7:20 PM EST -- Ukrainian President Zelenskiy says he tried to call Putin today, but he did not respond. (HT REMARK: Oh, this is priceless! Zelensky wanted to what? To TALK? Why? He had four fucking years to talk. His country had almost eight fucking years to talk. All that time, nothing. No action on the Minsk Agreements. Nothing but strong-arm tactics against Russian-speaking people in eastern Ukraine. Zelensky and his government GANG, talked with guns; talked with bombs. And when the second most powerful nation on earth, Russia, tried to get them to talk with Luhansk and Donetsk, Ukraine refused. Flat-out refused. But that wasn't the real problem. The real problem was the talk Zelensky and his gang have been doing for the past couple months. Their talk is exactly what got him and his government into the mess he's in now. TALK is what did it. And as the full might of the Russian Army comes crashing through the doors of Zelensky's Presidential; residence, and takes him out in chains, he can thank his big mouth. Because his mouth is what got him into this. The time for talk is over, pally-boy. Now, you get what you get.)
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NATO AIR SPACE COVERAGE???
Ukraine Foreign Minister Kuleba shocked media outlets this afternoon when he revealed "Negotiations are underway to cover our airspace with NATO forces."
Earlier, former Obama Administration Official Evelyn Farakas publicly tweeted the US should impose a No-Fly Zone over Ukraine air space, and it now appears the US and NATO may be taking that advice seriously. The absolute moment NATO or the US tries that, means actual, active war, with Russia.
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ECONOMIC SANCTIONS - "Acts of War"
The United States imposed a series of economic sanctions upon Russia yesterday in response to the recognition by Russia of Luhansk and Donetsk as "Independent states."
In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry said today "new US sanctions will be met by a 'strong response', 'sensitive for the American side.'
This afternoon, The EU imposed sanctions against 351 State Duma deputies who voted for the recognition of the DPR and LPR, as well as against 27 individuals and organizations. Then, EU EXEC. VP DOMBROVSKIS ANNOUNCED: "IF RUSSIAN SOLDIERS ENTER UKRAINE BEYOND SEPARATIST-CONTROLLED, SELF-PROCLAIMED REPUBLICS, THE EU IS PREPARED TO IMPOSE A SECOND SET OF SANCTIONS ON MOSCOW."
Secretary of the General Council of United Russia and Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Andrey Turchak said that Russia is indifferent to the sanctions imposed by the West and their consequences.
When asked what options the Russians might employ against such Sanctions, an Intelligence Analyst source responded in a general manner, not speaking for anyone by telling me:
Russia could close airspace to civil airlines of the countries that sanction Russia. That would be hugely disruptive to international flights.
Russia could declare that Russian exports must now be paid for in Rubles, gold, etc.
Russia could stop all sales of anything to USA (space rocket motors and oil especially).
Russia could break all contracts with countries that sanction Russia on the grounds that a state of hostility exists. That is, all oil and gas deliveries stop immediately.
Russia could announce that no more gas will be shipped to or through Ukraine on the grounds that a state of hostility exists. Russia won't sanction anyone. They don't play with gloves. They will stop the natural gas deliveries to Europe, and the entire world economy collapses. Assuming a fantasy best case scenario (fantasy, because it will NEVER happen), Europe's LNG terminal unloading capacity, even working 100%, 24/7, assuming a non-stop stream of tankers, can only match under 17% of what Russia delivers. Needless to say, European economy goes belly up the next day, and the world will follow. And when that happens, countries automatically pivot direct to war. A lot, including the US, get granted war powers that allow the state to seize the means of production and distribution, set price controls, require civilians to operate and maintain critical infrastructure - including being drafted/forced into service, set curfew and movement restrictions, suspend constitutions and civil rights,, etc. It can get very draconian very quickly. But will not change the outcome : full economical collapse. Add to that the pure mad-max SHTF when the is no food in the cities. There isn't much a government can do, TODAY, that can avoid the worst case scenario. We're NOT in 1916 or 1940, when most of the world lived on country-side, and produced food. We're not in 1916 or 1940, when the supply chains were extremely short (hell, you could use carriages then to supply the economy and the people). We're in 2022, after 2 years of constant economic decline, millions of companies that went bankrupt, an inflation that needs just a nudge to go up faster then an hyper-sonic missile, and supply chains that are thousands of miles long. Maters not what government do, it's going to be the biggest SHTF ever. Most likely the last SHTF.
Russia and China could roll out their counter-SWIFT.
They could abandon the "petrodollar" too. That would FUCK everyone.
The European Union has officially called all heads of state and government to an emergency meeting in Brussels tomorrow evening. On the agenda: war or peace in Europe. Nothing less.
DJ, a very sad day....
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Replies: Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: February 23 2022 at 9:36pm
PROTECTION OF DPR AND LPR RESIDENTS FROM KIEV’S MILITARY AGGRESSION
Early on February 24, President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia has officially launched a special operation to enforce peace in Ukraine.
According to the televised speech of the Russian leader, the goal of the operation is to protect LPR and DPR residents (earlier DPR and LPR officially requested military help from Moscow) as well as demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine.
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: February 23 2022 at 9:38pm
WAR IS BAD !!!!!
Of course "the west" will blame Putin for this major war...DJ; I think it is more complicated...The US WAS !!! the major power and not willing to give up power to the Russia-China-pact...
The very bad news is this war may run out of control high speed...IF NATO would defend Ukraine airspace it will meet Russian planes/defense pushing them/it out...Part of the story is airdefense may come from NATO countries, missiles (etc), jamming from NATO soil...so if Russia wants to stop that it may need to attack NATO ground...
DJ, I my have nothing to add to MSM other then-like the pandemic-this war could and should have been avoided.
Stay safe, Internet soon may be gone...take care...
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: February 23 2022 at 9:51pm
DJ...I will try to stay informed on "other fronts" Syria may be such another front.
Hope the war stays limited...but we face major risks for escalation/provocation...
IF Putin has plans to-at the end-"roll back NATO' to behind the USSR-limits we are facing world war 3...then Ukraine would be just a first step...
Both on the RIC (Russia-Iran-China) side and on "the West" there are lots of different parties...Turkey is still a NATO member...Ukraine asked Turkey to close access to the Black Sea for Russia...(not very likely...).
So far it looks like NATO does not intervene in this Ukraine-invasion...
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: February 23 2022 at 11:41pm
DJ, No doubt "western media" may compare Putin with hitler...forgetting it is NATO that "needs to move east"...Also comparing 1939 with 2022...German invasion of Poland september 1-1939...stalin-soviet union started their war sptember 15-1939 has "limited use"...
The fastest weapons most of world war 2 had speed of several hundred miles per hour...Modern laser weapons go at the speed of light...
Since it is not only Russia (de facto) at war with "the west" but also-most likely China, (very likely Iran, Syria, Cuba also were informed a.o.) the only way "the west" could "win" is to go nuclear...With idiots as biden and bojo in "that west" -unable to avoid this allready major war-I have "very limited hope" we can avoid further escalation...
Internet is also a major difference...most of the info on "social/alternative media" may be wrong...I had hope we could avoid this worst case scenario...But if any agreement with "the west" (Iran-deal, Minsk-agreement, INF, NATO not moving east) only is empty words...and Russia has China on its side (most likely maybe even India...) this "conflict of words" ends up in war...
My hope now is the war can be contained...but international transports (by air and sea) will be effected causing starvation for tens of millions and further escalation, worsening of the pandemic that needed international-worldwide-coordination....
Biden/Harris tell us we must bear the cost to defend freedom in Ukraine. But while you & your family struggle with higher prices, the Power Elite won’t suffer at all. And if the conflict goes nuclear, they’ll be safe in cushy, massive bunkers while you & your loved ones fry.
DJ; Both India and China blame ukraine for faillure of the Minsk peace proces...and the us, uk supporting it. Also NATO moving east is seen as a major problem...both see Russia as a "strategic partner" and a "long term friend"....
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: February 24 2022 at 7:23am
Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan condemned Russia for its attack against Ukraine on Thursday. Ankara considers both Moscow and Kiev friends and “feels true regret” over their military conflict, the Turkish leader said as quoted by the Anadolu news agency. Russia’s operation “violates international law and poses a threat to regional stability,” according to Erdogan.
The Turkish leader chaired a National Security Council meeting after talking to his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on the phone on Thursday. Ankara called on Moscow to seek reconciliation with Kiev based on the 2015 Minsk agreement. The document, which Russia helped mediate, outlined a roadmap to peace between Kiev and the two Donbass regions which rebelled against the central Ukrainian government in 2014 after an armed coup in Kiev.
MOSCOW: A one-on-one meeting between Prime Minister Imran Khan and Russian President Vladimir Putin is currently underway, with both leaders discussing bilateral relations and other important matters.
Earlier, a one-hour-long meeting between the two leaders was scheduled but after the Russian attack on Ukraine, the Moscow authorities have extended the duration of the meeting to three hours, the sources said.
During the meeting, PM Imran will also discuss other issues, including economic cooperation, hours after a number of Western nations hit Russia with new sanctions for its military deployment into parts of eastern Ukraine.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that Moscow does not have or need the backing of Beijing for its military attack on Ukraine.
“As for the US suggestion that Russia has China's backing to act, I believe Russia will be very unhappy to hear such a statement,” ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told the media during a regular press briefing.
Hua said that Russia is both an independent power and a permanent member of the UN Security Council. She claimed that Moscow’s action is based entirely on its own judgement and national interests.
She emphasized that Sino-Russian relations are based on non-alignment, non-confrontation, and non-targeting of third parties.
China is not interested in, and has no intention of following, the Cold War mentality of either friend or foe, she added.
The military of Russia has launched an operation to disarm, and possibly regime change, the Ukraine.
I do understand why Russia is doing this - it is either attack now or defend itself later with way more casualties and the danger of total defeat.
I had hoped though that it would find other methods to protect Russia from further NATO aggression.
In 2014 the U.S. instigated regime change in Kiev and has since controlled the Ukrainian government. It has build up the Ukraine as a base to strangle Russia economically and militarily.
During the last two centuries Russia had to defend itself, with horrific casualties, against two huge invasions from the west. It is understandable that it does not want to repeat that experience.
It is difficult to discern what the planed end state of this operation is. Where is this going to stop?
Looking at this map I believe that the most advantageous end state for Russia would be the creation of a new independent country, call it Novorussiya, on the land east of the Dnieper and south along the coast that holds a majority ethnic Russian population and that, in 1922, had been attached to the Ukraine by Lenin. That state would be politically, culturally and militarily aligned with Russia.
This would eliminate Ukrainian access to the Black Sea and create a land bridge towards the Moldavian breakaway Transnistria which is under Russian protection.
The rest of the Ukraine would be a land confined, mostly agricultural state, disarmed and too poor to be build up to a new threat to Russia anytime soon. Politically it would be dominated by fascists from Galicia which would then become a major problem for the European Union.
Thanks to Stalin's additions to the Ukraine three countries, Poland, Hungary and Romania, have claims to certain areas in the Ukraine's western regions. If they want to snatch those up again it is now probably the best time to do so. Despite being part of NATO, which likely would not support such moves, those three will have domestic policy difficulties to withstand the urge.
I hope for a sharp but short fight which destroys the Ukraine's military capabilities but causes as little casualties and other damages as possible.
It is sad that NATO countries, including mine, did not have the courage to make the necessary concessions to prevent this from happening.
DJ, I follow a.o. Alexander Mercouris, MoA...etc...lots of them hoped there would still be some room for diplomacy...Putin/Russia (also the Russian government and parliament...with several parties..the Communist Party in opposition against "United Russia" of Putin...the Communists want to restore the USSR/CCCP...) did see "no alternative" and may take over major parts of Ukraine...
My impression is the Ukraine Army has no chance against the (Bela)Russian Armies...
Well, the silver lining in this very dark cloud is the fact that NATO and the US are being schooled on large-scale combined arms warfare. Hopefully some common sense will kick in, along with recognition that Russia is a heavy weight fighter, and NATO is at best a middleweight.
In Syria Russia did learn a lot in modern, urban, warfare...also controll of the sky and "long distance logistics"...Ukraine may not be able to get any further supplies by sea or air...maybe some limited via land from (a.o.) Poland...
Tulsi Gabbard 🌺@TulsiGabbard·11hThis war and suffering could have easily been avoided if Biden Admin/NATO had simply acknowledged Russia’s legitimate security concerns regarding Ukraine’s becoming a member of NATO, which would mean US/NATO forces right on Russia’s border
Again, this war may be seen by most non-western countries as "western arrogance and stupidity"...DJ "the united west" may soon break up in Europe that needs some form of relation with (its neighbour) Russia...not only for energy but also for airtravel etc...I think Turkey will not even stop doing bussiness with Russia...The us/uk wanted this war to "stop" EurAsian integration...By "TIP" staying out of the conflict more trade between the EU and China may go via Turkey, Iran and Pakistan or the Indian Ocean..
Clashes now in Chornobyl exclusion zone near the radioactive waste storages
also
Confirmed by Ukrainian authorities. A large air assault operation with Mi-8 helicopters on Antonov International Airport in Hostomel. Interior Ministry says Russia has seized control. Very dangerous; it's just 15 minutes west of the capital ring road
The large in scope Russian campaign is now being https://warisboring.com/russia-invades-eastern-ukraine-unleashing-shock-and-awe/" style='box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(20, 112, 178); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, "Liberation Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;'>widely described as Putin's "shock and awe" war - to borrow from America's Iraq War - in the heart of eastern Europe. Bloomberg and others are calling it Europe's worst security crisis since World War II.
DJ; It is very likely Ukraine has to give up that area very fast...pull back to the Kiev area...The Kiev international airport NW of Kiev fell in Russian hands...that airport is in between Chernobyl and Kiev...
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: February 24 2022 at 8:43am
DJ-I do not what the Russian plan was...to have most of the battle over in day 1 ? That would be very unrealistic....But Russian Army looks like the control airport area NW of Kiev with incoming supplies on their way via air and (Bela)Russian Army moving towards the airport...airstrikes also south of Kiev...Maybe the goal is to "overtake" Kiev in the coming hours ?
DJ, Also the Ukraine airforce/airdefense very likely may be "gone soon" (part trying to get to a NATO country...) Russia has aircontrol over (most of) Ukraine.
DJ; The number of people killed in this war so far must be in the hundreds at least...A very sad day...
Russian troops captured the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The station staff is held hostage
DJ, Chernobyl area is on the road from Belarus to Kiev...The Interational Airport NW of Kiev still under Russian control with Ukraine trying to regain control..(but without air control have NO ! chance...). (Distance between Chernobyl and Kiev airport 100 kilometer/60 miles).
PM Imran Khan arrived in Moscow on a two-day official visit yesterday, where he was received at the airport by Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister and presented with a guard of honour at the airport.
PM is set to push for the construction of a long-delayed, multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline to be built in collaboration with Russian companies, an official told Reuters.
"Both countries are eager to launch the project at the earliest," Pakistan's energy ministry spokesman told Reuters about the Pakistan Stream gas pipeline. He confirmed that Energy Minister Hammad Azhar is accompanying Khan on the visit.
The 1,100 km (683 miles)-long pipeline, also known as the North-South gas pipeline, was initially agreed to in 2015 and was to be financed by both Moscow and Islamabad, using a Russian company to construct it.
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Separately, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov discussed important regional and global issues amid the Moscow-Kyiv crisis.
During the meeting, Pakistan and Russia reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen bilateral relations, with FM Qureshi assuring his counterpart that Islamabad gives importance to its relationship with Moscow.
"Pakistan attaches special importance to bilateral relations with Russia [...] relations between Pakistan and Russia have gradually strengthened," FM Qureshi said while speaking on the occasion.
The foreign minister said Pakistan is pursuing the agenda of promoting economic priorities and regional ties under the vision of PM Imran Khan.
- In 2015, Russia and Pakistan agreed in principle to build a 1,100 km (683 mile)-long pipeline to deliver imported Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) from Karachi on the Arabian Sea coast to power plants in the northeastern province of Punjab.
The pipeline's designed annual capacity stands at 12.4 billion cubic metres (bcm), with the possibility to be increased to 16 bcm.
- The cost will require investments of between $1.5 billion, according to Russia, to as much as $3.5 billion, estimated by Pakistan, with 26% of it to be financed by Moscow and the remaining 74% by Islamabad.
- The project was to be launched in 2020, but Russia had to replace the initial participant after the company was hit by western sanctions not related to the Pakistan Stream project.
.....Pakistan switched sides only a few years ago...
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: February 24 2022 at 10:36am
DJ;
Russian goals;
-Control of Kiev (and Belarus-Kiev links)
-Control of south(east) Ukraine linking Crimea with Donbas (DJ not clear if Odessa SW Ukraine is allready part of the plan...most likely it is...limited progression in that direction)
Ukraine goals;
-Make Russia pay, buy time
-Avoid being defeated...hope for diplomacy.
Translation DeepL of the following link: https://strategika51.org/2022/02/24/combats-a-20-kilometres-de-kiev/" rel="nofollow ugc" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: underline; background: transparent; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s; color: rgb(219, 123, 19) !important; padding: 1px 3px 2px; - https://strategika51.org/2022/02/24/combats-a-20-kilometres-de-kiev/
Russian airborne troops dropped in the morning of February 24, 2022 north of Kiev have captured the strategic Antonov airport, located 25 km north of the Ukrainian capital.
Russian military cargo planes continue to drop paratroopers over strategic Ukrainian locations in what looks like a well thought-out strategic plan inspired by Blitzkrieg to neutralize the entire Ukrainian defensive apparatus. What is surprising in this military operation is the overflight of Ukraine, a country relatively well equipped in terms of air defense systems, by Russian planes and helicopters at very low altitude and often in the case of attack helicopters, at ground level. These airdrops were preceded by air raids and cruise missiles that targeted all Ukrainian military bases.
Last minute: the fighting in Chernobyl (north of the country) involved US, British and Polish special forces in an attempt to sabotage the rear lines of Russian airborne forces advancing south towards Kiev.
DJ, not confirmed....but it is likely some NATO special forces may be in Ukraine for special operations, intel. (source https://thesaker.is/russian-military-operation-in-the-ukraine-open-thread/ - https://thesaker.is/russian-military-operation-in-the-ukraine-open-thread/
DJ, Lots of propaganda, sanctions, false claim (Turkish ship being hit...not confirmed) from all sides.
Hal Turner
1:05 PM EST --
Biden has been presented with options for massive, unprecedented cyberattacks against Russia . . .
Among the options: Disrupting internet connectivity across Russia, shutting off electric power, and tampering with railroad switches to hamper Russia’s ability to re-supply its forces . . .
(HT REMARK:If anyone did this to the US, we would rightly call it "an Act of War." IN FACT . . . this coming from the Government that LONG ago declared that cyber attacks would be among the infrastructure attacks considered to be acts of war? And even a year ago that same US government was still talking about using limited nuclear options in retaliation for a cyber attack on the US?
So what they're saying is that Russia performing this limited strike in a non-NATO territory on their border makes it ok for the US to declare war on Russia, clearly and unambiguously. Are these people nuts?)
DJ IF (and I say IF !) US goes cyber warfare internet is OUT !!! Worldwide !!! Stupid idea...Also kicking Russia out of SWIFT will further strengthen the Chinese alternative for global banking!)
DJ Western media claiming "the world is united" are talking non-sense (Pakistan PM now in Moscow talking about North South Pipelines...)
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: KiwiMum
Date Posted: February 24 2022 at 12:17pm
It's a pretty grim situation. I can't help but wonder who's controlling the president of the Ukraine. He's either a puppet or an idiot, and I don't think he's an idiot.
War has always been a very good distraction, focusing the eye away from something else that's going on. It's also been a very good vehicle for introducing societal restrictions, and it's well known as being an excellent way to boost an economy.
Which one is it? take your pick, it could be any or all of them right now. The world is going crazy!
------------- Those who got it wrong, for whatever reason, may feel defensive and retrench into a position that doesn’t accord with the facts.
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: February 24 2022 at 12:40pm
KiwiMum, the world-indeed-is crazy...proberbly allways was but may be showing it more now...
Outside I can hear aircraft...most likely most civilian..however...We had a trainservice linking Amsterdam with Moscow (via Arnhem) first Minsk (Belarus) was "end of the line"...now that trainservice completely stopped (We still have rail-link with Vienna...). The war in Ukraine is several hundreds of kilometers from where I live...
On February 15 Professor John J. Mearsheimer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nbj1AR_aAcE" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); text-decoration: underline; - gave a talk (video) about the Ukraine crisis. He starts out (at 3min) by explaining who has caused it:
The United States, mainly, and its allies are responsible for this crisis.
I recommend to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nbj1AR_aAcE" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); text-decoration: underline; - watch it in full.
Like me and many other analysts Mearsheimer did not expect that a Russian move into the Ukraine would happen. Why the Russian government finally decided to take that step is not clear to me. I believe that Zelensky's lose talk about acquiring nuclear weapons for the Ukraine was one of the decisive factors. Who told Zelensky to come up with that?
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This map does not show the progress of the operation but a likely operational plan the Russian military might have.
A large fleet of helicopter with Russian parachuter took the Antonov / Hostomel airport some 20 miles from Kiev. They did not even bother with CNN https://twitter.com/MuradGazdiev/status/1496852721311309834" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); text-decoration: underline; - filming them . A fleet of transport planes from Russia will soon land there and deliver more forces.
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The Ukrainian air-defenses, airforce, navy, most large command and control elements and depots have ceased to exist. The moral of its ground troops will be generally low though some of the Nazi battalions may still be willing to fight.
It is not know yet how far the attack from the north has reached towards Kiev. The attack from Russian mainland is currently fighting around Kharkiv, the Ukraine's second biggest city. The most successful attack was from Crimea as it has progressed significantly. The canal which provides water to Crimea and had since 2014 been blocked by the Ukraine has been liberated. Dnieper water is again flowing to the island.
Russia has so far only committed a relatively small ground force. More troops will follow when the first echelons make more progress. Russia has held back from using ballistic missiles and only used cruise missiles. That is probably a message to the 'west' that Russia could escalate if needed. There has also been little use so far of Russia's electronic warfare elements. Internet and telephone are working in all of the Ukraine except for Kharkiv which seems to have Internet problems.
The Russian stock market is down but gold, oil and gas are up and Russia has so far lost zero money.
The U.S. is pushing its European 'allies' to commit economic suicide by sanctioning everything Russia. The U.S. should be more careful. Its is one of the biggest buyers of Russian oil and its aircraft industry depends on titanium from Russia. Russia surely knows who is trying to hurt it the most and it surely knows how, and has the means to, hurt back.
The nuclear reactors at Chernobyl have been secured by Russian troops.
Footage shared by netizens and observers reportedly shows 🇷🇺 Russian Armed Forces tanks, BMP IFV, BTR APCs units outside the ☢ Chernobyl Exclusion Zone/Chernobyl Power Plant ☢
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raeisi says the continued expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) threatens stability and security of independent countries.
Raeisi made the remarks in a late Thursday phone call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, during which the two sides discussed major international developments and the ongoing negotiations in the Austrian capital for the revival of the 2015 landmark Iran deal.
DJ, Lots of countries close to Russia may not openly choose to take Russians side...to leave the door open for trade with "the West"...Iran is also trying to renegociate a (new) Iran-deal/lifting of sanctions...(Again; "the world united against Russia" is western phantasies...even the West is very divided...).
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: February 24 2022 at 9:34pm
DJ, Second day-I hope also the last day-of this Ukraine war....(the outcome of "F.ck Putin" by the west...)
Allthough I am against violence, not listening to other countries-pushing NATO further east is the major cause of war....Russia tried to use words but if the west only has become "united in bla-bla", simply ignoring any agreement there may not many other options left open...
The puppet regime in Kiëv could have been wiser. Zelensky could have said we would like to join the EU, NATO but NOT NOW !!! Instead he started talking about Ukraine getting nuclear weapons...
Most of the main stream press report on this war as if Ukraine still has some chances...In a first-much larger then expected-strike Ukraine lost its navy, most of its air defense...Any realism only showing Ukraine only can put limited goals;
In a statement later on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying lambasted Price’s remarks, saying Washington is not in a position to lecture China on how to respect state sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“I'm afraid that the US side is not qualified to tell China how to do things like how to respect a state's national sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Chinese people have very real and profound understanding and feelings about the issue of national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” she said.
Hua said China itself has been a victim of colonial invasions of “the Eight-Power Allied Forces and foreign powers”, and that it has an extremely bitter memory of how the country was humiliated with its sovereignty forfeited and that some 20 years ago its embassy in former Yugoslavia was bombarded by NATO warplanes, leading to the death of three Chinese journalists and many others injured.
“To this day the NATO still owes a blood debt to the Chinese people. And today, China still faces the real threats from the US in league with several of its so-called allies which willfully interfere in China's internal affairs and undermine China's sovereignty and security on issues relating to Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan,” Hua said.
DJ, This may be a more realistic global view then "western embedded media" produce...Problem is lots of western politics is in the same-insane-tunnel vision...
The (nuclear) straw that (nearly) broke the Bear’s back – and forced its paws to pounce – was Zelensky the Comedian, back from the Russophobia-drenched Munich Security Conference where he was hailed like a Messiah, saying that the 1994 Budapest memorandum should be revised and Ukraine should be nuclear-rearmed.
That would be the equivalent of a nuclear Mexico south of the Hegemon.
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Up to the last minute, the Kremlin was trying to rely on diplomacy, explaining to Kiev the necessary imperatives to prevent heavy metal thunder: recognition of Crimea as Russian; abandon any plans to join NATO; negotiate directly with the Baby Twins – an anathema for the Americans since 2015; finally, demilitarize and declare Ukraine as neutral.
Kiev’s handlers, predictably, would never accept the package – as they didn’t accept the Master Package that really matters: the Russian demand for “indivisible security”.
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So it was Get Out – Or Else. “Or else” came as rolling thunder: the Kremlin and the Russian Ministry of Defense were not bluffing. Timed to the end of Putin’s speech announcing the operation, the Russians decapitated with precision missiles everything that mattered in terms of the Ukrainian military in just one hour: Air Force, Navy, airfields, bridges, command and control centers, the whole Turkish Bayraktar drone fleet.
And it was not only Russian raw power. It was the artillery of one of the Baby Twins, the DPR, that hit the HQ of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Donbass, which actually housed the entire Ukrainian military command. This means that the Ukrainian General Staff instantly lost control of all its troops.
This was Shock and Awe against Iraq, 19 years ago, in reverse: not for conquest, not as a prelude for an invasion and occupation. The political-military leadership in Kiev did not even have time to declare war. They froze. Demoralized troops started deserting. Total defeat – in one hour.
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The water supply to Crimea was instantly re-established. Humanitarian corridors were set up for the deserters. “Remnants” now include mostly surviving Azov batallion Nazis, mercenaries trained by the usual Blackwater/Academi suspects, and a bunch of Salafi-jihadis.
Predictably, Western corporate media has already gone totally berserk branding it as the much-awaited Russian “invasion”. A reminder: when Israel routinely bombs Syria and when the House of One Saudi routinely bombs Yemeni civilians, there is never any peep in NATOstan media.
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that the only language those neo-con and “humanitarian” imperialist psychos in the Beltway understand is heavy meal thunder (they are definitely deaf, dumb and blind to History, Geography and Diplomacy, for that matter. No to mention they never accepted their defeat in Syria.)
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The United States government barks non-stop about “territorial sovereignty”. So let’s game the Kremlin asking the White House for a road map on getting out of Syria: after all the Americans are illegally occupying a section of Syrian territory and most of all adding extra disaster to the Syrian economy by stealing their oil.
DJ, So Syria next stop to "kick out NATO/US"? In that conflict Russia may expect support from Iran and Turkey (still in NATO) ,,,most of the Kurds used by the US in Syria are from Turkey...
The BAD NEWS : NATO does not listen, the uk/us seems to be insane...And there is NO point in talking to insane people...Diplomacy only works if the "west" is willing to give up its arrogance and "exceptionalism"....
Western sanctions are "empty"...there may be limited anti-war protests in Russia but most Russians back Putin...(biden only can dream of that kind of support...).
Since the EU needs Russian energy EU sanctions "will be ended because diplomacy worked" ....bla-bla...If the EU countries had been more clear about Ukraine NOT joining NATO we would not have had this war...
I was expecting an operational-level Russian operation, but what I see today this is clearly a strategic operation. This is way bigger than what I expected.
We are in the very early phases of the operation, but I see all the usual signs of a Ukrainian strategic collapse. By tomorrow morning we should know a lot more.
DJ, just watched the "nl-nos-no news", the level of stupidity is shocking....Russia has a lot of (growing) trade with China..."sanctions" are just "a show" . Zelensky had a 6 hour tele-meeting with EU-leaders last night....SIX HOURS !!! While Russian forces are allready expanding a bridgehead NW of Kiev...Zelensky asked if Ukraine could now join NATO....silence in Brussel..."all the west comes up with is empty words"...I would not be surprised if Zelensky will become a Russian puppet...
Maybe to close this...Lots of western media simply ignore that with Ukraine having no navy, air defense, hardly any general staff or communications and Russian air-superiority Ukraine only can fight for a "good peacedeal"...I expect most of the fighting may be over today...
Accusing the West of leaving Ukraine to face Moscow alone, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday he was not afraid to negotiate an end to the Russian “invasion,” but would need security guarantees to do so.
Speaking in the early hours of the morning from Kiev, Zelensky said he had reached out to “partners” in the West to tell them that Ukraine’s fate was at stake.
“I asked them – are you with us?” Zelensky said. “They answered that they are with us, but they don’t want to take us into the alliance. I’ve asked 27 leaders of Europe, if Ukraine will be in NATO, I’ve asked them directly – all are afraid and did not respond.”
“We were left by ourselves. Who is ready to go to war for us? Honestly, I don’t see anybody. Who is ready to give Ukraine guarantees of NATO membership? Honestly, everybody is afraid,” the president added.
proberbly has no other options...
DJ, Empty headed biden, bojo "Baltics will be next", no...Syria most likely will be next...Russian goal is to have good relations with the EU...this is a "battle over Europe", EurAsian integration...and the EU has limited options...
Looking at what the "west" did in Syria the "west" may be going for a propaganda war, false flags...explosions killing lots of civilians caused by the west but blamed on Russia...I hope that "west' will not be able to sink to this level....The sooner this war is ever...the better most likely for most of us...
However keeping this war going on for years may be the us/uk criminal plan...
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: February 25 2022 at 2:28am
The assistant division commander of 1st MarDiv during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, John Kelly, expresses shock at Russia’s “unprovoked invasion of Ukraine”, noting that anyone who violates international law in such a manner is “a thug”. I love it when idiots out themselves.
It is totally okay if the us invades Iraq...has troops-still-in Syria. But Russia would have to accept US military at its borders ?
With all due respect, it was the Ukrainian president's raising of the specter of nuclear weapons that was the tipping point to this conflict (not mentioned in mainstream media btw):
DJ, most likely indeed Zelensky openly talking about getting nuclear weapons may have given the last push...Most likely Yanukovich may be reinstalled as Ukraine president...maybe even today...
Poor Joe…how does he dig himself out of the sanctions-based hole he has dug. Russia has prepared for the pain; the US and Europe have not. Our soft citizens will make their voices heard, and the sanctions will fail. Poor Joe…
DJ, As far as I understand it the present sanctions are based on incorrect info...Russia does NOT need "the West" for 5G or chips...The "west" does need Russia for energy, copper, cobalt...trade with China (via Russian railways)...
International law as it currently exists is not suited for the US-led unitary power system, or military alliances like NATO that operate comply outside the framework of the United Nations Charter. Nor is it structured to deal with Russia’s pushback to the same.
DJ, International law only works if countries see the benefit of international rules...Exceptionalism is killing international law...
Tulsi Gabbard 🌺@TulsiGabbard·15hWarmongers have got what they wanted: firmly establish new Cold War, guaranteed trillion$ for the Power Elite (including military industrial security complex and mainstream media).
In the 40 years since the inception of S&P 500 futures, there have been only 3 sessions when they opened down more than 2%, fell to a 6-month low, then rallied to close up by more than 1%. • July 24, 2002 • September 16, 2008 • Today
European benchmark nat gas TTF falls ~20% early on Friday as Russian gas flows into the EU (via Ukraine) surge. European utilities are asking Gazprom to ship more gas, and the Russian state-owned giant is happy to oblige. Capitalism in times of war | #Ukraine#UkraineInvasion
Georgia will not participate in economic and financial sanctions on Russia following Moscow’s full-scale assault against Ukraine, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili told the country’s media on Friday, citing national interests.
“During these years, among other issues, we have managed to de-escalate our tense relations with Russia, which was in line with Georgia’s national interests, and I will not make any decisions against them,” the PM said.
In a statement on Friday, the National Bank of Georgia said it would support the local branch of Russia’s state-owned VTB Bank after it was sanctioned by Western powers. The bank will not be able to carry out transactions in US dollars, British pounds, or euro from March 26
Under the 1936 Montreux Convention, Turkey has a right to shut the narrow Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits to foreign warships during a conflict, and to merchant vessels from countries at war with Ankara.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu confirmed on Friday that Turkey had received an official request from Ukraine to bar Russian vessels from crossing the straits. “The provisions of the Montreux Convention are very clear and precise,” Cavusoglu said.
“Turkey can stop the passage of warships through the straits. But there is something else in the Montreux Convention. If there is a demand to [let] the ships of countries at war to return to their bases, it must be allowed,” he added.
Turkey needs Russian energy (via Turkstream...), Russian tourism...etc.
Belarus is fully backing Russia (Lukashenko was very emphatic about that today), https://www.rt.com/russia/550502-iran-operation-ukraine-nato-provocation/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; background: rgba(240, 240, 230, 0.7); transition: all 0.5s ease 0s; color: rgb(44, 66, 78); padding: 0px 3px; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(85, 85, 85); - as does Iran . Our Chinese friends have been rather restrained and proffered only well-intended generalities, let’s see if that changes in the future.
I also suspect that tomorrow will be the last day for the US PSYOPs to try to control the narrative, after that there will be too many cellphones with cameras to conceal the magnitude of the disaster.
For this reason, I still expect a major false flag.
The Poles and Hungarians have declared that they fear a massive influx of refugees and that they are therefore deploying more forces to the border to “control the situation”. These forces could be easily and quickly moved inside the Western Ukraine to seize the Lvov and Ivano-Frankovsk regions. Best of all (for them) is that they can be pretty sure that the Russians won’t object. And with all the NATO facilities in the Ukraine being destroyed right now, the Russians can toss this (mostly Nazi) and faraway bone to whoever in the EU who wants it (The Hungarians are probably too smart for that, but the Poles???). Whatever may be the case, I expect a minor NATO operation into the western Ukraine in the next couple of days. Frankly, I couldn’t care less.
Another MAJOR risk is the presence in the Ukraine of A LOT of very dangerous part of the civilian infrastructure (including 15 nuclear reactors which barely function) The Ukies have already blown up at least one (pretty small) damn near Lugansk. I hope that the Russian and Belarusian special forces will secure these facilities as soon as humanely possible.
Next: watch the Russian Black Sea fleet. Something tells me that tomorrow we will see it A LOT and, probably, along the entire Ukie coast.
Last but not least. Iraq has shown that it is one thing to destroy an army, and quite another to deal with an insurgency, even one armed with only small arms and RPGs. I remain categorically opposed to any Russian mid/long occupation of the Ukraine. I am confident that Putin will soon declare the end of major combat operations (if only because there won’t be many enemies left) and that many Russian forces will begin a pullback. But the nightmare of having hundreds of thousands of assault rifles distributed to “the population” but which, in reality, armed what NATO will want to see as a “stay behind insurgency” will begin. And I want the Ukrainians to fight that battle by themselves, with some Russian help if needed, but not by hiding behind Russian forces. So A LOT really depends on the people of the Ukraine: the coming days will show us who and what they are. Now is the time for them to do the right thing.
DJ Some comments;
China still has 3000 or so nationals that the embassy wants to get out, they are trying to charter flights now.
In other words China won’t draw attention to their position until they are out. A lot of sour nazis will be looking for revenge.
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 25 2022 at 4:03am
REPRESENTATIVES MALINOWSKI AND CURTIS LEAD BIPARTISAN RESPONSE TO UKRAINE INVASION — INTRODUCING THE CORRUPT ACT TO SEIZE THE STOLEN MONEY FUELING PUTIN’S DESTRUCTIVE WARS & REPRESSION
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 25 2022 at 4:05am
International Criminal Court says it may investigate possible war crimes after Russian invasion
International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan has said he is following Russia's invasion of Ukraine "with increasing concern" and warned he may investigate possible war crimes in the country.
"I remind all sides conducting hostilities on the territory of Ukraine that my office may exercise its jurisdiction and investigate any act of genocide, crime against humanity or war crime committed within Ukraine," he said in a https://twitter.com/intlcrimcourt/status/1497037722602676225" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: rgb(48, 97, 255); outline: none; text-decoration: none; - statement shared on Twitter.
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 25 2022 at 4:36am
"The United Nations security council will also vote on Friday on a draft resolution condemning Russia’s invasion and requiring Moscow’s immediate withdrawal" How non-P5 countries vote, esp. Brazil & India, will be worth watching.
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 25 2022 at 9:04am
Russia Sends Bone-Chilling Message To Sweden & Finland; Threatens ‘Military Implications’ If They Go The Ukraine Way
Amid the ongoing Russian military operations in Ukraine, the country’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday that Moscow will have to respond if Sweden and Finland become NATO members.
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 25 2022 at 10:37am
NATO allies to provide more weapons to Ukraine, Stoltenberg says
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday the alliance was deploying parts of its combat-ready response force and would continue to send weapons to Ukraine, including air defences. Stoltenberg also said that Russia was trying to topple the Ukrainian government. "We are now deploying the NATO response force for the first time in the context of collective defence," he said.
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: February 25 2022 at 8:21pm
DJ, More NATO weapons...for a longer war...
Maybe some dilemma's from history.
1940...
april, Germany invaded Denmark...Denmark did make a choice NOT to fight...in the 19th century it did fight a few wars with Germany...not very succesfull...paid a high price for it...So "No War"...Germany also invaded Norway at the same time...Did not fighting in Denmark make it easier for the Germans to beat Norway ? Maybe some what.. but since Denmark and Norway do not share borders (much...both are North Sea/North Atlantic...no land borders...)..
may, Germany invaded NL , also Belgium, France..."We" here in NL did fight...Much more of a fight then the Germans expected...They believed to run over NL in one day...it did cost them 4 days...In the south-west even longer...But Rotterdam did get bombed, Middelburg got bombed while most of NL already had surrendered...several thousend people got killed...places were destroyed..much of the infrastructure out of function...
A very high price and for what ? The other side of it was it did buy time in Belgium, France...I like to believe that NL fighting Germany made the Dunkirk (Duinkerken in Dutch) escape possible...That our air defense was good enough to unable German invasion of the UK...
Different positions, different choices...and I do not know wich one is better or wiser...Did the location play a major role ? NL part of a western front much more then DK was part of a nordic front ?
On a more personal level...NL was liberated by Germans and Russians in 1813...kicking out the French...it was our-for NL- last war in Europe...we had neutrality...even in World War 1 (with lots of trade with Germany...Dutch Fokker the main aircraft builder for Germany...German army uniforms made in NL). Since 1813 we had more conflict with the UK in (semi) colonial wars in the East Indies, Boer War in South Africa...
Most Dutch felt connected with Germany...speaking more or less a same dialect (lower German, lower Saxon...). Invading NL did cost hitler some German friends in the nazi-top...
During the war Germany had plans to make NL part of Germany, like they did with Austria...NL fascists stopped those plans..they had plans for a larger NL including Flanders...On the other side we did see several strikes in NL...A form of resistance the Germans did have a problem answering...By going for terror, executions...for most of the Dutch any friendly feelings for the Germans...as far as they still existed after the may 1940 war...were gone. Still over 40.000 NL men joined the German army "fighting Russia"....
(To make the discussion even more complex...There is a link between fascism and catholicism...but also a lot of catholics were anti-nazi...Like most of Germany never voted for hitler...hitler was not very popular in the more northern parts of Germany...).
Ukraine War NOW.....terrible...a horror...most of all for Ukraine itself..
DJ, For Ukrainians I hope there will be peace as soon as possible...but let me be honest...Ukraine is less then 1400 kilometres from where I live...What kind of world do we offer next generations...Climate change, pandemics, wars...I do not want that to be my legacy...
Sending in more weapons...could we not also see some kind of peace initiative ? From my point of view (like Germany, France warned the US in 2008 Bucharest-NATO-meeting) including Ukraine in NATO had to bring war with Russia...This war is NOT in the interest of Ukraine ! It is not in the interest of Europe...it is part of a geo-political way of thinking in wich only the US can be a "super power"...even if it means war for Europe...
The idea of the US being "exceptional" and "above any law" is the problem...sharing the globe is the better alternative...even for the US...
Tulsi Gabbard 🌺@TulsiGabbard·17hOn a visit to Ukraine, I met a number of everyday Ukrainians who have become good friends over the years. Some are stuck in Kyiv, others trying to get to the Poland border. They’re scared & worried for their families. Please join me in praying for their safety and the safety of all Ukrainians. Please join me in calling on US, Russian, and Ukrainian leaders to SERIOUSLY negotiate an end to this war (not just political posturing); and call on Putin to end his crackdown on anti-war Russian protestors.
DJ, very welcome wise words in a time of global insanity...
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: February 25 2022 at 9:54pm
If that picture of the Ukraine defense being very broken up one could wonder who is doing the fighting ? Russia comes up with the neo-nazi Azov-batallion, IS fighters, criminals...but at least for some part that is propaganda..For me a question is if there are NATO special forces involved in (some of the) fighting ?
The US also is claiming Russian progress is slowing down...the saker-article mentions Russian troops now getting closer to urban regions...wich results in other forms of combat.
DJ-Another political outcome is most in Europe, most likely in the US as well, did not want to end up in a war over Ukraine joining NATO...The general picture now is Putin started the war...wich may result in a war on Ukraine joining NATO...
While China is still trying not to fully alienate the US while effectively siding with Putin in Ukraine (see " https://www.zerohedge.com/political/china-vows-eradicate-taiwans-secessionist-regime" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(20, 112, 178); - China Calls US 'Culprit' For Ukraine Tensions " yet " https://www.zerohedge.com/political/china-state-banks-restrict-purchases-russian-commodities-pause-buying-russian-seaborne" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(20, 112, 178); - China State Banks Restrict Purchases Of Russian Commodities, Pause Buying Russian Seaborne Crude "), Asia's other superpower, India, has no such qualms and according to Nikkei Asia, India is exploring ways to set up a rupee payment mechanism for trade with Russia to soften the blow on New Delhi of Western sanctions imposed on Russia - including a potential expulsion from SWIFT - after its invasion of Ukraine, government and banking sources said.
Putting its own national interest first, Indian officials are concerned that vital supplies of fertilizer from Russia could be disrupted as sanctions intensify, threatening India's vast farm sector. Russia and Belarus usually account for nearly a third of India's total potash imports. It would not be feasible to replace them amid a rally in fertilizer prices to a record high, a senior industry official told Reuters.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday categorically ruled out the possibility of being part of any camp politics and urged the international community to make joint efforts to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict through diplomatic means.
“Pakistan believes that any military conflict impacts the whole region, particularly the developing countries… There is a need to show restraint… Diplomacy cannot be ruled out,” Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said while apprising the media of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s two-day visit to Russia that concluded on Thursday.
He said during his three and a half hours long meeting with President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Imran Khan also presented Pakistan’s viewpoint and listened to the Russian version from him.
DJ, The western MSM claim "Russia is isolated" simply is incorrect...Maybe this war will slow down EurAsian integration (EU still buying Russian energy, that is why the EU wants Russia to stay in SWIFT-international banking...the alternative for SWIFT is Chinese...) it is not slowing down Asian integration...may speed up that proces even...
Officials said the plan was to get Russian banks and companies to open accounts with a few state-run banks in India for trade settlement, a banking source involved in the discussions said.
"This is a proactive move assuming that the conflict escalates and there could be a slew of sanctions in place," the Nikkei source said. "In this case we would not be able to settle the transaction in dollars and so an arrangement has been proposed to set up a rupee account, which is being considered."
Funds in such accounts act as a guarantee of payment for trade exchanged between two countries, while the parties barter commodities from each other to offset the sum, the source said.
A similar arrangement, in which part of the settlement with Russia is in foreign currency and rest is through local rupee accounts, was also being explored, said the banking and the government source.
Such mechanisms are often used by countries to shield themselves from the blow of sanctions and India also used it with Iran after it came under Western sanctions for its nuclear weapons program, the source said. The program was introduced in 2012 and worked well for several years.
The discussions on Russia were still at an early stage and formal talks had not yet begun between the two sides, an Indian government official said.
DJ, India now working on its own alternative for SWIFT.. India, Pakistan, Iran, China all have good relations with Russia but problems with eachother (but I do think TIP, Turkey-Iran-Pakistan can become a factor in the present crisis...TIP may welcome both Afghanistan and Ukraine to get their own "block" in between the EU (that excluded Turkey...) Russia and China. (and the Arab world)..
If you look at Ukraine history Turkey-to the south of it-the other side of the Black Sea-has been a factor. Ukraine is not very likely to get "friendship" again with Russia...may be to bankrupt for the EU...need Chinese investments, Turkish building companies, to recover...
DJ; Russia has several options..replace Zelensky with Yanukovich-in power untill the Maidan 2014 US coup. It can also further use Zelensky as a puppet...hoping to limit unrest in Ukraine and offer some perspectives...
If you look at the recent past NATO replaced Kadaffi in Lybya, Saddam Hussein in Iraq with chaos...the West may have not that much to offer under the given circumstances...
DJ-Is there a scenario in wich Ukraine could "beat" Russia ? I think the most likely outcome may be a cease-fire...like it or not people have to talk...They can start a fight and then talk...better is it to avoid the fight...Any scenario in wich "Ukraine would beat Russia" has to include other partners for Ukraine...Poland feels related with the catholics in western Ukraine (parts of it once were Polish in some ways...some of the people there feel Polish)...but Poland is a NATO-member and can not act on its own for that matter...(Maybe Romania is in the same position).
Turkey could be another factor-still a NATO member but "doing its own thing/following its own agenda". The forementioned TIP (Turkey-Iran-Pakistan) alliance may be strong enough to stop Russia while keeping NATO out of (most of) the fighting...Russia/Belarus could be interested in Ukraine as a link with the south/TIP...
An extra bonus for Ukraine trying to improve relations with Turkey in this crisis could be it could at least keep in control of some of the Black Sea coast...
Putin/Russia claims it does "not want to occupuy Ukraine"...DJ-But I think Russia could be interested in "taking over" most of the Russian speaking part of Ukraine...including ALL of the Ukraine Black Sea coast..The "Ukraine" Russia does not want to occupy most likely will be a much smaller Ukraine...(After including Crimea, Donbas (Luhansk/Donetsk P.R.) would be the next inclusion...but also a land link to Crimea nort of the Sea of Azov seems to be the present Russian goal...).
Main conclusion; "Bears can bite"....
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: February 26 2022 at 12:24am
Still war is horror, the worst people can do to each other...(I was born after the second world war...Arnhem was almost destroyed after "the battle" showing the Arnhem-bridge was a "bridge to far"...I remember how people lived emergency housing...made of reused bricks..)
-"China is supporting Russian initiatives for a peacefull solution of the Ukraine conflict", was the essence of the Xi-Putin phone talks...China is blaming the west/us for this war...there is no need for NATO expension...DJ, Basically China is claiming the "words of the US are empty" , only making agreements to break them...
The US/west may not like to hear it...but a lot of countries by now may have that view...
-On "western sanctions"....The US/EU is buying for over 750 million US$ PER DAY oil and gas from Russia...(DJ Russia payed 10 billion US$ worth for Northstream-2 link with Germany-Germany now not using could be a loss...but rising prices for gas and oil did undo that damage in just one day...Northstream-2 was meant to replace the pipeline running through Ukraine...so not extra...Even NOW !!! Russia is exporting energy via Ukraine to the EU....both Russia and Ukraine make money out of it-even when they are fighting eachother...).
The "united west" NEEDS Russian energy...The US can not do without Russian Ural-oil...replacing oil the US did buy from Venezuela...Each country going for its own kind of "sanctions"...Belgium excluding diamond trade...
Even the US has double ideas on excluding Russia from SWIFT since it would even further speed up de-dollarization...(in my story above I also mentioned India coming up with an alternative for payments for trade with Russia...)...DJ, SWIFT may be a "western power tool" soon replaced with other ways of international payments...China is-in some ways-still the 2nd global economy, India economy #3...both are expected to replace the US economy within years (so US economy may end up at #3 in 2030 ?)
"The very strict sanctions US-UK-EU agree upon" are show...Even rich Putin sponsors have their investments in the UAE etc NOT in EU/UK/US...
AM mentions "Zelensky was willing to have talks with Russia but in Warsaw...not in Minsk (Belarus)"...DJ, Ukraine simply not fullfilling the Minsk agreement is the other part of this conflict...but the west is ignoring that. Zelensky starting to talk of nuclear weapons for Ukraine at the Munich security conference last week may have pushed the Russian "top" (not only Putin) to "go to war"...
Serious sanctions on Russia would hurt "the west" much more then it would hurt Russia....
DJ-And now for the "real bad news"...If the US want to stay to "only superpower", "exceptional", save the US-petro-$...this war in Ukraine is not doing the job...The US would need to create much more global chaos and war...but even then-DJ-I think the idea of the US "on top" is obsolete...unrealistic...
"The West" may be in for some very hard lessons...the "switch of global power" from "Trans-Atlantic" (US-UK-EU) to "Asia" may be allready unstopable..
The US presenting itself as "bringer of peace and justice" may only be real in some US eyes....Iran, Pakistan, India, China see it in a different way-that is allready 3 billion people...
Going for cheap labor markets in Asia did start a proces of transfer...first of labor, then of gold...and in the end of power. "WE " started it in the 70's and 80's...in this decade we may see the harvest...
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 26 2022 at 2:28am
Is Putin suffering 'delirium and confusion' due to Long COVID? Questions arise over Russian leader’s mental state after rumours of cancer and Parkinson’s disease
Vladimir Putin, 69, could be suffering from hubris syndrome, according to expert
It is associated with a loss of contact with reality and inability to weigh up risk
Rumours of Putin's poor health have been circulating for years
In 2014, New York Post reported Vladimir Putin had 'cancer of the spinal cord'
Putin was allegedly being treated by a doctor from the old East Germany
Meanwhile in 2020, Valery Solovei, a critic of Putin, repeated the claims
Said Putin had surgery in February, source added it was abdominal cancer
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 26 2022 at 4:59am
NEW: The UK has offered to conduct "logistics operations" to support the delivery to the Ukrainian armed forces of much-needed military aid, such as ammunition and anti-tank weapons, that is donated by other countries, a
NEW: The UK has offered to conduct "logistics operations" to support the delivery to the Ukrainian armed forces of much-needed military aid, such as ammunition and anti-tank weapons, that is donated by other countries, a
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 26 2022 at 6:21am
The Kyiv Independent@KyivIndependent⚡️Hungary now supports cutting Russia off SWIFT.
Hungary was the last EU country who opposed the measure.7:11 AM · Feb 26, 2022·Twitter Web App
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 26 2022 at 6:27am
US special operations presses on in Ukraine amid threat of Russian invasion
BY
JOHN VANDIVER
•STARS AND STRIPES •JANUARY 19, 2022
A Ukrainian soldier aims a machine gun during an anti-sabotage exercise near Yavoriv, Ukraine, Sept. 27, 2021. U.S. special operators remain in the country in an advisory training role, U.S. Special Operations Command Europe said Tuesday. (Preston Hammon/U.S. Army)
THREAD 1/7 Intel from a Ukrainian officer about a meeting in Putin’s lair in Urals. Oligarchs convened there so no one would flee. Putin is furious, he thought that the whole war would be easy and everything would be done in 1-4 days.
2/7 Russians didn’t have a tactical plan. The war costs about $20 bln/day. There are rockets for 3-4 days at most, they use them sparingly. They lack weapons, the Tula and 2 Rotenberg plants can’t physically fulfil the orders for weapons. Rifles and ammo are the most they can do.
/7 The next Russian weapons can be produced in 3-4 months – if even that. They have no raw materials. What was previously supplied mainly from Slovenia, Finland and Germany is now cut off.
4/7 If Ukraine manages to hold the Russians off for 10 days, then the Russians will have to enter negotiations. Because they have no money, weapons, or resources. Nevertheless, they are indifferent about the sanctions.5/7 Alpha Spec Ops have been near Kyiv since the 18th February. The goal was to take Kyiv and instal a puppet regime. They are preparing provocations against innocent civilians – women and children – to sow panic. This is their trump card.
6/7 Russia’s whole plan relies on panic – that the civilians and armed forces surrender and Zelensky flees. They expect Kharkiv to surrender first so the other cities would follow suit to avoid bloodshed. The Russians are in shock of the fierce resistance they have encountered. 7/7 The Ukrainians must avoid panic! The missile strikes are for intimidation, the Russians fire them at random to “accidentally” hit residential buildings to make the attack look larger than it really is. Ukraine must stay strong and we must provide assistance! #StandWithUkraine
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 26 2022 at 8:18am
Germany has authorized the Netherlands to send Ukraine 400 rocket-propelled grenade launchers to aid in the fight against Russian invaders, according to two EU officials — marking an abrupt shift in Berlin’s military policy amid pressure from EU and NATO allies.
Until Saturday, Germany had clung to a longstanding practice of not permitting lethal weapons that it controlled to be transferred into a conflict zone.
That stance bewildered some European officials, even more so after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion and launched missile strikes on Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 26 2022 at 8:27am
This is incredibly important. Remember the cause of Euromaidan and the initial Russian aggression toward Ukraine—it was Ukraine joining the European Union, not NATO. May Putin's nightmares become reality.
Quote Tweet
Samuel Ramani
@SamRamani2
·
BREAKING: Poland endorses an express path for Ukraine's European Union membership
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: February 26 2022 at 12:53pm
This is a new post that will be tracking the possible spillover of SARS-CoV-2 from the war zone in Ukraine and into neighbouring countries. With so many people now on the move across Europe, including troops and refugees from the senseless violence, we expect to see considerable increases in coronavirus levels in Eastern Europe in the near future.
The first chart we have posted below is a snapshot of the virus situation in Europe on the 26th February 2022, to be used for comparison purposes.
The second chart we have posted below is dynamic and shows the current situation. It should update if you refresh your browser.
We have focused the chart on Ukraine and included its neighbouring countries. We have also included what we consider to be some key bellwether countries for SARS_CoV-2 in Europe such as Italy, Belgium, Spain, Netherlands, France and the UK, to see if there are any longer distance impacts of the virus spreading.
This chart is a snapshot of the coronavirus situation in Eastern Europe on 25th February 2022
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: WitchMisspelled
Date Posted: February 26 2022 at 4:42pm
Thanks for providing counterpoints to the pro-Putin propeganda, KSC. Good job.
It's too easy to speculate that Putin is suffering from some long term Covid dementia.
It makes more sense that he thought Ukraine would roll over and is now furious they did not. Their history is a fighting people contrary to Putin's remade history rhetoric.
Reports of Ukrainians taking up arms and fighting to preserve infrastructure and along side military is inspiring.
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: February 26 2022 at 9:05pm
DJ,
There are lots of times I wished I was wrong...I did not expect Eussia to invade Ukraine...here I wished I was right...
The sources I use (Moon of Alabama, The Saker, Alexander Mercouris, also a NL historian Maarten van Rossem) all got it wrong...I do not know if I believed the sources more ot that I did take Russian claims/history serious more...but I got it wrong...Russia did start a major war with Ukraine...
I do not agree with Putin started that war...the Russian cabinet-at least the major ministers-decided on that. With Putin making a final decission...
I do not think Putin is very likely to have a major healthissue as an excuse...He will get healthchecks often...Medvedev is the "extra" able to replace him...
Me being wrong this time is minor to Ukraine proberbly also NOT expecting this major war...Shock&Awe is what the US does...not Russia...I think Zelensky expected a worst case scenario would see Russia moving into the Donbas...
They proberbly also did get it wrong...even with very clear US warnings that Russia was preparing to invade....
Scott Ritter, very well informed, made the point that there is a difference in logistics for an army-excercise and preparation for war...So maybe he simply had not access to all the info...
DJ-Western media is full of anti-Russian propaganda...I want to keep the propaganda-part as limited as I can but try to get a balanced view of the situation and learn how also pro-Russian intelligent people see it (a.o. the Saker). Alexander Mercouris is NOT pro-Russian, very clear-based on personal history-anti war...
Moon of Alabama I think also is able to get a balanced view. Hal Turner is an "unbalanced view" maybe expressing fears...(and I do not agree with a lot of his views, however he is mentioning nuclear war as the end of this conflict...I take that scenario more serious then a few days ago...).
So I am not here to offend anyone...please do not get me wrong...just trying to get an informed opinion on what is going on and sharing it on this forum...because most of us here try to get an informed opinion...And that opinion may get balanced by including views from many sides.
Some points of interests we may all agree upon;
-Mixing a major war with a pandemic is likely making the pandemic worse (both refugees and military will spread virus/variants/disease over long(er) distance. People in shelters/trenches will see mass spread events. (In lots of wars more people died from healthissues then from fighting)
-I see a growing risk of further escalations...worldwide there may allready be very many frontlines...the basic conflicts for a global war are allready there.
-Mass media may often not be the right source of best info providing a balanced view...(however alternatives may get it wrong from time to time...I think there may be a tendency to copy eachothers view there) how to get a realistic balanced view ?
-From a history point of view, pandemics and wars often interact...however this used to be a more medical oriented forum...giving room to a wider view...but it should be kept related to what this forum is about.
-War is ugly...Southfront has very realistic pictures of war...others sometimes also have. Propaganda uses "horror" all the time...but there is a limit to the the links I will give...
-I am NOT neutral, objective, an expert etc...but I try to respect other views, try to understand opinions...(In my idea that is one of the uses of this forum).
-We did see lots of different views on the pandemic...but a forum with just one opinion has "limited use", a forum has to be a marketplace with lots of idea's...but if a market place becomes a war-zone it may not be functioning well..
I hope we can go on here, agreeing to disagree on lots of things but in a respectfull way...DJ
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: February 26 2022 at 10:46pm
DJ, Before people jump on me for "spreading Russian propaganda' I am using WESTERN !!!! sources...you may not like what they say...but claiming it is "Russian propaganda' because you do not like the info is fooling yourself !
Alexander Mercouris earlier mentioned lots of refugees also trying to get into Moldova (east of Romania...DJ-most of the refugees will be from Odessa, Ukraine Black Sea coast). I think the Red Cross came up with possibly 5 million refugees...Poland seems to be "selective" on who it lets in, maybe Ukraine trying to keep men in...So both road and rail links between the EU and Ukraine full of refugees...
Ukraine truckdrivers got also stuck here on the NL-German border...can not go back to Ukraine often...(DJ-Proberbly their employer told them NOT to return...). Some of the drivers want to return...for family or fighting...Other drivers were told by their family NOT to return...to stay out of the fighting...and their families are trying to get into the EU...
DJ-The EU is very dis-united on refugees...Poland had very strong anti-immigration rules ...Untill recent Ukrainians trying to get asylum in most of the EU were returned...Ukraine has an as good as bankrupt economy...for a lot of Ukrainians without the war they would not have any chance of getting into the EU...
I would welcome it if there was a united European plan for the refugees...(but I am not hopefull on that...).
Also in the NL news more weapons going to Ukraine...(the news was not talking any longer about western sanctions..my opinion...even cutting Russian banks from SWIFT will not have any serious effects on Russia...Cutting Russia of from European sports/culture most likely only will result in setting up an Asian alternative...).
DJ-I also did not see a lot of claims that Russia "is isolated" ; "the world united against Russia"...because the facts are different....
Pakistan, India, China may not fully agree with the war and invasion (using both the words "war" and "invasion" are forbidden in Russian media...Maybe they would like to call it "intervention"..."police action" (NL used the word "police action" during the last colonial war 1945-1949 in the former Dutch East Indies/Indonesia...) they certainly did not break (good) relations with Russia...Iran, Syria fully supporting Russia...(countries like Venezuela, Cuba, Nicarague, Vietnam etc may be in between these two options...).
DJ By now most EU/NATO countries are sending more weapons into Ukraine...limiting their role in diplomacy...(and yesterday I tried to make clear DenmarK NOT fighting the German april 1940 invasion-for DK may have been a wise decission...DJ-Maybe the EU would help Ukraine more by going-still-for further-indirect-diplomacy ? If you are unable to get anywhere with Russia maybe talking to China, Israel, Iran may be of use ??? The way I see it most Ukrainians want this war to stop NOW !!! So sending in more weapons may not be helping them...).
Maybe sending more weapons from the EU/NATO into Ukraine may result in Russia bombing infrastructure near the western Ukraine border (inside Ukraine).
However Russia -all indications are- did make major progres in the south trying to get a land link between Crimea and Donbas-noth of the Sea of Azov. DJ-One of the things that may have shocked most Russian military is they believed they were "liberating Ukraine from nazi-scum"...but in some (non-ethnic Russian) area 's they found out they were very unwelcome.
(During the US/CIA Invasion of the Bay of Pigs in Cuba the US expected Cubans to start an uprising against Castro...but the landing was on the wrong place-limited population-and support for the Cuban revolution was much larger then the US expected...Another aspect of "helping rebels" is-in Nicaragua "the contra's"CIA sponsored, started killing small farmers...that is not a way to get public support...)
In the east my impression is Ukraine is pulling back its forces for two main reasons; 1-defense of Kiev, 2-Russian/Donbas forces are encircling the Ukraine forces. DJ-Since Ukraine is giving up positions it held for years...often including bunkers/fortifications..it may indicate Ukraine defenses in the east can no longer be maintained...Ukraine may be giving in..leaving East Ukraine to (pro) Russian forces..most of the population may be pro-Russian as well.
In the north both Kiev and Charkov are the main targets. Invasion forces here partly are from Belarus. Russian forces did link up with Russian paratroopers at the airport NW of Kiev. That airport is in Russian control and used as supply route. Since Russia now also has control of a corridor between Belarus and the west of Kiev it may be hard for Ukraine to stop that airbridge.
Ukraine did claim it stopped a landing of Russian forces east of Odessa on the Black Sea coast, also Ukraine is claiming it stopped Russia from getting control over some more airfields. My view is Ukraine has very limited means to do so...
However the EU/NATO moving in military gear may see more Russian activity-both airstrikes and possibly Russian/Belarus military moving in trying to cut of Ukraine from Poland...
In fact this may be part of the agenda for day 4 of this war...Russia trying to cut of/control Ukraine western borders all the way from Odessa (not far from Moldoava/Romania) to the Polish/Belarus/Ukraine three border area. A very major problem for Russia will be that NW of Ukraine has hardly any ethnic Russian population...Certainly the Polish/Ukraine border area in fact is "almost Polish..." (Polish ethnicity, catholic-not orthodox, some of them may be even speaking Polish...have Polish/EU passports...)
Goals;
-cutting of western supply routes
-further overstretching the Ukraine Army
-try to get a form of cease fire/negotiations
DJ-I think Russia underestimated the western/international reaction. It did expect to see western sanctions whatever they did...But looking at how Putin/Russia did deal with its intervention in Syria is "pick your battles"....trying to control the conflict, concentrate your efforts on the conflict you want to fight...
Escalation risks; The UK allready claimed it "would be willing to get weapons to Ukraine' most likely meaning bojo willing to send UK military INSIDE Ukraine for logistics...Most likely transport planes landing in the west of Ukraine delevering weapons and picking up wounded. DJ-I think Russia may try to avoid shooting down such transports-however they would follow those planes and destroy the supplies on the ground.
Ukraine logistics is overstretched and very likely allready breaking down. New supplies of trucks, petrol, ammunition has to come from the west.
-MoA cutting of Russia from SWIFT will increase de-dollarization...DJ-Even the US is still buying Russian oil today...(as far as I understand it...both the US and EU may not have real alternatives...The best one would be to use less fossil fuels..."go green" ...but "other choices have been made"...
-MoA CIA trained "insurgency forces"...DJ-I think NATO still has limited special forces inside Ukraine trying to a.o. keep communication for the Ukraine Army going and secret (for the Russians). Very likely-I think-also some monitoring...what is the Russian strategy, weak spots (logistics...). If western special forces see a chance to blow up logistics/infrastructure without being caught they may be allready doing so...
-Kiev giving weapons to its citizens resulted in an increase of crime and killings...It may not increase Ukraine being able to keep Russia out...easy to get in the wrong hands...In lots of wars sending in weapons resulted in getting those weapons in the wrong hands...(During the battle of Arnhem, september 1944-lots of British pilots died trying to get supplies to airborne troops fighting around my town...while a lot of supplies ended up in German hands...Also in lots of (semi)colonial wars the main source of weapons came from the military that was supposed to fight the "rebels"...Some of those weapons were being sold by corrupt military, others were stolen or "won" in fighting...).
DJ-My conclusion is Russia is-as expected-winning this war. But the price Russia may be paying for it could be higher then Russia expected it to be.
Russia has several political parties (that in itself does not make it a democracy...lots of Eastern block countries had more political parties before 1989...Poland had a farmers-party...). Putin is from "United Russia"...if the war gets out of control the main opposition party could win...however that party is the former Communist Party...now defending a.o. pensions for war veterans...complayning about inflation...)
I think lots of foreign diplomacy efforts are on their way. Since in Russian view the main conflict is with the US I think there could be countries (Switzerland Sweden,France maybe even Israel) trying to de-escalate the conflict.
The major worry of this conflict becoming "out of control" may be widespread...
End of my update so far...this is not meant to be propaganda...I am anti war.....
PS, Maybe on how "to read the news"; Since Ukraine most likely is allmost out of an airforce planes being shot down will be Russia ones...(however news may show the same plane being shot down several times/from different corners...so those images can/will be used for propaganda. Kiev is a large city...a plane crashing on houses will result in lots of people getting killed).
There was a building block severly damaged by a missile...discussion was on wether it was an Ukraine (old-Soviet era) BUK or maybe a missile from a Russian plane-meant for a nearby airfield but malfunctioning...So far Russia did use "heavy weapons" outside major urban war zones....Russia trying to keep some credits with the pro-Russian part of the population...in a military sense so far Russia tried to cut of supplies to cities and avoid major urban warfare...(Urban warfare is a lot of people getting killed...if you can control supplies you may be able to control the city without a fight...).
Tulsi Gabbard 🌺@TulsiGabbard·8hPresident Putin, you’ve made your point. Before it’s too late, stop the attack now. I have both Ukrainian and Russian friends and know that they have aloha—respect and love—for each other like brothers and sisters. It’s clear the Russian and Ukrainian people just want to live in peace, so I implore you to end this assault now, before it gets to the point of no return and the suffering becomes unimaginable.#Ukraine#UkraineRussiaWar#UkraineUnderAttack
DJ, I more or less agree with Tulsi Gubbard, former (and I hope future) US presidential candidate...
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: February 27 2022 at 3:16am
US military aid to Ukraine used to arrive by plane, but the country’s airspace is no longer safe. “The airspace over Ukraine is contested, the Russians don’t have superiority of it, it’s contested,” Kirby said.
NO RETURN "Business as usual" is already a non-existent concept." "This is not our choice. We always proceeded from dialogue, but when options were closed one by one by the Anglo-Saxons (...) we come to the line after which the point of no return begins." Maria Zakharova
DJ, underlining the choice for war was not only made by Putin...Pepe Escobar is from Brazil...
The Foreign Ministry of the United Arab Emirates said the top diplomats of the two countries “took stock of the latest regional and global developments and exchanged views on them” – a diplomatic reference to the war in Ukraine.
The second call came after the UAE abstained from voting in favor of a U.S.-backed resolution on the war in Ukraine at the United Nations Security Council. It also came after UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan discussed with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov the “strategic partnership” between Abu Dhabi and Moscow.
TEHRAN — As the Vienna talks reach a critical stage, the Western negotiators are trying to portray an unrealistic atmosphere of the talks.
However, it should be noted that what is happening in the negotiation rooms are a whole lot different from the Western media narratives.
As Iranian officials have repeatedly stated, Iran’s red lines in the ongoing talks to remove the sanctions imposed on Iran are crystal clear, and Tehran refuses to back down from its demands. But the Westerners seem reluctant to consider this obvious fact.
What the E3 (France, UK, and Germany) and their mainstream media refuse to narrate is that Iran has shown the required flexibility throughout ten months of intensive negotiations. Yet, this flexibility has not been portrayed from their side in response.
Negotiation is a process of give and take, and the European troika must know that the era of bullying is over. They cannot have their way at any cost, as Iran seeks to reach an agreement that will preserve the rights of its citizens.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian stated on Tuesday that under no circumstances will the negotiators cross Iran’s red lines.
DJ; Again Turkey, Israel, China positioning themselves to be able to mediate...Also a.o. Argentina NOT going for sanctions against Russia...
I expect this war to end with some form of ceasefire...The US may have no realistic view of Ukraine's capacity to keep this war going on for much longer...
DJ, Western supplies will be cut of. Russia is in control of the Black Sea (Turkey NOT stopping Russian shipping). De facto Russia can shoot down any plane over West Ukraine, attack any convoy in West Ukraine. Refugees moving west may be hindering military movements...
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: February 27 2022 at 7:53am
https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2022/02/26/the-russian-way-of-war/" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); text-decoration: underline; - The Russian Way of War
Yesterday anyone watching Euronews on one screen and Russian state television on another would have been perplexed by the totally contradictory coverage of both with respect to the fate of the armed detachment of Ukrainian border guards on one island in the southeast of Ukraine. Euronews carried the address of President Zelensky awarding posthumous designation as Heroes of Ukraine to the entire detachment, which reportedly resisted the attacking Russian forces and were slaughtered. Meanwhile Russian news showed those same border guards seated at tables and signing sworn statements that they voluntarily lay down their arms and awaited repatriation to their homes and families.
Earlier today I took this screenshot from the New York Times website.
-
Reading the https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/26/world/ukraine-russia-war" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); text-decoration: underline; - collection of items under the above New York Times headline I fail to find any news of a bombardment of Kiev or of Russian military involvement in street fighting within the city.
The only item in there that is relevant with regards to Kiev is a Russian missile strike on the fuel depot of a military airport on the southern periphery of the city. The large fire and smoke could be seen from Kiev.
As Russia does not announce the progress of its campaign the 'western' news is projecting that it is losing the war. I see no evidence that this is the case and believe that it is far from reality. The lack of reliable reporting just makes it impossible to map out the current frontline.
Here are three more pieces I can also recommend. They relate to serious strategic aspects of the war and lack the otherwise overwhelming propaganda slant.
M.K. Bhadrakumar:
https://www.indianpunchline.com/india-shouldnt-miss-world-war-pointer/" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); text-decoration: underline; - India shouldn’t miss world war pointer
Russia is not at war with Ukraine, but is locked in an existential struggle to avoid the fate of Yugoslavia. Period. ... The US is setting a ‘bear trap’ for Russia using the neo-Nazi forces. It calculates that if the Russian forces get bogged down, the door opens for a NATO intervention — 175000 NATO troops are positioned already on Russia’s borders with massive firepower and air and naval formations surrounding Russia from all sides.
A NATO intervention will be tantamount to US-Russia war — that is, a world war with nuclear weapons. On Thursday, Putin explicitly warned Biden to back off. But Biden has since indicated that the NATO will continue to pump weapons into Ukraine.
I’m surprised both of the size of the operation and the type of operation. While I did expect standoff destruction of the nazi units and considered the possibility of standoff destruction of Ukrainian military assets I did not expect to see troops on the ground other than a few Spetsnaz. The operation is much, much more than I expected. Putin & Co surprised me too.
Had I been at home I would have read Putin’s speech earlier and understood sooner. What he is talking about is what the Soviet Union tried to do from 1933 onwards: namely to stop Hitler before he got started. This time Russia is able to do it by itself. In other words, Putin feels that he is making a pre-emptive attack to stop June 1941. This is very serious indeed and indicates that the Russians are going to keep going until they feel that they can safely stop.
Scott Ritter:
https://www.energyintel.com/0000017f-307c-d3e7-a17f-f1fdfee40000" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); text-decoration: underline; - Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine in Perspective
Russian President Vladimir Putin had been subjected to a series of sophomoric psychological profiles that trivialized Russian national concerns as little more than the psychotic whim of a troubled individual. The caricatures that emerged of the Russian state and its leadership colored the analysis of Russia’s oft-stated concerns over what it viewed as its legitimate national security.
This blinded the West to the reality of what was transpiring. Because no one took Russia seriously, no one could imagine a large-scale ground war in Europe. So everyone was taken by surprise when such a conflict broke out.
Posted by b on February 27, 2022 at 12:38 UTC |
DJ-Since the situation is getting very serious I post all the above to underline Russia is-in fact-allready in war with NATO.
North Korea’s Foreign Ministry has defended Russia and blamed the United States’ behavior as the “root cause” of the conflict in Ukraine, in its first official response to Moscow's ongoing military offensive.
“The root cause of the Ukrainian crisis also lies in the high-handedness and arbitrariness of the US,” a commentary posted to North Korea’s Foreign Ministry website on Saturday reads.
The statement argues that Washington has pursued “military supremacy in disregard of the legitimate demand of Russia for its security.”
It accuses the US of unjustifiably interfering in the internal affairs of other nations without regard for “peace and stability” and ignoring self-defense measures taken by other nations, including Russia. “It is arrogance and double standards,” the statement reads.
DJ; In the past North Korea did the "hard talking" while China sticked to more moderate talk.
Since dramatic changes took place in Ukraine, the US, which had repeatedly promised to protect Kiev at critical moments and continued to "add fuel to the fire" of the situation, has once again come into the spotlight. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a video speech complained that Western countries have abandoned Ukraine and left it to defend itself alone. Some Western netizens even asked: Where has the US been which provoked the war and said it "stands with Ukraine?"
However, has the US really disappeared? On the contrary, it is quite busy gaining more "strategic interests" from the flames of war in Ukraine. The latest remarks by the US on the Ukraine situation released by the White House have underlined two points: First, turning Russia into "a pariah on the international stage" through sanctions and other measures; second, NATO has been "more united and more determined than ever" and this is "good news."
As for Ukraine, which Washington uses as a pawn, in addition to reiterating that the US wouldn't send troops there, Washington only simply said it "will support the Ukrainian people as they defend their country," and "will provide humanitarian relief to ease their suffering." Washington has once again displayed its selfishness and hypocrisy to the world. People have seen that after the US pushed Ukraine into the fire, it stood aside, pretending to care about the country and saying "I support you, keep fighting!"
It is fair to say the evolution of the situation in Ukraine until today is a geopolitical tragedy. From the very beginning, it's a bitter result of the US' strategic selfishness and shortsightedness. As early as 1998 when the US Senate approved NATO's eastward expansion plan, the late senior US diplomat George Kennan had foreseen today's tragedy. He said then, "This expansion would make the Founding Fathers of this country turn over in their graves."
However, the arrogant American elites always think they can profit from crises. For years, the US has incited conflicts, manipulated the situations from offshore and reaped benefits. It is accustomed to be the one who adds the fuel to the fire without paying any cost. What it wants is to realize its instant interests. The US shows no consideration for the suffering of the locals pushed into the forefront. When there is a real crisis, the so-called commitments it initially made will only become empty diplomatic rhetoric. Those politicians don't care about the suffering of local people at all, but attempt to attract attention under the guise of "humanitarianism."
DJ, I think this statement leaves little room on what China thinks of the US....
As Russian forces began to surround Kyiv, Scott and I took a whack at discerning the implications, and what might lie ahead — in the immediate future and over the longer term.
We called to mind that the Feb. 22, 2014 U.S.-sponsored coup (appropriately dubbed “the most blatant coup in history”) was followed by atrocities against Russian-speaking Ukrainians in Odessa on May 2, 2014. Just ten days later, Donetsk and Lugansk broke away from the central government in Kiyv.
Such key events are far from forgotten in Russia, and undergird Moscow’s current determination to prevent such atrocities in the future. Putin, of course, has homed in on the murders in Odessa.
What has emboldened Putin, to the point of invading Ukraine, was also discussed, including what role Chinese President Xi Jinping may be playing simply by having Putin’s back. A good bit of time was devoted to China and its surprisingly strong support for Putin — against the backdrop of the China-Russia “Joint Statement” issued during Putin’s Feb. 4, 2022 visit to Beijing for the first day of the Olympics. China’s recent statements and behavior on the issue of Ukraine have put real meat on that key document and its implications.
The Feb. 4 “Joint Statement” stated that the two sides:
“reaffirm that the new inter-state relations between Russia and China are superior to political and military alliances of the Cold War era. Friendship between the two states has no limits, there are no ‘forbidden’ areas of cooperation.”
Yet, there remain unsettling indications coming from Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, Antony Blinken, and Jake Sullivan that senior administration ‘dolts’ (copyright North Korean leader Kim Jong Un) in the Washington Swamp still don’t get it.
DJ...We are on "a highway to hell" ...and most non-NATO countries blame "the West" for it...
In a hopeful sign of de-escalation, Ukrainian officials said they will meet Russian counterparts at the Belarus border, shortly after Vladimir Putin said he is putting Russia’s nuclear forces on higher alert.
In a Facebook post, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Ukraine has agreed to talks with Russia on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border.
"We have agreed that the Ukrainian delegation will meet with Russian without prior conditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, in the area of the Pripyat River," Zelenskiy said. A delegation has already left Kyiv, Fedir Venislavskyi, a member of Zelenskiy’s party, said in televised comments.
DJ, NATO (UK, US. Poland) is sending in supplies...Russia may attack those transports...including shooting down planes once in Ukraine airspace if they refuse to return.
We are very close to major escalation...(and for what ???)
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 27 2022 at 11:07am
Russian bank Tinkoff now offering to exchange rubles for dollars at a rate of 171 rubles per dollar. It was 83 before the European/US announcement about targeting the Russian central bank. Currency market formally opens tomorrow. This is brutal.
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 27 2022 at 11:09am
The Kyiv Independent@KyivIndependent⚡️EU imposes sanctions on Belarus, bans petroleum imports, sharing technologies. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said that Belarus is actively taking part in the war against Ukraine.
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 27 2022 at 11:54am
SWISS PRESIDENT CASSIS TELLS TELEVISION IT "VERY PROBABLE" THAT SWITZERLAND WILL FOLLOW EUROPEAN UNION ON MONDAY IN SANCTIONING RUSSIA AND FREEZING ASSETS
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 27 2022 at 1:53pm
Update@Conflict_UpdateBREAKING: #Denmark 🇩🇰 becomes the First European Country to let volunteers join foreign brigade in Ukraine 🇺🇦.
#Ukraine #Russia #UkraineRussiaWar4:20 PM · Feb 27, 2022·Twitter
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 27 2022 at 4:04pm
WARNING-pictures of a war are hard to see ! WAR=HORROR !!!!
The situation in the international arena is rapidly escalating. The head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrel said that the EU will supply combat aircraft to Ukraine. Most likely, it means the supply of Soviet aircraft from the countries of the former Warsaw Pact. The delivery of thousands of weapons and the blocking of a large part of the Russian banking system were also announced. It is planned to impose restrictions and seizures on the assets of the Russian Central Bank.
Turkey has officially closed the Bosporus and the Dardanelles to Russian and Ukrainian warships.
In its turn, China announced about holding of naval exercises in the South China Sea from February 27 to March 1. Earlier, PRC officials said that “the time for Taiwan to return home” is approaching.
In the second half of February 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov to put the Russian army’s deterrence forces on special alert. According to him, high-ranking Western officials “make aggressive statements” about Russia.
DJ, unclear what Turkeys position is. Erdogan wants to be friends with both Ukraine AND Russia. Russian military now north of Turkey (Black Sea/Ukraine) and south of Turkey-Syria. Iran seems to be moving closer to the Russian side.
DJ-In general the escalation of this war may now see two blocks;
-western block; EU-US-UK/NATO, Australia and Japan (Turkey=?)
-pro Russian block; Russia, Iran, China, North Korea, maybe also Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela (India, Pakistan see Russia as a partner but want to stay out of the conflict).
Sanctions now may END !!! oil and gas from Russia to the EU and US (US buying Ural-oil...special kind of oil hard to replace). Asia may undo some of the damage resulting from western sanctions).
Japan in the western block (did the US promiss Japan some islands now with Russia since end of World War 2 ?) may push Korea, China towards Russia.
DJ-The western tunnelvision that this war is NOT about NATO moving east can bring us World War 3.
DJ, I doubt all of the EU will support this "hard line" for long. Greece (orthodox) feels related to Russian/Syrian orthodox. Finland gets almost all of its oil and gas from Russia, Germany, Italy "a lot"....The EU sanctions/steps are-in fact-a decleration of war on Russia...
With all due respect, it was the Ukrainian president's raising of the specter of nuclear weapons that was the tipping point to this conflict (not mentioned in mainstream media btw):
DJ, After the Munich security conference Zelinsky claimed Ukraine needed nuclear weapons. (DJ-In 1991 there were Soviet nuclear weapons in Ukraine...(some-suit case nuclear bombs- may still be missing ? ) Ukraine NEVER had nukes of their own (only South Africa did give up its nukes...).
History shows it is very easy to get into a conflict...it may be very hard to get out of it...
Iron Girl@Iron_Girlzz
Foreign contractors supplying weapons will be considered as combatants according to the Hague convention. And will be neutralised. Any incursion of foreign military will be considered as an inimical act and be answered accordingly.
Quote TweetMaxim A. Suchkov@m_suchkov · 13h
⚡️Council of the Federation: #Russia will be delivering precision strikes on individuals on #Ukraine's territory who transport arms to #Kiev
DJ, The West brunging weapons to Ukraine -international law- are combatants. Will be a target.
Turkey is set to restrict the access of Russian warships to the Black Sea over the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, its Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday.
“It is not a couple of air strikes now, the situation in Ukraine is officially a war... We will implement the Montreux Convention,” the official told CNN Turk in a live interview. “Turkey will implement all provisions of Montreux Convention in a transparent manner,” he added.
Under the 1936 Montreux Convention, which regulates the Black Sea straits, Turkey is able to close the straits for military vessels of any nations at a formal state of war, as well as when it feels itself threatened with an imminent war. The country cannot shut down the straits completely, however, unless it is itself in a state of war.
Ankara will still allow military vessels, returning to their home ports to pass through the straits, Cavusoglu noted. “There should not be any abuse of this exemption. Ships that declare returning to their bases and passing through the straits should not be involved in the war,” the diplomat said.
DJ (of course RT is Russian....so Turkey limiting military shipping-the reasoning may include ships from other countries-is "propaganda"...)
If you are waking up in Asia, Africa, or South America wondering why your future and the future of your children are suddenly very much at risk, don’t blame Putin. Blame NATO. And if you want to change this, don’t sanction Russia. Sanction NATO. It is a global suicide pill.
DJ-There may be limited number of countries to de-escalate this crisis. NATO in fact declared war on Russia. It will cause a hardening stand from China, Iran, North Korea, Syria.
The headline that Chinas main banks have stopped financing Russia commodities is misleading They have halted financing in USD They are requiring clients to transact in Yuan This is from sanction risk, not Russia risk We are making the case for the digital yuan for them
Economic war will escalate. (I am looking for the twitter saying sanctions may also hit Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela). And maybe "third countries" will make the difference...the UAE/Arab world looks like they do NOT join the west...Africa, Latin America may be very divided...
Just want to see if anyone else is dealing with this:
Nobody believes how serious this whole thing is. Everyone is treating this like the first Gulf War, where people joked about making popcorn and watching the war on TV.
Either people are saying "It's all over there, nothing will happen..." or they are changing their profiles on Facebook to blue-and-yellow and quoting the propaganda lines.
They all don't seem to realize that this is only weeks or days away from escalation.
I am not an alarmist, but a pragmatist. I look at the writing on the wall.
I can't believe the complacency.
DJ, We are getting much to close to World War Three !!!!!
Russia will NOT !!!! accept NATO moving further east !!! Like NApoleon, NAzi's it will stop NAto at ALL COSTS !!!!!
Some historical facts before tomorrow's Stock Market Opening:
1929: the peak in the Dow was reached on September 3rd, when it closed at 381.17.
55 calendar days after September 3rd was (Monday) October 28th. That was the exact date of the Crash of 1929, with the Dow down 40.58 points, or 13.5%.
1987: the Dow topped out at 2722.42 on August 25th.
55 calendar days later was (Monday) October 19th when the Dow collapsed 507.99 points, or 22.6% in one day!
This year, the Dow topped out on January 4th.
55 days later is . . . tomorrow . . . Monday February 28th.
DJ The present policies are suïcide...crazy is the new normal....insanity rules !
Yet here we are, on the 27th of February 2022, war is raging in Ukraine, the economic "nuclear option" of ejecting Russian Banks from the SWIFT system has taken place this weekend, this morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin put Russian nuclear systems in his country on Special Combat Mission status, which is THE status needed before any Russian nukes can actually be launched, and now we are told that European countries will be supplying Ukraine with FIGHTER JETS through Rzezkow Airport in Poland, so those fighter jets can attack and kill Russians inside Ukraine. Now, the US Government has issued nuclear attack survival instructions.
To all those people who laughed, who called it "doom porn" or said I was Chicken Little . . . . who is laughing now?
The US Government has now issued Nuclear Attack Survival instructions to the American people. What does that tell you?
DJ, Maybe Zelensky/Ukraine may decide it is better to go for neutrality then destruction...Otherwise we simply may not survive this madness !
AGAIN !!! Due to escalation we are now-in fact-in a war between "the west" and nuclear states like Russia, China, North Korea....this only can end bad if we do not de-escalate !!!!
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: February 27 2022 at 11:53pm
DJ, A British Airborne veteran from the battle of Arnhem; "Nobody wants war because at the end nobody wins"....
Tulsi Gabbard 🌺@TulsiGabbard·17h
Unfortunately, too many Americans—including leaders in positions of great power—are not committed to the Constitution. Many don’t even know what the Bill of Rights is and think free speech should only be allowed for those who agree with them. Full speech: https://youtu.be/EOJB_IUB5ko - https://youtu.be/EOJB_IUB5ko
The book burners and misinformation evangelists have set their sights on RT, claiming the network should be BANNED. But if it starts with RT, it won't end until you're left with only the approved networks that have supported, lied about, and covered up every war the US has waged
The goal of "free speech" is to find solutions...Try to limit the risks of a "tunnel vision"....DJ-I can only hope to be able to give a wider perspective...NO this pandemic is not over ! YES climate change will kill us all if we keep acting the way we do...YES Russia will go "nuclear" if NATO tries to keep moving east....
Chris Hedges introduces his latest article for Scheer Post, titled “ https://scheerpost.com/2022/02/24/hedges-the-chronicle-of-a-war-foretold/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(20, 112, 178); - Chronicle of a War Foretold ”, with the following:
“After the fall of the Soviet Union, there was a near universal understanding among political leaders that NATO expansion would be a foolish provocation against Russia. How naive we were to think the military-industrial complex would allow such sanity to prevail.”
Imperial narrative managers have been falling all over themselves working to dismiss and discredit the abundantly evidenced idea that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was due largely to Moscow’s fear of NATO expansion and the refusal of Washington and Kyiv to solidify a policy that Ukraine would not be added to the alliance.
It makes sense that they would have to do this. After all, if westerners were to get it into their heads that this whole terrible war could have been avoided by simply https://twitter.com/AKA_RealDirty/status/1497025710476591108" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(20, 112, 178); - solidifying a policy of neutrality for Ukraine and issuing a guarantee that it would never be added to NATO, they would begin asking why this did not happen. NATO powers had no interest in adding Ukraine to the alliance anyway, so it doesn’t really make sense to refuse to make such low-cost concessions if the only alternative is mass military slaughter. I mean, unless your goal was to provoke mass military slaughter https://twitter.com/caitoz/status/1497079260842184704" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(20, 112, 178); - to advance your own https://www.crikey.com.au/2022/02/25/ukraine-invasion-strategic-opportunity-america/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(20, 112, 178); - geostrategic objectives .
So they work hard to present the narrative that the invasion has nothing to do with NATO at all, and occurred solely because Putin is an evil madman who hates freedom and wants to destroy democracy. Most western analysis goes no deeper than this
DJ...Stupid is the new normal....
I did try to get to "the Saker" (Iceland...) seems to be "blocked"...
What do I expect for this last day of february;
-There most likely will be "contact" between Ukraine and Russia (most likely at the Ukraine-Belarus border, it is welcome there is at least some contact, however...)
DJ-I expect Russia will present Ukraine an ultimatum.
-Ukraine will not join NATO/EU
-No nuclear weapons in Ukraine
-Ethnic-Russian safety
If Ukraine fails to give in it may face "total war"....
DJ-Ukraine has a large ethnic Russian population. There are increasing reports of "Ukraine nationalists" and neo-nazi's killing those Russians because they might be on the side of Russia.
DJ-Another problem will show up in the EU....There was a decission NOT to include Ukraine in the EU...all of a sudden some "EU leaders" now want to change that ?
Germany going for full rearmament...Not all people may like that idea...
As Bloomberg notes, commodities are also heading for a manic start to the week as investors scramble to assess how the West’s latest sanctions on Russia will affect flows of energy, metals and crops.
The coming days are fraught with event risk for crude, even aside from the sanctions fallout. There’s a midweek meeting of OPEC+ on output; the Biden administration may tap stockpiles; and Iranian nuclear talks look to be nearing a conclusion. On top of that, American crude inventories at the key Cushing hubcould sink to the lowest since 2014 if there’s another modest draw.
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs said that despite the rally in prices, it’s unlikely OPEC+ will choose to quicken the pace at which the alliance has been restoring supplies, citing Russia’s “essential role” in the grouping.
And while Europe's moment of unity is certainly inspiring, it doesn't answer the question just how the continent will replace the massive amount of energy that flow every single day via the countless Russian pipelines into Europe, which are now for most intents and purposes shut.
But a bigger question, and one which has so far not been pursued, is what happens to the western financial system as a result of the sudden expulsion of Russia - and its billions of dollars - from the global monetary system.
One somewhat dire take comes from Bear Traps report author Larry McDonald who writes overnight that we need urgently to know what is actually sanctioned here: "They - Olaf - Macron - Biden - will try and dance around risk with a targeted swift but they’re probably not qualified to do so" adding that "It’s like a Lehman weekend with clueless politicians trying to find risk in the dark."
"If they sanctioned the central bank and the transfer agents for Eurobonds then Russia will default on all foreign debt immediately. And if Russia tries to find a back door through China we will fine or sanction Chinese banks. Another thing, Germany can play swift tough guy but Macron has to protect most vulnerable Soc Gen and Draghi is probably trying to protect vulnerable Italian banks like intesa.”
While that take may be a bit extreme as it presupposes Europe has rushed into the wholesale sanctions without any backup plans, a more nuanced take comes from Credit Suisse repo guru and monetary plumbing expert, Zoltan Pozsar, who took a detour from his extensive narrative of how the Fed's QT will impact the market and instead focuses on what could be a "Lehman weekend" for funding markets as a result of Western sanctions on Russia which as Zoltan notes is a "surplus agent" - i.e., an entity which typically lends a lot of funds in the Eurodollar market. The Bank of Russia has over $450 billion in non-gold FX reserves, and the private sector has over $500 billion of liquid investments as shown below
First, some background on where Russian central bank assets are located
As shown in the chart below, of Russia's close to $1 trillion of liquid wealth, just over $300 billion is in short-term money market instruments, and Pozsar estimates that about $200 billion of this represents the lending of US dollars in the FX swap market.
This, however, is not immediately obvious from the Bank of Russia’s reports, which as the Credit Suisse strategist notes don’t mention FX swaps and list only about $100 billion in US dollar exposures. As such, Pozsar cautions that the published numbers require careful interpretation: Thus, according to the Bank of Russia’s latest Foreign Exchange and Gold Asset Management report, U.S. dollar assets made up about 20% of Russia’s non-gold FX reserves at the end of June 2021, which is way down from 50% at the end of March 2018
DJ...the West just pushed the button for global chaos...The ZH does not even mention how China banks will react...the UAE, Pakistan, India may see a finacial collapse caused by western stupidity....We may not be blowing up the "real world" but may be close to blowing up the financial world....
1. US dollars creditability crisis due to over printing money. 40% of all US dollars in existence were printed in the last 12 months. This is set to devalue the foreign reserves of all other countries. Over the recent years many countries have been trying to find alternatives in trades.
2. Inflation soared above 7% due to money printing and supply chain issue. The Fed has planned to raise interest rates to lower the inflation, which risks hitting the economy.
3. Nord Stream II: Last year the USA warned that Nord Stream II must be stopped, but it’s completed nevertheless. The crisis in Ukraine is the reaction by the USA. More reliance on Russian energy supply means Europe gets closer to Russia. It’s the best interests of Russia and Europe to be close instead of being divided. The USA allowed a gas pipeline from Russia to Germany passing through Ukraine, but NOT allowed a gas pipeline directly from Russia to Germany. Why? Because then the USA could control the gas supply to Germany via its proxy Ukraine (Ukraine has a government that the USA installed in the color revolution at Maidan in 2014). One of the most important purpose of NATO is to control Europe, as the first NATO Secretary General, Lionel Ismay put it: “To keep America in, to keep Russia out, to keep Germany (Europe) down”. The very reason for NATO’s expansion since 1991.
4. Russia and China are planning to use Euro as the currency for oil trades, threatening the petrol-dollar. America has just 4% of the world’s population and it’s isolated from the Eurasia-Afro supercontinent where 87% people live. The economy in this supercontinent is rising faster than America at a much bigger size, and Euro is a natural and preferred currency of trades here. The America has a long term strategy against Eurasia, as former Americans NSA chief Zbignew Brzezinski put it: “It is IMPERATIVE that no Eurasian challenger emerges capable of dominating Eurasia and thus of also challenging America.”
5. The Military Industrial Complex projects in the Middle East are closing down.
6. Biden’s low support rate heading to mid-term election.
7. Can’t get Russia into a direct war because it is nuclear armed.
If a war broke out in Europe:
1. Euro drops, strengthening dollars.
2. Capitals from Europe move to the USA. Killing two birds with one stone: reduce inflation, stabilize economy.
3. Russia is divided from Europe. The USA’s grip on Europe is maintained.
4. Petrol-dollar life is prolonged, therefore the life of the American Empire.
5. Continuity for the MIC.
6. Putting America in a commanding position in foreign affairs could boost the support rate.
7. A proxy war would place the battlefield outside of America. One in Ukraine, one in Taiwan (against China).Seven major problems/concerns of America could be solved/mitigated if the war broke out in Ukraine. Not really that hard to see who’s behind the crisis.Ukraine and Russia were never the root of the crisis but rather the consequence. If the crisis in Ukraine ends today, the USA would probably look for another proxy to play the game. The attempted coup in Kazakhstan last month for example. Divide and conquer is the modus operandi of the Anglo-American empire for centuries. They are playing the same game in China-Taiwan.In geopolitical terms: The Chess Players (USA vs Russia), the Chess Pieces (European countries+Zelensky), the Chess Board (Ukraine).Ukraine is just the chess board. Sorry for the ordinary Ukrainian.
DJ, End for now...hope internet will keep working...
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: February 28 2022 at 7:12am
Here in NL I am getting "political homeless"...if it was only me no problem...but the gap between "politics" and a large part of the public is getting even more wide...
For the first time in decades I may decide NOT to vote in the mid-march local elections.
I will NOT vote for right wing extremists but "progressive parties" simply fail to represent my views...
Since again-I will not be the only one, NL not the only country with this kind of problem...this Ukraine crisis may be also "next door"....
Warsaw is consulting with London. The EU is confident that the Russian blitzkrieg has fallen through and that Ukrainian troops will hold out in Kyiv and left-bank Ukraine for another week. Still, Russia’s military potential, not yet fully activated, will eventually allow Putin to achieve tangible military results. Unlike Hungary and Slovakia, the two EU countries bordering Ukraine and inherently pro-Russian, Poland boasts an impressive military potential and is openly anti-Russian. Therefore, Poland is viewed by London and Washington, as a country best suited for providing assistance to Kiev. In addition, if the situation does not change in the coming days, Poland may have to deal with an avalanche of refugees whose number is constantly increasing.
It is apparently with such concerns in mind that they are now holding a series of consultations in Warsaw mulling a dispatch of Polish troops to western Ukraine where Russian missiles are already knocking out military facilities, and thousands of refugees are streaming towards the Polish border. Besides, the Russian armed forces are unlikely to occupy a region whose population, unlike that in the east of the country, is predominantly anti-Russian. However, the public sentiment there is certainly not pro-Polish either. Until 1939, Ukraine’s eight western provinces were part of Poland, which pursued a strict nationalistic policy of “Polonization,” banning the use of the Ukrainian language there. Attempts by the local Ukrainian underground to resist this policy failed and resulted in mass-scale arrests. Small wonder that in 1939, many local residents greeted the Red Army with flowers. Until now, the Poles consider Ukrainian Lviv one of their cultural centers, calling the region the “lost eastern poviats” (district, Polish). Now it looks like Warsaw may get a chance to recoup itself.
The problem is, however, that the British are persuading the Poles to go it alone, separately from NATO. To send in peacekeepers on behalf of Warsaw, as it were, to “protect the civilian population.” By the way, this is exactly how the Soviet Union justified its decision to send the Red Army into Eastern Poland in 1939. However, back then Stalin announced that the Polish state had ceased to exist. And now the Polish army would “come to the rescue…”
Such a scenario would be really beneficial for Warsaw. First, Poland would thus manage to keep the streams of refugees inside Ukraine. Secondly, it would demonstrate its determination to defend the interests of the United Europe. Thirdly, such a decision would be a gift to the Polish nationalists and would send the approval ratings of the country’s leadership through the roof. Finally, this would greatly facilitate the delivery of military cargos and equipment to the Ukrainian army.
DJ, After World War Two a lot of borders in Eastern Europe were redefined...̈Real-politik" , German for political realism may result in Poland "creating a sort of buffer state" in West Ukraine...just like Turkey would like to create a "buffer state" at its border with Syria and Iraq...
DJ, In political view it may not be that far away from the Polish "catholic extremism"...only "United Russia" is Russian Orthodox....Poles and Russians may not be "the best friends" but may be able to "make the best of it" for both countries at the expense of Ukraine...It may be one of the worries Zelensky has in the talks with Russia...
The Russian Northern and Pacific fleets, Long-Range Aviation Command and strategic bombers are all now on maximum alert. NATOstan better not try to fly any "military aid" to Ukraine. Are you listening now?
DJ, "The West" is making all kind of promisses...but it may not be enough to help Ukraine since;
By a Deep State high-level dissident: "Russia has all they need to be self-sufficient and do not need SWIFT. It is CHIPS that is significant - the international bank clearing house. If Russia don't get paid, they shut off natgas and oil exports. They could demand gold."
As an example I offer you yesterday's https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-en/news/policy-statement-by-olaf-scholz-chancellor-of-the-federal-republic-of-germany-and-member-of-the-german-bundestag-27-february-2022-in-berlin-2008378" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); text-decoration: underline; - Policy statement by Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany
The above are what you hear and see in current 'western' news. It is not reality.
The U.S. and its proxies in the EU and elsewhere have put up very harsh sanctions on Russia to damage its economy.
The final intent of this economic war is regime change in Russia.
The likely consequence will be regime change in many other countries.
DJ, Again...I will not be the only one now getting "political homeless"....the gap between a political elite and the people they claim to represent may have become to wide...
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 28 2022 at 1:01pm
The EU has formally approved making available €500m to finance the provision of equipment and supplies to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, including - for the first time - lethal weapons, our Brussels bureau chief Daniel Boffey reports. Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said: Following the request by Foreign Affairs Minister of https://www.theguardian.com/world/ukraine" rel="nofollow" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(80, 101, 141); line-height: inherit; text-decoration: underline; - Ukraine , we are immediately responding by mobilising the European Peace Facility for two emergency assistance measures to finance the supply of lethal and non-lethal material to the Ukrainian army.
This is the first time in history that the EU will be providing lethal equipment to a third country. We are doing everything we can to support Ukraine, we stand by the Ukrainian people. EU member states have also approved a proposal to deny permission to land in, take off from or overfly their territories to any aircraft operated by Russian air carriers, including as a marketing carrier, or to any Russian registered aircraft, or to non-Russian registered aircraft which are owned or chartered, or otherwise controlled by a Russian legal or natural perso
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 28 2022 at 1:02pm
The European parliament will on Tuesday adopt a resolution calling on the EU institutions to work towards granting EU candidate status to https://www.theguardian.com/world/ukraine" rel="nofollow" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(80, 101, 141); line-height: inherit; text-decoration: underline; - Ukraine and in the meantime to continue to work towards integration into the EU single market, the Guardian’s Daniel Boffey writes.
The call from MEPs follows images from Kyiv of president Volodymyr Zelenskyy signing the formal letter of application for EU membership.
An EU official has explained the process. The letter of application is written to the president of the council of the EU which is currently held by France.
Member states, the European parliament and national parliaments are then informed of the application by the council.
A meeting of the 27 EU affairs ministers, known as the general affairs council, needs to take a decision to formally seek the European Commission’s opinion on the application.
It would normally take 15 to 18 months for a commission to issue its opinion although that period could be significantly shortened “depending on the political considerations”, the official said.
There is a pre-accession period of varying length, during which the candidate country adapts its institutions, standards and infrastructure to enable it to meet its obligations as a member state. The accession process involves compliance with the accession criteria including adoption and implementation of EU law
___________
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 28 2022 at 1:03pm
Finland will provide weapons and ammunition to https://www.theguardian.com/world/ukraine" rel="nofollow" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(80, 101, 141); line-height: inherit; text-decoration: underline; - Ukraine , the country’s prime minister Sanna Marin said.
The shipment will include 2,500 assault rifles, 150,000 bullets, 1,500 anti-tank weapons and 70,000 food packages, Finland’s defence minister Antti Kaikkonen added.
Speaking after a government meeting today, Kaikkonen told reporters: The anti-tank weapons can be used to fight armoured vehicles. Kaikkonen hinted yesterday that the Finnish government was considering scrapping Finland’s long-standing policy of not allowing weapons to be exported to war zones.
The minister also said that Finland, which is not a Nato member and shares a long border with https://www.theguardian.com/world/russia" rel="nofollow" style='box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); color: rgb(80, 101, 141); line-height: inherit; text-decoration: underline; font-family: Verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;'>Russia , had given the green light to Estonia to send previously Finnish-owned field guns to Ukraine
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 28 2022 at 1:18pm
BREAKING: And wow!!! After BP, the deluge. Shell announces it's exiting all its joint-ventures with Gazprom, including its 27.5% stake in the Sakhalin-2 LNG facility. Shell carries those JV at $3 billion valuation on its books, and it's warning of impartments #Ukraine
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 28 2022 at 1:20pm
BP is exiting its share in Rosneft, a state-controlled Russian oil and gas company, in reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
BP has held a 19.75% stake in Rosneft since 2013, a holding valued at $14 billion.
London-based BP also said Feb. 27 that CEO Bernard Looney and former BP executive Bob Dudley will immediately resign from Rosneft’s board.
“Like so many, I have been deeply shocked and saddened by the situation unfolding in Ukraine, and my heart goes out to everyone affected. It has caused us to fundamentally rethink BP’s position with Rosneft,” Looney said in a statement.
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 28 2022 at 1:44pm
Jason Corcoran
@jason_corcoran
·
Apple Pay and Google Pay no longer work on Moscow's metro system, leading to long queues as people fumble about for cash
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: February 28 2022 at 2:07pm
Bulgaria will give Ukraine 14 Su-25 & 16 MiG-29 fighter jets, Poland will give it 28 MiG-29s & Slovakia will give it 12 MiG-29s. More importantly--given Russian missile strikes on military airbases--they can fly missions over Ukraine from Poland
Posted By: WitchMisspelled
Date Posted: February 28 2022 at 4:01pm
Josh, you can have any opinion you want. Just don't make the mistake that its been missed that you've illustrated opinions in the past that have been decidedly and consistently anti-American. Which is also okay. You can be anti-American if you want. But going forward, if I notice that you apply those ethics of yours in a way that is hypocritical I will call you out on it. Such as Ukraine being a "failed state" (it's not by any definition a failed state), giving Putin some kind of permission to invade, but criticize American intervention into the middle east failed states. Just sayin'... That is if I notice. Sadly I read you less these days. I see no reason to waste my time. Your posts have less and less value since you've diverged into world politics with a plethora of links from op-ed blogs. I prefer to read the news and make up my own mind than be spoon fed someone else's opinion.
On the bright side, you seem to be in the vast minority that supports Putin's invasion of a sovereign country. Even non-NATO countries which have been traditionally neutral recognize and are taking steps to sanction Putin and lend assistance to Ukraine.
Yeah... there's a reason they call me WitchMisspelled...
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: February 28 2022 at 8:03pm
First of all a few remarks;
If in a democracy there is only room for one point of view you have a democrazy...not a democracy ! If on this forum there is only room for one opinion this is not a "forum"...a marketplace with different opinions...in all modesty, no one has a perfect view of reality...
History is full of inconvenient truths...also todays world has lots of aspects we may not like...like most of the Israel-Arab wars "we" (US-UK-EU) finance the Russian agression in Ukraine...By buying oil and gas...in times of crises often prices go up....We may hate it-should hate it-but WE !!! are paying for the Russian invasion of Ukraine....
We kick Russia out of SWIFT but exclude energy deals from it....and Russia has no problem selling oil and gas to "the West"....while it is working on more pipelines (a.o. via Mongolia) linking China-as the world largest energy consumer with Russian energy export...
No doubt BP, Shell will sell their interests in Russia to Chinese/Russian oil companies...(to nuance "western oil companies stepping out of Russia...).
DJ-This Russian invasion of Ukraine would not have happened if NATO did not want to move east....Somehow this reality is a "political no-go zone"...crazy !!!
I am a pacifist...did see to much violence in my life...have had enough of it for decades...So NO!!!! I am against "Putin" (if it would be only Putin then why sanctions for most high ranking Russians ?) invading Ukraine...I think it makes the world an even worse place to be...However trying to understand the motives is NOT providing excuses...
I think Russia did have other (energy !) options to keep Ukraine out of NATO...(sanctions by Russia, China...the west may need them harder then they need us...O...that idea is also not welcome...sorry, may just be reality !).
There is little point in discussing Ukraine's accession to the European Union right now, said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke out on Sunday in favor of the beleaguered Eastern European country becoming a part of the Union in the long-term.
It is "not a good discussion" to have right now, Rutte said during a debate in the Tweede Kamer. "We're not going to help Ukraine that way." Expanding the European Union is a very complex, time-consuming and complicated process, the prime minister said..
DJ....there are criteria for EU membership on corruption, level of democracy, good functioning legal system...Ukraine did not fulfill those criteria...so it is "in the EU waitingroom" since 2016. Given the problems we have with "newer EU members" (Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Malta...often corruption, sometimes also freedom of press, legal system, new members may have to wait even longer...one other criteria for EU membership includes taking the Euro as currency...old members (like Denmark) did not have to follow that rule...Poland was supposed to be the next country switching to the Euro...but that proces has been delayed by years...).
The @UN expects 4 million refugees to flee Ukraine in the coming weeks. Over 520,000 have fled already, not counting the ones that went to Russia
DJ, Like all refugees also these refugees need to be treated as humans with human rights...since there is allready an EU/Ukraine treaty Ukrainians are allowed into the EU for 90 days...this time could get expended to two years...however...the EU is very divided over refugees...countries on the outside of the EU are seeing a lot of refugees getting in and not moving any further...
Hungary allready declared it would NOT send weapons over the border to Ukraine...There have been some transports from SE Poland into Ukraine by truck (taking three days...refugees on the road may make transport into Ukraine difficult).
DJ-"The west" did promise "lots of weapons" including aircraft...however sending weapons into a conflict zone makes the countries doing so part of the war...So words may come easy, weapons may come very limited...
One of the points in "secret diplomacy" may be creating a "safe zone" east of the EU in the west of Ukraine...For the EU it could mean keeping refugees out...for Russia it would mean keeping supplies out (for the rest of Ukraine..unless controlled). Even more cynical; it would provide the west with an excuse why it could not send the promised weapons...Ukraine may not like this idea...but Ukraine is not in a good position to negotiate...
For that matter-Ukraine may be in the same position Poland was in most of history...in between two major powers; Germany and Russia...often, also under the czars, being split up between them...For that matter Poland, but also France, UK, NL may have second thoughts about a German (left wing !!!! the green party is in the cabinet !!!) plan for rearmament, a stronger German army...
DJ-In most of Europe there may come a "political crisis" (if there is not one allready)..."left wing parties" that allways were critical of NATO now "switching to pro-NATO" may lose much of their support...I do expect a very serious backlash in a lot of European countries...the gap between "politics" and the public is getting much to wide...
An additional major development Monday is that Turkey as expected has invoked the Montreux Convention and has now closed the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits to all Russian warship traffic. This means Russian vessels cannot enter the Black Sea from the vicinity of the Mediterranean. But this also applies to https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2022/02/turkey-closes-the-dardanelles-and-bosphorus-to-warships/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(20, 112, 178); - all warships at this time ...
"When Turkey is not a belligerent in the conflict, it has the authority to restrict the passage of the warring states’ warships across the straits. If the warship is returning to its base in the Black Sea, the passage is not closed. We adhere to the Montreux rules. All governments, riparian and non-riparian, were warned not to send warships across the straits."
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğluhas since declared that "all countries, that have coast to Black Sea, or not, not to let warships pass through the straits" according to state-run Anadolu. It follows Turkey issuing formal recognition of the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a "war" - which in turn triggers the Montreux Convention.
DJ, Turkey wants to maintain good relations both with Ukraine and Russia (it needs Russian energy and tourism...) DJ-My idea is that Ukraine could join "TIP", Turkey, Iran, Pakistan block...as a sort of compromise...(To be realistic; Ukraine is very unlikely to become either member of NATO or EU...)
Update(1449ET): Already Putin has previously been on record as saying Western actions such as sanctioning a sitting head of state or targeting the central bank would be viewed as an "act of war". But now another red line has been drawn, following more and more European governments - most notably Germany - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/27/world/europe/germany-ukraine-russia.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(20, 112, 178); - ditching their policies of neutrality when it comes to shipping their weapons into foreign conflicts:
RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SAYS THOSE SUPPLYING LETHAL WEAPONS TO UKRAINE WILL BEAR RESPONSIBILITY SHOULD THESE WEAPONS BE USED DURING RUSSIA'S MILITARY OPERATION - IFAX
More than likely, US and UK-supplied weapons, particularly anti-tank missile systems as well as possibly Stingers, are already being used by Ukraine forces against Russian tanks and armored vehicles. Unverified footage circulating widely online suggests as much at this early stage.
But it appears Russia's military is taking steps - or at least threatening action - against any external supply lines coming from NATO countries in support of Ukrainian forces. This clearly has the potential to quickly spiral into direct military conflict with the US and West...
DJ, One could argue that "allowing refugees to go west" Russia may hope to stop supplies to go east...Russia treid to destroy all Ukraine airbases...but a limited number of Ukraine aircraft (fighters, helicopters, transport) may be able to use roads...Maybe low flying planes could escape Russian/Belarus radar and drop (limited) supplies...
China has on Monday issued a strong statement urging a cessation to the conflict and for negotiations toward a ceasefire to continue. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a press briefing Monday:
"We call on all parties to return to the path of diplomatic negotiations and a political settlement as soon as possible. We also suggest undertaking a comprehensive settlement of the Ukraine problem through negotiations and consultations," he said.
"We call on all parties concerned to demonstrate calmness and restraint and to avoid further escalation," he emphasized. This as Russia heightened its nuclear readiness posture once again. While calling it an unnecessary "escalation"
DJ China is a "strategic partner of Russia", that will not change...it needs energy...but may need to do trade with the EU to go via Pakistan-Iran-Turkey (so excluding Russia). China (and India ? Arab world ?) may "see a role" for Ukraine as "a link" between the EU and them...willing to do investments...
Whoever controls the narrative controls the world. Humans are storytelling creatures, so whoever can control the stories the humans are telling themselves about what’s going on in the world has a great deal of control over the humans. Our mental chatter tends to dominate such a large percentage of our existence that if it can be controlled the controller can exert a tremendous amount of influence over the way we think, act, and vote.
The powerful understand this, while the general public mostly does not. That’s all we’ve been seeing in these attempts to regulate ideas and information as human communication becomes more and more rapid and networked. An entire oligarchic empire is built on the ability to prevent us from realizing at mass scale that that empire does not serve us and inflicts great evil upon our world. The question of whether our species can awaken to its highest potential or not boils down to whether our dominators will succeed in locking down our minds, or if we will find some way to break free.
DJ, Freedom of information, freedom of expression is at risk at this moment ! Very unhealthy hysteria is dominating both media and politics ! With that democracy is at risk !
I still feel safe enough to write down my opinions on this forum...I would feel I lost something very valuable if I did not feel safe any longer to espres myself...
Stay safe & sane !
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: March 01 2022 at 4:54am
Three NATO countries will deliver more than 70 warplanes for the use of Ukraine, military representatives in Kiev announced on Tuesday morning.
According to a statement published on Facebook, Poland, Bulgaria, and Slovakia will provide over 70 Soviet-era MiG-29 and SU-25 aircraft that can be based at Polish airfields.
Sixteen MiG-29 fighters and 14 SU-25s will be provided by Bulgaria. Poland will send 28 MiG-29 warplanes, and Slovakia can deliver 12 MiG-29 jets, the officials stated.
“Our partners gave us MiG-29 and SU-25! If needed, they can be based on Polish airfields from which Ukrainian pilots can carry out combat missions,” the https://www.facebook.com/stories/102366518597606/UzpfSVNDOjI2NDYzODIzNTgyNTYyMw==/?view_single=true" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: 0px 0px; color: rgb(10, 106, 166); text-decoration: none; - statement read, also suggesting that there will be more “Ghosts of Kiev” soon.
The ‘Ghost of Kiev’ became a media legend following reports that a Ukrainian pilot “managed to single-handedly take down 6 Russian fighter jets.” However, the footage showing the ‘Ghost’ was soon revealed to be a clip from the computer game ‘Digital Combat Simulator’.
https://www.rt.com/russia/550835-uk-delivers-weapons-ukraine/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: 0px 0px; color: rgb(10, 106, 166); text-decoration: none; - Russia invaded Ukraine last Thursday, stating it was necessary to “demilitarize” the country to protect the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, and Moscow's own security interests. The majority of Western countries condemned the attack and imposed tough sanctions on Russian officials, and the country at large.
DJ, So the idea is those planes woulf "fight Russia" from Polish bases / And if Russia would attack those bases article 5 of NATO would have to see that as "an attack on NATO" ?
Yesterday's blazing headlines about European countries deciding to "give" fighter jets to Ukraine, to be based at an airfield in Poland, has completely fallen apart. As of this morning, NO country will be giving ANY fighter jets!
It's official - Europe won't transfer fighter planes to Ukraine. Poland decided not to, and Slovakian defense ministry spokesperson confirms to me just now: “Slovakia will not provide fighter jets to Ukraine." Yesterday, shortly after the spectacular claim by Ukraine, one of the countries, Bulgaria, flatly denied it saying they don't have enough planes to defend their own country, never mind giving some to another country.
So once again, a spectacular claim by Ukrainian officials turns out to be an outright lie.
DJ....even with all the brainless hysteria...no sane person is willing to start World War Three (I hope) over Ukraine/NATO moving east...
So I repeat again the world’s most important question: is what the U.S. and its allies are trying to accomplish in Ukraine worth continually risking nuclear armageddon for?
Well? Is it?
It’s not really a question you can just compartmentalize away from if you have integrity. It demands to be answered.
Is it worth it to continue along this trajectory? Is it? Is it really? Perhaps there might be some things that would be worth risking the life of every creature on earth to obtain, but is refusing to concede to Moscow’s demands in Ukraine one of them?
Whatever your values are, whatever your analysis is, whatever beliefs you’ve been holding to justify your support for the west’s side of this conflict, will you still proudly stand by them if you look outside and see a mushroom cloud growing in the distance?
Well? Will you?
Here’s a hint: if your answer to this question is premised on the assumption that nuclear war can’t or will never happen, then you don’t have a position that’s grounded in reality, because you’re not accounting for real possibilities. You’re justifying your position with fantasy.
-
There are things Russia has been permitted to do that weaker nations would have been forcefully stopped from doing, like annexing Crimea and intervening in Syria, exactly because they have nukes. If those weren’t the line, why specifically does Ukraine have to be? Surely there’s a line somewhere, but it would have to exist at a point where it would be worth risking the life of every living creature for.
So is it? Is keeping the possibility of NATO membership open and retaining control of the Donbas really so important that we should roll the dice on the existence of the entire human species on it? Is maintaining a hostile client state on Russia’s border truly worth gambling the life of every terrestrial organism for? Are the desperate unipolarist grand chessboard maneuverings of a few powerful people in Washington, Langley and Arlington really worth risking the life of everyone you know and love?
If the answer is no, then building some opposition to what we’re seeing here becomes a very urgent matter. Very urgent indeed.
DJ, is there ANY reason for starting a nuclear war ? If there is not, should we then not get rid of nuclear weapons ? ALL of us ?
DJ, "The Powers That Be deny climate change, while it may be close to killing us all...those same powers deny the worst pandemic in centuries...they even close their eyes for the risks of nuclear war....
Tulsi Gabbard 🌺@TulsiGabbard·Feb 28
In direct opposition to the Constitution, the Power Elite suppresses voices, opinions, & information they don’t like. Those who dare to question ‘the authority’ are accused of spreading misinformation and targeted, smeared, silenced. Full speech -> https://youtu.be/EOJB_IUB5ko
The Powers That Be claim to defend freedom while they destroy freedom...
All of the cable news military “experts”are just now waking up to the fact that Russia’s “failed” invasion is on the cusp of encircling the main Ukrainian military concentration in the east, and knocking at Kiev’s door. CIA propaganda can only be sustained for so long.
As far as I can see the Russian goal is keeping Ukraine out of NATO...not to occupy Ukraine...Even the present Ukraine government may stay in power as long as Russia can have its safety...But claiming the main problem is "NATO moving east" has become treason almost...Have we lost our minds ????
As the Western world still obsesses with how Russia's expulsion from SWIFT will impact the Russian economy, commodity prices and the https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/pozsar-warns-another-lehman-weekend-russia-sanctions-may-trigger-central-bank-liquidity" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(20, 112, 178); - global funding markets , a quick note on how forward looking markets are reacting.
While we wait for US cash markets to open (as futures reverse a modest bounce and trade at session lows), China's micromanaged "market" is already up and running in what so far appears a boring session where the SHCOMP is flat, but where shares tied to China’s Cross-Border Inter-Bank Payments System (CIPS) are surging after Saturday's decision by Western nations to exclude some Russian lenders from the SWIFT messaging system. Why? Because of what Bloomberg notes is growing speculation that China's CIPS could become an alternative for those banks.
What is CIPS? It is a payment system which offers clearing and settlement services for its participants in cross-border yuan trades. Indeed, it is a Chinese version of SWIFT, and one which most Russian banks will likely soon be forced to adopt.
And since China will quickly brush off any threats of sanctions if it were to accept Russia banks into its orbit, it is now clear that instead of driving a wedge between Russia and the country that is true the biggest US challenger on the global scene, China, the West has succeeded into bringing the two powers even closer together while putting the fate of the world's reserve currency in jeopardy, as Dylan Grice explained earlier...
never seen weaponization of money on this scale before…you only get to play the card once. china will make it a priority to need no USD before going for Taiwan. it’s a turning point in monetary history: the end of USD hegemony & the acceleration towards a bipolar monetary order
While the EU wallows in the hysteria swamp, Pakistani PM Imran Khan announced he will be buying 2 million tons of wheat and a lot of natural gas from Russia. This is how the Greater Eurasia Partnership works.
-
For those of you who are not aware, Erik Prince (Blackwater/Academi) personally sold to the CIA the concept of a mercenary army to conduct hybrid war ops and/or crypto-guerrilla war against Russia.
-
Washington badly wants the JCPOA back for ONE reason: to stop Iran from closing down the Strait of Hormuz - in coordination with Russia and China. That would totally crash the US economy. The deal itself is a lie: null and void IF Russia was ever “neutralized”.
"The world united against Russia"...propaganda ! Iran is part of RIC...Russia-Iran-China...
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: WitchMisspelled
Date Posted: March 01 2022 at 6:55am
Dutch Josh wrote:
First of all a few remarks;
If in a democracy there is only room for one point of view you have a democrazy...not a democracy ! If on this forum there is only room for one opinion this is not a "forum"...a marketplace with different opinions...in all modesty, no one has a perfect view of reality...
History is full of inconvenient truths... <snip>
DJ-This Russian invasion of Ukraine would not have happened if NATO did not want to move east....Somehow this reality is a "political no-go zone"...crazy !!!
I am a pacifist...did see to much violence in my life...have had enough of it for decades...So NO!!!! I am against "Putin" (if it would be only Putin then why sanctions for most high ranking Russians ?) invading Ukraine...I think it makes the world an even worse place to be...However trying to understand the motives is NOT providing excuses...
I think Russia did have other (energy !) options to keep Ukraine out of NATO...(sanctions by Russia, China...the west may need them harder then they need us...O...that idea is also not welcome...sorry, may just be reality !).
[
The inconvenient truth is that I'm realizing you are not a pacifist. You're just playing Devil's Advocate. You're also being untruthful when you say you do not support Putin's efforts. Look back to your previous post when you supported Putin in his invasion of Ukraine because it was a failed state.
As I said, you are entitled to any opinion you want to hold on to after reading your little op-ed blogs. They don't reflect the reality, just support your opinion. What is not welcome is your claim you are a pacifist. Not that I'm calling you a war-monger. But your rhetoric and repeating of propaganda makes you worse... it makes you an enabler to conflict.
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 01 2022 at 7:41am
Breaking news: China signalled it was ready to play a role in finding a ceasefire in Ukraine as it 'deplored' the outbreak of conflict in its strongest comments yet on Russia's invasion https://on.ft.com/35lqSGu
France's finance minister Bruno Le Maire said the global sanctions targeting Russia for its invasion of Ukraine were proving powerful and effective at putting pressure on Vladimir Putin’s government. Follow our live blog for the latest updates https://on.ft.com/3huAxNu
Posted By: KiwiMum
Date Posted: March 01 2022 at 12:22pm
There was a very interesting article in the UK's Daily Telegraph about 3 days ago, written by a colonel in the British Army about the Ukrainian situation. He made a few excellent points, and the one that really stuck in my mind was that this invasion wasn't a surprise to anyone. For a long time Putin has been saying don't let the Ukraine into Nato because I don't want nuclear weapons parked in my back yard.
All the West had to do was to assure Putin that they wouldn't do this. Instead, and just to poke the bear in the opinion on this colonel, Nato said we have no interest in letting Ukraine into Nato but we might change our minds at some point and so won't give you that guarantee. Then the president of Ukraine announced that he wanted to join Nato and again Nato poked the bear. Putin gave plenty of warning that he wouldn't tolerate this and then he backed up those threats with action.
The point is, that the West had every opportunity of averting this war. All they had to do was to meet Putin half way. This colonel made the excellent point that it's not just Putin who is to blame for this situation, but the leaders of a number of Western countries too, who in their determination to look like they are calling the shots, were unwilling to assuage Putin's fears.
I don't agree with Putin's invasion of the Ukraine, but I do understand why he did it.
------------- Those who got it wrong, for whatever reason, may feel defensive and retrench into a position that doesn’t accord with the facts.
Posted By: KiwiMum
Date Posted: March 01 2022 at 12:32pm
DJ, I fully agree with you about only one opinion being allowed on a subject. We've seen that a lot recently. It appears that society has recently developed to a point where unless you support the instant popular narrative being shouted from the media, you are the devil himself. Rational discussion and debate has gone out the window. And it's not just just on this war, but prior to that and still ongoing, Covid. Prior to that Brexit.
What on earth has happened to make everything so black and white? It's a form of extremism.
Without a shadow of a doubt, terrible things are happening in Ukraine right now and there are awful stories and photos of the effects of this military action on the general population. Those poor people. We can all see that. But if debate and understanding are not allowed to happen, then this situation will never be resolved. Even now, a promise that Nato will never allow the Ukraine to be a member and Nato weaponry will never be on Ukrainian soil would probably end this conflict. Personally I think that certain world leaders would see it as an affront to masculinity to make such a concilatory promise. They've decided to use this as an opportunity to kick Putin's arse and put him in his place and to hell with the consequences.
The video clip that really affected me was that of a woman in Kiev saying that their media constantly downplayed the threat of invasion and was backed up by the government assuring them that it was all bluster and sabre rattling, to such an extent that when the invasion happened, she and everyone she knew were completely blindsided. It was too late for them to escape with anything other than what they could carry, and no men were allowed to leave. They were hoodwinked. I felt so sorry for her.
------------- Those who got it wrong, for whatever reason, may feel defensive and retrench into a position that doesn’t accord with the facts.
Posted By: KiwiMum
Date Posted: March 01 2022 at 12:35pm
And yes it's laugh out loud funny the hyprocritical nature of the financial sanctions being levied against Russia. Kick them out of the Swift system but then fret that Russia might decided to cut off the fuel supply to the West? Send out of date armaments out to the Ukraine to be used against Russian forces but continue to buy as many Russian weapons and ammunition as possible? It's laughable.
Either trade with them, or don't. Don't be so secretively selective.
------------- Those who got it wrong, for whatever reason, may feel defensive and retrench into a position that doesn’t accord with the facts.
Posted By: KiwiMum
Date Posted: March 01 2022 at 1:07pm
Now before anyone misinterprets what I've said as support for Putin and jumps down my throat about this, let me clarify. I, in no way support Putin's invasion of the Ukraine but I do think that the West must share some of the responsibility for the current situation. There was a perfectly reasonable back door out of this situation but the West chose to paint themselves into a corner instead of taking it. I don't support Putin's actions but I do understand why he has invaded the Ukraine.
------------- Those who got it wrong, for whatever reason, may feel defensive and retrench into a position that doesn’t accord with the facts.
Posted By: KiwiMum
Date Posted: March 01 2022 at 4:59pm
This is an excellent piece of writing and a must read
MARK ALMOND: A rat with nuclear weapons... That's why we mustn't drive Vladimir Putin so far into a corner he will do anything to save his own skin
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/vladimir_putin/index.html" style="font-weight: bold; - Vladimir Putin likes to tell a story about how, as a boy from a poor family in Leningrad (now St Petersburg), he used to hunt and kill rats in the basement of the flats they lived in.
Once, wielding a stick, he cornered a big one. It fought back, launching itself at his face.
The implication of the tale is that the Russian president sees himself as a big rat who will take on any aggressor if trapped.
And right now he is backing himself into a corner — a rat with https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/nuclear-weapons/index.html" style="font-weight: bold; - nuclear weapons that he hints he will not hesitate to use.
This is the image that Western leaders and generals must keep to the forefront of their minds in the coming days.
The chances of Armageddon have, in less than a week, gone from zero to 4-5 per cent in my view. That may not sound very much but it is very worrying indeed.
The emotional pressure is huge. News footage from Ukraine, much of it captured by brave civilians on their camera phones, is horrific.
Cities rocked by volcanic bomb blasts; children huddled in shelters; body bags being carried from burning apartment blocks; and dead soldiers on street corners. Scenes that were unthinkable in a European capital just days ago are a blood-soaked reality.
For people to see this and know that Western governments are holding back from acting to stop the carnage is deeply frustrating. Our natural human urge is to help in any way we can.
But there is a terrible danger that by taking dramatic action to halt the slaughter we could actually make it worse.
At a press conference in Poland yesterday, a Ukrainian journalist pleaded with Boris Johnson to call on Nato allies to impose a no-fly zone across her country to stop Russian bombers from carrying out raids on the capital Kyiv, Kharkiv and other cities.
But if we took this course of action, RAF pilots and their Nato counterparts would have to be prepared to shoot down Russian jets.
It is highly probable that Putin would regard that as an open declaration of war rather than a humanitarian intervention to protect innocent civilians.
Sanctions are causing an internal crisis in Russia. He has to achieve his war aims or face political and personal disaster — and Putin would see a no-fly zone as posing a direct threat to him.
No doubt he remembers the fate of Libya's Colonel Gaddafi, who was lynched at the end of a Nato 'humanitarian intervention' in 2011.
So Boris Johnson and his fellow leaders are right to resist calls to deploy war planes.
However well intentioned, such a move would inevitably inflame an already unstable conflict.
For the horrors in Ukraine today are nothing compared to what could happen if the war spread to full-blown hostilities against Nato.
The West's immediate goal is to get Putin out of Ukraine. Somehow, anyhow — be it by face-saving diplomacy, a retreat in the face of Ukrainian resistance or the consequence of sanctions in Russia.
In the short-to-medium term, we want to see him prised from power. It's clear that while he remains in the Kremlin, global peace is threatened.
But what we cannot do is help drive him even further into that corner to the point where he decides that ten million deaths are a price worth paying to save his own skin.
The Ukrainians have resisted with far greater courage than the Kremlin's generals and yes‑men predicted. If the war continues to go badly for Russia, then a nuclear strike becomes increasingly likely.
Yesterday there were signs that Russia is abandoning its initial 'softly-softly' approach (although it may not have felt like that to Ukrainians) and opting for heavy bombing.
Ukrainians are being warned to evacuate areas of Kyiv — to 'flee or die' says the Kremlin — so the Russians can bomb 'technical facilities'.
In the worst-case scenario, if the Ukrainians continue to hold out and Russian casualties mount, Putin might sanction a nuclear assault on Kyiv to wipe out resistance there.
Ukrainians are being warned to evacuate areas of Kyiv — to 'flee or die' says the Kremlin — so the Russians can bomb 'technical facilities'
This will result in hundreds of thousands of deaths. Then pressure for a nuclear retaliation from Nato would be huge.
But can we sacrifice millions of innocent Russians just as casually as a ruthless dictator?
Of course not. Yet somehow we must make it clear there are limits to the West's patience. Putin cannot be allowed to think he can hold the planet to ransom.
There is another chilling possibility — that the Russians will use a battlefield nuke, a tactical weapon to wipe out military resistance or key Ukrainian facilities.
This would create comparatively fewer casualties but would put incalculable amounts of nuclear waste into the atmosphere — and it risks other potential consequences.
The Ukrainians might decide to use nuclear rods from the nation's power stations to build a 'dirty' bomb for a strike in revenge or desperation.
Threat
This war has rapidly escalated into a life-or-death struggle for Putin. If he is forced from power, he faces trial and possible execution at home, or prosecution for war crimes at The Hague over, for example, the use of cluster bombs.
And he is not alone. He is surrounded by hardliners, men who are as steeped in blood as their president.
Unless the entire Russian government is overthrown by a people's revolution, with ordinary citizens rising up against the police, bureaucrats and oligarchs, the only way Putin can be brought down from within is by his own generals.
It is not impossible. But they will expect concessions from the West, including absolution for war crimes and probably geopolitical gains, such as UN recognition that parts of Ukraine, including Crimea, are officially Russian.
This is not a conflict with easy solutions.
Yes, sanctions will exert pressure on Russia to back down. But not instantly.
One of Putin's cronies, Dmitry Medvedev, tweeted a barely veiled threat yesterday: 'Some French minister has said that they declared an economic war on Russia.
Watch your tongue, gentlemen! And don't forget that in human history, economic wars quite often turned into real ones.'
And while the cost of the war is extraordinary — one estimate puts it at £12 billion a day — the Kremlin is paying for it in roubles, and can simply print more.
Atrocity
In the long run, this will lead to hyper-inflation. But again, that takes time to kick in and impact living standards.
Russians are, however, already suffering some of the consequences. Many found this week they can no longer use Western smartphone apps to pay for Metro tickets and other everyday purchases.
And those who rely on money from family members overseas will not be getting their cash.
Over time, all this will increase the pressure on Putin at home, but not immediately.
For now, however much the West feels provoked, we have to avoid rash reactions. Voices in Ukraine say World War III has now begun, but we cannot allow this to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
No, we must not appease Putin, but we must avoid giving him any excuse to expand the conflict.
We have to support the Ukrainians' right to resist invasion, and give them the means to do that. Yet we must not blunder into the tripwire of all‑out war.
The awful reality is that even when confronted by the worst of the pictures from Kyiv and other scenes of atrocity in Ukraine, ice-cold rationality is the only option.
Mark Almond is Director of the Crisis Research Institute, Oxford.
------------- Those who got it wrong, for whatever reason, may feel defensive and retrench into a position that doesn’t accord with the facts.
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: March 01 2022 at 9:42pm
KiwiMum, thanks for the very welcome nuanced reaction....You dared to write what now seems to be a "denied reality"...NATO moving east as the reason for this war. In Russian (not only Putin) perspective to prevent an even worse war if Ukraine did become a NATO member and nuclear weapons were based inside Ukraine (and for that matter it would not make a difference if those weapons were American or Ukraine did get its own nukes...However when Zelinsky started talking about Ukraine getting nuclear weapons of its own he could/should have known this was crossing a Russian red line. One question is who "advised" Zelinsky to start talking about Ukraine getting its own nuclear weapons....).
What I find most shocking is that asking why NATO has to move east...just that question alone...has become allmost a form of treason...beyond crazy ! And even more far beyond acceptable in any democratic country-if you are not allowed to ask those questions what does "democracy" mean ???
Wang said Japan’s leaders must be “cautious in words and deeds on the Taiwan issue to stop provoking trouble.” He added, “We strongly ask Japan to deeply reflect on its history.”
DJ Do we get another "Ukraine-scenario" in East Asia ? Putting nuclear weapons in Japan and then blame any reaction from China as "agression" ?
Maybe another point, understanding why some steps are taken is not supporting them...only understanding those steps...Russia does (still) have energy as a "basic weapon"...I think it may have been wiser if the Russian government (again-not only Putin...) had choosen that weapon...
-Now a reaction on the (rather bad informed) article;
Russia may have gone-so far-for a "more soft" form of warfare in urban area's, they did use (lots of) heave weapons, cruise missiles most-against military targets...It has the option to increase artillery/drones/bombing in urban areaś however why ??? It is NOT !!! the Russian goal to occupy Ukraine but to make Ukraine stay out of NATO !
In the east of Ukraine a major part of the Ukraine armed forces have been encircled - they may become a target for "more heavy weapons" ...i think Russian heavy weapons on (most) military targets in Ukraine did result in large numbers of people being killed - a bloodbath...
In western propaganda (no other words for it...) the picture they want to create is "Putin is a crazy dictator" ...He most likely is not...He-and his very experienced ministers-know what they are doing...(I doubt if western leaders understand what they are doing...). The west now going for "regime change in Moscow" is playing with fire...
Because the article mentions Russian nuclear weapons...the disinformation is that Russia did prepare ICBM's ..Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles...NOT for use in Ukraine (why should they ? If even the-bad-article mentions the use of more non-nuclear weapons as the more likely option...) but against western targets....In Russian eyes the US is behind these crises...
DJ-What would make Russia go for using nuclear weapons (against NATO-NOT Ukraine !!!) ? A full NATO intervention into Ukraine most likely would...I fear NATO could be thinking of R2P Right to Protect excuses...for some kind of intervention(s) (in West Ukraine).
It would be yet another major mistake to believe Russia would NOT be willing nuclear weapons....
The outcome of western confrontation politics since 1991-end of the Soviet Union-has resulted in Russia-Iran-China in many ways becoming "strategic partners"...India did have good relations with the Soviet Union/Russia since independence in 1947...Pakistan switched from the US to China as major ally (a.o. after insults from trump...Pakistan was involved in the "dirty work" in Afghanistan since the 70's...trying to create "a Vietnam for the Soviet Union"...with Pakistan being ruled by brutal dictators...).
Still some in the "West" seem to think "we are the world" -while they are no longer in the most strategic positions...that is a very major risk and may cause very serious even bigger mistakes bringing us even closer to World War Three....(What is the point of US nuclear weapons in Japan ???? Other then to further provoke China, Russia, North Korea...)
-Maybe some more words about the war inside Ukraine. Civil wars are the worst kind of wars people can do to eachother...Ukraine nationalists killing ethnic Russians...Ethnic Russians killing nationalists or "foreign fighters" they do not trust...
IS was able to recrute a lot of people in western Europe around ten years ago...most likely both the cia and Turkish secret services were involved (maybe without even informing their governments...). Now Ukraine is calling for volunteers to enlist for an "International Brigade"...(NL a.o. is trying to limit/stop that however...NL, a.o. also pointing out Ukraine becoming an EU member is something ALL EU present members decide on...so not in a hurry)....
In the east of Ukraine "western volunteers" are allready facing eachother...On the pro-Russian side they only want people with military experience speaking Russian...The Kiev regime has a.o. the Azov-regiment...untill recent seen as neo-nazi....with all kinds of nazi symbols...now somehow "acceptable" for "the west"...in the south of Ukraine there have been reports of IS...(most likely supplied by the cia/turkey...but the jihadi's "may have been used" in other wars allready; Libya, Armenia...).
I did se the woman in Warsaw asking bojo questions on why "the west" now is refusing a no-fly zone...I fear she may be right...we are allready in World War Three...."bringing democrazy to Russian oil and gas".....
George Bush's grandfather, the late US senator Prescott Bush, was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany.
The Guardian has obtained confirmation from newly discovered files in the US National Archives that a firm of which Prescott Bush was a director was involved with the financial architects of Nazism.
I start an other "inconvenient truth" story ..."we do not want to learn from history" , history is a mirror-once we face ourselves we have to drop all the illusions we had....
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: March 01 2022 at 10:57pm
While in their unprecedented broadside of sanctions on Russia, the U.S. and Western allies went out of their way to spare Russian energy shipments and keep economies humming and voters warm, the oil market has gone on strike anyway. Acting as if energy were already in the crosshairs of Western sanctions officials, refiners have balked at buying Russian oil and banks are refusing to finance shipments of Russian commodities, the https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-scrambles-to-maintain-oil-sales-life-blood-of-economy-11646156655" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(20, 112, 178); - WSJ reports citing traders, oil executives and bankers.
This self-imposed embargo which has effectively halted a majority of Russian oil shipments, threatens to drive up energy prices globally by removing a gusher of oil from a market that was tight even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia, waging war and in need of revenue with its financial system in turmoil, is taking extreme steps to convince companies to buy its most precious commodity.
We https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/tanker-rates-russian-crude-route-soars-nine-fold-three-days" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(20, 112, 178); - previously reported that owners of oil tankers had already started to avoid Russian ports because of both the military invasion of Ukraine and apprehension that sanctions for oil could also come soon, and as a result rates for oil tankers on Russian crude routes had exploded as much as nine-fold in the past few days.
But now, amid growing fears they will fall afoul of complex restrictions in different jurisdictions, refiners and banks are balking at purchasing any Russian oil at all, traders and others involved in the market say. Market players also fear that measures that target oil exports directly could land as fighting in Ukraine intensifies.
“This is going to make it very complex to trade with Russia,” Sarah Hunt, a partner at law firm HFW who works with commodities traders, said of the sanctions laid out as of Monday. “These sanctions against Russia will have an incredible effect on global trade and on trade finance.”
Brent-crude futures, the benchmark in international energy markets, rose nearly 8% Tuesday to above $105 a barrel. But in a sign that demand for Russian oil has evaporated, prices for the country’s flagship Urals crude moved in the opposite direction.
On Tuesday, traders offered Urals brent at a record discount of around $15 a barrel below the price of Brent - with the discount at one point hitting as much as $18.60 - and even then not finding buyers. A drop in the price of Espo, a grade of Russian crude popular in Asia, suggests refiners in Japan and South Korea are hitting pause on purchases alongside those in Europe and the U.S.
DJ, so (pro)western countries are even allready stopping to buy Russian oil...When you look at how Iran oil got "renamed" as coming from Iraq I expect some Middle East countries may be willing to import Russian oil and export the same oil as "Arab oil" with enough western buyers willing to be fooled...
Besides that-the most important energy consumer is China...however if "the west" was seen as "one buyer" that west was the major buyer for Russian oil...so...yes...financial sanctions do effect Russian energy trade...however it may hurt us much more...make us weaker not stronger...
The west still has lots of energy reserves. Companies could not make profits out of them with "low" energy prices. Now prices are that high lots more energy sources can offer profit. (Here in NL there is renewed discussion on gas-exploration in the north of NL...stopped because of earthquakes...we may restart gas exploration and have extra funds to rebuild houses in the north of NL more earthquake proof).
Most of OPEC is "not in a hurry" to increase production...some countries may however be willing to increase exports...
So "will the west run out of energy" because of sanctions against Russia ? No, but prices will go up ! Transports/logistics will get more expensive.
Will it hurt Russia very hard ? To be honest...NO...there are enough Asian buyers-overland pipelines...
-The US had the (silly) idea that India would join the US, Australia and Japan in an anti-China coalition....China and India are on their way to become the #1 and #2 global economy...wich would leave the US at #3 (if you would see the EU as one that may be at #3...US at #4...). However ignoring reality still the US wants to go for not only a confrontation with Russia but also with China...
India has its own interests in EurAsian trade...if it wants to grow Asia, Europe, Africa, Latin America have to bring that growth...Both India and China have to go global with their automobile, aircraft industry....for that matter BRICS still matters....Boeing, Airbus face competition from Brazil, India, China with most of the growth of markets no longer in "the aging US, EU, Japan"...
Australia still exporting raw materials...(and facing climate change problems getting extreme)...
The US putting nukes in Japan is-again-sending the wrong signal...not only to Russia and China but all of Asia....(North and South Korea are united in anti-Japan hate...).
The present situation only underlines the importance of knowing international history...China did see 400,000 Chinese being killed-most by the US-in the Korea War...The way the US is dealing with both Taiwan and Japan most likely will "worsen dramaticly" international relations even more...
-The link between the US dollar and global energy once may have been very strategic in the early '70's...Now it has become a major weak spot. The US has to think of something better !
Confrontationalism mixed with denialism is a very dangerous mix. On top of that "exceptionalism"; the idea of being above any international law-in my opinion made the US to a global risk....
You may not like that vision/idea...see it as anti-US...but the US should make better choices, has a lot to offer ! Communication and cooperation may bring much more results then-always-confrontation...
"Brittania rules the waves" illusion ended after world war 2 (for most, bojo may still not get it...)...Spain, NL did see their "global dominance" vanish earlier...it is the way history works...US was the #1...but in reality no longer is the #1...get used to it...stop fighting it !
This is a friendly advice...NL was a major player in early US history...We did learn some lessons the hard way...still have to learn a lot more! Live is learning...(that is why we get old...).
Stay safe and sane !
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: March 02 2022 at 12:03am
DJ,
Russia hoped talks with the Ukraine government-under pressure-would result in Ukraine giving up the idea of Ukraine joining NATO....so far Ukraine does NOT give up that idea...
It may be one of the weak spots in the Russian "war-strategy"....To "convince" the Kiev government "neutrality is better"....via a "peace keeping intervention" (Russia does not want it to be seen as an "invasion" or "war"...people using those kinds of words in Russia face serious problems...).
What if Ukraine does not give up its idea of joining NATO ? What if NATO refuses to exclude Ukraine becoming a member ? Did Russia think of that option ? I think they did...
-Russia does not "want to occupy" Ukraine is the story now (untill recent Russia did not have invasion plans...was the Russian story...). But if it can not get its goals in another way an outcome may be Russia does occupy Ukraine...
In the south and east of Ukraine a lot of ethnic Russians live...Most likely the Russian idea is they may be willing to become "part of Russia"....or a "Russian Ukraine"...In Kiev, the north-west of Ukraine ethnic Russians are a minority...
Still Russia's goal will be to "limit NATO becoming a risk for Russia"....however that part of the Ukraine may be very strong anti-Russian...Occupying it would bring long term conflict...the Russian strategy will be to "keep this war as short as possible" and also "winning hearths and minds"...(sounds familiair...).
One way NATO still could go "east" is by NATO member states going for "new borders" so parts of western Ukraine becoming part of Poland, Hungary, Romania....allready in NATO...at least for some time "protecting" western Ukraine...
Dividing a country has been often the way out of a conflict in history...(Korea, Sudan are recent examples...).
DJ-Russia most likely not only will be having talks with Ukraine...but may have (indirect) talks with "(some countries of) the west". Both Russia and the West needs to claim they did win...it is allready clear Ukraine did lose...
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: March 02 2022 at 2:43am
DJ, Since I think the Ukraine war is an "East-West confrontation" increasing risks of a nuclear war I will put some extra attention on that...The pandemic is far from over (but my time is limited...)
China FM Wang Li had talks with German and Ukraine FM.
AM see the present conflict has ;
1-A military aspect; Russia's goal is keeping Ukraine out of NATO...not to take over Kiev...(The US wanted the Kiev government to move to Lviv-Western Ukraine...Ukraine refused).
2-Economic warfare, the West learning the hard way sanctions may damage the west more then it harms Russia...the fall-out of it is on its way...may be very dramatic and some EU "leaders" may regret the hard words/choices they made...
3-Diplomatic warfare. China underlining the basis of this conflict is NATO moving east. NATO should rethink its goals if the cold war was supposed to be over....
DJ; The US does NOT !!!! want the Ukraine government to be talking with Russia...(by the way, the Russian delegation is led by a former Russian minister of culture-very anti-communist, friend of Putin...The head of the Ukraine delegation is a politcal veteran that was in a leading position in the last days of the Soviet Union....AM in an earlier video).
My words (DJ); China wants Ukraine to give up its plans for joining NATO...The talk with German FM may be underlining the question why NATO has to move east....
DJ-I have very serious concerns about the "wisdom" of western leaders...they may have no idea of what they are doing...have become a risk for democracy itself !
Again-DJ-my words; China and Russia may be looking at what price Ukraine is asking for giving up its NATO-plans...(The US/UK/EU may try to offer a "better deal" but so far only in words...). Kiev knows it can not win this war..."moderates" in the Ukraine government may want to get rid of "hardliners/extremists" and may not mind if Russia would be willing to do the dirty work....
China may be one of the countries willing to invest in Ukraine...DJ-Ukraine needs investments more then weapons....
DJ-China is not the only country trying to "solve the conflict"....Turkey, Iran, the Arab World...even Israel may be-more or less-on the same "road"....NATO expension is the problem...a neutral Ukraine may fit in their plans/interests...
AM mentions a.o. that if this Chinese mediation would be succesfull it would; 1- increase Chinese influence, 2 embarrase both the US/UK/EU...
DJ Ukraine giving up plans for joining NATO may NOT be accepted by "some" NATO members (hardliners US/UK in a different position then most of the EU...)
What AM does NOT mention is that if Ukraine is unwilling to give up its ideas China may even more move towards the Russian side....Also US plans/ideas on putting nuclear weapons in Japan do NOT improve US-China allready very bad relations....
DJ-The way I see it the US and UK do NOT want to give up the idea of including Ukraine in NATO....may even go that far to create "another Ukraine government" seeking NATO membership...That road only will bring us close to nuclear war.
AGAIN !!!!! IF THE US AND UK DO NOT GIVE UP NATO MOVING EAST WE WILL HAVE NUCLEAR WAR !!!!!
DJ-The problem is NOT Putin but NATO moving east....Not willing to see that problem will result in even worse problems soon !
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 02 2022 at 3:50am
DJ-The problem is NOT Putin
Delusional... He drew first blood, and the solution is his elimination. Hopefully from within.
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 02 2022 at 5:55am
Russian Newspapers Condemn Ukraine War: 'This Madness Must be Stopped'
Anewspaper group in Russia has risked the wrath of government authorities by publishing editions that carry a stern anti-war message.
The publishing group VK-media, which is not connected to social media giant Vkontakte, published editions of their papers in the Urals region with a cover dedicated to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The message "This madness must be stopped" sits above the fold of Wednesday's editions of Vecherniy Krasnoturinsk, Vecherniy Karpinsk, Pro Severouralsk and Globus.
In the left-hand corner, the papers issue a direct challenge to Russia's media watchdog, Roskomnadzor, which has ordered media outlets in the country to delete reports using the words "assault," "invasion," or "declaration of war" to describe the conflict.
"Roskomnadzor prohibits Russian media outlets from calling what is going on in Ukraine in the last few days a war," the papers' message said. "But if you call black white, then it won't stop being black."
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 02 2022 at 5:57am
Kazakhstan takes distance from Russia’s Ukraine war
Kazakhstan, one of Russia’s closest allies, has denied a request for its troops to join the offensive in Ukraine and will not recognise the so-called republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. Instead, an aeroplane carrying humanitarian assistance will leave Kazakhstan for Ukraine on 3 March.
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 02 2022 at 6:00am
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 02 2022 at 6:13am
Strategically, he is already beaten, his place in history guaranteed – as the paranoid pariah who destroyed a neighbouring nation as well as his own. We salute the spirit of Ukrainians and Britain’s mission is to fight authoritarianism until Ukraine is free and Putin is gone.
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 02 2022 at 6:15am
Russian troops 'in disarray and crying’ as some mutiny on warship, reports claim
The attack on its neighbour, with many Russian’s seeing Ukrainians as brothers, has been vilified around the world, and reported to have left some of Putin’s army unhappy.
Russian troops have been bombarding ill-equipped Ukrainians, some of whom are making home-made weapons, and civilian areas have been hit by bombs.
"Looking at the Russian operation so far, they're having tremendous problems with logistics and communications. The whole effort seems shambolic," Michael Kofman, an expert on the Russian military at Washington's Wilson Center, wrote in a tweet.
Posted By: WitchMisspelled
Date Posted: March 02 2022 at 8:03am
KiwiMum wrote:
There was a very interesting article in the UK's Daily Telegraph about 3 days ago, written by a colonel in the British Army about the Ukrainian situation. He made a few excellent points, and the one that really stuck in my mind was that this invasion wasn't a surprise to anyone. For a long time Putin has been saying don't let the Ukraine into Nato because I don't want nuclear weapons parked in my back yard.
All the West had to do was to assure Putin that they wouldn't do this. Instead, and just to poke the bear in the opinion on this colonel, Nato said we have no interest in letting Ukraine into Nato but we might change our minds at some point and so won't give you that guarantee. Then the president of Ukraine announced that he wanted to join Nato and again Nato poked the bear. Putin gave plenty of warning that he wouldn't tolerate this and then he backed up those threats with action.
The point is, that the West had every opportunity of averting this war. All they had to do was to meet Putin half way. This colonel made the excellent point that it's not just Putin who is to blame for this situation, but the leaders of a number of Western countries too, who in their determination to look like they are calling the shots, were unwilling to assuage Putin's fears.
I don't agree with Putin's invasion of the Ukraine, but I do understand why he did it.
I'm not going to jump down your throat, Kiwimum. Like Josh, you are entitled to whatever opinion you choose. That being said, you are not expecting the rest of us to own that opinion. Josh's spamming of this board with links to all his little blogs and personal opinions is ramming it down the throat of anyone reading.
What I will point out is that Putin's NATO narrative is false. Ukraine has been in a sort of partnership with NATO since 1992. Yet, Ukraine is not part of NATO, nor will it ever be. If Putin's narrative were true, Ukraine would already be a member. Member or not, the partnership would have enabled NATO to place nukes in Ukraine. That would have been negotiated and already done decades ago.
In terms of negotiation. Putin does not have a history of negotiating in good faith. (Read up on Putin's Crimea land grab in 2014.) Historically, Putin gives a list of demands and made them non-negotiable. Further, they threaten to strong-arm those who are non-compliant or attempt to interfere. It's Russia that has walked away from the table. It is Russia that has threatened other nations with military intervention and possible Nukes if they "interfere" with Putin's agenda. It is all or nothing. So, the "meeting half-way" argument is also a false narrative.
What Putin did not expect was for Biden and other EU leaders to play his hand. Macron tried, bless him, but there again, Putin's word that he would re-enter negotiations was proven to be a false narrative.
There will be no cease fire, here Kiwimum. That choice is Putin's. No matter what anyone believes here. The fate is cast. Putin will ruin his economy, his people will starve and Ukraine will become Russia's Vietnam. A war he can not win.
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 02 2022 at 10:18am
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly voted at an emergency special session Wednesday to demand an immediate halt to Moscow’s offensive against Ukraine and withdrawal of all Russian troops, with very strong support from the world organization’s 193 member nations that sparked sustained applause.
The vote on the resolution, entitled “Aggression against Ukraine,” was 141-5 with 35 abstentions.
Russia got support for its appeal to vote against the resolution only from Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea, a powerful indication of the international isolation that Russian President Vladimir Putin faces for invading his country’s smaller neighbor. Emphasizing that isolation was a major goal of the resolution’s supporters.
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 02 2022 at 10:22am
BREAKING - EU to include crypto currencies in Russia sanctions - French Finance Minister
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 02 2022 at 10:38am
$1 million bounty on Putin offered by Russian businessman
The Russian entrepreneur said the Russian president came to power by "blowing up apartment buildings in Russia."
Posted By: KiwiMum
Date Posted: March 02 2022 at 10:56am
Did anyone see Russell Brand yesterday? It really was excellent.
------------- Those who got it wrong, for whatever reason, may feel defensive and retrench into a position that doesn’t accord with the facts.
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 02 2022 at 11:20am
A true comedian...
Russell Brand is an award-winning comedian, writer, actor and presenter. He is one of the most recognisable and best-loved comedy performers in the world
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 02 2022 at 11:25am
Four Russian Air Force fighter jets (2 Su-24s & 2 Su-27s) violated Sweden’s airspace over the Baltic Sea today and were intercepted by Jas-39 Gripen’s.
Posted By: KiminNM
Date Posted: March 02 2022 at 1:19pm
Thanks WitchMispelled (agree with every word you wrote) and KSC. Hadn't seen the news about Russions violating Sweden's airspace - yikes. A couple of other things I hadn't seen also - appreciate them!
DJ - I've greatly valued your contributions during the pandemic. Thank you for your time presenting a ton of information. I found new sources to follow thanks to you. But this? Nah. I'm with Witch.
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: March 02 2022 at 10:21pm
Wake up...western governments are attacking democracy-or what is left of it !!!
Tulsi Gabbard 🌺@TulsiGabbard·20h
This power elite operation to crush freedom of speech IS the enemy attack from within – it threatens the very core of our democratic republic. It’s a complete betrayal of the vision of the American Founders, and a direct attack on…the mission statement in the Declaration of Independence. Instead of a government ordained “to secure these rights,” we now face a government determined to take them away.
Tulsi Gabbard's CPAC full speech - Our freedom comes from God, not from any other person or government
A comment; Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard should be the first female US President. Tulsi is a great Patriot who loves this great country. God bless Tulsi Gabbard. God bless America
How crazy will it get ? If you state" the Ukraine War is the outcome of NATO moving east" will it get me in prison...because our NATO-o so democratic leaders never give up expansion...
The much bigger 'rest of the world' has not condemned Russia but understands how the conflict came about. They blame, https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/why-john-mearsheimer-blames-the-us-for-the-crisis-in-ukraine" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); text-decoration: underline; - like political scientist John Mearsheimer , the U.S. for causing the crisis. This includes, as far as I can tell, all of Africa (54 states), South America, Central America, the Middle East, and all of Asia ex Japan and Singapore.
This rest of the world that did not condemn Russia includes several notable U.S. allies and 'partners' like Turkey (Nato's second biggest army!), India, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Israel.
The case shows how much the standing of the once unilateral superpower has been diminished.
Since 2014 the war in east Ukraine against the people of the Donbas regions has cost more than 14,000 lives. Some 10,000 of those were civilians on the Donbas side. The dying there continues as the Ukrainian army and its nazi battalions https://www.reuters.com/world/un-reports-least-536-civilian-casualties-ukraine-2022-03-01/" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); text-decoration: underline; - continue to shell the cities of Donetzk and Luhansk:
At least 136 civilians have been killed, including 13 children, and 400 have been injured since Russia invaded Ukraine last week, a United Nations agency said on Tuesday.
"The real toll is likely to be much higher," Liz Throssell, a spokesperson for the U.N. human rights office (OHCHR), told a briefing, adding that 253 of the casualties were in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine.
Over the last days I also read several commentators claiming that that the Russian 'regime change' incursion into Ukraine would not have the support of the Russian people and would set them up against their president. Here is news for them:
Maxim A. Suchkov @m_suchkov - https://twitter.com/m_suchkov/status/1498738458285727744" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); text-decoration: underline; - 19:14 UTC · Mar 1, 2022
Meanwhile #Putin's approval rating has raised from 60% to 71% (survey by FOM)
DJ...The West is blocking access to Russian info on this.....Ukraine also not in the ICC...
"The West" is in a very dangerous tunnelvision...this can not end well...
Even if the present Ukraine government would accept neutrality..."The West" would come up with an "alternative Ukraine government" still pushing Ukraine towards NATO membership...even if that would start a "very major war"...The end goal of "The Free West" seems to be regime change in Russia, Iran, China and all other countries not doing what the west is telling them...
If the West does not change that goal we are on our way to World War Three !!!
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: KiwiMum
Date Posted: March 02 2022 at 10:32pm
I've often wondered when we will know that World War 3 has started. I wonder at what point the world will agree that it has (or hasn't)? I've seen people say we're already in it, and others who are saying that it might start.
I guess it's one of the things for which there isn't a definite starting point.
------------- Those who got it wrong, for whatever reason, may feel defensive and retrench into a position that doesn’t accord with the facts.
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: March 02 2022 at 11:34pm
I love my country, but the collective ignorance of the American people empowers so-called public servants who abuse their positions of trust to push policies that further individual agendas at the expense of the nation they ostensibly serve. Fact-based logic no longer matters.
Do WE still live in a democracy or has it all gone "democrazy"???
Scott Ritter
@RealScottRitter
Former United Nations Weapons Inspector, former Marine Corps Intelligence Officer, author, analyst.
did write his words in july 2019...another US government...but at least NOT at the brink of starting World War Three !
Putin’s perspective: it is impossible to reason with a political counterpart whose policy formulations need to conform with ignorance-based narratives.
If NATO was supposed to be "defensive"...and the Warsaw-pact-formed in reaction to NATO (started in 1949..including a.o. Portugal under fascist military...) allready gone for decades...
The most likely answer-allthough hard to swallow-NATO is NOT defensive...it is agressive...nazi-germany may have ended in 1945 but anti-Russian sentiments-around most of western history-did not.
In May 1919 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Mayr" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Karl Mayr - Karl Mayr became commander of the 6th Battalion of the guards regiment in Munich and from 30 May as head of the "Education and Propaganda Department" (Dept Ib/P) of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bavaria" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Bavaria - Bavarian https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichswehr" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Reichswehr - Reichswehr , Headquarters 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_career_of_Adolf_Hitler#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKershaw200872%E2%80%9374-42" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none; - [36] In this capacity as head of the intelligence department, Mayr recruited Hitler as an undercover agent in early June 1919. Under Captain Mayr, "national thinking" courses were arranged at the Reichswehrlager Lechfeld near Augsburg, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_career_of_Adolf_Hitler#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKershaw200872%E2%80%9374-42" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none; - [36] with Hitler attending from 10–19 July. During this time Hitler so impressed Mayr that he assigned him to an anti-bolshevik "educational commando" as 1 of 26 instructors in the summer of 1919. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_career_of_Adolf_Hitler#cite_note-FOOTNOTERees201217%E2%80%9318-43" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none; - [37] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_career_of_Adolf_Hitler#cite_note-FOOTNOTEUllrich201682-44" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none; - [38] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_career_of_Adolf_Hitler#cite_note-FOOTNOTEShirer196035-45" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none; - [39] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_career_of_Adolf_Hitler#cite_note-46" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none; - [A 7]
As an appointed Verbindungsmann (intelligence agent) of an Aufklärungskommando (reconnaissance commando) of the Reichswehr, Hitler's job was to influence other soldiers and to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espionage" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Espionage - infiltrate the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Workers%27_Party" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="German Workers' Party - German Workers' Party (DAP). While monitoring the activities of the DAP, Hitler became attracted to the founder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Drexler" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Anton Drexler - Anton Drexler 's antisemitic, nationalist, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-capitalism" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Anti-capitalism - anti-capitalist , and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Marxist" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Anti-Marxist - anti-Marxist ideas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_career_of_Adolf_Hitler#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKershaw200882-47" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none; - [40] Impressed with Hitler's oratory skills, Drexler invited him to join the DAP, which Hitler did on 12 September 1919. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_career_of_Adolf_Hitler#cite_note-FOOTNOTEStackelberg20079-48" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none; - [41]
Captain Karl Mayr (5 January 1883 – 9 February 1945) was a German General Staff officer and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Adolf Hitler - Adolf Hitler 's immediate superior in an army Intelligence Division in the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichswehr" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Reichswehr - Reichswehr , 1919–1920. Mayr was particularly known as the man who introduced Hitler to politics. In 1919, Mayr directed Hitler to write the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemlich_letter" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Gemlich letter - Gemlich letter , in which Hitler first expressed his anti-semitic views in writing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Mayr#cite_note-Ewing2011-06-03-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none; - [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Mayr#cite_note-Rawlings2011-06-08-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none; - [2]
Mayr later became Hitler's opponent, and wrote in his memoirs that General https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Ludendorff" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Erich Ludendorff - Erich Ludendorff had personally ordered him to have Hitler join the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Workers%27_Party" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="German Workers' Party - German Workers' Party (DAP) and build it up. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Mayr#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none; - [3] As far as it is known, his last rank was major. In 1933, he fled to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="France - France after the Nazis came to national power. Mayr was tracked down by the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestapo" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Gestapo - Gestapo , arrested, imprisoned, and later murdered at the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchenwald_Concentration_Camp" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Buchenwald Concentration Camp - Buchenwald Concentration Camp in 1945.
A fact-based portrayal of Mayr is dramatized in the 2002 film https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_(2002_film)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Max (2002 film) - Max , a fictional account of Hitler's life in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Munich - Munich just prior to joining the German Workers' Party.
)
A part of re-written history is nazi-germany as a western tool to end the Soviet Union....hitler came to power in 1933 (never had a majority of German votes...most of the support from the catholic south part of Germany...his party nsdap was part of a coalition - still that coalition let Dachau happen...first concentration camp for communists, socialists, trade union members...).
Like his father, Luns demonstrated a preference for conservative and authoritarian political parties and an interest in international politics. As a young student he positioned himself on the political right, favouring a strong authority for the state and being of the opinion that socialism, because of its idealistic ideology, had fostered the rise of fascism and nazism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Luns#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none; - [4] Luns joined the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Socialist_Movement_in_the_Netherlands" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands - National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands (NSB) in 1933 and left three years later but when questioned about it in later years, never admitted that it might have been "a youthful misjudgment". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Luns#cite_note-van_der_Vat-5" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none; - [5]
His choice for a diplomatic career was inspired by his father. He joined the Dutch Diplomatic Service in 1938 and, after a two-year assignment at the Private Office of the Foreign Minister, was appointed as attaché in Bern ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Switzerland - Switzerland ) in 1940. In late 1941, he moved to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisbon" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Lisbon - Lisbon , Portugal. In both countries, he was involved in assistance to Dutch refugees, political espionage and counterintelligence. In 1943, he was transferred to the Dutch embassy in London.
-
Luns was more successful in the normalisation of the bilateral relations with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Germany" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="West Germany - West Germany . Luns shared Dutch public opinion in demanding that Germany recognise the damage it had caused during the Second World War, and so a mea culpa required. He demanded that before any negotiations on other bilateral disputes could start, the amount of damages to be paid to Dutch war victims had to be agreed upon. During the final stages of the negotiations on bilateral disputes between the two countries, Luns decided to come to an arrangement with his German colleague on his own accord. He made concessions and so the Dutch parliament threatened not to ratify the agreement. With the full support of the government however, Luns was able to overcome the crisis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Luns#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none; - [9]
-
In 1971, Luns was appointed as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" title="NATO - NATO Secretary-General. At the time of his appointment, public protests against American policies in Vietnam were vehement throughout Western Europe and among European politicians the credibility of the American nuclear protection was in doubt. Though there were initial doubts about his skills for the job he soon proved that he was capable of managing the alliance in crisis.
It goes to far to write all of the links between nazism, nazi's and nato...Most military serving NATO will be anti nazi ! Not aware of the historic links....
But NATO history is "as rotten as dead fish"....now again moving east we have to get rid of NATO !!!
Just my opinion...hope I do not get banned or blocked for sharing it...do not get shot for having that opinion...
The west has gone crazy...again...
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 03 2022 at 1:46am
Ukraine war: Kremlin adviser is shocked by Putin’s actions, and cannot understand logic of Ukraine invasion
‘My advice today, given the situation on the ground, would be to turn a ceasefire into the top priority. We have to stop the conflict.’ says foreign policy analyst Andrey Kortunov
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 03 2022 at 3:25am
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian rouble slid to new record lows against the dollar and euro on Thursday, after ratings agencies Fitch and Moody's downgraded Russia's sovereign debt to "junk" status.
At 1012 GMT, the rouble was more than 9% weaker against the dollar at 116.8 and down almost 8% against the euro at 125.1 on the Moscow Exchange, marking the first time the rouble has traded weaker than 110 to the dollar in Moscow and the first time it has breached 123 to the euro.
The Russian central bank imposed a 30% commission on foreign currency purchases by individuals on currency exchanges - a move brokers said appeared designed to curb demand for dollars - but that did little to halt the rouble's slide.
The finance ministry said it was halting purchases of foreign currency and gold this year as part of a suspension of parts of its fiscal rule - a move also aimed at easing pressure on the rouble.
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 03 2022 at 3:29am
World’s largest shipping companies suspend bookings to and from Russia
Shipping giants including Switzerland-based MSC, Denmark’s Maersk and France’s CMA CGM all announced on Tuesday that they would halt cargo bookings to and from Russia until further notice.
The move exempted deliveries of essential supplies, such as food, medical equipment and humanitarian goods.
The confluence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the barrage of punitive Western sanctions has triggered a mass corporate exodus from Moscow.
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: March 03 2022 at 5:14am
Emergency https://t.me/akutin_dpr_ru/12526" rel="nofollow" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); text-decoration: underline; - statement of the official representative of the People's Militia of the DPR at 15.30 02.03.2022
According to operational information received in the city of Mariupol, on the territory of the Azov-Stal plant, the commander of a separate special forces detachment "Azov" of 12 armored units of the National Guard of Ukraine is preparing for a mass provocation with the death of civilians. For this purpose, the civilian population is brought into the territory of the Azov-Steel plant, which is placed in mined workshops and office premises. Military equipment is placed in the courtyard of the enterprise. In the event of a breakthrough in the defense of the city of Mariupol by units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the nationalists plan to blow up the plant's buildings, with further accusation of the Russian side of destroying civilians and civilian infrastructure with artillery fire.
In the basement and premises of school No. 34 on 17 Gastelo Street, more than 60 civilians are forcibly detained, of which more than half are women and children. All civilians who tried to leave the city through the provided humanitarian corridors are forcibly brought to the school. According to information from the teachers of the Priazov State Technical University, located along Universitetskaya Street, 7, militants from the Azov unit began to mine the building, as well as the approaches to it with controlled explosive devices.
DJ...a western false flag....So far "media" has show themselves to be going for the most crazy stories...most likely only will get worse....
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 03 2022 at 6:20am
Russian intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service, has plans to conduct public executions in 🇺🇦 after cities are captured, according to a European intelligence official - Bloomberg
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 03 2022 at 6:23am
EU says it is picking up signs Russia may bring in martial law - Reuters http://dlvr.it/SL0Kwl
Russia likely to impose martial law on Friday according to this. Today they passed a law with a punishment of 15 years for anyone writing "wrong" (the truth) about the war. It's already a police state. Domestic crackdown coming.
PUTIN TOLD MACRON HE WAS FIGHTING AGAINST A NEO-NAZI REGIME, DENIED HE WAS HITTING CIVILIANS IN UKRAINE, DENIED BOMBING KYIV - FRENCH OFFICIAL MACRON REPLIED TO PUTIN HE WAS MAKING A "MAJOR MISTAKE" ABOUT UKRAINE AND ITS PRESIDENT - FRENCH OFFICIAL
MACRON TOLD PUTIN UKRAINE WAS NOT A NAZI REGIME, THAT PUTIN WAS DELUDING HIMSELF AND NOT DESCRIBING REALITY MACRON TOLD PUTIN WHAT YOU'RE DOING WILL COST YOUR COUNTRY DEARLY, RUSSIA WILL BE ISOLATED, WEAKENED AND UNDER SANCTIONS FOR A VERY LONG PERIOD - FRENCH OFFICIAL
THERE WAS NOTHING REASSURING IN WHAT PUTIN TOLD MACRON, PUTIN SHOWED HIS DETERMINATION TO CARRY ON OPERATIONS - FRENCH OFFICIAL MACRON THEN SPOKE TO UKRAINE'S ZELENSKIY WHO TOLD HIM UKRAINE WILL NOT SURRENDER, THAT NEGOTIATIONS CAN'T BE HELD WITH GUN TO HIS HEAD - FRNCH OFFICIAL
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 04 2022 at 4:07am
The Russian business aviation industry is on the verge of collapse due to the EU and U.S. closing their airspace to all aircraft owned by Russians in retaliation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to industry analysts, this will lead to the decline of business aviation traffic in Russia by almost 85 percent and force business jets owned or controlled by Russian interests to switch to Asian and domestic routes. The move also threatens a wave of bankruptcies of Russian business aircraft charter operators and FBOs.
Amid the ever-growing threat of detentions of Russian-owned business jets by Western authorities, these owners are considering reregistering their aircraft from Western jurisdictions to offshore registries and “friendly” states such as Montenegro. While the latest sanctions apply to all Russian-owned or -controlled aircraft, regardless of where they are registered, it is unclear how authorities will determine aircraft ownership given the widespread use of anonymous shell companies.
Meanwhile, Russian business jet owners could soon see bans on repairs and insurance of their aircraft, as well as the supply of parts and components. These measures have already been implemented for Russian-owned airliners and could be extended to the business aviation sector.
Experts predict that the already approved sanctions will all but cut off business jet sales in Russia, which has historically been one of the largest business aircraft markets in Europe.
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 04 2022 at 4:08am
Putin lashes out at cabinet over Russian airline collapse
Russian president Vladimir Putin gave his transport minister a public reprimand on Wednesday after airline VIM Avia said it needed state support to continue operating and carry thousands of passengers stranded abroad. Highlight text Mr Putin told Maxim Sokolov, the minister, and deputy prime minister Arkady Dvorkovich that he held them responsible for the airline’s collapse, which has seen investigators launch fraud charges against its owner. The airline, Russia’s tenth largest, asked for Rbs840m in state support on Tuesday in order to operate flights to repatriate 39,000 stranded passengers. Mr Sokolov said he saw no use in propping up the airline because it had essentially ceased all operations after failing to pay Moscow’s Domodedovo airport, its home base, for fuel. VIM Avia has between Rbs3bn and Rbs10bn in debt, affecting as many as 200,000 passengers who had bought tickets for upcoming flights, according to Russia’s tourism industry association. The head of Russia’s state tourism agency said on Wednesday that he believed VIM Avia’s owner, Rashid Mursekaev, had fled the country after he missed an emergency meeting and turned off his phone.
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 04 2022 at 2:19pm
War in Ukraine: France sends the aircraft carrier Charles-de-Gaulle, what will it be used for?
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 04 2022 at 2:20pm
The U.S. Army’s V Corps will deploy the bulk of its headquarters to Europe to enhance command and control of ground forces as troops continue to deploy to the Continent in the wake of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
- The U.S. Army’s V Corps will deploy the bulk of its headquarters to Europe to enhance command and control of ground forces as troops continue to deploy to the Continent in the wake of Russia’s war on...
Posted By: KiwiMum
Date Posted: March 04 2022 at 5:23pm
ksc wrote:
War in Ukraine: France sends the aircraft carrier Charles-de-Gaulle, what will it be used for?
I wonder if it has nuclear capabilities?
------------- Those who got it wrong, for whatever reason, may feel defensive and retrench into a position that doesn’t accord with the facts.
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: March 04 2022 at 9:20pm
Charles de Gaulle is the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagship" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Flagship - flagship of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Navy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="French Navy - French Navy . The ship, commissioned in 2001, is the tenth French https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_carrier" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Aircraft carrier - aircraft carrier , first French https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_marine_propulsion" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Nuclear marine propulsion - nuclear-powered surface vessel, as well as only nuclear-powered carrier completed outside of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="United States Navy - United States Navy . She is named after French statesman and general https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Gaulle" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Charles de Gaulle - Charles de Gaulle .
The ship carries a complement of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Rafale" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Dassault Rafale - Dassault Rafale M and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_E-2_Hawkeye" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Grumman E-2 Hawkeye - E-2C Hawkeye aircraft, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurocopter_AS365_Dauphin" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin - AS365F Dauphin Pedro , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurocopter_EC725" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Eurocopter EC725 - EC725 Caracal and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurocopter_AS532_Cougar" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Eurocopter AS532 Cougar - AS532 Cougar helicopters for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_search_and_rescue" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Combat search and rescue - combat search and rescue , as well as modern electronics and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MBDA_Aster" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="MBDA Aster - Aster missiles. She is a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CATOBAR" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="CATOBAR - CATOBAR -type carrier that uses two 75 m C13‑3 steam catapults of a shorter version of the catapult system installed on the US https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimitz-class_aircraft_carrier" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Nimitz-class aircraft carrier - Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, one catapult at the bow and one across the front of the landing area. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_aircraft_carrier_Charles_de_Gaulle#cite_note-gs-7" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none; - [7] As of July 2021, Charles de Gaulle is the only non-American carrier-vessel that has a catapult launch system, which has allowed for operation of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_F/A-18E/F_Super_Hornet" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet - F/A-18E/F Super Hornets https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_aircraft_carrier_Charles_de_Gaulle#cite_note-F/A_18E-CDG-10" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none; - [10] and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_C-2_Greyhound" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;" title="Grumman C-2 Greyhound - C-2 Greyhounds of the US Navy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_aircraft_carrier_Charles_de_Gaulle#cite_note-C2_Greyhound-CDG-11" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none; - [11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_aircraft_carrier_Charles_de_Gaulle#cite_note-Rafale-US-Carrier-12" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none; - [12]
DJ; A few reasons why that ship is "in the region" (Mediterranean Sea);
-French pride, presidential elections
-Show of strenght...will be part of a larger group, could be interesting to see what kind of group...If this French ship is part of a group of south European ships-not mixing with US/UK vessels it may allready indicate a split in "western unity"...
"On February 23 at 21:00 Zelensky was given an ultimatum from the Kremlin, in which the President of Ukraine was given 5 hours to decide on the recognition of Crimea and the LDNR within its borders. We [Ukraine] reported this to the State Department and the British Embassy, to which we received a response to ignore the ultimatum."
About two hours after the ultimatum expired, Russia invaded Ukraine.
So ALL the death, destruction, and pain being caused by the ongoing hostilities is directly laid at the feet of the US State Department in Washington, DC, and the British Embassy in Kiev, who told Ukraine to "ignore" the ultimatum!
DJ The picture I have US/UK pushed Ukraine under the (Russian) bus).
DJ-Ukraine had no chance in this war. Why NATO has to keep expanding east ? Why is this question such a toboo...most politicians/media run away from...
This war would not even have started if Ukraine would not be close to NATO membership....
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 04 2022 at 11:38pm
China Cannot Condone Russia’s Aggression in Ukraine
China’s attitude toward the Ukraine war stems from functional calculations, diplomatic and military bonds with Kyiv, strategic considerations, and normative reflection.
On the https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/wjbzhd/202203/t20220301_10646886.shtml" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 150, 136); text-decoration: underline; - phone call between China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmyro Kuleba on March 1, Wang expressed his profound regrets on the current conflict and paid particular attention to the civilian casualties. He also stated that China would be willing to facilitate negotiations between both sides for a ceasefire. At the https://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/united-nations-stands-people-ukraine-secretary-general-tells-general-assembly" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 150, 136); text-decoration: underline; - United Nations General Assembly Emergency Special Session one day before, Chinese Ambassador to the U.N. Zhang Jun suggested that the rapidly unfolding situation in Ukraine was something China “does not wish to see and which is not in the interest of any party.”
The two statements could be seen as early signs of China taking a less ambiguous position on the ongoing crisis, which came as a https://thediplomat.com/2022/03/china-was-woefully-unprepared-for-the-russia-ukraine-war/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 150, 136); text-decoration: underline; - shock for Beijing, according to some observers. Yet, both events follow China’s https://www.un.org/press/en/2022/sc14809.doc.htm" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 150, 136); text-decoration: underline; - abstention from the U.N. Security Council Resolution 2623 condemning Russia’s military actions.
Is China slowly shifting attitudes toward the crisis? Will its position become less and less enigmatic as the war develops? Although this remains to be seen, there are several reasons for China to hold back from embracing the Kremlin’s aggression within a sovereign Ukraine, including functional calculations, diplomatic and military bond with Kyiv, strategic considerations, and normative reflection
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 04 2022 at 11:56pm
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/3/4/2084043/-With-Russia-losing-the-war-and-its-economy-is-China-really-eyeing-an-option-to-reclaim-Vladivostok" style='box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(58, 156, 217); text-decoration: none; outline: none !important; outline-offset: -2px; cursor: pointer; box-shadow: none; font-family: "Open Sans Condensed"; font-size: 51.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0.125px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;'>With Russia losing the war and its economy, is China really eyeing an option to reclaim Vladivostok?
It’s simply not true that China and Russia are friends. China and Russia don’t want friends. They want power, and territory. In 2014, Vladimir Putin saw his stock rise in Russia when he took Crimea fairly easily and decided he would give himself a boost by reclaiming the rest of Ukraine for Russia this year. What could go wrong? Turns out, everything.
His military is getting more decimated by the day, and even if he eventually does manage to topple Kyiv, how the hell is he going to hold onto it? The insurgency hasn’t even started, and Putin simply doesn’t have the resources or funding. With a collapsing economy, Russia is fast becoming a third-world nation that is angering his people and, more importantly, the elites he needs to stay in power.
China is just as shocked as everyone else in the world to see the mighty Russian military turn out to be an over-bloated, underfunded, poorly trained pool of corruption and incompetence. China would love to put Taiwan under its thumb, as it is currently trying to do in Hong Kong, but seeing the West completely unified and strengthened from this conflict has probably put any imminent plans on hold.
Posted By: ksc
Date Posted: March 05 2022 at 12:35am
Everything you need to know about war crimes and how Putin could be prosecuted
(CNN)There is a loud and growing chorus of calls for the International Criminal Court to pursue Vladimir Putin. On Wednesday, the court said it would https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-putin-news-03-02-22/h_875af7462c483b7ea380fe484d423fdd" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(48, 97, 243); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s; - immediately proceed with an active investigation of possible war crimes following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The US Embassy in Kyiv said on Friday that Russia committed a war crime by attacking a nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
"It is a war crime to attack a nuclear power plant," the embassy https://twitter.com/USEmbassyKyiv/status/1499708231903547394?s=20&t=7ItoWjQCYz5XeY9UYWZhTQ" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(48, 97, 243); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s; - said on its official Twitter feed . "Putin's shelling of Europe's largest nuclear plant takes his reign of terror one step further."
Russia's suspected use of cluster bombs and so-called vacuum bombs in dense areas with many civilians has also been described as a war crime.
"I want to be very clear about this, that Mr. Putin is a war criminal," former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told the Council on Foreign Relations on Thursday. "He has to sit behind the bars in International Criminal Court."
Daniel Boffey
Dutch Josh wrote:
