A News Aggregator That Covers The World's Major Wars And Conflicts. Military, Political, And Intelligence News Are Also Covered. Occasionally We Will Have Our Own Opinions Or Observations To Make.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently been physically separating himself from staff and other world leaders with big tables. (AP: Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo)
While the United States did not stop the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration seemed to see it coming in extraordinary detail.
In the weeks leading up to the invasion on February 24, as Russia amassed troops and hardware on its neighbour's borders, senior US officials warned an attack was imminent, despite repeated Kremlin denials.
As Russia menaced Ukraine from afar, even the Ukrainian government at times dismissed the build-up as bluster rather than a precursor to war.
Reporters asked US President Joe Biden why he was so convinced that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had decided to invade Ukraine.
"We have a significant intelligence capability," he responded simply.
Mr Biden also claimed to know exactly what Mr Putin had in the pipeline — down to specific dates.
It was as if US intelligence services had tapped into the mind of a foreign leader notorious for guarding his secrets.
So was the US bluffing or did it really know what Russia had planned?
France's military intelligence chief is leaving his post after Paris failed to accurately predict in contrast to other Western allies that Russia would launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, several sources with knowledge of his exit said.
General Eric Vidaud, who has led the Direction of Military Intelligence (DRM) since only last summer, is to immediately step down from his post, a military source, who asked not to be named, told AFP.
The source confirmed a report on the l'Opinion website citing an internal defence ministry investigation that criticised "insufficient briefings" and "failure to master the issues."
The aid that NATO will offer Ukraine is limited. What will be the result of this war in Europe? The military alliance has to think of the future and boost its defenses, says DW's Bernd Riegert.
NATO has to come to terms with a completely new security situation. A new reality, the "new normal," as Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has described it on Thursday.
The Russian attempt to subjugate Ukraine has catapulted the world back a good 30 to 40 years to the Cold War era when highly armed military blocs faced off against each other in the middle of Europe.
Near Kherson, Ukraine — Russian forces were still shelling areas near Ukraine's capital Thursday, two days after Moscow said it would scale back its attack there to facilitate peace talks. Ukraine's president told his people Wednesday night that the fight to repel Russia's invasion had reached a "turning point," and he asked the U.S. for more weapons and other assistance to turn the tide.
In a late-night video address, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cast doubt on Russia's stated decision to "drastically reduce" attacks around Kyiv and the northeast city of Chernihiv. He said Russian forces were building up in his country's eastern Donbas regions in preparation for a major offensive there. Russia has made it clear that it will shift the focus of its "special military operation" to Donbas.
* Russia's Putin last night threatened to close down European gas from today if states refuse to pay in roubles
* He said foreign buyers will have to 'open rouble accounts in Russian banks' which can be used to pay for gas
* According to Gazprom, 58 per cent of its sales of natural gas to Europe as of January 27 were settled in euros
* German Economy Minister Robert Habeck today rejected the demand, saying that it amounted to 'blackmail'
* Deadline to accept demands passed at midnight - but it remains to be seen if Putin to follow through his threat
* Spokesperson for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said companies are not planning to buy Russian gas in roubles
* Putin announced on March 23 that 'unfriendly' states would have to pay in roubles in retaliation for sanctions
The energy crisis dramatically intensified last night as Vladimir Putin threatened to turn off Europe's gas supplies as soon as today if countries refuse to pay in roubles.
The Russian President, announcing a decree in televised remarks yesterday, said foreign buyers would have to 'open rouble accounts in Russian banks' which can be used to pay for 'gas delivered starting from tomorrow'.
'If such payments are not made, we will consider this a default on the part of buyers, with all the ensuing consequences.
Nobody sells us anything for free, and we are not going to do charity either - that is, existing contracts will be stopped,' he said.
U.S. Army Paratroopers assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division walk to their aircraft at Pope Army Airfield, N.C. Feb. 8, 2022. (U.S. Army photo Sgt. Hunter Garcia)
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has decided that thousands of service members deployed to Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will stay in place “for a while longer,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Thursday.
Troops deployed to Poland as part of the 82nd Airborne Division and sailors in the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group sent to the Mediterranean will stay put, Kirby told reporters.
He said the temporary deployments have been extended as Austin “wants to keep his options open” and avoid hard end dates so U.S. officials are “able to monitor the situation on the ground and make the best and most flexible decisions in real time.”
* Moscow claimed Putin's decree had nothing to do with on-going war in Ukraine
* Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said none would be sent to 'hot spots'
* Order came five weeks into Russia's invasion which has run into fierce resistance
* Meanwhile, pro-Russian forces claimed almost total control of Donbas region
* This week, Russia said it would re-focus its military on the separatist region
* NATO said today there was no sign yet that Russian forces are pulling back
President Vladimir Putin has ordered 134,500 more conscripts to join his army as Russia's forces continue to struggle to make significant gains in Ukraine.
The Russian despot signed a decree today ordering the new conscripts into the army as part of Russia's annual spring draft.
Despite Moscow's struggles, the defence ministry claimed the call-up had nothing to do with the war in Ukraine.
The order came five weeks into Russia's invasion, which has run into fierce Ukrainian resistance that has inflicted devastating losses on Moscow's armies.
The president was asked about how misinformed the Russian leader really is about his military’s performance in Ukraine.
President Joe Biden on Thursday offered a notable assessment of the state of Vladimir Putin’s inner circle of advisers, suggesting the Russian leader has “fired or put under house arrest” some of his confidants.
Biden, after speaking about his moves to lower U.S. energy prices, was asked about how misinformed the Russian leader really is about his military’s performance in Ukraine.
The president added that what he was about to say was not with absolute “certainty.”
TBILISI -- The leader of Georgia's Moscow-backed separatist region of South Ossetia, Anatoly Bibilov, says the de facto independent territory is looking to hold a referendum on joining Russia, a move Tbilisi called "unacceptable."
Bibilov said in an interview with Russian state television on March 31 that South Ossetia was holding "consultations" with Russia on holding a referendum on becoming part of Russia.
"I believe that the unification with Russia is our strategic goal. It is our path. And the South Ossetia will move on that path," Bibilov said.
South Ossetia, along with Abkhazia, are Russian-backed separatist regions that have declared independence from Georgia.
Russia on Thursday rejected claims by U.S. intelligence that Russian President Vladimir Putin is being misled about Russia’s military failures in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters at a press briefing on Thursday that “It turns out that neither the State Department nor the Pentagon have real information about what is happening in the Kremlin,” The New York Times reported.
“They do not understand President Putin, they do not understand the decision-making mechanism and they do not understand the efforts of our work,” Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta quoted Peskov as saying.
He added that the Kremlin was concerned about this “complete misunderstanding.”
* President Biden announced the release of 180 million barrels of oil over six month from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve later on Thursday
* He said record high gas prices had two roots: the pandemic and Putin's war
* He will also ask Congress to impose fees on oil and gas companies that lease federal land but are not using permits to produce energy
* And he will use the Defense Production Act to accelerate switch to electric cars
* The White House has been desperately looking at ways to lower fuel prices
* Oil prices have surged since President Putin invaded Ukraine
* At the start of the year the price of a gallon was about about $3.30, while today it is averaging about $4.22
* It would be the largest release in the near 50-year history of the SPR
President Joe Biden said Thursday that record gas prices were caused by the pandemic and Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine as he unveiled a two-pronged plan to increase supply and reduce demand.
He announced he would release a million barrels of oil per day from the nation's strategic reserve for the next six months and accelerate the switch to electric vehicle.
Russia's ruble and banking system are showing continued signs of recovery from the initial punch of sanctions, as Moscow relies on energy exports and currency controls to partly protect the nation's economy.
After initially plummeting, the ruble has rebounded and is edging closer to the value it held before the war began, according to the official exchange rate. And the banking system is gradually stabilizing as panicked customer withdrawals subside, economists say.
Some of the recovery is artificial, made possible by strict limits that the central bank, the Bank of Russia, has placed on currency exchange, withdrawals and hard-currency transfers overseas. But it is also due to a very real factor still working in Russia's favor: strong oil and gas exports that bring a flood of hard currency into the country.
WNU Editor: So much for President Biden's remarks and the media's narrative last week that the Russian ruble and economy was imploding.
A prediction.
With Russia's insistence that their goods must be paid in rubles, we are going to see a situation where most countries in the world will start to establish ruble accounts to pay for the goods that they need from Russia. Since Russia is one of the world's major grain/energy/metals/commodities exporters, and many countries are dependent on these goods, I can easily see the ruble becoming one of the world's major currencies used in trade. From Moscow's perspective. They have everything to gain from this, and nothing to lose.
* Russia's Putin today threatened to close down European gas from tomorrow is states refuse to pay in roubles
* He said foreign buyers will have to 'open rouble accounts in Russian banks' which can be used to pay for gas
* According to Gazprom, 58 per cent of its sales of natural gas to Europe as of January 27 were settled in euros
* German Economy Minister Robert Habeck today rejected the demand, saying that it amounted to 'blackmail'
* Spokesperson for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said companies are not planning to buy Russian gas in roubles
* Putin announced on March 23 that 'unfriendly' states would have to pay in roubles in retaliation for sanctions
Vladimir Putin today threatened to turn off Europe's gas supplies from tomorrow if countries refuse to pay in roubles.
The Russian President, announcing a decree in televised remarks, said foreign buyers would have to 'open rouble accounts in Russian banks' which can be used to pay for 'gas delivered starting from tomorrow'.
'If such payments are not made, we will consider this a default on the part of buyers, with all the ensuing consequences.
Nobody sells us anything for free, and we are not going to do charity either - that is, existing contracts will be stopped,' he said.
WNU editor: The Kremlin Thursday published a presidential decree outlining the mechanism for Europe to buy Russian natural gas. It basically allows foreign buyers to convert their dollars and euros into the Russian currency through a state-controlled bank that is not under sanctions (Gazprom Bank).
Update: I just heard on Russian news that Gazprom Bank, a Russian state-owned bank that is not under sanctions and is the institution that will be used to convert Euros to rubles, is going to be facing sanctions in the coming days from the U.S.. If that happens, I am 100% certain that Russia will stop all shipments of natural gas and oil to Europe.
If natural gas and oil shipments to Europe are cut-off, it will be a disaster for the European economy. Europe will be facing energy rationing, exploding inflation to levels that have not been seen for decades, high interest rates that most European countries cannot afford, and high unemployment. This will be a continent-wide crisis with global consequences.
My prediction is that nothing will be done now. But in the coming months (probably at the end of summer) Russia will be putting the squeeze on Europe and other countries to pay for their energy/food/and other commodities in rubles. The next 4 - 6 months are going to be very stressful for every European government.
Russian President Putin Tells Europe To Pay In Rubles For Russian Energy Exports
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday rejected opposition calls for him to resign, and accused an unnamed Western country of backing moves to oust him because he had visited Moscow recently for talks with President Vladimir Putin.
Khan, 69, has faced mounting criticism of his performance, including his management of a troubled economy of the nuclear armed country.
On Sunday, he faces a tough parliamentary no-confidence vote seeking to oust him from power.
"I have never accepted defeat in life.
Whatever the result of the vote, I will come forward with more strength," Khan said in a nationally televised live address.
* The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on an Iran-based man and his network of companies it accused of helping Tehran obtain materials for its ballistic missile program.
* The U.S. Treasury Department said it acted after Iran’s missile attack on Erbil in Iraq and an “Iranian enabled” Houthi missile attack against a Saudi Aramco facility this month, as well as other missile attacks by Iranian proxies against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on an Iran-based man and his network of companies it accused of helping Tehran obtain materials for its ballistic missile program, acting after missile attacks by suspected Iranian-backed proxies on countries in the region.
In a statement issued as talks on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal have stalled, the U.S. Treasury Department said it acted after Iran’s missile attack on Erbil in Iraq and an “Iranian enabled” Houthi missile attack against a Saudi Aramco facility this month, as well as other missile attacks by Iranian proxies against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
* The U.S. included 100 killer drones called Switchblades in an arms package to Ukraine.
* Ukraine requested the equipment as it fights off a Russian invasion.
* President Joe Biden approved a massive defense aid package earlier this month.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. included 100 killer drones in a colossal weapons package for Ukraine that President Joe Biden approved earlier this month, U.S. officials confirmed Wednesday.
Celeste Wallander, assistant secretary of Defense for international security affairs, told lawmakers that Kyiv asked for the weapons, which are dubbed “kamikaze drones,” as it fights off a Russian invasion.
“We have committed 100 Switchblade tactical unmanned aerial systems to be delivered in the most recent package of presidential drawdown,” Wallander said in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee.
* Gen Tod Walters, head of Europe Command, appeared before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday and answered questions about Ukraine
* He described being part of a 'deter and dissuade' effort to prevent invasion
* He admitted that the strategy failed under questioning
* But President Biden has denied that sanctions layered on Moscow had been designed to prevent a Russian invasion of Ukraine
The commander of U.S. forces in Europe on Wednesday admitted that Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine showed that the Biden administration's efforts to 'deter and dissuade' the Russian leader had failed.
During the run-up to the invasion, President Joe Biden worked with allies to step up sanctions on Moscow and position troops to strengthen N.A.T.O.'s eastern flank.
Biden himself said it was not part of a deterrence effort last week, but appearing before members of Congress his commander in Europe, Gen. Tod Wolters, offered a different assessment as Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher probed the strategy.
WNU Editor: The Biden administration's approach to Russia and Ukraine in the months leading to the war was to focus on giving Ukraine a military deterrence that would make the cost of war too high for Russia.
But as regular readers of this blog know. The solution to the Ukraine crisis has always been the same .... the need to reach a diplomatic agreement to end the conflict in Ukraine's Donbas.
What is maddening to me is that the ingredients to end the crisis were already present via through the Minsk II agreement that Russia, Germany, France, and Ukraine had signed in 2015. If Ukraine had implemented that agreement, accepted NATO's decision that Ukraine will not be admitted, and worked to meet the EUs requirement that Ukraine must resolve their conflict in eastern Ukraine before being considered for admission, I am 99% sure that we would not be at war today.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says Russia doesn't appear to be scaling back its military operations in Ukraine, but is instead redeploying forces to join attacks in the eastern Donbas region. https://t.co/DJwrC1AL0N
#UPDATE Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, setting off the worst conflict in Europe in decades.@AFP looks back on five weeks of fighting that has killed thousands of civilians and sent four million people fleeing abroadhttps://t.co/7x1YccGTUD
Ukrainian troops say they have recaptured the town of Irpin, near Kyiv. Residents are now sharing harrowing tales of their experiences under Russian occupation. pic.twitter.com/w59rTrCbHa
Russian technology workers are fleeing the country by the tens of thousands as the economy goes into a tailspin under pressure from international sanctions. For some countries, Russia’s loss is seen as their potential gain. https://t.co/yKocucKjec
