Blinken says NATO countries have "green light" to send fighter jets to Ukraine Washington — Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that NATO members have the go-ahead to send fighter jets to Ukraine as the U.S. and allies continue their efforts to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia's invasion. "That gets a green-light," Blinken said in an interview with "Face the Nation" when asked whether the Polish government, a member of NATO, could send fighter planes to Ukraine. "In fact, we're talking with our Polish friends right now about what we might be able to do to backfill their needs if in fact they choose to provide these fighter jets to the Ukrainians. What can we do? How can we help to make sure that they get something to backfill the planes that they are handing over to the Ukrainians?" A White House spokesperson told CBS News the Biden administration is evaluating the capabilities it could provide to backfill jets to Poland if it decided to transfer planes to Ukraine but noted there are several questions that arise from a decision to do so, including how the jets could be transferred from Poland to Ukraine. Oksana Markarova, Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S., told "Face the Nation" she hopes Ukraine will receive fighter jets from Poland "as soon as possible." "We are working with our American, especially, friends and allies, on the steady supply of all the ammunition and anti-air, anti-tank and planes to be able to effectively defend our country," she said. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has sparked worldwide support for the Ukrainian people and a united response from the West. The U.S. and European allies have provided military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia's biggest financial institutions, Russian oligarchs and top officials in Moscow, including President Vladimir Putin himself and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as part of efforts to cut the country off from the global financial system. Putin on Saturday said the sanctions are "like a war." Blinken, who was in eastern Europe meeting with U.S. allies, said NATO countries and members of the Group of 7 are "working together" to raise the pressure on Russia, including through additional sanctions, which will be implemented in the coming days. "The impact of the sanctions is already devastating," the secretary of state said. "The ruble is in freefall. Their stock market's been shuttered for almost a week. We're seeing a recession set in in Russia. Consumers aren't able to buy basic products because companies are fleeing Russia, so it's having a big impact." Still, Blinken noted that Putin is "doubling down and digging in on this aggression against Ukraine." "I think we have to be prepared, unfortunately, tragically, for this to go on for some time," he said. Markarova said Ukraine is thankful to the West for its continued support but suggested the international community needs to respond quicker because the Russians are "escalating" their attacks. "It's clear after 11 days that we also need all of us to move faster," she said. Ukraine, she continued, did not provoke an attack from Russia. "We were not a threat to Russia unless being a peaceful democracy and just peacefully living in your own country is a threat," she said. "And if it's so, then it's not only about Ukraine, then Europe and the whole world is not safe." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky participated in a Zoom call with U.S. lawmakers on Saturday, during which he urged them to provide his country with military planes and impose an embargo on Russian oil. He also reiterated to lawmakers it could be the final time they see him alive, echoing a warning he has issued to European leaders. Asked whether the U.S. is working on a contingency plan to support the Ukrainian government should something happen to Zelensky, Blinken praised his leadership and indicated Ukrainian officials are prepared. "The Ukrainians have plans in place, that I'm not going to talk about or get into any details on, to make sure that there is what we would call 'continuity of government' one way or another," he said. "And let me leave it at that." The secretary of state was steadfast that even if Russia's war in Ukraine continues for months, the Ukrainians will prevail. "Winning a battle is not the same thing as winning a war. Taking the city is not the same thing as capturing the hearts and minds of Ukrainians," he said. "What they've demonstrated with extraordinary courage is that they will not be subjugated to Vladimir Putin's will and be under Russia's thumb. So whether that takes another week, another month, another year to play out, it will, and I know how this is going to end. But the question is, can we end it sooner rather than later with less suffering going forward? That's the challenge." https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-russia-war-fighter-jets-antony-blinken-face-the-nation/
I don't know either, just read heavy (Russian crude) mixed with Light crude produce more (useful products like gas), Alberta oil seems like a substitute . instead of appealing to OPEC , better show them there's an existing alternatives
Or build some refinery that process light crude which is made here in west texas. Light crude is much better since its closer to what you put in your car.
Great article about how we screwed up by not putting NATO on the table in negotiations. https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc...e-invasion-may-have-been-preventable-n1290831 Not saying it excuses this war, but this was a diplomatic failure on our part. DD
"Just build a new refinery" Sure...how much time ya got? It's interesting that many people in Houston have no concept of the O&G Industry other than it equals office jobs. Making oil = turn on garden hose = put it in my car NOW
Allum Bokhari is an investigative tech reporter at Breitbart News. In 2018, he stunned the media when he obtained and published "The Google Tape," a 1-hour recording of Google's top executives reacting to the 2016 Trump election and declaring their intention to make the populist movement a "blip" in history. He also obtained "The Good Censor," an internal Google document admitting to censorship, Facebook's list of so-called "hate agents," and YouTube's search blacklists. Bokhari's work has received praise from Donald Trump Jr., Fox News host Tucker Carlson, and [blah blah] https://www.centerstreet.com/contributor/allum-bokhari/
I am not saying for the short term, but longterm. The type or refineries we have were built for the pre shale revolution.
This has been brought up repeatedly. Biden cannot guarantee that Ukraine will never join NATO because it isn't up to any single US president to do that. NATO membership doesn't work that way. The US cannot unilaterally dictate who isn't and isn't a member of NATO. Also Macron offered the idea of working on another security arrangement that wasn't NATO. Note, Macron can't unilaterally do that either. So this diplomatic overture had been offered to Russia. Bottomline is that Ukraine isn't part of NATO likely wouldn't be part of NATO anytime in the near future.
US spends more on defense than every other NATO country combined. They are the big dog and I am sure they have a strong voice.
Sure the US has a strong voice and carries a lot of weight but one of the oddities of NATO is that while the US provides the bulk of the military muscle the political leadership of NATO has been European. That is partly to balance out the relationship within NATO. If the US were to be seen as dictating who is who isn't in NATO to the disagreement of other countries it likely would break NATO. We also have to consider that US policy can swing widely depending on who is President; Even if Biden did say that Ukraine will never be part of NATO there is no guarantee his successor doesn't really want Ukraine to be part of NATO.
I think as we see Russia becoming more indiscriminate in their bombing and as Ukraine loses more it will politically get harder to avoid getting militarily involved. I feel horrible for what's happening in Ukraine and for the people of Ukraine but we still will have no idea what will happen once the US and Russia start shooting at each other. I will still say we shouldn't rush into WWIII but WWIII might be inevitable.
Maybe it's just the weather here but I'm feeling very pessimistic this morning. All of this stuff about whether we should be teaching kids about gay and transgenders in school, whether Joe Rogan is being cancelled, or even whether kids should still be wearing mask is just noise compared to what happens if all out war breaks out with Russia.
Maybe but Russia isn't without allies and countries that have interests aligned with Russia. Also with Russia, the US and NATO tied up fighting each other there are many countries who might take the opportunity to address their own issues. We saw this with both WWI and WWII where other countries went to war even though they weren't the original combatants.
