The War in Ukraine

[Czech_pivo]

NATO countries pledge long-term support for Ukraine as allies meet

Weapons for Ukraine and military spending high on the agenda as NATO leaders meet in Washington, DC.

www.aljazeera.com

Live updates on the NATO meeting in Washington

 

[Czech_pivo]

Chancellor says Germany will fulfil its ‘special responsibility’ to NATO​

Olaf Scholz says he has assured fellow NATO leaders that Germany will pull its weight in the military alliance.

“Germany is the largest country in Europe within the NATO alliance. This gives us a very special responsibility,” the chancellor said on the sidelines of the summit.

“And I can say this very clearly and unequivocally here: We will – I will – fulfil this responsibility.”

NATO countries pledge long-term support for Ukraine as allies meet

Weapons for Ukraine and military spending high on the agenda as NATO leaders meet in Washington, DC.

www.aljazeera.com

Do Scholz's words means more or less than Trudeau saying the same thing publicly?

 

[dimsum]

Chancellor says Germany will fulfil its ‘special responsibility’ to NATO​

Olaf Scholz says he has assured fellow NATO leaders that Germany will pull its weight in the military alliance.

“Germany is the largest country in Europe within the NATO alliance. This gives us a very special responsibility,” the chancellor said on the sidelines of the summit.

“And I can say this very clearly and unequivocally here: We will – I will – fulfil this responsibility.”

NATO countries pledge long-term support for Ukraine as allies meet

Weapons for Ukraine and military spending high on the agenda as NATO leaders meet in Washington, DC.

www.aljazeera.com

Do Scholz's words means more or less than Trudeau saying the same thing publicly?

Depends on whether the Bundeswehr and the German public are as pessimistic as the CAF and Canadian public.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Depends on whether the Bundeswehr and the German public are as pessimistic as the CAF and Canadian public.

Regardless, as per SOP, the French are nervous about a resurgent Germany (older article):

Germany’s Awakening Piques France’s Amour-Propre​

The special relationship between Berlin and Paris that underpins the European Union is under growing strain.​

France and Germany currently find themselves at loggerheads on an unusually wide range of crucial issues, from energy to defense to international trade. But on a deeper level, what is really causing a rift is that France rightly fears it’s being left behind by a more powerful partner that’s appearing less and less willing to confine itself within the boundaries of European policymaking.“The more worrying aspect of the current crisis is not the number of sources of tension but the asymmetry that we are seeing emerge” between the two countries, said Alexandre Robinet-Borgomano, a German politics expert at the Paris-based think tank Institut Montaigne.

In recent years, the alliance between Germany and France—both co-founders of the European Union and the bloc’s largest and second-largest economies, respectively—has been an unshakeable pillar of EU politics. Despite their differences on issues like public spending and budget rules, French and German governments have constituted a united, pro-European front against the challenges posed by Brexit, the rise of far-right populism, and democratic backsliding in countries like Hungary and Poland.

“The Franco-German duo must be the motor of the European family. It would be dramatic if it broke up,” said Patrick Vignal, a French member of Parliament who sits in the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee.

Germany’s Awakening Piques France’s Amour-Propre

The special relationship between Berlin and Paris that underpins the European Union is under growing strain.

foreignpolicy.com

 

[rmc_wannabe]

Depends on whether the Bundeswehr and the German public are as pessimistic as the CAF and Canadian public.

They are. They're in just as bad a shape as we are in equipment rust out and recruitment issues

 

[FJAG]

They are. They're in just as bad a shape as we are in equipment rust out and recruitment issues

The big difference is that they have the industrial base to ramp up and fix all that if the cash was allocated.

 

[rmc_wannabe]

The big difference is that they have the industrial base to ramp up and fix all that if the cash was allocated.

They do, however, you'd be hard pressed to find a political party willing to fork that cash over; not even if the Russians were on the Oder-Nesse line.

The German populace has been conditioned to ignore defense issues due to some.... unpleasantness that happened in the first half of the 20th Century. Much like Canada, they want "butter befoee guns" because peace is indefinite because NATO.

 

[FJAG]

They do, however, you'd be hard pressed to find a political party willing to fork that cash over; not even if the Russians were on the Oder-Nesse line.

The German populace has been conditioned to ignore defense issues due to some.... unpleasantness that happened in the first half of the 20th Century. Much like Canada, they want "butter befoee guns" because peace is indefinite because NATO.

You have to consider that in context.

When the Cold War was at its height and the Group of Soviet Force in Germany had some 380,000 men station within striking distance of the FRG, the West German attitude to their army was much more positive. There is a distinct difference between defence of the fatherland and expeditionary operations outside their borders.

By far the most Germans are centrists (either centre-left or centre-right). All of that is not to say that there isn't a healthy faction of leftists and far-leftists - and a few far rightists thrown in for good measure.

Above all else, Germans have a practical nature. They know that they have a high standard of life and, if properly convinced that the threat to their well being is real, they will take action to resolve that issue - first by peaceful negotiation and then by force if necessary.

 

[Maxman1]

Kyiv Declines Gripen Warplane Offer From Sweden – At Least For Now

Kyiv decided that adopting and integrating two different Western airframes simultaneously would be too difficult for Ukraine to handle, but Sweden left open future options to get the nimble fighter.

www.kyivpost.com

 

[Maxman1]

US to Deploy Long-Range Missiles in Germany for First Time Since Cold War, Russia Promises “Military Response”

united24media.com

 

[Maxman1]

POLITICO Pro: Northrop Grumman becomes first US company to build weapons inside Ukraine

The idea is to help Ukraine build up its defense industry as weapons stocks from allied nations are depleted.

subscriber.politicopro.com

 

[McG]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1811678866672353372

 

[Czech_pivo]

This area last year and this time was bitterly contested by both sides with the Ukrainians taking both towns/villages and pushing south.

DeepStateMAP | Map of the war in Ukraine

News of russia's war against Ukraine on the map

deepstatemap.live

 

[ytz]

Kyiv Declines Gripen Warplane Offer From Sweden – At Least For Now

Kyiv decided that adopting and integrating two different Western airframes simultaneously would be too difficult for Ukraine to handle, but Sweden left open future options to get the nimble fighter.

www.kyivpost.com

They've come out and said this was not true.

MSN

www.msn.com

And they'll need to develop an alternative to the F-16 given where the US is heading.

 

[RangerRay]

Colour me unimpressed but not surprised with the VP pick for the GOP.

NEWSFLASH: What J.D. Vance means for Ukraine

It's bad. The Ohio senator has been openly hostile to the Ukrainian position for years. Here's a primer on what you need to know:

www.counteroffensive.news

 

[brihard]

They've come out and said this was not true.

MSN

www.msn.com

And they'll need to develop an alternative to the F-16 given where the US is heading.

No kidding. They need to line up as much non-US, non-ITAR kit as possible, because there’s a really good chance they get hung out to dry come January.

 

[suffolkowner]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1813552965766332515

limited barrel production in Russia? I wonder how true this is and if they can just get them from China Iran and NK?
Plus bought them from Austria wtf

 

[KevinB]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1813552965766332515

limited barrel production in Russia? I wonder how true this is and if they can just get them from China Iran and NK?
Plus bought them from Austria wtf

Very true.

Austria is generally the rotary hammer forge supplier to the world (or free world).

 

[Czech_pivo]

The purple area was a 'contested' area for the last 3-5 months. The Ukrainians had in essence cut the road running east-west preventing the Russians from using this road affectively for re-supply and communications. The Russians re-captured this area yesterday and its' been reflected in today's situational map. Yet another example of the Russians grinding the Ukrainians back.

This new push may result in the contested area north of Krynky to be firmly in the Russian zone of control as it may be cut off from the areas to the west of it if the Russians reach/hold the shoreline.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

That area was always kind of a "raid" that succeeded and then was pushed to see what it could become. Once the Russian were able to interdict the boats coming across, it was only a matter of time. However Russian can't really occupy it strongly as Ukraine has the high ground on the other bank.