re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

quote:

---

re we sure the current US assistance to Ukraine would fall under the definition of Foreign Development Assistance?

---

All I know is that he inherited $3.8 billion in already appropriated PDA - Presidential Drawdown Authority money. How and whether or not he spends it will be a tell.

quote:

---

All I know is that he inherited $3.8 billion in already appropriated PDA - Presidential Drawdown Authority money. How and whether or not he spends it will be a tell.

---

Thats my question, does the EO stop that already approved spending automatically. If the EO doesn't stop that PDA, then it would be Trump's decision on allowing it to proceed. Trump could possibly slow that down or speed it up.

At this point, I don't think Trump will give any of that already appropriated PDA to Ukraine; but, if it takes a while for the negotiations to mature, Ukraine will be hurting. Europe needs to be ready to step up or Ukraine will run out of bullets and beans. Putin knows this and so I expect him to slow roll any serious negotiations since the longer he waits, the stronger his hand.

ETA: This would be a consistent position for Trump to take. He has advocated since his 1st term that Eurpoe needs to pull it's own weight. This would be using Ukraine to push that view on them.

This thread would be so much better if both of you fricked off somewhere

quote:

---

The Russians estimate isn’t possible

---

Its common sense like you said. If the Russians lost that many the War would be over already. I like listening to people who have been right about this War from the beginning.

Loading Twitter/X Embed...
If tweet fails to load, click here.

So you think the US military/intelligence apparatus doesn't know (with a
fair degree of accuracy) how many casualties Russia has suffered?

It is possible Trump misquoted total (KIA/WIA/MIA) casualties as just KIA.

quote:

---

So you think the US military/intelligence apparatus doesn't know 

---

No... we know the Truth we just don't tell it. Just like when Fox News was covering the Iran missile attack on Israel live and said "Defense Officials" say no Missiles hit the ground despite multiple videos on Twitter showing 15-20 missiles hitting the ground. A month later it was announced the US was moving 2 THAAD systems into Israel. There is no way possible the Russians lost 1 million soldiers. The War would be over.

quote:

---

So you think the US military/intelligence apparatus doesn't know

---

It’s possible that we don’t want to know because it would force us to change policy

quote:

---

Is it possible that is because Russia has avoided pulling people from the western area of country and relied on the more rural areas for most of it's troops in this war?

---

Almost everyone lives in the West, these other regions are sparsely populated.

I used the Medusa figures to try and get a sense of the participation rate. Buryats are over represented and Russians perhaps by a little bit. Other ethnic groups appear to be participating in proportionally lower figures. Not many Chechens have died.

article has all of Trump's Ukraine related quotes from the Oval Office....


‘Putin Should Make a Deal’ – Trump Discusses NATO and Ending Ukraine War, Russia’s Losses

In the White House, Trump reiterates his pledge to end the war in Ukraine, hints at negotiations with Putin, and questions NATO spending while claiming Russia has suffered nearly a million casualties.

by Katie Livingstone | January 21, 2025, 4:45 am

When asked in the Oval Office if he would end the war in Ukraine on Day 1 as promised on the campaign trail, he responded with a cheeky remark and a smirk. “Well this is only a half a day – I have another half a day.”

When asked later for more information about how he intended to end the war, Trump continued to demur. “Well, we’re going to try and get it done as quickly as possible,” he said.

“It should have never started, the war with Ukraine. Russia should have never started it,” he said, pointing a rare finger at the Kremlin for initiating the war. “It would have never started if I were president.”

The first mention of Ukraine came as Trump railed against NATO, declaring that “NATO has to pay more money. NATO has to pay 5%.”

He said the US had spent “$200 billion more than NATO” and called the alleged disparity “ridiculous” because “we have an ocean in between” the US and Europe. “They’ve got to equalize.”

He eventually mentioned Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when signing his second batch of executive orders in the Oval Office after a reporter asked him for further details about how he plans to deal with the leaders. “I have to speak to President Putin,” he said.

“He can’t be thrilled – he’s not doing so well,” the president said with his eyebrows raised. “I mean, he’s grinding it out, but most people thought that war would have been over in about one week and now you’re into three years.”

Trump continued to explain why it was in Putin’s interest to agree to end the war as soon as possible. “I think he’d be very well off to end that war.

“I think he’d be very well off to end that war. We have numbers that almost a million Russian soldiers have been killed, about 700,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed,” he claimed, noting that the Russian economy was in shambles too. “Russia’s bigger – they have more soldiers to lose – but that’s no way to run a country.”

He added that Zelensky is already on board. “Zelensky wants to make a deal, I don’t know if Putin does… He should make a deal. I think he’s destroying Russia by not making a deal. I think Russia’s going to be in big trouble.”

A reporter then asked the US president if he would continue issuing sanctions against Russia and supporters of Ukraine’s invasion, or whether he would turn to tariffs as he had discussed in the past.

“The word tariff is much better because it keeps your dollar stronger,” he said. “I think tariffs are more effective.” He then veered into a discussion about Iran, Hezbollah, and Israel before turning back to signing the unknown executive actions on his desk.

The Kyiv Post