Hungary's Orban Calls For Russian-US Peace Talks For Ukraine Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban Saturday called for US-Russian peace talks to end the war in Ukraine, lashing out at the European Union's strategy on the conflict. Orban has condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, but maintains an ambiguous position on the conflict. Before Moscow sent in troops, he had sought close ties with Russia's President Vladimir Putin. And last week, he said Europe had "shot itself in the lungs" by imposing sanctions against Moscow over the military operation. "We're sitting in a car with four flat tyres", he said on Saturday, of efforts to stem the bloodshed. "A new strategy is needed, which should focus on peace negotiations instead of trying to win the war," he said. Orban said "only Russian-US talks can put an end to the conflict because Russia wants security guarantees" only Washington can give. The EU, he added, "should not side with the Ukrainians, but position itself" between both sides. The sanctions "will not change the situation" and "the Ukrainians will not come out victorious", he said. He said: "The more the West sends powerful weapons, the more the war drags on". Orban claimed the "war would never have broken out if Donald Trump were still head of the United States and Angela Merkel were the German Chancellor".
What would a Ukrainian counter-offensive in Kherson look like? One way or another, according to Ukraine’s leadership, it's bound to happen. Even though the Battle of Donbas is far from over, Ukraine is expected to open the next chapter of the war sometime in the near future — a highly anticipated, major counter-offensive operation in the south, particularly to liberate the Russian-occupied city of Kherson. Kyiv has declared its intentions to liberate the only regional capital captured by Russia following the Feb. 24 full-scale invasion. Experts across the world agree that retaking Kherson is the most feasible way for Ukraine to score a major victory over Russia and turn the tide of the war. As part of a counter-offensive operation, Ukraine would likely seek to block the occupied city, cut the Russian garrison off from supplies and reinforcements, and hold the blockade until Russia surrenders. This would be a daring mission, demanding the most effective contribution of all components ranging from infantry to air defense and counter-battery activity. Thanks to local terrain and Russian military flaws, Ukraine's plan may in fact be realistic. But in order to carry it out, Ukraine's military would have to demonstrate excellent coordination of war power and do the difficult work of clearing the area of Russian forces, supply lines, and ammunition depots — before going in. https://kyivindependent.com/national/what-would-a-ukrainian-counter-offensive-in-kherson-look-like
oof, not a good look. I mean, it's a sexy shot, and I'm a fan of Zelensky Spoiler would hit Spoiler Olena this kind of glossy photo shoot is contra the message they should be sending.
PR has been a a part of warfare for centuries. Not unusual, nor is it, in itself, reason for more or less aid.
I’m surprised no one else has posted this yet but the EU plans on cutting 15% of their natural gas usage this winter to blunt the leverage that Russia has in energy. This is a pretty big sign that Europe is on it for the long haul in opposing Putin. https://apnews.com/article/russia-europe-natural-gas-31a7bda2e8498859ef46557d7103eddb
Definitely more serious than to leave decisions about it to folks that don't know the role PR plays in warfare and has for centuries.
It's a bad day for the BBS Red Army Faction and its political directors like @Commodore - while he attempts to undermine Putin's nemesis, a retired Ukrainian stand-up comedian who is kicking the **** out of Vlad Chess Player Genius, a member of the Holy Red Empire along with Tucker, Donald, Viktor and Rupert - things just keep getting worse for the Russian Z Warriors Stalled and abandoning the North, and getting the last bridge out of town shot out from under them in the south, per the expert level knowledge of Markos Moulitsas. @basso they must needs some iron domes - i saw them on sale at Cabela's
German in March - cut reliance on Russian energy to 10% by mid-2024. EU in May - end dependency on Russian energy by 2027. Looks like they are going to step on the gas pedal.
I'm not sure it's out of "consumer strength" but rather necessity when they constantly complain that Putin is "weaponizing commodities." Because embargoes are only unidirectional....Big words with floaty dots me get. Me am smrt. It'll be a trip for people here to guess who supplies them that gas while their gas bills rise. Replacements aren't coming from the middle east.
We have huge natural gas reserves we should freeze the price and sell it to the EU to supplement things. DD
The problem with this is that we don't have pipelines to Europe for natural gas. The only we can get it there is through liquid natural gas and Europe doesn't have enough LNG terminals to replace Russian gas. From the article I posted it said that EU countries are going to do more energy conservation and maintain nuclear plants that they were planning on retiring.
I assume you think Winston Churchill and Lady Churchill were also not serious people and the United States should not have sent billions in aid to prop up the UK against Germany?
