Out of Money, Out of Missiles: Zelensky Exit Plan as Trump Faces Ukraine Defeat

A host-only war-economy episode broadcast September 5, 2026, three days after Ukraine's failed ~500-drone strike on Moscow airspace. Mercouris's opening diagnosis: the madness gripping Kiev and the collective West is the product of a gathering slow-motion collapse — front lines, the war in the sky, the economy — and of the belated understanding that the war is lost, now that every miracle (scaring or bribing Russia, a new weapon, the drone offensive, sanctions, a crisis in Russia, Putin falling) has failed to arrive. The Leipzig An-124 drone incident has been spun into a Russia-waging-hybrid-war narrative with escalation demands — the Russian House in Berlin closed, EU dissent-suppression talk — while Zelensky campaigns to close Russian airspace via the UN and against the Rasvet satellite system. On the ground: a Ukrainian force trapped in Kharkov region, Orekhov's resistance near collapse, Dobropillya lost, a conclusive Russian victory north of Slavyansk, Kiev attacked day and night, air-defense missiles exhausted, a deep budget crisis — and a two-day public gunfight between the intelligence and security agencies, partly over closing money flows. The money chapter: Zelensky asks 36 billion for his administration and 27 billion for the military; Europe would welcome the military money back into its industry but the administration money reads as pure corruption. The UK defense ministry is broke and cutting training; Germany is crumbling — Volkswagen in big trouble — with the blame pinned on Merz and the globalist elite for cutting Russian trade and cheap energy. There is nothing to buy anyway (no interceptors, no Patriots, the US has nothing to sell), and Trump now wants the Europeans to pay for all the weapons Biden gave free — a bill expected around 300 billion, lowballed if anything. The 90-billion-euro loan, dissected at length: bonds with no repayment date — repayable when Russia is defeated and pays reparations, 'which is to say never' — never placed, never raised; the loan 'properly speaking does not exist'; Germany's advances aside, it would not have covered one year of costs, let alone two. The strikes chapter: Geran drones now hitting western-central Ukraine, a warning strike near Kiev's central railway station — the node the Europeans use to arrive and Zelensky to leave — 500 locomotives reportedly destroyed, and the Poland rail link identified as the devastating checkmate cut should the airspace campaign continue. The ~500-drone strike toward Moscow, launched right after Zelensky's warning in hopes of closing the airports even for an hour, failed entirely — none got through. The Washington chapter: Europe is lost in the hosts' judgment; inside the United States the rational camp shrinks by the week. The emblem is the Ratcliffe scandal — the CIA director's 35-minutes-to-live figure pulled, the hosts say, from one small rumor-and-hyperbole Telegram channel citing an article nobody could find. Driscoll is gone; Bessent dislikes Kiev and Zelensky (the screaming-at-the-Treasury-Secretary account) but has not broken through; the Ratcliffe-Kellogg-hardliner axis — Blumenthal, Cotton, Graham gone — has won the internal battles, which is why Trump sits where he sits in what is now his war. The endgame chapter: nothing short of a coup removes Zelensky; the Europeans keep him (they bought off Fedorov's elections push with an Italian job), the SBU and men with guns protect him, and the true threat is Biletsky returning from a trapped Azov to launch a coup. His own plan: hold on, keep the money flowing, pay off enough people, then the last train with cash-bulging suitcases, French bodyguards, a government in exile probably in France that the Europeans will fund as a revenue stream. After Kiev — even Lvov — falls, the conflict continues: no insurgency (a nation of pensioners is the wrong demographic), but a dirty war of assassinations — another officer killed in Saratov by the Engels air base — with Russia mirroring every attack with a bigger one.

1. The episode's frame: the madness gripping Kiev and the collective West is a product of the gathering slow-motion collapse — it is gradually being understood that the war is lost, after every hoped-for miracle (scaring or bribing Russia, a new weapon, the drone offensive, sanctions, Putin falling) failed to arrive.

2. The Leipzig drone incident — a drone found beside a parked An-124, later declared probably Russia-connected — has been spun into the whole Russia-waging-hybrid-war-against-Europe narrative, complete with escalation talk and EU dissent-suppression demands.

3. The money is not there: Zelensky asks 36 billion for his administration and 27 billion for the military, and while Europe would not mind the military money returning to it, the administration money is read as straight corruption — against a UK defense ministry that is broke and a German economy crumbling with the blame on Merz's Russia-energy cutoff.

4. Even fully funded there is nothing to buy: no interceptors, no Patriot missiles — the US has nothing to sell — while Trump now demands the Europeans pay for all the weapons Biden gave free, a bill Mercouris expects to land around 300 billion and Christoforou calls lowballed rather than inflated.

5. The 90-billion-euro loan properly speaking does not exist: its bonds carried no repayment date — repayable only when Russia was defeated and paid reparations, 'which is to say never' — so they were never placed, the money was never raised, and Germany's advances are all that moved.

6. The war is creeping toward cutting Kiev off: Geran strikes west of the capital, a warning strike near the central railway station — the node the Europeans use to arrive and Zelensky uses to leave — 500 locomotives reportedly destroyed, and the Poland rail link identified as the devastating checkmate cut if the airspace-closure campaign continues.

7. The ~500-drone strike toward Moscow, launched right after Zelensky's warning in hopes of closing the airports even briefly, failed completely — air defenses around Moscow are now so well organized that none of the drones got through.

8. The Ratcliffe scandal as emblem of the administration's information problem: the CIA director's statement that Russian soldiers have 35 minutes or so to live at the front was pulled from one relatively small Telegram channel based completely on rumor and hyperbole — citing an article it never referenced and nobody could find — and repeated over and over.

9. Washington's internal battles have been won by the Ratcliffe-Kellogg-congressional-hardliner axis (Blumenthal, Cotton, with Graham gone) rather than the rational camp — Driscoll is gone, Bessent has not broken through — which is why Trump sits where he sits in 'his' war.

10. The Zelensky endgame as mapped on air: nothing short of a coup removes him, the Europeans keep buying off threats (Fedorov's elections proposal bought off with an Italian job), the SBU and men with guns protect him, the true threat is an Azov coup if the Donbass brigades are trapped — and his own plan is the last train with cash-filled suitcases toward a French exile government the Europeans will fund as a revenue stream, with the dirty war continuing after Kiev falls.

• Q

  Why is panic gripping Kiev and the collective West as Ukraine crumbles?

  Alex Christoforou asked00:00
  A

  Alexander Mercouris answered

  The madness is a product of the gathering slow-motion collapse — on the front lines, in the war in the sky, in the economy. It is gradually being understood in Kiev, Western capitals and the United States that this war is being lost. They kept telling themselves the Russians could be scared or bribed, that some new miracle weapon, the drone offensive or new sanctions would turn everything, that Putin would fall — now they sense the miracle is not coming. The Leipzig drone incident — an An-124 parked on a runway, a drone 'found' beside it — feeds the narrative of Russian hybrid war and escalation talk: the Russian House in Berlin closed, talk of suppressing internal EU dissent, US demands that Europeans pay cash for American weapons, while Zelensky pushes the UN to close Russian airspace and complains about the Russian satellite system. On the ground: a Ukrainian force trapped in Kharkov region, resistance in Orekhov near collapse, Dobropillya lost, the complicated battle north of Slavyansk ending in a conclusive Russian victory; Kiev attacked day and night, air-defense missiles exhausted, the economy in deep crisis — and a two-day public gunfight between the intelligence and security agencies, partly over closing money flows. The wheels are coming off.

• Q

  Where would the 36 billion for Zelensky's administration actually come from?

  Alex Christoforou asked10:29
  A

  Alexander Mercouris answered

  Zelensky is asking for 36 billion just for his administration and another 27 billion for the military. The Europeans would have no problem with the military money — they see it eventually coming back to them — but the 36 billion for the administration is money just gone, lost to corruption. There was never any clear understanding of where Europe would even get the 90 billion: they were going to raise loans and bonds and the like. The UK defense ministry is absolutely broke — telling the army to cut back on non-essential training because there is no money. Germany is crumbling: Volkswagen in big trouble, Merz making excuses about China's fault and Trump's fault, when it is Merz's fault and the globalist German elite's fault, because they cut all trade and all cheap energy from Russia.

• Q

  Even if Europe found the money — what could Zelensky buy, and what does Trump want paid back?

  Alex Christoforou asked12:09
  A

  Alexander Mercouris answered

  Even with money there is nothing to buy: no interceptors, no Patriot missiles — the US doesn't have anything to sell them. And now Trump says he wants money from the Europeans for all the weapons Biden gave them free; Mercouris expects the eventual figure to be around 300 billion, and if anything that is lowballing the Biden-period total. As for the 90-billion-euro loan: the bonds had no repayment date — they were supposed to be repaid when Russia was defeated and paid Ukraine reparations, which is to say never — so no investor would ever buy them. The bonds were never placed, the money was never raised, and the loan properly speaking does not exist; some governments, meaning Germany, have advanced money and set it against the package. Even fully paid, it would not have covered one year of Ukraine's costs, let alone the promised two — the drone wars, the Black Sea blockade and the collapsing economy have killed domestic funding. It is more money thrown down the drain — the drain which has the golden toilets at its start.