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The problem is that President Trump is deaf to any reasonable representation from Ukraine, so on that basis alone it's extremely doubtful that President Putin will turn up
I think that worm is beginning to turn with the rare earth deal being signed and some of Trump's recent social media postings. If Zelensky is sitting there shrugging his shoulders with Putin a no-show Trump's not going to be impressed, he does seem to me to want this to end, even if that's really only because he sees it as a route to a Nobel Peace Prize, (it won't be).
Peskov confirmed Putin won't be travelling to Turkey.
Some change seems likely. We'll see whether pressure is applied by the US either toward Europe or Russia.
Friedrich Merz announced during a Europe forum organised by German broadcaster WDR: "There are no longer any restrictions on the range of weapons delivered to Ukraine, neither by the UK, France, nor us. There are no restrictions by the US either."
The SCALP-EG/Storm Shadow pot must be running low now and nothing positive is forthcoming on Germany's Taurus, however, Germany is pursuing a policy of information security under its new government.
The first public announcement may be a Taurus strike, we'll see
And back around to another analysis of the NordStream pipeline explosions.
This one accords with what many on here thought in 2022. The Aug '24 issue of an arrest warrant by Germany seemed to point back at Ukraine, but this newer report says,
...we assess as highly improbable the theory that the United States military (with help from the Norwegian military) was to blame for the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 sabotage.
• Furthermore, we assess as improbable that a group of Ukrainian commandos operating from a rental sailboat was behind the destruction of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines.• Moreover, we assess as probable that the Russian Federation was involved in the Nord Stream sabotage incidents.
• We have a moderate level of confidence in these three judgements. A wide range of open questions regarding the Nord Stream incidents that we identify in this report preclude us from increasing beyond ‘probable’ the judgement of the Russian Federation’s potential role in the incident and likewise cannot decrease beyond ‘improbable’ for the ‘pro-Ukraine rental sailboat’
or beyond ‘highly improbable’ for the ‘United States and Norway’ theories.• We note that as of the writing of this report volume, public attribution for the culpability of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 sabotage incidents has still not been made by investigators in any jurisdiction of the Transatlantic community.
UNDERWATER MAYHEM: Countering Threats to Energy and Critical Infrastructure Across the NATO Alliance and Beyond Volume 01
BENJAMIN L. SCHMITT
MICHAŁ KURTYKA
ALAN RILEYUniversity of Pennsylvania May 2025 (Google the document, the link is complex)
The same report also discusses other sabotage case studies, hybrid warfare, etc. It's worth a read
"What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He’s playing with fire!," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
With his frustration increasing, Trump has lashed out at the Russian president as Moscow has hit Ukraine with some of the three-year-old war's deadliest drone and missile attacks while not moving forward on ceasefire efforts.
But the cheerleading for beleaguered Ukraine wasn’t trending or scaring off bully Putin, said critics in the blogosphere.
“Presenting The Latest US Strategy to Counter ‘Russian Aggression,’ ” a snarky blogger posted on zerohedge.com. “#Selfies!”
The president, who prides himself on having friendly relations with Putin, did not elaborate. Top Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev dismissed Trump's criticism.
Critics said the photo from America’s chief diplomatic perch was embarrassing.
“No wonder Putin covers his mouth when speaking to Obama, perhaps to hide his laugh?” wrote another blogger.
“How flippin’ sad has the USA become?” wondered a third critic.
Okay, you'll have spotted that it's a mash-up of 2014 President Obama and 2025 President Trump social media posts with commentary from contemporary media sources:
https://nypost.com/2014/03/28/uproar-over-dcs-jokey-selfie-support-for-ukraine/
https://www.reuters.com/world/ukrainian-governor-says-russian-forces-capture-four-villages-sumy-2025-05-26/
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-is-playing-with-fire-trump-says-2025-05-27/
It's interesting in that it's a lesson in the importance of history and it's a lesson that President Biden learnt when he was Obama's VP back in 2014.
Biden was something of a "hawk" in 2014 and wanted Russia to “pay in blood and money” for invading Crimea, but as VP he had to follow Obama's policy.
The failure of that social media campaign and the 2017 success of President Trump in supplying Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine doubtless added to Biden's later decisions as President to arm Ukraine.
"What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He’s playing with fire!,"
President Trump is protecting Russia as part of a move designed to "dilute ties" between Russia and China that is reminiscent of Nixon's efforts to split China from Russia, hence the "Reverse Nixon".
If successful, it would also present opportunities for US businesses now and in the future, but I won't be commenting on the business aspect.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio mapped out a strategy for managing Russia’s close relationship with China, saying Washington wants to dilute ties without sowing division between the nuclear-armed neighbors. https://euromaidanpress.com/2025/02/27/bloomberg-rubio-says-us-cant-let-russia-become-chinas-junior-partner/
The problem with this strategy is that the conditions that existed in the 1960s that evolved into a bust-up between China and Russia, culminating in border confrontations in 1969, don't exist now. It's noteworthy that 1960s China was still testing and developing nuclear weapons and they didn't have that military capability.
The evidence is very firmly that China and Russia are closer than ever today, both have developed large nuclear armouries and Rubio went on to say,
“I don’t know if we’ll ever be successful completely at peeling them off of a relationship with the Chinese,” referring to Russia. “I also don’t think having China and Russia at each other’s neck is good for global stability because they’re both nuclear powers.” https://euromaidanpress.com/2025/02/27/bloomberg-rubio-says-us-cant-let-russia-become-chinas-junior-partner/
With his popularity falling, the US economy downgraded by rating agencies and the US Courts beginning to push back on his policies, Trump is going to have to look at ways to boost his popularity for the mid-terms.
Let's see what he chooses for Ukraine
Given how everyone was clamouring for Ukraine to have the F16 we don't seem to hear much about it's performance.
We have endless pictures of drones blowing up tanks but not much in the way of Top Gun shoot outs.
That was never going to be the case with the restrictions on US weapon systems and where they could strike targets.
Modern fighter aircraft don't go "Top Gun" if it can be avoided, they'll fire missiles beyond visual range (BVR) as demonstrated by India and ****stan recently.
F16 has been successful in shooting cruise missiles and drones down over Ukraine, but you'll find that not everyone was clamouring for them. They're more of a peacetime patrol platform in Ukraine's circumstances
Bloomberg News reported in July 2024 that Russia had over-produced crude oil during the first six months of 2024. Iraq and Kazakhstan also over-produced and none had compensated under OPEC+ agreements by lowering production in subsequent months.
Reuters reported in March 2025 that OPEC+ had decided to increase output levels across the organisation from April because members sticking to the agreement were in effect being penalised.
That production increase was the first agreed since 2022.
The Kyiv Independent reports this week that OPEC+ will continue the production increase into July driving crude oil prices to a four-year low. This changes the OPEC+ approach of curbing output to maintain high oil prices.
This is beginning to hurt Russia who "reportedly proposed pausing the increases but was overruled."
Top Russian grade Urals crude oil has stayed below $60 per barrel since the beginning of April after the OPEC+ announcement; it had previously peaked around $80 in July '24.
$60 is the current G7/EU pricecap level for access to western insurance, etc, and the EU is now considering lowering that pricecap further.
Aha - I wondered why Saudi increased their oil production.
News coming in of Ukraine successfully hitting Russian airfields/bombers with rather ingeniously delivered drones hidden in trucks.
Reports the Ukraine has attacked 4 Russian strategic bomber bases , one smaller airfield, and one submarine base (reports of a missile carrier hit) using FPV drones hidden in articulated lorries. Initial reports are over 40 strategic bombers destroyed (which if true would be greater than 50% of what Russia has, and not easy to replace as no new ones have been built for 30 years). Furthest away airbase was 5,500kms from Ukraine in Siberia
Ukraine’s Security Service reportedly spent over 18 months preparing Operation “Pavutýna” ("Spiderweb"), which targeted 41 Russian strategic aircraft today. According to Ihor Lachenkov referring to sources within the SBU, FPV drones were first smuggled into Russia, followed by mobile wooden cabins.
Plenty of video of burning Russian bombers on YouTube
Just wow. That's some operation.
That's a pretty audacious and effective operation! Incredible work.
Ingenious. Wouldn't want to be the general who has to tell Putin that a few lorries and sheds have wrecked his long-range bomber fleet.
Apparently one of those Siberian bases was over 5000km from the Ukrainian border! Russia may be the biggest country on earth, but Ukraine has shown them there are no safe spaces within it. How 3 day special military operation going?
and not easy to replace as no new ones have been built for 30 years
I "thought" two new T160s have been built in the last few years?
Ukraine has reported attacks on Russian airfields and naval resources as ^^.
A total of 41 aircraft are known to have been destroyed including a Beriev A-50, which is one of only six left after Ukraine and its sympathisers attacked others in 2023 and 2024.
The A50 is specifically an Airborne Early Warning And Control (AEW&C) aircraft and can detect aircraft at 400 miles and ground targets at half that and will be extremely difficult to replace as well as leaving a big hole in Russian early warning capability. Typically only 40% of an aircraft fleet are airworthy at any time due to maintenance and other repairs.
Other aircraft types destroyed include Tupolev Tu-95, which is a missile and bombing platform in service since the 1950s and destined to keep plodding on for at least 10 more years and Tupolev Tu-22M3, which is a more modern missile and bomb platform in service since the mid-1990s, although based on a 1970s design.
Some details of the operation, including photos of the containerised "mother ships" to be carried on lorries are here https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2025/06/1/7515065/
That article leads into the timing of the operation, the planning of which was started 18 months ago and may coincide with the US announcement in September 2023 that Ukraine would be supplied with ATACMS missiles. Russia inevitably moved its bomber fleet further east because of this and successful drone attacks by Ukraine on airfields that are further west.
Russia will now be wondering how many other Ukrainian SF units are operating on Russian soil, which will pull Russian resources away from other operations. Russia is doing a lot this, including escorting more of its "shadow fleet" with naval escorts and inevitably their limited AD systems will be moved away from the front-line now as well.
This moves potential Russian missile systems away from Ukraine.
The other aspect of the timing is that it follows Russia's most intense missile attacks on Ukraine's civilian population and is the day before further ceasefire talks in Istanbul, scheduled for 2nd June. Clearly, this wouldn't have been known about 18 months ago, but it will concentrate Russian minds on the ceasefire that they have shown no intention of approaching seriously.
The EU has placed much store in its €800mn "Rearm Europe" fund, which is not new EU money but amended EU budget rules and limited loans allowing member states to run greater budget deficits. In other words states will "be allowed" to spend their own money on something that many don't want, particularly those with government elections expected within months. The EU isn't pushing rearmament, hence the "Coalition of the Willing" including the UK and Norway. Ukraine isn't included because it's the intended recipient and it has export bans on materiel.
This operation counteracts the constant, strong messaging from Russia designed to erode this already weak-willed western alliance supporting Ukraine by making Russian victory seem inevitable. Russia has now lost a chunk of its navy, airforce and armies and the illusion of victory is no longer as assured.
As President Trump might have said to President Zelensky, "You do have the cards"
Just heard on the radio that russia has accused Ukraine of a "terroist attack" re. the ~40 aircraft being hit.
That's really gotta hurt russia, like masivley! Good work.
Apparently, "TACO", Ukraine actually has the cards. And the ingenuity, skill and vision to realise the outcome.
I'm keeping an eye out for a new set of Ukrposhta first day covers...
It'll be an interesting chat in Istanbul tomorrow.
Just heard on the radio that russia has accused Ukraine of a "terroist attack" re. the ~40 aircraft being hit.
Whatever Russia says - opposite is true, confirming a perfect attack on purely military targets. Nevertheless, they'll look for a way to retaliate by blowing up as many children as they can.
As President Trump might have said to President Zelensky, "You do have the cards"
yeah trump doesn't like to back losers and vance and the inner circle of ****stains all seem to hate zelensky, but idolise Putin
but Putin taking a huge L on this one
you have to credit Ukrainian ingenuity and perseverance on this one, theyve beaten the black sea fleet with no navy of their own & destroyed huge chunks of the russian air force without risking a single jet of their own
as for the drone motherships
were getting close to this 
It must take balls the size of Danny Harts to drive through Russia with a lorry packed full of drones then make your escape.
Faircplay to them.
According to Zelenskyy, one of the teams of operatives set up shop next door to the local FSB office. 😀
Loving this, these bombers were routinely being used to bombard Ukrainian civilians as thier range meant they could launch from outside the range of the many many air defence systems Ukraine uses.
Under Putin's current strategy they had been reduced to little more than terror weapons killing grannies.
And as said above, they are basically irreplaceable in the short to medium term.
The attack is also apparently carried out entirely remotely, all the personnel involved were back in Ukraine long before the drones activated.
That's a nice way of pre-empting the inevitable arrests and show trials.
Bloody impressive work on so many levels.
There are already videos of very long lines of trucks waiting to be checked by police.
Double win.... Probably more than just two "wins" from the drive attack, though.
They will also have to spend a fortune building shelters for their bombers and other aircraft and beefing up AD at sites previously thought to be too far away to be under any threat. Probably hundreds of locations. The fact that nowhere in the whole of Russia can now be considered safe from attack creates a massive security and logistical headache. The more AD assets they have to redeploy inside Russia, the more vulnerable their front lines will be.
Where's my violin....?
Wasn't sure if this belongs on this thread or not, but as we are talking about Russias ability to repair/restock, the Germans are a lot more pessimistic.
Appreciate that replacing bombers is much harder than tanks, but in this new age of drone warfare, are bombers still as important?
BBC News - Russia may attack Nato in next four years, German defence chief warns
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62v63gl8rvo
Wasn't sure if this belongs on this thread or not, but as we are talking about Russias ability to repair/restock, the Germans are a lot more pessimistic.
Appreciate that replacing bombers is much harder than tanks, but in this new age of drone warfare, are bombers still as important?
BBC News - Russia may attack Nato in next four years, German defence chief warns
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62v63gl8rvo
Appreciate that replacing bombers is much harder than tanks, but in this new age of drone warfare, are bombers still as important?
They are wreaking havoc against the Ukrainian civilian population and critical infrastructure. As a platform for cruise missiles and glide bombs, released with impunity from well within Russian airspace. Also, many of them are nuclear capable so are (were) an important strategic asset. I get what you mean about drones and they have become incredibly important, but mostly at a tactical level where these bombers are still important at a strategic level.
Appreciate that replacing bombers is much harder than tanks, but in this new age of drone warfare, are bombers still as important?
I suppose it depends on where you're likely to be waging war and your approach to warfare.
The RAF doesn't have a dedicated bomber, the Typhoon and F35 Lightning fleet can both carry bombs, but I wouldn't call them "bombers".
Air superiority has been the thing for decades. It's the ability to roam at will over the battlefield, but different nations approach it in different ways and it depends on your opponents' abilities.
If you can use drones or missiles at will, but little else, do you have air superiority? It isn't always about crewed aircraft and if you can suppress your opponents drones and missiles with yours then you probably do in that context.
The complexity of modern anything makes it expensive to acquire in numbers and difficult to replace quickly so you use what's best-suited with appropriate support. Russia doesn't have air-superiority and using an unsuitable heavy bomber was always going to catch them out.
AI drones are the next "big thing" as an un-crewed sidekick to crewed aircraft. Maybe the new US bomber, the B21 Raider, will carry drones to deploy at will, but it's only flying as a pre-production test at the moment.
With reference to tank production, I don't think that anyone has publicly stated what annual production of Russian tanks looks like. Are they new tanks or are they restored and repaired older tanks?
I get what you mean about drones and they have become incredibly important, but mostly at a tactical level where these bombers are still important at a strategic level.
My seven paragraphs in a nutshell 🙂
https://bsky.app/profile/covertshores.bsky.social/post/3lqpah3rn7k2h
Another crack at the Kerch bridge?
I'm looking forward to seeing it finally fall.
Sadly it's proving quite resilient, although those defensive barriers are clearly a bit shit. Glad I'm not the naval engineer responsible for that design, definitely avoiding windows, (portholes?) for the foreseeable...
The bridge’s pillars are supported by several thin pylons sunk deep into the ground.
Damage maybe hidden
I would imagine that the bridge was built knowing full well that the invasion was on the cards. Crimea was annexed in 2014. Addmittedly the defence was originally poor but I recall blokeuptheroad having some insights into taking a bridge out in this tread some time ago.
Wiki timeline:
In January 2015 the multibillion-dollar construction contract for the bridge was awarded to Arkady Rotenberg's Stroygazmontazh. Construction began in February 2016.[a] The road bridge was inaugurated by Russian President Vladimir Putin on 15 May 2018. It opened for cars on 16 May and for trucks on 1 October.[7][17] The rail bridge was inaugurated on 23 December 2019 and the first scheduled passenger train crossed the bridge two days later. The bridge was opened for freight trains on 30 June 2020. A record amount of traffic, totalling 36,393 cars, was recorded on 15 August 2020.[18]
I would imagine that the bridge was built knowing full well that the invasion was on the cards...
You'd think so but it was:
- commissioned by a regime that thought they'd have a puppet government in place in Kyiv in three days
- (probably) built by contractors who like to cut a few corners.
I don't know if it's possible to determine, for an underwater explosion, whether:
- the bridge is now teetering on one remaining pile
- a lot of water was moved around an otherwise undamaged structure
unless they send someone/something down to look. Only time (and trains running over the bridge) will tell.
You'd think so but it was:
^^
The Kerch bridge was thought to be poorly engineered by some (IANAE)
The previous bridge was felled by ice floes in 1945, only one span on the current bridge exceeds that needed for ice to safely find a way through
The bridge was built by a company who specialise in O&G pipelines and associated infrastructure (sanctions on Russia following its 2014 invasion precluded western companies)
It's built on a tectonic fault in an area of dozens of mud volcanoes and sits on 200' of mud before you reach bedrock, hence the numbers and length of the piling
Looks like they were trying to drop the centre section, which would also block shipping too. Shame it didn’t work though.
So, Ukraine blows up some bombers.
Russia blows up more people.
An update on Operation Spiderweb, which has damaged and destroyed anything between zero and 41 aircraft depending on who you believe.
Open-source intelligence estimates are that Ukraine over-estimated at 41 aircraft, while Russia's claim that all are repairable is also an over-statement. Verifiable losses are put at around 20 aircraft, with some being more of a mystery, e.g. two Beriev A50 AEW&C aircraft were shown with drones landing on the mushroom radome, but without explosions https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg9zdxwk29o
This attack didn't change the ceasefire/peace talks in Istanbul the following day and rather than capitalising and increasing pressure on Russia through sanctions, President Trump is still biding his time with a deadline for peace that only he understands.
Responding to a journalist's question about whether Operation Spider's Web had changed his view of what advantages Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy holds, Trump said it had given Russian leader Vladimir Putin a reason to bomb Ukrainian cities.
"They gave Putin a reason to go in and bomb the hell out of them last night. That's the thing I didn't like about it. When I saw it I said 'Here we go, now it's going to be a strike'." https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2025/06/7/7516055/
I can't get over the naivety of the comment. Ukrainian cities have been bombed for years following an illegal invasion. Russia doesn't need a "reason" to bomb, it needs a reason to stop bombing supplied by the international community if necessary.
Trump is going to have to look at ways to boost his popularity for the mid-terms. Let's see what he chooses for Ukraine
It's been alleged by the Wall Street Journal that Trump has been quietly putting pressure on Congress to weaken Senator Lindsey Graham's (Republican) Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025 by removing the mandatory nature of the wording.
Trump has denied this and the bill has such strong support from both Rep and Dem Senators, including Speaker Mike Johnson (Rep) who did so much to delay aid to Ukraine in 2023/24, that Trump doesn't have the power of Presidential Veto and has said,
"They'll be guided by me. That's how it's supposed to be," Trump said. "They're waiting for me to decide on what to do." https://kyivindependent.com/trump-quietly-pressuring-senate-to-weaken-russia-sanctions-wsj-reports/
At some point the political pressure will push through the bluster because of the looming mid-terms and force the Act into being.
In the meantime both Presidents will be concerned about the failure of their intelligence systems to report an 18-month operation conducted by Ukraine on Russian soil. That won't be a comforting series of thoughts for either of them
Seeing reports of another clever drone operation in Russia. A train carrying fuel and military vehicles was attacked with claims that around 100 armoured vehicles including 13 tanks and several bulk fuel wagons destroyed. A Russian source describes hatches on grain containers being remotely opened and drones flying out. All TBC of course.
President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration diverted 20,000 anti-drone missiles originally intended for Ukraine to American forces in the Middle East, in an interview with ABC News published on June 8. https://kyivindependent.com/trump-redirects-20-000-anti-drone-missiles-meant-for-ukraine-zelensky-confirms/
Another "quiet" move that adversely affects Ukraine is the US decision to divert anti-drone missile kits with proximity fuses to US forces in the middle-east.
The kit is bought and paid for with money intended for Ukraine under President Biden's administration and has been diverted under new emergency powers.
The Pentagon told the Senate Armed Services Committee in the previously undisclosed message that the U.S. military’s need for the fuzes was a “Secretary of Defense (Pete Hegseth) Identified Urgent Issue.” The Pentagon declined requests for comment.
(my brackets) Wall Street Journal 4th June https://www.wsj.com/
It converts existing, cheap, "dumb" rockets into laser-guided missiles with proximity fuses that are very effective against drones at short-range and can be mounted on a truck bed, helicopter or other aircraft
BAE developed a laser-guided kit for the US Hydra 70 missile, but Turkiye also produces a 70mm laser-guided missile that doesn't use the US base components.
The timing of this announcement is conspicuously bad following the Op. Spiderweb attack on Russian aircraft on 1st June, particularly when you consider that President Trump is forecasting that Russia will retaliate (ignoring the naivety of his comment)
But the move had prompted concerns among Ukraine’s supporters in Congress, who say that the Pentagon hasn’t explained what effect the move would have on Ukrainian defenses or whether the Air Force need is urgent.
Wall Street Journal 4th June https://www.wsj.com/
makes you wonder which side Trump is on.
Op spiderweb and spiderweb 2.0 amaze me, and that they've caused significant damage. Makes you wonder whereelse they have drones squirrelled away, waiting to be activated.
Also makes me very fearful of other terriorists and rouge nations watching and getting ideas - no need to hijack a bunch of plans to fly into the world trade centre in order to cause carnage - just a few hundred easily obtainable drones
Makes you wonder whereelse they have drones squirrelled away, waiting to be activated.
Hopefully the Russians are wondering the same, and getting mightily distracted by the possibilities.
Given how everyone was clamouring for Ukraine to have the F16 we don't seem to hear much about it's performance.
We have endless pictures of drones blowing up tanks but not much in the way of Top Gun shoot outs.
German media Bild is reporting that the SU35 Super Flanker shot down at the weekend fell prey to an F16 guided by a Swedish-built SAAB AEW&C aircraft
The two Beriev A50 aircraft damaged in Op Spiderweb would be used in the same way as the SAAB and give older, theoretically less-capable aircraft an advantage https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-f16-shoots-down-russia-jet-2082811
President Trump's two-week window for a response to Russia "tapping him along" has passed
"Within two weeks. We're gonna find out whether or not (Putin is) tapping us along or not.
"And if he is, we'll respond a little bit differently." https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyn3vqex47o
Well, the US responded,
WASHINGTON DC – Pentagon head Pete Hegseth hinted on Tuesday that the White House was considering a budget reduction in its $300 million Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), saying that President Donald Trump’s administration “takes a very different view of that [Russia-Ukraine] conflict,” according to Kyiv Post’s Washington correspondent. https://www.kyivpost.com/post/54318
Same article,
“This administration has done, seemingly, everything possible to alienate America on the world stage and turn our back on our allies, particularly Ukraine,” Congressmember Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Committee, told Hegseth.
The US national deficit for the period Oct '24 to May '25 rose by $162 billion. $300mn represents 0.19% of that increase (please check my maths) and a ridiculously small % of the $1.36 trillion overall deficit
$300mn represents 0.19% of that increase (please check my maths) and a ridiculously small % of the $1.36 trillion overall deficit
In fairness they need that 300 million to spend on Trumps birthday parade and also sending troops into US cities to try and escalate things.
TACO.
TACO.
Didn't the Trump foundation (family) recently get a big plane from Qatar to replace Air Force 1 - that'll save $450 million? Not that it will take off, with all that gold inside.
In fairness they need that 300 million to spend on Trumps birthday parade and also sending troops into US cities to try and escalate things.
Nah, that is only costing about 48 million according to something I saw this morning and 16 of that is going on repairs to the roads in DC that the parade will damage.
Didn't the Trump foundation (family) recently get a big plane from Qatar to replace Air Force 1 - that'll save $450 million? Not that it will take off, with all that gold inside.
It seems to be a bit more complicated (and murky) than that. Nobody's quite sure what the deal is, Trump may have not been completely honest about the details.
Didn't the Trump foundation (family) recently get a big plane from Qatar to replace Air Force 1 - that'll save $450 million? Not that it will take off, with all that gold inside.
It seems to be a bit more complicated (and murky) than that. Nobody's quite sure what the deal is, Trump may have not been completely honest about the details.
The aircraft was the headline stealer...
But concerns about the AI Gulf deals extend beyond human rights matters. Corruption is another issue. Reporting indicates that in the months leading up to Trump’s visit, billions of dollars from Middle East governments flowed towards his companies. In one striking example, the UAE placed $2 billion through an investment firm into Trump’s new cryptocurrency outfit, World Liberty Financial, which is overseen by his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. (all of whom stand to make “tens of millions of dollars per year” from the investment, according to The New York Times). This news was subsequently eclipsed by Trump’s acceptance of a $400 million luxury jet from Qatar, an airplane so opulent it is known as “a flying palace” wrote ABC News. And it’s not just Trump and his family who have benefited from the Gulf’s largesse. His close associates have also accrued benefits. https://thebulletin.org/2025/06/trumps-ai-gamble-in-the-gulf-doesnt-put-america-first/#post-heading
In a moment of breath-taking irony, Russia condemned Israel's attacks on Iran
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) condemned Israel's strikes against Iran and notably claimed that "unprovoked military strikes against a sovereign UN member state, its citizens, sleeping peaceful cities, and nuclear energy infrastructure facilities are categorically unacceptable."[2] The Russian MFA claimed that these Israeli strikes against Iran undermined and set back efforts to find solutions to "eliminate any suspicions and prejudices regarding Iran's peaceful nuclear energy." https://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-june-13-2025
WW3, and meanwhile Ukraine is getting battered and as this thread shows, no-one is watching.
People are. It's difficult to comment when everything is so unpredictable
One President leaving the G7 before the arrival of another as a recent example
WW3, and meanwhile Ukraine is getting battered and as this thread shows, no-one is watching.
Poor return on investment in Ukraine so why bother, and the probability of winning is nil.
Better to invest in Middle East where the petrol dollar is.
WW3, and meanwhile Ukraine is getting battered and as this thread shows, no-one is watching
In terms of this thread, the Ukraine, Trump and WW3 ones are becoming increasingly intertwined.
If my theory that Putin had pressured Iran into getting Hamas to launch their attack on Israel as a distraction from Ukraine is correct then it has probably gone better than he could ever have dreamt. Add in Trump playing the 'useful idiot' role (and I'm being generous there, it's the most likely scenario but he could well turn out to be a Russian agent, nothing would surprise me any more).
The only silver lining in the Israel/Iran war is that Israel might destroy all the shithead drone production facilities.
The only silver lining in the Israel/Iran war is that Israel might destroy all the shithead drone production facilities.
These are now produced in Russia.
The only silver lining in the Israel/Iran war is that Israel might destroy all the shithead drone production facilities.
These are now produced in Russia.
Which Ukraine is targetting...
https://euromaidanpress.com/2025/06/14/ukraine-strikes-russian-drone-factories/
Doublepost...
These are now produced in Russia
🤬 Aholes.
In a moment of breath-taking irony, Russia condemned Israel's attacks on Iran
And the Israelis condemned Iranian attack on a hospital. 
I think much of the current situation in Ukraine and middle east is due to Trump (and by extension American) weakness. He has demonstrated to his friends and enemies that he does not have the stomach, temperament, or intelligence to deal with these often intertwined foreign affairs.
Hence Russia taking him for a ride and exploiting the uncertainty as much as they can, and Ukraine suffering the consequences. Hence Israel testing his resolve and exploiting an opportunity to attack Iran while it is weak and knowing the US won't stop it. All of his actions are having the opposite effect of the outcomes he hopes for to win a nobel peace prize.
All of his actions are having the opposite effect of the outcomes he hopes for to win a nobel peace prize.
Clouds, silver linings, etc.
Well, i'd rather he did the right thing to achieve the right peace in the right places - even if it meant he did get the prize (which he never was likely to). I'd rather reward a complete A-hole for doing the right things, than having to suffer the horrible consequences of his doing all the wrong things...
interesting listening here
from 2021 looking at russian and others hybrid attacks
and a new series wargaming how a Russian attack on UK might play out
https://news.sky.com/story/the-wargame-podcast-what-if-russia-attacked-the-uk-13381047
In July 2022 the Olenivka POW prison run by Russia for captured Ukrainian military personnel was destroyed by explosives. Russia blamed a HIMARS strike by Ukraine while Ukraine denied it.
The UN wanted to investigate properly but Russia refused to co-operate, despite around 50 deaths and 130 wounded
The UN conducted an investigation, limited by a lack of security guarantees and
"...a group of UN experts released a detailed report containing evidence — an internal UN analysis concluded that it was Russia that planned and carried out the attack. https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/un-experts-confirm-olenivka-attack-in-ukraine-1751314160.html
I remember that happening and how incredibly fishy it seemed even at the time.
Another war crime to add to the growing list.
On Christmas Day, 2024, Russian AD shot an Azerbaijan Airlines plane down leading to around 70 dead and injured.
Relations between Russia and Azerbaijan haven't really improved and the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, didn't attend the Victory Day parade in Moscow in May.
There have been a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions, raids on media companies, arrests of journalists, etc. last week following Russian police raids on citizens of Azerbaijan who are allegedly involved in organised crime and murder.
This culminated in the widely reported return of the bodies of two Azerbaijani men who were allegedly beaten to death by police in Yekaterinburg following their arrest. https://www.reuters.com/world/azerbaijani-men-arrested-by-russian-police-were-beaten-death-baku-says-2025-07-01/
It's becoming apparent that states that have a degree of autonomy are moving away from Russia, which complicates Russia's diplomatic efforts, and in Azerbaijan's case towards Turkiye and Europe which it supplies with oil.
Russia's war with Ukraine is continuing to weaken alliances elsewhere as states previously connected with Russia take advantage of Russia taking its eye off the ball
The US is running low on stocks of missiles to send to Ukraine.
It isn't clear why, but you can partly attribute it to the numbers of missiles suddenly needed in the middle-east for raids on Houthi military bases and more recently Iran.
The US military was asked to consider $50bn in cuts under the current administration in February and weapon stocks are taking a hit, which will compound the issue https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-halts-some-missile-shipments-ukraine-over-low-stockpiles-politico-reports-2025-07-01/
It's hoped by President Zelensky that the most recent pause in arms supplied to Ukraine by the US ^^ is under serious reconsideration by President Trump.
The removal of weapons already in Poland and alleged turning around of supply flights seems to be some sort of "bring back everything" miscommunication within the Pentagon because some of the weapons removed are on the verge of obsolescence with US forces
It's seems possible that the removal of weapons from Poland, bought and accounted for by Congress, will put the WH in breach of legislation as happened in Trump v1.0.
Hopefully President Zelensky's optimism isn't misplaced and the weapons are delivered
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"Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
It isn't clear if this statement includes BRICS nations, i.e. Russia, or just those aligned, e.g. Indonesia
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/leaders-growing-brics-group-gather-rio-summit-2025-07-06/
President Putin isn't attending in person because of an ICC arrest warrant that is enforceable in Brazil.
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OPEC+ is raising oil output limits by another 25% in August, which will continue to reduce Russian energy revenue. It's likely to be a counter to US tariffs that are due to be applied on 1st August while the two OPEC+ rises to date have already reduced the price of US oil.
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Allegedly Houthi militants have sunk a Greek bulk carrier ship in the Red Sea.
The Houthis were reportedly submissive in May, following US strikes including B2 bomber raids
"They said please don't bomb us any more and we're not going to attack your ships," Trump said of the Houthis during an Oval Office meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. "And I will accept their word, and we are going to stop the bombing of the Houthis effective immediately." https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-says-us-will-stop-bombing-houthis-after-agreement-struck-2025-05-06/
This will have an adverse effect on AD weapons available to Ukraine and on declining oil prices ^^