BREAKING:
Russia says Trump won't get his quick peace in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov:
"We understand that Washington is willing to achieve a quick success in this process, but at the same time we hope for understanding that the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis is too complicated to be done overnight, there are lots of details and lots of small things that need to be tackled before the settlement." Peskov also said Moscow must achieve its aims in Ukraine.
That statement indicates that Russia refuses to freeze the frontlines as they are and will try to take the parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions currently held by the Ukrainian Army.
...Meanwhile while the Ukraine peace deal impasse continues,.... Russia's military building up at Finland's border over potential NATO clash, WSJ reports
by Martin FornusekApril 28, 2025 1:16 PM2 min read
A Finnish soldier of the Karelia Brigade, one of the three Finnish Army readiness brigades, operates the K9 artillery during the NATO Exercise Dynamic Front, on Nov. 17, 2024, near Rovaniemi, in Finnish Lapland. (Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images) Russia is expanding its military infrastructure near the border with Finland in what experts and officials say could be a preparation for a potential clash with NATO, the Wall Street Journal reported on April 28.
These efforts include expanding military bases near the Russian city of Petrozavodsk, around 160 kilometers (100 miles) east of Finland, the planned site for a new headquarters that could potentially command tens of thousands of troops, the outlet wrote.
Western military and intelligence officials are reportedly warning that these units could form the "backbone" of Russia's forces preparing to confront NATO.
Since the start of Russia's all-out war against Ukraine, NATO officials have increasingly warned Moscow could launch aggression against the alliance's members in the coming years.
Finland, which shares a 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) border with Russia, has accused Moscow of ramping up hybrid operations against the Nordic country since it joined NATO in 2023.
Russia's military is currently heavily engaged in Ukraine, suffering massive losses in manpower and equipment. This has forced Moscow to redeploy forces from other areas over the past years, with a media investigation saying last June that most of the Russian ground units previously stationed near Finland were dispatched to Ukraine.
Christopher Cavoli, commander of U.S. forces in Europe, nevertheless warned earlier this month that Russia is rebuilding its forces much faster than previously anticipated.
"Despite extensive battlefield losses in Ukraine, the Russian military is reconstituting and growing at a faster rate than most analysts had anticipated," Cavoli told a U.S. Senate committee.
According to the general, the U.S. expects Russia to produce 250,000 artillery shells per month, which could help it build a stockpile three times larger than the U.S. and Europe combined.
Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said last December that Russia must be ready for a potential conflict with NATO in the next 10 years. Moscow has also issued a number of veiled and overt threats to the West over its support for Kyiv, including warnings of a possible nuclear response.
NATO countries in Russia's vicinity have intensified their preparations for a possible conflict. Poland and the Baltic countries moved to abandon a treaty banning land mines and are strengthening the borders shared with Russia and its ally Belarus while urging higher defense spending across the alliance.
