US Erection 12 *AND* 16 *AND* 20 *AND* 22 *AND* 24 *AND* Beyond

[Megaterio Llamas]

Thankfully the EU confiscated way more Russian assets than the US. You know Trump's going to return those assets as soon as Putin gives the word.

I think Putin is sittting on a similar or greater amount of EU assets than the EU is Russian assets.

Yeah, I think those are already written off on company balance sheets. Do you think Trump will negotiate those back or give Putin's assets first?

I don't know man. I have heard the Russian assets could be in play as part of a settlement to end the war. Just one of the rumors floating around. It has been suggested that it could be put to use rebuilding Ukraine.

[5thhorseman]

I can see that for the ones seized by the EU, yes. Macron was clear on Ukraine being made whole first. Trump not so much.

[Megaterio Llamas]

I can see that for the ones seized by the EU, yes. Macron was clear on Ukraine being made whole first. Trump not so much.

Yes, Trump is definitely in it to make America whole as much as possible. I don't see the EU getting a piece of the action myself.

I guess the EU can take their chances seizing whatever assets they can access but Trump won't be 'backstopping' any adventures in Ukraine they might be planning to get up to.

[Cornuck]

It's (kinda, but not really) funny how trump and musk are tearing through the government in the name of cost-cutting, while pushing through a budget that will add $3.5 to 4 trillion to the debt. Just a big show for the rubes, and a chance for musk to play BMOC.

[Megaterio Llamas]

This is good news. Closing down all diplomatic contact the way Biden (Blinken) did was insane.

Russian, US diplomats to meet in Turkey to discuss operation of embassies in Moscow, Washington

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Updated 8:54 AM PST, February 26, 2025

Diplomats from Russia and the United States will meet in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss the operation of their respective embassies in Moscow and Washington, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday.

The meeting follows Russia-U.S. talks in Saudi Arabia last week that marked an extraordinary shift in U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump and a clear departure from U.S.-led efforts to isolate Russia over its war in Ukraine.

At the talks, Moscow and Washington agreed to start working toward ending the war and improving their diplomatic and economic ties. That includes restoring the staffing at embassies, which in recent years were hit hard by mutual expulsions of large numbers of diplomats and other restrictions.

A U.S. Embassy official in Ankara confirmed that U.S. and Russian delegations will hold talks in Istanbul on Thursday on issues affecting the operation of respective diplomatic missions.

The embassy official said Ukraine will not be on the agenda.

Prior to Trump’s second administration, ties between Moscow and Washington had fallen to Cold War lows after Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and invaded Ukraine in 2022.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-us-em ... fdae0378d2

[Cornuck]

This is good news. Closing down all diplomatic contact the way Biden (Blinken) did was insane.

Good news if you're Russian? So far, Russia is being welcomed back with open arms and has done nothing to earn the respect. Again, trump is handing everything over and Russia is still bombing Ukraine.

Russia attacked Ukraine with nearly two hundred drones overnight, mainly targeting the Kyiv region and energy facilities in the east.

[Megaterio Llamas]

This is good news. Closing down all diplomatic contact the way Biden (Blinken) did was insane.

Good news if you're Russian? So far, Russia is being welcomed back with open arms and has done nothing to earn the respect. Again, trump is handing everything over and Russia is still bombing Ukraine.

Russia attacked Ukraine with nearly two hundred drones overnight, mainly targeting the Kyiv region and energy facilities in the east.

Keeping channels of communication open during a war is just smart policy. No one before Biden has eever closed all diplomatic channels, this is incredibly dangerous. Even during the Vietnam war when the Soviets were arming the North diplomatric channels remained open and the two sides communicated freely. Soviet/US relations even improved a little in that period. It's kind of miraculous that we avoided a nuclear confrontation in the previous four years.

Ukraine is not of vital importance to the US.

[Megaterio Llamas]

It's (kinda, but not really) funny how trump and musk are tearing through the government in the name of cost-cutting, while pushing through a budget that will add $3.5 to 4 trillion to the debt. Just a big show for the rubes, and a chance for musk to play BMOC.

You're right Corn, it doesn't add up. Trump I think is really waging war on elements of, dare I say, the deep state that he feels wronged him over the past eight years. That's what I think is going on anyway.

[Cornuck]

Keeping channels of communication open during a war is just smart policy.

I won't argue this point, I'm just saying that the response has been very quick to 'normalize' Russia. They obviously were able to talk without the embassies. (and yes, Blinken did a lot of stupid shit).

As for Ukraine not being of 'vital' importance - I think the level of international order is of some importance. Putin chose to invade, and the western world responded.

[Megaterio Llamas]

Keeping channels of communication open during a war is just smart policy.

I won't argue this point, I'm just saying that the response has been very quick to 'normalize' Russia. They obviously were able to talk without the embassies. (and yes, Blinken did a lot of stupid shit).

As for Ukraine not being of 'vital' importance - I think the level of international order is of some importance. Putin chose to invade, and the western world responded.

Exactly Corn, the Western World responded. Only problem, Ukraine is on Russia's doorstep and isn't part of the Western World. It was imperial overreach and Russia had said nyet many times over the past twenty years to Ukraine ever entering NATO and setting up nuclear weapons pointed at Russian cities on the border with Russia. Any move in that direction was always going to lead to war and war is what we have. The Russians have fought Western armies on the Ukrainian steppe many times before and they have long memories.

You know it's interesting, Russian ways of war fighting haven't really changed over the years, tactically it resembles Barbarossa and Bagatration all over again. Same luring attackers into cauldrons, same artillery intensive aggressive attrition of the enemy forces. They don't really try to seize territory at all, they just kil alll the enemy aoldiers and move ahead to the next line oif defense, rinse and depeat. They haven't really acquired much territory but they are killing Ukainian and Western mercenaries in industrial quantities.

Here are some grotesque highlights from yesterdays battles in Russia's Kursk Oblast:

https://x.com/NewRulesGeo/status/1894765469090848873

[Topper]

It's (kinda, but not really) funny how trump and musk are tearing through the government in the name of cost-cutting, while pushing through a budget that will add $3.5 to 4 trillion to the debt. Just a big show for the rubes, and a chance for musk to play BMOC.

I asked an American why should the money DOGE is keeping from being spent on waste be sent out as cheques to Americans. Shouldn't it go to debt reduction. They seemed to think that things were already balancing out and there was excess to return to taxpayers.

Fools

[Megaterio Llamas]

The always interesting Alex Krainer was on Diologue Works with Nima this morning and among other things he believes that Trump isn't really interested in Ukraine's minerals, that it's a ploy to troll the Brits and to freeze them out of access. He believes that Kier Starmer signed a similar deal secretly as the quiet part of the 100 year agreement last year in November.

https://www.youtube.com/live/qzCu-inyCy ... -nCGUZj52Q

[Megaterio Llamas]

Pam Bondi sayys the Epstein list drops tomorrow. https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1894920207698927995

[Megaterio Llamas]

Mrco Rubio cancelled a metting with EU representative Kaja Kallas at the last minute: https://x.com/GeromanAT/status/1894770471083688120

[Meds]

Americans (who are old enough) just need to ask themselves: Were we OK with Russia putting missiles in Cuba?