White House "privately" asks Ukraine to be open to peace negotiations with Russia: National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was dispatched to Kyiv this week to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky. The stated purpose of the meeting was to inform the Ukrainian president that yet another round of fiscal and military aid was on the way, courtesy of the United States taxpayers. The latest package weighed in at $400 million and includes refurbished T-72 tanks, unmanned drones, and the initial steps to refurbish 250 HAWK surface-to-air missiles that will be delivered later. Zelensky is always happy to pose for some photos and accept more foreign aid, so this was a pretty easy lift for Sullivan. But under the covers, there was more going on than that. The Washington Post later reported that one of their sources learned that Sullivan had been instructed to quietly pull Zelensky aside and tell him that he needed to change his public stance on the question of peace talks with Moscow. For many months, Zelensky has been saying that peace talks couldn’t happen until the Russian army pulled back fully to the pre-invasion lines, but he may have to change his tune in the near future. It’s not much of a stretch of the imagination to suspect that the upcoming midterm elections in the United States are a significant factor in this apparent policy shift. (The Hill) . . . the White House probably realizes that they don’t have much of a choice in the matter. Barring some sort of unprecedented failure in polling, the Democrats are poised to lose control of the House on Tuesday and very possibly the Senate as well. Joe Biden can’t just keep writing checks for Zelensky without congressional approval, and both Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy have recently suggested that the days of limitless “blank checks” for Ukraine were coming to an end. From Amir Tsarfati: The Ukrainians are storming the Kakhovka dam right now in a blitz, attempting to take it from the Russians who were trying to blow it up. Absolute chaos in Russian channels right now. Zelensky: If Russia blows up the Kakhovka dam, it will be a war declaration to the whole world. Missiles cross into NATO member Poland, where two people were killed: https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/zelenskyy-battle-kherson-day-watershed-93318926 Missile Hits Polish Territory Near Ukrainian Border: Polish government calls emergency security meeting after explosion in village 3 miles from border with Ukraine. PRZEWODÓW, Poland—A missile struck this Polish village near the country’s border with Ukraine on Tuesday and Warsaw said it was considering whether to summon other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for an emergency summit as Russia’s fight with Kyiv threatened to spill over. The missile, which Poland’s government said was manufactured in Russia, slammed into a granary 3 miles from the frontier and killed two farmworkers, Polish officials said. In response, Poland summoned the Russian ambassador and put military units for air defense on high alert. President Biden said preliminary information about the missile strike indicates that it was unlikely to have been fired from Russia and he pledged to investigate the incident. “I don’t want to say that until we completely investigate,” he said. “But it’s unlikely [based on the trajectory] that it was fired from Russia. But we’ll see.” Mr. Biden spoke following an emergency meeting of G-7 and North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders along the sidelines of the Group of 20 major economies summit in Bali, Indonesia. He said the countries agreed to investigate the incident and then determine next steps. “I’m going to make sure we figure out exactly what happened,” he said, adding there was total unanimity among the leaders at the emergency meeting about the steps they would take in response. The meeting included leaders from France, Canada, Italy, Japan, the U.K., the European Commission and the European Council, the White House said. European officials broadly held off from saying whose rocket had caused the damage. President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, directly placed the fault on Russia. https://www.wsj.com/articles/poland-russian-missile-strike-11668540716 Would it be too farfetched to wonder if someone else who wanted WWIII dropped those bombs and not Russia? Does that make me a conspiracy theorist to think that way? :whistle: No, it does not make you a conspiracy theorist. It makes you a critical thinker, something we could use more of in our day! :yes: Poland, NATO: Missile 'very likely' fired into Poland by Ukrainian forces in 'tragic incident': American and European officials now believe the explosion that killed two people in Poland near the country's border with Ukraine was "very likely" caused by Ukrainian air defenses. Polish President Andrzej Duda stated that "there is no evidence that it was launched by the Russian side." Hours later, the Polish president indicated on Twitter that the explosion was instead an “unfortunate accident” caused by an "S-300 rocket made in the Soviet Union, an old rocket and there is no evidence that it was launched by the Russian side." Barron's reported that the Russian defense ministry corroborated the Polish president's statement, stating, "Photographs of the wreckage ... were unequivocally identified by Russian military experts as fragments of a guided anti-aircraft missile of a Ukrainian S-300 air defense system." "It is highly probable that it was fired by Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense," added Duda. Duda noted that "there are many indications that it was an air defense missile, which unfortunately fell on Polish territory." While it may have been a Ukrainian missile, Stoltenberg stressed that the "tragic incident" is "not Ukraine’s fault. Russia bears ultimate responsibility as it continues its illegal war against Ukraine." Drone strikes show Putin his homeland isn’t safe: Reports of significant attacks against two Russian air bases are a new and dangerous twist in the Ukraine war. One of the explosions was at the Engels-1 Air Base in the Saratov region, the other at Dyagilevo in the Ryazan area — both hundreds of miles inside the Russia-Ukraine border. Several Russians were reportedly killed or wounded, and at least two aircraft damaged. Moscow immediately blamed Ukraine for the strikes, which appear to have been conducted using unmanned aerial vehicles. While the Kyiv government hasn’t openly taken credit, it hasn’t denied culpability. Assuming Ukraine launched the drone strikes against what are legitimate military targets, albeit over 300 miles into Russia, what are the implications for the overall conflict? Should we worry about serious escalation? Having watched the Ukrainians suffer for months from murders, rapes, indiscriminate bombing of civilian residences, and attacks on electricity, water and nuclear power plants, it is increasingly hard to counsel them to simply sit back and take what Putin wants to dish out. On the other side, these attacks will likely harden the Russian military’s resolve and provide Putin with the talking points he wants for the Russian population: Ukraine is attacking us! But more than nine months into his brutal war, his approval rating at home is suffering and his international support dwindling. Sanctions are biting the economy, and price caps on Russian oil went into effect on Monday. Europe is holding together well in the face of Russian energy blackmail. . . . the drone attacks show a weakness in a supposedly invulnerable home front. It may help ordinary Russians to see the mounting costs of what might best be termed “the war of Putin’s ego.” From Amir Tsarfati: The truth about the status of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine which is one of the main reasons for the Russian invasion on February 24th of 2022: In his nightly address about 3 weeks ago, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said that he wanted a law that would “make it impossible for religious organisations affiliated with centres of influence in the Russian Federation to operate in Ukraine”, referring to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church affiliated to Moscow. Ukraine has long held valid concerns that the Moscow-affiliated Ukrainian Orthodox Church poses a security threat, and has instead promoted the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which in 2019 was granted “autocephaly” - the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop- by the Patriarch of Constantinople, the symbolic “first among equals” of the world’s Orthodox churches. For Ukraine, it was a key moment, as it represented another step away from political, economic and religious subservience to Russia. Not only that Christians aren’t persecuted in Ukraine but for the first time Ukrainians are allowed by their own independent Orthodox Church to celebrate Christmas on December 25th as well as on their traditional January 7th day. Translation Of Section From Putin's Jan 7 Speech I'm tired today. I am tired of everything. I want to talk to the countries of the World. What's happening? What kind of Satan's plan do you dream of? You want to deliberately reduce the world's population by sacrificing innocent lives using unstable spirits who believe in your political correctness. People brainwashing, vicious media systems, and shameless lies- constantly and intentionally. I am aware of your Satanic Plans to reduce the population of the planet. You are so Evil to use the weakest and marginalized. If you think your people will have to get used to being massacred , leave your position! If America and Europe do not end these plans, you will face not only God's judgment, but mine as well. Stop your plans! Long live God and the Fatherland, or death is waiting for you. Link https://rense.com/general97/putins-jan-7-speech.php Fair Use
The creation of an independent Orthodox church in Ukraine ended more than 300 years of dominance of the Moscow-based church.
Indeed, as a result of the split, Russia lost property, priests, believers and, crucially, its spiritual and symbolic authority over Ukraine. Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, condemned the move and broke off relations with the Constantinople Patriarch.
If This Doesn't Get Your Attention, Nothing Will
