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Trump Hits the Stalemate Phase of His International Interventions, and It Stings

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In Ukraine, Gaza and now Iran, President Trump’s early declarations of easy wins have given way to harsh reality. Excerpt from The New York Times , May 31 By David E. Sanger David E. Sanger has covered five American presidents over four decades at the Times, and writes often on the revival of superpower conflict, the subject of his latest book. image/text from article: One of President Trump’s close aides said recently that destroying nuclear sites from the air is what America does best, and that controlling political events in nations like Iran, Russia and Ukraine is what the United States does worst. Credit...Doug Mills Article: ... Then there is the Ukraine war, a conflict in its fifth year that Mr. Trump famously boasted he would end in 24 hours after taking office. Sixteen months after he was sworn in, he rarely mentions the war anymore, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently complained that he was tired of wasting time in endless negotiations, suggesting that he would be p...
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He Was the Muscle Behind Zelensky. Now He’s Crowdfunding Bail Money.

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Volodymyr Zelensky’s onetime right-hand man is accused of embezzling millions of dollars and consulting a fortuneteller on political decisions . Andriy Yermak, who was chief of staff to President Volodymyr Zelensky until November, in court last month in Kyiv, Ukraine. Credit... Genya Savilov/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images   By Siobhán O’Grady  Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine The New York Times June 1, 2026, 5:02 a.m. ET Ukraine’s predominant power broker has fallen so far from grace that even his own fortuneteller couldn’t have seen it coming. This gray cardinal, Andriy Yermak, was until late last year the second most powerful person in the country. An old friend of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s, Mr. Yermak spent nearly six years as the leader’s chief of staff, incurring disdain from critics who accused him of using Russia’s invasion to consolidate power in his unelected position and meddle in nearly all aspects of the war. Then, in November, Mr. Yermak abruptly resigned a...
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Marco Rubio [Trump U.S. Secretary of State] and Ukraine ... (from The New York Times, June 1)

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https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/01/opinion/marco-rubio-florida.html Marco Rubio’s official portrait as Florida’s House speaker hangs in Tallahassee. Credit... Phil Coale/Associated Press Despite all the  contradictions, Mr. Rubio has cemented his membership in Mr. Trump’s MAGA [ see ] movement. He  has flipped  from ardent support for Ukraine to an inclination to make concessions to the Russian strongman Vladimir Putin. ... The now-famous photographs of him on the Oval Office sofa watching Mr. Trump berate Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky have become memes for good reason, capturing both his tough-guy frown and his discomfort as he shrinks into the pillows. ... From Manuel Roig-Franzia, The New York Times , June 1 Mr. Roig-Franzia was Miami bureau chief for The Washington Post and is the author of a biography of Mr. Rubio.
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Ukraine turns real-life kills into video game thrills for drone pilots

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Kyiv says the Army of Drones Bonus system, in which points may be redeemed for weapons, is the first of its kind anywhere.  May 31, 2026  EDT Today at 5:00 a.m. EDT 7 min Destroyed Russian military equipment, missile parts and damaged vehicles in St. Michael's Square in Kyiv on April 24. (Oksana Parafeniuk/For The Washington Post) By  David L. Ster , The Washington Post  KYIV — The attack drone spots the Russian soldier in a field in eastern Ukraine and swoops in. Only when it’s nearly upon him does he see it. The onboard camera, sending video back to the remote pilot in real time, captures his panic. He throws his hands above his head and begins to run. The video cuts out. Then a second video, shot from a surveillance drone: The soldier’s body lies in the field, motionless. The drone zooms in to show his apparently lifeless face. In the years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, both sides have routinely posted clips of their enemies’ dismemberment or deat...
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Do Russians support the Ukraine war? This poll is remarkable.

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Ukraine keeps up assault on Russian oil sites as Kyiv expects more strikes

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS   Updated 11:51 AM EDT, May 30, 2026/ see also [ JB: ] Original article contains links and videos regarding the war as well as  comments about it. Ukrainian drone strikes caused fires at more Russian oil facilities overnight into Saturday, Russian officials said, in what appeared to be the latest attack on Moscow’s vital oil industry. Authorities in Russia’s Rostov region said falling drone debris sparked a fire that damaged an oil depot and tanker in the port of Taganrog, while officials in the neighboring Krasnodar region reported a fire breaking out at an oil depot in Armavir for the same reason. “Another facility of Russia’s oil industry has been reached — Armavir,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X, referring to the Krasnodar attack, and noting that Armavir is “500 kilometers from our state border.” “We are rightfully bringing the war back to where it came from,” he wrote. Ukraine has expanded its mid- and long-range strike capab...
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Putin is cornered and lashing out

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May 30, 2026 With Russian drones hitting Romania, now is not the time for Washington to up pressure on NATO allies. Opinion Editorial Board The Washington Post , May 29, 2026 at 2:30 p.m. The original article contains links. An apartment building in Romania, near the border with Ukraine, burns on Friday after being hit by a suspected Russian drone. As the fifth year of the Ukraine war grinds on, the besieged nation is slowly gaining the upper hand. This dynamic makes Russian President Vladimir Putin more unpredictable and dangerous — and makes the case for supporting Kyiv as persuasive as ever. On Friday, what is suspected to be a Russian drone crossed into NATO airspace and crashed into an apartment building in Galati, Romania, setting it ablaze and wounding two people. It was apparently part of a salvo of 232 drones that Russia sent toward Ukraine in the wee hours of the night and the 28th time Russian drones have breached Romanian airspace since Moscow began hitting Ukrainian ports ...
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