YouTube link to full press conference between Trump & Zelensky here.

Russia Matters, 2/28/25

1. Donald Trump’s meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House turned into an unprecedented fracas after the U.S. leader berated his Ukrainian counterpart for courting WWIII, while JD Vance accused Zelenskyy of not being grateful enough for U.S. support. To an RM staffer watching the Sky News broadcast, the tone appeared to grow contentious after Trump said he was not aligned with either party to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict,¹ but is rather aligned with the U.S. and the “good of the world.”² Raising his voice at Zelenskyy in front of TV cameras, Trump said: “You don’t have the cards right now with us, you start having problems right now. You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III,” according to FT. Vance also actively participated in the melee: “Do you think that it’s respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?” The spat was followed by Zelenskyy’s televised departure from the White House with the much-previewed U.S.-Ukrainian deal on America’s access to revenues from Ukraine’ yet untapped mineral deposits unsigned. The battle of words between Trump and Vance on one side and Zelenskyy on the other side in the White House in front of TV cameras is unprecedented. No matter what justified grievances Zelenskyy may have with the current peace process, it might have been short-sighted on his part to get into this kind of public spat with the leader of the country that has very significant leverage vis-a-vis Ukraine. Zelenskyy—who said Feb. 23 that he is willing to step down as Ukraine’s president if it would secure lasting peace for his country—has strengthened his reputation as someone capable of standing up to world leaders, but it could backfire given that Ukraine depends on the U.S. for some of the critical elements of its defense.*
2. Prior to engaging in a shouting match with Zelenskyy in the White House on Friday, Trump had continued this week to signal his desire to end the conflict in Ukraine and revive U.S.-Russian economic ties, prompting Putin to reciprocate rhetorically. Among other things, Trump again ruled out NATO membership for Ukraine as he continued to try to woo Putin with conciliatory gestures. “NATO—you can forget about,” Trump said. “I think that’s probably the reason the whole thing started.” Trump also claimed the war could be ended “within weeks” and warned of the risk of escalation into a “third world war.” The U.S. leader also pointed to the ongoing talks on “major economic development transactions which will take place between the United States and Russia.”³ In his turn, Putin claimed openness to peace and a “dialogue on … an indivisible European and global security system for the long term,” but reaffirmed his claim that annexed Ukrainian regions are “non-negotiable.” He also insisted that Ukraine cannot be allowed to continue serving as a “hostile outpost” against Russia. In separate comments this week, Putin said he is ready to cooperate with Washington on developing rare-earth elements that the U.S. needs. While praising Trump for his overtures and offering opportunities to revive some of the bilateral economic ties, Putin also tasked the FSB with thwarting any attempts to disrupt “newly resumed dialogue” between the U.S. and Russia. One would struggle to recall whether and when Putin has previously tasked the FSB with protecting U.S.-Russian relations from being disrupted. Also, Putin’s tasking of the FSB confirms that its remit is not limited to domestic security, making it a competitor to the SVR and GRU in activities outside Russia.
3. Russian and U.S. officials met in Istanbul on Feb. 27 to discuss embassy-related issues as part of efforts to stabilize bilateral ties, according to MT/AFP. The U.S. State Department described the talks as “constructive,” with both sides identifying initial steps to stabilize diplomatic mission operations. The discussions addressed resolving financial and property disputes affecting diplomatic missions, including the return of six Russian properties seized by the U.S. between 2016 and 2018, according to Meduza. Russia also proposed resuming direct flights with the U.S. during the talks, according to Meduza. The U.S. delegation, led by Deputy Assistant Secretary Sonata Coulter, raised concerns about banking access and embassy staffing, while Russia’s delegation was headed by Alexander Darchiyev. During the talks, the U.S. approved Darchiyev as Russia’s new ambassador to Washington, according to Meduza.
4. The leaders of China and Russia sought to project a unified front on the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine amid U.S. overtures to Moscow seen as attempts to pry the two powers apart, WSJ reported. In a phone call Feb. 24, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Putin described the relationship between their countries as robust and immune to interventions from any third country, according to this newspaper. Xi said that China and Russia are “true friends who share weal and woe, support each other and develop together.” The Kremlin said that Putin—who has also sent Security Council chief Sergei Shoigu to meet Xi this week—informed his counterpart “about the recent Russian-American contacts.” “The President of China expressed his support for the dialogue initiated between Russia and the United States,” according to the Kremlin.
5. In the past month, Russia gained 191 square miles of Ukraine’s territory (about 2 Martha’s Vineyard islands). In Russia’s Kursk Oblast, Ukraine lost 10 square miles in the past week—the fastest rate of loss of Russian territory for Ukraine since early December 2024, according to the Feb. 26, 2025, issue of the Russia-Ukraine War Report Card. Additionally, Russia launched the largest number of Shahed drones against Ukraine to date on the night of Feb. 22 to 23 (267), according to Zelenskyy. Up to half of the drones that Russia launches are dummies, according to the Ukrainian air force.

RT, 2/8/25

See this post here about Russia’s homelessness. – Natylie

Russian President Vladimir Putin has tasked the government with providing homeless people across Russia with free medical assistance, regardless of whether they have documents confirming their identity or registered address.

The deadline set for the directive is July 1, 2025. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has been handed the responsibility for implementing the task.

According to the document, published by Kremlin on Friday, the Russian government must “update medical care procedures and standards,” allowing for relevant assistance to be provided to citizens “without a fixed place of residence at their location.”

The document highlights that if the homeless lack a registered address, identity documents, a mandatory health insurance policy or an individual insurance account number, this must not become a barrier to them getting medical care.

In December, Putin pledged that the Russian Health Ministry would develop a mechanism for providing medical care to the homeless and those who have lost their documents. The president said that people who lack a place to stay constitute the most vulnerable category of those in need.

“We are obligated to help people who have found themselves in such a difficult life situation – if, of course, we ourselves are truly human,” Putin said, speaking during a meeting of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights.

Putin also said that the authorities would allocate 25% of the budget within the following three years to social services. He highlighted that it was appropriate to “talk not about expenses, but about investments,” adding that by allocating funds for salaries and pensions, healthcare, education, culture, and sports, the country is investing in human capital, in the preservation of people in the long run.

By Riley Waggaman, Substack, 2/26/25

Riley Waggaman is an American writer and journalist who has lived in Russia for close to a decade. He has contributed to many websites, including Anti-Empire, Russian Faith, Brownstone Institute, Unlimited Hangout, and Geopolitics & Empire. He worked for Press TV, Russia Insider, and RT before going solo.

In a fiery speech marking three years since the start of Russia’s Special Military Operation in Ukraine and Kursk, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed hope that Moscow could “cooperate” with American companies to extract rare-earth metals in Russia and the “new territories” in East Ukraine:

[W]e would be ready to offer [cooperation] to our American partners – when I say partners, I mean not only administrative and government structures, but also companies – if they showed interest in working together.

We certainly have an order of magnitude – I want to emphasize this – an order of magnitude more resources of this kind than Ukraine. Russia is one of the undisputed leaders in reserves of these rare and rare-earth metals. We have them in in Murmansk in the North, in Kabardino-Balkaria in the Caucasus, in the Far East, in the Irkutsk region, and in Yakutia, in Tuva. These are quite capital-intensive investments, capital-intensive projects. We would be happy to work together with any foreign partners, including American ones.

Yes, by the way, regarding new territories, the same thing: we are ready to attract foreign partners, and our so-called new historical territories, which have returned to the Russian Federation, there are also certain reserves there. We are ready to work with our foreign partners, including the Americans, there.

On the same day that Putin gave his rousing speech, a civilian in one of Russia’s “new historical territories” was killed by a Ukrainian munition most likely supplied, or paid for, by Moscow’s “American partners”:

But that’s water under the bridge.

(You might be wondering how it’s possible, after three years of special military operations to “protect the people of Donbass”, that a town located less than 60 km from Donetsk is still being shelled by the Ukrainian military. You and me both, friend.)

Putin’s final warning to the Unipolar Globalists (“Would you be interested in strip-mining Donbass and Russia’s Far East, just like old times??”) came just a few days after Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, issued a chilling threat to US oil majors:

Dmitriev said he believed US oil majors that had “very successful business in Russia” would “at some point” return.

“Why would they forgo these opportunities that Russia gave them to have access to Russian natural resources?”

Dmitriev is taking part in ongoing negotiations with Washington and was present at the recent powwow in Riyadh.

For those unfamiliar with Mr. Dmitriev, here’s his bio—compliments of the World Economic Forum’s website:

BA (Hons) in Economics, Stanford University; MBA (Hons), Baker Scholar, Harvard Business School. Began career at Goldman Sachs and McKinsey & Company. Formerly, managed large private equity funds and completed a series of landmark transactions for Russia. Since 2011, Chief Executive Officer, RDIF. Member: BRICS and APEC Business Councils; Supervisory Board, ALROSA; Boards of Directors, Transneft, Rostelecom, Gazprombank, Mother and ChildMDMG and Russian Railways; Board of Trustees, Mariinsky Theatre, and Moscow State University, Russian Institute of Theatre Arts GITIS and National History Fund. Vice-President, Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. Young Global Leader, World Economic Forum (2009). Recipient of honours and awards, including: named among “100 most influential private equity professionals of the decade”, Private Equity International (2011); Order of Alexander Nevsky and the Order of Honour for valuable contribution to international investment projects and the socio-economic development of Russia; Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honor for paramount contribution to strengthening cooperation between Russia and France; King Abdulaziz Second-Class Order of Merit for contribution to strengthening cooperation between Russia and Saudi Arabia; Commander of the Order of the Star of Italy for special achievements in the development of friendly relations and cooperation between Italy and Russia; Order of Friendship for special achievements in the development of friendly relations and cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia.

Stanford, Harvard, Goldman Sachs, McKinsey & Company, and then groomed by Schwab before returning to Russia to promote “international investment projects”. The kind of Multipolar Freedom Fighter that the Globalists fear most.

(Coincidentally, Dmitriev was instrumental in financing and promoting Russia’s most famous clot-shot, Sputnik V.)

Apparently Dmitriev has been doing exemplary work, because on February 23 Putin appointed him “special representative of the Russian president for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries”.

Three years of slaughter. For business as usual.

Everything went according to plan?

Active Measures, 2/26/25

Calin Georgescu, the populist frontrunner in Romania’s annulled 2024 presidential election, was arrested today while en route to register his candidacy for the upcoming May election.

He has been accused of spreading “disinformation,” “anti-Semitism,” and improper campaign financing, with charges that carry a prison sentence of 20 years.

Romanian authorities conducted 47 raids across multiple counties.

According to Romanian media outlet G4Media, sources say the raids targeted a private security firm hired by Georgescu. Are they targeting his contractors to take down their real target – Georgescu?

The militarized, SWAT-style raids and arrest of Georgescu come just months after the presidential election he won was canceled over evidence-free allegations of “Russian interference.”

Is this what is now meant by “European-style democracy?”

YouTube link here.

***

Romanian prosecutors charge Georgescu on six counts in criminal case rocking the country

Euronews, 2/26/25

Prosecutors in Romania have opened criminal proceedings against ultranationalist politician and 2024 presidential election candidate Călin Georgescu on six counts, including anticonstitutional acts and misreporting his finances, authorities said on Wednesday.

The charges also revolve around his support for sympathisers of the Iron Guard, a pre-World War II fascist and antisemitic movement and political party, which is illegal under Romanian law.

Georgescu, known as “The TikTok Messiah,” has also been barred from leaving the country and is not allowed to create new social media accounts on top of the ones he already owns, according to Euronews Romania sources.

The authorities have stopped short of arresting him, however.

“We are the people, we are the power. We will not kneel before anyone. This was expected. The whole world knows what is happening in Romania now. It’s the despair here combined with that of Brussels,” Georgescu said after leaving the Public Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday evening.

Earlier in the day, Georgescu was picked up by police officers from a traffic stop and taken to the Prosecutor General’s Office for questioning.

The prosecutors questioned Georgescu as part of an investigation reportedly looking into “zero expenses” declared by Georgescu for last year’s electoral campaign, sources said.

He was initially asked to provide information over two counts: “false statements regarding funding sources” and “communicating false information,” Euronews Romania reported in their live coverage.

Prior to his questioning, prosecutors gathered all the documentation used by Georgescu to sign up for the presidential race, sources in the judiciary told Euronews Romania.

Georgescu was on his way to file his candidacy for the presidency when he was stopped in traffic, a statement issued by his team on Facebook claims.

“About 30 minutes ago, the system stopped him in traffic and he was pulled over for questioning at the Prosecutor General’s Office. Where is democracy, where are the partners who must defend democracy,” the statement said.

Contrary to Georgescu’s team’s claims, sources at the Electoral Commission told Euronews Romania that the candidate registration process has not opened yet.

Supporters of the far-right Party of Young People (POT), which splintered from another far-right party, AUR, and is among Georgescu’s most vocal backers, announced they would protest in front of the Prosecutor General’s Office. Some 200 people have gathered since.

“The judiciary has the duty to present extremely solid proof to the public (…) so that this criminal investigation is not hijacked into an election manifesto by a certain candidate,” Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said in a statement.

“The judiciary is independent and the law must be applied regardless of the persons involved, respecting the fundamental rights and freedoms of the citizens,” Ciolacu added.

Raids in five counties

Georgescu’s questioning was part of a nationwide police action that also involved raids against a total of 27 individuals under investigation for a number of crimes, including anti-constitutional actions, possession of illegal weapons caches, instigating racism, fascism and xenophobia and “promoting a cult of personality accused of genocide and war crimes”.

The sweeping raids, taking place at more than 40 locations across five Romanian counties, also included Horațiu Potra, a mercenary previously linked to Georgescu.

Potra, who owns a private military company and is a former member of the French Foreign Legion, was detained in mid-December over allegations of planning large-scale protests in favour of Georgescu.

Potra was investigated on illegal possession of weapons and ammunition charges, as well as public incitement to unsanctioned gatherings, but was ultimately released.

Related

• Declassified Romanian intelligence suggests ‘state actor’ behind Georgescu’s campaign
• Romania’s Georgescu slammed over links to controversial former mercenary

Georgescu came out on top in the first round of Romania’s presidential elections in December, which the country’s constitutional court annulled following the declassification of intelligence reports showing Russian involvement in influencing voters through social media to support the then-relatively unknown candidate.

In recent times, Romanian politics have suddenly come to the fore among top allies of US President Donald Trump, with his Vice President JD Vance, Elon Musk and Donald Trump Jr all backing Georgescu or criticising Bucharest for annulling the December vote.

The South African-born billionaire has reacted to news of Georgescu’s questioning, labelling it as “messed up”.

“They just arrested the person who won the most votes in the Romanian presidential election,” he said on his platform X on Wednesday.

You can follow Euronews Romania’s live coverage of this developing story here.

BNE Intellinews, 2/5/25

Russia’s services and manufacturing sectors expanded at their fastest pace in a year in January, driven by improved demand conditions and a sharp rise in new orders, according to the latest Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data from S&P Global. However, rising input costs and supply chain pressures weighed on business margins. (chart)

The seasonally adjusted S&P Global Russia Services PMI Business Activity Index rose to 54.6 in January, up from 51.2 in December, marking the strongest expansion in output in a year. The upturn was linked to “a sustained rise in new orders and more favourable demand conditions,” according to S&P Global.

The services sector’s performance was mirrored by Russia’s manufacturing industry, where the PMI increased to 53.1 in January from 50.8 the previous month, just above the 50 no-change benchmark. S&P Global report described the improvement as “significant overall”, noting that “the growth rate was the fastest since July 2024 and above average.”

Taken together the S&P Global Russia Composite PMI Output Index, which tracks both services and manufacturing, climbed to 54.7 in January from 51.1 in December. The overall expansion was the sharpest in a year, underpinned by “a faster rise in new orders” and “solid growth in private sector output.”

The strong January results come as a surprise in the context of predictions that Russia’s economy is cooling and many pundits have been predicting a wave of bankruptcies that could begin in the second quarter of this year. However, other pundits have argued that Russia’s economy is a lot more robust than it first appears, despite sky high interest rates and very sticky high inflation rates.

New business at service providers increased for the seventh consecutive month, with growth accelerating to its fastest pace in a year, reports S&P Global’s panelists. Companies attributed the rise to “a general improvement in demand conditions”, as well as a diversification of service lines.

The upturn in activity encouraged firms to increase staffing levels, with job creation recorded for a third successive month. However, employment growth was only marginal overall, as firms struggled with mounting backlogs of work. “The level of incomplete business rose at a solid pace,” S&P Global reported, citing ongoing pressure on capacity due to a strong influx of new orders.

High inflation remains a problem, despite the Central Bank of Russia (CBR)’s efforts to cool price growth using non-monetary policy methods. However, the regulator reported some successes in reducing borrowing, a major source of inflation in its January banking update. Tighter macroprudential restrictions have led to the first fall in consumer borrowing – mainly credit cards – where retail creditors paid off more loans than they took out in January for the first time in a year. Likewise, corporate borrowing fell by almost third (31%) in December, which is expected to reduce inflationary pressures as well. Mortgage lending is also down sharply after the sector was rocked by the end of a generous subsidy scheme last summer.

Nevertheless, despite robust demand, cost pressures continue to intensify in the service sector. Input prices rose at the fastest rate in a year, driven by higher supplier and transportation costs, as well as increased wage bills, according to surveyed firms.

Companies responded by passing higher costs on to customers, with selling prices rising at the joint-fastest pace in a year, alongside July 2024. “Firms commonly noted the pass-through of higher costs to customers,” the report stated.

However, managers remain optimistic on the outlook for this year, which is expected to be the toughest since the war in Ukraine began three years ago. Service providers reported the highest level of confidence since September, buoyed by expectations of stronger demand conditions and planned investments in new service lines and advertising, reports S&P Global.

Businesses continued to navigate inflationary pressures, with firms in both sectors raising prices to protect profit margins. “Selling prices increased at the sharpest rate since November 2023,” S&P Global said.