Good, well thought out information in this post. I would like to focus on Ukraine. What are the end goals for all the parties in this war? If you listen to Ukraine's leadership then the end goal is the destruction of Russia. This is easily believable when you understand the hatred that the Ukrainians have for Russians. If you listen to the NEOCONS then it is to prevent Russia from rising in economic power and destroying their military. If you listen to Russia then their stated end goals are to prevent NATO's encroachment to their border and protect the ethnic Russians living in Ukraine from the Ukrainian government's racist actions and oppression. If the Minsk agreement were allowed to be in force today then the war would end tomorrow. But we know that will never happen. Why? Because 2 of the signatories of the agreement, Germany and France have both publicly stated that the Minsk agreement was signed only to allow Ukraine to build up its military. Couple this with James Baker's words in 1991 when Russia inquired about NATO expansion plans: "NATO will Not expand one inch to the east." So from a Russian prospective they have been lied to for decades by NATO. Now the Russian leadership is of the mindset that they are at war with the West and currently with Ukraine as their proxy.
This war is systematically destroying Ukraine and they have no hope of winning. They have 60,000 troops ready for a counter-offensive but Russia has by some estimates 250,000 troops standing by for their offensive with another 300,000 troops on standby. And in a war of attrition this is not good odds. Neither the Russian offensive or the Ukrainian counter-offensive will begin until the mud has dried up. Most likely sometime in June.
The US has for months supplied the money to pay the Ukrainian government officials salaries. That is what was meant when Janet Yellen said the US is providing "budgetary assistance" to Ukraine. There is a real possibility that Ukraine will not exist as a country in 5 years. Already both Poland and Hungary have stated that in the future they would like to annex parts of western Ukrainian that were historically under the control of Poland and Hungary.
The only hope for Ukraine is direct involvement in the war by the US and NATO. NATO keeps crossing the "red lines" of Russia. And they have actively torpedoed any peace negotiations. So US and NATO's involvement in this war will eventually happen because the NEOCONS won't give up their dream of destroying Russia until the last Ukrainian is dead. And make no mistake about it. The Ukrainians will fight to the last man because of their extreme hatred of Russians. Can you blame them for their hatred of Russians when Russia starved 7 million Ukrainians to death to feed the Russian people during Stalin's rule. Interestingly, Stalin was a Georgian and not an ethnic Russian.
Hola amigo,
Good, well thought out information in this post. I would like to focus on Ukraine. What are the end goals for all the parties in this war? If you listen to Ukraine's leadership then the end goal is the destruction of Russia. This is easily believable when you understand the hatred that the Ukrainians have for Russians. If you listen to the NEOCONS then it is to prevent Russia from rising in economic power and destroying their military. If you listen to Russia then their stated end goals are to prevent NATO's encroachment to their border and protect the ethnic Russians living in Ukraine from the Ukrainian government's racist actions and oppression. If the Minsk agreement were allowed to be in force today then the war would end tomorrow. But we know that will never happen. Why? Because 2 of the signatories of the agreement, Germany and France have both publicly stated that the Minsk agreement was signed only to allow Ukraine to build up its military. Couple this with James Baker's words in 1991 when Russia inquired about NATO expansion plans: "NATO will Not expand one inch to the east." So from a Russian prospective they have been lied to for decades by NATO. Now the Russian leadership is of the mindset that they are at war with the West and currently with Ukraine as their proxy.
This war is systematically destroying Ukraine and they have no hope of winning. They have 60,000 troops ready for a counter-offensive but Russia has by some estimates 250,000 troops standing by for their offensive with another 300,000 troops on standby. And in a war of attrition this is not good odds. Neither the Russian offensive or the Ukrainian counter-offensive will begin until the mud has dried up. Most likely sometime in June.
The US has for months supplied the money to pay the Ukrainian government officials salaries. That is what was meant when Janet Yellen said the US is providing "budgetary assistance" to Ukraine. There is a real possibility that Ukraine will not exist as a country in 5 years. Already both Poland and Hungary have stated that in the future they would like to annex parts of western Ukrainian that were historically under the control of Poland and Hungary.
The only hope for Ukraine is direct involvement in the war by the US and NATO. NATO keeps crossing the "red lines" of Russia. And they have actively torpedoed any peace negotiations. So US and NATO's involvement in this war will eventually happen because the NEOCONS won't give up their dream of destroying Russia until the last Ukrainian is dead. And make no mistake about it. The Ukrainians will fight to the last man because of their extreme hatred of Russians. Can you blame them for their hatred of Russians when Russia starved 7 million Ukrainians to death to feed the Russian people during Stalin's rule. Interestingly, Stalin was a Georgian and not an ethnic Russian.
Good day