Day: February 4, 2026

Bezos will be remembered as the man who destroyed the Washington Post.Protect Kamala Harris ✊ (@DisavowTrump20)RETWEET if you think Jeff Bezos is a disgrace to democracy!—  https://x.com/DisavowTrump20/status/2019103692641944029

— Anders Åslund (@anders_aslund) Feb 5, 2026

The ultimate question in the Epstein-Trump affair is whether they US has any rule of law or not for the rich & powerful.
At present, it appears as if the US is falling far short.
The US had better shape up if it wants to be considered democratic & a society of law.

— Anders Åslund (@anders_aslund) Feb 5, 2026

What I learned in Russia in the early 2000s was that the richer an oligarch became, the more cowardly be became, because he had ever more to lose.
This is exactly what we are seeing in the US today: The more the billionaires gain, the more cautious them become.

— Anders Åslund (@anders_aslund) Feb 5, 2026

This is called a massive conflict of interest & no transparency.
No democratic country but the US could do anything so atroctious (to the extent the US can still be considered democratic).Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew)Jared Kushner is set to negotiate with Iran on Friday. Last year, he negotiated on Ukraine and Gaza.

The problem? Kushner has billions in investments from foreign governments, no formal role in the Trump administration—and is subject to NO government ethics rules.—  https://x.com/CREWcrew/status/2019199304896856511

— Anders Åslund (@anders_aslund) Feb 5, 2026

The short of it: Never trust Trump on anything!
Any negotiations pursued by the US under Trump is at best meaningless, but presumably harmful.
Therefore, the US should stop pursuing foreign policy until Trump is gone.
Minimize the damage of Trump!Roman Sheremeta 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@rshereme)I want to draw attention to the fact that the same people who are now offering Ukraine “security guarantees” are the ones who previously proposed the so-called “energy ceasefire.”

What these “guarantees” have in common is that the “ceasefire” lasts exactly until the moment russia finishes stockpiling missiles for a new strike.

As soon as a new volley is ready, targets are selected, missiles are programmed and prepared for launch, the “ceasefire” ends just as unexpectedly as it began.

This is obvious to anyone with even minimal critical thinking, because russians act this way every single time. This is their gold standard: to lie about readiness for peace whenever they need time to prepare a new attack.

But every time there are people so exhausted by the war that they want to believe the russians and stare into their mouths, searching there for peace.

The uncomfortable truth is this: no ceasefire is possible as long as russia retains the capacity to kill us. And no agreements with russia make any sense as long as we lack the capacity to punish violations of those agreements.

Source: translated and adopted from Follow Serhii Marchenko—  https://x.com/rshereme/status/2018896550903025963

— Anders Åslund (@anders_aslund) Feb 5, 2026