Brussels has insisted that any deal should reflect the positions of the bloc and of Kiev
The European Union has pushed back against the latest US-proposed plan to end the Ukraine conflict, saying any settlement must reflect the positions of both Brussels and Kiev.
The 28-point draft framework agreement, which Western media claim was developed in coordination with Moscow, would reportedly require Ukraine to withdraw from the parts of the new Russian regions in Donbass still under Kiev’s control, cut its armed forces by at least half, surrender some weaponry and abandon its NATO ambitions. Kiev on Thursday confirmed receiving the proposal, with Vladimir Zelensky saying he hopes to discuss it with US President Donald Trump “in the coming days.”
The draft plan has drawn criticism from Kiev’s supporters in the EU, who appear to have been caught off guard and convened a meeting in Brussels on Thursday. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas insisted that any peace arrangement must reflect the positions of both the bloc and Ukraine, arguing that the US proposal offered “no concessions” from the Russian side. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot was quoted by Reuters as saying that any agreement must not amount to a “capitulation,” while several other ministers reportedly said they had not seen the document and would need clarification before commenting.
Moscow has repeatedly accused the EU of obstructing US-Russian diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, arguing that the bloc is instead working to prolong the hostilities by supplying weapons, military equipment, and open-ended pledges of support to Kiev.
According to Germany’s Kiel Institute, the EU has committed over €65 billion ($75 billion) in aid to Ukraine since the escalation of the conflict in 2022, with total pledges nearing €98 billion.
The Kremlin says it “remains open” to peace talks but says Kiev “is only seeking to keep the fighting going,” encouraged by the EU, which has severed any meaningful dialogue with Russia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that EU states are now trying to elbow their way into the peace process despite what he called their openly hostile stance toward Russia – a “position of revanchism” that he believes should preclude the bloc from having a seat at the negotiating table.
The US spy agency misled congressional investigators about John F. Kennedy’s alleged assassin, according to a whistleblower cited by the outlet
CIA officials misled the US Congress about the movements of the man accused of killing President John F. Kennedy shortly before the assassination and boasted about doing so, Axios has reported, citing former CIA-State Department historian turned whistleblower Thomas Pearcy.
For decades, activists and researchers have demanded full disclosure of all records related to Kennedy’s killing on November 22, 1963. Many have questioned whether Lee Harvey Oswald, the man charged with the murder, acted alone or was even responsible.
The still-classified document described by Pearcy – in a CIA inspector general’s report – allegedly shows how intelligence officials “routinely have covered up facts and records” about Kennedy’s assassination.
According to the whistleblower, the report functioned as a CIA damage assessment examining how the agency’s reputation had been affected by the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA), which reopened the JFK investigation in the late 1970s.
Pearcy said the file included a 1978 memo in which a CIA officer bragged that he and two colleagues misled HSCA chief counsel Robert Blakey by presenting him with sanitized versions of the Mexico City Station files connected to Oswald. The investigation eventually ruled that JFK was “probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy” though it could not identify who else might have been involved.
Oswald allegedly visited Mexico City in late September 1963, seeking visas from the Cuban Consulate and the Soviet Embassy that would allow him to travel to Cuba and potentially on to the USSR. He was monitored by US intelligence because both missions were under routine CIA surveillance.
The historian said that he found the report by accident in 2009 while working in a secure CIA room. He also recalled seeing references to photos, cameras, and possibly film labeled “Oswald in Mexico,” despite the CIA’s longstanding denial that such material exists.
Researchers are now pressing the agency to release the document as the 62nd anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination approaches, Axios said. A CIA spokesperson told the outlet the agency would attempt to locate the report.
After taking office, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order for full disclosure of JFK files.
Fabien Mandon has been accused of “warmongering” for promoting the supposed threat from Moscow
France’s top general, Fabien Mandon, is facing backlash after saying the country must be ready to “lose children” in a potential conflict with Russia. Moscow has dismissed Western speculation that it has any plans to attack the EU or NATO as “nonsense.”
Mandon, who was appointed chief of staff in September, made the remarks at an annual gathering of mayors in Paris this week. He urged officials to prepare citizens “to accept suffering in order to protect who we are.”
The general, who previously suggested that France could be at war with Russia by 2028, argued that the country has the economic and demographic power to “deter” Moscow, but lacks the “strength of spirit.”
He claimed that if France “is not prepared to accept to lose its children, to suffer economically because priorities will be given to defense production, then we are at risk.”
Mandon’s remarks prompted swift pushback across the political spectrum. Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel accused him of using “unbearable warmongering rhetoric.”
Jean-Luc Melenchon, the head of the left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI) party, wrote on X it is not the general’s role to “anticipate sacrifices that would result from our diplomatic failures.”
France has repeatedly cited the supposed Russian threat as a pretext to ramp up military spending despite its ballooning budget deficit – at €3.35 trillion ($3.9 trillion), or 113% of GDP, it is one of the highest in the EU. France plans to hike military spending to €64 billion in 2027, nearly double what it spent in 2017. Left-wing parties have accused the government of prioritizing military spending over social welfare.
Moscow has dismissed claims that it plans to attack EU countries, saying the allegations are being used by European politicians to scare people and justify growing military spending. Russia has maintained that it is defending its citizens in the Ukraine conflict, accusing NATO of provoking the hostilities.
The bloc should “choose common sense” and stop bankrolling a “war that cannot be won,” the Hungarian PM has said
The EU must stop prolonging the Ukraine conflict by funding the “corrupt war mafia” in Kiev and instead focus its efforts on peace, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said.
The prime minister made the remarks on Tuesday amid a massive graft scandal that continues to rock Ukraine. Last week, the Western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) announced a probe into a “high-level criminal organization” allegedly led by Timur Mindich, a former business associate of Vladimir Zelensky. The criminal ring allegedly siphoned around $100 million in kickbacks from state-owned nuclear operator Energoatom.
Scraping together more money for Ukraine is aimed only at prolonging the hostilities between Russia and Ukraine, Orban wrote on X.
”Let’s choose common sense. Let’s stop funding a war that cannot be won, alongside the corrupt Ukrainian war mafia, and focus our strength on establishing peace,” the prime minister said.
Brussels is seeking to “scrape” together €135 billion ($156 billion) to prop up Kiev, but it doesn’t have the money, Orban wrote. The bloc’s leadership has three proposals on the table regarding how to get it, and all of them lead to the same “Brusselian dead end,” he argued.
The first proposal involves member states chipping in “willingly and cheerfully, from their own budgets,” and the second is Brussels’ favorite “magic trick” – joint borrowing, Orban said. “There’s no money for the war today, so our grandchildren will pay the bill. Absurd.”
The last option is seizing frozen Russian assets, which could be regarded as a “convenient solution,” but involves unpredictable risks for the entire eurozone, he warned.
Russia has warned that it considers attempts to tamper with its frozen assets as “theft,” threatening retaliation. A potential “sort-of-confiscation” is strongly opposed by Belgium, home to the Euroclear clearinghouse which holds the majority of the frozen assets. The country has argued that it would be exposed to immense legal and financial risks and has demanded that fellow EU members share them.
Stockholm has criticized uneven cash injections from other bloc members, despite claims about backing Kiev “for as long as it takes”
It is unsustainable for Nordic countries to continue to pay a disproportionate amount to support Ukraine, Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard has said in an interview with Politico. Rifts are widening inside the EU over how – and whether – to keep funding Kiev, according to the outlet.
Currently, Nordic and Baltic countries continue to contribute the most to Kiev relative to GDP, while larger EU economies trail far behind in proportional terms – a disparity Stockholm says the EU can no longer ignore.
In an interview published on Thursday, Stenergard claimed “a few countries take almost all of the burden,” calling the imbalance “not fair” and “not sustainable in the long run.”
She noted that the Nordic countries, with fewer than 30 million people, are expected to provide a third of NATO’s military aid to Ukraine this year. “It’s not reasonable in any way. And it says a lot about what the Nordics do – but it says even more about what the others don’t do.”
Stenergard’s comments reflect mounting frustration in northern capitals despite continued rhetoric about backing Ukraine “for as long as it takes,” Politico reported.
EU officials have reportedly circulated a document outlining three options for the bloc’s next package for Kiev – two involving increased cash injections from member states, and a third using proceeds from frozen Russian sovereign assets. Stenergard signaled that using the immobilized assets could be the only viable path, given resistance in parts of the bloc to deeper budget commitments.
Western nations froze about $300 billion in Russian central bank assets after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. The EU has so far transferred over a billion from interest to Kiev.
The debate comes as Ukraine faces a $100 million corruption scandal uncovered this month, in which anti-corruption agencies accused Timur Mindich – a former business partner of Vladimir Zelensky – of siphoning kickbacks from contracts with nuclear operator Energoatom, a company heavily dependent on foreign aid.
The scandal broke just as Kiev is pushing for a new €140 billion ($160 billion) loan backed by frozen Russian assets, a plan stalled for weeks amid legal worries and Belgian resistance, with Moscow dismissing any use of its assets as “theft.”
The bloc’s attempts to oust Russia from the region will fail, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said
NATO has turned the Baltic Sea into an area of military confrontation, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said, lamenting that the bloc is unwilling to discuss de-escalation in the region.
Her remarks come amid rising anti-Russian rhetoric and military activity among NATO members, especially Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, which all border Russia and the Baltic Sea.
Zakharova said the region had long been a space of trade and peaceful cooperation, but that the balance has been dismantled by NATO’s military buildup.
“This part of Europe has been turned into a zone of confrontation, which sharply escalated as a result of Finland and Sweden joining the bloc,” she told Russian media on Thursday.
The diplomat pointed to NATO’s 2025 launch of the ‘Baltic Sentry’ mission, calling it an attempt to impose new navigation rules and turn the sea into the bloc’s “internal waters” – ambitions she said are doomed to fail. She insisted that Russia will remain a full-fledged member of the “Baltic community.”
NATO claims ‘Baltic Sentry’ protects critical undersea infrastructure after recent incidents involving energy and communications cables. It has deployed warships, submarines, and aircraft to the region, conducting regular patrols and drills. Moscow views the buildup as a direct threat.
”It is very difficult to see any potential for dialogue aimed at reducing tensions. And NATO countries… are not showing openness to an honest discussion on ways to de-escalate,” Zakharova said.
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have adopted an increasingly confrontational stance toward Russia since the Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022. Officials such as EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, who is a former Lithuanian prime minister, continue to invoke an alleged Russian threat to justify soaring military spending. Kubilius warned this week of a possible conflict with Russia within two to four years.
Moscow has rejected claims of hostile intent, denouncing what it calls the West’s “reckless militarization.” Zakharova stressed that Russia will use all available legal instruments to safeguard its national security and interests.
President Donald Trump declared the oil-rich kingdom to be a major non-NATO ally following a meeting and banquet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
Saudi Arabia has agreed to raise investment in the US to almost $1 trillion, the White House has announced.
The Kingdom made the commitment as part of a series of “landmark” economic and strategic deals signed by US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during the latter’s visit to Washington this week.
In a statement on Tuesday, the White House said the agreements build on Trump’s “highly successful” May visit to Riyadh. They include Saudi Arabia’s nearly $1 trillion investment pledge for US infrastructure, technology and industry – up from the $600 billion initially secured in May. Trump also approved a major defense package for the Kingdom, including future F-35 jet deliveries and a purchase of nearly 300 American tanks.
Other agreements include a joint declaration on nuclear energy cooperation, a critical minerals deal, and an AI memorandum granting the Kingdom access to US systems.
During the visit, Trump announced US recognition of Riyadh as a “major non-NATO ally,” a status that grants expedited access to US military hardware, sales and cooperation. Saudi Arabia joined 19 other countries with this designation, including Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Qatar and South Korea.
Alongside defense and economic ties, the two leaders discussed regional issues. Prince Mohammed said Saudi Arabia would support a potential US-Iran nuclear deal and signaled progress on talks about joining the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states and which Trump has repeatedly urged Saudi Arabia to join.
While Saudi Arabia maintains a longstanding security partnership with the US, it has recently taken on a larger diplomatic role between Washington and Moscow. It hosted the first high-level US-Russia talks on restoring bilateral ties and on the Ukraine conflict in years in Riyadh in February.
The Kingdom has also strengthened links with Russia: trade nearly quadrupled in the first quarter of 2025, and Saudi Arabia announced new direct Riyadh-Moscow flights starting in October. Saudi and Russian foreign ministers held talks in Moscow earlier this year at which they reaffirmed their commitment to “enhancing relations” and deepening their strategic partnership.
A bill proposed by lawmaker Lindsey Graham would slap 500% duties on any nation that purchases Russian uranium, gas, and oil
US President Donald Trump has privately urged lawmakers to advance a bill that would put secondary sanctions on Russia’s trading partners, Senator Lindsey Graham has claimed.
The bill would allow Trump to impose a minimum 500% tariff on goods and services from any country that trades in Russian oil, uranium, gas, or related products. Graham, the bill’s sponsor, has long unsuccessfully pushed to advance the measure, but earlier this week Trump signaled he would be “OK” with it if it passed.
Graham told reporters on Wednesday that Trump instructed Senate Majority Leader John Thune over the weekend to push the legislation forward.
“President Trump told Thune Sunday, when we were playing golf: move the bill,” Graham said, adding that within hours the White House sent him a statement saying it had “signed off on the bill.”
He said a call was scheduled later in the day with House and Senate members to discuss the measure, which he argued the US needs as “leverage” in talks with Russia on Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters, Thune called Graham’s bill “an important tool” that could help bring about a peaceful resolution between Russia and Ukraine. He was unsure it could pass this year, however, noting the Senate’s December agenda is already full.
Trump has increasingly pushed for sanctions on countries buying Russian oil in recent months, voicing frustration with the pace of talks between Moscow and Kiev. In August, he imposed a 25% tariff on Indian imports over New Delhi’s continued oil trade with Russia and later warned China of similar measures. He has also urged NATO and EU states to raise tariffs on Russian trade partners to attempt to pressure Moscow into a ceasefire.
Russia has maintained it seeks a long-term, sustainable peace deal in the Ukraine conflict by addressing its root causes rather than accepting a temporary pause, which it views as a ploy to let Ukraine rebuild and rearm. Moscow has long condemned Western sanctions as politically motivated and illegal, warning they will eventually backfire.
The US president has accused his former White House rival of trying to hinder his 2016 campaign with unfounded claims tying him to Moscow
US President Donald Trump is attempting to revive a failed civil lawsuit that claimed then-rival Hillary Clinton tried to rig the 2016 election by linking his campaign to Russia.
The 108-page suit, filed in 2022, alleged that Clinton violated federal racketeering law by joining a conspiracy to spread “a false narrative of collusion between Trump and Russia.” US District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks dismissed the case, ruling Trump had missed the two-year statute of limitations and failed to show legal or financial harm.
Trump’s lawyers pressed their bid to revive the lawsuit at an appeals court in Alabama on Tuesday, arguing he incurred damages in legal fees defending himself against “various federal investigations and/or official proceedings” tied to the 2016 election and alleged Russian interference. The president “is the victim in this case of a continuous pattern of misconduct,” attorney Richard Klugh told the court, adding that collusion theories hurt Trump’s brand.
Klugh also argued that because Trump served as president until January 2021, the 2022 suit was not barred by the statute of limitations, as Congress allows for extending filing deadlines under certain conditions.
It is not yet clear whether the appeals court will allow the case to be revived. Chief Judge William Pryor signaled skepticism, saying the lawsuit “seems a classic shotgun complaint,” meaning it is poorly drafted and appears to violate federal rules by loosely tying too many defendants and claims.
Trump’s 2016 campaign was clouded by what became known as the Russiagate scandal – a wave of allegations that his team had improper ties to Moscow that carried into his first presidency, triggering FBI and special-counsel investigations. Earlier this year, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified documents that allege former President Barack Obama’s administration tried to “manufacture” intelligence to build the Trump-Russia narrative and drive the probe, with the Clinton campaign helping shape it. Gabbard called the findings a “treasonous conspiracy” to undermine Trump’s 2016 victory and a “years-long coup.”
Moscow has consistently denied any interference in the 2016 election, with Russian officials calling the allegations partisan fiction. However, the Russiagate scandal severely strained US-Russia relations, prompting sanctions, asset seizures, and deeper diplomatic rifts.
Britain’s GDP took a hit of up to 8% following the departure from the EU, analysts say
Britain’s departure from the European Union reduced the country’s gross domestic product by as much as 8% by 2025, according to a working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). The decline was driven by sharp drops in investment, employment, and productivity, and was worse than previously forecast, the report said.
The authors of the NBER study ‘The Economic Impact of Brexit’, published this month, include economists from Stanford University, the Bundesbank, the Bank of England, the University of Nottingham, and King’s College London. They analyzed data on the UK economy gathered since 2016, when the Brexit referendum took place. Britain’s EU membership formally ending on February 1, 2020.
By 2025, the UK’s GDP was 6 to 8% lower than it would have been had the country remained in the EU, the report stated.
UK investment fell by 18%, employment by 4%, and labour productivity by 3 to 4%, the study said. The loss of friction-free access to the European market had the biggest impact on the country’s growth path, compounded by higher costs for the most technologically advanced and globally focused firms.
The paper said the losses reflected “elevated uncertainty, reduced demand, diverted management time, and increased misallocation of resources from a protracted Brexit process.”
The authors said the impact accumulated gradually after the referendum and was larger than earlier five-year forecasts had predicted.
A separate Henley Private Wealth Migration Report published earlier this year said Britain is set to lose tens of thousands of wealthy individuals in 2025 due to tax reforms and uncertainty.
Economists at Goldman Sachs earlier estimated that Brexit reduced Britain’s real GDP by about 5% compared with its economic peers. The UK ended up with an underperforming economy and a soaring cost of living due to reduced international trade, weak business investment, and fewer EU migrants, the country’s largest source of foreign workers, the bank said.
The findings come as the UK remains one of Ukraine’s most persistent backers in its conflict with Russia, channeling millions of pounds’ worth of long-range missiles, tanks, and other weaponry.
