US Foreign Policy 3.0: We're The Mets of International Diplomacy

[Kepler]

Russian Orthodox cleric:



Oh man, I have definitely backed the right horse in this one.

[Kepler]

If I was playing Civ or some other world domination video game and I was getting these results from a superpower attacking an inferior nation across the border, I'd assume the games' AI was busted.

Spearman will beat Mechanized Infantry 1 time in 10,000. That's just science.

[Handyman]

Sounds like it has not been a good couple days for The Flaccid One.

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1510029255140331530

Ukraine’s army claims to be in control of dozens of towns to the west and east of Kyiv where some of the most intense fighting of the war has happened. If the stated gains hold up, it would mark the largest shift in fighting around the capital in weeks.

This reporter from The Independent tweeted:

Unbelievable. Two full-fledged axes of attack just collapsed and were abandoned within 1 or 2 days. They just left having achieved nothing. We expected Russians to get entrenched to prevent Ukraine from reinforcing Donbas, but leaving completely, en masse… unbelievable.

[rufus]

Lot of experts of the opinion that they'll be back after resupply and reinforcement, and after learning their mistakes from the first go-round.

US and our allies should be flooding Ukraine with all the heavy munitions they want, to be prepared for when that happens, and also to drive Russians out of Donbas and Crimea.

[aparch]

State Media now has a giant Z on the floor of their news set. Same Z that adorns the Russian equipment and has also been used as a patriotic symbol within Russia.

https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/s...42573796253696

There is no letter Z in the Cyrillic alphabet.

[Kepler]

From ISW:

Russian Reactions to Sanctions:

Ongoing European efforts to find alternatives to Russian energy likely successfully undercut a Kremlin attempt to buttress the Russian economy by coercing Europe into only buying Russian gas in rubles. Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitri Medvedev stated on March 30 that sanctions against Russia may leave EU countries without gas, an implicit threat to cut off Russian energy exports to Europe.[15] Russian President Vladimir Putin decreed on March 31 that “unfriendly countries” purchasing Russian gas must have Russian bank accounts and pay in rubles.[16] The United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan separately announced on March 31 and April 1 that they would not meet the Kremlin's demand to pay for gas in rubles, in effect calling the Kremlin's bluff.[17] Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov backtracked on April 1 that Russia will indefinitely delay implementing Putin‘s decree, claiming the procedure would be “a long and time-consuming process.”[18] Ongoing efforts by European and other states to reduce their reliance on Russian energy and preparations to ration existing energy reserves likely enabled them to refuse the Kremlin’s demand.[19]

Sustained Western military aid to Ukraine will help enable further Ukrainian counterattacks in the coming weeks. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated claims on March 31 that the United States and NATO are responsible for the Ukraine crisis for “pumping Ukraine full of weapons” that threatened Russia and violated Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) decisions.[20] The United States and its allies continued to provide monetary and military supply assistance to Ukraine since ISW’s previous Invasion Update on March 29.[21]

• US Pentagon Spokesperson John Kirby stated on March 29 that the United States is deploying six US Navy Growler electronic warfare aircraft, along with 240 US military personnel, to Germany to bolster electronic warfare capabilities on NATO’s eastern flank. Kirby noted that the aircraft will not be used in Ukraine.[22]
• US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved a deployment extension for the USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier on March 31. The carrier’s aircraft have been flying in support of NATO security operations in Eastern Europe.[23]
• US President Joe Biden pledged $500 million in direct budgetary aid to Ukraine in a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on March 30.[24]
• British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace reported on March 31 that the United Kingdom and its partners will send more lethal aid to Ukraine in the form of anti-aircraft assets, armored vehicles, and long-range artillery.[25]
• Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on April 1 that Australia will send additional armored vehicles to Ukraine.[26]

It remains interesting that Russia lies exactly the way the Republicans do: deny, deflect, defer. It's the same mind.

[WeAreNDHockey]

Putin ain't the only Russian war criminal.

Pictures of some villages freed in Kyiv region, specifically Bucha, are devastating. Dead people lying outside of their houses, in what can only have been a “zachistka” - systemic execution of the men of each house. One body in front of every house.

[Kepler]

Speechless.

According to reports, Russian forces killed all males aged 18-60 in the city of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv. “All men who were and young and healthy were shot.”

Per Wikipedia, the population of Bucha is 36,971.

BBC coverage.

[Kepler]

The Right is always the same.

[Deutsche Gopher Fan]

So Russians just amping up the war crimes

[aparch]

Russia, because they want Ukraine for themselves, is now claiming the west wants to carve up Ukraine like Germany was.
https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/s...34012615888907


I'm kinda thinking Russia needs to be carved up. Kaliningrad to Poland or Lithuania. St. Petersburg to Finland. Kremlin into a 70 acre parking lot.

[Kepler]

An American in Ukraine writing propaganda for Russia. This guy is ready for Fox.

[Handyman]

So Russians just amping up the war crimes

You better not be too critical...can't harm the fragile ego of The Flaccid One.

[MichVandal]

Kep, why post that? You are just giving that person more people to eyeball his message. Bad call there.

We know the cult party supports vladdy, even with all the atrocities that have gone on. They have a hard on for the potential corruption of hunter over the targeting and murder of innocent people. So don't provide more of a place for their message.

[Deutsche Gopher Fan]

Glenn g earning his paychecks by already staring all photos are Evidence and context free