Ukraine- the situation is VERY serious

Not sure about that pasca130 as from what I’ve read both Putin and the Russian people will be glad it’s over, as long as they can claim some land they’ve already taken like Crimea and the Donbas region.Otherwise nobody wins and it just drags on embarrassing Russia. Their ‘special military operation’ was supposed to be over in a few weeks.

Grantanow

Devorgilla

I'm also with those on here who say we must stick with the EU. When all is said and done they are the people our country has 'grown up' with. They are our siblings and we have loved them, hated them, gone to war with them, made peace with them, married into them etc. They are part of us and we of them.

So why did people vote for the Brexit disaster?

I really don’t know other than I think rhetoric (eg think, as one example, the bus saying we’d have £300 million per week available for the nhs), hoodwinked so many.

I think Devorgilla means stick with the rest of Europe, which makes more sense than saying the EU.
Brexit happened years and years ago and needs coming to terms with.It has no bearing on the situation between Ukraine and Russia.

Hardly years and years ago. It’s less than a decade.

31st January 2020 was when we officially left.

It’s left Nato and Ukraine side-lined, with the US unilaterally declaring that Ukraine will not become a member of the Alliance nor regain all its lost territories.

The European nations could refuse to accept that, their problem is that the US would just say OK without our backing, a very large part of NATO is US operated and it’s just not realistic to do that.

However unpalatable it is, accepting the loss of territory and stopping the killing is the best option.

Europe has relied on US backup for defence for far too long, a lot of the arms stockpiles we had have been used up in Ukraine, to replace those with modern weapons is going to be expensive, hopefully not 5% of spending but a lot more than we spend now.

After everything Zelensky has done for his country he is now being thrown to the dogs by Trump. I could weep for him and his family. Whether they could take refuge in another country I don’t know. If he stays he will be assassinated in my opinion.

Will Putin ever get his comeuppance? I do hope so.

Iam64

I’ve just watched Victoria Derbyshire interviewing Sebastian Gorky, Trump’s senior director for counter terrorism on Newsnight. What an arrogant bully the man is. Typical of what’s happening in the Trump White House. Normal communication, civil discussions no longer expected

It was shocking, he was vey rude and I don’t know how Victoria remained so polite and calm. Trump has surrounded himself with arrogant, belligerent men, Pete Hegseth was obnoxious at NATO saying he was going to speak first.

imaround

What is sad Babs03 is that he isn't even the worst pick!

We have an anti-vaxxer who put a dead bear in Central Park as a joke in charge of our health.

An "alleged" Assaud agent at Intelligence

A super far right racist Christian Nationalist who do not believe women should be in the military in charge of the military.

Each one gets worse and worse. But then we get to Russel Voght. This man has ice running through his veins and is a lead architect and author of Project 2025. He is in charge of the purse strings and has already said he will illegally engage in impoundment, which is what is happening right now with the federal funds freeze. It is against the law. Nothing happens at any agency without his say so.

Pete Hegseth also has a very Chequered past.

NanKate

After everything Zelensky has done for his country he is now being thrown to the dogs by Trump. I could weep for him and his family. Whether they could take refuge in another country I don’t know. If he stays he will be assassinated in my opinion.

Will Putin ever get his comeuppance? I do hope so.

Yes it is incredibly disappointing, Zelensky is like a prizefighter with all the hopes of slewing the giant and at the end of the fight looses on points. To continue the fight will cause too much damage, nobody on GN would allow a fight to the death. You just wouldn’t!.

It was right for Hegseth to speak first, there was no point discussing any plans for continuing the war if the US was not going to back them.

It was Putins plan to take over the whole of Ukraine he didn’t expect any serious resistance, but the campaign was badly executed and he was pushed back, all credit to Ukraine, now Russia has consolidated and is much more easily capable of sustaining a long battle of attrition than Ukraine.

Without the US, Europe could give unconditional backing of the Ukraine war, if you want to win any war you commit 100%, that would involve direct attacks on the UK, is this really what you want and are prepared to pay for in lives and hardship that would cause.

Trump will clearly leave Europe to Europe. He won’t be backing or funding anyone, anywhere there but will concentrate on Chinese takeovers in the Pacific. He made this pretty plain when he was running for President and they voted him in. America first and last and damn the rest of us. The UK is part of Europe and always will be. I’d say we have more chance of American support here in Australia because he wants to keep Pacific bases and counter the huge Chinese influence in this part of the world. Putin no doubt knows all this and will continue on his merry aggressive way.

More important to Trump is Gaza, one way or another it’s going to cost tens of billions to settle, either in aid to rebuild or in arms to Israel.

I would much rather it’s spent on rebuilding.

I can’t see USA providing aid for the Gazans to rebuild David49. If the fighting stops now, Trump will protect Israel, but only get involved in Gaza directly if the people aren’t there.

Casdon and David - in my opinion, Trump will only get involved in Gaza if there's money in it for him.

In his "plan", the Palestinians would be out, never to return. This is an illegal move - but he won't care.

Exactly what I think too NotSpaghetti. I think he may agree to USA aid to help Ukraine rebuild key sites though, as a form of ‘compensation’ for losing part of their country.

The so called special relationship is now well and truly broken.Wouldnt trust Trump as far as I could throw him. Side with Europe and don’t make the mistake of Brexit all over again. We need to show Trump and his cronies that he doesn’t rule the world. He thrives on mass popularity. This will soon dwindle when American popularity dwindles.

Putin knew that all had to was to hold out until Trump got back in.

It is a win/win for them both.

Putin gets a whole swath of land and Trump gets the developers in to rebuild Ukraine.

Ukraine soldiers will feel that they fought for bugger all, and Europe will feel less secure.

I was very surprised to hear Victoria Derbyshire‘a interview with Gorka. To my recollection, Gorka reiterated how important it was for the killing to stop as far too many soldiers had been killed. Gorka said the USA is still standing shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine to which Derbyshire asked what about someone who had been killed in South Ukraine. Gorka justifiably said that was an outrageous question.
Gorka also said that it was upto Ukraine and Russia to decide on a settlement and not the USA. Considering the huge amounts of money Biden had poured into this war, I don’t understand why Trump is not being credited for a true humanitarian response. I think it’s entirely right for Trump to stop paying for our security especially when the end result is 100000 dead soldiers.

Jane43

Iam64

I’ve just watched Victoria Derbyshire interviewing Sebastian Gorky, Trump’s senior director for counter terrorism on Newsnight. What an arrogant bully the man is. Typical of what’s happening in the Trump White House. Normal communication, civil discussions no longer expected

It was shocking, he was vey rude and I don’t know how Victoria remained so polite and calm. Trump has surrounded himself with arrogant, belligerent men, Pete Hegseth was obnoxious at NATO saying he was going to speak first.

I watched it too. What an absolutely vile man, so arrogant. If these are the kind of people that surround Trump, it's no wonder he thinks he's the next messiah. Chilling.

What is really chilling is the condemnation of a plan we know nothing about. So quick to condemn. So very BBC.

He is British/Hungarian/American, and appears to have scooped up the worst traits from each nationality. All done with a British accent.

I’m sure, as part of Trump’s deal, Ukraine’s precious minerals will be in his sights.

”The country has titanium reserves, mostly located in its northwestern and central regions, while lithium is found in the centre, east and southeast. Ukraine's reserves of graphite, a key component in electric vehicle batteries and nuclear reactors, represent 20% of global resources”
(Reuters)

Whitewavemark2

Putin knew that all had to was to hold out until Trump got back in.

It is a win/win for them both.

Putin gets a whole swath of land and Trump gets the developers in to rebuild Ukraine.

Ukraine soldiers will feel that they fought for bugger all, and Europe will feel less secure.

I am rather conflicted over this.

There are three solutions as I see it.

Putin withdraws all troops and gives back land taken, excluding Crimea as that ships well and truly sailed.

not going to happen

Europe puts boots on ground, and attacks Russia. This would probably end up with Putin deploying targeted nuclear missiles. Thousands and thousands of dead, thousands sentenced to illness and inevitable death, land unusable for the foreseeable future.

hope this doesn’t happen

Ukraine giving up the territory Russia now controls, a peace keeping agreement including peace keepers patrolling the new border.

I am not for appeasement, but honestly cannot see any other workable solution, without the loss of 1,000’s more lives

As an aside, what I’ve never understood from the start of this war is how a president whose country is at war can fly from country to country, meeting to meeting, continent to continent. Billions have been spent on this war, for what real purpose? How many lives have been lost unnecessarily? Meanwhile, their president is high profile and continues to travel, with his glamorous wife, all over the world. Are there many countries or meetings where he hasn’t popped up? And I don’t mean the Trumps.
It’s all very strange.

Whitewavemark2

Ladyleftfieldlover

My immediate reaction from reading today’s news is that we must choose Europe. We are part of Europe even if not in the EU anymore. trump is abandoning Europe. There are difficult days ahead.

I strongly agree.

And so do I.