Anders Åslund

🇩🇪🇪🇺🇺🇦 Merz calls on EU to immediately provide Ukraine with a €90 billion loan and end Budapest's blockade. He said Europe cannot allow individual countries to block decisions affecting the security of the entire continent. During his speech, Merz stressed that the financial assistance has already been agreed at the EU level and must be provided without delay. He stressed that delay creates risks for Ukraine, which needs resources for defense and maintaining economic stability

Biden spent only $130bn on Ukraine.

Wow. Trumps war of choice is not cheap. washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

Trump is just setting up fake companies then awarding them 10's of billions in state contracts. This even makes Russian corruption look quaint.

From today’s New York Times: Across both of his terms, Mr. Trump has granted clemency to more than 70 allies, donors and others convicted in fraud cases. In his second term, Mr. Trump’s pace of pardoning those convicted of fraud has increased. In the first year of his second term, he handed out nearly three dozen pardons and commutations for people accused of fraud. Mr. Trump is unabashed about using the government to reward friends and supporters and punish foes. Still, his handling of fraud cases stands out. Not only are there striking similarities between some of the crimes that were prosecuted and those that were pardoned, but the president also has excused some of those who have stolen the most. . . . . . Last March, Mr. Trump pardoned Trevor Milton, the founder of electric vehicle start-up Nikola, who had been sentenced to four years in prison on allegations he had defrauded his investors. Before Mr. Trump granted the pardon, his campaign received donations from Mr. Milton and his wife totaling more than $1.8 million. . . . . . Mr. Herrera and the others pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, but Mr. Trump pardoned them before sentencing. The clemency grants came after Mr. Herrera’s daughter, Isabela Herrera, donated $2.5 million in 2024 — and then another $1 million in 2025 — to MAGA Inc., a super PAC devoted to Mr. Trump and run by his allies. . . . . . Mr. Weinstein has not been as fortunate as Adriana Camberos. In 2021, Mr. Trump commuted the sentence she was serving for a fraud scheme involving fake energy drinks. A lawyer who had worked in the Trump White House assisted her with her case. Three years later, Ms. Camberos was convicted with her brother of defrauding food wholesalers. In January, Mr. Trump pardoned them both, with no explanation. _________________ Imagine that — a rich felon convicted of fraud excusing rich felons convicted of fraud … if the price is right. They say actions speak louder than words, and Trump’s actions on behalf of large-scale fraudsters speak as clearly as his actions on large-scale drug traffickers (see Trump pardoned drug traffickers including former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández and Silk Road online drug market founder Ross Ulbricht). Particularly galling is pardoning a fraudster who then goes out and frauds again and then scores a second fraud pardon. How do you square fraud x2/pardon x2 with the claim that you’re serious about cracking down on fraud? The old saying was “justice is blind.” The current saying is “you get as much justice as you can afford to buy.” If we’re serious about rooting out fraud, I know exactly where we should start.

Gomez: You said the only person who determine if it’s an imminent threat is the president. Do you stand by that statement? Gabbard: I do Gomez: Director Ratcliffe, do you agree with that? Ratcliffe: The president makes that decision Gomez: Why do you guys even have jobs?

Brexit was a mistake, and it’s time for the UK to rejoin the EU

A typical night for millions of Ukrainian children because the russian army came to “liberate” them.

This Trump statement is interesting. 1. Trump has no idea what Israel is doing in their joint war on Iran. 2. The South Pars field bombed by Israel is jointly owned by Iran and US sally Qatar. 3. Israel goes against US policy & Trump does nothing. Israel is wagging its US tail.

He’s lost control and has no idea what he’s doing.

WELP fortune.com/2026/03/18/how…

Ingraham: "Have any NATO members agreed to help? France, Germany, UK say this isn't their problem." Miller: "Trump has been clear about NATO. Especially after Ukraine-a nation far closer to Europe than to us. We have a giant ocean between us." Funny how that ocean didn't stop the US from starting wars all over the world

Long overdue, any participation should result in a ban. Including athletes.

Grateful for what, exactly? Let Mr. Hegseth count the ways. 1.Abandoning Ukraine mid-war 2.The Greenland annexation fantasy 3.Tariffs on allies who still answer the phone 4.A defense secretary with no defense experience 5.Withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. Again. 6.Gutting USAID while calling it efficiency 7.The trade war with Canada 8.Recognizing Crimea as Russian territory 9.Pulling out of the WHO during a health crisis 10.Threatening to leave NATO 11.Cosying up to every autocrat with a decent golf course 12.The collapse of US soft power in under 90 days 13.Alienating the EU faster than Brexit managed 14.Signal-gating classified war plans to a journalist 15.Deploying the military to arrest migrants at the border 16.Defunding public broadcasting 17.Handing Elon Musk the keys to federal spending 18.Ending birthright citizenship by executive order 19.Firing the inspectors general who were watching all of the above 20. And now – a war in Iran nobody asked for, going exactly as well as you’d expect You’re welcome, world. Gandalv / @Microinteracti1

⚡️Iran seeking intelligence from Russia in war against US, CIA director says. "No, I don't take Vladimir Putin at his word," CIA Director John Ratcliffe said at a congressional hearing on March 18. kyivindependent.com/iran-seeking-i…

The reckless campaign against Iran will weaken America’s president. That will make him angry. Be warned: he makes a very bad loser econ.st/4lA7lEQ

Previous pro-Kremlin 🇷🇺 blogger Ilya Remeslo has turned around and published a damming indictment of Putin and his policies. It’s powerful stuff.

Trump has a terrifying amount of blood on his hands. By holding these fake negotiations, he is buying time for Russia while legitimizing its unfair demands and rhetoric. We should never forgive him