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<p>In a sign the worst of the disruption caused by the pandemic could have peaked, companies said the number of delivery delays fell last month to the lowest since November 2020. The OECD said the UK was expected to go from the second-fastest-growing economy in the G7 group of industrial nations after Canada this year to the slowest-growing in 2023. Those standing against Mr Putin in the upcoming election, including anti-war candidate Boris Nadezhdin, have until Wednesday to gather the required number of supporters' signatures to back their campaigns. As expected, Vladimir Putin has been officially registered as a candidate for the Russian presidential election this March. However, Mr Orban's political director said this morning that Hungary was open to using the EU budget to allow further aid for Ukraine.</p><br /><br /><ul><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>The manufacturing trade body Make UK said about 3,800 firms exported goods to Russia while 1,200 brought in materials, despite only accounting for 0.8% of total UK goods exports and 2.1% of imports.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>Mr Zelenskyy has called for public officials to disclose their incomes to increase transparency and eliminate corruption as Ukraine tries to meet the stringent requirements for its bid to join the European Union.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>The war that erupted in eastern Ukraine in 2014 has already left 14,000 dead and an estimated 1.4 million displaced.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>Security concerns have grown in recent days after Russia started huge military drills with neighbouring Belarus and was accused of blocking Ukraine's access to the sea.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>This included £2.5 billion in military support and a historic long-term security agreement.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /></ul><br /><br /><p>"We live in an unstable world. If rich counties fail to support vulnerable countries in tackling climate impacts and in their clean energy transition, it will only fuel a spiral of instability." However, as indicated above, if financial sanctions are extended such that they disrupt energy trade, this could lead to more profound economic impacts for the UK and other European countries. Including Gazprombank and Sberbank, another majority state-owned bank, in the SWIFT ban could further disrupt the energy trade. Many of the sanctions imposed on Russia’s financial system so far exclude transactions related to energy and agriculture. If sanctions were to go further, for example by including Gazprombank (a key bank for Russian energy conglomerates) in the SWIFT ban, European countries may have difficulty paying Russian firms for gas, which could result in a reduction in supply.</p><br /><br /><p>While the official said it was hard to say these were all strategically related, it showed that there was an issue on Eastern Europe's eastern flank. But the official said Russia could also initiate actions against Nato members such as cyber and hybrid warfare, and even physical attacks. "But the extent to which that is possible is impacted by uncertainty because it requires significant long-term investment and that won't be worth doing if this is purely a temporary blip," she says. But despite limited overall trade, some parts of the UK economy are quite reliant on Russia.</p><br /><br /><h2>'Orthodoxy' is not the issue: the Treasury’s outsized power creates problems for government</h2><br /><br /><p>It killed at least 41 civilians, including a 15-year-old boy, wounded hundreds, and caused significant damage to civilian infrastructure, including a maternity hospital. Charles Michel, the president of the EU Council, added that Nato was “clearly embarrassed” by its inability to intervene in the conflict to help Ukraine. In the documentary, Ms Truss also admitted that the UK had not taken strong enough economic measures prior to the invasion to deter Putin.</p><br /><br /><ul><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>Earlier this week, the boss of one of the world's biggest fertiliser companies, Yara International, warned that the war in Ukraine would deliver a shock to the global supply and cost of food.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>The UK, US and EU also announced sanctions against the Russian Central Bank, which involve freezing its assets held in sterling, dollars and euros.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>The UK government is providing a range of economic, humanitarian and defensive military assistance to Ukraine, and is imposing additional sanctions on Russia and Belarus.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>Dan Wallis, who runs Rookery Farms in Newbury, Berkshire, said he decided this week to sow spring wheat on land that was not due to be planted on until next autumn.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /></ul><br /><br /><p>Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has profoundly changed the calculus in deciding where to invest and where to cut. That means extremely difficult choices for a Treasury gearing up for retrenchment and conscious that protecting military budgets means cuts would fall even more heavily on public services, themselves in desperate need of more investment. As prime minister Boris Johnson promised to increase defence spending from an existing 2% to 2.5% of GDP; his successor Liz Truss went further by committing to 3%. This shift in approach to resourcing Russia and Ukraine is noticeable, and the UK can consider its response to the war so far a diplomatic success.</p><br /><br /><h3>How does the Russian invasion of Ukraine affect the UK economy?</h3><br /><br /><p>Hungary previously said it would block further financial aid to Ukraine, but this morning suggested it was ready to compromise after the EU reportedly drew up plans to hit Budapest's economy. Hungary has signalled it is ready to compromise on EU funding for Ukraine - after Brussels reportedly prepared to sabotage its economy if it did not comply. Meanwhile, Moscow has claimed its forces have taken control of the village of Tabaivka in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region. "I was clear about the tragic consequences that any invasion of Ukraine could have for all people - both Ukrainian, Russian and the security of Europe," Mr Wallace said of his meeting with the Russian defence minister. If Russia did decide to invade Ukraine, the senior Western intelligence official said large numbers of people would be displaced.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>All of this disruption could massively increase the price of gas in Europe and, consequently, the UK. But we now see more clearly that, in a crisis, for the foreseeable future UK interests are aligned with the US and Europe, especially if China aligns itself more with Russia. The revival of NATO’s purpose and a unified western response have been a necessary if painful reminder of where UK interests truly lie. One risk is that leaks and arguments about the size of the army, military procurement and GDP percentages distract from a serious reckoning on what a new war in Europe means for the post-Cold War ‘peace dividend’ that has benefited us all.</p><br /><br /><h2>Russia’s invasion of Ukraine demands that the UK rewrite its foreign policy</h2><br /><br /><p>These actions are likely to be felt by individual firms and investors, and potentially some sectors, but their wider impact will not be large relative to, for example, those relating to energy supply. While much commentary is focused on Russia’s energy there are several other commodities whose supply could be substantially affected by the Russia–Ukraine war, from wheat to palladium. Instead it has strengthened political consensus that domestic renewables offer the cheapest and most secure form of energy. The government is likely to face further pressure on its tentative support for onshore wind and solar. Energy efficiency – long a neglected policy area – is also back in vogue, particularly in the Treasury. There is a new target and a new taskforce, though not yet a credible plan for insulating homes.</p><br /><br /><ul><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>While a line may now thankfully be drawn under the pandemic's economic hit, the inflationary cloud is now looking very dark indeed.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>A spate of Ukraine-linked attacks on Russia's oil infrastructure have reportedly led Moscow's energy ministry to propose restricting flights over energy facilities.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>The UK gets just 5-6% of its gas imports from Russia, according to analysis of government data by think tank ECIU, so supplies are not likely to be so directly affected.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>"There is no prospect of food shortages at any point in the future, and Defra are working with Treasury to try and make sure that that continues to be the case," he said.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /></ul><br /><br /><p>If the US abandons the military alliance, it will fall to European countries to ensure a Ukrainian victory, Mr OBrien says. A prominent war expert says the US is on the verge of lessening its support for, or even withdrawing from, NATO - with potentially catastrophic consequences for Europe. The official added that budget talks are "ongoing" and have "always been based on finding a compromise" acceptable to all member states. " [https://telegra.ph/What-does-the-Ukraine-war-mean-for-the-UK-How-Russia-invasion-and-Putin-sanctions-can-affect-life-in-UK-02-08 https://telegra.ph/What-does-the-Ukraine-war-mean-for-the-UK-How-Russia-invasion-and-Putin-sanctions-can-affect-life-in-UK-02-08] is a factual paper which does not reflect the status of the ongoing negotiations. The note does not outline any specific plan relating to the [long-term EU budget] and Ukraine Facility, nor does it outline any plan relating to Hungary," it said. Moscow says it cannot accept that Ukraine - a former Soviet republic with deep social and cultural ties with Russia - could one day join the Western defence alliance Nato and has demanded that this be ruled out. When asked about these comments, Mr Wallace said Mr Lavrov was "a master at these types of engagements and making those type of comments", but that there had been no deafness or blindness in his talks with Mr Shoigu.</p><br /><br /><ul><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>The devastation was felt most acutely in Kharkiv, where an apartment block was hit, killing two people, and injuring 35 residents.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>The predictions – contained in the OECD’s half-yearly economic outlook – represent a sharp downgrade from the estimated 4.7% growth this year and 2.1% next year made six months ago.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>Western countries have rejected this and instead put forward other suggestions, such as cutting back nuclear weaponry.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /></ul><br /><br /><p>But European governments could go further and force non-critical industries to shut down or mandate a reduction in use of gas in commercial/office buildings and homes. In a scenario where there is relatively little disruption to energy supplies, the main impact on the UK and other European economies is comes from uncertainty on gas prices. So far gas has continued to flow from Russia to Europe (including via Ukraine) during the conflict, though wholesale prices have increased significantly. The UK imported around 13% of its total fuel (oil, gas, LNG, electricity) from Russia in 2019.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>Germany has said it might need to use coal, the most polluting fossil fuel, for longer than expected, in order to free itself from gas. The conflict could push up British energy bills to £3,000 in October 2022, potentially a £600 increase from previously expected levels, according to ECIU. The UK gets just 5-6% of its gas imports from Russia, according to analysis of government data by think tank ECIU, so supplies are not likely to be so directly affected. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, British Petroleum (BP) ditched its 19.75% shareholding in Russian oil giant Rosneft. Several other fossil fuel companies including TotalEnergies, Shell, Equinor, ExxonMobil are also ceasing ventures with Russian majors. With a grave humanitarian crisis unfolding in Ukraine, some fear the war will distract from climate action.</p><br /><br /><ul><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>The latest data for January 2022 shows that the UK economy is now stronger than it was before the pandemic.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>A prominent war expert says the US is on the verge of lessening its support for, or even withdrawing from, NATO - with potentially catastrophic consequences for Europe.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>"The nightmare scenario would be that the states close to Russia double down on aid to Ukraine while those farther west decide to force a deal on Putin's terms. Then Europe itself could fracture," he says.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>In his speech Jon Cunliffe talks about the impact that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has had on the UK economy and on UK financial stability.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /></ul><br /><br /><p>Unnamed Indian government sources have suggested India wants to distance itself from Russia, according to Reuters news agency. Mr Szijarto will be in the western Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak. "The nightmare scenario would be that the states close to Russia double down on aid to Ukraine while those farther west decide to force a deal on Putin's terms. Then Europe itself could fracture," he says. He says Europe is rich enough to do so if it has the political will, pointing to a recent report from the Estonian Ministry of Defence suggesting that committing 0.25% of GDP annually towards Ukraine would provide "more than sufficient resources".</p>
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<p>Hein Goemans Well, the Germans quote unquote, “lost” on the battlefield and they kept fighting another four years. And at some moments they came very close to winning, right? So it’s a somewhat naive perspective because I think that Russia has plenty of hardware and mobilisation potential to keep fighting for a long time. The question is, do the Russians think that they still have a chance to score the necessary victory? So, I mean, if they push back the Russians all the way to the 1991 borders, the Ukrainians are gonna say, “We’re willing to settle,” and it would be genuine. I don’t see why the Russians would ever accept it, to repeat myself.</p><br /><br /><ul><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>I began our discussion by asking Hein Goemans to give me an outline of what war termination theory is all about.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also warned of a longer-term conflict.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said there was “no use in setting an end date” to what Russia calls “special military operation in Ukraine”, adding that its objective to “liberate” Donbas had not changed.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>Ukraine will do all it can to keep pressure on the Russians there to make it untenable for the Russian navy in Sevastopol, the handful of air force bases there and their logistics base at Dzankoy.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /></ul><br /><br /><p>That said, there wasn't much of a political will for third countries to sanction Cuba at the time. It's possible today's situation with Russia might make such a policy more politically palatable if the U.S. attempted it again, though I can't find any serious proposal in the government to do just that. After Russia first invaded in 2014, the U.S. military stepped up training for the Ukrainian military in western Ukraine. U.S. trainers continued working in Ukraine right up until the full-scale Russian invasion a year ago. From the very beginning of the war, President Putin has drawn parallels between the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II and the current military campaign against supposed "neo-Nazis" in Ukraine.</p><br /><br /><h2>When will the war in Ukraine end? Experts offer their predictions.</h2><br /><br /><p>So if we both know how the war is gonna end and more or less what the outcome is gonna be, then it makes no sense for us to keep on fighting because we’re just throwing away lives, cost. So we have to come to the stage where both sides more or less know what the outcome is going to be, and we are not there yet. There is an additional stage and after that, certain leaders may not wanna terminate the war because they are afraid that their loss will cost them their lives. Ukraine's Defense Ministry said last week that its main goal in 2024 is to boost its domestic defense industry in the face of uncertain future supplies from its Western allies. It has also changed conscription laws, foreseeing the need to bolster its forces, which are dwarfed in size by Russia's but are more highly trained and equipped.</p><br /><br /><p>The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, conceded in an interview that his country had “concentrated our energy supply too much on Russia” to the point that it was not possible to change course “if the worst came to the worst”. But he defended his predecessor Angela Merkel’s policy of seeking good relations with Moscow. Ukraine has been calling for a large influx of western weaponry so that it can try to push back the Russian invaders, but what has been offered so far is less than Kyiv has requested. The US, UK and Germany have promised to send 10 rocket artillery systems, but Ukrainian advisers have called for 60 or even 300. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also warned of a longer-term conflict. It's perhaps the only thing more complicated than sanctions enforcement, and this question touches on both.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>But back to the Ukrainians, there’s many other kind of examples where states have tried to punish the civilians in the hope to break their will. Hein Goemans If Russia believes that it can still mobilise and has another trick up its sleeve, it won’t do it. Or they may try very risky strategies, as the Germans did in the first world war. I think there is a chance that Ukrainians will push forward during the spring if they have integrated the tanks, but they may have to wait until they get the planes. If they get the plane to do the combined arms warfare at which Nato excels and which the Russians simply can’t do and which is a massive force multiplier.</p><br /><br /><h3>Donald Trump Reacts to US Troops Killed by Iran-Backed Militants</h3><br /><br /><p>And even though the fall of the Soviet Union was notable for its lack of bloodshed, many in Ukraine refer to today's conflict as a true "war of independence." All these measures were approved when both the House and the Senate were controlled by Democrats. Some Republicans are saying the U.S. should stop funding Ukraine. Democrats in Congress overwhelmingly support aid for Ukraine, and most Republicans do as well. The U.S. Congress approved four separate spending bills for Ukraine in the past year totaling $112 billion. The rest is funding the Ukrainian government (this helps pay the salaries of Ukrainian government workers) and humanitarian aid to help the millions of Ukrainians who have been driven from their homes.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>This week, Mr Putin put his nuclear forces on a higher level of alert. Most analysts doubt this means their use is likely or imminent. But it was a reminder that Russian doctrine allows for the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield. “ [https://matzen-larsen.thoughtlanes.net/how-is-the-ukraine-invasion-being-viewed-in-russia-russia-ukraine-war-news https://matzen-larsen.thoughtlanes.net/how-is-the-ukraine-invasion-being-viewed-in-russia-russia-ukraine-war-news] fighting with sustained Western support and eventually forces Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine entirely, with the possible exception of Crimea,” he said, referring to the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014. He noted, however that this would pre-suppose a Russian military collapse and a change in the country’s leadership – something that could take “a long time to achieve and would necessitate considerably greater military capabilities” than Ukraine currently possesses.</p><br /><br /><h3>Putinology: the art of analyzing the man in the Kremlin</h3><br /><br /><p>It's hoped that the flight data recorders will shed light on what happened to the Il-76 plane that crashed on Wednesday, killing all 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war and nine Russians on board. Kyiv was initially silent as details of the plane crash emerged Wednesday morning. Later, Ukraine's intelligence agency confirmed that a prisoner exchange had been scheduled but did not take place. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, visited the south-western frontline at Mykolaiv and the nearby city of Odesa on Saturday. He insisted after his visit that Ukraine would not cede any of the occupied territories in the south of the country to Russia, which occupies the bulk of the country’s coastal areas. While Ukraine’s location has afforded it outsize attention relative to other conflicts, it’s also what makes the prospect of a drawn-out war even more likely.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>That hasn't let up, if only because it's a powerful emotional and recruitment tool. Twenty million Soviets — Russians, Ukrainians and others — died fighting Hitler's armies. In other words, the war affected nearly every family here. This is a grinding trench and artillery war of attrition. The invasion has been a disaster for President Vladimir Putin and in order to justify it at home he at least has to take control of Ukraine's Donbas region, after which he can falsely claim that the army saved Russian citizens persecuted by Ukraine.</p><br /><br /><ul><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>The government is replaced with a pro-Moscow puppet regime.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>The Ukrainian General Staff says its forces have repelled Russian attacks near Avdiivka itself, as well as from settlements to the north west, south west, and directly west of the town.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>The Western countries have gone from training the Ukrainians on specific systems to training larger units on how to carry out coordinated attacks.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, also called for sending long-range missiles to Ukraine alongside advanced Gray Eagle and Reaper drones.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>That scenario could embolden critics of the war; increase public discontent with continued funding for Ukraine; and pose a problem in terms of arms production and supplies for the West.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /></ul><br /><br /><p>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv will fully investigate the circumstances around the crash, adding that "facts" were a key priority. He accused Russia of "playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners, with the feelings of their relatives and with the emotions of our society." But despite the dire state of Russia’s forces and the years-long quagmire its economy faces, Putin has shown no indication he intends to scale back his goals or seek a way out of the war, insisting Russia’s victory is “inevitable” and its “goals will be met in full”. Nearly a year later, Russia’s army is no closer to winning the war — and has even lost part of the territory that Putin attempted to annex last September.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>Russia lacks a decisive, breakthrough capability to overrun Ukraine and will do what it can to hold on to what it currently occupies, using the time to strengthen its defences while it hopes for the West to lose the will to continue supporting Ukraine. Yet the Army is already looking at how it might create a citizens' army. One Whitehall source told the Times that the training of Ukrainian civilians on UK soil could act as a rehearsal for rapid Army expansion. Finland, Nato's newest member and a country which has an 800-mile border with Russia, has wider conscription. Around 80% of the male population complete some form of military service.</p><br /><br /><ul><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>The country has been engaged in armed conflict with Russia since Moscow’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, which even before Russia’s invasion last month had resulted in the deaths of more than 14,000 people, many of them civilians.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>Ukraine's counteroffensive is likely to make some progress in the remainder of this year, Barrons said — but nowhere near enough to end the occupation.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>The problems could extend beyond Ukraine, he said, arguing that Europe could face another wave of immigrants from African and Middle Eastern countries previously reliant on grain exports from Ukraine if the war continued to disrupt maritime exports.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br />  <br /><br /> <li>Retired Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe, a former commander of the U.S.</li><br /><br />  <br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /></ul><br /><br /><p>In his first major speech on defence, Grant Shapps said the country was moving from a "post war to a pre-war world". Talk of wider war in Europe and the potential need for mass mobilisation or a "citizen army" may sound alarming. But the head of the British Army Gen Sir Patrick Sanders is not alone in issuing a national call to prepare for a major conflict on European soil. On Tuesday, the ISW said that Russian defenses appeared to lack strength in depth on a key part of the front line where Ukraine has made recent gains. But, 18 months into the conflict, Russia only occupies parts of eastern and southern Ukraine, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which it annexed in 2014. In fact, CIA Director&nbsp;Bill Burns&nbsp;told lawmakers weeks after the start of the invasion&nbsp;that Putin's strategy&nbsp;was centered on "seizing Kyiv within the first two days of the campaign."</p>

Revision as of 23:13, 15 February 2024

Hein Goemans Well, the Germans quote unquote, “lost” on the battlefield and they kept fighting another four years. And at some moments they came very close to winning, right? So it’s a somewhat naive perspective because I think that Russia has plenty of hardware and mobilisation potential to keep fighting for a long time. The question is, do the Russians think that they still have a chance to score the necessary victory? So, I mean, if they push back the Russians all the way to the 1991 borders, the Ukrainians are gonna say, “We’re willing to settle,” and it would be genuine. I don’t see why the Russians would ever accept it, to repeat myself.











  • I began our discussion by asking Hein Goemans to give me an outline of what war termination theory is all about.








  • UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also warned of a longer-term conflict.








  • On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said there was “no use in setting an end date” to what Russia calls “special military operation in Ukraine”, adding that its objective to “liberate” Donbas had not changed.








  • Ukraine will do all it can to keep pressure on the Russians there to make it untenable for the Russian navy in Sevastopol, the handful of air force bases there and their logistics base at Dzankoy.










That said, there wasn't much of a political will for third countries to sanction Cuba at the time. It's possible today's situation with Russia might make such a policy more politically palatable if the U.S. attempted it again, though I can't find any serious proposal in the government to do just that. After Russia first invaded in 2014, the U.S. military stepped up training for the Ukrainian military in western Ukraine. U.S. trainers continued working in Ukraine right up until the full-scale Russian invasion a year ago. From the very beginning of the war, President Putin has drawn parallels between the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II and the current military campaign against supposed "neo-Nazis" in Ukraine.



When will the war in Ukraine end? Experts offer their predictions.



So if we both know how the war is gonna end and more or less what the outcome is gonna be, then it makes no sense for us to keep on fighting because we’re just throwing away lives, cost. So we have to come to the stage where both sides more or less know what the outcome is going to be, and we are not there yet. There is an additional stage and after that, certain leaders may not wanna terminate the war because they are afraid that their loss will cost them their lives. Ukraine's Defense Ministry said last week that its main goal in 2024 is to boost its domestic defense industry in the face of uncertain future supplies from its Western allies. It has also changed conscription laws, foreseeing the need to bolster its forces, which are dwarfed in size by Russia's but are more highly trained and equipped.



The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, conceded in an interview that his country had “concentrated our energy supply too much on Russia” to the point that it was not possible to change course “if the worst came to the worst”. But he defended his predecessor Angela Merkel’s policy of seeking good relations with Moscow. Ukraine has been calling for a large influx of western weaponry so that it can try to push back the Russian invaders, but what has been offered so far is less than Kyiv has requested. The US, UK and Germany have promised to send 10 rocket artillery systems, but Ukrainian advisers have called for 60 or even 300. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also warned of a longer-term conflict. It's perhaps the only thing more complicated than sanctions enforcement, and this question touches on both.





But back to the Ukrainians, there’s many other kind of examples where states have tried to punish the civilians in the hope to break their will. Hein Goemans If Russia believes that it can still mobilise and has another trick up its sleeve, it won’t do it. Or they may try very risky strategies, as the Germans did in the first world war. I think there is a chance that Ukrainians will push forward during the spring if they have integrated the tanks, but they may have to wait until they get the planes. If they get the plane to do the combined arms warfare at which Nato excels and which the Russians simply can’t do and which is a massive force multiplier.



Donald Trump Reacts to US Troops Killed by Iran-Backed Militants



And even though the fall of the Soviet Union was notable for its lack of bloodshed, many in Ukraine refer to today's conflict as a true "war of independence." All these measures were approved when both the House and the Senate were controlled by Democrats. Some Republicans are saying the U.S. should stop funding Ukraine. Democrats in Congress overwhelmingly support aid for Ukraine, and most Republicans do as well. The U.S. Congress approved four separate spending bills for Ukraine in the past year totaling $112 billion. The rest is funding the Ukrainian government (this helps pay the salaries of Ukrainian government workers) and humanitarian aid to help the millions of Ukrainians who have been driven from their homes.





This week, Mr Putin put his nuclear forces on a higher level of alert. Most analysts doubt this means their use is likely or imminent. But it was a reminder that Russian doctrine allows for the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield. “ https://matzen-larsen.thoughtlanes.net/how-is-the-ukraine-invasion-being-viewed-in-russia-russia-ukraine-war-news fighting with sustained Western support and eventually forces Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine entirely, with the possible exception of Crimea,” he said, referring to the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014. He noted, however that this would pre-suppose a Russian military collapse and a change in the country’s leadership – something that could take “a long time to achieve and would necessitate considerably greater military capabilities” than Ukraine currently possesses.



Putinology: the art of analyzing the man in the Kremlin



It's hoped that the flight data recorders will shed light on what happened to the Il-76 plane that crashed on Wednesday, killing all 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war and nine Russians on board. Kyiv was initially silent as details of the plane crash emerged Wednesday morning. Later, Ukraine's intelligence agency confirmed that a prisoner exchange had been scheduled but did not take place. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, visited the south-western frontline at Mykolaiv and the nearby city of Odesa on Saturday. He insisted after his visit that Ukraine would not cede any of the occupied territories in the south of the country to Russia, which occupies the bulk of the country’s coastal areas. While Ukraine’s location has afforded it outsize attention relative to other conflicts, it’s also what makes the prospect of a drawn-out war even more likely.





That hasn't let up, if only because it's a powerful emotional and recruitment tool. Twenty million Soviets — Russians, Ukrainians and others — died fighting Hitler's armies. In other words, the war affected nearly every family here. This is a grinding trench and artillery war of attrition. The invasion has been a disaster for President Vladimir Putin and in order to justify it at home he at least has to take control of Ukraine's Donbas region, after which he can falsely claim that the army saved Russian citizens persecuted by Ukraine.











  • The government is replaced with a pro-Moscow puppet regime.








  • The Ukrainian General Staff says its forces have repelled Russian attacks near Avdiivka itself, as well as from settlements to the north west, south west, and directly west of the town.








  • The Western countries have gone from training the Ukrainians on specific systems to training larger units on how to carry out coordinated attacks.








  • Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, also called for sending long-range missiles to Ukraine alongside advanced Gray Eagle and Reaper drones.








  • That scenario could embolden critics of the war; increase public discontent with continued funding for Ukraine; and pose a problem in terms of arms production and supplies for the West.










Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv will fully investigate the circumstances around the crash, adding that "facts" were a key priority. He accused Russia of "playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners, with the feelings of their relatives and with the emotions of our society." But despite the dire state of Russia’s forces and the years-long quagmire its economy faces, Putin has shown no indication he intends to scale back his goals or seek a way out of the war, insisting Russia’s victory is “inevitable” and its “goals will be met in full”. Nearly a year later, Russia’s army is no closer to winning the war — and has even lost part of the territory that Putin attempted to annex last September.







Russia lacks a decisive, breakthrough capability to overrun Ukraine and will do what it can to hold on to what it currently occupies, using the time to strengthen its defences while it hopes for the West to lose the will to continue supporting Ukraine. Yet the Army is already looking at how it might create a citizens' army. One Whitehall source told the Times that the training of Ukrainian civilians on UK soil could act as a rehearsal for rapid Army expansion. Finland, Nato's newest member and a country which has an 800-mile border with Russia, has wider conscription. Around 80% of the male population complete some form of military service.











  • The country has been engaged in armed conflict with Russia since Moscow’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, which even before Russia’s invasion last month had resulted in the deaths of more than 14,000 people, many of them civilians.








  • Ukraine's counteroffensive is likely to make some progress in the remainder of this year, Barrons said — but nowhere near enough to end the occupation.








  • Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK.








  • The problems could extend beyond Ukraine, he said, arguing that Europe could face another wave of immigrants from African and Middle Eastern countries previously reliant on grain exports from Ukraine if the war continued to disrupt maritime exports.








  • Retired Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe, a former commander of the U.S.










In his first major speech on defence, Grant Shapps said the country was moving from a "post war to a pre-war world". Talk of wider war in Europe and the potential need for mass mobilisation or a "citizen army" may sound alarming. But the head of the British Army Gen Sir Patrick Sanders is not alone in issuing a national call to prepare for a major conflict on European soil. On Tuesday, the ISW said that Russian defenses appeared to lack strength in depth on a key part of the front line where Ukraine has made recent gains. But, 18 months into the conflict, Russia only occupies parts of eastern and southern Ukraine, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which it annexed in 2014. In fact, CIA Director Bill Burns told lawmakers weeks after the start of the invasion that Putin's strategy was centered on "seizing Kyiv within the first two days of the campaign."