«Сьогодні вранці я мав годинну телефонну розмову з президентом Путіним. Це найнебезпечніші тижні війни між Росією та Україною. Ми робимо всі можливі дипломатичні кроки на користь припинення вогню та мирних переговорів», — заявив Орбан.

President Biden’s lifting of restrictions on Ukrainian employment of American-supplied missiles is needlessly reckless. President Biden—or failing that, President-elect Trump—should reimpose sensible restrictions on the employment of U.S. weapons and seek an end to this war. Failure to do so imposes unacceptable levels of risk on the American people and American national security—with no real benefit to the United States.

Put simply, it is not in American interests to risk even a limited nuclear war with Russia over Ukraine.

Indeed, it is reasonable to assume that Moscow is trying to signal very clearly, directly, and openly that the United States has crossed a redline and that Moscow is now approaching the point where it will employ nuclear weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine.

it is not in American interests to risk even a limited nuclear war with Russia over Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron will discuss with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk the deployment of a postwar peacekeeping force in Ukraine when the two meet in Warsaw on Thursday, a European Union diplomat and a French official told POLITICO.

The meeting of the two EU heavyweights comes amid increasing fears that the incoming administration of Donald Trump will force the Europeans to pick up more of the military responsibilities in Ukraine.

“It is true,” confirmed the EU diplomat when asked about a Polish media report in the Rzeczpospolita newspaper claiming the two countries were talking over a potential 40,000-strong peacekeeping force composed of troops from foreign countries. The diplomat did not elaborate on which countries the soldiers might come from.

However, a senior Polish official said they were surprised by Macron's reported proposal.

"This is not a formula that would allow us to take such a decision," the official said, adding that peacekeeping missions should be decided under the United Nations or the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, not a bilateral discussion with the French president. Sending Polish troops to Ukraine "would only make sense under a NATO format," they added.

However, Berlin’s official position has been resistant to any deployment plan. The Christian Democrats, likely to lead the government after an election in February, have been more open to helping Ukraine, but Merz said earlier this month that talk of a German peacekeeping mission in Ukraine was “irresponsible.”

On the campaign trail, Trump liked to brag about brokering a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine in 24 hours. In person, he acknowledged this is trickier than he let on. “The Middle East is an easier problem to handle than what’s happening with Russia and Ukraine,” he says. “The numbers of dead young soldiers lying on fields all over the place are staggering. It’s crazy what’s taking place.” Trump criticized Kyiv for launching U.S.-made missiles into Russian territory last month. “I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia. Why are we doing that?” he says. “We’re just escalating this war and making it worse.” When pressed on whether or not he would abandon Ukraine, Trump says he would use U.S. support for Ukraine as leverage against Russia in negotiating an end to the war. “I want to reach an agreement,” he says, “and the only way you’re going to reach an agreement is not to abandon.”