Bearbock is dumbass fool nearly identical to Liz Truss ... both had nothing to bring to the table in Moscow except a rant of NATO grievances. Lavrov did not waste his time on both lady Foreign Ministers. That was in the crucial period of Dec-Jan. 2022.

Baerbock is imply repeating the narrative she got from Biden-blinken-Austin and Stoltenber

The U.S. aim for the war is, as Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in April 2022, to 'weaken Russia

Overthrow of Putin and weaken Russia ... it's NATO's war.

The West never was interested to meet Putin on his concerns. No surprise Biden knew war was coming.


'Sapere aude'

Annalena a pain in the ass, not just for Lavrov, but more so for Scholz. 😁

She announced the delivery of tanks for the war in Ukraine ... a few days before the Chancellor made the decision. The condition depended on the cooperation of the White House to deliver Abrams tanks. These decisions are not made by the Minister of Defense, but the responsibility of the Chancellor in war time. No decision making role for Ms. Baerbock.

It is quite natural to say we are at war with Russia. These are quotes of what she heard from Blinken and the military of the Pentagon and Stoltenberg. The war narrative for the outside world is a different one of course ... a true warrior with balls. Fearless Amazon well versed by the Atlantic Council ... Washington must be proud,

Atlantic Council and Annalena Baerbock

Annalena Baerbock's message to America: She's in sync with Biden ... not with the German voter.

'Sapere aude'

To illustrate the point, let me draw your attention to the preamble

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, on behalf of the Ukrainian people -- citizens of Ukraine of all nationalities [...] adopts this Constitution -- the Fundamental Law of Ukraine."

(translators COE.int, 1996; justice.gov, 2004; rada.gov.ua, retrieved 26.01.23)

juxtaposed with demographic terminology employed for 2001 Ukraine census

The peculiarity of the national structure of the population of Ukraine is its multinational composition. According to All-Ukrainian population census data, the representatives of more than 130 nationalities and ethnic groups live on the territory of the country. The data about the most numerous nationalities of Ukraine are mentioned below:

and the government's violent struggles to discriminate between Russian "nationality", legal rights of "ethnic-Russian" citizens wherever resident, and Russian-speaking ethnic-Tatar and -Greek captives of Crimea who twice fielded referendums to secede from Ukraine's "nationalist" regimes since 1991.

The salient point is, previailing concept of a nation, or political union, called Ukraine cannot follow from methodical destruction of its constituents.

US State | Significant New U.S. Military Assistance to Ukraine, 19 Jan "lethal aid"

The United States is announcing a significant new security assistance package to help Ukraine continue to defend itself against Russia's brutal war. Pursuant to a delegation of authority from the President, I am authorizing our 30th ["]drawdown["] of U.S. arms and equipment for Ukraine since August 2021. This ["]assistance package["] will provide Ukraine with hundreds of additional armored vehicles, including Stryker armored personnel carriers, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, and High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled vehicles. ["]The package["] also includes critical additional air defense support for Ukraine, including more Avenger air defense systems, and surface to air missiles, as well as additional munitions for NASAMS that the United States has previously provided. The package also contains night vision devices, small arms ammunition, and other items to support Ukraine as it bravely defends its people, its sovereignty, and its territorial integrity.

This package, which totals $2.5 billion, will bring total [?] U.S. military assistance for Ukraine to an unprecedented approximately $27.5 billion since the beginning of the Administration [FALSE].
[...]

Pause here to recall the dismal performance of US press "accountability" and "transparency" bureaus in relating to consitutuents Congressional appropriations and procedural "obligation" thereby instituted at the discretion of the several executive agencies' secretaries in periodic debits. One cannot be too certain whether or not Blinken refers specifically to State Department's "unprecedented" budget or sum of a joint account even when one traces pulp fiction to the letter of the law. Here, organs of civility and militancy merge without fanfare.

I am grateful to Congress for continuing to provide this increased drawdown authority, most recently under the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023 that was [belated amendment to the tardy FY 2023 "omnibus" bill] signed into law by the President in December 2022.

The bill provides appropriations to several federal departments and agencies, including

the Department of Justice,
the Department of Defense,
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
the Department of Health and Human Services,
the Department of State,
the U.S. Agency for International Development,
the Department of Agriculture, and
the Department of the Treasury.

[...]
Russia alone could end this war today. Until it does so, we will stand United with Ukraine for as long as it takes.

Quick! FIGHT to increase federal credit limit and extort service fees from wayward "partners".
archived Thu Dec 22nd, 2022 4,155 pp draft, a delay in obligation in US Congress impeaches self

hum... I suppose you have a clear idea as to what could have been done to stop Russia from invading Ukraine?

How about explaining it in a couple of succinct paragraphs in your own words?

[And if it's "implement Minsk", then consider the possibility that the non-cooperation or the separatist side may have been a deliberate tactic piloted by Putin]

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II}

US approves $10B arms sale to Poland as Ukraine war rages on, 9 Feb

The State Department notified Congress that the sale comprises mid-range, mobile HIMARS artillery rocket systems, associated ammunition[,] and related equipment.
[...]
The department said the sale would support U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives by bolstering the defensive capabilities of a NATO ally. The department also said Poland is a force for political stability and economic progress in Europe.

"The proposed sale will improve Poland's military goals of updating capability while further enhancing interoperability with the United States and other allies," it said.
[...]

Retrieving digital files dated > 30 years and, more recently—post-911 rash of subscriber circulation coupled to G7 message hygiene policies— articles archived by the "Wayback Machine" innerboob crawler is an old hat hack for some, not I.

I've only noticed two associated URLs after a month of casual (post, get) trial 'n' error: archive.is and archive.org. *.org failed both tests, and this very morning, *.org not only refused certain HTTP requests, that server responded with a HTTP 505 "suspicious activity" error message. May be or not traced to persistent Chrome client cookie data. (I might or might not look into that. I'm not the cumpulsive sort given to circumventing slide-rule "Big Data" knowledge management with proxy DNS or VPN. I'm the sort who still drinks unfiltered tap water so I know with whom I'm dealing.)

Conversely, *.is delivered Bloomberg "Hints at Russian Involvement in Swedish Koran Burning" (28.01.23). Hold that thought. YLE media finished months of unmet demands for not 4, 33, or 73 but 120 trrrst extraditions from SE, HISTORIC neutrality, biomass carbon sinks, and free press indemnity with "Court finds two HS journalists guilty of disclosing state secrets. This week, YLE media is already struggling to translate Erdoğan hints into the cost of two-speed, dues-paying NATO membership believed to secure Finland's national security messaging system.

ICYMI, Daily Sabah quotes Erdoğan's cryptic statement in part, in *-Eng.

"We may deliver Finland a different message (on their NATO application) and Sweden would be shocked when they see our message. But Finland should not make the same mistake Sweden did," Erdoğan said in a televised speech aired on Sunday [29.01.23].

He also repeated his demand for Sweden to hand over suspects sought by Ankara. "If you absolutely want to join NATO, you will return these terrorists to us," Erdoğan said. "We gave Sweden a list of 120 persons and told them to extradite those terrorists in their country. If you don't extradite them, then sorry about that," Erdoğan added.

I for one will be immensely entertained should Erdoğan reveal a list of fugitives who've since uhh migrated from SE to FI. To further f* with the charade of invoilate NATO by-laws, benefits, and procedures is after all his style.

Biden says U.S. won't be providing F-16s to Ukraine, 30 Jan

...Kyiv has made it clear it would like to have fighter jets such as the F-16s, a hope renewed by the U.S. announcing last week the approval of the transfer of M1 Abrams fighter tanks. Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine's defense minister, told CNBC last week, "We will get F-16s." ...

archived Sat Mar 5th, 2022

And since no U.S. or other NATO nations will send troops into the country [FALSE]

[reference needed]

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II}

Sky | Ukraine 'shows tanks are still needed on the battlefield' - but UK numbers have plummeted, 30 Jan Bleak House

...[UK Defence Select Committee chair] Tobias Ellwood told Sky News' Kay Burley that the capability of the armed forces has been "whittled down", giving the example that two decades ago the UK had 900 tanks but is now looking at going down to 148.

He said the UK should be "very concerned" after an exclusive report from Sky's security and defence editor Deborah Haynes that a US general had warned the UK's armed forces are no longer top-tier....

tabloid Sun Mirror | SUB STANDARD Nuclear security alert after botched attempt to fix Trident submarine with super glue, 30 Jan GRAPHIC WARNING

The bodged repairs to vital cooling pipes were only discovered when one bolt fell off during checks aboard the 16,000-ton HMS Vanguard.
[...]
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace demanded a meeting and "assurances about future work" after The Sun raised the alarm. A Navy source said [Wallace] was furious Babcock, one of the UK's biggest defence contractors, failed to come clean with the Navy.
[...]

(American) legion.org | Why Ukraine's 'MacGyver' military is winning, 15 Dec 2022 "meme"

...Now, compare the reactions of Russians being coerced into a war of aggression with the reactions of Ukrainians. In the former, those who have the means are fleeing, and those without the means are hiding, shooting themselves to avoid combat, refusing to fight, and killing their commanding officers. In the latter, a people's army of shopkeepers and artists, young women and old men, students and soldiers, farmers and techies are rushing to the fight, picking up weapons, and crafting their own makeshift weapons to defend their country and cause. From Kiev during those crucial first days of the war, to Kharkiv this past summer, to Kherson today and into Crimea tomorrow, they are winning the war Putin began....

sofrep | Combat Sandbox: Ukraine's 'MacGyver Army' Tests Western Weaponry "meme", 11 Jan instance
reference
MacGyver (2016-2021) secret agent
MacGyver (1985-1992) secret agent
archived Fri Feb 4th, 2022 in Blinken Sounding Out EU Appetite for War, Tue Mar 8th, 2022, Today -100: April 28, 1917

thedefensepost | Estonia Sending All Its 155-mm Howitzers to Ukraine, 24 Jan

...Estonia currently operates 24 NATO standard FH-70 towed howitzers. Apart from the howitzers, Tallinn will send thousands of 155-mm artillery shells and hundreds of Karl-Gustaf anti-tank grenade launchers.
[...]
Estonia's defense minister Hanno Pevkur assured its people that the decision to send its 24 FH-70s to Ukraine would not affect the country's national defense because Tallinn is transitioning to K9 self-propelled howitzers produced by South Korea. The Estonian Ministry of Defense signed a contract last year for 12 K9 artillery systems.

F24 | 4:42pm: French Caesar artillery system announcement, 31 Jan

"They've been very successful in Ukraine, so the Ukrainians will be delighted, I am sure, to get another 12. I think that brings that total to over 40 now, closing on 50 Caesars in Ukraine. And the fact that the French are stepping up their training of Ukrainian troops will be welcome too. It's not just the French who are doing it; the British are contributing even more, I think, to the training [?!] than the French are."

Politico | [Alexander] Vindman leads new push to send military contractors to Ukraine, 2 Feb

The Trump impeachment figure is raising money to help with vehicle and weapons repairs on the front lines.
[...]
A group of former military officers and private donors is raising money to send Western mechanics close to the Ukrainian frontlines, where they will repair battle-damaged donated weapons and vehicles that have been flooding into the country.
[...]
Vindman's group has secured enough private funding to launch a pilot project in March, and has some backing from at least one company, which declined to be named but confirmed to POLITICO their interest in getting parts and material to Ukraine for more rapid repairs.

archived Twin Lts. Colonel Vindmans in US Congress impeaches self

DICTION CORNER (US-English): Tue Sep 28th, 2021

DYK the British fiance wags call debt "leverage"? And interest rate demanded "gearing"?
(Being a US-Eng. speaker, I had to translate this for my sanity in the first weeks of LBS befor 9/11 "changed everything".)

DKY that the EU27 + UK had run a trade balance surplus with the US over 10 years before The Pandemic®? (You can look up top line USD-denominated figures at US Commerce.) That's why I keep tabs on FX pairs (not indices) so you don't have to: parity watch

DKY that US-Eng. synonyms for "leverage" run the gamut from "black mail" and US Congressional votes to "cash money"? That is anything but a mechanical lever.

A typical example of projection of own shortcomings ... mirror his statements to the losses and failures on UA side ... 8 years of association with the best NATO can supply ... training and the logistics coordinated by NATO Ramstein ... greatest adversary is Lvov neo-Nazis and Kyiv corruption.

Coming weeks will likely be a pivot ... who has the experience and battle hours on Leopard, Abram tanks ...  Ukraine AF pilots training on F-16 simulators for Top Gun dog fights over Ukrainian territory?

Easier for Zelensky to win an Oscar in Hollywood. Nobel Peace prize ... only through bribery or political bullying.

'Sapere aude'

Ukinform | Kyiv, London in talks on production of British weaponry in Ukraine - media, 12 Feb "great powers competition"

...That's according to The Telegraph, Ukrinform reports.

Senior UK defense industry officials are discussing the plans with their Ukrainian counterparts. British executives have visited Kyiv with a view to setting up joint ventures that would manufacture arms and vehicles locally under license. According to the article, other European defense companies are also in talks with Ukraine, with British companies keen not to be beaten to the punch by French and German rivals. A race is on to put the UK "at the front of the queue," one executive told The Telegraph. The move would allow Ukraine to maintain jobs for its tens of thousands of defense workers as it shifts from Russian designed armaments to NATO-standard arms....

Denmark hands over all of its CAESAR howitzers to Ukraine, 13 Feb

The relevant statement was made by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry on Twitter, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Denmark has given Ukraine all of its CAESAR self-propelled howitzers. A true friend who knows that our fight is Europe's fight. Tak, Danmark!" the ministry wrote.

President Zelensky believes Ukraine will join NATO after victory, 13 Feb

...The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensk* at a meeting with senior members of the U.S. largest investment bank, J.P. Morgan, and an online investment summit organized by J.P. Morgan, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"We believe we will join NATO sooner than all the leaders decide that our package of security guarantees is the right one. Because they make decisions slowly, it is red tape... I believe we will be in NATO after victory," Zelensk* said....

archive.ph | Suspected Iranian Weapons Seized by U.S. Navy May Go to Ukraine, 14 Feb booty

The U.S. military is considering sending Ukraine thousands of seized weapons and more than a million rounds of ammunition once bound for Iran-backed fighters in Yemen, an unprecedented step that would help Kyiv battle Russian forces, U.S. and European officials said.

U.S. officials said they are looking at sending Ukraine more than 5,000 assault rifles, 1.6 million rounds of small arms ammunition, a small number of antitank missiles, and more than 7,000 proximity fuses seized in recent months off the Yemen coast from smugglers suspected of working for Iran.
[...]
"The war in Ukraine is consuming an enormous amount of munitions and depleting allied stockpiles," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday, on the eve of the meetings. "The current rate of Ukraine's ammunition expenditure is many times higher than our current rate of production. This puts our defense industries under strain."
[...]
U.S. military officials began seriously considering the idea late last year after the U.S. Navy seized a million rounds of ammunition on board a fishing boat traveling from Iran to Yemen, the officials said. A few weeks later, the American military seized more than 2,000 AK-47s from a small fishing boat in the Gulf of Oman. In mid-January, French forces found 3,000 assault rifles, nearly 600,000 rounds and more than 20 antitank rockets on board another fishing boat in the Gulf of Oman.
[...]

WSJ | U.S. Watchdogs Want to Deploy Staff to Ukraine War Zone to Track Arms, Aid Up Close, 17 Feb

Inspectors general from the Pentagon, State Department[,] and the U.S. Agency for International Development [USAID] said in a joint interview with The Wall Street Journal that, thus far, they have been able to conduct critical oversight tasks remotely using personnel based in Washington, Poland[,] and Germany.

But following a trip by the trio to Kyiv in late January, they said they would press to put some of the 177 auditors and investigators scrutinizing Ukraine aid on the ground in Ukraine. The Biden administration has limited the number of government personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv for security reasons.
[...]
The officials said that, while it is early days, they had thus far received no reports of major fraud or illegality involving U.S. assistance to Ukraine ... But they also acknowledged that the sheer size of the American aid package, and the speed with which it has been appropriated by Congress, presents challenges.
[...]
Ms. Angarella [deputy USAID inspector general] said[,] she was the only person from USAID's inspector general office who has gone to Kyiv since Russia's full-scale invasion last year. ... While most public attention has been on the possible misuse or diversion of U.S. weaponry, Ms. Angarella said her primary concern is the more than $20 billion the U.S. is sending to Ukraine via the World Bank to keep its government [solvent] and pay civil servants' salaries.
[...]
Rep. Victoria Spartz (R., Ind.), the only Ukrainian-born member of Congress, said she welcomed plans for auditors on the ground, but added that more needs to be done....