War in Ukraine

Has any of that happened or is this just Putin’s arrogant demand at this point?

 

President Putin has outplayed President Trump – now it is not just Ukraine that is at stake

An exchange of 175 prisoners of war and some wounded soldiers, talks covering Iran and Israel, Russia’s “legitimate interests” in the field of security and “expert groups” convened to discuss an eventual peace settlement over Ukraine. Even ice hockey games.

There was plenty of ground that presidents Trump and Putin covered during their 90-minute discussion – but only a limited ceasefire, for a month, covering energy and infrastructure, coupled with a proposal to end the flow of arms and intelligence to Ukraine. President Putin has given the least he could possibly get away with to President Trump without actually saying “nyet”. The fighting on the front line goes on.

 

Trump’s negotiation strategy appears to be 1) sign minerals deal with Ukraine and 2) US companies and miners in harms way = “security guarantee” and 3) EU supplies military peacekeepers.

Looking 4 years out post-Trump… these are not sustainable negotiations unless A) it is lucrative for US companies to be there long term B) US mineral rights and production outlast Putin’s lifespan; and C) EU creates a demilitarized zone between Ukraine and Russia borders.



Trump says Zelensky to sign 'very big agreement' in US on Friday

 

The worm turns, albeit slowly …

 

C - Europe, Oz, NZ, Canada looking at doing exactly that. Putin will not agree to it

Coalition of the willing....same name that the USA used when they asked for help in Afghanistan and our allies showed up.

Ukraine war briefing: ‘Coalition of the willing’ military chiefs to assemble in London | Ukraine | The Guardian

 

This is the Dem trap. The next Dem president will try to swing the pendulum back and commit troops. It’s how Dems shout themselves in the proverbial foot.

 

Sadly, I’m not sure that this will suffice. Insatiable Russophobe will find 15 living Ukrainians and ask why they weren’t fighting …

Accepting the Truth About Ukrainian Casualties is the Only Real Path to Peace

 

I was wrong. Ukraine is not running out of men. They have women too …

 

Hopefully Zelenskyy is smart enough not to hit any Russian energy targets for at least the 30 days.

 

And? Do you have any hopes in the other direction, or is this one of those “The strong do what they want, and the weak suffer what they must” kind of situations?

 

so much for the cease fire

 

US ‘deletes evidence’ of Russia’s kidnap of thousands of Ukrainian children

An international effort to trace and rescue tens of thousands of children kidnapped from Ukraine to Russia and prosecute those responsible has been crippled by the US state department’s deletion of evidence.

The Trump administration cut funding to Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, which was compiling a database of alleged Russian war crimes, including the abduction of an estimated 35,000 children from occupied areas of Ukraine, last month.Using satellite imagery and other surveillance systems provided through the US government, the Yale researchers were monitoring 116 sites in Russia.

A Yale source said the US state department deleted the evidence which would have been used as part of rescue efforts to get the children home to Ukraine. It would also have been used to prosecute those behind their abductions – including Russian president Vladimir Putin.

”It is unclear whether it was by accident or intent, but it may reveal or it may cause potential criminal liability for the Trump administration, given international prohibitions against the destruction of war crimes evidence,” the Yale insider told The Independent.

 

I can’t find any evidence that it has started yet, just that both sides have agreed in principle to suspend targeting each other’s energy sites.

 

Affords a clue as to why we had to fight Russia with another country’s army and also how insanely stupid it is to imagine going to war with China …

 

On Europe’s undying obsession with Russia. UK in particular nurtures a deep ancestral hatred of Russia …

The tragedy of Europe's idiocracy

 

Ukraine does some major damage to Engels Airfield in a drone attack, home of the Tu-160 heavy strategic bombers. Secondary explosions of ammunition stores were confirmed.

Ukraine strikes Russian strategic bomber airfield, triggering huge blast

 

Two cargo jets there so hopefully dozens and dozens of missiles destroyed although there is some doubt that Russia had that many in reserve

wonder where the intel came from

if they can't defend their primary bomber base and missile depot from Ukrainian drones, their air defenses must be reaaalllly bad. I do wonder if this was the new longer range neptune they have been touting and not drone

How many missiles were at Engels airbase during Ukraine's attack? Expert opinion

Ukrainian drones attacked Russia's Engels airbase today, March 20, where the Russian forces may have stored dozens of missiles, stated aviation expert Kostiantyn Kryvolap in a comment to RBC-Ukraine's YouTube channel.

He noted that during the attack, no more than three Tu-95MS strategic bombers and two Tu-160s were likely stationed at the airbase. There is no information on their damage yet.

However, the situation with the missiles is different. A few days before the attack, an An-124 Ruslan cargo plane arrived at the airbase. Additionally, just yesterday or the day before, another cargo plane, an Il-76, was spotted there.

"It was calculated that the Il-76 typically carries around 7-8 missiles. Considering that a Ruslan was also there, the total number of missiles could indeed be in the dozens, possibly over fifty," Kryvolap suggested. The expert also pointed out that it remains unclear whether Russia could have produced such a large number of missiles in such a short time. However, he emphasized that there was definitely a significant number of missiles at the airbase.