> Reports indicated Trump’s advisers had proposed a strategy involving the threat of cutting U.S. aid unless Kyiv entered into negotiations with Moscow.
>
> Yermak responded cautiously when asked about Trump’s approach, saying: “Honest answer: I don’t know. Let’s see.”
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> Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, commented during a visit to Washington that while Kyiv wants a “just peace,” certain fundamental values such as independence, freedom, democracy, territorial integrity, and sovereignty are non-negotiable.
>certain fundamental values such as independence, freedom, democracy, territorial integrity, and sovereignty are non-negotiable.
Exactly as it should be.
Russia is bringing in new “meat” from other countries. NK may send bodies next. Many of the subs following the war have shown drone footage of soldiers who are not Russian dying in the wastelands.
Somehow I don't think the NK bodies will tilt the needle at all. Virtually no one in that country (or quite possibly, literally no one) has any memory of the Korean war and what a conflict actually looks like. They're going to be wiped out even faster than the previous waves of "soldiers".
I don’t think Russia is expecting professional soldiers, just more bodies for the meat grinder. That’s how they think they can win - just keep letting bodies pile up and Ukraine will run out of people first.
"You see, Killbots have a preset kill limit, knowing their weakness I sent wave after wave of my own men at them until they reached their limit and shutdown."
> That’s how they think they can win - just keep letting bodies pile up and Ukraine will run out of people first.
I mean, that is literally how they won all of their wars. Just look at WW2.
Over a million Russians died at the battle of Stalingrad alone. That's how they win, by having more cannon fodder.
But this time the issue is long term that demographics are not on russias side. The country will pay dearly for the young men who died or left the country for safer places.
NK soldiers are very dangerous to the Russian as many will take any opportunity to kill their own and escape their country. Even a son of a family in the inner circle ran for it and risked his life to escape NK. All cause he had a taste for sugar treat and would do anything to taste that again.
North Koreans aren't being deployed in any offensive capacity. Pretty sure they're just engineering corps sent likely to build and repair infrastructure
the North Korean famine was not due to a failure of farming from North Korea, Northern Korea even centuries before the splitting of the peninsula has always been reliant on food imports(usually from the southern half of Korea which has massive agricultural production), the famines were caused by the dissolution of the Soviet Union leading to a loss of food imports from the Soviet Union.
They weren't volunteers, IIRC. They were trafficked from Belarus to Russia and press ganged into the army.
Apparently, they had originally gone to Belarus as cooks
It really is.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/russia-ukraine-africa-corps-wagner-mercenaries-b2572557.html
I just googled it to see if I could provide some links if anyone wanted a source and this article is 23 hours old. It’s going to be very interesting to see who the Ukrainians will be fighting in the near future.
They're probably safe until they start resorting to hiring foreign officers to staff the army. And even then the Russian army structure makes those guys kinda useless.
These dudes are just there to clear minefields
Maybe other countries could start sending troops to help Ukraine. That seems fair. Any countries who think a dictator ripping democracy away from a country is a bad idea could step up here.
Problem is western countries actually value their soldiers unlike nk and China who only see them as pawns.
Mainly because a strong soldier in the west goes through more training and have more expensive equipments
Not to mention there’s recent footage of women fighting on the front lines too. There’s speculation they’re from female prisons since most of the male ones have been scoured clean of ‘volunteers’.
yeah I think Putin either outright removed or lowered the criteria for people from those countries to get a Visa and the ones that do move to Russia are sent to the front lines
Not like North Korea can spare that many people anyway. Only the people that still submit to the party are walking free, so if you send too many of them over to die in another country their southern brothers could just waltz right over and make it one Korea again.
Several Americans have already signed on for the Russians, sadly.
Congress would never agree to send troops to Ukraine on the side of the Russians. Especially after we just seny them all our toys. Trump would just sit back and wait.
I don't understand why us intelligence can't just provide Ukraine with the location of these giant troop formations.
Like when they send company after company of assaulting units to position, where there has to be at least a battalion or two amass somewhere to pull all these troops from.
And then they can just simply overwhelm the air defenses and rain down a bunch of ATACMS or HIMARS or guided artillery.
Instead of waiting for Russia to send dozens of troops at a time and having to fight off each wave until they've spent thousands of bullets and artillery shells to take out four or five Russians here and there.
Look, I wouldn't be surprised if in January we have US boots on the ground in Ukraine....fighting FOR Russia. Depending on how the election goes.
Not like Congress or SCOTUS would stop a Russian agent in the white house from doing whatever they wanted.
Dictators love this shit. It's a good opportunity to get rid of "undesirables".
If Trump wins in November, expect a draft, and expect anyone who voted for a Democrat to go over first.
Conservatives especially hate the draft while supporting wars. A draft would mean their lives or their families would be at risk. Better to have the poor people serve out of economic necessity. Republicans don't even try to hide that anymore. Some politicians have openly said student loan forgiveness or cutting the cost of university tuition would negatively impact military recruitment.
Look. Lemme put this to rest. I've been in the Navy for 12 years. Conscription is a bad road. I wouldn't want to put my life in the hands of someone who would run away or not pull the trigger. Conscripts are unreliable and generally unwilling.
As for your assertions about Recruitment...no offense but I don't agree. I've seen the numbers and internal metrics. The problem is three-fold. One, is that Gen Z is a tiny demographic compared to melennials. Second, less eligible 18-25 males. Most can't qualify for a number of reasons despite waivers. Third, we have failed to appeal to Gen Z. Why? I have my opinions about that. The end of HY3, longer contracts, not making it look cool.
Programs for loan forgiveness and free schooling have been around for decades.
There was some report that they had like 5 or 6 million unemployed in all the remote villages and cities. They lure them with 3k a month and high pensions if they join the military to dig trenches and repair machinery. What they didn't tell them that the machine to fix is behind that hill and six of eight will not return. Since they control the media that is the only knowledge they get. They also seem to forcibly conscript demonstrators and people who don't want to work. The reason Russia will fail is that they seem to be soon out of proper metal and shells for their tanks. China is not fully resupplying them and NK will only send the most brain dead to die, but even their crazy dictator will not send trains full of people for years.
They won't ever run out of soldiers in Russia, it's a simple fact.
The problem is the morale of the army and equipment levels
Equipment seems to be strained massively right now for Russia since the use of older tanks got higher and modern tanks are now not that common anymore
Fuel could also be a problem with many refineries having certain problems with people smoking in them, making refueling tours longer and fuel stocks harder to replenish for a continued push
With morale low thanks to all the losses there is also a slowly rising motivation to act against superiors or even key war industry and infrastructure, in Russia there has to be a open civil war for people to turn on the government and even that is sometimes not enough
It all depends on how long Ukraine can hold with limited hardware and manpower
>It all depends on how long Ukraine can hold with limited hardware and manpower
Reading some recent articles it seems the biggest thing dragging this out has been other countries restricting what Ukraine can do with the weapons given to them. That and also restricting actually giving them weapons.
Because like what you basically said that Putin is still living the high life. Never ending war hasn't cramped his lifestyle yet.
the other nations dragging it out is a problem, yes, the planning and deployment of units and gear cant be done without having a time schedule for the gear and units.
it takes x amount of time to train a unit to use a different vehicle/weapons system but you only have enough vehicles to train and deploy a single unit so you wont start training a second unit because units in training are not deployed on the field fighting, opening gaps you have because you cant fully equip your units
and the restriction of use for weapons is also a big factor for sure, if your enemy can just chill behind the border and collect and supply his units right behind the frontline its a huge advantage
also ammo supply is a huge factor, all these fancy guns dont bring any effect without ammo except looking good on paper
if the west wants to end the next worldwar now, it has to show strength now or we gonna have a poland moment again, we really should oversupply ukraine as much as possible to send a deafing message to russias dictator, we stand united and your war will not succeed
also ukraine has alot of manpower too yes, but in the long run russia will just have more people to throw, every soldier of ukraine has to be used as best as possible and every soldier that is kia on ukraine side is a significant blow thanks to training and experience lost then
right now it seems tho russia wants to continue to keep sending green units against defenders that dont do anything else, grind russian units and retreat when too much pressure, rinse and repeat, every 500 meters of ukraine right now is bought by extreme casualties on the russian side
Yeah and the quiet acceptance of the west to accept Russian oil.
It doesn’t matter if it goes through India or wherever, it’s still Russian oil.
Of course politicians in the west have a choice, higher prices at home or cutting off the Russians. They chose to talk tough whilst giving Putin money
Bill Browder (he of the balls of steel) gave an excellent talk to a uk select committee on this quite recently. Worth a watch
When they get those long range rockets they started using them against oil refineries and train stations on the Russian side. Vladolf's visit in NK wasn't giggles. He know he is losing, he is working with borrowed time, material and people. Ukraine has to start using the F-16s to destroy hard supply lines, while the west should start building an off ramp for the murderous toddler that he is able to sell to the delusional middle and oligarch class as a win.
Putins entire strategy lives and dies in November. His goal has always been to stay until funding gets cut by the US.
Hopefully Europe can come more to the table and make up the difference, but things aren't looking too great there either. The next few months are critical for the entire conflict, and, for the most part, it is not in Zelenskys hands. All he can really do is try to motivate the west to stay behind him and diffuse Russian propaganda. I've heard from some further right folks that he's partying it up with prostitutes every day in his safe capital of Kiev while he sends his young to die in the burning villages he cares nothing about. That kind of rhetoric is not coming from the west, but it is being repeated by them.
What about the possibility of South Korea starting to arm Ukraine, since that has been hinted as a possibility since the recent events? Can that make any meaningful difference?
Yes, if SK opens the tap it will make a difference. They have a huge arms industry and could probably supply Ukraine on their own if it came down to it.
I await the day we get footage of a K2 pushing a T-90’s shit in.
For a dude that said send me bullets not a ride, that is always wearing army attire and constantly advocating for his country, partying with prostitutes just doesn't really fit?
There is a huge difference between getting people motivated to defend their own country that is being invaded and getting people motivated to be the invader.
I would never be thrilled about fighting in a war, but I'd be 1000x more likely to want to defend my own country from an invading force than I would be to go to another country and attack them because the leader of my own country wants to take it over, fuck that.
This. Even without support from the usa, Ukraine would turn this into another Vietnam or afghanistan. Their fighting spirit and ingenuity is top level, and for a defensive, skirmish like war, that is a massive factor.
And that is without counting support from the EU. Many countries from the EU are by themselves way bigger and more powerful than russia in technology, industry and economy, as long as some of them keep motivation and support Ukraine will keep an upper hand, even if small.
While USA left Vietnam, Russia would just go for the genocide route, we saw it happen in every major Russian conflict that after capturing a area they resort to terror, executions and basic killing of potential enemies of Russia.
Bucha and mariupol are recent examples of what Russian occupation looks like.
In Afghanistan the partisan action was just successful in the long run, I think it would too in Ukraine after some time but the victims along this road are not a thing anybody should really take as a option
And this is a factor i cant wrap my head around. How Russia think they can subdue Ukraine even if they manage to break Ukraine's army. From what i can find Ukraine now has more than 1.2 million veterans, meaning people that have actually fought.
The brutal war has also given root to so much hatred and animosity.
So even if Russia win a conventional war they have to control the country afterwards. A huge country with well over a million veterans and bordering 4 NATO countries and a big coastline making supporting insurgents easy.
The country is also fairly modern and developed.
We’ve been hearing this for years now though. Morale has always been low for Russian conscripts. They have also been poorly equipped, I remember within just the early months of the invasion footage of Russians with a mosin nagant or no weapon at all even. Russia has a seemingly endless supply of meat for the grinder though.
for russia the morale must hit levels so deep its a underground digging operation for anything to happen, the fear of the state is so big that most soldiers wont openly revolt but with the amount of soldiers just surrendering, suiciding we already hit a very low level tho.
usually russian soldiers dont surrender, surrendering isnt even a option since everyone there know what happens to the pow's they take
we also saw VDV troops fully equipped with shiny new uniforms landing in a air assault with the best gear russia could muster, when was the last time you saw a fully equipped russian special unit like vdv or spetsnaz
but they have alot more shitter units like regular conscripto with mosin nagat or ak74 and a useless rpg18
"They won't ever run out of soldiers IN Russia" this war is not IN Russia which not to pick on you but I keep seeing people citing historical examples of the Russian meat grinder technique but making claims to defensive rear gaurd tactics which is fundamentally different than meat grinder offensive tactics. And we're already seeing the mercenary price starting to skyrocket up so we should expect Russia to start trying to tank 3rd world economies so they can lower the price in that market.
It is not often talked about but while proportionally Russia is losing way more troops, Ukraine is also losing loads. With the whole concept of "the West can pay for the war with money while Ukraine pays for it with (wo)men" has been going on for a while and they have been paying.
No, let's be clear, Russia would finish every single piece of equipment before they finish the available manpower. That said the voluntary manpower could finish before that.
More then that we can make some precise guesses that Russia won't be able to recover the losses of some key equipment such as tanks for example at end of 2025.
That said without more serious NATO aid at reasonable speed (Europe here could still do something) Ukraine is far from guaranteed to survive until 2025.
There was in February a Estonian plan for aid to Ukraine to retake all its land, and it estimated 0.25% of NATO annual GDP or 128 bilions annually for Ukraine to retake back all of its land including Crimea. The cost though would shrink considerably if you detract the cost of old equipment (how much is more difficult to say, personally i would say 30-35 bilions?)
A rock solid defense could cost a lot less, likely around half of that if you use ammo cost as a baseline, so around 60 bilions annually. Here less could be saved with old equipment but still something.
Safe to say that hasn't happened yet (US 60 bilions aid had around 23 bilion military aid actually for Ukraine, the rest was more for US defense restruction and EU also have i think around 20 bilions in military aid, plus a lot more in financial aid) . The problem is that while according to RUSI Russias production should peak in 2024 and decline from there the longer NATO waits to enact the higher the cost is to put Ukraine back into shape, until its no longer possible.
If that were the case the US and especially the EU will pay from direct and indirect costs exponentially more that what has been spent or would need to be spent on Ukraine. (just as one example the US would then have a stronger Russia that threatens Europe which means keeping the fortified and costlier US bases there, instead if Russia is beaten in Ukraine and Europe rearmed the US can cancel those bases, save tens of bilions every year plus having an armed EU to ask weapons from in case of need and having a deterrence effect against possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan)
In short if NATO aid does not become more consistent in mass and speed Ukraine has a serious chance of losing even though Russia would pay an absurdely high price and consequently the EU and the US would need to deal with the longterm fallout of that.
All this could also be financed from frozen Russian assets but with potential consequences on trust in EU and US banking (thats a more complicated story though)
have a good day
>won't Russia run out of people to send to the meat grinder?
I think you are underestimating Russia here. Their "strength" isn't in technological or even tactical/strategic superiority; it's in the sheer number of people the Kremlin views as disposable. There are ≈48 million people of fighting age in Russia and have no issues tossing convicts and conscripted ethnic minorities at the Ukrainians. The Soviets deployed convicts and deserters to run through minefields to clear the way for the troops. In today's war, the Russians are fighting in Vovchansk [entirely with infantry](https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2024/06/18/in-russia-vehicles-are-expensive-but-soldiers-are-cheap-and-thats-why-the-battle-for-vovchansk-is-becoming-an-infantry-massacre/) because it values its armored vehicles more than people.
Laughs in Soviet Union in WW2. Do you know how many millions of people they sent literally without bullets to meet Nazi machine gun nests?
They won't run out of people lol.
I'm afraid Russia will be the best at acquiring new meat, compared to Ukraine. Besides bigger population, they also use immigrants, prisoners and soon probably NK too..
The Threat we are going to cut aid?
Oh Honey, if Trump is elected Trump is going to do everything in his power to stop the aid. I don't know what Congress can do to get around him, but he is going to play hardball on this issue.
Let me say these as clearly as I know how.
Russia is committing genocide and Trump wants to help them pull that trick off.
The only negotiations that should happen are when Putin will be presented to the world courts for war crimes and how fast Russia will have to pay Ukraine back to build back thier country.
Can you imagine if Russia started a ground invasion on the US and people elsewhere in the world were like, "maybe you guys should just 'compromise' and let them have the west coast".
I get not liking war, nobody does, but it's pretty wild seeing some of these takes. "why are you such a warmonger, just let them genocide 30% of your country and surrender all sovereignty"
It's also real easy to tell people to just give away their territory in exchange for "peace" when you yourself are safe and don't have a stake in it. If Trump loves peace so much at any cost, he can promise Russia part of Alaska once he's president, in exchange for their Russian "peace".
I grew up in the days when red blooded Americans wore t-shirts that said “kill a commie for mommy”. Now this same Americans have become members of a treasonous cult.
So sad to see this once great country fall so hard for Russian propaganda.
That is because they are being paid by the Kremlin. This is all a big propaganda op by the Russians to destabilize the West. They’ve been preparing for it for decades.
Exactly.
It should be painfully obvious for anyone, but it obviously isn’t.
Or, more likely, people just don’t care.
They’ve gone so far down the dividing propaganda, that it would be too painful to acknowledge the fact that they have been duped.
Much easier to just stay hateful and be your worst.
It would be a shame if the FBI started looking into Russian assets within the United States government without prejudice and arresting them all /s
Edit: Added /s just in case it’s missed
That's what he meant but he vastly overestimates his influence on the situation. Even if Trump cuts off aid to Ukraine the Ukrainians aren't going to stop fighting. They will take more losses Russia may start to advance more rapidly but the war wouldn't end. One of Putin's most profound mistakes was assuming that Ukrainians have no agency and that Washington and Moscow are the only places that matter in deciding the future of the Ukrainian people. Trump has already made that same mistake.
Trump thinks that the only reason Ukraine is fighting Russia is because the US is sending arms and armaments. Ukraine won't stop fighting Russia if the US pulls support, they'll just die in significantly larger numbers. Trump wants to stop a war, but what he'll actually do is support a genocide.
Just like his little photo op with Kim Jong Un; it didn’t do shit to help our country but it sure as fuck made Kim look good, legitimized his regime, and elevated North Korea. All that talk of “peace” didn’t mean shit when we went back to Square 1 a couple months later.
What, you mean it's not normal for POTUS to salute a military general of a hostile nation?
Next you're gonna tell me it's like bad to go have private meetings with putin on July 4 or invite the taliban to camp david...
The Republican sphere has been perfectly clear that they would expect Ukraine to surrender all territory Russia currently controls within Ukraine, at a minimum.
It's not a coincidence this is also the minimum Russia has indicated they'd agree to.
I'm pretty sure the original idea is so politicians can't use the justice system to prevent political rivals from running like Putin did with Alexei Navalny using trumped up charges. So it does have a purpose. Sucks when you get an actual bad faith actor and criminal like Trump taking advantage of the system meant to give good faith actors the benefit of the doubt though.
I don't know if that was the "original intent" as early American elections were VASTLY different than today's but despots and want to be despots have certainly abused the criminal justice system to eliminate opponents. Turkey's voting process may be fair but Erdogan was able to disqualify his opposition's best candidate in the last Turkish election resulting in a far weaker and less charismatic candidate running against him who Erdogan was able to beat.
In the US following the Civil War the insurrection act was passed to ban confederate leaders from holding office because otherwise the South would have been dominated by the exact same politicians who led the war against the US. If someone believes that Trump was a leader of an insurrection relating to the January sixth attack on the Capital then hypothetically Trump could be disqualified under this law. Of course this hasn't really been used since the Civil War and the Supreme Court doesn't seem to buy this argument (then again it does have a 6-3 conservative majority with 3 Trump appointments).
yeah, the original writers put way too much faith in the electorate. somebody was probably like, "how bout a few other restrictions, like no criminals for example?" and they were like "lol, naw, there's nobody that fucking stupid. let's keep it simple and trust the people"
it's like, trump supporters are the reason warning labels exist lol
allowing criminals was intentional to avoid turning the justice system into a tool for barring political opponents(modern dictatorships love this move btw).
Trump isn't even the first person to run for President while a criminal, Eugene Debs ran his 1920 presidential campaign for the Socialist part of America from prison and received 3.4% of the votes, he had been convicted of Sedition for his anti-draft speeches during WW1, and he used the trial itself as a venue to make a speech:
"Your honor, I have stated in this court that I am opposed to the form of our present government; that I am opposed to the social system in which we live; that I believe in the change of both but by perfectly peaceable and orderly means. ...
I am thinking this morning of the men in the mills and factories; I am thinking of the women who, for a paltry wage, are compelled to work out their lives; of the little children who, in this system, are robbed of their childhood, and in their early, tender years, are seized in the remorseless grasp of Mammon, and forced into the industrial dungeons, there to feed the machines while they themselves are being starved body and soul. ...
Your honor, I ask no mercy, I plead for no immunity. I realize that finally the right must prevail. I never more fully comprehended than now the great struggle between the powers of greed on the one hand and upon the other the rising hosts of freedom. I can see the dawn of a better day of humanity. The people are awakening. In due course of time they will come into their own.
When the mariner, sailing over tropic seas, looks for relief from his weary watch, he turns his eyes toward the Southern Cross, burning luridly above the tempest-vexed ocean. As the midnight approaches the Southern Cross begins to bend, and the whirling worlds change their places, and with starry finger-points the Almighty marks the passage of Time upon the dial of the universe; and though no bell may beat the glad tidings, the look-out knows that the midnight is passing – that relief and rest are close at hand.
Let the people take heart and hope everywhere, for the cross is bending, midnight is passing, and joy cometh with the morning."
They also have to have not committed an insurrection after having sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution, but *apparently* SCOTUS has the power to rewrite the Constitution to make that not apply.
Embedded agents willing to chance a pro-Russia elected leader who has been setting the stage for a plethora of different promises to a group of hugely different entities.
Big Oil and the American theocracy don't get along, for example, but share common goals to an extent.
Banning abortions doesn't affect relations with Russia, but does for the theocratic base.
In many cases, the Christian theocrats align with willingness to politically submit to Saudi Arabian economic demands to gain a domestic advantage, as long as the respective religions stay away from each other, which is appreciated by domestic terror groups like the Klan, Proud Boys, and whatever else the white nationalists are calling themselves these days.
Meanwhile, Russia funds this because their end goal is dividing the nation, sowing political strife, and encouraging fascist policies.
They’ve lost the war no matter what happens. 500,000 dead and maimed young men in exchange for….the Donbas? Some coal mines and wheat fields? That will never be worth the humiliation and human losses they’ve suffered
The 2nd most powerful army in the world couldn’t take the capital city of the poorest country in Europe, 75 miles from its own borders
No matter what propaganda they try to spin it’s clear to the international community that Russia’s no longer a great power
Is this not, at best, skirting a violation of the Logan Act? Not that anyone has ever really given a shit about that. Looking at you Nixon prolonging the Vietnam War or Regan making deals about hostages in Iran.
The Logan act bars private citizens from negotiating with foreign powers on behalf of the US without authorization. It does not make it illegal for candidates for office to make suggestions of how they would address foreign policy concerns - if it did candidates wouldn't be able to debate foreign policy in any meaningful way (or, similarly, it would make it illegal for US citizens to post on reddit with their thoughts on foreign policy). A foreign leader making public remarks responding to such hypotheticals doesn't cross the line on its own.
If Trump (or people in his campaign) were to directly reach out to Russia or Ukraine, that would likely be illegal... there may be a line for back-and-forth public statements that resemble negotiations, but I haven't seen lawyers weigh in on where that line could be.
It's also worth noting that it only applies to certain foreign countries or topics of negotiations:
> in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States
So when, say, Newsom meets with Japanese officials about trade or investment deals, it isn't in violation even if they don't seek approval from the federal government.
Note: IANAL, this is my understanding of the Logan act based on news coverage and analysis from when Flynn was in the news over potential Logan Act violations.
Yes! I fear that European isn’t doing enough to be ready to pick up the slack after the US election. Nor have the balls to stand up to pressure from the US to help the russian dicktator.
I think you’d find a lot of European nations more than keen to meet Russian aggression head on.
The problem will come from the lack of a united front, which NATO and American leadership currently provides.
Each nation would have different plans and levels of motivation for involvement. Something the Russians would immediately try to exploit.
As an American I really hope you do. I'm ashamed at what Republicans are willing to do not only in regards to Ukraine, but basically everything. Please stay strong Europe. Carry the flag while we struggle.
European NATO could take on Russia without the US if it needed to. The problem is that if Trump is elected, he will be working *for* Russia, handing over intelligence etc which will cause problems.
I would love to see more world leaders call out Trump’s bullshit leading up to the election. His rhetoric on how he believes world leaders respected him during his administration and now they laugh at Biden is so pathetic. *He* was the laughing stock of the world during his term and his narcissism can’t handle it.
The trouble,with this is, the world leaders are also aware they may actually have to deal with Trump.
From their perspective, it’s better to keep quiet.
Everything with Trump is uncharted territory. Whereas most leaders stay out of US elections, I think the chaos on a world order that Trump invites will at least convince some to be more vocal as Election Day nears.
I dunno, during Trump’s term, many world leaders went out of their way to try to be buddy buddy with Trump.
I remember reading Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe organizing a golfing trip and crappy hamburgers for him.
Trump is notoriously vindictive. Do you take that risk?
And how many undecided, low information voters are going to be persuaded by (say) German Chancellor Olaf Scholz? Or whoever is British Prime Minister after tomorrow?
Trump supporters don’t listen to world leaders or logic. They will completely overlook his aide to Russia or just blatantly not know about it. If he gets reelected, I fully blame the realistic level of stupidity USA exhibits, and I fully expect us to be on the wrong side of the war.
It’s like being in the playground, or the prison yard, and one of the guys who is 6’7”, and somehow has a baseball bat, also controls the guards, the commissary, and what gets smuggled in.
Everyone knows he is full of shit and a liar, but they want their honeybuns and protection. So they smile and work with him.
If Trump wins, US goes back to 1920s with Project 2025. Trump is a flash in the pan, the dismantling of institutions and replacement of it with "loyal" cronies is the big scary. Including the repeal of 19th Amendment and women's right to vote.
If trump gets elected and cuts support, it doesn't mean Ukraine would just give up! Would you? What's more than likely to happen is that Europe will enter the war because it can't just let Russia take Ukraine.
Europe just started ramping up military production recently. It will take at least a couple of years to get to the level where they can support Ukraine effectively. I don't know what were they thinking.
Dumbass trumper watching fox never heard of the project2025.
Had a bit of a quiver in his voice after my quick overview of it.
"I'll check it out when I get home".
Smh
There are republicans on record saying they hate Trump, they believe he will ruin the country.
They also say they couldn't possibly vote Biden and will probably vote Trump.
The cult behaviour is real.
We cannot let Trump get reelected. Vote. Vote. Vote. I know Biden isn't an appealing option, but he's still leagues better for the world than the convicted criminal.
If Trump wins the people of Ukraine are so fucked. Trump will do whatever it takes to force Ukraine into a no win situation where they will end up handing over their country to Russia because Trump killed all aid to Ukraine and will cut the US contribution to NATO...😕 just another reason to not vote for any Republican this November...
Donald Trump is a c\*nt, so there that.
Ukraine should decide if it gives up its own land, and nobody else. Especially not a convicted rapist, serial felon, failed businessman, serial liar, and loser, Donald Trump.
Ukraine should point out to Trump that Putin's mouthpieces in the press have called for the return of Alaska. Is Trump prepared to return Alaska to Russia to end the war? Because that's what it might take.
You have to stop thinking of Trump doing what he thinks is best for the country or world. Showing him this will do nothing.
His entire focus is what is best for Trump. And right now, he's compromised by the Russians.
It’s not even him doing what Russia wants. He’s a petty narcissist and will happily let Ukraine burn because Zelensky didn’t play ball with his extortion scheme (first impeachment).
It all started with the Rheinland, then Austria and then Sudetenland and after the world allowed all that to happen Poland was next on the menu and even then you could argue that the plan still was to let Hitler keep doing what he does with the seating war in the Western theater
When the lowlands fell it was pretty clear what was about to happen and that all the ideas of a appeasement failed
Appeasement does not work it never did, it's just a sign of being weak and an invitation to be the next target
Russia did all this before with Georgia( the European/Asian nation north of Turkey) and with Moldavia, both of these nations basically lost territory to a "independent" movement of green men supported by Russia either official or unofficial
Crimea and East Ukraine was a test, a test of how the world will react, and the reaction was weak over all the years that"civil" war went so Russia figured nobody would care if all of Ukraine would fall under Russia. The support since 2014 wasn't very significant it was there and helpful but not significant enough to stop Russia just invading
>Finnish President Alexander Stubb also suggested that the war could be ended in swift fashion.
>In an interview with the Bloomberg news agency, Stubb said that Moscow’s dependence on China had reached a level where Beijing could use its influence to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
This is a much more interesting suggestion.
China would never do that though. They certainly want their puppet to be happy with them so they can keep playing the world victim card with their little club of misfits.
Honest question for people who are smarter than me. What's the end game here?
It either ends in a massive attack forcing one side to surrender or ends in diplomacy. Spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a stale mate doesn't seem feasible.
Anything that Trump is involved in will be to the benefit of Russia. He never has a bad word to say about Putin but has no problem ridiculing everybody in his own country without remorse.
The fact that Trump is even allowed to run, let alone having SUPPORT like he does, is a clear indication that our country is a fucking joke. What even is this
> Reports indicated Trump’s advisers had proposed a strategy involving the threat of cutting U.S. aid unless Kyiv entered into negotiations with Moscow. > > Yermak responded cautiously when asked about Trump’s approach, saying: “Honest answer: I don’t know. Let’s see.” > > Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, commented during a visit to Washington that while Kyiv wants a “just peace,” certain fundamental values such as independence, freedom, democracy, territorial integrity, and sovereignty are non-negotiable.
>certain fundamental values such as independence, freedom, democracy, territorial integrity, and sovereignty are non-negotiable. Exactly as it should be.
Russia already made that deal in 1991. I guess someone on russias side had their fingers crossed behind their backs.
Good for Mr. Z at this point won't Russia run out of people to send to the meat grinder?
Russia is bringing in new “meat” from other countries. NK may send bodies next. Many of the subs following the war have shown drone footage of soldiers who are not Russian dying in the wastelands.
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Aren't they handing out scooters now?
Still probably better than sitting in your shit shack eating cold dog waiting for your neighbours to sell you out to the secret police......probably.
What kind of golf cart are we talking?
Jank-ass. I believe they're a Chinese brand.
Right but, the econo or the deluxe model?
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Somehow I don't think the NK bodies will tilt the needle at all. Virtually no one in that country (or quite possibly, literally no one) has any memory of the Korean war and what a conflict actually looks like. They're going to be wiped out even faster than the previous waves of "soldiers".
I don’t think Russia is expecting professional soldiers, just more bodies for the meat grinder. That’s how they think they can win - just keep letting bodies pile up and Ukraine will run out of people first.
"You see, Killbots have a preset kill limit, knowing their weakness I sent wave after wave of my own men at them until they reached their limit and shutdown."
Bam!
Quantity has a quality of its own. -Short angry French Bloke
In their defense...that's usually how Russia wins.
Historically, yeah. If the west actually steps up and gives Ukraine what they need, though, it won’t work anymore. But….big “if.”
> That’s how they think they can win - just keep letting bodies pile up and Ukraine will run out of people first. I mean, that is literally how they won all of their wars. Just look at WW2. Over a million Russians died at the battle of Stalingrad alone. That's how they win, by having more cannon fodder.
But this time the issue is long term that demographics are not on russias side. The country will pay dearly for the young men who died or left the country for safer places.
NK soldiers are very dangerous to the Russian as many will take any opportunity to kill their own and escape their country. Even a son of a family in the inner circle ran for it and risked his life to escape NK. All cause he had a taste for sugar treat and would do anything to taste that again.
North Koreans aren't being deployed in any offensive capacity. Pretty sure they're just engineering corps sent likely to build and repair infrastructure
Because if there's one thing North Korea knows how to do is build infrastructure...
probably better at it than farming..
the North Korean famine was not due to a failure of farming from North Korea, Northern Korea even centuries before the splitting of the peninsula has always been reliant on food imports(usually from the southern half of Korea which has massive agricultural production), the famines were caused by the dissolution of the Soviet Union leading to a loss of food imports from the Soviet Union.
Just like how the Indian volunteers were told they were going to be cooks?
They weren't volunteers, IIRC. They were trafficked from Belarus to Russia and press ganged into the army. Apparently, they had originally gone to Belarus as cooks
Digging trenches is still pretty close to the front line.
There's already combat footage of African, Indian, Brazilian, and North Korean troops finding out how accurate Ukrainian drones are.
It's really Ork-like when you think about it.
It really is. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/russia-ukraine-africa-corps-wagner-mercenaries-b2572557.html I just googled it to see if I could provide some links if anyone wanted a source and this article is 23 hours old. It’s going to be very interesting to see who the Ukrainians will be fighting in the near future.
Orks vs. robots. Didn't think you'd see it in your lifetime I bet!
The Machine spirit will grant us victory from those greenskins!
[THE OMNISSIAH KNOWS ALL, COMPREHENDS ALL]
01010000 01110010 01100001 01101001 01110011 01100101 00100000 01100010 01100101 00100000 01010100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01001111 01101101 01101110 01101001 01110011 01110011 01101001 01100001 01101000
Binary solo!
What good are starving, emaciated troops?
Looks similar to the waning days of Rome. Rome hired many foreign people to staff their armies.
They're probably safe until they start resorting to hiring foreign officers to staff the army. And even then the Russian army structure makes those guys kinda useless. These dudes are just there to clear minefields
Just Zerg things, assimilating biomass from other sources
Maybe other countries could start sending troops to help Ukraine. That seems fair. Any countries who think a dictator ripping democracy away from a country is a bad idea could step up here.
Russia cries foul play and threatens nuclear option like a baby throwing a tantrum
"Russia, its the 7th time this week you've threatened nuclear Armageddon"
Problem is western countries actually value their soldiers unlike nk and China who only see them as pawns. Mainly because a strong soldier in the west goes through more training and have more expensive equipments
Can I ask your favorite subs about the war?
r/UkrainianConflict r/UkraineWarVideoReport There is also a combat footage sub, but I prefer the subs listed above because it is about this war.
Not to mention there’s recent footage of women fighting on the front lines too. There’s speculation they’re from female prisons since most of the male ones have been scoured clean of ‘volunteers’.
Indians and chinese as-well which is dark irony in itself
yeah I think Putin either outright removed or lowered the criteria for people from those countries to get a Visa and the ones that do move to Russia are sent to the front lines
Not just NK, they’re also getting suckers from India to fight for them.
Chinese volunteers are fertilizing the lands of Ukraine as well.
Not like North Korea can spare that many people anyway. Only the people that still submit to the party are walking free, so if you send too many of them over to die in another country their southern brothers could just waltz right over and make it one Korea again.
Don't forget the United States of America in 2025.
Several Americans have already signed on for the Russians, sadly. Congress would never agree to send troops to Ukraine on the side of the Russians. Especially after we just seny them all our toys. Trump would just sit back and wait.
If Trump gets in I don't think it matters what congress wants.
Trump will get rid of congress. What would be the purpose of congress if T is king.
And there is more meat coming from Belarus. Meanwhile none of Ukraine’s supporters would be prepared to commit troops for political reasons.
I don't understand why us intelligence can't just provide Ukraine with the location of these giant troop formations. Like when they send company after company of assaulting units to position, where there has to be at least a battalion or two amass somewhere to pull all these troops from. And then they can just simply overwhelm the air defenses and rain down a bunch of ATACMS or HIMARS or guided artillery. Instead of waiting for Russia to send dozens of troops at a time and having to fight off each wave until they've spent thousands of bullets and artillery shells to take out four or five Russians here and there.
Look, I wouldn't be surprised if in January we have US boots on the ground in Ukraine....fighting FOR Russia. Depending on how the election goes. Not like Congress or SCOTUS would stop a Russian agent in the white house from doing whatever they wanted.
Also Cuba, India and China.
Dictators love this shit. It's a good opportunity to get rid of "undesirables". If Trump wins in November, expect a draft, and expect anyone who voted for a Democrat to go over first.
On Russias side
Conservatives especially hate the draft while supporting wars. A draft would mean their lives or their families would be at risk. Better to have the poor people serve out of economic necessity. Republicans don't even try to hide that anymore. Some politicians have openly said student loan forgiveness or cutting the cost of university tuition would negatively impact military recruitment.
Look. Lemme put this to rest. I've been in the Navy for 12 years. Conscription is a bad road. I wouldn't want to put my life in the hands of someone who would run away or not pull the trigger. Conscripts are unreliable and generally unwilling. As for your assertions about Recruitment...no offense but I don't agree. I've seen the numbers and internal metrics. The problem is three-fold. One, is that Gen Z is a tiny demographic compared to melennials. Second, less eligible 18-25 males. Most can't qualify for a number of reasons despite waivers. Third, we have failed to appeal to Gen Z. Why? I have my opinions about that. The end of HY3, longer contracts, not making it look cool. Programs for loan forgiveness and free schooling have been around for decades.
I'd be more concerned about ukraines manpower
There was some report that they had like 5 or 6 million unemployed in all the remote villages and cities. They lure them with 3k a month and high pensions if they join the military to dig trenches and repair machinery. What they didn't tell them that the machine to fix is behind that hill and six of eight will not return. Since they control the media that is the only knowledge they get. They also seem to forcibly conscript demonstrators and people who don't want to work. The reason Russia will fail is that they seem to be soon out of proper metal and shells for their tanks. China is not fully resupplying them and NK will only send the most brain dead to die, but even their crazy dictator will not send trains full of people for years.
They won't ever run out of soldiers in Russia, it's a simple fact. The problem is the morale of the army and equipment levels Equipment seems to be strained massively right now for Russia since the use of older tanks got higher and modern tanks are now not that common anymore Fuel could also be a problem with many refineries having certain problems with people smoking in them, making refueling tours longer and fuel stocks harder to replenish for a continued push With morale low thanks to all the losses there is also a slowly rising motivation to act against superiors or even key war industry and infrastructure, in Russia there has to be a open civil war for people to turn on the government and even that is sometimes not enough It all depends on how long Ukraine can hold with limited hardware and manpower
>It all depends on how long Ukraine can hold with limited hardware and manpower Reading some recent articles it seems the biggest thing dragging this out has been other countries restricting what Ukraine can do with the weapons given to them. That and also restricting actually giving them weapons. Because like what you basically said that Putin is still living the high life. Never ending war hasn't cramped his lifestyle yet.
the other nations dragging it out is a problem, yes, the planning and deployment of units and gear cant be done without having a time schedule for the gear and units. it takes x amount of time to train a unit to use a different vehicle/weapons system but you only have enough vehicles to train and deploy a single unit so you wont start training a second unit because units in training are not deployed on the field fighting, opening gaps you have because you cant fully equip your units and the restriction of use for weapons is also a big factor for sure, if your enemy can just chill behind the border and collect and supply his units right behind the frontline its a huge advantage also ammo supply is a huge factor, all these fancy guns dont bring any effect without ammo except looking good on paper if the west wants to end the next worldwar now, it has to show strength now or we gonna have a poland moment again, we really should oversupply ukraine as much as possible to send a deafing message to russias dictator, we stand united and your war will not succeed also ukraine has alot of manpower too yes, but in the long run russia will just have more people to throw, every soldier of ukraine has to be used as best as possible and every soldier that is kia on ukraine side is a significant blow thanks to training and experience lost then right now it seems tho russia wants to continue to keep sending green units against defenders that dont do anything else, grind russian units and retreat when too much pressure, rinse and repeat, every 500 meters of ukraine right now is bought by extreme casualties on the russian side
Yeah and the quiet acceptance of the west to accept Russian oil. It doesn’t matter if it goes through India or wherever, it’s still Russian oil. Of course politicians in the west have a choice, higher prices at home or cutting off the Russians. They chose to talk tough whilst giving Putin money Bill Browder (he of the balls of steel) gave an excellent talk to a uk select committee on this quite recently. Worth a watch
When they get those long range rockets they started using them against oil refineries and train stations on the Russian side. Vladolf's visit in NK wasn't giggles. He know he is losing, he is working with borrowed time, material and people. Ukraine has to start using the F-16s to destroy hard supply lines, while the west should start building an off ramp for the murderous toddler that he is able to sell to the delusional middle and oligarch class as a win.
Putins entire strategy lives and dies in November. His goal has always been to stay until funding gets cut by the US. Hopefully Europe can come more to the table and make up the difference, but things aren't looking too great there either. The next few months are critical for the entire conflict, and, for the most part, it is not in Zelenskys hands. All he can really do is try to motivate the west to stay behind him and diffuse Russian propaganda. I've heard from some further right folks that he's partying it up with prostitutes every day in his safe capital of Kiev while he sends his young to die in the burning villages he cares nothing about. That kind of rhetoric is not coming from the west, but it is being repeated by them.
I read that the European Union told Zelensky something along the line “We are with Ukraine and will keep supplying you weapons if Trump gets elected”.
What about the possibility of South Korea starting to arm Ukraine, since that has been hinted as a possibility since the recent events? Can that make any meaningful difference?
Yes, if SK opens the tap it will make a difference. They have a huge arms industry and could probably supply Ukraine on their own if it came down to it. I await the day we get footage of a K2 pushing a T-90’s shit in.
For a dude that said send me bullets not a ride, that is always wearing army attire and constantly advocating for his country, partying with prostitutes just doesn't really fit?
Throw enough bullshit at the wall and some of it will stick, unfortunately that goes doubly for the easily misinformed right
There is a huge difference between getting people motivated to defend their own country that is being invaded and getting people motivated to be the invader.
I would never be thrilled about fighting in a war, but I'd be 1000x more likely to want to defend my own country from an invading force than I would be to go to another country and attack them because the leader of my own country wants to take it over, fuck that.
This. Even without support from the usa, Ukraine would turn this into another Vietnam or afghanistan. Their fighting spirit and ingenuity is top level, and for a defensive, skirmish like war, that is a massive factor. And that is without counting support from the EU. Many countries from the EU are by themselves way bigger and more powerful than russia in technology, industry and economy, as long as some of them keep motivation and support Ukraine will keep an upper hand, even if small.
While USA left Vietnam, Russia would just go for the genocide route, we saw it happen in every major Russian conflict that after capturing a area they resort to terror, executions and basic killing of potential enemies of Russia. Bucha and mariupol are recent examples of what Russian occupation looks like. In Afghanistan the partisan action was just successful in the long run, I think it would too in Ukraine after some time but the victims along this road are not a thing anybody should really take as a option
Grozny
And this is a factor i cant wrap my head around. How Russia think they can subdue Ukraine even if they manage to break Ukraine's army. From what i can find Ukraine now has more than 1.2 million veterans, meaning people that have actually fought. The brutal war has also given root to so much hatred and animosity. So even if Russia win a conventional war they have to control the country afterwards. A huge country with well over a million veterans and bordering 4 NATO countries and a big coastline making supporting insurgents easy. The country is also fairly modern and developed.
Russians are told Ukraine is Russia and they are defended it.
We’ve been hearing this for years now though. Morale has always been low for Russian conscripts. They have also been poorly equipped, I remember within just the early months of the invasion footage of Russians with a mosin nagant or no weapon at all even. Russia has a seemingly endless supply of meat for the grinder though.
for russia the morale must hit levels so deep its a underground digging operation for anything to happen, the fear of the state is so big that most soldiers wont openly revolt but with the amount of soldiers just surrendering, suiciding we already hit a very low level tho. usually russian soldiers dont surrender, surrendering isnt even a option since everyone there know what happens to the pow's they take we also saw VDV troops fully equipped with shiny new uniforms landing in a air assault with the best gear russia could muster, when was the last time you saw a fully equipped russian special unit like vdv or spetsnaz but they have alot more shitter units like regular conscripto with mosin nagat or ak74 and a useless rpg18
"They won't ever run out of soldiers IN Russia" this war is not IN Russia which not to pick on you but I keep seeing people citing historical examples of the Russian meat grinder technique but making claims to defensive rear gaurd tactics which is fundamentally different than meat grinder offensive tactics. And we're already seeing the mercenary price starting to skyrocket up so we should expect Russia to start trying to tank 3rd world economies so they can lower the price in that market.
It is not often talked about but while proportionally Russia is losing way more troops, Ukraine is also losing loads. With the whole concept of "the West can pay for the war with money while Ukraine pays for it with (wo)men" has been going on for a while and they have been paying.
No, let's be clear, Russia would finish every single piece of equipment before they finish the available manpower. That said the voluntary manpower could finish before that. More then that we can make some precise guesses that Russia won't be able to recover the losses of some key equipment such as tanks for example at end of 2025. That said without more serious NATO aid at reasonable speed (Europe here could still do something) Ukraine is far from guaranteed to survive until 2025. There was in February a Estonian plan for aid to Ukraine to retake all its land, and it estimated 0.25% of NATO annual GDP or 128 bilions annually for Ukraine to retake back all of its land including Crimea. The cost though would shrink considerably if you detract the cost of old equipment (how much is more difficult to say, personally i would say 30-35 bilions?) A rock solid defense could cost a lot less, likely around half of that if you use ammo cost as a baseline, so around 60 bilions annually. Here less could be saved with old equipment but still something. Safe to say that hasn't happened yet (US 60 bilions aid had around 23 bilion military aid actually for Ukraine, the rest was more for US defense restruction and EU also have i think around 20 bilions in military aid, plus a lot more in financial aid) . The problem is that while according to RUSI Russias production should peak in 2024 and decline from there the longer NATO waits to enact the higher the cost is to put Ukraine back into shape, until its no longer possible. If that were the case the US and especially the EU will pay from direct and indirect costs exponentially more that what has been spent or would need to be spent on Ukraine. (just as one example the US would then have a stronger Russia that threatens Europe which means keeping the fortified and costlier US bases there, instead if Russia is beaten in Ukraine and Europe rearmed the US can cancel those bases, save tens of bilions every year plus having an armed EU to ask weapons from in case of need and having a deterrence effect against possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan) In short if NATO aid does not become more consistent in mass and speed Ukraine has a serious chance of losing even though Russia would pay an absurdely high price and consequently the EU and the US would need to deal with the longterm fallout of that. All this could also be financed from frozen Russian assets but with potential consequences on trust in EU and US banking (thats a more complicated story though) have a good day
They got the North Korean dlc pack ready to feed it next
Not before Ukraine runs out of people.
i'm sure that's what hitler thought as well but the meat puppets just kept coming
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I don't think you've seen a desperate Russia yet
>won't Russia run out of people to send to the meat grinder? I think you are underestimating Russia here. Their "strength" isn't in technological or even tactical/strategic superiority; it's in the sheer number of people the Kremlin views as disposable. There are ≈48 million people of fighting age in Russia and have no issues tossing convicts and conscripted ethnic minorities at the Ukrainians. The Soviets deployed convicts and deserters to run through minefields to clear the way for the troops. In today's war, the Russians are fighting in Vovchansk [entirely with infantry](https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2024/06/18/in-russia-vehicles-are-expensive-but-soldiers-are-cheap-and-thats-why-the-battle-for-vovchansk-is-becoming-an-infantry-massacre/) because it values its armored vehicles more than people.
Russia has way more people than Ukraine so they probably aren’t running out first
Laughs in Soviet Union in WW2. Do you know how many millions of people they sent literally without bullets to meet Nazi machine gun nests? They won't run out of people lol.
I'm afraid Russia will be the best at acquiring new meat, compared to Ukraine. Besides bigger population, they also use immigrants, prisoners and soon probably NK too..
People are one thing, they’ve lost a lot of equipment though haven’t they?
In the words of our lord and savior Liberty Prime. "DEMOCRACY IS NON NEGOTIABLE"
"EMBRACE DEMOCRACY, OR YOU WILL BE ERADICATED"
The Threat we are going to cut aid? Oh Honey, if Trump is elected Trump is going to do everything in his power to stop the aid. I don't know what Congress can do to get around him, but he is going to play hardball on this issue. Let me say these as clearly as I know how. Russia is committing genocide and Trump wants to help them pull that trick off.
Pretty obvious Trump is in the bag for Russia
The only negotiations that should happen are when Putin will be presented to the world courts for war crimes and how fast Russia will have to pay Ukraine back to build back thier country.
The GOP is the treason party of America, implementer of fascist dictatorships for the world, and destroyer of democracy and republics world wide.
Can you imagine if Russia started a ground invasion on the US and people elsewhere in the world were like, "maybe you guys should just 'compromise' and let them have the west coast".
I get not liking war, nobody does, but it's pretty wild seeing some of these takes. "why are you such a warmonger, just let them genocide 30% of your country and surrender all sovereignty"
It's also real easy to tell people to just give away their territory in exchange for "peace" when you yourself are safe and don't have a stake in it. If Trump loves peace so much at any cost, he can promise Russia part of Alaska once he's president, in exchange for their Russian "peace".
Trump already setting up the stage to help russia win the war if he is elected
Republicans never stopped helping Russia.
"Better Dead than Red" has never rung truer
I grew up in the days when red blooded Americans wore t-shirts that said “kill a commie for mommy”. Now this same Americans have become members of a treasonous cult. So sad to see this once great country fall so hard for Russian propaganda.
Rambo III was dedicated to the brave Afghan Mujahideen fighting the soviets.
Liberals should start wearing the old shirts.
That is because they are being paid by the Kremlin. This is all a big propaganda op by the Russians to destabilize the West. They’ve been preparing for it for decades.
Exactly. It should be painfully obvious for anyone, but it obviously isn’t. Or, more likely, people just don’t care. They’ve gone so far down the dividing propaganda, that it would be too painful to acknowledge the fact that they have been duped. Much easier to just stay hateful and be your worst.
It would be a shame if the FBI started looking into Russian assets within the United States government without prejudice and arresting them all /s Edit: Added /s just in case it’s missed
They did that already, then Trump pardoned them
And Biden has done nothing about it. As if the democrats want to lose.
Hopefully this well stop the whole “Regan brought down the wall” narrative. Cause the new saying will be “GOP rebuilt the iron curtain”
How much you want to bet when Trump said he’d end the war within 24 hours if elected, he really meant ending it by handing over Ukraine to Russia?
That's what he meant but he vastly overestimates his influence on the situation. Even if Trump cuts off aid to Ukraine the Ukrainians aren't going to stop fighting. They will take more losses Russia may start to advance more rapidly but the war wouldn't end. One of Putin's most profound mistakes was assuming that Ukrainians have no agency and that Washington and Moscow are the only places that matter in deciding the future of the Ukrainian people. Trump has already made that same mistake.
Unfortunetly France is soon in the hands of the pro russia fascists. The only hope is with Poland.
What about Italy and the Netherlands? Sweden? Finland?
There are only four countries in the world. The US, Russia, France and Ukraine. All other alleged countries are just a cartographer's conspiracy.
Trump thinks that the only reason Ukraine is fighting Russia is because the US is sending arms and armaments. Ukraine won't stop fighting Russia if the US pulls support, they'll just die in significantly larger numbers. Trump wants to stop a war, but what he'll actually do is support a genocide.
Just like his little photo op with Kim Jong Un; it didn’t do shit to help our country but it sure as fuck made Kim look good, legitimized his regime, and elevated North Korea. All that talk of “peace” didn’t mean shit when we went back to Square 1 a couple months later.
What, you mean it's not normal for POTUS to salute a military general of a hostile nation? Next you're gonna tell me it's like bad to go have private meetings with putin on July 4 or invite the taliban to camp david...
The Republican sphere has been perfectly clear that they would expect Ukraine to surrender all territory Russia currently controls within Ukraine, at a minimum. It's not a coincidence this is also the minimum Russia has indicated they'd agree to.
This is the only way *to* end the war in 24 hours.
Why is he still allowed to run?
Being a criminal doesn't disqualify you from running for President.
Which I find absolutely insane... I couldn't believe it when I heard this. This is actually true?
I'm pretty sure the original idea is so politicians can't use the justice system to prevent political rivals from running like Putin did with Alexei Navalny using trumped up charges. So it does have a purpose. Sucks when you get an actual bad faith actor and criminal like Trump taking advantage of the system meant to give good faith actors the benefit of the doubt though.
I don't know if that was the "original intent" as early American elections were VASTLY different than today's but despots and want to be despots have certainly abused the criminal justice system to eliminate opponents. Turkey's voting process may be fair but Erdogan was able to disqualify his opposition's best candidate in the last Turkish election resulting in a far weaker and less charismatic candidate running against him who Erdogan was able to beat. In the US following the Civil War the insurrection act was passed to ban confederate leaders from holding office because otherwise the South would have been dominated by the exact same politicians who led the war against the US. If someone believes that Trump was a leader of an insurrection relating to the January sixth attack on the Capital then hypothetically Trump could be disqualified under this law. Of course this hasn't really been used since the Civil War and the Supreme Court doesn't seem to buy this argument (then again it does have a 6-3 conservative majority with 3 Trump appointments).
The only requirements are that they are at least 35 years of age, be a natural born citizen, and lived in the US for at least 14 years.
yeah, the original writers put way too much faith in the electorate. somebody was probably like, "how bout a few other restrictions, like no criminals for example?" and they were like "lol, naw, there's nobody that fucking stupid. let's keep it simple and trust the people" it's like, trump supporters are the reason warning labels exist lol
allowing criminals was intentional to avoid turning the justice system into a tool for barring political opponents(modern dictatorships love this move btw). Trump isn't even the first person to run for President while a criminal, Eugene Debs ran his 1920 presidential campaign for the Socialist part of America from prison and received 3.4% of the votes, he had been convicted of Sedition for his anti-draft speeches during WW1, and he used the trial itself as a venue to make a speech: "Your honor, I have stated in this court that I am opposed to the form of our present government; that I am opposed to the social system in which we live; that I believe in the change of both but by perfectly peaceable and orderly means. ... I am thinking this morning of the men in the mills and factories; I am thinking of the women who, for a paltry wage, are compelled to work out their lives; of the little children who, in this system, are robbed of their childhood, and in their early, tender years, are seized in the remorseless grasp of Mammon, and forced into the industrial dungeons, there to feed the machines while they themselves are being starved body and soul. ... Your honor, I ask no mercy, I plead for no immunity. I realize that finally the right must prevail. I never more fully comprehended than now the great struggle between the powers of greed on the one hand and upon the other the rising hosts of freedom. I can see the dawn of a better day of humanity. The people are awakening. In due course of time they will come into their own. When the mariner, sailing over tropic seas, looks for relief from his weary watch, he turns his eyes toward the Southern Cross, burning luridly above the tempest-vexed ocean. As the midnight approaches the Southern Cross begins to bend, and the whirling worlds change their places, and with starry finger-points the Almighty marks the passage of Time upon the dial of the universe; and though no bell may beat the glad tidings, the look-out knows that the midnight is passing – that relief and rest are close at hand. Let the people take heart and hope everywhere, for the cross is bending, midnight is passing, and joy cometh with the morning."
They also have to have not committed an insurrection after having sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution, but *apparently* SCOTUS has the power to rewrite the Constitution to make that not apply.
Also not been impeached and removed. As that also bars them from political office.
Embedded agents willing to chance a pro-Russia elected leader who has been setting the stage for a plethora of different promises to a group of hugely different entities. Big Oil and the American theocracy don't get along, for example, but share common goals to an extent. Banning abortions doesn't affect relations with Russia, but does for the theocratic base. In many cases, the Christian theocrats align with willingness to politically submit to Saudi Arabian economic demands to gain a domestic advantage, as long as the respective religions stay away from each other, which is appreciated by domestic terror groups like the Klan, Proud Boys, and whatever else the white nationalists are calling themselves these days. Meanwhile, Russia funds this because their end goal is dividing the nation, sowing political strife, and encouraging fascist policies.
Because Fox News and Conservative media has turned an entire party against American and Western Values Republican voters want fascism
Remember when 2a was going to defend America against fascism? Looks like it failed.
They’ve lost the war no matter what happens. 500,000 dead and maimed young men in exchange for….the Donbas? Some coal mines and wheat fields? That will never be worth the humiliation and human losses they’ve suffered The 2nd most powerful army in the world couldn’t take the capital city of the poorest country in Europe, 75 miles from its own borders No matter what propaganda they try to spin it’s clear to the international community that Russia’s no longer a great power
Why doesn't anyone ask that asshat which state he would be willing to give to Russia to negotiate for peace?
Is this not, at best, skirting a violation of the Logan Act? Not that anyone has ever really given a shit about that. Looking at you Nixon prolonging the Vietnam War or Regan making deals about hostages in Iran.
The Logan act bars private citizens from negotiating with foreign powers on behalf of the US without authorization. It does not make it illegal for candidates for office to make suggestions of how they would address foreign policy concerns - if it did candidates wouldn't be able to debate foreign policy in any meaningful way (or, similarly, it would make it illegal for US citizens to post on reddit with their thoughts on foreign policy). A foreign leader making public remarks responding to such hypotheticals doesn't cross the line on its own. If Trump (or people in his campaign) were to directly reach out to Russia or Ukraine, that would likely be illegal... there may be a line for back-and-forth public statements that resemble negotiations, but I haven't seen lawyers weigh in on where that line could be. It's also worth noting that it only applies to certain foreign countries or topics of negotiations: > in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States So when, say, Newsom meets with Japanese officials about trade or investment deals, it isn't in violation even if they don't seek approval from the federal government. Note: IANAL, this is my understanding of the Logan act based on news coverage and analysis from when Flynn was in the news over potential Logan Act violations.
I was wondering the same. Why is a private citizen making policy suggestions/negotiating with foreign powers?
When you're a former president, they let you do it.
Europe NEEDS to be ready if Trump gets elected. We have to be able to protect our own interests.
Yes! I fear that European isn’t doing enough to be ready to pick up the slack after the US election. Nor have the balls to stand up to pressure from the US to help the russian dicktator.
I think you’d find a lot of European nations more than keen to meet Russian aggression head on. The problem will come from the lack of a united front, which NATO and American leadership currently provides. Each nation would have different plans and levels of motivation for involvement. Something the Russians would immediately try to exploit.
I fumbled a word. I’m sure Europeans are keen. I meant to write European leaders.
As an American I really hope you do. I'm ashamed at what Republicans are willing to do not only in regards to Ukraine, but basically everything. Please stay strong Europe. Carry the flag while we struggle.
European NATO could take on Russia without the US if it needed to. The problem is that if Trump is elected, he will be working *for* Russia, handing over intelligence etc which will cause problems.
I would love to see more world leaders call out Trump’s bullshit leading up to the election. His rhetoric on how he believes world leaders respected him during his administration and now they laugh at Biden is so pathetic. *He* was the laughing stock of the world during his term and his narcissism can’t handle it.
The trouble,with this is, the world leaders are also aware they may actually have to deal with Trump. From their perspective, it’s better to keep quiet.
Everything with Trump is uncharted territory. Whereas most leaders stay out of US elections, I think the chaos on a world order that Trump invites will at least convince some to be more vocal as Election Day nears.
I dunno, during Trump’s term, many world leaders went out of their way to try to be buddy buddy with Trump. I remember reading Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe organizing a golfing trip and crappy hamburgers for him. Trump is notoriously vindictive. Do you take that risk? And how many undecided, low information voters are going to be persuaded by (say) German Chancellor Olaf Scholz? Or whoever is British Prime Minister after tomorrow?
Trump supporters don’t listen to world leaders or logic. They will completely overlook his aide to Russia or just blatantly not know about it. If he gets reelected, I fully blame the realistic level of stupidity USA exhibits, and I fully expect us to be on the wrong side of the war.
It’s like being in the playground, or the prison yard, and one of the guys who is 6’7”, and somehow has a baseball bat, also controls the guards, the commissary, and what gets smuggled in. Everyone knows he is full of shit and a liar, but they want their honeybuns and protection. So they smile and work with him.
If Trump wins, the world loses.
If Trump wins, US goes back to 1920s with Project 2025. Trump is a flash in the pan, the dismantling of institutions and replacement of it with "loyal" cronies is the big scary. Including the repeal of 19th Amendment and women's right to vote.
Mexica taking Texas and China forcing US to compromise. That's how it looks from our point of view.
Wait, we can give Texas to Mexico? What are we waiting for??
No returns. You done used and damaged it.
Nah bro, you keep that shit
Unreal, trump truly is a Russian agent.
If trump gets elected and cuts support, it doesn't mean Ukraine would just give up! Would you? What's more than likely to happen is that Europe will enter the war because it can't just let Russia take Ukraine.
Europe just started ramping up military production recently. It will take at least a couple of years to get to the level where they can support Ukraine effectively. I don't know what were they thinking.
Europe should just send troops now
Kremlin State TV constantly calls Trump “their man”. If he’s elected he’ll ensure Russia is free to rape, pillage and conquer the whole of Europe.
Dude is actually buying into Russian propaganda thinking they can take the whole of Europe, when Russia can’t even finish their 3 day operation.
FOX News viewers will never be told this and have no clue what it at stake with trump leading
Dumbass trumper watching fox never heard of the project2025. Had a bit of a quiver in his voice after my quick overview of it. "I'll check it out when I get home". Smh
There are republicans on record saying they hate Trump, they believe he will ruin the country. They also say they couldn't possibly vote Biden and will probably vote Trump. The cult behaviour is real.
We cannot let Trump get reelected. Vote. Vote. Vote. I know Biden isn't an appealing option, but he's still leagues better for the world than the convicted criminal.
If Trump wins the people of Ukraine are so fucked. Trump will do whatever it takes to force Ukraine into a no win situation where they will end up handing over their country to Russia because Trump killed all aid to Ukraine and will cut the US contribution to NATO...😕 just another reason to not vote for any Republican this November...
Donald Trump is a c\*nt, so there that. Ukraine should decide if it gives up its own land, and nobody else. Especially not a convicted rapist, serial felon, failed businessman, serial liar, and loser, Donald Trump.
Ukraine should point out to Trump that Putin's mouthpieces in the press have called for the return of Alaska. Is Trump prepared to return Alaska to Russia to end the war? Because that's what it might take.
Europe wake up let’s produce things fast af
Fark Trump. His opinions on Ukraine are worthless.
Ukraine gotta do what they gotta do.
Can someone teach him Sudetenland fiasko ?? Thank you
You have to stop thinking of Trump doing what he thinks is best for the country or world. Showing him this will do nothing. His entire focus is what is best for Trump. And right now, he's compromised by the Russians.
It’s not even him doing what Russia wants. He’s a petty narcissist and will happily let Ukraine burn because Zelensky didn’t play ball with his extortion scheme (first impeachment).
Don't forget also by the Saudis and Chinese.
It all started with the Rheinland, then Austria and then Sudetenland and after the world allowed all that to happen Poland was next on the menu and even then you could argue that the plan still was to let Hitler keep doing what he does with the seating war in the Western theater When the lowlands fell it was pretty clear what was about to happen and that all the ideas of a appeasement failed Appeasement does not work it never did, it's just a sign of being weak and an invitation to be the next target Russia did all this before with Georgia( the European/Asian nation north of Turkey) and with Moldavia, both of these nations basically lost territory to a "independent" movement of green men supported by Russia either official or unofficial Crimea and East Ukraine was a test, a test of how the world will react, and the reaction was weak over all the years that"civil" war went so Russia figured nobody would care if all of Ukraine would fall under Russia. The support since 2014 wasn't very significant it was there and helpful but not significant enough to stop Russia just invading
>Finnish President Alexander Stubb also suggested that the war could be ended in swift fashion. >In an interview with the Bloomberg news agency, Stubb said that Moscow’s dependence on China had reached a level where Beijing could use its influence to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. This is a much more interesting suggestion.
China would never do that though. They certainly want their puppet to be happy with them so they can keep playing the world victim card with their little club of misfits.
Honest question for people who are smarter than me. What's the end game here? It either ends in a massive attack forcing one side to surrender or ends in diplomacy. Spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a stale mate doesn't seem feasible.
This war is going into the 3rd year!
Anything that Trump is involved in will be to the benefit of Russia. He never has a bad word to say about Putin but has no problem ridiculing everybody in his own country without remorse.
Trump's proposal is to likely sell Ukraine to Russia, and call it peace.
The fact that Trump is even allowed to run, let alone having SUPPORT like he does, is a clear indication that our country is a fucking joke. What even is this
That ship sailed when he was elected the first time lol
Trump is a lying pile of shit, and if you don't want a fascist country then vote for someone else.