Posted on 07/12/2024 2:08:17 PM PDT by ransomnote
SNIP
To prevent the attacks, Zelenskyy pushed for permission from the U.S. to use long-range weapons to target airfields hundreds of miles inside Russia.
“We can protect our cities from Russian guided bombs if American leadership makes a step forward and allows us to destroy Russian military aircraft on their bases," he said.
SNIP
While praising American aid as a whole, he also framed American deliveries of 31 Abrams tanks, once the center of a major political push, as ultimately too few to make a difference.
“I'm not sure that such a number of tanks can change the situation on the battlefield,” said Zelenskyy.
Ukraine similarly needed more F-16s, likewise the target of a longstanding political pressure campaign, Zelenskyy added. While NATO members have said they will send 65 F-16s to Ukraine, the Ukrainian president said his country needed at least 128 to offset Russia’s air superiority.
Even as Zelenskyy praised U.S. support under the Biden administration, he also sought to avoid alienating Republican candidate Donald Trump, who improperly held up Ukrainian aid during his first term, pressed GOP lawmakers to end it as he campaigned, and says he will cut it if reelected.
SNIP
The 1.5 billion euros that the EU has pledged for a new defense fund is “peanuts,” SAAB CEO Micael Johansson said at one NATO panel. The EU “can step up and put a huge amount of money in that fund, more than 100 billion euros, and then you will see things happening,” he said.
SNIP
(Excerpt) Read more at defenseone.com ...
America has given around $190+ Billion dollars to the Ukraine and it didn't make a difference - the Ukraine is still losing the war. Yet this article quotes a CEO saying that the EU's proposed 1+Billion dollars aid is just 'peanuts' and that 100 Billion Euros would 'really make a difference'. Not true.Elsewhere, in a video released around the last 60 Billion dollar 'gift' from Congress to the Ukraine, a journalist asked if Zelensky would be back at the end of the year, asking for money. Zelensky replied that he had been promised F-16's for 2 years, and that he couldn't provide a timeline until he receives the F-16's. SO yes, he'll need more money- there's no plans in place to give him more than a few F-16's, if any, prior to the end of the year.
But now in this article Zelensky notes that the promised F-16's won't make much of a difference because Russia has air superiority, so the Ukraine actually needs twice the number of F-16's promised.
Oh, but I don't think that matters anyway, because the Ukraine doesn't have enough 20 -22 year old (on average) pilots in training (somewhere between 12-and 20 are in training).
Oh and the pilots are only scheduled to receive 1/3 the combat training normally given fighter pilots because the Ukraine needs them now, and they'll be going up against Putin's veteran pilots in newer aircraft.
Oh and none of that matters anyway, because the F-16's require modern runways - which the Ukraine doesn't have. And those runways must be kept swept meticulously, and kept pristine because the F-16s have forward facing air intakes to their single engine and are therefore far more sensitive than other older fighter jets in use, which have 2 engines and air intakes which close on takeoff and landing.
Oh but that won't matter because the Ukraine can't build the needed air strips while under Russian aircraft attack. They also can't build needed air defense systems while under attack - that would take a few years.The Ukraine doesn't have sufficient air defenses to protect their runways, build runways, or protect planes parked on those runways.
Oh but that won't matter anyway because each dozen or so, older rebuilt F-16's the Ukraine gradually receives over the next few years requires spare parts and a 'tail' of 250 or so maintenance mechanics with special training.
Oh but none of this matters because these needed runways/airbases would have to be positioned near the line of conflict with Russia because the Ukraine lacks adequate air defenses to protect the aircraft if they had to fly farther over the Ukraine than locations near the front line - and where they would have to be built is easy for the Russians to bomb.
THere's more info like this - the Ukraine's F-16 strategy is a money maker, but won't win the war or stem the losses. Apparently they're all just harvesting money and remaining in war status long enough to provoke WWIII.
If Biden actually let Ukraine fight back he might not be able to stretch out his 10% for ever.
What does our President, President
Netanyahu, say about this?
The corrupt SOB’s do not want this war to end. It is how they get paid.
Ukriane hit the third set of Russian Nuclear Warning Radars in the last 48 hours.
I think the CIA has again overstepped their authority using Ukraine to attack Russia in this manner.
Watch the night sky for man made metors, err falling stars, or a satellite or two drop out of orbit. Two can play this dangerous game.
This coupled with the fact that Russia has stated they will treat F16 as possible nuclear threats, coupled with taking out another radar, only signals Ukrainian and CIA bad intensions. Might this provoke a smoking hole in the ground somewhere in Ukraine or Romania/Poland airbases? The Russias response time hindered could allow them the plausible deniability in response to a nuclear threat by firing a couple just to underscore the dangerousness of playing with fire.
This implies Zelenskyy is directly under orders from the United States.
Never satisfied.
“This situation is getting out of control. It will get so out of control we will be lucky to live through it.”
5.56mm
Umm Z man, why are you asking for permission, you are at war! Sheesh what a dumb ass
Better to ask forgiveness than permission.
This is not our issue. This is a European problem. Let the EU give whatever green light to escalate this to WWIII and the associated increase in death and destruction.
Zelensky is an ass.
Well, he’s right. 65 is a drop in the bucket. Almost an insult.
It’s looking more and more like that Trump (and Biden himself, really) is going to end that “forever” 10% to Biden, in a few more months, one way or another.
I can understand Z-man asking for more weapons, and for more flexibility, on all fronts, but if I was him, I’d particularly concentrate on drones whose place of manufacture can’t be pinpointed after use. IIRC, the Euro’s were promising 2 million drones in a year, and Ukraine was planning to build 1 million. Make a sufficient number of those long range enough to take out all of Russia’s refineries, and keep them “out”, and Russia will grind to a halt. Russia will undoubtedly respond by bombing the hell out of Ukraine, especially the energy grid, to the extent that they can do so in addition to what they are already doing. But to counter that, a very vigorous supply of small and medium small generators (all energy types except nuclear and hydro?), small pickup size “fuel trucks”, and so on, can keep the Ukies heads above water. Russia perhaps could try to drone all the generators and trucks, but the civilian casualties would be tremendous. Even the Chinese would balk at that, IMO.
In any event, the struggle becomes highly asymmetric: Ukraine needs only to knock out a few dozen refineries, while Russia has hundreds of thousands of targets to deal with.
He didn’t “improperly” withhold aid. What a load of crap. He asked the dictator to look at an already existing case that had been illegally closed when Biden blackmailed Ukraine into firing the investigator who was investigating his son.
He is.
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