Alex Christoforou on a Putin-Trump phone call on ending the Ukraine war, Zelensky's Washington trip for Patriots and money, and the UK Spectator saying Kiev is losing — plus Witkoff and Kushner peace terms, German weapons shipments, the US-Iran Hormuz standoff, and a Haaretz report that Netanyahu ignored an October 7 warning.
Timeline:
00:00:00 NATO officials press allies to fund Ukraine
00:00:59 Putin Trump phone call breakdown
00:07:41 Zelensky heads to US, unveils Freya air defense claim
00:10:01 MP claims Witkoff Kushner brought harsh peace terms
00:11:51 UK Spectator declares Ukraine is losing
00:14:33 Germany presses on with Ukraine support after Merz AfD loss
00:15:24 Germany sends Patriot interceptors from its own stock
00:18:11 Germany's Wadephul frustrated over Ukraine buying US weapons
00:21:41 US Iran conflict update and gas prices
00:23:12 Iran retaliates, strikes hit Jordan
00:26:03 Netanyahu Haaretz report
Description:
In this episode we break down the chaotic Witkoff and Kushner diplomatic trip to Moscow and Kyiv, where Vladimir Putin firmly rejected a Trump Zelensky trilateral meeting. Russian forces keep advancing toward Dobropillya and Sloviansk as Ukraine's economy buckles and Zelensky publicly demands more weapons instead of compromise. Is the Kremlin simply waiting out a collapsing Ukrainian front line?
Timeline:
00:00:00 Witkoff and Kushner begin Moscow and Kyiv diplomacy mission
00:00:58 Zelensky turns Kyiv talks into a media circus
00:02:06 Why Witkoff and Kushner are not real diplomats
00:03:12 Ukraine economy collapsing, needs 60 billion by year end
00:04:38 Radcliffe's hardline Moscow trip backfires
00:05:43 Soft cop strategy, sanctions relief offered to Russia
00:08:20 Push for a Trump Putin Zelensky trilateral meeting
00:11:04 Why Russia will not agree to a trilateral summit
00:15:29 Real battlefield situation, Dobropillya and Kharkiv encirclements
00:18:21 Zelensky reportedly preparing his exit strategy
Description:
Jack F. Matlock, Jr, was the U.S. Ambassador to the USSR, 1987–1991, and had a key role in negotiating an end to the Cold War. Ambassador Matlock also served at the US embassy in Moscow during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Ambassador Matlock discusses the failure to establish a mutually acceptable European security architecture after the Cold War, and why NATO expansionism resulted in a war in Ukraine.
Germany's AfD has completed a stunning election win in Saxony Anhalt and Germany's political firewall may finally be cracking. Alex covers the chaotic Witkoff and Kushner trip to Kiev, Zelensky's bizarre media circus, and a New York Times report exposing massive fraud in Ukraine's weapons contracts. Is the German establishment losing control, and is Zelensky's own team mocking the war they claim to be fighting?
Outline:
00:00:04 AfD's Big Win in Saxony Anhalt
00:02:02 Why This Result Beats a Majority for AfD
00:04:16 Firewall Against AfD in Danger of Collapsing
00:05:05 Donald Tusk's Reaction to the AfD Win
00:06:14 Von der Leyen Skips Germany for Greenland
00:09:00 Witkoff and Kushner Fly to Kiev After Moscow Talks
00:10:25 Zelensky Turns Meeting Into a Media Circus
00:14:03 Zelensky Says Ukraine Will Not Leave Donbas
00:17:48 Negotiator Mocks Putin With Kiev Regime Shirts
00:21:11 New York Times Exposes Ukraine Weapons Fraud
00:24:04 Rumors of a New US Peace Proposal
00:27:25 ISW's Fake Deadline Claims About Putin Debunked
00:30:36 Clown World Trump's New Brown Hair
00:32:58 Trump's Meme Storm and New Mexico Renamed
Scott Ritter and Patrik Baab on The World This Week: Germany continues the drive towards war with Russia, alleging a Leipzig drone scare, while Zelensky threatens Russian civilian airspace; and will Trump take the offer to save face in Iran?
Alex Christoforou on a drone strike at Kiev's SBU headquarters, a turf war inside Ukraine's intelligence services, and Witkoff and Kushner landing in Moscow with a ceasefire proposal for Putin — plus Zelensky's unilateral truce, a Leipzig drone incident, and a post-war Middle East plan taking shape in Washington.
Timeline:
00:00:00 Trump on ending eight wars and the Nobel Prize snub
00:00:52 SBU headquarters hit by drone in Kiev, two theories examined
00:03:29 SBU vs GUR internal war, scam call centers and turf battles
00:06:17 Witkoff and Kushner head to Moscow with a ceasefire proposal
00:09:24 Putin welcomes Witkoff and Kushner ahead of the meeting
00:10:15 Zelensky's sudden unilateral ceasefire, why it looks like a trap
00:12:39 Ukraine reportedly preparing retaliation despite ceasefire talk
00:13:16 Leipzig drone incident and Germany's false flag narrative
00:16:26 Russian embassy warns Germany over long range missile plants
00:18:24 Zelensky renews push to seize Russia's frozen assets
00:21:16 NABU detains Ukraine cyber crime chief over scam call centers
00:22:55 Trump and Vance downplay the Iran conflict as small potatoes
00:24:07 Operation Economic Outcast and the China problem
00:25:45 Trump's post war Middle East plan and new regional alliances
00:29:55 Clown World, Leipzig visa fallout and Berlin protests erupt
Description:
Nicolai N. Petro is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island, and formerly the US State Department's special assistant for policy on the Soviet Union.
Alex Christoforou on Zelensky warning civilian airliners away from Russian airports, Ukraine's planned drone assault, the Leipzig drone incident Germany blames on Russia, and Putin's meeting with Armenia. Episode 2166.
Timeline:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:37 Zelensky warns airliners to avoid Russian airports
00:01:59 Operation MMs and the plan to hit Russian airports
00:04:25 Ukraine strikes on oil refineries called sanctions
00:04:46 Strikes on Wildberries, Ozon and grain ships in the Sea of Azov
00:07:12 Ratcliffe's Moscow trip and new drone threats
00:08:36 Reading Zelensky's mafia style statement on X
00:10:10 Putin calls the airport threat state terrorism
00:12:51 Putin warns of massive Russian retaliation
00:14:44 Leipzig drone incident hits Ukrainian cargo plane
00:19:10 NATO and EU leaders back Germany with hybrid attack claims
00:26:18 Medvedev responds with a hardline warning
00:29:26 US Iran conflict escalates with new strikes
00:32:04 Putin meets Pashinyan over Armenia's EU choice
00:37:44 Fedorov launches defense venture with Palantir's Alex Karp
Jeffrey Sachs joins Alexander Mercouris and Alex Christoforou on why the collapse of American and European hegemony is a crisis for the Western political class, not the world. Sachs on Scott Bessent’s economic D-Day, 1914 parallels, and why Iran, China and Russia are stronger than Western leaders admit.
Timeline:
00:00:00 Intro: Jeffrey Sachs joins The Duran
00:00:59 Alexander’s overview of crises in Ukraine, Iran, China and the economy
00:02:01 Sachs frames it as a crisis of Western hegemony, not the world
00:04:27 Why Europe’s behavior is even stranger than America’s
00:06:18 Multipolarity is good for living standards, not a disaster
00:08:34 Grandiosity, denial and the collapse of truthful government narratives
00:10:30 How the geopolitical bubble is fueling a financial bubble
00:12:22 The public already senses something is deeply wrong
00:14:46 Reading Foreign Affairs: the establishment’s five scenarios for world order
00:20:28 Scott Bessent’s economic D Day and the backlash it triggered
00:23:05 Alexander on Britain’s decline and the origins of World War One
00:27:48 Parallels and differences between 1914 and today
00:32:54 Why China is not the new Kaiser Wilhelm
00:36:22 Inside the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS
00:41:43 The truth about Iran’s civilization, resilience and economy
00:44:18 How the US weaponized the dollar, and why it is failing
00:48:01 Can the West face reality before the reckoning arrives
00:52:09 Why ordinary people, not elites, may be the last hope
Alex Christoforou on Russian guided bombs hitting Odessa port for the first time, strikes on Kiev, the G20 finance meeting over Russia's return, and a hundred-year Venezuela oil deal.
Timeline:
00:00:00 Intro: Bessent on the collapsing Iranian regime
00:00:59 Massive Russian strikes hit Kiev and Odessa
00:02:34 Russia uses KAB guided bombs on Odessa port for the first time
00:04:24 Polish weapons facility fire blamed on foreign sabotage
00:07:40 G20 finance ministers meet in North Carolina, Russia attends
00:11:12 EU officials boycott the group photo over Russia's presence
00:13:17 Lindsey Graham's Russia sanctions bill stalls in Congress
00:14:39 Army Secretary Driscoll resigns amid Pentagon infighting
00:17:11 Putin's Kyrgyzstan summit with Xi, Erdogan and Modi
00:18:17 Witkoff and Kushner plan Kiev trip for a September ceasefire
00:21:05 EU pressures Greece and Spain to hand over Patriot missiles
00:23:16 Trump claims tankers are moving through the Strait of Hormuz
00:26:51 Venezuela oil deal details: US locks in a hundred year stake
00:32:00 Clown world: Merz booed, Starmer quits as MP, Kallas the bookworm