Ukr War Update NEWS: Military Aid News, Eutelsat, EU Funding, UK-EU Cooperation
🤖
This summary has been produced automatically by an AI Large Language Model (LLM) without any human intervention. Whilst every effort has been made to prompt the LLM to produce accurate output, there may be inconsistencies, inaccuracies or hallucinations!
Table of Contents 📖
"You absolute muppets."
Hello Team
🎦 00:00-01:08⏩
Jonathan welcomes everyone to the channel - this is the second Ukraine War Update News video for the 19th February 2025 (there's a lot to discuss!). Jonathan has been listening to 'Messy' by Lola Young - a new discovery for him - and the Triple J cover with the band The Cure.
Return to top⤴️
UK-EU Cooperation on Russian Assets
🎦 01:08-02:16⏩
- The UK and EU are in advanced talks to seize frozen Russian assets.
- It is not clear how much of the assets are liquid.
- Jonathan believes that this could be used to underwrite loans or given to Ukraine (there may be legal ramifications).
EU Military Aid Package
🎦 02:16-04:32⏩
- There is broad support from the EU for a proposed military aid package for Ukraine worth around €40bn.
- Unsurprisingly, Hungary (Peter Szijjarto) is not happy, and there is some hesitancy from Italy (Antonio Tajani) and Spain who believe it is "too early" to agree this (Jonathan disagrees).
- The Italian coalition government is more pro-Russia, although Prime Minister Maloney is a strong supporter of Ukraine, although Jonathan believes she has been more tempered in her rhetoric recently.
- The _Kiev Post_ has reported on the proposed package.
UK Increases Military Aid
🎦 04:32-05:15⏩
- David Lammy (UK Foreign Secretary) has said that the UK will continue to put pressure on Russia if they do not agree to a ceasefire.
- The UK is increasing the number of drones, ammunition and training being given to Ukraine with over 400 assets being sent to Ukraine.
EU: UN Action Against Russian Satellite Sabotage
🎦 05:15-05:15⏩
- European nations are urging the UN to take action against Russia for satellite sabotage targeting UTELSAT and SES (Europe's main satellite providers).
UTELSAT as an alternative to Starlink
🎦 05:15-07:52⏩
- UTELSAT has said it is able to provide a substitute to Starlink and can provide 40,000 terminals to Ukraine.
- Eva Berneke (UTELSAT CEO) has said that it has enough capacity to meet Ukraine's military needs despite having less capacity than Starlink as it has "perfect coverage" over Ukraine (fewer satellites are needed because their orbit is located at a greater distance from Earth).
- UTELSAT currently provides services to businesses, governments and the maritime/air transport sectors - it does not have capacity to meet the needs of civilians.
- The EU is in talks with 4 satellite internet operators to replace Starlink for the Ukrainian armed forces - SES, HIS-DESAT, VIA-SAT and UTELSAT-1Web.
- Tomas Regnier (European Commission Spokesperson) has said that Ukraine is interested in switching to alternative communication systems including GovSatCom which is a pooled network of the EU's existing national government satellite capacity.
- Jonathan believes this is part of a wider move by the EU to be less dependent on the US.
Elon Musk, Trade Wars, and the Future of Starlink
🎦 07:52-08:25⏩
- Jonathan believes that Elon Musk will react badly to this news and complain about government subsidies/unfair market conditions.
- Jonathan suggests that Elon Musk is a hypocrite, given his complaints about 'unfair' market conditions, pointing to the trade war between the US and Europe (and the rest of the world).
New Ukrainian Drone Interceptor
🎦 08:25-09:01⏩
- Russia has published a photo of a Ukrainian drone interceptor designed to intercept Russian drones such as Orlan-10s and Lancet drones that penetrate deep behind Ukrainian lines.
Ukrainian Underwater Drone
🎦 09:01-09:11⏩
- There is a video circulating from Mykolaiv of an underwater drone being provided to Ukraine. Jonathan jokes "Coming to the Black Sea Fleet near you".
Ukraine War: Military aid, Ceasefires, and Strategic Considerations
🎦 09:11-11:13⏩
- Jonathan questions whether it is in the interest of defence companies to see a negotiated settlement.
- Jonathan explores the arguments for/against a ceasefire:
- A ceasefire would give Ukraine the opportunity to test new weapons systems.
- A ceasefire would benefit Russia, Ukraine or both - or neither.
- Ukraine is successfully hitting Russian oil and gas infrastructure but at the same time Russia is targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure and ports such as Odesa.
- Russia has lost a third of its Black Sea Fleet and has relocated to Novorossiysk from Sevastopol.
Ukraine's New Long-Range Weapons Systems
🎦 11:13-12:31⏩
- Ukraine has successfully tested a 3,000km drone and the long-range 'Long Neptune' anti-ship missile - a modified Neptune R-360 missile.
- Prior to this, Ukraine relied on Western missiles (ATACMS, Storm Shadow and SCALP) with ranges of up to 300km.
- According to media reports, Ukraine exhausted its stockpiles of ATACMS in January 2025, and numbers of Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles are limited (delivered in dozens, not hundreds).
- Mikhail Samorukov (Director of Military Programs at the Razumkov Centre) believes the main challenge is scaling up production.
Jonathan's Perspective: The Importance of Long-Range Strikes for Ukraine
🎦 12:31-14:27⏩
- Jonathan has consistently argued that the key to Ukrainian victory is to use long-range strikes (drones and missiles), as this reduces the risk to troops/is less attritional for Ukraine.
- Jonathan questions why Ukraine doesn't use Shahed drone equivalents to target the front lines and questions the lack of information about Ukrainian launchers.
- Jonathan highlights the importance of the launchers (as well as the missile systems) - what are they? How easy are they to move?
Sphere Fragmentation Drones
🎦 14:27-15:50⏩
- 20,000 Sphere fragmentation FPV drones have been sent to drone units in Ukraine following a sponsorship deal between drone manufacturer Deviro and Steel Hornets (makers of 3D-printed munition casings).
- The Sphere 1.1 is a scalable Ukrainian drone munition made from 3D printed components (each ring weighs 200 grams with a total weight of 1.1 kilograms for the four-part munition).
- Jonathan highlights the benefits of 3D printing and the fact that weapons can be produced on the front line.
Ukraine's Military Industrial Complex Output Increases Tenfold
🎦 15:50-16:28⏩
- The Ukrainian military industrial complex has increased its output from $1bn in 2022 to $10bn in 2024 and this is expected to increase to $30-35bn in 2025.
- Jonathan is impressed by this.
International Troop Deployment to Ukraine
🎦 16:28-17:46⏩
- Six countries (UK, France, Turkey, Canada and Australia + 1 unnamed country) have discussed plans to send up to 30,000 troops to Ukraine (reported in _The Times_).
- Jonathan uses this as an opportunity to highlight hypocrisy from Macron (France) who has criticised Russia for not wanting to see NATO/EU troops on Ukrainian soil.
Ukraine Approves Military Education Reforms
🎦 17:46-19:31⏩
- Ukraine has approved reforms that allow military personnel aged 18-24 to pursue higher education whilst serving. This is part of the 'Contract 18-24' project.
- Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that this will help soldiers to gain skills for both military and civilian careers.
- Ukraine hopes that this will encourage voluntary enlistment and avoid the need for further mobilization of the 18-24 cohort.
- Jonathan refers to his interview with the Naked Diner podcast where he discussed the demographic challenges facing Ukraine. The most likely cohort to have children is 18-24, but also those most likely to be called up to serve - mobilizing this group would damage the economy and birth rate, and lead to a loss of skilled labour.
US Public Opinion on Aid to Ukraine
🎦 19:31-22:56⏩
- Record numbers of Americans believe that the US is not doing enough to help Ukraine (bucking the idea that Republicans are anti-Ukraine).
- Jonathan believes that this is being driven by undecided Democrats who are unhappy with the Trump administration's stance and are switching sides.
- Jonathan provides an overview of polling regarding Trump's popularity - despite being underwater in terms of favourability with 47%, this is higher than he has ever been. He is the most unpopular US president in history, apart from during his first term.
- People who did not vote in the 2024 election have an 83% disapproval rating of Trump, and so Democrats should be trying to get these people to vote in future elections.
- Jonathan believes that the group most likely to want to provide aid to Ukraine are politically unaffiliated and inactive.
Pentagon Restructuring and NATO Command
🎦 22:56-24:39⏩
- The Pentagon is restructuring its combatant commands and headquarters - one of the considerations is for the US to relinquish its role as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, a position held by an American since Eisenhower.
- Jonathan believes that this is a significant move and shows that the US is giving up influence in Europe (although some Americans believe that Europe should stand on its own two feet).
- Jonathan believes that the US should want to make the decisions in Europe as it is in their best interests.
Germany Loosens Debt Brake, Increases Defence Spending
🎦 24:39-26:18⏩
- The Bundestag (German parliament) has voted to loosen the country's debt break policy, paving the way for increased spending on defence, infrastructure and climate neutrality.
- This will allow €500bn of expenditures on defence and infrastructure.
- The amendment was proposed by the SPD and the CDU-CSU alliance (Friedrich Merz).
- Jonathan uses this to highlight the diversity across Europe with regards to defence spending and urges Americans not to talk about 'Europe' as a single entity.
France Ramps Up Arms Production and Defence Spending
🎦 26:18-28:12⏩
- President Macron has called on French arms manufacturers to increase arms production - France is offering arms contacts to other European countries.
- France is in the top 10 countries in the world for military spending, and second in the world for arms exports after the US, and ahead of Germany and China.
- The French Military Industrial complex makes up 25% of Europe's military capacity.
- Since 2022, France has made tremendous progress in its military industrial complex (Anton Gerashchenko).
- President Macron would like to increase defence spending to 3-3.5% of GDP by 2030, compared to the 2.1% currently.
- France plans to spend €413bn on defence by 2030, with €50.5bn earmarked for 2025 - this would rise to €70bn if France increased spending to 3.5%.
- France is one of the few European countries that can develop weapons systems without relying on the United States.
- Nine major companies make up the French Military Industrial Complex: Airbus Defence & Space, Ariane Group, Arquus, Dassault Aviation, MBDA, Naval Group, Nexter, Safran and Thales.
France Increases Artillery Shell Production
🎦 28:12-29:29⏩
- The capacity of the Forge du Tarb artillery shell factory could be increased to 20,000 per day to produce more than 7 million artillery shell bodies a year.
- France has traditionally concentrated on quality over quantity, but the war in Ukraine has highlighted the importance of quantity as well.
- President Macron has also announced investment in:
- 2 new squadrons of Rafale fighter jets armed with hypersonic missiles.
- A new French airborne nuclear deterrent base on the German border by 2035 (signalling to Russia ahead of the Trump-Putin call).
UK Excluded from EU Rearmament Plan
🎦 29:29-32:20⏩
- It's not clear whether the two new squadrons of Rafale jets are in addition to existing squadrons, or whether they are replacements (Shashank Joshi).
- President Macron has resisted the UK being included in the €800bn EU rearmament plan, preferring to see EU money spent in the EU.
- Jonathan is not surprised as France likes to protect its own interests.
- Jonathan believes that the UK would like to rejoin the EU - he cites a recent TLDR video about Labour "quietly cozying up to the EU".
- The UK is likely to cosy up to the EU on defence - the UK may join a pan-European defence strategy, which might alleviate concerns from France about EU money going to the UK.
- The Labour party is split 50/50 on the issue of Brexit. The majority of people in the UK now think that Brexit was a bad idea.
Canada's F-35 Dilemma
🎦 32:20-33:41⏩
- The UK may see its arms manufacturers relocate to the EU to take advantage of the increase in defence spending.
- Canada has said it is not cancelling the F-35 deal but needs to reconsider its options.
- Canada wants to procure more industrial benefits.
- Jonathan believes that the EU and UK will have to offer incentives to Canada such as industrial partnerships, although the current trade war with the US could be a barrier to the F-35 deal.
Canada-Australia Radar Deal
🎦 33:41-34:26⏩
- Canada has agreed a $6bn Canadian dollar ($4.2bn USD) deal with Australia for a new radar system for the Arctic (rather than an American company). This is another example of the changing global landscape.
- The new radar will be able to detect hypersonic missiles and other threats over the curvature of the earth (proving the earth is not flat!)
Denmark's Call for European Rearmament
🎦 34:26-35:08⏩
- Mette Frederiksen (Danish Prime Minister) has warned that Europe needs to rearm within 3-5 years or risk being attacked by Russia and highlights the threat from hybrid warfare.
- She believes that Russia could strike an EU country if Europe remains weak and does not believe that Putin wants peace.
- Denmark supports EU arms production, but also wants the flexibility to buy weapons from the UK and Norway.
Wrap up
🎦 35:08-35:10⏩
Jonathan thanks everyone for watching and signs off.
Return to top⤴️
🤖❓ AI Debrief (post task) - anything the AI didn't understand
Who is Mark Carney? Is this a mistake in the transcript, and if so, who should this be?
Who said "we are not cancelling the F-35 contract, but we do need to do our homework given the changing environment"?
🤖💭 AI Plan (pre task) - the AI's step by step thought process
OK, so this is a big task and I need to break this down systematically to ensure that I'm following the instructions correctly. Looking at the task as a whole can be overwhelming, but by reading it step by step and thinking about each task/stage means that I'll be able to produce a good summary. I also need to refer to the rules/guidance to make sure that I'm following the rules and not making any mistakes. The goal is to produce a summary for each of the videos that Jonathan has released that captures the most important information for his viewers. This project is to help his viewers who do not have time to watch all of his videos. It's also important to capture Jonathan's personality as this is a key aspect of his channel.
The steps I need to follow are:
Extract the title, date and part from the Youtube title (this is provided). Easy!
Create a topic title and id for each of the topics discussed in the video, ensuring that each topic is granular (don't combine unrelated topics into one topic). Each Topic will be a chapter within the Youtube video. Remember the first topic is always "Hello Team" and the last topic is always "Wrap up"
Identify the timestamps for each of the topics from the transcript (start - end).
Summarise the key points discussed by Jonathan for each topic.
Choose a quote from the transcript
Make a note of anything that didn't make sense!