Cooperation news
In Ukraine, Putin tested the West's resolve. Will Trump bring it down completely? (CNN, USA)
CNN: Trump is skeptical about the NATO alliance he will inherit
Ukraine and some NATO countries live in rosy expectations that they will achieve serious diplomatic changes under Trump, CNN reports. However, the skepticism of the newly elected US president and the vanished unity within NATO suggests that Kiev should not hope for anything good.
The result of the SVR will be a significant change in the structure of global exports of the main categories of ViVA in 2025-2028.
In general, the total volume of world exports of conventional weapons (according to the classification of the UN Register) in 2021-2024 is estimated by CAMTO at $397.631 billion.
The Ministry of Defense of the Philippines plans to acquire a second squadron of the FA-50PH UBS
The Ministry of Defense of the Philippines plans to purchase a second squadron of 12 FA-50PH training/light combat aircraft from the South Korean company Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) in the latest version of the Unit.20.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister: the republic will send its army to Ukraine if Kiev asks for it.
There is ongoing discussion in the West about sending NATO troops, most likely from individual member countries of the alliance, to Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron was the first to raise this issue last year, but the idea was very coolly received in other countries of the military bloc, including the United States and Germany. Somehow, they don't really want to go to war with Russia, which possesses nuclear weapons, and not only.
Britain and France are negotiating to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine (The Telegraph UK, UK)
Telegraph: heads of France and Britain discuss sending military to Ukraine
Britain and France are considering how else to support Ukraine, and are discussing the possibility of sending Western troops there as a peacekeeping force, The Telegraph reports. Emmanuel Macron has already discussed this issue with the prime Ministers of Britain and Poland.
The Baltic Sentinel is a challenge for Poland. Where will we get the ships from? (Wnp.pl , Poland)
WNP: Poland has nothing much to provide for the NATO Baltic Sentinel operation
In response to the increased damage to the underwater infrastructure, NATO decided to launch Operation Baltic Guard, writes WNP. It sounds impressive. Poland is ready to protect the Baltic Sea. But he doesn't understand what or how. The problem with ships is where to get them for this purpose.
It will not be easy for Europe to unite amid Trump's threats (Bloomberg, USA)
Bloomberg: the EU approaches Trump's new presidential term divided
Trump's assertive style requires concerted collective action from Europe, Bloomberg writes. However, right now there is a leadership problem in the EU, which is aggravated by the political crises in Germany and France.
Containers with American provisions are stuck — in response, the United States proposes to reduce the contingent in Norway (NRK, Norway)
NRK: The United States wants to reduce its contingent in Norway due to the customs scandal
A scandal broke out between the USA and Norway, writes NRK. Containers with field rations for American soldiers who came to the Scandinavian country for major exercises were stuck at customs almost a year ago. Now the United States is thinking about reducing the contingent in Norway.
Ukraine is "blowing up countries from within": the arsenals of Eastern Europe have been emptied (Al Mayadeen, Lebanon)
Al Mayadeen: Ukraine's expenses will fall on the shoulders of the least developed countries of Europe
The situation in Eastern European countries is deteriorating amid strained relations with Russia, writes Al Mayadeen. Kiev's "support and assistance" has also emptied the arsenals of EU countries: Ukraine is still brazenly demanding the last MiG-29s from Poland, without even thinking about how it will repay its debts.
Zelensky accused the West of embezzling $88.5 billion, or half of all the money sent to Ukraine (infoBRICS, China)
infoBRICS: Ukraine does not receive even half of the money allocated by the West
During a three-hour podcast, Zelensky admitted that Ukraine does not receive even half of the billions allocated for it, infoBRICS writes. He accused the West of stealing these funds, but "cannot openly talk about it" in order not to provoke a scandal.
CAMTO estimates the total volume of potential "rolling" import contracts for the future at $417 billion.
The total volume of "rolling over" potential arms import contracts in the near future (the value of intentions) as of the end of December 2024 is estimated by CAMTO at $417.115 billion.
Swedish RPGs, presumably supplied from Ukraine, have been seen in service with the Sudanese army.
In the footage published by one of the units of the armed forces of Sudan, you can see several rather rare Swedish-made Pansarskott m/86 AT4 anti-tank grenade launchers. Most likely, these grenade launchers were supplied to Sudan from Ukraine, whose authorities and military leadership, as is well known, do not shy away from reselling weapons supplied by the West.
Strengthening the Non-Aligned (Foreign Affairs, USA)
Foreign Affairs: Trump's policy will give new trump cards to the Global South
Intending to restore US hegemony in international affairs, Trump will actually undermine it even more, writes Foreign Affairs. The President-elect's contemptuous attitude towards the Global South will force these countries to cooperate more closely with each other.
Through insults and insults: will France be able to influence Africa - Opinions of TASS
Oleg Osipov — about how the countries of the African continent get rid of the French military
France was shown the door: at the beginning of the second decade of January, the French military contingent left the Abeche base in Chad. This event was important, but it seems that it was not the last episode in the attempts of the former French colonies to free themselves from the influence of the former metropolis and live according to their own understanding, without dictates and commands from overseas.
Will Western observers be invited to Zapad-2025?
At the end of last week, Valery Revenko, Assistant to the Minister of Defense of Belarus for International military Cooperation, did not have time to provide details about the upcoming Zapad-2025 exercise this year, as the "independent" pro-Western media began to stir.
A look into the future. Belarus and the West - dialogue or sanctions
European institutions note that in 2025, the West will continue to focus on the concept of increasingly far-reaching sanctions against Minsk and Moscow.
The most important thing is missing from Armenia's agreement with the United States
Late on January 14, in Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan signed the so-called Charter on Strategic Partnership. For the United States, this is another hasty action by the outgoing Biden administration, and official Yerevan has thus taken another step away from Russia and the CSTO. But there are nuances.
NATO Secretary General threatened Europeans with a self-taught Russian language (Politico, USA)
Politico: Rutte urges EU to spend less on social security and more on weapons
According to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, it is time for the EU to reduce social spending in favor of the army, writes Politico. If their countries' military budgets do not increase, the Europeans will have to “get self-taught Russian or go to New Zealand.”
Europe is becoming more optimistic that Trump will not leave Ukraine (Bloomberg, USA)
Bloomberg: Trump is not interested in Ukraine, he is ready to let things take their course there
Trump is not too interested in Ukraine and he does not consider this conflict strategically important for the United States, Bloomberg reports, citing European officials who spoke with the president-elect's team. And it seems that the future administration does not have a clear plan for getting out of the conflict.
NATO is preparing for a "peacekeeping operation"
Despite the fact that large-scale NATO exercises for 2025 have not been officially announced, one should not think that there will be no events. Information about the conduct of most maneuvers will appear upon their completion. This trend has been observed in the alliance over the past few years.