US Refuses Air Cover For European 'Reassurance Force' In Postwar Ukraine
US Refuses Air Cover For European 'Reassurance Force' In Postwar Ukraine
The British and French-led effort to establish a 'coalition of the willing' to stand up to Russia and defend Ukraine just hit another major roadblock, as 
is reporting Wednesday the US has effectively vetoed a plan to provide American air defenses to back a "reassurance force" for postwar Ukraine.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been insisting that US-backed air defenses are key to any future permanent settlement plans for ending the war. Western proposals for ending the war have all featured foreign-backed and monitored security guarantees for Ukraine.
On this, Starmer had said back in February that "There must be a US backstop" and that the "US security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again."
After Western billions already sunk into keeping Ukraine's military and civic infrastructure afloat, the UK and France are also seeking from President Trump pledges of future air power, and border surveillance and intelligence.
The Europeans also envision a strong, permanent security bulwark backed by the United States along NATO's eastern flank.
Yet, President Trump has repeatedly warned allies that if NATO countries don’t pay their fair share they won’t be protected. This despite European leaders as well as some US politicians expressing recent concern that the Atlantic alliance is becoming weaker than ever, and that Article 5 collective defense is in peril.
Trump has lashed out at NATO countries for not even meeting their current two percent spending goal while the unfair burden has long fallen United States.
"We appreciate the work that the allies, particularly France and the United Kingdom together with Germany and others have undertaken to develop the coalition of the willing," US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said at a press breifing Brussels on Wednesday. "We are counting on all our European allies to continue taking the leadership position in contributing military resources and providing the political capital to make security guarantees a reality."
All of this comes as it was only on Tuesday that Dutch slapped down a proposal to increase defense spending to 3.5% of gross domestic product (GDP), key to NATO's capability targets, in a non-binding motion.
While it doesn't have legal force at this point, this makes clear parliament's opinion, unleashing deeper tensions among NATO allies, and as the Trump White House exerts pressure to rapidly raise collective defense.
Also, 
reported separately Tuesday, "NATO is asking European member states to expand ground-based air-defense capabilities fivefold as the alliance races to fill a key gap in response to the threat of Russian aggression, people familiar with the matter said."
All indicators are that the Trump administration no longer envisions the United States as heading up NATO, especially when other countries can't step up and pay their fair share.
Politico: Defense Sec. Hegseth skips Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting — first Pentagon chief in 3 years to do so.
The US quietly retreats from European security leadership, weakening Western military coordination, Politico. 1/ 
— Tymofiy Mylovanov (@Mylovanov)
Still, the UK and France are mapping out a plan: "The allied force — which would help ensure the security of Ukraine’s airspace, coastline and land by placing European troops away from the border at critical ports and infrastructure alongside continued deliveries of military hardware — is dependent on a peace settlement, which European officials think is increasingly unlikely," Bloomberg describes.
Of course, the other big problem in all of this is that Moscow has already made clear it will never accept NATO troops right along the border at its Ukrainian doorstep.
Thu, 06/05/2025 - 02:45
Bloomberg.com
US Said to Deny Air Cover to Europe Force in Postwar Ukraine
The US is refusing to provide air defenses to back the “reassurance force” the UK and France are planning in a postwar Ukraine, people familiar...
On this, Starmer had said back in February that "There must be a US backstop" and that the "US security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again."
After Western billions already sunk into keeping Ukraine's military and civic infrastructure afloat, the UK and France are also seeking from President Trump pledges of future air power, and border surveillance and intelligence.
The Europeans also envision a strong, permanent security bulwark backed by the United States along NATO's eastern flank.
Yet, President Trump has repeatedly warned allies that if NATO countries don’t pay their fair share they won’t be protected. This despite European leaders as well as some US politicians expressing recent concern that the Atlantic alliance is becoming weaker than ever, and that Article 5 collective defense is in peril.
Trump has lashed out at NATO countries for not even meeting their current two percent spending goal while the unfair burden has long fallen United States.
"We appreciate the work that the allies, particularly France and the United Kingdom together with Germany and others have undertaken to develop the coalition of the willing," US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said at a press breifing Brussels on Wednesday. "We are counting on all our European allies to continue taking the leadership position in contributing military resources and providing the political capital to make security guarantees a reality."
All of this comes as it was only on Tuesday that Dutch slapped down a proposal to increase defense spending to 3.5% of gross domestic product (GDP), key to NATO's capability targets, in a non-binding motion.
While it doesn't have legal force at this point, this makes clear parliament's opinion, unleashing deeper tensions among NATO allies, and as the Trump White House exerts pressure to rapidly raise collective defense.
Also, Bloomberg.com
NATO Is Pushing Europeans for Fivefold Boost to Air Defenses
NATO is asking European member states to expand ground-based air-defense capabilities fivefold as the alliance races to fill a key gap in response ...
X (formerly Twitter)
Tymofiy Mylovanov (@Mylovanov) on X
Politico: Defense Sec. Hegseth skips Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting — first Pentagon chief in 3 years to do so.
The US quietly retreats f...
X (formerly Twitter)
Tymofiy Mylovanov (@Mylovanov) on X
Politico: Defense Sec. Hegseth skips Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting — first Pentagon chief in 3 years to do so.
The US quietly retreats f...
Tyler Durden | Zero Hedge
Zero Hedge
US Refuses Air Cover For European 'Reassurance Force' In Postwar Ukraine | ZeroHedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
But now we see that the real enemy to the British people is not the teeming mass of new arrivals unwilling to assimilate. The real enemy, as always, is their government. I suppose the colonizing spirit still endures in the British elite — only now, instead of conquering foreign lands to benefit the British, their leaders are content to allow the people of foreign lands to conquer Britain.
Marquardt made the announcement on X, reminiscing about his eight years with the network. “Tough to say goodbye but it’s been an honor to work among the very best in the business,” he 
That's when Trump clarified that "President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields."
The Russian leader's words are consistent with Dmitry Medvedev's ominous words 
This comes after the Ayatollah dismissed the latest US proposal which was submitted over the weekend. The central issue is the US demand that uranium enrichment be taken down to zero.
Whether Iran, Ukraine-Russia, or Gaza - conservative voices have been urging Trump to stand by his campaign promises to end conflicts in hotspots around the world. But the fact remains that the US is still funding and weaponizing one side of these various wars, especially in the case of Ukraine.
Trump's silence yesterday and today, after shooting his mouth off twice last week issuing threats to Putin, is fatally weakening his position. He is ceding foreign policy to Lindsey Graham. Soon we will be back to the feeble inertia of his first term. 
It noted that the pro-democracy demonstrations had begun in the spring of 1989 and “inspired a national movement.”
“Hundreds of thousands of ordinary people in the capital and throughout China took to the streets for weeks to exercise their freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly by advocating for democracy, human rights, and an end to rampant corruption,” the statement reads.
“The CCP responded with a brutal crackdown, sending the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to open fire in an attempt to extinguish the pro-democracy sentiments of unarmed civilians gathered on Beijing’s streets and in Tiananmen Square.”
The CCP met protesters with tanks and opened fire, and protester casualties numbered in the thousands, but Chinese authorities, in one of its best-known instances of censorship, told the Chinese people that the students had been the ones to attack the soldiers.
“The CCP actively tries to censor the facts, but the world will never forget,” Rubio stated.
Rubio commemorated the bravery of the demonstrators who were killed, “as well as those who continue to suffer persecution as they seek accountability and justice for the events of June 4, 1989.”
“Their courage in the face of certain danger reminds us that the principles of freedom, democracy, and self-rule are not just American principles. They are human principles the CCP cannot erase,” Rubio said.
Then-President George H.W. Bush condemned the CCP’s actions, and the State Department has 
Fast forward to today, then, when not only will Jamie (who at almost 70 should really be thinking succession) not fire anyone at JPM for trading the best performing asset of the millennium, if not all time, but according to Bloomberg JPM will soon allow trading and wealth-management clients use some cryptocurrency-linked assets as collateral for loans, a major step by the biggest US bank to make inroads into an industry President Donald Trump has pledged to support.
According to the report, the firm will start providing financing against crypto exchange-traded funds, beginning with BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), in the coming weeks, people familiar with the matter said. The move marks the latest effort involving crypto among the biggest US banks after the Trump administration started removing regulatory barriers.
Just as importantly, JPMorgan - which until now refused to add crypto to the calculation of net worth - will also begin taking wealth-management clients’ crypto holdings into account when assessing their overall net worth and liquid assets, the people said, asking not to be named as the plans aren’t public. That means cryptocurrencies will be given similar treatment to stocks, cars or art when calculating how much a client can borrow against their assets.
Which, incidentally, is precisely what we predicted last November when we said that Bitcoin is about to become "safe collateral."
Bitcoin is about to become "safe collateral"
Cantor Fitzgerald is discussing receiving support from Tether for its planned multibillion-dollar program to lend dollars to clients who put up Bitcoin as collateral: BBG
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) 
We would imagine 
Source: Bloomberg
Even including the 509k barrel addition to the SPR, total crude stocks fell by the most since December...
Source: Bloomberg
The rig count continues to slide (now at its lowest since Dec 2021), and despite Trump's 'Drill, Baby, Drill' push, US crude production remains well of its highs...
Source: Bloomberg
WTI extended gains after the official data confirmed API's...
Source: Bloomberg
Oil rose at the start of the week after a decision by OPEC+ to increase production in July was in line with expectations, easing concerns over a bigger hike.
However, prices are still down about 11% this year on fears around a looming supply glut, while traders continue to monitor US trade tariffs as President Donald Trump said his Chinese counterpart is “extremely hard” to make a deal with.
Saudi Arabia led increases in OPEC oil production last month as the group began its series of accelerated supply additions, according to a Bloomberg survey.
Nevertheless, the hike fell short of the full amount the kingdom could have added under the agreements.