Trump is Putin's little b****, he will claim its Biden's fault, Ukraine's fault and the simplistic answer is he WAS NEVER going to stand up to Putin. I guess we just let bully`s bully.....kind of like us now. So, I guess maga hates the constitution and they don't defend a sovereign democratic country...................Putin must really have the goods on his cuckhold orange man...............what a weak little man
We all need to admit Ukraine lost and need an exit strategy out of this war before it gets even worse. Look at Russia and Ukraine's territorial gains in 2024. The numbers are clear. Russia successfully pivoted with the help of her allies and regained footing. We won't be able to pit Russia against China. Europe can pretend to pitch in by sending 1/3 the money and promising support.
Typical conservative who gets their news from twitter.... Your faux anti warmonger schtick is tiresome in their face of a belligerent Russia who continues to target population centers and critical infrastructure. Your hypocrisy is evil and inconsistent.
That's fine but we let's just be clear that the policy of the Trump admin is to let Russia off the hook instead of using US power to be more punitive.
If you're not going to go full "warmonger" and commit legit non-cia troops on the ground, then Ukraine is on a slow slide to collapse. It's not about principles or words anymore. Biden structured this as a proxy war, but that effort has disintegrated in the past 12 months. It'll become senseless slaughter sooner than you think, and when the media reports it, it'll be worse in scope and far too late to bargain. This thread has been mostly dead on battlefront updates. I wonder why when the internet has widely available info for people who are willing to look beyond headlines...
Ukraine has done a pretty good job of chewing through Russian infantry and armor while being limited to attacks on Russian soil. Not to mention the ingenuity of their domestic defense especially the drones. Ukraine can't win but it can tilt the odds towards more favorable conditions of surrender. It really comes down to support, which comes at varying levels. I think more accurately, Putin's war of conquest was a test of US led resolve which Biden tried to contain to a proxy war. I think Ukrainians would accept a surrender that gives up territory before the loss of life gets to a certain level. Probably because it's very disheartening Russia is taken advantage of the Trump tantrum.
If Ukraine loses it will be because this administration has done everything possible to ensure that Ukraine loses. Let’s not act like this is the natural progression of things. If Trump decides to walk away, that is his call but it’s a self fulfilling prophesy - and also another failure for an administration that claimed it would get Russia and Ukraine to end the way within a few days. If your President cannot agree on basic parameters on tariffs- I guess it’s not reasonable to believe he can negotiate well to stop a war. Trump literally destroyed any negotiation power he had with his disastrous escalation on Ukraine concessions.
I have never understood why Americans feel so privilege to say, "too many Ukrainians are dying endlessly we need to end it." Americans aren't being asked to fight in Ukraine and we don't have the right to say when a occupied country has had enough. The only people who can throw the white flag are the Ukrainians. Its so annoying how Americans think they can speak for everyone. Europe has given more money than America has. Facts don't care about your feelings
Yes, Trump will be blamed in the polls because Americans hate losers. Trump did campaign with a week one peace deal. Ending the war is presumably what his base wants more than democrats... I mentioned weeks ago that this would be his Afghanistan if he bungles it up. Biden never recovered in the polls after that messy pullout. It's a very similar situation to me but others might not see it that way. The EU won't forget this betrayal for a long time especially after what happened to Nordstream and that trillion dollar gas winter. But if we do care about Ukrainian lives and their future, we have to look at what's on the table. I can't impeach Trump nor pretend we have the industrial capacity to overtake Russia China Iran and N Korea in the next year or two. I don't think Ukraine deserves that even if the final peace treaty will be a joke for them. Coffee is for closers. What Zelensky is asking for is way off from his bargaining position right now. Even mid to late 2024, our ask was way out of line with the reality on the ground, Kursk salient or no. If there really was a peace deal during that time, that's on Biden for underestimating Russia and her alliances. Rage at Trump. Let it all out. If this is an existential cold war like the opposition is playing, take the loss and plan for the next round. There's a bit of cognitive dissonance with what Cavoli told Congress at the beginning with what he later said. Cavoli added, “All told, Russia’s defense budget will account for 40% of all government expenditures… its highest level since the Cold War. As a direct result of its defense spending, Russian investments in its industrial base have reduced national unemployment to 2.4%. The Russian economy is on a war footing and will remain so for the foreseeable future.” Cavoli also laid out the equipment losses Russia has suffered that have required a transformation of its economy. “Russian ground forces in Ukraine have lost an estimated 3,000 tanks, 9,000 armored vehicles, 13,000 artillery systems, and over 400 air defense systems in the past year,” Cavoli said, “but is on pace to replace them all. Russia has expanded its industrial production, opened new manufacturing facilities, and converted commercial production lines for military purposes. As a result, the Russian defense industrial base is expected to roll out 1,500 tanks, 3,000 armored vehicles, and 200 Iskander ballistic and cruise missiles this year. (Comparatively, the United States only produces about 135 tanks per year and no longer produces new Bradley Fighting Vehicles.) Additionally, we anticipate Russia to produce 250,000 artillery shells per month, which puts it on track to build a stockpile three times greater than the United States and Europe combined.” China's export controls that began in December has escalated to a third round in April. We can mine all we want (after years of prospecting and env surveys) but the refineries and enrichment facilities are all in China. The more we send our "hand me downs" to Ukraine the more we need to replenish them or our reserves in a tighter time frame. Meanwhile hegsdeth and co are playing mobile app Battleship off the straight of Hormuz and could burn nearly a billion dollars worth of munitions by next week. Despite an incredibly grotesque military industrial complex with financial sinkholes with endless delays and failures like the f35, lcs, and even ngad, we no longer have the arsenal of democracy to project our power across 2 to 3 fronts willy nilly. Bibi's scheming in the background while we're talking to Iran...
We all need to pretend that Putins 3 day war is going swimmingly in year 4 because defeatist horseshoe leftists want to pretend like this is some ultimate victory over the 1980s military industrial complex - that is just so incredibly irrelevant in the age of MAGA I know you're excited to sell Ukraine down the river in accordance with the MAGA Tankie coalition of Putin Piss Babies but Europe isn't going to let this happen so Humanitarians like you & the Wagner Group are going to have to wait The fact is that a 1944-2016 era America could/should have squashed Russias illegal invasion by barely lifting a finger - unfortunately Putinist MAGA b**** boys will not let that happen. Sucks, it's depressing, but a fact you don't recognize - Ukraine still has a right to exist and are better equipped to determine how to preserve that right than you Anyway lol about your pretend quest for an 'exit strategy' - here is a protip, the only exit strategy against a war criming group of gangsters invading your house like Russia is for them to die or you to die.... That's it!
This. The US could certainly be doing more but it is intentionally not. We are about to bail out farmers again, farmers who voted for tariffs and to loss markets to share their crops. This notion that we are broke or can’t afford to assist Ukraine is a non factor to me.
how did 1956 America and 1968 America fare with the Russian (Soviet) invasions of Hungary and Czechoslovakia, respectively?
Trump has exposed the reality to the war. Some points: 1) Putin/Russia (in its current state) is far more powerful and competent than MSM has led us to believe. 2) Open war is far more complicated than the movies try to present. F35's and modern battle tanks are not going to win a war nor does a formidable military guarantee a victory (for either side in this case). To expand, the idea that Putin is going to steam roll Europe is silly as long as they have formidable allies. The US would come to western europes aid and China would be put in a much more difficult position. 3) China is the lynchpin, as with any ally is a war. The US has two options - Let Russia have what it wants with Ukraine or let China run away with the trophy, we become #2 and russia falls off back into oblivion. Now that the average american is finally starting to understand that China is a massive manufacturing beast for the world, (much like we were for the allies during WWII) people are starting to finally understand the great American hegemony is going to be eroded away into just a middle class country. 4) As long as China remains Russia's ally, China can produce drones far cheaper and faster than the rest of the world. Russia can build munitions. Russia has the stomach for the war and the man power. 5) Looping back to point 1, Trump has made the mistake of believing he can kiss Putins ass. Putin is not an idiot and he knows the US can revert back to policies found under Biden/Harris. 6) Very important - Ukraine needs 2 things from us. USD to fund zelenskys government and his the money to pay his soldiers and the great American dome to provide intelligence for defense and offense. If the US stopped providing intelligence, the war would be over in weeks. The question remains, who is the US going to support economically in the decades to come - China or Russia? Personally, I think its much wiser to work with Russia. I know this is hard to stomach, but keep in mind 80 years ago we lost hundreds of thousands of US soldiers to 3 of our strongest allies. It blows my mind that Americans, Germans, Japanase and Italians could put our differences aside and become close friends.
Lol Trump exposed the reality of the Putin war of conquest? That fat old man was claiming and campaigning on how easy it would be for him to end the war… The reality is that Ukraine could severely hurt Russia with US led support…. Support that also went towards domestic weapons manufacturing because we quickly realized what shape we are in. China watching Trump/JD’s weakness just gives them more belief they can assert their global agenda.
Ukraine was supposed to fall in months. It has now been over three years. So the idea that Russia is more competent than the media or West would lead you to believe is simply false. All of this is with no soldiers on the ground from the West. If the US was more interested in supporting, this would go on for years with a real chance that Russia could end up withdrawing. Trump is trying very hard to make an Ukraine loss a self fulfilling outcome. The idea of choosing between China and Russia is comical. Russia offers very little to the United States except a shitty economy and poor international standing. China didn’t and doesn’t want war with the USA. They want power within the East but mostly are interested in trade. The USA can have some degree of Cold War with China but I don’t see them being massive enemies. The approach of being Putin’s friend was absurd, so was the belief that Putin was going to agree to leave Ukraine - his MO is to stall and not give an inch until he decides to do it. The Elephant in the room is what will happen when Putin dies. China is going to try and have a lot of input.
Oh come on. You do realize that Russia is a much bigger and richer country than Ukraine?. The Ukrainians never had a chance unless the US would have sent boots on the ground. The bi-partisan foreign policy elite in the US, as they said more frequently said at the beginning, just saw the war as a bargain in which they could weaken Russia without losing American lives. Now I guess it is the Democrats time to play the old now I guess bi-partisan game in which when we lose a war which we should never have fought we blame the president in power after the warmongerers can no longer deny we are no longer pretend we are winn
"Oh come on, you do realize that Russia is a much bigger and richer country than Afghanistan" "Oh come on, you do realize that the USA is a much bigger and richer country than Vietnam" "Oh come on, you do realize that Britain is much bigger and richer than those upstart Americans." It has now been over three years since Russia first invaded Ukraine - so no, the idea that Ukraine never had a chance just isn't true. I too expected Russia to take Ukraine quickly. They did not, and if you spend a lot of time studying history, it isn't that shocking because invading another nation with an infrastructure in place, and with a population that is resistent - overcomes a lot of military disadvantages. Several things have happened - first Russia isn't as rich or as technologically advanced as expected. Second, unorthodoxies play a huge part in the war with drones, etc. Third, it is very possible that at worst it would be a stalemate had there been more aid to Ukraine. The current administration is doing everything that they can to ensure that Ukraine loses the war. There is certainly blame to go around, we can argue that Biden could have done more - that Europe did not do enough to prepare and that Ukraine should have listened to US intelligence sooner. All of these are valid - but the idea that this war was a loser from the beginning isn't one valid talking point, as it has been over 3 years of fighting at this point.
Biden made NATO look like a well oiled machine. One could even argue that bringing NATO together was one of Putin's biggest "own goals". Finland and Sweden joining NATO was the cherry on top.
