Be honest, the only things Ukraine can provide for themselves are the troops and the battleground.
The US has supplied most of the money (for the Ukraine state and the military), military equipment and ammo, intel (on the ground and satellite), communications, advanced weapons including the personnel to operate it,
How long would Ukraine have lasted without all the US input?
The conflict would have been over long before now without it.
Commentators claiming insider contacts are revising upward the Ukrainian 'killed in action' and killed to wounded ratio.
Reports say that the Ukrainian wounded are just not being treated and removed from the battlefield in a timely manner leading to a far greater number of deaths than earlier in the conflict.
The rough historic ratio is 3 wounded for every 1 KIA but in this conflict that ratio may now be closer to 1:1.
Some are saying 1.8 million Ukrainian troops killed is conservative, the actual number is much higher.
1 in 6 Ukrainians now saying they know someone killed, That number is astonishing.
The reports of the pre-Alaska talks between the European leaders and Trump look hilarious.
EU leaders said the current lines must be a starting point (to shift backwards over talks). No, the winning side will demand MORE for peace not Less, duh.
They went on to demand Trump give EU/UK and Ukraine security guarantees and Trump to demand from Putin he drop all his tiresome demands and just pay Zelensky the trillion $s he owes him, Trump said 'yeah fine, whatever'.
Trump did say he could offer Putin a minerals deal in Ukraine (what? On land Russia already occupies? haha).
Trump also thinks Putin might be interested in rare earths in Alaska, the reason the US doesn't do that themselves is because the environmental laws in the US are so tough the earths market price would have to be super high to make that profitable, so no, Putin won't be interested.
And that's it really, it's all laughable BS and makes you wonder what Trump and Putin will really be talking about? The Arctic, weapons treaties, and how quickly he can break away from these mad EU/UK bastards probably.
Trump must know by now that Putin doesn't not want to stop the conflict, he just doesn't need to.
Trump also knows by now he has nothing to threaten Putin with, and so he's not going to go up to Putin and present to him all that deluded, idiotic EU/UK BS.
So who's going to Alaska?
Notable additions on the Russian side is the minister of finance and the minister of defence, as well as Kirill Dmitriev head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund.
(Plus Putin, Lavrov)
On the US side is Witkoff (not Kellogg, and no minister of defence Hegseth). Scott Bessent (secretary of the treasury).
(Plus Trump, Vance and Rubio).
So no military people on the US side at all. Odd? Supposed to be all about ceasefires and peace talks isn't it?
On the battlefronts it is looking like Ukraine is sacrificing the city of Pokrovsk in order to stop the breakout north of the city that threatens to flank the 3 cities to the north east (Konstiantynivka, Kramatorsk, Sloviannsk). Further north east on the right flank the Russians (red shaded area) are just 10km from Lyman.
Of note is that Zelensky has sent to the breakout region a brigade from Kiev, reserves that are the last defence for the capital. Never had to do that before that I can remember.
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