Ukraine and the World Daily Update May 15, 2025

Today is a big day as peace negotiations are to be held in Turkey between Putin and Zelensky, only that Putin is not going to show up (I guess).

The trio Macron-Merz-Starmer has staked a significant portion of their credibility on this negotiation, both by trying to portray themselves as the facilitators and by being very tough in their words against Putin.

“If Putin doesn’t want peace, then we will force him to it” is roughly what they have said in slightly different versions.

Putin has several options to test how tough the trio really is – he could fall ill, he could have an accident, or he could simply be tough and stay at home watching Netflix, hoping that the tough trio will back down.

The Tough Trio has a few different options – they could try to dress up the pig and say that now they are hitting Russia with sanctions, increasing import tariffs on Russian raisins by a whopping 5%. It won’t fool us, and it won’t fool Putin.

Or they could express regret that Putin got tonsillitis on the same day as the meeting, wish him a speedy recovery, send flowers, and apologize, saying that anyone can get sick but there are new plans for a meeting in October.

Or they could give Ukraine a free pass to flood Russia with drones, sink the Kerch Bridge, send all the Taurus missiles, and deploy troops to the Belarus border – which would send a signal to Putin that we are starting to get impatient.

But unfortunately, the Tough Trio’s actions have a bit more variety than that – if they don’t take a tough stance against Putin today in May 2025, the risk is very high that we will take a step closer to a global conflict.

From Team Trump, there is fantastic conflicting information as usual, now Kellog has started to waver but Trump is going to Turkey today to “hang out with Zelensky and Putin.”

To me, it looks like they are keeping it open and waiting to see what Putin does…

Then it will be the same – if Putin doesn’t show up and Trump starts accusing Zelensky again, who is the one waiting for Putin, of not wanting peace – then we are heading towards increased global conflict.

Because if the West doesn’t take a tough stance, then Putin can continue to do whatever he wants, right?

He could declare a ceasefire over his parade, which Ukraine reluctantly respected because the West forced them to.

Then he could start bombing again when the West said there was a “30-day ceasefire from May 12” that everyone must respect.

Then he could propose peace talks in Turkey and not show up.

And nothing will have consequences – just like when he fooled Macron and Scholz into believing he wouldn’t start the war in 2022.

Or when in 2023 he fooled the USA into getting back all of his trapped VDV forces and stopping Ukraine from droning the oil industry or launching attacks into Russia.

Or that he can travel around to all sorts of places even though he is a wanted war criminal in The Hague.

Putin has now also prepared for a summer offensive AND has a strategic reserve against the Baltics. If the West continues to be accommodating – does anyone believe Putin won’t start this offensive?

Since January, Macron, Merz, Starmer, and Trump have essentially only stopped Ukraine from bombing refineries, halted hostilities for a month, not bombed the parade, and shown weakness towards Putin.

On May 9, Putin projected immense strength for the axis of evil, including China. If Xi and Putin had to dodge drones – not so much.

In their attempts to mediate peace, the West has ONCE AGAIN undermined Ukraine, for what time I no longer know…

Trump also halted all weapon deliveries for a few weeks, but now he blames everything on Defense Minister Hegseth 🀣🀣

Ukraine has done everything right and exactly what we asked them to do, and Putin has violated everything – and he is the aggressor engaging in genocide.

In terms of crimes against humanity, this is on par with the worst post-WW2 wars.

We’ll see, I’m not hopeful, and if it turns out that the Tough Trio turned bright red and backed down as soon as Putin made some violent gestures in the air, it will send completely wrong signals to the analysts at Frunzenskaya.

This war cannot go on indefinitely for Ukraine, and every time in three years when they start to gain a little momentum, we ruin it for them 😑

Ukraine has offensive capacity and they intend to reclaim their country, but they are not allowed by us – quite strange, but we have already analyzed this to death.

Continuing with Thyberg

After all, there is an election in a year, and for an opposition party to have this exploding in their faces is quite high risk – hard to believe, actually?

On May 8, he received the appointment, and many newspapers reported on the press release just before lunch.

Government Offices

https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2025/05/regeringen-utser-tobias-thyberg-till-nationell-sakerhetsradgivare

DI

https://www.di.se/nyheter/han-blir-ny-sakerhetsradgivare-efter-landerholm

33 minutes after the press release, an email with his pictures arrived at the government offices/ministry and to the editorial offices of newspapers.

On May 8, DN asked about the pictures, which they had been informed about, like all other editorial offices, only that they took the bait without thinking.

In the evening, Thyberg responded to DN via text message and he resigned.

I assume that the newspapers are open with the tips, and then SΓ„PO (Swedish Security Service) can handle their forensics.

Either we have a political scandal of epic proportions that makes Watergate seem sly, or an influence from a foreign power with contacts deep into our soft spots, as those 33 minutes are crucial here – then one has an ear to the ground about what the government offices are up to.

It was also stated in an SVT article

“Few know that the Prime Minister’s State Secretary is responsible for this appointment, so the fact that the email was sent to him indicates a good understanding of the process.”

https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/mejlet-med-thybergs-nakenbilder-skickades-direkt-efter-utnamningen

Anyway, it seems that the first detained diplomat who “was released but still suspected,” and as SVT could report, had a possible connection to the Thyberg case, only had the name as stated in the email address. So the perpetrator managed to involve both DN and SΓ„PO in the influence operation.

It’s a bit exhausting.

China bought Trump coins for about 300 million USD at the same time as there was a trade meeting between the countries, and Trump promised to pause tariffs against China. A bribe that outshines the Clintons’ pay-to-play and the various board positions of the Biden family almost?

But it signals that it was crucial for China to progress in the negotiations, as otherwise they could have just gone to the media and said that Trump demanded a bribe, humiliating him a bit.

So behind the scenes in China, it might not be very cheerful right now as they sit nibbling on Peking duck?

Both China and the USA have also increased their subversive activities against each other –

-Trump seems to have had a fairly successful meeting in Saudi, he said the right things and emphasized a lot that the region should develop on its own without the constant democratization attempts from the West, and now Trump is also going to address Syria as the other MENA countries want, so that the country moves in the right direction.

-India-Pakistan will probably continue, but if nothing else, China has now strengthened its enmity with India, if it even existed, the exports to India went to zero.

-The UK got a trade deal with the USA they have long wanted, but which Trump 1 and Biden never gave them. Almost by chance, they have also taken a tough stance against China, which China does not like (link from MXT on johanno1.se)

https://omni.se/kina-varnar-storbritannien-linjerar-er-med-usa/a/dR1xLJ

-So, we really have the EU left, and China seems to have lifted the sanctions they had against our MEPs as the only news. In the pipeline is that the EU was the adult in the room and offered to buy $50 billion more from the USA, so it’s not unreasonable that behind closed doors there are demands aimed at China?

And it will be difficult for the EU to say no because China showed its teeth on May 9th and was caught sending weapons to Ukraine recently.

(One can guess that the information from Ukraine was a job ordered by the USA…).

The USA is quietly working on tightening the screws on China. We import and China exports – some of what China exports we can live without because during COVID everything came to a standstill and the world moved on, but there are other things we need.

China’s total export is jobs, and if it decreases, unemployment in the country increases.

Therefore, the USA needs to try to take down China without crashing themselves, which the first round clearly showed was not very easy as the bond market in the USA almost collapsed.

Trump is trying to go for low-hanging fruit in the USA to boost support for his policies + he is lucky with inflation. Inflation is low in the entire West now, and as usual, he takes full credit for it. Citizens are probably mostly interested in security and affordability, and if he can balance this, he can continue to put pressure on China.

Furthermore, China recently lowered interest rates, which will force the FED to lower rates – which is what Trump wants because it benefits the people. It is at 4.5% today and could thus go down, which directly “puts more money in the pocket” of the average Joe with a mortgage and a car loan?

https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/china-central-bank-governor-says-will-cut-banks-reserve-requirement-ratio-2025-05-07/#:~:text=China’s%20central%20bank%20will%20lower,line%20with%20the%20key%20rate.

The West managed to bring down Japan in the 90s, and with China’s situation today, it is not unreasonable to think that the USA will succeed – extremely export-dependent and a speculative real estate market.

Apparently, China is experiencing deflation, and it started right when Trump began attacking the country in February.

China has managed to compensate for reduced exports to the USA by increasing exports to ASEAN, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, and the EU.

β€œAmong trading partners, exports rose to Japan (7.8%), Taiwan (15.5%), Australia (5.8%), the EU (8.3%), and ASEAN (20.8%), while falling to the US (-21.0%) and South Korea (-0.3%)”.

The question is whether this is a temporary or permanent increase?

We heard that the EU was going to remove tariffs on electric cars and replace them with some kind of pricing model instead, but then it has become very quiet about it.

First of all, I am quite sure that China is manipulating everything so that they did not suffer a major setback with the USA is probably a lie – 60% of sea shipments disappeared in April to the USA, and some suggest 30%-40% less exports to the USA.

So, the decrease of 21% is probably because it has not fully taken effect yet or has been dressed up?

I think the packages from China’s Temu, etc., will continue to be dead because that one-time fee of $100 is still there (I thought it was $75). I don’t know how much of the export it is?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c308pg239n1o

Sea shipments will soon be back to normal, but with higher prices, and that should logically lead to less consumption?

So, the exports to the USA will decrease somewhat, permanently.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/12/trump-china-trade-deal-tariff-pause-new-surge-in-freight-shipments.html

As is well known, the USA would like to clip China’s wings, and if they can do it without causing a world war, it’s a win for them. But probably it will end up being a world war as a direct consequence of the attempt, and Trump will become one of history’s great war presidents instead πŸ˜€

Timeline: China starts shaking on the lower deck – China dumps government bonds – the USA bond market explodes – the USA sees it as a declaration of war that China had the audacity to dump government bonds – China sees it as a declaration of war that the USA called them audacious.

Not even the USA can believe that if they try to take down China, the above chain of events will not kick off, so the USA is prepared for war but probably hopes that China will turn inward before they can engage in any major hostilities.

The analysts have probably given it a 65% probability, and Trump feels that he rarely has had such good odds, with the wind at his back πŸ˜€

Continued appreciation for the site is always gratefully received, and there is a QR code for that purpose. There is also a donation page with links to Swedish Rescuers, drones 2 Ukraine, and other organizations we have learned over time are legitimate and dare to donate to.

On Substack – there is still a chance to become subscribers and it holds value for me.

johanno1.se

substack.com/@johanno1

https://bsky.app/profile/johanno1.bsky.social


Don't forget to donate, Ukraine's cause is ours! Support Ukraine!


NOTE: Those of you who do NOT want to allow automatic translation of your comments, please go to your profile page and set it.
Hover over your name at the top right, select edit profile, and you will then find the setting under the language settings heading.

145 thoughts on “Ukraine and the World Daily Update May 15, 2025”

  1. Good morning! Russian losses 2025-05-15

    • 1220 KWIA
    • 8 Tanks
    • 13 APVs
    • 45 Artillery systems
    • 2 MLRS
    • 1 Anti-Aircraft system
    • 1 Helicopter 
    • 140 UAVs
    • 165 Vehicles and Fuel tanks
    • 8 Special equipment

    SLAVA UKRAINI!

  2. 108 KAB is slightly lower than what we saw during the ceasefires, otherwise it is pretty much back to normal high levels.

    AFU: “In total, 168 combat clashes were recorded during the past day.

    Yesterday, the zagarbniki made one rocket and 68 aviation strikes, applied one rocket and dropped 108 controlled aviation bombs. In addition, 3327 kamikaze drones were involved and carried out 5,298 shelling at the positions of our troops and settlements, of which 151 were from reactive systems of arson fire.”
    1. Huovinen, I believe, consistently promotes various narratives portraying Moscow as strong and Ukraine as weak. A true “expert.”

      As you write, Masja_13, the context is that Moscow suggested a summit and is now withdrawing.

      1. I think that all “experts” constantly say that Russia is strong, Ukraine cannot handle this.
        I don’t like their attitude, it feels like they are siding with Russia. They are not really objective.
        Even though I always support Ukraine!

        1. Unfortunately, it seems that the idea of a strong Russia is deeply rooted everywhere.
          A strong Russia would have overrun Ukraine in 2-3 weeks as everyone thought at the beginning of the war.

          Now they have been at it for over three years and the front has barely moved, but it seems that this is completely ignored.

          If Russia is strong, Ukraine is at least equally strong, if not stronger considering they are barely a third as many.

          Ukraine has a few thousand volunteer soldiers from other countries, while Russia gets help from North Koreans and Chinese, at the same time as they forcibly recruit guest workers and try to recruit from both Africa and South America.

          Russia is not strong.

  3. No Putin and no Trump, but that’s what we suspected.

    “Vladimir Putin is not on Russia’s list of Russian representatives to participate in tomorrow’s meeting with Ukraine, reports AFP and Reuters.

    The list includes Putin’s advisers, senior diplomats, and defense officials.

    After the Kremlin’s announcement, American sources told Reuters that Donald Trump is also declining the meeting.”
    https://omni.se/putin-nobbar-motet-i-turkiet/a/wgGMpA

    The fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin is sending a junior team instead of attending the peace talks in Turkey today closes the door to a breakthrough, according to diplomats interviewed by the Wall Street Journal.

    “The delegation list includes Putin’s adviser Vladimir Medinsky and Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin – the same men who participated in the collapsed talks in Istanbul in 2022. According to WSJ’s sources, it is seen that Putin is unwilling to compromise and still strives for the same goal as in 2022: for Ukraine to cease to exist as an independent state.”
    https://omni.se/bedomare-putins-diss-stanger-dorren-for-ett-genombrott/a/mP97el

    Otherwise, here is a funny video showing how it could have gone IF Putin had gone:
    “Exclusive video about putin preparing for his Turkey visit has surfaced ..”
    https://bsky.app/profile/kullervo.bsky.social/post/3lp5p7sga7s2i

    1. The bright summer nights can deceive the mind, the situation in Moscow is quite bleak and it’s getting even darker. The war economy has damaged the food supply beyond comprehension, and if the war doesn’t end with a bang, Moscow will be in trouble.

      So they now have only one option, to continue fighting and hope that Ukraine gives in.

  4. It seemed to calm down in Pokrovsk, but… and in the neighboring sector Toretsk, they simultaneously increased their strength. However, combat activities seem to be subsiding in Kursk. Overall, there is high pressure from the Russian Federation’s army on Ukraine. Operational information as of 08.00 on 15.05.2025 on the Russian invasion   In total, 168 combat engagements were recorded over the past day. ⏱️163, 166, 155, 161, 196, 193, 196, 171, 200, 269, 253, 216, 199, 199, 177, 178, 168, 174, 156, 175, 168, 144, 165, 96, 127, 162, 143, 125, 111, 99   #Kharkiv 3⏱️4, 7, 3, 3, 6, 4, 11, 18, 4, 5, 5, 6, 8, 2, 2, 9, 6, 0, 0, 0, 4, 4, 0, 1, 2, 7, 1 #Kupyansk 1⏱️2, 5, 2, 3, 3, 4, 6, 3, 5, 7, 6, 6, 5, 6, 9, 7, 3, 4, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 7, 11, 4 #Lyman 24β†˜οΈπŸ’₯⏱️29, 20, 25, 8, 17, 27, 24, 21, 31, 22, 16, 27, 27, 36, 21, 18, 20, 22, 19, 15, 20, 14, 25, 12, 14, 17, 20 #Siverskyi  5⏱️3, 6, 8, 4, 8, 5, 6, -, 0, 3, 3, 1, 4, 2, 4, 6, 2, 3, 5, 8, 12, 3, 2, 3, 2, 2, 2 #Kramatorsk 8⏱️8, 4, 4, 9, 10, 6, 10, 5, 4, 10, 6, 8, 6, 6, 13, 10, 16, 13, 8, 13, 1, 6, 4, 5, 7, 6, 8 #Toretsk 18↗️πŸ’₯

    ⏱️6, 9, 6, 12, 15, 9, 13, 8, 6, 16, 7, 8, 4, 10, 6, 14, 9, 29, 16, 17, 13, 23, 10, 18, 26, 11 #Pokrovsk 74↗️πŸ’₯πŸ’₯πŸ’₯

    ⏱️54, 60, 70, 60, 65, 71, 61, 77, 78, 115, 78, 113, 83, 64, 85, 75, 59, 64, 68, 44, 65, 56, 53, 61, 39, 54, 64 #Novopavlivka 26πŸ’₯⏱️30, 24, 13, 19, 31 , 28, 32, 23, 24, 52, 66, 23, 15, 16, 13, 23, 13, 13, 19, 10, 15, 17, 19, 5, 12, 9, 9 #Huliaipil  0⏱️0, 0, 0, 13, 0 , 0, 1, 1, 2, 7, 5, 0, 6, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 #Orikhivsk 3⏱️3, 6, 6, 2, 6, 3, 7, 4, 14, 3, 3, 5, 4, 5, 0, 5, 1, 4, 4, 9, 3, 5, 3, 4, 3, 3, 1 #Prydniprovsky 1β†˜οΈβ±οΈ5, 4, 1, 3, 6, 5, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 5, 1, 1 , 1, 3, 1, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0 #Kursk 9β†˜οΈ

    ⏱️12, 9, 8, 25, 19, 19, 19, 11, 18 23, 23, 20, 33, 21, 25, 15, 23, 15, 30, 27, 26, 22, 21, 16, 20, 23, 21   Over the past day, the aviation, missile troops and artillery of the Defense Forces πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ hit three areas of concentration of personnel, weapons and military equipment; four artillery pieces; one radar and nine other important enemy πŸ‡·πŸ‡Ί targets.

    1. Thank you! Yes, it swung quite a bit from one day to another in Pokrovsk. Now, one never knows if reporting, etc. can sometimes have a delay and it affects, but regardless, one has learned that no conclusions can be drawn from individual days and barely from individual weeks.

    2. Interesting how they continue to feed on, despite almost non-existent success strategically. It seems more important to keep the machine running nowadays, than actually reaching strategic goals.

      One can almost begin to suspect that the fighting itself is now a higher goal, as a ceasefire may possibly pose a great risk of internal instability in Moscow.

      1. It can definitely become unstable in Moscow after a ceasefire. Putin knows what he has (iron-fisted control over everything and everyone at present) but not what he will get after a halt to the war. What kind of forces could be unleashed? He dreads it as the control freak he is. If the phones start to go silent on his desk, he takes the helicopter somewhere.

      2. Probably, Putler has gone all-in. If the war ends with something that cannot be interpreted as a great victory, people will start wondering why he has sacrificed the country’s sons, economy, welfare, and future for nothing.

  5. Considering how everyone seems to want to cut down on all expenses, one becomes a bit surprised. It’s almost a doubling of the annual budget.

    One could suspect that Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Honeywell, and others suddenly bought large quantities of Trump Coins, but that’s not the case. It has been planned for a long time, and now they are in the costly implementation phase.

    “The USA is set to spend a trillion dollars on upgrading and maintaining the country’s nuclear arsenal over the next decade, according to an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office that provides economic information to Congress. Axios reports.

    This amounts to more per year than what is spent on many federal agencies.”

  6. Johan No.1:

    Here is the source of why whites should own 78%. I wrote the wrong year, it should have been 2022.

    Since Wandile is not employed by the state but works with a private interest organization for companies, etc. active in agriculture in South Africa and is open to everyone regardless of skin color, I believe he should be attributed high credibility, both in terms of access to facts and impartiality between blacks and whites.

    (However, he is certainly not impartial in matters that benefit or disadvantage agriculture in general and probably will not write articles about murdered farmers, for example.)

    It is in this article where he “debunks” myths from both sides that the information is included.
    https://wandilesihlobo.com/2022/12/04/land-reform-in-south-africa-5-myths-about-farming-debunked/

    Wandile Sihlobo is the Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) and the author of three books, “The Uncomfortable Truth About South Africa’s Agriculture (2025)“, “A Country of Two Agricultures: The Disparities, The Challenges, The Solutions (2023)” and “Finding Common Ground: Land, Equity and Agriculture (2020)“.

  7. We are drowning in stupidity!
    “Unfortunately,” #fcktrmp is just a pure amateur “that goes for the money” so this will in one way or another explode right in the American face! One might wonder how it actually happened to get such a clown in such an important position!
    – Martti J Kari has already accounted for everything that is going on regarding #fckptn and he already knew many years ago that he wouldn’t show up!
    – The fact that #krasnov has some sort of truth in it is very obvious! Our world has just become so stupid because of all the noise, that we can’t even see the obvious! Just like how we are destroying our world! A lot of research points in the same direction but unfortunately there are too many doomsday prophecies than us deciding to take action!
    – The Nobel Prizes in Economics in 2024 and 2009 clearly show that fascism is not a financially viable alternative for more than a few! Complexity theories clearly show that one must be several to see the truth together! How can the vast majority of us avoid understanding the message and still believe in a strong man and in most cases a narcissist or sociopath? (#fcktrmp, #fckptn, #fckmsk, etc.)

    It looks more and more like AI is a great need. Either AI will help us see through the damn mess we humans have created, or #fckmsk will succeed in buying Open AI and mess things up so damn much for us that civilization dies out and in a few million years the amoebas will start to act again to create something equally damn stupid again, like us humans?

    1. Yes, the future looks quite bleak, and I don’t believe AI will be the solution. It will probably just be another step towards giving even more power to even fewer people.

  8. Merle, you wrote yesterday:
    Do you have the ability to edit when posts end up in the wrong place? Something to bring to the tech wizard MXT? 😎

    Of course, it is possible to build a solution to move comments, but it takes some time, especially if you also have to consider and move any comments to the comment. The most difficult part would probably be to do it in a way that is understandable and easy to use. You must be able to mark your comment and then easily point out where it was supposed to be placed. Some form of drag and drop would be needed, which can be a bit tricky to implement on mobile devices.

    At the same time, it is possible to fix it already now if desired.
    When writing a comment, you have 20 minutes to edit it. This means that you can also choose to delete it. If you accidentally place the post incorrectly, it is quite easy to copy your own text and then reply in the right place and paste it there. Then you edit the incorrect comment and choose to delete it.

    If there is a request to extend the time, it can be solved, but of course the problem is that there is a high risk that someone has already replied to the comment and those replies will unfortunately disappear if the incorrect comment is deleted.

    1. Hello, thank you, I haven’t had the issue myself; I asked because Johan 1’s response to me got lost – and that’s why I missed it at first.
      I like the editing feature in its current form. Really. (Counteracts sloppiness, autocorrect, fat thumbs, and poor sentence structure. It’s a bit difficult to scroll up/down from the phone, but there are ways to work around that too.)

  9. It’s crazy that a sitting president engages in enriching himself in this way, and even crazier that very few seem to care. Next time, the donation limit will surely be raised, but then you might get a tour on Air Force One.

    “Donald Trump invites owners of the meme-coin Trump to a dinner, reports Bloomberg. The party costs 1,200 dollars per person, equivalent to nearly 12,000 kronor, according to Bloomberg.

    But it’s not just anyone who gets to come. To qualify among the dinner’s 220 participants, ownership of the meme currency worth at least 54,500 dollars, equivalent to over half a million kronor, as of May 22, is required.

    – I didn’t think there was a chance I would get to meet the President of the United States, says crypto CEO Morten Christensen, who is one of the participants.

    The dinner is held at Trump’s golf resort in Potomac Falls, Virginia, and the package also includes the opportunity for a tour of the White House, according to the news agency.”

    1. Westley Richard

      Trump meme coins are now at about USD 12 after peaking at about 44. Melania meme coins are at about USD 0.33. I wonder how much it costs to have breakfast with her?

        1. Westley Richard

          Today’s riddle. 🀣🀣
          You end up on a deserted island and have to choose one of two women as company.
          The cherry-picking Zakharova, a modern version of Martha Goebbels who believes herself to be God’s gift to masculinity, or Melania who makes the iceman Γ–tzi seem like a warm-hearted person.

    2. Oh my goodness, what a farce, the president of the world’s most powerful country is up for sale to the highest bidder. But oh, if a foreign company happens to be listed on the US stock exchange, and bids generously for the business lunch in some foreign country, then the army of lawyers comes rushing in.

    3. SHAMELESSNESS is a fascinating tool of power.
      The GUARANTEE of normal interhuman civilized behavior, of law and order, of things we consider as freedoms and rights, of the functioning of authorities, against corruption, for the prosperity and security of the country, for the credibility of political parties, and for interstate relations is ultimately DEBT (internal control/we violate our moral compass) and SHAME (social control/we incur disapproval from our surroundings) rather than the possibility of direct and tangible sanctions.
      Where we lack honor, we need legislation. Which we largely lack.

      It is only when someone who happily ignores all rules of the game comes to power that we stand there bewildered and realize how toothless our legislation (including statutes and constitutions) is.
      It is based on a human ideal that became outdated long ago.

      If we turn our gaze not only towards the clowns in the USA but towards our own country, we become aware of a large number of examples of this.

  10. Thank you for the great post by the way!

    I agree that it is now approaching the last chance for Europe to take a tough stance. What Trump will do is difficult to determine, but I think he will probably just withdraw.

    Regarding the trade war, it will hit hard against China, but just like Russia, which can maintain a full war economy despite all indicators pointing downwards, I am convinced that China is even more resilient. The Chinese have no choice but to accept a lower standard of living if that’s what it takes. The Americans will not accept the same.

    I believe that everyone will be losers (we are probably already, considering that stock values ​​worth billions have already disappeared).

    The only winner is probably Trump and his friends when he goes around forcing countries to buy Starlink and Boeing, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the purchase of Trump Coin is included in the deals. πŸ˜„

  11. Got a bad feeling in my stomach.
    That something is going to happen to Zelensky in Turkey. Something that will be blamed on the Kurds and PKK.

    1. Westley Richard

      I think that the Turks have thought that Putin might want to lure Zelensky away to Turkey, blow him up, and let Erdogan take the blame. We can only hope that they are on their guard.

  12. “Despite Vladimir Putin’s late announcement that he himself will not show up, an intense day is expected in Istanbul, writes the BBC. The Ukrainian and Russian delegations are set to sit down for the first peace talks since 2022.

    Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the morning. Only after that will he decide on his own participation in the negotiations, according to a Ukrainian official speaking to AFP.”
    https://omni.se/zelenskyj-ska-besluta-om-han-deltar-i-fredssamtalen/a/Vz8OKW

  13. “Do not be fooled by Vladimir Putin,” writes Adrian Blomfield in an analysis in The Telegraph. The fact that he would participate in peace talks in Istanbul has been well received in the White House, but it was always “a game.”

    Sending henchmen to the meeting is one thing, writes Blomfield. But facing Zelensky eye to eye would have been a different story because it would create an impression of equality.

    “It would also make it difficult for Putin to maintain his claim that his Ukrainian counterpart is an illegitimate dictator who flirts with Nazis.”

    Putin’s message makes Trump look weak, says US correspondent Mark Stone in the Sky News podcast.

    – He has deceived Trump, says Stone, wondering how the American president will respond now.”

  14. Missed this from yesterday:

    “One of the men suspected of serious unauthorized dealing with secret information appears in the indictment against Joakim Medin in Turkey. This is reported by Dagens ETC after SR, based on information, reported a connection to the imprisoned journalist.

    – There is, without going into too specific details, an obvious connection to Joakim Medin, says the newspaper’s editor-in-chief Andreas Gustavsson. The man is said to have played a key role in Medin being released from a Syrian prison in 2015. According to Gustavsson, however, it is unclear if there is a direct connection between the Security Service’s raid and how Turkey has handled Joakim Medin.”
    https://omni.se/gripen-man-forekommer-i-atalet-uppenbar-koppling/a/jQE82L

    1. “Prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist denies media reports that the investigation regarding serious unauthorized disclosure of secret information is connected to the case of journalist Joakim Medin.

      ”I have noticed speculations in the media about possible connections to other cases. This is a separate case that has no links to other ongoing investigations or legal processes, neither in Sweden nor in any other country”, says Ljungqvist in a statement.”
      https://omni.se/aklagaren-finns-ingen-koppling-till-andra-fall-varken-i-sverige-eller-utomlands/a/8qMlMQ

  15. For the second night in a row, massive Israeli bombings are reported in several places in Gaza, according to several media outlets.

    AP’s staff in Khan Yunis counted ten bombings and saw several bodies being taken to the morgue of Nasser Hospital. The hospital, according to the news agency, reports that 54 people have been killed.

    The night before, at least 70 people, including about twenty children, were reported to have been killed in bombings in northern and southern Gaza.

  16. The government confirms that there are “two sensitive investigations” ongoing that concern employees at the government offices, reports TT.

    The investigations are surrounded by secrecy and no further comment is provided, writes the office’s chief administrator, Henrik Holmer.

    “These are serious allegations,” says Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard (M).”

  17. Ah, but why didn’t you go then if it depended on you?
    Do you suddenly not want any serious peace talks to take place?

    “No, I didn’t expect it. I actually said why would Putin go if I didn’t go. I didn’t plan on going, and I said I didn’t think Putin would go if I didn’t go, and that turned out to be true,” β€” Trump.”
    https://bsky.app/profile/theukrainianreview.bsky.social/post/3lp6zrc7bfk2s

    Reminds me of this from a few days ago:

    “Donald Trump is considering going to Turkey in connection with the meeting between Russia and Ukraine, he announces at a press conference.
    – There is a possibility if I believe that good things can happen, he says.
    The American president says that “good things can come out of the meeting” and when asked if he believes that Russia will agree to a ceasefire, he is clear.
    – I have a feeling that they will agree to it, he says.”
    https://omni.se/trump-funderar-pa-att-aka-till-turkiet-for-motet/a/Avw1J3

    1. Nice! I think it’s his version of damage control, about the same level as my own version when I was 5 and got caught doing something sneaky.

  18. Crude Oil fell back to just below 61.
    Some argue that this is due to news that the USA and Iran seem to be able to reach an agreement.
    Well done Trump! πŸ‘

  19. “How are the government’s security checks of employees really doing? The question has been raised in recent days as it has emerged that there are two parallel investigations concerning employees at the Government Offices. Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard (M) tells Ekot that they will “probably need to learn lessons” from the events and review the security screenings that are conducted.”

  20. πŸ˜‚

    “Elon Musk’s AI Grok seems to have had trouble sticking to the subject this week. A number of X users received unexpected responses regarding the controversial claim of a genocide of whites in South Africa – even when their posts were about completely different things. This is reported by The Verge.

    The AI is said to have repeated that the claim lacks credible evidence and called it a myth, while referring to statistics and court decisions. In one example, Grok responded to a cat video with an explanation on the subject.”
    https://omni.se/musks-ai-fick-fnatt-tog-upp-folkmord-oavsett-fraga/a/W0544K

  21. “On russian Telegram: Whitewashing a mass murder, normalising the return of his state sponsored adoration. Stalin has been brought back to Moscow. The bas-relief with the General Secretary, destroyed in the 60s, has been restored at the Taganskaya metro station.”

  22. Donald Trump claims that India has offered to remove all tariffs on American goods. The American president stated this to business leaders in the Qatari capital Doha during his Middle East trip, as reported by international media.

    The Indian government has not commented on the statement, and Trump did not provide further details.

  23. Ukrainian refugees in Poland have recently noticed that the attitude towards them has changed dramatically to the negative. They are being asked to go back home, it is claimed that they come here and destroy, etc. Many are starting to feel worried and threatened. “It’s frightening to live here now.”

    “‘Go back to Ukraine’: War refugees complain of abuse in Poland”
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clygv2dj78zo

  24. Trump still dreams of taking over Gaza.
    However, there has been silence about Greenland and Canada lately.

    “The USA is going to “take” Gaza and turn it into a “freedom zone.” That’s what President Donald Trump says during his trip to Qatar, according to several media outlets. At the same time, it is reported that many people have been killed in intense Israeli bombing over the Gaza Strip – for the second night in a row.

    – Gaza has been an area filled with death and destruction. But the USA will engage and it will become a freedom zone, claims Trump.”
    https://omni.se/donald-trump-usa-ska-gora-gaza-till-frihetszon/a/W0MlGG

  25. “First and foremost, I want to thank President @RTErdogan for organizing the opportunity for direct negotiations – that was exactly the signal we had received. The Ukrainian side confirmed its readiness, and today, we are here in the capital, in Ankara.

    Ukraine is represented by a top-level delegation – the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, my Office, the military, and representatives of all our intelligence agencies – ready to make any decisions that could lead to a long-awaited just peace.

    We will begin with a meeting with President Erdoğan and with the entire Turkish delegation. We are in contact with the U.S. side – I believe they will be present in TΓΌrkiye at a high level as well.

    I have not yet received official confirmation regarding the Russian level of representation. But from what we can observe, it appears theatrical. We will decide on our next steps after the conversation with President Erdoğan.

    We will have several hours for an important discussion and very important decisions. It is essential to understand the level of the Russian delegation, what mandate they hold, and whether they are authorised to make any decisions at all – because we all know who actually makes decisions in Russia.”

  26. Bruce is not very pleased with Trump.

    “Corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous. That’s Bruce Springsteen’s assessment of Donald Trump’s administration, several media outlets report.

    During a concert in Manchester, “The boss” heavily criticized the president.

    – A majority of our elected officials have failed to protect the American people from the abuses of an unfit president and a lawless government, he said, among other things.”
    https://omni.se/springsteens-kanga-till-trump-olamlig-president/a/jQ2POo

      1. I’m not so interested in hearing that. She doesn’t really have the same impact, maybe if she lived in the USA.
        But of course, I’ll see if I can find something!

      2. Found this page, goodness gracious what a low level and it’s obvious that they are mostly focused on search engine optimization.

        She also didn’t seem too pleased with Trump (2016) although it can’t be that bad when he’s compared to snow… Not sure if the headline “Terrible” refers to the snow or Trump..

        “Not only have we, in my opinion, got one of the world’s most disgusting people as the future President of the USA but it’s also snowing like INCREDIBLY much!”

        Although she realizes she might not be the right person to ask about politics.
        “I’ll be honest and say that I haven’t been the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to politics.”

        Never read anything from her before, frighteningly low level as mentioned.

        https://biancaingrosso.se/page/131/?epik=0JExuE_IWXw9_

  27. Zelensky has done everything right here.

    Trump feels a bit betrayed.

    Now it’s crucial that the tough trio spins this right.

    Have you heard anything or are they silent?

    1. I thought I saw something about there being discussions tomorrow as well, I guess they are waiting until everything is over before anything more specific comes up.

      1. Nja – that Putin is not there when he himself proposed the meeting and Trump said he would come can already be discussed.

        We all know that the negotiations will not amount to anything.

        Time is money and the narrative is already taking shape.

  28. Russia issued a mysterious warning to sailors on Monday, without specifying any reason. A total of 22 coordinates in the Gulf of Finland were marked as danger areas until September, reports the Finnish newspaper Iltalehti.

    According to Sanna Sonninen, Director of Maritime at the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom, such warnings are common. However, experienced sea captain Peter Lindberg finds it strange. He believes that it goes against international principles to issue a warning without specifying a reason.

  29. It is now crucial that Zelensky keeps quiet and Starmer-Macron-Merz do their part.

    For God’s sake, do not let Putin set the narrative and wriggle out of this.

    Trump is a bit on the ropes right now on this issue because Zelensky showed up.

    If they keep quiet, they cause a lot of damage.

  30. First May 9th and now this – one almost starts to suspect that Macron, Starmer, and Merz thought that hot air would be enough 🧐

  31. The other thing that is happening is that RU scared Estonia with a MIG and Chinese fighter jets dominated over French Rafale in India-Pakistan.

  32. Westley Richard

    Energy and Minister for Enterprise Ebba Busch (KD) said at a press conference that the Swedish National Grid is tasked by the government to reanalyze the country’s current four electricity areas. In the latest investigation, which was presented a few weeks ago, no changes to the electricity areas were proposed.

    “Sweden has electricity prices that go up and down like a yo-yo. We sometimes have significant price differences between northern and southern Sweden,” Busch said.

    The Swedish National Grid is tasked with investigating three different alternatives, with a single electricity area being one of the options.

    “The government is taking the first step towards eventually returning to a single electricity area,” Busch said.

    She stated that the investigation will assess whether there is currently enough base load power for it to be feasible.

    Another alternative is to divide Sweden into two electricity areas.

    The Swedish Power Plants are also tasked with investigating specific electricity areas for export.

    The investigation is expected to be completed by May next year.

    https://omni.se/a/dRedw1

    While everything may take time, we want an electricity area for export NOW.

    1. Wait here – bolded, then we will win πŸ‘

      An electricity area in Sweden with Swedish prices.

      An export price that is the market price in Europe.

  33. Sorry – hasn’t Zelensky landed in Turkey?

    Now our media reports that he won’t attend the meeting.

    Putin doesn’t write anything about it.

    This will soon be a PR loss 😭

  34. And there it fell flat.

    The version that has now gained ground is that “everyone rejects the meeting” or “Zelensky rejects the meeting”

    Putin has survived.

    Trump wants to avoid looking bad so he will try to smooth this over.

    Macron, Starmer, and Merz can go to hell 😑

    1. One would think that after all these years, Europe’s politicians would understand how Russia and Putin operate, but no.
      Putin will never negotiate anything other than Ukraine’s surrender. As long as he remains, the war will continue.
      He will now try to show strength again, with an offensive attempt, then he will call Trump and promise him honor and glory if he negotiates peace. And Putin is so kind that he has already prepared a generous peace proposal that is good for all parties, especially for Trump. The proposal is of course the same as it has always been, but with a different font and line break, so Trump thinks it’s new and nice.
      Then they start over with Trump pressuring Zelensky, withdrawing support, and spreading Putin’s lies.
      Yes, and Europe discusses among themselves and is always a week away from a decision.

  35. Putin will now propose a next meeting in a few months and Trump, Starmer, Macron, and Merz will demand that Ukraine sits on its hands until then.

    Then Putin’s offensive begins and he attacks the Baltics.

    Worrying that he has built up capacity for both.

    Damn joke of politicians we have managed to get 😑

  36. Westley Richard

    No Western companies that left Russia due to the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine want to return to the Russian market. This is according to Russia’s Deputy Minister of Industry Roman Tchekushev, as reported by independent Moscow Times. “At present, I am not aware of any company or brand that has submitted an application to the Ministry of Trade about anything,” he says. The discussion about the return of Western companies has come into focus in the shadow of the potential peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. Vladimir Putin has recently stated that there are Western companies that want to return to Russia, but then emphasized that it can only happen if it benefits the Russian market.

    https://omni.se/a/8qMmQd

    Things are going well for the Russians now, πŸ˜‚

  37. There are two experts in distracting and delaying disasters. Putin, of course, and Musk who has kept Tesla’s stock price alive with promises of robotaxis, battery factories, home robots, etc. Both advisors to Trump? Then we are back to square one with Trump blowing Europe.

  38. It would be a bit fun if companies and organizations started buying and issuing cryptocurrencies completely openly just to test the concept legally. “We thought it seemed like a good investment” kind of thing.

    Maybe this was the plan all along when Trump was friendly towards the crypto community? If so, at this point, BitCoin is more of a competitor.

  39. Westley Richard

    πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡ΈβŒ Rubio will NOT meet with Russians in Istanbul because Kremlin sent a lower-level delegation, – CNN.

     

    πŸ‘€ Tomorrow US delegation will participate in the negotiations, but without Rubio. Instead, he plans to meet with the Ukrainian side, in particular Foreign Minister Sybiha

     

    https://bsky.app/profile/maks23.bsky.social/post/3lpa7wuzt622o

     

    No one wants to talk to the Russian juniors πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚

  40. Westley Richard

    Tonight, the magazine CafΓ© traditionally appoints Sweden’s best dressed man, and Fredrik Robertsson ends up in 16th place out of 5 million Swedish men.πŸ™ˆ
     

    1. Well, just have to renew the wardrobe then.

      Seems like our contribution to the schlager in Finland-Swedish will win, as Finland will vote for us ✊✊

       

  41. When you thought the bottom was reached, DN leads with the Ukrainian people rejecting the US peace proposal 😭

    Seriously – what is happening?

  42. Westley Richard

    European countries can replace the military capability that the USA has in Europe, but it could take 25 years and the cost would be very high, according to a new report from the think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies referenced by Politico. According to the think tank’s estimates, it would cost nearly 10,000 billion kronor over 25 years to replace the American equipment with equivalent European equipment, including maintenance and personnel costs. The calculations are based on a hypothetical scenario where the USA withdraws from Europe and NATO member countries are forced to fill the gaps.
    https://omni.se/a/PpJR3b
    10,000 billion sounds like a lot until you do the math. If Sweden contributes 150 billion over 25 years, it would amount to 3,750 billion, and we are 10 million out of 500 million. Now, this is not the total cost but just the additional cost, but it would not exceed 400 million per year for the whole of Europe.

    1. Everyone forgets that the European NATO already has more of everything and even more modern equipment if we add it all up than any other military force, including the USA.

      What we lack are staffs that can lead army corps (equivalent) and carry out such operations in all dimensions (these exist in the USA).

Leave a Comment

Scroll to Top