Tag: perpetual war

Zelensky demands ‘at least’ Israel-style support from US

Kiev expects Washington to provide long-term security assistance modeled on the US relationship with Israel, Vladimir Zelensky has said, after Ukraine’s European backers reportedly rejected several points of US President Donald Trump’s proposed peace plan.

Washington presented its draft deal to end the hostilities between Kiev and Moscow during talks in Paris last week. At a follow-up meeting in London on Wednesday – which was downgraded at the last minute after Zelensky publicly rejected key US suggestions – Ukrainian officials and their NATO European counterparts reportedly put forward a counterproposal.

Speaking to journalists on Friday, Zelensky insisted that any future peace deal with Moscow must be backed by sustained US military, financial, and political support.

“Discussions in London have focused on security guarantees from the United States. We hope them to be at least as robust as those provided to Israel. Additionally, we anticipate support from our European partners and are actively developing the infrastructure necessary for these guarantees,” Zelensky said.

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UK to scrap plans for Ukraine troop deployment – The Times

The UK has ditched plans to deploy a military contingent to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire, The Times has reported, citing anonymous sources.

The defense chiefs from a number of European NATO states had in recent weeks been discussing sending military personnel to Ukraine, under a so-called “coalition of the willing.” Russia has strongly objected to the prospect of Western troops appearing in the neighboring country under any pretext.

In an article on Thursday, The Times quoted an unnamed source as saying that the “risks are too high and the forces inadequate for” a deployment that had been previously under consideration. According to the publication, “it was France who wanted a more muscular approach.”

Instead of coalition forces guarding key Ukrainian cities, ports, and nuclear power plants, the grouping now envisages more emphasis on Western military instructors training Ukrainian troops in the west of the country, who would “‘reassure’ by being there but aren’t a deterrence or protection force,” The Times reported, citing an anonymous source.

The softened vision for a Western military presence in Ukraine does, however, reportedly include the coalition’s aircraft patrolling Ukraine’s airspace and Türkiye providing maritime cover.

Additionally, Paris and London want the flow of Western weaponry to Ukraine to continue uninterrupted, according to The Times.

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NATO forces in Ukraine could trigger World War III – Russia’s security chief

The deployment of foreign troops to Ukraine could lead to a clash between Russia and NATO, and ultimately to World War III, Sergey Shoigu, secretary of Russia’s National Security Council, has warned. The term “peacekeepers” is being used as a cover for the true objective of establishing control over Ukraine, according to the official.  

The defense chiefs from a number of NATO member states – led by the UK and France – have been discussing the idea of positioning a “peacekeeping” force in Ukraine. They claim the troops would contribute to a “lasting peace” between Russia and Ukraine. Russia has rejected the deployment of NATO forces, or troops from members of the bloc under a “coalition of the willing” to Ukraine under any pretext.  

In an interview published on Thursday by TASS, Shoigu, who previously served as Russia’s defense minister, stated that the presence of foreign “peacekeepers” on “Russia’s historic territories” could provoke a direct confrontation between Moscow and NATO, potentially escalating into a third world war. According to him, this risk is acknowledged by “reasonable politicians in Europe.”   

The term “peacekeepers” is being used to mask the true objective of gaining control over Ukrainian territory and its resources, Shoigu believes. He argued that it would be more accurate to describe such a force as “invaders” or “occupiers.”

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Yes, Zelensky Should Take the Deal

President Donald Trump has sold out the Ukrainians, given the farm to Vladimir Putin, alienated U.S. allies—and may have revealed himself to be Moscow’s puppet.

At least, that’s how the mainstream media have portrayed the Russia-Ukraine peace deal that the White House presented last week, details of which have emerged in recent days. 

“Did Putin write this?” asked a headline yesterday in POLITICO’s national security newsletter. A New York Times report gave the impression the White House was trying to elicit Kiev’s repudiation of the deal and “create a pretext for abandoning American support for Ukraine.” And if that wasn’t the intention, the Times told its readers, then the deal was meant to force Ukraine’s capitulation.

Russia’s vicious assault on Kiev early Thursday fed into the perception that Trump is forsaking the beleaguered Ukrainians. The attack was part of a country-wide missile and drone campaign through the night.

Yet a close analysis of the proposal, or what we know about it, suggests Trump is genuinely trying to cobble together a viable deal—and exposes as misleading the melodramatic insinuations of the mainstream media.

To be sure, Russia would get much from the agreement: de jure recognition of Crimea as Russian territory; de facto recognition of Russian control over the four Ukrainian oblasts Putin claimed in 2022 to annex; sanctions relief; and a U.S. pledge that Ukraine won’t join NATO.

These concessions would be difficult to stomach for Ukrainians and Westerners, including this columnist. In a just world, Putin would not be rewarded for launching an expansionist war of aggression.

But Ukraine would get more than many people realize, enough that Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky should take the deal—and soon. The one-page document laying out the proposal is reported to describe the deal as Trump’s “final offer.” 

While Kiev would not be permitted to join NATO, the deal expressly permits it to join the European Union, which has a collective defense agreement. Moreover, the deal seems to allow for European peacekeepers on Ukrainian territory after the war, and for Western nations to rearm Ukraine. At the very least, it doesn’t rule any of this out. These would be meaningful security guarantees that collectively would deter future Russian aggression. 

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Genocide’s Back: Trump-Backed Israeli Brutality

If we in the West are the most propagandized people in the world; Gazans are the least propagandized. Outwardly captives, Gazans are liberated from the illiberal political propaganda that grips the West

WHAT has Israel been up to since March 18, 2025, which was when the “genocidal entity” formally broke the nominal ceasefire agreement in Gaza? Oracular insight here is unnecessary.

Israel has been trampling underfoot everything decent and good.

Genocide is back. This time with President Trump in fawning agreement, playing procurer and pimp for the Israeli State, and subjecting ingrate Bibi Netanyahu to no more than a curt jerk of the leash: During a press conference with the US president, on April 7, the Israeli prime minister’s face, nevertheless, grew as dark as a thundercloud on mention of possible diplomacy with Iran.

Under such favorable circumstances, Israelis are louder and prouder about killing and destroying with monomaniacal diligence. Indifferently, and for the first time, Israel openly admitted to targeting journalist Hussam Shabat for “elimination,” in December of 2024, and executing the him on March 24. The sadistic serial killer stalked its prey, then pounced.

The predator has so far singled out and assassinated 232 other Palestinian journalists.

Shabat thus knew, as he put it, that “journalism meant Israel would kill him.” Only 23, so full of promise, Shabat wrote his epitaph in advance of his death. It read:

“If you’re reading this, it means I have been killed — most likely targeted — by the Israeli occupation forces. … For [the] past 18 months, I have dedicated every moment of my life to my people. I documented the horrors in northern Gaza minute by minute, determined to show the world the truth they tried to bury.

I slept on pavements, in schools, in tents — anywhere I could. Each day was a battle for survival. I endured hunger for months, yet I never left my people’s side.”

By God, I fulfilled my duty as a journalist. I risked everything to tell the truth, and now, at last, I have found rest—something I have not known for the past 18 months. I did this because I believe in the Palestinian cause, in our right to this land. The greatest honor of my life was to die defending it and serving its people.

I ask you now: Do not stop speaking about Gaza. Do not let the world look away. Keep fighting, keep telling our stories—until Palestine is free.

For the last time,

Hussam Shabat, from northern Gaza.”

Trampling underfoot everything decent and good: Fatma Hassona was to be the subject of an upcoming documentary, “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk,” to debut at the Cannes Film Festival. Israel could not allow that. So, Air Force Genocide bombed the 25-year-old Palestinian photojournalist, also murdering nine members of her family.

After a brief, relative lull, eighteen months into the genocide of the Palestinians of Gaza, Israel has resumed its slaughter of civilians at an average rate of 103 souls a day, with 223 individuals dealt life-altering injuries, also daily. Since March 18, reports Ha’aretz, Israel has killed 1,652 people and wounded 4,391 in strikes on Gaza. (Ha’aretz “Israel News” newsletter, Wednesday, 16.04.2025.) The number murdered now approaches 2,000.

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Israel’s Ben Gvir Says US Republicans Support His Plan To Bomb Food in Gaza

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir is visiting the US and said on Wednesday that during a meeting at Mar-a-Lago, he received support from Republican leadership for his plan to bomb food and aid warehouses in Gaza.

“I had the honor and privilege to meet with senior officials of the Republican Party at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate,” Ben Gvir wrote on X.

“They expressed support for my very clear position on how to act in Gaza and that the food and aid warehouses should be bombed in order to create military and political pressure to bring our hostages home safely,” the minister added.

Ben Gvir has been calling for Israel to bomb humanitarian aid that was allowed into Gaza during the short-lived ceasefire. “The government must also order the bombing of the aid stockpiles that have accumulated in Gaza in enormous quantities during and before the ceasefire,” he said in March after Israel imposed a total blockade on all goods entering Gaza.

The Trump administration has strongly backed Israel’s blockade on aid and the collective punishment of the civilian population in Gaza, a clear war crime under international law.

In another post on Wednesday, Ben Gvir, leader of the far-right Jewish Power party, vowed that “not a single gram” of food will enter Gaza until Israeli hostages are released, although Israel has refused Hamas’s offer to free all the captives in exchange for a permanent ceasefire.

“I see the reports about the debate over who should deliver ‘humanitarian’ aid to Gaza: Well, this is a fundamentally foolish debate, because not a single gram of aid should enter the entire Strip as long as our hostages are held there—not by some external organization, nor by IDF soldiers,” Ben Gvir said.

“This is the situation today, and only by maintaining it will it be possible to bring Hamas to its knees and free our hostages by force,” he added.

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SPY TALK: CIA’s Ratcliffe and Russian SVR’s Naryshkin Have ‘Constructive’ Phone Talk, May Meet Soon

For those still stuck in a Cold War mindset this will seem hard to accept, but the fact is that the United States’ CIA and Russia’s SVR have been engaged in frequent talks, a line of communication that has proven vital for the ongoing détente between the two nuclear superpowers.

The negotiations between the two intelligence agencies have already bore fruit in this case: US and Russia Swap Prisoners in Abu Dhabi, Free ‘Wrongfully Imprisoned’ Ballerina Ksenia Karelina in Victory for Trump Diplomacy.

Now, the Russian side is divulging further talks, floating the possibility of a deeper engagement.

TASS reported:

“Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin has announced a potential meeting with CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

’I had a telephone conversation with my colleague, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. It was a very constructive conversation. So, I do not rule out the possibility of a meeting in the near future’, Naryshkin told TASS.”

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Left Behind, Afghanistan Is Now An Environmental Hellhole

For over four decades, Afghanistan has been trapped in a relentless cycle of war and destruction.

While much of the world’s attention has focused on the political and security dimensions of this conflict, another crisis has unfolded — one that will haunt the country for generations. Afghanistan’s environment has suffered profound devastation, and the consequences for its people are dire.

From poisoned water sources to barren lands, the natural world has become another casualty of war, with the most vulnerable communities bearing the brunt of this catastrophe.

Every war in Afghanistan’s modern history has left an ecological footprint that will endure long after the last bullets have been fired. The use of depleted uranium munitions has left behind radioactive waste. The destruction of irrigation networks has crippled agriculture. Rising respiratory diseases and cancer rates, linked to exposure to hazardous materials, are only beginning to be understood.

Even back in 2017, reports indicated that many Afghans increasingly viewed toxic pollution as a graver threatthan the Taliban. And, all warring parties bear responsibility for this destruction.

According to Richard Bennett, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan, environmental degradation caused by war is a human rights issue that has been largely ignored. He argues that it must take center stage, as its implications are vast. Bennett is advocating for mechanisms to explore transitional justice, including possible reparations for the environmental impact on affected communities.

“The water, soil and air of Afghanistan are polluted due to decades of explosive substances that have not been cleaned up, affecting public health, particularly child health. All parties to the conflict are responsible,” he said. “While we have only scratched the surface, scientific research on the impact is starting to emerge.”

Leading these research efforts at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Sweden, Afghan scholar Dr. Haroun Rahimi is working alongside Bennett and U.N. Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights, Dr. Marcos Orellana, who is compiling a report for the U.N. General Assembly on the impact on populations of toxics after military interventions. In February, they co-hosted a webinar with the Environmental Law Institute in Washington D.C., aiming to push the crisis to the forefront of global discourse on Afghanistan.

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Ukraine Encroaches on ‘Friendly’ Moldova

Ukraine has encroached westwards over the past year on its friendly neighbour Moldova, a country that has stood by Kyiv against the Russians and sheltered thousands fleeing the war with Moscow, to build hydroelectric dams in a bid to overcome a crippling power shortage, people close to the matter said.

Troops, engineers and construction workers from Ukraine — which is engaged in a disastrous war with Russia since February 2022 and unsure of continued U.S. assistance under President Donald Trump — entered Moldova without informing its poorer, landlocked neighbour which also shares its border on the west with Romania.

Known for its exquisite wines, Moldova, a country of 2.4 million, has been buffeted by an energy crisis following the discontinuation [by Ukraine on Jan. 1] of Russian gas supplies through Ukraine. The country — whose ethnic majority Moldovans are peeved at being dominated by Ukraine on one side and Romania on the other — is also plagued by huge unemployment among the youth.

“The Kyiv regime began constructing a second barrier line at the Lower Dniester Hydroelectric Power Plant from the Moldovan side without prior notice to Chisinau (Moldova’s capital). This (has) created an imbalance of 470 MW between the Moldovan and Ukrainian power systems, with Chisinau’s energy losses rising to 7.1 percent. For the average Moldovan consumer, this meant electricity costs instantly more than tripled,” a Moldovan energy official told Open, asking not to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

The construction is on the Moldovan side of the Dniester River, which flows from Ukraine to Moldova, the breakaway region of Transnistria, then to Ukraine and finally to the Black Sea, a person in the know explained.

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War Dust and Collateral Inhalation: Israel Breathes in Gaza’s Dust

Over 100,000 tons of bombs have been dropped on Gaza, an area slightly smaller than the City of Detroit, Michigan, resulting in the recorded deaths of at least 60,000 Gazans and injuries to hundreds of thousands.

It is impossible to overstate the effects of the abominable bombing war on Gazans, their lives, their families, their health, and their communities.

What has escaped attention up until now is the undeniable environmental and health effects of the bombing of Gazans on Israelis, as well as on citizens of neighboring states, and the potential harm to U.S. military personnel in the region.

A review of explosion physics based on declassified Department of Defense data, as well as blast temperature data and consequent emissions; a review of wind patterns, together with publicly available data of health effects from 9/11, as well as data gathered from U.S. veterans of the Persian Gulf War, yield a shocking conclusion.

Israel, in executing the unprecedented bombing attack on Gaza, is, in effect, bombing itself, with grave consequences for the public health of its people. What is being visited upon Gaza does not stay in Gaza.

The sustained bombing of Gaza pulverizes stone, heavy metals, and the human body. The vaporizing of human beings under extreme heat and pressure combines with dust, water vapor, and metallic particles the size of microns, all blasted upwards, aerosolized, wind-driven across borders, into Israel and surrounding countries.

The unlimited bombing of Gaza has created an unparalleled ecological and biomedical feedback loop. Israel exhales death in Gaza and inhales the Gaza it has vaporized.

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