Russian Invasion

Negotiations
Sources: Europe Considers ‘Buffer Zone’ in Ukraine

European leaders are considering a 40-kilometer ‘buffer zone’ on the Ukrainian front line as part of a peace deal, five European diplomats told Politico.

The Kremlin has welcomed the idea, which the political site describes as a last resort to secure the fragile peace that NATO desperately seeks after nearly four years of war.

It is unclear whether Kyiv would accept it, as it would likely involve territorial concessions, and it is uncertain whether European peacekeepers can maintain the buffer zone.

Jim Townsend, former head of European and NATO affairs at the Pentagon under President Obama, describes it as the Europeans “fumbling.”

“The Russians are not afraid of the Europeans. If (Europe) think that some British and French observers would stop them from marching into Ukraine, they are wrong.”

The fighting
Trump “not happy” about the attack – to make a statement

Russia’s huge and deadly airstrikes on Kyiv last night are not well received by Donald Trump, news agencies report.

– He was not happy about the news, but not surprised either. These are two countries that have been at war for a very long time, says his press secretary Karoline Leavitt at a press conference

She adds that Trump will make a statement about the situation later on Thursday.

Trump’s meetings with Putin, Zelensky and European leaders in the United States this week have so far yielded no results. No meeting between Putin and Zelensky is planned, Russia’s airstrikes continue and the parties have not come closer to each other on the issue of a peace agreement.  

Voices on the Ukraine war
Ukrainian researcher: It is increasingly difficult to stop the attacks

Russian air strikes against Ukraine are becoming increasingly extensive and difficult to stop. Olena Bilousova, a defense researcher at the Kyiv School of Economics, tells TT.

– Even the best air defense system would not be enough to save the entire territory of our country 100 percent.

The most important factor is the number of drones, according to Bilousova. Previously, the Russians could send 50 to 70 per night, but since the beginning of the summer, the attacks have scaled up enormously, and now hundreds are being sent at once.

In addition, the Russians are developing increasingly complex variants of the Iranian Shahed drone type, and sometimes send fake drones to tire out Ukrainian air defenses. All this means that the existing air defense system is overloaded, according to Bilousova.

Putin experts: He relies on Trump’s ignorance

Donald Trump does not have many Russia experts around him in the White House, and Putin has been able to take advantage of that. This is what journalist Catherine Belton, author of the award-winning book "Putin's Circle", tells SVT Nyheter.

- Putin has relied on the ignorance of Trump's team.

The White House lacks knowledge of what the Kremlin actually means by its statements. This explains Trump's excited reactions when Putin opens up for concessions - the fact that the Russian president does not go into what they would entail means in Kremlin parlance that there will be none, according to Belton.

So far, Putin seems to have succeeded in misleading Trump, who believes that the meetings have led to success even though the whole thing has been "a circus of nothing", she adds.