quote:

Originally posted by David Lee:
Trying to get my mind around this shit show. Its looking like some of the corrupt buddys are starting to swim around the pond of big money coming to help Ukraine.

Ding, Ding, Ding! We have a winner!
We have provided Ukraine with a TOTAL SHIT TON of cash with no accountability.
Did anyone think it was actually going where we intended it…like offensive/defense type stuff?

These fucking scam artists have seen the money flow in but nothing is going where it should have gone.
It’s been stolen by corrupt politicians - hard to imagine I’m sure - but we can get there with some obvious evidence.
Just compare them to DC politicians and the picture is quite clear.

quote:

Originally posted by KMitch200:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by David Lee:... We have provided Ukraine with a TOTAL SHIT TON of cash...

Slight drift, but related. I am of the very strong opinion:
1) America should NEVER send any cash to other governments
2) If absolutely justifiable we can sell to them at cost on credit US made goods.

quote:

Originally posted by KMitch200:
Did anyone think it was actually going where we intended it…like offensive/defense type stuff?

Whether we're the players or the cheerleaders, we don't win wars, we simply fund conflicts. There's too much money in it for the right people to make for it to be any other way.

"Twelve years of fairy tales": former commander-in-chief Zaluzhnyi says Ukraine will never join NATO

https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/.../2026/08/03/8047090/

Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's ambassador to the UK, has said he does not believe Ukraine will ever become a member of NATO and argued that the country should instead focus on developing other security alliances.

Source: Zaluzhnyi during a discussion on Euro-Atlantic integration at a meeting of ambassadors in Kyiv today, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Zaluzhnyi made his remarks during a discussion among senior diplomats on Euro-Atlantic integration. Although he had been asked to comment on Ukraine's participation in the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), he began by speaking about NATO.

Quote: "I know NATO very well. For about 12 years, I personally worked to ensure that we adopted NATO standards, and every year I listened to fairy tales that we were just about to join NATO. Unfortunately, we will never join!"

Details: Zaluzhnyi argued that one obstacle to Ukraine's NATO accession is that "it is impossible to join an organisation that is guided by World War II doctrines in light of the current capabilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces".

The ambassador was also highly critical of NATO's overall capabilities, despite countries such as the UK and the US being members. "Most likely, NATO will remain in its current form and will spend another 12 years, just as Ukraine did, transitioning to the standards required to reach even half of the Russian Federation's level," he said.

However, Zaluzhnyi acknowledged that "Ukraine needs technologies that NATO countries currently have", including in the fields of anti-ballistic defence, space and so on.

Regarding future security guarantees for Ukraine, he argued that other alliances than NATO could prove more effective: "Ukraine will align itself with blocs and alliances that are likely to emerge. Most probably, this will be a European military security bloc."

Zaluzhnyi also believes membership of the JEF is an effective security mechanism. "The JEF has had command-and-control structures in place since 2015. It's true that they are still weak, they are not yet at the level we need," he said, expressing regret that Ukraine is not working towards joining the JEF.

It is worth noting that the JEF does not currently entail collective defence mechanisms or mutual defence obligations among its members.

Background:

Earlier, the 10 member states of the JEF signed a statement of intent to establish a multinational maritime force to act as a complement to NATO.
Ukraine has already joined the agreement on enhanced partnership with the JEF.

NATO is nothing more than a dumping ground for third world savages.

I find this article to be rather odd.

“The director of the CIA flew to Moscow to warn Russia they need to cut a deal with Ukraine before their military and economic situation worsens.

On Tuesday it was reported that John Ratcliffe made a secret flight amid frenzied speculation about why a US military plane landed in Russia.

Current and former officials have now said Mr Ratcliffe went to deliver the warning to Aleksandr Bortnikov, head of Russia's FSB intelligence service, but made no threats about potential consequences should Russian president Vladimir Putin ignore the CIA's assessment.

The CIA has long questioned whether Putin's advisers give him the whole truth about the invasion's trajectory and toll on the country.

The American agency has also held lines of communication open with both the FSB and Russia's foreign intelligence service, the SVR, for many years.

Separately, Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, have established communication channels with some of Putin's senior advisers.

Officials told the New York Times that Putin, himself a former intelligence official, would take the warning seriously if it came from the CIA director.

Before Mr Ratcliffe spoke with his Ukrainian counterparts before he met Bortnikov in Moscow, assuring them he would not be making concessions on behalf of the Ukrainians. …”

https://mol.im/a/16086769

^^ Why would it be odd to try and bring an end to the War in Ukraine? Perhaps the assessment of the Intelligence Community is that the recent escalations by Ukraine could cause this conflict to spiral dangerously out of control. It's possible Putin is being misled by his advisors, and maybe their intel is indicating that this 'poking the bear' will lead to significant escalation by Russia, like the entire city of Kiev being reduced to a 'smoking hole in the ground'. Trump wants this war to end, and this seems like a prudent effort of geo-political foreign policy.

This is the nub that seems odd to me:

“The CIA has long questioned whether Putin's advisers give him the whole truth about the invasion's trajectory and toll on the country.”

And the CIA thinks that that “the FSB and Russia's foreign intelligence service” wouldn’t know of that deceit, if so?

^^^ It's an interesting development for sure. I wouldn't know who to trust over there, but I do think a visit from Ratcliffe is a positive.

I see the CIA involvement as nothing but what it appears- a dire warning that Russia is losing the conflict on several different levels. A destabilizing Russia is an increasingly desperate Russia.

Russia is spiraling into a war economy that is increasingly going to shit. I couldn’t care less about either country, but find it amusing that the paper bear of Russia is getting wrecked by not only western weapon systems but homemade cruise missiles they can’t stop, flying lawnmowers they can’t seem to counter, and tactics they can’t seem to figure out.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
I find this article to be rather odd.

“The director of the CIA flew to Moscow to warn Russia they need to cut a deal with Ukraine before their military and economic situation worsens.

On Tuesday it was reported that John Ratcliffe made a secret flight amid frenzied speculation about why a US military plane landed in Russia.

I don't think it's odd that Ratcliffe flew to Moscow. I think it's in everyone's interest that this war ends.... Ukraine, Russia, Europe, and the US should all be working to end this.
Of course, none of them trusts the others... so it's difficult to just end it.
Wars end when both sides are exhausted.

https://www.newsmax.com/politi...dkt_nbr=010102epob10

Senior Trump Aides Kept Out of Loop on Ratcliffe's Moscow Trip

CIA Director John Ratcliffe quietly traveled to Moscow this week on a mission personally ordered by President Donald Trump, delivering warnings to senior Russian officials about NATO while pressing the Kremlin on Ukraine and Iran, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The mission was so clandestine that some senior White House officials and military leaders who ordinarily would have been briefed were unaware of it beforehand, according to U.S. officials who spoke with the outlet.

Ratcliffe flew from Latvia to Moscow aboard an unmarked U.S. C-17 military cargo plane.

Trump's decision to send his CIA chief marked another attempt to deal directly with Moscow after previous diplomatic efforts failed to end Russia's war in Ukraine. Russia in recent months has escalated attacks on Ukraine while maintaining ties with Iran.

European officials scrambled for information after learning of Ratcliffe's trip, the Journal reported. Two officials who were later briefed said Ratcliffe stressed to Russian intelligence officials that Washington remained committed to NATO's Article 5 collective-defense provision.

The warning followed U.S. intelligence assessments that Moscow could test NATO's resolve with a limited incursion in the coming years. European officials also have warned that Russia could use Ukrainian drones in a false-flag operation against countries on NATO's eastern flank.

Trump, however, dismissed concerns Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin would attack an alliance member.

He "won't attack NATO territory," Trump told reporters.

Ratcliffe also discussed restarting negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, U.S. and European officials told the Journal. Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's presidential office, said Thursday that talks could resume in September.

The CIA director also pressed Moscow to cut economic and security ties with Iran as the Trump administration intensifies its sanctions campaign against Tehran, according to the report.

Some European leaders sought to tamp down fears of an imminent Russian attack.

"There is currently no reason for concern," Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said in a social media video. "Latvia's level of military threat hasn't changed. The risk of direct military invasion threats to Latvia is currently low."

European officials nevertheless remain concerned about Russia's hybrid campaign against Ukraine's allies, including drones, missiles, cyberattacks, and explosive-filled packages. Some believe Moscow could pose a greater conventional military threat by 2030 after rebuilding forces depleted in Ukraine.

Trump has made ending Russia's invasion a priority of his second term, dispatching special envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow several times and later sending son-in-law Jared Kushner to join him. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg have also participated in diplomatic efforts.

Ratcliffe has previously worked with Moscow to help secure the release of Americans held in Russia, U.S. officials told the Journal.

Former senior U.S. intelligence official J.C. Lintzenich said Ratcliffe's mission was intended to make clear that Trump's peace efforts would not weaken U.S. commitments to Europe.

"Putin has a tolerance for extraordinary risk and is even potentially willing to escalate to compel de-escalation, but he is unlikely to roll the dice on actions that could threaten the Russian state," Lintzenich told the outlet.

Newsmax reached out to the CIA and the White House for comment but did not receive an immediate response from either.

quote:

"Putin has a tolerance for extraordinary risk and is even potentially willing to escalate to compel de-escalation, but he is unlikely to roll the dice on actions that could threaten the Russian state," Lintzenich told the outlet.

Russia Begins Targeting Dual Use Infrastructure in Kyiv, Tens of Thousands Flee the Region

Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin has been remarkably reserved and selective in his targeting, considering the scale and capability of the massively armed nation to obliterate Ukraine metropolitan areas.

Russia absorbed all the Ukraine attacks on Wildberries warehouses for all the reasons CTH previously noted. Ukraine was convinced by western intelligence analysis that destroying the roughly 200 Wildberries distribution centers would cripple the Russian consumer economy. However, increased strikes did not yield the desired results. Duh.

Ukraine then added Ozon to the target list, another online retailer for everyday items similar to Amazon (even with similar name).

Ukraine began targeting Ozon warehouse and distribution centers shortly before they began more parcel and car bomb attacks against strategic Russian military officers.

It’s almost like Western intelligence do not understand how resilient Russian consumers are. Russia is considerably analog in an almost exclusively western digital world. Perhaps that’s the disconnect, but I would think with the cultural connections between both nations, Ukraine would know better.

Then again, is it really Ukraine strategizing the war?

Regardless, Vladimir Putin has now taken the restrictions away from dual use infrastructure in/around Kyiv, and for the past two days Russia has continued to launch relentless volleys of missiles and drones at Kyiv warehouses. Overall, during the two days of Russian attacks, 17 warehouse facilities, 16 private houses, three apartment buildings and 16 vehicles were damaged in Kyiv region. {source} It’s the retaliatory version of FAFO.

Western Ukraine (Kyiv region) is very ‘western’, very western. Eastern Ukraine, not so much. Suddenly the nightclubs, dance clubs and entertainment districts in/around Kyiv (Kiev) are empty.

What is now beginning to be shared on background alternative media is the scope of exodus from Ukraine (picture above left). Thousands of Ukrainians are now fleeing every day.

KYIVPOST -Russian forces struck Nova Poshta warehouse facilities in the Kyiv region early Friday, Aug. 28, then hit the same site twice more as firefighters were battling the resulting blaze, local authorities said.

The initial strike targeted warehouses in the Bilohorodka community, damaging a nearby production facility in Sviatopetrivske, according to Anton Ovsiienko, head of the Bilohorodka village council.

Nearly an hour later, while emergency crews were still fighting the fire, Russian forces launched two more strikes at the same location. Firefighters and other specialists managed to move to a safer area before the additional impacts, Ovsiienko said.

https://theconservativetreehou...-region/#more-286431

And more of Russia's refineries burn.
"Conservative" treehouse is nothing but psyop propaganda.

Russia is getting curb stomped. Otherwise, Ukraine would have fallen within weeks.