"The 1980's are calling to ask for their foreign policy back."

https://x.com/zelenskyyua/status/1734659544221958246?s=46&t=iYW3foyqIA6Tn8VWwn3nwQ

Canada has a Navy?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67711802

Putin is digging in, with both EU & US support for Ukraine in peril.

https://wapo.st/3TqN5cW

https://thehill.com/homenews/4360407-congress-approves-bill-barring-president-withdrawing-nato/

Congress approves bill barring any president from unilaterally withdrawing from NATO

Off to Biden's desk to sign.

Finland to sign a Defense Cooperation Agreement with the US on Dec 18.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/finland-natos-newest-member-will-sign-a-defense-pact-with-the-united-states/ar-AA1lv8jc

Among the usual stuff it also allows the US to permanently station troops in the country. Pentagon says we don’t have any current plans to do so.

Which means they definitely have plans to do so, and have long since begun implementing them.

That's like management addressing enployee rumors at work: if management bothers to address them, they're most likely true.

https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-village-council-meeting-grenades-71ded0fe7d537903ecb4c63f6bd8238e

So Russia is dumping the ‘tainted’ name Wagner Group for its forces in Africa and renaming them the totally-not-telling-us-who-they-are Africa Corps.

https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/arti...-la-presence-russe-au-sahel_6205937_3212.html

Putin's train hit by blast in 'sabotage attack'

By "Putin's train" they mean one carrying Russian munitions.

https://euromaidanpress.com/2023/12/17/friendly-fire-russians-downed-their-su-25-in-eastern-ukraine/

How long until he falls out a window?

There are plans, and then there's intent.

I assume -- no, I hope -- that the Pentagon has dozens of plans for every possible threat scenario. Since Putin is turning Russia into a hostile power again, and clearly has expansionist ambitions, I also assume some analyst is thinking about how stationing troops in Finland could be helpful to U.S. interests specifically, and the cause of protecting democracy in general, if Putin starts to turn his ambitions westward.

The main goal of this agreement is probably to tell Putin "Don't even think about it." And that's a good thing.

Just some added context there is stationing troops and there is stationing troops.

There is “2nd Brigade 10th Mountain Division is to be permanently stationed at US Army Base Lapland.”

v

“Over the next five years 10 Brigades will conduct sequential eight month rotations through US Army Camp Lapland.”

This is what we are currently doing in the Baltics. We aren’t permanently stationing any troops there we just have agreements to always have troops rotating through there.

https://charter97.org/en/news/2023/12/19/576101/

Former colonel of Military Intelligence of the Russian MoD (GRU), later senior instructor at the Wagner Group and one of the commanders of the Redut PMC, Igor Salikov, decided to testify about Russian war crimes in Ukraine at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Deutsche Welle reports.

Obviously it isn't going to mean much because it's unlikely anyone in question will ever appear before the ICC, but it's good for a record of what's been going on there.

Not that it's a genocide. That means the intentional destruction of the entire population. Can't mean anything else. Unless Jews are doing it.

Lavrov's personal plane is apparently in Washington. Something could be brewing.

You couldn't pay me enough money to get on a Russian plane. They're going to start falling out of the skies soon thanks to sanctions on parts

Complimentary grenades tho

Former TV journalist bids to challenge Putin in Russian presidential election

don't let them near any windows, tall buildings, bathtubs, explosives, poisons, chemicals, heavy metals, radioactive substances, drugs, women, men, air, water, or anything else.

Belarus leader says Russian nuclear weapons shipments are completed, raising concern in the region

https://x.com/visegrad24/status/1739468053539405897?s=46&t=iYW3foyqIA6Tn8VWwn3nwQ

Nearly $1 Million In Cars Confiscated From Latvian Drunk Drivers Head To Ukraine

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/12/27/biden-endgame-ukraine-00133211

Big strategic shifts underway.

From your link

Interesting that there's no mention in the article of what I posted on Monday, namely that Belarus is claiming they've recently received nukes from Russia. Bullshit or not, the leader of Belarus is cozying up to Putin, and there's been talk for months now that Russia may launch an offensive from Belarusian soil.

Also from your link:

Do I have to point out that were the US to say, "We think that the only way this war will end is if Putin's dead" that this wouldn't be a good thing, even if it were to be 100% accurate?

Again, from your link

I will remind you that the US also engaged in peace talks with North Vietnam multiple times, and for most of them wasn't exactly sincere.

Oooh, this is interesting

You remember when Ronnie said, "We don't negotiate with terrorists" while negotiating with Iran so that the US could help fund the Contras in Nicaragua? Or how the US managed to find all kinds of weapons and money for the various forces in Afghanistan fighting against the Soviets? Even though, for a time, we weren't officially funding or equipping the Mujahideen?

And what do you suppose this means?

IMHO, it's a bit of word salad that could mean we're backing Zelenskyy no matter what he says, or we're telling him to find a way to have "peace with honor." I kinda think that it's a coin toss at this moment. YMMV.

This sounds to me like someone's planning for the possibility that the war in Ukraine could go on for longer, or that it might end soon. You know, "I am authorized to say that the war might actually be within measurable distance of its end."

Here's an interesting tidbit

I'd not heard of that particular thinktank, interesting tidbits to be found on its Wiki page.

Plenty of other things in that entry to make me think that they're no different from any of a number of other think tanks out there who are more interested in enriching themselves and their supporters than they are in changing things for the better. YMMV.

Putin appears to be in no mood to negotiate - he has very much managed to fail upwards in terms of control. Russians may not be having a great war, but he is for now, and whilst it is untenable in the long run, he needs only to wait for Trumps probable return.

The Biden/Sullivan wheeze to not upset Russia too much, but to keep bleeding them, has ensured the counteroffensive has been blunted - it hasn't been a failure (most of the 'vaunting' has been from the Western press), but it certainly hasn't been the desired success.

Nevertheless, Russia has lost control of enough of the Black Sea it has had to effectively retreat, has missile and artillery shortages meaning a burgeoning dependence upon Iran and NK, burned through an awful lot of its modern armour, and lost a significant enough number of military experience to the point it'll take at least a decade to have a functionally modern military again. It has had to abandon and re-write various doctrines in the process, come to rely on OPEC+ to maintain funding via fossil fuels, sacrifice land to China and begin the painful process of not only becoming a Chinese asset, but paying for the privilege, as Xi politely explained they'd love to buy more Russian oil and gas at Beijing dictated prices, they're just not paying for the infrastructure. Lend? Sure. Pay? Nope.

Additionally its weapons systems have been found wanting, it's air force eminently downable, and its defence systems of limited use.

Had Ukraine been able to time limit Russian fortifications and/or have something like proper air support then Biden would have had a better tale to sell, but this is a result of his policy of shouting victory whilst slow walking the means to that victory.

Yet another Russian fell out of a window to their death. This time Vladimir Egerov, a Russian duma member and ally of Putin.

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/nation-world/world/article283590933.html

Pretty sure it's Biden who is trying to get a $300 billion aid package to Ukraine through Congress.

The major impediment to use US weapons in Ukraine is training and maintenance. Getting the Ukrainians weapons they can use was more important.

And clearly the West in general and US in particular have been aiding Ukraine with intelligence information, and huge amounts of ammo and aid.

Pretty silly take. It can be both true that Zelensky can want everything right now, as he should, but that the US is giving Ukraine what they can use, and setting up the programs for training and logistics so they can send more as the war goes on.

But we have a Republican led House that's pro treason.

The aid packages have been fed at a rate and volume to keep Russia in the game, Biden made clear after the Kharkiv offensive that he was more concerned about Russia responding with a nuclear attack than he was with Ukraine's success.

It's become evident that the current administration fears a Ukrainian success as much as it fears a Russian one, and so it's all about managing the pressure of the thumb on the scales rather than a Ukrainian victory.

Of course that only works for as long as you don't have an orange tit in the Oval Office.