Ukraine: US Lies, Provocation, Broken Promises, Fake News

[Anthea]

US to reduce Ukraine aid

The US has begun sending smaller military aid packages to Ukraine in order to stretch out support, given a stalemate in Congress over Ukraine financing, according to the White House on Friday

White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, told reporters that the United States intends to support Ukraine for as long as feasible while Congress debates further funding.

The cut in funds comes amid the passing of a new $14.3bn aid bill to "Israel", despite warnings against the bill. The Republican measure was approved by 226-196, including 12 Democrats and two rejected Republican votes

On that note, Senate leader Chuck Schumer slammed the House bill as "deeply flawed", adding that the upper chamber of Congress is not expected to pass it. Moreover, US President Joe Biden has vowed to veto the bill "should it ever land on his desk."

It was the new Republican House Speaker Mike Johnston's first major legislative plan, which included $4 billion for the Israeli Iron Dome system.

Republicans proposed slashing $14.3 billion in funds for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which is in charge of collecting US federal taxes, to balance the expense of aid to "Israel". However, the neutral Congressional Budget Office (CBO) stated that the proposed IRS funding cuts would result in less tax income and would increase the US deficit by roughly $12.5 billion over the next decade

On another note, the Russian military expert, Alexei Leonkov, considered that the United States, as always, will provide Ukraine with enough new laser-guided ammunition to test it on the battlefield, but enough to confront Russian forces.

This includes laser-guided missiles for use against Russian drones, additional ammunition for NASAMS anti-aircraft missile systems and HIMARS rocket launchers, as well as 105 and 155 mm cannons, TOW anti-tank missile systems, and Claymore anti-personnel mines. , light weapons, and dozens of trucks.

On that note, Ukraine's fears of a shift in American backing to "Israel" are growing, as the Israeli entity's aggression against the Gaza Strip continues, and the war in the Middle East escalates.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... funding-cu

[Anthea]

In the centre of Hero Square's tree-filled park, there is a monument to those who died fighting Ukrainian Nazis in WW2.

The liberation of Donbass from Ukrainian Nazis took place on September 8, 1943

The park also contains a tank installed there in honor of militiamen who died defending Donbass against Ukrainian neo-Nazis troops from 2014 until now

Pick almost any day since the illegal coup in 2014

And you will find news such as this

In the period from September 2 to September 8, 2019

86 ceasefire violations by Ukrainian armed formations were recorded. Overall, 918 rounds of ammunition were fired into Donbass (8.5 tons or 99 boxes)

Ukrainian Army War Crimes Include Shelling of Ambulences, Firetrucks, and Rescue Workers in the Donbass Republics

[Anthea]

Ukraine Attacks on Donetsk

Violate International Law

Russia's permanent representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzia said on Wednesday that the recent Ukrainian attacks on Donetsk, in which civilians were killed, are a violation of international law

Addressing the organization's Security Council, Nebenzia said that with November 7 attacks on densely populated areas of Donetsk, Ukraine shows once again "new evidence of deliberate actions of the Kiev regime to destroy the civilian population of Donbass."

The Russian president noted that Ukraine targeted civilian objects in the city center three times during the day, firing rockets of the HIMARS and Uragan systems. In this regard, he said that "the terrorist practice of repeatedly attacking the same place is firmly rooted in the arsenal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces."

"Knowing full well that the operational services (rescuers, doctors, Police) and journalists will not take long to reach the shelling sites, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launch repeated attacks while working, preventing the evacuation of the wounded and dead and also preventing the Emergencies Ministry staff from fully engaging in eliminating the consequences of the shelling," Nebenzia denounced

The November 7 attacks left six civilians dead and 55 others injured, including three children and 23 first responders from the Ministry of Emergencies. A doctor and an ambulance officer who attended the scene were killed, as well as a traffic police officer.

The command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces knew exactly where the attacks were being carried out and that the targets of the attacks were not military, but civilian objects and people, Nebenzia said, noting that the attacks were carried out with Western long-range, high-precision weapons.

"These are deliberate and cynical crimes for which there is no statute of limitations," denounced the Russian diplomat, who pointed to U.S. cynicism in calling these crimes "collateral damage." Washington is accustomed to covering up its own crimes and those of its allies in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and the Middle East with this term, Nebenzia said.

"The Ukrainian Armed Forces are applied pupils of their masters," he said.

DPR has been shelled by Ukrainian forces more than 25,000 times since February 2022 and 145,000 shells have fallen on its territory, according to Nebenzia

For its part, China expressed its rejection of the massive Ukrainian attack on civilian facilities in Donetsk. "China is deeply concerned about this event. The defense of civilians constitutes a red line of international humanitarian law. Civilian facilities cannot be targeted," said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Ukr ... -0024.html

[Anthea]

Negotiations with Russia on Ukraine

According to a new NBC report, officials have privately divulged that "Ukraine likely only has until the end of the year or shortly thereafter before more urgent discussions about peace negotiations should begin."

According to a new NBC News report, the situation on the ground in Ukraine has come to a standstill and Western officials are beginning to discuss the possibility of holding peace negotiations with Russia.

The report details how during a recent round of negotiations in Malta, American and European diplomats encouraged Ukraine to think about what compromises it might be willing to make. This marked an important change from the public messaging surrounding the summit, which was primarily presented as a chance to increase support for Ukraine's maximalist peace plan.

According to the report, officials have privately divulged that "Ukraine likely only has until the end of the year or shortly thereafter before more urgent discussions about peace negotiations should begin."

A State Department spokesperson denied the NBC’s reporting on Tuesday, citing that the administration was unaware of any such conversations with Ukraine.

The world's focus has primarily been on Palestine recently, where "Israel" has relentlessly bombarded the Gaza Strip and killed over 10 thousand Palestinians.

Attempts to strengthen Global South support for Ukraine have been made more difficult by the West's divergent responses to the two wars.

President Joe Biden is currently trying to have $61.4 billion in support for Ukraine linked to $14.3 billion in help for "Israel", something House Republicans have rejected thus far. Given that there might be a government shutdown later this month, the likelihood of a financing vacuum in US dollars for Kiev has increased.

In Europe, economic fatigue and stalling efforts on the battlefield have lessened support for Ukraine.

“We [are] near the moment in which everybody understands that we need a way out,” Giorgia Meloni, the Prime Minister of Italy expressed.

Formerly, the Joint Chiefs head Mark Milley, expressed late last year that the winter could provide “a window of opportunity for negotiation," noting that a real victory was not possible through "military means."

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... -on-ukrain

[Anthea]

Quick reminder:

Western Ukraine supported Nazis in WW2

Donbass fought against the Nazis and has a statue to celebrate pushing Nazis on their land

America made an agreement with Russia whereby Russia would give up it's part of Germany and America / NATO would not move an inch closer to Russia

Russia kept it's part of the agreement, America/NATO has not

In 2014 an illegal American backed coup took place in Ukraine and the legally elected President was removed

People in the Donbass and Crimea were Russian speakers

The newly installed puppet government decided to ban everything Russian, their language was banned, their culture was banned, their books were banned, their music was banned, very similar to problems Kurds have endured

Attacks on the Donbass became more violent so the Minsk agreements were drawn up to create a ceasefire and allow the Donbass a certain amount of autonomy

Even though the Minsk agreement was excepted into international law by the UN, the Kiev regime continued to bomb the Donbass

In the interim, US developed many Bio-labs in Ukraine, a fact that they tried to deny for many years

Also, in recent years, the Kiev government has replaced many of it's street names with those of Nazi heroes

Why is Zelensky president? Because Zelensky was a actor who played the part of Ukrainian president for many years and it was easy to get him elected

Zelensky's claims to fame includes playing the piano with his penis

The Donbass made numerous appeals to the international community for support against the illegal attacks on their land and the slaughter of innocent civilians

The weekend prior to Russia's eventual, asked for support, more than 2,000 attacks by the Kiev Regime on the Donbass were reported

The majority of freedom fighter within the Donbass are actually from the Donbass

[Anthea]

Battle to control Donetsk suburb of Avdiivka

Dmitri Kovalevich is the special correspondent in Ukraine for Al Mayadeen English. He writes a monthly situation report for the publication; this is his report for October 2023.)

A large military operation by the armed forces of the Russian Federation and the Donetsk Republic has been underway for several months to capture Avdiivka, an industrial suburb of the capital city of Donetsk still held by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Since 2014, the governing coup regime in Ukraine has waged a terror campaign against the residents of Donetsk and its suburbs, using artillery, rockets, and sniper fire. Avdiivka has served as a key fortification of this campaign

In October, one of the most difficult military issues facing Ukraine was the unfolding battle for control of the industrial suburb of Avdiivka (Avdeevka) in the Donetsk Republic (Donbass region).

Armed forces of the Russian Federation and its Donetsk Republic commenced a military drive several months ago to liberate the suburb. This occurred as a much-publicized, self-declared 'counteroffensive' by Ukraine begun in early June of this year has soon stalled and was petering out.

Avdiivka has served as a key fortification for Ukrainian forces while they continue to pound nearby Donetsk city and surrounding suburbs with artillery and rocket fire. Large amounts of money have been invested by Ukraine since 2015 to fortify Avdiivka.

Avdiivka is located some 20-25 kilometers west of the center of Donetsk city. For nine long years, beginning in 2014, the Ukrainian armed forces have steadily shelled the citizens of Donetsk city and the republic of the same name. There have been thousands of deaths. Western media has chosen all along not to report to its consumers what has been taking pace there. Instead, it presents a story of 'Russian-backed separatists' seeking to destroy Ukraine

Absent from the Western news has been the simple fact that the citizens of Donetsk (and neighboring Lugansk Republic) did not wish to live under the illegal, coup government founded through a violent rebellion in Kiev in February 2014.

They refused to submit to the authority of the illegal coup government, and when the latter began to send its armed forces and paramilitaries against the population of the two republics, they resisted and fought back. Following some eight years of requests by the two republics, they were welcomed into membership of the Russian Federation in February 2022, on the eve of Russia's military intervention into Ukraine. T

he main reason for the intervention was and remains to put an end to Ukraine's military attacks, threats, and economic embargos against Donetsk, Lugansk, and nearby Crimea. Crimea voted in March 2014 to secede from the illegal coup in Ukraine and join the Russian Federation.

Since 2014, the Ukrainian army has built large fortifications in Avdiivka, including deep underground bunkers and passageways, protected by concrete walls five meters thick in places. This fact alone shows that from 2014 to 2022, Ukraine had no intention to fulfill the Minsk peace agreement of 2015, including stopping the shelling and rocket attacks against Donetsk and Lugansk.

The 'Minsk 2' agreement was signed by Ukraine and the two Donbass republics on February 12, 2015. Russia, France, and Germany agreed to co-sign as guarantors. The agreement was endorsed five days later by no less than the UN Security Council. The Western powers never lived up to their promises as guarantors

The capture of Avdiivka and adjacent territories will ease the ongoing shellings of Donetsk, but in order to finally end all the attacks against the city and its suburbs, the Ukraine armed forces must also be driven from other settlements west of Donetsk, including Maryinka, Krasnogorovka, Karlivka and Kurakhovo.

According to Alexander Matyushin, a Russian military officer from Donetsk, this would then place Ukraine's artillery and multiple rocket launch systems (though not the U.S.-supplied 'HIMARS' rocket systems) outside the range of Donetsk city.

Viktor Vodolatsky, an elected member of the Russian State Duma, explains that Avdiivka was made into a fortress under the guidance of Western military specialists and that it is very difficult to storm it. "Avdiivka is a strategic point for the Armed Forces of Ukraine [AFU] in which they have invested a huge amount of Western funds and built well-protected bunkers and passageways. Tens of thousands of tons of concrete have been poured there. Therefore, it is absurd to expect that Russia would take the city tomorrow."

According to data in mid-October, about 1,000 civilians remained in the city, refusing to evacuate and hiding in basements from Ukrainian troops. They live without basic electricity, heating, and water supply.

On the Russian Federation side, the battle for Avdiivka is being largely waged by military forces from Donetsk. They are defending their homeland and thus have additional motivation to participate in the battle.

The Ukrainian military has recorded the use by Russians forces of remote-controlled transport vehicles used to storm the most difficult areas of Avdiivka. In late October, Donetsk battalions captured the slag (waste) heap located on the suburb's northern perimeter, adjacent to a large, coke-producing complex. The slag heap is the highest point in the city. Red flags and the flag of Russia were planted on the heap following its capture. Ukraine then used several drones to destroy them.

In Ukraine, the battle for Avdiivka is being compared to the earlier, months-long and bloody battle for control over the city of Bakhmut, which ended in May of this year with a Russian victory. Bakhmut, pre-war population of some 70,000, is situated some 70 km north of Donetsk and was similarly fortified.

Russian and Donetsk forces are slowly creating lines to squeeze or entirely block the re-supply routes into Avdiivka of weapons, ammunition and troops, just as they did earlier at Bakhmut. The Ukrainian Telegram channel 'Legitimny' reports on October 13, "The Russian Armed Forces have launched an operation called 'The road to Avdiivka'.

Most recently, they have begun to pressure the flanks of Ukraine's defenses. The AFU has managed to hold many of its lines, but the losses from enormous artillery and rocket fire from the Russian side are huge. No military expert dares to predict that the flanks of the AFU pockets may hold. The risk of them not holding is high."

Sure enough, on November 2, the same Telegram channel reported that the Ukrainian defenses of the city were beginning to collapse. Reserve forces of Ukraine transferred from the direction of Zaporizhzhya have managed to stop the Russian advances in Avdiivka for a time, but the situation has not fundamentally altered in Ukraine's favor. According to the Telegram channel's authors, Kiev will need to constantly send reserves into the city. This will weaken other fronts and open them up to Russian advances.

As in the battle for Bakhmut, the tactics of the Ukrainian armed forces are reduced to throwing new and poorly trained units of conscripted soldiers into the semi-encircled city at a high risk of death or injury. Many reservists do not even make it to the city. The only road open to Avdiivka for Ukraine has become a lengthy graveyard of Western-supplied military equipment.

The Ukrainian Telegram channel 'ZeRada' wrote on October 25, "It is morally difficult for the Ukrainian military to advance into Avdiivka as they must use a road strewn with burned-out vehicles and incoming soldiers soon become aware that it will be even harder for them to get back out."

Senior lieutenant and volunteer in the Donetsk armed forces Alexander Matyushin told an interviewer on November 2 that most of the Western-supplied military equipment shipped to Avdiivka is being destroyed on the way to the city, with the help of Russian drones.

"Our drone pilots are now competing among themselves as to who can destroy more Leopard tanks (supplied by Germany and other European countries) and other armored vehicles. The tanks and armored vehicles are being transferred from the Zaporizhzhya front [more than 100 km to the west of Donetsk city]."

"Of note also, with the help of a kamikaze drone, we were able to destroy a Ukrainian telecommunications tower in the south of Avdiivka, leaving one of the Ukrainian military units without communication. During radio intercepts, our militaries have heard Polish as well as Spanish being spoken by these soldiers on the other side."

For the Ukrainian authorities, the fall of Avdiivka will be a serious blow to the image of the war they are waging. President Volodomyr Zelensky's former adviser Oleksiy Arestovich, who resigned and left for Europe several months ago, is reported on Telegram on October 24 saying that the fall of Avdiivka would be a harsh verdict on the corrupt Ukrainian government system in place ever since the demise of the Soviet Union.

Arestovich says the impunity of Ukrainian officials and politicians for systemic corruption, for squandering the resources of the AFU and for presiding over a drastic decline of the Ukraine economy have led to a situation where Ukraine is now losing cities one by one. All are being lost along by the same military pattern. "The prospect of losing Avdiivka after losing Popasna, Severodonetsk, Lisichansk and Bakhmut is a verdict against the current government system," he says.

The loss of Avdiivka, which is the largest Ukrainian fortification in Donbass, after a nearly five-month uninterrupted and highly ineffective 'counteroffensive' by the AFU is a powerful blow to Kiev's reputation writes the Ukrainian Telegram channel Klymenko-Time on October 30.

Former Ukrainian MP Igor Mosiychuk, a right-wing Ukrainian nationalist, says that the participants in the fighting for Avdiivka are testifying to the chaos, heavy losses and strategic mistakes in the defense of the city. According to him, the fall of Avdiivka is only a matter of time but Ukrainian propagandists have the population living in a dream world. "The fall of Avdiivka will be a verdict against the financial and military support being provided to Ukraine," he says.

Ukrainian experts also report disagreements between the political leadership and military leadership in Ukraine. The military believes that it is not worth sacrificing its forces for the sake of holding Avdiivka, but for government authorities, the 'effectiveness' of the military needs to be demonstrated to the West in order to keep the flow of money and military assistance flowing.

As a result, tensions are growing in Ukraine between the military and the country's political leadership, as even external observers have noted. The Polish publication Interia recently published an interview with Polish writer Szczepan Twardoch under the telling headline:

'The military hates Zelensky'. Twardoch regularly travels to Ukraine and communicates with the military at the front. The Polish writer writes there are many soldiers in the Ukrainian army who do not want to fight because it is now an army largely comprised of conscripts, with fewer and fewer volunteers remaining in it

Polish newspaper Myśl Polska recently published an analysis headlined, 'A turning point of the war over Ukraine?' The writer begins with, "It is highly probable that we are dealing with a breakthrough clash in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

The outcome of this battle may, in my subjective opinion, be a turning point in the war for Ukraine, just like the battle for the city of Debaltsevo in January-February 2015. The capture of Avdiivka by the Russians, just like Debaltsevo in 2015, maybe the end of hostilities and the beginning of diplomatic solutions…" [The military defeat of Ukraine at Debaltsevo in early 2015 compelled the coup regime in Kiev, against its will, to sign the 'Minsk 2' agreement.]

Unfortunately and tragically, peace talks are not part of the West's plans for Ukraine. For it, the war is all about weakening Russia, and the governing regime in Ukraine led by Zelensky is all in. Thirteen months ago, the regime issued a decree banning any peace negotiations with Russian leaders. Former German Chancellor Gerhardt Schröder revealed in an interview in late October that back in March 2022, the United States instructed Kiev to withdraw from peace talks with Russia that were taking place in Istanbul.

All this and more reveals just how little remains of 'Ukraine independence'. During the past nine years, the coup leaders in Ukraine have voluntarily submitted the country and its economy to subjugation to the United States and the other leading countries of the NATO military alliance.

https://english.almayadeen.net/articles ... of-the-don

[Anthea]

Ukrainian colonel coordinator

of Nord Stream attack

The report described Roman Chervinsky as a senior Ukrainian military officer with strong connections to the country's intelligence

The Washington Post, referencing Ukrainian and European officials along with individuals familiar with the operation's specifics, reported that Ukrainian colonel Roman Chervinsky was the alleged coordinator of the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines.

The report, describing Chervinsky as a senior Ukrainian military officer with strong connections to the country's intelligence, detailed his alleged involvement in the assault on the Nord Stream gas pipelines last year.

According to the report, Chervinsky served as the "coordinator" of the operation and was not acting independently.

As per the newspaper's sources familiar with the execution of the attack, the Ukrainian officer received directives from higher-ranking officials, who in turn reported to Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

In earlier reports in August this year, German media, ZDF and Der Spiegel, said that there is no evidence of Russia's involvement in the pipeline explosions.

The news outlets added that there is growing evidence that agents linked to Ukraine may be behind the attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines. The news outlets noted that they were in Ukraine before and after the explosions in the Baltic Sea, citing technical data.

The month prior, a report by WashPo said the CIA knew through a European spy agency, three months before the sabotage attack, that members of a Ukrainian special operations team intended to blow up the NordStream pipeline.

The yacht involved, according to the investigators, was loaded with explosives and made a deviation from its original route into Polish waters from the Danish island of Christianso.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office of Germany confirmed last March that searches had been carried out on a ship that was carrying explosives to blow up the Nord Stream gas pipelines.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... eam-attack

[Anthea]

Ukrainian troops face shortages

Due to various issues, including ammunition shortages, Ukraine has been unable to take the offensive on the battlefield

The Wall Street Journal's report on Sunday said that Ukrainian soldiers are facing shortages in both ammunition and manpower, compelling them to deploy drone operators and armored vehicle crews to the frontlines in their conflict with Russia.

The report mentioned that due to various issues, including ammunition shortages, Ukraine has been unable to take the offensive on the battlefield. Consequently, they had to transition to a defensive stance after months of counteroffensive operations.

"It's a trench deadlock ... A general offensive is impossible for either side. Neither side can break through," a senior Ukrainian security official was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Russia's defeat: not expected

Yesterday, EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell remarked that the EU faces several challenges, notably the Ukraine conflict, noting that Russia's defeat in the near term is not anticipated.

"We are facing many problems. Europe is dealing with a double challenge. Firstly, it is Ukraine where Russia's defeat is not expected in the near future," Borrell said in his video address to the congress of the Party of European Socialists.

Even considering this reality, Borrell emphasized the importance of the EU's continued support for Kiev, especially given the probable reduction in aid from the US.

The top EU diplomat highlighted the war on Gaza as the second significant challenge for Europe, attributing it to the "political and moral failure of the international community."

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... ussia--wsj

Thinking it is time for the Kiev to STOP bombing Donbass

The world is becoming aware of the truth, with many mainstream news sites now mentioning the 2014 illegal coup in Ukraine and Kiev's attack on the Donbass against the Minsk agreements

The entire world now knows about the US's lies and cover-ups while trying to conceal their large network of Bio-labs

[Anthea]

Donetsk industrial suburb of Avdiivka

Dmitri Kovalevich is the special correspondent in Ukraine for Al Mayadeen English. He writes a monthly situation report for the publication; this is his report for October 2023.)

A large military operation by the armed forces of the Russian Federation and the Donetsk Republic has been underway for several months to capture Avdiivka, an industrial suburb of the capital city of Donetsk still held by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Since 2014, the governing coup regime in Ukraine has waged a terror campaign against the residents of Donetsk and its suburbs, using artillery, rockets, and sniper fire. Avdiivka has served as a key fortification of this campaign.

In October, one of the most difficult military issues facing Ukraine was the unfolding battle for control of the industrial suburb of Avdiivka (Avdeevka) in the Donetsk Republic (Donbass region). Armed forces of the Russian Federation and its Donetsk Republic commenced a military drive several months ago to liberate the suburb. This occurred as a much-publicized, self-declared 'counteroffensive' by Ukraine begun in early June of this year has soon stalled and was (is) petering out.

Avdiivka has served as a key fortification for Ukrainian forces while they continue to pound nearby Donetsk city and surrounding suburbs with artillery and rocket fire. Large amounts of money have been invested by Ukraine since 2015 to fortify Avdiivka.

Avdiivka is located some 20-25 kilometers west of the center of Donetsk city. For nine long years, beginning in 2014, the Ukrainian armed forces have steadily shelled the citizens of Donetsk city and the republic of the same name. There have been thousands of deaths. Western media has chosen all along not to report to its consumers what has been taking pace there. Instead, it presents a story of 'Russian-backed separatists' seeking to destroy Ukraine

Absent from the Western news has been the simple fact that the citizens of Donetsk (and neighboring Lugansk Republic) did not wish to live under the illegal, coup government founded through a violent rebellion in Kiev in February 2014.

They refused to submit to the authority of the illegal coup government, and when the latter began to send its armed forces and paramilitaries against the population of the two republics, they resisted and fought back. Following some eight years of requests by the two republics, they were welcomed into membership of the Russian Federation in February 2022, on the eve of Russia's military intervention into Ukraine.

The main reason for the intervention was and remains to put an end to Ukraine's military attacks, threats, and economic embargos against Donetsk, Lugansk, and nearby Crimea. Crimea voted in March 2014 to secede from the coup in Ukraine and join the Russian Federation.

Since 2014, the Ukrainian army has built large fortifications in Avdiivka, including deep underground bunkers and passageways, protected by concrete walls five meters thick in places. This fact alone shows that from 2014 to 2022, Ukraine had no intention to fulfill the Minsk peace agreement of 2015, including stopping the shelling and rocket attacks against Donetsk and Lugansk

The 'Minsk 2' agreement was signed by Ukraine and the two Donbass republics on February 12, 2015. Russia, France, and Germany agreed to co-sign as guarantors. The agreement was endorsed five days later by no less than the UN Security Council. The Western powers never lived up to their promises as guarantors and they encouraged Ukraine not to respect or implement the agreement.

The capture of Avdiivka and adjacent territories will ease the ongoing shellings of Donetsk, but in order to finally end all the attacks against the city and its suburbs, the Ukraine armed forces must also be driven from other settlements west of Donetsk, including Maryinka, Krasnogorovka, Karlivka and Kurakhovo. According to Alexander Matyushin, a Russian military officer from Donetsk, this would then place Ukraine's artillery and multiple rocket launch systems (though not the U.S.-supplied 'HIMARS' rocket systems) outside the range of Donetsk city.

Viktor Vodolatsky, an elected member of the Russian State Duma, explains that Avdiivka was made into a fortress under the guidance of Western military specialists and that it is very difficult to storm it. "Avdiivka is a strategic point for the Armed Forces of Ukraine [AFU] in which they have invested a huge amount of Western funds and built well-protected bunkers and passageways. Tens of thousands of tons of concrete have been poured there. Therefore, it is absurd to expect that Russia would take the city tomorrow."

According to data in mid-October, about 1,000 civilians remained in the city, refusing to evacuate and hiding in basements from Ukrainian troops. They live without basic electricity, heating, and water supply

On the Russian Federation side, the battle for Avdiivka is being largely waged by military forces from Donetsk. They are defending their homeland and thus have additional motivation to participate in the battle

The Ukrainian military has recorded the use by Russians forces of remote-controlled transport vehicles used to storm the most difficult areas of Avdiivka. In late October, Donetsk battalions captured the slag (waste) heap located on the suburb's northern perimeter, adjacent to a large, coke-producing complex. The slag heap is the highest point in the city. Red flags and the flag of Russia were planted on the heap following its capture. Ukraine then used several drones to destroy them.

In Ukraine, the battle for Avdiivka is being compared to the earlier, months-long and bloody battle for control over the city of Bakhmut, which ended in May of this year with a Russian victory. Bakhmut, pre-war population of some 70,000, is situated some 70 km north of Donetsk and was similarly fortified.

Russian and Donetsk forces are slowly creating lines to squeeze or entirely block the re-supply routes into Avdiivka of weapons, ammunition and troops, just as they did earlier at Bakhmut. The Ukrainian Telegram channel 'Legitimny' reports on October 13,

"The Russian Armed Forces have launched an operation called 'The road to Avdiivka'. Most recently, they have begun to pressure the flanks of Ukraine's defenses. The AFU has managed to hold many of its lines, but the losses from enormous artillery and rocket fire from the Russian side are huge. No military expert dares to predict that the flanks of the AFU pockets may hold. The risk of them not holding is high."

Sure enough, on November 2, the same Telegram channel reported that the Ukrainian defenses of the city were beginning to collapse. Reserve forces of Ukraine transferred from the direction of Zaporizhzhya have managed to stop the Russian advances in Avdiivka for a time, but the situation has not fundamentally altered in Ukraine's favor. According to the Telegram channel's authors, Kiev will need to constantly send reserves into the city. This will weaken other fronts and open them up to Russian advances.

As in the battle for Bakhmut, the tactics of the Ukrainian armed forces are reduced to throwing new and poorly trained units of conscripted soldiers into the semi-encircled city at a high risk of death or injury. Many reservists do not even make it to the city. The only road open to Avdiivka for Ukraine has become a lengthy graveyard of Western-supplied military equipment.

The Ukrainian Telegram channel 'ZeRada' wrote on October 25, "It is morally difficult for the Ukrainian military to advance into Avdiivka as they must use a road strewn with burned-out vehicles and incoming soldiers soon become aware that it will be even harder for them to get back out."

Senior lieutenant and volunteer in the Donetsk armed forces Alexander Matyushin told an interviewer on November 2 that most of the Western-supplied military equipment shipped to Avdiivka is being destroyed on the way to the city, with the help of Russian drones. "Our drone pilots are now competing among themselves as to who can destroy more Leopard tanks (supplied by Germany and other European countries) and other armored vehicles. The tanks and armored vehicles are being transferred from the Zaporizhzhya front [more than 100 km to the west of Donetsk city]."

"Of note also, with the help of a kamikaze drone, we were able to destroy a Ukrainian telecommunications tower in the south of Avdiivka, leaving one of the Ukrainian military units without communication. During radio intercepts, our militaries have heard Polish as well as Spanish being spoken by these soldiers on the other side."

For the Ukrainian authorities, the fall of Avdiivka will be a serious blow to the image of the war they are waging. President Volodomyr Zelensky's former adviser Oleksiy Arestovich, who resigned and left for Europe several months ago, is reported on Telegram on October 24 saying that the fall of Avdiivka would be a harsh verdict on the corrupt Ukrainian government system in place ever since the demise of the Soviet Union

Arestovich says the impunity of Ukrainian officials and politicians for systemic corruption, for squandering the resources of the AFU and for presiding over a drastic decline of the Ukraine economy have led to a situation where Ukraine is now losing cities one by one. All are being lost along by the same military pattern. "The prospect of losing Avdiivka after losing Popasna, Severodonetsk, Lisichansk and Bakhmut is a verdict against the current government system," he says.

The loss of Avdiivka, which is the largest Ukrainian fortification in Donbass, after a nearly five-month uninterrupted and highly ineffective 'counteroffensive' by the AFU is a powerful blow to Kiev's reputation writes the Ukrainian Telegram channel Klymenko-Time on October 30.

Former Ukrainian MP Igor Mosiychuk, a right-wing Ukrainian nationalist, says that the participants in the fighting for Avdiivka are testifying to the chaos, heavy losses and strategic mistakes in the defense of the city. According to him, the fall of Avdiivka is only a matter of time but Ukrainian propagandists have the population living in a dream world. "The fall of Avdiivka will be a verdict against the financial and military support being provided to Ukraine," he says.

Ukrainian experts also report disagreements between the political leadership and military leadership in Ukraine. The military believes that it is not worth sacrificing its forces for the sake of holding Avdiivka, but for government authorities, the 'effectiveness' of the military needs to be demonstrated to the West in order to keep the flow of money and military assistance flowing.

As a result, tensions are growing in Ukraine between the military and the country's political leadership, as even external observers have noted. The Polish publication Interia recently published an interview with Polish writer Szczepan Twardoch under the telling headline: 'The military hates Zelensky'. Twardoch regularly travels to Ukraine and communicates with the military at the front. The Polish writer writes there are many soldiers in the Ukrainian army who do not want to fight because it is now an army largely comprised of conscripts, with fewer and fewer volunteers remaining in it.

Polish newspaper Myśl Polska recently published an analysis headlined, 'A turning point of the war over Ukraine?' The writer begins with, "It is highly probable that we are dealing with a breakthrough clash in the Russian-Ukrainian war. The outcome of this battle may, in my subjective opinion, be a turning point in the war for Ukraine, just like the battle for the city of Debaltsevo in January-February 2015. The capture of Avdiivka by the Russians, just like Debaltsevo in 2015, maybe the end of hostilities and the beginning of diplomatic solutions…" [The military defeat of Ukraine at Debaltsevo in early 2015 compelled the coup regime in Kiev, against its will, to sign the 'Minsk 2' agreement.]

Unfortunately and tragically, peace talks are not part of the West's plans for Ukraine. For it, the war is all about weakening Russia, and the governing regime in Ukraine led by Zelensky is all in. Thirteen months ago, the regime issued a decree banning any peace negotiations with Russian leaders. Former German Chancellor Gerhardt Schröder revealed in an interview in late October that back in March 2022, the United States instructed Kiev to withdraw from peace talks with Russia that were taking place in Istanbul.

All this and more reveals just how little remains of 'Ukraine independence'. During the past nine years, the coup leaders in Ukraine have voluntarily submitted the country and its economy to subjugation to the United States and the other leading countries of the NATO military alliance.

https://english.almayadeen.net/articles ... of-the-don

[Anthea]

Ukraine losses surpass 3,600 troops

Russian forces repelled 28 assaults in the Donetsk direction, near the cities of Avdiivka and Marinka, as well as the settlement of Klishchiivka

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Ukrainian forces suffered losses of 3,600 troops in the last week mainly in the Donetsk, Southern Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Kupiansk directions in the previous week.

Last week, Ukrainian media reported that almost nine out of every ten Ukrainian draftees who enlisted in the army a year ago have either been killed or injured in combat

Russian forces repelled 28 assaults in the Donetsk direction, near the cities of Avdiivka and Marinka, as well as the settlement of Klishchiivka.

"For the past week, Ukraine's losses to air, missile and artillery strikes amounted to over 1,455 military dead or injured, 16 tanks and over armed vehicles, 25 cars, 15 artillery weapons and three multiple-launch rocket systems. Besides, three shell storage facilities have been destroyed," the ministry detailed.

Russian soldiers repelled five raids in the direction of Southern Donetsk, destroying almost 950 men, 14 armed vehicles, 32 motor vehicles, and five artillery weapons.

The ministry detailed how Ukrainian troops lost 445 military troops and 35 cars while attempting to cross the Dnipro River in the area of Kherson in an attempt to gain bridgeheads on the islands and left bank of the river. Russian troops also stopped eight diversion-reconnaissance groups.

Another 515 Ukrainian servicemen were killed in the Zaporizhzhia direction when the Russian military intercepted 8 raids in the villages of Robotyne and Verbove, as well as 24 combat vehicles, 19 automobiles, and 35 artillery pieces, according to the Russian MoD.

The ministry announced Ukrainian casualties in the Kupiansk direction amounted to 235 troops, six armored vehicles, 18 vehicles, 24 artillery pieces, and a US-made M1097 Avenger anti-aircraft missile system.

Recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin estimated Ukraine's military casualties to exceed 71,000 personnel. Additionally, he proposed that Kiev might consider engaging in negotiations with Moscow once its resources for confronting Russian defenses become critically depleted. Putin's assessment emphasized that Ukraine would primarily seek talks to rehabilitate its weakened military capabilities.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... ussian-mod

[Anthea]

I hope you have all enjoyed the computer graphics showing Kiev destroying Russian tanks

I would like to remind you that Zelensky stated he had a shortage of weapons, tanks and his troops are inexperienced, no way could they start a major offensive against Russian and Donbass troops

Much easier and less expensive to use computer graphics

[Anthea]

Murdoch meets Zelensky in Kiev

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets with media mogul Lachlan Murdoch, hoping to restore global attention to the war in Ukraine.

Lachlan Murdoch, the heir of the Murdock media empire serving as the Fox Corp chief executive, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev at a time when global media has shifted its focus from the war in Ukraine.

Murdoch visited Kiev, accompanied by a couple of News Corp journalists, Benjamin Hall from Fox News and Jerome Starkey from the UK tabloid The Sun

Significantly, Hall had lost his leg covering the Ukrainian frontlines while his colleagues, cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian fixer Oleksandra Kuvshynova, were killed.

As per claims from Kiev, the meeting was a "very important signal of support at the time when the world’s attention is blurred by other events," seemingly referencing the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Ukrainian presidential website, Zelensky highlighted that journalist crews have been at the forefront of the war in Ukraine, stressing, "In particular, it is thanks to journalists from many countries that we now have such support in the world."

In that context, the Ukrainian president "thanked Lachlan Murdoch for his visit."
Business of empire

It is important to note that Murdoch became the sole executive in charge of Rupert Murdoch's global media empire after the latter announced he would be stepping down earlier in September of this year.

Murdoch’s company, News Corp, which has been headquartered in New York, owns hundreds of news outlets in the US, UK, and across the world. Across the US, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, and book publisher HarperCollins are all owned by the company, which also owns Fox News, through the Fox Corporation, and subsequently, Sky News Australia.

As for operations in the UK, Murdoch owns The Sun and The Times, both of which are dailies, as well as the News of the World weekly. In Australia, News Corp owns The Daily Telegraph, the Herald Sun, and The Australian.

Previously, and until 2018, Murdoch owned British-based Sky News, and until 2019, he owned 21st Century Fox, the film company.

Containing Russia

Murdoch has not been the only mogul concerned with containing Russia and the Ukraine front.

Alex Soros, who had also inherited his father's empire, announced that his empire is concerned with containing Russia and "avoid creating a geopolitical vacuum."

Earlier in the year, US billionaire and founder of the controversial Open Society Foundation OSF George Soros announced the passing down control of his empire to his son Alexander Soros.

In turn, the OSF's new chair of the Board of Directors, revealed in an article written for Politico, that the OSF will be reducing its headcount and reorienting its priorities, but it will not be leaving Europe.

Europe has begun an eastward shift, and similarly, the priorities of the OSF, alleged Soros, will also shift to better handle current and future challenges.

In 2008, following the economic crisis, Soros explained, the foundation reappropriated its priorities to step up its work in Brussels and Western Europe.

The upcoming focus of the OSF, according to the new piece by Soros, will be to ensure Moldova and the Western Balkans ascend to the EU. The main purpose would be to end any possibility that Russia gets "an opening" in places such as Bosnia and Kosovo, allegedly.

The goal, according to Soros, would be to unite the Balkans with the EU to contain Russia and "avoid creating a geopolitical vacuum," while equally strengthening European security.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... red--atten

We should ALL be trying to contain the evil spread of Nazis in Ukraine

The Sun newspaper is a joke, a sort of adult comic with a reading age of 8

Fox news is famous for firing reporters who tell the truth

[Anthea]

Ukrainian negotiations with Russia

Germany and the US aim to provide Kiev with a specific type and quantity of weapons, ensuring that the Ukrainian army can maintain its current position but remains incapable of reclaiming territories controlled by Russia

Germany and the United States plan to push Ukraine to engage in negotiations with Russia by restricting both the quantity and quality of weapons provided to Kiev, as reported by the German newspaper Bild on Friday, citing a source within the German government

According to the report, Germany and the US aim to provide Kiev with a specific type and quantity of weapons, ensuring that the Ukrainian army can maintain its current position but remains incapable of reclaiming territories controlled by Russia.

In this manner, Berlin and Washington aim to persuade Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that continuing the fight is futile, without explicitly urging him to engage in negotiations with Russia, as reported by Bild.

Should this strategy prove unsuccessful, the US and Germany are reportedly formulating a "plan B" with a potential "Minsk agreement without an agreement" scenario.

In this outcome, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine would freeze without a fully negotiated border demarcation. Berlin aims to prompt Kiev into negotiations based on the existing situation on the ground, according to statements from an official cited by the newspaper.

Not so secret?

Whether Zelensky is unaware of such plans is unlikely because several reports over the past weeks have indicated that the US and allies have been actively pushing for Ukraine to engage in peace talks with Russia.

For instance, on November 10, NBC News reported that the situation on the ground in Ukraine has come to a standstill and Western officials are beginning to discuss the possibility of holding peace negotiations with Russia.

The report details how during a recent round of negotiations in Malta, American and European diplomats encouraged Ukraine to think about what compromises it might be willing to make. This marked an important change from the public messaging surrounding the summit, which was primarily presented as a chance to increase support for Ukraine's maximalist peace plan.

According to the report, officials have privately divulged that "Ukraine likely only has until the end of the year or shortly thereafter before more urgent discussions about peace negotiations should begin."

Another report on November 19 revealed that US Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley openly said that the US and allied support has not diminished but considered that Kiev's defense puts it in a better position to begin talks.

"The probability of a Ukrainian military victory, defined as kicking the Russians out of all of Ukraine, to include ... Crimea, the probability of that happening anytime soon is not high, militarily," he indicated.

"There may be a political solution where, politically, the Russians withdraw, that's possible," he added, pointing out that "you want to negotiate from a position of strength."

A few days ago, the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell acknowledged that the EU might NOT be able to meet the target of delivering 1 million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine by the end of 2023.

He also said in remarks that Russia's defeat in the near term is not expected.

"We are facing many problems. Europe is dealing with a double challenge. Firstly, it is Ukraine where Russia's defeat is not expected in the near future," Borrell said.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... ith-russia

[Anthea]

Britain should avoid Involvement

On Monday, Sergei Belyaev, director of the Second European Department at the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry, urged Britain to stop its involvement in the Ukraine crisis

"The British leadership continues to demonstrate its focus on comprehensive support for Ukraine. The British have a thesis about the need to inflict 'defeat on the battlefield' on Russia," said Belyaev.

QUESTION: during WW2 Russia and UK were both fighting Nazis, why is UK now supporting Nazis instead of protecting people of Donbass from Nazis?

Since the start of the Ukraine crisis, London has sent military equipment to Ukraine totaling approximately US$8.23 billion, ranking second in NATO after the United States.

"However, London's involvement in the Ukrainian conflict goes beyond arms supplies and training Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters on the UK's territory. More than 30,000 individuals are already involved in these activities," Belyaev said.

"British military instructors are engaged in training and supplying units of Ukraine's special operations forces directly within Ukraine," he pointed out.

"This includes conducting sabotage operations in the Black and Azov Seas, as well as targeting critically important civilian infrastructure facilities in our country."

While urging Britain to stop its citizens from getting involved in military activities in Ukraine, he noted that Western mercenaries are not combatants under the international humanitarian law and do not have the right to the status of prisoners of war.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Rus ... -0002.html

The UK has sent US$8.23 billion to the Nazis, this explains why the UK is intending to stop thousands of sick and disabled from receiving benefits. I am not convinced that all these sick people appropriate money being taken from them to fund Nazis

[Anthea]

Support for the anti-Russian proxy war fades

As support for the anti-Russian proxy war fades, the war party blames everyone but itself

As the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches, Western support for the proxy war against Moscow is faltering. Even some members of Washington’s militant war party are losing hope.

On his recent visit to the U.S., the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was received by Biden administration officials, but without the usual fawning attention from Congress and the media.

Zelensky was reduced to uncomprehending desperation, opining: “Nobody believes in our victory like I do. Nobody.” Even his military commanders have become reluctant to follow his orders to mount costly, ineffective offensives.

Close aides recognize that the war is at best stalemated, yet, reported Time, “As they have debated the future of the war, one issue has remained taboo: the possibility of negotiating a peace deal with the Russians.”

With Kiev running out of manpower and its backers running out of patience, diplomacy offers the best hope of preserving Ukrainian independence, if not territory. That requires American and European discussions with Ukraine over present war realities and Russia over post-conflict possibilities.

The outcome is going to be ugly. Early last year an overly ambitious and optimistic Washington helped scupper promising negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv. Today those talks must be revived under far less promising circumstances. The priority should be to end the ongoing conflict, both to halt the destruction of Ukraine and to prevent the conflict’s escalation

The American people, however, if not the Washington establishment, should set another priority: establishing responsibility for the failed proxy war. No doubt, much blame should fall on the Biden administration, which refused to seriously negotiate with Moscow before the war, undermined talks between Ukraine and Russia, and steadily expanded a proxy war with a nuclear-armed power over stakes far more important to it than to the U.S. This aggressive strategy unnecessarily put America’s security at serious risk.

Members of the bipartisan war party share the blame. Many, including most Republican leaders, have been even more reckless than the administration. The GOP paladins often pressed extreme and dangerous approaches, such as the Mississippian Sen. Roger Wicker’s mad plan for ground and nuclear war with Moscow. (The ever-irresponsible Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina had previously suggested nuclear conflict against North Korea with equal nonchalance.) Why worry about the possibility of a few score million deaths?

Moreover, both Republican and Democratic administrations have helped turn Moscow hostile with an aggressive, expansionist military policy. Washington treated the Soviet Union and then Russia as defeated foes with the expansion of NATO, despite multiple assurances to the contrary.

The U.S. also inverted the Monroe Doctrine, insisting that everything up to Russia’s border was in America’s sphere of interest, and promoted “color revolutions” and street uprisings within Moscow’s neighbors. Washington also invaded and dismantled Yugoslavia/Serbia with nary even a nod to Russia’s historic interests in the Balkans.

Unsurprisingly, members of the blob, as the foreign policy establishment has been called, insist that they are virginal public servants dedicated to all that is good and wonderful in the world. Most Washington policymakers deny the obvious: that their militaristic policies encouraged Putin to invade.

U.S. and European decisions flouting Moscow’s security interests. After all, who imagines Washington policymakers accepting what they attempted to impose on Russia—expanding the Warsaw Pact northward through Latin America,

Promoting a street putsch against Mexico’s elected, pro-American government, and promising Mexico membership in the Soviet-dominated military alliance. The result in Washington would be wailing, gnashing of teeth, and rending of garments on a Biblical scale, and likely a modern Cuban Missile Crisis.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who has never wavered in his desire to send Americans into endless wars abroad, claimed, “I think the precipitous withdrawal from Afghanistan in August was a signal, to Putin and maybe to Chinese President Xi as well, that America was in retreat, that America could not be depended upon, and was an invitation to the autocrats of the world that maybe this was a good time to make a move.”

Another fan of needless wars, the New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, contended that “the current Ukraine crisis is as much the child of Biden’s Afghanistan debacle as the last Ukraine crisis was the child of Obama’s Syria debacle.”

European observers are particularly enthusiastic about Washington fighting stupid foreign wars to the last American. The Financial Times’ Gideon Rachman worried about the Afghan withdrawal’s impact on American “credibility,” which supposedly is at risk whenever Washington eschews war, however minimal or foolish the stakes. Rachman explained , “If the U.S. will not commit to a fight against the Taliban, there will be a question mark over whether America would really be willing to go to war with China or Russia.”

Objectively, this is one of the stupidest foreign policy arguments commonly advanced in Washington, which is quite a standard to meet. The U.S. stayed in Afghanistan twice as long as did the Soviet Union, which by this logic should have enhanced Washington’s credibility, especially vis-à-vis Moscow.

Moreover, both Russia and China are better off with the U.S. entangled in a costly conflict in Central Asia; America’s presence even took care of their concerns about Central Asian terrorism and instability for them. Moscow and Beijing also likely would be very happy to see U.S. occupation forces in Iraq and Syria drawn back into conflict, especially with Iran.

The main point, inexplicably missed by Washington’s endless war enthusiasts, is that both China and Russia are major conventional powers with nuclear weapons concerned about interests perceived as serious and probably vital. America’s willingness to act as an imperial guardian elsewhere at modest cost is irrelevant to its willingness to risk conflict with them over stakes that remain minimal at best for the U.S.

Washington policymakers have demonstrated that they believe Ukraine is not important enough for war, something Russia surely recognized irrespective of the nature of the Afghan exit. (In fact, even Foreign Affairs is running articles acknowledging that “the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan had no influence on Putin’s calculus.” Putin likely decided to confront Ukraine militarily before the American withdrawal.) The situation is similar with Taiwan, an unlucky resident of a bad neighborhood whose independence is not worth risking the American homeland.

This lesson is important. The world is a mess, but the U.S. remains secure—the best positioned great power in human history. America dominates its own region, reigning without serious challenge, surrounded by water and weak neighbors.

Only with missiles can hostile states reach the U.S., a threat deterred by Washington’s own forces. Much—indeed, most—of the world simply doesn’t matter much to the U.S., other than for humanitarian and economic reasons: neither of which justify large-scale and endless wars.

For instance, Afghanistan and Central Asia are far from America and of little consequence. The Taliban mattered only in 2001, when it harbored terrorists who struck the U.S. Spending two decades attempting to bring democracy to that tragic land squandered lives and resources. More than two years after the administration’s admittedly botched withdrawal, the predicted tsunami of Afghan-based terrorists taking control of American cities and wreaking global havoc has not occurred.

Similarly, there never was any serious reason to wreck Iraq, which birthed the Islamic State, or to promote the disintegration of Libya and Syria, the consequences of which still bedevil the region, or to aid the totalitarian Saudi regime in its murderous attack on Yemen, which perversely made the Houthi movement more dangerous

Claims that a Russian victory in Ukraine would trigger a Blitzkrieg to the Atlantic are dumber than blaming the Russia-Ukraine war on Biden.

Putin has demonstrated no interest and even less ability to conquer the continent. Which is why no Western ally has been willing to fight for Kiev. Chinese conquest of Taiwan would be terrible for the island’s residents, but would endanger America’s Asian influence, not America, a critical difference. That such a result would be highly undesirable does not mean that it would justify fighting a war that would probably look more like World War II than Afghanistan.

Of course, the usual suspects are attempting to bolster support for Ukraine by again wielding the credibility argument. Reported Michael Crowley of the New York Times: “Another failure to deter Mr. Putin, Biden officials and their critics agree, would deal a severe blow to an international system of rules and borders that the administration has worked hard to reaffirm.”

Evelyn Farkas, a former Pentagon official, opposed negotiating even before Putin’s invasion since “any appeasement will only beget future land grabs not only from Putin, but also from China in Taiwan and elsewhere.” Of course. Americans must be constantly at war since their failure to be constantly at war would require them to be constantly at war. Such statements pass for wisdom among the Washington Beltway’s leading think tank warriors.

Ukraine’s diminishing chances of military success increase the necessity of a diplomatic settlement. Ending the conflict is not enough, however. After decades of needless wars, the American people should hold policy-makers accountable for lives lost and money wasted, including by recklessly risking war with Russia.

https://www.theamericanconservative.com ... ty-mirage/