Thread: Russia launches Ukraine invasion

^ working ones? in any case the UK needs to ask permission to fire them

Originally Posted by malmomike77

^ working ones? in any case the UK needs to ask permission to fire them

So Germany's defence is the French navy

Originally Posted by david44

So Germany's defence is the French navy

We're doomed, Captain Mainwaring, all doomed.

I was so pissed last weekend that I missed this.


US sides with Russia in UN resolutions on invasion of Ukraine

But it's not that surprising anymore, is it?

^^ And Trump gets it. Does this mean the US must protect Ukraine from Putin now?



Ukraine has agreed on terms of minerals deal with US: Official

Ukraine has agreed on the terms of a minerals deal with the United States and could sign it on Friday (Feb 28), a Ukrainian official said, in a move Kyiv hopes will lay the ground for future security guarantees from Washington.


US President Donald Trump had demanded that Ukraine give access to its rare earth minerals to compensate for the billions of dollars of wartime aid it received under Joe Biden.

The deal would see the United States jointly develop Ukraine's mineral wealth, with revenues going to a newly created fund that would be "joint for Ukraine and America", a senior Ukrainian source told AFP on the condition of anonymity late Tuesday.


The source said the draft of the deal included a reference to "security", but did not explicitly set out the United States's commitments - one of Kyiv's prior demands for an agreement.


"There is a general clause that says America will invest in a stable and prosperous sovereign Ukraine, that it works for a lasting peace, and that America supports efforts to guarantee security."


"Now government officials are working on the details," the source said, adding that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could sign it on a trip to Washington as early as Friday.


Trump has upended US foreign policy since taking office last month, opening dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin while making threats against Washington's traditional allies.

The United States sided with Russia twice Monday at the United Nations, as they sought to avoid any condemnation of Moscow's invasion of its neighbour three years ago.


RELATIONS WITH TRUMP


Ukraine hopes the minerals deal will improve relations with the Trump administration, which have soured amid a war of words between Zelenskyy and Trump.


Last week, the Republican branded his Ukrainian counterpart a "dictator" and called for him to "move fast" to end the war, a day after Russian and US officials held talks in Saudi Arabia without Kyiv.


Then on Saturday, at a high-profile conservative conference, Trump said he was trying to get "money back" for the billions of dollars of aid sent to support Ukraine in the war with Russia.


Zelenskyy had earlier accused Trump of living in a Russian "disinformation space".

Ukraine has agreed on terms of minerals deal with US: Official - CNA

I fukin loath the Froggie and the lttle prick fronting them


Macron ‘blocking’ €30bn EU weapons programme despite promise to Trump

Plan to deliver missiles to Ukraine to be raised in talks between Sir Keir Starmer, Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders on Sunday


Mr Macron has sought to position himself as Europe's point man in talks with Mr Trump


Emmanuel Macron has been accused of blocking a €30 billion weapons programme for Ukraine despite promising Donald Trump that Europe would step up its support for Kyiv.


The “enhanced EU military support to Ukraine scheme” was drawn up in response to the US president’s demand for Europe to carry a greater share of the burden for backing Ukraine’s defence against the Russian invasion.


The plan, outlined in a paper seen by The Telegraph, aims to deliver 1.5 million artillery rounds, precision-strike missiles, air-defence systems, drones and provide training for Ukrainian recruits this year.


It will likely be raised in talks between Sir Keir Starmer, Volodymyr Zelensky and 16 other European leaders at Lancaster House in London on Sunday.


Before the talks, which aim to strengthen support for Ukraine in anticipation of a potential ceasefire with Russia, French officials were branded the “biggest spoilers” of the EU’s plan.


Diplomatic sources said Paris was leading a coalition of southern European countries attempting to “kill it in committee”.


The opposition has led to harsh criticism of Mr Macron, France’s president, who has sought to position himself as Europe’s point man in talks with Mr Trump.




During a visit to the White House earlier this week, the French leader promised that Europe would “step up” in both its support for Ukraine and defence spending.


But his comments appear to fly in the face of the actions by French officials in Brussels.


An EU diplomat told The Telegraph: “Macron has set himself up as the de facto leader for Europe vis-à-vis Trump on everything on Ukraine. He talks a big game about understanding how to play Trump, how to talk tough.


“He goes to Washington, plays the part, and by the time he lands, Trump has announced massive trade tariffs on Europe. Meanwhile, France does absolutely f--- all on support to Ukraine and is the biggest spoiler on the one serious idea that’s on the table.”




The EU hopes it can convince member states to commit to raise between €20 billion (£16.5 billion) and €30 billion in support for Ukraine.


“Each MS [member states] will be assigned a financial quota of XXX (minus the EU contribution outlined below) according to their current GNI (gross national income) key,” the document, marked “EU limited”, reads.


France’s contribution to the scheme would be around 16 per cent of the entire fund, which means Paris could be on the hook for around €4.8 billion.


The money can be made up by member states through “in kind” donations of equipment directly to Ukraine, or through “in cash” contributions for joint purchases.


“Non EU-partners will be invited to contribute to the initiative,” the document concludes, leaving the door open to British contributions.


France is being joined by Italy, Spain and Portugal in opposing the first drafts, drawn up by Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top foreign diplomat.


The group of opposition countries are well behind in terms of military support for Kyiv, according to a tracker from the Kiel Institute.


Paris has contributed just short of €3.5 billion to Ukraine’s armed forces, while Italy’s contribution is €1.4 billion, according to the Institute’s latest data.


They are respectively the EU’s second and third-largest economies.


Spain’s contribution is €800 million and Portugal’s is €200 million.


Apart from France, none of the southern countries hit the 2 per cent of GDP (gross domestic product) target for defence spending set by Nato.


The debt-laden southern states are also leading a charge for EU budget rules to be relaxed in order to increase defence spending, which Mr Trump is demanding is raised to 5 per cent of GDP.


They are also the biggest proponents for the creation of “Eurobonds” for defence, using a joint debt scheme to finance the Continent’s largest rearmament since the end of the Cold War.

Access Denied

From the Guardian, EU leaders respone to the car crash, clearly the UKs spineless leadr is more "measured"


Further European leaders back Zelenskyy in remarkable show of unity


In a continuing show of unity among European leaders, more and more of them publicly back Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.


We have now heard from at least 14 of them in the last hour.


European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa posted the same update on their social media accounts just now, saying:


Your dignity honors the bravery of the Ukrainian people.


Be strong, be brave, be fearless. You are never alone, dear President @ZelenskyyUa.


We will continue working with you for a just and lasting peace.


Outgoing German chancellor Olaf Scholz said:


Nobody wants peace more than the citizens of Ukraine! That is why we are working together to find a way to a lasting and just peace. Ukraine can rely on Germany – and on Europe.


Dutch prime minister Dick Schoof said:


The Netherlands continues to support Ukraine. Especially now. We want lasting peace and an end to the war of aggression that Russia has started. For Ukraine, for all its inhabitants and for Europe.


Luxembourgish prime minister Luc Frieden joined in:


Luxembourg stands with Ukraine. You are fighting for your freedom and a rules based international order.


As did the Portuguese president, Luis Montenegro:

Putin's new friend the USA ?

Originally Posted by malmomike77

I fukin loath the Froggie and the lttle prick fronting them

I fukin loath the Telegraph and their lying pricks of writers.

It’s not for no reason that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had the confidence to stand up to U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance during their disastrous Oval Office press conference on Friday, during which Trump and Vance falsely accused the wartime leader of being ungrateful for past U.S. aid.

Despite Trump’s insistence that Zelensky and Ukraine “are not in a very good position,” Ukrainian forces are counterattacking along at least two of the most important sectors of the 800-mile front-line of Russia’s wider war on Ukraine.

As recently as a few months ago, the Russians had the momentum in their three-year wider war. That’s no longer the case, especially in and around the city of Toretsk in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast. The site of bitter urban fighting for much of last year, including the deliberate demolition of towering highrises by both sides, Toretsk—or what was left of it—fell to Russian forces in early February.

A mining city with a pre-war population of 35,000, Toretsk is important. It straddles high ground overlooking important supply lines threading along the Ukrainian side of the front line.

Which is why the Kremlin celebrated the city’s fall on Feb. 7. “As a result of active offensive operations ... the city of Dzerzhinsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic [sic] was liberated," the Russian defense ministry announced, using a Russian name for the city.

But Russian control of the city didn’t last long. Two weeks after the Russians fully occupied the ruins of Toretsk, the Ukrainians counterattacked—and swiftly advanced back into the city.

Accidental reveal

One Russian military blogger inadvertently revealed the extent of the Ukrainian advance during a botched effort to downplay the advance on Monday. “The crests decided to counterattack, flew in on Feb. 23 in their American armored vehicles to the border areas of the city of Toretsk,” the blogger wrote, using a slang term for Ukrainian troops. “The enemy was eliminated!”

In fact, the video the blogger posted alongside his missive revealed Ukrainian troops in central Toretsk—and not just in the “border area,” as the Russian claimed. A week later, western Toretsk was again contested, according to the definitive Ukraine Control Map. And it was possible a few Russian troops were clinging to an exposed salient jutting into the urban no-man’s-land.

“Fighting continues in the city center, and the enemy is losing control,” the Estonian analyst WarTranslated noted. “There are reports of complete encirclement of Russian occupiers in several areas.” In pushing back the Russians, the Ukrainian brigades around Toretsk—including the 92nd Assault Brigade and the 100th Mechanized Brigade—join sister units that recently successfully counterattacked on the eastern edge of the 250-square-mile salient Ukrainian forces occupy in western Russia’s Kursk Oblast.

What’s especially ominous for the Russian field armies in Ukraine is that they’ve been reprioritizing the Toretsk axis after getting repulsed outside the fortress city of Pokrovsk, 25 miles southwest of Toretsk. “The Russian command in the theater of war is focusing its main attention not on Pokrovsk but on the adjacent Novopavlivka and Toretsk directions,” the Ukrainian Center for Defense Strategies explained.

But the reinforcements haven’t helped in Toretsk. At least not yet. Even bolstered by troops transferred from the Pokrovsk axis, the Russian regiments in and around Toretsk are falling back.

In so doing, they make a mockery of Trump’s claim, in his combative White House meeting with Zelensky, that the Ukrainian president is in a weak position. “You have to be thankful,” Trump raged.

“You don’t have the cards. You’re buried there. You people are dying. You’re running low on soldiers. Listen, you’re running low on soldiers.”

It’s true that Ukraine has struggled to mobilize enough infantry to keep its best brigades fully manned. But it’s not true that Ukrainian forces are getting “buried.” In fact, in recent weeks they’ve advanced in at least as many sectors as they’ve retreated.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidax...ce-in-3-weeks/

Hopefully if any deal is struck there will be a quid pro quo on territory

Putin can’t afford peace – Russia’s economy is hooked on war.

Trump is being played by Putin.

A long article that seeks to explain why Putin will hever sign for peace, but if you are interested in this conflict, read on.

The invasion of Ukraine wrecked Moscow’s finances – but it’s now the Kremlin’s only source of growth

Economics Reporter
02 March 2025 6:00am GMT
Melissa Lawford

“Vranyo” is a Russian word for a specific type of lying.

“I once translated it for one of our ministers as ‘epic, bare-faced whopper that we both know cannot possibly be true, but I’m going to tell you anyway’,” says Sir Laurie Bristow, who was the UK’s ambassador to Russia from January 2016 until January 2020.

It is a concept that sits at the heart of Vladimir Putin’s statecraft. And it is about power.

“I had it done to me repeatedly in meetings. It’s not necessarily to persuade you that their version is true. It’s to cast doubt on the truth, by putting around so much litter that you kind of lose the will to live, you just become demoralised,” says Sir Laurie.

In 2014, for example, after the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was hit by a Russian-made Buk missile over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board, the Kremlin fed myths to the press. These included first the claim that the plane was shot down by Ukraine, and then a story that the CIA had filled a plane with bodies and crashed it to discredit the state.



It is this type of vranyo that has fuelled Russia’s isolation on the world stage. Long before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine made Putin an international pariah, Moscow was kept at arm’s length by the West.

Donald Trump seems blissfully unaware of Russia’s track record – or at least doesn’t care. He has launched a mission to reset ties with Moscow and promised “to get that war over” in Ukraine. In doing so, he has shocked the international community by upending Western foreign policy, reopening ties with the Russian president and ruling out offering US security guarantees or Nato membership for Ukraine.

After he met with Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, on Thursday, Trump told reporters that Putin would “keep his word” if a peace deal is secured. But even a peace deal in Putin’s favour would not get around the fact that Russia has become economically and ideologically addicted to war.

Russia’s economy is creaking under the weight of war, wracked by labour shortages, sanctions, high inflation and record interest rates. But equally, the conflict is its only remaining engine of growth.

After three years of war, nationalist anti-Western propaganda has also become the basis of Putin’s power.

“Putin does not want peace and he’s not going to settle,” says Simon Johnson, MIT professor and former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “He’s enjoying the war. It’s awful. But he doesn’t want to end the war.”

Trump believes forging economic links with Ukraine will be enough to deter future conflict. But a peace deal will not quell the imperialist fire in Putin’s belly.

“Trump is greatly deceived by Mr Putin,” says Johnson. “Trump wants a quick victory. He wants a triumph and a show and Putin is going to play him along. He’s being played.”


Russia is hooked on military spending. In 2019, Russia spent 5 trillion roubles (£45bn) on defence and security combined, or 28pc of its total government spending. This year, in nominal terms, the bill will be 17 trillion roubles – 41pc of all government spending.


The war economy now makes up between 8pc and 10pc of Russia’s GDP. “For a country that is waging a war not on its own soil, that is a lot,” says Alexander Kolyandr, of the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). The war industry has become the main driver of the Russian economy.

On the surface at least, all this spending is fuelling a strong economy. Russia’s real GDP grew by 3.6pc in 2024, according to the IMF – more than triple the growth seen in Britain last year. Real wages in Russia rose by 9.4pc in 2024, according to Rosstat, the Kremlin’s statistics agency.

But only one business is booming: war.

“The manufacturing industry, which includes the defence industry, was the only sector that showed growth in 2024,” says Alexandra Prokopenko, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center who worked at Russia’s Central Bank until 2022.

Russia has doubled production of armoured vehicles, while some ammunition manufacturers have quintupled their output. Manufacturing production jumped by 7.6pc in the first nine months of last year.

But outside sectors directly linked to the military, growth is anaemic at best, says Prokopenko.

“Consumer spending is driven by larger salaries to servicemen or even payouts to casualties,” says Agnia Grigas, of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center.

The war effort is sucking investment and manpower away from the non-military sector, leaving the private sector to shrivel.

“Over time, Russia’s ability to maintain and develop a dynamic non-military economy is being cannibalised,” says Sir Laurie.

“If they ever come to unwinding the war economy, there won’t be the civilian economy left to take up the slack.”

Rather than prepare for peace, the Kremlin is doubling down on its war machine. In its autumn budget, the government raised its projections for military spending and cut nominal spending on social policy. “Military spending has started to become some kind of black hole,” says Andrei Yakovlev, associate at Harvard’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies.

Meanwhile, prices are soaring, bringing misery for ordinary Russians. Inflation averaged 12.1pc in the last three months of 2024, price growth averaged 12.1pc. Interest rates have soared to a post-Soviet high of 21pc as Russia’s central bank scrambled to combat runaway price rises.

Yet the main problem is not something that can easily be solved by monetary policy: a lack of manpower.

By one estimate, 172,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the war so far and a further 611,000 have been wounded. In September, Putin said he wanted to increase the size of the Russian army by 180,000 to 1.5m active servicemen. At least 650,000 emigres who fled Russia when the war began are still abroad, according to The Bell, a Russian independent economic news outlet.

There are not enough workers for the rest of the economy. Russia’s unemployment rate has plunged to an all-time record low of 2.3pc. Even Kremlin-linked analysts calculate that Russia needs an additional 1.6m workers.


Removing the state-engine of war spending would plunge Russia into an economic stagnation on the scale not seen since the Soviet Union in the 1980s, says Kolyandr.

“They will continue to spend on military production not only to restock their arsenal but also to keep the economy from sliding into recession.”

Russia does not have any other levers to support the economy. Its services sector is not globally competitive and its technology sector is backward. “There is no way that they can export,” says Kolyandr.

The key strength of Russia’s economy has always been its oil and gas exports, but the world has turned away from its fossil fuel industry in the years since the war in Ukraine began. Europe has diversified, the US has emerged as a leading exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and even Russia’s new energy buyers, India and China, would be hesitant to become dependent on the state for their supplies.

“The Russian leadership has boasted that its economy has been growing despite sanctions. That has been because of military production. So that would have to continue, because no alternatives have been figured out,” says Grigas.


A Russian economy without war will simply be a Russian economy preparing for war, says Johnson.

“Whether you call it war or whether you call it peace, it doesn’t matter. It’s still a militarised economy, funded by oil,” he says.

“Even if there is ‘peace’, Russia will scale up their armaments. This is the political economy equilibrium keeping Putin in power.”

‘Straight out of Machiavelli’
Until 2005, Sir Bill Browder was the largest foreign investor in Russia. Then he was banned from entering the country for exposing corruption in Russian state-owned companies.

In 2008, his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky uncovered a huge fraud committed by Russian government officials that involved the theft of $230m (£180m) in state taxes. Magnitsky was arrested, imprisoned without trial, tortured and eventually died in prison in 2009.

Corruption goes to the heart of the Russian state, Sir Bill says. It has rotted out the country’s core and is now pushing Putin to launch attacks abroad to shore up his regime.

“Putin needs war very specifically as a way to stay in power. If you look at the history of his presidency, every time his popularity has started to diminish, he started a war,” says Sir Bill.



Take, for example, Russia’s wars with Chechnya in the run up to Putin’s first election as president in 2000, Russia’s five-day war with Georgia in 2008 (which an EU-backed report said was started by Georgia following Russian provocation), and Russia’s annexation of Crimea and eastern Ukraine in 2014.

In 2022, when Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, his popularity had been hammered by the Covid pandemic.

“This is straight out of Machiavelli,” Sir Bill says. “If you’re worried about people being angry with you, you create a foreign enemy and you start a war.”

Russians are far more patriotic than Britons and opposition to the West unites nationalist sentiment, says Sir Tony Brenton, who was the UK’s ambassador to Russia from 2004 to 2008.

“In the current situation, everybody knows that Russia is up against the West, or believes that it is, and that is the sort of situation where Russians instinctively gather around their leader because they feel that the external threat is a direct threat to them,” he says.

The war may be hammering Russia’s economy, but it has also given Putin more licence to crack down on civic society, tightening personal liberties and freedom of expression.

Putin banned Facebook and Instagram in 2022 after labelling their parent company Meta “extremist”. In the same year, the Russian state revoked the media licence of one of the country’s few independent news outlets, Novaya Gazeta, forcing its closure. Various foreign reporters have been expelled.

“Wartime society and wartime politics is beneficial in keeping the current regime in power,” says Grigas.

People in Moscow mark the anniversary of Russia's annexation of Crimea
Putin’s foreign wars have shored up public support for him at home Credit: Pavel Bednyakov/AFP via Getty Images
War is also making some people very rich. The nephew of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov was appointed head of the seized Russian subsidiary of French yoghurt maker Danone in 2023, for example, before being sold at a heavy discount to local businessmen in the region.

The Kovalchuk brothers, oligarchs with close ties to Putin, have also gained new influence, says Yakovlev. Umar Kremlev, who is now the owner of the Rolf company, the car dealer nationalised by the Russian government in 2023, similarly has new status.

“In my view war can be in their interests,” says Yakovlev.

“Putin needs one of two things in order to maintain the stability of the regime,” says Sir Laurie. “One is pretty much perpetual conflict with the West. The other is victory over the West.”

‘Rotten and corrupt’
Vranyo surfaces in many different ways in Russia. For a period of months while Sir Tony was ambassador, he was trailed by members of an aggressive pro-Kremlin youth group called Nashi.

“They were in groups of three or four. But it was all over the country. If I flew to give a speech somewhere, they knew where I was going, they’d get themselves there, into the meeting, and then they would shout abuse,” says Sir Tony.

“They were given free way by the traffic police. It was very clear they had authority from the Russian government to do what they were doing.”

State structures in Russia are not known for being honest and reliable.

“Nobody in Russia, certainly when I was there and I don’t think it has changed since, takes a driving test,” says Sir Tony. “What they do is they bribe the examiner. Because the system itself is so rotten and corrupt that it’s much easier to fork out small sums of money than to go through procedures that are not very dependable.”

The US president has suggested that a key motive for Russia to make peace in Europe would be the prospect of combined US-Russian business interests.

Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, told Moscow delegates in Riyadh last month that the US and Russia could pursue “potentially historic economic partnerships” and “incredible opportunities” if Putin ends the war. US and Russian officials are reportedly in talks about joint exploration of natural resources in the Arctic.


However, Trump’s discussion of business ties with Russia are a fantasy, says Sir Bill. “Nobody in their right mind is going to invest in Russia right now, that’s insane. It is not going to happen in a million years.

“I can tell you, as previously the largest foreign investor in the country, nobody is going to put a penny into it. There’s no rule of law. You’ll lose your money and you’ll get killed. That is what happens in Russia. It’s a toxic business environment. It’s uninvestable.”

Johnson at MIT is similarly blunt: “Any foreign investor in Russia is insane and should immediately be fired by their shareholders.”

Trump’s surrender
Trumpworld is blasé about all this. So far, it has granted a series of concessions to Russia in an attempt to draw Putin closer to peace.

First came a prisoner exchange, during which US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said he “spent a lot of time with President Putin, talking, developing a friendship, a relationship with him”.

Then came a 90-minute call between Trump and Putin, a meeting between US and Russian officials in Riyadh and then more talks last week in Istanbul.

Last month at the United Nations General Assembly, the US voted alongside Russia, Belarus and North Korea against a European resolution condemning Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine as an unprovoked attack – a vote which even China, Russia’s most important ally, abstained from.

John Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security adviser during his first administration, has described the US president as Putin’s puppet.

“This is essentially surrendering to the Russian position,” says Bolton.

Trump thinks foreign policy is based on personal relations, but Putin is not moved by personal ties.

“He’s as cold-blooded as it comes in pursuing Russia’s national interests,” Bolton says. “Trump doesn’t get it. He thinks he and Putin are friends.

“This former KGB agent has been manipulating him for the past couple of weeks to get what he wants and Trump doesn’t even realise.”

Trump and Putin shake hands in 2019
‘Cold-blooded’ Putin is manipulating Trump, says the president’s ex-national security adviser Credit: Brendan Smialowski / AFP
The president may be able to secure a ceasefire but any kind of peace will only be temporary. Putin will only use the time to rearm.

“If you get a ceasefire across existing frontlines, I think that will freeze into a new border,” says Bolton.

Whatever happens next will have big geopolitical implications. Aside from Putin’s own ambitions, China is watching closely for an indication of how much the West will care if it were to make a move on Taiwan.

“I think their calculus is if the US and Nato won’t stand up against aggression on the continent of Europe, the US is very unlikely to do anything significant in a faraway place like Taiwan,” says Bolton. “It is very dangerous.”

Timothy Ash, of Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia programme, says Trump may simply not care. “For him, Ukraine is a European problem. I think Trump will agree anything to get a quick ceasefire and he won’t really care about whether it’s sustainable, that is for the Europeans to sort out.”

What should European leaders do? Starmer and Macron should step up cash support for Ukraine so that it can buy US weapons, says Johnson.

Sir Bill argues the best way to do this would be to seize $300bn in frozen Russian assets – an idea that has been advocated by UK David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, but which critics argue could undermine the legal system.


Bolton has an even cheaper, but perhaps more controversial suggestion. The best thing that European leaders can do is convince Trump that it is in his personal interests to support Ukraine, he says.

“It’s not worth talking about what’s going to happen in Ukraine. It won’t even move him really talking about what US national interests are. Everything with Trump is personal and he wants the Nobel Peace Prize,” says Bolton. “Starmer ought to offer to nominate him.”

If Trump were to win the prize, there would almost certainly be a grim irony. As Russia’s war machine chunters on, few are convinced that any peace deal would last.


© Telegraph Media Group Holdings Limited 2025

From the reporter questioning Zelenskyys choice of clothing, to Vance instigating and Trump carrying on publicly berating a President of another country, a supposed ally, live on a world TV broadcast must be one of the most disgraceful acts of diplomacy I have seen by any leader in my life time.
How anyone could have seen Zelenskyy as the perpetrator of that televised international shit show and justified both Vance and Trump is beyond me. Trump and Vance have lost all of any respect they had left which was already close to zero, around the world.
This will be used in diplomatic school of exactly what not to do for years to come. They have absolutely shamed the USA and turned the USA into a diplomatic pariah. Thankfully many Americans have also expressed their shock and disgust. America has lost all its world prestige in the space of 30 minutes. Xi and Vlad are probably still laughing at the wonderful opportunity Trump has put right into their laps.

New Ukrainian general inflicts ‘unsustainable losses’ on Russia

‘Marginal gains’ for Ukraine in major eastern cities could offer the US ‘great leverage in peace negotiations’ with the Kremlin


Ukraine’s army is finding some rare success along the eastern front, reclaiming key positions and inflicting “unsustainable losses” on Russian forces, according to battlefield reports.


While the frontline axis has not changed significantly, Ukrainian forces have advanced against Russian troops close to the two major eastern cities of Pokrovsk and Toretsk, according to new reports.


“The Ukrainian Armed Forces are actively advancing in Toretsk, reclaiming key positions,” said one war blogger closely observing the front lines. “There are reports of complete encirclement of Russian occupiers in several areas.”


Toretsk provides a vital link for Ukraine to logistics bases in Kostiantynivka, north-west of the city. The attacks are reportedly being conducted with US-donated armoured vehicles.


Counter-attacks are also being conducted near the city of Pokrovsk – a key city for Ukrainian defences. Russia has been moving towards the city for the past year, and has advanced 40km (25 miles) west since February 2024.


Last week Ukraine announced a successful counter-attack to retake the settlement of Kotlyne, near Pokrovsk, and regained their position in Kotlynne, west of Pokrovsk. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said: “The year-long Russian effort to seize Pokrovsk has so far failed.”


Meanwhile Russian military bloggers – accounts which are often cited as sources of information in lieu of official commentary from the Kremlin – reported that the Kremlin’s troops had lost ground in Uspenivka in Donetsk Oblast.


The ISW also said on Saturday that Ukrainian forces are now inflicting “unsustainable losses” on Russian forces and holding them to “marginal gains”.


DeepState, a Ukrainian war-tracking blog, also said that Russian troops occupied 192 sq km of Ukrainian territory in February, marking a decline compared to previous months.


“Despite losing momentum, with the pace of advance now comparable to last July, the enemy continues to suffer heavy manpower losses,” DeepState said. “The enemy’s activity has decreased, although it has not ceased entirely.”


Praise for the counter-attacks is being lauded onto Gen Myhailo Drapaty, Ukraine’s ground forces chief who also recently took command of fighting in the eastern Donbas region.


The 42-year-old commander is considered part of a “new generation” of younger Ukrainian general officers that had fought against Russian forces since 2014.


Olena Mokrenchuk, the press officer of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said previously that Gen Drapatyi’s strategies are “always unexpected and unconventional, but meticulously calculated”.


“He’s very effective. I believe that under his command, we’ll be able to push the Russians back,” she told Ukrainian broadcaster, Espreso TV.


In December 2024, Gen Drapatyi announced an ambitious transformation plan aimed at improving Ukraine’s position on the battlefield, including reforming military training and providing Ukrainian soldiers with a technological edge over their enemy.


“Today, we’re building an army of the future – an army that will defeat the enemy and overcome every obstacle on the way of transformation,” Gen Drapatyi said.


However, Moscow is still gaining ground. On Saturday it said it had seized two more villages in eastern Ukraine, Skudne and Burlatske, in the south of the eastern Donetsk region.


DeepState also reported that Russia had advanced near Burlatske, Andriivka, Pryvilne, Sverdlikove and Mykolaivo-Daryne in the past few days. On Sunday Russia conducted strikes on gas processing facilities used by the Ukrainian defence force.


The general staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in its operational update on Friday that the army was involved in “60 combat engagements”.


The intense fighting comes as senior US officials have warned that president Donald Trump may cut all aid to Ukraine, including any final aid shipments that Joe Biden, the former US president, approved.


Writing about Ukraine’s recent gains and its army inflicting “unsustainable losses” on Russia, the ISW said: “This situation, combined with the severe challenges Russia will face in 2025, offers the United States great leverage in peace negotiations.”


Ukrainian forces have leveraged US-supplied military systems – including Patriot air defense systems, HIMARS and ATACMS long-range strike systems – to defend against nightly Russian drone and missile strikes and improve its strike capabilities.


The Ukrainian Armed Forces are also looking to complicate Russian logistics, command and control and disrupt Russia’s defense industrial base.

Access Denied

Europe is at crossroads in history as world leaders discuss ending war in Ukraine

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Sunday Europe was at a crossroads in history and must do the heavy lifting to defend itself as world leaders met in London to discuss ways of working together to stop Russia’s war in Ukraine.


Starmer pledged to supply more arms to defend Ukraine, announcing that the U.K. will use 1.6 billion pounds ($2 billion) in export financing to supply 5,000 air defense missiles.


His call for European allies to increase their arms spending to shore up their own defenses and Ukraine’s was not a sign that he thought the United States had become an unreliable ally, he said. No two countries are closely aligned than the U.K. and the U.S., Starmer said.


“One thing our history tells us is that if there is conflict in Europe, it will wash up on our shores,” he said.


The summit comes two days after U.S. support for Ukraine appeared in greater jeopardy after President Donald Trump lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and said he wasn’t grateful enough for U.S. support.


“Even while Russia talks about peace, they are continuing their relentless aggression,” Starmer said at the outset of the meeting.


Starmer, flanked by Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron, said the three of them had agreed to work on a peace plan to take to the U.S., which has discussed brokering a peace deal.


“To support peace in our continent, and to succeed, this effort must have strong U.S. backing,” he said.


The meeting had been overshadowed by the extraordinary scolding of Zelenskyy by Trump.


Starmer said he’s focused on being a bridge to restore peace talks, whose collapse he used as an opportunity to re-engage with Trump, Zelenskyy and Macron rather than “ramp up the rhetoric.”


Starmer says he trusts Trump but not Putin


Sunday’s summit included talks on establishing a European military force to be sent to Ukraine to underpin a ceasefire. Starmer said it would involve “a coalition of the willing.”


Starmer told the BBC he does not trust Russian President Vladimir Putin but does trust Trump. “Do I believe Donald Trump when he says he wants lasting peace? The answer to that is yes,” he said.


Starmer said there are “intense discussions” to get a security guarantee from the U.S.


“If there is to be a deal, if there is to be a stopping of the fighting, then that agreement has to be defended, because the worst of all outcomes is that there is a temporary pause and then (Russian President Vladimir) Putin comes again,” Starmer said.


The three essentials Starmer listed for a successful peace deal were: arming the Ukrainians to put them in a position of strength; including a European element to guarantee security; and providing a “U.S. backstop,” to prevent Putin from breaking promises.


Starmer hosted the meeting at Lancaster House, a 200-year-old mansion near Buckingham Palace, following a charm offensive last week to persuade Trump to put Ukraine at the center of negotiations and tilt his allegiances toward Europe.


Britain's King Charles III and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky also met at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, eastern England, on the same day.

Europe is at crossroads in history as world leaders discuss

Good watch;

Propaganda. The Europeans are nearly useless without the US. Even more military oriented counties such as the UK have disarmed. Judging by their current defense spending, Europe isn't interested in defense against Russia.

Trump should with notice withdraw American soldiers and military funding from Europe. Make Europeans replace them. Increase their own fxcking taxes. Joe Bloggs in Florida or Georgia shouldn't be paying to defend Europe. The EU was set up to harm outsiders', including American, interests. The EU has fcked over countries around the world for decades. Fxck them. I loathe the wealthy bludgers.

WARSAW — Poland will look at gaining access to nuclear weapons and also ensure that every man undergoes military training as part of an effort to build a 500,000-strong army to face off the threat from Russia, Prime Minister Donald Tusk told the parliament on Friday.

Poland's dramatic military expansion comes as fears grow across Europe that U.S. President Donald Trump is aligning with the Kremlin and turning his back on America's traditional western alliances — a geopolitical shift that Warsaw regards as a potentially existential threat.

Tusk said that Poland "is talking seriously" with France about being protected by the French nuclear umbrella. President Emmanuel Macron has opened the possibility of other countries discussing how France’s nuclear deterrent can protect Europe.

Tusk also stressed that Poland cannot restrict itself to conventional weapons.

"We must be aware that Poland must reach for the most modern capabilities also related to nuclear weapons and modern unconventional weapons ... this is a race for security, not for war," he said.

He pointed to the example of Ukraine, which gave up is nuclear arsenal and is now being attacked by Russia.

He also talked about a massive upscaling of Poland's conventional military forces.

"By the end of the year, we want to have a model ready so that every adult male in Poland is trained for war, and so that this reserve is adequate for possible threats," Tusk said.

The Polish military is now about 200,000, which makes it the third-largest in NATO after the U.S. and Turkey and the largest among the alliance's EU members. Tusk pointed out that Ukraine has an army of about 800,000 while Russia has 1.3 million men under arms.

"Every healthy man should want to train to be able to defend the homeland in case of need. We will prepare it in such a way that it will not be a burden on people," Tusk said, adding that women would also be able to volunteer, but that "war is still, to a greater extent, the domain of men."

Tusk underlined this is not a return to conscription, which ended in Poland in 2008.

But that decision was taken in a very different time.

Now, growing fear about Russia, added to worry about the reliability of Poland's traditional alliance with the United States, is prompting a revolution in military planning.

"Poles will not adopt the philosophy that we are completely powerless and helpless, if President Trump has decided to adjust policy," Tusk said.

Counting on America

But he added that Poland is not giving up on NATO.

"Poland is not changing its opinion on the need, the absolutely fundamental need to maintain the closest possible ties with the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This is in general indisputable," he said.

Poland is already NATO's top spender, with its defense budget accounting for 4.7 percent of gross domestic product this year. Tusk told parliament that spending should increase to 5 percent of GDP — a figure touted by U.S. President Trump.

Poland is is spending billions on weapons — Abrams tanks, Patriot missile defense systems and F-35 jet fighters from the U.S. as well as K2 Black Panther main battle tanks, K9A1 Thunder howitzers, Homar-K rocket systems and jet trainers from South Korea.

The confusing signals coming out of the Trump administration are particularly worrying for Poland, which has built its security architecture around its close ties with the U.S. There are about 10,000 American soldiers stationed in Poland, and the country makes an effort to buy U.S. weapons systems — to the annoyance of other European countries.

But the sight of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy being berated in the White House, the U.S. ending arms aid to Ukraine, and Donald Trump's comments that the U.S. may not fulfill its NATO obligations to protect members against attack if he feels they are not spending enough on defense are very concerning.

“We are seeing a deep correction in U.S. policy with regard to Ukraine but we can’t turn our backs to it only because we don’t like it. We must be precise and honest in assessing what it means and what serves our interest and what doesn’t,” Tusk told parliament.

He insisted that Europe has the economic potential to stand up to Russia.

“Our deficit has been the lack of the will to act, having no confidence, and sometimes even cowardice. But Russia will be helpless against united Europe,” Tusk said, adding: “It’s striking but it’s true.

Right now, 500 million Europeans are begging 300 million Americans for protection from 140 million Russians who have been unable to overcome 50 million Ukrainians for three years."

He also said Poland would take steps to withdraw from international treaties banning the use of anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions.

Despite the planned military buildup, Tusk insisted that Polish troops would not be sent to Ukraine to police any peace agreement — something France and the U.K. are considering.

“Poland's job is to guard its eastern border, which is also the border of NATO and the European Union," he said.

https://www.politico.eu/article/dona...ervice-russia/

Lets hope the lads in Kursk get out before they are cut off and the allies have enough intel on russian movements now the US has cut its intel to Ukr

Originally Posted by bsnub

He pointed to the example of Ukraine, which gave up is nuclear arsenal and is now being attacked by Russia.

Spot on Tusk! Arm up Ukraine with a few Tactical nucs and Putin will back off.

Originally Posted by Norton

Spot on Tusk! Arm up Ukraine with a few Tactical nucs and Putin will back off.

Ukraine should have never given up its nukes in the first place.