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US US Politics General - Discussion of President Biden and other politicians
- Thread starter SeniorFuckFace
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- Apr 11, 2016
That shit's a wrap in the 13th colony.
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2020
You lack context.
Think how offensive the Cuban Missile Crisis was to the US: enemy nukes 90 miles away from a major metro area. Now think if Miami was the capital and you'd get why the Russians do not want NATO expansion into Ukraine. Nuking a capital without any possible response time (5-10 minutes based on the missile) is a massive problem for any nation's security.
There's still that Cold War mentality of dominating other Slav states, but that really isn't the issue here.
Who said anything about direct war with Russia? It'll be done by normal methods: proxy war. The US will fund the Ukrainians, the Russians will fund the Ukrainian sepratists, and let them duke it out, ala Middle East. The Russians if they get annoyed will stomp Ukraine into the dirt since their neighbors and probably instill a puppet regime, to feign individuality between two nations.
The question is why escalate? Why state that Russia wants to invade Ukraine when they don't want or need to?
Just by this threat of conflict alone, the Ukrainian economy is going into a tailspin with no one wanting to bail them out. There's talk of their banks defaulting, which would turn their economy Zimbabwe tier overnight with hyperinflation. They are already one of the poorest in Europe. If the country collapses, Russia can easily swoop in by supplying "aid" while subverting and installing its leaders to be anti-NATO. It's typical Russian strategy.
The US is muddled. There's a lot at work here. MIC wanting an Afganistan in Europe, oil companies want Nordstream2 off the table so we supply Germany with its oil, spiting Russia for poll numbers or appearing tough and wanting more NATO expansion. A lot at play here for them to start this proxy war.
And is it really so out of American precedent to start or enter a war for no fucking reason? Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam, the Luistitania in WWI, WMDs in Afganistan, and no fucking reason besides oppertunity like in Libya and others.
So yes, I believe our leaders are stupid and greedy enough to start this proxy war with Russia in Ukraine.
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2020
Article: https://longisland.news12.com/us-over-130-000-russian-troops-now-staged-outside-ukraine
Archive: https://archive.md/p5O4O
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Article: https://longisland.news12.com/kremlin-signals-more-talks-with-west-amid-ukraine-tensions
Archive: https://archive.md/PsbSU
Archive: https://archive.md/p5O4O
Some airlines canceled flights to the Ukrainian capital and troops there unloaded fresh shipments of weapons from NATO members Sunday, as its president sought to project confidence in the face of U.S. warnings of possible invasion within days by a growing number of Russian forces.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to President Joe Biden for about an hour, insisting that Ukrainians had the country under “safe and reliable protection” against feared attack by a far stronger Russian military, aides said afterward. The White House said both agreed to keep pushing both deterrence and diplomacy to try to stave off a feared Russian military offensive.
The Biden administration has become increasingly outspoken about its concerns that Russia will stage an incident in the coming days that would create a false pretext for an invasion of Ukraine.
U.S. and European intelligence findings in recent days have sparked worries that Russia may try to target a scheduled Ukrainian military exercise slated for Tuesday in eastern Ukraine to launch such a “false-flag operation,” according to two people familiar with the matter. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about it.
American intelligence officials believe targeting the military exercise is just one of multiple options that Russia has weighed as a possibility for a false-flag operation. The White House has underscored that they do not know with certainty if President Vladimir Putin has made a final determination to launch an invasion.
Moscow’s forces are massing on Ukraine’s north, east and south in what the Kremlin insists are military exercises.
A U.S. official updated the Biden administration's estimate for how many Russian forces are now staged near Ukraine's borders to more than 130,000, up from the more than 100,000 the U.S. has cited publicly in previous weeks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the administration's conclusions.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly played down the U.S. warnings, questioning the increasingly strident statements from U.S. officials in recent days that Russia could be planning to invade as soon as midweek.
“We understand all the risks, we understand that there are risks,” he said in a broadcast Saturday. “If you, or anyone else, has additional information regarding a 100% Russian invasion starting on the 16th, please forward that information to us.”
But while Zelenskyy has urged against panic that he fears could undermine Ukraine's economy, he and his civilian and military leaders also are preparing defenses, soliciting and receiving a flow of arms from the U.S. and other NATO members.
A military cargo aircraft carrying U.S.-made Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and ammunition from NATO member Lithuania landed Sunday, bolstering the country’s defenses against any attack by air.
Zelenskyy wore military olive drab at a drill with tanks and helicopters near Ukraine's border with Russian-annexed Crimea this weekend. In the nearby city of Kalanchak, some expressed disbelief that Putin would really send his troops rolling into the country.
“I don’t believe Russia will attack us," said resident Boris Cherepenko. “I have friends in Sakhalin, in Krasnodar,” he said, naming Russian regions. "I don’t believe it.”
In Kyiv, others expressed uncertainty whether any Russian move would be economic, military, or happen at all. One woman, Alona Buznitskaya, speaking on a central street of the capital bearing a few signs declaring, “I love Ukraine,” said she was calm.
"You should always be ready for everything, and then you will have nothing to be afraid of,” she said.
The U.S. largely has not made public the evidence it says is underlying its most specific warnings on possible Russian planning or timing.
“We’re not going to give Russia the opportunity to conduct a surprise here, to spring something on Ukraine or the world,” Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, told CNN on Sunday, about the U.S. warnings.
“We are going to make sure that we are laying out for the world what we see as transparently and plainly as we possibly can,” he said.
The Russians have deployed missile, air, naval and special operations forces, as well as supplies to sustain an invasion. This week, Russia moved six amphibious assault ships into the Black Sea, augmenting its capability to land on the coast.
Putin denies any intention of attacking Ukraine. Russia is demanding that the West keep former Soviet countries out of NATO. It also wants NATO to refrain from deploying weapons near its border and to roll back alliance forces from Eastern Europe - demands flatly rejected by the West.
Biden and Putin spoke for more than an hour Saturday, but the White House offered no suggestion that the call diminished the threat of an imminent war in Europe.
Reflecting the West's concerns, Dutch airline KLM has canceled flights to Ukraine until further notice, the company said. The Ukrainian charter airline SkyUp said Sunday its flight from Madeira, Portugal, to Kyiv was diverted to the Moldovan capital.
And Ukraine’s air traffic safety agency Ukraerorukh issued a statement declaring the airspace over the Black Sea to be a “zone of potential danger” and recommended that planes avoid flying over the sea Feb. 14-19.
The Putin-Biden conversation, following a call between Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron earlier in the day, came at a critical moment for what has become the biggest security crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War. U.S. officials believe they have mere days to prevent an invasion and enormous bloodshed in Ukraine.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will fly to Kyiv on Monday to meet with Zelenskyy and Moscow on Tuesday to meet with Putin.
While the U.S. and NATO have made clear they do not intend to send troops to Ukraine to fight Russia, any invasion and resulting punishing sanctions promised by the U.S. and other countries could reverberate far beyond the former Soviet republic, affecting energy supplies, global markets and the power balance in Europe.
The United States was pulling most of its staff from the embassy in Kyiv and urged all American citizens to leave Ukraine immediately. Britain joined other European nations in telling its citizens to leave.
Biden has bolstered the U.S. military presence in Europe as reassurance to allies on NATO’s eastern flank. The 3,000 additional soldiers ordered to Poland come on top of 1,700 who are on their way there. The U.S. Army also is shifting 1,000 soldiers from Germany to Romania, which like Poland shares a border with Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly leader was driven from office by a popular uprising. Moscow responded by annexing the Crimean Peninsula and then backing a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine, where fighting has killed over 14,000 people.
A 2015 peace deal brokered by France and Germany helped halt large-scale battles, but regular skirmishes have continued, and efforts to reach a political settlement have stalled.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to President Joe Biden for about an hour, insisting that Ukrainians had the country under “safe and reliable protection” against feared attack by a far stronger Russian military, aides said afterward. The White House said both agreed to keep pushing both deterrence and diplomacy to try to stave off a feared Russian military offensive.
The Biden administration has become increasingly outspoken about its concerns that Russia will stage an incident in the coming days that would create a false pretext for an invasion of Ukraine.
U.S. and European intelligence findings in recent days have sparked worries that Russia may try to target a scheduled Ukrainian military exercise slated for Tuesday in eastern Ukraine to launch such a “false-flag operation,” according to two people familiar with the matter. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about it.
American intelligence officials believe targeting the military exercise is just one of multiple options that Russia has weighed as a possibility for a false-flag operation. The White House has underscored that they do not know with certainty if President Vladimir Putin has made a final determination to launch an invasion.
Moscow’s forces are massing on Ukraine’s north, east and south in what the Kremlin insists are military exercises.
A U.S. official updated the Biden administration's estimate for how many Russian forces are now staged near Ukraine's borders to more than 130,000, up from the more than 100,000 the U.S. has cited publicly in previous weeks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the administration's conclusions.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly played down the U.S. warnings, questioning the increasingly strident statements from U.S. officials in recent days that Russia could be planning to invade as soon as midweek.
“We understand all the risks, we understand that there are risks,” he said in a broadcast Saturday. “If you, or anyone else, has additional information regarding a 100% Russian invasion starting on the 16th, please forward that information to us.”
But while Zelenskyy has urged against panic that he fears could undermine Ukraine's economy, he and his civilian and military leaders also are preparing defenses, soliciting and receiving a flow of arms from the U.S. and other NATO members.
A military cargo aircraft carrying U.S.-made Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and ammunition from NATO member Lithuania landed Sunday, bolstering the country’s defenses against any attack by air.
Zelenskyy wore military olive drab at a drill with tanks and helicopters near Ukraine's border with Russian-annexed Crimea this weekend. In the nearby city of Kalanchak, some expressed disbelief that Putin would really send his troops rolling into the country.
“I don’t believe Russia will attack us," said resident Boris Cherepenko. “I have friends in Sakhalin, in Krasnodar,” he said, naming Russian regions. "I don’t believe it.”
In Kyiv, others expressed uncertainty whether any Russian move would be economic, military, or happen at all. One woman, Alona Buznitskaya, speaking on a central street of the capital bearing a few signs declaring, “I love Ukraine,” said she was calm.
"You should always be ready for everything, and then you will have nothing to be afraid of,” she said.
The U.S. largely has not made public the evidence it says is underlying its most specific warnings on possible Russian planning or timing.
“We’re not going to give Russia the opportunity to conduct a surprise here, to spring something on Ukraine or the world,” Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, told CNN on Sunday, about the U.S. warnings.
“We are going to make sure that we are laying out for the world what we see as transparently and plainly as we possibly can,” he said.
The Russians have deployed missile, air, naval and special operations forces, as well as supplies to sustain an invasion. This week, Russia moved six amphibious assault ships into the Black Sea, augmenting its capability to land on the coast.
Putin denies any intention of attacking Ukraine. Russia is demanding that the West keep former Soviet countries out of NATO. It also wants NATO to refrain from deploying weapons near its border and to roll back alliance forces from Eastern Europe - demands flatly rejected by the West.
Biden and Putin spoke for more than an hour Saturday, but the White House offered no suggestion that the call diminished the threat of an imminent war in Europe.
Reflecting the West's concerns, Dutch airline KLM has canceled flights to Ukraine until further notice, the company said. The Ukrainian charter airline SkyUp said Sunday its flight from Madeira, Portugal, to Kyiv was diverted to the Moldovan capital.
And Ukraine’s air traffic safety agency Ukraerorukh issued a statement declaring the airspace over the Black Sea to be a “zone of potential danger” and recommended that planes avoid flying over the sea Feb. 14-19.
The Putin-Biden conversation, following a call between Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron earlier in the day, came at a critical moment for what has become the biggest security crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War. U.S. officials believe they have mere days to prevent an invasion and enormous bloodshed in Ukraine.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will fly to Kyiv on Monday to meet with Zelenskyy and Moscow on Tuesday to meet with Putin.
While the U.S. and NATO have made clear they do not intend to send troops to Ukraine to fight Russia, any invasion and resulting punishing sanctions promised by the U.S. and other countries could reverberate far beyond the former Soviet republic, affecting energy supplies, global markets and the power balance in Europe.
The United States was pulling most of its staff from the embassy in Kyiv and urged all American citizens to leave Ukraine immediately. Britain joined other European nations in telling its citizens to leave.
Biden has bolstered the U.S. military presence in Europe as reassurance to allies on NATO’s eastern flank. The 3,000 additional soldiers ordered to Poland come on top of 1,700 who are on their way there. The U.S. Army also is shifting 1,000 soldiers from Germany to Romania, which like Poland shares a border with Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly leader was driven from office by a popular uprising. Moscow responded by annexing the Crimean Peninsula and then backing a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine, where fighting has killed over 14,000 people.
A 2015 peace deal brokered by France and Germany helped halt large-scale battles, but regular skirmishes have continued, and efforts to reach a political settlement have stalled.
Article: https://longisland.news12.com/kremlin-signals-more-talks-with-west-amid-ukraine-tensions
Archive: https://archive.md/PsbSU
MOSCOW — Russia’s top diplomat advised President Vladimir Putin on Monday to keep talking with the West on Moscow’s security demands, a signal from the Kremlin that it intends to continue diplomatic efforts amid U.S. warnings of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow wants guarantees from the West that NATO won’t allow Ukraine and other former Soviet countries to join as members, and that the alliance will halt weapons deployments to Ukraine and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe, the demands flatly rejected by the West.
Speaking at a meeting with Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov argued that Moscow should hold more talks with the U.S. and its allies despite their refusal to consider the main Russian demands.
The talks “can’t go on indefinitely, but I would suggest to continue and expand them at this stage,” Lavrov said, noting that Washington has offered to conduct dialogue on limits for missile deployments in Europe, restrictions on military drills and other confidence-building measures.
Asked by Putin if it made sense to continue diplomatic efforts, Lavrov responded that possibilities for talks “are far from being exhausted,” and he proposed to continue the negotiations.
Putin noted the West could try to draw Russia into “endless talks” without conclusive results and questioned whether there is still a chance to reach agreement on Moscow's key demands.
"There's always a chance," Lavrov replied, adding that his ministry wouldn't allow the U.S. and its allies to stonewall Russia's main requests.
Moscow denies it has any plans to invade Ukraine but has massed well over 130,000 troops near its borders and, in the U.S. view, has built up enough firepower to launch an attack on short notice.
The meeting came as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukraine and plans to continue on to Moscow for talks with Putin in a last-ditch diplomatic effort.
“We are experiencing a very, very serious threat to peace in Europe,” Scholz tweeted from Kyiv, adding that Germany wanted to see “signals of de-escalation” from Moscow.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Europe is “on the edge of a precipice,” adding that "there is still time for President Putin to step back.”
With concerns rising that war could be imminent, German's military said the first of some 350 extra troops it is sending to bolster NATO forces in Lithuania were dispatched Monday. Lithuania moved diplomats’ families and some nonessential diplomatic workers out of Ukraine after the U.S. and others pulled most of their staff from embassies in Kyiv.
Residents of the Ukrainian capital received letters from the mayor calling on them “to defend your city,” and signs appeared in the elevators of apartment buildings indicating the nearest bomb shelter. The mayor says Kyiv has about 4,500 such sites, including underground parking garages, subway stations and basements.
Dr. Tamara Ugrich said she stocked up on grains and canned food, and has prepared an emergency suitcase.
“I don’t believe in war, but on TV the tension is growing every day and it’s getting harder and harder to keep calm. The more we are told not to panic, the more nervous people become,” she said.
But others heeded advice of Ukraine's leaders not to panic. Street music flooded central Maidan Square on Sunday night and crowds stopped to dance. “I feel calm. You should always be ready for everything, and then you will have nothing to be afraid of,” said Alona Buznitskaya, a model.
Some airlines canceled flights to Kyiv and troops unloaded new shipments of weapons from NATO members.
The U.S. and its NATO allies have repeatedly warned that Russia will pay a high price for any invasion — but they have sometimes struggled to present a united front. Scholz's government, in particular, has been criticized for refusing to supply lethal weapons to Ukraine or to spell out which sanctions it would support against Russia, raising questions about Berlin’s resolve to stand up to Moscow.
So far, NATO's warnings appear to have had little effect: Russia has only bolstered troops and weapons in the region and launched massive drills in its ally Belarus, which also neighbors Ukraine. The West fears that the drills, which will run through Sunday, could be used by Moscow as a cover for an invasion from the north.
Russia has repeatedly brushed off Ukrainian and Western concerns about the military buildup, saying it has the right to deploy forces wherever needed on its territory.
With hopes for a diplomatic exit path fading and no big expectations from Scholz’ trip, Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.K., Vadym Prystaiko, pointed at a possibility of Ukraine shelving its NATO bid— an objective that is written into its constitution — if it would avert war with Russia.
“We might — especially being threatened like that, blackmailed by that, and pushed to it,” Prystaiko told BBC Radio 5.
On Monday, however, Prystaiko appeared to back away from that, saying that “to avoid war we are ready for many concessions ... but it has nothing to do with NATO, which is enshrined in the constitution.”
Asked about Prystaiko's comment, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia would welcome such a move but noted the quick repudation of it by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
Ukrainian parliament speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk also emphasized that there was no talk about revising the constitutional provision that refers to NATO membership, and some lawmakers called for Prystaiko's dismissal.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Sunday that Kyiv requested a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in the next 48 hours to discuss the Russian deployments near the country’s borders.
Poland, which currently chairs the OSCE, said the meeting is scheduled for Tuesday — but it is unlikely to defuse tensions.
Some members of the OSCE mission in eastern Ukraine that observers a shaky cease-fire in the region have pulled out amid war fears, and Russia-backed separatists have alleged that their departure could facilitate provocations.
With the region on edge, the Russian Defense Ministry summoned the U.S. Embassy’s military attache Saturday to protest what it said was a U.S. submarine in Russian waters near the Kuril Islands in the Pacific. Russia said the submarine initially ignored orders to leave, but left after the navy used unspecified “appropriate means.” The U.S. has denied its ship ever entered Russian waters.
Asked by lawmakers Monday if the military could strike foreign warships that enter Russian waters, deputy chief of the Russian military's General Staff Stanislav Gadzhimagomedov said it stands ready for it, but added such decisions are only made at the highest level.
In Sunday's call, U.S. President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to keep pushing both deterrence and diplomacy. Zelenskyy's office also quoted him suggesting that a quick Biden visit would help deescalate the situation — a possibility that was not mentioned in the White House summary of the call.
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly leader was driven from office by a popular uprising. Moscow responded by annexing the Crimean Peninsula and then backing a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine, where fighting has killed over 14,000 people.
A 2015 peace deal brokered by France and Germany helped halt large-scale battles, but regular skirmishes have continued, and efforts to reach a political settlement have stalled
Moscow wants guarantees from the West that NATO won’t allow Ukraine and other former Soviet countries to join as members, and that the alliance will halt weapons deployments to Ukraine and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe, the demands flatly rejected by the West.
Speaking at a meeting with Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov argued that Moscow should hold more talks with the U.S. and its allies despite their refusal to consider the main Russian demands.
The talks “can’t go on indefinitely, but I would suggest to continue and expand them at this stage,” Lavrov said, noting that Washington has offered to conduct dialogue on limits for missile deployments in Europe, restrictions on military drills and other confidence-building measures.
Asked by Putin if it made sense to continue diplomatic efforts, Lavrov responded that possibilities for talks “are far from being exhausted,” and he proposed to continue the negotiations.
Putin noted the West could try to draw Russia into “endless talks” without conclusive results and questioned whether there is still a chance to reach agreement on Moscow's key demands.
"There's always a chance," Lavrov replied, adding that his ministry wouldn't allow the U.S. and its allies to stonewall Russia's main requests.
Moscow denies it has any plans to invade Ukraine but has massed well over 130,000 troops near its borders and, in the U.S. view, has built up enough firepower to launch an attack on short notice.
The meeting came as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukraine and plans to continue on to Moscow for talks with Putin in a last-ditch diplomatic effort.
“We are experiencing a very, very serious threat to peace in Europe,” Scholz tweeted from Kyiv, adding that Germany wanted to see “signals of de-escalation” from Moscow.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Europe is “on the edge of a precipice,” adding that "there is still time for President Putin to step back.”
With concerns rising that war could be imminent, German's military said the first of some 350 extra troops it is sending to bolster NATO forces in Lithuania were dispatched Monday. Lithuania moved diplomats’ families and some nonessential diplomatic workers out of Ukraine after the U.S. and others pulled most of their staff from embassies in Kyiv.
Residents of the Ukrainian capital received letters from the mayor calling on them “to defend your city,” and signs appeared in the elevators of apartment buildings indicating the nearest bomb shelter. The mayor says Kyiv has about 4,500 such sites, including underground parking garages, subway stations and basements.
Dr. Tamara Ugrich said she stocked up on grains and canned food, and has prepared an emergency suitcase.
“I don’t believe in war, but on TV the tension is growing every day and it’s getting harder and harder to keep calm. The more we are told not to panic, the more nervous people become,” she said.
But others heeded advice of Ukraine's leaders not to panic. Street music flooded central Maidan Square on Sunday night and crowds stopped to dance. “I feel calm. You should always be ready for everything, and then you will have nothing to be afraid of,” said Alona Buznitskaya, a model.
Some airlines canceled flights to Kyiv and troops unloaded new shipments of weapons from NATO members.
The U.S. and its NATO allies have repeatedly warned that Russia will pay a high price for any invasion — but they have sometimes struggled to present a united front. Scholz's government, in particular, has been criticized for refusing to supply lethal weapons to Ukraine or to spell out which sanctions it would support against Russia, raising questions about Berlin’s resolve to stand up to Moscow.
So far, NATO's warnings appear to have had little effect: Russia has only bolstered troops and weapons in the region and launched massive drills in its ally Belarus, which also neighbors Ukraine. The West fears that the drills, which will run through Sunday, could be used by Moscow as a cover for an invasion from the north.
Russia has repeatedly brushed off Ukrainian and Western concerns about the military buildup, saying it has the right to deploy forces wherever needed on its territory.
With hopes for a diplomatic exit path fading and no big expectations from Scholz’ trip, Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.K., Vadym Prystaiko, pointed at a possibility of Ukraine shelving its NATO bid— an objective that is written into its constitution — if it would avert war with Russia.
“We might — especially being threatened like that, blackmailed by that, and pushed to it,” Prystaiko told BBC Radio 5.
On Monday, however, Prystaiko appeared to back away from that, saying that “to avoid war we are ready for many concessions ... but it has nothing to do with NATO, which is enshrined in the constitution.”
Asked about Prystaiko's comment, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia would welcome such a move but noted the quick repudation of it by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
Ukrainian parliament speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk also emphasized that there was no talk about revising the constitutional provision that refers to NATO membership, and some lawmakers called for Prystaiko's dismissal.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Sunday that Kyiv requested a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in the next 48 hours to discuss the Russian deployments near the country’s borders.
Poland, which currently chairs the OSCE, said the meeting is scheduled for Tuesday — but it is unlikely to defuse tensions.
Some members of the OSCE mission in eastern Ukraine that observers a shaky cease-fire in the region have pulled out amid war fears, and Russia-backed separatists have alleged that their departure could facilitate provocations.
With the region on edge, the Russian Defense Ministry summoned the U.S. Embassy’s military attache Saturday to protest what it said was a U.S. submarine in Russian waters near the Kuril Islands in the Pacific. Russia said the submarine initially ignored orders to leave, but left after the navy used unspecified “appropriate means.” The U.S. has denied its ship ever entered Russian waters.
Asked by lawmakers Monday if the military could strike foreign warships that enter Russian waters, deputy chief of the Russian military's General Staff Stanislav Gadzhimagomedov said it stands ready for it, but added such decisions are only made at the highest level.
In Sunday's call, U.S. President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to keep pushing both deterrence and diplomacy. Zelenskyy's office also quoted him suggesting that a quick Biden visit would help deescalate the situation — a possibility that was not mentioned in the White House summary of the call.
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly leader was driven from office by a popular uprising. Moscow responded by annexing the Crimean Peninsula and then backing a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine, where fighting has killed over 14,000 people.
A 2015 peace deal brokered by France and Germany helped halt large-scale battles, but regular skirmishes have continued, and efforts to reach a political settlement have stalled
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Brahma
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2019
They'd rather not. Germany needs nordstream more than Russia does. Russia just finished a pipeline to China and there's another still being finished. Russia could sell an awful lot more to China tomorrow if they decided to cut the flow to Europe, only reason they don't is because realpolitik, theyd rather remain cordial with everyone.
The administration stands to gain an awful lot from a manufactured perception of impending war that doesn't go ahead because Scranton Joe stronk and bearded the Russian bear in his own backyard.
The Russian economy is significantly undervalued if you try measuring it against normalized dollars and even undervalued it's still the eleventh biggest or something.
There bigger threat is the leverage they have over Europeans. It's currently easy to trade in dollars but if they're removed from SWIFT as threatened they'll just tell the Europeans to pay in euros l directly and the euros will have to because Germany doesn't want all it's over 50s dead next winter.
Take a look at the agreements signed last week when Putin went to China. Part of what they're building is a bipartite financial system to handle their own interchange, but once they build it they'll be leveraging the rest of Asia and for vast swathes China and or Russia are more important trading partners then the west generally.
Rustic Ruthenian
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2020
Wouldn’t have to worry as much if they didn’t get fucky with neighboring sovereign nations and drive them to NATO.
AGreatDipAtAFairPrice
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2019
Nancy Pelosi spilled the beans on this Ukraine thing being a way for the Biden Administration to get a "win" on a war that only exists in DC machinations and cable news blathering and Joe will "stop" something that won't happen to look good. That is just like people here and elsewhere figured out pretty quickly.
Nancy Pelosi:
Big Sanctions Joey stopped World War 3!
The administration is desperate for something they can spin as a win and this fits the bill while requiring no legislative success. Joe Biden is an elder statesman without that pesky "statesman" part so far but this is how he can show he is effective and tough, Jack!
Nancy Pelosi:
Big Sanctions Joey stopped World War 3!
The administration is desperate for something they can spin as a win and this fits the bill while requiring no legislative success. Joe Biden is an elder statesman without that pesky "statesman" part so far but this is how he can show he is effective and tough, Jack!
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2020
IS
AGreatDipAtAFairPrice
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2019
The democrat plan on COVID is to roll back enough of it to not get creamed in the midterms for it, while trying to pin as much of it on Donald Trump and Republicans as possible. They will also say that they are keeping "everything on the table" to keep as many Branch Covidians on board with wink-wink promises that they can crank it up again in 2023 and 2024 on variant hysteria to get more and more power and retain their cheat code election rigging.
mandatorylurk
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2019
I'm not adding the video because it's just reporters asking about Ukraine and Biden saying Happy Valentines Day and walking off with his caretaker. At least this year DOCTOR Jill didn't put out those gay ass heart yard signs.
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2021
Americans in general lack context for Europe, and especially lack context for Russia. Russia has been formed by a thousand-year history of being invaded by conquering empires from both the East and the West that left mountains of corpses in their wake. The Napoleonic Wars, WW1 and WW2 were all fought on Russia's soil. America's memory of WW2 is our boys going overseas and witnessing terrible things. And thanks to Hollywood, we frame WW2 deaths as "Six million Jews and I guess a lot of other people." Russia's memory of WW2 is the Wehrmacht marching across their territory, and not just soldiers, but also men, women, and children dying by the million. Russians frame WW2 as "millions and millions of our people killed, our cities laid waste, our world turned into hell by the Germans." Far more Russians died in WW2 than Jews. In terms of deaths, the Battle of Moscow was comparable to more than three hundred 9/11s for them, and no, they don't see it as ancient history.
I'm not saying that puts them in the moral right to bully Estonia or Ukraine or whatever. I'm saying you need at least be cognizant of their history to understand why Moscow tends to get absolutely batshit mental when they see military hardware within spitting distance of them. They're always on the lookout for the next meatgrinder that will decimate their population and level their cities.
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2020
Maybe a man dressed as a drone wearing a black ski mask and green fatigues will blow up a Ukrainian orphanage.
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2019
Forget Bridges, they need to watch the river. With Biden's track record it'll start burning again.
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2020
>Again
What the fuck? I know BLM is good at burning shit but that'd be impressive as hell. I don't think this is what they meant by Hydropower instead of Hydrocarbons.
Joking aside, was the river actually ever on fire? I've never heard of this.
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2013
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2019
Too late:
Jill Biden turns Valentine’s Day into lesson for 2nd graders
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE(article) (archive)
A Valentine's heart and depictions of President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden's pet dog Commander, left, and cat Willow, stand on the North Lawn of the White House in celebration of Valentine's Day, Monday, Feb. 14, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill Biden has turned Valentine’s Day into a lesson for second graders.
The first lady and longtime teacher had Washington elementary school students design Valentine’s Day hearts that are hanging in the East Wing of the White House.
Twenty second graders from Aiton Elementary School and their teacher, Alejandro Diasgranados, will tour the White House on Monday and see their “heart work” on display, Biden’s office said. It will be the first time many of these students have been to the White House.
The first lady will also take the group to the North Lawn to see her Valentine’s Day installation: hand-painted, wooden artwork in the shapes of the Bidens’ puppy, Commander, and cat, Willow. There’s also a separate heart-shaped cut-out inscribed with 1 Corinthians 13:13, “Three things will last forever — faith, hope and love — and the greatest of these is love.”
Students in both of Diasgranados’ second grade classes designed two Valentine’s Day hearts using a template and instructions provided by the first lady’s office.
Each student was asked to use words that reflect her values in their designs: compassion, courage, family, gratitude, healing, hope, kindness, love, peace, strength and unity.
The hearts have been strung together and are hanging in a window just inside the entrance to the East Wing, along with three large red hearts placed on the floor that say “hope,” “healing” and “love,” according to a photograph provided by the first lady’s office.
She signed the “healing” heart with “Love, Jill.”
Diasgranados is Washington’s 2021 Teacher of the Year. Biden, a veteran community college professor, met Diasgranados last October when she and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona hosted the 2020 and 2021 Teachers of the Year at the White House.
Yeah, I definitely believe your family is living Biblically, Doctor Jill. How's Hunter doing these days?
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2019
This is ultimately the crux of the matter. Russia has insisted since the days of the Czars that Eastern Europe is its property, no matter what the inhabitants living there feel about Russian rule.
Unlike Russia, we're shockingly uninterested in total domination. If we were, back in 1945 we would have sliced up Germany, France, and Italy between us and the UK, and claimed all of Japan for ourselves. Instead we gave our foes their independence and spent the money to rebuild them as allies, not subjects.
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2020
We don't want slaves, we want allies and paying customers. The US has had to do much less work maintaining its european allies than Russia did It's Warsaw pact.
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2019
You have to love that it's primarily what the river is known for. If Biden doesn't bring up filling in potholes then he needs to fire his handlers. After the weather the state has had the last few weeks, the roads are Swiss cheese. As usual.
This isn't going to sway the rust belters, they want good jobs back and northern Ohio got absolutely shafted by NAFTA. Why do they think they started leaning Trump?
NickDigger
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2021
People like this get what they deserve. That some of these people are middle aged and still spouting democratic talking points like "trust muh science" proves Americans really have gotten more retarded with each passing generation.
Sekirodiealot
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2019
What ever happened to the hulkhogan guy that was so huge on supporting trump and having a niece that looks up to harris.
- Status