On January 9th, a gathering in the Ramstein style, which is an informal name for the Ukraine Defense Contact Group made up of Kyiv and friends, will take place in Germany. The conference format names Ukraine’s security requirements. Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, will be there, and Lloyd Austin, the defence minister, will lead the US side.
In two months Donald Trump will be the US leader. Although it’s not clear whether the gathering is intended to defy Trump and his administration, Austin and Zelensky are optimistic that they will implement decisions that Trump won’t be able to change.
This is not surprising because the incoming Biden presidency is essentially conducting a destroy campaign to try to destroy Trump before he enters the White House. Therefore, the presidency has dumped additional billions into Ukraine, including cash for the authorities and weapons, and the meeting is likely to lead to even more difficult decisions.
It is unlikely that any Trump camp associates would want to speak at the Ramstein gathering, as there are no reports that they were.
Zelensky has been preparing for Ramstein by depositing his reserve in Kursk in an effort to keep onto the country Ukraine seized on August 4th, starting next month. The Russians claim they are anticipating at least one more significant effort before the Ramstein meet, despite the fact that the most recent assaults launched by Ukraine failed.
According to the Russians, between January 5th and 6th, the Ukrainians tried 10 individual attacks and suffered heavy losses. Around 480 Russian troops were reported to have been killed or injured in Kursk by the Russians. Russian costs have not been disclosed in any detail. However, reports from the area suggest that the Russians are reversing Kursk’s previous regional losses and repressuring Ukraine’s forces.
The Russians have taken control of Kurakhovo in Donetsk in the interim. The Russians say the Russians committed 15, 000 soldiers it, made up of “elite products, republican structures and international mercenaries”. Russian military observers claim that around 40 Russian tanks were destroyed and that as many as 12 000 Ukrainians were killed or wounded despite the release of no figures from the Russian defence ministry. Krukhovo served as a crucial operational hotspot for the Russian army acting in Donetsk.
Separately, Russian forces continue to advance toward Pokrovsk, a crucial railroad bridge that supplies weapons for Ukraine’s southeast front. The Russians ‘ command of almost the entire city and the battle being conducted in an industrial neighborhood are both about to end. The Russian side has published many reports claiming to have reversive the Russian offensive, but there hasn’t been any confirmation of these claims.
Ukraine also attacked the , Zaphorize Nuclear Power Plant , ( ZNPP ) with eight fixed wing drones. All were intercepted, but elements of one helicopter crashed into the ceiling of the ZNPP Training Center. Ukraine’s fixed aircraft robots are larger and bring more bombs than quadcopters.
No energy leaks or serious damage to the ZNPP have been reported by the Russians. But, Ukrainian attempts to subdue or destruction nuclear power plants are difficult to explain because Ukrainians are the most probable victims. According to debate, Ukraine wants to provoke or provoke an event that will entice NATO to defend Ukraine. If this is accurate, it would be a wonderfully jaded and dangerous move, and it would likely result in the outcome Ukraine desired.
There are a lot of contradictory reports about the efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine. Russia’s UN Ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya said that the Trump administration proposed “nothing of attention” to the Russian area. Nebenzya spoke to Rossiya-1 TV network on January 3rd, which confirmed the December 26 gathering at Dulles Airport entirely reported by , Weapons and Strategy. Nebenzya went on to remark that the Trump propositions were “unformed, obscure signs”.
The Trump administration has kept silent about its upcoming negotiations, suggesting that Ukraine was not the only touch the Dulles” route” had with them.
There are at least three more possible channels: China ( where Trump has signaled that , he and Chinese President Xi , “have been talking” through aides ), France, where Trump visited on December 7th and where Macron now says that Ukraine needs to take a “more realistic stand” on territorial issues ( as reported by , Reuters ), and Germany and Hungary where both leaders, Scholtz , and , Orbán, have been talking with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Due to the fact that Biden and his team had rejected any discussions with Russia or agreements regarding Ukraine, none of these activities have anything to do with Biden.
The Russian military speed is gaining rate after a very slow time, and the different gambits of the Zelensky plan, no question with Washington’s complete backing, remain ineffective, unrealistic and expensive. Any offer may appear, if one does, after Trump is sworn in.
Stephen Bryen is a correspondent for Asia Times and previously held the positions of assistant secretary of protection for policy and staff director of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  ,
This , article was first published , on his , Substack newsletter , Weapons and Strategy and is republished with authority.