Russia-Ukraine War (continuing)

Listening back to that pile on from Trump Vance .. listened a few times today. No fault at all on Zelenskyy, he was ambushed, this was all planned.

However - after the fact - which can be easier to make conclusions from - I think Zelenskyy should have literally said NOTHING, kept his mouth shut and let them ramble on and shout and scream. If an answer had to happen, keep it short, even one syllible. He sort of took the bate which Trump and Co were hoping he would.

……………

From Mark Rutte - NATO

Nato secretary general says Zelenskyy should restore relationship with Trump

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/mar/01/live-european-leaders-rally-behind-zelenskyy-after-trump-vance-clash-updates?page=with%3Ablock-67c326518f08707b9b4052a9#block-67c326518f08707b9b4052a9

If last evening was indeed an ambush and deliberate from Trump and Co, which it more and more seems to have been .. how does one restore from there?

It would seem Zelenskyy would have to eat huge chunks of humble pie while simultaneously licking Trumps ass to massage his ego to the nth degree, bow to his KING and agree to all his lies - "Its good to be the king"

And also apologise for "rashly" behaving like he did around the hunter biden time. Basically - sell out.

SO would this be worth it for Ukraine?

Frankly, no. There is no guarentee at all that doing any or all of the above would provide anything that Ukraine needs for their defense. That's almost what that damned minerals deal was looking like. Essentially: "Sign this and we'll be help you…maybe….maybe not…we'll see"

Trump is not an honest actor. He's as bad as Putin, and the only saving grace for his lot at the moment is that some non-MAGA characters might provide a smidge moral direction to the current US position. Someone might eventually get it through Donnie's head that betting on the Russians is a guarenteed loss for Americans (and Trump personally) no matter what happens now. Russia is a basketcase of a nation now, and there's really no coming back for them.

But signing the mineral deal or doing any of the craven stupid things that MAGA world want out of Zelenski will get Ukraine nothing. There needs to be real security guanentees, and a way to ensure that Donnie's mood won't have an impact on operations. Then it might be worth Zelenski's (and Europe's) time.

Good. I know it's relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, but it shows priorities

Australia bought F/A-18s from the US. The radars full capabilities were nerfed. Australia asked the US to provide the encryption codes to unlock the full capabilities. The US refused - Australia is the most loyal ally the US has, and they refused. Australia managed to break the encryption and unlock the radars full capabilities.

Countries should stop buying F-35s and buy French Rafales instead. It's not widely known, but they have electronic stealth capabilities via the Spectra electronic jamming, and countermeasures system. It's believed this system can cancel the aircrafts radar signature in roughly the same way noise cancelling headphones work, except in the electromagnetic, rather than audio spectrum. Apparently this was demonstrated by the Rafales use in Libya where they carried out missions without first destroying air-defence systems.

Mark Rutte has said some stupid things, but this takes the cake.

There never was, and never will be a 'peace' deal. Rutte is an idiot if he couldn't see this was an ambush. They never wanted or expected Zelensky to agree to a nonexistent deal, they wanted an excuse to cut off all aid to Ukraine so they manufactured this event. They even tipped their hand by cutting off the assistance to Ukraine's energy sector before the meeting even took place. Why not, who's going to notice?

Interesting minor detail from the ambush - a 'journalist' from TASS was accidentally let into the meeting before being later removed.

cheering crowds and a hug is just what the doctor ordered.

In general it is considered bad manners to point at anyone during a conversation. It is generally considered to be a hostile gesture. But here cro magnon Vance betrays his hick origins by jabbing and pointing his finger at Zelenskyy right from the start. Likewise with Trump. This kind of thing is just not ok, let alone in the halls of power and diplomacy. Trump and Vance just defecated on the doorstep of the White House. On live tv mind you…

Zelensky apparently invited to Sandringham to meet Charles tomorrow, that'll definitely pìss Trump off.

I wouldn't trust Trump's government to stick to any international agreements, especially with smaller nations. It's gangster rules with him whereby the only thing he really respects and would cause him to abide by agreements is the ability to use hard force.

And, as we see in the crime world, this attitude tends to lead a lot more conflict because aggrieved parties cannot seek justice through arbitration. Smaller countries will just end up not wanting to deal with Trump's America, and this will mean more intimidation from him as and when he wants or rather demands something from them, and that'll hit a breaking point.

And, as pointed out by a political pundit only today, you couldn't even do deals with a more even-headed US government like under a Democrat now, because there's no confidence they wouldn't elect more madmen in the next go-around who'd rip up the rulebook.

Trump might yet unilaterally pull the plug on military support for Ukraine without Putin making any concessions but I don'[t see how he can force a ceasefire if Russia is unwilling to, well, cease firing under any circumstances…

I doubt fluency would be a requirement, just a pidgin version, enough to understand the commands of the Master Race, to acknowledge them and doff our caps ''Jawohl, Herr''.

And on FOX network

This is what all Europeans should be doing is some form or another.

Fair play Haltbakk