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Threabanned posters:
brickstser69
slay55
mulbot
Nope. Why don't you repeat the rest of what they said… that Russia weren't abiding by the deal, and had no intention of doing so. The EU didn't set that up.
Merkel actually said, to give context: "Putin could have wrought gigantic damage in Ukraine."
You left that part out.
Here's the full debunking of the piece of Russian propaganda you are spreading.
Ukraine implemented as much of the Minsk agreements as can reasonably be done while not having control over the territory and addressed every point… The Russian side and its proxies failed to implement a ceasefire, withdraw all heavy weapons, implement all-for-all political prisoner exchange, or ensure delivery of humanitarian assistance based on an international mechanism. On the contrary, Russia strengthening the illegal armed formations in eastern Ukraine.
https://euvsdisinfo.eu/report/merkel-admitted-that-the-minsk-agreements-were-a-ruse-to-rearm-ukrainian-armed-forces/
Feel like I've read 20 days worth of news this morning and it's only 9am.
The US stock market is in absolute rout (and crypto) with all the volatility Trump has created
I don’t think it has yet sunk in that
was listening to a Bloomberg podcast where they are openly talking about the US defaulting on its bonds and selectively not paying bonds to certain countries (this happened to Japan in 30s)
I’m going to be spending whole morning trying to think of second order implications as pension/investment pots are at severe risk now
The entire world order has just been ripped up like confetti. The only question now is "how do the pieces land?"
All the unfairly threadbanned were pardoned a few months ago and Boards now encourages freer speech for all with less regulation. 1 month later the US followed the same path.
Analysts are pointing out that although Trump hates Zelensky, he has no particular views about Ukraine ; he regards the country as an irrelevance. This is all about resetting the relationship with Putin, a man he greatly admires, particularly the business relationship.
As Anthony Scaramucci said, people like Trump don't just die.
This notion that US presence for mineral mining will prevent Putin from attacking further is questionable at best. How many of the people working on the ground will actually come from America and why didn't the presence of an estimated 8,000 US citizens in Ukraine on Feb 24th 2022 prevent Putin from invading that day? It's supposed to be OK forever because Putin gives a pinky promise to Trump?
He's gone full Liz Truss. But unlike Liz they can't get rid of him for another 4 years, should they even want to.
I agree with a previous poster that Putin would have preferred a more subtle, gradual shift of US policy by his stooge in Washington. Doing it too quickly has finally awakened Europe, and although it will take Europe a few years to ramp up production lines, Russia is in no position to take advantage in the interim.
Mod warning:
Good morning everyone.
I would advise you all to calm down, many of you are one step away from a warning/ban.
Keep it civil please, and thank you.
Something (800bn euro) is brewing all right
Can Europe start buying the American military equipment?
jeez…not only is all that a kick in the nuts for Zelensky and Ukraine,it seems like a right rap in the plums for nearly the rest of the world…except putin and russia…for most of my life(im 65) all ive heard from america is "ussr/russia and china bad,usa are the good guys" but since donnie got the top job bought for him every thing is back to front and upside down and inside out…like WTF?
One key difference with Truss though is that she didn't have a huge cult like following. She was an obvious idiot and fruitcake and never even won an election - the Tory OAPs put her in position (and she was easily removable in the end).
Trump is far more dangerous because he has tens of millions of MAGA disciples backing him.
Much better to invest/buy from their own arms companies. No point in buying equipment from the US while Trump/MAGA remains in power, if at all.
Trump would probably have no problem with that since he can say to his supporters, look what I got Europe to do.
I think it would be better for Europe's security though to no longer commit any new spending to US arms and instead divert to European-based companies. Although some of the weaponry may not be on a par with US options, we are not at war with the US. We are at war with Russia and European weaponry is good enough to beat them.
Except few critical areas I doubt there be much purchases of US equipment, Trump has completely pulled the rug under the US defence industry, it just hasn’t sunk in yet to many, meanwhile European defence stocks gone vertical
that fancy F35 can endup being an expensive lump of metal from lack of updates and missiles
Or that order your country placed might not arrive at all because Trump taken a dislike to your country on the loo that morning, if it happened to Ukraine it can happen to Poland etc
You mean, stop buying? Fck us and a, buy European.
An interesting bit of context to the broader news this morning…
From PBS news
Directly contradicting the OSG.
Buy from whom in Europe that's the problem.
It may have been said here before but wouldn't it have been better to have had the European summit first and then Zelensky go to Washington. I don't get this mineral deal, Trump wants 500 billion (even though their aid to Ukraine was a fraction of that), Zelensky maybe negotiates a lower figure and then what?, US aid restarts?, security guarantees against future Russian attacks?. What concessions has Trump asked of Russia? #sarcasm. When could they even have started mining?. Vance comes to Europe saying we don't have free speech while reputable news agencies like AP are banned from the White House while crazy right wing broadcasters are given access along with TASS.
That's mostly Russian propaganda.
There are videos of spies, people who reported Ukrainian military positions, etc being roughed up and taken away. It's wartime, the country is on the line, that stuff is taken pretty seriously.
It's also ironic considering there are many reports that Ukrainians from Donbas, Luhansk and occupied areas are being forced to fight, which is against the Geneva convention. Then there are the reports of how Russia treats it's conscripts and troops - numerous videos of retreating soldiers being directly killed by their own forces.
And I am older than youand I've never seen anything comparable to Trump. Not a huge surprise to anyone who has been following events over the last few years. Unfortunately, most posters here don't appear to read much history. Rather they deal in soundbites, the response to any alternative view is references to Putin Bot, Orwell Road, without any substance. Europe welcomed Zelensky back from the debacle in the White House like a hero, hugging and cuddling him, giving him the ultimate reward of a visit to meet Prince Charles. Promised Zelensky unlimited military and economic support until Russia was defeated. Keir Starmer and the British establishment fairly lapped up the praise yesterday. Some reality check this morning.
BAE, Thales, Rheinmetall, Dassault, Saab, Oerlikon, ThyssenKrupp come to mind.
Adopting an 'alternative' viewpoint to the NATO / western one suggests accepting that Putin is a regular statesman simply seeking peace and an end to the war. Most of his near neighbours in the region regard him as a psychopath for whom human life is meaningless (witness how he kills his political opponents)…..this is not a guy who you can do a normal deal with and expect him to keep his word.
The "alternative view" is typically the shifting of blame away from Putin and onto Europe/Ukraine. It's not like normal criticism of Europe and rarely comes from a good place.
Zelensky was ambushed in the WH by Trump and Vance, the scene created universal disgust. Europe responded with solidarity. Trump removing support for Ukraine was predictable - it's still a shock when it happens.
It's disappointing to see spin being put on that.
So what’s the outlook for Ukraine militarily now?
Is it game over?
It’s game over for the Russians stranded in Toretsk encirclement
where Russians took 4 kilometres in as many years
It is a question of how quickly they can ramp up production. I think the money will be found and I hope they find a way to use the frozen Russian assets for some of this. Can Ukraine hang on though…
It's difficult as always, the US cut supply before (Trump again) but it was a few months before it was truly felt. Europe has to race to fill that gap now. There will definitely be a moment of vulnerability, it will be hard for morale and will also be a shot in the arm for Putin.
The chief worry now is Starlink, every Ukrainian outpost and trench has one, they are an absolute lifeline.
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