RUNNING UPDATES ON THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE - 14.11.2024
Including geopolitical issues affecting the balance of power in the ongoing end game war to establish our common future, a closely monitored prison planet or tolerance for diverse modes of governance.
THE ROAD TO THE ULTIMATE CONCLUSION OF WORLD WAR III RUNS THROUGH HERE.
*** TRUMP’S PICKS SHOW 100% SUPPORT FOR GENOCIDAL ISRAEL ***
COLLECTIVE WEST-UKRAINE <-> RUSSIA
ALEXANDER MERCOURIS of THE DURAN: Trump Versus DC Elite; US Zaluzhny Plan Zelensky Ouster, Ukraine Nuclear Plan;Russia Storms Kupiansk.
ALEX CHRISTOFOROU of THE DURAN: Gabbard DNI. Gaetz AG. Bolton BALLISTIC. EU freak out as Russia wins. Economist, Elensky clueless.
CIA Veteran: Trump's Foreign Policy Team May ‘Double Down on Stupid’ in Ukraine, Middle East, China.
Donald Trump's foreign policy appointments for his incoming administration show that “he didn’t learn a thing during his first term,” Larry Johnson, retired CIA intelligence officer and State Department official, told Sputnik.
“He talked one thing during the campaign about ending needless wars. And yet he is staffing himself with really a lot of young people who are locked up with old ideas,” Johnson noted.
In his opinion, Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, is “just an absurd joke.” Florida Сongressman Michael Waltz, tapped as Trump’s national security advisor, is also “a disaster,” Johnson argued, underscoring that he “represents everything that Donald Trump said that Donald Trump stood against.”
New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, tapped to serve as US ambassador to the United Nations, “comes in with a very strident pro-Zionist point of view,” the expert remarked.
With a foreign policy team like that, Johnson said, Trump is “going to double down on stupid” when it comes to most important international areas, such as Ukraine, the Middle East, and China.
“He doesn't understand that the world has changed. They still believe, foolishly, naively, that they can easily split Russia from China, that there's no natural alliance between Russia and China so that we can we can manipulate Russia into joining with us to defeat China. They just don't get it,” the ex-CIA analyst underscored.
“They believe that they can boss people around in the Middle East and control what they do. Not recognizing the fact that Saudi Arabia and Iran, who were at odds two years ago, have now reestablished diplomatic relationships, are exchanging defense ministers to visit each other's capital, and are planning joint military exercises. The Organization of Islamic Countries has made it quite clear that there should be no normalizing any relations with Israel until there is a Palestinian state and the Palestinians are secure. The Trump team doesn't get that… And they're going to probably have to get punched in the face to wake up and grasp the new reality,” said Johnson.
President-elect Donald Trump started out by naming Susie Wiles as his future White House chief of staff, and then proceeded to make other potential hires for his incoming administration. He has so far named Pete Hegseth as his defense secretary, Mike Waltz as national security advisor, Tom Homan as border czar, Elise Stefanik as US ambassador to the UN, John Ratcliffe as Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy as co-leaders of the newly formed advisory Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), besides other appointments.
Special envoy to the Middle East is to be Steve Witkoff, and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee will serve as US ambassador to Israel. Trump said that Huckabee “loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.”
CIA Veteran: Trump's Foreign Policy Team May ‘Double Down on Stupid’ in Ukraine, Middle East, China.
RAY MCGOVERN (EX-CIA INTEL ANALYST): Trump Caught Between *Two Worlds* in the Middle East & Ukraine.
LEVAN GUDADZE: Nuclear Ukraine - Trump's Nuclear Blackmail? EU Militarization. Marco Rubio - Tulsi Gabbard. G20...
ALEX CHRISTOFOROU & ALEXANDER MERCOURIS of THE DURAN: EU Kingdom of the Blind, Orban can see.
Dr. GILBERT DOCTOROW: Ukraine Attacking Russia.
GARLAND NIXON - DR. NICOLAI PETRO: UKRAINE/RUSSIA - NEUTRALITY, SECURITY, AND CIVILIZATIONAL REALISM.
COLONEL DOUGLAS MACGREGOR: Trump Foreign Policy: Will President Trump reflect candidate Trump?
RACHEL BLEVINS - MARK SLEBODA: Kiev's Defenses 'Crumbling' in Donbass + The Reality of Trump's Ukraine Peace Envoy.
DMITRY ORLOV: Ukraine Facing Total Defeat.
GARLAND NIXON - MARK SLEBODA: WHAT'S UP WITH RUSSIA AND UKRAINE?
COLONEL JACQUES BAUD: Can Trump End Ukraine War with Diplomacy or Will Putin Seize Victory through Battle?
AMBASSADOR CHAS FREEMAN: Trump, Putin, Netanyahu: Who'll Lead the Way?
Russia Captures Advanced US-Made Arms in Ukraine.
ISRAEL-WEST <-> PALESTINE-IRAN-SYRIA-IRAQ-LEBANON-YEMEN-VENEZUELA-DPRK
DANNY HAIPHONG - SCOTT RITTER: Hezbollah's Tel Aviv Strike WIPES OUT IDF, Putin & Iran Brace for War as Trump Returns.
GARLAND NIXON - SCOTT RITTER: TULSI DNI - MISSILES IN POLAND - HEZBOLLAH MISSILE STRIKES.
BREAKTHROUGH NEWS: Pro-Israel Fanatics Fill Trump’s Cabinet, Promising Disastrous Middle East War.
THE GRAYZONE: Trump's foreign policy team puts Israel first.
RAY MCGOVERN (EX-CIA INTEL ANALYST): Trump Caught Between *Two Worlds* in the Middle East & Ukraine.
DMITRY ORLOV: Israel Sinking Deeper Than Ever.
AMBASSADOR CHAS FREEMAN: Trump, Putin, Netanyahu: Who'll Lead the Way?
USA
Trump’s pick for secretary of state doesn’t even speak MAGA.
Marco Rubio is a neocon warmonger through and through, having subscribed to Washington’s every foreign power play in recent years.
By Rachel Marsden, a columnist, political strategist, and host of independently produced talk-shows in French and English.
Of all the people that US President-elect Donald Trump could have picked as America’s chief diplomat, he's chosen Marco Rubio, Florida senator and neocon talking-point guzzler.
Guess it sort of makes sense on one level. They need a guy who can talk the same language as the neocon desk jockeys at the State Department. Kind of like an African Grey parrot who can speak English with humans but also bird language with other birds. The bird-brains at State speak mainly neocon, like Rubio. And he could be the MAGA-to-neocon translator for Trump, packaging the 47th president’s vision in a way that’s palatable enough for them to not spend the entire time trying to regime-change him, like they did last time he was elected.
But how well does Rubio even speak MAGA – the language of Trump’s non-interventionist, America First, and pro-peace base? Not very well, if his record is any indication.
Case in point: Back when the Nord Stream pipelines were mysteriously blown up, Rubio was one of the first out of the starting blocks to blame Russia for blowing up their own economic lifeline to Europe. But he quickly tripped over his own shoelaces. “The only people in that region who have both the motive and the capability to have done it are Russian or Russian forces. So I think, for me, it’s not an intelligence matter at this point. It’s a common sense matter,” Rubio said in the wake of the attack.
It turns out that even the dumbest establishment fixtures didn’t buy the narrative of “Russia blew up its own pipeline.” Apparently, they consider it to be even less of a viable scenario than some drunken Ukrainians with Aquaman-grade diving skills blasting through concrete and steel in highly monitored waters, despite Zelensky trying to stop them at the behest of the CIA, of course. And then punishing the general they claim to be responsible for the operation, Valery Zaluzhny, by sending him to… London, where he’s currently Ukrainian ambassador to Britain.
Guess Western officials and intelligence sources went to the trouble of making all that up to hide Russia’s involvement. Because that’s the only way that Marco Rubio’s confident assertions could be considered credible. Or maybe the actual responsibility lies with another nation state that has the same kind of capabilities? Who could that possibly be? Rubio is apparently so indoctrinated that he simply can’t imagine. Either that, or he does know and is being deliberately dishonest.
Back in 2021, Rubio was literally calling on Biden and Germany to do something to stop the pipeline. “US Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) sent a letter to President Joe Biden, ahead of his meeting with Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, asking him to convey to her 'that there is broad bipartisan support for preventing the completion of yet another pipeline that bypasses Ukraine.'” Rubio also highlighted that “completing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline will only endanger our democratic allies in East and Central Europe and embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin in his aggression towards them,” he wrote. So, Putin, “emboldened” by Nord Stream, according to Rubio, then decided to just blow it up? Yeah, okay.
Even in establishment Washington, Rubio stood out as being exceptionally indoctrinated by kneejerk anti-Russian thinking. But just like these guys who go “all-in” on fad diets or fitness trends, Rubio can’t even seem to bring himself to cherry-pick neocon causes. He just passionately double-fists them like Joey Chestnut scarfing hotdogs in a competitive eating contest.
Read more: It’s the deep state, stupid: Why US foreign policy won’t change much under Trump
A tour of recent press releases on his website is like reading a Neighborhood Watch newsletter authored by a nosy grandma, peering into everyone’s windows: Iran, Yemen, China, Venezuela. One of his latest targets: The private US consulting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). “Instead of distancing itself from Communist China, PwC has opted to strengthen its relationship with the regime,” Rubio wrote, referring to the firm’s business with “government officials in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where Beijing is committing genocide against Uyghurs and other groups.” Guess maybe PwC has a different view of things, given that they’ve actually been there, unlike Rubio.
Rubio also condemned China’s foreign adoption ban. “There are approximately 300 American families, including Floridians, who have been matched with Chinese children,” the statement read. “Flashback… In December 2012, Rubio released a statement urging the Obama Administration to forcefully condemn Russia’s foreign adoption ban.” What is this world coming to when countries won’t send their kids to a foreign nation? Hey, isn’t that a war crime these days? Or only if they’re Ukrainian and sent to Russia?
“Rubio demands Biden-Harris admin stop importation of slave-made pharmaceuticals,” Rubio said in an October 2024 statement. If it’s Chinese, then of course it’s “slave-made,” but if it’s about electric lithium car batteries mined by kids in Africa for “American-made electric vehicles,” then he’s apparently all for it.
“Designate Houthis as foreign terrorist organization,” Rubio pleaded to current Biden Administration Secretary of State Antony Blinken in another release dated November 1. Yeah, I’m sure that’ll really change things – unlike the other two million times that the Iran-linked Houthis have been added to and subtracted from the terrorist list. I’m sure that dudes currently waging war against US Middle Eastern adventurism in their own country and in the region, all while dressed like California surfers who just woke up from a nap on the beach, are super concerned about Washington’s bureaucratic wrangling. Next.
Just kidding. There is no “next” when it comes to Rubio and Iran. “While Iran continues to fuel terror from the sales of illicit oil, which mostly benefit Beijing, the Biden-Harris Administration has failed to fully implement the Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum (SHIP) Act,” Rubio wrote. Doesn’t he have a neighborhood garage sale transaction that he could insert himself into instead – on the other side of the planet? Same thing.
“Edmundo Gonzalez is the rightful president-elect of Venezuela,” wrote Rubio on August 3, 2024. “This is the moment for those military officers in Venezuela to fulfill their constitutional oath & defend the legitimate interim President [Juan Guaidó] in this effort to restore democracy,” Rubio wrote five years earlier in 2019. Who’s next, Marco? Antonio Banderas?
The only way Rubio could ever possibly serve Trump’s non-interventionist vision of peace over the continued rampant global conflict that characterizes American foreign policy is if the neocon rhetoric is switched out. He’d have more success if Elon Musk shot him into space and forced him to adapt to a totally different planet.
Trump’s pick for secretary of state doesn’t even speak MAGA.
THE GRAYZONE: Trump's foreign policy team puts Israel first.
GEOPOLITICAL TRENDS: Trump picks hawks & neocons to run US foreign policy: Meet his warmongering cabinet.
BREAKTHROUGH NEWS: Trump’s ‘Populism’ Fraud: Cabinet Stacked for Ultra-Right, Billionaire Agenda.
GEORGE GALLOWAY: Trump’s bait and switch.
Has America lost its mind or will Trump get it right this time?
In one of the biggest comebacks since Lazarus, the 45th US president will also be the 47th.
By Vitaly Ryumshin, Gazeta.ru political analyst
It seems that humanity has managed to turn back the clock to 2016. The sense of déjà vu that haunted me throughout November 6 was too strong: the US presidential election once again didn’t go according to plan, sociologists are scratching their heads in bewilderment because all their predictions have failed, American liberals are crying, internet trolls are gloating, Western Europeans are tense, and Russians are jubilant. At the center of it all is Donald Trump, president-elect again, preparing to turn the world upside down. For real this time.
The election results clearly showed that Americans were fed up with the old establishment and the strange progressive ideas of which Kamala Harris was an ambassador. The false public image created by the Democratic Party’s ‘political technology’ apparatus didn’t help her either. While Kamala was buying up celebrities and giving scripted interviews to loyal journalists under the watchful eye of her PR team, Trump was standing behind the fryer at McDonald’s, driving around Wisconsin in a garbage truck and chatting amicably with blogger Joe Rogan on his podcast. This eventually resonated with the nation, and for most, he was a more acceptable figure.
However, I will not dwell on the reasons for Trump’s victory. The more relevant question now is what his second term will be like. Should we expect something fundamentally new, or will it be a remake of his first rodeo, with managerial chaos, multiple investigations and endless clowning? And most importantly, how will his presidency affect Russia and the prospects for resolving the Ukraine conflict?
The short answer is that no one knows for sure because it is still unclear exactly what kind of environment the Trump presidency will take place in. The Republicans were able to maintain their majority in the House of Representatives, which is a positive, but we don’t know all the names of the people who will hold key positions in the White House. And they will influence his policies.
Read more: ‘Netanyahu will want a lot from him’: Can Trump reconcile Israel and Iran?
At the same time, there are indications that Trump’s new four-year term will at least be more meaningful than the previous one.
Firstly, no one will dare question the legitimacy of the elected president. In 2016, Trump’s victory seemed unnatural (Clinton won the popular vote). This led people to see his presidency as a failure of the system and to speculate about foreign interference. Now Trump has safely won both the electoral and popular votes. The Democrats are unlikely to dispute this.
There could be a flare-up of political tensions if Trump starts taking revenge on all those who have wronged him (which the Democrats are very afraid of). But I think a truce is more likely. The Democratic Party is facing a massive internal showdown, with a search for those responsible for its electoral woes. The president-elect has never been particularly eager to follow through on his threats (remember: Hillary Clinton wasn’t jailed).
Second, the Trump of 2024 is not the same as the Trump of 2016. Eight years ago, a somewhat naive businessman who thought running a government was as easy as building skyscrapers in Manhattan entered the White House.
Since then, however, Trump has matured politically, learned to compromise and completely taken over the Republican Party. The bitter experience of his first administration, filled with random and often disagreeable people, suggests that this time he’ll have a clear plan of action and a suitable team under him.
For Russia, the positions of Secretary of State and National Security Advisor are of particular interest. These are the people who will determine the foreign policy of the second Trump administration – and whether he will keep his promise to end the conflict in Ukraine.
Read more: Fyodor Lukyanov: This is why Trump’s approach to Ukraine is so different
There is the former US ambassador to Germany, Ric Grenell. He hangs out in European right-wing circles, opposes Ukrainian membership in NATO and favors the creation of ‘autonomous zones’ there (i.e. recognizing Russia’s control over the south-east). Grenell is being considered for Secretary of State or National Security Adviser – if he takes either position, it would be rather good news for us. It would be doubly good if other foreign policy positions were filled by people with similar views (Marco Rubio or Bill Hagerty).
There’s also Trump’s former national security adviser, Robert O’Brien. He’s also a contender for the top job, but is seen as a ‘hawk’. O’Brien supports military aid to Ukraine, and his selection could be a sign that potential negotiations between Moscow and Washington will be difficult.
Of course, whoever Trump picks, we should not expect a ‘‘ceasefire in 24 hours’ — that is, to put it mildly, an unrealistic exaggeration. But I believe that under him, serious settlement talks could actually begin in 2025. Well, at least there will be an attempt to start a peace process. The other question is what methods will the president use to achieve this? What will his proposal be and what will he ask of Russia in return for concessions?
But it is probably too early to speculate about that. For now, let’s look at the new US president-elect’s first steps.
Has America lost its mind or will Trump get it right this time?
MULTIPOLARITY - RUSSIA-CHINA / BRICS
BRICS not about dividing the world – Lavrov.
.Countries realize that the West is abusing the global mechanisms it established, the Russian foreign minister has said
The BRICS group of countries does not aim to divide the world, but instead advocates for a new global order based on sovereign equality among nations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
In an interview with journalist Marina Kim for the ‘New World’ project published on Thursday, Lavrov emphasized that “BRICS is about the world order founded on the main principle of the UN Charter – sovereign equality of states.”
This statement highlights BRICS’ distinct approach compared to Western-dominated institutions such as the G7, Lavrov said.
The diplomat was asked whether the recent BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan could be likened to historic events such as the Tehran or Yalta conferences. Lavrov responded that while past meetings were characterized by territorial divisions, BRICS aims to empower nations to live based on their own civilizational values, without external interference in trade practices or resource management.
“BRICS is not at all planning to divide the world. It is an association of countries that want to live on the lands given to them by God and their predecessors according to the traditions of their great civilizations, including China, India, Iran, Russia, and many other states,” Lavrov noted. “They wish for no one to dictate how they should trade or prohibit them from processing natural resources, as is happening in Africa.”
Read more: African nations show growing interest in BRICS – deputy minister
Lavrov criticized restrictions imposed by the West, noting that over half of the world’s countries are currently under some form of sanctions, albeit not as severe as those targeting Russia, North Korea, Iran, and Venezuela. Multiple states are realizing the unreliability of the mechanisms proposed by the West, the Russian foreign minister explained. “Western countries are abusing them harshly. No one wants to be the next. No one knows who in Washington will wake up tomorrow on the wrong side of the bed, who they will take a dislike to, and with whom they will start speaking ‘the language of dictation’,” Lavrov said.
The 16th BRICS annual summit, held in October in Kazan, was significant as it marked the first gathering since the group expanded to include Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, and the UAE. Delegations from 35 countries participated, reflecting BRICS’ growing appeal. In addition, more than 30 nations, including NATO member Türkiye, have expressed interest in joining the group.
BRICS not about dividing the world – Lavrov.
NON-ENGLISH NEWS
LIU SIVAYA: KIEV EN LLAMAS: CON EL MEYOR ATAQUE EN 70 DÍAS RUSIA LANZA UNA ADVERTENCIA A UCRANIA Y A OCCIDENTE.
RUSSIA / EXPATS IN RUSSIA
TRAVELLING WITH RUSSELL: I Went to a SPARTAK MOSCOW Football Match.
MAPPING CHANNEL UPDATES
Harvest Time, Nuclear Blackmail, Ukrainian Defense Is About To Collapse. Military Summary 2024.11.14
RF TELEPORTED into CENTER of KUPYANSK! VN Offensive expanded! | Ukraine War Frontline Changes Report.
Russia's Biggest Advance Of The War Happended Today l Russia Enters Kupyansk.
Crazy Push - Defensive Gap Creates Chaos | Ukraine's Nuclear Ambitions - Ukraine Map & News Update.
The Russians Captured Northern Kupiansk, Decisive Battle Has Begun. Military Summary For 2024.11.14
Frontline Stories: Alone On The Battlefield.
Crazy Developments | Russian Forces Reach Center of Kupyansk.
Russia's Biggest Tactical Victory South Of Kurakhove | Inevitable Encirlement Of Ukrainian Forces.
VICTORY BELONGS TO RUSSIA: IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME
Each day that passes makes a conclusive Russian victory in the Donbass and beyond more certain. As Russia bolsters her forces, and weaponry, those of Ukraine decrease. Russian forces gain ready access to rest and recuperation as troop numbers increase. The increasingly exhausted and demoralised Ukrainian troops have an ever decreasing prospect of such respite. This situation is likely to bring them to complete breakdown as Russia unleashes the firepower of the more modern and advanced weaponry that is arriving with the newly mobilised Russian troops.
The various Ukrainian offensives are now weak when confronted by the reinforced Russian lines. A few futile efforts achieve quite miserable results before fire reigns down on the Ukrainian troops and they are forced back to their starting positions.
And now, all this being said, we have arrived at the wet, and later, freezing conditions where these pathetic Ukrainian forces will be subject to myriad forms of abject misery with death and injury all around them while they lie sodden or frozen, abandoned to their fate by Kiev.
The pitiable young and old of Ukraine have been frogmarched to their deaths as cannon-fodder while the bestial elites of the collective West urge their "president" to add more to their number there at the gates of Hell and their doom. We must feel for the majority of them as they are not the Nazis we revile, in most part they are decent men, fathers, sons, brothers, husband and uncles, who no doubt saw through the coup of 2014 for what it was. But sadly, their fate seems sealed.
Nothing will stop Russia now. Every factor favours them. Victory will be Russia's. In Donbass and beyond and in due course across the world.
Victory belongs to Russia: It is now only a matter of time.
UPDATES TO BE ADDED HERE AS AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
UPDATES TO BE ADDED HERE AS AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
NO MORE MINSK BETRAYALS - NO CEASEFIRE - ONWARD TO VICTORY!
Trump will insist on trying to end the Ukraine war but will fail. This war must not end in anything but a total Russian victory. Nothing less will do in order to ensure Russia's future security.
It appears certain that ‘for show’ peace negotiations will begin between Ukrainian and Russian representatives within the next several months. Trump needs these to start for reasons such as his standing re. presidential campaign promises made. Ukraine and Russia, for public relations reasons and due to Trump pressure will agree to take part. Under no circumstances however should Russia agree to a ceasefire, the reason being that this would allow the Ukrainian military to regroup and rearm as well as reinforce its fortifications.
Putin’s willingness to be reasonable was abused for years while he became enmeshed in a fruitless charade in Minsk. Betrayed by Merkel, Hollande and Poroshenko initially and later also by Macron and Zelensky, Putin must ensure no more such tricks are played. No matter how much he may desire peace and an end to this conflict he knows he cannot afford to put the security of Russia and of the Russian-speaking population of the Donbass at risk. To allow the western powers in combination with the Ukrainian regime to freeze the conflict would risk just that.
I suspect that both Ukrainian and Russian delegations at such a peace negotiation would be play-acting. I do not believe either side sees a stable and lasting peace being within reach as things stand currently. But to pacify their allies both must make a show of appearing to be engaged in delivering this impossible outcome. Meanwhile the war will continue with Russia continuing to win using the same slow-grinding attritional tactics as before though increasingly speeded through further collapses in Ukrainian troop morale, desertions and the taking of vital locations allowing faster advance.
Russia needs to take the fight all the way to the Dnieper River to ensure the maximum security of Russia as it will then stand, all the way from the eastern bank of the Dnieper to the most easterly town in Russia, Anadyr. I believe Putin and the Russian higher command know this now, and have for some time, ever since it became clear that the Kiev regime and its western sponsors had no intention of coming to a peaceful settlement but were determined to use the situation as a means to undermine and sufficiently weaken Russia to then break her apart. There is precisely nothing to be gained and everything to lose for Russia in freezing things as they stand now. It would only result in a permanent state of danger for Russia.
If a ceasefire was agreed before, during or after negotiations between the sides we would see an immediate influx of NATO troops greatly boosting the regime’s armed forces. Every opportunity would be taken to deliver and position NATO weaponry also. Every advantageous option would be maximised to thwart Russia’s required goal of reaching the Dnieper. The theatre of upcoming pseudo negotiations will be played in similar style as those which concluded in Istanbul just a few short months after Russia’s operation in Ukraine began. It is very likely that it will once again be the Ukrainians who break them off. Finding some fraudulent justification for this will not be a problem and western news media and political elites will mirror whatever Kiev says. At that point Trump will have to cook up some excuse of his own which he too will not find too onerous.
With the spurious “peace negotiations” out of the way all parties will resume their various strategies. The war, having continued throughout the farcical negotiations, will sooner or later bring about total collapse in Ukrainian military morale with almost every major Ukrainian-held city in the Donbass having been liberated. Russia, having broken through Ukraine’s fortification line in southern Donbass, will move speedily forward through the land beyond to finally arrive at the Dnieper. Shortly thereafter, even if Slavyansk (Sloviansk) and Kramatorsk have not yet been fully liberated, they will then quickly fall to Russia. Only Kiev will remain as a subject of negotiations to be held once a new president and government have been elected in what remains of Ukraine.
There must be no more debilitating delays initiated by untrustworthy Kiev regime or western sources. Nothing of this kind should be agreed to by Russia and not in Putin’s wildest dreams contemplated. Russia has been subject to enough abuse on this score. The war must continue no matter what ersatz diplomacy seems to be at play. Pretend negotiations? Fine. But never, under ANY circumstances must there be a ceasefire. Russia must hold firm to the task at hand, crush the enemy day on day until the Dnieper is reached and all land then held secured and made impregnable to attack. At that point Trump can say whatever he likes, it will have been Russia that ended the war. Then, with all taken and secured Russian troops right across the entire Russian Federation can proudly roar… “VICTORY IS OURS!”
