According to a report from POLITICO, the Biden administration has been reassuring Ukraine that peace talks with Russia don’t need to happen anytime soon after Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said this winter will provide an opportunity for diplomacy.
Milley said last week that Russia and Ukraine might recognize that victory “is maybe not achievable through military means, and therefore you need to turn to other means.” He expects fighting will slow down this winter, and the moment for peace talks could be “seized.”
Citing unnamed US and Ukrainian officials, the POLITICO report said that US officials have conveyed to Ukraine that Washington was not trying to undercut Kyiv’s stated war goals of driving Russia out of all the territory it has captured. The US also said that just because there may be a pause in fighting this winter, that doesn’t mean peace talks need to happen.
While Milley is calling for peace talks, other high-level US officials are against the idea, including National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The POLITICO report said that Sullivan’s Nationa Security Council is most resistant to the idea of talks, although there are a few aides on the NSC pushing for diplomacy.
The report said that there is a “broad sense” within the Pentagon that the winter will provide a chance to reach a political settlement and that senior US military officials don’t believe Ukraine can achieve its war aims, which include expelling Russia from Crimea. But so far, these views have not had an impact on President Biden or his most senior staff.
The talk of diplomacy comes after Russia withdrew from the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, pulling all of its forces from the west bank of the Dnieper River. Pentagon officials said that the situation in the Kherson region is an example of the tough fight ahead, as it will be difficult for Ukraine to launch an offensive across the river.
“Why not start talking about [peace talks] before you throw another 100,000 lives into the abyss?” one US official said in comments to POLITICO.
While many elements of the Biden administration are resisting the idea of pushing for talks between Ukraine and Russia, there has been an increase in dialogue between Washington and Moscow. On Monday, CIA Director William Burns met with his Russian counterpart, although the White House stressed the meeting was focused on warnings over the use of nuclear weapons, not a negotiation over Ukraine.
US oligarchy is not interested in the peaceful outcome.
Agreed. The express strategy is “weaken Russia”. Under that rubric they haven’t yet exhausted the usefulness of the Ukro-Nazis. So the big fool says push on.
Creepy Joe is a puppet. Most of so-called ‘leaders’ in EU are puppets. Volodimor Ziolenski is not a puppet. He is a paper cut out for the cameras of imperial propaganda machine. He doesn’t control anything in Ukraine.
In my opinion to have lunatics in charge in all US/NATO governments is not by co incidents, more plausible is that the secret services in cahoots with the neocons worked together rigging elections with plenty of funds from corporations.
I can’t rap my arms around so much lunacy, that has to be organized, MSM is acting in tandem to spread the neocon narrative. That can’t be by accident alone. The total 180* turn of the Greens in Germany alone is just unbelievable.
Is there a more plausible explanation for so much insanity? Where are the statesmen like DeGaulle, Adenauer, Brandt, Schmitt, and more?
Germany had FM Genscher now they have a POS Baerbock who can’t count to three.
How could all that happen???
Nice rant Renate!
Only sociopaths need apply?
It looks like it, it is the most plausible explanation. Is there possibly a better one?
This war can’t weaken Russia. It can only make Russia stronger. Russian weakness is arriving from the pro-western political orientation of a big part of Russian people. As the conflict is escalating, the pro-western forces inside Russia are getting weaker. So, Russia, as a country, is getting more united and stronger.
The Navalny puppet won only about 2% of votes back in the days, he most likely is Biden’s pick to replace Putin.
That is the guy with the fake poison thing like the Skripals. The Germans, Merkel at the time, covered up for the fake Navalny thing. Now the Germans cover up the NS pipeline explosions. They know who did it they say, obviously they know Russians did not do it, or we would have been told.
Navalny is just a marginal. The strong pro-western feelings are dominating in Russian business, particular in big business. Also, in showbusiness, in education, particular in the universities. All those post-communist years, a lot of non-governmental organizations were active in Russia. By non-governmental they mean, those organizations were not controlled by Russian government, but all of them were controlled by US government. They received a lot of money from US. Many people involved in this kind of activity became the agents of American imperialism.
Navalny is also more of a foreign policy hard-liner than Putin. The only reason he has had US support is that he isn’t Putin. If he magically came to power, that support would disappear instantly.
Absent a truly convulsive revolution of some sort, which is unlikely, there’s not likely to be a more “pro-western” ruler in Russia than Putin for the foreseeable future.
Navalny’s hard-liner rhetoric is directed against Russian state. He is playing his role for money the same as Zelensky does.
My recollection is that he had plenty of money until he went up against Putin.
But the bottom line is there’s no “regime change” path to a “US-compliant” Russia. Yeltsin was a one-off stroke of luck for US imperialists and that’s incredibly unlikely to happen again. The best the US can hope for is someone like Putin who just tries to hold the line on the Russian empire’s slow disintegration rather than rolling the dice on an expansionist policy.
From doing what? He is just a blogger and the only way he could accumulate any kind of capital is getting paid by the US department of state.
Slow disintegration? Look at the list of world leaders who cooperate with Putin or are neutral. The G7 childish (“let’s snub Russia”) behavior and the efforts of Biden to convince serious sovereign nations to follow the US regardless of their own interest are constantly being exposed and more nations join the large majority who understand the changing situation by now. It is the “EU” disintegrating helped by its ally the USA.
Yes, the US/EU empire is disintegrating as well.
Two empires disintegrating at the same time aren’t mutually exclusive. The Russian empire disintegrated very quickly in the 1990s, and has been disintegrating more slowly since. The US/EU empire’s disintegration will likely accelerate at some point. But both empires are in permanent decline.
I think there is confusion of terminology here …
There is only one empire left in the world. Anglo-American empire (or Empire of Chaos or Empire of Lies) Russia is a Federation. It isn’t a civilization by itself but a part of multiple civilizations. There is no such thing as “western civilization” The Anglo-American empire is a fragment of dead Roman civilization/empire.
It’s not so much a “confusion of terminology” as it is “you preferring to not live in the real world.”
Yes, anglophilia is a serious disease in Russia. So-called “soft power” of Anglo-American empire was the most dangerous weapon against Russia but the war is nullifying this threat. These idiots could have conquered Russia without war if they simply waited little longer.
“These idiots could have conquered Russia without war” – it is impossible because the military industrial complex needs the wars and the warmongering. No one in US could resist the military industry oligarchs. To force upon American people a huge military budget, they need a big enemy like Russia. Iran is not good enough for this role. Aggressive Russo-phobia is an essential part of American warmongering. It can’t leave people in Kremlin indifferent. So, despite the resistance of the great part of Russia, Kremlin was preparing for the defense.
Oh yeah. Immediate greed detrimental to long-term prosperity. Gets them every time! This will probably make it to history books on the collapse of Anglo-American empire.
You mean their “long-term prosperity” could be based upon robbing Russia of her natural resources? I don’t think it was easy to achieve. Actually, they did it in 1990th, but as the living standards of Russian people went down, the anti-western and anti-oligarchs feelings went up. So, in the end, they couldn’t keep the country under their control.
We are just here to help the Ukrainians bleed Russia white, Russia can decide not to bleed, the border is a scant 100 miles away.
“We are just here to help the Ukrainians bleed”
And we don’t care how many.
They seem to want to, the loss of human life and potential is tragic and it can all end in mere days if the Russians go back home
Yeah, human life… The Ukrainians are Nazis and don’t make the cut.
That kind of talk isn’t helpful. The sooner the Russians leave the lower the sum total of human suffering will be.
The sooner Kiev surrenders the sooner Russia will leave… How’s that for helpful?
Well that isn’t happening, so I guess we keep going until consensus emerges.
It was happening until the Biden Admin put the kibosh on it.
That is in the past, in the future, it isn’t happening.
They tried for 8 years or more to avoid entering the corrupt, indebted, led-by- Russophobe Ukraine, but the US interference kept the anti-Russian violence and laws increasing, up to this year. Russia just asked to have a neutral neighbor, NOT an enemy helped by NATO.
And leave these Anglo-American pests in Kiev to continue to terrorize Ukrainians? Nope. Russian are home. Ukraine is Russia and Russia is Ukraine.
Well we will see, the sooner you figure out that this is not so, the fewer Russians will die. Russia is a population fo 145 million up against “the West” of a billion? I thought Russians were good at math.
That math problem can be quickly solved with few nukes.
pfft, have some more vodka
I wish I had some good Russian vodka but Russians keep the good stuff at home and export crap. But now you can’t even get crappy Russian vodka in US. LOL
How about some more of them sanctions? 🙂
They work great.
Seem to be working somewhat Russia is now looking in to North Korea munitions.
Who told you that? CNN? LOL
I suppose that is the reliable news you get.
The “West” has about 15% of the world and the rest 85%. You may think the quality is better (like Josep Borrell in the EU!!) but if NATO gets together against Russia, we may be surprised!! Look at the results of the massive sanctions against Russia by the EU .
I don’t see the Indians rushing to their aid, the Chinese are I suppose looking at what pieces might be useful to pick up after this is over.
I guess you can’t wrap your head around the idea that Russia isn’t leaving. And I also guess this makes you think your flippancy about people dying is justified. But sure, they seem to want to die. I mean. who wouldn’t want to die as part of the US goal of “bleeding Russia white”. But it was cute of you to say we’re just helping the Ukrainians do that and it’s really their goal and not ours.
Russia had 4 days to win this, it was a bold gambit and had it succeeded would be legendary. That didn’t happen everything beyond that is dull deadly pointless death and destruction. Immoral frankly.
The biggest danger to world peace for sometime has been the U.S, Zionists and the accompanying Globalists in all Western countries.
What concerns me is the possibility of too much boredom setting in… You never know what kind of trouble can be brewing…
Boredom or amnesia induced by sophisticated public mental manipulation, MSM is the water-carrier.
Well said Renate!
You are so nice, thanks.
My response to this your comment was deleted. Antiwar has no respect for the freedom of speech.
Hint: If you’re going to Jew-bait, don’t say up front that you’re Jew-baiting and know you’re not allowed to. Make an effort to hide it and you might get by.
My comment was about Israel and Zionism. Nothing negative or positive. Just an opinion.
Yes, your comment was about Zionism — after explaining that that’s just because you’re not allowed to Jew-bait.
Nobody made you be right out front with it. You could have just commented on Zionism. But you decided to test the boundaries. Better luck next time.
Anti-Russian lies have no boundaries here, but the truth about American oligarchy has well defended boundaries.
Perhaps it’s unclear to you that freedom of speech is something that applies to our rights under our government, not on a privately owned site.
Yes, I know, but Antiwar pretends to be an honest site.
I’ve had comments held in moderation were times, and they were always published.
Or as I like to call them “Gloperialists”
We might not be able to do much to change the oligarchs, but we can educate ourselves on subjects they don’t want us to know about, namely how Russians really live. I have found this channel invaluable in this regard and hope you will as well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg6ii-6awGc
Russia has not done it yet, but all h*ll will break loose when an American is verified to be KIA, be it a member of CIA, special ops, trainer of new toys. I know they are there, and are assisting the Ukraine forces in killing Russians and Russian speaking separatists.
Really? How do you explain hundreds of dead American grunts in Ukraine? Mostly dumb murcs but some of them ‘advisors’ are listed in active service.
Yavarovo range was a major hit when Russia killed around 400 US grunts with Kalibr cruise missiles.
Russian nullified ~120 of them in Zaparozhe not that long ago. There are videos popping up all over of Americans killed in Ukraine. I just seen a video of some dumb Anglo-American grunt blown up on mine.
https://www.bitchute.com/video/V6LvdrCsHGXY/
In my estimate, there are around 1000 Americans KIA in Ukraine since the start of the op.
“1000 Americans KIA in Ukraine” You must not live in the USA. There is no way the dead’s of 1000 Americans in 8 months would not make the news.
So how do you explain ~30.000 of civilians killed in Ukraine for the last 9 years not making “the news”?
That is simple as can be, they are not Americans. The idea that 1000 Americans would be killed anywhere in 9 months not make the US news is crazy. I know that is your opinion and you entitled to it. I also know you could not take your opinion and turned into a document fact.
It isn’t an opinion. It’s a fact. Your shitty propaganda machine simply don’t mention it because it would make the tax slaves upset. You wont even get corpses of these dumb mercs and ‘instructors’ back wrapped in union flag. Good portion of them are already fertilizer. There is a reason why Ukraine got such fertile lands. Our ancestors have been killing all kinds of invaders for the last 2000 years.
Here’s video of your dumb grunts getting nullified in Ukraine.
https://www.bitchute.com/video/71YVp0SAg5DS/
Here’s another.
https://www.bitchute.com/video/QSrx1SMOIT5G/
Bitchute is not a credible service. No it not a fact. Just a crazy conspiracy theory.
What exactly isn’t credible about it? It doesn’t censor and spread toxic propaganda like your state-controlled tube?
The question has nothing to do with whether Bitchute is a “credible service.” It’s a video hosting platform. It’s no more or less “credible” than YouTube, Odyssee, Rumble, et al. Either the particular videos are “credible” or they aren’t.
The answer was that there weren’t 30,000 civilians killed in Ukraine in the past 9 years. Even Tass doesn’t say that there were. https://tass.com/society/1408947
This is criminal cases, you idiot. Not actual casualties.
Weird that Tass didn’t report it then. What’s your source?
Families in Donbass.
so you don’t have a single news source, not even a Russian one, reporting this “fact”??
I don’t have news source to report that the sky is blue or water is wet.
Why do you brainwashed NPCs love being controlled by your “authorities” so much? It’s disgusting.
Wow. That’s a ballsy argument. 😂I can look at the sky and determine the color. I can’t look across time and space to determine the fate of every person in Donbas in the past nine years.
Wow, for four downvotes for asking for any kind of corroboration for a fact nobody here has ever cited before.
I don’t think whatever the number might be, if any, would be something Washington would want in the news. And I think they would be capable of suppressing any news of American deaths, although 1000 would be very difficult. Then the outcry would be for a hot war and Washington isn’t interested in that. At least not as long as they can use Ukraine as a means to “weaken” Russia enough to their liking.
Isn’t that what the parasites in Washington want? More death? I think these cowards simply don’t want to become a target.
And the outcry I was talking about was from our (US) jingoistic brainwashed populace. Otherwise, I meant exactly what you are saying.
That’s great. Cowards are an excellent pressure point.
I doubt very much that Washington could hide Americans deaths in any number greater than a few. There is simply too many political points to be gain by one side or another.
And I agreed with you.
It would be impossible to suppress more than a very few, and even they would be reported dead, just somewhere else and in some other way (e.g. hit by a car in Djibouti, attacked by a shark off Okinawa, etc.).
While the US mainstream media tends to uncritically “report” what it’s told for the most part, any American dead have parents, children, spouses, etc. who would be crying live on TikTok while answering the “Secretary of Defense regrets to inform you” knock on the door.
Yes, as you describe. Death by something other than a Russian attack of some sort. I think the truth could be suppressed, not the deaths.
At the very least there does appear to be a minute presence of highly placed people with all their might clinging on to their sanity having actually mustered the courage to break the unanimity on the virtues of forever escalation. A hopeful glimmer of a distant candle in this unending darkness.
I hate to extinguish your hope. That candle glimmer is so weak. How weak is it? Even a ridiculously clumsy and obvious US fabricated false flag operation could extinguish it in a second. (sarcasm)
“…high-level US officials are against the idea of diplomacy, including National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.”
Once again “Bizaro World” where black is white and up is down. In America the military is calling for diplomacy and the American diplomats are calling for more war.
America is happy to be aligned with fascists and become part of an evil campaign against world peace.
Looks like the plan will be to let the Russian winter offensive run its course, see where the peices land, and only then start the diplomacy.
There may or may not even be a “Russian winter offensive.”
If there is I am thinking that it won’t be an offensive in the conventional sense, but rather attacks on energy, water treatment and other infrastructure to send more refugees toward the EU this winter.
So it is becoming a war against the people of the Ukraine. A classical imperialist war of aggression. Same thing happened to the US in Vietnam and Iraq and the US and USSR in Afghanistan. High sounding rhetoric about liberation confronted with a resistance with popular support morphs into a war against the people the hypocritical imperialists originally claimed to be liberating.
From Russia’s point of view, it is, for now, a war of attrition intended to wear down and decimate the Ukrainian forces. One of the key elements in such a strategy is to deny the opponent the resources needed to fight. Energy and transport are at the top of that list.
Also, as kgbduck suggests, rewarding the European nations that have been helping to prolong and escalate the war by sending them more refugees may be seen as a move with a sobering impact on the people in those nations who determine policy.
Wars are ugly and brutal. Civilians suffer. It is generally a good idea to avoid provoking them and always a good idea to end them with negotiations as quickly as possible. To date, US-NATO-Kiev has done everything possible to first provoke and then to escalate and prolong this one. If you are really concerned for the people of Ukraine, tell your Western leaders to stop that.
Most wars don’t end like World Wars 1 or 2, with one side destroyed or forced to completely capitulate.
There doesn’t seem to be any path for this war to take that route. Neither the Ukrainian forces nor the Russian forces are likely to completely collapse, nor is either side likely to win bigly enough for it to really seem to most people like it was worth it all.
Pinch off Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea and it ceases to be anything more than a province of Poland – just like it used to be.
This, for the Russians, is eminently doable.
Well, it hasn’t been doable so far, because the forces Russia committed have been inadequate to that task. It appears that Moscow did not foresee the all-out US-NATO effort at prolongation and escalation of the war. And the withdrawal from the right bank of the Dnieper pretty much takes the possibility of a thrust to Nikolaev and Odessa off the table for now.
On the other hand, if Russia decides that it’s willing to do what it takes to create a landlocked rump Ukraine, it is almost certainly capable of doing that — unless the US-NATO wants to increase the risk of World War Last even further in an attempt to prevent it.
Getting serious about negotiations would be a really excellent idea. For that to happen, some serious reality checks will be required. For US-NATO-Kiev, that means giving up the idea of retaking the Donbas republics, Crimea, and probably much of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, and also setting aside the fantasy of forcing regime change in Russia.
Well, it hasn’t been doable so far
That was before they called up 300,000 fresh troops.
should not forget he megatonnage on call also “Truman” doctrine.
They have magatonnage too, lest we forget.
True.
Red, what would Russia give in return for Kiev to give up the Donbas republics?
They’re not “The Ukrainian forces”. Without a truly massive presence on the part of NATO, they would be the Ukrainian irregulars. They are NATO puppets and America’s fodder.
Endless excuses for inability to achieve military victory are not the same thing as achieving military victory.
Perhaps the WWII path would produce a WWII result. The final curtain was brutal @ 37 Kts, a firecracker compared to 200Mgts… One would think that the plans did not consider such a scenario…
It is possible that the Ukrainian military could collapse. They have been punching above their weight class. But there is no chance of the Ukrainian resistance collapsing and eventually the Ukrainians will prevail unless the Russians escalate to a near holocaust level which would isolate Russia and lead to smouldering conflict like Palestine that could last centuries..
If Russia has to rely on a war of attrition to take on Ukraine, what chance would they have against a real army?
The US/NATO can’t stop the war in Ukraine any more than they could stop the war between the USSR and the mujahideen in Afghanistan. The Russian strategy has been tried before and failed. Once the national obergeist recognizes an invader as an enemy and constitutes a resistance, the invader has lost an asymmetric war of national resistance. Where the resistance has popular support the invader becomes trapped in a negative feedback loop. Fighting the resistance strengthens the resistance.
Although the invader has lost the war, the indigenous resistance has no way to strike at the heart of the invader’s territory. So it sometimes takes years or decades or longer for the invader to recognize its defeat. The will to fight in the invading country erodes and eventually the invader leaves.
The history of Russia and Ukraine shows that the Ukrainian resentment of Russian overlordship and Russian chauvinism has been building for centuries, Russian chauvinists like Putin are blind to the resentment their dominance has engendered. In the same way slave holders had no idea how much their slaves hated them and their system.
Central to Ukrainian culture is a sense of bitter resignation about Russians. Putin’s war turned that bitterness into anger that is supporting a resistance that Russia cannot defeat.
Russia has lost and the reality of the futility of Putins war is already sinking in on the Russian people. Time is on the side of the Ukrainian resistance.
I think you should consider writing fantasy-romance novels. Your talents are wasted on nonfiction.
I’ve become pretty good at guessing endings over the past 54 years. A national resistance movement with a chance of winning is resistant to external control.
Except that Eastern Ukraine is home to a lot more Russians than Afghanistan. And not too many Americans called Vietnam or Iraq home before the US interventions there.
If it was up to me there would be a referendum in the Donbas after the Russians withdraw and the refugees have an opportunity to return. But it is up to the Ukrainians and they are pretty pissed off at the Russians now and not in a mood to surrender the East which is still predominantly Ukrainian with less than 40% ethnic Russians,
Where do you get such nonsense?! Some shitty propaganda rag like NYT or WashPo? 90% of Ukrainians are pro-Russian. It is the 10% in far western regions that used to be Polish territories who are used by Anglo-American parasites to terrorize the entire country. The eastern regions became part of Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in order to stop the civil war in Russia a century ago.
You are fantasizing. 90% of Ukrainians are pro-Russian? Just look at the pictures and read the census figures.
Ivan is clearly fairly detached from reality – and frankly not worth the bother, the claims he put in are not backed by one single reputable source and frequently contradicting even Putin and/or RT.
You mean same kind of “figures” as your election results?
90% of Ukrainians are pro-Russian. Interesting. Why are they fighting so hard and killing so many Russians?
They aren’t. They got guns to their heads and forced to march on Russian guns.
You may be right.
Personally, I think the Russian strategy is almost certainly to use the “limited mobilization” surge to secure the Luhansk/Donetsk People’s Republics, and perhaps a land corridor connecting them to Crimea, by the time winter begins to set in, by which time any Russian troops in Kherson and Zaporizhia oblasts (outside that land corridor, anyway) will have fallen back to that line as well. Then the Russians can assume a well-dug in defensive and after some posturing, both sides will be able to accept a ceasefire on that line, and both sides will also be able to plausibly crow “victory” to some degree.
I don’t see any possibility of the. Russians pacifying a land corridor to Crimea. Even if they could defeat the Ukrainian military, the Russians would be committed to a permanent military occupation against a guerrilla war that could go on for decades until the Russians leave. Same is true for the Donbas. This is a war that Russia can’t win. The question is how much suffering are the Ukrainians willing to endure to win back their country? For the Irish the resistance went on for 800 years. But only the Ukrainian people can answer for themselves.
At this point it appears that the Ukrainians still want to resist, The expressions of joy at the liberation of Kherson are genuine and indicate which side is winning the hearts and minds of the people.
Russia is caught in the negative feedback loop of invasion and occupation. When it becomes clear that invaders are not liberators, the invaders become oppressors and fighting the resistance only strengthens the indigenous will to resist.
Russia lost this war when the Ukrainian people rose up against the invasion. I doubt Putin can ever accept his defeat and peace will come when Russia gets a reasonable leadership. The Ukrainians may agree to a temporary peace if their will to resist is broken. But national resistance movements are tenacious and they often continued to struggle for generations or even centuries,
As it’s said, ‘watch what you wish for’. If you check some of the people behind Putin, most are critical that the war wasn’t fought in a more decisive manner at the start of the war. If Putin goes, it’s unlikely the next leader will be as deliberate as Putin. The next in line is likely to increase the war effort.
Bill, you might be right. However, history does show that leadership that inherited a war is more often than not is willing to find a end to the war.
We saw that when Nixon replaced Johnson. Once the invader loses the hearts and minds of the people, the invader is caught in a negative feedback loop and the invader cannot win in the long run.
a guerrilla war that could go on for decades
The guerrilla swims in the sea of the people, or words to that effect. The people of Eastern Ukraine are solidly in the Russian camp and your Freedom Fighters will be rounded up and executed in short order.
A more likely scenario is these disgruntled neo-Nazis will attack the West for betraying them at the surrender talks.
There is no credible evidence that a majority of the people of the Eastern Ukraine are supporting the secessionists. They are certainly not as enthusiastic about Russian rule as the people of Kherson are about their liberation from the Russians.
Oh brother, hearts and minds?
“Russia is court [sic] in the negative feedback loop of invasion and occupation.”
Boilerplate.
The Ukrainian People were and. are divided. The 2014 coup had the purpose to weaponize that divide. Nothing like a little war in your own country to alter priorities when the lights are out and the toilet don’t flush, the smell of death, and the eternal waiting. It’s only fun when one is winning and getting paid. It gets old fast.
The Ukrainian people were very divided. Since 2014 the radical right has become marginalized and the center elected a Jewish president. The Russian invasion is healing that division and uniting Ukrainians, including many Russian speakers, into opponents of the invasion.
Of course it’s conjecture, but from what I am reading from sources outside of the West’s MSM, and the ongoing buildup of Russian forces, I’m thinking the big push will come in December when the ground freezes and mobility will become much more opportune.
You don’t normally put lots of effort into mobilising an army unless you are planning to fight
This is not WW2 where the Soviets lunched repeated winter offensives.
Putin sees it as his ww2
I doubt Kremlin will negotiate at this point unless imperials make some serious sacrifices like complete withdrawal of their terrorist forces from central Europe and Syria. I’m talking complete de-occupation like USSR did with Warsaw Agreement. Obviously, imperials will never offer anything like that so I believe the war between Eurasia and Anglo-American empire will only escalate.
“. . . and the award for Utter Incompetence in Message Management goes to . . . “
Burns, like Milley, is diversionary tactic meant to cultivate Russian domestic discord.
There will be peace talks when the Ukrainians and Russians decide to hold them. The US encouraged this war. Putin stupidly took the bait. But the Ukrainians are paying the heaviest price and have been fighting effectively and courageously. The US cannot make the Ukrainians fight. Nor can the US or Zelenskyy cut a deal that would end the Ukrainian resistance.
I am supporting the Ukrainian people in their resistance to Russian imperialism. But none of us are in any position to tell the Ukrainians when to end their resistance or on what terms.
No, zelensky and crew don’t get to get tens (and soon upwards of hundreds) of billions of our dollars paying for their entire govt and weapons and putting the whole world at potential risk of nuclear Armageddon with no catch. We obviously have a say. Now, is the say going to continue to be used to foment war or is it going to be used to demand conflict secession?
Only the Ukrainians can decide when they are willing to make peace. It is their right to surrender or to fight to secure every occupied inch of their territory. US aid does not create the will to fight otherwise the US would have won in Afghanistan and Vietnam. Conversely, withdrawal of US aid will not end a genuine national resistance movement. The Taliban fought effectively after the US stopped aiding the mujahideen.
Vietnam and Afghanistan are not analogous to Ukraine – at all.
As Biden would say, come on, man … Ok, sure, let’s leave them then to their own devices in terms of money and weapons and see how long their resolve will last, shall we?
No he didn’t. The Anglo-American parasites wanted to start a major war in Europe back in 2014. Kremlin didn’t take the bait. Instead they built up economical ties with free nations and gathered some experience on dealing with Anglo-American terrorists in Syria. Cleaning up Ukraine was very well planned and it is going exactly as planned and expected. To the determent of Anglo-American empire. The trap these pests tried to set up for Russia is now working to Russian advantage. I really hate to say it, by Ukraine doesn’t matter. This is a major rearrangement of global geopolitical structures.
And the Russians believe they are fighting to resist US-NATO imperialism, which isn’t an unreasonable view.
Ukraine is being wrecked. Many tens of thousands of its troops have already been killed or wounded. Civilians, also, have been hurt and killed. Millions of civilians are refugees. These things are quite likely to get even worse as the fighting continues, with larger Russian forces being committed to the war while Ukraine’s are being decimated without any likely prospect of being replaced.
Tell your Western representatives to stop sacrificing Ukraine and Ukrainians in a cynical — and failing — campaign to weaken Russia.
Russia is a second rate imperialist power led by a megalomaniac with delusions of recreating the glories of the Czars. It will end badly for Putin. I hope the Russians are wise enough to pull back from a hopeless war of conquest that could last generations.
Complete nonsense.
Yup, the poster, along with many of the Western masses, is living in a dangerous fantasy world.
Putin’s goal seems to be to slow down the decline of the Russian empire, and over time he’s done a reasonably good job of keeping its satrapies in and/or whipping them into line.
His notable failure in that respect has been Ukraine over the last decade.
I think he was planning a quick ass-whipping there — not that there was any chance of restoring Ukraine to satrapy status, but along the lines of the “don’t f*ck with us” message he sent to Georgia in 2007 — so as to give the Kazakhs pause. They’ve been restive, and while the Russians have done 11 launches from their new facility at Vostochny, they’re still going to want to keep their lease on Baikonur for the foreseeable future.
There is no Russian empire, except in the heads of people who do not live there.
True, most people who don’t live in the Russian empire (which includes Belarus, Chechny, Kazakhstan, etc.) don’t really notice the rump empire much since it lost most of its eastern European satrapies.
You are absolutely right, Thomas. I know enough of Ukrainian history to know that Putin had no idea what he was up against.Ukrainians have been nursing a grudge against Russian overlords for centuries. Lenin and Khruschev understood the need to give the Ukrainians space. In fact, I thought Putin understood the recent history of imperial interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Vietnam and the history of Russian imperialism in Ukraine. I believed he was too smart to invade even after he mobilized troops on the border. When Putin invaded I realized that Russia would eventually lose. But like everyone else, I expected Russia would defeat the Ukrainian army in a few weeks at most. I expected Russians to be defeated in a protracted asymmetric guerrilla conflict with a Russian fifth column supporting the Ukrainians – like the Kerch and Crimean resistance attacks. The big surprise for me has been the resilience and motivation of the Ukrainian conventional military.
What is indisputable is the sympathies of the Ukrainian people. The joy at the liberation of Kherson is evident in the pictures. The Russian people are not in the mood for long term wars of conquest. The Russian army is unmotivated and unable to face adversity in a protracted war to conquer a foreign country. The Ukrainians have won the war, but Putin will never be able to accept defeat. Just like Hitler, Napoleon and Nixon could not emotionally accept the defeat of their armies. Power mongers don’t understand asymmetric warfare. The invader has to occupy and defend the conquered territory. The defender only has to survive and maintain the ability to strike somewhere to bleed the invader to death and eventually win. The occupation of Ukraine is playing out just like long term occupations play out throughout history. The occupier becomes the oppressor. Fighting the resistance strengthens the resistance. Force of arms is ineffective against hearts and minds.
The US supported the indigenous resistance against the Soviets in Afghanistan and the Soviets did the same in Vietnam. But the peace talks were between the invaders and the indigenous resistance, not the foreign financial bakers of the resistance. The US has aided the Ukrainian resistance but the US could not motivate the Ukrainians to fight for their country and the US cannot negotiate an end to the Ukrainian resistance.
We set the terms back in December 2021. The Ukrainians are puppets whose strings go to DC – not Moscow. Zelensky is a useful idiot.
The Ukrainians put him in power in part with our help. However, whether you like it or don’t, it’s on the Ukrainians to throw the actor out and come to their senses – because the Russians have absolutely no valid reason to quit.
The difference between the Russians and the americans is that the Russians are in fact the rational side because they realize they are now fighting for survival. The Russians will not back out. Eastern Ukraine was and is ethnic Russian, as is Crimea. The alternative presented by Biden and his masters is complete capitulation and destruction. The Russians will take Europe down with them if they have no sensible alternative. Biden and company are nuts.
I guess the question is whether the powers that be think they have wrung the last $ in weapons and security chaos out of the sponge of Ukraine yet … given the political lay in DC, I doubt it. A few tens of billions more for our favorite corporations are surely still possible.
After all, they went through all that trouble in 2014 and kept the pot bubbling for eight years for just this payoff, no? Why quit now?
The Psychopaths will never have enough. In their sick minds, their greed has no limits.
Maybe Biden’s delusional insanity is just an act.
Errr…not bloody likely, Red 😉
My brother has a close friend whose nephew is in the Secret Service. He confided to his uncle that it takes HOURS each day to make ByeDone appear presidential; physically, emotionally, and most of all, intellectually.
Tough job, but SOMEBODY’s gotta do it, even when ByeDone confuses Colombia with Cambodia 🙄
Not enough hours in the day to get the “intellectually” part kicking in.
Yes Wars, I think that particular effort is a “fail” 😉
Wonder if he has enough strings left to pull.
It is getting more and more bizarre. US is ordering munitions from South Korea to send to Ujkraine. Huge amount. Apparently we have no capacity to produce on such a scale. Wasn’t it Russia that was supposed to run out of things? .
Industrial potential of NATO is much greater than Russian one. No doubts about that. As the military conflict is getting serious, both Russia and NATO will militarize their industries. Many countries would like to send their soldiers to help Russia, but so far, Russia is reluctant to accept them.
Good luck with that when they run out of gas for the NATO war machine.
The US has been drawing down its inventory of old munitions to Ukraine and replacing those old munitions with shiny new ones.
Now it’s giving South Korea the opportunity to draw down its inventory of old munitions and buy shiny new ones — from US “defense” contractors — too.
The main function of the US government is to redirect money from ordinary people’s pockets to the military-industrial complex’s bank accounts. And that function is borderless.
Just wondering: when we say a bad word in a post, we get:
Hold on, this is waiting to be approved by News from Antiwar.com.
Why the lie? These comments never see the light of day – at least in this poster’s experience.
“These comments never see the light of day – at least in this poster’s experience.”
My recollection is that you have NEVER not had a comment approved after it was reviewed.
And that’s the case with almost all non-spam comments.
You’re a good moderator, Thomas.
He’s a good moderator, folks. Really. There are so many bad moderators and automoderators on the net that it’s nice to have a site where the heavy hand is not applied.
I’ve been banned from more than one site for my unacceptable posts, and I only use strong profanity when I think it’s important for making a point. Not often.
As I typed the preceding sentence, I just remembered that I was banned by the Guardian, in 2014, for straying too far into impermissible opinion in the wake of the Euromaidan coup. I had a lot of company.
You won’t find the Guardian’s famous slogan, “Comment is free, but facts are sacred,” pasted all over the site anymore. It started vanishing from various pages and sections right around the time the Graun went all in on liberal intervention. C.P. Scott would be ashamed of today’s Scott Trust.
As for the newspapers of record on this side of the Atlantic, the Times and Post are utterly hopeless, worse than ever. I cancelled my subscriptions in March.
Be grateful for Thomas and Antiwar.com.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Red.
Other than the fact that I’ve become kind of used to getting paid a little bit to moderate comments (not “steak dinner every night” money, but “upgrade my burger to a steak every now and again” money), I’d rather not HAVE a moderator. That’s what the block/ignore buttons are for. Don’t want to hear certain stuff? Block/ignore the people who say it.
But that wasn’t the choice. The choice was “someone moderates the comments, or we don’t have comments.” So I agreed to moderate comments.
They get out eventually. And I speak from experience since I’m one of the most fouled mouthed amongst us. Actually, I think I might be the most. Thomas knows since he releases my foul-mouthed comments. 33 years in a machine shop does that to people. The women I worked with would make you blush with their f-bombs.
Wars, I thought I had that honor! Is this a competition? 😉
I wasn’t profane until I worked as a bartender for several years as a young woman. The likes of us couldn’t utter a single sentence without the word f*ck ( there, I said it😁)
It’s also where I learned to use my fists. A guy would make a move on you, and his GF would get pissed at YOU, not him! I never started a fight but I never lost one either. Can I offer my favorite insult to the likes of these bitches?…”cum-burpin’ gutter slut” 😁
If you can’t print this Thomas, I get it 😉
It indeed is. I seems that MIC has been aching for such an opportunity to give politicians the needed cover to approve big money. And for allies to contribute.
The main function of the US government is to serve those who are its true masters – corporate capitalists, among whom are those of the MIC.
I’m waiting for Milley to say it was an aide who released his statement.
And he wrote it a couple of months ago but wouldn’t do that now.
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-zelenskyy-kherson-9202c032cf3a5c22761ee71b52ff9d52 It’s on!
You think this is some kind of joke?
I think Associated Propaganda (AP) is a joke.
Look, Ivan (Иван), you know nothing. It’s better to be silent and be thought a fool than speak and remove all doubt.
Analysis: Russia has no interest in targeting Polish farms
Paul Adams
BBC Diplomatic correspondent
The Polish government has yet to confirm what happened close to its border with Ukraine.
But images circulating on social media show a crater and an overturned trailer, apparently loaded with grain. Another image appears to show a fragment of a missile.
In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman said he was aware of the reports, but had no information to corroborate them.
There are a number of possible explanations.
Russia has no interest in targeting Polish farms, so some kind of malfunction seems possible.
And, on a day when Ukraine’s air defences were working hard to bring down Russian missiles, it’s also possible that one of those missiles was knocked off course.
A former US ambassador to Nato, Kurt Volker, told the BBC it was important to give Russia a chance to explain what had happened.
Volker said it was likely to have been an accident. But, he said, we need to hear Russia say that.
Nato, he said, should demand an explanation.
Oh, I really don’t care what some English propaganda rags say. (or your silly opinion of me for that matter)
There are reports from independent sources on missile(s) flying into Poland.
Really? Which sources?
Nothing the likes of you should be concerned about.
Go play in your propaganda hole.
Right. Just as I thought. You got nothing.
You’re actually capable of thinking? This is good news.
Igor, i must say. I like you. You are entertaining.
F-ck it. whatever your agenda is, keep it coming.
Thanks, Lucy. I like you as well.
We don’t have the facts, but Russia has no motive to attack Poland. Ukraine would like to see NATO invoke Article 5. So Ukraine has a motive. But weighing that against the fact that Poland is Ukraine’s staunchest ally and that all the NATO countries would know if it was a Ukrainian operation makes it unlikely that this was a Ukrainian false flag operation. It doesn’t appear that the the target had any strategic value. The most likely explanation is a malfunction by a Ukrainian or Russian missile. I hope that is the case. Everyone should wait to hear the Russian and Ukrainian explanations before coming to conclusions.
The neocons are against peace talks?????I can’t believe it!!!!! Nuland even???
No talks = more dead, very simple logic. We really have learned nothing from centuries of war.
usa: We’re making losta $ so please, please please dont stop fighting..
Milley just doing what a China whisperer does.
“Why not start talking about [peace talks] before you throw another 100,000 lives into the abyss?”
One US official said, as he packed his bags for a new post in the Aleutian Islands.
Greenland. Thule AFB.
“Report: US Tells Ukraine Talks Don’t Need to Happen After Milley’s Comments”
No rational being believes peace talks are offing. I haven’t observed news print quotes from Klaus Schwab calling for negotiations.
That will come as good news to Putin. The conquest of Ukraine is only the tactical goal for Russia while their strategic objective is the disintegration of NATO and US global domination… It’s also good news for the Republic. Imperialism is waaay too expensive!
Yeah, exactly. Russians could have clean up Ukraine in a few weeks. There is a reason why they aren’t blowing up supply lines. This is slow bleeding of the Anglo-American empire. The real offensive is still to come and it wont be in Ukraine.
The coup in Kiev in 2014 can be safely called as Death of Anglo-American empire. It was an unforgivable transgression and there wont be any kind of recovery for the imperials. It’s over.
The real offensive is still to come and it wont be in Ukraine. Where will it be?
Nope. Why would Putin want to conquer Ukraine? It would just put Russia’s west border next to NATO – again. Putin wants a buffer and a guarantee. His goals have not changed at all over the past 8+ years, and his second goal is the removal of the Azov threat to the people of the Donbass. That’s it.
It would just put Russia’s west border next to NATO – again.
And if there was no NATO?.. Just a bunch of freezing unemployed Europeans looking to restore the long term viability of their economies, and an isolated US looking on from afar.
The US government under Biden is the corporate whore. Zelensky is the John. The MIC and its stooges in the WH and state department are the pimps.
The red light in the window is not lit 24/7.
Rewitten because Disqus’ panties are all in a bunch.
The US government under Biden is the corporate call girl. Zelensky is the John. The MIC and its stooges in the WH and state department are the pimps.
The red light in the window is lit 24/7.
And it’s Monkeypox all around.
Disqus is a pain. Especially lately after they decided to reset their spam filters. Typical Disqus results. Spam continues but users having problems.
Every so often, I go out and review new (and sometimes old but supposedly improved) commenting systems with an eye toward moving to something better. But, bad as Disqus is, I haven’t found anything better. Especially for the price (we have one of their paid plans, but not the most expensive, and I’m given to understand that my higher-ups aren’t interested in spending BIG money).
I’ll keep looking.
Interpreting ‘conflicting views re diplomacy’ and ‘behind scenes discussion’: my guess is this is a semi-orchestrated message to a Europe restive over the US’s ‘endless war/military support only’ strategy
Milley’s comments could have been simply denied by others (‘he spoke only for himself’), and ‘unnamed officials’ did not have to tell the press of different viewpoints, or that diplomacy was a ‘live issue’ among officials, or about State Dept vs Pentagon views – or any of the other little indefinite and nonbinding hints.
So the ‘unnamed officials’ were allowed, authorized – maybe made it known they were available to talk, or even directed to speak to the press.
Upshot:
1/ I think ‘faint intimations of different views of a settlement somewhere far down the road’ can be thought of as the official message out of DC.
2/ Speculate the main purpose is a communication w/an energy-strapped western Europe with antiwar groups: nonbinding faint indications of a US shift from an endless war and purely military response driven by ‘victory at all costs’ DC neocons.
3/ This article or the Politico piece talked about Milley’s comments upsetting Ukraine and their now being reassured – but seriously, wtf does the US care what Ukraine thinks, when it’s 100% US-dependent?
Western Europe/NATO, on the other hand – where criticism and popular will can undercut the US/NATO ‘coalition’ PR? Where politicians face massive demo’s, where politicians have to actually justify ‘weapons only’ to citizens, where large demo’s protest war-spiked inflation and demand peace? That’s serious.
The prospect for a peaceful settlement of any sort coming from the US side is nil in the absence of a complete change of personnel in the WH and state dept.
I do not believe anything broadcast from this white house – nothing. They’re dead to me.
WOE….. Worrisome message from the Clinton CABAL….. “We don’t need no peace. Lots of live Ukies left to push on to VICTORY….
This sure doesn’t bode well for keeping this war local to Europe and non-nuke. It seems that Biden, Nulled, Clinton, Sullivan are lookin to make the big time.
I guess they are all wondering what 200 megatons can do. In Europe that is !!
Not for New York, Boston I hope. Thert is no telling just how twisted they are!
We should not overlook what kind of people big corporate money really supports, the receivers of so much silver are crawling out of hiding.
They call themselves Democrats and Republicans but all are neocon fascists. Even the democratic progressives are fakes, window dressing for the party.
They are keeping their bags open for receiving a golden shower from MIC. MIC, as we know, receives money from American taxpayers. This system is designed to take money from the ordinary citizens and give it to MIC and the corrupted politicians. No one can do anything to change it. That is the essence of the problem.
https://thesaker.is/what-would-a-russian-defeat-mean-for-the-people-of-the-west/
What would a Russian defeat mean for the people of the West? Andrei Raevsky.
Unverified but if true, this just happened On the day Zelensky proposed 10 conditions for peace. Cannot trust the Kremlin.
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-zelenskyy-kherson-9202c032cf3a5c22761ee71b52ff9d52
^^^ Unverified, but if true this is an empire bot.
Correct.
It appears to be true.
To err is human and wartime errors can have very undesirable consequences. Negotiation rather than escalation would be an excellent idea. Tell your Western leaders.
Stop the bullshit, Don. Zelensky’s speech wasn’t a peace proposal, it was yet another inappropriately snarky theatrical performance cum provocation, kinda-sorta-slightly masquerading as a peace proposal.
Are Russian’s speeches of peace proposals honest?
Because i haven’t seen any signs of that. I mean, just look at what happened today. How does one reconcile that?
Interesting how whenever Russia offers BS peace talks, you and your red team here are quick to join that wagon but the second Ukraine makes a proposal, no, that one is no legitimate.
I’m sure you haven’t. If you want to share an example of a Russian peace-proposal speech for analysis, I and no doubt others will try to help you assess it.
But whatever Russian proposals are or are not, Zelensky’s speech was offensively-insincere theater, which is typical of his public performances throughout this mess. One of the greatest achievements of Western propaganda this year has been to put lipstick on this pig and convince the masses that it’s a hero of democracy.
From RT:
https://www.rt.com/russia/566589-russia-no-strikes-on-poland/
Okay. Place your bets on how long it will take for mushroom clouds to rise over Washington and London.
I’m going to place my bet on how long it will take for serious participants here to send your ass to Ignorestan. Probably not long.
Oh I’m as serious as heart attack. I just choose to express it with some optimism.
RT news. Lol.
Great job.
Jumping to Putin’s defense? Hope Putin doesn’t admit it was their missiles.
You know Ukraine and NATO have all kinds of radars monitoring the airspace and objects flying through? And all is recorded.
So? Russians have hypersonic interceptor missiles that can take down any of your crappy ICBMs. Please try.
Were you one of those prisoners forced to mobilized as cyber warrior? Just request to be moved to the frontlines then surrender but ask not to be exchanged. Wagner will most likely crush your head with a sledgehammer.
LOL You’re such a cute troll. 🙂 Can I pet you? I already know you wont bite. You don’t have any teeth.
Hey Igor, Take it easy with some of the other folks here (except me). They are actually on your side. They are just a bit more civilized.
Awww, he blocked me. Guess he couldn’t handle my demands for evidence that Ukraine killed 30,000 civilians in Donbas.
As I’ve said repeatedly, RT has been much more balanced and less blatantly-propagandistic than most Western media throughout this mess.
I’d say they tend to be equally propagandistic in terms of underlying assumptions. But RT tends to more toward a five-point-lede blandness, while western MSM really loads up their stuff with overtly begged questions and overt dismissals. RT at least FEELS more “objective” from a style standpoint.