World Briefing: March 11, 2025

Michael Bociurkiw's hot take analysis...

Welcome paid subscribers to my daily World Briefing. I thank you for supporting my reporting and commentary mission. Here’s my hot take analysis on selected headlines of the day…

Ukraine peace talks in Saudi Arabia

As you have read above, high-stakes talks between the United States and Ukraine got underway in Saudi Arabia today. Both sides, but the U.S. side in particular, appeared to be playing down the chances for an enormous breakthrough. Remember that it was only recently that the Russian side was at the Trump peace-broking table which produced not an end to the war - nothing close - but major concessions for the Kremlin, including normalization of relations through exchange of diplomats and re-opening of closed posts. This week’s talks may just end with an agreement to proceed with further talks - or we could end up being surprised with the signing of that rare earth elements agreement (more of a trade deal), which was a victim of the Trump Oval Office dust-up almost two weeks ago.…