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Posted on 01/16/2026 8:57:42 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
President Zelensky has called Ukraine's air defence supplies "insufficient", having revealed several systems were "without missiles" until Friday morning.
"I can say this openly because today I have those missiles," the president said, adding that Ukraine had received a "substantial package" earlier in the day.
His comments follow days of intense Russian bombardment of Ukraine's energy infrastructure, leaving thousands of people without heating and electricity during a bitterly cold winter.
Schools in Kyiv will shut until February, the capital's mayor has announced, as the city continues to face severe energy shortages amid temperatures which have dropped as low as -19C.
Zelensky called on Ukraine's allies to provide "rapid deliveries" of available missiles, and said shipments did not mean "that winter will end for us tomorrow".
"And it doesn't mean that tomorrow the enemy will stop bombing us," he wrote on social media.
Ukraine relies on its Western partners for several vital air defence systems, which Zelensky said required "constant supplies of missiles".
"Securing these packages takes enormous effort, blood, and human lives."
He criticised countries that "stockpiled" such ammunition: "If we are at war, we really need it. And in some countries, there is no war."
On Friday evening, he said Ukraine had "intelligence information" that Russia was preparing for large-scale strikes.
"Supplies are insufficient," he wrote on Telegram. "We are trying to speed things up, and it is important that our partners hear us."
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
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Zelensky B insufficient / deficient.
Zelenskyys air head is totally insufficient.
So sad, too bad.
tell that miserable twerp that we need our money back. And 9/10ths of the Ukranian people who moved into my hood should emmediately go back to Ukraine.
The other 1/10th are nice, interesting, well-heeled people and they can stay.
“If we are at war, we really need it. And in some countries, there is no war.”
That’s his plan, he wants us all to be in this war.
Trump has repeatedly alleged that we have spent three hundred fifty billion dollars in aid to Ukraine. He has repeatedly lied about this, our contributions did not exceed one hundred and seventy-five billion dollars and fifty billion of that went to defense contractors here in America.
Any money that actually went to Ukraine was one of the best investments for national security we could have made. Our bang for the buck has reduced Russia's conventional war making capacity to a pathetic international joke. Until this administration mindlessly undermined NATO, our security had been enhanced by our support of Ukraine.
What does Ukraine need an air defense for? According to the gospel preached by the Zeepers [Speedy in Texas, Etal] and I happen to believe them, the Ukrainians have killed everything pertaining to the Russians for the next 100,000 years at least.
Seems like somebody is bullshitting somebody. And for some reason the Zeepers have gotten lockjaw all of a sudden. I can remember in the not so distant past when 99% of the threads on the forum were by Zeepers extoling the prowness of their god Zelensky.
And from the tone of your post, you are one of the charter members of the worship Zelensky church.
A) Don’t give the an Ukraine a damn thing, and it will end so much faster.
B) If the EU and Ukraine wants our support, then we get Greenland…free and clear.
C) Go make some popcorn, gram some sweet tea, and see whether A or B is chosen.
He’s like that cousin that always needs money so her kids can have a good Christmas.
I think Pres. Trump would argue that his $350 billion number is more accurate than yours based on three considerations:
It is also likely symbolic that Trump's $350 billion exactly matches the reported value of Russian assets frozen in Western banks since 2022.
Finally, the total value of non-US aid to Ukraine, both pledged and delivered, is circa $225 billion, of which roughly half ($120 billion) has been delivered.
Trump's insistence on a US total of $350 billion insures that the US remains at the forefront of peace negotiations, and that no other ally or group can challenge US leadership on this.
nathanbedford: "Any money that actually went to Ukraine was one of the best investments for national security we could have made.
Our bang for the buck has reduced Russia's conventional war making capacity to a pathetic international joke."
That is true enough given the numbers for War On Terror costs -- circa $400 billion per year over 20 years = $8 trillion in total, not to mention ~7,000 US killed and ~53,000 wounded.
And what did we get for that?
By contrast, stopping Russia in its tracks (at orders of magnitude less cost) has a value all its own, including deterring China from invading Taiwan.
nathanbedford: "Until this administration mindlessly undermined NATO, our security had been enhanced by our support of Ukraine."
Sadly, it's vitally important that our European friends must be shaken to their cores with fear that the US will NOT come to their aid and so THEY themselves must take on full responsibility for defending Europe against the Russian monster.
And there's no reason Europeans should not defend themselves --
Imho, that is Pres. Trump's goal and strategy.
Why not demand $500 billion rather than $350 billion? Just demand a value for goodwill, interest, or because Ukraine had no choice?
A review of the United States Mineral Resources Agreement, which you thankfully provided, is revealing:
The Congressional Research Service said that from 2022 to 2024, the appropriation was US$182 billion. Trump's demand for the resources agreement is a way for Ukraine to "pay back" the U.S. aid already provided to Ukraine and is a condition of any ongoing support.
Let's note: Trump got his agreement but Zelinski got no ongoing support except for the continuation, after a pause to discipline Zelinski, of intelligence.
There is no relationship between Trump's demands and the cost to American taxpayers. Trump has repeatedly conflated the two. As a result, many Freepers have mistakenly assumed that they as taxpayers or out-of-pocket to the tune of $350 billion.
I don't see that the Ukrainians got anything whatsoever for this agreement in the way of future protection or aid in the war. They had to hypothecate their minerals in some vague postwar commitment to share with America. This is all to reminiscent of Trump's aggression for the minerals of Greenland and is demands for the minerals and oil of Venezuela. One notes that he expressed regret that we did not get the oil of Iraq. Does that mean that, had we got that oil, the invasion of Iraq would have been worthwhile? What exactly is our foreign policy, to rummage the world looking for were vulnerable victims to grab off their minerals? Is it our policy to profit on wars such as Trump is doing in Ukraine but tell the world were interested in saving ( Ukrainian) lives?
By contrast, stopping Russia in its tracks (at orders of magnitude less cost) has a value all its own, including deterring China from invading Taiwan.
I agree, of course, with the first part of your observation but not the second. To the degree that China looks at the facts and concludes that America has abandoned an ally (and, yes Ukraine was an ally at the time Trump betrayed Ukraine) and is likely to betray Taiwan. Therefore, China might very well conclude that it is safe to invade Taiwan. Our national security has been diminished, not enhanced.
there's no reason Europeans should not defend themselves --
I quite agree with you and President Trump, and so does Barack Obama and virtually every other president when they made their demands on Europe to pay up. The problem is both sides knew we didn't mean it because the existing deal was a win-win: America got to dominate Europe's foreign policy and Europe got to pay for its healthcare. The demand of Europe to pay up is to concede that Europe can actually determine policy, and that is not something the US was willing to give up. America got what it paid for and paid for what it wanted.
I agree this is Trump's goal, his method is counterproductive in the extreme, whatever good has been produced should be credited to the misfeasance of Vladimir Putin and not to the effective jawboning of Donald Trump.
The degree to which the world believes that Donald Trump will not defend Europe is the degree to which we embark on a very dangerous and irreversible path of nuclear proliferation. Can you imagine Poland leaving itself vulnerable to Russian nukes? Turkey? Consider the consequences in the Mideast of Turkey getting the bomb.
If that happens we will long to return to the days of NATO, the most successful multilateral defense combination in history.
Hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars in aid, just doesn’t get you much.
Shooting the arrows is very inefficient. If the Euros want to provide efficient / affordable defense, they have to quit being such ninnies and provide Ukraine the weapons to take out the archers.
Let the EU finance its Ukrainian allies. Russia is not our enemy.
Total lie. It is insufficient to protect Ukraine. But, it is certainly good enough to protect the little pervert, Zylynskyy. Otherwise, Russia would have offed him early on.
Too bad, so sad.
EU should force Z leetle grifter to pay back the 100 mil stolen in the energy grift before giving him any more free weapons or ammo! Eu is the biggest impediment for peace.
us taxpayer better off if we withdraw from NATO. Take Greenland!
“We are trying to speed things up, and it is important that our partners hear us.” I’m not your partner Zel.
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