U.S. Response to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

[Monash]

They'll be easy meat for Russian antiair systems.

The A-10 can only operate in a permissive airspace.

Yep, just ask any Russian SU-25 pilot. If you can find one.

[Amled]

Hungary's Orbán urges US to 'call back Trump' to end Ukraine war in Tucker Carlson interview


Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during a yearly State of the Nation address in Budapest, Hungary, on Feb. 18, 2023. Orban, said in a sprawling interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that the only path to ending the war in Ukraine would be the reelection of Donald Trump to the presidency.

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a sprawling interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that the only path to ending the war in Ukraine would be the reelection of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency.

In the interview, posted Wednesday on Carlson’s page on X, formerly known as Twitter, the nationalist Orbán praised Trump's foreign policy while blasting President Joe Biden's administration and its approach to the war.

Although Trump faces criminal charges for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election, returning the former president to office would be “the only way out” of the conflict, Orbán argued, calling any suggestion that Ukraine could defeat Russia “a lie.”

“The Russians are far stronger, far more numerous than the Ukrainians,” Hungary's prime minister said. “Call back Trump. … Trump is the man who can save the Western world.”

Orbán’s view of the state of the war conflicts with how U.S. and Ukrainian officials have characterized the invaded country's prospects for taking back Russian-occupied territory.

Speaking to reporters last week, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the administration does “not assess that the conflict is a stalemate.”

"We continue to support Ukraine in its effort to take territory as part of this counteroffensive, and we are seeing it continue to take territory on a methodical, systematic basis,” Sullivan said.

Carlson's 30-minute video interview, filmed Aug. 21 on the opulent terrace of Orbán's office overlooking Budapest, was his second in two years with the right-wing leader. When Carlson was a Fox News host, his program broadcast from Hungary's capital for a week in 2021.

At the time, he praised Orbán's self-styled “illiberal democracy” — a system that eschews traditional liberal values in favor of conservative Christian rule — as a model for the United States to follow.

Orbán, in office since 2010, has long been criticized for overseeing an increasingly autocratic political system. The European Union, as well as the U.S. State Department and numerous international observers, have alleged that Orbán has rolled back minority rights, seized control of the judiciary and media, and manipulated the election system to ensure his hold on power.

In the new interview with Carlson, Orbán slammed the multiple indictments of Trump, which also include for allegedly mishandling classified documents, as a misuse of U.S. government power that would be unthinkable in Hungary.

“To use the justice system against the political opponents — in Hungary, I think it’s impossible to imagine,” he said. “That was done by the Communists. It’s a very Communist methodology to do that.”

He also bemoaned efforts by Biden's State Department to get Hungary's government to improve its rule-of-law and human rights record, saying that despite Hungary being a NATO member and U.S. ally, "we are worse treated than the Russians. What’s that about?”

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Orbán's government has maintained its close ties with Moscow, and has threatened to block EU sanctions on Russia.

Known as Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest ally in the EU, Orbán has refused to allow the transfer of Western weapons across Hungary's shared border with Ukraine and called for an immediate cease-fire and peace talks in the conflict, but without providing a vision of what that would mean for Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Since Carlson's last visit to Hungary, he was ousted by Fox News after the network agreed to pay more than $787 million to settle a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems over airing of false claims following the 2020 presidential election.
__________

Trump's solution: Surrender Ukraine to Russia, either whole or parts of it. Which in the end will mean the same thing.

I wonder how much Putin is paying Orbán.

https://theloop.ecpr.eu/the-eu-is-wi...talk-about-it/

The EU is withholding all structural funds from Hungary – but Orbán doesn’t want to talk about it

Certainly not enough to outweigh the billions of euros that the EU is keeping from his clammy hands!
He’s doing it because he’s a “lickspittle” pure and simple, with his tongue so far up Putin’s backside, that he’s licking his stamps!!!

[TopHatter]

I don't understand why Ukraine doesn't ask for the A10. They are to be retired and could help Ukraine as fast flying cavalry. Otherwise, they would be scrapped anyway.

They'll be easy meat for Russian antiair systems.

The A-10 can only operate in a permissive airspace.

[Tarond]

I don't understand why Ukraine doesn't ask for the A10. They are to be retired and could help Ukraine as fast flying cavalry. Otherwise, they would be scrapped anyway.

[Albany Rifles]

It may be time to sideline the F-35s to Hungary...and any other possible weapons deals.

Orban is clearly living up to all the "best" practices of the Austro-Hungarian Empire!

[TopHatter]

Hungary's Orbán urges US to 'call back Trump' to end Ukraine war in Tucker Carlson interview


Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during a yearly State of the Nation address in Budapest, Hungary, on Feb. 18, 2023. Orban, said in a sprawling interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that the only path to ending the war in Ukraine would be the reelection of Donald Trump to the presidency.

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a sprawling interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that the only path to ending the war in Ukraine would be the reelection of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency.

In the interview, posted Wednesday on Carlson’s page on X, formerly known as Twitter, the nationalist Orbán praised Trump's foreign policy while blasting President Joe Biden's administration and its approach to the war.

Although Trump faces criminal charges for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election, returning the former president to office would be “the only way out” of the conflict, Orbán argued, calling any suggestion that Ukraine could defeat Russia “a lie.”

“The Russians are far stronger, far more numerous than the Ukrainians,” Hungary's prime minister said. “Call back Trump. … Trump is the man who can save the Western world.”

Orbán’s view of the state of the war conflicts with how U.S. and Ukrainian officials have characterized the invaded country's prospects for taking back Russian-occupied territory.

Speaking to reporters last week, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the administration does “not assess that the conflict is a stalemate.”

"We continue to support Ukraine in its effort to take territory as part of this counteroffensive, and we are seeing it continue to take territory on a methodical, systematic basis,” Sullivan said.

Carlson's 30-minute video interview, filmed Aug. 21 on the opulent terrace of Orbán's office overlooking Budapest, was his second in two years with the right-wing leader. When Carlson was a Fox News host, his program broadcast from Hungary's capital for a week in 2021.

At the time, he praised Orbán's self-styled “illiberal democracy” — a system that eschews traditional liberal values in favor of conservative Christian rule — as a model for the United States to follow.

Orbán, in office since 2010, has long been criticized for overseeing an increasingly autocratic political system. The European Union, as well as the U.S. State Department and numerous international observers, have alleged that Orbán has rolled back minority rights, seized control of the judiciary and media, and manipulated the election system to ensure his hold on power.

In the new interview with Carlson, Orbán slammed the multiple indictments of Trump, which also include for allegedly mishandling classified documents, as a misuse of U.S. government power that would be unthinkable in Hungary.

“To use the justice system against the political opponents — in Hungary, I think it’s impossible to imagine,” he said. “That was done by the Communists. It’s a very Communist methodology to do that.”

He also bemoaned efforts by Biden's State Department to get Hungary's government to improve its rule-of-law and human rights record, saying that despite Hungary being a NATO member and U.S. ally, "we are worse treated than the Russians. What’s that about?”

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Orbán's government has maintained its close ties with Moscow, and has threatened to block EU sanctions on Russia.

Known as Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest ally in the EU, Orbán has refused to allow the transfer of Western weapons across Hungary's shared border with Ukraine and called for an immediate cease-fire and peace talks in the conflict, but without providing a vision of what that would mean for Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Since Carlson's last visit to Hungary, he was ousted by Fox News after the network agreed to pay more than $787 million to settle a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems over airing of false claims following the 2020 presidential election.
__________

Trump's solution: Surrender Ukraine to Russia, either whole or parts of it. Which in the end will mean the same thing.

I wonder how much Putin is paying Orbán.

[TopHatter]

New Package of Additional U.S. Military Assistance for Ukraine

PRESS STATEMENT

ANTONY J. BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE

AUGUST 29, 2023

Today we are announcing the next package of military assistance to aid Ukraine as it defends its territory and protects its people. This package contains important capabilities to help Ukraine on the battlefield. It includes AIM-9M missiles for air defense, munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, mine-clearing equipment, Javelin and other anti-armor systems and rockets, over 3 million rounds of small arms ammunition, ambulances, demolition munitions for obstacle clearing, as well as spare parts, services, training, and transportation. This package of weapons and equipment, which are valued at $250 million, is being executed under drawdowns previously directed for Ukraine.

Every day, Russia continues to wage a brutal war of conquest that has killed many of Ukraine’s civilians and displaced millions of its people. Their attacks on Ukraine’s ports and grain infrastructure have caused price volatility in food and grain markets and worsened hunger and global food insecurity around the world.

Russia started this war and could end it at any time by withdrawing its forces from Ukraine and stopping its brutal attacks. Until it does, the United States and our allies and partners will stand united with Ukraine, for as long as it takes.
_________

[Albany Rifles]

Well naturally the U.S. is an island unto itself, unaffected by what goes on elsewhere....

Yeah...good thing we don't involve ourselves with international trader.

[TopHatter]

Yeah...just like those isolationist bastards in Congress in 1939-41 who fought tooth and nail against FDR and his attempts to help rearm the UK and keep them in the war.

Well naturally the U.S. is an island unto itself, unaffected by what goes on elsewhere....

[Albany Rifles]

House Republicans are standing between Biden and his war to save Ukraine
Biden’s $24 billion bid to arm Ukraine forces comes as Americans grow weary of supporting a battlefield stalemate

________

Yeah...just like those isolationist bastards in Congress in 1939-41 who fought tooth and nail against FDR and his attempts to help rearm the UK and keep them in the war.

[TopHatter]

House Republicans are standing between Biden and his war to save Ukraine
Biden’s $24 billion bid to arm Ukraine forces comes as Americans grow weary of supporting a battlefield stalemate


President Joe Biden has placed the defense of Ukraine against Russia’s invasion at the center of his foreign policy, rallying the democracies of the world to help one of their own.

The White House’s $24 billion request to arm Ukraine will test the administration’s ability to support Kyiv just as it meets its fiercest resistance from Russia and — for the first time — a Republican-led House holding the purse strings.

The request is part of a larger, $40 billion package full of unrelated big-budget items. The West Wing believes the deal will get done, even if the aid package shrinks, and is executing a strategy to make sure that happens, according to interviews with nearly a dozen White House and congressional aides granted anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak about the process.

The White House has padded the proposal with numerous big-budget unrelated items — like disaster relief, border security and anti-fentanyl trafficking — that are broadly popular. White House officials believe that will make it hard for Republicans to explain a no vote to constituents, although the packages could eventually decouple. There is an expectation that the Ukraine funding and the continuing resolution to fund the government will be tackled at once, so as to not have to repeat the grueling process twice.

West Wing aides have noted that public support goes up for Ukraine funding any time there is a major moment in the conflict. They plan to take advantage of a pair of upcoming international appearances by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to keep the pressure on Republicans. Zelenskyy is expected to attend next month’s G-20 summit meeting in India before returning to the United States to deliver a speech to the U.N. General Assembly.

The White House will also ramp up public pressure by hammering home the need to defend democracies around the globe as well as the fiscal necessity to thwart Russia — or any future nation with war ambitions — by pointing out the negative economic impact of the war.

“The defense assistance that both parties have come together around has been critical to Ukraine’s ability to beat back Russia’s illegal invasion and to strengthening our alliances in the world,” said White House spokesperson Andrew Bates.

“The president has been very clear that this strategy deters wars of choice and the economic disruption they cause and that we will continue to support Ukraine and our own basic principles as a country,” he said.

But the funding battle is poised to lead to another standoff between the president and Speaker Kevin McCarthy, one that could shape Biden’s legacy and Ukraine’s success in the war.

Biden has placed the defense of Ukraine against Russia’s invasion at the center of his foreign policy, rallying the democracies of the world to help one of their own. The U.S. has spearheaded the effort, corralling NATO and other allies to send billions in military and economic aid. But the jubilation is giving way to fear as Ukraine’s wartime success stalls.

Kyiv’s counteroffensive, purposefully slow to preserve troops and weapons as they wade through minefields and operate without air cover, has helped its forces advance foot-by-foot along the 600-mile front with dug-in Russian forces. But that slow pace has led senior U.S. officials to admit they don’t know how to judge the progress.

The tactics clearly don’t make good politics. Polls suggest Americans are growing weary of supporting Ukraine’s battlefield stalemate, and Republicans are seizing on what they see as an opportunity.

The funding path should be easier in the Senate than the House since Ukraine has been championed by several Republicans, most notably Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. McConnell views support for Ukraine as a piece of his legacy and the West Wing believes he will keep his side largely in line — and, importantly, set a tone for the House talks. But a worsening of the 81-year-old senator’s recent health challenges could upend the calculations.

Still, the Senate will want to put their fingerprints on any spending bill especially after the way the Senate got jammed by the House on the debt ceiling agreement. When the White House sent its funding request last week, the top Republican and Democratic appropriators indicated they would write their own legislation.

For now, McCarthy looms as the White House’s most significant obstacle. He has at times been in the thrall of his party’s far right, which has called for slashing money being sent to the war zone.

Former President Donald Trump, the prohibitive favorite to become the GOP presidential nominee, has questioned the need to back Ukraine and repeated a desire to broker a peace deal with Russia quickly. Officials on both sides of the Atlantic assess that Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to wait out the upcoming U.S. election, believing that his fortunes in the war could change if a Republican commands from the Oval Office.


For now, Speaker Kevin McCarthy looms as the White House’s most significant obstacle. He has at times been in the thrall of his party’s far right, which has called for slashing money being sent to the war zone.

Even pro-Ukraine Republicans are hedging against supporting a new deal for Ukraine. Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), the House Freedom Caucus’ sole Kyiv-friendly member, said this week that Ukraine can’t win the war and, therefore, the U.S. should reconsider further stocking its defenses.

“It’s not just far-right members,” said a House Republican aide granted anonymity to speak freely. “[Mainstream Republicans are] sympathetic to the cause but we’re throwing money at a conflict that can last for years.”

McCarthy’s office did not return multiple requests for comment.

Financial support for Ukraine, for the most part, still enjoys bipartisan backing. But there is long-running skepticism among House Republicans about continuing to fund the war in Ukraine, and it’s unclear if McCarthy wants to defy them to strike another spending deal with Biden. White House aides and Democratic congressional negotiators expect that the speaker, in order to appease the hard right, will push to make some cuts and could threaten at any point to blow up the package.

Republicans may also ask, according to those close to the process, for some sort of inspector to monitor Ukraine funding to ward off corruption.

But Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a staunch Ukraine supporter and McCarthy ally, said he would only support a Ukraine package that ensures advanced weapons like the long-range Army Tactical Missile System make it to the battlefield. Without that assurance, he sees no point in further depleting U.S. stocks and spending more money to keep Ukraine at a fighting stalemate with Russia.

“Why keep giving Ukraine weapons that don’t help them win the war?” the House Armed Services Committee member said in an interview. “I don’t want to give more for a gridlock.”

Far-right Republicans are likely to weaponize the domestic-foreign imbalance in the White House’s spending request: $40 billion total, including $24 billion in Ukraine. The emergency supplemental request will bump up against what is expected to be a continuing resolution to keep the government funded for a short, yet-to-be-determined amount of time — another measure unpopular with conservatives.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer argues that consensus is possible.

“This is not just Democrats. This is not just Joe Biden. The vast majority of the Republican caucus in the Senate and the Republican leader saying we need this supplemental, and we need it for — we need it for Ukraine,” Schumer said. “And I am hopeful that the House will do that.”

Congress has already approved $113 billion in aid for Ukraine including around $70 billion for security assistance; more than 90 percent of it has already been spent or assigned. The new request includes $13.1 billion for military aid to Ukraine and replenishment of Pentagon weapons supplies that have been used for the war effort. An additional $8.5 billion would go for economic, humanitarian and other assistance to Kyiv and other nations affected by the war, while $2.3 billion would be used in an effort to leverage more aid from other donors through the World Bank.

But the chorus of Washington voices who think enough is enough has grown louder.

“The United States’ current level of support for Ukraine is unsustainable militarily, financially and increasingly politically,” said Dan Caldwell, vice president for the Center for Renewing America, who with his colleagues is lobbying House Republicans to oppose the Ukraine spending request.

Proponents argue the need for new funds is urgent. The money Congress initially approved is now down to the single digits at an estimated $6 billion. It’s enough to further provide Ukraine with munitions for Patriot air-defense systems, 155 mm artillery rounds, Javelin anti-tank missiles and spare parts to fix broken-down equipment. U.S. officials say it’s not sufficient, even as the Pentagon finds more dollars in the proverbial couch, to sustain Ukraine for the long haul.

“It’s important that we put the national interest here first and that [McCarthy] not continue to be led around by the nose by his farthest right and most extreme members,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). “I am confident that at the end of the day we’ll get something through. I think there’s going to be a lot of — I think there’ll be some bumps along the way.”
________

[TopHatter]

Ukrainian soldiers knocked out a crash course on the M1 Abrams tank, but Kyiv doesn't want to stop there


US Soldiers assigned to 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, offload U.S. M1A1 Abrams tanks needed for training the Armed Forces of Ukraine at Grafenwoehr, Germany, May 14, 2023.

• Ukrainian soldiers have reached the end of their planned training on American M1 Abrams tanks in Germany.
• But Kyiv requested that its troops stay there to continue the program until the tanks are ready for delivery.
• US officials have said that the 31 tanks of the M1A1 variant will be sent to Ukraine this fall.

Ukrainian soldiers training on American M1 Abrams tanks in Germany have reached the end of their planned training program, but Kyiv wants them to stay there until the heavy armor is ready for delivery, a US Army official told Insider on Friday.

Around 200 Ukrainians "just completed one of the last phases of their 12-week training program, a combined arms, battalion force-on-force exercise at Hohenfels Training Area," said Col. Martin O'Donnell, a spokesperson for US Army Europe and Africa, in a statement. The soldiers will now head back to the Grafenwoehr Training Area, where they trained previously

"There, at the request of Ukraine, the soldiers will maintain their operator and maintenance proficiency until the 31 tanks the US has committed to refurbish and to deliver to Ukraine by the fall are ready," O'Donnell added. The training is expected to last for weeks and stretch into fall.

Facing international pressure to outfit Ukraine with heavy armor, the Biden administration said earlier this year that it would procure new M1A2 Abrams tanks for Kyiv's military to complement pledges from other NATO allies like Germany and the UK that offered their own main battle tanks. The US later announced that it would send older, refurbished M1A1 variants to Ukraine instead, as these tanks were already in Pentagon stocks and could be delivered sooner.


US M1A1 Abrams tanks needed for training the Armed Forces of Ukraine arrive by rail at Grafenwoehr, Germany, May 14, 2023.

Training the Ukrainians to operate and maintain the tanks — initially a three-month-long effort led by the US military — represents "just one piece" of a global effort to help Ukraine defend against Russia, O'Donnell said, adding that Washington and its partners have trained over 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers since the full-scale war began in February 2022. Stars and Stripes first reported Ukraine's request to keep its soldiers in Germany for further training.

While US officials have routinely asserted that the Abrams tanks would make their way to the battlefield this fall, an exact timeline remains unclear.

"We're confident that we can provide those tanks when we said we would, which would be before the end of this year. And by all accounts, the training has gone well for those tank crews, but certainly at the appropriate time, we'll provide updates, in terms of delivery," Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters this week. He declined to provide additional details, citing operational security concerns.

The planned delivery of Abrams tanks could come at a crucial time for Ukraine, which is currently entangled in counteroffensive operations along several directions in the eastern and southern parts of the country and may still be attempting offensive operations come fall. Formidable Russian defensive lines — consisting of minefields, trenches, razor wire, and anti-armor obstacles — have slowed Ukrainian advances.


US soldiers and an M1 Abrams tank in a wooded area during a multinational exercise at the Hohenfels training area in Germany.

Abrams tanks will complement Ukraine's expanding inventory of armored vehicles that it has accumulated from the US and its NATO partners over the last few months. American officials, meanwhile, have suggested that the Abrams tanks are expected to give Kyiv a significant firepower boost on the battlefield.

"The Abrams will certainly make a difference on the battlefield. I mean, we know it's an extraordinary tank," Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims II, director of operations for the US military's Joint Staff, told reporters at a briefing last month adding that the training will make the Ukrainians "extraordinarily good" at using the tanks.

"I can't tell you whether the offensive would still be going on by then or not, I just know that when the Abrams arrive, they'll be able to make a difference with Ukrainians," Sims said.

The Abrams tanks the US plans to deliver to Ukraine are part of more than $43 billion in security assistance that the US has committed to Ukraine since Russia invaded last year. But as the war nears the 18-month mark, Kyiv continues to pressure its Western military partners to send additional weapon systems like fighter aircraft and long-range missiles.
_________

[Officer of Engineers]

won't happen until the US does that with Taiwan itself. US can't pressure Japan to do what the US won't do itself.

And here you've proven my point. Three countries combined could double reponse to the PRC-NK navy, tripple the response to the PRC-NK AF and dwarf the PRC-NK expedition Armies WOULD NOT DO SO without American pressure. They hate each other MORE than they fear PRC-NK.

[astralis]

won't happen until the US does that with Taiwan itself. US can't pressure Japan to do what the US won't do itself.

[Officer of Engineers]

either way Taipei has no say in refusing or accepting Japanese help.

Of course they do. They can either co-ordinate or refuse to co-ordinate their strike plans. And they are refusing to co-ordinate.