Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday publicly commended U.S. President Donald Trump for what he described as “energetic and sincere efforts” to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, more than three years after Moscow launched its invasion.

The rare note of praise from the Kremlin came just hours before the two leaders were set to meet in Anchorage, Alaska, for what is being billed as a pivotal U.S.–Russia summit.

Speaking after a high-level meeting with senior Russian government officials to prepare for the talks, Putin appeared in a short video released by the Kremlin saying that the Trump administration was working to “stop the hostilities” and “reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved.”

He also went beyond the Ukraine conflict, hinting that the summit could pave the way for a broader thaw in U.S.–Russia relations, including “long-term conditions of peace between our countries, and in Europe, and in the world as a whole,” contingent on a potential nuclear arms control agreement.

In Washington, Trump struck a more cautious tone, telling reporters there was a “25 per cent chance” the summit could fail. Still, he floated the idea that if the talks go well, he could invite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Alaska for a follow-up three-way meeting with Putin.

“If we can get this done, we can change the course of history,” Trump said in a radio interview with Fox News, adding that he might extend his stay in Alaska “depending on what happens with Putin.”

The Alaska summit will be the highest-level face-to-face meeting between Washington and Moscow since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, an event that triggered the most severe East–West tensions since the Cold War. The conflict has left tens of thousands dead, displaced millions, and reshaped the geopolitical landscape of Europe. It also prompted sweeping U.S. and European sanctions against Russia, while Moscow deepened military and economic ties with China, Iran, and North Korea.

Trump’s willingness to personally meet Putin has drawn both praise and criticism. Supporters say direct dialogue is essential to ending the war, while critics warn it could reward Moscow without securing meaningful concessions. The former reality TV star turned president has long championed high-stakes personal diplomacy — from his meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to his repeated offers to mediate global conflicts — and appears to be approaching the Putin talks with the same style.

In Kyiv, Zelensky has maintained that no deal between the U.S. and Russia should come at Ukraine’s expense. Ukrainian officials, alongside other European leaders, have been working intensely in recent days to ensure their voices are heard in Anchorage. European diplomats are concerned that Washington and Moscow could strike a bargain, especially on arms control, that sidelines Ukraine’s territorial demands or weakens NATO’s united front.

The nuclear arms control element mentioned by Putin adds another layer of complexity to the summit. The last remaining U.S.–Russia arms reduction treaty, New START, is set to expire in 2026, and any talks to extend or replace it would need to be carefully balanced against ongoing hostilities in Ukraine. Geo-political analysts say that if Trump and Putin can use the Alaska meeting to link de-escalation in Ukraine with progress on nuclear arms limits, it would mark the most significant diplomatic breakthrough between the two powers in decades.

However, it is largely believed that both leaders are currently playing a calculated game of public messaging — Putin projecting optimism about U.S. sincerity, and Trump carefully managing expectations. Whether this meeting produces concrete results or ends in another chapter of diplomatic stalemate will likely be known within hours of the first handshake in Anchorage.

Former Intel CEO and chairman Craig Barrett has warned that without urgent and massive funding, Intel could permanently lose its standing in the global semiconductor race, taking with it America’s hopes of producing state-of-the-art chips on home soil.

Writing in Fortune, Barrett argued that Intel remains the only U.S. company capable of matching Taiwan’s TSMC at the leading edge, but is starved of the capital needed to scale and modernize its fabs.

Barrett’s proposal is unconventional but blunt: Intel’s eight largest customers—including Apple, Google, and Nvidia—should each inject $5 billion in exchange for guaranteed domestic supply and pricing leverage against Asian rivals. He stressed that neither TSMC nor Samsung plans to bring their most advanced manufacturing processes to U.S. territory, leaving American tech giants dangerously dependent on imports.

“The only place the cash can come from is the customers,” he wrote, warning that leadership in chipmaking demands heavy investment years before the demand curve catches up.

A Decade of Decline

Intel’s current plight has been more than a decade in the making. Once the undisputed leader in cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing, the company began slipping in the mid-2010s when delays in transitioning from its 14nm to 10nm process ceded the technological lead to TSMC. By 2020, Apple had abandoned Intel’s chips for its own ARM-based designs, while AMD surged ahead in CPU performance. Under then-CEO Bob Swan, Intel vowed a comeback but continued to miss manufacturing milestones.

In 2021, Pat Gelsinger took over with an ambitious “IDM 2.0” strategy, pledging to regain leadership by 2025 through aggressive fab expansion and a push into contract manufacturing. Billions were earmarked for new plants in Arizona, Ohio, and Europe, but cost overruns, yield issues, and the brutal economics of catching up to TSMC eroded confidence. The CHIPS and Science Act offered a $39 billion lifeline for the industry, but Barrett now warns the funding is too modest to close Intel’s gap with Asia.

The situation has not changed under Lip-Bu Tan, appointed CEO in March 2025, who inherited steep financial losses—$18.8 billion in 2024 alone—and yield problems with Intel’s 18A process node. These manufacturing setbacks delayed key products and forced an accelerated pivot to the still-unproven 14A node. Barrett has been scathing about the leadership’s caution, calling the reluctance to invest in 14A without pre-signed customer contracts “a joke” that risks leaving Intel permanently behind.

Tan’s tenure has also been marked by painful cost-cutting—tens of thousands of layoffs, cancelled projects, and restructuring plans that so far have failed to restore confidence. Intel’s foundry ambitions remain stalled, with global customers hesitant to commit orders to a roadmap still battling execution issues.

Barrett’s Two-Pillar Rescue Plan

Barrett’s blueprint rests on immediate investment in transformative technologies like High-NA EUV and backside power delivery, paired with possible U.S. tariffs on imported advanced chips to stimulate domestic demand. He dismissed suggestions to split Intel’s design and manufacturing arms, insisting the real problem is capital, not structure.

President Donald Trump has publicly called for Tan’s resignation over alleged ties to China and has met with him at the White House. While Barrett avoided commenting on the leadership feud, he framed his plan as essential for national security and the stability of the American tech supply chain.

“We cannot afford to let Intel’s manufacturing leadership slip away,” he warned.

Flex Finance is revolutionizing business finances in Africa, and has just raised a significant amount of capital, one of the largest in this business sector in Nigeria. Tekedia Capital congratulates the team led by Yemi Olulana. They will announce the fundraise later.

For their executional excellence which qualified them before foreign investors to raise this growth capital, Tekedia Capital recognizes Flex Finance as “Tekedia Capital Startup of the Month – Aug 2025” in our portfolio of companies. Well done Flex Team; win more markets as expansion begins.

In many emerging markets, particularly across Africa, the management of business finances remains a significant challenge. The reliance on manual, fragmented processes for tasks such as expense tracking, vendor payments, and budget control often leads to inefficiencies, errors, and a lack of real-time financial visibility.

Flex Finance, a Nigerian-based fintech startup, has emerged as a crucial player in addressing this issue. By providing a comprehensive, all-in-one spend management platform, the company is empowering businesses across the continent to digitize their financial operations, enhance control, and ultimately, drive growth.

Flex Finance’s core value proposition lies in its ability to centralize and automate a company’s non-payroll spending. The platform moves beyond the traditional, time-consuming methods of manual data entry and paper-based approvals. Through its suite of digital tools, Flex Finance enables businesses to create and manage expense accounts, track all transactions in real-time, and automate approval workflows.

This not only significantly reduces the time and resources spent on administrative tasks but also provides finance teams and business owners with instant, accurate insights into their cash flow. The ability to issue virtual and physical corporate cards with predetermined spending limits is a particularly valuable feature, as it allows for greater control and transparency over employee and departmental expenses.

The company’s mission is particularly relevant within the African context, where the business-to-business spending market is projected to reach trillions of dollars. As the African economy digitizes, companies need financial solutions that can keep pace with their growth. Flex Finance provides this by offering a platform that is not only secure—with bank-grade security and regulated partnerships—but also scalable.

By catering to formal SMEs, startups, and mid-level enterprises, Flex Finance positions itself as a partner in their digital transformation journey. The platform’s ability to help businesses uncover hidden costs and make informed decisions on budget allocation demonstrates its role as a strategic tool for profitability and sustainability.

In conclusion, Flex Finance is a compelling example of how targeted fintech solutions can address specific regional challenges. By digitizing and streamlining the complexities of spend management, the company is providing African businesses with the tools they need to operate more efficiently and effectively.

Flex Finance is more than just a financial tool; it’s a catalyst for business maturity, allowing entrepreneurs to shift their focus from the tedious and error-prone process of managing finances to the strategic work of scaling their operations and contributing to the continent’s economic development.

Flex Finance is a Tekedia Capital portfolio company.