6 hours ago, SympathysSilhouette said:

Meh, NATO was already over after Vance's Munich speech, this was just the final nail.

The Democrats are still pro-NATO  in less than 4 yrs things can change.  Even Bernie Sanders is pro-NATO even though he's a socialist fighting for the poor.

9 hours ago, Cult Icon said:

 

The Democrats are still pro-NATO  in less than 4 yrs things can change.  Even Bernie Sanders is pro-NATO even though he's a socialist fighting for the poor.

 

 

 

 

The Democrats aren't going to win any elections in the near future.

In any case, a NATO that depends on what party is in the White House is worthless to begin with.

Having watched the entire meeting yesterday it is clear that Zelensky's approach was very poor.  He thought that the Trump Administration would respond to the 'ideological song and dance' he used with the Europeans, Biden Administration/Democrats about fighting for democracy, one day winning the war, asking for aid/weapons, the heroism of the Ukrainians under siege, Putin as the great satan, and Russia's desire for European world domination..

Worse he contradicted King Trump on several issues in the first half hour and became more and more obnoxious as the meeting went on.  The trigger point was  when he started talking about American and Russian troops one day waging war in the Baltics.  

The boiling point was reached when the Polish reporter asked Trump if his thinking was too aligned with Putin's.  Then JD Vance went on the attack, and both Zelensky & Trump lost control.

Seemed to me it went off the rails when Zelensky mentioned the fact that Putin has never respected ceasefires and without any guarantees to prevent that, what is stopping him to do so now? Vance seemed to have no immediate answer ready for that and instead went for the "why have you never thanked us?" nonsense.

In any case, the theater in the Oval Office wasn't very interesting to me. I think everything was already articulated in Vance's Munich speech. That was the real reset of the transatlantic relationship. Nothing new has been revealed since then.

1 hour ago, SympathysSilhouette said:

Seemed to me it went off the rails when Zelensky mentioned the fact that Putin has never respected ceasefires and without any guarantees to prevent that, what is stopping him to do so now? Vance seemed to have no immediate answer ready for that and instead went for the "why have you never thanked us?" nonsense.

 

In any case, the theater in the Oval Office wasn't very interesting to me. I think everything was already articulated in Vance's Munich speech. That was the real reset of the transatlantic relationship. Nothing new has been revealed since then.

I didn't pay attention to the Munich speech outside of soundbites but the Trump administration's geopolitical strategy is to cut Europe/EU/NATO loose, team up with Russia and break apart the Russia-China alliance, withdraw the US military base-hydra from the world, restructure US armed forces for the economic/military struggle with China (meaning less focus on army and bases, more on navy/air force/missile tech).

The Trump administration are China Hawks.  The Biden administration accomplished the American real politic nightmare- push Russia into the hands of China much closer as a economic-military partner.  They are trying to reverse the damage.

+Zelensky thanked the US in the beginning of the meeting, so Vance was out of his mind.., probably because he wanted to protect King Trump.

This televised meeting comes across as a complete sh*tshow- both sides had different agendas going in and they hadn't settled their differences yet.  Basically, unless the meeting was meant to 'expose' Zelensky to the American people (hang him with his own rope) it doesn't make any sense.  Zelensky was there to sign the minerals deal. 

Maybe Trump thought that this was his moment of glory so he let the press in so he could humiliate Ukraine with the deal?

Unless he was delusional, Zelensky should have known that the Trump team believe most of the things he says to be lies, so it appears that he had no intention of signing the deal in the first place and grandstanded in front of the American media to get some response from the American people?  Weird.

The idea that the United States is capable of separating Russia from China- who have joint military exercises for years and have over $200 Billion (translating to over 1 trillion dollars of real strategic asset trade) with some '4D' chess moves from the Trump-lead United States is incredibly arrogant and absurd.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/rubio-melts-down-on-air-over-accusation-us-is-placating-putin/

This interview with SOS Rubio reveals how FAR the Trump team is from making a deal with Putin.

He openly admits that they don't know this, don't know that, we haven't talked to them in 3 years etc.  It comes across as so amateurish.

So much for ending the war in 24 hrs...'no longer than one day..'

Multiple U.S. officials tell CBS News that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has issued a directive to U.S. Cyber Command to pause planning against Russia, including offensive digital actions.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pete-hegseth-russia-cyber-command-pause/

Trump officials say US paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine but signal it may not last long after fiery meeting

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/05/politics/us-pause-intelligence-support-ukraine/index.html

Trump Plans to Revoke Legal Status of 240,000 Ukrainians: Report

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-plans-revoke-legal-status-240k-ukrainians-report-2040504

On 3/6/2025 at 3:30 PM, Cult Icon said:

Trump Plans to Revoke Legal Status of 240,000 Ukrainians: Report

 

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-plans-revoke-legal-status-240k-ukrainians-report-2040504

When he was asked about this in the Oval Office, he denied it.

In the least surprising turn of events, the Russians have upped their missile and drone attacks now that the Ukrainians have been deprived of U.S. intelligence and live satellite data.

18 hours ago, SympathysSilhouette said:

In the least surprising turn of events, the Russians have upped their missile and drone attacks now that the Ukrainians have been deprived of U.S. intelligence and live satellite data.

The Russians also attacked and advanced in the neck of Kursk 'bridgehead' after holding them in place for months.

It seems like they might try to squeeze the Ukrainians out.  

This whole area was actually a fire sack where the Ukrainian brigades were hit with strikes all the time.

- Cyberattack on X, Musk claims that the IP addresses were from Ukraine.

-Trump asked about the escalated Russian attacks (Missiles and in Kursk region starting March 7th) after news that he halted military aid and ISR to Ukraine by the Washington Post; he deflected an answer

Ukrainian invasion force almost thrown out of Kursk.  Russian internet/state media reporting on how they ambushed the Ukrainians from the rear by moving 800 troops through oil pipelines.

It seems unlikely that the Russians will agree to the ceasefire.