NATO is always looking for a raison etre, and appears to have found one as the storefront for Western War Industries. Hence, their sudden desire for peace is a red herring as they fumble around while Trump establishes his policies on the Ukraine war/peace.
NATO's removal of Muammar Gaddafi was an astonishing disaster - making Africa poorer and giving Africans from the Sahel reason to leave the continent as well as a road map to the Mediterranean. The African invasion of Europe is a direct outcome of the fall of Gadaffi.
NATO plans to oust Zelensky – Russian intel
NATO is considering trying to facilitate the removal of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky from power by discrediting him ahead of potential elections next fall, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claimed in a statement on Monday. The agency believes that Western officials see Zelensky as a key obstacle to peace talks with Moscow.
Zelensky remains in office despite his term having officially expired last May. He has refused to step down and postponed presidential elections, citing the martial law imposed in 2022 following the escalation of the conflict with Russia.
Western leaders are looking to “freeze” the conflict by pushing both Moscow and Kiev toward negotiations, but Zelensky is seen as a barrier, the SVR said.
“Washington and Brussels agree that the main obstacle to the implementation of such a scenario is Zelensky, who is referred to in Western circles as nothing more than ‘expendable material,’” the agency said in the statement, adding that “even NATO understands that Zelensky’s time is up.”
NATO is the obstacle to peace in Ukraine, not Zelensky. NATO has just come to the realization that Zelensky has made enough money for himself and for the Western War Industries that it's time for someone else to step in with new ideas to keep the inventories moving. Also, Trump is not 'in the game'.
To address this, the bloc is reportedly preparing a campaign to discredit Zelensky ahead of Ukraine’s next presidential elections, which the agency said could take place next fall. The SVR claimed that Western officials plan to release information linking Zelensky and his team to the embezzlement of over $1.5 billion in funds intended for purchasing military equipment.
Additionally, the report alleged that Zelensky’s administration was involved in schemes to divert the salaries of 130,000 deceased Ukrainian soldiers who remain listed as active service members. The SVR also claimed that Zelensky was implicated in the illegal sale of Western-supplied weapons to armed groups in Africa.
The SVR suggested that the return of Donald Trump to the White House has created uncertainty over future Western support for Ukraine, which could accelerate efforts to replace Zelensky. According to the agency, NATO’s broader goal is to maintain Ukraine as an anti-Russian foothold, regardless of the situation on the battlefield.
Neither NATO nor Ukrainian officials have responded to the SVR’s claims so far.
In an interview with the Associated Press on Saturday, Zelensky accused Russia of avoiding peace talks and reiterated his calls for Western security guarantees as a precondition for negotiations. He argued that Ukraine’s membership in NATO would be the “cheapest” option for the West to ensure such guarantees.
Nothing is 'cheap' in Ukraine when the majority of monies disappear.
Moscow has repeatedly stated its willingness to engage in peace talks but has pointed out that it is unable to do so because of the prohibition on negotiations with Russia announced by Zelensky in 2022. The Russian leadership has also stated that freezing the conflict is unacceptable and that Ukraine’s accession to NATO cannot be allowed. Russian officials have maintained that Ukraine’s neutrality, its withdrawal from Russian territories, and legal protections for Russian-speaking populations are necessary conditions for any settlement.
Does war give a third country the right to criminal behaviour?
Kiev given green light to spend UK loan backed by ‘stolen’ Russian assets
Kiev has received final approval to tap a £2.26 billion ($2.8 billion) UK loan linked to profits generated by frozen Russian assets. Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers approved a draft law on Friday that allows Kiev to allocate the funds, the Defense Ministry announced in a statement.
The money is part of the G7’s ‘Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration’ $50 billion loan approved for Ukraine last year, to be repaid using profits generated by the immobilized Russian funds. The legislation to disburse the loan was granted royal assent on January 16, following the signing of the UK-Ukraine 100 Year Partnership Agreement. According to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, the funds will mostly be spent on air defense, as well as repair and production of weaponry and military equipment.
Following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Western states froze an estimated $300 billion worth of funds belonging to the Russian central bank. Of the $300 billion in immobilized Russian assets, around $213 billion is currently held in the Brussels-based clearinghouse Euroclear. The funds have already generated billions in interest, with the clearinghouse transferring €1.55 billion ($1.63 billion) directly to Ukraine in July last year.
The decision to tap frozen Russian assets has sparked debate among G7 members, with countries such as Germany, France, and Italy raising legal concerns. The IMF has also warned that seizing these assets without a clear legal framework could undermine global confidence in the Western financial system.
Moscow has condemned the use of its frozen assets, calling it “theft.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned in December that Russia would pursue legal action against any attempts to channel the funds to Ukraine.
“Speaking in plain Russian, this money was stolen from us. Our assets have been frozen absolutely illegally, against all norms and rules,” Peskov said, responding to the US transfer of a $1 billion installment from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine. He added that Russia would exhaust all legal avenues to protect its property and rights. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov earlier warned that there are plans to mirror the West’s actions, tapping income from frozen Western assets in Russia.
Separately on Friday, Finland’s Defense Ministry announced its 27th military aid package for Ukraine, valued at €198 million. It is unclear where the funds will originate, as the ministry refused to disclose information on the specific content, delivery method, or schedule of the aid, citing operational reasons.
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Medvedev slams Zelensky’s claim on US aid as ‘brazen lie’
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s recent claim that he is unaware of the whereabouts of more than $100 billion of Western aid funds allocated to Kiev is a “brazen and cynical lie,” former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has suggested.
In a Telegram post on Monday, Medvedev, who now serves as the Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, accused Zelensky and his associates of embezzling significant sums. “In a fit of candor, the Bandera regime’s boss admitted that he and his cronies had siphoned off $100 billion,” he stated.
This follows after on Sunday, in an interview with AP, Zelensky claimed that Kiev received just over $75 billion in military and other types of assistance out of the $177 billion military aid approved by Washington under the Joe Biden administration.
“That is, $100 billion of these $177 (or even $200 billion, some people say) we never received,” he insisted. “But when they say that Ukraine received $200 billion during the war to support the army – this is not true. I do not know where all this money is. Maybe it is true on paper, there are hundreds of different programs – maybe, we do not argue, we are very grateful for everything. But we received more than $70–76 billion, something like that,” Zelensky claimed.
Medvedev, in response, alleged that the missing funds benefited individuals in both the US and Ukraine, implicating entities such as the US Department of Defense, CIA, and military contractors. In his post on Monday, he also claimed that “billions stolen in both cash and weapons” are now “popping up all over the globe.”
The hundred billion lined the pockets of all kinds of kleptocrats from Washington to Kiev
Medvedev expressed skepticism about any forthcoming accountability, stating: “The thieves will pardon themselves. Biden has already started the process.”
Medvedev suggested that Elon Musk’s “naive yet respectable attempts to investigate ideologically camouflaged theft at USAID [US Agency for International Development], as well as corruption in aid to the failed state of Ukraine, will come to naught.”
Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has been involved in efforts to dismantle USAID. He has publicly described the agency as a “criminal organization” and asserted that it’s “time for it to die.” President Donald Trump accused the agency’s leadership of being “radical lunatics” and has proposed major changes to the organization.
Medvedev concluded that despite potential condemnations and hearings, “aid to Kiev will continue under a reissue of the Reagan motto ‘peace through strength.’”
Deep State will find a way to keep the dollars flowing from American taxpayers to War Industry Oligarchs. The wealth transfer scheme must continue.
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