I was recently at “home” in Kyiv. I am still trying to gather my thoughts. Kyiv is a magical city. Soulful, Beautiful. But everyone in Ukraine is exhausted, and the Russian war is not letting up.

I was recently texting with an American friend of mine who lives in Poland. Both of us roll our eyes when we hear people say “But Putin wants to negotiate”. Putin is not interested in negotiating. And then there is that genius Trump.

This is what my friend shared with me. He is spot on.

You need to understand Putin’s intention: Revenge!

He wants to collapse the West to one degree or another (maybe NATO, maybe the EU) take back territories (not all, but certainly wants to have a veto) which he believes will make him Vladimir the Great, whose name will live for centuries. That is his singular goal. To be a great Russian Hero. Not money, not power. But history.

In my view, Trump sadly seems to want the same. At this stage, I am not yet sure, but as for Putin there is no doubt at all.

My friend went on to say: And see how fast all the big business fall in line with the King. Big tech taking the lead.

It’s every person for themselves. Nuclear proliferation will run. The PM of Poland is talking about the need for nukes.

Darker times are coming.

I am at “home” in Kyiv and with all the pain and trauma of the war, people here still laugh and live life. But of course nothing is normal.

I assume this Danish joke has Ukrainian fingerprints all over it, or at least, the inspiration comes from here. But what I don’t get is why does America need Greenland? Both Russia and America do not need Greenland to launch nuclear weapons at each other. And China is not going to try and annex Greenland, so what then is America on about?! The thing though that makes the least sense is this: Trump acts like Putin is his friend. Someone he can trust. So why then does America need Greenland in order to better protect itself from Russia? Something does not compute here.

A friend of mine in America text’d me this : “I am appalled at how Zelenskyy was just treated… embarrassed to be an American today, even more than usual”

I have heard people in Ukraine criticise Zelensky, saying he should have swallowed it all, and not have spoken back, but I think Zelensky showed incredible restraint. He stood up to those thugs, and stood his ground. But whether Zelensky should have done this or said that is not the point right now. Europe is the key here – if Europe does not get its act together soon then a bigger war is coming.

God knows how Americans live with this madman Trump. And all the liberals do is post something on social media and there, they have made a stand. What a bunch of crap.

Today’s circus was disgusting and Zelensky was ambushed by Trump and his lapdog Vance. What a world we are living in. No one is standing up to Trump. We are all going to pay the price for our greed.

The Bunster are I were out for a walk in beautiful Kyiv three years ago to this date. That was our last peaceful time in Ukraine’s magical capital. The next day, on February 24, everything changed. Russia began its evil full scale invasion of Ukraine. No one I knew in Kyiv believed it would happen – we were all wrong. And from then on I knew that anything was possible. I predicted Trump would become America’s president again, and I fear that a bigger war is coming.

The Bunster has lived in 4 counties and speaks 3 languages and is still innocent albeit a bit naughty. This little man has helped us to get through these horrible and traumatic 3 years. We pray he never knows from war, but sadly, I don’t believe that will be the case.

Here in London we hear Russians everywhere. There must be so many Russians in the UK. And yes, we are not fond of Russians. If the world got to together and cut Russia off, this war would have ended very quickly. If Paris, for example, was attacked, just once, the world would condemn Russia and they would not be welcome anywhere. But Ukraine has been bombed constantly for 3 years and from my perspective the world just watches. Yes, of course, many countries are helping Ukraine, but it is not enough. Europe either wakes up and steps up, or bigger problems are coming, to everyone.

If Russia sends missiles sent to Poland, for example, then I don’t believe America will do a thing to stop it. They will say that Poland brought it upon themselves because they have been supporting Ukraine. And I said “America will not stop it”, not “Trump will not stop it”. America is behind Trump. Make no mistake. Maybe not every single one of them, but most. It is like Trump has cast a spell over them or something. Whatever the reason, things have changed, and Ukrainians do not trust Americans any more.

I hope I am wrong about all of these things. And I hope the war does end this year.

Slava Ukraini.

One of the magical things about life that I so much appreciate are the tender moments when the Bunster lies next to me in bed, before he goes to sleep, and is in a chatty mood. What comes out of his mouth is often so colourful and sometimes it is quite emotional.

Earlier this week I was putting our little man to sleep, and I was in the bed with him, and he was cuddled up close to me. And he suddenly pipes up with “Daddy, are you going to die?” I was silent for a bit and then gently explained to the Bun man that everyone dies at some point. I told him not to worry. I said I will not die anytime soon. He then says to me “If you die I will cry forever.” I did shed a few tears after that.

I was texting with a friend in the US this week. We were discussing the world of crypto and this blog piece captures some of the highlights of our text chat.

So often a discussion with a crypto person feels like a pump & dump conversation. It is like everyone is trying to find a greater fool to help keep the price high.

A case in point with the American President. His $TRUMP crypto currency has raised billions, and it seems like one big ploy to get rich off dumb people. Also, it presents a new way you can bribe him while maintaining plausible deniability.

I don’t really understand the world of crypto. Well, not any more. But it sounds like anyone can make up a new virtual currency. The success is a matter of marketing. Dogecoin, for example, was created as a joke by some guy who was trying to show how absurd it is. Musk decided to promote it and now it is worth $50 billion.

Trump and Melania both have cryptocurrencies. $TRUMP and $MELANIA. That is what they should put on their gravestones.

I am pretty sure the people in Greenland are walking around like the people in Ukraine back in February 2022. I was there in Ukraine and I too did not believe there would be a full scale Russian invasion. But it happened.

Anything is possible from next week. If America annexes Greenland it would be highly unlikely, but it could just happen.

This pic below is from London. Sloane Square to be precise. And this sign is on the inside of the entrance door of an apartment building of a family friend of ours.

We keep hearing about cars being stolen and about the increase in mobile phone smash and grabs. Bunster and I were in a Tesco a couple of weeks ago and saw a guy get tackled to the ground for shoplifting, and Bunster got a fright. I did too. We saw another shoplifting incident at the same Tesco a week later, but that one was more gentle.

My understanding is that the crime rate here is on the rise. But just about everyone tells us that this is a relatively safe place to be.