Attempts to prevent this war failed, yet those in power still believe that discussions can end the bloodshed. Putin has refused to agree to play nicely with the Black Sea grain deal, claiming it hasn't affected food prices and that there isn’t a food shortage, thus he wants his demands met before considering to resume the grain deal.
Surely by now, NATO and the UN must accept that if he won’t back down on this, then how can they expect Russia to voluntarily leave Ukraine and the occupied territories? Putin wants the USSR and the Soviet Union back, and he will not stop until he destroys anyone in his way. This was always the fear that western leaders thought they had under control, but in reality it was Putin that had played them for the last couple of decades. Think about it—it takes years to plant deep cover spies in places to extract information and that can execute an invasion, and all Putin has to do is keep his enemies in prison or to poison them. Meanwhile, he can give the impression that Russia is opening its doors to the western lifestyle with companies investing in the Russian markets, and visiting the US and the UK as guests including a State Visit as a guest the late Queen, where the now King Charles greeted Putin at the airport in 2003.
Cannon fodder and troops are an issue, and Russia is recruiting from other countries, but how can Ukraine compete? Where will the additional soldiers come from? Men that come of age need to be trained and some will have already left Ukraine having been evacuated as a child. This is where NATO needs to step in, and as reluctant as it is to do so, many see it as inevitable for this war to end and to prevent it spreading to other countries.
Day 557 (3 September)
Oleksii Reznikov is to be removed as the Ukrainian defence minister as expected a few weeks ago. He will be replaced by Rustem Umerov as Zelenskyy has said there needs to be a change in the military approach. It is thought Reznikov has been offered alternative roles within the government. Concerns grew when allegations of corruption arose earlier in the year where substandard food and uniforms had been purchased for the army, and where inflated prices had been charged as part of a corruption scheme. Reznikov has not been accused or charged with corruption, but it happened under his watch. Reznikov handed in his resignation statement to the Verkhovna Rada.
Oleksii Reznikov has been through these more than 550 days of full-scale war. I believe that the ministry needs new approaches another formats of interaction with first in military of society as a whole. Now Rustam Umerov should head the ministry. (Zelenskyy)
This comes a few days after Ben Wallace, (UK defence minister) resigned even though he had said he would be stepping down as an MP at the next election. With a change in defence ministers during the war, there is a possible impact where knowledge and experience is essential. We have also seen a change in world leaders which also has had an effect, both positive and negative.
Putin has been addressing students as they return to school, telling them when Russia was the Soviet Union, they were ‘invincible’ as he brainwashes a new generation into believing that the USSR should be reformed. The allies, NATO, and the UN need to understand that this is Putin’s goal and that the time to stop Russia is now before the war extends outside of Ukraine as it appears to be doing into Belarus.
Russia is using migrant workers from Uzbekistan, Armenia and Kazakhstan as conscripts by offering them fast track Russian citizenship. Adverts for people to join the Russian army have tempting monetary offers of initial payments and salaries of $1,973 (USD) but how many would actually see the money?
Orban of Hungary’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas gave a speech that states that peace can only be achieved if the West gives Ukraine security guarantees, but not NATO membership. We can see an issue here, while Orban is in office, Hungary will oppose NATO membership. Calls for the EU and NATO to act on the Hungarian position have been ignored, but all can see that Hungary has been silently supporting Russian interests without being reprimanded by the alliances they are members of, and where they are supposed to share the same values and position on Ukraine.
Day 558 (4 September)
Xi Jinping will not attend the G20 summit in India and will send a representative instead. This means that neither Putin or Jinping will attend the summit, although Jinping did attend BRICS less than a fortnight ago. As relations between democratic countries and China drift away, this means that Biden won’t be able to talk directly to Jinping as he had hoped, or rather Jinping is avoiding speaking to specific leaders to avoid answering questions he doesn’t want to be asked.
Putin is to visit North Korea and meet with Kim Jong to discuss his country supplying Russia with weapons. The US has issued a statement requesting North Korea from having such discussions and that sanctions would be imposed if they did supply Russia with weapons. As we know, sanctions don’t always work and can be circumvented, plus they take months if not years before any actual effect takes place.
Erdogan has arrived in Sochi, Russia to hold discussions with Putin, primarily about the Black Sea Grain initiative.
Scholz is reported to be the obstacle in Germany providing long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine according to the Bundestag Defence Committee head, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmerman. He is the only person that opposes the move for now.
The G7 are looking at ways to transfer frozen and reclaimed assets to Ukraine in a transparent manner to help pay for the rebuilding of Ukraine. In particular they want to avoid loopholes and make the information only available to necessary parties so that corruption or exploitation is limited.
Belgium has purchased Sea Sparrow missiles from Germany for Ukraine. Meanwhile, Latvia has logistic and transit issues in delivering aid to Ukraine. It’s one thing to promise and pledge aid, and another to deliver it.
Day 559 (5 September)
Sergei Surovikin, the former Russian commander who was involved in the Wagner mutiny has been reported to have been seen alive. However, no one can verify the photo and when it was taken as it was posted on Russian social media. This could be another propaganda attempt to appease the Russian public.
The Russian pilot, Maksim Kuzminov who landed his Mi-8 helicopter in Ukraine and surrendered and effectively has defected on 23 August 2023, has called upon other Russian pilots to do the same. The negotiations apparently took 6 months as more Russians are choosing life over death, and where many do not agree with the invasion.
Reznikov, has stated that the Russian invasion costs $100 million a day to defend itself from Russia. This is funded from other global entities, so the entire world is paying for this war that can only end with Russia being defeated. Until NATO, and the UN accept this, then it seems the war will drag on.
Erdogan has left Russia without Putin agreeing to resume the Black Sea grain deal. Putin has said they would only consider resuming the deal once restrictions on Russian agricultural exports (grain and fertilisers) were lifted, and that includes banking services—basically he wants sanctions on the SWIFT banking service lifted so that Russia can trade and that in turn will fund the war.
It’s clear that Russia does not discuss or negotiate. They state what they want and that’s it, so NATO and the UN need to face that fact (as well as Macron who still believes he can talk Putin down). If Putin won’t back down on the Black Sea grain deal, then there is little chance of him agreeing to leave Ukraine and the occupied areas in the country.
Reports claim that Cuba is running an operation to recruit Cubans to enlist in the Russian army. If true, then the war is already extending outside of Europe as other countries choose a side.
Typical of Putin by attempting to brainwash young students about the former USSR.