This might be a little tougher than Putin thought...

[seminole97]

It should be noted that there were 21 separate cease fires between the 2014 Russian invasion of Crimea and 2022. Russia broke every one. Anyway, neither side is interested in a cease fire right now, regardless of US opinion polls.

I’d suggest reading the OSCE reports if you’re genuinely curious about the state of the conflict before 2022.
Thousands and thousands of violations of ceasefire by both sides.

https://www.osce.org/special-monitoring-mission-to-ukraine/441197

You can use their built in search engine and find the same sad reports generated week after week during the conflict, denoting civilian casualties and infrastructure damage, as well detailing thousands of ceasefire violations.

If there isn’t a lasting peace treaty, I’d wager the conflict sinks back into that ‘slow burn’ status along the current boundary.

 

[lucas80]

What we already knew. Western arms manufacturers were slow to ramp up production.

Watchdog: Western arms companies failed to ramp up production capacity in 2022 due to Ukraine war

An independent watchdog says many Western arms companies failed to ramp up production in 2022 despite a strong increase in demand for weapons and military equipment.

apnews.com

 

[lucas80]

The US continues to scour the planet for artillery shells to keep Ukrainian guns firing.
Forbes story about the US buying scarce 203 mm shells for self propelled Ukrainian units. They inherited plenty of firing platforms, but the 200+ pound shells are scarce.

The United States May Have Found Another 5,000 Shells For Ukraine’s Biggest Artillery

The Ukrainian army’s 43rd Artillery Brigade, the sole user of the 50-ton 2S7, has plenty of howitzers. What it doesn’t have ... is enough shells.

www.forbes.com

 

[Tenacious E]

 

[h-hawk]

 

[h-hawk]

"In Vladivostok they also start the week with a good fire."

 

[h-hawk]

"Tonight, kamikaze drones of #Ukraine attacked an oil depot in #Luhansk occupied by #Russia , one of the tanks caught fire"

 

[h-hawk]

 

[binsfeldcyhawk2]

More friction between Poland and Ukraine, this time over truck drivers. Every friction point is a drag on Ukraine's war effort.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europ...p-ukraine-polish-truckers-protest-2023-11-30/

My concern is all the upcoming elections in Europe. A lot of folks in countries like Germany getting fed up with supporting the war while their economies are in the crapper.

Shortsighted yes...but understandable IMO.

The Frau and I watch a weekly German news show and it's looking like the SPD will get it's ass handed to them in the next election. Election is June 9 FWIW....

 

[h-hawk]

 

[h-hawk]

 

[binsfeldcyhawk2]

NATO should be ready for ‘bad news’ from Ukraine, Stoltenberg warns​

‘We have to support Ukraine in both good and bad times,’ NATO chief says in ARD interview.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that the Western military alliance should be ready for bad news from the Ukrainian front as Kyiv continues to defend against Russia's all-out invasion.

"Wars develop in phases," Stoltenberg said in an interview Saturday with German broadcaster ARD. "We have to support Ukraine in both good and bad times," he said.

"We should also be prepared for bad news,” Stoltenberg added, without being more specific.

His comments come as Western allies debate over ammunition and financial aid for Ukraine, and as Moscow boosts its troop levels. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Friday to increase the number of soldiers by some 170,000 to a total of 1.3 million.

The front lines have moved little in recent months despite Kyiv’s counteroffensive during the summer. But the Ukrainians have used cruise missiles to push back the Russian fleet in the Black Sea and have caused damage deep in Russian territory

“These are big victories even though they haven’t been able to move the front line,” Stoltenberg said in the interview.

Stoltenberg called on NATO’s members to ramp up the production of ammunition, bemoaning the fragmented state of Europe’s defense industry.

“We’re not able to work as closely together as we should,” he said, urging governments to look beyond their national interests and see the big picture.

A victory for Putin would not only be a tragedy for Ukraine but it would also present a danger for the rest of the allies, Stoltenberg said. “The more we support the Ukraine, the faster the war will end."

NATO should be ready for ‘bad news’ from Ukraine, Stoltenberg warns

‘We have to support Ukraine in both good and bad times,’ NATO chief says in ARD interview.

www.politico.eu

 

[Joes Place]

 

[MitchLL]

If Ukraine falls, we'll know where to point the finger.

 

[h-hawk]

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I lean left but America also needs border security and some sort of compromise should be accepted. Neither party should be playing politics with Ukraine and our border security but that is exactly what both are doing.

 

[h-hawk]

What a F'd up country.

 

[seminole97]

If Ukraine falls, we'll know where to point the finger.

At the Americans who don’t want the latest neocon war?

Obama was so correct on this issue (Ukraine/Russia).
‘Escalatory dominance’ doesn’t mean their weapons are better than ours, it means they will have more support to use them in this situation than we will.

 

[Herky T Hawk]

At the Americans who don’t want the latest neocon war?

Obama was so correct on this issue (Ukraine/Russia).
‘Escalatory dominance’ doesn’t mean their weapons are better than ours, it means they will have more support to use them in this situation than we will.

"And, the 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back, because the Cold War’s been over for 20 years."

 

[seminole97]

"And, the 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back, because the Cold War’s been over for 20 years."

Neocons really, really want the Cold War back.

So when I talked with the president in the Oval Office in late January, I again raised this question of deterrent credibility. “The argument is made,” I said, “that Vladimir Putin watched you in Syria and thought, He’s too logical, he’s too rational, he’s too into retrenchment. I’m going to push him a little bit further in Ukraine.

[President Barack] Obama didn’t much like my line of inquiry. “Look, this theory is so easily disposed of that I’m always puzzled by how people make the argument. I don’t think anybody thought that George W. Bush was overly rational or cautious in his use of military force. And as I recall, because apparently nobody in this town does, Putin went into Georgia on Bush’s watch, right smack dab in the middle of us having over 100,000 troops deployed in Iraq.” Obama was referring to Putin’s 2008 invasion of Georgia, a former Soviet republic, which was undertaken for many of the same reasons Putin later invaded Ukraine—to keep an ex–Soviet republic in Russia’s sphere of influence. [It's The Atlantic, so he leaves out that the month prior NATO opened the door to Ukraine and Georgian membership, because dropping context is important to maintain narratives]

“Putin acted in Ukraine in response to a client state that was about to slip out of his grasp. And he improvised in a way to hang on to his control there,” he said. “He’s done the exact same thing in Syria, at enormous cost to the well-being of his own country. And the notion that somehow Russia is in a stronger position now, in Syria or in Ukraine, than they were before they invaded Ukraine or before he had to deploy military forces to Syria is to fundamentally misunderstand the nature of power in foreign affairs or in the world generally. Real power means you can get what you want without having to exert violence. Russia was much more powerful when Ukraine looked like an independent country but was a kleptocracy that he could pull the strings on.”

Obama’s theory here is simple: Ukraine is a core Russian interest but not an American one, so Russia will always be able to maintain escalatory dominance there.

“The fact is that Ukraine, which is a non-nato country, is going to be vulnerable to military domination by Russia no matter what we do,” he said.

I asked Obama whether his position on Ukraine was realistic or fatalistic.

“It’s realistic,” he said. “But this is an example of where we have to be very clear about what our core interests are and what we are willing to go to war for. And at the end of the day, there’s always going to be some ambiguity.”



Our foreign policy the last 30 years can be summed up as neocons writing checks the American public doesn't want to cash.
I'm surprised, with 2/3rds of Democrats currently in favor of a ceasefire in Ukraine, that people are still trying to make this a partisan issue.

 

[h-hawk]

 

[Titanhawk2]

If Ukraine falls, we'll know where to point the finger.

Yes, not standing up to Putin in February 2022 and waiting so long to provide game changing tech.

 

[Niko13]

We wouldn't need to keep funding this if we would've sent in air support months ago and ended this circus

 

[MitchLL]

Yes, not standing up to Putin in February 2022 and waiting so long to provide game changing tech.

Link to GOP House support to do that?

 

[h-hawk]

 

[h-hawk]

 

[h-hawk]

Hope Russia takes longer to grow their military again as others have suggested.

 

[seminole97]

View embedded media

Is it over this, or something else?

FEBRUARY 8, 2023 6:15 PM CET

Efforts by authorities in Latvia to make Latvian the only language used in schools are discriminatory to other ethnic groups in the country, which is home to a large number of Russian speakers, U.N. experts said Wednesday.
Last September, Riga adopted a law that aims to make Latvian the only language used in the country’s schools by September 2025, starting with preschools and certain primary-level classes.
“The government of Latvia has an obligation under international law and regional instruments to protect and uphold the language rights of the country’s minority communities, without discrimination,” the U.N. experts said.

 

[h-hawk]

 

[h-hawk]

Is it over this, or something else?

FEBRUARY 8, 2023 6:15 PM CET

Efforts by authorities in Latvia to make Latvian the only language used in schools are discriminatory to other ethnic groups in the country, which is home to a large number of Russian speakers, U.N. experts said Wednesday.
Last September, Riga adopted a law that aims to make Latvian the only language used in the country’s schools by September 2025, starting with preschools and certain primary-level classes.
“The government of Latvia has an obligation under international law and regional instruments to protect and uphold the language rights of the country’s minority communities, without discrimination,” the U.N. experts said.

I wondered what Putin was upset about. Latvia has really told Russia what they think of them since the war started. Earlier this year a Latvian MP told Russia to F themselves

 

[h-hawk]

 

[h-hawk]

 

[seminole97]

 

[bhawk24bob]

Hope Russia takes longer to grow their military again as others have suggested.

View embedded media

Well, Russia has one thing that no Western country has the stomach to lose - 10s of thousands of men. Western Europe might have numbers of draft-age men, but they will not deem them expendable.

 

[h-hawk]

 

[h-hawk]

 

[h-hawk]

"The Ukrainian army captured a brand new T-72B3M tank, model year 2022. This is Russia's most modern T-72 tank."

 

[h-hawk]

Russia

 

[h-hawk]

 

[lucas80]

Putin will travel to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Keep in mind he has charges pending from the International Criminal Court. Neither of our good allies are signatories to the ICC, but you’d think they’d arrest a brutal war criminal…

Putin to discuss Israel-Hamas war during a quick trip to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates

The Kremlin says that Russian President Vladimir Putin will make a one-day trip to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia focused on the Israeli-Hamas war and also host the Iranian president in Moscow this week.

apnews.com

 

[binsfeldcyhawk2]

Neither of our good allies are signatories to the ICC, but you’d think they’d arrest a brutal war criminal…

Snowflakes chance in hell....