Here we go again-Ukraine once again

[Jimbuna]

US President Joe Biden is in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on his first visit to the country since Russia's invasion on 24 February last year.

In a statement from the White House, Mr Biden says he will announce "another delivery of critical equipment, including artillery ammunition" and added that later this week he will announce "additional sanctions" against elites and companies "that are trying to evade or backfill Russia's war machine".

Mr Zelenskyy says he and Mr Biden discussed long-range weapons, while Mr Biden says Ukraine will get a new military aid package worth $500 million to be announced on Tuesday.

The unannounced trip comes after the White House said last week that there were no plans for the president to cross into Ukraine during his visit to Poland this week, to mark the anniversary of Russia's invasion.

Ukiraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he and Mr Biden discussed long-range weapons during his visit.

Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko confirmed Mr Biden's visit and wrote on Twitter: "Welcome Mr. President!".

Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Sunday that he and Mr Biden will discuss the possibility of increasing US troop presence in Poland.

It follows a series of recent trips by Mr Zelenskyy to a number of Western allies including the UK and France.

In December, Mr Zelenskyy visited President Biden at the White House on his first trip out of Ukraine since the war began.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...d23cecc1bb46c1

[Jimbuna]

Rishi Sunak urged to put Britain on war footing as Russia rebuilds forces

Rishi Sunak must put Britain on a war footing and boost defence spending, a senior Whitehall source has said.

The Ministry of Defence is currently embroiled in a row over defence spending in the upcoming budget, with Ben Wallace said to have asked the Chancellor for £10 billion for his department.

However, a top Whitehall source told The Telegraph there was “deep concern” among the upper echelons of the military and that the problem to getting more money was not Jeremy Hunt, but the Prime Minister.

“I cannot think of any Prime Minister that would behave this way,” they said. “They have no sense at all of the UK’s role on the international stage and the contribution our allies expect us to make. There is a war in Europe, we are hollowing out our forces, our allies and partners are all investing in defence, every single previous prime minister I can think of would have responded to that.”

They cited Mr Sunak’s background in investment banking as his reason for having “no instinctive feel for statecraft”.

It comes after world leaders met at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend and discussed how to continue to support Ukraine, with Mr Sunak pledging to help other countries send fighter jets to the war-torn country.

He also highlighted the UK’s own commitments in recent weeks, including a promise to send main battle tanks, advanced air defence systems and longer-range missiles to Ukraine, as examples for the international community to match.

The source added: “Some people say they are a wartime prime minister and chancellor content to stand up on the international stage at places like the Munich Security Conference and give away British equipment for a good cause and urge others to do the same, but are not willing to put their hands in their pockets and replenish gaps they have created like anything with the urgency the situation demands.”

Last week The Telegraph revealed that French officials had raised concerns over the state of the British Armed Forces due to budget cuts.

Thomas Gassilloud, a leading French MP, warned there were concerns in his country that Britain had given weapons to Ukraine from its own supplies, leaving its forces depleted.

Following a recent announcement that 14 of Britain’s Challenger 2 tanks would be sent to Ukraine, General Sir Patrick Sanders, the head of the Army, warned that his force would be "temporarily weaker" as a result. However, Mr Sunak has not yet set out whether he will increase defence spending in line with inflation.

Emmanuel Macron announced last month that he would boost military spending by more than a third by 2030, and Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, has pledged his country will now spend 2 percent of GDP on defence - Nato’s minimum requirement.

Last year President Biden signed off on a record increase to the defence budget, while Poland has vowed to double its military spending to four per cent of GDP this year.

Radoslaw Sikorski, a former Polish foreign minister and a member of the European Parliament, cautioned that since the UK had left the EU, defence was an area where it had “leverage”.

He told The Telegraph: “Everybody recognises the UK is a desirable partner and has clout but of course we want to see the UK invest more. A lot of its money is spent on its nuclear deterrents and aircraft carriers which are difficult to use on the European continent. The UK needs to rebuild its army.”

The Whitehall source added that “Russia is putting its defence and economy on to wartime footing,” and Moscow would “regrow and re-equip” its defence forces at scale over the next five years.

“What every European ally has done is recognise there is a threat coming downstream and it will take a long time to regrow so they are starting now. We are not. None of this is cutting through into No 10. We are falling behind our allies and our influence will be diminished.”

They added: “You can see there is a storm coming because all the trends and indicators are that we will find ourselves in trouble at some point in the next five to 10 years.

“We have a leaking roof and rather than fixing it we are removing roof tiles and making the roof worse.”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknew...74b4c41874e5c2

[Skybird]

Frankfurter Allgemeine:
-------------------------------
Biden wanted to go to Kiev - but no one was allowed to know


In the White House, they had suggested a meeting on the Polish border. But the American president wanted to go to Kiev. So there were fibs and tricks in Washington.

The White House Press Corps takes its job very seriously. The pool reporter, who is appointed for one day at a time, describes, as it were, as a representative of the fourth estate, every step taken by POTUS, FLOTUS or VPOTUS - i.e. the "President of the United States," the First Lady or the Vice President - in detail in short dispatches, which are immediately forwarded to all journalists accredited there via the White House press office. But there was silence on this channel early Monday morning. It was Ukrainian news portals that were the first to broadcast, shortly before noon Kyiv time, that Joe Biden had just been spotted with Volodymyr Selenskyj.

Ukrainian journalists were forewarned because security in the capital was apparently unprecedented. For no other of the many distinguished visitors so far, reports from Kiev said, had so many streets been closed off, even to pedestrians.

The handful of American journalists who had come along, at least that much the "New York Times" reveals, had had to hand over their cell phones in the very early American morning, before the trip began. At shortly after four on Sunday morning, Biden flew to Poland with his security adviser Jake Sullivan and an unusually small number of other staff on Air Force One. Presumably, he had already continued east from there on the train when the White House sent around the president's agenda later Sunday. It stated that Biden was in Washington and was leaving Tuesday night for his announced visit to Poland.

Whether Biden made all or part of his trip by train remained uncertain at first; it took ten hours, according to the New York Times. The Secret Service's misgivings about such a trip can easily be guessed. They were confirmed, as it were, when Biden stepped out onto the street with Selenskyj in Kiev and the air sirens began to wail. Apparently, a Russian MiG fighter plane had taken off in Belarus. This is everyday life for the people of Kiev - but not for the 80-year-old American commander-in-chief and his guards.

Parallels have been drawn in the U.S. press to the equally general-staff-obscured visits of Presidents George W. Bush to Iraq in 2003 and Barack Obama to Afghanistan in 2010. The difference from the Pentagon and Secret Serrvice perspective: In each of the two war zones, the U.S. military had been the dominant force; on Ukrainian soil, American armed or security forces are not present in significant numbers.

The New York Times report mentioned American fighter jets in Polish airspace on the border with Ukraine, but said they had not entered Ukrainian airspace. It was worth mentioning in the newspaper that Biden had dined with his wife Jill in a restaurant on Saturday evening as a farewell (or as a further smokescreen?), which only happens very rarely nowadays.

That trips to war zones are not publicly announced is self-evident. That the White House lays false tracks with false information, however, is extremely unusual. There had been speculation for many weeks about a possible appearance by Biden in Kiev, but again and again administration spokesmen and staff assured that there were "no plans" for it.

In truth, planning had apparently begun more than a month ago. According to a report in "Rolling Stone," the president had internally issued the motto several weeks ago that a public gesture of solidarity should be organized for him. The magazine cites a senior government official and writes that several options have been worked out.

Among the options discussed was a meeting of Biden and Selensky in a Polish-Ukrainian border town. This was the approach taken by First Lady Jill Biden, who met with Selenskyj's wife in May 2022 in the small town of Uzhgorod near the Slovakian border. According to the report, another proposal called for a meeting in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.

The concerns of the Secret Service and other security agencies have been considerable, according to Rolling Stone: First, because of the difficult-to-calculate dangers in the midst of continuous Russian air strikes, and second, because of the impossibility of taking the usual precautions in Ukraine during trips of the American president. After all, it was precisely for security reasons that a "small footprint" was required - the opposite of what commonly characterizes presidential travel.

Biden, however, chose Kiev. It may sound "presumptuous," the U.S. commander-in-chief told Selenskyj Monday morning at Kyiv's presidential palace, "but from the very first day of the attack, I thought it was important for the president of the United States to come here." Biden added: "I thought it was critical that there not be the slightest doubt about the United States' support for Ukraine in the war."
----------------------------

[mapuc]

So Biden and other Politicians here in the west is criticizing China for their plan on selling weapon and ammo to Russia.

Maybe it's me-'cause I can't see any problem with that-Heck we sell/give a huge amount of weapon and ammo to Ukraine.

Why shouldn't Russia be given military aid ?

For anyone who may doubt:

I'm a strong supporter for Ukraine SLAVA UKRAINI.

Markus

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by mapuc

So Biden and other Politicians here in the west is criticizing China for their plan on selling weapon and ammo to Russia.

Maybe it's me-'cause I can't see any problem with that-Heck we sell/give a huge amount of weapon and ammo to Ukraine.

Why shouldn't Russia be given military aid ?

For anyone who may doubt:

I'm a strong supporter for Ukraine SLAVA UKRAINI.

Markus

I cannot imagine you mean that posting and question serious...?! This is not Basketball or 400m hurdles, we are not about fair sportsmanship.

[mapuc]

Originally Posted by Skybird

I cannot imagine you mean that posting and question serious...?! This is not Basketball or 400m hurdles, we are not about fair sportsmanship.

I confess it's not about fair sportsmanship.

I'm very much divided in this question-Are we allowed to point fingers at China, Iran and North Korea for helping Russia ?
Or does we have every right to do so-'cause Russia is the perpetrator in this case ?

There's this overhanging fear that the west and China together with Iran will be dragged into the war.

But isn't we by proxy already at war with Russia ?

Markus

[Skybird]

Morally the thing is crystal-clear. And I think you already know and feel that. So why this artificial effort to relativize the responsibility of the evil one for his crimes and to relativize help for the victim against the complicity of other evil ones? I don't see anything purposeful in it except an overly playful sense of abstraction with the goal of distorting the object/topic at issue beyond recognition.

[mapuc]

I stand corrected, because I knew I was wrong.

Can our leaders prevent China from selling weapons and ammo to Russia ?

I say no and the threat about sanctions and embargoes will not have the effect our leaders hope it will have.

Markus

[Catfish]

Seems the wagner mercenaries threaten and shoot regular russian soldiers if they do not follow the wagnerites' orders, they also insult Shoigu and the russian military. Not Putin of course, cowards.
Surviving russian soldiers have not been paid for six months. People with guns getting no money, what could go wrong..

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Skybird

I cannot imagine you mean that posting and question serious...?! This is not Basketball or 400m hurdles, we are not about fair sportsmanship.

Originally Posted by Skybird

Morally the thing is crystal-clear. And I think you already know and feel that. So why this artificial effort to relativize the responsibility of the evil one for his crimes and to relativize help for the victim against the complicity of other evil ones? I don't see anything purposeful in it except an overly playful sense of abstraction with the goal of distorting the object/topic at issue beyond recognition.

Rgr that

Two wrongs don't make a right either.

[Jimbuna]

[Jimbuna]

Japan will provide Ukraine with additional financial assistance in amount of 5.5 billion dollars, - Prime Minister Kishida

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at a symposium in Tokyo that the government plans to allocate another $5.5 billion to Ukraine to restore infrastructure damaged by the Russian invaders.

This is reported by Censor.NET with reference to Kyodo News.

"There is still a need to help people whose livelihoods have been destroyed by the war and to rebuild destroyed infrastructure. We have decided to provide additional financial support of $5.5 billion," Kishida said.

Kisida also confirmed that he will invite the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to the online summit of the Group of Seven, which is scheduled for this week. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3400958

During Biden’s visit to Kyiv, US aircraft flew along Ukrainian-Polish border, - Sky News

During Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv, at least two US Air Force planes circled near the Polish-Ukrainian border.

As reported by Censor.NET, Sky News reports this.

According to the media, it is about Boeing E-3B Sentry, which work as airborne early warning and control systems.

"The aircraft tracks incoming threats, such as missiles, using its signature radar antenna. It can also perform other surveillance and communications tasks. ... They began monitoring the area yesterday (February 19. - Ed.) evening at 10 p.m.: 00 Kyiv time, possibly when Mr. Biden's trip to the country began," the publication writes.

According to Sky News, the tracking data of both flights does not show where they took off from, but it was the first time they were seen over Poland. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3400973

Italy can give Ukraine five combat planes, but does not want to be first - La Repubblica

Italy is ready to supply Ukraine with five Tornado and AMX combat aircraft, but does not want to be the first to do so for reasons of political expediency.

This is reported by La Repubblica with reference to its own sources, Censor.NET informs

"The country does not want to create the impression that it is forced to follow the long wave of allies led by Great Britain, which is pushing partners to a new, decisive step," the message reads.

Also, according to the report, the Italian government is considering the idea of holding an international conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3400983

Pistorius on planes for Ukraine: Discussions are underway regarding fighter jets, which Germany does not have

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius commented on the situation with the transfer of aircraft to Ukraine.

This is reported by Censor.NET with reference to Ukrinform.

"On behalf of the Federal Republic, I can only say that all discussions are conducted around fighter jets, which the Bundeswehr does not have. So this is a question for other countries," he said.

At the same time, Pistorius noted that in view of the development of events in Ukraine, "absolutely nothing can be ruled out", but in relation to the planes, there is really no question of German aid. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3400987

[Jimbuna]

West fears that China’s "peace plan" will undermine Ukraine’s support at UN, - Bloomberg

China’s "peace plan" to resolve Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, Western countries believe, can win the support of the countries of the "Global South" and thereby reduce the number of votes for similar pro-Ukrainian initiatives at the UN.

This is stated in a Bloomberg publication, Censor.NET reports with reference to "Euro Integration".

So far, the Chinese side has not disclosed the details of the "peace plan", but China's top diplomat Wang Yi said that it will contain calls for territorial integrity, the inviolability of nuclear facilities and opposition to the use of chemical weapons.

European officials familiar with the "peace plan" told Bloomberg on condition of anonymity that they expect the Chinese initiative to also call for a cease-fire and an end to the supply of weapons to Ukraine.

The US and its allies believe Russian President Vladimir Putin may make similar statements during his address to the Federal Assembly on Tuesday, they said.

Bloomberg's interlocutors also suggest that Putin may propose a draft resolution of the UN General Assembly dedicated to the anniversary of the events of February 24, in order to compete with the project, which was supported by Ukraine's allies, with demands on Russia to withdraw troops and stop hostilities.

Although China's "peace plan" has little chance of success, US allies, according to Bloomberg, are concerned that the proposal could gain traction in the countries of the "Global South" and potentially attract votes at the United Nations. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3401042

China told US "not to lecture it" regarding supply of arms to Russian Federation

China’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that the United States "has no right to lecture" on arms supplies, amid concerns that China may transfer weapons to Russia.

СNN writes about this with reference to the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China Wang Wenbin, Censor.NET reports with reference to Ukrainian Pravda.

"It is the American side, not the Chinese side, that supplies a steady flow of weapons to the battlefield. The American side has no right to read China's notations, and we will never agree to the US dictating or even exerting pressure on Sino-Russian relations.

Who is calling for dialogue and peace, and who is handing out knives and encouraging confrontation?" Wenbin said.

He added that China continues to "call for peace and promote negotiations" to resolve the "conflict in Ukraine." Source: https://censor.net/en/n3401009

[mapuc]

Following has been translated with deepL translator

- We ask the American side to reflect seriously on the role it has played.

- And do something to actually help de-escalate the situation and facilitate peace negotiations.

- And stop blaming others and spreading disinformation.

It's not China
So says Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wembin today,( https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwf..._11027934.html ) when asked to comment on allegations of Chinese arms dealing with Russia made by the US in recent weeks:

- The international community is fully aware of who is encouraging dialogue and striving for peace, and who is fanning the flames and inciting confrontation.

It is the US that is pouring weapons on
- It is the US, not China, that has poured weapons onto the battlefield, continued spokesman Wang, who also revealed that China is coming up with some kind of peace plan to mark the one-year anniversary of the invasion.

Two weeks ago, 11 Republican members of the House of Representatives put forward a resolution, dubbed the 'Ukraine Threat Resolution',(https://gaetz.house.gov/sites/gaetz....igue%20Res.pdf ) which contained a long list of military contributions the US has sent to or promised Ukraine. Contributions amounting to more than $110 billion. And last week, the AP news agency was able to bring out a poll showing that support for continued US arms aid to Ukraine has declined since March 2022.

A year ago, 60 percent thought arms should be sent - that has now dropped to 48 percent. At the same time, the share of Americans who do not want to send weapons at all has risen from 19 to 29 percent.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Here is the Danish version-If you want to translate the page into your language
https://ekstrabladet.dk/nationen/kin...rioest/9643262

My opinion
Why are China going after USA and the West ? Why aren't they not addressing Russia. It's Russia's invasion who's the reason to our acting towards Ukraine-By sending them help.

Markus

[MaDef]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Morally the thing is crystal-clear. And I think you already know and feel that. So why this artificial effort to relativize the responsibility of the evil one for his crimes and to relativize help for the victim against the complicity of other evil ones? I don't see anything purposeful in it except an overly playful sense of abstraction with the goal of distorting the object/topic at issue beyond recognition.

Is it? If it is so clear, then ethically NATO should have stepped in and forced Russia to stop. instead, they supply weapons and gear to allow the fighting to continue.