Hi Paul,
Europe were beating the war drums when Trump wanted peace.
Now suddenly they support a ceasefire,
- Obviously the ceasefire does not mean peace.

All of Europe (and US under Biden) had cut diplomatic ties with Russia, as in 'we are not on speaking terms', none of them.
Now that there's dialogue, the first thing they do is beg Trump to ask Putin to save their foreign troops in Kursk.

As for heckle and jeckle:

It's funny how you Pro-Israel lot appear to be flapping about and drowning in swamp of your own feces, desperately trying to defend the indefensible.

'Maybe if we make really good arguments, drop some false statistics and try to baffle them with backwards logic they won't notice the ICJ genocide or the things Israel has been doing, what's the chances we can trick them and make them actually believe they are wrong'
- Lol, stop trying to gaslight.

I'm not even sure why I bother to respond and argue at all, all I have to do is let you have your stupid comments and let you make yourselves look stupid.

Meanwhile Israel released the 9 soldiers that sodomised Palestinian hostages.
The pro-rape camp won. Israelis celebrate, there's your shared Judeo-Christian western values.

http://x.com/BowesChay/status/1900197016765870142
A Russian commander thanks the Australian Givernment for another "donation"
The retreating Ukrainians are abandoning millions of dollars worth of kit and vehicles.

The ceasefire deal may have been a ploy by both Trump and Putin to force elections in Ukraine and to remove Zelensky.
The Ukrainians have come out and said no to elections even under a temporary ceasefire.

"For 3 years we were told Ukraine was on top and winning this bloody war."

Well whoever told you that was leading you down the garden path. But the end of the garden path is your favourite place isn't it.
Ukraine was never winning as in recovering lost territory like Crimea.

Sure they had some significant victories such as when they obliterated the Russian advance on Kiev or when they advanced on Kursk - the first time since WW2 that foreign troops occupied Russian territory.

But in the main they struggled to hold those parts of the Donbass that weren't already in Russian hands before 2022.

The deciding factor in this war, as in most wars with Russia is that Russia simply doesn't care how many of its people it sacrifices to the war efforts and so they, or at least their leadership, is prepared to bleed the country dry in the name of victory. Ukraine OTOH neither wanted to, nor could, be as cavalier with the lives of their people.

So Ukraine was never wining nor likely to win the war. But then again neither was Russia. They are now likely to gain a portion of the Donbass (c.70%), the Kherson Oblast (c.50%), and the Zaporizhzhia Oblast (c.60%). But what they get is a decrepit wasteland that will take a generation to bring back to anything approaching productive and a restive population that will either move west or be a thorn in the side of Russian security forces for a generation or more.

/cont

/cont

Nonetheless, irrespective of the finer details of the ceasefire/peace deal, Russia and Putin are the big losers of the whole conflict. They have now been revealed as a paper tiger in terms of military force. It is clear that, other than their nukes (which are of dubious quality), they are no longer a threat to Europe. Over three years they failed to decisively defeat a small, ill-prepared nation. Their forces no longer stand a chance of defeating a much better prepared nation like Poland let alone the combined forces of Europe, irrespective of how ill-prepared most of Europe is.

The whole thing has been a disaster for all concerned, especially the two combatants. OTOH some others have emerged in much stronger positions. Poland first of all. Russia is now kicked out of all Middle-East discussions and so Israel is enhanced. China is slightly improved in that its ally is really now a dependant. Ditto North Korea. And the US is on the brink of extracting itself from the whole European quagmire.

AC and Paul,

30th June 2024, the IPC Global Famine Review Committee stated evidence indicates famine is not occurring in Gaza.

However, you both can do your bit ... I'm sure you both feel morally obligated to do so. You can arrange for a food parcel to be sent over there.

Human Appeal Australia
my.humanappeal.org.au

Provide a poor family with a food parcel in Palestine (Gaza). Please select amount $100, $250, $300, $1000, $5000.

There are a plethora of other sites online whereby you can also arrange food to go to Gaza.

I am sure you both will take advantage of this opportunity to feed a family over there.

WhiteMouse,

Your cynicism is self evident in the above, but I'll let you know I don't give much financially to charity, I leave that to my wife, who is very generous in that regard. I do believe she does donate through her Anglican Church to such a cause, whether that money goes to famine relief for Palestinians, or Africans, or somewhere else, I don't know, but it helps someone, somewhere, I know that.

Its easy to be cynical when you are not personally affected by such misery. Indeed we are in the lucky country, and lets be thankful for that.