Tag: russia

Two Men Who, if Allowed, Could Decide Humanity’s Fate

We are on the eve of the possible final act of the tragicomedy that is Ukraine.

It could come at the end of the month during the general debate at the U.N. General Assembly when  the odd couple of the lame-duck and expired presidents of the U.S. and Ukraine could reveal to the world its fate.

On one side, there will be Joe Biden, who Robert Gates, a former C.I.A. head and secretary of defense in several Republican and Democratic administrations, once said: “He has been wrong on nearly every major issue during his political career.”

Next to him will be Volodymyr Zelensky, whose presidential term expired last May.

The former comedian was catapulted to the presidency by corrupt oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, whom the U.S. State Department had previously accused of using his “political influence and power for personal benefit” and sanctioned him in March 2021 for his alleged involvement in “corrupt acts that undermined the rule of law and the Ukrainian public’s faith in their government’s democratic institutions and public processes.”

Let’s review what these two have done to bring humanity to the edge of the abyss, starting with the one whom his son has called the “Big Guy.”

After the end of the Cold War, every U.S. president, starting with Bill Clinton, contributed in one way or another to closing the short historical window of opportunity for integrating Russia into the West.

Many pragmatic or idealistic people in U.S. administrations, Congress, the  media, and in other public circles have been trying to promote this integration. Regrettably, they have been losing on the whole to more powerful forces, often in the Deep State, who, for political, economic, or ideological reasons, prefer to have Russia as foe rather than friend.

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Zelenskyy Says Ukraine “Victory Plan” Includes Deep Strikes Into Russia With Western Missiles

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv on Sept. 20 that the “victory plan” he intends to present to the United States and other allies in the coming days involves “quick decisions” from Ukraine’s partners—and getting permission to use Western-supplied missiles to strike targets deep inside Russia.

Zelenskyy made the remarks at a press conference in Kyiv on Friday during a visit by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and additionally in a briefing to the Observer, per The Guardian.

As The Epoch Times’ Tom Ozimek reports, the Ukrainian president said at the presser alongside von der Leyen that he plans to meet with President Joe Biden in Washington on Sept. 26 and lay out his “victory plan,” details of which remain scant.

“All the details [of the plan] I will discuss first of all with the president of the United States,“ Zelenskyy said.

”Most of the decisions from the plan depend specifically on him. On other allies too, but there are certain points which depend on the goodwill and support of the United States. I hope he supports this plan.”

Zelenskyy added that success of the plan is “predicated upon quick decisions from our partners,” adding that key decisions on which the plan rests should be taken between October and December.

“We really want to see this, and we would then consider that the plan has worked,” he said.

In a separate briefing with the Observer in Kyiv on Friday, Zelenskyy said that the plan involved carrying out deep strikes inside Russia with the use of Western-supplied missiles, which the United States and the United Kingdom have so far refused to allow.

By allowing the use of U.S.-supplied missiles to carry out long-range strikes inside Russia, Biden would “earn a place in history,” Zelenskyy said.

“Biden can strengthen Ukraine and make important decisions for Ukraine to become stronger and to protect its independence while he is U.S. president,” he said.

“I think it is a historical mission.”

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Russia Likely Delivered Warning Directly to White House

The decision by the Biden administration to hold off on announcing the approval of long-range missile strikes on Russia was likely the result of Russia telling the White House in no uncertain terms that it would mean war, John Mearsheimer, the University of Chicago professor, told Judge Andrew Napolitano’s podcast.

Mearsheimer said Russian President Vladimir Putin made it unequivocally clear that he viewed the approval of these missile strikes as a declaration of war.

“And I would bet a good chunk of money that somebody at the highest levels of the Russian government called somebody at the highest level of the American government and told them in no uncertain terms that they should believe every word that Putin had uttered, and maybe even gave the Americans some details on what the Russians might do. But I think the White House got the message loudly and clearly that they were playing with fire,” he said.

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Russian National Guard Destroys Ukraine’s Starlink Station in Chernigov Region Strike

A Starlink satellite communication station used by the armed forces of Ukraine militants in the Chernigov Region has been destroyed, the Russian National Guard said on Wednesday.

“The Russian Guards destroyed the Starlink satellite communication station used by the armed forces of Ukraine militants in the Chernigov region,” the statement read.

UAV operators carried out a targeted strike using a drone with incendiary ammunition, the National Guard said, adding that as a result of a direct hit, the stronghold of the Ukrainian nationalists caught fire, and then further complete burning out of the enemy’s territory and the Starlink satellite communication station.

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Russia Slams NATO’s ‘Reckless’ Rejection of Putin’s Red Line on Ukraine Attacks

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on Wednesday that dismissing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s warnings about the dangers of Ukraine using Western weapons to attack Russian territory is both provocative and perilous.

“Such a ostentatious desire not to take seriously the statements of the Russian president is an absolutely short-sighted and unprofessional step,” Peskov told reporters.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg denied in an interview out on Tuesday that allowing Ukraine to use long-range Western weapons to strike deep into Russia would cross country’s “red line” despite warnings from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“There have been many red lines declared by him [Putin] before, and he has not escalated, meaning also involving Nato allies directly in the conflict,” Stoltenberg told The Times newspaper.

Stoltenberg said that he supported the United Kingdom and France in their decision to lift restrictions on Kiev’s use of long-range weapons against Russia. He argued that their use by Ukraine would not draw the alliance into conflict with Russia.

Putin said that NATO countries were essentially deciding whether to get directly involved in the Ukrainian conflict. He warned that direct participation of Western countries in the conflict would change its nature, forcing Russia to respond to emerging threats.

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Zelensky has outlined Ukraine’s accession to NATO as one of the points of his plan

One of the points of Zelensky’s so-called “peace” plan is to invite Ukraine to the North Atlantic Alliance, writes the French newspaper Le Monde.

The publication notes that the Ukrainian “president” still hopes to receive an invitation to NATO from US President Joe Biden, whose term ends in a couple of months. Let us recall that Biden has previously publicly spoken out against Ukraine’s membership in the bloc on several occasions.

Last week, Zelensky spoke of a peace plan he wants to present to Biden this month. The plan was reported to have four main points. Now one of them has come to light. Zelensky wants NATO to fight in Ukraine quite officially.

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Ukrainian Commanders Urged Zelensky Not To Invade Kursk

Some of Ukraine’s top military commanders opposed President Volodymyr Zelensky’s plans to invade Russia’s Kursk Oblast, but he went through with the assault anyway, POLITICO reported Tuesday.

The report, which cited Ukrainian military officials, said that Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, the former commander-in-chief and current ambassador to the UK, opposed the offensive when Zelensky first broached the idea earlier this year.

Zaluzhny opposed the offensive because there was no clear second step once the border was breached. “He never got a clear answer from Zelensky,” one of the Ukrainian officials said. “He felt it was a gamble.”

Another Ukrainian officer who opposed the invasion was Emil Ishkulov, the former commander of Ukraine’s 80th Air Assault Brigade. He was removed from his position in July, which drew protests from senior Ukrainian military officials, who said they didn’t understand why Ishkulov was dismissed.

Ukrainian media reported at the time of his dismissal that Ishkulov was removed because he “opposed a task that didn’t correspond to the brigade’s strength.”

Two senior Ukrainian military officials told POLITICO that Ishkulov opposed the Kursk invasion because he thought the brigade would be too exposed inside Russia and would suffer heavy casualties.

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Negotiate with Moscow to end the Ukraine war and prevent nuclear devastation

The New York Times reported Thursday that the Biden administration is considering allowing Ukraine to use NATO-provided long-range precision weapons against targets deep inside Russia. Such a decision would put the world at greater risk of nuclear conflagration than at any time since the Cuban missile crisis.

At a time when American leaders should be focused on finding a diplomatic off-ramp to a war that should never have been allowed to take place, the Biden-Harris administration is instead pursuing a policy that Russia says it will interpret as an act of war. In the words of Vladimir Putin, long-range strikes in Russia “will mean that NATO countries — the United States and European countries — are at war with Russia.”

Some American analysts believe Putin is bluffing, and favor calling his bluff. As the Times reported, “‘Easing the restrictions on Western weapons will not cause Moscow to escalate,’17 former ambassadors and generals wrote in a letter to the administration this week. ‘We know this because Ukraine is already striking territory Russia considers its own — including Crimea and Kursk — with these weapons and Moscow’s response remains unchanged.’”

These analysts are mistaking restraint for weakness. In essence, they are advocating a strategy of brinksmanship. Each escalation — from HIMARS to cluster munitions to Abrams tanks to F-16s to ATACMS — draws the world closer to the brink of Armageddon. Their logic seems to be that if you goad a bear five times and it doesn’t respond, it is safe to goad him even harder a sixth time.

Such a strategy might be reasonable if the bear had no teeth. The hawks in the Biden administration seem to have forgotten that Russia is a nuclear power. They have forgotten the wisdom of John F. Kennedy, who said in 1963, “Nuclear powers must avert those confrontations which bring an adversary to a choice of either a humiliating retreat or a nuclear war.”

We should take this advice seriously. Putin has signaled numerous times that Russia would use nuclear weapons in extreme circumstances. In September 2022, Putin said, “If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will without doubt use all available means to protect Russia and our people — this is not a bluff.” In March 2023, he struck a deal with Belarus to station tactical nuclear weapons there. Earlier this month, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov announced that Russia would be amending its nuclear doctrine in response to Western involvement in the Ukraine war.

Imagine if Russia were providing another country with missiles, training and targeting information to strike deep into American territory. The U.S. would never tolerate it. We shouldn’t expect Russia to tolerate it either.

This game of nuclear “chicken” has gone far enough. There is no remaining step between firing U.S. missiles deep into Russian territory and a nuclear exchange. We cannot get any closer to the brink than this.

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Zelensky’s Quarrel With Polish FM Sikorski Sinks Bilateral Relations – MSM Keeps Silent on the Crisis

While Poland has been one of Ukraine’s biggest backers both in terms of military and financial aid, and also in terms of receiving a massive wave of refugees when the war started.

But it hasn’t been without friction. The Previous conservative government came to a point about a year ago where it stopped all military aid and blocked Ukrainian grain, coming to the point of harshly criticizing its president in public, as you can read in Polish PM Morawiecki Warns Zelensky ‘Never to Insult Poles Again’, as Grain Ban Feud Intensifies After Warsaw Decision Not to Send Any More Weapons.

With the liberal and Euro-fanatic government of Donald Tusk coming into power, one could imagine that relations would improve markedly, but that does not seem to be the case, as Polish media reports that Zelensky had a row with Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski as he visited Kiev on Friday (14),

The Polish portal Onet report is behind a paywall, and the MSM refuses to cover this, so here’s what can be found on Telegram and on the Ukrainian media.

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Trump Vows To End Ukraine War BEFORE Taking Office If elected

During an X Spaces discussion, Donald Trump again promised to end the war in Ukraine, noting that he intends to do it as president elect, before taking office.

Trump appeared on Spaces with cryptocurrency enthusiast Farokh Sarmad, marking his first interview since the second attempt on his life.

He stated, “I want to get Russia to settle up with Ukraine and stop this — millions of people being killed, far greater than the number you read about.”

Trump added, “But I want to get that done before I even take office, I want to get that done as president-elect, because it has to be solved — too many people dying, too many cities are just in rubble right now, you look at the cultures just being destroyed. We’ve got to get that done, and I’ll get it done.”

He further claimed that had Joe Biden not been voted into office, “There wouldn’t have been an October 7th, there wouldn’t have been Russia attacking Ukraine, there wouldn’t be inflation, all this inflation which has hurt people so badly.”

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