2025 and war. Interim results of Russian aggression in Ukraine from Nikolai Mitrokhin*

US President Donald Trump greets Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, December 28, 2025.

AFP

The year 2025 began with hopes for a quick end to the war in Ukraine - Trump promised a deal, Europe hesitated, Putin put forward ultimatums. The year ends without peace, but with a new reality: Europe is rearming in anticipation of a real war with Russia. At the same time, the front is holding, there has been no Russian breakthrough. Drones have become the main weapon - from FPVs on the front lines to Geraniums attacking fighter jets. War is being technologized, robotized, and turned into a testing ground for future conflicts. About this - at the end of the year from Nikolai Mitrokhin.

International situation: Trump - Europe

The most dynamic events of 2025 took place not on the battlefield, but in international politics. It was a real roller coaster: huge expectations (especially in Washington), sharp ups and downs, unexpected turns and dramatic moments.

US President Donald Trump largely met and even exceeded expectations. He showed complete unpredictability in the short term, but a “bear grip” in achieving long-term goals.

The main goal is to remove the war from the American budget and force the EU and NATO countries to pay. At the same time, the United States began to make money by selling them weapons, which were then transferred to Ukraine. The second task is to reconcile the warring parties in order to realize the third: to resume economic relations with Russia and try to tear it away from the bloc with China, Iran and the DPRK.

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