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Commerce Secretary Says Zelensky Wanted ‘Make-Believe Bargain’ With Reparations, Security Guarantees

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wanted to strike a “make-believe bargain” with the United States before an explosive confrontation at the White House that resulted in a rare earth minerals deal being cast aside, according to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

During an interview on Fox News, “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo asked Lutnick about the clash in which President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance got into a fiery exchange with Zelensky over ending the Ukraine-Russia war in which the United States has provided tens of billions of dollars in aid to Kiev.

“Well, Secretary, you were sitting across from the president on Friday,” Bartiromo said, adding later, “I want to get your reaction to what went down. How was it in the room? And do you believe Democrats were egging on Zelensky to not say thank you, to stay tough and not sign that rare earth minerals deal?”

Lutnick replied: “No, so we were 40 minutes before the cameras came in, and 45 minutes before the meltdown, and the fact was, Zelensky never stopped asking for, you know — ‘I will give no concessions. They have got to leave my land. I want reparations of $300 billion. And I want the United States to give me security guarantees while they’re at war with Russia.’”

The secretary then referred to the moment when Trump told Zelensky that he was “gambling with World War III” by not doing more to seek peace with Russia. (Read more from “Commerce Secretary Says Zelensky Wanted ‘Make-Believe Bargain’ With Reparations, Security Guarantees” HERE)

Zelensky Isn’t Serious About Making A Peace Deal

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CNN and MSNBC are going to spend this weekend hosting a parade of Democrats to say how ashamed they are to be Americans — what’s new? — and what a hero Volodymyr Zelensky is after that thorough reality check he just received from President Trump and Vice President Vance. But the most important thing to take away from the Oval Office clash between the three on Friday is that Zelensky just wasted his country’s time, and he is to blame for every Ukrainian death that happens between now and the end of his war.

The Ukrainian president was in Washington to supposedly sign an agreement with the U.S. that would initiate an economic partnership between both parties and also set in motion a peace settlement of the war with Russia. It’s impossible to believe he came to town sincere about any of it after he attempted to lecture Vance on the war and rebuffed the administration’s diplomatic efforts with Russia.

“What kind of diplomacy, J.D., [are you] speaking about?” Zelensky said, leaning forward in his chair toward the vice president. “What do you mean?” When Vance proceeded to answer, Zelensky interrupted him. And then the little international welfare recipient suggested that the U.S. is just as much on the hook in his war as he is. “First of all, during the war, everybody has problems,” he said. “Even you, but you have [a] nice ocean and don’t feel [it] now, but you will feel it in the future.”

What followed was a “Scared Straight”-style verbal beat down with Zelensky playing the part of the out-of-control delinquent and Trump and Vance as the hardened inmates in his face. It was fun to watch, but the lack of grace from Zelensky was astounding. He was a guest in someone else’s home. That he would use the opportunity to speak to his host like he runs the show, while continuing to ask that very host for money, is wildly offensive and speaks to some degree of sociopathy. (Read more from “Zelensky Isn’t Serious About Making A Peace Deal” HERE)

Trump Kicks Out Zelensky, White House Staff Eats His Lunch

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White House staff are reportedly eating Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky’s lunch after President Donald Trump ousted him from the premises.

According to reports, Trump did, indeed, kick Zelensky out after a contentious exchange witnessed by the press and American people. In other words, the Ukrainian leader did not leave on his own accord. Further, according to Fox News’s Jacqui Heinrich, White House staffers will be eating the lunch set for Zelensky.

“WHEN I WENT TO UPPER PRESS TO ASK WHAT WAS GOING ON, THE LUNCH THAT TRUMP AND ZELENSKYY WERE SUPPOSED TO DINE ON AND TALK OVER WAS SITTING IN THE HALLWAY. I’M TOLD WHITE HOUSE PRESS OFFICE STAFFERS WILL BE EATING IT,” she wrote in the update.

Things went awry in the Oval Office after Zelensky became agitated and irritated, prompting Vice President JD Vance to call him out for being disrespectful and unappreciative of the American people and Trump administration. (Read more from “Trump Kicks Out Zelensky, White House Staff Eats His Lunch” HERE)

USAID Blew Hundreds Of Thousands In Taxpayer Slush Funds On Ukrainian ‘Pickle Maker,’ Pet Accessories

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The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) spent millions of American taxpayer dollars propping up pet projects like dog collar manufacturing and pickle making in Ukraine and then spent months stonewalling members of Congress about that spending, according to findings obtained by The Federalist.

Sen. Joni Ernst’s staff uncovered the secret slush funds when, after months of enduring the agency’s excuses to justify its resistance to oversight, they were finally permitted access to “very limited data.” In October 2024, as Ernst has since detailed, the senator’s staff visited USAID headquarters in person for an “in-camera review” of Ukraine assistance data even though, her team discovered, the documents were not classified.

Even though they were heavily restricted during their investigation, Ernst’s team discovered a variety of U.S. taxpayer-funded grants funneled to Ukrainian businesses under the guise of both Competitive Economy Program (CEP) and Investment for Business Resilience funds.

Among the grants Ernst’s staff discovered were hundreds of thousands of dollars devoted to literal pet projects including approximately $300,000 to a “pet tracking app,” approximately $300,000 to a “dog collar manufacturer,” and approximately another $109,000 to a “pet food packaging producer,” according to a findings breakdown Ernst’s office sent to The Federalist.

Fashionistas also benefitted from the taxpayer-funded expenditures with a women’s clothing company, a fashion photographer, a “purveyor of contemporary knitwear,” a “luxury bridal brand,” a “marketplace for designer artisanal pieces,” and even a “trade mission for a fashion design house,” raking in approximately $733,000 combined. (Read more from “USAID Blew Hundreds Of Thousands In Taxpayer Slush Funds On Ukrainian ‘Pickle Maker,’ Pet Accessories” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Trump Calls for Ukraine to Hold Elections to Potentially Replace Zelensky as He Takes Swipe at President’s Approval Rating

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By New York Post. President Trump said Tuesday that Ukraine should hold elections to potentially replace Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“We have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law, essentially martial law in Ukraine,” Trump said at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago after his US delegation finished talks with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia.

Trump claimed Zelensky, who was first elected in 2019, has a “4% approval rating” — despite polls showing the Ukrainian president hovering just above 50%.

Presidential elections were scheduled for April 2024, but none were held since Ukraine has been in a state of martial law since Russia launched the largest invasion since World War II in February 2022.

Zelensky in 2023 said an election would give way to “political divides” at a time when the country should be focused on defense. (Read more from “Trump Calls for Ukraine to Hold Elections to Potentially Replace Zelensky as He Takes Swipe at President’s Approval Rating” HERE)

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Ukraine Official Says Minerals Deal Agreed With US

By BBC News. Ukraine has agreed the terms of a major minerals deal with the US, a senior official in Kyiv has told the BBC.

“We have indeed agreed it with a number of good amendments and see it as a positive outcome,” the official said, without providing any further details.

Media reports say Washington has dropped initial demands for a right to $500bn (£395bn) in potential revenue from utilising the natural resources but has not given firm security guarantees to war-torn Ukraine – a key Ukrainian demand.

US President Donald Trump said he was expecting his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington to sign the deal this week, after the two leaders exchanged strong words about each other.

Without confirming that an agreement had been reached, Trump said on Tuesday that in return for the deal Ukraine would get “the right to fight on”.

“They’re very brave,” he told reporters, but “without the United States and its money and its military equipment, this war would have been over in a very short period of time”. (Read more from “Ukraine Official Says Minerals Deal Agreed With US” HERE)

Ukrainian Parliament Rejects Resolution Supporting Zelensky

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A resolution reaffirming the legitimacy of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky failed to secure enough backing to pass in the Ukrainian parliament on Monday.

At a special session of the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, convened to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the resolution received 218 votes, falling short of the 226 votes needed to pass.

Some 54 members of parliament present in the meeting room did not take part in the vote, including 38 representatives from Zelensky’s Servant of the People party.

The resolution was designed by the parliamentary leadership as a symbolic show of support for Zelensky, whose legitimacy has come under fire by Russia and, more recently, the United States.

The paper stated: “The Verkhovna Rada once again recalls that the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky was elected in free, transparent, democratic elections. His mandate is not called into question by the Ukrainian people or the Verkhovna Rada.” (Read more from “Ukrainian Parliament Rejects Resolution Supporting Zelensky” HERE)

Here’s How The Media Are Lying Right Now: ‘Rewriting’ Ukraine War History Edition

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Before writing an incredibly superficial piece on Eastern Europe’s geopolitical affairs from the frontlines of Pennsylvania Ave., New York Times White House correspondent Peter Baker might have checked in with his colleague who was actually stationed in Russia and knows what he’s talking about.

Baker joined the obnoxious media chorus this week in disputing virtually every single thing President Trump said recently with regard to the war in Ukraine, including Trump’s characterization of the conflict as something Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky could have avoided and Trump’s labeling of Zelensky as a dictator.

“President Trump is rewriting the history of Russia’s invasion of its smaller neighbor,” Baker wrote on Wednesday. “Ukraine, in this version, is not a victim but a villain. And Mr. Zelensky is not a latter-day Winston Churchill, but a ‘dictator without elections’ who somehow started the war himself and conned America into helping.” He went on to write that Trump had “falsely” accused Zelensky of starting the war and had engaged in a “revision” of historical record that “seems to be laying a predicate for withdrawing support for an ally under attack.”

That annoying thing the media do where they have to have the last word on every disagreement under the guise of calling it a “fact-check”? This is more of that.

If there’s any “revision” in challenging the absurd levels of propaganda that the Biden administration and the media disseminated for the sake of selling that war to the American public, so be it. Almost everything said about it by the people in power advocating to prolong it was a lie. They said it was about “democracy” and “freedom” when it was in reality a long-standing territorial dispute. They said Ukraine could “win” while privately acknowledging that was impossible. They said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was decimating his own country’s economy when it was in fact relatively stable and even strengthening. (Read more from “Here’s How The Media Are Lying Right Now: ‘Rewriting’ Ukraine War History Edition” HERE)

Ukraine Could Be Offered Automatic NATO Membership if Russia Welches on Peace Deal: Report

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Ukraine’s future membership of the NATO alliance may play the role of both carrot and stick to encourage more civilized behavior from Russia in future, a report claims.

Unfortunately for Ukraine itself, which makes a great deal of wanting to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) to guarantee itself against future Russian aggression, it now seems all but impossible as war peace talks begin. While Russia is obviously against the idea, the United States is also reluctant under President Trump, just as it was under President Biden.

Even European states, who are generally the most enthusiastic backers of Kyiv and who say they support membership one day have proven very reluctant to agree to it immediately. Several European states have argued that Ukraine isn’t ready to be a member of organisations like NATO or the European Union and that, in any case, it would be foolhardy to induct a new member that is already at war and partially occupied by a foreign power.

But that NATO question has a place in negotiations nevertheless, says broadcaster NBC, which cites unnamed U.S. talks “officials” who state it can be used as a security guarantee for Ukraine by limiting Russia’s appetite for further adventurism. As reported, under the alleged plan Ukraine would not be given NATO membership now, but a mechanism would be created that would instantly award that status on Kyiv if Russia violated the future Donald Trump-negotiated Ukraine peace deal. (Read more from “Ukraine Could Be Offered Automatic NATO Membership if Russia Welches on Peace Deal: Report” HERE)

White House Warns Zelensky to ‘Tone Down’ Trump Criticism and Sign Rare-Earths Deal as Peace Talk Tensions Simmer; Zelensky Praises ‘Productive Meeting’ With Trump Envoy

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By New York Post. National security adviser Mike Waltz warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday to “tone it down” when it came to his “unacceptable” criticism of President Trump.

Zelensky, 47, has lashed out at Trump, 78, for excluding Kyiv from US-Russia talks held in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and batted down a reported offer for Washington to take 50% ownership of Ukraine’s rare-earth deposits valued at $500 billion.

“For all the administration has done in his first term … and all the United States has done for Ukraine — is just, it’s unacceptable,” Waltz said in a morning appearance on “Fox & Friends.”

“They need to tone it down,” the former Florida Republican congressman added, “and take a hard look and sign that deal.”

In an afternoon White House press briefing, Waltz said Zelensky had lobbed “insults” at the American president.

Waltz also claimed that the proposed rare-earths deal had included “the best security guarantee that they [Ukrainians] could hope for, much more than another pallet of ammunition.” (Read more from “White House Warns Zelensky to ‘Tone Down’ Trump Criticism and Sign Rare-Earths Deal as Peace Talk Tensions Simmer” HERE)

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Zelensky Praises ‘Productive Meeting’ With Trump Envoy Keith Kellogg

By Breitbart. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday he had a “productive meeting” with retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who was acting as President Donald Trump’s envoy for Ukraine and Russia.

The upbeat meeting seemed to scale back a growing confrontation between Zelensky and Trump over bilateral U.S. peace negotiations with Russia.

“I had a productive meeting with Special Envoy Kellogg – a good discussion, many important details. I am grateful to the United States for all the assistance and bipartisan support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” Zelensky said on social media Thursday afternoon.

“It’s important for us – and for the entire free world – that American strength is felt,” the Ukrainian president said.

“We had a detailed conversation about the battlefield situation, how to return our prisoners of war, and effective security guarantees,” he said. (Read more from “Zelensky Praises ‘Productive Meeting’ With Trump Envoy Keith Kellogg” HERE)

Starmer Rebuffs Trump, Reassures Zelensky It’s ‘Perfectly Reasonable’ to Cancel Elections in Wartime

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British Prime Minister immediately offered Volodymyr Zelensky affirmation over his democratic status after President Trump blasted Ukraine for cancelling its elections and enforcing martial law on its citizens.

Sir Keir Starmer spoke to Ukrainian President Zelensky overnight, with his Downing Street office revealing the Prime Minister had told the Ukrainian he is not a dictator and that it had been “perfectly reasonable” to suspend democracy because of the Russian invasion.

The comments follow Donald Trump airing his views on the state of Ukrainian democracy, saying if Ukraine’s leadership wants a seat at the table, the Ukrainian people should be consulted on who they will send to sit at the table. Later remarks were more strident — perhaps in response to Zelensky’s angry answer to the initial comments, and accusing Trump of repeating Russian “disinformation — and called Zelensky a dictator.

President Trump had said: “A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left… I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died”.

These remarks likely come as part of a strategy of pre-positioning by the United States ahead of the coming U.S.-Russia peace talks, and the United Kingdom government was fast to counter-signal against them. Downing Street said of Starmer’s call with Zelensky: “The prime minister spoke to President Zelenskyy this evening and stressed the need for everyone to work together. The prime minister expressed his support for President Zelenskyy as Ukraine’s democratically elected leader”. (Read more from “Starmer Rebuffs Trump, Reassures Zelensky It’s ‘Perfectly Reasonable’ to Cancel Elections in Wartime” HERE)