beautifulthailand99

One has to gasp at Trump's chutzpah to seize for himself the nations's resources.Probably he is setting up Ukaraine to reject and then he can say they have rejected his deal and then does the deal he really wants with Russia. US pushes for expansive new deal to control Ukraine’s minerals and energy Latest draft sent to Kyiv steps up demands and offers no security guarantees https://archive.ph/Wrd3N Senior Ukrainian officials said the proposal could undermine their nation’s sovereignty, route profits abroad and deepen its dependence on Washington. The draft deal marks a dramatic escalation of the Trump administration’s efforts to seize control of Ukraine’s lucrative natural resources as it presses to bring the conflict to an end.It would apply to all mineral resources, including oil and gas, across the entire Ukrainian territory.

Revealed: Trump’s plan to force Ukraine to restore Putin’s gas empire - America holds gun to Zelensky’s head with unprecedented reparation demands -DAILY TELEGRAPH https://archive.ph/2s4nb Europe’s sanctions regime is near to disintegration as well. Hungary and Slovakia have both said they will not vote for a roll over of existing curbs, which means that sanctions will automatically expire in July, and so will control over €200bn (£170bn) of Russian central bank holdings in Europe. “If even one EU member state votes against the asset freeze, the freeze will lapse. The Central Bank of Russia can then immediately withdraw its deposit from Euroclear,” said Anton Moiseienko and Yuliya Ziskina, from the Royal United Services Institute. “For all the talk of reparations and accountability, the EU would find itself handing over €200bn to the regime that launched Europe’s biggest war since World War Two – an Afghanistan-style moment for EU foreign policy.”

'Putin will die soon - and that's a fact', says Zelenskyy as he urges Trump to 'stay strong' in face of Russian demands. https://www.lbc.co.uk/world-news/zelenskyy-putin-die-soon-russia-ukraine/ Well at some point he will be factually correct as will he as will we all. After Putin someone probably worse will replace him who lacks the cunning and increased ruthlessness. Oft mentioned is Nikolai Patrushev and they'll be pining for Putin, then.

Svitlana Morenets - THE SPECTATOR - Ukraine is looking like the loser in Russia-US peace talks In Trump's transactional mindset he gets cheaper fertiliser for his farmers and gets to hit Canada which probably in his mind counts as a win (my take) https://archive.ph/xMcB6 Oleksandra Ustinova, Ukrainian MP and adviser to the Defense Department, said the deal is conveniently timed as global demand for fertilisers surges and Russia is poised to replace Canada as a primary supplier to the US. On top of that, Russia have sold nearly $1 billion (£700 million) worth of Ukrainian grain it stole from occupied regions despite sanctions since 2022. That number will spike if the US reaches an agreement with the G7 and especially the EU where unanimity would be required to lift them.

Probably better to spend your limited resources on huge border defences which is happening "in spades" already than trolling the bear needlessly at this stage and risking a conflagration.

Trump team’s rush to get Ukraine peace deal risks letting Russia off the hook for war crimes “Justice is a prerequisite for sustainable peace,” says the head of a Nobel Peace Prize-winning NGO. https://archive.ph/h0epo “I believe Russia has managed to influence some people on the White House team through information,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Time magazine. “Their signal to the Americans was that the Ukrainians do not want to end the war, and something should be done to force them.” Washington has officially stopped calling the Russian invasion an act of aggression, withdrew from a task force investigating war crimes and cut funding for Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, which had detailed the mass deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/03/26/zelensky-accuses-steve-witkoff-parroting-russian-propaganda/ https://archive.ph/8U84C#selection-3701.0-3723.116 Zelensky accuses Steve Witkoff of parroting Russian propaganda - Ukrainian leader says Trump envoy ‘quotes the Kremlin narratives’ - DAILY TELEGRAPH The White House official sent shock waves through Europe when he appeared to accept the results of sham referendums Russia held in Ukraine to justify the seizure of land there. Mr Witkoff claimed the “overwhelming majority” of the people in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson wanted to be under Russia’s rule and said Vladimir Putin was a “very smart guy”.

Or me - sorry.

Europe Talks Tough on Military Spending, but Unity Is Fracturing. EU leaders are struggling to find the money and the political will to replace the bulk of the U.S. contribution. An E.U. effort to draft a defense pact with Britain is being held up by Paris over squabbles about fisheries-NYT https://archive.ph/DVPDp

It's a moot point who owns what when a decades long union/empire falls and the rule of laws governing that union all fall as well. As the Soviet Union ceased to exist they were defacto then Russia's where the c&c centres lay.

Great post and gave me some fresh insight into the global food supply/price calculus. This article in the Spectator refers to the sanctions win for Russia in the recent talks. https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/ukraine-is-looking-like-the-loser-in-russia-us-peace-talks/ Oleksandra Ustinova, Ukrainian MP and adviser to the Defense Department, said the deal is conveniently timed as global demand for fertilisers surges and Russia is poised to replace Canada as a primary supplier to the US. On top of that, Russia have sold nearly $1 billion (£700 million) worth of Ukrainian grain it stole from occupied regions despite sanctions since 2022. That number will spike if the US reaches an agreement with the G7 and especially the EU where unanimity would be required to lift them.

I ran his statement through ChatGPT to fact check his statement this is what it said. Grenell if you follow the Wiki link has an interesting career history to say the least. Besides which let's say for arguments sake that Ukraine had kept nuclear weapons and that hadn't deterred Putin from the invasion - what next use them ? Would the western world stand by if they proposed first use to deter the invasion ? Besides which if both countries have them then you're back to stalemate unless they are seriously rogue and the leader and his cohorts are backed into a corner with no escape and are seriously mad. Which Zelenskiy certainly isn't nothwithstanding the huge costs of maintaining and updating an arsenal you will never use. The statement asserts that the nuclear weapons stationed in Ukraine after the Soviet Union's dissolution were Russian, not Ukrainian, and that Ukraine returned these weapons to Russia. This characterization aligns with historical records. Following the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991, approximately 1,800 nuclear warheads remained on Ukrainian territory. These weapons were part of the Soviet arsenal, and operational control was maintained by Russia. Ukraine lacked the necessary codes and infrastructure to deploy these weapons independently. In 1994, Ukraine agreed to transfer these nuclear warheads to Russia and dismantle related infrastructure in exchange for security assurances from Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom, formalized in the Budapest Memorandum. While the weapons were located within Ukraine's borders, they were inherited from the Soviet Union and were under Russian control. Therefore, the statement accurately reflects the situation: the nuclear weapons were Russian remnants stationed in Ukraine, and Ukraine returned them to Russia.

The US Annual Intelligence report mentioned upthread is worth a careful read in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war and highlights in detail why current US interest wish to pivot away from support to Ukraine and end the war so they can concentrate their resources i nother areas they see of higher importance. https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/2025 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.pdf Russia has shown it can navigate substantial economic challenges resulting from the ongoing drains of the war, Western cost imposition, and high inflation and interest rates, for at least the near term by using financial and import substitution workarounds, maintaining low debt, and continuing investments in the defense-industrial base. Russia’s economy remains the fourth largest in the world (based on GDP at purchasing power parity). Moscow’s rising defense spending and investments in defense-industrial capacity will continue to enable a high level of production of critical capabilities—such as artillery, long-range missiles, one-way attack UAVs, and glide bombs—and ensure Russia retains a firepower advantage over Ukraine. Despite having paid enormous military and economic costs in its war with Ukraine, Russia has proven adaptable and resilient, in part because of the expanded backing of China, Iran, and North Korea. President Vladimir Putin appears resolved and prepared to pay a very high price to prevail in what he sees as a defining time in Russia’s strategic competition with the United States, world history, and his personal legacy. Most Russian people continue to passively accept the war, and the emergence of an alternative to Putin probably is less likely now than at any point in his quarter-century rule.

According to Trump’s Special Envoy Richard Grenell on the Budapest Memorandum, Ukraine's nuclear weapons were Russia's and were leftovers (from the USSR) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Grenell

Russia has ‘seized the upper hand’ in Ukraine war and “is on a path to accrue greater leverage” to force favorable terms, intel community warns. An annual intelligence assessment of global threats also questions both countries’ willingness to reach a quick settlement to the war.-POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/25/russia-has-seized-the-upper-hand-in-ukraine-war-intel-community-warns-00247753 “Even though Russian President [Vladimir] Putin will be unable to achieve the total victory he envisioned when initiating the large-scale invasion in February 2022, Russia retains momentum as a grinding war of attrition plays to Russia’s military advantages,” the report states. “This grinding war of attrition will lead to a gradual but steady erosion of Kyiv’s position on the battlefield, regardless of any U.S. or allied attempts to impose new and greater costs on Moscow.” https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/2025 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.pdf

Trump says ‘contract’ being drafted on ‘dividing up’ land in Ukraine war - The Hill https://thehill.com/policy/international/5208000-trump-says-contract-being-drafted-on-dividing-up-land-in-ukraine-war/ “In getting that ceasefire, they had a lot of guns pointing at each other. You had some soldiers unfortunately surrounded by other soldiers,” the president said. “They are going to be — I believe we’re going to pretty soon have a full ceasefire, and then we’re going to have a contract, and the contract’s being negotiated, the contract in terms of dividing up the lands, etc., etc. It’s being negotiated as we speak.”

Crimea and "four regions" are key issues in Russia's war against Ukraine – Trump's envoy Witkoff https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2025/03/22/7504040/ "They're Russian-speaking, there have been referendums where the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule. I think that's the key issue in the conflict."

Trump's envoy Witkoff claims Ukraine will hold presidential elections - he is completely certain Russia will not attack Europe - The Kyiv Independent https://kyivindependent.com/trumps-envoy-witkoff-says-elections-to-take-place-in-ukraine/ Ukraine has not held elections during Russia's full-scale war because they are prohibited under martial law, which was declared on Feb. 24, 2022, just hours after the invasion began. Ukrainian law also requires elections to be safe, equal, and uninterrupted—conditions that are impossible to meet while Russia continues its attacks on civilians and critical infrastructure. Witkoff also noted that he is completely certain Russia will not attack Europe, dismissing concerns about a potential Russian advance across the continent as unfounded.

As Russia retakes Kursk, Ukrainians ask, 'Was it worth it?' https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-retakes-kursk-ukrainians-ask-was-it-worth-it-2025-03-22/ Pankova, 25, believes the cost of Ukraine's risky incursion into Russia may have been too high. The sentiment is shared by many others in Ukraine, especially after troops retreated from most of Kursk this month following weeks of heavy fighting. "I'm just not sure it was worth it," she said, large teardrops running down her face when talking about her missing friend, who she bonded with over their shared love of hiking in Ukraine's mountains. "We're not invaders. We just need our territories back, we do not need the Russian one."

Now you know why NATO countries are reluctant to donate any more kit - they are out of it and what they have they need to keep for there own very depleted resources. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2025/03/21/ukraine-lost-too-many-tanks-in-kursk/ Ukrainian forces have lost around 950 tanks. That translates into a 3.4-to-1 loss ratio favoring Ukraine. But in the eight-month battle for Kursk in western Russia, the Russians wrote off 66 tanks, while the Ukrainians gave up 55. That’s a mere 1.2-to-1 ratio favoring Ukraine. In other words, nearly even. That’s bad news for Ukraine, which according to one recent analysis needs to inflict three times as many losses on Russia as Russia inflicts on Ukraine in order to degrade the Russian military faster than Russia degrades the Ukrainian military.

Interesting you literally dodged a bullet then. 3.5 million dead because the French and then the US wanted to thwart national self-determination of countries from their colonial masters.Britain under Wilson wisely sat that one out. Starmer is an idiot.

Once the US is out everone goes we would like to help but .... sorry Vlodomir. Coalition of the Unwilling. European countries love puffing out their chests during their pretty, well photographed conferences and then not following through when it comes time to actually write the cheques, every time its the same story - it's astonishing they dont feel shame. EU plan to send more military aid to Ukraine in shambles The bloc had aimed to send billions in military aid and artillery ammunition to Kyiv, but member countries split on the plan. https://www.politico.eu/article/military-aid-ukraine-kaja-kallas-ukraine-eu-leaders-rounds-artillery/

Stand down Cold War Warriors could have been a small animal and ancient tech. Not Ivan the Terrible !

The Russo-US Alliance could take over the world. But seriously Trump and his backers see China as THE threat and wish to cleave off Russia from the axis of Iran/DPRK/China - Ukraine is collateral damage.

Seems like the Russia panicikers got it wrong - a very old transformer , lack of investment, Brexit - take your pick - Britains fooked - let's have a little war to take our minds off the preciptious decline. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14523119/firefighters-major-update-heathrow-airport-met-police-cause.html