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President Vladimir Putin has warned again that Ukrainian troops must withdraw from Ukraine's eastern Donbas region or Russia will seize it, rejecting any compromise over how to end the war in Ukraine.
"Either we liberate these territories by force, or Ukrainian troops will leave these territories," he told India Today. Moscow controls around 85% of Donbas.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out ceding territory.
Russia's oil export revenues, measured in rubles, have plunged 50% this year, tumbling from the equivalent of 7.6% of GDP to just 3.7%, according to Goldman's analysis.
The bank's report landed just as the Russian Finance Ministry disclosed that oil and gas tax revenues fell 34% from a year ago, underscoring the fiscal strain.
I think that figures released end January will show that Q4 2025 economic output was lower than Q4 2024 economic output... if the figures are not doctored.
My congratulations and gratitude for all the research needed to come up with those numbers.If Ukraine's Allies are going to fund the $12 Billion usd project in 2026, I suspect it would like something like the following....
Germany: $2 Billion usd
Norway: $1.25 Billion usd
Canada: $1.25 Billion usd
Netherlands: $1Billion usd
Spain: $1 Billion usd
Sweden: $750 Million usd
Denmark: $750 Million usd
Britain: $500 Million usd
France: $500 Million usd
Italy: $500 Million usd
Finland: $500 Million usd
Poland: $500 Million usd
Belgium: $250 Million usd
Czech Republic: $250 Million usd
Australia: $250 Million usd
Greece: $250 Million usd
Portugal: $100 Million usd
Latvia: $100 Million usd
Lithuania: $100 Million usd
Croatia: $100 Million usd
Estonia: $50 Million usd
Luxembourg: $50 Million usd
New Zealand: $50 Million usd
Bulgaria: $50 Million usd
Romania: $50 Million usd
I believe the widespread belief in Ukraine about Trump's possible secret ties to Moscow is most likely a conspiracy theory (although I acknowledge that Trump sympathizes with Putin).While the question was not directed at me, I would like to add that I share your opinion about Russia’s economy, and I think Trump’s current attempt at ending the war is a desperate attempt to save Russia from total economic collapse.
Trump is trying to save Putin from bankruptcy, in the same way that Russian banks saved Trump decades ago from his own bankruptcy.
It is important that Europe blocks the attempts of Trump’s administration to force Ukraine to capitulate, because if the current “peace” talks collapse, Russia will not be able to avoid economic collapse.
Well this might sound a bit odd , but Spain, Italy, Netherlands and Slovenia are withdrawing from Eurovision for the sake Israel.My congratulations and gratitude for all the research needed to come up with those numbers.
Short of the wheels coming off the Russian economy - which looks increasingly probable to me in 2026 - the war will probably continue. I guess that Ukraine's war costs (weapons, essential infrastructure repairs to keep the country functioning, army/air force personnel costs etc) are 5+ billion USD a month. Could be 10 billion USD a month. Whereas there are many analyses made publicly where Russia's economy, finances and war spending are concerned, I have seen none regarding Ukraine.
Unfortunately generous European support of 10 or 20 or 30 or 40 billion USD in 2026 looks unlikely to be enough to keep Ukrainian resistance adequately financed, now that the US has halted support for Ukraine and sees the place as a potential profit centre.
IMO Europe needs to wake up, pull out all the stops and really commit to a Russian defeat on the battlefield and to the destruction of Russia economically. If Europe does not grasp the nettle financially speaking and provide Ukraine with massive support now it is likely it will end up spending hundreds of billions USD more in the next few years than if it helped Ukraine now.
Trump is a businessman and views geopolitics from a businessman's perspective. Putin understands this and offers him all sorts of grandiose projects, such as vast oil and gas fields worth trillions of dollars. Unfortunately, Whitkoff, Trump's representative in negotiations with the Kremlin, is also a businessman.
Trump also lacks empathy, and despite his claims to have ended eight wars in eight months, he seems more concerned with golf than with matters of war and peace, including in Ukraine.