Phillips P. OBrien Profile picture
Apr 16, 2022 6 tweets 2 min read Read on X
A brief thread on the political economy of the war and why what has happened since the invasion has also destroyed any strategy the Russians might have had. Clearly the Putin government miscalculated on what sanctions Russia will face.
Maybe a greater miscalculation was about how the invasion would basically politically transform Ukraine in NATO/EU eyes to such a degree that they will basically make sure Ukraine gets what it needs economically to function, freeing Ukraine up to fight the war.
Ukraine is now asking for their economy to be kept afloat as they fight the war, and so far the signs (above) are they will get what they need. atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainea…
Ukrainian finance minister coming to the US next week to negotiate the needed economic support. Pretty sure the package he receives will be generous. reuters.com/world/ukraines…
Much of the impetus to keep the Ukrainian economy functioning, not just providing military aid, comes because of the political fallout from the deliberate Russian policy of committing mass war crimes. This has politically meant that NATO/EU countries can up their support.
Means that Ukraine can fight the war with vry different economic concerns than Russia. A big advantage. Putin has to worry about keeping the Russians happy after promising easy victories. Ukraine has a population already sacrificing hugely, and who will get major economic support

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More from @PhillipsPOBrien

Oct 18
You sir, are one of the great frauds in the group that claims to back Ukraine--but actually serves Trump (and Putin) and helps damage Ukraine. For ages you have been telling lies that Trump would be great for Ukraine, that Trump loves Zelensky, that Trump would be tough on Putin.
Here you are before the election, assuring people that Trump loved Zelensky--indeed that Zelensky was a Ukrainian Trump! Trump of course loved Zelensky so much he humiliated him as soon as he became president. aei.org/op-eds/why-doe…
In February you pretended Trump's meaningless minerals deal was going to make Trump really help Ukraine--and was a big blow to Putin. washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/…Image
Read 10 tweets
Oct 16
I know there is a new surge of optimism that Trump will really help Ukraine and hammer Russia. And the White House is making lots of "noise". However, keep in mind the following:
The first threat to really hammer Putin with sanctions was 9 months ago. cnbc.com/2025/01/22/tru…
The first mention of Trump sending Tomahawks to Ukraine was more than 3 months ago. washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/…
The first mention that Trump might agree a $90 billion arms package with ukraine was two months ago. theguardian.com/world/2025/aug…
Read 8 tweets
May 27
Trump is admitting two things here. The first is that he has been serving Russian interests by protecting Putin on numerous occasions. The second is that Trump is feeling pressure to be harder on Russia, which he really doesn’t want to do.
Response: keep up the pressure! Image
We now live in an era in which the President of the USA is publicly admitting to acting exactly as an agent of influence of Russia would be expected to act.
Republicans, do you feel proud to be supporting a President who openly admits to strongly and regularly defending the actions of a dictatorial war criminal who has invaded a democracy. Is this what you want the party to be?
Read 4 tweets
May 25
Hi all, just sent out my free weekend update. This was the week where it was said many things changed, but actually relatively little did. Trump basically gave up pretending he was trying to negotiate in good faith and said if Putin doesn’t want a deal, that’s fine by him. Image
And at the same time, Trump is encouraging Putin not to have a deal as he continues to restrict new aid to Ukraine. Can we stop pretending that Trump cares about Ukrainian dead? He’s a narcissistic sociopath. This is just a continuation of his older policy in a new way.
I wrote about this in the update. The USA through Trump is now actively helping Russia kill Ukrainians by starving Ukraine of anti air facilities. The US is working with Russia. washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/…
Read 4 tweets
Apr 23
OK, sent out this free piece on the details of the Trump "final" plan for Ukraine that has been seen by Axios. The 5 points have basically been dictated by Putin. They set up a process which would allow Russia to expand into all of its neighbors. Image
No one should be shocked by this. Its what Trump has been saying for years. The shocking thing is that people fooled themselves that we would not reach this point. The future of freedom and democracy in Europe is entirely in Europe's hands. I hope Europe does not blow it.
Btw, Putin saying right after this that he is now willing to freeze the war along the present front line and negotiate is almost certainly coordinated action with Trump to try and force this terrible deal down Ukraine’s and Europe’s throats
Read 4 tweets
Apr 4
Trump is out of his depth in this trade war. He clearly didnt expect this Chinese reaction--and is accusing them of panicking. Ahhh--Projection.... Image
The tragedy for the USA (self-inflicted) is that Trump seems to be going out of his way to strengthen China's international position. President Xi must be stunned as his good luck to be faced by such a fool--as I wrote in this piece today.
More Trump panic (a real-time meltdown is happening). Having put in place all the conditions for a major recession--he's now begging the Fed to cut interest rates and throw him a lifeline. Maybe he should ask the Chinese to stop panicking and help. Image
Read 4 tweets

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