Western money and technologies power up Russian wars. Without Western chips, Russia wouldn’t be able to launch missiles, including the now feared by the West Oreshnik Intercontinental Ballistic Missile System
Reuters reports on how Russia gets the chips 1/
Russia is under sanctions that are supposed choke its access to high-tech components, including semiconductors
Yet, chips still flow into Russia
Sanctions are not enforced? They don’t work? Not really, the sanctions are incomplete and some countries are complicit 2/
Russia does third-party re-routing
It relies on intermediaries in countries like China, Turkey, and the UAE. These nations serve as stopovers, allowing chips to bypass direct sanctions 3/
No, Ukraine doesn’t start thinking about drafting 18-year olds
Not a single quote or fact in the article to support this
The article is just a collection of random statements about draft without any insight 1/
The article quotes Blinken who says Ukraine problem is manpower, not arms. This is not true. Brigades face shortage of weapons. They lost men because of lack of bullets and artillery shells 2/
But Blinken says these things to create a soft landing in case Ukraine is defeated. So that the Biden administration cannot be blamed for indecisiveness and delays and fear of Russia 3/
Zelensky had his first face-to-face with Trump since the election
Yermak, Zelensky’s right-hand man, was in Washington, engaging with Trump’s team, incl those skeptical
This is fresh momentum for Ukraine
1/
Macron hosted the meeting at the Élysée Palace during Notre Dame's reopening. His messaging reinforced Europe’s stance that Ukraine’s voice is critical to any negotiations 2/
But more importantly the U.S. appears to be interested in a win-win solution with Ukraine, with supporting defense tech, entry into critical materials, and providing support that will ensure that any deal with Russia won’t fall apart.
Russia might lose its military bases in Syria, including its sole naval facility in the Mediterranean, which provides critical support to its naval operations south of Europe.
Good for everyone! 1/
Reuters: Two strategically important Russian military facilities in Syria - the Hmeimim air base and the Tartous naval facility - are under serious threat from rapidly advancing insurgents, according to Russian war bloggers 2/
With Russian military resources mostly tied down in Ukraine, Russia's ability to influence the situation on the ground in Syria is far more limited than in 2015 when it intervened to prop up the Assad regime 3/
Syrian rebels continue to advance. They have taken the city of Palmyra and continue to move south. Putin is either unable or unwilling to come to the rescue