Poo tin... Put@in...
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Am cautiously optimistic that Europe is getting it's shit together. Shame it came to this before they did.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
A big element of that will be whether Germany will be a more enthusiastic partner - I guess part of their caution has been electorally they've needed to keep the former East Germany electorate on-side, but Markel seemed to overplay the cosying up to Putin element, and more recently, they've been a brake on more hawkish actions on Ukraine. Looking at the %GDP spending, it does appear that they relied too heavily on US defence and on the 'peace dividend'.
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Merz seems to understand the situation. Scholz not so much. And then you have people like Schröder who were actively working for Putin.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
Yeah, his comment to Weidel during the most recent debate was impassioned and personal. The look on her face was priceless. It also seems that Vance's promotion of the AfD has actually helped push them down in the polls.
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I am the same, but agree Scholz is a major issue, the guy has appeaser written all over him.
They need to act, Trump may as well be doing briefings from the Kremlin, the guy is a Russian stooge and is now basically not afraid to show it.
Not any point Europe trying to engage with the US now, they are done under Trump. Cut them adrift and form a Europe and Canada pact and try whatever we can to weaken US/Russia.
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No wonder Harry and Megan are so unpopular.
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Unverified reports that Canada is releasing their frozen Russian assets to Ukraine. Taking things up a notch or two.
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
Interesting. I would assume Putin will demand those as part of a peace deal. Basically, they get everything they want and Trump says yes, including to some things not in his gift.
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I also read it as countries are willing to fully support Ukraine with, or without, the US. Doubt Trump saw that coming.
Dare say that Putin and his oligarchs will be mightly pissed off too. Should it happen.
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
Europe started sending interest raised on frozen Russian assets to Ukraine last year, which pootin called theft.
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Trump has alienated all his trade partners and allies at once. They are all in the process of reducing reliance on the US because it can't be trusted, and offering tidbits to placate the child in the meantime. Personally I think the US has overplayed it's hand somewhat.
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Crossing threads but if Trump's offer on Friday is as outrageous as I suspect and Zelensky says "no" as I expect then we will see the real Donald. Donnie Bonespur trying to be badass with a man who has been at war for 3 years. 🤨
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
Yup. Really the only extortion element he's got left is Musk turning off Starlink to hamper Ukrainian battlefield communications. Other than that, I think that Canada, Europe and Australia will be treating the US as effectively allies of Russia, as exemplified by the UN vote. Trump is making the US increasingly irrelevant, though they would be relevant if they went the full hog and offered Russia assistance, which even I think is a little unlikely.
That said, if Ukraine can keep dangling the rare earth thing as a shiny thing for Trump, they might get some grudging assistance.
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If this is accurate, it's good, for more than one reason... a couple of months to replace Starlink extortion threat would be very handy.
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Who knows what the policy will be by tomorrow? And to think that at one point a week was a long time in politics.
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It will come down to how much of Ukraine is to be given in return for not very much.
$500bn in return for nothing was the starting point. Oh, and Putin conceding nothing as well.
Zelensky is looking for a peace deal with a business deal attached. Trump is looking for a business deal.
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
I think the UK is still a shareholder.
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Ah, yes.
"OneWeb, a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation of which the UK government is a minority shareholder, has today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Eutelsat Communications to merge the 2 companies, with the objective of creating a single, powerful global player in connectivity.
Eutelsat will add its 36-strong fleet of Geostationary Orbit (GEO) satellites to OneWeb’s LEO constellation, with 428 satellites already in orbit, to generate combined revenues of €1.2 billion and address an even wider range of customer requirements.
The merger is positive news for UK taxpayers: having made a $500 million investment in OneWeb 2 years ago, the UK government will now have a significant stake in what will become a single, powerful, global space company, working on the sound financial footing needed to make the most of the technological advantages it has to compete in the highly-competitive global satellite industry, against companies around the world."
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France pulling ahead in the "What can we do for Ukraine?" stakes... Mirage jets intercepted some of the cruise missile barrage last night, they are trying to get Eurostat as a replacement for Starlink, and are offering its intel direct to Ukraine, recognising that the UK might be restrained because of the (now suspect) Five Eyes arrangement that includes the US. The spirit of de Gaulle lives on, maybe. You can sense that Macron might have a similar concern about his legacy, and he realises that Ukraine offers an opportunity (as well as being the right thing to do).
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Ukraine demonstrating to Trump that they do still have cards. Not sure it was a good thing to do politically before talks as no doubt Trump will use it to portray Ukraine as being the aggressor against poor, misunderstood Putin and Russia.
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Poor, misunderstood Putin and Russia don't seem to GAF about the people of the Ukraine.
I don't have high hopes for a peace deal. A business deal possibly, but not a peace deal.
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
It's going to be completely pointless with the US just trying to get something out of Ukraine whilst not pushing Russia to provide anything in return and reinforcing the point that they are weakening Ukraine's position.
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