7 Jul, 2023 14:15

Moscow ‘closely following’ Erdogan and Zelensky talks – Kremlin

The two leaders are set to discuss the Ukraine conflict and the fate of the grain deal

Moscow is keeping an eye on the upcoming negotiations between Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Ukrainian counterpart, Vladimir Zelensky, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

According to Zelensky’s office, Kiev plans to discuss the Ukraine conflict, the country's bid to join NATO, and future prisoner swaps with Russia. Several Turkish media outlets reported that the meeting would take place in Istanbul on Friday.

Both Turkish media outlets and Zelensky’s office also pointed out that Erdogan and Zelensky intend to discuss the fate of the Russia-Ukraine grain deal. The agreement, which was brokered by Türkiye and the UN last summer and sought to unblock agricultural exports via the Black Sea, is set to expire on July 17. In recent months, Russian officials have indicated that they saw no reason to extend the deal, claiming that it has failed to steer grain to poverty-stricken nations.

Speaking to reporters, Peskov noted that Moscow “would very closely follow the results of the negotiations” between Erdogan and Zelensky.

“We maintain constructive partnership relations with Ankara, we value these relations and feel reciprocity from the Turkish side. So, of course, we will be interested to know what Mr. Erdogan and Mr. Zelensky are talking about. It is important,” the spokesman said.

He also noted that the Turkish president has on numerous occasions stepped up to help resolve various issues within the Ukraine conflict, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin has highly praised these efforts.

Peskov did not rule out the possibility of a meeting between Putin and Erdogan, which could come “in the foreseeable future,” but stopped short of specifying a date. His remarks came after the A Haber channel reported that the Turkish leader could meet with his Russian counterpart after a sit-down with Zelenksy.

Since the onset of the Ukraine conflict, Türkiye has emerged as a key mediator between Moscow and Kiev, most notably hosting peace talks between the two last March. While, at the time, Russia initially expressed optimism about the peace process, Kiev backtracked on all of its promises shortly after the visit of then-UK prime minister Boris Johnson to the Ukrainian capital.

https://www.rt.com/russia/579344-kremlin-talks-erdogan-zelensky/

7 Jul, 2023 15:28

Zelensky explains what makes Ukraine’s counteroffensive difficult

Without long-range weapons, it is not only difficult for Kiev to attack, but even to defend, the Ukrainian leader has said

The Russian advantage in long-range weapons seriously complicates Kiev’s counteroffensive, Vladimir Zelensky said on Friday. The Ukrainian president has previously attributed lack of progress in the much-hyped operation to delays in arms deliveries by the West.

“Without long-range weapons, it’s difficult not only to carry out an offensive mission, it is difficult to conduct a defensive operation, to be honest. Very difficult,” Zelensky explained during a press-conference in Prague.

The Ukrainian leader said that Kiev was in discussions with Washington about the supply of such weapons. “It depends only on them [the US] today,” he said.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, with whom Zelensky held talks earlier on the day, promised thatPraguewouldsend combat helicopters to Ukraine and train its pilots to fly US-made F-16 fighter jets.

Washington previously declined to provide long-range arms to Kiev over concerns that they might be used by Ukrainian forces for attacks deep into Russian territory, risking a major escalation in the conflict.

Last week, Republican senator James E. Risch told Voice of America that a group of US lawmakers were continuing to pressure the Biden administration to supply Zelensky’s government with the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS). The possibility of Ukraine getting the missiles, which boast a range of up to 321 kilometers (200 miles) was “quite high,”Risch said.

Ukrainian officials had been mulling a major counterattack for months, claiming that it would end in the recapture of all territories lost to Russia, including Crimea. The operation finally started in early June, but according to Moscow, it has so far failed to achieve any significant gains, despite heavy losses in manpower and hardware on the Ukrainian side. Kiev has so far claimed the seizure of several villages, but they appear to be located some distance away from main Russian defense lines.

In an interview with the CNN on Wednesday, Zelensky claimed that thecampaign had “slowed down” because the West had failed to provide weapons to Kiev on time. Ukraine wanted to start its advance “much earlier,” but could not do it due to lack of equipment, he said. “Everyone understood that if the counteroffensive unfolds later, then a bigger part of our territory will be mined. We give our enemy the time and possibility to place more mines and prepare their defensive lines,” the president explained.

Moscow has repeatedly warned that deliveries of more sophisticated weapons to Ukraine by the US and its allies could cross its ‘red lines,’ leading to a major escalation of hostilities. Russia argues that the supply of arms, intelligence sharing, and training of Kiev’s troops already means that Western nations are de facto parties to the conflict.

(Why does anyone listen to this guy, he sounds like Obama blaming everyone except himself. Ukraine are not warriors the majority are terrorists, they will never fight a direct war. Ukraine has failed and giving up but won’t stop collecting weapons from the country. Again, why does anyone listen to this guy?)

https://www.rt.com/russia/579347-zelensky-counteroffensive-weapons-ukraine/

7 Jul, 2023 15:10

Keep Ukraine out of NATO, US experts argue

Membership could force Washington to wage a nuclear war on behalf of Kiev, according to an article in Foreign Affairs magazine

Welcoming Ukraine into NATO would force the US to choose between nuclear war with Russia or abandoning its security commitments to Kiev, two American analysts claimed on Friday.

“The security benefits to the United States of Ukrainian accession pale in comparison with the risks of bringing it into the alliance,” Justin Logan and Joshua Shifrinson of the libertarian Cato Institute wrote in Foreign Affairs magazine.

If Ukraine were to join the alliance amid the ongoing hostilities, Logan and Shifrinson argued, the US and all of NATO’s European members would immediately be pulled into open war with Russia, with the potential for a nuclear exchange. However, even if the conflict were to be resolved, Ukraine and Russia will still have competing territorial claims, and a membership offer would risk reigniting the conflict, this time with NATO as a direct participant, they added.

“Under these circumstances, an American commitment to fight for Ukraine would be open to question,” they continued. If Ukraine were a NATO member and US policymakers chose not to intervene on its behalf, the bloc’s entire collective defense principle would be undermined, resulting in “a true credibility crisis for NATO.”

Furthermore, with the US protected by its nuclear arsenal and the vast Atlantic Ocean, the two analysts argued that America faces no direct threat from Russia, while Ukraine – due to its geography – forms “a bulwark” between Western Europe and Russia “irrespective of NATO membership.”

“American time, attention, and resources are needed elsewhere,” Logan and Shifrinson wrote, concluding that“the United States should accept that it is high time to close NATO’s door to Ukraine.”

Since the 2008 Bucharest Declaration, NATO’s official policy is that Ukraine will become a member of the bloc at an unspecified future date. Kiev, however, is unhappy with this non-commitment, with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky reportedly threatening not to attend NATO’s upcoming summit in Lithuania unless the US-led bloc offers “concrete” security guarantees or a roadmap to full membership.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has already ruled out a membership offerat the Vilnius summit. French President Emmanuel Macron, however, has called on the alliance’s leaders to offer Kiev bilateral or multilateral security guarantees, as well as a “path” to full-fledged membership. British Defense Minister Ben Wallace and a number of Eastern European leaders have called for Ukraine to be fast-tracked into the bloc without the usual “membership action plan” that prospective members must complete.

The White House, meanwhile, maintains that Ukraine “would have to make reforms to meet the same standards as any NATO country before they join.”

(These guys are right shut the door on NATO, and resolve this war. Ukraine will start more wars with Russia if allowed in.)

https://www.rt.com/russia/579349-keep-ukraine-out-nato/

>>19139751

I hope that is true!

4:36 minutes

3 hours ago

Kevin McCarthy Refuses To Endorse President Trump Due To Donors, Bannon Slams For Disloyalty

https://rumble.com/embed/v2w2ngq/?pub=4

Laura Loomer: Republicans Prepare To Steal Trump’s Nomination With Last-Minute Rule Changes And Endorsements

https://rumble.com/embed/v2w2ouw/?pub=4

>>19140298

What does that mean?