🚨🚨 All of this by Anne Applebaum. Some excerpts here in 🧵 - ThreadSky

profjacob.bsky.social • 2 days ago

🚨🚨 All of this by Anne Applebaum. Some excerpts here in 🧵

Putin planned to take Kyiv in three days, but he couldn't take Kyiv in three years.
The only way Putin wins now—the only way he finally succeeds in destroying Ukraine’s sovereignty—is by persuading Ukraine’s allies to abandon Ukraine.
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

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profjacob.bsky.social•2 days ago

Out of all the ugly and dishonest things that Donald Trump said about Volodymyr Zelensky last week, the ugliest was not dishonest at all. “I’ve been watching for years, and I’ve been watching him negotiate with no cards,” Trump said of Zelensky. “He has no cards. And you get sick of it.” /2

profjacob.bsky.social•2 days ago

Sick of it. Stop and think about that phrase. Trump inserted it into a stream of falsehoods, produced over several days, many of which he must have known to be untrue. He has been lying about the origins of the war, about Zelensky’s popular support, about the levels of U.S. funding for Ukraine,

profjacob.bsky.social•2 days ago

about the extent of European funding, about the status of previous negotiations. But sick of it—that, at least, has the ring of truth. Trump is genuinely bored of the war. He doesn’t understand it. He doesn’t know why it started. He doesn’t know how to stop it." /4

profjacob.bsky.social•2 days ago

"He wants to change the channel & watch something else. Also, he has no cards: That probably reflects Trump’s true belief. For Trump, the only real cards are big money & hard power. Players, in his world, are people whom no court can block, no journalist can question, no legislator can oppose.

profjacob.bsky.social•2 days ago

People whose money can buy anything, whose power cannot be checked or balanced. But Trump is wrong. Zelensky might not have money, and he might not be a brutal dictator like Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping. Yet he does have other kinds of power." /5

profjacob.bsky.social•2 days ago

"He leads a society that organizes itself, with local leaders who have legitimacy and a tech sector dedicated to victory—a society that has come, around the world, to symbolize bravery. He has a message that moves people to act instead of just scaring them into silence."/6

jb25always.bsky.social•2 days ago

Do you really believe that Ukraine stood any chance of reclaiming every square meter of its territory? Even after the total failure of its counterattack over a year ago? No matter how many weapons we supply Ukraine is not winning.

fathomdeep.bsky.social•2 days ago

Ukraine reclaiming every square meter and Putin destroying Ukrainian sovereignty aren't the only two possible outcomes. Supporting Ukraine to hold the current line is a valid goal in itself. Putin is discredited while the Russia's economy implodes and its army slowly bleeds out.

jb25always.bsky.social•2 days ago

Well that is certainly not winning. What evidence is there that Russia's army will bleed out long before Ukraine has collapsed? I certainly have seen no evidence that Ukraine has greater resources than Russia.

fathomdeep.bsky.social•2 days ago

Europe has greater resources than Russia.

jb25always.bsky.social•2 days ago

Irrelevant. The question is what evidence do you have to support your contention that Ukraine can bleed Russia's armed forces?

fathomdeep.bsky.social•2 days ago

I said it was a possible outcome. Clearly that depends on unknowable future events. Be polite please, or I'll mute you.

begonias363.me•12 hours ago

Economic impasse - interest rate, oil exports decline, inflation, running out of equipment etc. it's all there - just google the facts. Russia has about 12-18 months left before the country runs out of resources.

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