The War in Ukraine

[KevinB]

If that was some fortifications being built in Bavaria, I’d agree but since it’s being built in Finland, a frontline state against Russia, I’m giving them kudos for preparing for the worst.

Better to kill as many as we enable the Ukrainians to now, than build the Maginot Line 2.0

 

[Blackadder1916]

Better to kill as many as we enable the Ukrainians to now, than build the Maginot Mannerheim Line 2.0

FTFY

Mannerheim Line - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[brihard]

The Trump/Putin summit just ended. They both made a brief statement at the end and took no questions. The one real takeaway is no deal has been reached yet, and no ceasefire. Trump said he’ll be calling NATO, Zelensky et al soon, and both said they’ll be talking again and looking to move forward. Trump painted a fairly cautious picture of having made progress, but it’s one major and several other smaller points remaining unresolved.

So yeah. No resolution achieved today. Trump seemed tired and not particularly happy- much more low key than usual.

 

[MrWhyt]

No resolution achieved today.

trump once more failed to end the war that he once claimed he could end in 24 hours?! I'm shocked, shocked, etc...

 

[Blackadder1916]

The Trump/Putin summit just ended. They both made a brief statement at the end and took no questions. The one real takeaway is no deal has been reached yet, and no ceasefire. Trump said he’ll be calling NATO, Zelensky et al soon, and both said they’ll be talking again and looking to move forward. Trump painted a fairly cautious picture of having made progress, but it’s one major and several other smaller points remaining unresolved.

So yeah. No resolution achieved today. Trump seemed tired and not particularly happy- much more low key than usual.

But the war criminal Putin seemed almost giddy. He got his smiling face being warmly welcomed by Trump who then ushered him into the presidential limo. Guess that Vlad not wanting to use lube for this encounter may account for Trump's appearance of discomfort.

https://www.npr.org/2025/08/15/nx-s1-5502460/trump-putin-alaska-summit-ukraine

 

[lenaitch]

These guys look mildly happy about the whole thing... then again, a good cuppa and a fag go a long way too


View attachment 95160

The Trump/Putin summit just ended. They both made a brief statement at the end and took no questions. The one real takeaway is no deal has been reached yet, and no ceasefire. Trump said he’ll be calling NATO, Zelensky et al soon, and both said they’ll be talking again and looking to move forward. Trump painted a fairly cautious picture of having made progress, but it’s one major and several other smaller points remaining unresolved.

So yeah. No resolution achieved today. Trump seemed tired and not particularly happy- much more low key than usual.

Pretty tough to swallow (pun intended?) for the greatest negotiator in all of human history.

 

[daftandbarmy]

The Trump/Putin summit just ended. They both made a brief statement at the end and took no questions. The one real takeaway is no deal has been reached yet, and no ceasefire. Trump said he’ll be calling NATO, Zelensky et al soon, and both said they’ll be talking again and looking to move forward. Trump painted a fairly cautious picture of having made progress, but it’s one major and several other smaller points remaining unresolved.

So yeah. No resolution achieved today. Trump seemed tired and not particularly happy- much more low key than usual.

But he still gets the Nobel Peace Prize, right?

Trump told Norwegian minister he wants Nobel Prize, newspaper says​

Trump told Norwegian minister he wants Nobel Prize, newspaper says

When U.S. President Donald Trump called Norway's finance minister last month to discuss tariffs, he also told him he wanted the Nobel Peace Prize, Norwegian business daily Dagens Naeringsliv reported on Thursday.

www.reuters.com

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

Maybe I am just paranoid (but am I paranoid enough?), but I suspect that, even though we didn't see them, to foster amity , Trump let the Russians bring their own film crew and all. Then, he parades Putin right in front of some F-35's loaded with TS gear, none of which (other than the engine intakes) appears to be covered. Western journalist are probably not even paying attention, as it is background noise to them, but the Russian medias - some of which must be spies in disguise - are probably going "Bazinga! Get me lots of high-def close up pics".

 

[Czech_pivo]

Maybe I am just paranoid (but am I paranoid enough?), but I suspect that, even though we didn't see them, to foster amity , Trump let the Russians bring their own film crew and all. Then, he parades Putin right in front of some F-35's loaded with TS gear, none of which (other than the engine intakes) appears to be covered. Western journalist are probably not even paying attention, as it is background noise to them, but the Russian medias - some of which must be spies in disguise - are probably going "Bazinga! Get me lots of high-def close up pics".

I don’t see any good coming from any of this for Ukraine, for the Baltics, for Poland, for Moldova.
If the Ukrainians feel that they are being sold out, I can see them resorting to some desperate actions that could have some long reaching consequences.
I wonder if they, Poland, the UK, the Baltics would even consider regime change in Belarus just to throw Putin off and destabilize his forward, western flank in order to buy time.

 

[KevinB]

I don’t see any good coming from any of this for Ukraine, for the Baltics, for Poland, for Moldova.
If the Ukrainians feel that they are being sold out, I can see them resorting to some desperate actions that could have some long reaching consequences.
I wonder if they, Poland, the UK, the Baltics would even consider regime change in Belarus just to throw Putin off and destabilize his forward, western flank in order to buy time.

Admittedly I’m amazed daily that Lukashenko still draws breath. Killing him would totally take Belarus into its own dimension, which would cause Putin a great deal of consternation.

The F-35 and B-2 flyby clearly spooked Putin (or was Putin 2, Putin 3, etc ) for a bit which seems to have inspired the MAGA folks to see it as a Trump flex, but to me it was more like a tinpot dictator.
It would have been way better to paint Ukrainian decals on the F-35’s and B-2 and tell Putin that if there isn’t a ceasefire that those very planes would over over the Kremlin in 24hrs if the Ukrainians wanted to.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

The Trump/Putin summit just ended. They both made a brief statement at the end and took no questions. The one real takeaway is no deal has been reached yet, and no ceasefire. Trump said he’ll be calling NATO, Zelensky et al soon, and both said they’ll be talking again and looking to move forward. Trump painted a fairly cautious picture of having made progress, but it’s one major and several other smaller points remaining unresolved.

So yeah. No resolution achieved today. Trump seemed tired and not particularly happy- much more low key than usual.

Putin said "We want to improve the security of Ukraine" AKA, Russian borders moved to the Western Ukraine borders, so the FSB can go to every door to round up anyone they don't like.

 

[RangerRay]

Guess that Vlad not wanting to use lube for this encounter may account for Trump's appearance of discomfort.

He had that same look after Helsinki.

 

[HavokFour]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1956505027687649355

So after all that they ended it early and skipped lunch and have nothing to show for it, doesn't sound like it went well at all. Now we see if Trump tries to memory hole the whole thing or actually apply some of those "severe consequences" on Russia.

Meanwhile, the country with virtually no functioning Navy is branching out into the Caspian.

Ukraine says it has bombed Russian ship carrying drone parts at Caspian port

Attack on cargo vessel more than 500 miles from frontline is show of force before Trump-Putin meeting

www.theguardian.com

https://twitter.com/x/status/1956306288742113498

I don't think the bridge is supposed to look that toasty.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

They been aiming at the engine rooms to avoid leaking to much oil.

 

[HavokFour]

Maybe I am just paranoid (but am I paranoid enough?), but I suspect that, even though we didn't see them, to foster amity , Trump let the Russians bring their own film crew and all. Then, he parades Putin right in front of some F-35's loaded with TS gear, none of which (other than the engine intakes) appears to be covered. Western journalist are probably not even paying attention, as it is background noise to them, but the Russian medias - some of which must be spies in disguise - are probably going "Bazinga! Get me lots of high-def close up pics".

You aren't the only one that noticed.

Trump Gives Russians Up-Close Look at Top Secret Weapons

The president’s welcome of Russian President Vladimir Putin included a display of U.S. warplanes.

www.thedailybeast.com

 

[Colin Parkinson]

But he still gets the Nobel Peace Prize, right?

Trump told Norwegian minister he wants Nobel Prize, newspaper says​

Trump told Norwegian minister he wants Nobel Prize, newspaper says

When U.S. President Donald Trump called Norway's finance minister last month to discuss tariffs, he also told him he wanted the Nobel Peace Prize, Norwegian business daily Dagens Naeringsliv reported on Thursday.

www.reuters.com

To be fair, he has likley done more than Obama ever did for his....

It's now a very low bar.

 

[RangerRay]

Russian foreign minister trolls US by wearing “CCCP” sweater to Alaska.

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

Maybe I am just paranoid (but am I paranoid enough?), but I suspect that, even though we didn't see them, to foster amity , Trump let the Russians bring their own film crew and all. Then, he parades Putin right in front of some F-35's loaded with TS gear, none of which (other than the engine intakes) appears to be covered. Western journalist are probably not even paying attention, as it is background noise to them, but the Russian medias - some of which must be spies in disguise - are probably going "Bazinga! Get me lots of high-def close up pics".

Little correction on my own point: Now that I got a better look at them, it was F-22 Raptors. Still ...