Don't remember if this was posted already, but Ukrainian forces are reportedly surrounding 10,000 Russian troops.

"As the Ukrainians close in on the Russians from the west while maintaining a strong defensive line to the east, they’re creating a pocket, surrounding the very Russian vanguard that, just a couple weeks earlier, had threatened to surround Kyiv.

This pocket, reportedly containing around 10,000 Russian troops from the 35th and 36th CAAs, is extremely vulnerable. As the Russians run out of food and ammunition, they may begin surrendering en masse—or risk annihilation...

...More broadly, the Ukrainian operation around Kyiv underscores the conclusion many observers of the war reached after just two weeks. Russia is no longer winning. And it might actually be losing."

Personally if I was Ukraine... I would say "Screw that".
They are in a position at the moment where they have the upper hand.

Disarmament would also open the doors for a more successful invasion later. Russia has proven not to be trustworthy.

Absolutely! He lied to the leaders of France, Germany and some other countries how his troops are only on a military exercise days before invading so why would anyone trust him signing any contract? From now on nobody should ever trust Putin again for anything. He will always just look at how to fool others to take advantage from it. That's what world leaders and Ukraine as a whole should always have in mind.

Or how this asshole used the first "meeting" of Russian and Ukrainian representives on the Belarussian border to start the biggest missile attack. 

This dude is insane and a disarment would just be Ukraine's suicide. There simply is no contract which Ukraine could trust.

Ohh and what a surprise, just today I said Russia will switch to "we never tried to get Ukraine and are only there to free the areas where many Russians live" and some hours later they already started to hint at that. Just there for Donbas and the bombings and invasion of the rest of Ukraine are only a diversionary tactic and to destroy Ukraine's military supplies....

Putin is such a joke. Just unable to ever admit any fail. 

This is why I was saying Ukraine needed to counterattack. The war will end much faster with useful counterattacks. IIRC, the US pulled out of Vietnam after a massive offensive was responded in kind.

First annihilate the Kyiv convoy, then retake Kherson. Next they can hit Donbas or Crimea. Before the end of that... Russia will give up, but if not start moving towards Moscow.

There's probably a reason Ukraine hasn't done a large-scale counter-attack, at least yet. Two reasons come to mind: Either they lack the strength, or they think they can sap the strength of the Russian forces by staying on the defense for a while longer, and only then counter-attack. Either way, if they were confident in their ability to counter-attack, they probably would, but for now, it seems to be either not possible or too risky. Russia may have screwed up, but attacking against them won't be as easy as defending against them.

If Russia can freeze the situation without Ukraine being able to dissolve the situation, that might just be close to the result of the war. At the moment, that would indicate Ukraine losing the rebelling areas as well the corridor between Crimea and Donbas, with Russia unable to force many of their other demands. Russia has already shifted its narrative on Donbas, and a land corridor to Crimea would be an additional benefit. Remarkably, this might also allow Putin to present the so-called 'special military operation' as a success on the home front. It would be an outcome that really sucks, but it's also one that might be the one we end up with unless Ukraine can muster the strength to drive out the Russian forces - which, like I said, is not at all guaranteed.

Additionally, while time may sort of be on Ukraine's side, if Putin can freeze the conflict, I doubt there's going to be very much opposition on the home front. On the other hand, it's Ukrainian land that's being devastated, so a prolonged conflict is not in Ukraine's best interests. Ukraine might have to bite the bullet and take some losses, while keeping its de facto independence in addition to its de jure independence (which was not really threatened at any point anyway).

Lmao....

Scared to get a bad name from buying oil from us? Do so you through Bitcoins! No one will know we promis!
(just ignore the big tanker ships, going to your ports, who would ever discover such a thing?)

Not sure about Donbas because many there should hate Russia now after the destruction (but it's still many Russians living there) but I guess Crimea is too much pro Russia to just take it back. The people there will be mostly pro Russia, the police will be pro Russia and after 8 years the Russian military will know how to defend Crimea. 

I sadly believe Crimea is just lost for Ukraine.

However, the White House were quick to correct his remarks and said Mr Biden “was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change”.

“The President’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbours or the region,” the official said.

https://www.news.com.au/world/europe/what-are-they-waiting-for-zelenskys-impassioned-plea-to-nato-powers/news-story/bd2ddb42891c2712076edc258c942155

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This is a shit show, US handing out mixed messages. Wonder what the Ukrainians think.

To be fair, it’s not just the US. European leaders like Boris Johnson saying tanks should be sent to Ukraine only to be immediately contradicted by Macron.

Assuming Biden was speaking “off-the-cuff”, I think the White House team shot themselves in the foot by immediately rowing back. There’s also the almost hilarity of the Krelim saying the Russian president is chosen by the Russian people. You mean chosen by the Krelim itself, anyone who stands for election who is deemed a threat gets arrested - see Nalvany.

I was hoping last Thursday’s Nato summit would lead to a more consist and coherent message plus harder sanctions but it seems to have only led to more conjecture. The UK’s Liz Truss has now set out the terms for sanctions being removed - poor timing on her part. The conversation needs to remain centred on ratcheting up sanctions, not when and how they will be lifted and it sets a different tone to the conversation.

Biden, watch your tongue.