fficult standstill — not least because of wavering U.S. support. If Congress cuts off support, Ukraine could well collapse later this year. Yet Ukraine remains strong in many ways. It has continued to stymie the Kremlin’s greatest ambitions for taking over the country. While the going is tough today, there is no cause for fatalism.
Much has been made of Ukraine’s disappointing 2023 counteroffensive. But given the strength of defenses on both sides, its failure was no huge surprise. Defense is simply stronger than offense at this stage of the war and, because of this, Ukraine might be able to hang on to most or all of the 82 percent of the pre-2014 territory it now holds, even with constrained military supplies. Yet, as the recent loss of Avdiivka demonstrates, Ukraine might struggle in the event of a complete cutoff of U.S. assistance. The pace of setbacks could accelerate with little warning; like Ernest Hemingway’s quip about bankruptcy, defeat could occur gradually, then suddenly.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/02/21/ukraine-russia-war-strengths/…
e UK and the US favour seizing the assets themselves however, and worry that the €3bn profits will do next to nothing to fill the $60bn funding gap if the US Republicans block the US aid package.
With no questions taken at the press conference, the three men, locking hands together, wanted a show of unity to be the prevailing message to Moscow.
Macron added: “This is a serious moment. A new era is dawning, and we’ll be there. And the fact that the three of us are united on this day, determined with the same lucidity about the situation in Ukraine and determined never to let Russia win and to support the Ukrainian people to the end, is a strength for us, our peoples, our security and our Europe.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/15/german-french-and-polish-leaders-hold-emergency-meeting-on-ukraine…
dely expected re-election this weekend.
The three armed groups of Russian exiled fighters, who operate in close coordination with Ukraine’s military, said they had crossed the border into the southern Kursk and Belgorod regions. In a statement, the Russian National Guard acknowledged the raid, saying that together with the armed forces, they were repelling the Ukrainian-backed armed groups’ attack near the village of Tyotkino in Russia’s western Kursk region.
Russia’s defence ministry later in the day said it had foiled the raids and posted a video appearing to show destroyed tanks and armoured fighting vehicles belonging to the pro-Ukrainian fighters.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/15/german-french-and-polish-leaders-hold-emergency-meeting-on-ukraine…
he Kremlin’s matrix. In the 2000s, Ukraine consistently rejected the Kremlin’s new construct: the “Russian World,” the idea of a great empire, dogmas of slavery, autocracy, and terror, and became its own idea of liberty, democracy, and justice. Freedom defines Ukraine. I felt it as a child, in the waves, in the air that vibrated with freedom, and I feel it now, as I report from Ukrainian cities and villages burned and destroyed by Russia.
Zarina Zabrisky - BYLINE Supplement
…
his week with the Ukrainian news outlet New Times. “I’m quite curious: how will they explain this to their own people?”
Andrew Roth THE OBSERVER for THE GUARDIAN
Since the beginning of the millennium, when Vladimir Putin took power in Russia, authoritarian leaders have come to dominate global politics. Self-styled strongmen have risen to power in Moscow, Beijing, Delhi, Brasilia, Budapest, Ankara, Riyadh and Washington.
http://letschangetheworld.ning.com/profiles/blogs/summary-of-the-ukraine-situatio-today…
ent it.
“It’s something that should be remembered and talked about and taught in history classes for generations to come,” Oz told Byline Times of Ukraine’s fight to expel Russia from Kyiv and its ongoing battle against the invaders.
With the support of Byline Media, the British-Lebanese reporter is set to release, The Battle of Kyiv, which premiers at Prince Charles Cinema, London, on April 29. Tickets are available here. It will soon be available on Byline.TV
https://bylinetimes.com/columns/war-in-ukraine/…