The Invasion is ongoing...Part 5

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Unbelievable to think that a few days ago the world was starting to look more positive..ye we find ourselves on a fifth thread discussing the horrors of the war in Europe. An unbelievable change has happened to the world we live in.

Some incredible firmed posts have been written, informing, discussing, and occasionally derailing. Let's hope the news is more positive by the end of this one.

US backed coup/puppet regime v. the free will of the Ukrainian people?

@EsmaCannonball the IOC have never had a backbone, when it comes to Russia or any other matter.

Iamnotamermaid, I see China has offered to mediate between Russia and Ukraine and whilst I wouldn't trust China I fear they are the only ones with the clout and ability to bring the current situation to an end.

Will talks be continued today? I thought they were being but yet to see any confirmation.

@WeAreTheHeroes

US backed coup/puppet regime v. the free will of the Ukrainian people?

Good question. Some of the pp feel like they are riding over what people in Ukraine want.

And that’s quite difficult to read since many are willing to fight with their lives for it.

Just watching PMQ's
Starmer is making Johnson wriggle re Putin's oligarchs £ in Londongrad
Good. This corruption needs rooting out if we are to starve Putins war effort.

But aren’t those men who aren’t willing to give up their lives for it barred from leaving anyway?

@Thereisnolight

Is Russia very slowly closing in on Kyiv - giving the citizens plenty of time to evacuate - as Putin sees them as Russians and doesn’t necessarily want too many deaths. Would that explain the stalled convoy to the north, just waiting, and the lack of planes overhead and the noisy Russian march up from the south, leaving the western route still clear atm for those who still want to leave? Am I a wonderful armchair army strategist?

No.

They just cannot get their act together, fortunately/

The US has long known that Ukraine was the Russian's red line.

CIA director, William Burns. Back in 2008, the year George W. Bush fatefully badgered reluctant European leaders into pledging future NATO membership to Ukraine, Burns sent a memo to then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that included this warning:

Ukrainian entry into NATO is the brightest of all red lines for the Russian elite (not just Putin). In more than two and a half years of conversations with key Russian players, from knuckle-draggers in the dark recesses of the Kremlin to Putin’s sharpest liberal critics, I have yet to find anyone who views Ukraine in NATO as anything other than a direct challenge to Russian interests.

Burns added that it was “hard to overstate the strategic consequences” of offering Ukraine NATO membership—a move that, he predicted, would “create fertile soil for Russian meddling in Crimea and eastern Ukraine.”

Small acts of defiance

Ukrainians deface road signs (as Russians do not use satellite navigation and rely on old Soviet maps), and doing it with Ukrainian humor. “The Hague”, “The Hague”, “The Hague” - says this sign.
twitter.com/sumlenny/status/1498940124293484551?s=21

@Thereisnolight

Anyway, “outsiders” can sometimes be more perceptive than those inside a situation. Experts should be prepared to answer the most silly questions from newbies. I’m very open to that in my own field, unlike some of my more arrogant colleagues.

The simplest fool can ask a question the wisest person cannot answer.

@52andblue

Just watching PMQ's Starmer is making Johnson wriggle re Putin's oligarchs £ in Londongrad Good. This corruption needs rooting out if we are to starve Putins war effort.

Yes, you wonder how the Ukranian Ambassador felt after hearing that.

Quite a moment though when the whole house applauded him

Regarding the war map being shown, apparently what was thought Moldova being marked to be invaded next was just the marking of Transistria which is a Russian controlled part of Moldova so might not be as ominious as it looked.

Putin has now decided 25 years later that Russia needs countries nearby that he can rearrange as he sees fit (i.e. not really states at all). While this may be based on honest paranoia, it's more likely to be a cover for his "reunification of the Slavic peoples" dream as set out in his long article published last year, which is alarmingly similar to Hitler's ideas of bringing the Germanic volk together in the reich.

Thanks for flagging the essay, it's a fascinating read. Some parts of it contradict his publicly stated motivation for the current invasion of Ukraine. It almost feels as if he's taken Ukraine turning it's attention west rather than east as a personal insult. There is a petulant tone in some parts, I could almost see him drawing himself up and puffing out his chest. Whatever my veiws of the essay it is very clear that he does not and never has respected Ukrainian sovereignty and it's hard not to draw the conclusion that the invasion of Ukraine is simply part one of his reunification project.

Link to essay here for anyone prepared to wade through approx 5000 words.

en.wikisource.org/wiki/On_the_Historical_Unity_of_Russians_and_Ukrainians

[quote DuncinToffee]Small acts of defiance

Ukrainians deface road signs (as Russians do not use satellite navigation and rely on old Soviet maps), and doing it with Ukrainian humor. “The Hague”, “The Hague”, “The Hague” - says this sign.
twitter.com/sumlenny/status/1498940124293484551?s=21[/quote]
Brilliant!!

@katem98 - was wondering the same - found this from the Guardian's live feed an hour ago

'A second round of talks between Ukraine and Russia will take place later today, Russian state news agency Tass has reported, citing an aide to the Ukrainian presidential office.
Earlier today, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters a Russian delegation will be “in place” on Wednesday for a new round of talks with Ukraine.
In the second half of the day, closer to evening, our delegation will be in place to await Ukrainian negotiators.'

@ChardonnaysPetDragon They just cannot get their act together, fortunately

Do you think that? I think they have joined up the Crimea and the Eastern states which they wanted originally. They are now paused with a huge army waiting for the Ukrainian Govt to come and neg., whilst kindly giving Ukrainian people time to evacuate in case there is no negotiation. If Zelensky doesn't come and negotiate, then the Russians will be forced to move their forces into Kyiv and they can blame it on the lack of talks from Ukraine.

Apparently both IKEA and H&M are continuing to trade in Russia.

I just come across Wion-Gravitas -News channel
It exceeded my expectation on current topics and the topics which are just left behind.
I think it is Indian news channel somehow I clicked but was impressed by their balanced reporting. Just news and facts are very informative.
They are neutral until it comes about China otherwise a good news portal.

@supermoonrising
The Maidan revolution had a lot of factions, some good, some bad, and the support of about 50% of the Ukrainian people. Soon afterwards Russia annexed Crimea. And after that Ukraine had elections in 2014 and 2019 - in both of which the vast majority of Ukrainians voted for candidates (Poroshenko, Tymoshenko or Zelensky) who supported EU and NATO membership.

That's not surpprising given that Russia had just annexed a chunk of their country, despite guaranteeing its borders (including Crimea) in 1994.
So this argument that the current government of Ukraine somehow doesn't represent the will of its people or that they don't want to be in the EU or NATO is, with respect, tosh. Of course there are some particularly in the east and Crimea who would rather stay closely affiliated to Russia, and they may comprise a majority in a few regions, but nowhere near it in Ukraine as a whole.

I think you giving them too much credit.

I think they buggered it up and Putin is furious.

The statue of Sir Nicholas Winton at the Main Train Station in Prague this morning

Just a quick question on sanctions. How long are these likely to last. I'm guessing surely some sanctions may be used as leverage in any peace talks?

[quote DuncinToffee]Small acts of defiance

Ukrainians deface road signs (as Russians do not use satellite navigation and rely on old Soviet maps), and doing it with Ukrainian humor. “The Hague”, “The Hague”, “The Hague” - says this sign.
twitter.com/sumlenny/status/1498940124293484551?s=21[/quote]
If that is true, I must say I love the Ukrainians sense of humour in a crisis.

Saku

I really like Palki Sharma, I think she does a great job. I agree WION are not neutral on China but it's good to have sources of news from different perspectives.