• US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said during a visit to NATO headquarters that the war between Ukraine and Russia “must stop.” The Trump administration is now focused on securing its own borders and preventing China’s expansion.

Speaking to the Contact Group for the defense of Ukraine, Secretary Hegseth also said that European troops should be the first force to ensure Ukraine’s post-conflict security – something that US troops will not participate in. The Pentagon chief also said that “the United States does not believe that Ukraine’s accession to NATO is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement. Instead, any security guarantee must be supported by competent European and non-European troops. If these contingents are deployed as peacekeepers in Ukraine at any time, they should be deployed as part of a non-NATO mission. And they should not be covered by Article 5. There must also be rigorous international control of the line of contact.”

• US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent met with illegitimate Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on 12 February. A few minutes before the meeting, a letter from President Donald Trump was sent to his counterpart. In it, he asked for the repayment of $500 billion, without specifying how such an amount had been drawn up. The authorization to exploit rare earths and energy resources was considered to pay this bill.

Zelensky’s cabinet called the US request a “racket”.

☞ Contrary to the international media’s portrayal, President Trump is not trying to extort Ukraine, but is conveying to unelected President Zelensky the United States’ reaction to his actions.
Volodymyr Zelensky had suggested to US Senator Lindsey Graham that by invading Ukraine, Russia only wanted to seize its rare earths. Graham had assessed their value on June 9, 2024 during an interview with "Face the Nation" (CBS News), at "$10 to $12 trillion". However, the Bloomberg agency revealed on February 19, 2025, that this story was fake news, as Ukraine does not possess these minerals. President Donald Trump, remembering that Zelensky had already made an alliance with Joe Biden’s men so that they could conduct impeachment proceedings during his first term, replied by sending him this invoice.

• On February 17, the Ukrainian army attacked US and Israeli interests in Russia by bombing facilities partially owned by Chevron (15%) and ExxonMobil (7.5%). About twenty drones caused serious damage to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) in Krasnodar. In particular, it supplies Israel with Russian oil.

• The US delegation to the peace talks in Ukraine was led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. It included White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and President Trump’s Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff. On 18th February they met at the Diriyah Palace (Riyadh) with a Russian delegation led by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. It was composed of former Russian ambassador to the United States Yuri Ushakov and special adviser to President Putin Kirill Dmitriev [CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, established in 2011 to co-invest in the Russian economy alongside foreign partners] and was in direct phone contact with President Vladimir Putin.

Under no circumstances did Ukraine or the EU take part in these negotiations. Ukraine’s illegitimate president Volodymyr Zelensky has cancelled a “long-planned trip” to Saudi Arabia that fell at the same time.

• The United States is finally considering keeping its word and withdrawing [some of] its troops from all countries that joined NATO after 1990. According to the Financial Times, President Trump is already preparing to give the order for the withdrawal of the Baltic States and Poland.

• According to Bild, Italy is worried about what will become of the conflict created by Kosovo with its Serb minority. Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti has banned the use of the Serbian dinar and imposed the euro on its entire population.

• Illegitimate Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky gave a press conference on 19 February to condemn the impact of Russian disinformation on the Trump administration.

This is why, according to him, it is important to provide President Trump’s special envoy General Keith Kellogg with precise statistics on the state of public opinion and to allow him to verify them by travelling through Ukraine.

☞ This is precisely what Russia is denouncing: over the past ten years, the Kiev regime has gradually banned all media and opposition political parties. It uses absolute propaganda to pursue an all-out war against Russia. An indisputable example: the Ukrainians are now convinced that the great famine of 1932-1933 was wanted by Moscow to eradicate the Ukrainians, and they convinced the West of this, even though this famine devastated other regions of the USSR.

☞ US Vice President J.D. Vance told the Daily Mail that the attitude of illegitimate President Volodymyr Zelensky is “atrocious”.

• On February 19, US President Donald Trump told reporters, “I’m really disappointed by what happened. I’ve been watching it for three years... I hear that, you know, they [the Ukrainians] are upset that they weren’t invited to Riyadh”. He continued, “Well, you’ve been there for three years ... You should have never started it.” Then, he published a post on TruthSocial: “Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and “TRUMP,” will never be able to settle. The United States has spent $200 Billion Dollars more than Europe, and Europe’s money is guaranteed, while the United States will get nothing back. Why didn’t Sleepy Joe Biden demand Equalization, in that this War is far more important to Europe than it is to us — We have a big, beautiful Ocean as separation. On top of this, Zelenskyy admits that half of the money we sent him is “MISSING.” He refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden “like a fiddle.” A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left. In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only “TRUMP,” and the Trump Administration, can do. Biden never tried, Europe has failed to bring Peace, and Zelenskyy probably wants to keep the “gravy train” going. I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died – And so it continues…”

This is the editorial from our paywalled "Voltaire, international newsletter", n°121. For more information, do not hesitate to subscribe: 500€ per year.

Translation
Gregor Fröhlich