General News

[Bilo]

7 hours ago, DJ Barry Hammond said:

That’s a big ‘IF’ by the looks of it - Trump’s managed to tank it inside a month!

 

 

He should have watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

 

 

 

In all seriousness, he probably did and it's now lost in the dementia-addled fog that is his mushy pile of slop he calls a brain.

 

 

[Bilo]

Going well, isn't it? 

 

 

[ian__marshall]

Interesting comments from Vance. Clearly referring to one of Starmer or Macron, most likely the former. Can't imagine that will do much good for relations.

 

These tariffs and pause on support to Ukraine are insane. I really get the impression that this US administration are cutting their nose off to spite their face at the moment. The long term ramifications for them with these reckless actions will take some serious diplomacy downstream to restore confidence both with Europe and the wider world. 

[st albans fox]

57 minutes ago, Lionator said:

Again, Trump is just accelerating the inevitable process in a horrible and brutal way.

 

Even on Sunday with Starmer supposedly giving his Churchillian speech, he still went on about US security guarantees. The cold hard reality is the USA aren’t prepared to risk it all for Ukraine (and this is the same Biden) because Ukraine has little material benefit for them in the wider geopolitical scheme (unlike Taiwan but that’s a different story). 
 

Good article from yesterday https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/03/europe-trump-ukraine

 

Do I agree with it? No. Is it fair? No. But it is what it is, that’s why when things are ended on terms favourable to Russia, we need to ensure that all other European states defence spending is adequate so even if Putin has a 1% urge to do something, he would absolutely regret it. 

Are the Americans (trump) just making a call that they’ve decided to move their attention (and resources)  to the indo pacific region because they think europe is wealthy enough to protect itself.  They’ll dump ukraine as collateral damage - trump only cares about the deal - not the fairness of the deal.   He’s moving the bar so far pre negs that a deal now that leaves the battle lines pretty much as they are will seem acceptable to many. Suspect he’ll get Russia to agree to pull back in some areas that don’t matter strategically or financially to make it seem like they’re giving something. 
I think the Europeans (and previous administration) have always told zelensky that he shouldn’t agree to any negs that gives an inch of ground to Russia from the starting point.  That was probably his demeanour last Friday pre the press sit down which led to bill and Ben engineering that scene in the Oval Office.  

Edited 4 March by st albans fox

[fox_up_north]

Christ he's only been in 6 weeks. Looks like dire times ahead for US economy, compared to the last few years. 

[bmt]

41 minutes ago, ian__marshall said:

Interesting comments from Vance. Clearly referring to one of Starmer or Macron, most likely the former. Can't imagine that will do much good for relations.

 

These tariffs and pause on support to Ukraine are insane. I really get the impression that this US administration are cutting their nose off to spite their face at the moment. The long term ramifications for them with these reckless actions will take some serious diplomacy downstream to restore confidence both with Europe and the wider world. 

What did Vance say? Can't find it amongst all the trump news (bullshit) this morning!

[davieG]

As I am in Ukraine at the moment, I would just like to correct a few lies from the Zelensky/Trump meeting based on my work here in Ukraine—Trump and Vance you are welcome to come visit although I doubt you have the courage to do so. 

1) Zelensky showed up in military fatigues as he has done at every international meeting since day one of the 2022 Russian invasion—the second Russian invasion of Ukraine since 2014—to show his solidarity with the Ukrainian soldiers risking their lives to defend Ukraine, and to emphasize he is the leader of a country at war. 

I didn’t see any similar objections to the non-elected immigrant racist white supremacist Elon Musk showing up repeatedly in the White House in a T-shirt and baseball cap which he didn’t even remove—it is a standard sign of respect to leadership to remove your hat—so don’t lecture Zelensky on how to dress. 

2) Zelensky is not a dictator and he is not an unpopular leader who is unable to mobilize his people. I have spent many nights and days in the last few weeks with soldiers heading to the frontlines and talking to them, and none of them have tried to refuse to serve and they were heading into the battle with determination and courage—I salute them and respect them deeply. 

3) Ukraine and Zelensky doesn’t have to thank the U.S. or Trump—the U.S. and Trump need to thank Ukraine and Zelensky. This is for two reasons. 

First of all, Ukraine gave up the third-largest nuclear arsenal in the world voluntarily at the end of the USSR under the Budapest accords guaranteed by the U.S., France, UK, and Russia, giving up several trillion of dollars of nuclear weapons in return for security guarantees for its territorial integrity which Russia has violated and the U.S., UK and France vowed to protect. If Ukraine had kept its nuclear weapons, it would have been one of the most nuclear armed countries in the world and Russia would have never invaded. We, the West, committed to defend Ukraine in exchange for its denuclearization so there is no need for Ukraine to thank the U.S. for keeping its promises. See https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/ukraine-nuclear-weapons-and-security-assurances-glance

Secondly, Ukraine is defending not just its own territorial integrity but the future of Europe. I have been interviewing people from the Russian-occupied territories the last few weeks and they really do live in a Stalinist prison camp that is unbelievably oppressive. This is what Putin wants to bring to much of Europe and we need to stop him in Ukraine to save our own democratic future, at any price (respecting human rights). 

In was in Chechnya 25 years ago documenting the same Russian abuses, together at the same hotel with the murdered Anna Polikovskaya, the murdered Natalia Estemirova, and Memorial’s Oleg Orlov who was imprisoned in February 2024 for “discrediting the Russian military” and later released in a prisoner exchange. 

The difference in 1999-2000 is that we could operate in Russia, under the watchful eye of the FSB (the current KGB). The FSB were staying at the same hotel as us, the ACCA in Ingushetia, and one night I found a few cigarette butts on the floor of my room just to let me know they were watching us. Buy we could go to Moscow, Human Rights Watch had a staff and office in Moscow, and do our work despite the dangers. 

Since the Russian invasion of 2022 (and long before that), that limited space for activism and civil society has closed down in Russia. There are no more independent journalists or human rights groups operating in Russia and the HRW office has long closed down, and Anna and Natalia and Nemtsov and so many others were simply murdered by Putin. Yet this is what Trump embraces instead of the freedom-loving Ukrainian people, and he has refrained of any criticism of the murderous dictator Putin, instead trying to humiliate the freedom-fighting Zelensky. But Zelensky isn’t humiliated, he stands proud and strong because you cannot be humiliated by people you don’t respect. 

Shame on you, you twice impeached and felon convicted orange wanna be. You and your republican supplicants do not deserve our respect—I won’t even spell republicans with a capital R because they don’t deserve that honorific. Shame on you betrayers of our American Values.

Peter Bouckaert, Senior Director at Fortify Rights

PS: many of you have asked how to help Ukrainians. One of the most important organizations is Helping To Leave who rescue people from the Russian-occupied territories. You can donate to them here: https://helpingtoleave.org/en

[leicsmac]

31 minutes ago, fox_up_north said:

Christ he's only been in 6 weeks. Looks like dire times ahead for US economy, compared to the last few years. 

Just wait until China and Canada stop American air carriers landing at their airports...

[Lionator]

58 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

Are the Americans (trump) just making a call that they’ve decided to move their attention (and resources)  to the indo pacific region because they think europe is wealthy enough to protect itself.  They’ll dump ukraine as collateral damage - trump only cares about the deal - not the fairness of the deal.   He’s moving the bar so far pre negs that a deal now that leaves the battle lines pretty much as they are will seem acceptable to many. Suspect he’ll get Russia to agree to pull back in some areas that don’t matter strategically or financially to make it seem like they’re giving something. 
I think the Europeans (and previous administration) have always told zelensky that he shouldn’t agree to any negs that gives an inch of ground to Russia from the starting point.  That was probably his demeanour last Friday pre the press sit down which led to bill and Ben engineering that scene in the Oval Office.  

Yes. Apart from the absolute redneck neo con types, the whole ‘new republicanism’ in the states is based around shifting the focus to the Pacific. They think Europe should be able to look after itself (it should) while they absolutely would support nato countries if attacked by Russians. Hence why they’re trying to manufacture a strategy which covers all of this. Read Elbridge Colby’s articles (who is now in the DoD). Mike Waltz is basically pursuing this. Ukraine is simply collateral damage. Biden had no strategy other than to keep telling Zelenskyy that he’d support him for ‘as long as it takes’ and incremental escalation that would’ve had to have stopped eventually. The bet Putin had, was always that Ukraine was more important to Russia than America and he was right. 

[Dahnsouff]

Some Norway stations have refused to refill US naval units

[leicsmac]

1 minute ago, Lionator said:

Yes. Apart from the absolute redneck neo con types, the whole ‘new republicanism’ in the states is based around shifting the focus to the Pacific. They think Europe should be able to look after itself (it should) while they absolutely would support nato countries if attacked by Russians. Hence why they’re trying to manufacture a strategy which covers all of this. Read Elbridge Colby’s articles (who is now in the DoD). Mike Waltz is basically pursuing this. Ukraine is simply collateral damage. Biden had no strategy other than to keep telling Zelenskyy that he’d support him for ‘as long as it takes’ and incremental escalation that would’ve had to have stopped eventually. The bet Putin had, was always that Ukraine was more important to Russia than America and he was right. 

This may well be true.

 

However, it should in no way be acceptable by anyone with a conscience.

[nnfox]

Trump putting America first and treating the rest of the world as America's raw materials, expecting us to just roll over, because, you know, it's America.

 

I'm not sure it will go as smoothly as Trump/Vance/Musk thinks it will.  It's bonkers!

[Sampson]

51 minutes ago, fox_up_north said:

Christ he's only been in 6 weeks. Looks like dire times ahead for US economy, compared to the last few years. 

It already feels like 5 years. The world feels like it’s changed so drastically already. Feels like Feb-March 2020 with the same amount of society shifting shit firing off everywhere. 

[st albans fox]

5 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

This may well be true.

 

However, it should in no way be acceptable by anyone with a conscience.

I assume that goes without saying 

but discussions on here from a strategic perspective shouldn’t need to add these caveats.  geo politics is a generally a pretty ethically grim place.
 

 If you speak to an educated Chinese person then they’ll likely tell you that nato is an aggressive entity.  We see it as defensive.  Evidence isn't totally clear is it?  it’s time for a grown up discussion across Europe about raising taxation to spend on defence. 

[foxes1988]

11 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

I assume that goes without saying 

but discussions on here from a strategic perspective shouldn’t need to add these caveats.  geo politics is a generally a pretty ethically grim place.
 

 If you speak to an educated Chinese person then they’ll likely tell you that nato is an aggressive entity.  We see it as defensive.  Evidence isn't totally clear is it?  it’s time for a grown up discussion across Europe about raising taxation to spend on defence. 

Yup. Perfect time for some wealth taxes I think

[Lionator]

22 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

I assume that goes without saying 

but discussions on here from a strategic perspective shouldn’t need to add these caveats.  geo politics is a generally a pretty ethically grim place.
 

 If you speak to an educated Chinese person then they’ll likely tell you that nato is an aggressive entity.  We see it as defensive.  Evidence isn't totally clear is it?  it’s time for a grown up discussion across Europe about raising taxation to spend on defence. 

Nailed it. This is where we’re heading!

[leicsmac]

23 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

I assume that goes without saying 

but discussions on here from a strategic perspective shouldn’t need to add these caveats.  geo politics is a generally a pretty ethically grim place.
 

 If you speak to an educated Chinese person then they’ll likely tell you that nato is an aggressive entity.  We see it as defensive.  Evidence isn't totally clear is it?  it’s time for a grown up discussion across Europe about raising taxation to spend on defence. 

Au contraire, it should be consistently added as many times as possible, because the more that people make their position clear that geopolitics is the filthy business you mention, the greater the possibility of it actually changing. Which, for more than moral reasons, it's rather important.

 

... or we can just accept we're powerless, that we're not actually going togrow up as a species, and see death, suffering and destruction in the future as a fait accompli. Guess it depends on the person.

 

Do agree that at this point in time defence spending needs a boost across Europe.

[FoyleFox]

Contemplating going back to bed and seeing if it's any better when I wake up again. A nightmare has to end at some point?

Not least because I read the post from @davieG and actually though he was on the frontline in Ukraine

[ian__marshall]

1 hour ago, bmt said:

What did Vance say? Can't find it amongst all the trump news (bullshit) this morning!

 

Posted on BBC Live feed at 3.11... 

 

"The vice president tells host Sean Hannity that while Trump has a great relationship with many European allies, they say different things in public and private about the Russia-Ukraine war.

He says: "Here’s the problem with the Europeans … they need to be realistic and the craziest part about this, Sean, is sometimes you have European heads of state who in public will puff up their chest and say, ‘We’re in this with President Zelensky for the next 10 years.’

"And in private they’ll pick up the phone and say, ‘This can’t go on forever, he has to come to the negotiating table.’

"I honestly don’t care what the Europeans say in public, what I care is what they say in private.

"And what they need to be saying to President Zelensky is this can’t go on forever, the bloodshed, the killing, the economic devastation, it’s making everyone worse off."

[foxes1988]

8 minutes ago, Lionator said:

Nailed it. This is where we’re heading!

I think Europe will turn away from the us towards India and China now.  China are the real winners here.

 

This is just the beginning of the end of Pax Americana

[foxes1988]

1 minute ago, ian__marshall said:

 

Posted on BBC Live feed at 3.11... 

 

"The vice president tells host Sean Hannity that while Trump has a great relationship with many European allies, they say different things in public and private about the Russia-Ukraine war.

He says: "Here’s the problem with the Europeans … they need to be realistic and the craziest part about this, Sean, is sometimes you have European heads of state who in public will puff up their chest and say, ‘We’re in this with President Zelensky for the next 10 years.’

"And in private they’ll pick up the phone and say, ‘This can’t go on forever, he has to come to the negotiating table.’

"I honestly don’t care what the Europeans say in public, what I care is what they say in private.

"And what they need to be saying to President Zelensky is this can’t go on forever, the bloodshed, the killing, the economic devastation, it’s making everyone worse off."

Almost like they are doing you know..... diplomacy 

 

Something that it's pretty evident Trump and the US has been doing plenty of

Edited 4 March by foxes1988

[urban.spaceman]

13 hours ago, Clogger_ said:

"man of [a very particular subset of] the people"

Twats

[davieG]

7 minutes ago, FoyleFox said:

Contemplating going back to bed and seeing if it's any better when I wake up again. A nightmare has to end at some point?

Not least because I read the post from @davieG and actually though he was on the frontline in Ukraine

Misleading in hindsight. Sorry

 

 

[Bilo]

2 hours ago, ian__marshall said:

Interesting comments from Vance. Clearly referring to one of Starmer or Macron, most likely the former. Can't imagine that will do much good for relations.

 

These tariffs and pause on support to Ukraine are insane. I really get the impression that this US administration are cutting their nose off to spite their face at the moment. The long term ramifications for them with these reckless actions will take some serious diplomacy downstream to restore confidence both with Europe and the wider world. 

https://www.lbc.co.uk/politics/us-politics/20000-troops-from-some-random-country-wont-bring-peace-ukraine-jd-vance/

 

I mean, apart from Iraq and Afghanistan where over 600 British troops died in wars that started after the USA issued the only invocation of Article 5 to date, he's spot on.

 

The eyeliner wearing arse clown.

[FoyleFox]

1 minute ago, davieG said:

Misleading in hindsight. Sorry

 

 

Not needed, it was me. After the second reading, I noticed the author credit. There's been a lot to digest this morning, and I'd only had one coffee at that point!