The potential cost of a hypothetical deal on the purchase of Greenland by the United States could be up to $700 billion, a number of media outlets reported, citing NBC News. The publications claim that the assessment was prepared by experts and former U.S. officials, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was allegedly tasked to draft a proposal for the purchase of the island in the coming weeks.
At the same time, it is emphasized that this is not an official price position of the US government, but a calculation within the framework of discussions around the initiative of President Donald Trump. According to NBC News’ retelling of the story, the $700 billion amount is comparable to more than half of the Pentagon’s annual budget, illustrating the scale of the financial and political hurdles to any such “deal.”
The reaction from Copenhagen and Nuuk remains negative. Denmark and Greenland authorities have publicly stated that the island is not for sale and that the issue of the autonomous territory’s status is related to sovereignty and the right to self-determination. Reuters reported this week that after a meeting in Washington between Rubio and U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, the Danish and Greenlandic sides, while not changing their “no-sale” position, agreed to set up a working group to discuss a wide range of issues related to security and cooperation around the island.
The new $700 billion estimate falls in line with a number of previous, highly divergent “paper” estimates that have appeared in recent years. For example, The Washington Post in 2019 within the hypothetical valuation called a very wide range of possible price – from hundreds of millions of dollars to $1.7 trillion.
U.S. interest in Greenland is usually explained by a combination of security and resource factors. The island occupies a key position in the Arctic and North Atlantic, and is also seen as a potentially significant territory in terms of access to minerals and strategic infrastructure.
At the same time, even if there is political will in Washington, the “purchase” scenario is constrained by basic legal and political limitations: Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, and its status and future, according to the position of local and Danish authorities, cannot be subject to external “bargaining”. Against this background, analysts call the most realistic continuation of the plot not a change of sovereignty, but bargaining around increased U.S. cooperation with Denmark and Greenland – on defense, infrastructure and investment – without formally changing the island’s status.
Ukraine has significantly reduced its presence in the EU market for soft wheat supplies in the 2025/26 season: its share in EU imports fell to 22.3% from 67.3% a year earlier, according to SPIKE BROKERS.
According to the statistics, soft wheat imports to the EU fell by 52% from 4.43 million tons to 2.15 million tons, while Ukraine’s share fell from 2.98 million tons to 479,000 tons, meaning it lost its leading position among suppliers.
Against this backdrop, Canada increased its share of EU imports to 40% (858,000 tons) compared to 13% a year earlier, while Moldova and Serbia increased their presence to 17.3% and 14.3%, respectively.
SPIKE BROKERS also notes that Ukrainian wheat exports in early January were concentrated mainly in the markets of the Middle East and North Africa, while activity in the EU remains minimal.
Ukraine appears in the list of countries included in an international study of narcissistic traits based on surveys in 53 countries, and ranks 34th out of 53 in terms of the integral indicator.
According to the materials, the study is based on surveys of more than 45,000 respondents from 53 countries and uses the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire (NARQ) scale, which divides narcissism into two components – “admiration” (self-presentation, desire for recognition) and “rivalry” (devaluation of others, conflict).
The “bottom five” countries in terms of the total score were Serbia, Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Denmark.
The “top five” countries, according to the sources, were Germany, Iraq, China, Nepal, and South Korea.
The United States, according to this data, ranked 16th out of 53.
According to the description of the methodology, the researchers used the NARQ questionnaire and separately analyzed the components of “admiration” and “rivalry,” then compared the average country values. Publications summarizing the results also note that this is not a measurement of the proportion of people with a clinical diagnosis, but a comparison of the average self-assessments of traits in the sample.
In December 2025, Ukraine exported 10.38 thousand tons of dairy products worth $25.92 million, which is 0.3% and 6% less than in November, but 44% and 51% more than in December 2025, according to the Association of Milk Producers (AMP).
The industry association noted that in January-December 2025, Ukraine exported 131.91 thousand tons (+12% compared to the same period in 2024) of dairy products worth $401.36 million (+35%).
Analysts specified that the main export categories in December were milk and condensed cream (36%), cheese (22%), and butter (21%).
According to their information, in December 2025, Ukraine increased the volume of exports of milk and cream, not condensed, to 2.58 thousand tons (+13%), milk and cream, condensed, to 3.63 thousand tons (+5%), fermented milk products to 575 tons (+14%), butter to 836 tons (+13%), and ice cream to 336 tons (+6%) compared to November. The volume of whey exports decreased to 1 thousand tons (-22%) and cheese to 1.24 thousand tons (-3%) compared to the previous month.
Compared to December 2024, Ukraine increased its physical exports of milk and cream, condensed (+90%), fermented milk products (+50%), butter (+91%), and cheese (+45%) to foreign markets the most.
At the same time, compared to November 2025, cash proceeds for shipped milk and cream, non-condensed, increased to $2.09 million (+11%), milk and cream, condensed, to $9.23 million (+5%), fermented milk products to $984 thousand (+32%), ice cream to $1.29 million (+10%), butter to $5.41 million (+7%), but decreased for shipped whey to $1.11 million (-23%) and cheese to $5.8 million (-5%).
Compared to December 2024, the largest increase in cash proceeds was for exported milk and cream, condensed (+68%), fermented milk products (+78%), and butter (+60%). Cash proceeds for exported whey decreased (-5%).
“The unpredictable increase in milk production during 2025 led to an accumulation of exchange goods in European warehouses and a collapse in world prices for butter and other dairy products. Activity in the dairy market traditionally slows down at the end of the year, during the New Year holidays, which naturally led to a reduction in exports from Ukraine. In early January, exports of dairy products from Ukraine to Europe effectively stopped due to changes in EU requirements for licensing export volumes within quotas. The procedure, developed at the end of December, was not actually provided to anyone, which meant that Ukrainian processing companies, together with their partners who import Ukrainian dairy products, were unable to submit applications for export permits in a timely manner,” explained AVM analyst Georgiy Kukhiashvili.
The industry association drew attention to the increase in imports of dairy products from the EU to Ukraine, in particular cheese and butter, which are supplied to domestic retail chains from Poland. In December 2025, the country imported 6.52 thousand tons of dairy products worth $37.28 million. Compared to November 2025, natural import volumes increased by 17%, and compared to December 2024, they decreased by 14%.
In January-December 2025, Ukraine imported 64.69 thousand tons (+7%) of dairy products worth $337.93 million (+16%). Cheese accounted for the largest share of total imports during this period (65%).
“The foreign trade balance in December was negative and amounted to -$11.36 million, probably due to the influx of cheap condensed milk and cheese into Ukraine and a decrease in the volume of dairy product exports,” the AVM summarized.
AgriAcademy, a professional online course platform for agribusiness, announces the launch of a new free online course, ‘Biosecurity for Hunting Farms’, developed by experts from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in response to one of the most serious threats to livestock and food security – African swine fever (ASF).
African swine fever remains one of the key biological risks for Ukraine. The virus is highly resistant in the environment and circulates continuously among wild boar populations, posing a constant threat to domestic livestock, hunting farms and related sectors.
That is why FAO experts have developed a specialised training course based on international experience in combating ASF, adapted to Ukrainian realities and wartime conditions.
What the course is about
The course focuses on the practical aspects of biosecurity for hunting farms in Ukraine, using ASF control as an example. It examines in detail the logical and effective sequence of actions applied in EU countries and other regions of the world:
Who is this course for
The training is designed for:
Practical outcome for participants
Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:
Training format
The course includes video lectures, analytical materials, practical tools, real-life case studies and a final test. Training is conducted online in a convenient 24/7 mode.
Course author and lecturer
Oleksandr Revnivtsev, FAO international consultant on animal husbandry.
Training on the course is free and open to all registered users of the AgriAcademy platform.
Participants can study the materials online at their convenience, without time restrictions, and after successfully completing the final test, they will receive a certificate.
As a reminder, AgriAcademy – is a free online learning platform created on the initiative of the EBRD as part of its food security support programme in Ukraine. Its goal is to strengthen the competitiveness and sustainable development of agriculture, which has suffered significant losses due to the war.
The creation and management of the platform (including the development of courses, training tours, etc.) is carried out with the support and funding of the EBRD, as well as:
The AgriAcademy website currently offers over 30 free online courses for Ukrainian agribusiness professionals. Register and take courses at your convenience!
In 2025, the Kryvyi Rih plant increased its production of 6% moisture coke by 16.4% to 1 million 460.3 thousand tonnes. This allows it to meet its own needs for main production.
At the same time, the mining department, whose work depends on a stable power supply, showed a decline:
– Iron ore concentrate production fell by 3.3% to 7.56 million tonnes.
– Iron ore mining decreased by 4.2% to 18.4 million tonnes.
Management explained this as a direct result of energy supply restrictions caused by attacks on infrastructure, which caused the mining complex to operate below pre-war levels.
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is the largest producer of rolled steel in Ukraine. It specialises in the production of long products, in particular, rebar and wire rod. The company has a full production cycle, with production capacities designed for an annual output of over 6 million tonnes of steel, more than 5 million tonnes of rolled products and over 5.5 million tonnes of pig iron.
ArcelorMittal owns Ukraine’s largest mining and metallurgical complex, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, and a number of small companies, including ArcelorMittal Beryslav.
