They can't get their dates straight. That, and the lack of evidence makes the story less credible. https://www.perplexity.ai/search/did-a-russian-sub-sink-a-ship-gqPU1fL6TUGj8u96MLapFg
Regular viewers know that I have consistently said since the first couple weeks of the war, that sanctions will not bring Russia down or- by themselves- cause them to surrender BUT that it would bring their economy down to Soviet times and that has consequences- just as it did for the Soviet Union. They are getting there and it definitely picked up speed in July. MORE TO COME. Russia is preparing to repeat one of the USSR's fatal mistakes — what is it about https://news.online.ua/en/russia-is...ussrs-fatal-mistakes-what-is-it-about-895682/
Trump is groveling here. He goes on air and emphasizes that the tariffs are going to happen if there is no ceasefire or plan agreed to. Then he sends Wickoff over to Russkieville to see if there is a way out for Vlad. And we all know that Vlad knows how to play Trump like the keys on a piano and he is a KGB man so he has been analyzing Trump's psyche for decades. He knows Trump just wants to announce some big beautiful deal and that he has saved the day blah, blah, blah. Then next week is back to Russia being Russia and Putin being Putin. The Putin that Trump is only able to see the hard way due to the way that love works. Having said that, viewers are reminded of what I say every other week. "In the end, Putin better not publicly humiliate the Orange Man because that is when things will go south for Russia very fast." If Wickoff comes back from Russia with nothing, then viewers can decide whether this is the last time that Trump will be played or another round will be required. That is something Russia needs to worry about. I have been very upfront about how Trump disgustingly allows himself to be played. But I am equally upfront about the fact that Trump does not deal well with public, global humiliation. Watch your arse Vlad. As I have said in previous posts, "the world and DC are littered with people who Trump used to love and are now in the dumpster." Do not humiliate the Orange Man. Trump groveling. Witkoff to travel to Russia ahead of U.S. sanctions, Trump says
You watch... something will happen. Trump has the full power of the CIA and all its dirty tricks at his disposal. No idea what it will be... a false flag type thing, a major distraction elsewhere... but there will be something because you are right --- and he's pissed. He controls the the most well funded spy operations in the world, and he knows what they can do. Like I said, I have no idea what it will be, but something will happen.
The scariest thing is when you have people in government who really believes the US can win a nuclear war. We came so close to a nuclear war with the drone attacks inside Russia against that Russian airbase with the long range bombers which houses nuclear weapons. Can you imagine what would have happened if Ukraine managed to detonate one or more of the nuclear missiles at that airbase? We would have world war 3 at a minimum and maybe, tactical nuclear weapons would have been used by Russia on Ukraine. Do not poke the bear. Napoleon and Nazi Germany learned the hard way that the Russians will defend their land even at the cost of millions of lives. Today is no different but, the threat posed on Russia is real and they know it which is why they will never let NATO win this proxy war if it takes another 10 years to end it. It is going to end much sooner as Russia targets the supply chains and storehouses of NATO weapons being shipped to the Ukraine frontlines. Ukraine will run out of weapons at some point and NATO will not be able to supply weapons in the hundreds of billions of dollars worth if they get blown up by the Russians in a regular basis.
Ironically, the something that Vlad fears most is for Trump to just do nothing. To stand back a little, keep feeding arms through Europe, keep letting the Europeans grind away at feeding Ukraine. etc. Vlad's entire strategy of late has been to ramp up- while Trump was clearly siding with Russia- then get a deal from Trump. But that has fallen apart more than a bit. Vlad's economy cannot afford to just grind along for another year but Trump may just let it grind. But it is kind of dragging things out that Vlad dreads at this point. Ukraine is in bad shape and has always been since day one. It is also true that Russia did not gain more than a few couple miles along front in all of the last year. There economy is not going to collapse but sectors are going to pop right off. The banks will pop but be propped up by money that Vlad does not have, because he has no choice. The airlines are going to pop and the coal industry has already popped. Yes he will put bondo and duct tape on all of them but formerly profitable industries will be propped up by the state. Welcome to the USSR. Russia crows about China being its friend but he knows- in the long game- China is not it's friend so being bailed out by the Chinese or becoming dependent on China for war and industrial supplies just continues to make Russia a colony of China. Oh, and China wants its former far east land back. Also of note of late, Trump acquired rare earth mineral rights in Ukraine. I am guess he is not going to let Vlad take that any time soon. Trump's real estate mind cares more about that than anything. Sad but true. And if he cuts more deals like that in Ukraine. "We will supply you but you have to give us develop rights for x,y,z then those are things that the real estate mind will not want to give up and it is a type of incremental incursion by the west into a country that Vlad plans to acquire. You know how the Trump mind works...ie. "No way will we let you into NATO because that would be a threat to Putin. But hey, I would like to see the US get development rights to three quarters of Ukraine to compensate for our expenditures there." NOT WHAT VLAD WANTS TO HEAR.
That's the smart thing to do albeit expensive, but as you alluded to in the post prior to this, Trump needs to save face. You know he hates hearing "I'll end the war on day one" and if we head into the midterms with zero progress, the left is gonna beat that drum ad nauseam and Trump knows this. That's why I think he'll use some of the many devious tools at his disposal and orchestrate something. What I don't know. Trump's sneaky, he'll think of something. 3D chess.
Yeh, as I said, Wickoff is over in Russia right now talking to Vlad. So we will see some reaction to that. As overdiscussed, Putin's ability to get kissy face with Trump just when Trump needs it the most is enormous. But it is a tipping point though. If we get a "Putin doesnt want to end the war" reaction then it will go the other way. In terms of what Trump will do, I think he believes that putting tariffs on anyone who does business with Russia- ie. India and China of note- is the plan and he is showing his plan to Putin. Not a good time for Trump to go TACO. It will just add to the humiliation. I will say again though that I think sending Wickoff over to Russia is groveling. In the media he laid it out as "Russia sees what is going to be if they don't ceasefire and that is the way it is. Period." Then he sends Wickoff over to try to cajole him. Weakness on display. Have to cap the humiliation at some point.