Looks like the paths of the West and Zelensky are increasingly diverging, and nobody wants to give him money anymore.
Zelensky may persuade Congress to ante up more money for the war. But this could also be his last hurrah. He may get a slimmed down package and sent away. It is unlikely he will return.
A real breakthrough did not happen, and Ukraine chewed up most of its strategic reserves. Two important brigades, the 25th Air Mobile and the 82nd Air Assault, lost so many men and so much equipment on the Zaphorize front, much of it supplied by NATO, that they became combat-ineffective and were withdrawn.
Reports say that Ukraine is losing more than 1,000 men a day – sometimes close to 2,000 – with little to show for it.
The US and some of its NATO partners let it be known they didn’t approve of Ukraine’s military tactics, although for the most part the tactics were built around NATO computer simulations and massive intelligence support.
The challenge for US is in pulling out without it looking like a debacle. This is especially a big issue for the dems since the election cycle is heating up, and riding on a humiliating military defeat by Russia is a disaster for them.
It looks like their hare brained scheme is try and freeze the conflict and play that up as Russia failing to achieve their goals. The obvious problem with this plan is that Russia has no incentive to play along.
Exactly. That is why the increasing buildup in the media of throwing Ukraine under the bus, everything from Nordstream to their “unapproved” tactics.
They need to be able to at least try to say that they gave Ukraine all the right tools and money, they just didn’t use them correctly. That way the US can say they did everything right and it was all Ukraine’s fault. Next time (Taiwan) it will totally be different!
Completely agree, the media is starting to shape the narrative that will ultimately justify throwing Ukraine under the bus. We’re seeing lots of stories how Ukraine isn’t following western advice, not using “proper” NATO tactics, we’re starting to see stories about corruption all of a sudden. The media even ran the story how it was Ukrainian missile that hit the market as Zelensky arrived in US. It’s pretty clear that the narrative is shifting.
The big question is whether people in Taiwan learned anything from Ukrainian experience. We’ll see when the elections happen I guess.
Ok but seriously, in what world does it make sense to actually invade Taiwan? Even as a vanity project, the number of men it would lose would destabilize any government.