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Interesting … How will Putin view this one wonders .. a step too far, then threaten Nukes, but thats it
"Britain is prepared to close the skies over Ukraine to enforce a peace deal! Prime Minister Keir Starmer announces readiness to deploy troops and aircraft for monitoring. Several European countries are also gearing up for a peacekeeping mission."
@political analyst Because Putin was after his "NAZI's" and the Azov Special Forces Regiment of the Ukrainian National Guard who were the main force fighting in Mariupol, fitted the bill perfectly.
In announcing Azovstal's seizure, the Russian Defense Ministry's chief spokesperson referred to the Azov Regiment's fighters as Nazis and said their commander was taken away in an armored vehicle because of residents' alleged hatred of him "for numerous atrocities."
https://www.voanews.com/a/explainer-who-were-mariupol-s-last-defenders-/6584122.html
Then raise Mariupol to the ground possibly as an example and/or for "supporting" the Nazi's.
Also this raizing business meant a greenfield site where Putin and CO built NEW apartment complexes, a new city and shipped Russian citizens there .. I think ( similar to crimea )
https://ig.ft.com/mariupol/
I spent the weekend wallowing in a pit of anxiousness about the whole situation. I am having a serious look at what i consume, media, software, hardware and i'm going to make a conscious effort to pivot away from all US goods. I have already cancelled all streaming services but it'll be hard to get rid of android and all google services. any suggestions are welcome.
Here's what i am taking out of all this. As most perople, i have concluded that the US no longer sees Europe as a strategic partner and more of an economic and political rival. Project 2025 is now in full swing, with america now pivoting their interest towards China. He has told the Russians that they wont interfere in Europe if they stick to Ukraine. Although I don't think Putin could be trusted, but it won't matter because the US wants Russia as an ally against China.
Its a scary new world order that America wants to rule.
A couple of key factors.
Kherson was flat and open, few natural defenses, the Russian forces quickly moved on it from Crimea. Ukraine was focused on defending the capital and other areas so they simply didn't have enough defenses for Kherson.
In contrast Mariupol had better natural defenses, and a massive fortress in the form of the steel plant. Forces there were more dug in. Which is why it held out for longer.
I think you're giving Trump and his followers way too much credit. I lived in the US once many moons ago and the version of what they get told about the world via their media is shockingly masticated beyond being of any use.
There is still a belief there that they are the best country in the world, many would say Gods chosen, the national myth of a promised land to which the world looks.
Europeans might be shocked by Trump's brashness, but if you're an Afghani, or a Palestinian you'll have been in no doubt about US brutishness.
What I find puzzling about the 2022 invasion is that the Russians just took over Kharkiv and Kherson straight away but besieged and bombarded Mariupol? Why did the Russians single-out Mariupol for especially harsh treatment? I'm aware of the Ukrainians at the Azovstal steelworks but it's not like the Ukrainians in Kharkiv and Kherson were pushovers.
Busy thread the last couple of days. Worth watching this in case anyone skipped over it trying to catch up. If I was an American I'm be very very depressed.
Then you have MAGA laughing and heckling Europe and Ukraine. It's like teasing someone that just had their teeth knocked in while you yourself have just been immunocompromised and are starting to succumb to multiple serious infections.
This is a very naive way of looking at American foreign policy. Until recently the US never wanted the EU/Europe to have a strong military of any description… for numerous reasons. The US actively took steps to ensure this.
Your post seems to imply that Europe went cap in hand to the US and begged for them to "protect" us.
The interview with Finnish ambassador (I think?) on Pat Kenny this morning was interesting
Some point they made:
And the most interesting point made was “Trump fancies himself as master deal maker, but deals and agreements require strong rule of law to enforce, there’s no deal making in a world without rules”
In Romania a far right Presidential candidate came out of nowhere with a sudden Tiktok campaign. Predictably he is pro-Russian and anti-NATO. His acquaintances and bodyguards have reportedly been discovered with millions in cash. Putin is engaged in attempts to destabilise them (along with Moldova, etc)
He is currently engaged in hybrid warfare against Europe as a whole. Again a reminder that nightly his state TV hosts talk of little else but invading European countries.
Romania has been a NATO member for over 20 years. They can have NATO bases. NATO is not a threat to Russia, it's only a threat to Putin's ambitions to invade other countries.
I still remain pretty convinced though that, while Trumpists will sing the praises of Trump muscling the Europeans into greater self-sufficiency, I do wonder how this serves American interests in the long run. Regardless of what they say about withdrawing from the world's problems, there is no question that the US seeks to retain its hegemony. The North Atlantic partnership with Europe is critical to that — and Europe is strong and powerful enough to be a critical military, economic and strategic partner of the US, but as individual countries also weak enough to ensure that they will generally tend towards doing things that serve US interests too.
Do the Americans actually want a stronger, united, better armed and self sufficient Europe that is capable of wielding greater leverage of its own — and therefore not as beholden to US interests? Somehow I doubt it.
Israel is actively trying to get the Orcs reinstated in Syria because they think it will keep Syria weak and because they are really scared of Turkey gaining a major presence there. The lesser of two evils. Which makes Israel very popular in Orcistan at the moment.
I would say that Trump and Vance messed it up so much.
All they had to do was keep silent and then Zelensky would have to sign a deal that, on it's face, is entirely in favour of the US with very little to nothing in favour of Ukraine other than vague assurances. It would have been the best deal ever.
But Vance just couldn't keep his big mouth shut. He had to bang on about his Kremlin taking points. He should've known that when speaking to an honest and honourable man like Zelensky that the latter would have no choice but to correct the record.
Then he and Trump got really emotional and unprofessional because a) someone they mistakenly consider to be their inferior was talking back at them and b) they sensed that their one way deal was slipping away from them. The deal was cancelled and they were straight away trying to explain to everyone how Zelensky was so rude that they had to cancel the deal. This is of course a complete non sequitor, given that cancelling the deal is not punishing Zelensky, but letting him off.
Bottom line, Trump claimed that he could get a deal and that he was an expert negotiator. He utterly failed to secure a deal and showed the world how much of an amateur negotiator he truly was.
The only interpretation of that meeting that is true is that Trump and Vance failed in their mission to get a deal.
Now, afterwards, they were so upset that they have started talking about cutting all aid to Ukraine etc etc. That is obviously very bad for Ukraine. But the point is this - it isn't the negotiations or the meeting that went badly for Ukraine, it's the irrational manner in which Trump and Vance threw their toys out of the pram like bold children and sought to punish Ukraine to distract from their own failures that hurts Ukraine.
The reality is this - even if the deal was signed, Trump and Vance would have cut Ukraine off anyway. That was always their plan. In fact, by showing his steely determination and moral fortitude, Zelensky has put himself in a better position to get a more comprehensive and express deal from America. And if he fails in that, it only proves that Trump was going to betray him anyway.
Since you ask if other people have watched it - I watched it live on Sky News and have been pouring over it ever since. I am at an absolute loss to know what else Zelensky was supposed to do. It is not a rule of protocol that visitors to the white house cant tell the truth. In fact, the opposite used to be case under serious presidents.
just give yer man vance a jar of doctored sudocream to slap on donnies nappy rash…job done both and a lot cheaper then a warhead!
(im expecting black helicoptors to be swarming overhead at any moment for even suggesting this…disclaimer…no nappies or arses were harmed in the making of this post)
unreal, just another soul-seller.
Thanks for posting.
Why is US being 'happy to exploit a large scale pre-existing movement' somehow OK, so long as they didn't 'kick it off'?
Beyond reasonable doubt it was setup, Trump admitted as much with his “this is great tv” and “I front of American media” lines
The question is
replacing Starlink RIGHT NOW/IMMEDIATELY is the very first thing that the ‘ Group of the Willing’ - who met in London on Sunday last- should be doing. Hopefully it will be a joint venture between a number of them. The group would want to be careful as to who can use /has access to it as some of the EU members might ‘sell on’ its benefits.!
@cnocbui in relation to King Charles's meeting with Zelenskyy there was a very subtle nuance to the invitation that I don't think many have picked up on. Sandringham House is Charles' private country retreat rather than a state palace. It is very rarely, if ever, used for events of state or to host foreign dignataries.
When you consider the significance the British Royal Family place upon protocol, I think it's a reasonable assumption that this could very well be read as a personal expression of support from the King. It's a stark contrast to the box ticking diplomacy he'll be engaging in should the invitation given to Trump last week not be revoked (as we're already seeing numerous public petitions calling for).
I believe that was Ukraine's US ambassador.
Maybe we are being to Harsh on Vance.....the beard......it is controlling him 😮
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGtmiRrN21T/?igsh=MTN6cTVydTRqYXh5dg==
He's a literal wa**er so I wouldn't place too much stock in what he spews, although doubtless plenty idiots will lap it up.
Going forward one thing no one is in doubt about is that Trump will not be helping against Putin, even if it's bad news for the US arms industry.
As European nations retool to be militarily self sufficient in a regional setting this will have a massive impact on the economy of scale for the US defense industry to sustain their current global presence.
No he didn't and the bulk of world opinion is that he was ambushed by two hillbillies. King Charles thought it so outrageous he slipped in a meeting with Zelensky before a previously scheduled meeting with Kraznov to troll him, likely because he felt embarrassed at having extended an invitation to him at all, after that massive diplomacy failure on the part of two minor characters from Deliverance. Charles was clearly showing the world where his sympathies lay in that outrageous staged insulting of a foreign leader.
Just look at how stupid Vance's hit points were - "have you said thanks once" - The Trump administration has given no aid to Ukraine whatsoever - all of the aid has come from Biden's administration. Thanks for calling Zelensky a dictator, thanks for lying about the amount of US aid, thanks for suggesting extorting $500B worth of minerals for the handful of clapped out rusty beans they were given by someone else? Then to start berating him about conscription - what brain-dead hypocrisy is that when the US had massive levels of conscription in WW2 and throughout the Vietnam war era?
It was entirely orchestrated from the moment they sat down with that incredibly obvious staged criticism of his clothing from the boyfriend of one of Trumps hand-picked cretins.
In fact, everything was so obviously staged, stupid and unsubtle it was pure Russian 'vranyo', so Putrid or someone in the FSB likely wrote that script. Something so obviously ludicrous we are not meant to believe it, just read the subtext that the big boys are putting the boot in, in public view for the world to see, and no one can do anything about it. Putrid's demonstration to the Orcs that the Whitehouse is his - 'look they are even doing vranyo now, like good little Orc puppets should. Witness the power of your leader.'
I know it's a fantasy worthy of a James Bond or John Wick movie but will the world ever be presented with a better chance at world peace for the price of a single warhead?
Calm down and follow the conversation. I was clearly referring to EU and Europe.
But as you bring it up, if the US forced all its tax exiles to return home to high taxes, its own economy would be f**ked by the likes of China and India and their rock bottom costs. Social media punditry mightn't like to hear it, but economics is a bit more nuanced than "we are a one trick pony". How's the US motor industry doing? Is isolationism the route we should all be going down to achieve great success?
Zelensky was deliberately provoked to the extent that keeping his cool as much as he did was some feat. Even if he had sat like doll on his chair throughout the meeting, the would still have found something to pin on him. It was a planned attack designed to give Trump, Vance and Putin the excuse to pull out of aiding Ukraine..and from their viewpoint, getting rid of Zelenski alltogether.
In fairness I think Europe is waking up to that, along with other democratic nations like Canada and Australia.
We will ramp up arms production and Ukrainian support but we will never treat the US as anything but a friend, and our leaders will always have an olive branch extended to the White House, which is absolutely the correct thing to do. For one, it forces Trump to publicly abandon long standing friendships without much cause other than his love for Putin(an angry Europe easily feeds into his false narrative of Europe taking the US for a ride). And two, this administration will not be there forever, and whoever is there in 28 would hopefully be open to a more constructive relationship, which Europe obviously would be.
Trump is burning down the states political infrastructure, we don’t need to help to put more fuel on the fire.
Thinking: “Poor guy is fighting for his country when these 2 muppets want to make show and disrespect him”.
I would have thought the same I I was in her shoes tbh.
You really would have to be very naive to think Trump and Vance behaved in that way spontaneously, without it being planned and discussed beforehand. It still didn't go very well for them, no doubt it appealed to their base, but not at all to the centreground.
The US is now amoral, unfortunately some in Europe are still asleep and won't accept America can't be relied on in the short or long term and it needs to tool up very, very quickly.
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