You're so wrong. Trump set Zelensky up and he and his tag team bully Vance humiliated him. Don't forget that the Ukrainians fought a seven year guerilla war against the Soviets after World War II. What Trump and Vance did was tell Europe that they're on their own. NATO now means nothing. I wonder what Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania think. They're now the most vulnerable states in the EU.
The only thing that Zelensky could have done was kiss Trump's ass as well as Vance. The two most arrogant assholes on the planet.
From an emotional/patriotic standpoint, you're right, from a pragmatic standpoint, not so much. If Ukraine can give the US a property interest in those oblasts and Crimea, that puts US companies there, on the ground - and they'll be doing things vital to the national security interests of the US. And you can bet there will be prepositioned US troops and materiel, just in case, but that wouldn't be out in public. The US tends to be pretty hawkish in defending vital national security interests - Trump isn't Biden or Obama - and Putin knows it. That alone would bring the war - and probably the occupation - to a screeching halt. The idea is to get the Russians out of Ukraine and Crimea, and keep them out, and this deal would have done that - and potentially will do it - I hope.
The plan at that meeting was to get Zelensky out as President of Ukraine. Everybody knows that Z doesn't wear a suit, because his country is fighting a war, and yet some jerk in the White House asked him if he even owned a suit. It was an insult and intended as a tag team attack on Z. This is the Putin goal to get Z out of office so that they can work on somebody more malleable. Zelensky has handled himself well as a war-time President, far greater in courage that tough guy Trump who just wants to look good on TV.
I'm getting tons of responses from my Ukrainian friends, all supportive of Zelensky. The key is what the Europeans will do at the meeting tomorrow. I expect British and French troops to move to the Eastern front very soon. They've been talking about it for some time so this is the time to show that the Europeans will not cave to Trump.
Troops at the front would be important, but supplying the troops already there with artillery and shells, and reinvigorating Ukraine's air defense would be primary - and supplying fighter planes and potentially pilots to stop the glide bombs. On top of that, some long range drones/missiles to dump the Kerch Bridge into the Kerch Strait... I don't think it would take much, now, to defeat Russia, as I've said in previous posts, their on-the-ground commanders are brain-dead, doing the same human wave assaults and expecting different results. The big deal is air defense for Ukraine, the Blitz has to be stopped.
It's my understanding that the Kerch Bridge is irrelevant. The Russians have started using the alternate rail line that they built above the Azov Sea. It's also my understanding that Ukraine has been developing their own missiles and long range drones which if I were them I would double down. I would double the attacks on oil refineries and oil depots to stop oil trade. Ukraine doesn't have to win on the battlefield but economically because Russia is hurting economically.
Europe needs to worry about their security, because Trump just told them that they will have to grovel if they want the US to help as long as he's President.
Ukraine is doing precisely that, I'm surprised they haven't built/deployed hypersonic missiles, after all Donetsk and Kyiv were where the rockets for the Soviet Strategic Rocket Forces were designed and manufactured. I'd be surprised if some of that expertise were not still in Ukraine.
It's pretty easy to interdict rail lines - just find a bridge and put a missile on it, that cuts the line and the bridge - and undoubtedly that rail line crosses rivers, probably coming from Rostov or Taganrog down to Donetsk and farther south. And the Kerch Bridge must be cut as well, because with that down, it's not getting fixed, period. That limits rail transport to the Azov line...
All that is true. It's once again my understanding that the rail line across the Kerch Bridge is not operational. They have one lane for cars and that's it, unless I have been given wrong information.
Again, my goal would be to hammer Russia where it's most vulnerable--oil production. Biden didn't allow the Ukrainians to hit the oil depots because they didn't want high oil prices before the election, but that's off the table. Of course, we don't know what Trump and Zelensky talked about it private before Trump booted him out of the White House. I suppose now Trump will invite Putin and have a big buddy show in the Oval Office.
Unbelievable bias and madness. This wasn’t statesmanship, this was 2 ignorant thugs behaving in a despicable manner. God help us all, God help our children if our future is in their hands
You're so wrong. Trump set Zelensky up and he and his tag team bully Vance humiliated him. Don't forget that the Ukrainians fought a seven year guerilla war against the Soviets after World War II. What Trump and Vance did was tell Europe that they're on their own. NATO now means nothing. I wonder what Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania think. They're now the most vulnerable states in the EU.
The only thing that Zelensky could have done was kiss Trump's ass as well as Vance. The two most arrogant assholes on the planet.
Slava Ukrianii
From an emotional/patriotic standpoint, you're right, from a pragmatic standpoint, not so much. If Ukraine can give the US a property interest in those oblasts and Crimea, that puts US companies there, on the ground - and they'll be doing things vital to the national security interests of the US. And you can bet there will be prepositioned US troops and materiel, just in case, but that wouldn't be out in public. The US tends to be pretty hawkish in defending vital national security interests - Trump isn't Biden or Obama - and Putin knows it. That alone would bring the war - and probably the occupation - to a screeching halt. The idea is to get the Russians out of Ukraine and Crimea, and keep them out, and this deal would have done that - and potentially will do it - I hope.
The plan at that meeting was to get Zelensky out as President of Ukraine. Everybody knows that Z doesn't wear a suit, because his country is fighting a war, and yet some jerk in the White House asked him if he even owned a suit. It was an insult and intended as a tag team attack on Z. This is the Putin goal to get Z out of office so that they can work on somebody more malleable. Zelensky has handled himself well as a war-time President, far greater in courage that tough guy Trump who just wants to look good on TV.
I'm getting tons of responses from my Ukrainian friends, all supportive of Zelensky. The key is what the Europeans will do at the meeting tomorrow. I expect British and French troops to move to the Eastern front very soon. They've been talking about it for some time so this is the time to show that the Europeans will not cave to Trump.
Troops at the front would be important, but supplying the troops already there with artillery and shells, and reinvigorating Ukraine's air defense would be primary - and supplying fighter planes and potentially pilots to stop the glide bombs. On top of that, some long range drones/missiles to dump the Kerch Bridge into the Kerch Strait... I don't think it would take much, now, to defeat Russia, as I've said in previous posts, their on-the-ground commanders are brain-dead, doing the same human wave assaults and expecting different results. The big deal is air defense for Ukraine, the Blitz has to be stopped.
It's my understanding that the Kerch Bridge is irrelevant. The Russians have started using the alternate rail line that they built above the Azov Sea. It's also my understanding that Ukraine has been developing their own missiles and long range drones which if I were them I would double down. I would double the attacks on oil refineries and oil depots to stop oil trade. Ukraine doesn't have to win on the battlefield but economically because Russia is hurting economically.
Europe needs to worry about their security, because Trump just told them that they will have to grovel if they want the US to help as long as he's President.
If I were Zelensky right now, I would try to hammer Russia so hard behind the lines that they must end the war.
Ukraine is doing precisely that, I'm surprised they haven't built/deployed hypersonic missiles, after all Donetsk and Kyiv were where the rockets for the Soviet Strategic Rocket Forces were designed and manufactured. I'd be surprised if some of that expertise were not still in Ukraine.
It's pretty easy to interdict rail lines - just find a bridge and put a missile on it, that cuts the line and the bridge - and undoubtedly that rail line crosses rivers, probably coming from Rostov or Taganrog down to Donetsk and farther south. And the Kerch Bridge must be cut as well, because with that down, it's not getting fixed, period. That limits rail transport to the Azov line...
All that is true. It's once again my understanding that the rail line across the Kerch Bridge is not operational. They have one lane for cars and that's it, unless I have been given wrong information.
Again, my goal would be to hammer Russia where it's most vulnerable--oil production. Biden didn't allow the Ukrainians to hit the oil depots because they didn't want high oil prices before the election, but that's off the table. Of course, we don't know what Trump and Zelensky talked about it private before Trump booted him out of the White House. I suppose now Trump will invite Putin and have a big buddy show in the Oval Office.
Unbelievable bias and madness. This wasn’t statesmanship, this was 2 ignorant thugs behaving in a despicable manner. God help us all, God help our children if our future is in their hands