Trump is in talks with Russia to end the war

[Oldcarpy2]

Keep moving the goalposts, you ask for links and then dismiss them. 

It doesn't matter he won't get any more than what is currently allocated which is all the American taxpayer cares about.

https://www.cfr.org/article/how-much-us-...ng-ukraine

"A large share of the money in the aid bills has been spent in the United States, paying for American factories and workers to produce the various weapons that are either shipped to Ukraine or that replenish the U.S. weapons stocks the Pentagon has drawn on during the war. One analysis by the American Enterprise Institute found that Ukraine aid is funding defense manufacturing in more than seventy U.S. cities."

[putnam6]

https://www.cfr.org/article/how-much-us-...ng-ukraine

"A large share of the money in the aid bills has been spent in the United States, paying for American factories and workers to produce the various weapons that are either shipped to Ukraine or that replenish the U.S. weapons stocks the Pentagon has drawn on during the war. One analysis by the American Enterprise Institute found that Ukraine aid is funding defense manufacturing in more than seventy U.S. cities."

First of all the Council on Foreign Relations completely supports NATO, There is nothing wrong with it but it is the truth, It's a think tank that works on SOLEY that purpose of course it will be pro-supporting Europe in all its endeavors. I am not against supporting Europe and the UK and want Ukraine to win, but IN THIS ONE CASE  it isn't possible without paying a terrible price in human deaths and suffering along with costing 100s of billions of dollars trying to "free" Ukraine.

For more perspective 
My state's GDP is approaching 40 billion now do whatever you have accepted as figures for what America has sent to Ukraine and divide it by 70, whatever they get it is just a fraction.

For further perspective..

America's GDP in 2024 is 30.337 trillion dollars, it's the fact there is no end in sight and no plan(s) to win the war. The plan is to outlast Russia,thats it. Im not suggesting it can't happen but we will have to pay 3-4 times as much as we have already paid in human death in suffering and even then it's not guaranteed

 furthermore notes on a recent Council on Foreign Relations 

https://www.cfr.org/event/transition-202...-relations

 Panelists discuss transatlantic ties under a second Trump administration, NATO burden-sharing, and the future of European strategic autonomy. 

This meeting is part of CFR’s Transition 2025 series, which examines the major foreign policy issues confronting the Trump administration.
 

The U.S. assistance under the Biden administration. And the shorthand for that campaign of military assistance is too little too late, or enough for Ukraine not to lose but not enough for Ukraine to win. 

 Ukraine needs so much more, there's nothing wrong with some Americans being reluctent to continue to write the checks

[Image: https://media0.giphy.com/media/kQmr2OwBT.../giphy.gif]  
 
But it’s an interesting message to the Trump administration, who will now be in the position of trying to assemble, accumulate leverage, on both parties—both of the two warring parties, right? So you can imagine an element of leverage on Putin that says something like, look, we know now you’re under pressure by the indigenous Ukrainian campaign on long range strikes, with Ukrainian drones and so forth. I think they’ve hit recently ten of the top twelve oil refineries inside Russia. Imagine if that were worsened for Russia by way of our taking off the restrictions on long range precision strike systems.

[putnam6]

that's not how money works when you are the government and can simply deficit finance as much spending as you want. like they did during covid, to the tune of several trillion dollars. and that they do all the time with the military budget. taxes exist for many reasons: to shape the income curve, to discourage chaotic asset liquidity in the owner class, as a form of conformity and coercive control -- none of those reasons is "to pay for things for the american people". the national debt can never be paid, the currency trend-line is always inflationary, and the american people have for almost 100 years existed under this somewhat benevolent-to-them system of absolute financial tyranny, and almost no one sees it any more. most americans can't even balance their account, much less understand the difference between household economics and government macroeconomics. it's frustrating, because the ignorance is clearly deliberate and predatory. at this point, on the larger stage, america seems to exist for one reason: to provide unlimited spending and support to a system of propaganda and force-based domination ensuring the perpetuation of a world-spanning system of extractionist capitalism. and it doesn't seem like it's run by the people, for the people, that's for sure.

So the funds Congress approved for Ukraine are only gathered for Ukraine and float off into space otherwise?

I love ya man but explain like it's Sunday morning and the person you are explaining it to has been up all night.

[UltraBudgie]

So the funds Congress approved for Ukraine are only gathered for Ukraine and float off into space otherwise?

I love ya man but explain like it's Sunday morning and the person you are explaining it to has been up all night.

Yeah, pretty much. Think of it like a credit card. If you have "approved" splurging on things with money you don't have, then you decide not to, you don't have money "left over" to spend now, do you?

Anyway, for goodness sake get some rest. Macroeconomics and the Federal Reserve aren't worth wasting a Sunday worrying about.

[putnam6]

Yeah, pretty much. Think of it like a credit card. If you have "approved" splurging on things with money you don't have, then you decide not to, you don't have money "left over" to spend now, do you?

Anyway, for goodness sake get some rest. Macroeconomics and the Federal Reserve aren't worth wasting a Sunday worrying about.

Not worried at all, Im learning here...



but think thats a gross oversimplification of how the Democrats look at spending year-to-year especially when we have a new administration elected specifically to cut spending. Look at the USAID fraud FFS

If we are going to oversimplify this, then quit taking people's taxes if we can magically make money appear and spend it without it being removed from the balance sheet later. 

We have all heard to old adage the Federal and State departments get budgets for each year and they know they must spend every dollar or they run the risk of not getting the same funding the next year. So ergo they piss away the money, is not much difference from Biden's last spasm of releasing 10s of million at the end of his Presidency because he knew the initiative would be removed in Trump's administration. Just because those funds were earmarked for the Dems it doesn't mean they were subtracted from Uncle Sam's piggy bank

Im more than enjoying my Sunday BTW just a long night ...

I have a nice buzz going, got the window open, on a beautiful Spring day in my environs, straightening up, and getting ready to watch some March Madness B-Ball

[Darkorange]

Who might be able to "give" all that?

I doubt that Ukrainians would be happy with that.

Look, in this scenario NATO borders would get closer to Russian. Right?
Second benefit...it is not the end of the world. Central Ukraine could become another Euro Hong Kong. It also become an international trade crossroad taxing the hell out of trade parties. Kyiv could get a status of a hub with tons of cash flowing. And I probably was wrong, brits or french still can get their beef...Establish a stock exchange floor there once all is settled.

[UltraBudgie]

Both Trump and Biden have shown clear symptoms of dementia.

Dementia usually begins with episodic loss of rationality. Most of the time people with early onset dementia are all good, except for the times they 'loose it'.

A classic example was Trump's repeated inability to say "origins", where he instead says "oranges', over and over again, and you can see he realizes that something is wrong, but is unable to use the correct word for some time until his fugue is over (there are numerous videos of this).

Also, people with dementia develop ways of covering their momentary confusion, using tricks like Trump's 'accordion hands' movements, inappropriate and extended stunted 'dancing' moves and other wordless gaffing-about.

hmm seems like bit of orange stretch only found videos of the one instance and it seems more close to his normal pronounciation not a fugue?



anyway he crazy haha yeah

[sahgwa]

its his mumbley way of saying 'origins.'  This is a real stretch. 
Of course it comes from Guardian tabloid land.  Slow news day for them. 

Here is Guardian tabloid land again

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...080a1af276

22 hrs ago as of 1200 EDT

• Talks between the US and Ukraine are due to take place in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, before similar discussions between the US and Russia tomorrow.
  
• Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday he expected “some real progress” at the talks in Saudi Arabia, “particularly as it affects a Black Sea ceasefire on ships between both countries, and from that you’ll naturally gravitate into a full-on shooting ceasefire”.
  
• Bloomberg is reporting that the Trump administration is aiming to secure a broad truce agreement between Russia and Ukraine by April 20.
  
• Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said “difficult negotiations” lie ahead and that “we are only at the beginning of this path”.
  
• Russia launched a barrage of drones across Ukraine overnight, striking Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Odesa and the Donetsk regions, as well as the capital Kyiv, according to officials.
  
• Three people, including a 5-year-old child, were killed and 10 others were injured in a drone attack on Kyiv, the city’s military administration said.
  
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian attacks across his country continue to be a “daily reality” despite the partial ceasefire agreed to last week. “New decisions and new pressure on Moscow are needed to bring an end to these strikes and this war,” he wrote in a post on X.
  
• Russian troops reportedly seized the small village of Sribne in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, while Ukraine’s army said its troops had recaptured a small village called Nadia in the eastern Luhansk region.
  

[quintessentone]

Ukraine now has redeveloped their own cruise missiles, so is this the new 'peace through strength' in changing the balance of military might? Is this Zelensky's ace in the hole card?


 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that he received "significant" news on the country's missile program, specifically that the "Long Neptune" had been tested and successfully used in combat.
 
"A new Ukrainian missile, an accurate strike. The range is a thousand kilometers (or 620 miles)," Zelenskyy said in a post on the Telegram messaging platform. "Thank you to our Ukrainian developers, manufacturers, and military. We continue to work to guarantee Ukrainian security."

https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-...sia-2025-3

[putnam6]

Ukraine now has redeveloped their own cruise missiles, so is this the new 'peace through strength' in changing the balance of military might? Is this Zelensky's ace in the hold card?

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yjN2WS4YBw]
 

https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-...sia-2025-3

Sounds as if for the immediate future this is to supplement Western missiles.

Media reports also suggest that Ukraine burned through its last ATACMS missiles in January, the Long Neptune will be a nuisance but it doesn't sound like a results changer. Especially since negotiations are about removing attacks on energy infrastructure on no attacks in the Black Sea.

Ironically the target of the Long Neptune was a Black Sea coastal refinery. 

https://www.dw.com/en/will-ukraines-nept...a-71998877

 

Can Kyiv replace Western weapons?Until the arrival of the Neptune, the American ATACMS as well as UK-supplied Storm Shadow rockets were the only longer-range missiles that Kyiv had at its disposal. Publicly accessible data suggests those rockets had maximum ranges of up to 300 kilometers.
Media reports also suggest that Ukraine burned through its last ATACMS missiles in January. So far, it's unclear whether further shipments have been sent by the US. Kyiv is also running low on Storm Shadow rockets.
That's why experts are happy to see that Kyiv now has a long-range missile of its own. Nevertheless, they doubt the new missile will allow Ukraine to entirely replace its Western arsenal.
"Considering what the Ukrainian armed forces needs in terms of missiles, this isn't about replacing Western rockets. It's about supplementing them," said Sunhurovskyi.

 
Open source intelligence analysts and media outlets have reported that Ukraine used the new rocket to hit a Russian oil refinery in the Black Sea port of Tuapse this past weekend. Regional Russian officials confirmed a fire at a facility in the town — some 550 kilometers from the front line. Experts told DW that the new rocket is likely a modification of Ukraine's Neptune R-360 anti-ship missile.
The R-360 cruise missile was developed by Luch Design Bureau in Kyiv, and has been employed by Ukrainian forces since 2020. The R-360, along with the RK-360MC-System, is used to protect Ukraine's coastline by recognizing and destroying enemy ships. The R-360 has an explosive payload of up to 150 kilograms (331 pounds) and has a range of up to 300 kilometers.