© Sputnik
The biggest confirmation from Putin was that Russia was not given any real 'draft treaties' but rather more an informal list of points for discussion — this appears to be what Russian figures were referring to when they said nothing of consequence was really presented to Russia:
Statements by Vladimir Putin regarding the proposed Ukraine peace plans:
- There was no "draft peace treaty," only a set of questions they suggested discussing
- Overall, we agree that this could serve as a basis for future arrangements
- Every word of the peace plan on Ukraine needs to be sat down and discussed seriously
- At present, some points of the plan sound ridiculous
- Russia is ready to formally confirm that it has no intention of attacking Europe
- Russian and Ukrainian intelligence services have always maintained contact; the Abu Dhabi venue is actively used for POW matters
- The appearance of a U.S. representative at the Abu Dhabi talks was unexpected
- U.S. representatives will come to Russia next week
- Russia will cease hostilities only when the Ukrainian Armed Forces leave the occupied territories — or when we achieve our goals militarily
In short, this is Putin's way of downgrading the significance of the 28-point plan to a sort of very preliminary document meant merely for the initiation of serious discussions, rather than serving as some kind of final or pre-final agreement as was being sold by the overly-optimistic US side. This is particularly the case with the Trump team's constant boasting that the war was now extremely close to its end, owing to this "plan" as final catalyst.
This, in essence, is no different to Russia's reaction after Alaska, wherein the US attempted to dress it up as a major turning point toward a final phase of negotiations, while Russia considered it merely an informal and very preliminary chat about negotiations possibilities.
Putin made many other interesting statements of the 'maximalist' variety. Here he fails to suppress a wry smirk after explaining that Russia is quite prepared to "fight to the last Ukrainian", as neocons in the West appear intent to do:
Putin further enumerated the AFU's current prospects by giving us an update on its losses from the official Russian perspective.
He again updates us with interesting figures: Ukraine "lost" 47,500 in October, forcibly mobilized 16,500 and gained 15,000 wounded back from hospital convalescence. So, according to Putin Ukraine is regenerating 31,500 per month while losing 47,500. But are those 47,500 all 'hard' casualties, i.e. KIA and irretrievably wounded? He doesn't specify, but given that he says the gap is growing we can assume from his perspective that number is in fact hard casualties, though it's a little difficult to believe as it would signify over 1,500 per day.
He also gives a battlefield update, particularly on Dimitrov, or Mirnograd, and Krasnoarmeysk, or Pokrovsk:
We can conclude that the initial read from the very beginning — that this entire 'peace plan' charade is nothing more than empty blather — was in fact correct. The Russian side views the various schemes as little else than extremely preliminary starting points for the serious discussions to take place long after.
Putin did again mention in his new presentation that Russia was open to stopping hostilities if Ukrainian forces left Donetsk and Lugansk; I've already described before the game-theoretic value of Putin's gambit on this count, as Russia has virtually nothing to lose to offer this.
Apart from all this back and forth, the war continues as before — nothing has changed. In fact, my operative theory now is that the MSM makes a big deal of this empty spectacle for one purpose only: to use it as a smokescreen to cover the rapid advances and victories of the Russian Armed Forces. By clogging the news cycle with this vapid 'settlement' business that is clear to everyone will go no where, mainstream corporate press outlets get to bury the real lede of Russia's mounting triumphs and the AFU's consequent collapse.
At this point, the only directive from the corporate cabal that controls both the global MSM outlets and the fascist EU apparatus is: buy more time at all costs.
Some are, of course, beginning to at least hint at the inevitabilities, but not before smothering them in totally laughable conceits.
© The EconomistNeocon mouthpiece, The Economist muddies the waters
For instance, again repeating the inane trope that Russia will soon reach pre-collapse escape velocity:
Mr Trump appears to have dropped his demand for a Ukrainian signature before December. He may be frustrated by what comes next. Ukrainian observers think the Kremlin will not be ready to bargain until late winter. That is when Mr Putin will have to decide whether to launch a wider round of conscription, and when Russia's economy will start to feel real stress from falling oil revenues and sanctions.Or this inherently self-contradictory drivel, wherein the Economist on one hand expresses that Ukraine's position is "manageable", with Russians unable to breakthrough, while — without a shred of self-awareness — admitting that Ukraine is running out of soldiers:
Compared with the threat of internal instability, the battlefield can seem almost a secondary concern. Some analysts think Ukraine's position is manageable. Russia has yet to show it can turn its creeping advances into a big breakthrough. "At this pace — and at this cost — there is no way Russia can win strategically," says Andriy Zagorodnyuk, a former defence minister.There's more truth to that last statement than they realize: Russia is poor at "conquering" but is good at destroying the AFU. Zakharova had even just announced that the US is scrambling to backfill Ukraine's depleted forces with mercenaries — this time of the Filipino variety:
But on several important indicators, things are looking worse for Ukraine. It is running out of soldiers. Russian investment in mass-producing drones is paying off: it is choking Ukraine's supply routes behind the front lines. And new weapons in the pipeline — jet-powered strike drones and glide bombs — threaten to make eastern cities like Kharkiv and Dnipro uninhabitable. Russia may be poor at conquering, but it excels at destruction.
"US officials have launched a recruitment campaign in the Philippines to recruit volunteers to fight on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces" — Russia's MFA spokesperson Maria ZakharovaFor his part, Trump was asked why Russia doesn't have to make any concessions in this deal charade, and his response is a familiar one — Russia's main concession is to stop advancing:
She adds that applicants are offered monthly salary of $5,000
The American company RMS International, based in Florida, is recruiting candidates. Preference is given to former employees of the Philippine police and security agencies and retired military personnel," she said.
Inherent to that remark is the understanding that Russia has virtually nothing to gain from these talks because by continuing the war, Russia will gain more and more land; even Trump seems to understand that he's effectively asking Russia for a favor.
Retired Ukrainian Major General Dmytro Marchenko now outlines how far Russia will go:
Russia will retake Kherson and launch an offensive on Nikolaev, predicts former Ukrainian Armed Forces Major General Marchenko.Note that Marchenko was actually in charge of the Kherson and Nikolayev theater when Ukrainian forces had retaken it from Russia — so he knows what he's talking about, and so it lends quite some weight to his present conviction that Russia will likely end up retaking both major cities. And of course, if those were to fall, Odessa would only follow soon after.
They will capture Pokrovsk, then enter the Dnepropetrovsk region, then advance on the Zaporozhye region, then jump across the river and recapture Kherson, then march on Nikolaev. This is what will happen, unfortunately, under this leadership and this attitude toward the war, Marchenko stated.
Read the rest here.
Reader Comments
One bright day, in the middle of the night,
Two dead men got up to fight.
Back to back they faced each other,
Drew their swords and shot each other.
This war is just as ridiculous as the poem.
BTW if anyone wants to read the entire thing, the first line is:
"Ladies and gentlemen, skinny and stout"
No one seems to know who wrote it, but it is really well done. Seems to describe the inside-out, backward times we live in.
Although I vaguely there is a specific name for such a deliberate apposition of oxymorons, but poetry is not really my thing. Perhaps our chief poet Buffoalo-Ken knows ...
Take my current country of residence as example, Austria. In no battle during WWI were the Hungarian, Bohemian, Moravian, or Yugoslavian territories ever conquered by their enemies. But yet, they lost it all at the end. As Nazi Germany lost everything in 1945 it had conquered until then.