Suspend? Should be expelled. Expected reaction from China. Wonder why? *sarcasm* "UNGA suspends Russia from Human Rights Council From CNN’s Richard Roth The United Nations General Assembly has voted to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council during a meeting Thursday. The voting result: in favor 93; against 24; abstention 58. In a draft of the resolution, the UNGA said the General Assembly would “suspend the rights of membership in the Human Rights Council of a member of the Council that commits gross and systematic violations of human rights.” .... Before the vote, China’s UN ambassador Zhang Jun said the country would vote against the move. “Dealing with the membership of the Human Rights Council in such a way will set new dangerous precedent” and “produce serious consequences," Zhang said speaking at the UNGA on Thursday. “China calls on all parties to work together in the same direction so as to create opportunities for peace and prospects for negotiation. China will continue to hold an objection and impartial position and play a responsible and constructive role in this regard," Zhang added."
What's sad is they haven't been held accountable. 2 million plus people is camps, mass murders, rape, and destruction of families and culture and hardly any news on it anywhere.
Ukraine said Russian troops brought parade uniforms to Kyiv, expecting a quick triumph that never came
What are they, in 4th grade?? "Russia circulated note threatening "consequences" ahead of UN Human Rights Council vote, sources say From CNN's Nima Elbagir and Barbara Arvanitidis in Lviv Russia circulated a note to member states threatening “consequences” ahead of the vote for the US-led push to suspend Russia from the United Nations Human Rights Council, according to multiple sources at the council. The note, shared with CNN, stated, "It is worth mentioning that not only support for such an initiative, but also an equidistant position in the vote (abstention or non-participation) will be considered as an unfriendly gesture." The United Nations General Assembly voted to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council during a meeting Thursday. The vote was 93 in favor of the move and 24 against the action, with 58 abstentions."
Cnn live "Germany intercepted radio transmissions of Russian troops discussing killing Ukrainian civilians, source says From CNN's Luke McGee, Nathan Hodge, Lauren Kent, Claudia Otto, and Nadine Schmidt Germany's foreign intelligence service told a parliamentary committee Wednesday that it has intercepted radio communications where Russian soldiers talked about shooting soldiers and civilians in Ukraine, a source with knowledge of the meeting said. ..... Those intelligence findings — first reported by Der Spiegel — appear to implicate Russian troops in a pattern of apparent war crimes despite denials from Moscow, most recently in the indiscriminate killing of civilians in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha. Der Spiegel reported that the BND, Germany's foreign intelligence agency, intercepted Russian radio chatter about the killing of civilians in Bucha, and that some of the conversations could be tied directly to specific killings in Bucha that have been documented since news first emerged of an apparent massacre there."
Cry me a river. War crimes will change equations "Russian official accuses Ukraine of changing demands since the 2 sides met in Istanbul From CNN’s Uliana Pavlova iand Martin Goillandeau On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Ukrainian negotiators of changing the most important provisions that both sides had agreed upon during Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul last month. Lavrov said that a draft agreement presented on Wednesday by Ukrainian negotiators “showed a departure from the most important provisions fixed at the meeting in Istanbul,” adding that the new Ukrainian draft agreement did not include an earlier proposal by Kyiv to exclude Crimea and Sebastopol from the future security guarantees Ukraine is demanding. Lavrov also said Ukrainians suggested that “the problems of Crimea and Donbas should be brought to the meeting of the presidents of Russia and Ukraine,” a proposal deemed “unacceptable” by Russia, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly stated that such a meeting is possible only after the cessation of hostilities."
More Lavrov word vomit "Lavrov said that the inability to find a negotiated agreement with Ukraine “demonstrates the true intentions of Kyiv, its line to drag on and even make the negotiations fail, rejecting the agreements that had been found.” “We see this as a manifestation of the fact that the Kyiv regime is controlled by Washington and its allies, who are pushing President Zelensky to continue hostilities,” he added." ...... Waaaaah, why won't you do what we want? *rolling my eyes*
I do think there is a worry that Zelensky will overplay his hand, but it is fun watching him negotiate from a perceived position of strength given all that’s happened and what should have happened if Moscow was even slightly competent. Russia has to feel pretty foolish right now - they thought this war would be over in a week and now their doormat is basically telling them to kiss off.
To me overplaying would be involving Crimea. He was willing to stay neutral, willing to discuss the separatist regions. But to be honest, NOW with all the Russians have done? Showing their goal isn't anything other than total destruction and subjugation? No. I don't blame Zelensky & the Russians did this to themselves. Nothing other than Russia completely pulling out, turning over war criminals for prosecution, and full restitution to Ukraine would be ok. And no more talk of neutrality or disarmament because Russia proved once again why its neighbors need to be armed to the teeth & allied with other countries. Russia lost that one by their own actions.
On CNN... "Russia admits to "significant" troop losses: Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov briefly admitted Thursday that Russia had suffered “significant” losses of its troops in Ukraine, calling the losses “a huge tragedy” for the country in an interview with Sky News. Asked whether the withdrawal of Russian troops from Kyiv and its region could be seen as “a humiliation” for the Kremlin, Peskov said using those words would be “a wrong understanding of the situation.”"
A really good article by President Clinton revisiting his NATO and Russia policies in the wake of the end of the Cold War. I Tried to Put Russia on Another Path — The Atlantic
Sky News is a British independent television network. Did Peskov or for that matter any other Russian government spokesperson make a similar admission on one of the official Russian news outlets? Although I cannot say with certainty I do not think that's happened yet although Putin's government can only hide the truth from the Russian people for so long.
