Ukraine Fights For Support From Allies
Russia announces a third of its budget to be spent on the military
The situation in Ukraine hasn’t changed much with the same issues that don’t appear to get resolved such as Hungary formally objecting to the EU giving Ukraine any further aid and their application to join the EU. When will the EU have the guts to do something about Hungary, for they aren’t an essential part of the EU as in if they left no one would be missing out any any perks unlike when the UK left the EU (they lost a huge chunk of funding and unrestricted access to the UK borders)?
The past week has seen the 10th anniversary of the Maidan protests that began on 21 November 2013, when a corrupt Prime Minister (Yanukovych, a Putin puppet) chose not to sign a trade agreement with the EU and signed with Russia instead, indicating that he had no intentions of joining the EU, which would mean free movement across the EU for Ukrainians.
Another Ramstein meeting took place where Ukraine is fighting again for support from the allies. Bulgaria have signed off patrol vehicles, and Finland and the Netherlands have offered more military aid packages. The fear is that Ukraine won’t have enough weapons and ammunition to hold off the Russians until March 2024, when they expect new supplies of ammunition to be produced.
Meanwhile, Russia has announced that a third of its budget will be spent on the military. A clear indicator that they will continue this war, and reports also claim that Russia will carry out a total mobilisation after the 2024 election. As Russia becomes isolated from the international community, Finland has opted to close all but one of its borders with Russia due to a high footfall of migrants trying to cross the border, and now neighbouring Estonia is considering the same.
The propaganda war continues, and a brief look on X (Twitter) when I put in the search ‘war in Ukraine’ brought up posts that were anti-Ukraine, calling Zelenskyy a war criminal. Looking through some of the posts it is evident that these accounts are reposting propaganda and trying to influence people. The one I saw was of a Ukrainian soldier who filmed himself in the trenches just before he died, and sadly that is the risk of being a soldier. Ukraine was not equipped to battle Russia and Russia knew that, and so complaints of not enough equipment and poor conditions are to be expected. What is abhorrent is the level of corruption in Ukraine that enabled the invasion, and that such corruption still exists during the war that the SBU have have to increase staffing. While they might think that is a good message to send to the world in that they are tackling the issue, the flip side is that people are wondering why there is so much corruption in the government even during the war?
Zelenskyy has made some errors, but who would want his job? Firing key personnel to send a message to the allies that he is cutting out corruption (or those who should have spotted it) doesn’t actually look good, and with the rhetoric of a new strategy in place, the point is that Ukraine needs more weapons and an army that want to fight. They have already admitted that more than 20,000 men fled the country to avoid conscription and an unknown figure have dodged it with false papers, so basically Ukraine has all its soldiers already and all they can hope for is for teenagers to come of age to sign up. The fact is, Ukraine will need soldiers from external sources in order to defeat Russia, but no one wants to discuss the possibility of NATO troops in Ukraine.
Day 634 (19 Nov)
More Russians are snitching on their neighbours and acquaintances if they criticise the Russian army. They claims there reasons are because they are supporting Russia to defeat Ukraine (how they believe that when Ukraine isn’t in Russia or attacking Russia I don’t know, but most importantly they are afraid that if Russia loses and must pay reparations to Ukraine, that would mean they would lose their jobs and affect the finances of the country. In short, the war is dividing Russians in Russia, and Russians don’t want to lose their comfortable lifestyles, and want Russia to win because of that.
Finland erects barriers at the Vartius checkpoint with Russia, one of four that remain open after the closure of four checkpoints earlier in the week.
Day 635 (20 Nov)
US Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin paid an unannounced visit to Kyiv ahead of the next Ramstein meeting to show that the US maintains its support to Ukraine.
Japan offers €160 million to assist in Ukrainian projects to recover the economy.
There is a new Argentinian president, Javier, Milei who has said they will reduce their ties to Russia and China, and although he has stated that he does not approve of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, that he would not impose sanctions against Russia, and will not send weapons to Ukraine either. Looks like he is trying to be neutral like Austria.
Zelenskyy has urged the international community to continue supporting Ukraine as a message to Russia, so that they know that the allies will not stop sending support. This was via his daily address to Ukrainians, as he is aware that there is war fatigue and with the change in governments in Poland and Slovakia, levels of aid that will be supplies will alter.
Reports confirm that that F-35 jets from Evenes, Norway were scrambled as a response to Russian aircraft, flying close to NATO air space on 16th November.
Lithuania has stated it will redirect fines generated from sanctions and violations towards Ukrainian Reconstruction, by setting up a fund specifically for this purpose.
There is another coalition taking place, a NATO one to create a joint mine clearing force in the Black Sea. NATO members, Bulgaria, Turkey and Romania are close to reaching a deal to address the floating minds in their respective territorial waters.
More Ukrainian corruption. The special communication service leaders have been charged with embezzlement and dismissed , charged with embezzling over $1.7 million worth of state funds. The head of Ukraine's State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection and his deputy were the key people behind them the embezzlement. It hardly warrants much trust in Ukrainian governmental systems with corruption being uncovered in just about all areas when Ukraine seeks support from the rest of the world.
Day 636 (21 Nov)
Today was the 10th anniversary of Maidan protests (Revolution of Dignity and Freedom) and wreaths were laid in memory of those who died during the protests called the heavenly hundred (108 people died).
There was an unannounced visit from Charles Michel (President of European Council), and Maia Sandu (Moldovian President) to discuss EU ascension and to honour those who died during the Maidan protests. The German Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius joined them as he also made an unannounced visit.
Zelenskyy has stated that he believes Ukraine is halfway on the path to EU integration, and that Ukraine is implementing the necessary steps as outlined by the EU. He also stated that the EU might be willing to meet Ukraine halfway, which indicates that Ukraine is still fighting to control and fight corruption which is one of the main issues that Ukraine needs to address.
The Ukrainian parliament has passed a bill to increase the staff of the National Anti- Corruption Bureau from 700 to 1000. While that might sound good, it also means there is more corruption that initially anticipated, but it is necessary to deal with it in order to join the EU.
Day 637 (22 Nov)
The European Parliament has announced it will open an office in Ukraine in order to assist in its support for Ukraine.
Orban of Hungary has formally written to Charles Michel, threatening to block all aid to Ukraine and EU ascension unless the EU revises its support to Ukraine. How much longer will the EU stand back and do nothing about Orban, who is obviously a Putin puppet? This shows how weak the EU actually is when they have a traitor country as a member and they have no means or gut to remove or reprimand them.
Switzerland have approved the transfer of 25 leopard 2 tanks to Germany, but has stated they cannot be sent to Ukraine. This means that the 25 tanks transferred can remain in the German military, and Germany can then transfer 25 of their own tanks to Ukraine.
The 17th Ramstein meeting was held to continue the support for Ukraine, in particular ground air defence systems. Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Germany have put forward additional military aid packages. 20 countries participated with the UK and Norway looking at ways to improve security over the Black Sea
The Slovakian parliament has officially confirmed that it will halt military aid to Ukraine. This is what the new prime minister Fico has stated, and deals a huge blow to the allied coalition.
Russia and Belarus have blocked the Estonian bid to chair the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe ) in 2024 even though it was the only candidate which leaves the entity unstable, which is what Russia wants.
Comment by Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna on the decision of Russia and Belarus to veto Estonia’s OSCE Chairmanship in 2024.
It is regrettable that due to the veto imposed by Russia and, at their instigation, Belarus today in Vienna, Estonia’s candidacy for the Chairmanship of the OSCE in 2024 was not confirmed.
With its actions, Russia is blocking the work of the entire organisation because for years now, Moscow has prevented the organisation from adopting its budget, holding official OSCE events, and extending foreign missions, resulting in the end of all OSCE foreign missions in Ukraine, which has been subjected to Russia’s aggression.
Because of Russia and Belarus, we now find ourselves in a situation where a mere six weeks before the new year, the OSCE does not have a confirmed chairmanship, even though Estonia has been the joint candidate of the European Union since 2020.
As Russia is violating all fundamental principles of the OSCE with its bloody war of aggression, it is unacceptable to subject to Moscow’s demands and blackmail, including its wish that the next country to hold the OSCE Chairmanship is not a NATO member. At this moment, instead of looking for solutions that would please Moscow, we must isolate Russia in every way on the international arena.
Estonia continues to hold the position that the OSCE must stand resolutely for its fundamental values and concessions to the aggressor should be ruled out.
OSCE grew out of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), which has always aimed to advance dialogue between the East and the West. This way, the OSCE has never comprised only like-minded countries. Although the activities of the OSCE have been beset by confrontations from the start, the organisation has never faced a graver crisis than now.
Day 638 (23 Nov)
Finland has now decided to close all but one of its border checkpoints with Russia in order to control the increased migration numbers. Estonia is considering doing the same and to close some of its borders as Russia appears to sending migrants across the border to create security issues and to ‘unsettle’ the country.
Russia has announced their budget where a third of the government spending will be on the military. Perhaps this is a message to Ukraine and the allies that they are going to continue this war, and will increase spending and have no interest in peace talks.
North Korea has transferred weapons to Russia, where the G7 has officially condemned this act. This was no surprise after the two leaders held talks together in Russia, and why NATO need to act rather then react now.
Part of the the conditions to fulfil the criteria to join the EU is to accommodate any minorities living in the country. This is Hungary’s main objection to Ukraine joining the EU (claiming that Hungarians are penalised in Ukraine), and Ukraine has said it will not make special exceptions for Hungary, as it is working with all countries who have minorities living in Ukraine.
Ukrainian teachers in Mariupol who remained have not been paid. I don’t know why they thought everything would be okay and that they would get paid when Russia basically destroyed the city and anyone in it. This goes back to my criticisms of people who chose to stay rather than evacuate because they thought life would be okay under the Russians. How can you truly believe that when a country takes over your city, kills everyone, and then takes your home away too? Why would you think the Russians would carry on paying your wages?
Ukraine has joined the UNESCO World Heritage Committee for the first time. In doing so, they can participate in discussions on funding and to decide which sites should be designated world heritage sites.
Russians snitching on their neighours is not new. Under the former USSR, frequently people who were snitched on to authorities just disappeared, never to be seen again. Some even considered themselves fortunate if they ended up in Siberia! All this, without any "evidence" of wrongdoing, merely based on what authorities were told by neighbours.