.

According to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, only 32% of respondents approved of Trump’s performance on inflation. The share of Americans who disapprove of his presidency has risen to 51% in the latest poll, compared with 41% after he took office.

Also, Ukraine's President Zelenskyy observed that Trump was living in a “disinformation space” in blaming Ukraine for the Russian invasion and declaring that his approval rate was only 4% instead of the 58% registered by recent polls.

.

Polls. After all their mistakes, I'm surprised that anyone believes them. I suppose they are of comfort to some people if they publish results that they want to hear.

Russia invaded Ukraine because a) they are a bunch of Nazis and, b) the threat of Ukraine becoming a NATO country against Russia's border wasn't welcome.

So, it could be said that Ukraine is responsible for the invasion. We need to realise that Ukraine has nothing to do with Australia, and neither does Russia; so who gives a toss which of them is at fault.

One thing that Trump said about Zelenskyy - that he is a dictator - is true.

But, Australians should not be bothering themselves about Ukraine. We should have no involvement with it at all.

While it might be in the public interest to support our geopolitical partner Taiwan against Chinese aggression, and in doing so uphold freedom of navigation for our vital sea transport routes, wading into Ukraine is a mindless own-goal for Australian politicians.

Dutton's ‘Australia stands with Ukraine’ is baloney. He needs to be concentrating on things concerning Australians this close to an election.

I was quite taken with these words of wisdom;:

“Australia doesn’t have to pick a side in every, or any, global conflict. Ukraine is riddled with the same Nazi ideology we defeated in the second world war. Russia is a totalitarian regime with communist roots that we had defeated by the end of the Cold War. Neither regime remotely resonates with Australian or Western values”. (anon]

.

Dear ttbn,

.

You wrote :

« Russia invaded Ukraine because a) they are a bunch of Nazis and, b) the threat of Ukraine becoming a NATO country against Russia's border wasn't welcome»
.

That's Russian propaganda, ttbn.

There were neo-Nazis on both sides of the fence – in both Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine was not threatening to become a member of NATO. Russia’s invasion prompted Ukraine to re-seek membership of NATO.

In 2010 the Ukrainian parliament voted to abandon the goal of NATO membership and re-affirm Ukraine's neutral status. That was the situation when Russia invaded Crimea in February 2014. Ukraine had no intention of becoming a member of NATO at the time. It continued to remain neutral.

Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea marked the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War.

In late November 2013, Ukrainians took to the streets in peaceful protest after then-president Viktor Yanukovych chose not to sign an agreement that would have integrated the country more closely with the European Union.

As the protests in Kyiv’s Independence Square, or Maidan, continued into 2014, the government began cracking down on the demonstrators. The size of the protests grew in reaction and turned into what was termed “the revolution of dignity.” Those who remained on the Maidan risked assault, kidnapping, unlawful arrest, and loss of their jobs.

On January 16, the government introduced a series of repressive laws severely restricting civil society and the right to protest. On January 22, the first protesters were killed in clashes in Kyiv; in all, over 100 mostly civilian protesters died, the majority on February 20 and 21.

On February 22, after President Yanukovych had fled the country, parliament voted to oust him and hold new elections, but the new government did not seek to change its neutral status.

Russia then occupied and annexed Crimea, and in August 2014 Russia's military invaded eastern Ukraine to support its separatist proxies.

Because of this, in December 2014 Ukraine's parliament voted to end its neutral status, and in 2018 it voted to enshrine the goal of NATO membership in the Constitution.

.

If the Ukraine had become a NATO member Putin would not have been game to invade.
He invaded to get in first, simple as that.
Where will he stop, the Polish border ? Maybe, maybe not.

"According to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, only 32% of respondents approved of Trump’s performance on inflation. "

Yeah, I know. Its a disgrace. Trump's been in power now for a whole month and he hasn't fixed inflation yet!! What's he doing? Struth, these people. Things are going so well for Trump and MAGA and the country, that they'll latch onto any old piece of rubbish.

Meanwhile Rasmussen reports that Trump's overall approval rating is 52%, that and for the first time in 20years a plurality think the country is headed in the right direction. Pay ya money, pick ya poll.

BTW, did anyone notice that, as concerns the only poll that counts, Trump won?

As to Ukraine, what I find fascinating is that, for years people have whined that the war is futile and must be stopped, but that, as soon as Trump provides light at the end of the tunnel, they suddenly demur. Of course, we all know that the claims to want to stop the war were just virtue signalling and in reality they were only interested in it stopping on terms favourable to their chosen side.

Trump is putting America first - pity we couldn't get Australian politicians to do the same for us - and he is cleaning out scumbags who have been giving away US taxpayers’ money to bad people, not just Ukraine.

$100 million has been dispensed to terrorists, or aid swallowers linked to terrorism, mainly through USAID.

But they won't stop the loony Left from trying to paint President Trump as the bad guy.

Trump is wildly popular with the majority of Americans; that’s why he is President. And most of them would not give a FF about the thoughts of some lefty sitting in his underpants in front of a computer thousands of miles away, even if they knew he and hard Left Australia still existed (just) as an English speaking country at the bottom of the world.

Zelensky, always out of Ukraine, running around the world while Ukrainians are being killed, conned the Biden wet administration out of $350 billion. And he wants more for a stupid war that shows no sign of coming to an end. Even MSM is bored.

Trump is sick of it . Vice President Vance says he doesn't particularly care about Ukraine. They weren't elected by the American people to care about foreign country's remote from, and irrelevant, to themselves. Trump made it clear, throughout his campaign, that he was putting America first, and wasn't going to involve the US in foreign affairs of no importance to the US.

Knowing that, Americans elected him as their President.

The problem with Trump for the Left is that they are not used to a politician doing what he says he will do.

In Ukraine, at the moment, the press is nobbled, and the people don't get a say. It is a dictatorship - pure and simple.

Zelensky is a lunatic. His attempts to “litigate” Trump publicly will not wash with Trump. And, let's remember, the lunatic very publicly declared against Trump before Americans elected Trump in a landslide. Not quite the way to do things when you want money from the US.

And, it appears, only 16% of Ukrainians back Zelensky. That should be enough even for people suffering from Trump Syndrome to get the message.

Ukraine is a European country. Let the Europeans stick their beaks in if they wish. Those of us in the ‘new world’ have Communist China to deal with, and only the US can handle it. But it has to shake off the dags who have nothing in common with the West and its values.

So many things I need to add to / correct / put in the right perspective here.
Just not sure I have the time to go through it all right now.

Zelensky is toast after what Trump and Musk posted yesterday.

http://x.com/TrumpDailyPosts/status/1892246551634096131
http://x.com/elonmusk/status/1892302521747542455
http://x.com/search?q=David%20Sacks%20Gonzalo%20Lira&src=typed_query

I used to watch Gonzalo Lira now and again, and posted about his passing here on the forum.

2022.05.16 Why The Wolfowitz Doctrine Inevitably Leads To World War
http://youtu.be/WA5ReEf3vtY
RIP Gonzalo Lira.

You can say what you want about Trump, but the following is probably the most important reason to back him above all others:

Trump proposes nuclear deal with Russia and China to halve defense budgets
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/13/trump-nuclear-russia-china

"Donald Trump said that he wants to restart nuclear arms control talks with Russia and China and that eventually he hopes all three countries could agree to cut their massive defense budgets in half."

The Biden administration was taking us towards nuclear war.
Thankfully that threat has now been drastically reduced due to diplomacy and dialogue.

Unless your families have experienced the true horror
of totalitarian regimes it may be difficult to comprehend
the reality and you may not understand why people fear and
fight against occupation, forced enslavementr their freedoms.

All that we can do is try to ensure that history will not be
allowed to be repeated.

We can no longer assume that the most powerful nation will
continue to stand for peace and justice. The current US
President is of great concern - if he stand by a dictaor
instead of a freedom fighter fighting for his people's
freedom and basic human rights.

.

Here is an insight to the true reason for Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine
.

Article by Vladimir Putin ”On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians“
July 12, 2021
17:00
.

http://colloquydowneast.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Putin-On-the-Historical-Unity-of-Russians-and-Ukrainians.pdf

.

Trump is smarter than meets the eye ! That war is as good as concluded ! So much misery & so much death ending !

2022.05.04 What Are NGO's? What Are PMC's?
http://youtu.be/hSN85dsx4XY

I simply can't understand a US President supporting the invasion
of a totalitarian regime over a nation's fight for its
freedom With China sailing so close to Sydney - this should
concern us.

The US Constitution has guaranteed the individual certain
fundamental rights and protections. Their laws are based on
the principle that law serves the individual, not the state.
and that state political interests cannot outweigh the
interests of the individual, who stands in law as a free
man.

In contrast, V.I. Lenin made it clear that, in his political
philosophy law has one primary goal :

"A law is a political measure. It is politics". No Soviet
authority or communist leader has abandoned this concept.
It has been applied to the territories "liberated" by
the Bolsheviks during the October revolution. In the
captive nations by the Red Army during WWII, and to the
lands won by military force or "wars of liberation"
in Asia, Africa, the Far East, and the Caribbean.

The American Revolution was fought to establish a man's
right to liberty and to restrain the power of his rulers.
The American Revolution thus created a concept of law
which was, and is, foreign to the system resulting from
the Bolshevik Revolution in communist controlled lands.

The distinction is one between freedom, control and
domination of the state over the individual.

Putin's perception of the law should be so repulsive to
an American president that the specter of Lenin's concept
of law would be unacceptable to the legal traditions
of Western democracies and the United States.

" At all times, vigilance is the price of liberty. We
must remain vigilant because while it might be someone
else today, it might be us further down the road years
from now. The measure of our society over history is
our fidelity to our principles. We must remind our
government and our people to remain faithful to those
principles or otherwise our society, like so many in
our past, will be swept on the ash heap of history".
( David E. Springer).

"I simply can't understand a US President supporting the invasion
of a totalitarian regime over a nation's fight for its
freedom"

That's not what's happening at all. If you ever get around to trying to understand Trump's policies (yeh I know... never gunna happen) you'd see that the attitude to this and all the other foreign wars Biden and Obama got the US embroiled in, is much more nuanced.

Its not about supporting Russia's invasion. Trump doesn't do or say that. But its about recognising that this isn't the USA's fight.

Why should America have to defend Ukraine? Its the other side of the world with no US vital interests at stake. IF anyone's interests are at issue here, its Europe's. But they step back and let the US do the heavy lifting, and then criticise America for it.

Trump told the EU 8 years ago to increase their military spnding and reduce their reliance on Russian energy exports. They laughed at him. They rejected his advice and they cheered when he was pushed out of office. And when it all went pear-shaped they demanded the US bale them out. And Biden, who was receiving all sorts of bribes from Ukraine, obliged.

Trump won't oblige. This isn't America's fight. This has nothing to do with America unless you think America should again become the world's policeman.

Trump is president of the USA. His responsibility is to the USA, its people and its economic welfare. That's his ONLY responsibility. The US isn't required morally or legally to defend Ukraine (or Lithuania).

The American people voted for this and they are getting what they want. The Europeans treat the US with disdain and then whine when it comes back to bite them. Too bad.

In 2023, the US spent $860 billion on defence, dwarfing the combined defence budgets of all European Nato allies.

Now, Trump is using the Ukraine-Russia war to encourage Western countries to spend more on their own defence.

If Trump's plan for a ceasefire is rejected , as Ukraine's Little Dictator said it would be, the war will continue with the US walking away and taking its funding with it.

Then, it is forecast, Europe will be in real trouble, having to confront Russia without the will or the military capacity needed. Starmer has said the would send troops, but it’s unlikely that he would if the US walks away.

I told you all over 18mths ago that Ukraine was going to lose.
Anyone who paid attention knew the 2023 counter-offensive was not likely to succeed.
They advertised their plans in advance and Russia prepared strong defensive positions.
The plan was never really about Ukraine winning the war.
The plan was for the west to use the war to justify placing nation crippling sanctions on Russia that would lead to a political crisis and Putin's ousting.
Russia weathered the storm, has become much closer with China and is now much stronger militarily than when they started the war.

Ukraine has lost a million men in this war, and there is no way they can win or recapture lost territory.
Trump has to make a deal, or else there will soon be a complete collapse of the Ukrainian armed forces, at which point Russia will set terms.

The United States has been a member of NATO since 1949.
NATO is a military alliance that was formed to counter
the Soviet Union during the Cold War. When the Cold War
ended NATO was re-conceived as a "cooperative security
organization.".

NATO'S primary purpose today is to provide securityand
defense cooperation among its members.

Members of NATO support democracy over autocracy.At least
that used to be the case with the United States.
Not so sure if that remains the case under the current US
administration.

Scott Horton : How DC Provoked the New Cold War
http://www.youtube.com/live/ILbF51oQEWM

Provoked: How Washington Started the New Cold War with Russia and the Catastrophe in Ukraine - 690 pages
http://www.amazon.com.au/Provoked-Washington-Started-Catastrophe-Ukraine/dp/1733647376
"Over and over, U.S. government officials and their mainstream media allies called Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine an “unprovoked attack.” The slogan became so overused that people began to ask the obvious question: Why do they protest so much?

In Provoked: How Washington Started the New Cold War with Russia and the Catastrophe in Ukraine, Scott Horton explains how since the end of the last Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union, successive U.S. administrations pressed their advantage against the new Russian Federation to the point that it finally blew up into a full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine.

From NATO expansion into Eastern Europe, to “shock therapy” economic policy, the Balkan and Chechen wars, color-coded revolutions, new missile defense systems, assassinations, Russiagate and ultimately the brutal conflict in Ukraine, Provoked shows what really happened and why it did not have to be this way."

You people need to stop listening to why the lying US funded USAID news tells you what to think, and start looking at their own policy papers.

Brian Berletic: Peace with Russia and Defunding the Deep State - Retreat or Reviving the Empire?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbpPQgJvntw
"If you stop and think what democracy actually should mean not not what people believe it means it is a process of self-determination so if a foreign country is is giving money and boosting groups in a particular country to promote democracy it is actually foreign interference"

* USAID (United States Agency for International Development) and the NED (National Endowment for Democracy)

MAX Blumenthal : Zelenskyy on the Ropes
http://www.youtube.com/live/0QOayjUU4NE

* USAID (United States Agency for International Development) and the NED (National Endowment for Democracy)

I've been telling you lot for years, but none of you listen.

We should all refuse to allow the Ukrainians or any
Europeans to come under the control of the Soviet regime.
We should not allow a US president to manipulate and
decide the fate of innocent sovereign nations for the
benefit of his own interests and power.

It is unbelievable that a US president ignores
his own country's traditions of doing what is right
and decent, And, instead works from the
playbook of Hitler. We all should stand by our principles
and the collective vision of democracy not autocracy.

We need to let them see that we will not allow them to
change our world into their hateful oligarchy. That it has
no place in our world. Let them know that we don't bow to
the purveyors of hate.

We don't give in to terrorists and we do not cower in fear.
They may have the money and power - but we have people power
and humanity. Giving Ukraine to Putin must simply not
be allowed to happen.

There's more at the following:

http://politico.eu/article/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-volodymyr-zelenskyy-united-states-russia-policy/

All existing USAID programs are divided into 5 key areas that are divided into separate projects:

Democracy, Human Rights and Governance (1.09 billion US dollars) ;
Economic development (USD 1) ;
Critical infrastructure ($1.4 billion) ;
Healthcare ($38.8 million) ;
Transition period and humanitarian aid (252 million dollars).

In the first key direction within the framework of the project "Medium Program in Ukraine " funds were received by:

National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine;
JSC "National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine";
NGO "Commission on Journalistic Ethics";
NGO "Internews-Ukraine";
NGO "Detector Media";
NGO "Institute Of Mass Information";
NGO "Ukrainska Pravda";
NGO "Hromadske TV";
NGO "Hromadske Radio";
NGO "Slidstvo.Info";
LLC "ZN UA";
LLC "IA "Ligabusinessinform";
Babel LLC;
Goldberry LLC;
LLC "Zapad.net";
NGO "Ukraine";
NGO "Garva Media";
NGO "Lental Media Development Agency "OR";
NGO "National Media Association";
NGO "Association of Free Journalists";
Association "Independent Regional Publishers Of Ukraine";
NGO "Medical Development Fund";
NGO "Mykolaiv Center for Investigative Journalism";
NGO "Lviv Group";
LLC "Media-DK";
NGO "Bakhmut Fortress";
NGO "It makes sense";

NGO "Agency of Journalistic Investigations "Fourth Power";
NGO "Liberation of Crimea";
International Charitable Foundation "Academy of Ukrainian Press";
NGO "Institute of Democracy. Pylyp Orlyk";
NGO Kherson Regional Agency for Public Journalism "MIST";
NGO "Center for Public Investigations";
NGO "Kharkiv Press Club of Market Reforms";
NGO "Institute for Regional Press Development";
NGO "Ternopil Press Club";
NGO "TOM 14";
NGO "DP-Ukraine",
NGO "Institute of Political Information";
NGO "Volyn Press Club";
NGO "Foundation of Society";
NGO "Information Press Center";
NGO "Center for Democracy and Rule of Law";
NGO "Ukrainian Television Toronto";
NGO "Center for Investigative Journalism "Syla Pravda";
K&K LLC;
LLC "Radio Station "Velykyi Meadow";
LLC "Slobidsky Krai";
NGO "Center for Analytics and Investigation";
CO "Foundation of Mercy and Health";
NGO "SID Media Group";
NGO "Ukrainian Media Initiative";
NGO "Mediaport 20";
NGO "Tribun";
NGO "Media-Poglyat";
UkrInform Plus LLC;
LLC "Public-political portal "Accent";
NGO "Center for Media Investigations "Prozoro";
LLC "Tribuna Digital";
PE "Nikolaevsky news";
NGO "MEDIA Kryvyi Rih";
NGO "Center for the Promotion of Information Technologies. Steve Jobs;
NGO "Institute of Central European Strategy";
NGO "Institute of a Successful City";
NGO "Center for Research of Social Perspectives of Donbas";
NGO "Together to Civil Society";
NGO "Fronter";
LLC "IA "Bilyaevka.Info";
NGO "Cherkasy News Agency 18000";
LLC "Publishing House "Ye";
NGO "Kharkiv Crisis Infocenter";
Mobile News Service LLC;
LLC "ChMG";
LLC "Kramatorsk Post";
Odessa regional organization of the NGO "Committee of Voters of Ukraine";
NGO "Fit";

LLC "TV and Radio Company "TVA";
LLC "Media Center "Our Word";
NGO "New Civic Initiative";
NGO "Sustainable Media Foundation";
NGO "Kust";
LLC "Integro Group";
NGO "Severodonetsk online";
NGO "Krygolam";
NGO "Media community of Zaporizhia";
NGO "We Are Reporters";
NGO "Center for Harmonious Personality Development "Velet";
NGO "Vinnytsia Press Club";
PE "Ukraine is young";
NGO "Social Interaction";
NGO "Eastern option";
NGO "Uzhgorod Press Club";
NGO "Skyscraper";
NGO "Educational Era";
NGO "International Cultural and Educational Project "Analyzyu.UA";
NGO "Platform of Human Rights";
NGO "(No) Involved";
NGO "Digital Security Laboratory";
LLC "Ukrainian Press Group";
Chernihiv City Youth NGO "Educational Center "Initiative";
NGO "Crimean Center for Business and Cultural Cooperation "Ukrainian House";
NGO "Mediagroup "Nakipilo.Radio";
NGO "Center for Human Rights Information";
PE "Gorodok district broadcasting presser";
NGO "Media Solutions Agency";
LLC “Bulletin of Kupyansk”;
Media Center "Bilopilshchyna".

In addition, within the framework of the project "Transformation of communications ", funds, among others, were received by the following organizations:

Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications;
news agency Ukrinform;
LLC "Information Agency "Media resources management";
Prokino LLC;
Ukrkino LLC;
NGO "Your City Lviv";
LLC "Fundamental Film Production";
Cosmos Edgecy LLC;
LLC "Vizhn Production";
Solar Media Intertametric LLC;
NGO "Eastern option";
State Institution "Ukrainian Institute";
NGO "Pro.Language Front";
435 Films LLC.

The recipients of other USAID projects were also, in particular, the Charitable Foundation "Democratic Initiatives. Ilka Kucheriva", NGO "Chestno Movement", NGO "Smart Media", NGO "Docudays", NGO "Krymsos" and others.

Also, within the framework of the project "Cybersecurity of Critical Infrastructure" and "Budrordination of Digital Transformation", a number of ministries, civil services, universities, etc. received funding. Among them are the Ministry of Digital Transformation, SE "National Information Systems", JSC "Prozoro.Sale", SE "Prozorro", SE "DIYA" and others.

.

Trump’s electoral promise was to settle the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours. After he won the election, that became 100 days.

It’s been 108 days since the election, and he has still not settled it. Maybe it will be on the twelfth of never—and that’s a long, long time !

Why should he get involved anyway ?

Because as a signatory of the Budapest Memorandum in 1994, the US gave its assurance that “the independence and sovereignty of the [then] existing borders of Ukraine would be respected”. Russia and the UK signed on to that enthusiastically as well.

Those assurances played a key role in persuading the Ukrainian government in Kyiv to give up what amounted to the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal, consisting of some 1,900 strategic nuclear warheads following the dissolution of the Soviet Union on Christmas Day 1991.

However, a memorandum is just a moral engagement. It does not have force of law. If it were a treaty it would be enforceable under international law.

So, Trump, the trickster, switched sides and endorsed Putin’s claims following the Riyadh meeting in Saudi Arabia between the US and Russian diplomats – to which Ukraine was not invited.

When Zelensky complained, Trump retorted :

• that Zelznsky should have never started the war – [false: Putin started it]

• that Zelensky was a dictator with only a 4% approval rate – [false: it was a 58% approval rate]

• that the US had given $350 billion to Ukraine – [false: US gave $67 billion in weapons & $31.5 billion in budget support]

That seems to indicate that Putin wants Zelensky replaced by somebody whom Putin approves personally.

Trump’s mounting nervousness and frustration forebode the inextricable “mission impossible” he has now brought upon himself – unless, of course, Putin reciprocates and accepts to be replaced by somebody who has the personal approval of Zelensky.

Not likely ?

Well, you never know, maybe tricky old Trump has something else up his sleeve.

Hopefully, he'll save the last dance for Ukraine.

This is what Trump has us dancing to :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVZEQ-44K_Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOCi107C-MQ

.

NATO is advised by its intelligence services that Putin will be ready in six months to take on western Europe.

Democrats are again turning to lawfare in their surly attempts to curtail Trump, who doesn’t care what other people think, says what he means, and does what he says.

The Democrats and their supporters simply cannot abide honesty and integrity. They are just like Albanese Labor. Injunctions against a man who won a landslide fairly and squarely are rife. To hell with democracy and what the people want is the Leftist way of doing things. If they can't govern, they do what they can to make a country ungovernable for anyone else. They enlist shameless, probably corrupt judges, to help them do it.

Judges who “troll” the public, and dare a democratically elected to reverse their interfering rulings.

In hick countries like Australia, the hick politicians back down: judges and the extreme Left win. Not in Trumpville they don't. Trump doesn't like woke-infected judges.

While Australian Prime Ministers, the creatures of their party power brokers, are constrained by the sludge of the Canberra swamp – Trump has the necessary independence to enforce the democratic will of the people on the unwilling political class.

I can't understand how those posters who so recently
used accusations of Marxism and communism at -
who they perceived to be "Left-Wingers". It now appears
they strongly support a US president who's made
it clear that he'd rather deal with Moscow than Kyiv
when it comes to finding a way to end the conflict
that Russia 's invasion started.

There's more at:

http://abc.net.au/news/205-02-20/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-analysis-after-zwlwnskyy--spray/104953186

http://x.com/elonmusk/status/1893056636131909803

"Every bleeding-heart liberal I talk to about the Russia-Ukraine war wants to keep feeding bodies into the meat grinder forever.

They have no plan for success.

Superficial empathy, not real empathy."

http://x.com/GabeZZOZZ/status/1892913643978649943
Zelensky wasn’t joking, there’s literally no air defense in Kiev.

Trump: Russia holds ‘the cards’ in Ukraine peace talks
http://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-russia-have-cards-peace-negotiations/

Trump Gave Europe Three Weeks to Sign Off on Ukraine 'Surrender': MEP
http://www.newsweek.com/trump-europe-troops-ukraine-peace-deal-2033823
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Finland's Mika Aaltola of the European People's Party claimed that the U.S. "has given us three weeks to agree on terms for Ukraine's surrender," referring to a proposed peace deal aimed at ending the war.

"If we don't, the United States will withdraw from Europe," Aaltola added.

What I don't understand Foxy, is why you haven't sent your own children to fight the Russians.
You seem to think everyone else should send their kids, why not send your own if you care so much?
If you're not willing to do that, then your just a hypocrite who wants other people to die for what YOU think is right.

Maybe you should go fight them hey?

Face facts, Russia won the war.

http://x.com/SMO_VZ/status/1892662674179215814

Armchair Critic,

You asked what is my family and me doing for Ukraine?

We're with Intelligence. But at the moment
we're all working under cover.

I suspect your support of Russia also speaks for
itself.

"I told you all over 18mths ago that Ukraine was going to lose."

Yes. You also told us that Odessa would fall, that the capture of Bakhmut would led to a general breakout, that the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk would be reversed etc etc.

If you predict everything, then sometimes you'll be right. And the AC only remembers those things!

Lose? Define lose.

At the beginning of this I said I hoped both would lose, and so it has come to pass. Russia started this whole thing because they didn't want NATO on their doorstep. Well NATO is now in Finland which is their backdoor step. They started the war claiming to have the best army in Europe, now revealed as a paper tiger, barely able to hold their own against a minnow like Ukraine. Their Kiev offensive was a disaster
forced into abject retreat. They've lost enormous numbers of their youth to both the war and emigration to avoid being sent to the meat grinder. They've become the effect vassal of China. They've lost all ability to control their overseas empire being forced for example to leave Syria without even a whimper.

None of Putin's original war aims have been realised other than gaining a bit of territory that is so degraded that it'll take a generation, and enormous sums that Russia doesn't have, to bring back to anything remotely like productive.

Ukraine has likewise lost the cream of its next generation. They will eventually have to surrender territory, land it should have and could have given up in 2022. When Trump says they started the war, this is what is meant. They had the option in 2022 of giving up what they will now be forced to give up and decided to instead try to hold land that was Russian in all but name.

Trump will bring all this lunacy to an end OR the parties will continue to argue and fight over a strip of degraded real estate that is useless to all concerned... in which case the US will wash its hands of the whole debacle.

Foxy writes: "We should all refuse to allow the Ukrainians or any
Europeans to come under the control of the Soviet regime."

________________________________________________________

There is no 'Soviet regime". Hasn't been one for over thirty years. The ignorance is painful to see.

Banjo: "It’s been 108 days since the election, and he has still not settled it. "

Well for 71 of those days he had no power. Indeed under US law it would have been illegal for him to get involved in peace talks. If he had then people like Banjo, just regurgitating anti-Trump talking points would have been decrying the breaking of the law. But that's how Trump Derangement Syndrome works - if he did it its wrong, if he didn't do it its wrong.

Anyone who thought he meant he'd literally stop it in a day is a fool.
______________________________________________________________

" Russia and the UK signed on to that enthusiastically as well."

Yes everyone signed up. But only the US is, apparently, required to adhere to their word. The world moves on but some people don't.

Banjo: "that the US had given $350 billion to Ukraine – [false: US gave $67 billion in weapons & $31.5 billion in budget support]"

Those numbers are woefully out of date. Official numbers for aid since 2022 is about $180 Billion. Trump didn't put a timeline of the $350B figure. Taken from the time when Obama first started giving aid following the annexation of Crimea, the number is accurate. But TDS....

_________________________________________________--

This war is going nowhere. Ukrainians, Russians, North Koreas, Kazak and many others are being slaughtered over a moon-scape of territory. Russia has no ability to take Ukraine en toto, at least while-ever it has US support (they can't even push Ukraine out of Russia) and Ukraine has no ability to retake what it thinks of as its own territory. The war has to stop and Trump is the only one who can do it.

Russia is no longer a threat to Europe despite what the warmongers say. Its army has been shown to be a paper tiger. Poland has been rearming with alacrity and would easily be able to fend off any Russian advances. There's already talk of a separate East European alliance - Poland, Hungary, Romania - that would be more than a match for Russia's depleted forces. Sure Putin has nukes but given what we've seen, there's some doubt they'd actually still work.

(Just on Poland..... remember that Lvov and most of western Ukraine used to be part of Poland. There is a scenario that sees Poland reclaim that territory to protect their cousins there. It goes like this...the US washes its hands of Ukraine but Ukraine continues to fight based on promises from the EU for support. The EU doesn't live up to its promises. Ukraine starts to unravel. Russia moves to take it all. Poland and its east European allies move their forces into Ukraine to stop Russia somewhere around a line between Kiev and Odessa. Poland saves Europe's bacon.)

(Of course that whole region used to be owned by Lithuania but we don't want a nation of antisemites controlling it now, do we?)

We see people like Foxy and AC whine at the drop of a hat at the supposed death toll in Gaza of 40000 during a year's fighting. Well credible estimates say that many die or are maimed on the Russian steppes each MONTH. Yet here they are cheering for more death and destruction. Hypocrites.

"This war is going nowhere."
That's not exactly true, the Russians are advancing slowly, the Ukrainians war is going backwards, they can't count on US support under Trump, he doesn't want a bar to do with it. He's also signaled a willingness to give Russia everything it wanted at the start of the war. No NATO, No return of territories, No US boots on the ground and weapons shipments are those committed by Biden and are slowing.
The Ukrainians have no air defense, they lack manpower and the ones who are left are poorly trained, many deserting or surrendering.

As for Kursk, that could be over in a matter of weeks
http://youtu.be/8fWbJtwlpzs?t=573

"Russia is no longer a threat to Europe despite what the warmongers say."
- Russia was never a threat to Europe, unless Europe themselves became a threat to Russia, Putin was never interested in going there in the first place, that would result in nuclear war. But once the Ukrainian military collapses, theoretically Russia could go further, because NATO would be flat out putting 50,000 troops together.

"Its army has been shown to be a paper tiger."
Russia has overcome everything the collective West could throw at it, and will end the war much stronger militarily than when the war began.

http://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/10/20/7480538/
"General Christopher Cavoli, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, believes that regardless of how the war in Ukraine ends, the Russian army will be stronger than it is now."

Poland, Hungary, Romania
Russia would be more likely to work out a deal that would see them reclaim their historical territories. I can't see Orban going to war with Putin. 'there's some doubt they'd actually still work' [nukes]
(You listening to desperate people with high hopes that are closer to fantasy mhaze, Russia modernised it's nuclear arsenal)

"Sure Putin has nukes but given what we've seen, there's some doubt they'd actually still work."

Putin could destroy concentrations of NATO forces with conventional weapons (Oreshnik) in 10 minutes flat if he wanted to, if he thought they were a threat, but that would've likely forced a nuclear response under Biden, (They were claiming they could win a nuclear war) Washington would've had to decide if taking out a Russian city would be worth losing a US city, but they would've probably had to respond to aggression against Europe and NATO.
- The outcome wouldn't be pretty.

Nuclear War Expert: 72 Minutes To Wipe Out 60% Of Humans, In The Hands Of 1 Person!
http://youtu.be/asmaLnhaFiY

EU nations won't send troops into Ukraine without US security guarantees, (They wont get them from Trump) they're trying to lay a tripwire for US involvement, and that's why Macron and Starmer went to Washington and are talking about peacekeepers.

But this is essentially freezing the conflict to fight another day, Russia won't accept this outcome.

Trump has already passed off the leadership of Ukraine Contact Group to France, signalling that it's Europes problem now.
US is even discussing removing Russian sanctions, which would be smart on their part considering BRICS dedollarisation.
Musk is talking about working with Russia on space programs.

Russia won't take western Ukraine, it's more trouble than it's worth being an occupying power, and it gives justification to all the lies told by the Biden administration and their USAID paid media groups.
At best Russia will go to the Dnieper, maybe take Kherson City (which is already considered part of the Russian Federation) and maybe take Odessa and link up with Transnistra.

Putin wants peace, never wanted this war to begin with, he wants a new security framework and normalisation of relations.
This was just a few weeks prior to the invasion:
http://edam.org.tr/en/blog/russia-proposes-a-new-security-architecture-in-europe-and-beyond

Some estimates place Ukrainian KIA at over a million already.
Russia, somewhere between 150-200K

Both wars were completely avoidable, and all the loss of life pointless.
No NATO for Ukraine, and Israel should just state it's borders.

"We see people like Foxy and AC whine at the drop of a hat at the supposed death toll in Gaza of 40000 during a year's fighting. Well credible estimates say that many die or are maimed on the Russian steppes each MONTH. Yet here they are cheering for more death and destruction. Hypocrites."

- Don't put words into my mouth thanks mhaze.
You're just trying to play down Israeli atrocities by pointing out the loss of life in Ukraine is much greater.

Shame on you for downplaying the murder of women and kids.

But even Foxys article from Zelenska stated "I want to talk about each of the 599 children killed by Russia in the past three years so that they do not become statistics."
Israel probably killed that many kids every day.

One war has nothing to do with the other, however Zelensky and Netanyahu were providing support to each other.
Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham received training and weapons from Ukraine.
So in some ways the Ukrainian war helped turn Syria into the wild west run by Jihadis.

(I supported Assad, I don't support the U.S. and Israels wars and regime changes)

Trumpster,

You say; "Why should America have to defend Ukraine? Its the other side of the world with no US vital interests at stake"

Already Trump has demanded $860 billion from Ukraine in war reparations. AND as usual America is demanding a cut of the action when it comes to divvying up Ukrainian natural resources. When i comes to money, America always has a vital interest.

‘I’ve had it’: Trump admits Russia attacked Ukraine as he blames Zelensky, Biden
http://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/i-ve-had-it-trump-admits-russia-attacked-ukraine-as-he-blames-zelensky-biden-20250222-p5le8m.html

>>“I’ve been watching this man for years now … I’ve been watching him negotiate with no cards, he has no cards, and you just get sick of it. And I’ve had it,” Trump told Fox News Radio.

“Then he complains that he’s not at a meeting. Well, he’s been at meetings for three years and nothing got done. So I don’t think he’s very important [sic] to be at meetings, to be honest with you.”

Trump was referring to talks between US and Russia in Saudi Arabia last week to which Ukraine was not invited.<<

>>...Trump went on to say Putin wanted to make a deal, “and he doesn’t have to make a deal because if he wanted, he’d get the whole country”.<<

- Truth of the matter is that it was never Zelensky that was using the United States, It was the United States that was using Zelensky.

You have to go back to the early days of the war to understand what happened, and you have to sift through the mistruths, because what actually happened was not the way the media reported the events at the time.

When Russia first started the invasion, it sent 40,000 troops into KIev. It was not a plan to 'take' Kiev as the media reported at the time. It was to force Ukraine to the negotiating table, which happened. A deal had been struck and Russia's military withdrew from Kiev as part of that deal.

At this point Boris Johnson flew into Ukraine (Either at Bidens request, or with his support) to put an end to that deal, to convince Zelensky to keep fighting. After that if you all remember we heard Biden now openly state "We're with Ukraine for as long as it takes".

Former US Ambassador to Ukraine Michael McFaul, (Under Biden) is losing his mind at Trumps willingness to make peace.

Trump is offering Putin concessions and undermining Ukraine, says former U.S. ambassador to Russia
http://youtu.be/VQxqFLHHoJk

The Europeans should be crapping themselves following President Trump's stance on Ukraine, and Vice-president Vance's recent speech to them.

They spend sweet FA on their own defence; the US provides over 70% of the NATO budget, and that could be lost.

Like Australia, Europe is chockers with immigrants undermining its values. Freedom of speech is on the ropes.

Of course, just like Australia, Europe will just get the huff and bury its head further up its arse: ignoring its own people in favour of crappy little countries like Ukraine, which the US looks like being more than happy to dump on them.

Meanwhile, back on the ranch, Dutton is verbally aligning himself with Trump on material such as immigration and gender bending - but: he says he has no intention of putting Trump-like policies into practice here!

How nutty can he be! Admit the truth, then ignore it.

There is nothing for Australians to look forward to no matter who wins the election.

And, further shooting himself in the foot, Dutton posts, “Australia stands proudly with President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people”.

What a damn stupid thing to say by a man putting himself forward to lead his own country and people who expect him to concentrate on Australia, not some far off country which has absolutely nothing to do with Australia or Australians. It's our defence that our politicians should be interested in; and as far as getting involved with countries, only Taiwan in our own region comes to mind.

We are on the edge of war in the Pacific - for which we are utterly unprepared - and Dutton goes off the reservation on Ukraine.

China is live-firing barely outside our waters, and sh.t-for-brains is disagreeing with our main ally on something that has nothing to do with Australia.

I'm not entirely sure what the whole entire plot actually was about.

Certainly the U.S. wanted to remove Putin, put in a Western puppet ruler and ring-fence China who they were planning to going to go after next.
Maybe even balkanise the country into small manageable provinces that pose no threat to the West and send in Western companies to loot Russias wealth.
I think the US the UK and Europe were all in on it and they staked their economies on the outcome.
I don't think they were ever certain that Ukraine could win militarily, but they thought that the sanctions would create an economic crisis that would lead to a political crisis that would oust Putin, but their gamble didn't work out and now all of them that supported the Pro-Ukraine side of things are on borrowed time.

A western puppet ruler in control of Russia would've given the West much more leverage in the UN security council.

I told you all a few years back Putin wasn't going anywhere and there would come a time when all those western leaders would be gone, and Putin would still remain.

Many are gone, I think its Marcon, Meloni and Sholtz that remain, but tomorrows election in Germany might see Sholtz and the traffic-light coalition sent packing in favour of the AfD.

Not sure how much influence Kellogg has on Trumps intentions.
I think he's been sidelined in favour of Steve Witkoff.

Kellogg says U.S. plans to destroy Russian Federation's allied ties with three countries
http://en.iz.ru/en/1840061/2025-02-16/kellogg-says-us-plans-destroy-russian-federations-allied-ties-three-countries

Russia won't make any deals with Zelensky, because they consider him illegitimate, and I'm pretty sure that's why Trump wants him gone, because he's an impediment to his peace plans.

The EU backed Ukraine's constitutional changes that Ukraine cannot negotiate with Putin, and they mislead Russia in regards to the Minsk agreements, which is probably why none of them are getting a seat at the table.

Bill on full withdrawal from UN introduced in US Congress
http://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2025/02/21/7499403/

Putin will someday depart
Hopefully his replacement will have a heart
And like Gorbachev he shall try to reform
A corrupt, authoritarian, political system,
Hard to transform
Russia's an enigma that will need to dig deep
To wake up from the slumber of its comatose sleep
It will need to cut chains embedded in fear
And admit state control is far too severe
Only then can Russia stand up and proclaim
That centuries of abuse were not suffered in vain
Centuries of dreams, of hopes, and tears
Have been hiding in Russia's soul for years
All tied and tangled in one layer
Of burning hope wrapped in a prayer
All the while while Russia's been burning
Its people for Life have continued yearning.

I am reading the book - "Patriot" by Alexei Navalny.
There's a lot to take in.

We're told that:

It's his life in his own words.

His Soviet childhood, political awakening, his marriage
and his beloved family. His total commitment to taking
on a corrupt regime and his enduring love of Russia and
its people.

His 2020 poisoning by the Russian security services was
a global news event. In 2024 he died in a brutal Siberian
prison.

He began writing "Patriot" while recovering from his
poisoning . It ends with his prison diaries seen here for
the first time.

We witness his nationwide support. We see his many arrests.
And harrassment and in stunning detail the attempts on
his life. We understand why he felt he had to return to
Russia. In prison , he shows a spirit and a sense of humour
that cannot be crushed.

Here we meet the resolutely optimistic leader who offered
Russians what nobody else did, hope.

Who was charismatic, courageous, and whose deepest conviction
was that change cannot be resisted. That change will come.

This is a book as dramatic as the author's life - driven by
the passionate belief, against all odds, that good and freedom
will prevail.

It is Alexei Navalny's final letter to the world. A rousing
call to continue his work. An unforgettably positive
account of a life that will inspire every reader.

Alexei Navalny died 16th February 2024.

A year on from his death in an Arctic prison his
supporters around the world have established their
own places of rememberance in most capital cities,
including Australia.

" Love is stronger than Fear!"

People may be interested to learn that former PM
Tony Abbott as well as current Coalition leader
Peter Dutton both support Ukraine's stand against
Vladimir Putin who they see as an agressive dictator.
They say that he should not be given "an inch".
And they both are proud of Australia's stance in
supporting Ukraine - who did not start the war.
That Putin is spreading propaganda. And should not be
supported.

Its our leaders which should not be supported Foxy
So I take it you've decided to send your children to die on the steppes for Ukraine so they become statistics, no?
Have you told them how you feel?

How many times must I tell you the war is lost?
All you're doing is throwing a tantrum and begging to send more good lives to their inevitable end, and Navalny btw is now a mostly forgotten memory.

NO MORE WAR: President Trump hints to end Ukraine War, slams DOGE haters
http://youtu.be/Wv1A0QO9Hyo

Anyone who says the previous administration were not involved in fraud or corruption need only watch the video above.
From 4 days back, fraud and corruption on an absolutely EPIC scale.

I would've loved to ask him a question.

"President Trump, What is your position on the United States regime change industry, enabled by USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy by conducting covert actions to cause foreign interference and civil unrest in foreign countries?"

The Truth about the MAGA revolution.
http://x.com/elonmusk/status/1892840058555691152

Next it seems that Trump is purging useless Generals and others at the DoD who care more about profits in their hip pockets working for military contractors after government than defending the nation.

5 Generals Fired! Don't Stop There / Lt Col Daniel Davis
http://www.youtube.com/live/D_ZYLyvlLvw

And finally, I'll give you all this:

The Most Dangerous Book in the World
http://youtu.be/4_UcA5l6IWU

AC,

Take your own advice.

Go live in Russia and experience Putin for yourself.

Then you can qualify to give advice to others who have
experienced Russian autocracy.

All this crap about Australia “standing by” far away Ukraine when China is firing missiles built with our coal 150 nautical miles from Sydney. And the dill supposed to be running ASIO rambles on about threats to Australia without naming them. As usual, the scum in Canberra say how "unprofessional" it is, and slink away from the media who lets them get away with it.

Australia is far away from many continents. Yet
it has provided help in the past as was needed.
Signed international treaties and agreements.
And has been involved in many conflicts. We don't
live in a vacuum, and hopefully help will be
provided to us as needed - when and if the time
comes.

Here's further explanation on Ukraine and Australia:

http://dfat.gov.au/geo/ukraine/ukraine-country-brief

Hungary is in trouble with the EU again for vetoing a 50 Billion package for Ukraine. The EU thugs plan to sabotage Hungary's economy as punishment. Some “union”!

Some funding to Hungary is already being withheld, and plans are afoot to weaken its economy and “reduce investor confidence".

The EU has a “ warped sense of democracy”, and according to one commentator, JD Vance's lambasting of them didn’t go far enough. The EU has persecuted populist parties of both left and right for the past 25 years, threatening them with fines and suspension if they act on the policies they were voted in to enact.

Brussels is a bully. Let's see how tough they are when Donald Trump removes 70% of their defence funding and puts it to better use in America as China becomes more aggressive, and Europe has to smarten up to deal with Russia and Ukraine by itself.

AC: "As for Kursk, that could be over in a matter of weeks"

I seem to recall you telling us that six months ago!!

AC,

You are continually changing what you think are Putin's war aims to match what you think he might be able to achieve. You've completely ignored that he wanted to keep NATO away from his borders and has utterly failed that. He wanted to capture Kiev and remove the current Ukrainian leadership. He utterly failed. He's conquered very little land and what he has conquered is a moonscape that'll take a generation to rehabilitate, and you ignore that. He's lost the flower of the 20-30 generation either to death or emigration, a generation Russia desperately needs to reverse their demographic decline. And you ignore that

This is 'yuge'. Zelensky is about caved to Trump's 'request' that the US be given access to Ukraine's rare earth deposits. The idea is that Ukraine and the US set joint ventures to exploit the deposits for the benefit of both parties.

You might recall that China has been trying to use its near monopoly on rare earth's to extract concessions from the west. The US has some deposits and they are rapidly developing them. Australia also. But the deposits in Ukraine are significant.

Marco Rubio explained a few days back that they told Zelensky that making the US a partner in a vital industry would increase their security. It would also send a message to Putin that any ideas he has of making peace now but picking up where he left off in a few year's time, would be out the window. Art of the deal.

And just like Trump to add this to the mix in the middle of negotiations.

_____________________________________________________________________

BTW, it'd probably do everyone good to ponder why the negotiations are taking place in Riyad. Why just Russia, the US and Saudi Arab? The three biggest oil producers on the planet. Think about it.

Europe no longer counts - at least not western Europe. And they don't like or understand the change.

But this isn't just about a peace plan for the Russian Steppes. Saudi Arab is vital to making peace in Levant and forcing the Palestinians to make a final deal with Israel. And if Russia can be convinced that they have nothing to fear from the west, then they can be bought into the fold to allow them to start to ponder what to do about the nation they do have a problem with - China. There has been growing unrest in Siberia and if you think China isn't at least partially behind it and that Russia hasn't noticed, then you're not keeping up. (NB China lost most of Siberia to Russia in the 19th century but have never accepted the loss)

Russia Prepares To Cut Off The Salient Military Summary 2025.02.22
http://youtu.be/xSBYP4YPZoE?t=440

"He wanted to capture Kiev and remove the current Ukrainian leadership."
- Still falling for USAID propaganda or following the ISW I see.

"He utterly failed. He's conquered very little land and what he has conquered is a moonscape that'll take a generation to rehabilitate"
- I'm guessing you missed the quote from Trump earlier where he stated "he doesn’t have to make a deal because if he wanted, he’d get the whole country" or are stupidly doing that thing you do again where you see a pile of turd and run over and stand in it?

Mariupol
http://youtu.be/U6-jpi5k8XA

"He's lost the flower of the 20-30 generation..."
http://www.youtube.com/shorts/R-g6jY8DI3c

Ukraine rare earths potential relies on Soviet assessments, may not be viable
http://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/news-insights/articles/2025/2/ukraine-rare-earths-potential-relies-on-soviet-assessments-may-not-be-viable-87318842

Ukraine's earth riches are rare and difficult to reach
http://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250222-ukraine-s-earth-riches-are-rare-and-difficult-to-reach
'Ukraine's soils hold some five percent of the world's mineral resources, which is what US President Donald Trump is anxious to secure, but not all of them are yet exploited -- or maybe even exploitable, according to experts.'

http://youtu.be/PouAZ_Wnujk
- Yawn.

"Marco Rubio explained a few days back..."
- Yes I saw the clip, but Russia won't accept freezing the conflict.
And it's the West pushing for peacekeepers so they can have a tripwire that Russia will be accused of crossing (like Obama's red line in Syria) while they re-arm Ukraine in order to have another crack in a few years time.
The Russians have already said no deal to that, and Trumps hanging all those people out to dry anyway.

'Negotiations', Lol.
what's to negotiate, what's Trump got to offer?

"And if Russia can be convinced" - that pigs fly backwards?

"There has been growing unrest in Siberia and if you think China isn't at least partially behind it..."
- Do tell. Maybe you can teach me something new mhaze.
I'm aware that Russia is not without its internal issues and dissidents, but probably just as likely the West trying to drive a wedge.

The DOGE team zeroes out the National Endowment for Democracy
http://newcriterion.com/dispatch/the-doge-team-zeroes-out-the-national-endowment-for-democracy/

Massive Drone Strike - Russians Prepare To Cross The Dnipro - Military Summary And Analysis 2025.02.23
http://youtu.be/ccxo_U6o-Bk

When you get to the 2 minute mark mhaze, you'll see the map I gave you yesterday, and I had it a day early.
I'd congratulate myself, but there's too many people dying for nothing, so there's that.

You could just watch the same things I do you know.

Oh and I forgot to mention, Musk's planning to turn off Skylink

Exclusive: US could cut Ukraine's access to Starlink internet services over minerals, say sources
http://www.reuters.com/business/us-could-cut-ukraines-access-starlink-internet-services-over-minerals-say-2025-02-22/

I suppose that's probably the reason for Zelensky's quick about face [shrugs]
But what do I know, right?

.

According to Trump, his administration is "pretty close" to striking a deal with Ukraine for rights to access its natural resources in exchange for the United States’ billions of dollars in support for the country against Russia.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared, after meeting with Zelensky :

« Trump is creating a "win-win" partnership between the United States and Ukraine. His vision is to bring the Ukrainian people and the American people closer together economically, show the Ukrainian people that we support them, show the American people that the money that is going into Ukraine, that there is going to be a return, that there's going to be a long-term partnership. »

Nearly $8 trillion of Ukraine’s mineral resources, about 53 per cent of the country’s total, are contained in the four regions Putin illegally annexed in September 2022, and of which his army occupies a considerable swathe.

That includes Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, though Kherson holds little value in minerals.

The Crimean Peninsula, illegally annexed and occupied by Putin’s forces in 2014, also holds roughly $210 billion worth of minerals.
The region of Dnipropetrovsk, which borders the largely occupied regions of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia and is surrounded by an advancing Russian army, contains an additional $3.5 trillion in mineral resources.

Russian difficulties with major military operations seem likely to preclude a serious attempt to take the region but mining operations in the area would be perilous with Moscow’s soldiers so close.

Other ores are well within the sites of Russia’s forces. One lithium ore on the outskirts of a settlement called Shevchenko in Donetsk is less than 10 miles from the town of Velyka Novosilka, recently captured by Putin’s troops.

If the deal does go through it will be interesting to see if Trump manages to persuade Putin to allow the US and Ukraine to extract the rare earth and other minerals from the Russian-occupied annexed territories.

Maybe they won’t be just two but three contractors feasting off the beast.

There’s safety in numbers … so they say !

.

‘Completely Unacceptable’ – Lavrov Rejects Proposed European Troop Deployments to Ukraine
http://www.kyivpost.com/post/47359

"Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday decried Western proposals to send troops to Ukraine to maintain a potential peace deal, calling it “completely unacceptable.”

Speaking to reporters after the high-stakes talks with top US diplomats in Riyadh on ending Moscow’s Ukraine invasion, Lavrov rejected all proposals of foreign troop deployments to Ukraine, NATO or not."

European Leaders Draft Peacekeeping Plan for Ukraine With U.S. Forces as ‘Backstop’
http://www.wsj.com/world/europe/european-leaders-draft-peacekeeping-plan-for-ukraine-with-u-s-forces-as-backstop-0dda78bc

They're just trying to drag the US into a hot war.
Russia's not going to go for it, and I'll be surprised if Trump will either after he and Putin meet, but we'll see.

Time to give it a rest. What a few nameless keyboard warriors think about anything is not going to make one iota of difference to what Donald Trump, Putin, Zelenskyy etc do or don’t do.

"Other ores are well within the sites of Russia’s forces. "

Yep, a lot of the known reserves are within the war zone. But there's also a massive amount well outside that region, spreading across Ukraine to near the Polish border.

But ya gotta laugh. If the deposits were inaccessible, then the US wouldn't be bothering to go after them. But they are because they are.

Meanwhile silly old AC now denies that Russia sent an army to try to take Kiev in the early days of the war, said army being completely defeated and forced to retreat in abject disarray. Re-writing history to suit what you want to be true is never a good look.

Just to remind... its worthwhile pondering why the talks are being held in Riyad and why only the three biggest oil producers are involved.

world opinions do matter, especially in politics, alliances,
and funding. Not to mention global standing.

mhaze, I'm not going to waste my time arguing with you over paid propaganda you've filled your head with.

Diplomacy Watch: Did Boris Johnson help stop a peace deal in Ukraine?
http://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/09/02/diplomacy-watch-why-did-the-west-stop-a-peace-deal-in-ukraine/

"A recent piece in Foreign Affairs revealed that Kyiv and Moscow may have had a tentative deal to end the war all the way back in April."

>>Russia and Ukraine may have agreed on a tentative deal to end the war in April, according to a recent piece in Foreign Affairs.

“Russian and Ukrainian negotiators appeared to have tentatively agreed on the outlines of a negotiated interim settlement,” wrote Fiona Hill and Angela Stent. “Russia would withdraw to its position on February 23, when it controlled part of the Donbas region and all of Crimea, and in exchange, Ukraine would promise not to seek NATO membership and instead receive security guarantees from a number of countries.”<<

Fiona Hill (presidential advisor)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiona_Hill_(presidential_advisor)

Impeachment inquiry testimony

>>A request by U.S. President Donald Trump to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Joe Biden and his son sparked the scandal.

On October 14, 2019, responding to a subpoena, Hill testified in a closed-door deposition for ten hours before a committee of the United States Congress as part of the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump during his first impeachment. Some Republicans questioned the credibility of her testimony, including Connie Mack IV, who described Hill as a "George Soros mole infiltrating the national-security apparatus".<<

Putin publicly shows draft of ‘peace treaty’ signed by Russia-Ukraine in 2022
http://www.livemint.com/news/world/putin-publicly-shows-draft-of-peace-treaty-signed-by-russia-ukraine-in-2022-watch-11687136116863.html

Man.. I really don't know why you continually double down on stupid.
You know damn well I've been paying attention to this conflict since day dot.

"You know damn well I've been paying attention to this conflict since day dot."

And yet you don't recall that the Russians tried to capture Kiev.

And yet you don't recall telling us two years ago that Odessa would fall any day.

And yet you don't recall having it proven that your claims about the Russian language being banned were false.

And yet you don't recall telling us six months ago that the Kursk incursion would be defeated within a week.

And yet... and yet...and yet

Following this thing from day dot is useless when the opinions you follow continually lead you down the garden path.

"And yet you don't recall that the Russians tried to capture Kiev."
I know they laid siege to it, but I also know that 40,000 Russians were never going to take a city of 1 million.
Do you not recall Ukraine coming to the negotiating table?
Biden and Johnson put an end to that.

"And yet you don't recall telling us two years ago that Odessa would fall any day."
Not certain for sure, maybe I did, I'm not going to say I didn't.
The Russians were spread to thin, and many were getting to the end of their 6 month contracts, the West was talking up it's counteroffensive.
General Surovikin opted for pulling the troops back to the left bank of the Dnieper and setting up defensive positions.
The tactical withdrawal, (or retreat if you want to call it that) went well in Kherson, not so great in the Kharkiv / Kupiansk area.
Ukrainians said they'd be swimming on the beach in Crimea.
Didn't happen.

"And yet you don't recall having it proven that your claims about the Russian language being banned were false."
- I still stand by those statements. New language laws meant Russian speaking Ukrainians couldn't easily run for office and Russian speaking kids had to learn Ukrainian to go to school.

"And yet you don't recall telling us six months ago that the Kursk incursion would be defeated within a week."
- I probably said that, but Ukraine has lost tens of thousands there and didn't achieve it's goals of taking the Kursk NPP, meanwhile Russia was able to make further gains in the east in territory the already claim as their own.

The Russian plan isn't to make big moves for territorial gains that risk greater loss of men and equipment, their aim is to grind the Ukrainians down in a battle of attrition, destroy the Ukrainian military entirely and take what they wanted after military collapse.
i.e. Russia wins and they get to set the terms.

Trump has little to bargain with.
Russia doesn't particularly care about removal of sanctions.

Ukraine-Russia Peace Is as Elusive as Ever. But in 2022 They Were Talking.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/06/15/world/europe/ukraine-russia-ceasefire-deal.html
'Representatives from the warring nations held peace talks in the early weeks of the Russian invasion. They fizzled. Documents from those talks show why any new ones will face major obstacles.'

>>Russia demanded that Ukraine make Russian an official language.

“Ukraine, within 30 (thirty) days after signing this Treaty, shall remove all restrictions on the use of the Russian language in any area in accordance with Annex 2.”<<

These documents date from March to April 2022.
Will you finally admit that the new language laws were an issue for Russia at the start of the war mhaze?
Will you finally admit that your witch-hunt against me over the language laws for these last 3 years was baseless?
Copies of the interim peace-agreement are available at the bottom of the article, if you're paywalled out, disable javascript.
(FYI, I haven't read them)

Now we a re at the point when we can't tell if AC's memory is just atrocious or he's deliberately distorting things to hide his errors.

1. The attack on Kiev.... the attack on Kiev started a few days after Putin had declared war. The intention was to make a rapid descent on Kiev from Belarus, kill or remove the government, install a puppet government and end the war. About 50,000 Russians were involved which, despite your lack of military knowledge is more than enough to capture a city of 1 million civilians. The thrust of the attack was an airborne assault on the Kiev airport. This was defeated by elite Ukraine forces.

From that time on the Russian attack faulted. Thinking they'd be in Kiev in a week, they had developed poor supply lines and inadequate supplies. Due to the winter attack they were forced to stay on paved roads and became easy targets for Ukrinian forces using Javelin missiles. The assault stopped and a 40km road jam developed.

Two weeks after the assault began the Russians called a retreat as their forces melted away. Many civilians were executed during the retreat.

To save face, Putin claimed the retreat was a goodwill gesture and many on those who fall for such things, such as AC, believed the lie.

2. Russian language... Now you're rewriting things. You originally claimed Ukraine had banned the Russian language. You naively said tha Lavrov had said it and he wouldn't lie!! I showed you the actual Ukrainian legislation, THE ACTUAL LEGISLATION, which proved that Russian wasn't being banned but that Ukrainian was being made the official language of Ukraine, just like Russian is the official language of Russia and English is the official language of England. Wow, big surprise, heh!. At the time you acknowledged you were misled and that indeed Russian wasn't being banned. Have you forgotten that or are you just outright lying now?

You showed the 2017 or 2018 legislation not the 2014 changes after the western sponsored coup which you claimed was grassroots even though Victoria Nuland admitted spending 5 billion (USAID) overthrowing the country in a western sponsored coup. And truth was the US had maintained ties via the CIA with the Neo Nazis since the end of WWII.

In any case, it doesn't matter because Ukraine lacks the ability to win either way.
And I'm not sure Trump will even be able to make a deal in any hurry, because the Ukrainians still want to throw bodies into the meat grinder.

The world has become a frightening place for the Left in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s election.

In the US, the institutions the Left were trampling through have been defunded, disbanded, and publicly shamed.

In Australia, our politicians have no idea how to interpret the situation so they have chosen to ignore it, falling back into their old habits such as trading blows over Medicare. Boring. Why couldn't Medicare been “fixed” over the past three years.

The International Left are just as worried. They are trapped by dependency and greed where they want America’s money but dislike interference in their affairs. It’s a bit like a child that leaves home and still expects mummy to do the washing. Europe never grew up after the second world war.

Trump sided with Russia in the UNGA.

What we have is a NATO civil war, and a battle between Trump, who wants to exercise full power of the executive branch, the will of the voters, and the deep state (or administrative state of the unelected bureaucratic class) including the globalists and the elite.

The unelected EC wish to keep the war going, because they can't allow Putin to win.

The Trump administrations push for normalisation of ties with Russia means there's no purpose to NATOs existence, and the US admonishing the EU and EC via Vances comments at the Munich security conference puts these unelected beaurecrats in the EU and their administrative state on notice.

Good video by ex British diplomat:

Alastair Crooke : Political Implosion in Israel and Political Earthquake in Germany.
http://www.youtube.com/live/G_kMjyxdsBc

NATO CIVIL WAR - THE US AND RUSSIA VERSUS A CLOWNISH EU AND THE AZOV GOONS
http://www.youtube.com/live/AYAwX7WuDk8

Either way the choice is simple.

Support Trump = No nuclear war
Support for the rest = Risk having a nuclear war.
- including sending more men and women to their end, for no purpose with no chance of winning to prop up a gang of corrupt unelected globalists including the likes of Blackrock.

Many here choose risking a nuclear war, including robbing their nations citizens, because they are victims of both the Biden administrations and the ruling classes paid USAID propaganda.

The globalists are wrecking all our countries.
They have destroyed the aussie battler in favour of multinationals and immigration and global investment firms richer, that results in only making the average working class citizen poorer.

"The world has become a frightening place for the Left in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s election."

First of all the Trump revolution, isn't actually a revolution but a counter revolution.
And that's because the world was well and truly starting to become a frightening place already.

Holy crap, hows that Murry Hunter article, I'm in shock.
I can't believe that someone else actually finally gets it.
- Probably too late to matter much now though.

Leaders are choosing sides over Ukraine, and in doing so they're stating what team they're on.
We should not expect any favours from the Trump administration.
But we should be taking care of our own interests for a change anyway.

These current leaders of ours have got to go.
NO ALBO, NO DUTTON !
We need to clean house too.

I know how the war started, do you?

http://x.com/ivan_8848/status/1892859251183215051
http://x.com/BowesChay/status/1893622501306937767
http://x.com/ricwe123/status/1890010462911353193
http://x.com/gsleg/status/1892137543744815235/video/1
http://x.com/SgforgoodStella/status/1891430217366802601
http://x.com/SprinterObserve/status/1691047041823031296
http://x.com/Kanthan2030/status/1627593537008332802
http://x.com/RWApodcast/status/1714574044526158270
http://x.com/NomorWhitey/status/1892655722481025317

The Verkhovna Rada failed to vote for Zelensky in the presence of European commissioners
http://eadaily.com/en/news/2025/02/24/the-verkhovna-rada-failed-to-vote-for-zelensky-in-the-presence-of-european-commissioners

>>Deputies of the Verkhovna Rada, in the presence of the leaders of the European Union, failed a bill in support of Vladimir Zelensky's continuation of his powers.

According to the Strana newspaper, the resolution gained 218 votes out of the required 226. It stated that Zelensky "must fulfill his powers until the newly elected president of Ukraine takes office in accordance with part one of Article 108 of the Constitution of Ukraine."

In addition, the following words were in the document provided: "As the legitimate sole legislative body in the To Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine declares: "The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky was elected in free, transparent, democratic elections with the invitation of international observers, which were recognized by the entire international community."

Ukrainian sources report that in this way Zelensky received a slap in the face from the only relatively legitimate authority in the Ukraine.

Earlier, EADaily reported that the head of the Kiev regime, Vladimir Zelensky, may soon escape from Ukraine and ask for asylum in Turkey.<<

Donald Trump has been calling on Zelensky to hold elections, looks like the Ukrainian parliament got the hint.

"I know how the war started, do you?"

Yes. Putin sent troops across the international border. The end.

Now if you're asking what were the non-proximate causes for the war and who was responsible for that...well that's a very different issue.

________________________________________________________________________

"You showed the 2017 or 2018 legislation not the 2014 changes"

No. I showed you the 2019 legislation. You claimed and still claim that one reason for the war was that Ukraine was banning the Russian language. You misread the 2014 legislation in order to make that claim. But the 2019 legislation superseded the 2014 legislation anyway and it, as I showed you, specifically didn't ban the Russian language. But the Russians had said differently and, as usual, you fall for whatever the Russians tell you, even when shown in black and white that its false.