🇺🇦 Burnham Will Boost Ukraine’s Capacity To Make Its Own Long-Range Missiles

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Britain will boost Ukraine’s capacity to make its own long-range missiles, Andy Burnham will announce on Monday, as he travels to Kyiv for the country’s independence day on his first foreign visit as prime minister.

Burnham will arrive in the Ukrainian capital on Monday morning at a crucial time in the war, with Kyiv braced for another wave of Russian missile attacks and Zelensky, facing his most direct domestic challenge.

While the announcement will probably take years to have an impact on the war, it is likely to escalate tensions with Moscow at an already fraught moment in UK-Russian relations.

Burnham said in a statement on Sunday night :

“On Ukraine’s 35th anniversary of independence, the Ukrainian people should be in no doubt: the UK is behind you today and for as long as it takes.

“I am proud of the contribution our country has made to Ukraine and I want the Ukrainian people to hear it directly from me that our support will not waver. After all, Ukraine’s security is our security.

“The friendship between our two countries will long outlast Russia’s illegal war. In both the fight and in the rebuilding to come, we will stand with Ukraine and deliver opportunities for people across both our countries.

“Russia should be in no doubt of our resolve. We will not back down until there is a just and lasting peace.”

Burnham will announce in Kyiv that the UK will help France set up assembly lines in Ukraine for long-range missiles, which Macron, promised last month.

Macron spoke to Zelensky on Saturday to promise to deliver separate interceptor missiles, which could help counter the recent barrage of high-speed Russian missile attacks on Kyiv.

Meanwhile, European leaders have condemned Friday’s drone attack on a busy shopping centre in central Ukraine, which killed 16 people in Zelenskyy’s home town of Kryvyi Rih.

The Ukrainian military has run out of US-made Patriot interceptors, and Trump, recently backtracked on a promise to let Ukraine build its own.

However, Zelensky said over the weekend he still wanted to buy more US-made Patriots, adding that Ukraine was happy to pay for them rather than receive them as military aid.

“I wanted to secure 300 Patriot missiles for the winter package,”

he said.

“The request from our air force is 360.”

He added that he had reached an agreement with France on at least one air-defence system ​this year, and with ‌Germany on the supply of ​about 600 ​interceptors in 2027-28.

#burnham #ukraine #missiles #zelensky

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Macron posted on X on Saturday:

“It is crucial to provide Ukraine with all the necessary means to defend its skies and thwart this aggression (…) It is essential that all countries with capabilities at their disposal also join this effort.”

The British announcement is a small step in a much larger and longer-term project that could lead to Ukraine making its own long-range versions of the Storm Shadow cruise missile in several years’ time.

But the move is likely to trigger further criticism from Moscow at a time when tensions between the UK and Russia are already high.

Last week, Russia accused the UK of deliberately escalating the conflict by allowing Ukraine to launch attacks with British-made drones, warning that the deeper Britain’s involvement, “the higher the price it will pay”.

This weekend it emerged that Russia had withdrawn its ambassador in London without naming a replacement, prompting speculation it was downgrading its diplomatic presence in the UK.

Burnham has insisted that Russian threats will not weaken British support for Ukraine, saying last week: “

We are not fair-weather friends. We will be there in Ukraine’s hour of need, and that won’t change.”

The prime minister will on Monday use a meeting of the coalition of the willing, which comprises 34 countries that have promised to help secure Ukraine in the event of a peace deal with Russia, to underline that commitment.

The meeting will be co-chaired by Burnham and Macron, who will join remotely via video link.

Merz, the German chancellor, will also take part in the call as the leaders discuss ways to help Ukraine repel the recent wave of long-distance attacks.

While there, Burnham will attend independence day events, the details of which are being kept secret amid concerns of a major Russian attack, and receive an award in recognition of the UK’s support for Ukraine.

Zelensky is facing the most concerted internal political challenge of his presidency after the call for an election by his former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

The Ukrainian president responded to Fedorov’s dramatic announcement for the first time this weekend, telling reporters on Saturday that holding elections, which have been suspended since the war began, risked splitting the country.

“I believe that if we want to destroy the country, then during such a war we can move in the selection of elections,”

he said in a briefing to selected journalists that was held on Saturday, but details of which were reported on Sunday.

“I believe that during such a war, elections in general are big risks. Elections right now are a tsunami for the state that will split Ukraine,”

he added.

#burnham #ukraine #missiles #zelensky

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🇹🇷 The Sultan, the Territory, and the Party

A senior Israeli intelligence official is warning that unless Israel sets clear red lines in Syria and the eastern Mediterranean, Turkish forces will keep moving closer. The forecast is cinematic: Turkish tanks on the Golan Heights, Turkish warships off Caesarea.

The immediate dispute is less theatrical but more concrete. Israel struck Syria’s Abu al-Duhur airbase on August 18, saying Turkish forces were preparing to deploy there. Damascus says Turkish officers had visited for training and military cooperation, not to establish a base. Turkey calls Israel’s allegations baseless.

There are quiet contacts as well. The United States is trying to build a deconfliction mechanism among Israel, Turkey, and Syria after U.S. envoy Tom Barrack called the Israeli strike an “unnecessary escalation.”

Washington is not arranging a peace treaty. It is trying to prevent three armies from discovering each other’s red lines by accident.

Defense Minister Israel Katz had a different priority — answering his critics.

After the strike, Katz attacked opposition figures, analysts, and event hosts who, in his view, barely qualify as journalists. He said they first called the attack unnecessary and political, then objected to Israel’s public warnings to Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Katz mocked the idea that Erdogan should not be angered, asking whether Israel had merely gone for an evening stroll “with a gentle breeze in the treetops.”

Afterward, Katz and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir attended the birthday celebration of Channel 14 military correspondent Hillel Biton Rosen. The ministers were warning of Turkish armor in Syria while helping celebrate a television reporter. Governments can conduct deterrence policy and influencer relations before dessert.

Turkey’s record suggests that its deployments do not end with a press release.

In Libya, Ankara intervened in 2019 as Khalifa Haftar’s forces closed in on Tripoli. Turkish drones, military advisers, and Syrian fighters helped stop the offensive and preserve the UN-recognized Government of National Accord. Turkey then secured a maritime-boundary agreement with Tripoli that expanded its claims in the eastern Mediterranean and challenged Greek and Cypriot positions.

In Syria, Turkey has built a deep military footprint since 2016, first under the banner of fighting Islamic State and later through operations directed at Kurdish forces. Ankara controls or influences broad areas of northern Syria through bases, allied armed groups, infrastructure, and economic ties. The Sharaa government is trying to present itself as an independent authority, even as Turkish military cooperation deepens.

Israel has the stronger air force: stealth aircraft, precision weapons, and intelligence. Turkey has greater naval mass and an established capacity to project power across the eastern Mediterranean. These advantages do not offset each other. They become dangerous when each side believes the other is operating on its turf.

#Turkey #Israel #Syria #Erdogan #Katz #Mediterranean #Golan #Libya

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⚙️ Everyone Promises a New Round. Someone Is Already Billing for It.

House Speaker Mike Johnson says the United States will enter “a new phase” of the war with Iran “very soon.” He says allied countries will help, Iran cannot be trusted at the negotiating table, and Trump has already achieved what previous administrations could not: preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

The logic is elegant the way a circle is elegant. The central objective has been achieved. Therefore, the war needs a new phase.

Seyed Mohammad Marandi, a former adviser to Iran’s nuclear negotiating team, says there is a “very high” chance that military conflict will resume in the coming days. He warned that any country helping Trump pressure and “starve the Iranian people” would be “severely punished,” adding that the global economy stood on the brink of collapse.

The language on both sides is designed to make escalation sound like someone else’s choice. Washington calls it an economic offensive; Tehran calls it siege. It is a bidding war over who gets to call the next escalation defensive.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says Monday will bring “the single greatest financial offensive ever” against Iran. He calls it “economic D-Day” and warns that countries serving as financial arteries for Tehran will “share in its isolation.” Iran has answered by threatening penalties, including seizure, for vessels that violate its transit rules in Hormuz.

Meanwhile, the supply chain is already running.
The New York Times reports that Powerus, a West Palm Beach startup, began operating a small assembly site in the UAE last month. Workers there assemble 3-D-printed components into Guardian interceptor drones, built to destroy Iranian drones. Powerus says its affiliated factories now make about 3,000 interceptors a month and aim to reach global output of 15,000 a month by mid-2027.

The UAE site is one node in that network. The company says its model is to work with local manufacturers near the countries that need the weapons, rather than build factories in the United States and ship hardware across the world. The war is not only producing threats. It is producing a business model.

The next phase has not been formally announced. But the factory opened last month, the sanctions arrive Monday, and somebody has already decided that waiting is inefficient.

#Iran #Trump #USA #War #Sanctions #Drones #UAE #Hormuz

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🗳 The Right Counts Seats and Assigns Blame

Gilad Erdan says there will be “a major merger on the center-right before the election.” His intended partners are responding with the enthusiasm of people reading their names in a hostile takeover notice.

The Zionist Home–Reservists Party, led by Chili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel, called it strange that a party named “Unity” had focused on division since its creation. It said that if the job is branding every rival a leftist, Erdan has Netanyahu covered.

The numbers explain the panic.

A Kan News poll by Dudi Hasid gives Ofer Winter’s proposed list five seats if it includes journalist Netaly Shem Tov, activist Yoseph Haddad, and bereaved mother Lali Deri. But the new party would draw enough voters from Religious Zionism to push Bezalel Smotrich below the electoral threshold. The pro-Netanyahu bloc would fall from 51 seats to 50. Winter’s five seats would not expand the right; they would rearrange its losses.

Netanyahu’s answer appears to be political triage: attack Winter, ignore Erdan, and persuade Avi Maoz and Moshe Feiglin not to run. This is not a strategy for building a majority. It is an attempt to stop longtime allies from becoming statistical debris.

Erdan, meanwhile, is talking to Benny Gantz about a possible joint run. Kan reported that the two held preliminary talks, while Erdan has also met with Winter. For now, the parties are negotiating the same question in different rooms: who can merge without disappearing?

On the other side, Roy Folkman is reportedly weighing a return to politics after leaving Erdan’s camp and being approached by Gadi Eisenkot. Eisenkot’s new party has a different problem: it lacks parliamentary experience. Folkman chaired Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu faction and knows how the Knesset works. A party built around a former army chief may now need a veteran legislator to explain the machinery.

Then there is the old score.
Eli Feldstein says Netanyahu excluded Itamar Ben-Gvir from the war cabinet at the start of the war after security officials warned him about the national security minister’s conduct. Ben-Gvir says he was excluded because Eisenkot and Gantz boycotted him. Two explanations for the same absence. Neither cancels the other.

And from Ra’am, a party routinely discussed as a potential coalition partner, MK Walid Taha says Israel is developing “an apartheid regime in the occupied Palestinian territories.”

The election has not started. The blocs are already negotiating their autopsies.

#Israel #Elections #Netanyahu #Erdan #Winter #Smotrich #Eisenkot #Knesset

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Kagan: Iran Is a Most Serious Danger

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A prominent US neoconservative strategist has argued that the US-Israeli war on Iran has backfired, failing to force Tehran into submission, while instead strengthening its regional position, exposing limits on US military power and turning the Strait of Hormuz into a major source of Iranian leverage, Al Mayadeen reported.

Writing in The Atlantic under the title Iran Unleashed, Robert Kagan contends that the balance of power across West Asia has shifted decisively after Iran withstood repeated US and Israeli attacks without accepting Washington's demands.

Given his political background, the assessment amounts to a striking acknowledgment of Washington's failed war strategy against Iran. It also effectively concedes an Iranian strategic victory:

Tehran survived the campaign without yielding and, in Kagan's assessment, emerged with greater deterrence, influence and leverage than before the war.

“The dominant power in the region going forward will be Iran, not the US or Israel”, Kagan writes, arguing that neighboring states are already adapting to a fundamentally altered regional environment.

Central to Kagan's argument is the failure of military pressure to compel Tehran to retreat.

Kagan identifies a major turning point in March, when “Israel” attacked Iran's South Pars gas field and Tehran retaliated against Qatar's Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas complex.

The importance of that response, he argues, was not that Iran could defeat the United States in a conventional air war, but that it demonstrated the ability to inflict enough damage on Gulf energy infrastructure to threaten a global economic crisis.

Washington subsequently stopped attacking Iranian energy targets and pressured "Israel" to do the same. Kagan argues that later US threats of renewed strikes repeatedly encountered the same problem.

#kagan #gulf #tehran #washington #israel

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Iran threatened retaliation, Gulf governments warned about the consequences, and Washington declined to escalate.

“American actions have made plain that Washington fears escalation more than Iran does—not just for now, but for the future”, he writes.

The Strait of Hormuz sits at the center of Kagan's assessment of Iran's strengthened position.

Rather than treating control over the waterway as a temporary bargaining tactic, he argues that Tehran increasingly views it as a permanent component of its geopolitical power and its strongest deterrent against another US or Israeli attack.

He describes the June memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States as reflecting that altered balance.

Under the agreement, Iran would "make arrangements" for the “safe passage of commercial vessels”, while Tehran and Oman would discuss administration of the Strait “in line with the applicable international law and the sovereign rights of coastal states.”

Kagan goes further, arguing that control over Hormuz could offer Iran more practical leverage than possession of a nuclear weapon.

Whereas nuclear arms would primarily deter attack, influence over the energy chokepoint gives Tehran continuing leverage over states dependent on Gulf energy and could help it pressure adversaries and weaken US sanctions.

Kagan also points to shortages of key US missiles and interceptors, arguing that another prolonged campaign against Iran could undermine US readiness elsewhere, including in possible confrontations involving China or Russia.

A renewed assault could require greater reliance on manned aircraft while leaving fewer interceptors available to protect US bases and Gulf allies from Iranian retaliation.

Iranian officials have instead raised demands including the withdrawal of US forces, an end to the naval blockade, the lifting of sanctions, the release of frozen assets and compensation for wartime damage.

Kagan argues that Gulf governments that once relied on the United States as their primary security guarantor are increasingly being forced to reconsider whether Washington can protect them from the consequences of confrontation with Tehran.

#kagan #gulf #tehran #washington #israel

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Trump Seeks to Cripple Iran’s Economy

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Trump has threatened to impose severe sanctions against any country or entity maintaining economic ties with Iran, hoping to achieve with economic measures what military means have so far failed to do.

It is unclear, however, how far the Trump administration is prepared to go in confronting China, Iran’s biggest trading partner, which has signalled its resistance to US economic pressure to cut off links with an ally.

Iran, meanwhile, vowed retaliation against any country that took part in the US-led isolation campaign.

Launching what he called Operation Economic Outcast, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, called it an unprecedented campaign and compared it with the D-day Normandy landings, a turning point in the second world war.

“Today, in that same spirit, we are launching an economic onslaught against Iran’s financial connections around the globe,” Bessent said on Monday.

“Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone.”

Asked whether sanctions would be applied to China, which bought an estimated 80% of Iran’s shipped oil last year, he replied: “We want to make clear here today that no one is above the reach of US sanctions.

That if they facilitate transactions and are part of the ecosystem that turns Iranian oil into money, into repression, they will be targeted.”

Bessent said the US had identified those that continued to deal with Iran and each violator would be given a deadline to cut ties or face US sanctions. He said the deadlines imposed would depend on individual circumstances.

“Any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran will be removed from the US dollar system,” he said. “The clock just started ticking.”

Bessent said Trump was “making phone calls to world leaders with specific requests to cease their interactions with the regime”, but he did not specify whether the US president would talk to Xi Jinping.

China’s embassy in Washington told reporters: “Regarding the ​Iran issue, sanctions and pressure do not help resolve the problem. China calls on the relevant parties to take responsible actions and resolve the issue through political and diplomatic means.”

#trump #iran #economy #US #miller

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Tehran said it would retaliate against the sanctions using a range of measures. Maj Gen Ali Abdollahi, the armed forces’ chief of staff, said the retaliation could take the form of land, sea or air operations or cyber-attacks.

The announcement of secondary sanctions against Iran comes nearly six months after the the US and Israel launched an attack on Iran that killed its supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Early expectations that the regime in Tehran would collapse or agree to Washington’s demands to give up uranium enrichment and other key elements of its nuclear programme were dashed.

Hardliners appeared to strengthen their grip on government in Tehran and responded by declaring the closure of the strait of Hormuz, attacking ships that ignored its declaration.

Trump imposed a counter-blockage on Iranian oil exports through the strait, leading to an impasse that has had profound effects on the global economy.

Sina Toossi, a senior non-resident fellow at the Center for International Policy, said: “After nearly six months without a military or diplomatic victory, Washington appears to be trying to accomplish through intensified economic strangulation what military force has so far failed to achieve. But Tehran is answering that zero-sum approach with one of its own.”

The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, however, said further military action was not off the table. “By no means are we foreclosing using ‌kinetic strikes anywhere in the ​strait of Hormuz or around Iran,” Hegseth ⁠told reporters on Monday.

In apparent anticipation of the US measures, the United Arab Emirates, a close US and Israeli ally, announced it was suspending trade ties with Iran.

Turkey, another trading partner with Iran, which has been critical of the US-led campaign against the Islamic Republic, has yet to respond to the US threat of sanctions.

Andrew Miller, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, said: “The announcement of new economic sanctions on Iran and those countries trading with it signals what is plain to all: this war has brought the United States no closer to eliminating Iran’s nuclear programme or crippling the Iranian regime. But while sanctions can be effective, it is highly unlikely they will produce a quick settlement favourable to the United States.”

#trump #iran #economy #US #miller

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🇯🇴 A Security Deal in Jordan, With an American Chaperone

On Sunday, August 23, Syria confirmed that Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, accompanied by the heads of General Intelligence and Military Intelligence, met with a senior Israeli delegation in Jordan under U.S. mediation. AFP reported that Israel sent Mossad chief Roman Gofman. The staffing made the format clear: a diplomatic meeting built around intelligence chiefs.

Damascus wants “practical mechanisms” to stop Israeli strikes, arrests, and targeted killings on Syrian territory. It also wants to revive talks on a security agreement that could lead to something broader. Syria is sitting across from Israel to ask it to stop attacking Syria.

Damascus insists it has the right to rebuild its military and choose its partnerships. Israel’s reported conditions run in the opposite direction: no Turkish military activity in Syria; a demilitarized Syrian side of the Golan; protection for Syria’s Druze community; and limits on the Syrian army’s acquisition of certain strategic weapons. Israel has also reportedly conditioned any withdrawal from territory it seized after Assad’s fall on diplomatic progress.

This is not a failure to draft an agreement. Shaibani said the sides had already agreed “on paper to almost everything” early this year, including security zones near the border, a buffer zone limited to UN forces, and varying levels of Syrian deployment elsewhere. His concern was not the text. It was whether Israel intended to carry it out.

On territory, Syria was careful with its wording. It called the Golan occupied Syrian land, but said its final status was premature for discussion. Its immediate demand was for Israeli troops to withdraw to the lines held before December 8, 2024, and for the 1974 Disengagement Agreement to be fully implemented.

That agreement did not simply collapse. After Assad fell, Israel declared it void, moved into the UN-patrolled buffer zone, and expanded its presence beyond the Golan. Damascus is asking Israel to reverse a decision Israel made unilaterally.

The meeting also addressed Turkey. Syria wants to prevent Israeli-Turkish tensions from spilling onto Syrian territory — in other words, not to become the place where two other states settle their security disputes.

Washington is not trying to manufacture trust. It is trying to keep a nearly finished deal alive while both parties argue over whether the other one means it.

#Syria #Israel #Jordan #USA #SecurityDeal #Golan #Turkey #MiddleEast

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#vance #canada #demands

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Carney: Trump's Aggression Will Not Stand 🇨🇦


Mark Carney said on Monday that while American negotiators saw the French language in Canada as an “irritant (…) in Quebec, these are rights,” days after receiving widespread praise from political leaders for rejecting a US trade proposal that many perceived as weakening the country’s Francophone culture.

The prime minister’s remarks came hours after Trump, showed little interest in retreating from the spat, posting on social media that Canada had been “ripping off the United States of America for years” and threatening a swath of new, economically devastating tariffs on cars and trucks.

Carney instructed his negotiators to walk away from trade talks last week. Tariffs on an array of Canadian products took effect over the weekend, affecting around 5% of Canada’s exports to the US, and Canada said it will retaliate in early September.

On Monday, Carney toured a shipyard with Quebec’s premier, telling attendees Canada “could not accept” a proposed trade deal that would have weakened French language protections after trade talks collapsed between the two countries last week, adding that his government “will not give what they have asked”.

Quebec, Canada’s predominantly French-speaking province, has long sought to protect its distinct identity, at times with laws that clashed with the federal government and the Canadian charter of rights and freedoms.

Quebec’s premier, Christine Fréchette, said Carney had made the right decision in walking away from talks that looked to cross a “red line” for Francophones.

“Our culture, our language is central to our identity and it is important to exclude that from the negotiation table,” she told reporters over the weekend. “It’s something that is crucial for us and it won’t change, even though we are threatened with different tariffs, it won’t change. We will stay the way we are.”

Polling from earlier in the month shows that dislike for Trump is highest in Quebec.

Separatists in the province have seen a sharp decline in support amid the economic wounds inflicted by the US.

The Quebec Federation of Chambers of Commerce (FCCQ) called the tariffs a “worst-case scenario” for the province’s businesses.

“Quebec, in fact, has been the most affected by these tariffs since the very beginning of this trade war,” Fréchette said. “In all our regions, businesses risk losing contracts. In fact, it has already begun.”

On Monday, Trump’s top trade representative, Jamieson Greer, called reports that French language protections were up for debate a “a funny fake story”.

“That is not true,” Greer told CNBC. “I like the Quebecois and I like that they speak French.” He said both he and his sons speak the language.

He claimed the issue at stake was that Americans did not like Canada “forcing” streaming giants in the US to pay some of their profits to support Canadian content. Canada had already dropped that position, however, previously abandoning elements of digital services tax.

“I understand why the Quebecois want to have French language content. We think that’s a really valuable thing and we encourage countries to really put their own country first and put their national identity first.”

Carney rejected that framing, telling reporters it was not “funny” and there was an “enormous spread” in perspectives.

Trump redoubled his efforts to wage economic war against his country’s longtime political, security and economic ally.

“Canada has been ripping off the United States of America for years,” Trump wrote on social media. Criticizing Canada’s “ridiculously high tariffs” on American farmers, Trump wrote: “Not sustainable, and not anymore !”

#carney #trump #quebec #tariffs

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“Canada Is Playing With Fire: Ottawa’s Riskiest Gamble With the US Yet” 🇨🇦

Canada has announced it will impose tariffs on a wide range of key American industries, including cosmetics, dairy, wood products and outdoor equipment in the coming weeks, as it retaliates roughly “dollar for dollar” against levies imposed by the US.

In a strong Canadian countermove to tariffs levied by Trump, which took effect on Saturday after trade talks collapsed the day before, Canada’s finance and industry ministers on Tuesday called the measure a “focused response” to what they see as unfair trade practices.

The White House claimed it was using Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 to protest against “discriminatory” trade policies by Canada, including provincial bans on US alcohol – a ban that was only implemented in protest against tariffs imposed on Canadian goods last year.

The prime minister, Mark Carney, had previously pledged a “dollar-for-dollar” response from his government after roughly 5% of exports to the US were singled out by the White House.

The retaliatory Canadian measures will cover C$27.6bn in imports and are meant to target key industries including steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper.

The list from Ottawa has more than 700 items, ranging from hockey sticks to ornamental fish and toilet paper to smoked lobster, with most of the tariffs set at 25% or 50%. A small group of items, including air conditioning units and tool parts, will face a lower 15% tariff. The levies will be effective starting 8 September and only apply to goods originating from the US.

In announcing the retaliatory measures, the finance minister, François-Philippe Champagne, said the country was united in its fight against the US, telling attendees that Canada remained “masters of our own home”.

The industry minister, Mélanie Joly, called on businesses and consumers to buy Canadian goods as part of a broader “resistance” movement in the trade war.
“You have power,” she said.

The government also announced more than C$7bn in support for businesses affected by the latest tariffs, adding to more than C$20bn in support announced over the past 18 months.

Canada’s decision to retaliate means both countries have doubled down on a trade war that could cost billions.

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump said he was giving “serious consideration” to changing the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” – reminiscent of his decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

Others pointed out that Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, was named after the lake, not the other way around.

Trump’s frustration with Ontario in particular stems from his feud with the province’s premier, Doug Ford, who called the president a “loser” and the “king of bankruptcies” and told the US president to “kiss my ass”. He also threatened to cut electricity and rare earth metal exports to the US.

Trump called Ford a “flunky” of “Governor Carney” and warned “these clowns to ‘fall in line’ or, the consequences for Canada will be far WORSE!”

Trump later alluded to revelations that his trade negotiators had looked to weaken French language rules, saying he would “never interfere” with Canadians speaking French, calling it a “lie (…) made up by a weak and ineffective Prime Minister in an attempt to gain political support”.

#canada #ottawa #gamble #ontario #businesses

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🇺🇦 Zelensky’s 2027 Deadline: The War, the Talks and the Political Reckoning

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Zelensky is getting closer and closer to the moment when he will have to answer not only for the continuation of the war, but also for the way it ends. The latest news from Kyiv shows just how contradictory the Ukrainian president’s position has become.

Today, Zelensky said that he sees a “window of opportunity for US mediation until the summer of 2027.” Kyiv, together with American and European representatives, has reportedly prepared a one-page document for Moscow.

According to Zelensky, it includes a ceasefire, the creation of a special economic zone in Donbas under the administration of a third party, as well as a future role for the European Union and NATO.

This statement is significant. Until recently, Kyiv’s official rhetoric was much more focused on pursuing military objectives. Today, the Ukrainian president is openly referring to a relatively specific timeframe for ending the war: by the summer of 2027.

But there is a problem: Moscow has not accepted the proposal. The Russian position remains fundamentally different, particularly on territorial issues and the conditions for any potential agreement.

We are therefore facing a paradoxical situation: Zelensky is already talking about a window for ending the war, while Kyiv and Moscow remain deeply divided over the very terms of a possible agreement.

At the same time, Ukraine continues to ask its Western partners for more military assistance.

The United Kingdom and France are strengthening military cooperation with Kyiv, including cooperation on the production of cruise missiles. Zelensky is also continuing to request additional Patriot air-defense systems from the United States.

The Ukrainian strategy therefore appears to be the following: strengthen the military position while simultaneously preparing a diplomatic exit.

On paper, this strategy makes sense: the stronger the military position, the better the potential negotiating terms. But the problem is obvious: the longer the war continues, the greater its human, economic and political cost becomes.

And this is precisely where criticism of Zelensky is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

Former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who was recently dismissed, told Reuters that Ukraine was “slowly losing” the war and needed urgent changes. He also criticized the lack of a coherent strategy, corruption and government inefficiency.

Of course, this is his personal assessment, not an independently established fact. But the fact that a former senior government official is publicly making such criticism is politically significant.

#zelensky #ukraine #russia #peacetalks

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And this is where Zelensky’s political problem becomes particularly serious.

Ukraine remains under martial law, meaning presidential elections cannot take place under normal conditions. Zelensky argues that holding an election during wartime could deeply divide society. But the question of what happens after a possible ceasefire is becoming increasingly important.

Because the end of the war would return Ukrainian politics to a much more conventional logic.

Voters would no longer judge the government solely on its ability to resist the Russian invasion. They could also assess the decisions made during the war: mobilization, corruption, the economy, human losses, dependence on Western aid, and, above all, the terms of the peace agreement.

Zelensky therefore faces an extremely difficult choice.

Continuing the war means asking the West for more money and weapons while having to explain how this strategy can still lead to a decisive improvement in Ukraine’s position.

Negotiating means risking accusations of territorial concessions.

Holding elections after a ceasefire means accepting that his record will be subjected to genuine political competition.

Meanwhile, strikes continue on both sides. Today, another oil facility in Russia’s Krasnodar region was hit in a Ukrainian attack, reportedly killing two people according to local authorities.

Another development deserves attention: The Kyiv Independent, citing a source, reported that Washington had allegedly asked Kyiv to refrain from strikes against Moscow and St. Petersburg during CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s visit to Russia.

This information has not been officially confirmed and should therefore be treated with caution. But if confirmed, it would illustrate an important development: Washington would be seeking to prevent an escalation that could undermine diplomatic efforts.

And this may be the most important change of all.

The United States and European countries continue to support Ukraine, but they are increasingly focused on how to end the war and prevent further escalation.

For Zelensky, this means that his room for maneuver is gradually shrinking.

He must simultaneously maintain Western support, preserve the confidence of the Ukrainian population, secure acceptable peace terms and justify the strategic decisions made throughout the war.

That is why his announcement of a “window” extending until the summer of 2027 could be much more than a diplomatic phrase.

It could become Zelensky’s real political deadline.

If the war ends by then with an agreement that Ukrainian society considers acceptable, Zelensky will be able to present himself as the leader who resisted the invasion and secured peace.

But if negotiations fail and the military situation remains deadlocked, the question will become much more uncomfortable:

How much longer can Ukraine afford to pay the price of the current strategy — and who will ultimately have to take responsibility for it?

For Zelensky, this question is becoming harder to avoid with every passing day.

#zelensky #ukraine #russia #peacetalks

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#defense #technology #warfare #michael

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The Empire’s Customer Service Desk

Trump’s White House is running two pressure campaigns at once: Iran gets a sanctions dragnet; Canada gets a tariff invoice. Different flags, same product: obedience.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the Iran plan an “economic onslaught” against Tehran’s global financial links. “No one is above the reach of U.S. sanctions,” he said, including firms that turn Iranian oil into revenue. The administration expanded potential secondary sanctions into gold, digital assets, technology, aviation and shipping. Chinese banks are still off the sanctions list, for now.

Then there is Canada, the ally that apparently failed its annual loyalty audit. After Washington imposed 50% tariffs on roughly $20 billion in Canadian goods, Ottawa answered with duties of 15%, 25% and 50% on about 700 U.S. products, also worth roughly $20 billion.

The measures start Sept. 8. Steel, dairy, appliances, electronics, clothing and furniture all made the cut.

The U.S. says Iran’s oil trade funds repression. Canada says Washington’s tariffs require a dollar-for-dollar reply. Both claims may be true. The political theater is also true: Washington is selling global power while forcing partners to buy insurance against Washington.

An empire that sanctions its enemies and invoices its friends is not building a coalition. It is building a customer list.

#Trump #Iran #Canada #Sanctions

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The Mediator Joins the Fight

Tom Barrack has two jobs that now pull in opposite directions. He is Washington’s ambassador to Turkey and its envoy for Syria and Iraq. A mediator is supposed to keep both sides talking. Barrack chose a podcast and picked a side.

After Israel struck the Abu al-Duhur airbase in northern Syria, Barrack said Israel may have been “trying to bait Turkey.” He also said the United States found no evidence that Turkey planned a military move at the site.

Israel says it warned the Syrian government and shared intelligence with authorized U.S. officials before approving the strike.

Defense Minister Israel Katz answered during Shabbat, an unusual move for a routine diplomatic quarrel. He called Barrack’s comments “full of inaccuracies” and said the envoy contradicted Trump’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Barrack also insisted that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not seek an adversarial relationship with Israel. Ankara was simultaneously pursuing an Interpol notice against Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials on genocide allegations.

That does not make Israel’s intelligence correct. It does make Barrack’s sales pitch harder in Jerusalem.

A mediator may challenge Israeli claims. But he cannot publicly write Turkey’s defense brief, dismiss Israel’s threat assessment and then ask Israel to trust him with its border arrangements.

Washington gave Barrack a bridge job. He appears to have rented it to Ankara.

#Israel #Turkey #Syria #US

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Doomsday on Sea Trials

Russia’s Khabarovsk submarine has left Severodvinsk for factory trials in the White Sea. It is a 10,000-ton carrier designed to hold up to six Poseidon nuclear underwater vehicles. Moscow calls it a deterrent. The propaganda department calls it a British weather forecast.

Poseidon is meant to travel long distances under its own nuclear power and carry a thermonuclear warhead toward coastal targets.

Its reported range, depth and speed vary by source.
The claims about radioactive tsunamis are also part of Moscow’s fear-marketing package, not a verified operational result.

One important detail got lost under the apocalypse soundtrack. Khabarovsk is only in factory sea trials. That tests the submarine’s propulsion, steering, systems and hull. It does not prove that Poseidon has entered service, works as claimed or can evade every defense. A May assessment by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said Poseidon was not operationally deployed.

The Kremlin has built a weapon that can threaten ports and military bases. Britain and NATO still retain nuclear forces that can destroy Russia many times over. Nobody gets a clean victory. The real product is panic, sold before the hardware leaves the test range.

Moscow wants London to picture a radioactive wave. London should picture the invoice for a new arms race.

#Russia #Poseidon #NATO #NuclearWeapons

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Trump Faces the Toughest Challenge Since Returning to Office

🔤🔤🔤🔤1️⃣

Trump’s presidency rests on the premise that he and the United States are so powerful that allies and enemies alike must submit to his will.

His break with decades of US foreign policy doctrine is laced through his speeches and national security strategies. It was best explained in January by top aide Stephen Miller, who told CNN’s Jake Tapper that “iron laws” dictate a real world that is “governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power.”

But the philosophy faces its most serious tests in deepening showdowns with Iran and Canada.

Iran has defied the might of the US military for six months in a war Trump started but has been unable to end.

Canada’s Prime Minister Carney, who shut down trade talks with Washington, has meanwhile argued more forcefully than any other Western leader that the US under Trump “has changed.” He told his country Saturday that Trump was using “economic integration as a weapon.”

It is a commentary on the extreme disruption of the Trump era that Canada, one of America’s most loyal friends, has found itself in a similar state of economic warfare with the US as Iran, one of Washington’s worst foes.

Treasury Secretary Bessent announced an “economic onslaught” against Iran’s global financial connections, drawing an analogy with the D-Day invasion that turned the tide in World War II.

Trump, meanwhile warned on social media that “The U.S.A. will always be far bigger, richer, and stronger than Canada.” He added: “Someone should get these clowns to ‘fall in line.’”

The administration’s rhetoric Monday suggests that Trump is now sending the US economy to war.

Trump hopes to chalk up a lopsided trade deal with Canada and to finally bring about the downfall of Iran’s regime.

But the way forward is uncertain on both fronts because the president often backs down when the economic consequences of his attempts to assert his authority become clear.

Any prolonged US effort to prevail over Canada and Iran — and third-party nations sanctioned in his bid to shut down Tehran’s financial networks — could trigger retaliation that causes energy and food price hikes for US consumers. It could also rattle US markets at a time when some investors fear a bond crisis.

If Monday’s threats are the precursor to more TACOs (“Trump always chickens out”), the president will undermine his own power and the nation’s, and slip closer to lame-duck status as difficult midterm elections loom in November.

Bessent’s announcement was the latest US effort to find a new way out of the war with Iran.

But the D-Day analogy seemed tonally off, given the terrible sacrifices made by American soldiers to liberate Europe. And unlike Bessent, allied commander Gen. Dwight Eisenhower didn’t spent days in 1944 previewing a massive attack only to follow through with new threats of sanctions and no timeline.

Still, administration skeptics often ignore the genuine power that Trump could wield by clever use of economic warfare.

#trump #challenge #canada #carney

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