Luongo: Opening Salvos Thrown, What Are Putin’s Next Steps In Ukraine?

Authored by Tom Luongo via Gold, Goats, ‘n Guns blog,

Last week I wrote that Russian President Vladimir Putin rewrote the rules for the geopolitical game board. A week into his campaign to officially “demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine” it’s clear to me that Putin’s ambitions lie far beyond this stated goal.

He will, however, stick to that script until that part of the campaign is complete.

Today I want to start outlining where we go next and to do that we have to describe where we are.

Looking around the reports that are the most credible (and properly bracketing for any partisanship) we are staring at a complete, effective neutralization of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) to hold any of the ethnically-dominant areas of Ukraine.

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Open letter to TV watching western armchair generals

Via Vineyard of the Saker

Open letter to TV watching western armchair generals

My dear TV western armchair generals,

I get it, I promise.  I really do!

Your entire life you have been trained to see a successful military operations like so:

Victory US style!

Begin by bombing the shit of the “hadjis” or “sand niggers” with bombs and missiles, then flatten their town à la Fallujah, then move in with heavy armor and shoot everything which still moves or breathes.

Then distribute chewing-gums to a few kids while on video.

Then take the city center, drop a statue in front your embedded presstitutes, and then declare victory.

Then, after declaring victory, stay another 20 years or so (Blinken was clearly projecting!), ruin it completely, then leave it again and declare another brilliant victory.

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Hackers Join the Ukraine War

Guest Post by Martin Armstrong

Russia’s media has promoted the “military action” in Ukraine as a necessary measure in an attempt to mislead the people from seeing this as an all-out invasion. Russia’s communications regulator (Roskomnadzor) has banned media outlets from using the words “assault, invasion, or declaration of war” to describe the attack on Ukraine. Disobeying could be punishable by a fine of five million rubles ($60,000). Roskomnadzor said that “official Russian information outlets” are the only source for “reliable information.” Numerous social media platforms are now restricted or disabled in Russia in an attempt to shield citizens from the truth.

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A Quick Decisive Victory Can Prevent a Wider War

Guest Post by Paul Craig Roberts

I am beginning to think Russia will lose the war, and her credibility with it, to negotiation.  For the third time the Kremlin has taken the negotiation bait.  According to the Russian news agency Tass, Russian and Ukrainian delegations will meet at an undisclosed location in Belarus for talks Monday morning. This is odd.  The Kremlin had previously concluded that it was pointless negotiating with Ukraine, because Ukraine is a Washington puppet incapable of independent decision.

While the talks are happening, the Europeans will be supplying fighter jets to Ukraine via Poland.  This despite the death and destruction Putin warned would come to those who interfered with Russia’s Ukraine operation.  Thus, the Kremlin seems to be again cooperating with the Ukraine’s efforts to beef up resistance when Russia needs to quickly win the war.  https://www.rt.com/news/550796-eu-fighter-jets-ukraine/

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The Insanity of the West Accelerates

Guest Post by Paul Craig Roberts

The New York Times reports that Biden is going to forestall Russian aggression against Ukraine by deploying between 1,000 and 5,000 US troops on Russia’s border and is prepared to increase the number of troops tenfold to 10,000 to 50,000 soldiers. A Russian army would eat this small number for a snack in 5 minutes. Clearly the purpose of the deployment is not military. The purpose is to heighten the “Russian threat” in the minds of the people in advance of a false flag event that will be blamed on the Kremlin.

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Why is the Biden Administration Pushing Ukraine to Attack Russia?

Guest Post by Ron Paul

On March 24th, Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky signed what was essentially a declaration of war on Russia. In the document, titled Presidential Decree No. 117/2021, the US-backed Ukrainian leader declared that it is the official policy of Ukraine to take back Crimea from Russia.

The declaration that Ukraine would take back Crimea from Russia also followed, and was perhaps instigated by, President Biden’s inflammatory and foolish statement that “Crimea is Ukraine.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was a chief architect of the US-backed coup against Ukraine in 2014, continued egging on the Ukrainians, promising full US support for the “territorial integrity” of Ukraine. Many Americans wonder why they are not even half as concerned about the territorial integrity of the United States!

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THE COSTS OF THE UKRAINE WAR

Infographic: Eastern Ukraine: Increasingly Costly And Chaotic | Statista

You will find more statistics at Statista

Infographic: The Countries Hardest Hit By Russia's Trade Ban | Statista

You will find more statistics at Statista

Russia banned imports of U.S. and European agricultural goods last week, a move that illustrated how far ties between Moscow and the West have deteriorated since the onset of the crisis in Ukraine. The sanctions are bad news for European farmers at a time of slow economic growth and falling food prices in the EU. Poland exports over $1.1 billion of agricultural products to Russia every year and its fruit sector, apples in particular, is set to be hard hit.

The Norwegian seafood industry is also searching for new export markets, especially for salmon. Norway exported over a billion dollars worth of fish to Russia in 2013. The situation is also starting to have serious repercussions in Russia itself. Food prices in Russia were already high before the ban and now they’re expected to increase even further while shortages could also arise – imported ingredients account for about 50 percent of Russia’s restaurant market alone.

Infographic: Europe is Highly Dependent on Russian Gas | Statista

You will find more statistics at Statista

The United States is increasing pressure on European leaders to impose further sanctions on Russia in the wake of the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. Russia accounts for 30 percent of all EU gas and it could retaliate by restricting supplies. Europe is highly dependent on Russian gas but interestingly, it will be braced for any possible crisis. A warm winter has left inventories high and there are surging global supplies of liquified natural gas. Furthermore, most analysts believe Russia is unlikely to restrict gas supplies as it could force Europe to permanently switch to other sources.