Will Trump Pull Off A Peace Deal Between Russia And Ukraine?

PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEF (PDB) – Well, at least we have a start. The US and Ukraine have reached a ceasefire agreement in principle that would pause fighting in the war and pave the way for the US to obtain mineral rights. In return, the U.S. “will immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine imposed last week.

The U.S. will now present this plan to the Russians for their approval. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it is now up to Russia to decide if it wants to pursue peace.

What the US 30-day ceasefire proposal means for Ukraine, Russia, Europe – and Trump. The ceasefire will not only affect missiles, drones and bombs, and the Black Sea, but also along the entire frontline.

Meanwhile, The UK is prepared to deploy troops to Ukraine as part of potential security guarantees.

And, Ukraine’s minerals have become central to global geopolitics, with Trump seeking a deal with Ukraine’s president to access them. What are these minerals and why are they so sought after?

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here’s a roundup of today’s other top defense stories ending the week from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.

Not the President’s Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEFING – the PDB:    

HOMELAND SECURITY

Training route used by Army Black Hawk during deadly mid-air collision over Washington, D.C., in late January was far too risky, safety officials say.

The National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) has concluded that the separation distances allowed between helicopter and airplane traffic on the route where an Army helicopter and a commercial passenger jet collided “pose an intolerable risk to aviation safety.”

POLITICS

VA secretary accuses lawmakers of making the VA a ‘punching bag,’ pouring billions of dollars into agency without reform. He defended the mass firing of VA workers last month as the Trump team’s solution to making the agency more accountable and responsive to veterans.

Team Trump has shut down a VA office created under Joe Biden to address disparities in how the federal government provides disability compensation to veterans.

GOP senators eye legislative guardrails as to proposed staffing cuts at the VA, ensuring those moves are done “in a responsible manner” with minimal impact on patients and beneficiaries.

DOGE Budget cuts force military recruit testing stations to close, reduce hours.

Trump halts doubling of tariffs on Canadian metals after Ontario province backs down and suspends electricity price hikes.

US POWER OVERSEAS

The Air Force’s LC-130 ‘Skibird’ touched down on freshwater ice for the first time in decades, signaling the service’s leap in flexibility for “defensive or offensive operations” in the Arctic.

Air Force engineers are on track to finish clearing vegetation from an airfield on Tinian by May, paving the way for the restoration of at least two of its four World War II-era runways for future Pacific operations.

UK police arrest the captain of cargo ship for manslaughter over its North Sea collision with a tanker transporting jet fuel for the US military off eastern England, setting both vessels ablaze.

CHINA THREAT

In only two decades, China has grown to be the dominant player in shipbuilding, claiming more than half of the world’s commercial shipbuilding market, while the US share has fallen to just 0.1%, posing serious economic and national security challenges for the U.S. and its allies.

Finding adversaries hiding in DOD’s supply chains. Could the Chinese Communist Party “page” US troops, the way the Mossad did to Hizballah in Sept. 2024? It is possible.

RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR

The UK Ministry of Defense has again decided against donating Typhoon jets to Ukraine.

IRAN THREAT/ISRAEL WARS

US envoy’s secret talks with Hamas anger Israel. A U.S. envoy has said Hamas proposed a five-to-10-year ceasefire and a full prisoner exchange during backroom talks that have provoked angry responses from the administration of Benjamin Netanyahu and his conservative backers in Israel and the U.S.

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

In response to recent European media claims, Lockheed Martin and several governments have pushed back on the idea that F-35 stealth fighters have any kind of a discreet ‘kill switch’ that US authorities could use to remotely disable the jets.

China, Iran and Russia conducted joint naval drills Tuesday in the Middle East, offering a show of force in a region still uneasy over Tehran’s rapidly expanding nuclear program and as Yemen’s Houthi rebels threaten new attacks on ships.

The center-right Democrat party that favors a more gradual approach to independence from Denmark won the most votes in Greenland’s parliamentary elections, a surprise result in the shadow of Trump’s threat to take control of the Danish territory. Another opposition party, Naleraq, which wants to immediately start the independence process and forge closer ties with the U.S., is in second place with almost a quarter of the vote.

The German military continued its rearmament but still suffered from serious personnel shortages last year.

Uganda has deployed special forces in South Sudan as fears grow that the country could descend into civil war.

US MILITARY

US Military medical system unprepared for future conflict. When it comes to combat casualty care, “without urgent intervention, the Military Health System will continue to slide into medical obsolescence,” a retired Air Force trauma surgeon said.

DOD’s deep research and development arm is exploring ways to hack service members’ blood so they can fight harder and longer in what could be a major step toward engineering troops with seemingly superhuman capabilities.

The Air Force chief made the case for why airpower is crucial to the Trump team’s defense priorities, and why the nation needs “more Air Force.”

END of PDB

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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