhia region.
…
The GUR said: “Cannibalism is becoming a common practice among Russian soldiers.”

—
(Note: I’ll be busy over the next days. Posting will be light – if any.)

News & views related to the war in Palestine …

News & views related to the war in Ukraine …

Last week’s posts on Moon of Alabama:

• Dec 15 – EU Sanctions Swiss Intelligence Expert Jacques Baud
  Related:
  – Jacques Baud is being Sanctioned—and Switzerland is Fast Asleep – Sonar21
  – Former Swiss intelligence officer targeted by new EU sanctions against Russia – Swiss Info
  – The Jacques Baud case: How EU sanctions undermine freedom of expression (machine translation) – Berliner Zeitung

• Dec 16 – Flim Flam Theater Of Peace Talks On Ukraine
  Related:
  – Vladimir Putin Leaves No Doubt About Russia’s Demands to End the War in Ukraine… Do Donald Trump and Steve Witkoff Understand? – Sonar21
  – US intelligence indicates Putin’s war aims in Ukraine are unchanged – Reuters
  “… six sources familiar with U.S. intelligence said …”

DNI Tulsi Gabbard @DNIGabbard – 21:02 utc · Dec 20, 2025

No, this is a lie and propaganda @Reuters is willingly pushing on behalf of warmongers who want to undermine President Trump’s tireless efforts to end this bloody war that has resulted in more than a million casualties on both sides.

Dangerously, you are promoting this false narrative to block President Trump’s peace effort, and fomenting hysteria and fear among the people to get them to support the escalation of war, which is what NATO and the EU really want in order to pull the United States military directly into war with Russia.

The truth is the US intelligence community has briefed policymakers, including the Democrat HPSCI member quoted by Reuters, that US Intelligence assesses that Russia seeks to avoid a larger war with NATO. It also assesses that, as the last few years have shown, Russia’s battlefield performance indicates it does not currently have the capability to conquer and occupy all of Ukraine, let alone Europe.

Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 @TulsiGabbard – 22:16 utc · Dec 20, 2025

Deep State warmongers and their Propaganda Media are again trying to undermine President Trump’s efforts to bring peace to Ukraine—and indeed Europe—by falsely claiming that the ‘U.S. intelligence community’ agrees to and supports EU/NATO viewpoint that Russia’s aim is to invade/conquer Europe (in order to gin up support for their pro-war policies). The truth is that ‘US intelligence’ assesses that Russia does not even have the capability to conquer and occupy Ukraine, what to speak of ‘invading and occupying’ Europe.

• Dec 17 – English Outsider On Dirty British Intel And Other Stuff
  Related:
  – Ukraine ‘hits Russian tanker in Mediterranean Sea for first time’ – SkyNews
  – U.K. Appoints New Ambassador to U.S. After Predecessor Is Fired Over Epstein Links (archived) – NY Times

• Dec 18 – Russia Is In A Security Dilemma – Europe Pretends To Be In One
  Related:
  – Europe risks a self-fulfilling prophecy over the threat from Russia (archived) – Financial Times
  – Putin says Europe out of step with an increasingly Moscow-friendly U.S. (archived) – Washington Post
  – America’s Khrushchev moment – Arnaud Bertrand

• Dec 20 – The EU’s ‘Russian Asset’ Scam Failed But Warmongers Still Grab Others’ Money
  Related:
  – Europe finds €90bn for Ukraine—but not from Russia (archived) – Economist
  – Europe Funnels Billions to Ukraine but Wobbles Geopolitically (archived) – NY Times
  – UK rules out using frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine (archived) – Financial Times
  – EU to pay €3B a year in interest for Ukraine loan – Politico
  – Macron is right: Europe should talk to Putin – Spectator
  – Why the Brussels money-grab will fail – A rebellion is underway in Europe – Thomas Fazi / Unherd
  – Europe has just failed Ukraine again – Telegraph

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Other issues:
Cont. reading: The MoA Week In Review – OT 2025-293

On September 10, during her speech on the State of the European Union, the President of the EU commission Ursula von der Leyen introduced the idea of robbing Russian state assets which are currently frozen in Europe under EU sanctions:

This is Russia’s war. And it is Russia that should pay.

This is why we need to work urgently on a new solution to finance Ukraine’s war effort on the basis of the immobilised Russian assets. With the cash balances -associated to these Russian assets, we can provide Ukraine with a Reparations Loan. The assets themselves will not be touched. And the risk will have to be carried collectively. Ukraine will only pay back the loan once Russia pays for the reparations. The money will help Ukraine already today.

The idea was too illegal and stupid to get much traction. But when Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany started to back it others picked up on the theme. In a September 26 op-ed in the Financial Times Merz supported the idea (archived) but proposed that all money spent under the plan should go to the owners of European weapon factories:

For Germany, it will be important that these additional funds are solely used to finance Ukraine’s military equipment, not for general budgetary purposes. Payments should be disbursed in tranches. Member states and Ukraine would jointly determine which materiel is procured. In my view, such a comprehensive programme must also help to strengthen and expand the European defence industry.

Merz wanted Military Keynesianism, which “is an economic policy based on the position that government should raise military spending to boost economic growth”,  to push for economic growth.  Usually governments have to go further into debt to finance such endeavors. But Merz had already exceeded the budget limits and more debt is not something that German voters support.

To use the Russian assets for military Keynesianism was only a disguise. Russia was and is very likely to win the conflict in Ukraine and the winner of a war does not pay reparations. When the war is over the frozen Russia’s assets will have to be given back to their owner. Any ‘loan’ to a bankrupted Ukraine, based on Russian assets or not, would thus have to be paid by European taxpayers. That’s why I headlined:

Cont. reading: The EU’s ‘Russian Asset’ Scam Failed But Warmongers Still Grab Others’ Money