re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

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Chicken thinks that a discussion about war belongs here. Most of us here agree.

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More Ukrainian drone-based landmine removal, as seen here, a Ukrainian Mavic 3 drops a grenade on a row of TM-62 anti-vehicle mines.

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According to information from @derspiegel, the new arms package from Germany to Ukraine will contain:

— Multiple Patriot launchers
— Patriot ammunition
— Marder IFVs
— Leopard 1 MBTs
— Mine clearing equipment
— ~ 20,000 rounds of MBT + Artillery ammunition
— Drones

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COPENHAGEN, July 11 (Reuters) - Norway will increase its military support to Ukraine by 2.5 billion crowns ($239 million) this year to 10 billion, the Nordic country’s government said on Tuesday.

It said in a statement it would also increase its contribution to NATO’s support fund for Ukraine.

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SCALP is the same as Storm Shadow on the inside, but it has different mounts, so some engineer had to solve that challenge all over again.

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VILNIUS, Lithuania—President Biden has spent much of the past year rallying the world behind Ukraine, funneling billions of dollars in aid to the war-torn country and strengthening ties with leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

But for Biden, Kyiv’s campaign for rapid entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a bridge too far.
The American president has emerged as the leading opponent to granting Ukraine speedy membership to the alliance, putting him at odds with several key U.S. allies. The unresolved question about Ukraine’s place in NATO will put to the test the Western world’s unprecedented unity in the face of Russia’s assault.

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But Biden’s outspoken concerns with Ukraine’s push to join NATO—he has raised the prospect that doing it too early could start World War III—have frustrated officials in Kyiv and elsewhere.

“I don’t think it’s ready for membership in NATO,” Biden said in an interview with CNN that aired on Sunday, warning that bringing Ukraine into the alliance while it is at war with Russia would draw the U.S. and Europe into the conflict. He said NATO should lay out a path for Ukraine’s eventual entry into the alliance, but he said Kyiv still has work to do to meet the alliance’s standards for membership in areas like democratization.

In drawing a line on the issue, Biden is breaking with several NATO members, including central European nations that have publicly backed Kyiv’s push for expedited membership. The president has embraced the so-called Israel model, in which the U.S. would provide security assistance to Ukraine without a guarantee that it will use military force to defend the country.

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“The Biden administration is notably isolated in the alliance in its resistance to giving Ukraine membership,” said Ian Brzezinski,

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The Biden administration has been working with allies to provide Ukraine with security assurances, according to U.S. and European officials, a promise that is both welcomed by Kyiv and falls short of its desire for guarantees that pave the way toward NATO membership.

NATO countries are also searching for a compromise that signals their intent to welcome Ukraine into the alliance without offering a firm timeline.

Members of the alliance are set to waive a requirement that Kyiv complete a bureaucratic membership plan that could have delayed the country’s accession to the group for years, according to U.S. and European officials.

But the move, which will be included in the NATO communiqué to be released at the close of the alliance’s summit in Lithuania, doesn’t mean Ukraine will join the group immediately. The country will still need to meet NATO’s standards for membership, including on democratic reforms, officials said.

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Let us not be deceived: NATO is an expanding instrument of U.S. global power that provoked Russia into a criminal invasion and occupation of Ukraine. This proxy war between the American Empire and the Russian Federation could lead to World War III. We must stop the war and war crimes (including cluster bombs used by all parties) and embark on diplomatic talks that should lead to a just peace. As the great W. E. B. Du Bois wrote in 1945 "I seem to see outlined a third World War based on the suppression of Asia and the strangling of Russia." The Democratic Party is a party of war and Wall Street targeting Russia and China. Let us save our democracy and world by dismantling U.S. militarism at home (as in Cop Cities) and abroad - as Martin Luther King Jr. painfully reminded us!

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"The first missiles were delivered at the same time as our president announced," French military source said.

"The number delivered to Ukraine is quite significant but it will preserve French stocks very well above the capacities we [the French] need."

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It’s official: a coalition for F-16 training of the Ukrainian Air Force has been formed!
Today, 11 partner states + Ukraine signed a Memorandum outlining the terms. I'm especially grateful to Denmark and the Netherlands for their outstanding leadership in this process.

- Ukrainian pilots, technicians, and support staff will participate in a training program;
- There is the possibility of including other types of fighter aircraft in the program;
- The coalition is ready to consider other means of granting Ukraine fully functional F-16 capabilities.

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