The package, worth over $11 billion, features HIMARS, ATACMS missiles and drones
The US Department of War has approved $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, marking the largest US weapons package ever for the island, following a $330 million deal in November for spare and repair parts for aircraft.
The deal includes eight separate purchases covering 82 HIMARS rocket systems and 420 ATACMS missiles worth over $4 billion, anti-tank missiles, anti-armor missiles, loitering suicide drones, howitzers, military software and parts for other equipment, according to details released by both governments and Taiwan’s defense ministry.
China, which views the self-governing island as part of its territory, has yet to comment on the deal, but has repeatedly condemned Washington’s continued military cooperation with Taiwan.
The island’s defense ministry said purchases should help Taiwan maintain “sufficient self-defense capabilities” as the US continues to assist it in building “strong deterrent power” and leveraging “asymmetric warfare advantages,” which it described as the “foundation for maintaining regional peace and stability.”
The ministry said the package was at the congressional notification stage, when lawmakers can block or modify the sale if they choose.
In a series of separate statements detailing the deal, the Pentagon said the proposed sales would advance US national, economic and security interests by backing Taiwan’s efforts to modernize its armed forces and maintain what it called a “credible defensive capability.”
Pushed by the US, the island has been ramping up military purchases in recent years and the latest arms sale announcement is the second under US President Donald Trump since he returned to office.
Officially, the US supports the One-China policy, stating that Taiwan, which has maintained de facto self-rule since 1949 but never officially declared independence from Beijing, is an integral part of the country.
However, Washington has maintained contact with the authorities in Taipei, continued to supply arms to Taiwan and promised to defend the island militarily in the event of a conflict with the mainland.
China has said repeatedly that its goal is “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan, but has warned that Beijing will not hesitate to use force should it formally declare independence.
Moscow has condemned all proposals to use its sovereign funds to support Ukraine as “theft” and warned of legal retaliation
EU leaders have failed to back a controversial plan to steal sovereign Russian assets to finance Ukraine’s economy and military.
Following a divisive 16-hour summit in Brussels on Thursday, no backing was secured for the plan which Moscow has denounced as outright theft and warned would trigger legal retaliation.
The bloc’s leaders were locked into talks that went into the night, after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen demanded that nobody be allowed to leave until financing for Ukraine has been secured. Ukraine faces an estimated $160 billion fiscal shortfall over the next two years.
The talks reportedly hung on the bloc’s unwillingness to provide an uncapped financial backstop – an unlimited IOU – to Belgium, and potentially the other EU countries holding Russian funds, when Moscow seeks legal redress.
Bloc members have long debated tapping Russian central bank funds estimated at around €210 billion ($246 billion) as part of a ‘reparations loan’ to Kiev (to understand why that is a misnomer and part of EU spin, read here) which it will have to repay only if Russia agrees to pay war damages.
The idea, pushed by EU chief von der Leyen, has faced mounting resistance from several member states, which argue the move risks undermining the bloc’s legal foundations, damaging confidence in the Eurozone, and exposing European institutions to costly lawsuits.
Belgium, where most of the assets are held via the Euroclear settlement system, has been a particularly vehement critic of the plan, demanding that legal risks be shared among other EU members.
Disagreements have been so intense that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Wednesday that the Russian assets issue “will not be on the table” at all during the leaders’ meeting. The official agenda also does not explicitly mention Russian assets, saying only that EU leaders “will discuss the latest developments in Ukraine and issues that require urgent EU action.”
EU sanctions normally require unanimous approval, giving any single member state a veto. To avoid that, the bloc last week invoked controversial emergency legislation – already the subject of a legal challenge by the European Parliament – to lock the assets in place temporarily, arguing that any subsequent steps can be approved separately by a qualified majority of 55% member states representing at least 65% of the EU’s population.
Moscow has warned that any attempts to seize its assets will constitute “theft” and violate international law, adding that the move would trigger retaliatory measures and legal action.
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Envoys are expected to meet Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who held discussions with officials from Kiev earlier this week
A Russian diplomatic delegation is expected to travel to Florida this week for talks with the US representatives involved in President Donald Trump’s push to broker a peace agreement in the Ukraine conflict, according to media reports.
The delegation will reportedly be led by senior negotiator Kirill Dmitriev and is scheduled to meet at the weekend with US special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in Miami, Politico and Axios reported, citing sources familiar with the plans. Witkoff and Kushner spent this week in Germany holding discussions with Ukrainian representatives on possible security guarantees for Kiev.
A separate Ukrainian team headed by National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov is also expected to visit Miami later this week, though the reports stressed that no meeting involving all three sides is planned.
Kiev and its European backers have been urging Washington to soften or revise its initial peace proposal, which media reports say addressed several of Russia’s long-standing concerns.
Moscow has avoided commenting on negotiations in which it is not directly involved, repeatedly stating that it can only assess proposals delivered through proper channels. Russian officials have emphasized that any settlement must tackle what they describe as the root causes of the conflict, including the expansion of the Western military presence in Ukraine and Kiev’s discriminatory policies toward ethnic Russians.
Russian forces currently retain the upper hand on the battlefield, with President Vladimir Putin recently saying that accumulated experience in breaking through Ukrainian defenses “allows us to increase the pace of advancement in strategic directions.”
Speaking at a Defense Ministry meeting on Wednesday, Putin blamed the escalation of the conflict on former US President Joe Biden, arguing his team had expected a quick victory over Russia. European leaders, he added, “instantly joined the efforts of the previous American administration in the hope they would benefit from demolishing our nation” and avenge historical grievances against Russia.
A controversial vote under dubious legal circumstances is set to herald a new era in which Brussels destroys its own reputation
It is crunch time for Ursula von der Leyen and her Brussels-based cabal who have attempted to bend and break EU law in order to force through a dubious legal claim for the use of sovereign Russian wealth to further fund Ukraine’s military. Kiev is long past broke, owes the EU some €45 billion and faces a fiscal shortage of €70 billion for the next year, and is suffering a slow and painful frontline collapse.
Moscow has long described the EU’s attack on its assets as “theft,” the IMF and European Central Bank both oppose the move, and the ratings agency Fitch has already issued a downgrade warning to Euroclear, the clearing house at centre of the scandal.
The stakes
Von der Leyen, along with her compatriot German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, have managed to bring what is widely regarded as a potentially disastrous initiative to an EU vote under dubious circumstances which, if it fails, will leave the two German politicians’ reputations in ruins.
Merz has been at the megaphone this week while von der Leyen has pressed the flesh with bloc members. In the past 48 hours, the former chairman of the Blackrock Germany board has declared the ‘pax Americana’ is over, compared Russian President Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler (Merz’s grandfather was a Nazi), and warned of direct NATO-Russia conflict.
However, it could be worse. If the vote to use Russian assets to finance Kiev’s military is passed, it will permanently damage the EU’s reputation, spell the end of any Russia-EU cooperation for decades while triggering a global legal onslaught.
A slew of cases will be opened in the bloc, not least by Belgium, which has protested against the EU attempts to get its hands on some €180 billion of Russian sovereign wealth held in the Belgian clearing house Euroclear.
Russia has also begun legal proceedings in a Moscow arbitration court for damages. Some €280 billion of assets belonging to countries deemed “unfriendly” by Moscow, presently held in type-C deposits in Russia, could be seized in retaliation for the European attack on Russia’s funds, as well as a wave of litigation potentially targeting all complicit institutions in every major global financial hub.
Death and “pax Americana”
The European option also ignores the military reality in Donbass and Ukraine, by seeking to pour billions into continuing a war that Kiev is undoubtedly losing. US President Donald Trump’s team, however, have proposed a different mechanism which Russia has not outright rejected, by which the Russian funds in question are used for an investment vehicle. Such a mechanism could have a very positive impact on the investment climate in a post-conflict Ukraine, given the rampant and endemic corruption associated with the country and in particular Vladimir Zelensky’s inner circle.
Effectively what we are witnessing is the European Union rejecting Washington while trying to force on Kiev a militaristic future which only promises years of warfare. The US, which let us remember initiated this entire round of diplomacy, has a proposal on the table that could secure a stable and lasting peace, offer security guarantees to all parties involved, and have a positive impact on the investment climate in a country that will need unprecedented investment.
While you may have read that the European Union has already taken an indefinite hold over Russia’s assets in lieu of reparations to Ukraine, neither of these claims is true.
The EU has misused article 122 of its constitution to assert a temporary hold over Russian assets for as long as they can prove that the conflict in Ukraine poses or threatens to pose an economic risk to the bloc. There is no indefinite freeze on Russian assets for reparations to speak of.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever has spoken of the EU “stealing” Russian assets. Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Rueben has already described the EU tactics as “a declaration of war.” Slovakia’s Robert Fico, who was shot at close range by a pro-Ukraine activist, has claimed Brussels is only “prolonging the war.” Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has also refused to support financing Ukraine.
Italy, Malta, and others are also said to be firmly against the plot to steal Russia’s assets and are advocating for a different option.
The vote
Though the matter is regarded as a foreign policy issue involving the assets of a non-member of the bloc and would normally require unanimity to pass, von der Leyen has managed force a vote under qualified majority voting.
This means that 15 of the 27 member states, and/or states representing 65% of the EU’s population must vote in favor in order to pass the ruling. Eight votes against could be enough to force von der Leyen to have to go back to EU taxpayers, already suffering and drifting to the left and right, to seek lining for Ukraine’s donated war chest.
Should the reparations loan option be defeated or removed from the table, the joint debt option, whereby EU member countries must borrow money for Ukraine, to be repaid by the countries themselves, will arise, requiring unanimity to pass.
A 16-year-old student attempted to bring a bomb into an administrative building after apparently being duped by scammers, the agency said
Russian law enforcement has foiled a Ukrainian “terrorist attack” in southern Rostov Region, after police detained a teen who attempted to bring a homemade explosive device into a city administration building, the Federal Security Service (FSB) has said. It added that the girl had apparently been targeted by online scammers.
In a statement on Thursday, the FSB said police stopped the 16-year-old student in central Volgodonsk after officers became suspicious of her large backpack. Bomb disposal specialists later confirmed that it contained an improvised explosive device with a yield roughly equivalent to 10 kg of TNT, the agency said. The device was packed with screws, nuts and nails intended as shrapnel and fitted with an electronic timing mechanism.
The student told investigators she had collected the backpack from a hidden stash on the outskirts of Volgodonsk, the FSB said. The agency added that her testimony indicated she had been duped by online scammers about a month earlier and narrowly avoided becoming a “suicide bomber.”
The FSB also released a video of the demining operation, showing an officer in a heavy blast-resistant suit approaching the backpack placed on a city square and then detonating it from a safe distance.
The agency stated the planned “terrorist attack” had been prepared by the “security services of the Kiev regime,” adding that it was foiled due to heightened counter-terrorism measures. Earlier this week, the agency warned that Kiev was increasingly relying on phone scam operations to recruit Russian citizens, mainly teenagers and the elderly, to carry out terrorist acts.
Ukraine has on numerous occasions attempted to carry out terrorist attacks inside Russia, including plots targeting government officials, military commanders and opinion leaders, as well as sabotage operations against critical infrastructure.
A 16-year-old student attempted to bring a bomb into an administrative building after apparently being duped by scammers, the agency said
Russian law enforcement has foiled a Ukrainian “terrorist attack” in southern Rostov Region, after police detained a teen who attempted to bring a homemade explosive device into a city administration building, the Federal Security Service (FSB) has said. It added that the girl had apparently been targeted by online scammers.
In a statement on Thursday, the FSB said police stopped the 16-year-old student in central Volgodonsk after officers became suspicious of her large backpack. Bomb disposal specialists later confirmed that it contained an improvised explosive device with a yield roughly equivalent to 10 kg of TNT, the agency said. The device was packed with screws, nuts and nails intended as shrapnel and fitted with an electronic timing mechanism.
The student told investigators she had collected the backpack from a hidden stash on the outskirts of Volgodonsk, the FSB said. The agency added that her testimony indicated she had been duped by online scammers about a month earlier and narrowly avoided becoming a “suicide bomber.”
The FSB also released a video of the demining operation, showing an officer in a heavy blast-resistant suit approaching the backpack placed on a city square and then detonating it from a safe distance.
The agency stated the planned “terrorist attack” had been prepared by the “security services of the Kiev regime,” adding that it was foiled due to heightened counter-terrorism measures. Earlier this week, the agency warned that Kiev was increasingly relying on phone scam operations to recruit Russian citizens, mainly teenagers and the elderly, to carry out terrorist acts.
Ukraine has on numerous occasions attempted to carry out terrorist attacks inside Russia, including plots targeting government officials, military commanders and opinion leaders, as well as sabotage operations against critical infrastructure.
Kiev’s forces targeted three cities in Rostov Region overnight, according to the local governor
Ukrainian drones have attacked multiple cities in Rostov Region in southern Russia, killing civilians and damaging residential and port infrastructure, Governor Yury Slyusar has said.
According to the regional head, the cities of Rostov-on-Don, Bataysk, and Taganrog came under attack early Thursday morning. “Unfortunately, as a result of the UAV strikes, civilians were killed and injured,” Slyusar wrote on social media.
In Rostov, a drone strike on the city’s port set a cargo vessel on fire. Two crew members were killed and three others were injured. The blaze was extinguished after spreading across an area of about 20 square meters, the governor said.
In the nearby city of Bataysk, two private houses caught fire following drone strikes. Seven people were wounded, with three rushed to hospital. One of them later died from their injuries, Slyusar said.
Emergency services also reported damage to civilian infrastructure in both cities. In Rostov, a newly built high-rise apartment complex in the western part of the city was damaged, though no casualties were recorded.
The governor offered condolences to the families of those killed and wished a speedy recovery to the injured. He said municipal commissions would document all damage and that the authorities would provide assistance to those affected.
The Russian Defense Ministry said air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 77 Ukrainian drones overnight between 11pm and 7am Moscow time. Of these, 31 were shot down over Bryansk Region, 11 over Crimea and the Black Sea, four over Belgorod, and three over Rostov.
Russian officials have previously accused Kiev of deliberately targeting civilian sites, linking the surge in Ukrainian attacks to growing US pressure on Vladimir Zelensky to accept a peace deal with Russia that would require concessions Kiev has so far refused to make.
Russia has conducted its own strikes on military-related Ukrainian infrastructure for months, saying the attacks are retaliation for Kiev’s “terrorist” raids and aim to degrade Ukraine’s drone and weapons production capabilities.
Kiev’s forces targeted three cities in Rostov Region overnight, according to the local governor
Ukrainian drones have attacked multiple cities in Rostov Region in southern Russia, killing civilians and damaging residential and port infrastructure, Governor Yury Slyusar has said.
According to the regional head, the cities of Rostov-on-Don, Bataysk, and Taganrog came under attack early Thursday morning. “Unfortunately, as a result of the UAV strikes, civilians were killed and injured,” Slyusar wrote on social media.
In Rostov, a drone strike on the city’s port set a cargo vessel on fire. Two crew members were killed and three others were injured. The blaze was extinguished after spreading across an area of about 20 square meters, the governor said.
In the nearby city of Bataysk, two private houses caught fire following drone strikes. Seven people were wounded, with three rushed to hospital. One of them later died from their injuries, Slyusar said.
Emergency services also reported damage to civilian infrastructure in both cities. In Rostov, a newly built high-rise apartment complex in the western part of the city was damaged, though no casualties were recorded.
The governor offered condolences to the families of those killed and wished a speedy recovery to the injured. He said municipal commissions would document all damage and that the authorities would provide assistance to those affected.
The Russian Defense Ministry said air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 77 Ukrainian drones overnight between 11pm and 7am Moscow time. Of these, 31 were shot down over Bryansk Region, 11 over Crimea and the Black Sea, four over Belgorod, and three over Rostov.
Russian officials have previously accused Kiev of deliberately targeting civilian sites, linking the surge in Ukrainian attacks to growing US pressure on Vladimir Zelensky to accept a peace deal with Russia that would require concessions Kiev has so far refused to make.
Russia has conducted its own strikes on military-related Ukrainian infrastructure for months, saying the attacks are retaliation for Kiev’s “terrorist” raids and aim to degrade Ukraine’s drone and weapons production capabilities.
The US president has touted his administration’s record in a prime-time national address
US President Donald Trump has delivered a prime-time address to his nation, highlighting domestic policy, the economy, border enforcement, and foreign policy successes while making no mention of rising tensions with Venezuela or his efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict.
Speaking from the White House on Wednesday night, Trump said he had “inherited a mess” when he returned to office nearly a year ago and claimed his administration had rapidly reversed what he described as the economic decline, border chaos, and global instability which had prevailed under his predecessor, Joe Biden.
Trump repeatedly pointed to inflation, which he blamed on the previous administration, arguing that prices had surged to record levels before falling sharply under his leadership. He cited declines in the cost of gasoline, groceries, air travel, and housing-related expenses, while claiming wages were now rising faster than inflation for the first time in years.
On immigration, Trump said his administration had secured the southern border “starting on day one,” claiming that no illegal migrants had been allowed into the country for months and that criminal deportations had restored safety to major cities. He credited executive action rather than new legislation for what he called a dramatic turnaround at the border.
The president highlighted tariffs as a central pillar of his economic strategy, saying they had driven record investment back into the United States and fueled job creation entirely within the private sector. Trump claimed his policies had attracted trillions of dollars in new investment and sparked a manufacturing revival across industries ranging from automobiles to artificial intelligence.
Trump also outlined plans for sweeping tax cuts, prescription drug price reductions, healthcare reform, and aggressive energy expansion, declaring that the US was entering an economic boom “the likes of which the world has never seen.”
On foreign policy, Trump asserted that his administration had “settled eight wars,” eliminated the “Iranian nuclear threat,” and brought “for the first time in 3,000 years peace to the Middle East.”
Trump described the US military as the strongest in the world and announced a one-time “Warrior Dividend” payment of $1,776 to more than one million service members, funded in part by tariff revenues.
In conclusion, Trump pledged to always “put America first” and said the country was once again respected globally and poised for a historic comeback ahead of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence next year.
