Zelenskiy's appeal to allies ~ ⛾:Kaffibolla

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Caught between an unpredictable US administration and a plodding diplomatic track, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is seeking to boost his domestic weapons production to hold off Moscow's offensive.

It's a message he'll bring to Berlin today, as he prods Western allies to help finance arms production such as drones and missiles with $30 billion this year. He maintains that about $280 billion in frozen Russian central bank assets can be a source of that money.

Relatives and military personnel welcome Ukrainian servicemen following a major prisoner-of-war swap with Russia at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, on Friday. Photographer: Andrew Kravchenko/Bloomberg

"We can surprise Russia if we have the funds," Zelenskiy told reporters in Kyiv before his departure. "Can it bring us closer to peace? Sure, as I think the Russians aren't feeling the war for the time being."

The Ukrainian leader hopes to bring the war home to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a series of high-profile meetings in the coming month aimed at rallying support in the absence of any clear US commitments.

Zelenskiy plans to attend a Group of Seven summit in Canada in mid-June that will presumably include President Donald Trump, followed a week later by a meeting of NATO leaders in The Hague.

Russia has amassed more than 50,000 troops on the border with Ukraine's Sumy region, and wants to seize the whole of Donetsk and Luhansk in the east, a goal that has evaded it since 2014, said Zelenskiy. The Kremlin also seeks to break into Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region and mark a symbolic milestone in its grinding offensive.

Following a recent escalation in Russia's aerial attacks against civilian targets in Ukraine, Trump warned that Putin was "playing with fire." Yet he's brandished the threat of additional penalties before without following through.

Zelenskiy still hopes Washington will ratchet up sanctions and that Trump won't walk away. After all, Zelenskiy said of himself, he is less of an irritant than Putin.

"I may say unpleasant things but I tell the truth," he said. — Daryna Krasnolutska

The Kremlin, Moscow. Photographer: Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty Images

Global Must Reads

Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered US embassies worldwide to stop scheduling interviews for student visas as the Trump administration weighs stricter vetting of applicants' social-media profiles. The move raises the stakes of an ongoing battle between the White House and universities — one that initially centered on elite schools such as Harvard and Columbia over antisemitism but has morphed into a larger attack over the role of US higher education.

WATCH: Derek Wallbank reports on the US directive to stop scheduling interviews for student visas on Bloomberg TV.

Trump said Canada would need to pay $61 billion to join the "Golden Dome" system he's proposed to boost missile defense with space-based interceptors. But the president also needled Ottawa by adding he would be willing to protect Canada for free if the northern neighbor opted to be absorbed by the US. Prime Minister Mark Carney last week confirmed that Canada was considering joining the project.

Southeast Asian leaders — several of whose countries are in the top 20 list for US bilateral trade deficits — called out Trump's tariff plans as causing uncertainties in commerce with their largest export customer and underscoring an "urgency of diversifying trade." French President Emmanuel Macron, meeting with President Prabowo Subianto in Indonesia, is meanwhile committing to strengthen a defense partnership that has already led to the Southeast Asian nation purchasing billions of dollars' worth of French weaponry.

Ministers during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Photographer: Samsul Said/Bloomberg

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra's government, which is less than a year old, faces its biggest test yet, with feuding between the two biggest coalition parties threatening the national budget. The groups, which make up nearly two thirds of the legislature, have clashed over issues including changes to the military-drafted constitution, the legal status of cannabis and a plan to open casinos.

Germany plans to introduce legislation to abolish a fast-track option that allows well-integrated migrants to naturalize after three years, part of a wider effort by new conservative leader Friedrich Merz to make Europe's largest economy less attractive to foreigners. The cabinet is expected to approve the bill, a measure introduced under former Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government to facilitate integration and ease massive labor shortages.

Australia's center-right Liberal and National opposition parties have reassembled into a formal coalition, about a week after ending their decades-long alliance in the wake of a devastating national election loss.

Texas lawmakers voted to require public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom, advancing a conservative priority before the end of the state legislature's session next week.

President Cyril Ramaphosa defended laws aimed at uplifting South Africa's Black majority and said he's "baffled" by suggestions that they stifle economic growth. The rules are central to a fallout between him and Trump and the US leader's Pretoria-born billionaire backer Elon Musk, who say they prejudice White citizens.

Commercial buildings on the skyline of the Sandton district, viewed from the Alexandra township of Johannesburg. Photographer: Leon Sadiki/Bloomberg

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Chart of the Day

Despite Poland's thriving economy, entrepreneurs are growing frustrated with surging energy costs and taxes and feel the government isn't taking their concerns seriously. Sunday's presidential election is seen as a referendum on whether change is coming quickly enough, with businesses seeking movement on issues such as cutting healthcare contributions and accessing European Union funds. Meanwhile, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem waded into the tightly contested campaign, urging Poles to vote for the nationalist opposition candidate.

And Finally

SpaceX's Starship rocket suffered a leak, tumbled out of control in space and disintegrated as it hurtled back to Earth during a test flight yesterday, the third setback in a row for the Musk-led company. A few minutes into the flight, the recycled Super Heavy booster separated from the Starship upper portion and fired its engines, but suffered an apparent problem as it maneuvered itself into position.

WATCH: SpaceX starship fails in fiery test setback.

⛾:Kaffibolla

Wednesday, May 28, 2025