30 May, 2022 15:22

US won't send Ukraine long-range rockets – Biden

Earlier reports had suggested Washington was likely to provide the equipment for Kiev’s fight against Russia

The US will not supply Ukraine with long-distance missile systems that are capable of striking deep into Russian territory, President Joe Biden explained on Monday. Asked by reporters about the prospect of such deliveries, Biden flatly rejected the possibility.

“We’re not going to send to Ukraine [those sort of] rocket systems," the president said without elaborating.

Last week, multiple US media outlets reported that the White House was considering sending M270 MLRS and M142 HIMARS rocket systems to Ukraine, which can have a range of up to 500km. The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) and the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) are two versions of US-made rocket artillery systems that can fire the same types of rockets. The advanced weaponry would have allowed the Ukrainian forces to strike deep into Russian territory and potentially target major cities.

Biden’s announcement on Monday was welcomed by former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who said it was “reasonable” to avoid supplying such systems to Kiev. Earlier, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov expressed hope that “common sense will prevail, and Washington will not take such a provocative step,” which would only lead to further “escalation” of the conflict.

Moscow has repeatedly warned the West against “pumping” Ukraine with assorted weaponry, stating that it would only prolong the hostilities without ultimately changing the outcome, thereby inflicting more damage on Ukraine and its population. It has also declared weapons stockpiles from the West in the country to be “legitimate targets.”

https://www.rt.com/news/556349-biden-ukraine-missiles-supply/

30 May, 2022

Vladislav Ugolniy: Ukraine's unity is crumbling amid serious military losses in the Donbass and Zelensky is feeling the heat

The recent advances of the Russian army have taken their toll on society and are a major setback for the leadership's motivational efforts

Ukrainians appear to be losing unity amid military defeats in the Donbass and the economic crisis in the rest of the country. The surge of patriotism that arose when the Russian army was close to Kiev appears now, in the last days of May, to have been exhausted. Along with it, the national consensus that saw all political groups rallying behind the Ukrainian army, rather than struggling against President Volodomyr Zelensky seems to have disappeared.

Now, the Western-backed leader looks to be in big trouble.

The withdrawal of Russian troops from areas around Kiev, Chernigov, and Sumy, completed by April 3, was seen as a significant victory for the Ukrainian authorities. The removal of the threat from the capital made it possible to return diplomatic institutions, organize the visits of foreign delegations to the sites of past battles, and convince NATO countries that Ukraine would be able to withstand the war against Russia if it received more serious weapons.

All this was presented to Ukrainians as laying the groundwork for preparing a counteroffensive in Kharkov, Kherson, and the Donbass. In addition, a favorite carrot was brought out – promises of early accession to the European Union, bypassing existing norms – as payment for heroism and Ukraine taking up the banner of “Europe’s Shield.” The mood in Ukrainian society was positive. The Russian army had already been stopped. It remained only to wait for Western help, and it would be possible to take revenge for 2014, when Moscow reabsorbed Crimea.

Meanwhile, foreign aid was flowing in, but it did not bring relief to Ukraine. It proved effective only in supporting refugees in countries free from Ukraine's corruption and cronyism. As for the military component, by the end of May, it turned out that the requested artillery and air defense systems were not enough to defeat Russia, and it was necessary to boost the army’s ranks to one million.

This increase was to be carried out through the mobilization and transfer of territorial defense detachments to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In the face of the economic crisis, even more Ukrainian men were to be sent to the front line.

As a result, the Kiev government has been detaining men on the streets of the cities it controls and serving them with draft notices. Meanwhile, Western Ukrainian territorial defense units that initially wanted weapons to protect their villages in the Carpathians have found themselves, instead, under Russian aviation and artillery in the eastern Donbass.

That is how belief in a speedy victory disappeared from Ukrainian society. Alexey Arestovich, a top adviser to the office of the President, who has somehow become the main military expert in Ukraine, as well as military bloggers associated with the nationalist Azov unit, are already talking about a difficult June and July. Even Zelensky himself has lost his optimism. What is the reason for this?

Since the second half of April, the Russian army has concentrated on several objectives:

1. Expanding its foothold around Izium and cutting off Slaviansk

2. Conducting an offensive from Kupiansk along the Oskol Reservoir to Sviatogorsk and Liman

3. Liberating the Rubezhnoye-Severodonetsk-Lisichansk area

4. Breaking through the fortified defense formations in the Popasna area to enter the operational theater

5. Breaking through the fortified defense formations in the area of Avdeevka and its surroundings

6. Establishing control over Mariupol

By the end of May, most of these tasks had been completed. The Ukrainian army put up the greatest resistance in the area around Izium, thanks to which the front has been kept at a distance of 20 kilometers from Slavyansk. However, this was achieved by concentrating most of its reserves between Izium and Slavyansk, which made it impossible to deploy them in other areas.

A little to the east, the Russian army marched about 80 kilometers along the Oskol Reservoir, liberating the district center Liman on May 27. Now Slavyansk is under threat not only from a strike from the northwest, but also from the northeast, and positions on the left bank of the Seversky Donets River, which is key for this theater of operations, remain only in the Svyatogorsk area and the Kharkov Region….

HTtps://www.rt.com/russia/556326-vladislav-ugolny-how-ukraines-unity/

>>16369066

Why is the SeeEyeAye so creepy

>>16369033

Pivot now from Russia/Ukraine to China now that Russia is winning or has won. Watch out for the pivot, they always come

>>16369031

He believes Ukraine is and has always been Poland's territory, he's just trying to absorb Ukraine.

>>16368978

>>16369027

dude you seriously have gotten a lot of attention for the last week, anons given advice, anons asking whats wrong, anons telling you to get some help, anons trying to tell you how to post without the red text. How much more do you need???

30 May, 2022 15:31

Germany to amend constitution

The ruling coalition and a major opposition party have agreed to change Germany’s constitution to beef up its defense budget

Germany’s constitution will be changed to accommodate a new special €100 billion ($107.35 billion) credit-based defense fund, the country’s Finance Minister Christian Lindner has confirmed.

On Sunday, the ruling coalition comprised of the Social Democratic Party, the Greens and the Free Democratic Party had to engage in talks with the leading opposition party, CDU/CSU, to secure a two-thirds majority in parliament needed to exempt the defense fund from a constitutional debt brake. According to reports in German media, it took the parties more than three hours to reach a consensus.

Taking to Twitter in the early hours of Monday, Lindner wrote: “Accomplished. Agreement on the Bundeswehr fund. We are ensuring together that the Bundeswehr will be reinforced with 100 billion Euros in additional investments in the coming years. At the same time, the debt brake for all the other schemes remains in place.”

The minister went on to stress that with the help of this special fund, Germany would reach the “so-called two-percent-target of NATO on the multi-year average” – an apparent reference to the military alliance’s requirement, according to which member states should spend at least two percent of their respective GDPs on defense.

The new fund, which will require Berlin to take out massive loans, exceeding the regular debt ceiling applied in the country, will now be enshrined in the German constitution (locally known as ‘Basic Law’) to highlight its “exceptional character,” as Finance Minister Lindner put it.

The money will go toward beefing up Germany’s regular defense budget of about 50 billion Euros for several years.

A number of German media outlets reported that the main bone of contention between the ruling coalition and the opposition was the question of whether the said fund can only be used to strengthen the Bundeswehr’s capabilities or for other related purposes as well. The Greens had reportedly wanted part of the money to be diverted into cybersecurity and support for allies. The Christian Democrats from the CDU/CSU, in turn, insisted that the fund should be used exclusively to beef up the country’s military. According to the media, the Greens eventually acquiesced to the conservatives’ demands.

The creation of the fund was proposed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz in late February, days after Russia attacked Ukraine. Addressing the German parliament at the time, Scholz said that Berlin would “have to invest more in the security of our country to protect our freedom and democracy.”

Trump told them time and time again, to beef up their military and contribution from NATO, but it took Bidan and his admin of clowns to convince them, there is no help coming if they don't defend themselves

https://www.rt.com/news/556344-germany-constitution-tweak-defense-spending/

30 May, 2022 13:33

==Top Ukrainian adviser suggests alternative to mobilization

Able-bodied men could pay the state to legally leave Ukraine, the official has suggested==

Top Ukrainian adviser suggests alternative to mobilization

(it's pretty bad when citizens know Ukraine is incompetent and losing and try to flee the nation, they've lost the propaganda war)

Ukrainians who are eligible for military service should be allowed to leave the country in defiance of an active travel ban – if they can pay several thousand dollars, an Interior Ministry adviser suggested on Monday.

Most male Ukrainians aged between 18 and 60 cannot legally travel outside their homeland due to martial law.

The adviser, Viktor Andrusiv, said Ukraine needed to mobilize “several hundred thousand soldiers” to fight Russia. However, the current near-total ban on leaving the country for those subject to mobilization was a bad policy, he added.

“I suggest introducing an insurance payment, for example $3,000 to $5,000. And free passage for those who pay,” he wrote on social media.

Although he used different terms, the mechanism Andrusiv described appears similar to bail, assuming that the money would be paid back to those who return to Ukraine.

The travel ban disrupted the plans of many Ukrainians, sometimes at a great cost to both them and their country, the official said, describing a few examples. Andrusiv made it clear that the aim of his proposal was to boost the inflow of foreign currency to Ukraine.

“For many years, the money sent by our guest workers was saving our economy, and in these times it is especially important,” he said.

Ukraine has prohibited all able-bodied men between 18 and 60 from leaving the country. There are exceptions for some people, like truck drivers and train workers involved in delivering humanitarian aid and arms to Ukraine, who can legally leave the country for up to 30 days.

Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov said this month that the military wanted to recruit as many as one million people for the war. But public reluctance is apparently a serious concern for the country’s leadership.

A draft law submitted to the Ukrainian parliament in March provides for a prison term of up to 10 years for crossing the border illegally, and an even harsher punishment for border guards who facilitate such crossings. The proposed amendment of the criminal code does not target draft dodgers specifically, but would work only under martial law.

https://www.rt.com/russia/556337-ukraine-mobilization-bailout-idea/

30 May, 2022 13:50

Poland halts free fuel supplies to Ukraine

Deliveries will continue on a commercial basis, Warsaw says

(I guess they are tired for being ripped off by the Ukrainian Mafia, since they didn't win the war)

Warsaw has stopped free fuel supplies to Ukraine, the Polish minister of climate and environment said in an interview with the BiznesAlert website on Monday.

“At the beginning of the war and after the bombing of the refinery, we sent fuel free of charge. Currently, these are commercial supplies from Orlen [Polish oil refiner], requiring a large logistic commitment,” Anna Moskwa said.

The minister explained that the Polish market remains the priority, and that energy companies in Ukraine are coping with the situation. “Usually these deliveries are by pipelines, so we had to put in place new supply channels. We implement them on an ongoing basis, maintaining the priority of supplying the Polish market,” Mokwa said, adding: “Our supplies are a response to the crisis, but this sector is well organized, so there is a market potential there.”

Meanwhile, war-damaged infrastructure and disruption of the oil refining industry in Ukraine have resulted in fuel shortages, according to media reports. Drivers have reportedly been forced to wait for hours at gas stations. Last week, the government suspended state regulation of motor fuel prices amid a growing shortage of gasoline and diesel.

During a telephone conversation last week with French President Emmanuel Macron, President Volodymyr Zelensky raised the issue of fuel supplies to Ukraine among other topics, including the prospects of receiving fuel from the United Arab Emirates.

https://www.rt.com/business/556328-poland-stops-free-fuel-supplies-ukraine/

30 May, 2022 12:21

EU predicts how Ukraine conflict will develop

The conflict in Ukraine will drag on and Kiev will require more help from Brussels, the EU foreign policy chief says

(The EU is fucked, they thought with all their might they could defeat Russia and get the oil and gas for free, they can'tThe only country holding out is UK, they will punish their citizens to have a win.)

The conflict in Ukraine is likely to last for a long time but will eventually conclude with peace talks between Kiev and Moscow, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday.

Borrell said in an interview with France Info that he expects the Russian military offensive to drag on.

According to the foreign policy chief, Moscow will act more aggressively, requiring the EU to keep arming Ukraine and apply further sanctions against Russia. The Russian economy is already slowing down due to the economic restrictions, and further pressure should help Kiev gain a stronger position in future peace talks with Moscow, he claimed.

The events on the ground in Ukraine have apparently persuaded Borrell to amend his perspective on the conflict, with the diplomat saying last month that “this war must be won on the battlefield” by Kiev.

Borrell was speaking several hours before the start of a two-day EU summit on Ukraine that Brussels hopes will see member states adopt a sixth package of sanctions against Moscow, including at least a partial embargo on Russian oil.

EU governments discussed the issue on Sunday and on Monday morning without reaching a consensus, he said. However, the diplomat expressed hope that “there will be an agreement in the end,” despite resistance from Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The proposal now being considered by member states would reportedly ban Russian crude delivered by sea, but not affect pipelines, which are the only supply source for Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

“We have to take the individual circumstances of everybody into account,” Borrell said, adding that an EU-wide solution would give those three countries more time to find other sources of oil.

Russia attacked Ukraine in late February, following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German- and French-brokered protocols were designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state.

The Kremlin has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.

https://www.rt.com/news/556333-eu-ukraine-oil-borrell/

30 May, 2022 10:31

Britons warned of winter blackouts

Electricity across the UK could be rationed as the energy crisis deepens, London says

(BoJo is no Winston Churchill)

As many as six million British households could be subjected to power cuts this winter if Russian gas supplies to Europe stop, The Times reported Sunday, citing a Whitehall document.

It said that imports of natural gas from Norway could halve next winter amid surging EU demand. Britain buys around half of its total supplies from the Nordic country.

Shipments of liquified natural gas from major producers such as the United States and Qatar could also halve this winter, the UK government warned, pointing to fierce global competition for supplies of the fuel.

Meanwhile, interconnectors from the Netherlands and Belgium could also be cut off in winter, as the two countries struggle meeting their own demand.

The UK, which has vowed to end the importation of Russian oil by the end of the year, is now seeking to bolster electricity supply by extending the life of its coal and aging nuclear power stations.

UK gasoline, diesel prices hit new highs

Read more

UK gasoline, diesel prices hit new highs

Thus, the lifespan of Somerset nuclear power plant Hinkley Point B could be extended by 18 months, despite plans to decommission the 50-year-old facility this summer.

According to the report, heavy industrial facilities could be told to stop using gas, while UK gas-fired power plants could be closed in order to preserve limited supplies.

That could reportedly result in shortages of electricity, with British households subjected to blackouts during peak times on weekday mornings and evenings.

If Russia cuts supplies of natural gas to the EU entirely, blackouts could last for three months, starting in December, and occur on both weekdays and weekends, the report said.

https://www.rt.com/business/556320-uk-winter-blackouts-warning/