Ukraine Invasion: Part 54

[MagicFox]

We're on 54. Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦
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I wonder if Zelensky has gone without an invitation. What are the optics if they shut him out after he has travelled there?

That man has balls of steel.

OMG. God save him and watch over him.

Seems Zelenskyy is in Saudi as part of bilateral engagement not as part of the Russia US talks. Interesting timing.

And linked to this

Can’t see straight away due to photo review but Starmer has said he WILL put UK troops on the ground in Ukraine if required

Part 2

@WinterMorn

UK military too 'run down' to lead Ukraine peace mission - ex-Army chief www.bbc.com/news/articles/czep44jn9jyo

This shit with Trump might have the one good outcome of drawing the UK and Europe closer together again, even if through necessity that can only be a good thing.

True but at what cost to other nations (it won't be just Ukraine) that get thrown under the bus.

And the financial cost - European nations are going to need to massively increase their military spending which will come at the cost of higher taxation (leading to lower growth) or spending cuts in other areas such education and health (which will be massively unpopular with the electorate).

And every year that the European countries fail to do this will mean that Russia will be emboldened to take more land.

@1dayatatime thing is, it’s looking a lot like we won’t have any choice in the matter right now so I would far rather we just got on with it.

Yeah, I haven't forgotten British soldiers being fired by email in 2011. And another other bunch hearing about future mass redundancies while on tour in Afghanistan.

Thank you Liam Fox MP and your slashing of 10% of armed forces personnel.

British troops on front line in Afghanistan told they face the sack
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontline/8355902/British-troops-on-front-line-in-Afghanistan-told-they-face-the-sack.html

“We cannot have another situation like Afghanistan, where the US negotiated directly with the Taliban and cut out the Afghan government,” Starmer said.

“I feel sure that President Trump will want to avoid this too.”

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/feb/16/starmer-ready-to-put-british-troops-on-the-ground-in-ukraine-if-peace-deal-reached

Ah yes, another of Trump's fine deals...

It was the MOD who sacked the soldiers and Liam Fox who was furious about it.
Liam Fox's fury as 38 long-serving soldiers are sacked by email | London Evening Standard | The Standard
Bad though, whoever it was. See the pilots dismissed too.

I agree and I really hope you're right but sadly I fear getting European NATO countries to increase their military to anywhere close to 3.5% let alone 5% is not going to happen or at least not happen in time to save Ukraine and possibly other countries.

Being blunt countries like Spain and Belgium are taking the piss spending 1.3 % and I just can't see them finding the money / political will to triple this.

www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/11/how-much-does-each-nato-country-spend-in-2024

We should have had boots on the ground ages ago. Putin's red lines have long-since proven to be water-soluble so it's time to stop letting him dictate what we do with our own forces.

Using our (and other allied) troops in Ukraine on duties not immediately on the frontline (such as guarding the Belarusian border and running training) would have sent a shot across his bows.

Thanks for the new thread.

If only trump had threatened Putin to make peace instead of the shitshow we have now

For all his faults, Zelensky has more courage in his little finger than the whole new American decision makers put together

We need to increase defence spending in Europe whatever we do, the state of the world right now means its necessary.
In countries with domestic defence industries, then its not so bad as a lot of the increased spending goes right back into the economy. Those that have to spend it all outside of the country, well that's more difficult. But that's why its important to keep manufacturing in the country!

They're putting up a memorial bench for Navalny in Helsinki. Best thing is that they're putting it up right by the Russian Embassy.

Fox was furious that email was used to sack one group of soldiers.

But he was the one in charge of the decision to cut 10% of army personnel. Well, I'm sure the Chancellor George Osborne was involved as well.

More from same article:

British troops on front line in Afghanistan told they face the sack
Almost the entire contingent of Britain’s 10,000 troops in Afghanistan have been told they could be sacked within months after ministers disclosed plans to get rid of one in 10 members of the Armed Forces.
01 March 2011
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontline/8355902/British-troops-on-front-line-in-Afghanistan-told-they-face-the-sack.html
The Ministry of Defence has announced the full scale of redundancies that will take place in the Army, RAF and Royal Navy in an attempt to cut billions of pounds from the department’s budget. [...]

It's not like the armed forces didn't warn at the time it was a problem. I remember senior military figures saying things like, "We'll carry on, because it's what we do, but the army's running hot."

Osborne was one of the those people who didn't understand how things worked, and couldn't see what he was doing when he broke them.

Trump keeps waffling on about how much Putin wants it to end. Why did he not just say, move out of another sovereign state then.

He's not clever enough to run a bath, let aline a country.

For those of us who are generation X, I remember WWWII being discussed. Even in the 1980s 1970s it still very close in time to our lives.

This feels like we're coming to a pivot point again like we did in World War II. Although this time the USA may not be on the fence for a few years, they may be looking to carve up the world with the other world superpowers .

x.com/JuliaDavisNews comment from Timothy Snyder

@Natsku

"We need to increase defence spending in Europe whatever we do, the state of the world right now means it's necessary. "

I totally agree but sadly I just don't think it will happen. The scale of increased defence spending for many countries is massive and the timelines needed to build back up military capability after decades of sub 2% spending are at least 10 to 20 years

For many European countries and voters the choice is:
A) increase spending on defence to 5% in the short term and 3.5% in the medium/ long term. This will have to be paid for by cutting spending in other big ticket areas such as health care, pensions or education. i(t can't be funded by increased taxation or debt as this will kill the economy as Liz Truss and Rachel Reeves have found out). Or
B) throw Ukraine under a bus (and most likely other countries in Russia's or China's sights) because they don't want to spend the money defending them. All the while blaming the US for not paying the defence bill that the European countries have refused to pay.

Realistically I think I know which one they will go for. Even the UK at a comparatively higher spender is refusing to say the timelines to increase defence spending by 0.2% from 2.3% to 2.5%.

"In countries with domestic defence industries, then it's not so bad as a lot of the increased spending goes right back into the economy. "

"This is a really good point which provided the additional money doesn't come from taxation or debt would help grow the economy "

"Those that have to spend it all outside of the country, well that's more difficult. But that's why it's important to keep manufacturing in the country!"
Again totally agree on manufacturing in general and as regards military manufacturing then it improves security of supply