(Axios) Putin proposed summit with Trump: White House

[Roadvirus]

Trump is a salesman.

Yeah. Like a car salesman who sells nothing but lemons.

What you see Trump doing is schmoozing

Schmoozing?

Subtract the "s, c, h & m", and you'd be completely correct.

 

[multivita-man]

Russia lost a million soldiers

There's no question Russia has sustained heavy casualties, ranging from anywhere from 100,000 to a million, depending on the source and whether we're counting the numbers killed, disabled, or both, but Ukraine has also lost a substantial number of soldiers. Worse for Ukraine, they're dealing with draft dodgers and deserters. They're running out of people who can fight this war for them. There's just more Russians than Ukrainians on the ground, regardless of whether they want to be there or not. The Russians have also adapted and relied more on attacking with drones and aerial bombardments to soften targets before entering with ground forces.

and has to get replacements from prisons and North Korea. Russian casualties are roughly five times as many fatalities in Ukraine as in all Russian and Soviet wars combined between the end of World War II and the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022 and are 15 times larger than the Soviet Union’s decade-long war in Afghanistan and 10 times larger than Russia’s 13 years of war in Chechnya.

Which underscores the seriousness with which the Kremlin is prosecuting this war.

Since January 2024, Russia has lost roughly 1,149 armored fighting vehicles, 3,098 infantry fighting vehicles, 300 self-propelled artillery, and 1,865 tanks. Even more noteworthy, Russian equipment losses have been significantly higher than Ukrainian losses, varying between a ratio of 5:1 and 2:1 in Ukraine’s favor.

We killed many more Vietnamese than they killed of our own servicemen. Casualty totals isn't how you keep score in a military conflict.

Russia has struggled in Ukraine. Russian military forces have failed to significantly advance on the battlefield, seized limited territory, lost substantial quantities of equipment relative to Ukraine, and suffered high rates of fatalities and casualties. Russia has paid an extraordinary blood price for seizing less than 1 percent of Ukrainian territory since January 2024.

All true, but they are gradually advancing and winning the war.

Russia is grappling with stubborn inflation, labor shortages, and limited paths to economic growth. The country’s economy is seriously exposed in oil and gas, which make up between 30 percent and 50 percent of Russia’s total federal budget revenue.

Last I checked Russia's GDP growth in 2024 was about 4%, which is better than many of the economies aligned against her. It's down considerably this year, but again, so are many other economies.

 

[Roadvirus]

Last I checked Russia's GDP growth in 2024 was about 4%, which is better than many of the economies aligned against her. It's down considerably this year, but again, so are many other economies.

That's according to Russia. A Putzin appointee. Essentially a Gremlin mouthpiece.

Remember history. The USSR inflated their economic numbers, while in reality, it was heading into deep pits of shit.

 

[multivita-man]

That's according to Russia. A Putzin appointee. Essentially a Gremlin mouthpiece.

IMF concluded growth was anywhere from 3.2% to 3.6% in 2024.

 

[Fletch]

You really need it spelled out for you?

No, I know the answer--TDS

 

[multivita-man]

With all respect, I very much I see Putin playing Trump, isolating NATO & the EU.

To that end, I think Trump has done a lot of the damage on his own, and it wasn't necessarily on account of his man-crushing servility in service to Putin. Whether he realizes it or not, he's a mercantilist. He just doesn't believe in international alliances, believing that they take far more than they give us in return and commit us to conflicts that don't serve our national interests (Israel being the ostensible exception). He has imposed massive tariffs on countries all over the world on the basis of some misguided belief that the U.S. can go back to the days of trade surpluses and bullying anyone we like.

So I'm not pulling this stuff off the top-of-my-head. Trump has a track-record in this.

Indeed, he does.

 

[Rogue Valley]

Because Trump has his own personal skepticism of international alliances, including, but not limited to NATO. But he also believes, correctly, that Ukraine is losing and this war is a west of our time and money.

IF Ukraine is losing the war, it is because the GOP didn't sent any weapons to Ukraine for six months and Trump is not sending offensive weapons to Ukraine today. Whoever heard of such bullshittery?

You've been a Downer Debbie for over a year. I certainly wouldn't want you in my foxhole.

Again, Putin wants to end the war on his terms. He's not going to end the war until he can get Trump and the West to accept that Ukraine will not and ever be a part of the West.

**** Putin. If Commander Bone-Spurs had any balls (he doesn't according to Stormy Daniels) he would send Ukraine what is required to win the war.

 

[multivita-man]

IF Ukraine is losing the war, it is because the GOP didn't sent any weapons to Ukraine for six months and Trump is not sending offensive weapons to Ukraine today. Whoever heard of such bullshittery?

No, that is not why Ukraine is losing the war. The weapons deliveries, at best, would have simply held the line. There might have been some value in at least pressuring Russia to consider an off-ramp, but given that off-ramps have never been on the table for the US, that was never a realistic possibility. Ukraine was losing a year ago, and they're losing now. But now they're losing a lot worse because we can't supply them fast enough to keep up with Russia's aerial bombardment. We keep learning the hard way: don't start wars you can't finish. All we've given to Ukraine is weapons without any diplomacy, which is stupid given the kind of threat we're up against.

Yeah, yeah, BUT RUSSIA INVADED UKRAINE!!! <spittle> - after we had been warned for, oh, 20-30 years to stop pushing for NATO expansion closer to Russia's borders. Even worse, Ukraine had a chance to reach a ceasefire with Russia, and we urged them to keep fighting on while telling them they can't use that weapon and can't hit that target and other kinds of restrictions. About as disastrous for the home team as George H.W. Bush encouraging Shi'as in Iraq to rise up against Saddam and then standing down.

If you could pull yourself out of the propaganda vortex long enough, you'd see that America has never, ever had Ukraine's national interests at heart. We wanted to weaken Russia, because we think Russia is evil and so forth (even as we actively fund and arm an active genocide taking place in front of the entire world).

You've been a Downer Debbie for over a year. I certainly wouldn't want you in my foxhole.

It's called realism.

**** Putin. If Commander Bone-Spurs had any balls (he doesn't according to Stormy Daniels) he would send Ukraine what is required to win the war.

There is nothing he can do to win this war, short of bombing the shit out of Russia proper, and let's see how many hours it takes for Russia to wipe out all US forces in Europe (and thus start WW3) if he were dumb enough to do that.

 

[ElChupacabra]

, dang quite an imagination. You should work in Vegas and run a betting line on it. Our President talking to two warring nations is a good thing, no matter how you spin it according to your ideology. If it were Biden or Harris going, oh hell, you would be nominating them for the Nobel Peace Prize, lol.

The issue isn't whether any president should or shouldn't be talking to Putin and Zelenskyy, it's whether the purpose of those talks are yielding any results, and thus far they have not. All of the talking does not change the fact Russia's actions show they are intent on proceeding with their war to take Ukraine. It looks like Putin is interested in talking only as a way to buy more time.

 

[Roadvirus]

IMF concluded growth was anywhere from 3.2% to 3.6% in 2024.

Depends on how the IMF arrived at those numbers. If they are basing this off Gremlin-provided figures....

 

[Roadvirus]

Yeah, yeah, BUT RUSSIA INVADED UKRAINE!!! <spittle> - after we had been warned for, oh, 20-30 years to stop pushing for NATO expansion closer to Russia's borders.

You and Putzin need to ask yourselves: Why was NATO expanding?
Answer: Russia belligerence.

Ask yourself another one: Why did Finland and Sweden break traditional military neutrality & join NATO?
Answer: See answer #1.

 

[multivita-man]

Depends on how the IMF arrived at those numbers. If they are basing this off Gremlin-provided figures....

Okay, what do you think their GDP numbers should be, then? On what actual basis?

 

[Roadvirus]

IF Ukraine is losing the war, it is because the GOP didn't sent any weapons to Ukraine for six months and Trump is not sending offensive weapons to Ukraine today. Whoever heard of such bullshittery?

Don't forget Biden getting bad advice about "escalation" in relation to weapon-providing.

Zap & Donetsk Oblasts at least would probably be fully back in Ukraine's hands by now if that shitheels had stopped listening to the pansy ass pacifists he had whispering in his ear.

 

[multivita-man]

You and Putzin need to ask yourselves: Why was NATO expanding?
Answer: Russia belligerence.

The US has 750 military installations around the world. Russia has maybe 20.

 

[Roadvirus]

The US has 750 military installations around the world. Russia has maybe 20.

Our military installations are there because we were invited by the governments.

 

[multivita-man]

Our military installations are there because we were invited by the governments.

Right, it has nothing to do with our desire to project American power.

 

[Roadvirus]

Right, it has nothing to do with our desire to project American power.

They are there to project our power. And they were invited to do so by the government of those countries.