But Russia wants to negotiate, why won't the darn Ukrainians negotiate with Russia 🤡🤡🤡

Sigh.

Germany's position on Taurus is just completely fucking stupid.

Great, their defensive aid has been amazing, they've stepped up a lot lately, but they still show too much cowardice over sending certain offensive weaponry, Ukraine can't win a war by just defending themselves from punches. On the one hand I'm happy Germany is auditing other countries on their aid to Ukraine but on the other hand I'm thinking some countries response should be to tell Germany to send Taurus then.

America as well, not the worst version of ATACMS.

At this point I don't think the Kerch Bridge will go down anytime soon, Ukraine at this rate will have to have their whole army in Crimea before taking it down and I'm willing to bet that some countries consider the Kerch Bridge as Russian territory so Ukraine will have to use their own weapons to destroy it because of the stupid rule that Ukraine can't use western equipment on Russian territory.

President Joe Biden has invited congressional leaders to the White House for a meeting Wednesday to discuss ongoing negotiations over a national security spending bill to aid Ukraine and other priorities, according to three people familiar with the request.

Biden Asks Congressional Leaders To White House - Live Updates - POLITICO

Turkish banks have begun refusing to work with Russian banks, reports Kommersant, citing sources working in the financial market and foreign trade.

According to Kommersant, Turkish banks have terminated correspondent banking relationships with almost all Russian credit institutions and have also suspended payment processing without formally terminating contracts. One source noted that Turkish banks have made an exception for foreign subsidiary banks in Russia.

Sources told Kommersant that the situation became more complicated in the summer of 2023 and then significantly worsened after December 22, when U.S. President Joe Biden issued an executive order imposing secondary sanctions against foreign companies assisting Russia in the war. The order allows U.S. authorities to disconnect foreign banks from the U.S. financial system for violating sanctions against Russia.

Banks in Turkey Reportedly Begin Cutting Ties With Russian Banks — Meduza

A top Nato military officer said the war in Ukraine could "determine the fate of the world" and western armies and political leaders must drastically change the way they help Kyiv fend off invading Russian forces, reports Associated Press.

At a meeting of Nato's senior officers at its headquarters in Brussels, the chair of the Nato military committee, Adm Rob Bauer also said that behind Putin's rationale for the war is a fear of democracy.

"This war has never been about any real security threat to Russia coming from either Ukraine or Nato," Bauer added. "This war is about Russia fearing something much more powerful than any physical weapon on earth — democracy. If people in Ukraine can have democratic rights, then people in Russia will soon crave them too."

Ukraine | The Guardian

The Slovak parliament backed an amendment Tuesday that would empower the defense ministry to approve arms exports, paving the way for public and private weapons companies to continue arming Ukraine — and completing a volte-face from Prime Minister Robert Fico's pre-election vow "not to send another bullet" to Kyiv.

But critics of the apparent reversal — the veto on arms exports has until now belonged to the foreign ministry and the SIS intelligence service — said Fico's anti-weapons posture on Ukraine had been aimed at attracting votes to his Smer party in last year's election, and that the profits to be made from arming Kyiv ensured that exports would continue.

Slovakia Enables Arms Exports to Ukraine as Fico Completes Backflip – POLITICO

Russia's government has tapped almost half of the national wealth fund's available reserves to shield the economy against the fallout from its almost two-year war in Ukraine, leaving it vulnerable to future shocks.

"If oil prices continue to ignore the risks of supply disruption from the Israel-Hamas war, the remaining stock of the NWF's liquid assets will continue to dwindle, making Russia increasingly vulnerable to shocks. It will last only another one to two years if Russia's oil export price declines below $50."

War in Ukraine Drains Nearly Half of Russia’s Liquid Assets - Bloomberg

China's decision not to meet with Ukrainians appeared intentional and not the result of a scheduling problem. One senior U.S. official said Beijing rejected Kyiv's request for a meeting at some point during their mutual Swiss visits. Another senior U.S. official said China has refused any gatherings after Russia urged it to cease diplomatic encounters with Ukraine. Both officials, like others referred to in this story, were granted anonymity to detail a sensitive dynamic.

China Snubs Zelenskyy in Switzerland – POLITICO

Additional footage of the T-90M MBT (2016) being cooked by a Bradley IFV (1981).

Footage like this is crazy, especially the matchup and the outcome.

And America has like over 5,000...It's pretty embarrassing for Russia, most Bradley's were fucked by minefields but one of Russia's very best and most modern tanks being taken down by an infantry fighting vehicle for the 1980s by a crew who was likely rush trained on it, imagine what an army which has years of experience on Bradley's could do.

More Nazi language.

"Negotiations"

The Minister of the Armed Forces announces to Le Parisien the production of 78 Caesar cannons, the flagship of French artillery, for Ukraine. At a time when Western military aid is running out of steam, he assures us that France has put itself into a war economy configuration.

Sébastien Lecornu : « Il faut être endurant dans notre soutien militaire à l’Ukraine » - Le Parisien

I was sympathetic to Corbyn's domestic policies (did not vote for Labour in 2019 though) however I had big question marks over his foreign policy stances as I thought he was a best woefully naive. His statements regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine prove to me I was correct to have such misgivings.

Edit - Actually had chance to listen to it now and it’s woefully naive just as I anticipated. ‘Peace’ as Corbyn suggests is Ukraine becomes a vassal of Russia in the unoccupied areas and subjugated in areas that are occupied whilst also foolishly indirectly saying Russia’s war is legitimate.

Also, Un can’t do much as Russia vetoes action against it. When he says get someone else to mediate he then suggests the African Union or Arab League, completely ignoring that these would be biased in Russia’s favour. Also fails to acknowledge that Russia having honoured prior agreements so can’t be trusted to keep new ones. His tone puts across a feeling that, like many in the West, having grown up in a country where the last time it was in a pitched fight for survival was before he was born, he is incapable of recognising or understanding that scenario when a different country is put in that position so fails the truly appreciate what Ukraine is fighting for in a war that it did not seek but is forced to fight.

Are those the original Caesar or the new and improved Caesar NG, which comes with a stronger engine and better fire control unit?

Either way, this could help Ukraine a lot - if they can get the shells to feed those cannons that is!