The worst part is that Donbass, seen today as the best Russia can get from this war, is in fact nothing but a pathetic consolation prize. Taking Donbass, at best, was not worth the deaths of hundreds of thousands of patriotic Russians (who will be sorely missed), the integration of Sweden and Finland into NATO, and the loss of Syria, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
If, to this day, taking all of Donbass is the only remaining war aim, then Russia has already lost this war.
That may be the reason for the lack of reaction from the Russian leadership to Western escalations.
Knowing that this war is already lost, Putin may not want to risk the apocalypse for nothing.
As a reminder, this defeat would be due to only one thing: the Westerners each firmly held their place in the shield wall, whereas the BRICS, who had the world within their reach, showed selfishness and cowardice.
The Russian war aim was always to insure that Ukraine did not become a member of NATO. That hasn't been achieved yet, but it will be.
There is no possible way Ukraine will win this war. They're already resorting to terror strikes, just like their Nazi predecessors in Germany did to London once upon a time. Their front line is slowly crumbling. Hopefully, the Ukrainian regime will no longer exist by autumn.
I said "hopefully," which acknowledges that indeed is a wish. My wife has cousins in Ukraine. We would like the war to end.
As for who the victor will be, there never was any doubt. Russia will eventually win because it considers NATO in Ukraine an existential threat because it is. The NATO militaries are pathetically corrupt, and so is Ukraine. It can't last.
Just like Korea, Vietnam, Angola or Afganistan were East-West wars. Even Yom Kippur was an East-West war. I also agree with you that a complete Ukrainian collapse this autumn is very wishful thinking.
At some point you just have to admit the buck stops with Putin. I'm not unsympathetic to grandiose schemes, but BRICS was allowed to get unmanageably large far too quickly, and it is entirely too friendly to Zionists. Putin signed on to all of that. And he is at extreme risk of losing the war because of his gutless and frankly stupid decisions limiting the Russian military. Russia has failed, and Putin is the reason.
South Africa, certainly, China is more a mixed bag, Brazil is a significant trading partner, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are practically their slaves, and India is one of Israel’s best friends.
As to whether Russia is winning or losing, why don’t you define what you would call a Russian win so we have something objective to measure against? I’ll say that that peace is not in sight unless, as seems likely, Putin caves entirely and sells out even the limited goals of the SMO.
"Winning" is not an outright win. It's just which side is gaining points, like in chess. At some point in chess, the material advantage translates into a checkmate.
There are two metrics where Russians are winning - they are gaining territory and they have substantially less absolute personel loss compared to the Ukrainians. Both in the military, but also in the absolute working-age male population.
Trading partners doesn't mean that these countries are not hostile. The EU as a block is hostile to Israel, yet almost 50% of its trade is with the EU.
You aren't a chess player, and in this case the spectacular misconception you have of chess is applicable to war. Russia's territorial gains over the past three years have been minimal, but Russian focus has been on attrition. Both countries claim to be dramatically ahead in attrition, but I accept your version that Russia has killed more Ukrainians (and had more to lose in the first place).
However, just as material advantage in chess does not magically convert to checkmate, the ways Russia is out-attritting Ukraine will likely not convert to a victory. Rather, Ukraine is ideologically indisposed to capitulate (and also fully politically captured by the US, which has suffered zero harm from the war and couldn't be happier), while Russia - specifically Putin - clearly has very mixed feelings about the war and is not trying to win. That's a near-certain recipe for disaster. Russia will capitulate.
As for Israel, hostile is as hostile does, and by that standard the EU is one of Israel's best friends, rhetoric aside. And come on. You know politicians lie constantly, you have to follow the money to see the real values in play.
If Peter Magyar's first declaration after becoming Hungarian PM is that he will jail Bibi if he sets foot on the blessed Hungarian soil - what would enemies look like?
Oh yes, US has taken damage, however indirectly. Its inability to play with Iran as they would like is due to the dimished and thanks to lack of rare earths mostly irreplaceable amount of ammunition and weaponry by supportig UA.
Donbass is part of Novorossiya. It only became "Ukraine" due to Lenin in 1922 to make it a mixed, Ukrainian-Russian republic. If Ukrainians want to be separate they should divest themselves of all Novorossiya territories.
Great minds think alike, I suppose. Covered this in my weekly news summary yesterday. Putin clearly doesn't believe Zelensky is serious. Nor should he.
The storm coming toward Ukraine is bigger than anyone wants to admit. You can feel it in the silence, in the way people pretend things are “fine” while the ground shakes under them. Supplies are low, soldiers are tired, and Russia is pushing harder each month. Everyone keeps looking away, hoping it won’t hit. But it’s coming fast, and when it arrives, it will be far worse than the warnings.
Putin does not need to talk with Zelensky. All he has to do is TELL Zelensky what he wants Ukraine to become part of Russia as it always has been. Send Zelensky to Israel.
The worst part is that Donbass, seen today as the best Russia can get from this war, is in fact nothing but a pathetic consolation prize. Taking Donbass, at best, was not worth the deaths of hundreds of thousands of patriotic Russians (who will be sorely missed), the integration of Sweden and Finland into NATO, and the loss of Syria, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
If, to this day, taking all of Donbass is the only remaining war aim, then Russia has already lost this war.
That may be the reason for the lack of reaction from the Russian leadership to Western escalations.
Knowing that this war is already lost, Putin may not want to risk the apocalypse for nothing.
As a reminder, this defeat would be due to only one thing: the Westerners each firmly held their place in the shield wall, whereas the BRICS, who had the world within their reach, showed selfishness and cowardice.
Russia, for its part, has not failed.
The Russian war aim was always to insure that Ukraine did not become a member of NATO. That hasn't been achieved yet, but it will be.
There is no possible way Ukraine will win this war. They're already resorting to terror strikes, just like their Nazi predecessors in Germany did to London once upon a time. Their front line is slowly crumbling. Hopefully, the Ukrainian regime will no longer exist by autumn.
It's not the war of Ukraine, it's the war of NATO. It's a Russia-NATO war. And wishful thinking is not an argument.
I said "hopefully," which acknowledges that indeed is a wish. My wife has cousins in Ukraine. We would like the war to end.
As for who the victor will be, there never was any doubt. Russia will eventually win because it considers NATO in Ukraine an existential threat because it is. The NATO militaries are pathetically corrupt, and so is Ukraine. It can't last.
It's hard to understand geometry if you don't know math.
What do you mean?
Just like Korea, Vietnam, Angola or Afganistan were East-West wars. Even Yom Kippur was an East-West war. I also agree with you that a complete Ukrainian collapse this autumn is very wishful thinking.
Yes, but those countries didn't bomb USSR nor USA.
At some point you just have to admit the buck stops with Putin. I'm not unsympathetic to grandiose schemes, but BRICS was allowed to get unmanageably large far too quickly, and it is entirely too friendly to Zionists. Putin signed on to all of that. And he is at extreme risk of losing the war because of his gutless and frankly stupid decisions limiting the Russian military. Russia has failed, and Putin is the reason.
China, South Africa and Brazil are very unfriendly to the Israelis. Besides that, Putin isn't losing.
South Africa, certainly, China is more a mixed bag, Brazil is a significant trading partner, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are practically their slaves, and India is one of Israel’s best friends.
As to whether Russia is winning or losing, why don’t you define what you would call a Russian win so we have something objective to measure against? I’ll say that that peace is not in sight unless, as seems likely, Putin caves entirely and sells out even the limited goals of the SMO.
"Winning" is not an outright win. It's just which side is gaining points, like in chess. At some point in chess, the material advantage translates into a checkmate.
There are two metrics where Russians are winning - they are gaining territory and they have substantially less absolute personel loss compared to the Ukrainians. Both in the military, but also in the absolute working-age male population.
Trading partners doesn't mean that these countries are not hostile. The EU as a block is hostile to Israel, yet almost 50% of its trade is with the EU.
You aren't a chess player, and in this case the spectacular misconception you have of chess is applicable to war. Russia's territorial gains over the past three years have been minimal, but Russian focus has been on attrition. Both countries claim to be dramatically ahead in attrition, but I accept your version that Russia has killed more Ukrainians (and had more to lose in the first place).
However, just as material advantage in chess does not magically convert to checkmate, the ways Russia is out-attritting Ukraine will likely not convert to a victory. Rather, Ukraine is ideologically indisposed to capitulate (and also fully politically captured by the US, which has suffered zero harm from the war and couldn't be happier), while Russia - specifically Putin - clearly has very mixed feelings about the war and is not trying to win. That's a near-certain recipe for disaster. Russia will capitulate.
As for Israel, hostile is as hostile does, and by that standard the EU is one of Israel's best friends, rhetoric aside. And come on. You know politicians lie constantly, you have to follow the money to see the real values in play.
If Peter Magyar's first declaration after becoming Hungarian PM is that he will jail Bibi if he sets foot on the blessed Hungarian soil - what would enemies look like?
Oh yes, US has taken damage, however indirectly. Its inability to play with Iran as they would like is due to the dimished and thanks to lack of rare earths mostly irreplaceable amount of ammunition and weaponry by supportig UA.
Donbass is part of Novorossiya. It only became "Ukraine" due to Lenin in 1922 to make it a mixed, Ukrainian-Russian republic. If Ukrainians want to be separate they should divest themselves of all Novorossiya territories.
1. The Ukrainians assassinated the head of Russia's missile forces, using a car bomb.
Yes, this was an act of terrorism. Yes, the Americans and british were undoubtedly in it up to the hilt.
What does Russia propose to do about it? Politely request that they stop?
2. Trump will not de-escalate anything.
Great minds think alike, I suppose. Covered this in my weekly news summary yesterday. Putin clearly doesn't believe Zelensky is serious. Nor should he.
The storm coming toward Ukraine is bigger than anyone wants to admit. You can feel it in the silence, in the way people pretend things are “fine” while the ground shakes under them. Supplies are low, soldiers are tired, and Russia is pushing harder each month. Everyone keeps looking away, hoping it won’t hit. But it’s coming fast, and when it arrives, it will be far worse than the warnings.
Permanent border at the LOC would benefit both sides in the sense that they normalize and stop militarizing.
Putin does not need to talk with Zelensky. All he has to do is TELL Zelensky what he wants Ukraine to become part of Russia as it always has been. Send Zelensky to Israel.
I don't see why Israel should be taking him. Zelenski is an Orthodox Christian and married to a non-Jew.
I keep hearing he is Jewish....