Posted on 06/03/2022 11:39:03 PM PDT by Mount Athos
US officials have in recent weeks been meeting regularly with their British and European counterparts to discuss potential frameworks for a ceasefire and for ending the war through a negotiated settlement, multiple sources familiar with the talks told CNN.
Ukraine is not directly involved in those discussions, despite the US commitment to “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.”
In April, the US’ stated goal was for Russia to “fail,” a National Security Council spokesperson said at the time, and for the Russian military to be significantly “weakened” in the long term, as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin proclaimed – comments that reflected optimism that Ukraine might be able to defeat Russia decisively on the battlefield after successfully defending Kyiv.
But as an effective stalemate has taken hold on the battlefield, with Russia making incremental gains in the east and Ukraine saying it is increasingly outgunned and outmanned, senior Western officials – including US President Joe Biden – are emphasizing anew that even with advanced western weaponry, Ukraine’s prospects for peace will ultimately rest on diplomacy.
“What we do know is that almost all wars end at some stage at the negotiating table.”
For now, that effective stalemate presents an opportunity for the US to slowly bleed Russia of both blood and treasure, multiple military officials said. But the longer the conflict drags on, the higher the costs for the West – and the greater the challenge the Biden administration will face in supplying Ukraine, finding sustainable replacements for Russian oil and gas, and keeping an already-fractious European alliance committed to its strategy.
The issue is particularly politically fraught heading into election season, with gas prices continuing to rise largely because of the measures the west has taken to cut off imports of Russian oil and gas.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
“ Odessa is de facto and de jure part of Ukraine.”
Odessa is a Russian city and always has been.
Come on. You know Mexico has nothing to do with Boise, Idaho. But, Odessa was founded by Catherine the Great of Russia, and became part of an independent Ukraine only 30 years ago. The culture and language of Odessa remains primarily Russian. And while that doesn’t mean a Russian invasion is justified, it does provide some context as to why Russia desires that land.
The sanctions against Russia boomeranged and hurt the West more than they hurt Russia. Gas will be $6/gallon by the end of the month. Crime is rampant. America is veering into dystopia. Biden knows he has to do something or there's going to be a revolution here.
Screw it. A new landlocked Ukraine, 4/5th the size it used to be can still function as the money laundering capital of Europe. Russia will keep the Donbas and much if not all of the Black Sea coastline. In order to get sanctions lifted, they'll agree to paltry reparations, maybe $200 million.
We will pay to rebuild the rest of the country.
Hundreds of billions in taxpayer dollars will be funneled into west Ukraine in the form of government contracts. The graft and corruption will know no limit. Lots of rich people will get even richer.
With any luck, gas prices will come down.
Post #5”Have Russia cede Odessa to Ukraine”.
Odessa is de jure and de facto part of Ukraine today in 2022 June. Absolutely nothing for Russia to cede if they don’t control or own Odessa.
Your “Odessa was founded by Catherine the great “ is a daft argument.
New York was founded by the Dutch, do you want to hand that back to them? And San Antonio etc by the Spanish.
Odessa prior to 1794 was Ottoman Turkish.
Throught the 1800s Odessa was extremely diverse population of Albanians, Armenians, Azeris, Bulgarians, Crimean Tatars, Frenchmen, Germans (including Mennonites), Greeks, Italians, Jews, Poles, Romanians, Russians, Turks, Ukrainians, and traders representing many other nationalities (hence numerous “ethnic” names on the city’s map, for example Frantsuzky (French) and Italiansky (Italian) Boulevards, Grecheskaya (Greek), Yevreyskaya (Jewish), Arnautskaya (Albanian) Streets).
Odessa’s cosmopolitan nature was documented by the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, who lived in internal exile in Odessa between 1823 and 1824. In his letters he wrote that Odessa was a city where “the air is filled with all Europe, French is spoken and there are European papers and magazines to read”.
Since 1920 it was part of the Ukrainian SSR, just as Moscow was part of the Russian SSR.
In the 2001 census, Ukrainians made up a majority (62 percent) of Odessa’s inhabitants, along with an ethnic Russian minority (29 percent).
In 2015 the bulk of those calling themselves Russian ethnicity did not want to join Russia.
I’m not supporting any of those clowns.
I’m supporting the Ukrainian people against an invasion by a savage Putinist horde.
Why are you supporting a globalist dictator like Putin?
The relatively recent status of Odessa to Russia reveals why this land is so desirable to them.
Your analogies don't compare similar examples.
Why do I have visions of Neville Chamberlain wavi a slip of paper & proclaiming peace in our time?
What are you talking about? Good grief.
Who believes a Soviet secret policemans word (Putin) regarding security is worth a crap?
Post 2 is simple enough for anyone with a reading skill above grade 5 to understand.
You didn’t?
Let me simplify it further for you.
A Nazi regime, led by a dictator who has been in power for 22 years and has reduced corporations to arms of the state, has invaded a sovereign, neighbouring country, with the excuse of “protecting my ethnics”. Then he tries to get the great powers to sanction his occupation.
Putin is playing exactly out of the Nazi handbook. Putin and his nazi regime
“Relatively recent “??
Odessa has been part of a Ukrainian polity since 1920. That’s over a century now.
Why are you deflecting?
I’m supporting the Ukrainian people against an invasion by a savage Putinist horde.
Why are you supporting a globalist dictator like Putin?
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