Ukraine Invasion: Part 54

[MagicFox]

We're on 54. Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦
Agreed thread guidance:
A. The agreed purpose of the thread is for the sharing of information and commentary on current events
B. If you post a link please tell us where it leads/give a precis of the content
C. Discussion and debate is welcome, but please keep it respectful

Trump has been excoriated by the WSJ, thank goodness. And he’s vain enough to care deeply about it.

Trump Tilts Toward an Ukraine Sellout - He puts more pressure on Kyiv for a deal than he does on the Kremlin.

Good to see - thank you for posting @MissConductUS

”As it stands now, Mr. Trump’s seeming desperation for a deal is a risk to Ukraine, Europe, U.S. interests—and his own Presidency.”

Good to see them turning on him. Thanks for posting. I do hope the US survives all of this in some state where the relationship can recover.

@MissConductUS I'm desperately afraid that the US might head towards civil unrest and then military repression if Trump and Musk carry on like this; is this feasible or another deep-in-the-night fear?

Line of thought is: Costs of groceries generally are not subsiding, plus the attacks on checks and balances in the system seem to be being eroded. Americans are not the people to sit around doing nothing about this sort of thing. I'd be surprised if half-arsed attempts to unite against Trump and Musk aren't already starting to happen.

There are a lot of smaller pinpricks happening; Federal employees being sacked, etc. The president being immune from prosecution for acts committed as President. None large in themselves but the overall sum today could amount to serious dissatisfaction.

The military is in the White House sights now, and it's hard to imagine that military people who criticise Trump and Musk won't be high on the list to be made redundant. With greater control of the military, they could be ordered in to quell unrest. (Possibly targeted assassinations of opposing politicians too?)

Optional: Trump tries to focus attention outwards onto external enemies and possible gains (Greenland, if that wasn't just hot air). Possible external war.

This is the stuff of nightmares and I'm not sure if I'm assembling small jigsaw pieces into a picture that is wholly inaccurate. Just, after this last month I'm wondering just how far Trump and Musk will go.

They have never been Trump supporters, so you can’t really say that they’ve turned on him. The closest they’ve come is saying that the country had to turn away from the policies of the Biden administration.

I’d say at this point, it’s a deep in the night fear.

Groceries are not subsidized, but wages have risen commensurately. Unemployment is very low, and economic growth is robust. The U.S. stock market has been going up smartly and people feel good about the economy.

The sacking of Federal employees is a mixed bag. It’s concerning, but for decades we’ve been told that there’s little to no waste to cut. DOGE has found some big pots of money that were being spent rather frivolously. Useful parts of some agencies are being transferred, less useful parts are being cut.

The military will follow orders, and it’s illegal for it to get involved in domestic matters.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_Act

Any orders to break that law would rightfully be refused.

Greenland was hot air, part of his “flood the zone” strategy.

www.npr.org/2025/02/08/1229996820/trump-flood-zone

Im delighted to hear it's a deep in the night fear. Thank you!

The New York Post has come out in Ukraine's favour, rather spectacularly so.

https://nypost.com/2025/02/20/opinion/putin-is-the-dictator-and-10-ukraine-russia-war-truths-we-ignore-at-our-peril/

eg, no 8 of the 10 points;

Ukraine is a friend of the US. Ukraine wants to be part of the American-led order. Its people and government are deeply pro-American. Since the start of the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian men and women I have seen fighting at the front lines are fighting the Russian military to protect their loved ones and their country. They also do it in the knowledge that if they fail, other countries will be next.

Ian Bremmer,

www.gzeromedia.com/by-ian-bremmer/trump-s-dealmaking-with-putin-leaves-ukraine-and-europe-with-nowhere-to-turn

Gosh read this thread by George Monbiot. I have a constantly churning stomach at the moment

skywriter.blue/pages/georgemonbiot.bsky.social/post/3lioyhfm6h227

It’s not surprising. The NY Post has the same corporate owner as the WSJ, and they have similar political world views.

@MagicFox chilling as it is, I'm glad people like George Monbiot are spelling out the worst case scenarios.
People need to face up to what could happen and damn fast.

Whilst I agree, people can be so overwhelmed with negativity that they become inactive and that’s a real danger here, that they just throw their hands up and say “it’s all too difficult to think about”. Some sense of worst case scenarios is helpful but people shouldn’t be scared into inaction or the worst case scenario is more likely to come true.

It’s not surprising. The NY Post has the same corporate owner as the WSJ, and they have similar political world views.

Ah, right.

Zelenskyy 'not very important to be at meetings', says Trump

I’m running out of words to describe Trump.

It just keeps getting better. In an interview with Fox Trump has said he doesn’t think Putin needs to make a deal because he could have the whole country if he wanted to. (See Sky News for summary)

Screenshot from Kaitlan Collins

I'm remembering how Zelensky refused to do Trump's dirty work for him before Biden was elected

I have plenty but I am not sure how generous MN would be with the use of extreme profanity

Yep, we are all going to be held to ransom over this sociopath’s personal grievance. Beggars belief!

Recommend todays Chatham House Independent Thinking podcast

'He makes it very hard to make deals'

Yes indeed, pesky Zelenskyy fighting for his countries life, rather than rolling over and giving way to Putin's aggression and allowing Trump to rape Ukraines rare earth minerals.

Great article from Douglas Murray in the NY Post thank you for linking.

I believe Trumps approval rating is slipping and is lower than Zelenskyy's. It's laughable if it weren't so tragic how he just makes shit up to suit his narrative.
It's quite obvious now that Trump and Zelenskyy can't bear each other and Trump is such a petty, insecure megalomanic of a man that he will punish Ukraine and favour Russia because of his personal vendetta.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/women-and-girls/ukrainian-female-pows-tortured-and-paraded-naked-by-russian/

In case anyone needs a reminder o why Ukraine won’t stop fighting 😭

Pure evil.

"The New York Post has come out in Ukraine's favour, rather spectacularly so.

nypost.com/2025/02/20/opinion/putin-is-the-dictator-and-10-ukraine-russia-war-truths-we-ignore-at-our-peril/"

As you might have noticed my focus is very much on the fact that time is fast running out and on what in practical terms can be done now (ie military aid to Ukraine) in order for Zelensky to at least have other options rather than some "fair accompli" cooked up by Putin and Trump.

That said this is a good article by Douglas Murray. What's most shocking though is that the ten points he lists are glaringly obvious for all to understand and I can't see why anyone could disagree.