The war in Ukraine is basically between Putin versus Trump.

17 October 2026, by Eric Zuesse. (All of my recent articles can be seen here.)

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https://theduran.com/russia-hypersonic-dominance-zelensky-blames-trump-for-defeat/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPjhLnsZXZQ

“Russia Hypersonic Dominance. Zelensky Blames Trump For Defeat”

17 October 2026, Alex Christoforou and Alexander Mercouris

The Trump Zelensky intel cutoff story may be a cover for something far more embarrassing: the United States cannot track Russia’s Zircon hypersonic missiles. In this episode we break down the media’s claims that Trump is halting Elon Musk’s Starlink and Starshield satellite-intelligence to Ukraine (which are essential to Ukraine’s attacks against Russia), Zelensky’s campaign to court the Democrats, Ukraine’s new FP9 missile, and a possible Putin Trump diesel oil deal. If Ukraine strikes The Kremlin with US (Starlink/Starshied) targeting, what happens to Russia’s red lines and its nuclear doctrine, and will Russia then attack America?

The Duran: Episode 2650

00:00:00 Trump, Zelensky and the intel cutoff claims

00:01:16 Ukraine refinery strikes and Flamingo missiles

00:02:11 Su 34 claims and Starshield targeting

00:03:57 Why Zelensky is campaigning against Trump

00:06:05 Zelensky courting the Democrats and Congress

00:06:58 Six ballistic missiles and no air raid warning

00:08:23 Zircon hypersonics the US cannot track

00:11:46 The cover story and the Wrestlemania theater

00:14:20 Without US intel Ukraine collapses

00:15:27 The myth that Trump cut military aid

00:17:34 FP9 missile and Starlink throttling

00:19:13 Putin, Trump, Tomahawks and the diesel oil deal

00:23:48 How Russia could respond

00:25:57 Russia’s nuclear doctrine and pressure on Kiev

00:30:22 Has Moscow ever been hit by a ballistic missile?

33:31 end

All right, Alexander, let’s talk about the situation between the United States and Ukraine, between Trump and Zelensky, the the intelligence being cut off from uh from Ukraine, and the Starlink being uh decreased throttled from uh Star Shield [the Starlink version for the Pentagon]. Actually, I won’t even say Starlink, Star Shield from uh from the Pentagon or the Department of War. Musk is is throwing the ball at at those guys. He has nothing to do with the with the Starlink, >> but um the Well, let’s start off with with the intel being cut off, which it has not been cut off. I don’t believe it’s been cut off. >> No, >> you don’t believe it’s been cut off. >> No, >> it has not been cut off. And there’s something else uh going on here. What is it? >> This is all getting very strange and very mysterious because of course we’re being told all the time that there’s been problems with intelligence that they’re not getting intel uh supplied to them in advance of Russian missile strikes and this has happened on two successive uh nights when there’ve been big Russian missile strikes and that there’s been all kinds of threats in private from the US to cut off intel. There’s been absolutely no word about any of this from the US. And talking on the subject of intel and indeed Starlink, Star Shield to be more precise, um Ukraine has conducted more drone attacks inside Russia. It attacked a big refinery um inside Russia with hundreds of drones apparently, lots and lots of drones. and I believe four flamingo missiles. Now, in order to do that, they are getting intelligence. They’re getting intel. They don’t have the ability to gather that kind of intel themselves. And my own understanding is that they have to use Starlink to attack these facilities uh or Star Shield if that is what they’re using. So, we’re being told one thing, but what we actually see is the other. The attacks on the refinery um were made. Apparently, attacks on a military base were also made inside Russia. The Ukrainians are even claiming the six Russian Su-34 fighter jets were destroyed, though there is no visual confirmation or proof of this. All there is is a satellite picture which shows a burn mark on a runway which rather argues against an attack damaged under aircraft. But let’s let’s put all that aside. I mean the fact is the Ukrainians are conducting attacks. There’s no sign that their air defenses in Kiev which are virtually non-existent anyway are being um affected by any intel cut off. So there’s my conclusion. I think that all of these stories are wrong. Um maybe the United States is throttling back somewhat on the speed of use of of the weapon systems that are being used to conduct strikes inside Russia. I’ve speculated in my own channel that that might be in order to stop Zelensky using this ballistic missile he’s been talking about so much to conduct strikes on Moscow and that the Americans might have decided that that is indeed going too far given that the Americans are doing everything they can as far as I can see to get negotiations between Ukraine and Russia up and running again. But I think most of these stories about Starlink being cut off or reduced, most of these stories about Intel being cut off, are just being put out by Zelensky in order to get support and to explain away problems that his military are increasingly suffering on the front lines. But first and above all, in order to conduct a campaign, a personal campaign now against Donald Trump and enlist people in the United States and in Europe on his side. >> Why Why does he want to to start a campaign against uh against Trump? >> Well, first of all, >> Trump has been helping him. >> He’s been helping him. Yeah. >> He he makes it as if he’s not helping him, but Trump has been helping him from from day one going back to his first administration. >> Absolutely. Javelins. He always talks about those Javelins, right? >> Absolutely. He he he he was the president who authorized publicly uh transfers of weapons to Ukraine. In fact, as we now know, they were already taking place in Obama’s day. So Trump uh um in his first term regularized supplies of weapons to Ukraine, including javelins that were already being made. So that’s one thing. Um and um I I and of course Trump continued to provide Zelensky with intelligence, with um air defense systems, with all of the help that Zelensky was getting under the Biden from the Biden period. Um none of that has been affected at all. And at no point has Trump shown any interest in accepting uh Russian proposals, Istanbul plus in other words, except possibly at the Anchorage summit meeting when, as we know, within days Trump walked back on whatever it was with Putin that he agreed there. So it it doesn’t make a huge amount of sense, but clearly there is there is a certain degree of animous between Trump and Zelensky. And my guess is that Zelensky now wants very much the Democrats to win Congress. He’s now basically preparing the ground for a new Congress, which he wants to be more aggressively pro-Ukrainian than the existing one. in other words, to be passing appropriations to continue to help Ukraine. And he thinks that in order both to help the Democrats and to please the Democrats and to work the Democrats who hate Trump to a man and woman, um that he’s going to run this campaign against Trump, pretending that Trump has been his opponent, his adversary, that Trump has somehow held Ukraine back. And I suspect it’s going to work. >> The the whole intel cutoff um narrative started with six ballistic missiles. >> Yeah. >> That uh that were fired into Kiev and there was no um >> there was no air raid warning >> with those six missiles. That’s how this whole thing started. Right. >> Exactly. Exactly. >> And the conclusion was that the United States was was not sharing uh intel. Is that the reason or or is it because the United States as you pointed out in a video the other day and and I was also I was thinking about this as well in my video update that the hypersonic missiles the Zirkcon hypersonics that Russia is launching and has launched into Ukraine. >> Yeah. >> Are doing a tremendous amount of damage and nothing can stop them. >> Nothing can stop them. >> Exactly. >> They have no air defense. We already know that. We’ve known this for months that Ukraine has no air defense or no Patriot interceptors and they’re not going to get any Patriot interceptors. Bernam’s trying to to piece something together, but come on. Whatever whatever the UK gives to Ukraine, Ukraine is going to exhaust it in a matter of of days, right? >> Yes. >> And they’re going to and they’re going to be back to the same problem. No air defense. >> Exactly. >> So, if you have no air defense for for drones or or other other types of uh of missiles, you know, what what are you going to do with with hypersonic missiles, right? The these Zircons can hit any target. >> Yeah. >> That the Russians want to hit. And and you made the point that perhaps Russia is is firing these hypersonic uh missiles at a closer distance. And it makes it difficult to impossible for the United States to to detect these uh these missiles. And how embarrassing is it for the United States, the strong powerful peace through strength, uh, strong Trump administration, uh, military, number one military in the entire history of the world, to say, you know, we cannot stop the Russian hypersonic missiles. We can’t even detect them and and Russia is a gas station, you know, masquerading as a country. We can’t stop their hypersonic missiles. That’s that’s embarrassing. >> Absolutely. It’s very very embarrassing. I’m going to say something. I mean, I have given some thought to the possibility that it was the Ukrainians themselves who deliberately chose not to turn on their air array warnings. If you want to create a narrative to um upset Trump and to make Trump look like, you know, he’s responsible for denying your Ukrainian intelligence, then you you know, maybe you would do that. I don’t think so actually thinking about this because if that were true then I think that Trump would have responded and he would have given a formal denial. He would have said that it was nothing to do with him. It was the Ukrainians who made the decision not to um switch on that to turn on their sirens. And there’s been what looked like admissions from the US uh from some US officials that there was indeed um problems with the air raid warnings that they were caused either by weather conditions or because the Russians were using some kind of new weapon system. And I’m I’m afraid I think that is probably the truth that it is the fact that the Zircons are now increasingly being used. In the latest big strike with the Zircons, some reports claim that up to 24 of them were used in a single strike, and um they operate at exceptional speeds. Uh 10 times the speed of sound apparently. Um, very difficult I’m guessing to track with ground radars. They they fly, you know, at reasonably high altitudes, but um whatever. I I suspect that radars that are not really equipped to track these kind of missiles, might be struggling to and maybe US satellites still aren’t fully prepared for that. And anyway, I mean, this, if if they’re being launched from close to Kiev, the reaction times must be extremely small now. So I I I’m still leaning very much to that theory. And as you absolutely rightly say, if so, it would be massively embarrassing for the United States to admit to this. And it would also disclose to the Russians that the United States has great difficulty tracking uh uh Zircon missiles which would be the release of a military secret. So the Americans can’t really say very much in that situation. And of course, Ukra uh Zelensky is exploiting the opportunity to come forward and say, “Well, it’s not because of missile technologies, Russian missile technologies. It’s because Trump has made a decision not to help me.” Well, well, is is it Zelensky not not exploiting it, but maybe it’s it’s just the MIC telling both Trump and Zelensky, >> this is the cover story. >> Yeah. >> I [laughter] mean, what is Trump going to say? What is Zelensky going to say? Exactly. >> This is the theater. (12:23) … But I don’t believe the United States has made a decision to stop supplying intelligence and I don’t think the United States is throttling back Starlink in any way that is really significant and which changes the realities on of the war. Um maybe there are there is some steps being taken to stop Zelensky launching his missile assuming it even exists at Moscow. um which I can imagine that the Russians have said to Trump would be unacceptable and would call into question the whole diesel oil deal and something of that kind. But that’s that’s the absolute most that I can imagine happening and I’m not even sure that that’s happening. >> Yeah. I mean cutting off the the intel would be a disaster for for Ukraine. It would be a collapse in in 24 hours. And they’re even admitting as much. Yes. >> Which I find very interesting. >> Yes. >> Zelensky is running around the UK pretty much admitting that if Starlink and the intel was cut off, Ukraine would be defeated in 24 hours. He’s not he’s not saying 24 hours, but I mean, >> yes. Yes, >> we all understand that that that without the United States, >> yes, >> the neutral mediator in this [laughter] conflict that Ukraine would would lose in in a matter of of days. I what does that tell you? >> Yes, this is extremely important and it is the single most important fact about this whole this whole air episode. The Europeans talk a big game. They talk about how they’re providing Ukraine with all the weapons it needs, which they’re not, by the way, and uh huge amounts of money, which they are, but we know that that isn’t doing very much good. Uh the Europeans undoubtedly have been helping Ukraine with its drone offensive. There is a very widespread narrative in Europe that Donald Trump has dialed dialed down military support for Ukraine that he’s not being as generous to Ukraine as Joe Biden was. The reality is completely different. Under Trump, Ukraine is effectively receiving the same amount of military aid from the West as it did under Joe Biden. Um, direct arms deliveries from the United States still continue. This is a misconception — that they have stopped. There are still weapons being supplied that were put in the pipeline by Biden and they have ne that has never that flow has never been stopped or interrupted. The Europeans are paying for more weapons, though I don’t really see much sign of that because the key weapon system that Ukraine is demanding, which is air defense interceptors, the United States is not in a position to supply. But even air defense interceptors are not quite as important as people think because, as we’ve seen, they’re not able to deal with the Zircron missiles. that the Russians use. I don’t believe they’re able to deal with the Khal missiles that the Russians also from time to time use. And they are certainly not able to deal with the Iskander M ballistic missiles which are ground launched which the Russians use as well. So this whole narrative of Trump coming down bearing down on Zelensky is wrong. And this whole narrative that is Europe that’s now carrying the burden of the war is also wrong. This ultimately remains first and foremost a conflict between Russia and the United States. >> Yeah. How much of the of the Starlink uh throttling is is about um an eventual big strike into Russia. >> I I think this is what it is. Yeah. >> Right. In your video >> Yeah. You you talk about the the FP9 which is the firepoint 9 which is this this new ballistic missile I think is is what they’re saying ballistic nut cruise. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> And u Zelensky has said that it’s going to to come online. It’s going to be operational by the end of October, early November. >> Yes. >> And that’s when the strikes are going to start uh start coming into into Russia. >> So we’re talking about >> uh long range uh ballistic missiles. >> Yes. being fired into pre-2014 uh Russia. >> Yes. >> Uh Starlink is going to provide the guidance. >> Yes. >> We also know that. >> Yes. >> Do you think that this was discussed between Putin and Trump? >> Probably. >> And perhaps Trump threatened Putin then threatened back Trump and and the Pentagon. >> Yeah. >> Musk. But let’s say the Pentagon because it’s Star Shield. They said, “You know what? Uh, these missiles are going to be launched, but let’s let’s provide some plausible deniability and try to pretend as if we’re we’re trying to to hold the Ukraine back, hold Zelensky back. But, you know, we know we’re not going to be able to, eventually those missiles are going to start to be launched into into Russia. But, let’s play this game >> before the missiles actually gets get launched.” >> And when those missiles get launched, what happens, Alexander? When we see ballistic missiles fired into Moscow, into St. Petersburg, into I don’t know. Pick your city. >> It is not impossible at all that Putin brought up this issue with Trump when they spoke. And if you go back to what took place about a year ago when there was a lot of talk of the US supplying Tomahawk missiles to uh Ukraine, um Putin called Trump and told him very straightforwardly, if Tommahawk missiles are supplied to Ukraine. It’s all over between us. Um relations between Russia and the United States go into deep freeze. we will consider you, you know, not just an adversary but an enemy. And um if you want to move forward with economic deals or peace deals over Ukraine, well, you can forget it. And Trump apparent, well, Trump did back off. Whether he was ever serious about providing the Tomahawks is a completely different matter. But Trump did publicly back off and did then say that the United States would not supply Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. And I remember Zelensky was very upset and very angry about it. So it is not impossible that a similar conversation took place when they spoke a few days ago. There is nothing about it however in the summary that Ushakov um has provided. This was purely about the diesel oil deal. But it may be, and it’s not inconceivable, that Putin told Trump, “If you get this missile, if we if we hit by this missile, then you can forget about the diesel oil deal.” And um if the missile isn’t launch status, well, you will get a certain amount of diesel oil provided you throttle back Starink. So, you know, I I can imagine that kind of trade. It it would be so politically embarrassing to both sides um that I can also understand or imagine if a deal like that were done that a decision would be made to keep it confidential. >> We’re we’re going to see the the long range strikes into Russia. What happens? >> Of course, >> of course we are. I mean that’s that is the other thing to say. I mean >> is that a crossing of a of a big red? that that is a crossing of a >> Oh, absolutely. I mean, there is there is >> you warned about tomahawks, but did that cover all all types of longrange ballistic missiles? >> Well, I I I think I think Putin has already said that, you know, Ukraine does not have the capability to launch strikes deep inside Russia without American assistance. And if if there are if these missiles are going to target specific locations in Moscow, then that can only be done with targeting assistance provided by the United States. So that that could be um I mean that I I I think that for Putin, for the Russian government, it would absolutely be as big a crossing of the red line as the supply of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine would have been. I I don’t myself see that there is any substantive difference between the two. Um, now of course if it happens then it and if assuming that there was a deal done of the kind that I’ve just been talking about over diesel oil deliveries and things of that kind then I mean Putin is again going to come under criticism because people will say well you gave Trump diesel diesel oil and you gave it back in return for promises and those promises weren’t kept. How many times must there be before you make deals with the Americans and um wait for the deals to fall apart and for the promises that are being given to you to be broken? How often do the Americans have to lie to you before you stop calling them partners? [snorts] (23:24)

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MY COMMENTS:

This has to do directly and existentially with Russia’s national security — and has so, ever since Obama’s 2014 coup grabbed Ukraine and has controlled it ever since as an American colony to use it so as ultimately to capture Russia. This war has nothing to do wth America’s national security. It has to do with America’s trying to position a nuclear missile a mere 300 miles from The Kremlin. Anyone who says that Russia is and has been the aggressor in Ukraine is either a fool or a liar. And both of America’s political Parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, have, and have had, essentially the same neocon (imperialistic) policy on this and other international-relations matters, the goal being an all-inclusive U.S. global dictatorship.

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Investigative historian Eric Zuesse’s latest book, AMERICA’S EMPIRE OF EVIL: Hitler’s Posthumous Victory, and Why the Social Sciences Need to Change, is about how America took over the world after World War II in order to enslave it to U.S.-and-allied billionaires. Their cartels extract the world’s wealth by control of not only their ‘news’ media but the social ‘sciences’ — duping the public.