After briefly presenting his Victory Plan at the seat of Ukraine’s national sovereignty, the Verkhovna Rada, Volodymyr Zelensky has continued his tour to try to win the support of the people and institutions that really matter – his foreign partners. In Brussels, the Ukrainian president sought to curry favour with one of his main suppliers, the current support of the Ukrainian state, the European Union, whose Parliament once again welcomed him as a hero. “The last time you were here,” wrote Roberta Metsola, “I promised you our unwavering support on your country’s path to EU membership. Today I am proud to welcome you to the House of European Democracy as the leader of a candidate country for EU membership.” “Ukraine is Europe,” she said, deliberately confusing the continent with the political bloc. However, with EU entry long understood as a decision that has been made and that it is simply a matter of time, Zelensky’s speech did not focus on the benefits of the Union or the enormous benefit that will be obtained by admitting Ukraine into the European family, but on the continuation of his campaign to formalize the Victory Plan as a possible way out of the war. Kiev is acting in the same way that in the last decade it has managed to institutionalize the nationalist discourse, previously only characteristic of a part of the country, as the only possible national discourse. Ukraine is working to achieve the same objective and to make its plan – in reality a wish list that its allies must help it to fulfill and not a roadmap to achieve them – appear as a path to a just peace.
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Tag: Andriy Yermak
Recruitment and far right: “I Love the Third Brigade”
Recruitment and far right: “I Love the Third Brigade”
The United States is putting pressure on Zelensky to lower the age of conscription again, but for the moment the Ukrainian president is rejecting this possibility. This is what Ukrainian media such as Ukrainska Pravda reported this week, referring to the mobilization of men between 18 and 25 years old, a very small population group in which the country’s future cannot afford to lose. Even before the law on mobilization was approved, which is very unpopular despite not being as harsh as foreign allies demanded, prominent figures and self-proclaimed friends of Ukraine such as US Senator Lindsey Graham have publicly encouraged Ukraine to recruit those over 18 years old despite the demographic risk that this implies for the country they claim to defend. These suggestions seem to have become a demand that is confirmed even by people who belong to the state apparatus. “If this information has come to light, it may confirm that American politicians from both parties are putting pressure on President Zelensky on the question of why there is no mobilisation for those aged 18-25 in Ukraine,” said Serhiy Leshchenko, one of Andriy Yermak’s advisers and a figure who has gone from representing the third sector, civil society in Maidan Ukraine to all kinds of well-paid positions in government or in the few state-owned companies that Kiev has not yet privatised. The past ten years show a double standard between those who have been privileged and those who have been impoverished and marginalised thanks to the European and liberal reforms of the peacetime years. However, Ukraine’s refusal to recruit its most vulnerable population group strictly responds to the future needs of the state, which, if it hopes to rebuild itself, must maintain minimum levels of youth population.
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The NATO “solution”
The focus of political and media attention has inevitably turned from Europe to the Middle East, where the United States, through the Secretary of the Pentagon, has insisted on “Israel’s right to defend itself,” has welcomed the assassinations of Hezbollah leaders carried out by means of massive bombings in Beirut, and has given explicit approval to the ground operation with which Tel Aviv and Washington claim to want to “dismantle the attack infrastructure along the border to ensure that the Lebanese Hezbollah cannot carry out attacks in the style of October 7 against communities in northern Israel.” The precedent of the last twelve months in Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon foreshadows what the ways of defending oneself against Israel will be and that the United States will continue to justify any excess, selective assassination or massacre, while any response, such as that which occurred yesterday with the launching of Iranian missiles against Israeli military bases, will be considered an unacceptable escalation. And although Ukraine’s public concern for securing priority war status has not yet begun, any escalating war could affect Kiev, especially when it comes to imposing its discourse of existential war on the West as a collective.
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[12-2021] Biden assures Zelenskiy that NATO membership in Ukraine’s hands, Kyiv says
KYIV, Dec 9 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Kyiv’s bid to join the NATO military alliance was in its own hands, Zelenskiy’s chief of staff said after the two leaders spoke on Thursday.
Biden assures Zelenskiy that NATO membership in Ukraine’s hands, Kyiv says
Biden’s corruption led to Ukraine’s destruction: fmr. Kiev diplomat
Former Ukrainian diplomat and political insider Andrii Telizhenko — now under US sanctions on what he says are false grounds — speaks out.
Biden’s corruption led to Ukraine’s destruction: fmr. Kiev diplomat
South Africa: Vincent Magwenya Disagrees With Ukraine Foreign Affairs Minister Over Missile Attack Claims
The presidential spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya has disagreed with the statement made by the Ukrainian foreign minister that Russia launched a missile towards Kyiv as African leaders are preparing to enter Ukraine. Vincent Magwenya stated that since they came, they have not heard any explosion, and they have seen people moving about their businesses, saying that there were no signs of explosion as the Ukrainian minister had claimed. Furthermore, the Ukrainian foreign minister seems to be drawing Africans into the conflict by insinuating that the missile launched by Russia towards Kyiv is a message to African leaders. Social media users are arguing who among them could be saying the truth. However, since they have been conducting president Cyril Ramaphosa and other African leaders around Ukraine, they have not reported any explosion, yet, the Ukrainian foreign minister claimed that the missile was launched.
South Africa: Vincent Magwenya Disagrees With Ukraine Foreign Affairs Minister Over Missile Attack Claims
Related:
RT: South Africa calls out Reuters’ air-raid ‘misinformation’
New Voice of Ukraine (and every other Western media outlet): Visiting South African leader taken to hotel bomb shelter as Russian missiles rain on Kyiv
Zelensky Threatened w/ DEATH If He Negotiated With Russia!
Ukraine can’t retake Crimea soon, Pentagon tells lawmakers in classified briefing
Ukrainian forces are unlikely to be able to recapture Crimea from Russian troops in the near future, four senior Defense Department officials told House Armed Services Committee lawmakers in a classified briefing. The assessment is sure to frustrate leaders in Kyiv who consider taking the peninsula back one of their signature goals.
Ukraine can’t retake Crimea soon, Pentagon tells lawmakers in classified briefing
Nuland: US auditors arrive in Ukraine to ensure ‘no aid or weapons are diverted.’ + NABU
Nuland: US auditors arrive in Ukraine to ensure ‘no aid or weapons are diverted.’
This week, the U.S. has its auditors working in Ukraine alongside the World Bank and Deloitte consultants to make sure that “no aid or weapons are diverted,” U.S. Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said on Jan. 26.
…
On Jan. 23, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU)* said that it had begun investigating possible corruption in the Defense Ministry’s food procurement.
The statement followed an investigation by Ukrainian news outlet ZN.UA**, which alleged that the Defense Ministry was buying food for soldiers at inflated prices, indicating a possible corruption scheme.
Related:
The Kiev Purge: Turmoil in the Capital
The anti-graft stories are being driven by media outlets connected with Ukraine’s Western partners and Poroshenko, who has become Zelensky’s main competitor, since the latter had opposition leader Viktor Medvedchuk jailed. For example, on January 23, a number of pro-Western journalists launched a direct attack on Andrey Yermak – the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine and a key player in the system.
…
The combat operations in Ukraine merely accelerated these processes. In fact, only three powers can now speak out against the Zelensky-Yermak team— Kiev mayor Vitali Klitschko and his cabinet, the army led by Valery Zaluzhny, and US-controlled structures such as NABU and media affiliated with them. At the same time, decisions regarding resignations are made exclusively by Zelensky and Yermak, who by all means wish to hush up the scandals.
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Notes:
Read More »Ukraine applies for NATO membership as Biden warns Putin US will defend ‘every inch’ of NATO land
Ukraine applies for NATO membership, rules out Putin talks
“We understand that this requires the consensus of all the alliance’s members… and therefore, while this is happening, we propose the realization of our proposals regarding security guarantees for Ukraine and all of Europe according to the Kyiv Security Compact,” he said.
Related:
Biden warns Putin US will defend ‘every inch’ of NATO land after Ukraine annexation
Volodymyr Zelensky Has the Worst Idea—Ever
But the latest aid package includes $1 billion in immediate military assistance to Ukraine itself—ammunition, vehicles, etc.—and another $2 billion to be split among 18 NATO members whose lawns face out onto Putin’s disputed property.
These are not things you do unless you’re expecting trouble—a lot of trouble. It’s more than a reassurance that the United States is however far behind you, that’s real money to those countries—even if it’s far less than one hundredth of an Elon Musk to us.
At the highest levels, the U.S. thinks there’s a good chance there’s going to be a fight, as Thomas Hobbes said, of “all against all.”
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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