6 hours ago, Social Media said:

If Ukraine is forced to surrender territory, every NATO border state becomes Russia’s next soft target

 

Quite the wild claim with no proof to back it up.

2 hours ago, John Drake said:

 

Almost every major country in Asia wants more exports into Europe, not build up a trade deficit. China intends to swamp the EU with every gadget under the sun until there isn't a drop left in Europe to take out. Your economic growth is predetermined, now, and it means radically lower rates of manufacturing and regulatory hamstrung technology.

 

I agree that technological advancement in Europe is currently hampered by over-regulation, but why - and how - is Europe's economic growth "pre-determined" and by what?

 

The EU already has a large trade deficit with China, so if Beijing wants to increase the volume of its exports to the bloc it will need to open its own domestic market to European exports. 

 

In addition, as the middle class in Asia expands, so will the demand for quality products. Europe's manufacturing base may have shrunk but Europe still produces plenty of high quality, high price, high margin products.

22 minutes ago, blaze master said:

 

Quite the wild claim with no proof to back it up.

If Ukraine is "neutralized", the next targets are Baltic States, in order to create a corridor to Kaliningrad. 

Just now, candide said:

If Ukraine is "neutralized", the next targets are Baltic States, in order to create a corridor to Kaliningrad. 

 

If you say so.

10 minutes ago, candide said:

If Ukraine is "neutralized", the next targets are Baltic States, in order to create a corridor to Kaliningrad. 

Fertile imagination there bud😅

9 minutes ago, blaze master said:

 

If you say so.

Well, it's what Baltic States are preparing for.

 

https://worldcrunch.com/focus/russia-ukraine-war/baltics-russia-invasion/

 

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-10-10/baltic-states-plan-for-mass-evacuations-in-case-of-a-russian-attack

3 minutes ago, candide said:

Well, it's what Baltic States are preparing for.

 

https://worldcrunch.com/focus/russia-ukraine-war/baltics-russia-invasion/

 

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-10-10/baltic-states-plan-for-mass-evacuations-in-case-of-a-russian-attack

 

So your links prove what exactly ? 

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing thats what they prove. Nice scaremongering though.

8 hours ago, Social Media said:

Europe Blindsided As Trump Pushes Pro-Kremlin Ukraine ‘Peace’

Europe is reeling after US President Donald Trump unveiled a so-called “peace plan” for Ukraine that reads less like diplomacy and more like dictation from the Kremlin. The initial 28-point blueprint — drafted by Trump’s real-estate ally Steve Witkoff alongside Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund — effectively rubber-stamped every territorial demand made by Vladimir Putin. Even after revisions by US and Ukrainian negotiators, the core message remains unmistakable: accept Moscow’s terms or be left to “fight your little heart out,” as Trump reportedly told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

 

The plan’s original terms amounted to a forced capitulation: ceding not only occupied regions but also Ukrainian-held territory, gutting Ukraine’s defence posture, and erasing any pretence of a rules-based international order. Former US Ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker dismissed it as “stillborn,” but its very existence has sent shockwaves through European capitals. If Putin is permitted to annex land through brute force, every nation on NATO’s eastern flank — from Estonia to Romania — becomes the next potential target.

 

The danger is not hypothetical. Russia’s ongoing hybrid warfare campaign, including attempts to sabotage Poland’s railway system, demonstrates how actively Moscow is testing Europe’s resilience. For the UK and EU, the lesson is glaring: they must back Ukraine against any settlement that sacrifices its sovereignty. Doing otherwise would mirror the catastrophic appeasement of 1938, when Europe handed Hitler the Sudetenland and prayed it was enough.

 

Flattering Trump, as Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer unwisely attempted, is a dead-end strategy. Bullies don’t reward deference; they escalate demands. And with rising frustration inside the Republican Party — whose Atlanticist wing is currently defying Trump over the release of long-sealed Jeffrey Epstein documents — Europe cannot depend on American political factions suddenly rediscovering their moral compass.

 

Compounding the crisis is Trump himself. The longer he occupies the presidency, the more difficult it becomes to ignore the warnings — including from his own former allies — that he displays overt authoritarian tendencies. Over the past ten months, he has attacked the judiciary, attempted to weaponize law enforcement, sued independent law firms for representing disfavoured clients, and targeted media outlets and universities. His rhetoric and behaviour increasingly resemble those of the strongmen Europe once swore never to empower again.

 

The deeper question now facing Europe is existential: is Trump still the leader of “the West,” or has the moral and strategic centre of democratic leadership shifted elsewhere? Since World War II, American presidents upheld shared democratic values; Trump rejects them outright. He sees foreign policy not as a defence of principles, but as a tool for personal leverage, transactional politics and self-enrichment.

 

Ukraine’s fate is Europe’s warning. If the West abandons a democracy to Kremlin control, the reputational damage to the United States could be irreversible — and Europe’s own security architecture could collapse with it. As Adlai Stevenson warned decades ago, democracies must not only fight for their values, they must live up to them. Trump’s plan forces Europe to decide whether it still remembers how.

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Trump’s “peace plan” is basically Putin’s shopping list — wrapped in an American flag.

• If Ukraine is forced to surrender territory, every NATO border state becomes Russia’s next soft target.

• Europe must stop shoe-shining Trump and start defending itself — or repeat the Munich disaster all over again.

 

SOURCE: TOMORROWS AFFAIRS

 

 

 

 

Europe is not 'reeling'. Europe has been humouring Trump whilst quietly and effectively getting their Ducks in a row. They've done the calculations, and now they’re ready and able to call in the US debts. A $2.34T Treasury dump. A suicide bomb for the U.S.

It means much higher borrowing costs, an angry bond market, and the reality check that this smug “indispensable nation” needs. USA has made itself dispensable.

 

Europe has been very busy. Ukraine is to be supported and brought into the EU whilst the rebuilding and arming will be funded by the billions held in frozen Russian assets.

And that is only a part of what Europe has been planning and agreeing whilst Trump screeches nonsense and attacks US neighbours.

13 hours ago, candide said:

Well, it's what Baltic States are preparing for.

 

https://worldcrunch.com/focus/russia-ukraine-war/baltics-russia-invasion/

 

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-10-10/baltic-states-plan-for-mass-evacuations-in-case-of-a-russian-attack

Like the guys building war bunkers in the 60s

Very typical of Don, who seems to truly adore King Vlad. 

Both Don and Petie like to play tough, they both like to act up, but they're both cowards and they are bordering on being traitors to their nation. 

 

There is no question that the re-election of Trump is a wet dream for both Putin, Xi, and all despots around the world. Having somebody so fabulously incompetent, so spectacularly ignorant, and so unable to negotiate anything even resembling a good deal for the US, is definitely a huge assist to adversaries areas around the world. 

 

He is certainly playing in

China's and Russia's hands, making them more powerful, far more influential, and increasing the influence of BRICS dramatically. The goon is diminishing the U.S every day and the end result is not going to be pretty. 

 

In addition Trump is diminishing US influence, which may end up being a good thing for the world in the long run. The days of American hubris are winding down thanks to Don the Destroyer. 

 

 

 

 

 

15 hours ago, dinsdale said:

Yep. The retaliation would be massive and bring about a rapid surrender from Zylenskyy. It would also result in massive numbers of civilian deaths.

Traitorous words...................

Comparisons with the Sudetenland annexation and subsequent  'appeasement' are wide of the mark. If there was a comparison with Sudetenland, it was back in 2014  with Russia's annexation of Crimea. The situation now is more akin to the land grab of the rest of Czechoslovakia (Bohemia and Moravia) six months after the Munich Agreement. That led to the UK guaranteeing to support Poland and, well, the rest is history.

 

Ukraine on its own cannot 'win' against Russia just like Poland couldn't win against Germany. So unless NATO begins military operations against Russia, side by side with Ukraine, this conflict will drag on and on, with Ukraine losing more territory, more infrastructure and more lives, civilian and military.  

 

When WWII started, the ability to direct heavy military force against targets more than a couple dozen miles away was still limited. Naval bombardment and field artillery still being the primary offensive capabilities. Strategic bombing as a doctrine was still in its infancy, as was the technology to make it effective. But now? Nuclear weapons, missiles and drones have altered the dynamic beyond measure.

 

There is an increasingly widely held view that it is now a question of 'when', not 'if', NATO will become engaged in a shooting war with Russia. If this (God forbid) does come to pass, it will be better for all of Western Europe if it is prepared militarily and politically. If that means a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine, even at the expense of Ukraine ceding territory and other ambitions (to join NATO, for a start), in order to provide NATO members with the time to properly upgrade their national military capabilities, that is not appeasement - that is pragmatic policy making.

 

After Hitler annexed the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, the British government realised war was inevitable and began to accelerate rearmament. It's time to do the same now.

 

 

 

 

18 hours ago, RayC said:

Trump is correct in that Europe has been over-reliant on the US for its protection; we need to develop our own defence capabilities independent of the US asap, as it is becoming clearer by the day that a Trump-led US can it be relied upon.

 

Given that we should become less dependent militarily on the US, we might as well also start to cut the economic ties and look eastwards towards Asia for our economic growth. 

What do you think they will find in Asia?

India? A nation that would betray and cheat anyone. A country which has no regard for meeting EU positions on the environment, climate change, or fair labour practices. 

China? A nation that engages in massive industrial espionage and which funds  subversive social media campaigns intended to cause unrest and social disorder? A nation which  exports coal burning power plants to the world and which has no regard for meeting EU positions on the environment, climate change, human rights or fair labour practices. 

 

The EU is already  engaged with many Asian  nations. Germany is helping spread  lung cancer with its tobacco interests. Germany is one of the largest foreign investors in Thailand. It has active interests in Iran.  The French and Italians are eager to exploit oil and gas resources.  The Italians and french started a war in Libya to protect their oil interests. The EU actively solicits weapons sales opportunities. The Eu is very active.

 

Yes, the EU must diversify and build bridges with other countries like Australia and Canada and the African continent. However, the Europeans  must be willing to  shoulder their own defense, something its people refuse to do. One need only look at the protests arising now in Germany as the Germans try to achieve a defensive military capability. The French cannot even maintain order in their own nation as foreign financed  instigators incite the immigrant community and political militants to protest  against the government. Italy, Sweden and Netherlands are being over run by lawless economic migrants etc, all pushed to he EU by foreign  entities who wish to undermine and sabotage the social order. Perhaps the Europeans should start with putting their own house in order first.

15 hours ago, blaze master said:

 

So your links prove what exactly ? 

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing thats what they prove. Nice scaremongering though.

They prove that Baltic States are assessing that a Russian attack is a serious threat.

4 minutes ago, candide said:

They prove that Baltic States are assessing that a Russian attack is a serious threat.

 

You've changed your tune.

14 hours ago, Chutney said:

Europe is not 'reeling'. Europe has been humouring Trump whilst quietly and effectively getting their Ducks in a row. They've done the calculations, and now they’re ready and able to call in the US debts. A $2.34T Treasury dump. A suicide bomb for the U.S.

It means much higher borrowing costs, an angry bond market, and the reality check that this smug “indispensable nation” needs. USA has made itself dispensable.

 

Europe has been very busy. Ukraine is to be supported and brought into the EU whilst the rebuilding and arming will be funded by the billions held in frozen Russian assets.

And that is only a part of what Europe has been planning and agreeing whilst Trump screeches nonsense and attacks US neighbours.

Europe is starting to react, but it's far from being enough. In particular, in terms of industrial, innovation and self-reliance policies. For example.

- the Draghi report has been left in a drawer;

- there no 'Buy European Act';

- European military production investment is still far too low.

15 hours ago, candide said:

Well, it's what Baltic States are preparing for.

 

https://worldcrunch.com/focus/russia-ukraine-war/baltics-russia-invasion/

 

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-10-10/baltic-states-plan-for-mass-evacuations-in-case-of-a-russian-attack

 

9 minutes ago, blaze master said:

 

You've changed your tune.

How so?

54 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

What do you think they will find in Asia?

India? A nation that would betray and cheat anyone. A country which has no regard for meeting EU positions on the environment, climate change, or fair labour practices. 

China? A nation that engages in massive industrial espionage and which funds  subversive social media campaigns intended to cause unrest and social disorder? A nation which  exports coal burning power plants to the world and which has no regard for meeting EU positions on the environment, climate change, human rights or fair labour practices. 

 

The EU is already  engaged with many Asian  nations. Germany is helping spread  lung cancer with its tobacco interests. Germany is one of the largest foreign investors in Thailand. It has active interests in Iran.  The French and Italians are eager to exploit oil and gas resources.  The Italians and french started a war in Libya to protect their oil interests. The EU actively solicits weapons sales opportunities. The Eu is very active.

 

Yes, the EU must diversify and build bridges with other countries like Australia and Canada and the African continent. However, the Europeans  must be willing to  shoulder their own defense, something its people refuse to do. One need only look at the protests arising now in Germany as the Germans try to achieve a defensive military capability. The French cannot even maintain order in their own nation as foreign financed  instigators incite the immigrant community and political militants to protest  against the government. Italy, Sweden and Netherlands are being over run by lawless economic migrants etc, all pushed to he EU by foreign  entities who wish to undermine and sabotage the social order. Perhaps the Europeans should start with putting their own house in order first.

 

So, what's your point(s) exactly? It appears to me to be just an anti-Asian, anti-European diatribe.

 

Are you suggesting that Europe should not engage with Asia?

 

There is no need for Europe to build bridges with Australia and Canada because relations with those countries are solid (that is not to say that these cordial relationships should be taken for granted). 

 

You list a host of problems in Asian countries but suggest that Europe should engage with Africa, a continent, unfortunately, beset with corruption, dictatorships, lawlessness, etc. Seems a bit contradictory.

1 hour ago, RayC said:

 

So, what's your point(s) exactly? It appears to me to be just an anti-Asian, anti-European diatribe.

 

Are you suggesting that Europe should not engage with Asia?

 

There is no need for Europe to build bridges with Australia and Canada because relations with those countries are solid (that is not to say that these cordial relationships should be taken for granted). 

 

You list a host of problems in Asian countries but suggest that Europe should engage with Africa, a continent, unfortunately, beset with corruption, dictatorships, lawlessness, etc. Seems a bit contradictory.

 

The point is that  Europe is already engaging with Asia. You offer building ties to Asia as if it is a solution or not already there.  The EU has extensive ties with South Korea, and Japan. It had ties with Taiwan but downgraded them as it tried to gain favour with China. Germany and the Netherlands are already very active in Indonesia.  The EU already has a presence in Vietnam and it is growing. 

What exactly do you think that Bangladesh and Pakistan can offer the EU? The EU cannot  build more than it already has in these 2 dysfunctional nations.

What do you think the EU can achieve  in China that it  could not achieve by now? The same for India? These two nations are not interested in helping the EU. They see they EU as a market to exploit. China is hostile to the EU. It dumps goods into the EU, it  engages in industrial espionage that has stolen vast sums of valuable information to the detriment of the EU economy. Neither India nor China is in agreement with the EU's positions on human rights or environmental protection. And you actually believe that they are waiting there with  arms wide open to greet   the very same people that only a 100 years ago were still exploiting them? 

 

On the contrary, the EU must build stronger ties to canada and Australia. These two countries have vital resources that the EU needs. They offer a foothold into regions where the Chinese and USA dominate.  The relations you think are solid are not. The EU talks a good talk but  it has tried to screw both Australia and Canada in trade   agreements. look at the free trade agreement that was supposed to be in effect with Canada. It is still not ratified. The Belgians tried to bully Canada and nearly  destroyed a deal that Germany and France wanted. Look at the state of the trade agreement with Australia. It needs attention.

 

Africa is an untapped opportunity. It has historical links to Europe and it is much easier to do business in Africa than in China or India. The African elites are educated in Europe and the UK, not China or India. The African middle class travel to Europe not India or Russia. Africa is closer to Europe when it comes to access to critical resources. And yet, the Europeans can't get themselves organized.  Not every African nation is corrupt. It is a region alive with opportunity and a growing level of wealth.

 

22 hours ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

Do it Trump. Do it. 2 fingers up at the left. Whatever deal you broker - even if it is Russia giving back every inch they won and compensation of 5 million per deceased Ukrainian they will still be whinging and bitching. They are not rational folk.

Lets get peace, at whatever you consider reasonable terms, and get on with our lives. Z can scurry off to Panama and his bugle and gold plated Bentleys. Good luck sir, free thinkers worldwide are right behind you and we trust your judgement.

 Who are we at odds with here ?Lets give Peace a chance.

google ai overview:

"Pro-Kremlin" is an adjective used to describe individuals, groups, or entities that support the Russian government and its policies, often those associated with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The term is frequently used in the context of information warfare and disinformation campaigns directed at Western countries. 

21 hours ago, Harrisfan said:

Obama and Biden failed to do much. They all don't want a nuclear war. Z is a dumb little man and should deal. He has no hope of winning.

Perhaps you're a dumb little man, as you never have a hope of winning......🤭

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/dec/13/starmer-to-pick-new-us-ambassador-as-relations-with-trump-tested
 

uk changing its ambassador as he don’t like trump

On 12/13/2025 at 11:11 AM, candide said:

Europe is starting to react, but it's far from being enough. In particular, in terms of industrial, innovation and self-reliance policies. For example.

- the Draghi report has been left in a drawer;

- there no 'Buy European Act';

- European military production investment is still far too low.

Agree mainly. This pulling away from US should have commenced far sooner. One way or another the relationship is damaged beyond repair. Obama was a well liked US president in Europe which probably kept it going longer than was wise. Too many politicians just going along with the status quo and not enough with the guts and intellect to push for change.

The 2nd world war was a long time ago and although US did commit troops, military lives and weapons they never as a people endured the civilian deaths and suffering which those in Europe did. That makes for a whole different attitude. They don't understand us and we  Europeans don't understand US complacency. We have less in common really than a shared first language merits.