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27 March 2025










AP News | Things to know about the limited ceasefire between Russia and
Ukraine brokered by the US
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After three days of intense negotiations, the Trump administration, Ukraine
and Russiaagreed to a limited ceasefire
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in which the key details, including what was covered and how it will start,
were disputed by the warring sides, indicating theroad to a complete truce will
be long <[link removed]> and mired with contention.

‌


The New York Times | European Leaders Try to Hammer Out Ukraine Support Plans
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European leaders convened in Paris on Thursday in the latest meeting of the
“coalition of the willing,” the countries who could help Ukraine fight Russia
despite wavering American commitment and who could help safeguard an eventual
peace.

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CNN | North Korea has sent 3,000 more soldiers to bolster Russia’s war on
Ukraine, South Korea says
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North Korea <[link removed]> appears to have sent
at least 3,000 more soldiers to Russia early this year, South Korea’s military
said Thursday, demonstrating Pyongyang’s continued support for Moscow’s war on
Ukraine as world leaders push for an end to the three-year conflict.

‌


Newsweek | US Will 'Ally' With Russia Against Europe: Solovyov
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Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov
<[link removed]> has said that the current
Trump administration would side with Russia in the event of a global conflict.

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Military Times | Some VA employees’ overtime pay will be delayed by software
problems
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Paychecks for several thousand Veterans Affairs employees
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owed extra compensation will be shortchanged this week because of ongoing
issues with payroll processing systems at the department, officials announced
Wednesday.

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DC News Now | 22nd Anniversary of the Iraq War
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March 20th marked the 22nd anniversary of the Iraq War. John Byrnes returns to
Capitol Review. Byrnes is the strategic direction for Concerned Veterans for
America. Byrnes says it’s time to put an end to our “boots on the ground”
mission in Iraq.

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Stars & Stripes | VA secretary to meet with Senate VA committee for first time
since taking office
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Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins will come before the
Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee for the first time since taking office to
answer questions about the agency’s plans to further reduce its workforce amid
a hiring freeze and the cancellation of hundreds of contracts with community
agencies.










Responsible Statecraft | The ghosts of the Iraq War still haunt me, and our
foreign policy <[link removed]> | John
Byrnes
On St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2003, President Bush issued his final
ultimatum to Saddam Hussein. Two nights later, my Iraq War started
inauspiciously. I was a college student tending bar in New York City. Someone
pointed to the television behind me and said: “It’s begun. They’re bombing
Baghdad!” In Iraq it was already early morning of March 20.


Foreign Affairs | China Has Already Remade the International System
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| Michael B. G. Froman
In early February, as he flew in Air Force One above the body of water he’d
recently renamed the Gulf of America, President Donald Trump declared that he
would levy tariffs on all imported steel and aluminum. Two weeks later, he
issued a presidential memorandum laying out new guidance for screening
investment from Chinese firms in the United States and U.S. firms into China.
And throughout the early weeks of his administration, Trump has emphasized the
importance of bringing manufacturing back home, telling firms that, to avoid
tariffs, they should make their products in the United States.

‌


The American Conservative | Turkey Can Advance Trump’s Foreign Policy Goals
<[link removed]>
| Deniz Karakullukcu
President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held last
week their first phone call since the U.S. leader’s inauguration this January.
The conversation took place against a significant geopolitical backdrop: The
relationship between the two countries appears to be undergoing a dramatic
transformation. Indeed, Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy, described the
call as “transformative” during a recent podcast conversation with Tucker
Carlson.










Concerned Veterans for America has been vocal on the war in Ukraine. We
believe it is past time for a negotiated peace deal.

‌


CVA’s Strategic Director, John Byrnes wrote a piece for Foreign Policy
<[link removed]>,
arguing that a negotiated settlement in Ukraine would end the hell of war:


A negotiated settlement in Ukraine could end the hell of war. In 1993, as a
U.S. Marine, I deployed to Somalia, where I saw the worst human suffering that
I have ever witnessed. During an ongoing civil war, one faction had weaponized
famine among the civilian population, adding to the devastation of combat. It
was a humanitarian crisis as a weapon of mass slaughter. Deployed to Iraq a
decade later as an Army National Guardsman, I found myself treating potentially
fatal wounds to civilians and soldiers alike, with just a few hours of “combat
lifesaving training” behind me. In Afghanistan, I not only handled the remains
of fallen comrades—up close and personal—but I saw the ruins of rural villages
devastated by modern Soviet weapons in the 1980s. William Tecumseh Sherman once
said, “war is cruelty, and you cannot refine it.” This is often credited more
simply and colorfully as “War is Hell.” Those of us who have been to war, who
have seen and felt and smelled it, know this firsthand.

‌


The people of Ukraine are going through hell. Even with what I’ve seen in war,
it’s hard for me to conceive of the sheer scale of human suffering in Ukraine
since the war began three years ago. An estimated one million people have been
killed or wounded. This includes more than 250,000 soldiers and nearly 30,000
Ukrainian civilians killed. Almost all of the fighting has occurred on or over
Ukrainian territory. Russia has a three to one advantage in population, a
tenfold advantage in GDP, and thousands of nuclear weapons. Initial estimates
show that Ukraine has likely lost 2% of its total population and 4% of its male
population during the conflict versus approximately 0.1% and 0.3% for Russia.
Ukraine’s success, however limited, has been dependent on military aid from the
United States ($66.5 billion out of $117 billion congressionally authorized
funds) and from Western Europe (combined contributions totaling over $50
billion).

‌


These facts lead to several conclusions. Russia clearly has the upper hand in
the ongoing war, especially in an attritional stalemate. It is almost
impossible that Ukraine can militarily evict Russia from all its pre-war
territory, even with continued Western military and financial aid. Western aid
however is finite, with military stocks dwindling and domestic economic
priorities requiring attention in both the U.S. and Europe. Ukrainian accession
to NATO is also off the table. If Ukrainian membership remains a stated option,
Russia will continue to fight. If NATO accepts Ukraine as a member before the
war’s end, Russia would certainly consider itself at war with NATO, escalating
the chances of direct confrontation and even combat between two nuclear powers.
Post-war Ukrainian NATO membership would similarly increase Russia’s incentive
to keep fighting and would permanently increase the risk of a NATO-Russia
conflict.

‌


The hell of war would continue.

‌


Read more here.
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