You don’t need a French intel report to tell you that the Russia House in Berlin’s Friedrichstrasse is a nest of spies. What is surprising is that 4+ years into the full scale invasion of Ukraine is that the 🇩🇪 govt has not forced its closure long ago. www.tagesschau.de/investigativ...

Russisches Haus in Berlin: Tarnung für russische Geheimdienste?

Das Russische Haus der Wissenschaft und Kultur in Berlin gilt als umstrittene Einrichtung, die vom Kreml gesteuert wird. Unterlagen französischer Behörden, die WDR und SZ vorliegen, bezeichnen es nun ...

tagesschau.de

Italy found a reason to say no too 😎 www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/...

Italy says cannot join Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ because of constitution

Under constitution Italy cannot join because power would be wielded by one leader standing above other members.

aljazeera.com

Ich habe mit @tysonbarker.bsky.social über die Frage gesprochen, wie Europa sich von seiner sicherheitspolitischen Abhängigkeit von den USA lösen kann. Er hat in der Biden-Regierung Europa- und Ukrainepolitik mitgestaltet, hat also unmittelbare Kenntnis des Themas. www.diepresse.com/20526912/us-...

US-Experte Tyson Barker: „Die EU kann die Nato nicht ersetzen“

Europa muss sich ohne die USA verteidigen können, sollte aber keine Zeit für prozedurale Gedankenspiele vergeuden, sagt der Außenpolitikexperte, der in der Biden-Regierung für Europa und Ukraine...

diepresse.com

Re-watch now today’s #MorningBriefing on security for 🇺🇦 with @meistefan1.bsky.social, @tysonbarker.bsky.social & Barbara Kunz @sipri.org on our YouTube channel! 📺👇

Security for Ukraine: Western Proposals, Russia’s Response, and the Path Ahead

YouTube video by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik e.V.

youtu.be

Join our next #MorningBriefing! Together with @meistefan1.bsky.social, @tysonbarker.bsky.social & Barbara Kunz @sipri.org, we will examine key obstacles and potential sources of leverage that could shape the path toward eventual peace talks between 🇺🇦 & 🇷🇺.

Security for Ukraine: Western Proposals, Russia’s Response, and the Path Ahead

dgap.org

Terrible precedent …

Marietje Schaake@marietjeschaake.bsky.social · 9mo ago

In a major escalation against the EU, alongside civil society representatives the Trump Administration sanctions former Commissioner Breton for work he did in official capacity ↘️ www.state.gov/releases/off...

So, the acronym for the agency previously known as the Department of Defense should now be pronounces as follows:

homer simpson from the simpsons is standing in front of a shelf with stuffed animals and says d ' oh .

ALT: homer simpson from the simpsons is standing in front of a shelf with stuffed animals and says d ' oh .

media.tenor.com

Mark your calendars: We don't know what the 🇫🇷 govt will look like, but we do know that on Nov 18 🇩🇪 & 🇫🇷 will co-host a European Summit on Digital Sovereignty in Berlin. bmds.bund.de/aktuelles/pr....

Want to know Trump’s anchor posture on 🇺🇦 ? Where you stand is where you sit: his front bench is the VP Vance, Sec Rubio & his in-house Putin-Versteher, Witkoff - the same 3 he put in charge of security guarantees. Even meeting w the Ukrainians, his Ukr point, Kellogg, is 2nd row

“Root causes” defined = Ukraine as a democratic country independent from total Russian subservience. That is what “root causes” means. That’s what Putin wants to “address”. It’s as simple as that. No matter how clinical and academic “root causes” might sound.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last yr.

Rubio says that Russia will have to "get something" as part of a peace deal

Incredible show of unity and force by Europe.

The Kyiv Independent@kyivindependent.com · last yr.

⚡️Top European leaders to join Zelensky in Washington for Trump talks. EU's Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, U.K. PM Keir Starmer, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and NATO's Rutte will attend the Aug. 18 meeting.

🗣️ Rebuilding Ukraine Simon O'Connor in podcast conversation with @rebeccawire.bsky.social @tysonbarker.bsky.social & @eribakova.bsky.social on how the EU and international partners are helping to finance recovery and support reconstruction in a conflict zone. 🔗 Listen here: buff.ly/qK69HFK

🎙️ Rebuilding Ukraine: international support, defence and recovery @rebeccawire.bsky.social talks to @tysonbarker.bsky.social @eribakova.bsky.social & Simon O’Connor on the delicate balance between urgent wartime needs and planning for a resilient, post-war economy. #EconSky Listen below:

Rebuilding Ukraine: international support, defence and recovery

As Russia’s war on Ukraine continues, how are EU and international partners helping to finance recovery and support reconstruction in a conflict zone?

buff.ly

What exactly is this cross branding supposed to mean? Is the chicken injected with acid?

Today is Germany's first Veterans Day. It's hard to underestimate the tectonic shifts that had to happen to bring about. In important milestone toward honoring & understanding the 🇩🇪 veteran experience. www.dw.com/de/so-feiert...

So feiert Deutschland den ersten Veteranentag – DW – 14.06.2025

Gut zehn Millionen Männer und Frauen haben bisher in der Bundeswehr gedient. Sie werden am 15. Juni 2025 erstmals mit einem nationalen Veteranentag gewürdigt. In Berlin gibt es ein großes Bürgerfest.

dw.com

My interview with the Kyiv Post on what the Merz Washington visit could mean for Ukraine. www.kyivpost.com/post/53764

My interview with the Kyiv Post on what the Merz Washington visit could mean for Ukraine. www.kyivpost.com/post/53764

After returning from Russian captivity, the Ukrainian Defender learned that he had become a grandfather to a baby girl, Yaryna, who is three months old. Look how his hands are shaking as he absorbs the news... Bless them. #StayWithUkraine 📹: Mezha/Facebook

Germany has overtaken Japan as the world’s largestt crediter www.t-online.de/finanzen/akt...

Schwache Landeswährung: Deutschland löst Japan als größter Gläubiger der Welt ab

Erstmals seit 34 Jahren hat Deutschland Japan beim weltweiten Ranking der Nettoauslandsvermögen überholt. Der japanische Yen spielte dabei eine wichtige Rolle.

t-online.de

Against the backdrop RU bombs & diplomatic bad faith, the 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 Reconstruction Investment Fund came into force today. As Mustafa Nayyem & I write in @lawfaremedia.org today, with it, the Trump Admin has now effectively taken an ownership stake in Ukraine’s success. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/char...

Against the backdrop RU bombs & diplomatic bad faith, the 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 Reconstruction Investment Fund came into force today. As Mustafa Nayyem & I write in @lawfaremedia.org today, with it, the Trump Admin has now effectively taken an ownership stake in Ukraine’s success. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/char...

Former 🇺🇸 Amb Bridget writes why Trump’s Reset 5.0 policy amid Russia’s full scale invasion led her to resign from government service eu.freep.com/story/opinio...

I was U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. I resigned because of Trump's foreign policy. | Opinion

I served in our country's foreign service for three decades. The Trump administration's Ukraine policy will make the U.S. less safe.

eu.freep.com

Of course the devil is in the details but we have to: 1) admire the ambition of the Merz govt & 2) ask whether Trump’s approach is more effective than the so-called Atlanticists (it seems like it is). Perhaps what the Euro-Atlantic relationship needs is indeed more hard ball. on.ft.com/3SAG3jU

Germany backs Donald Trump goal for Nato to spend 5% of GDP on defence

Foreign minister signals Berlin will commit to 3.5% in ‘hard’ military spending and 1.5% for infrastructure by 2032

on.ft.com

Merz invited Trump visit to 🇩🇪. DJT only visited officially once in his 1st term, to Hamburg for the 2017 G20. my advice to 🇩🇪: think pomp & tradtion (ex. Potsdam or Bavaria) rather than the austere rickiticki modernity of Berlin’s govt quarter. Sounds stupid but matters www.dw.com/de/news-komp...

News kompakt: Merz spricht Einladung an Trump aus – DW – 09.05.2025

Der neue Bundeskanzler hat ein erstes Telefonat mit dem US-Präsidenten geführt. Zum 80. Mal feiert Moskau den Sieg der Sowjetunion über Nazi-Deutschland. Das Wichtigste in Kürze.

dw.com

Funny. Because I have been thinking how much Trump’s approach to demolishing the dollar’s role in the global economic system reminds me of Truss-economics. In a nutshell: Use policy to decimate your credibility.

Roland Smith@rolandmcs.bsky.social · last yr.

Evening.

At SAIS in 2007, I took an 🇫🇷 politics class taught by Phil Gordon, about Mitterrand's warnings about the "Albanian economic model” - the isolated, protectionist, dictatorial, repressive state under Hoxha’s regime. It feels a bit like Trump took all the wrong lessons from the Albanian model.

On Berlin’s Savigny Platz. Couldn’t agree more.

For this “Liberation Day,” I liberated myself from Twitter. I also liberated myself from my remaining Tesla stock (had to sell low)

Here's what Witkoff is: a billionaire 💰💰💰. That makes him a Trump admin “principal,” a net value based near-peer in Trump’s world. Other “principals” incl Bessent, Lutnick & Musk. Others- frmr Senators, generals, Congressmen - they’re staffers. Vance is a staffer. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

JD Vance defends Trump envoy who called Putin not a 'bad guy'

Vice President JD Vance defended President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff on Monday after foreign policy experts protested his description of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

dailymail.co.uk

🇫🇷National Assembly voted 288 to 54 for a resolution to strengthen 🇺🇦 support & seize all frozen Russian assets. (All mainstream parties supported; La France Insoumise (LFI) & some Communist MPs voted against; The National Rally (RN) abstained) www.lemonde.fr/politique/ar...

Les députés votent une résolution en faveur de l’Ukraine, le RN et son allié ciottiste s’abstiennent, LFI et les communistes votent contre

Une résolution symbolique prévoyant notamment la saisie des avoirs russes pour aider Kiev a été largement adoptée mercredi. Mais le score est loin d’afficher l’union nationale que certains espéraient.

lemonde.fr