Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky is going to Washington DC to try to rescue a threatened US defence package to Kyiv worth billions of dollars.
The aid has become embroiled in US domestic, partisan politics.
It will be Mr Zelensky’s third visit to the US since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The week is a crucial one for Ukraine, with the European Union also deciding whether to open formal talks on its accession to the bloc.
Few thoughts…
This war shows no sign of ending any time soon, and no sign that Ukraine can win, without a massive infusion of people, material, and cash from someone like us. There is no political will in America to spend American blood on this war.
The only thing that will be different if they negotiate an end to the war now versus 1 year from now is that Russia will likely push into even more Ukrainian territory in a year. It appears that Ukraine has blown its offensive wad. They can fight a long, bloody defensive war almost indefinitely.
Through the entire war, Zelinsky has shifted to full tyrant. He’s canceled elections, imprisoned political opponents, silenced political speech, and is now assassinating ex-pat opponents in foreign countries. There seems to be very little daylight between the ruling style of Zelinsky and that of Putin. This is no longer a fight for the freedom of the Ukrainian people. Democracy has died with Zelinsky and will not be revived even if he wins.
Also, we cannot overlook the American Taxpayer -> Ukraine -> Hunter – > Joe money laundering that has clearly been going on for years. We cannot trust that the Biden Syndicate is acting purely out of the interests of America and not their own personal interests. Do Zelinsky have the goods on Biden and is blackmailing him? Is the taxpayers’ investment in the Ukrainian War just an investment in the Biden family’s generational retirement plan?
Finally, I do understand the stated American interest in this war beyond the role of America supporting Democracy anywhere. There is a reasonable fear that this is similar to Hitler’s seizure of the Sudetenland and such in the 1930s. If we allow Putin’s territorial seizures to go unanswered, he will spread into Europe. And if he does that, then it will trigger our NATO obligations to defend Europe with American blood.
That was a reasonable fear at the beginning of the war, but less so now. Even if he wins in keeping half of Ukraine, this war has bled Putin’s war machine and his domestic political strength with it. Putin will not be able to muster enough force and domestic political support to take on a NATO country for many years, and he is an old man. He doesn’t have many years. Hitler was in his 40s when he began stealing territory. Putin is in his 70s. Russia was expecting an easy seizure of territory like they did in Crimea. It didn’t work. America’s national interest has been met in blunting Russia’s ability to engage in expansionist territorial adventures for some time to come. It is time for peace.
Zelinsky has shifted to full tyrant. He’s canceled elections, imprisoned political opponents, silenced political speech, and is now assassinating ex-pat opponents in foreign countries.
See!! Biden is not assassinating ex-pat opponents in foreign countries–that we know of. So Biden Good, Zelenskiy Bad, see??
we cannot overlook the American Taxpayer -> Ukraine -> Hunter – > Joe money laundering
Wait, wait!! You forgot the >Lockheed, BAE, GE, Rockwell, Harris, UTI, L-3 grouping and then you forgot the Military-Industrial Complex > House/Senate members.
Finally, there’s Goldie, BlackRock, JPMorgan, Bechtel, and dozens of others who will be financing and rebuilding Ukraine..
Lotsa beaks in that ocean of blood!
>If we allow Putin’s territorial seizures to go unanswered, he will spread into Europe. And if he does that, then it will trigger our NATO obligations to defend Europe with American blood.
The die was cast when Obama/Biden allowed Putin’s 2014 seizure of Crimea to go unanswered. The US failed to respond effectively and there is no practical way today to unwind those initial decisions made back then.
it will trigger our NATO obligations to defend Europe with American blood.
That’s what you’re told. Please read Article Five. There is NO ‘mandate’ in it at all. None.
Further, are you Biblically certain that Putin has a desire to conquer ………France? Germany? Why the Hell would Putin force a bunch of Muslims INTO Russia?
Yeah, Dad and Putin expected an easy victory only to to be proved wrong.
Zelensky is no saint but neither is Putin.
To be honest, it hard to judge Ukraine on cancelling elections. The US has not been invad d in multiple decades
If we were attacked and invaded, would we cancel elections?
Probably, based on Democrats, who cancel electiona right now
I’ll say this only one more time, MAR: Zelenskiy and the Nuland Swamp-Creatures lost this war a long time ago.
Even the WaPo (CIA mouthpiece) admits it. Maybe you should catch up with the news.
And Democrats don’t cancel elections. They commit massive election fraud. Trump was elected, not Bai-Den and we all know it.
I’m not sure any of the Western nations have been interested in supporting Ukraine much beyond what it takes to keep Russia hemorrhaging as much as possible. Ukraine has been used as a Western proxy in a war they couldn’t possibly win on their own. What’s been supported is just enough money and materiel for a protracted stalemate, not an all out effort to make Ukraine whole. There was never a Gulf War-style plan to liberate Ukraine. We supply the money and materiel, the Ukrainians supply the bodies and the blood for an outcome determined at the beginning.
There’s been money made destroying Ukraine and there will be more money made on reconstruction after a negotiated “peaceful partition” of the country. As usual, follow the money. Sickening, eh?
Well, Dad, you are wrong on both points.
Ukraine has not lost and has gained about 50% of the land they lost at the beginning of the war. If that’s losing, then you have no idea what losing is.
As far as canceling elections, the Dems are cancelling primary elections to help Biden.
And your losing streak continues.
OK. What brand of mesc are you smoking out there?
Mar is right… kinda? My understanding is that the land gained back all came at the start of the war, and that they haven’t really made up any significant ground in at least 8-12 months. It is really just a stalemate at this point between the two countries. Before we hand over any more money, we should really get an idea of what the endgame is. Ukraine isn’t getting Crimea back at this point. I don’t know if we should continue this shadow war with Russia. Work out new borders, and then let the “new” Ukraine into NATO.
And honestly, that needs to go for Israel too. We should cut off any support to them until we find out what the endgame is there as well. At this point it just seems like they are bombing and flattening everything making it uninhabitable without any respect for life. Rooting out Hamas is a wonderful plan, but there has been too many civilian casualties. The IDF doesn’t care about civilian murders, and it doesn’t take a lot of searching to find attrocities they are committing. Murdering everyone isn’t the way to eliminate Hamas, it needs to be more surgical. There are no good guys in that war. IDF is atrocious, Hamas is atrocious, Netanyahu is evil.
But, in general I have said in the past that when it comes to foreign affairs, I give a lot of leeway to whoever is in power (including Trump) because they tend to have more information than they share. But we also should demand some answers as to what the endgame looks like for both fronts.
Israel has been rather specific about their endgame, which is the total elimination of Hamas. Hamas fighters don’t wear uniforms. Their fighters intentionally hide among civilians as their primary warfare tactic. They put their operations posts in hospitals, mosques, and schools. Among their fighters number women and children of all ages. Dead Hamas fighters in the street are not easily discernable from true civilians and that’s a propaganda bonanza for Hamas.
Merlin. I agree with all those things. But if you can’t tell WHO the enemy is, then you can’t tell who the civilians are. And my guess is that the THOUSANDS of dead children are not all Hamas fighters. This is why they are losing the public perception war. Wiping out entire buildings because they believe members of Hamas are there isn’t a moral solution.
I am glad it isn’t the US that is committing those atrocities. But, we are enabling them by giving & selling them weapons. So like it or not, some of this blood is on our hands.
Now you understand why Hamas and Hezbollah use the tactics they do. It’s why measured, tit for tat responses by the Israelis have long been ineffective. Hamas will launch a rocket barrage from hospital and school rooftops hoping that the Israelis will return direct fire on a hospital full of civilians or a school full of children so they can film the counterattack. This has been going on for decades. It has fantastic propaganda value. Hamas places zero value on the civilian population of Gaza. They steal their humanitarian relief supplies and use them as human shields. For decades foreign aid to Gaza has been misdirected to support the military goals of the PLA and Hamas while the people live in abject poverty. This has been a very long time coming.
But because Hamas doesn’t value civilian life doesn’t mean that the IDF shouldn’t either. And we shouldn’t support people who don’t. The USA **should** hold themselves to a higher standard. (Tough with some of our own recent history in the middle east). Israel is in a VERY tough position, and they are handling it very poorly on almost all fronts.
And don’t think that Hamas is doing this unprovoked. The IDF have fired on unarmed protestors, have committed atrocities in the past. And just announced that this killed 3 people who were separated from Hamas, after identifying them as a threat, turns out they were hostages. Palestine and Israel go back decades, each side poking the other.
https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2019/02/no-justification-israel-shoot-protesters-live-ammunition
But if you think that Hamas is the only one playing the propaganda game, you should probably dig into a bit more over there. IDF is doing similar things with staging fake incidents. Both sides are playing games with the media.
Both sides are playing games with the media.
Which is the BEST reason for the US to keep hands off. Biden doesn’t have “better info” in this particular war, and it’s clear that Israel doesn’t want Biden’s “solution”–a two-state settlement.
As to Ukraine: the CIA’s mouthpiece (Washington Post) ran a “news” article early this week saying–in effect–that Ukraine cannot win. It is known that Ukraine is now drafting 40++ year-old men and some women. The balance-of-casualties is heavily Ukraine, as Russia simply keeps up its artillery barrage.
Jonny is correct: Russia will keep eastern Ukraine and a port on the Black Sea, no matter what.
If things were as rosy as *some* on this forum believe, getting another several billion or so through Congress would be a walk in the park. There’s a reason that Congress coughed up only $300 million in this last round.
There is no way the Ussua will take over the entire of Ukraine..
Russia has lost so many people that there is no way they are going after another country. Russia doesn’t have the manpower or equipment to do so
The Ukraine vs Russia is a statement.
Russia is a paper tiger now.
And that is bad news for Putin.
Try again after you read what is actually written.
By the way: the War Monger bunch (your pals) tell us that unless we stop Russia, they’ll take over all of Europe, followed by New York City, D.C., and Los Angeles.
(I’m trying to find a downside in those last three targets.)
In any case, you are WAAAAAYYYY off the Company Line: either Putin WILL take over everything, or he is so weak that he cannot. Make up your mind.