Von der Leyen just offered Canada a status the EU treaties don't even define, and Trump called it "laughable" within hours, threatening new tariffs and freezing Canadian goods out of a $280 billion procurement market. The bigger problem may be Brussels itself: several capitals were blindsided, and Germany already wants a new name for the deal.
— via CFR (Council on Foreign Relations)
Hackers lie about who they are for the same reason cartels stage fake narco-messages: credit is a calculated risk, not a reflex. Case studies including Olympic Destroyer's Russia-as-Lazarus deception and ALPHV/BlackCat's faked death show attribution swings on incentive versus liability, not just operational cover.
— via Small Wars Journal, Mira Das
Russia once supplied 94 percent of Armenia's arms and still runs its rail and gas networks, yet Yerevan is quietly walking away. India has replaced Moscow as its top weapons supplier, and Armenian troops have taken back the airport and border posts once patrolled by Russian officers.
— via Atlantic Council, Joseph Epstein
Russia launched an RT channel aimed at India in December 2025, even as its army bled hundreds of thousands of troops and its economy buckled. The report traces how Moscow's "anti-colonial" pitch to the Global South, now pushed through small-time influencers as much as state TV, is built to keep countries from siding with Ukraine.
— via Atlantic Council, Casey Michel
There's no such thing as "associate EU membership" in the bloc's treaties, but Ursula von der Leyen pitched it to Canada anyway. Ten member states still haven't even ratified the existing Canada trade deal, and Brussels has never let outsiders cherry-pick single market access.
— via Atlantic Council, Jörn Fleck and Imran Bayoumi