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The G7 and the subsequent Swiss 'Bürgenstock Conference' can - in retrospect - be understood as preparation for a prolonged Ukraine war. The three centrepiece announcements emerging from the G7 - the 10 year Ukraine security pact; the $50 'billion Ukraine loan'; and the seizing of interest on Russian frozen funds - make the point. The war is about to escalate.
These stances were intended as preparation of the western public ahead of events. And in case of any doubts, the blistering belligerency towards Russia emerging from the European election leaders was plain enough:
They sought to convey a clear impression of Europe preparing for war.What then lies ahead? According to White House Spokesman John Kirby:
"Washington's position on Kiev is "absolutely clear":"First, they've got to win this war"."They gotta win the war first. So, number one: We're doing everything we can to make sure they can do that. Then when the war's over ... Washington will assist in building up Ukraine's military industrial base".If that was not plain, the U.S. intent to prolong and take the war deep into Russia was underlined by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan: "
Authorization for Ukrainian use of American weapons for cross-border attacks extends to anywhere [from which] Russian forces are coming across the border". He affirmed, too, that Ukraine can use F-16s to attack Russia and use U.S. supplied air defence systems "
to take down Russian planes - even if in Russian airspace - if they're about to fire into Ukrainian airspace".Ukrainian pilots have the latitude to judge '
the intent' of Russian fighter aircraft? Expect the parameters of this 'authorisation' to widen quickly - deeper to air bases from which Russian fighter bombers launch.
Understanding that the war is about to transform radically - and extremely dangerously - President Putin (in his
speech to the Foreign Ministry Board) detailed just how the world had arrived at this pivotal juncture - one which could extend to nuclear exchanges.
The gravity of the situation itself demanded the making of one 'last chance' offer to the West, which Putin emphatically said was "
no temporary ceasefire for Kiev to prepare a new offensive;
nor was it about freezing the conflict"; but rather, his proposals were
about the war's final completion.
"If, as before, Kiev and western capitals refuse it - then at the end, that's their business", Putin said.
Just to be clear,
Putin almost certainly never expected the proposals to be received in the West other than by the scorn and derision with which they, in fact, were met. Nor would Putin trust - for a moment - the West not to renege on an agreement, were some arrangement to be reached on these lines.If so, why then did President Putin make such a proposal last weekend, if the West cannot be trusted and its reaction was so predictable?
Comment: The defamation case is not to prove whether Brigitte Macron is a man or not, it is to rule whether Rey allegedly falsified documents, so if Macron and her brother win the case, it doesn't mean a fat lot. See also:
And you can see the original here: