Top Trump allies hold secret talks with Zelenskyy’s Ukrainian opponents
The senior Trump allies held talks with Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, a remorselessly ambitious former prime minister, and senior members of the party of Petro Poroshenko, Zelenskyy’s immediate predecessor as president, according to three Ukrainian parliamentarians and a U.S. Republican foreign policy expert.
Read More »
Ukraine is nearing a deal to grant the U.S. access to its rare minerals in exchange for continued political and, perhaps, military support, though negotiations face challenges since 40% of these resources are in Russian-occupied territory. With Trump pushing for access to these minerals while also engaging in talks with Russia, Ukraine faces uncertainty over its strategic partnerships as it navigates its war effort and economic future.
…
That being said, information about what materials Ukraine has and where they are located presents snags for negotiations. Namely, Ukraine can’t promise access to all its materials when a reported 40% of the minerals are under land currently occupied by Russia.
On top of that, the main motivation for Zelensky agreeing to swap minerals is likely to be in return for military aid from America—which Ukrainian officials say has not been explicitly penciled into the draft.
Despite this, yesterday sources in Kyiv confirmed the terms to share materials—including oil and gas—are almost agreed after months of negotiation.
Related:
Read More »Dear so-called Marxist-Leninists, please take note of Vladimir Lenin’s words: “The motto of the Marxist workers is to put no faith in words; subject everything to the closest scrutiny.”
Read More »
The Interview: Antony Blinken Insists He and Biden Made the Right Calls
You made two early strategic decisions on Ukraine. The first, because of that fear of direct conflict, was to restrict Ukraine’s use of American weapons within Russia. The second was to support Ukraine’s military offensive without a parallel diplomatic track to try and end the conflict. How do you look back on those decisions now? So first, if you look at the trajectory of the conflict, because we saw it coming, we were able to make sure that not only were we prepared and allies and partners were prepared, but that Ukraine was prepared. We made sure that well before the Russian aggression happened, starting in September and then again December, we quietly got a lot of weapons to Ukraine to make sure that they had in hand what they needed to defend themselves, things like Stingers, Javelins that were instrumental in preventing Russia from taking Kyiv, from rolling over the country, erasing it from the map, and indeed pushing the Russians back. But I think what’s so important to understand is at different points in time, people get focused on one weapon system or another. Is it an Abrams tank? Is it an F-16? What we’ve had to look at each and every time is not only should we give this to the Ukrainians but do they know how to use it? Can they maintain it? Is it part of a coherent plan? All of those things factored into the decisions we made on what to give them and when to give it.
Related:
TASS: US ‘quietly’ supplied weapons to Ukraine before Russia’s operation started, Blinken says
Ukraine began artillery strikes against the Donbas republics on February 16th, 2022.
“In other words, Ukraine began shelling the independent republics of Donetsk and Luhansk nine days before Russia announced its ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine.
“While the western corporate media remained completely silent, explosions documented by the OSCE increased from 76 on February 15th, to 316 on February 16th, to 654 on February 17th, and to 1,413 on February 18th.
[02-18-2022] Shelling in Donbass brings Europe to brink of war
I just wanted to move this from my YouTube supplement blog to this one. I was reminded of it when I saw the recent video of Hinkle in Russia again. His group, the American Communist Party, is working with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation to deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Donbass. I have more on this, but I don’t know when I will have time to work on it, again.
Foreign troops and peace (Google translate)
by @nsanzo
“The National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine supported the decision to appeal to the United Nations and the European Union on the “deployment of a peacekeeping and security mission in Ukraine.” This is not news from today, when the composition and size of a possible peacekeeping mission of European countries is being discussed after the possible ceasefire, but from February 18, 2015. Days earlier, in the Belarusian capital, after negotiations involving Angela Merkel, François Hollande, Petro Poroshenko and Vladimir Putin, the only peace agreement of this war had been signed and a ceasefire was to begin, which was to be routinely violated, and the political process that would return Donbass to Ukraine under very specific conditions and with certain linguistic, cultural, political and economic rights that Kiev always considered unacceptable and never had the slightest intention of fulfilling. Ukraine, which had suffered the second major defeat in the Donbass war at Debaltsevo after Ilovaisk in September 2014, was at its lowest point, its army was at risk of being overwhelmed and it needed to stop the war in order to recover and become stronger while waiting for the next phase of a war that all parties were aware was not over.
Read More »
Declaration Berlin (translated)
Posted by @nsanzo
“European leaders are scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO chief Mark Rutte on Wednesday afternoon in Brussels to discuss peace plans and the possible deployment of peacekeeping forces in Ukraine,” Politico announced on Friday, confirming what was already known: NATO is leading the effort to coordinate what may happen in the coming months in the war in Ukraine, which on the ground will depend on European countries. “In addition to Rutte and Zelensky, invited participants include: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Polish President Andrzej Duda, European Council President António Costa, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen,” the outlet added, to show who the main actors are in preparing for the possibility of a significant reduction in the United States’ role in the day-to-day running of the war.
Read More »
Ukraine War Map Looks ‘Grim’ for Zelensky as Russian Offensive Accelerates
Russia’s offensive has concentrated around the Donetsk logistics hub of Pokrovsk as well as Kurakhove. Moscow captured Vuhledar in October and advanced quickly to Velyka Novosilka.
“The Ukrainians have had issues in stabilizing the front here for a long time, and in November, the pace of Russian advance there only quickened even from September and October,” Kastehelmi told Newsweek.
Previously:
Russia’s Swift March Forward in Donbass [Pokrovsk is the prize]
Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi appointed as new commander of Ukraine’s land forces
Mykhailo Drapatyi participated in the
anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine. He began his combat career as the commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 72nd Mechanized Brigade. Under his command, the units of the 72nd Mechanized Brigade entered Mariupol in May 2014 on armored vehicles to reinforce the units that repelled the terrorists’ assault.In the position of the IFV commander, he and his mechanic-driver Dmytro Vorona led a convoy of four vehicles and broke through the barricade of pro-Russian residents. It was their “flying IFV” that was captured in the footage that went viral.
Related video:
2014: Victory Day in Mariupol
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
You must be logged in to post a comment.