We (Europe) already did most of the heavy lifting for Ukraine. The US mostly gave old stockpiles of weapons that they would've needed to destroy anyway. We are the ones actually paying cash to keep them afloat.
The problem is, in the post-WW2 order, our defense and our defense industry was made dependent on the USA by design. And even up until last November, Europe didn't want to challenge this arrangement and just went full steam ahead with this arrangement, ordering US made weapons. I think Europe was in denial that Biden could lose or that NATO could ever end.
Only France, and to a limited extent, Sweden and Turkey, have independent defense industries.
In the future, we will have it again. And Ukraine will actually be a key player.
But in the short term, there is no magical button to press that can produce the arms.
Undoing decades of integration isn't going to be easy.
Any deal with Trump is no deal at all. He's the kind of guy that, if you give an inch, starts waving his hands around about how you stole 16 inches from him, and how you must be thrown in a hole somewhere.
Granting him anything is telling him that you are weak and ripe to be exploited.
Yes. USA already knows what its going to do. A hypothetical trade agreement isn't going to change the decision, so Ukraine should make exactly zero concessions in pursuit of influencing a decision which has already been made.
They're safer with a deal with guarantees, but Trump doesn't want to give any, only take the profit. Otherwise it's a choice between soldiers dying and soldiers dying with profit sharing.
I watched some of the transmission and all I can say is my respect to Zelensky grew tenfold with that exchange alone.
Having to interact with these two clowns and still keeping his cool (as much as he was able to) requires A LOT of patience and will. It was horrifyingly stupid in a train wreck kind of way.
Dude... I am saying this from the most unobjective place I can possibly manage. That was was of the most difficult and annoying things I've watched in a very long time. It honestly felt like watching a rational adult deal with his children complaining they can't have a sleepover or something.
I am shocked that A) the White House wanted that embarrassment broadcast and B) zelensky actually remained remarkably calm.
Man what annoying people to talk with lol I'm trying so hard to see this from a different perspective but I can't even fathom how that could be seen as anything other than rude and embarrassing.
I am shocked that A) the White House wanted that embarrassment broadcast
Trump thinks strength is measured by how many people you confront and bully and threaten. He is not smart enough to realize this isn't how it looks to people outside his bubble of sycophants and MAGA dummies. Elon Musk clearly thinks the same way, and both Musk and Trump crave the respect they will never earn, so they double down on their idiot edgelord/bully methods. The White House media office will be headed by Trump sycophants, who will see this exchange through MAGA eyes. They see a strong man where everyone else sees a pathetic manchild.
Same here. I actively avoid watching Trump or his administration talk so seeing both him and Vance during this meeting was... exhausting to say the least. I can only imagine what was going through Zelensky's head throughout the whole thing. His face sure said a lot.
Man, don't take a look at the conversations sub. They are all high fiving each other over this. For them it was a rush of masculinity and power live on TV. You've got folks saying that Vance never looked so good and how they want to name their first born over him.
Indeed. He's in an awful situation and has no good options. With only Europe (both politically and militarily) it will be real hard for them. OTOH with a blackmailed 'deal' with orange they loose a big piece of resources without any guarantees not to loose the rest to Russia or to the orange in a deal extension. To get out of this situation without a major loss would be a miracle, but hey, I really hope they make it.
If we're lucky this will be (another) kick for the European leaders to get serious about a possibility of US bailing out completely. Maybe. Hopefully. Please?
Most of us want the shithead gone just as bad as you do, but too many dumbshits decided they'd rather not stop him because the alternative wasn't perfect. I hate it here.
I'm an American and I'm upvoting this. After 2016, I thought that there were some misguided people who didn't realize what they were doing, but that the first Trump term would push the pendulum hard the other direction. I felt a little validated when Biden won in 2020, but it wasn't as one sided as I'd hoped. But Trump winning decisively in 2024 tells me that everyone knew and did it anyway. People are getting what they want: rampant racism, sexism, and global bullying.
So yes, we suck, and no one should trust us as a country, regardless of the fact that there are many of us who knew how catastrophic another Trump term would be.
I don't think Trump won quite as decisively as it first seemed.
But shit, it's still like... a third of our country that looked at Trump and went, "yeah sure".
How the fuck do we fix this? I straight up have no clue. And that means it very likely will devolve into violence. And that is legitimately terrifying.
Let's remember that there good people there too. Let's remember that these scumbags, whichever country they run, rely on our sweat, tears and blood to move forward with their decisions. While not all of us are good, obviously, I want to believe that many Americans were tricked by media to think Trump was a valid choice. What we need to understand it's that this is a us people versus them rulers. If only we would understand this together and stop fighting each other...
rely on our sweat, tears and blood to move forward with their decisions
Agreed, so stop giving it to them. When I see Americans bring the country to a screeching halt through protest, disobedience, and strikes I will believe in the good people there.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
its better to move on and forget about them, because they made it very clear over the last 10 years these types of people absolutley do not give a fuck about anyone elses opinion, and would much rather kill anyone who gets in their way.
I suppose it might go down well with some of his base who love the "macho" shit, but the rest of the world are looking on with disgust.
In some ways, this has probably worked out well for Ukraine, as it might focus minds in Europe. Though I do wish Zelenskyy had pointed out the $350bn in aid lie that Trump keeps spouting.
Not necessarily monsters (actually yeah they are), but he has a 40 year history of being compromised and owned by Soviet and Russian oligarchs. I'm reading "American Kompromat" now and it couldn't be clearer. It's not even hidden or anything. The Russians really just, won the Cold War. They did it, they toppled the US. Good job for them.
The reasons for which the US was able to turn fascist are all homegrown. We don't need to resort to blaming foreigners for the rise of fascism - which is the only logical conclusion to a country that was founded on genocide and colonialism under the sole guidance of white slavers. This is peak American exceptionalism.
Social safety nets, wages, childcare, healthcare, mental health, working hours, etc... have all been crumbling for some time now. The fact that our adversaries picked up on this and exploited it by no means absolves Americans of their turn towards fascism.
If, at the end of these 4 years when democracy has been truly and completely demolished, the only lesson you've learned is "damn russian spies destroyed america!" You haven't learned your lesson, and you're honestly spitting in the face of all the victims of US policy both domestic and abroad.
Before completely cutting off ties from the US showing the public attempts had been made for diplomacy and providing evidence of what a bad actor US has become is important.
Showing is way more impactful and supports moves made afterwards than just making claims and cutting ties.
So not completely pointless, since the public needs to be able to come to the conclusion themselves first before drastic foreign relation changes can be made.
I think he should call Trump's bluff and send in a few dozen battle hardened Ukrainian troops with a few dozen drones and show Trump's entire nursing home and support staff how things work nowadays. We need to put together an anonymous block chain fund with the purpose of putting multi million bounties on the treason party, funded anonymously by small donors and build a reliable mechanism for people to anonymously, but truthfully claim the bounties. What our political contributions fail to do, crowd funding can do. All of the technology exists to make this happen, and it's one of the main appeals of crypto currencies. Large scale anonymous transactions. If I find out there's a billionaire Trump donating traitor or heritage foundation member near me, and I can get a basic Intel file and there's a 500K bounty on them, then shit. They better hug their money goodnight one last time. Just send an email from a burner/anon account to a recipient with the time of death rough location and wallet address before any news is released. If all the details add up then release the funds to the wallet.
Make it worth while and let rule#3 take effect:
"Number three, never trust nobody
Your moms'll set that ass up, properly gassed up
Hoodied and masked up, shit, for that fast buck
She be laying in the bushes to light that ass up"
Are you kidding, that was fucking legendary. I've never seen anything like that before in my entire life. In the Oval office Zelensky told Trump and Vance they were full of shit, bullies, and simping for Putin. Based Zelensky.
Imagine being Zelensky and having to fly some some rando country to beg for help from a Nazi asshole to end the invasion from another Nazi asshole. And if you were to die, one of the two assholes would win?
Zelensky, if you need my help personally, just ask. I have a wheelbarrow so we can carry your balls. Trump would love it if his genitalia could weigh down a party balloon.
They just invited him over so they can try to bully him and attack his character with bullshit arguments in front of everyone so they can have that "tough guy" image for their moronic supporters. How fucking pathetic.
No one will want to go over to the US to negotiate anything now.
America is squarely in an age of decline now. Our allies will start moving on without us. We'll start being left out of all sorts of deals/agreements. Our global power will decline. The future is going to another country. Probably China.
All because dumbfuck conservatives care more about owning the libs than voting responsibly.
I may have a bit of a rose-colored view of the US, or at least its potential to have its conscience pricked by the notion that tomorrow can be freer than today, but if we don't care about that anymore, then whatever it was that made America a more palatable hegemon than the USSR or China is gone. The USA is just another transactional actor, and not even a particularly reliable one. At this point, Trump has literally threatened more individual souls with annexation than China has.
A foreign democracy is sending an entire generation of their male populace into the afterlife to prevent Russia from expanding their borders and influence, which is bad for everyone including America, and our dumbfuck "leader" is trying to fleece them for everything he can in exchange for helping them with what amounts to chump change.
Such an embarrassing time to be an American. We're transitioning into a much more dangerous world.
A foreign democracy is sending an entire generation of their male populace into the afterlife to prevent Russia from expanding their borders and influence
More to the point, to defend themselves. Ukraine isn't playing some kind of geopolitical game; it's trying to survive and has a huge moral high ground that your characterization of it disregards.
I'm not disregarding anything. I'm making a point by driving home what it does for Americans, because all Americans care about is themselves. If I frame it from the perspective of Ukraine trying to defend themselves from invasion, Americans could give a fuck less.
Yeah... NATO is DEFINITELY not sending troops to Ukraine basically ever at this point. Because they increasingly need to be worried about both russia AND the us attacking them.
Well, that's the problem with NATO, it was always US interests first and European interests second. Whenever those two diverged, the Europeans just had to sit on their hands (that was the deal, that is why defense spending was not a priority)...but this time it is different: it has proven existential for Europe, regardless of whatever direction the wind may be blowing at that one time in the oval office.
Watch the interview. Trump is scared shitless over the potential of WW3 and UK and France have nukes. If NATO (less US) decided to do something in Ukraine, the most Trump would do is impose tariffs, which is something he was going to do anyway.
Given how much Trump allegedly wants the peace prize because Obama got one, the Nobel committee have an opportunity to do the funniest shit ever by giving Zelenskyy it over him.
I was torn as well. eventually decided to watch because to turn away feels like a betrayal of fellow human beings. an open and raw display of human depravity. now I need to find a politically useful outlet for this rage.
Watched it, my takes: Trump is definitly the lets make an offer he can't refuse type of negociator. I am thinking that the last week's visits have been hard on their ego. I suspect there is an agreement between european leaders to not let them get away with lies and bullshit when in person, even in the oval office. And it seems to be working, Vance respect comment make them look real fricking weak.
The "respect" and "you should be thankful" comments reminded me of that old (I think Tumblr) post:
Sometimes people use "respect" to mean "treating someone like a person" and sometimes they use "respect" to mean "treating someone like an authority".
and sometimes people who are used to being treated like an authority say "if you won't respect me, I won't respect you" and they mean "if you won't treat me like an authority, I won't treat you like a person."
and they think they're being fair, but they aren't, and it's not okay.
This article has some of the grossest stuff I've ever heard.
Trump and Vance accused Zelensky of being ungrateful for three years of American support, telling him he was in no position to tell the US how it should feel about it.
Those years of support were certainly due to no thanks to you. You hated every bit of help that was given to them, and now you want them to thank you for it??? I believe the US could go in and do to the Russian occupied territory what the Russians thought they could do to Ukraine and roll them over almost immediately. But instead, this admin is ready to leave them for dead unless they give up their only key to financing their rebuild without foreign "help." This is not seeking cooperation of an ally, it is extorsion.
Trump accuses Zelensky of "gambling with World War Three". He points his finger at the Ukrainian leader.
"What you are doing is disrespectful to the country - this country that's backed you far more than a lot of people said they should have," Trump says.
Zelensky calmly interjects: "I'm with all respect for your country".
Vice-President Vance interrupts: "Have you said 'thank you' once this entire meeting?"
Zelensky replies: "A lot of times".
Vance again says: "No, in this entire meeting, have you said 'thank you'?"
"You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October. Offer some words of appreciation for the USA and the president who is trying to save your country."
Zelensky shakes his head and looks away, and says the US will also eventually feel the consequences of the war.
Trump appears visibly frustrated, interjecting: "Don't tell us what we're going to feel. You're in no position to dictate what we're going to feel.
"We're going to feel very good and very strong."
Sorry Don, I'm not feeling the alliance here. Never seen him once talk about Putin this way. I do think he's working on an alliance in this war, only it's not from Ukraine.
Hoooly crap he's basically just flat out demanding "KISS THE RING."
And they're dressing down an embattled wartime leader of a sovereign nation like they're friggin' Jeff the GameStop Manager telling a teenager "You should feel privileged that we even gave you a job."
The sheer big baby entitlement, wow. Our country is a global embarrassment right now...
That's very much how I read it. "Be grateful you got what you got, and if you don't kiss my ass and give me a big payment, I'm leaving you and your people to rot. I'm fine either way."
Every day I think it's going to be hard to make me be more ashamed of my country, but they do it with such ease.
Zelensky took it like a champ though, and I got to watch much of the video after my original comment, and while Vance was trashing him for not saying thank you nicely enough, when he mentioned the brave people of Ukraine, that was when Zelensky said thank you again as he was being talked over.
As Zelensky implied, everyone is going to have a price to pay for the result of this, however it ends. Ukrainian ,Russian, and North Korean citizens are just the first to feel it. I don't want any of them to die, but since everyone spent the last 11 years tiptoeing around this issue, now there is a huge sunk cost for those nations, when the rest of the world should have stepped up sooner. After all the death and destruction, why would Ukraine now not only give up to Russia, but now the US also trying to steal their resources? Trump promises to take from Ukraine but will not commit to Ukraine's safety. They've already learned what a deal with Putin means, and they've had 4 years of seeing what Trump deals look like, and what he's doing to Americans right now.
Even with some news agencies being kicked out in the first 40 days of the presidency, there are still good pointed questions being asked. They aren't always the ones making it to the front page of anyone's feeds, which I think is terrible, but I don't feel most everyday people in the US know or care what is going on with all they are facing. We're on political posting space, so we often forget we are way more heavily invested in knowing world events compared to most people, just as near everyone uses computers, but only a few of us know how to build on or program one. We're not prepared in school to follow these events, and our society does not put emphasis on learning them. Broadcast news and for profit media will give what people care about at large, if it's valuable news or rubbish. There are still outlets that deliver the boring plain facts to those like us here though, and I think we need more solidarity for that. Not all media has fallen in line behind Trump or the billionaires, and many are still doing all they can to report on these important issues. If they weren't providing the facts, Trump wouldn't be banning people from press events, Bezos wouldn't be forcing out editors, and Musk and Zuck wouldn't need to spend so much money pushing propaganda. We need to embrace tighter than ever what we do have, even if it is imperfect, or soon we will not have that either.
But watching our POTUS and VP behave that way on international TV. Even if you support their politics, it's hard for me to understand how all of us are not embarrassed.
I also like that Zelensky didn't just swallow the insults and spoke his piece, because the media is (of course) focusing solely on the preferred Trump narrative.
You do realize that article 5 does not mean that other countries have to join the war, right? They can choose to or they can choose not to. Even if they choose to get involved, it can be in form of economic support. And even if they choose to declare war, it can be in form of loud words. So I expect Poland would be on it's own.
It means they have to under their treaty obligations. If they choose not to, they are in violation of the treaty and NATO is just over. If the Americans want to do this, they should forever be reminded that article 5 has been used only once before, by them, and the allies came to their aid no questions asked.
"this is gonna be great television, i'll tell you that" - Donald Trump, 025/28/2, he tried to bully Ukrainian president Zelenskyy on live tv
edit should be noted the minerals in ukraine are presumed, theoretical, just what little i know, but this "deal" would allow more U.S. corruption and private interests to head over and start raping the land, looking for a jackpot.
Yeah, "just build nukes".
If it was that simple, every one would have them. And even then its probably the worst choice they could make at the moment..
More like the best choice. If you don't want to be invaded, you need nukes. Any country that had nukes and gets rid of them is just asking to be invaded. Libya got rid of their nukes, got invaded, collapsed. Ukraine got rid of their nukes, got invaded, got abandoned by the US. Canada got rid of their nukes, Trump is talking about annexing the country. I guarantee Trump would be a lot more polite to the Canadians if they had something they could point right at Mar A Lago and go "Invade us at your fucking peril".
I posted this on another article a day or two ago... still feeling the same way:
I feel like he’s in a better position than people give him credit for. Europe is behind him, and Trump wants to have his cake (besties with Putin) and eat it (NATO). If he rejects Trump’s bullying in the negotiations, it forces Trump to decide. If he sides with Putin, that’s pretty much it for NATO, US-Euro relations. Possibly the UN, as well. The US loses A LOT in the way of economic, intelligence, and strategic cooperation all to become a VERY weakened dictatorship’s new best friend. I’m mean, of course that’s what Trump will do because “4d chess,” and “art of the deal,” and whatever.
It all kind of depends on Europe. They kind of want the best of both worlds too (back Ukraine and not lose the US as an ally). Which is more important to them? Germany’s new chancellor offered a hopeful signal after winning the election, and I have a feeling Macron and Starmer won’t ditch Ukraine, but we’ll see if that sentiment holds when shit gets real.
What makes you think NATO is something he wants? If anything, he could be plotting a 30x bigger surprise than the invasion of Ukraine if the americans betray Europe on the battlefield by removing all the NATO command structures by surprise in the event of new russian escalation.
He’s made noise about NATO, but… he makes a lot of noise. He also, to a small extent had a point at one time about nations committing the agreed upon percentages of their budgets to defense. Regardless, today’s actions paint a pretty clear picture for Europe and the rest of the world.
As a point of clarity. Trump demanded a ridiculous share of minerals from Ukraine. Zelensky wanted to negotiate that. Trump essentially told him there was no negotiation. They could give up half of their future mineral wealth or they could kick rocks.
I mean I understand that Zelensky is desperate and doing whatever is necessary to ensure the fair survival of his country.
But the UK getting in line to kiss his dihheriacious ass, only to get humiliated by this fucking high school bully? Have some spine you fucking cowards. But I guess they meet in the common factor of enabling genocide for Zionists so they never will.