Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has promised that his forces will retake the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, despite warnings from other officials that Kiev will soon lose the Donbass region to Moscow without substantial military aid from the West.
Crimea
NATO Chief Says Ukraine Shouldn’t Drop Goal of Driving Russia Out of Crimea
In an interview with the Washington Post, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Ukraine shouldn’t avoid declaring ambitious war aims of driving Russia out of the eastern Donbass region and the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia has controlled since 2014.
5/13/22 John Quigley on the Russian Enclaves of Eastern Europe
Download Episode. Scott talks with John Quigley about Crimea, the Donbas and other regions in Eastern Europe with heavy ties to Russia. In the mid-90s, Quigley was tasked with leading talks between the new Ukrainian government and the people of Crimea and the Donbas who saw themselves as Russian. Scott and Quigley go through the history of these regions and examine the issues with today's Eastern European borders. Discussed on the show: “I led talks on Donbas and Crimea in the 90s. Here’s how the war should end” (Responsible Statecraft) John Quigley was CSCE expert on Crimea 1994-95. A...
Ukrainian Military Intelligence Chief Threatens Total “Guerrilla” Warfare
The head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, threatened total “guerrilla” warfare in Russian-occupied territory. He also warned Moscow was attempting to split his country into a divided state. Budanov said that Ukraine was preparing a guerrilla war in any territory Russia continues to control. "The season of a total Ukrainian guerilla safari will soon begin," he said. The statement from the intel chief comes as the US is dumping billions of insurgency-style weapons into Ukraine. The American weapon’s shipments to Keiv included the shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile that...
Zelensky Seeks NATO Security Guarantees, Rejects Russian Demands On Donbass & Crimea
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he accepts that his country will not be admitted into the NATO alliance, but voiced hopes for “security guarantees” from individual member states. He added that Kiev will not budge on its claims to breakaway territories, however, refusing major concessions sought by Russia.
Turkey Says Progress Made in Ukraine Talks as Zelensky Warns of WW3 if Diplomacy Fails
Moscow and Kiev are nearing agreement on a number of key issues in talks to end fighting in Ukraine, Turkey’s top diplomat said. While the progress marks a positive sign for diplomacy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that a failure to strike a deal could kick off a “third World War.”
American Infallibility
Beneath the widespread stubborn American refusal to understand the Russian government's motives for its condemnable invasion of Ukraine is the equally widespread stubborn refusal to learn from the U.S. government's wrong moves with respect to Russia over the last 30 years. But even deeper is the widespread stubborn refusal to even entertain the possibility that the U.S. government might have made any wrong moves at all.
COI #244: Iran Talks Impacted By Russia’s War in Ukraine
On COI #244, Kyle Anzalone and Connor Freeman cover the latest on the JCPOA negotiations and the Ukraine war. Connor discusses the apparently imminent U.S. return to the JCPOA. To bring skyrocketing energy prices down, President Joe Biden has put working out a deal for Iranian oil “on the table.” However, the Russians’ demands for written guarantees that the Washington led sanctions blitz will not impede their business with Iran may delay or prevent the deal’s completion. Kyle breaks down the latest on the fighting in Ukraine. There are indications that President Volodymyr Zelensky is...
TGIF: Joe Biden, Let’s Not Go to War
Here's a good idea: let's not go to war against Russia. Let's not even rattle a saber at Russia (or China, for that matter) because even wars that no one really wants can be blundered into. Many losers would be left in the aftermath, even if nuclear weapons were kept out of sight, but no one would win. So as that smart Defense Department computer says in the 1983 movie WarGames, "The only winning move is not to play." The crisis du jour is Ukraine; before that, it was Georgia, both former Soviet republics. For some inexplicable reason, Russia's rulers get nervous when the U.S. foreign...
News Roundup 5/18/21
US News Biden is considering keeping a Trump-era Pentagon rule that allows the Department of Defense to carry out psyops with less oversight from the State Department. [Link] Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Russia is advancing illegal claims in the Arctic. [Link] The US is planning a 27-nation naval war game near Crimea. [Link] Myanmar Activists groups in Myanmar report 800 deaths since the military took control over the government in February. [Link] The US imposed sanctions on the State Administrative Council and 16 other people. [Link] Israel Biden approves a nearly $750 million...