Zelenskiy forced to recalibrate to avert Nato summit falling-out
Zelenskiy forced to recalibrate to avert Nato summit falling-out
Ukrainian president’s frustration threatened to overshadow meeting – and did not go unnoticed by other leaders
That's not an "outburst," that is simply being open and transparent. What does a things that I really respect about Zelensky is how open, transparent and honest he is when discussing national issues. He has done a lot to rain in corruption, it obviously the resistance against the Russian invasion.
Western leaders would do well to take notice of what he has done and to heed the warnings about outside influences corrupting their own populations and politics.
If Xi slightly raised his voice, it would be the end of the world but when Zelensky throws a fit in public, surrounded by world leaders, it's fine.
I kind of surprised at the outburst happening in the first place. His Western relations have been slick as hell up until this point and are probably the most impressive thing about the war effort you can attribute just to him personally.
If you're watching your country lose ground in a war, have difficulties taking it back, and all the help is just enough to prolong the pain - and you're told to celebrate and be grateful while calling a non-collapse a win...
You get to have a bad day, in my book. God help him, I don't want his job for a God damn day.
And, I agree, he's been so consistently on point. Maybe that's part of what makes this a story.
That and people who just want the Ujraine to stop resisting and allow the ethnic cleanse. It happened, it would resume (if it stopped).
I mean, are you surprised? Russia's military spending is pitiful and their equipment is held together by hopes and dreams and corruption.
Yet, the largest, most advanced, and most expensive military in the world (by far) can't find a way to beat them. Ukrainian people are losing their lives every day the war wages on.
This is, of course, all while the West is ignoring the treaty they signed for Ukrainian denuclearization that said that American troops would be sent in the event of an invasion.
If I were Zelenskiy, I'd be livid. I'm impressed by how composed he's been thus far.
So, regarding the USA's commitment to Ukraine during denuclearization- Is that really what the US agreed to in the Budapest Memorandum?
The way I'm reading, the text of the memorandum implies the USA, Great Britian, and Russia won't invade and will respect Ukraine's border, and will represent Ukrainian interests on the UN security council if they're threatened by nukes.
I don't see agreements to provide direct military intervention unless I'm missing something important.
Dude, it's not the United States fighting against Russia here. It's the Ukraine military, which is held together on a shoestring budget with donations from NATO. The Ukrainian armed forces military structure is based on Soviet doctrine, with large parts still reflect the Soviet era force structure. Little has changed since then, although they have adopted in NCO structure like you see in NATO forces.
However, many reports out of NATO in the United States have pointed out that Ukraine armed forces still have a long ways to go before they can be ready for NATO integration. Not to mention that the huge variety of equipment that they are currently running, which includes massive amounts of Soviet era weaponry armor and aircraft, on top of a hodgepodge of NATO equipment simply exacerbates their issues.
Significantly, similar language was used by Sullivan, who had been needled by a question from a Ukrainian activist who suggested the US was “afraid of Ukraine winning”.
They want Ukraine to win.
But very slowly.
Very, very slowly.
They want a war of attrition, they want to weaken Russia without the backlash of losing their own soldiers, Ukraine can't win too fast, there can be no peace agreements either.
They want to sell guns, while weakening their competition.
Unlikely; a quicker victory against Russia would be more damaging politically to Putin, and a "weaker" Russia isn't necessarily a less dangerous Russia, as nukes don't need a lot of manpower to operate.
But a quick war isn't as profitable for the military industrial complex
I don't know about that. The demographic damage being incurred right now, in a country that has virtually no immigration, will massively weaken them in 30 years. The damage the same does to Ukraine is of no consequence to the west, Ukraine doesn't have nukes and a totalitarian government
The eventual economic toll will cause a lot of changes in government