Russian Ukraine Invasion

[Syne]

You are kind of missing the point Syne.  You're completely double standards, and into the sociopathic (and pro-Russian) propaganda of trying to blame the other guy.  It won't work.

It's Europe's doorstep, not ours, hence Europe should be more invested and investing. No double standard, just different national interests. The actual double standard is Europe crying about Putin while buying Russian oil & gas.
No one's blaming the other guy, but you seem interested in using that accusation to, what, shame the US into doing your work for you? It's like Europe is a child and they demand the US change their dirty diaper.

You might want to consider also Eisenhower, as while Europe was reeling from war, the US and Russia started comparing penis sizes.  Which lead to the Cold War and all those missiles that both the US and Russia like to stockpile.

Sure, because Russia wouldn't have made a nuclear arsenal without the Cold War. 9_9
Where do you think we'd be today, if the US had no deterrent to Russian nuclear weapons? @_@

It's as if none of your arguments are the least bit reasoned out.

Its not that Europe wants America to do the task of fixing a problem.  Sure it will take some time but Europe can sort that out itself.  What it wants is the assurance that an "Ally" intends to be an "Ally" by backing it's overall play.  Currently all we've seen of Trumps America is exactly the opposite.  Selling out any Alliances for a shot at making deals with Putin. (whos likely pulling strings to get it that way).

So it's not about us wanting the US to fix it, we just don't want to see the US lose it's self due to the selfish ambitions of one man.

Well, if the US had any indication what your "overall play" was, there might be something we could back. So far, the only European play has been to sit back and fund a forever war, uncaring how many Ukrainians die, territory is lost, or Russia emboldened in the process. We've already offered to sell weapons to Europe, for them to supply to Ukraine, but with dwindling manpower, that might not be sufficient... unless your goal is still a forever war.

The biggest problem is European indecision, impotence, and cowardice... which they just keep blaming the US for, when Trump is the only one looking to end the war.
You have PDS (Putin derangement syndrome) and don't seem to care how many Ukrainian lives you have to throw at it.

[Yazata]

ISW isn't reporting anything new about Myrnohrad and Sunday's map (their latest) is unchanged. But Rybar is saying this:

"Russian forces have fully surrounded Myrnograd north of Pokrovsk. AFU garrison of several hundred is trapped, breakout attempts fail, resistance crumbles."

If there's any truth to that, then it looks like the Ukrainian generals might have waited too long to pull their men out.

[stryder]

You are kind of missing the point Syne.  You're completely double standards, and into the sociopathic (and pro-Russian) propaganda of trying to blame the other guy.  It won't work.

It's Europe's doorstep, not ours, hence Europe should be more invested and investing. No double standard, just different national interests. The actual double standard is Europe crying about Putin while buying Russian oil & gas.
No one's blaming the other guy, but you seem interested in using that accusation to, what, shame the US into doing your work for you? It's like Europe is a child and they demand the US change their dirty diaper.

You might want to consider also Eisenhower, as while Europe was reeling from war, the US and Russia started comparing penis sizes.  Which lead to the Cold War and all those missiles that both the US and Russia like to stockpile.

Sure, because Russia wouldn't have made a nuclear arsenal without the Cold War. 9_9
Where do you think we'd be today, if the US had no deterrent to Russian nuclear weapons? @_@

It's as if none of your arguments are the least bit reasoned out.

Its not that Europe wants America to do the task of fixing a problem.  Sure it will take some time but Europe can sort that out itself.  What it wants is the assurance that an "Ally" intends to be an "Ally" by backing it's overall play.  Currently all we've seen of Trumps America is exactly the opposite.  Selling out any Alliances for a shot at making deals with Putin. (whos likely pulling strings to get it that way).

So it's not about us wanting the US to fix it, we just don't want to see the US lose it's self due to the selfish ambitions of one man.

Well, if the US had any indication what your "overall play" was, there might be something we could back. So far, the only European play has been to sit back and fund a forever war, uncaring how many Ukrainians die, territory is lost, or Russia emboldened in the process. We've already offered to sell weapons to Europe, for them to supply to Ukraine, but with dwindling manpower, that might not be sufficient... unless your goal is still a forever war.

The biggest problem is European indecision, impotence, and cowardice... which they just keep blaming the US for, when Trump is the only one looking to end the war.
You have PDS (Putin derangement syndrome) and don't seem to care how many Ukrainian lives you have to throw at it.

It would be naive to assume that an end to the war can be reached. Even if Ukraine capitulated territory, reduced their army and kissed Putin's feet, the Russians would still be committing acts of espionage and murder across Europe. So Europe should know that it's going to have to bolster against Putin anyway, no matter the outcome of the attempted sleeze deals.

[Syne]

It would be naive to assume that an end to the war can be reached. Even if Ukraine capitulated territory, reduced their army and kissed Putin's feet, the Russians would still be committing acts of espionage and murder across Europe. So Europe should know that it's going to have to bolster against Putin anyway, no matter the outcome of the attempted sleeze deals.

Typical unevidenced and conspiratorial excuses to continue the same, failing strategy.
Both denying Ukraine European manpower and waiting out the inevitable fall of Ukraine will leave you exactly where you don't want to be with Putin. The only alternative is a US-back peace deal... and every peace deal comes with compromises. You can either accept those or get nothing you want.

Children have such a poor grasp on reality.

[stryder]

ISW isn't reporting anything new about Myrnohrad and Sunday's map (their latest) is unchanged. But Rybar is saying this:

"Russian forces have fully surrounded Myrnograd north of Pokrovsk. AFU garrison of several hundred is trapped, breakout attempts fail, resistance crumbles."

If there's any truth to that, then it looks like the Ukrainian generals might have waited too long to pull their men out.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd6x3vv7y60o (Images through link)
Pokrovsk has not fallen yet. That is despite President Vladimir Putin's recent claim that Russian forces have taken the city.

...

The commander of the Skala Assault Regiment, Yuri, is keen to prove to us that Ukraine still controls the north of the city - to show that the Kremlin's claim that it has taken Pokrovsk is a lie.

Over the radio, they ask two of their soldiers to break cover from a building to display a Ukrainian flag. They move quickly to avoid being spotted. The drone feed shows the moment they briefly wave their yellow and blue flag, before quickly returning to cover.

Battalion commanders are adamant they still have a foothold in Pokrovsk

Yuri tells me: "You've now seen it with your own eyes."

"I think the whole world should know we will not just give up our territory," he says. "If we do not show this, everyone will lose faith and stop helping Ukraine."

It's like I said that the reality is somewhere in between. Russian propaganda is to try and make sure everyone feels it's a losing battle, propaganda unfortunately can turn the tide of favour when it comes to support. It's just important that any information used to make an assessment on the state of how things are isn't taken by one or other source, and utilizes independent verification.

Russians "control" in that location was pictures of people on bikes in fog and drone usage with a few flags from patrols. Patrols in any forms of city maze is going to be Cat and Mouse (although both in this instance can be cats or mice depending on their objectives.) so it's no where near as controlled as Putin would of liked. (Which is a good thing too)

[Syne]

"Russia is insisting that we give up territories, but we don't want to cede anything," Zelenskyy said in an online press conference Monday, the AFP news agency reported.

"We have no legal right to do so, under Ukrainian law, our constitution and international law. And we don't have any moral right either," Zelenskyy said after leaving London, where he met with the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Germany.
- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/zelenskyy-u...e-plan-us/

IOW, European leaders convinced Zelenskyy to keep feeding his people to this forever war.

[stryder]

"Russia is insisting that we give up territories, but we don't want to cede anything," Zelenskyy said in an online press conference Monday, the AFP news agency reported.

"We have no legal right to do so, under Ukrainian law, our constitution and international law. And we don't have any moral right either," Zelenskyy said after leaving London, where he met with the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Germany.
- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/zelenskyy-u...e-plan-us/

IOW, European leaders convinced Zelenskyy to keep feeding his people to this forever war.

I don't think European leaders convinced him of anything, if anything the complaint that Trump tends to make is that European leaders are not following the Trump party line.

Just remember Trump promised to end the war in one day... Over 1 year ago. (https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/25/polit...kraine-war)
If the war continues to March, it will be two years.

Further to that there is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nat...on_ES-11/7
the US voted against the resolution at the time. If peace was the object then voting for would have made more sense. Instead Trumps own hatred of the UN along with any plans to make deals with Putin steered his vote (And encouraged others to do so)/

I mention this UN resolution because to be honest it should be possible to pressure Russia into ceasing hostilities through a Resolution if the Resolution of course is done properly and creates an ultimatum in regards to ceasing hostilities or suffer further increasing economic sanctions that will last even after any war outcome (1 weeks worth of sanctions for every day of war, starting from the wars start).

[Syne]

That UN resolution was impotent from the beginning. It had no teeth nor strategy to force a Russia withdrawal.
You can't keep crowing about sanctions while still buying Russian energy. What you think "should" be possible does not comport with what actually is.

[confused2]

'Europe' is only pretending not to buy Russian oil..

Russian ships with Russian oil or gas cannot directly unload in Malta due to EU sanctions, but Malta's waters are a major hub for ship-to-ship (STS) transfers where Russian oil is moved to other tankers (often Maltese-flagged or owned) to disguise its origin before heading to other markets like India and China,

News: India has surpassed Saudi Arabia as Europe's largest supplier of refined fuels. This is driven by India's strategic purchase and refinement of discounted Russian oil, despite Western sanctions. India's fuel exports to Europe increased by 58% in 2024.10 Jan 2025

[Syne]

Yeah, it's the same laundering China is doing through third-party countries to dodge US tariffs.