Instead of subtly courting China, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, the administration and its congressional allies have petulantly demanded their compliance with U.S. wishes.
U.S. strategy against Russia must succeed in order to make success of U.S. strategy against China possible; Ukraine is the U.S. proxy against Russia, and Taiwan is the U.S. proxy against China. Ukraine became a U.S. ‘ally’ or vassal-nation in 2014, but Taiwan isn’t yet officially a U.S. ‘ally’ or vassal-nation.
General Mark Milley, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States assessed that it would take several weeks for Moscow to complete the evacuation of some 30,000 Russian troops deployed in Kherson city in southern Ukraine. But Russians have announced that the evacuation was successfully completed in 2 days — both soldiers and over 5000 pieces of heavy equipment.
On November 9, 2022, Sergey Surovikin, the military commander of the special military operation for liberation of Donbass, demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, reports publicly to Sergey Shoigu, Russian defense minister
[…] Kherson cannot be fully supplied and function. Russia did everything possible to ensure the evacuation of the inhabitants. Kiev strikes at the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station and creates a threat of flooding of vast territories. The most expedient option is to organize defense along the barrier line of the Dnieper River. It is proposed to take up defense along the left bank. Keeping a grouping of troops on the right bank is futile […]
Nov 9, 2022 – It’s been firmly established in the American media and by countless blue checks on Twitter that negotiation of ANY KIND with Putin’s Russia is unacceptable, appeasement and a betrayal of the Ukrainian people. Just ask the House progressives who were widely excoriated for penning a mildly-worded letter to the White House advocating diplomacy with Russia. Except now it turns out, according to a Wall Street Journal article, that White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is, in fact, engaging in diplomacy with his Russian counterparts.
Jimmy and Americans’ Comedian Kurt Metzger discuss whether it’s a good idea for competing nuclear powers to discuss ways to avoid World War III.
Ordinary Ukrainians on the front lines are divided on a ceasefire and negotiations. My Ukrainian colleague Karina Korostelina and I surveyed the attitudes of both residents and displaced persons in three Ukrainian cities close to the southeast battlefields this summer. Almost half agreed it was imperative to seek a ceasefire to stop Russians killing Ukraine’s young men. Slightly more supported negotiations with Russia on a complete ceasefire, with a quarter totally against and a fifth declaring themselves neutral. Respondents were torn when considering whether saving lives or territorial unity were more important to them. Those most touched by the war, namely the internally displaced, were more likely to prioritise saving lives. Other research reveals that those farthest from the battlefields have the most hawkish attitudes.
Crowds of people poured onto the streets of Rome on Saturday to call for peace in Ukraine. The demonstrators also demanded that the Italian government stop providing Kiev with weapons and engage with Russia diplomatically instead.
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Meanwhile, a counter-protest was held around the same time in the city of Milan, organized by the leader of the centrist Azione party, Carlo Calenda, with support from Italy’s Ukrainian community. Hundreds of activists took part in the gathering, questioning whether protesters in Rome were really “pro-peace,” or in fact “pro-Putin.” They argued that “those who call for peace but also to disarm Ukraine call for the surrender of Ukraine.”
Giorgia Meloni, who became Italian premier late last month, is known as a staunch supporter of Kiev. However, she is facing growing opposition amid accelerating inflation and other economic woes at home, all of which are believed to stem from the ongoing military conflict.
The request by American officials is not aimed at pushing Ukraine to the negotiating table, these people said. Rather, they called it a calculated attempt to ensure the government in Kyiv maintains the support of other nations facing constituencies wary of fueling a war for many years to come.
The discussions illustrate how complex the Biden administration’s position on Ukraine has become, as U.S. officials publicly vow to support Kyiv with massive sums of aid “for as long as it takes” while hoping for a resolution to the conflict that over the past eight months has taken a punishing toll on the world economy and triggered fears of nuclear war.
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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