NATO members that border Russia and Belarus are afraid that growing opposition to the proxy war in Ukraine inside the United States will put pressure on the Ukrainians to pursue peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, The Hill reported on Tuesday.
While the Biden administration’s stated policy is to back Ukraine for “as long as it takes,” and the majority of Congress still supports the proxy war, there is there is fatigue among Americans. A recent poll from CNN found that 55% of Americans are against Congress authorizing more spending on the conflict.
Former President Trump, the Republican frontrunner for the 2024 election, has claimed he would end the war in Ukraine within “24 hours.” The Biden administration is looking to sign a long-term security deal with Ukraine to tie the hands of a future administration on the issue, but the political climate has some NATO members nervous that peace might be pursued.
The report said that for Poland and the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, talking with Putin is a “red line.” The four nations want the US and the rest of Ukraine’s Western backers to prepare for a future where the Russian leader is completely isolated.
The narrative from the countries on NATO’s “eastern flank” is that peace talks would reward Putin and put Russia in a better position to exert its influence. “All of this then increases the threat on NATO’s borders. Putin would be able to sell negotiations as a victory, and [it] would help him exert even greater political influence globally — we already see it in Africa, in Niger and South Africa. It’s not only a military threat but a diplomatic one, too,” an unnamed Baltic official told The Hill.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has maintained demands for peace talks that are a non-starter for Moscow, including a full Russian withdrawal and Russia ceding Crimea. Zelensky and his government will likely not drop the maximalist demands unless Ukraine loses the support of the US and NATO, which Kyiv has acknowledged is fueling the entire war effort.
In the early days of the war, Russia and Ukraine were engaged in peace talks that seemed promising, but they were discouraged by the US and its allies. The Washington Post reported at the time that “for some in NATO, it’s better for the Ukrainians to keep fighting, and dying, than to achieve a peace that comes too early or at too high a cost to Kyiv and the rest of Europe.”
While the US and NATO insist it’s up to Ukraine to negotiate, according to Ukrainska Pravda, then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Zelensky when a deal was on the table in April 2022 that even if Ukraine was ready to sign an agreement with Putin, Kyiv’s Western backers were not.
Russia’s main demand during the short-lived negotiations that took place in the first months of the war was Ukrainian neutrality. But Ukraine now stands to lose much more as Moscow annexed territory it has captured in southern and eastern Ukraine.
Wow. Have they forgotten that they’re going to be living next to Russia and Belarus . . . forever?
The main export item of those insignificant republics is Russophobia. They are worrying the demand for it in the future may be reduced.
Latvia and Estonia have their own version of ethnic cleansing underway. Troubling.
Nah, uncle Sammy will always be there to defend the downtrodden from having to talk to their neighbor …
It might not be a good idea for the Baltics to rely on that.
What was it that Henry Kissinger said? Dangerous to be Amerikkka’s enemy, fatal to be Amerikkka’s friend?
These countries talk a huge game but expect the US to do all the work.
No thanks.
The little dogs think they can take advantage of the big dog in Washington. Do they get paid to play stupid or are they really so stupid?
No cabe duda. In Spanish means there is no doubt.
My guess is that latter, Lysi.
Jesus on a cracker, what kind of “leadership” fears peace talks?
What kind of “leadership” fears peace talks? A leader seeking an unjust advantage that only war can force.
Both? But to “fear peace talks,” do you have to be stupid with a special level of evil racism against Russians? Example: I’m stupid and play stupid, but I don’t “fear peace talks.” (Sarcasm)
Please, don’t get too abstract.
I made an edit for more clarity. Thanks for the feedback.
I was waiting’ for it!
But their very function in NATO is to create the excuse for the “work” … without these tripwire nations, how would US militarism is E Europe be justified?
What else can it be called except an Alliance of Fascists?
At this point not much else.
I believe that the number of Ukrainians dead and wounded makes a compelling case for a cease fire and negotiations. Only Washington can predict the end of Russian Sanctions should this occur and sanctions are the whole point of the Proxy War.
What are the consequences of crossing the red line? Are they going to start a war with the US? Pfft. Are they going to war with Russia alone?
They will get really really mad, then take all the aid money we give them, and use it to buy more compliant politicians in the USA, What they don’t realize is that the price for corrupt american politicians has gone up, thanks to Ukraine flooding the market with bribes, so an Estonia might only be able to afford a junior congressperson from Hawaii now. Not much influence there.
Of course, if the Russians view this operation as a success they fear that there will be more of these operations.
Not much danger of that happening. Even if, as seems likely, they end up with Donetsk and Luhansk out of it, the price of getting them exceeded the value of having them more than a year ago. Putin is not a stupid man; he’s likely learned the lesson and won’t be pulling this kind of shit again. As for his successors, hopefully they will have paid attention.
There will only be more of these operations if the same conditions are created elsewhere. If this war ends with Ukraine fully devastated, then the lesson to these neighbor nations will be don’t piss off the Bear, dammit!
Ukraine is devastated already. Those days Kiev regime is busy with persuading NATO friends to send back to Ukraine those men who escaped to NATO countries. Despite the total mobilization there is a severe shortage of soldiers.
Washington so far is reluctant to use East European members of NATO against Russia because too much of risk is involved. With Ukraine it is easier, US can abandon Ukraine with a lesser damage to the reputation.
Not much danger of that happening. Even if, as seems likely, they end up with Donetsk and Luhansk out of it, the price of getting them exceeded the value of having them more than a year ago. Putin is not a stupid man; he’s likely learned the lesson and won’t be pulling this kind of shit again. As for his successors, hopefully they will have paid attention.
I hope your right. He has dug a hole too deep but his pride and ego will always get in the way of his decision making process.
Not stupid? I thing age is slowly degrading his faculties and turns him into a complete dumbass at times.
Maybe so, but after putting his hand on the hot Chechnya stove, he seemed to have learned his lesson, at least temporarily, for a couple of decades. And he doesn’t have another two decades left in power. Militarily, Ukraine is his last really likely hurrah. If he can find a fig leaf that lets him GTFO of Ukraine with even a shred of a plausible claim of SOME kind of “victory,” he’s not likely to be immediately inclined to put his hand on the stove a third time.
Unfortunately that isn’t likely. The neo-Nazi regime in Kiev would continue ethnic cleansing Russian speakers. And no. The Russians aren’t going believe any agreement made by the USA and NATO.
It’s more likely that Ukraine will revert to it’s original borders as it was before communist dictators re drew the borders of Ukraine.
Ukraine could have functioned as a multi ethnic state. But the US intervention and regime change scheme ended that. Nuland and the hegemonic fanatics set this up.
Russian speakers like, oh, Volodomyr Zelenskyy? Like that there?
Ukraine is exceedingly unlikely to regain Donetsk, Luhansk, or Crimea — even less likely than Russia is to retain Kherson or Zaporzizhia. And they know it.
The Russians don’t need an “agreement” from the US or NATO to end the war. If they can ever secure Donetsk, they can just GTFO out of the oblasts they can’t hold, declare “victory” and a unilateral ceasefire, and the Ukrainian regime is unlikely to be able to do anything but complain while returning to frozen conflict.
I agree with the first part but disagree that Russia won’t retain Kherson or Zaporzizhia. They will go all the way to the Dnieper and probably also take Odessa and cut Ukraine off from the Black Sea.
Well, as long as we both live, we’ll both eventually see, won’t we?
Ha! God willing.
When? Hahaha.
Nice story, but Ukraine isn’t the government with the option to decide anything. Puppets act only in fictional circumstances. We’re talking about the actual Ukraine.
In the actual Ukraine, as in other countries, there will be a popular reaction to any real prospect of the fighting stopping. And that reaction, at some point, reaches the level of “OK, the fighting stops or the people who refuse to stop the fighting get their necks stretched.”
No matter how slavishly Zelenskyy prefers to follow US instructions, he probably also wants to live and maybe (not likely but possible) remain in office.
Clearly you don’t understand Russia.
So far my record of predicting developments has been better than the record of the people who think that “understanding Russia” consists of yelling about how Putin is a “statesman” who’s unlike every other politician in history.
Even a stopped clock is correct twice a day.
So far other than early on — when I expected the Russians to get the job done quickly and efficiently — I’ve pretty much been right twice or more times a day for the last 18 months and change.
That’s what happens when you don’t have a side and reject claims that don’t come with actual evidence.
Actually the evidence is pretty clear. Putin didn’t figure that the West would desire to bring about a serious war. He thought Ukraine would negotiate in the face of Russian incursions. So, the Russians went in with insufficient forces. 40,000 to 60,000 troops at Kiev. So,…. he was wrong. You played both sides of the fence on the Russian intentions on Kiev. It wasn’t until later that you thought the Russians might be engaged in a feint. Credit that as being wrong. As you said above, you thought the Russians would achieve a quick victory. Again wrong. You were hardly alone in that.
As far as Russian strategy? It seems that Russia has come to the conclusion that attrition of Ukrainian man power is the path to their goals. Why? If NATO and the US are willing to expend massive resources and destabilize their own economies, then Ukraine can be defeated by diminishing Ukrainian manpower. That is a horrible strategy, but it is what it is. Unfortunately, the US/NATO don’t care at all about the Ukrainian people. Neither does Zelansky.
“You played both sides of the fence on the Russian intentions on Kiev. It wasn’t until later that you thought the Russians might be engaged in a feint.”
My recollection is that I said it was a feint from the beginning, because I thought Putin was lying when he said that the goal was complete conquest and regime change (“de-Nazification and de-militarization”), and that the actual goal was to secure the Donbas and a land corridor to Crimea. Which I thought would be accomplished in short order, especially with a bunch of Ukrainian troops tied down in the west to defend Kyiv.
If you want to look back at my comments from that period to see if I had anything different to say, feel free. I’m not going to go combing through them.
My error was in thinking that the Russians would accomplish what I thought their real objectives were quickly and efficiently. And if they had done so, the war would have been over before the full wait of US/EU/NATO aid could have been put into the conflict.
But, like many westerners, I tend to over-estimate the quality of Russian high-end arms and the capabilities of Russian troops. In 1991, we were scared to death of the T-72 on the ground and the ZSU in the air. They both turned out to be complete crap that exploded if you looked at them cross-eyed. I probably should have learned my lesson from that, but I didn’t. I was convinced that Ukraine would be Georgia redux instead of Chechnya with the US supplying the Chechens.
You have a very convenient memory. No. You didn’t come up with the opinion that Kiev was a feint until well after the Russians had withdrawn from Kiev.
Also, you still don’t understand the Russian strategy of attrition. Even after explained clearly. OK, the Pentagon doesn’t get it either. Those idiots play into Russian strengths. Assaulting entrenched Russian positions is criminality stupid. I will say you did point out that stupidity and you were correct.
Well, like I said, if you can produce any comment indicating that I didn’t think the move on Kyiv was a feint from the start, feel free to do so. You may be right. Early in the war, I made the mistake of assuming a quick Russian victory and didn’t pay nearly as much attention to the details as I should have, so it’s possible. But I certainly started regarding it as a feint absolutely no later than the beginning of the Russian withdrawal. If they had been serious about taking Kyiv, they wouldn’t have given up so quickly.
I do understand the Russian strategy of attrition. Which is why, as a military matter, I think the Ukrainians would be wisest to fight defensively from built-up positions whenever possible. When they launched their first “counter-offensive” my main note was to not assume that any territorial gains were significantly to their military advantage.
Already did one of those examples of your “memory”. Presented it to you and you admitted it. You promptly forgot that example a few weeks later. Not going to bother again. Not worth the effort.
Translation: You got nothin’.
Translation: you have no effective memory. You might want to get some help on that. Seriously.
But, go ahead. Show where you wrote you thought the Russian incursion at Kiev was feint. Dated. You’re the one that does this as a job. Shouldn’t be hard for you.
You’re the one who claimed otherwise. You can prove it, or not — I don’t particularly care.
I know that I regarded it as a feint, and said so, at a point where some here were still claiming the Russians were going to take Kyiv shortly and then go all the way to the Polish border. What I don’t recall is whether I regarded it as a feint and said so earlier, before the withdrawal began. I’m pretty sure I did, because I had phone conversations with my brother where he kept insisting that they were TRYING to take Kyiv and failing, and I kept insisting that they weren’t really trying to take Kyiv at all.
Do you also fail to recall using the term Russia as “gas station phrase?
I believe we went through that and that I had in fact used it, although not quite in the context you pretended.
To be clear, Russia is not just a “gas station with nukes,” and I never intended to imply that it is. It has, however, been overly dependent on petroleum exports to boost its revenues and GDP and is unlikely to be able to catch up with the west on manufacturing in any time frame that would allow it to achieve military supremacy in Ukraine.
Rjght. But then YOU MIS QUOTED ME AGAIN. I never claimed you wrote: “a gas station with nukes” did I? Why don’t you go back to the April 8 th thread and take a look.
You wrote on Sept 30th 2023: “Russia may successfully transition from “Europe’s gas station” to “Asia’s gas station and convenience store….””.
From an article dated Sept 30, 2022 on aw.com.
You did later admit using the ” Russia as a gas station” metaphor. …… After not remembering it.
My point being you display an anti Russian. bias.
btwa, you might want to take a look at ppp rankings from the World Bank before you disparage the Russian economy. By this measure, Russia will pass Germany this year to be the 5th largest economy in the world passing Germany. So, by that measure, your earlier.claims that Russia has some tiny economy vs EU nations…. lacks merit.
“My point being you display an anti Russian. bias.”
In other words, you didn’t have a point.
Or you aren’t bright enough to get the point. By the way, you have a tendency to trip over your own ego. Not a good look, especially for a “moderator”.
Ah, the last resort — “if nothing else sticks, I’ll pretend that moderators shouldn’t be commenters.”
When all else fails just pretend that criticism of a moderator is somehow a ” last resort”.
I criticized you. I did not criticize all or any other moderators that comment on what they moderate. In fact you are the only one that I have ever done so. But go ahead. Continue to misrepresent and mis quote me.
For some reason, it pleases you to pretend I’m “biased against Russia.”
I’m not, but you’re free to pretend that if you like.
And you’re free to whine about me being a “moderator” when you’ve got nothing else to back up a risible claim. Just as I’m free to notice that that’s what you’re doing.
Now criticism becomes a “whine”. You’re free to do whatever. Don’t expect me to accept your claims of non bias. And you keep on making my point without realizing it with comments like these.
You have never seen me criticize Russian culture (in fact, I’m a fan of it).
You have never seen me criticize Russian politics on any terms other than those I use to criticize the politics of ALL states.
You haven’t seen me do those things, because I don’t do them.
What you describe as an “anti-Russian bias” is my “stick with the is, the ought is another matter” assessment of factual situations vis a vis military and economic matters.
And that’s been fairly balanced. The Russians are good at making small arms and artillery that can take a licking and keep on ticking. The Russians make air defense systems on par (although not obviously superior to) the better western equivalents. They’re not entirely uncompetitive when it comes to fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Their tanks prove to be crap every time I’m convinced they finally got it right, and their anti-tank weapons seem to be somewhat lagging the west’s. Their logistics has long been far too rail-reliant (a problem they themselves have recognized but haven’t yet really remedied) and their motor pool has suffered from decades of poor maintenance, probably mainly due to low-level corruption (tires disappear, oil changes are marked as done when the oil went into some corporal’s car, etc.). On hypersonic missiles, the evidence so far as to whether they’re much to worry about is inconclusive.
Ukraine has a lot of the same corruption problems. It also has a lot of hardy old Russian artillery and small arms, and the western-supplied arms have made a difference for them. Their soldiery doesn’t seem to be either much better or much worse than that of the Russians.
To me, once the initial attempt to take the Donbas quickly failed, it all came down to “how long are the players willing to play?” Because Ukraine’s backers simply out-produce Russia, and apart from Iran, nobody seems to be throwing in whole-heartedly to keep them in the stuff they need. If China is doing so, it’s doing so secretly. Kim seems to be interested but angling for the best deal he can get. At the moment, every day the war drags on is an advantage to Ukraine and a disadvantage to Russia if the Ukrainians don’t get stupid and try to go on the strategic offensive.
That assessment is not “anti-Russian.” Other than hoping that the people in the contested oblasts end up with the regime they prefer, I don’t care who “wins” or “loses,” because I don’t regard the Russian, Ukrainian, US, etc. regimes as qualitatively different from one another. They’re all bad and I’m on none of their sides.
Field Marshall Knapp is on his high horse again.
Sadly, being factual is not one of his more vital points.
I have neither a horse nor a baton. Nor a tumbler of your preferred flavor of Kool Aid.
Oh yes, you do, together with the finest moonshine of the day available from your local friendly semi-underground distillery.
I wouldn’t be too sure about Crimea not being part of Ukraine again. That seems to be the primary focus of the Ukrainians now. If the Ukes are able to cut the land bridge (I’d say a 50/50 chance now) then it’s game over for any Russians in Crimea that don’t want to be Ukrainians.
You left out Kherson & Zap, with possibly more to follow.. The losers have no say in the matter..
I didn’t leave them out. I expressly mentioned that the Russians are unlikely to end up with them.
What did he learn or not learn? That America won’t pull this shit the next chance we get? That the Russians should just sit and take it if the US decides to do it again?
If you really believe that Putin is the one needing to learn a lesson, I feel sorry for you.
What he has hopefully learned is that the Russian armed forces and economy simply aren’t in any shape to fight a large war, or else they wouldn’t have spent 18 months unsuccessfully trying to win a small one.
It’s a given that the Americans will pull this shit every time. And that they’re unteachable.
What he has hopefully learned is that the Russian armed forces and economy simply aren’t in any shape to fight a large war, or else they wouldn’t have spent 18 months unsuccessfully trying to win a small one.
It’s a given that the Americans will pull this shit every time. And that they’re unteachable.
Don’t worry. So far we have only some talks about the peace talks. No more than that.
I only worry about Nukes,Climate Change,corrupt ignorant politicians and armed to the teeth local Police.
Russian Defence Minister advised that the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the counteroffensive, amounted to more than 66 thousand servicemen (casualties) and 7,600 pieces of equipment.
Two years ago the United States and NATO abandoned Afghanistan in ruins. The country is wracked with poverty and barely functioning after the devastating US illegal war. The same fate awaits Ukraine, except on a far greater scale.
Our elites (predatory class) are monstrosities, unrestrained psychopaths.
The same fate awaits the US if they keep threatening China.
Sure. You keep believing that.
Doom, in another article on this website today, Ukrainian soldiers claimed that 90% of them would die.
How truly horrific that the United Snakes and ZelBoy are willing to sacrifice these human beings? And for what purpose? Ukraine will NOT emerge victorious in this war.
But look at our leadership. ByeDone. McConnell. Pelosi. All three are basket cases not fit to rule. They are appear to be death warmed over.
From that article:
“Ninety per cent of the guys here will die too,” added the young fighter matter-of-factly, looking around his comrades as the Skala battalion’s storm troops waited to receive orders for another night attack on Sunday. “We know that. Sure, we’ve breached the first line of the Russians but f***ing hell. What a cost.”
Gives one the chills.
And brings tears to one’s eyes…
And Russia has lost almost 250,000. War is hell. (Especially for the country losing it.)
You are directly stating that destroying Ukraine for generations is worth it because it hurts Russia.
A very harsh anti-US comment.
No. The Ukrainians are destroying Russians for generations by defending their land. Tankie talking points won’t change that.
Okie drones break a few windows in high rise Moscow, but Russian missiles & gravity bombs are turning UK Cities into rubble. I Feel sorry Ukraine is being destroyed, but what did they expect, that Russia would trust NATO not to create a first strike threat. I suppose Ukraine deserves what it is getting, but I feel bad for good Ukraine people who are innocent victims of this war who are losing everything.
Moscow know they’re in a war now though, don’t they?
They just don’t get it. The war will end when Putin’s stated goals are reached. It doesn’t matter what Zelensky thinks. It doesn’t matter what NATO thinks.
Hate to spring this on you but the Russians are going backward. Want to call it a “tactical retreat” so you can sleep better?
I’ll reply to your comment in 2 weeks.
Please do.
Russia is in a war of attrition not territory. What happened to the more than 66 thousand servicemen (casualties) and 7,600 pieces of equipment. Thats just in 3 months.
https://archive.ph/ApQ3Q
I never said it wasn’t costly. Imagine if they had interviewed Russian VDP soldiers from Robotyne.
How would that make it better? Or worth it? I’m sure they have horror stories of their own. I don’t think one side is going casualty free. But we support Ukraine. We refused/refuse diplomacy. The cost is going to only rise, and the outcome will be much worse than what could have happened using diplomacy pre-invasion. Or when diplomacy was sidetracked shortly after invasion.
Russians can get the f**k out! That would make it better.
There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. Now tap your heels together Dorothy. It’ll work. In the meantime, the people we support will continue to die. But you, like others, are good with the platitudes.
You’re correct. There’s no clicking of the heels. There’s only the defeat of Russia. If that happens, the world will be a better place. The Ukes are fighting for their families and land. F**k the Russians.
BTW, the Russians are f**king around in Africa and causing deaths there too. Do you deny that?
https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2023/09/russian-military-actors-went-niger-mali-close-coup-dates-data-shows/390055/
Yes, the Ukes are fighting for their families and their land. And of course, fuck the Russians. That will make the Russians leave. The propaganda machine must hold you up as an example when they gage just how effective they truly are.
I’m not on team Russia moron. Or team Putin. Or team Kremlin. Or any other stupid ass accusations you might throw at anyone who doesn’t share your narrative.
If Russia gets to keep the annexed land and have some control over the invaded country after peace talks then Putin will continue invading and annexing whenever the time is right.
yes Putin will certainly invade all of Europe and then hit the road in the Atlantic ocean until his evil ass makes it all the way to Manhattan, right?
i am quaking in my boots at the mere thought of that.
Not all of Europe. Just its neighboring countries.
😂
Back under your bed.. The Reds are Everywhere !
The Great False Premis, upon which their entire Anti Putin argument holds, that “He wants to reestablish the USSR”. Take away that utterly baseless, unlikely for common sense reasons assumption, and they got nuthin’. We should mostly ignore their ramblings. Oh, yeah… “Putin’s Insane, no telling what he might do.”, I forgot. 😉
didn’t he (Putin) state that the breakup of the USSR was a huge mistake? or a tragedy? Given that statement the notion that he might want to reassemble some of the better bits isn’t that far fetched.
I think the usual English translation of what he said (and I see someone else has elaborated on it) is “calamity.” And, in significant respects, it was. Any time a big empire breaks into small pieces over a short period, lots of people are going to be hurt in various ways.
That doesn’t mean he is engaged in an attempt to reassemble it. My mother’s death was a calamity in my view as well, but I don’t kid myself that I can resurrect her.
Other than Chechnya, he’s mostly focused on preserving what’s left of the Russian empire and discouraging the nibbling away at its edges. Which is why Ukraine switching from being an imperial Russian satrapy to being an imperial US satrapy demanded SOME kind of response.
Here is what President Putin is focused on…. the US/EU and NATO sponsored the 2014 EuroMaidan Coup d’état which was an illegal and criminal act. What the ICC called the supreme international crime, the crime of aggression. This is the event that started WW3 which will not end until one axis is destroyed.
NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed, in an interview with The Washington Post, May 9, 2023, (speaking on behalf of NATO) that the “war didn’t start in 2022”. “The war started in 2014”
The legal implications of Stoltenberg’s statements are far-reaching. The beginning of the Ukraine war coincided with a U.S. sponsored Coup d’état. Having stated that “the war started in 2014”, and has been ongoing since 2014 as confirmed by Stoltenberg, Russia’s Special Military Operation cannot be categorized as an “illegal invasion” (under Article 2(4) of the UN Charter).
NATO can no longer claim that Russia’s Special Military Operation (SMO) of February 24, 2022 constitutes, from a legal standpoint, “an invasion”. As the war started in 2014, Art 2(4) applies to both the Kiev Nazi regime as well as US-NATO which was behind the February 2014 illegal Coup D’état.
From a legal standpoint, US-NATO on behalf and in coordination with the US sponsored Nazi regime had initiated a war against Luhansk and Donesk. Legally this was not “An Act of War against Russia”. this was an “Act of War against Ukraine and the People of Ukraine”.
President Putin had defined a Special Military Operation (SMO) in support of the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. The stated objective was to “demilitarise” and “denazify” Ukraine.
Article 51 of the UN Charter confirms that “Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, Russia’s SMO complies with the exercise of self defense.
I think it has something to do with the word of those who gave “assurances” also.
It’s utterly farfetched.
“Whoever does not miss the Soviet Union has no heart. Whoever wants it back has no brain.” ~VVP
If he actually said that, it’s interesting in that it’s a repurposed Clemenceau quote (“whoever is not a socialist at 20 has not heart; whoever’s still a socialist at 40 has no brain”).
Perhaps one day he’ll quote Talleyrand to explain his invasion of Ukraine: “It was worse than a crime, it was a blunder.”
Under international law its not an invasion. Its an intervention to protect civilians from ethnic cleansing and genocide.
He said it. You can find it reported and quoted hundreds of times for more than a decade. I’m sure at least a dozen or so will meet with your approval.
There’s a lot of repurposing of quotations, and it’s seldom certain whose was original. For instance:
“He who is not a republican at twenty compels one to doubt the generosity of his heart; but he who, after thirty, persists, compels one to doubt the soundness of his mind.”
~Anselme Polycarpe Batbie, 1875
“Worse than a crime . . .” Talleyrand? Misattributed, I think:
https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/familiar-quotations/9625-joseph-fouheaute-1759-or-1763-john-bartlett/
Perhaps one day, Field Marshall Knapp, armed with Talleyrand’s most dazzling pearls of wisdom, might learn the finest of the arts known to the ordinary folk as an “arrangement in a brewery”.
When I drink, which isn’t often (three or four times a year), it’s either 1-2 craft IPAs, or a shot or two of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (Old Crow if it’s available, but Jim Beam will do in a pinch).
I was actually thinking about grabbing a couple of IPAs today to drink during yard work tomorrow.
Nothing in particular against moonshine, but I prefer bourbon and don’t know anyone who operates a home still anyway. Last time I had moonshine was in 2018 in New Orleans when some friends from Mississippi were handing it out.
Moonshine from Mississippi would be a potent one, methinks.
I occasionally have a few drops of rum with my coffee and a small Demerara sugar cube these days. Nothing beats Chairman’s Reserve Spiced for me. Used to be a double Lamb’s followed by a pint or two of Guinness. I last had it at Wimbledon decades ago after watching McEnroe play.
Sounds quite good. I’ve never really been into rum, other than in dessert treats, but I love the smell of it.
Putin made that comment in regards to Russians that ended up across borders in countries such as Latvia, Estonia and Ukraine. Each of those countries have instituted forms of ethnic cleansing targeting ethnic Russians. In the case of Ukraine, it hasn’t just been cultural and ethnic Russians either.
I guess if you’re addicted to neoconservative spin-doctoring, you might look at it that way. In fact, there were a couple of quotes on the subject. The context being that it was a “disaster” or a “tragedy” depending on the translation, because many ethnic Russians were now “stranded”, so to speak, in other ethnic former Soviet republics. For that reason he said it was a “tragedy”, or whatever. In another quote he says “He who does not regret the break-up of the Soviet Union has no heart; he who wants to revive it in its previous form has no head.” ― Vladimir Putin
MORE & MORE this dangerous idea to confront & weaken Russia is turning into another American military FIASCO!!!. The MORONS over at the Rand Corp. who conspired with the Neocons should be arrested for WARCRIMES & Endangering all life on this planet. and the murder of all who died in the Maidan Coup De Etat and the war in Ukraine to be HUNG BY THE NECK UNTIL DEAD ON THE MALL IN WASHINGTON DC NEXT TO THE VEIT NAM WAR MEMORIAL.
I have not been to Washington since the peace march in 1968. We had so much hope that got dashed so quickly.Where have all the flowers gone?
Famous people with college degrees and photogenics became popular as peace speakers so regular people went home.
Yeah, McGovern got hammered, and would probably do worse in today’s even-more-toxic environment..
First candidate I ever voted for, Eddie.
We were shocked that so many rejected him.
What the hell happened to our generation, Wendell? 🙁
After a fair and speedy trial of course.
Well the beauty of drones is we can just keep sending them cheap cheap cheap, and bomb the living hell out of em until they leave. They shouldn’t need NATO for that. Also, completely sever the supply lines, and starve them out. Woudl be a good strategy. Once they starve, start sending Putin his generals heads on a spike in UPS trucks.
So, Peace for these freaking NATO countries is actually continuation of the War…!
“War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery,…….”
“NATO members that border Russia and Belarus are afraid that growing opposition to the proxy war in Ukraine inside the United States will put pressure on the Ukrainians to pursue peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, The Hill reported on Tuesday.”
Translation: Cuckolded European politicians fear peace in Ukraine will reveal their disastrous participation in this war has gutted their economies and their own populations will take revenge on them.
“Eastern European NATO Countries Fear Peace Talks Between Ukraine and Russia – Poland and the Baltic states are worried growing opposition to the proxy war inside the US could lead to negotiations”
Poland should be worried. War and negotiations are unpredictable as Clausewitz said.
No longer can Winston Churchill and the British muck around and create borders to their own liking.
Today’s Poland was created by stealing Prussian lands and giving them to Poland a little over 70 years ago. Poland may find their ill gotten gains are reversed and that they once again become a vestigial organ in Eastern Europe.
That would not bother me but I would have to stop telling Polish jokes.
It is not just US voters who are waking up to this neocon abuse. Many European voters outside the Baltics and Poland are even more upset. Slovakia, Germany, many key countries whose governments bought into this boondoggle are now turning on their governments.
What really gets me is that they think their Russophobia is actually my problem. If they want war with their neighbors then by all means, but you may not have our blood or treasure to do so.
“The Biden administration is looking to sign a long-term security deal with Ukraine to tie the hands of a future administration on the issue…”
We already know that the US is ready to ditch any agreement it makes in aid of pursuing an agenda. Biden and Co. can sign all the long-term deals it wants with the Ukraine, but guess what happens if Trump is re-elected? Remember what happened with the JCPOA nuke agreement with Iran when Trump decided to just walk away? What is to stop Trump from canceling any agreement with the Ukraine? That’s why other nations should be wary of making any agreements or treaties with Washington: as much as it pains me to say this as an American… we simply can’t be trusted.
I think the title of the article needs to be changed to: The Fascist War Profiteers in Washington Fear Peace Talks Between Ukraine and Russia
All of the “fears” sound like what a neocon sitting on a perch in Washington would fear. For example:
Exactly … these “articles” are nothing but narrative shaping efforts by the system to reinforce the status-quo proxy war. After all, who would “betray” our good brave friends in the region?
War resistors are disgusted by perverts who gravitate to hierarchy and its leadership. One hundred percent of congress people who call themselves progressives voted to fund the totally unprovoked US attack on Russia.
US war resistors are being listened to by more and more people. Many now see projecting fear that Russia wants to take over all of Europe; This is a sales pitch by war mongers selling weapons. Do not listen to known liars. Talk with friends and relatives about what a new US government will be like.
It appears there will always be a small sliver of all national populations who profit from the confusion of war and temporary treaties that are only intended to buy time to prepare for the next war… War mongers are even now promoting propaganda lies to support war against China, Korea, Iran and Russia.
Some war resistors look back to older nations that were destroyed for profit by US and European colonialists who today will sacrifice every last Ukrainian to weaken Russia. Looking back for guidance from past experience is good and provides solid examples. Even so, like it or not, the modern world contains huge cities with greater human populations than entire continents of a few short centuries ago.
Something new yet also familiar and understandable is needed. What will a new government that is strong enough to address the health and happiness of billions of people plus all of Nature’s other creatures look like? This needs to be discussed and I suggest starting with something like the sketch at https://www.constituentassembly.org/
Click your preferred language.
If there is a war between Nato and Russia, the Baltic states will be wiped off the face of the Earth. There is no way Nato can defend the Baltic states by conventional means. The only way Nato can defend the Baltics is by launching a nuclear attack.
I really don’t have any sympathies for people who want all of us getting killed.
They’re afraid their hate and prejudices won’t continue to sell. And of course, they still have junk they want to ship to Ukraine so the US can sell them shiny new war toys.
Gee, two camps on the negotiation issue, which one to choose, the dwarfs who say stand firm or the giant with the nukes and the money??
No elections, forced gunpoint conscription, anti retreat troops, book burning, banning of free speech, looting of churches, arresting church leaders, government death hit lists, mass murder of civilians, ethnic cleansing campaigns, assassination of peace negotiators, bombing of Nuclear power stations, bio weapons research labs, destruction of Europe’s energy infrastructure, terrorism, kidnapping, rape, torture, massive human rights abuses etc etc etc.
Russian Defence Minister advised that the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the counteroffensive, amounted to more than 66 thousand servicemen (casualties) and 7,600 pieces of equipment. Our elites are sending hundreds of thousands to their deaths.
Our elites (predatory class) are monstrosities, unrestrained psychopaths.