He is right to be concerned and make noises, even though he is too late to the party. This talk should have been given years ago, before RU troops moved in and used his country as a staging ground. What is he concerned about? Certainly he should not fear UA which is not a threat to his territory. The real threat to Belarus remains the same one it has always been, Putin and RU. I have no doubt that had he not given RU permission to station their troops in Belarus, Putin would have ignored him and moved in anyway, on the pretext of providing security to Belarus because a UA invasion would have been painted as imminent.
3 Likes
An escalation?
5 Likes
I agree. If he didnât comply it would have had serious ramifications. That said, letâs not forget he was totally onside with the invasion (as long as he didnât have to get directly involved) and taking peacekeeping steps is blatantly ridiculous hogwashâŠ
3 Likes
I also agreeâŠ
2 Likes
Antimony, the surprise hedge bet.
K-9 Let slip the dogs of war.
Mr âwithin 24 hoursâ is now looking at perhaps 24 months, or longer. But rest assured, heâs on it.
âItâs a tough one,â Trump says following questions on how he plans to stop Russiaâs war against Ukraine
A small article making a large claim.
Sad that Putinâs aggression will be rewarded, but understandable that Ukrainians have had enough.
Living on the edge.
Iâm hoping Ukraine is setting their 2025 goal of expanding their border to the farken Ural Mountain Range. Puck Futin.
3 Likes
7 Likes
Weâre in.
Australian troops could play role in Ukraine peace deal
December 17, 2024 â 6.45am
London: Defence Minister Richard Marles has left the door open to greater Australian military co-operation with allies in Ukraine â including an ongoing role in peacekeeping â as Europe debates potentially sending in troops as part of any post-war security pact.
European leaders are planning to meet this week in Brussels with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO chief Mark Rutte to discuss peace plans and the potential deployment of peacekeeping forces to Ukraine.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles in London for the Australia-UK ministerial consultations.Credit:AP
The meeting comes after pressure from US President-elect Donald Trump for European countries to monitor any future peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow by sending troops to Ukraine.
Meeting British counterparts in London on Monday, Marles said Australia would stand side-by-side with the UK in its efforts to support Ukraine in its war against Russia and said his governmentâs support was there for the long term.
âWe will stand by Ukraine and continue our support until it can resolve this conflict on its terms,â Marles said, adding he had recommitted Australian troops to Operation Interflex, a training program for Ukrainians, for another year.
âBut we will continue to look at ways in which we can support Ukraine for as long as it takes, and we will work really closely with the UK in terms of what that commitment looks like.â
Wong and Marles with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy (left) and British Defence Secretary John Healey (second from right) in London.Credit:Getty Images
Marles said the governmentâs actions on Ukraine spoke for themselves, having dramatically scaled up support in the past few months with more than $650 million work of tanks, boats and military hardware.
Reports of thousands of North Korean soldiers arriving in Ukraine to support Russia have reignited a debate about whether European countries should send soldiers to the war-torn country should a peace agreement hold.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said this week Australia could help secure Ukraine by providing âboots on the groundâ to help deter Putin from achieving his goal of conquering the country.
He told The Nightly that the security of both Europe and the Indo-Pacific were connected because of the involvement of China and North Korea in the conflict.
Asked directly, Marles did not expand on what role Australiaâs defence forces would play in any ongoing security arrangement should Kyiv and Moscow come to a peace deal.
But Marles supported UK Defence Secretary John Healeyâs comments that it was most important now to back Ukraine in its fight.
Asked if he was considering placing British troops on the ground to keep the peace as part of any ongoing ceasefire, Healey said his message was that Vladimir Putin âcannot prevail, he will not prevail, and Ukraine will have our support for as long as it needsâ.
He said Ukraine needed to be in the âstrongest possibleâ position if Zelensky decided to start talking as well.
âOur job as allied nations that stand steadfast with Ukraine is to support them in any negotiations, just as we will through any battlefield fighting,â Healey said.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who stood beside Marles at the press conference at Lancaster House in central London, will travel to Strasbourg and Brussels this week to meet with her European Union counterpart Kaja Kallas and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Tuesday. They are expected to discuss Chinaâs ongoing role in the conflict as well as shared security concerns.
French President Emmanuel Macron raised the potential of a 40,000-strong peacekeeping force composed of troops from foreign countries in a meeting with Polish President Donald Tusk. The peacekeeping force proposal is separate from Macronâs previous idea to send military instructors to Ukraine during the ongoing war.
Zelensky has previously said he could work with Macronâs position that allied troops have a presence in some territories of Ukraine, which would guarantee Kyivâs security, while Ukraine was not a member of NATO.
He said for the first time last week he would be willing to cede territory to Russia to end the war if it meant a security guarantee from NATO forces.
4 Likes
As predicted. Now keep an eye for border promises or more trade threats with tariffs, etc.
(although, they are a bit more quiet now after Canadian threats to cut electricity or impose export tariffs on energy to the US)
5 Likes
âMr 24 hour fixitâ now says that Zelensky and Putin should sort it out amongst themselves and that the land likely being conceded by Ukraine is a wasteland, not fit for human habitation.
7 Likes
Here is that dumb misrepresentation of Zelenskyyâs words in that Sky news interview, again, by a media organization that should know better.
I donât mean to be pedantic on this point but the incorrect use of language on such a fundamentally important issue of this war (and its potential outcome) is misleading.
He said to facilitate an end to hostilities/ceasefire they would be willing to temporarily put up with russian occupation of Ukrainian territory but that all Ukrainian territory (1991 including Crimea) is forever Ukrainian would never be relinquished or recognized as russian.
This is the opposite of the dictionary definition of âcedeâ.^
^ cede infers permanently relinquish control of; rights to
End rant.
12 Likes
https://mil.in.ua/uk/news/ukrayina-ta-chehiya-zavershyly-rozrobku-reaktyvnogo-dvyguna-dlya-droniv/
Ukraine and the Czech Republic have completed the development of a jet engine for drones
The Ukrainian enterprise âIvchenko-Progressâ, together with the Czech company PBS, has completed development of the AI-PBS-350 jet engine and launched production.
This was announced by Pavel Chekhal, managing director of the engine-building company PBS Group.
In July of this year, PBS presented a completed model of the AI-PBS-350 engine, which was developed jointly with the Ukrainian state-owned enterprise Ivchenko-Progress, at the Farnborough air show. The new engine, which was announced in June last year, is optimised specifically for use in unmanned aerial vehicles and other military developments.
According to Chehal, the start of serial production at the companyâs facilities in Velka Bites (Czech Republic) is expected in the first half of 2025. First, with tens of units per year with subsequent volumes of hundreds of units.
He noted that deliveries of AI-PBS-350 are possible today, since their production has already begun at Ukrainian enterprises.
When asked about the possibility of exporting engines to foreign customers, Chekhal said that Ukraineâs needs are a priority. However, the cooperation between the two companies is developing rapidly, so the Czech facilities will soon be able to provide supplies to the world market.
PBS Group said their production of jet engines increased by about 300 percent in 2024 compared to the previous year. Next year, this growth is expected to increase an additional 200 percent.
"In fact, we have moved from dozens of engines produced to hundreds, and now we intend to move on to thousands," says the companyâs managing director.
The company has production facilities in the Czech Republic and is also building new ones in the United States and India to gain a foothold in local markets. Chekhal believes that just the market of the latter is able to consume thousands of jet engines, which will helped by cooperation with Ivchenko.
The final production will be in at least two locations, but we are not against additional acquisitions. Ideally, within a year, our subsidiary in the United States will be fully operational. We expect that within two to three years, sales in the United States will be about $100 million,"* he said.
5 Likes
what a shame.
6 Likes
Did his good friend Putin get an invite?
4 Likes
Donald Trump inauguration date: Donald Trump swearing-in ceremony date: China President Xi Jinping âinvitedâ, Vladimir Putin is âyet to receive invitationâ - The Economic Times
Wouldnât that be the icing on the cake! Roll out the red carpet for the war criminal. ICC charges ignored. The Don crowned in front of the guy who helped get him there, twice. Look at us! âWorld peace.â
Batshit crazy but if it happened I wouldnât actually be shocked. That is the timeline we are living inâŠ
Trumpâs Ego:
^
^
2 Likes
Those consequences.
6 Likes
Russian losses per 17/12/24 reported by the Ukrainian general staff
+1600 men
+4 tanks
+15 AFVs
+8 artillery pieces
+34 UAVs
7 Likes
UN update on civilians close to the front line:
- 1200 have fled the front line
- In the Donetsk region nearly 12k remain in Pokrobsk, Kurakhove and Chasswk (?) close to the front line
- A local gas operator suspended services to 12k consumers. Some water supplies also suspended
2 Likes
6 Likes
Doesnât say how they were assassinated.
Open window or poison/nerve agent?
The latter would be more fitting.
1 Like