Russia Invades Ukraine 2022

[temporal1]

Trump is consistent in believing healthy commerce is an effective and practical means to STOP KILLING.
He wants to create WIN-WIN situations where all involved are invested in constructive outcomes.

In general, i like WIN-WIN philosophies, they make a lot of sense in many or most situations, minor to major.
It doesn’t require Christianity, i don’t think it’s at odds with Christianity.

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i’m seeing reports P+Z are continuing strikes against each other.
ideologies and passions can make reason impossible.

[Ernie]

I wonder the same thing.

This article sheds some light.
https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/russia ... _permalink

I don't have a WSJ account. Could you summarize it?

I thought that the link above was going to allow the public to read but perhaps there is a limit on how many opens a gifted article is allowed to have.

Summary:
Make Money Not War: Trump’s Real Plan for Peace in Ukraine
The Kremlin pitched the White House on peace through business. To Europe’s dismay, the president and his envoy are on board.

The Kremlin has pitched to the White House a plan to use business deals — especially in energy and rare-earth minerals — as leverage toward a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.

According to WSJ, some of the U.S.’s highest-level business-connected figures — including associates of the administration — held meetings with Russian operatives to discuss these deals, positioning American companies to profit if sanctions are eased.

The proposals reportedly include tapping hundreds of billions in previously frozen Russian central-bank assets (now held in Europe), to fund reconstruction investments and joint ventures — especially in fossil-fuel and resource sectors.

For Moscow, the strategy seems designed to recast Russia not as a pariah in a war but as a country with lucrative business potential — a shift that could redraw the economic architecture not just of Russia, but of Europe more broadly.

The article implies that this “business-first peace” approach is controversial — especially in Europe — where many are concerned that such deals might undercut Ukraine’s position or reward Russia for aggression.

As they say... Follow the money...

[Ernie]

Broad European response: cautious, critical — and demanding a bigger role

Most European capitals have voiced concern that the original plan put forward by Donald Trump and his envoys was too favourable to Russia — especially on key issues like territorial concessions, restrictions on Ukraine’s armed forces, and blocking Ukraine’s possible NATO membership.

In response, the group of European powers (particularly the “E3”: Germany, France and United Kingdom) drafted a counter-proposal. Their version modifies or removes several of the most controversial elements — reaffirming Ukrainian sovereignty, rejecting forced territorial concessions, and insisting on security guarantees rather than forced demilitarization.

According to the official Western-leaders’ statement after the first reactions: the U.S. plan “can be a basis” for talks — but “needs additional work.” That reflects a balancing act: Europe doesn’t want to outright torpedo a peace attempt, but neither does it want to endorse what many see as capitulation to Russia.

European leaders also emphasized that any peace agreement must include Ukraine’s meaningful input and preserve its sovereignty, not be “dictated” in a way that locks in Russian gains.

In short: the reaction in Europe is not monolithic “yes” or “no.” There is cautious openness to negotiation — but a strong insistence on red lines, and deep skepticism of any deal that looks like rewarding Russian aggression.

AI summaries

[temporal1]

“In short,” sad as it is, with lives at stake, EGOS dominate. Old as time.

[mike]

First trilateral talks. This, I guess, is a little progress.

[JohnH]

I recently held tripartite talks which we call the “East Rochester accords”; both parties presented their case. One felt justified in engaging with force due to an incursion on his territory including seizure of his property. The other protested that “He hit me!” as justification for striking back.

After unsuccessful negotiations including an attempt to return said property without the use of force, overwhelming force was applied; the property was placed into a charitable trust for future disbursement, known as “Too high to reach”, but unavailable until both sides made sincere letters of apology to one another. A “sorry for hitting” with a glare was adjudicated by an independent third party, the Multinational Organization for Mediation, to be insufficient sincere.

There were later reports of further hostilities, and a resolution was adopted to send the parties to Siberia (also known as the back yard) and go sledding on the hill there.

[R7ehr]

I recently held tripartite talks which we call the “East Rochester accords”; both parties presented their case. One felt justified in engaging with force due to an incursion on his territory including seizure of his property. The other protested that “He hit me!” as justification for striking back.

After unsuccessful negotiations including an attempt to return said property without the use of force, overwhelming force was applied; the property was placed into a charitable trust for future disbursement, known as “Too high to reach”, but unavailable until both sides made sincere letters of apology to one another. A “sorry for hitting” with a glare was adjudicated by an independent third party, the Multinational Organization for Mediation, to be insufficient sincere.

There were later reports of further hostilities, and a resolution was adopted to send the parties to Siberia (also known as the back yard) and go sledding on the hill there.

If only M.O.M. had done a better job decades ago, perhaps Trump and Putin and Zelensky would have turned out better.

[temporal1]

2026: 4 years on

Continuing prayers for resolution.

Reuters / Four years of war: On the ground in Ukraine
https://www.reuters.com/podcasts/four-y ... 026-02-21/


Scripps / Russia Desperate on Battlefield After Elon Musk Cuts Starlink Access / -2min

A single frame — a technician climbing a tower as an FPV drone closes in — tells a bigger story about Russia’s scramble to restore battlefield communications. Earlier this month, Ukraine asked Elon Musk to cut Russian military access to SpaceX’s Starlink internet.

The Russians had thousands of unauthorized terminals, smuggled through Dubai and former Soviet republics, activated in legal countries, then brought into the war zone. Musk complied, and the impact was immediate: military bloggers sounded the alarm, saying there are no alternatives. Russian forces are now improvising — building repeaters and relay stations, and sending technicians up towers to keep drone feeds and communications alive.

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i hope Ukraine is reviewed for waste+fraud by [DOGE/DOGE-adjacent investigations] currently going on in the U.S., Somalia.
At least $100 billion has been in question for some time. https://forum.mennonet.com/viewtopic.ph ... &start=970

[Ernie]

https://www.wsj.com/world/russia-lures- ... _permalink

Africans duped into feeding the meat grinder.

Russia has expended 242 people for every square mile of territory it has gained during the war.

[Jazman]

https://www.wsj.com/world/russia-lures- ... _permalink

Africans duped into feeding the meat grinder.

Russia has expended 242 people for every square mile of territory it has gained during the war.

I've been to Russia, I love the people, I love some of its culture... but I do not understand the thinking of their leaders... What a brain-dead way to "make Russia (er USSR) great again" (that is the only motivation I can deduce) Around the turn of the century they had this window of opportunity, where things were opening up; where they could have formed permanent cultural and mutually beneficial trading partnerships with their neighbors... And it benefited the majority of the regular main street people...
And Putin plays with that for a bit, but apparently all as a guise to build up to going backwards to the USSR? He and some others must be extremely brainwashed to believe that getting back to the USSR days would make things better for him and his people; that its stature in the world and its economy! and opportunity etc etc would some how rise higher than it was in the late 90's/early aughts... Instead it's a bloodbath, a stalemate, an isolated pariah state trudging ever downward... almost universally scorned... an entity that many don't want to deal with... so sad - the stupidity. of arrogant nostalgia...