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Zelenksy Says May Be Forced to Negotiate Peace Deal if Ukraine Loses Bakhmut

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine may be forced to start peace talks if it loses control of Bakhmut, in a two-day conversation with AP journalists on March 28-29.

In Moscow, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned colleagues that they should get ready for a possible “forever war” according to a report in The Guardian.

The battle for Bakhmut has been going on for seven months with neither side gaining much advantage, leading some analysts to ask why Kyiv is expending so many resources to maintain control of the relatively strategically insignificant town. Zelenskiy told the AP journalists that if Ukraine gives up the town it may be forced to sue for peace.

He predicted that if Russia defeats Ukraine in Bakhmut, Putin would set out to “sell” a victory to the international community.

“If he will feel some blood, smell that we are weak, he will push, push, push,” Zelenskiy said during a two-day train trip with the journalists (video here), adding that the pressure would come not only from the international community but also from within his own country. (Read more from “Zelenksy Says May Be Forced to Negotiate Peace Deal if Ukraine Loses Bakhmut” HERE)

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General Admits U.S. Oversight of Weapons Going to Ukraine Is ‘Not as Rigorous as You Might Think’

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The United States has a limited ability to ensure the billions in weapons sent to Ukraine stays out of the wrong hands, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley told Congress on Tuesday.

The Pentagon has previously acknowledged the difficulty of guaranteeing the final destination of more than $30 billion in weapons aid delivered so far to Ukraine. An ability to maintain only a small contingent of non-combat personnel dedicated to oversight at the embassy in Kyiv means it relies mostly on Ukrainian soldiers to inspect aid at destinations closer to the front lines and upload photos of weapons to a secure software for confirmation.

“There are some means and mechanisms of doing some accountability. It is not as rigorous as you might think,” Milley told Congress, adding he could elaborate on the reporting mechanism in a classified setting.

Milley pointed to the effectiveness of Ukraine’s forces as a proxy for the integrity of U.S. assistance in Ukraine.

“You can see the accountability on the battlefield,” he said. (Read more from “General Admits U.S. Oversight of Weapons Going to Ukraine Is ‘Not as Rigorous as You Might Think’” HERE)

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Trump: I Will End Ukraine War in 24 Hours but I Won’t Tell You How

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Former President Donald Trump on Monday wildly claimed that he could resolve the war in Ukraine “within 24 hours” of leading peace negotiations, but he refused to reveal how.

Trump, 76, made the eyebrow-raising comment in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity that aired Monday night. The ex-president said that if the war is not over by the end of the 2024 presidential election, and he were to be reelected to the White House, he would “within one day” have a peace deal in place.

Trump argued that negotiations between himself, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin would be “easy.”

“If it’s not solved, I will have it solved in 24 hours with Zelensky and with Putin, and there’s a very easy negotiation to take place, but I don’t want to tell you what it is because then I can’t use that negotiation,” Trump vowed, not so much as hinting at what his negotiation strategy would be.

“But there’s a very easy negotiation to take place. I will have it solved within one day, a peace between them,” he reiterated. (Read more from “Trump: I Will End Ukraine War in 24 Hours but I Won’t Tell You How” HERE)

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China Creates a New World Order as Biden Ignores the Threats

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. . .Once the repository of American and European hopes, Beijing has shown no interest in restraining Russia and restoring the pre-war European order.

Instead, it has leveraged the Ukraine war to begin building an alternative, Sino-centric system.

Its efforts are bearing fruit: As Chinese President Xi Jinping told Russian President Vladimir Putin at the end of their three-day summit in Moscow last week, “Right now we’re seeing a change we haven’t seen for 100 years, and we’re driving this change together.”

The change Xi references is most evident in the Middle East, where Russia’s war on Ukraine is driving America’s Gulf ally Saudi Arabia into the embrace of China. . .

Iran has seized on the Ukraine war to qualitatively upgrade its military. In return for supplying Russia with drones, munitions and — possibly — ballistic missiles, Iran will receive fourth-generation fighter jets and other advanced systems from Russia, potentially including sophisticated air defenses that could safeguard its nuclear sites. (Read more from “China Creates a New World Order as Biden Ignores the Threats” HERE)

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Xi Jinping Uses Russia Trip to Position China as the Winner of Ukraine Invasion

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Chinese dictator Xi Jinping emphasized on Monday that his visit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, charged with human rights crimes before the International Criminal Court (ICC) less than a week ago, is intended to promote “friendship, cooperation, and peace,” positioning China as a mediator in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Xi will be in Moscow from Monday to Wednesday, meeting with Putin and other senior leaders. Xi has emphasized China’s potential role in the Ukraine crisis since arriving, promoting a Chinese “peace plan” debuted last month that demands a ceasefire, lays no blame on either side, and does not offer specificity on its demand for both sides to “calm down as soon as possible.”

Arriving on Monday, Xi vowed that China would “stand guard over the world order,” hinting at ambitions to mediate the Ukraine conflict.

Both Russia and Ukraine have offered tepid reactions to the peace plan but have encouraged Beijing to get more involved in the conflict in the role of mediator. If successful in halting some of the hostilities, Xi could use Ukraine to greatly elevate China’s international reputation as peacemaker, even as China continues to execute a years-long genocide on its own people.

The Russian news agency Tass reported that his first meeting with Putin on Monday lasted 4.5 hours and, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, “obviously” addressed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Xi and Putin will return to talks at 3 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Peskov added, regarding both countries’ bilateral ties and the Ukraine invasion. (Read more from “Xi Jinping Uses Russia Trip to Position China as the Winner of Ukraine Invasion” HERE)

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Ben & Jerry’s Co-Founder Gave $1M to Group Opposed to US Arms for Ukraine: Report

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A co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream has donated more than $1 million to a group that is urging an end to US military support for Ukraine as the country tries to stave off a Russian invasion.

Ben Cohen — who with Jerry Greenfield started the ice cream behemoth in 1978 — told the Daily Beast: “I think the US should use its power to negotiate an end to the war, not prolong the death and destruction by supplying more weapons.”

Cohen is head of the People Power Initiatives — one of whose projects is Eisenhower Media Network, which bills itself as “an organization of expert former military, intelligence, and civilian national security officials … [which] seeks to reach broad, cross-partisan audiences in diverse media outlets and among the American people.”

The former national security officials promoted by EMN, including retired US Army Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, a former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, have argued that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was provoked by NATO expansion eastward.

Dennis Fritz, the director of EMN, told the Daily Beast: “We gave Putin just cause [to invade Ukraine].” (Read more from “Ben & Jerry’s Co-Founder Gave $1M to Group Opposed to US Arms for Ukraine: Report” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

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Putin Visits Russian-Occupied Mariupol (VIDEO)

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Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise trip on Saturday to Mariupol, a Ukrainian city his forces captured last year.

Reports say Putin flew in by helicopter. Video from Russian media showed Putin driving a car through after dark, visiting buildings, and meeting with residents.

Russian state news service TASS said it was Putin’s first-ever visit to Donbass, a region in eastern Ukraine, and while there, he received a report from Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin about efforts to rebuild the port city within the eastern region. (Read more from “Putin Visits Russian-Occupied Mariupol (VIDEO)” HERE)

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Why Putin Will Probably Have to Cancel Most Travel Outside of Russia for Now; Arrest Warrant Issued

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By Townhall. Vladimir Putin will probably have to cancel all travel plans, at least to nations that are signatories of the International Criminal Court. Today, that body issued an arrest warrant on allegations that Russia has committed heinous war crimes in Ukraine. The announcement was met with strong denials from the Kremlin, which was predictable, claiming that these moves at placing pressure on Moscow are done only to discredit Russian Federation (via NBC News):

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant Friday for Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of being responsible for war crimes in Ukraine.

Putin committed the “war crime” of overseeing the unlawful abduction and deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia, the court said in a news release.

. . .Now, let’s be honest: this is a mostly symbolic gesture. The ICC has no police force, and even if they did, they wouldn’t barge into the Grand Kremlin Palace, slap cuffs on Putin, and airlift him to The Hauge. They rely on signatory states’ police forces to execute the warrants, which is most of Europe. The United States doesn’t recognize ICC jurisdiction. Still, it could cause a headache for Joe Biden or whoever is the next president should Putin defy international norms, as he’s done often, and travel here—because the pressure to do something could be mind-splitting—or any nation that recognizes the ICC for something like a significant international summit. (Read more from “Why Putin Will Probably Have to Cancel Most Travel Outside of Russia for Now” HERE)

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How an International Arrest Warrant for Putin Puts a New Spin on Xi Visit to Russia

By PBS News Hour. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow next week highlighted China’s aspirations for a greater role on the world stage. But they also revealed the perils of global diplomacy: Hours after Friday’s announcement of the trip, an international arrest warrant was issued for Putin on war crimes charges, taking at least some wind out of the sails of China’s big reveal.

The flurry of developments — which followed China’s brokering of an agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran to resume diplomatic relations and its release of what it calls a “peace plan” for Ukraine — came as the Biden administration watches warily Beijing’s moves to assert itself more forcefully in international affairs.

U.S. officials had no immediate public comment on the arrest warrant issued for Putin by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, but privately they expressed satisfaction that an international body had agreed with Washington’s assessment that Russia has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

The Biden administration believes China’s desire to be seen as a broker for peace between Russia and Ukraine may be viewed more critically now that Putin is officially a war crime suspect, according to two U.S. officials. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the matter publicly, said the administration hopes the warrants will help mobilize heretofore neutral countries to weigh in on the conflict. (Read more from “How an International Arrest Warrant for Putin Puts a New Spin on Xi Visit to Russia” HERE)

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Ukrainian Commander Reveals True Scale of Losses – And Pays the Price

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Ukraine has demoted a top battlefield commander after he admitted his unit had been decimated in fighting around the city of Bakhmut.

The battalion commander, known by his call sign Kupol, gave an unusually frank assessment of Ukrainian losses in an interview from the front lines earlier this week.

He revealed that all of the original 500 soldiers in his unit had either been killed or injured, a rare acknowledgement from inside the Ukrainian ranks, where losses are kept strictly confidential. . .

Kupol told the Washington Post this week that the Ukrainian army training was often poor and that some of the rookie replacements didn’t know how to throw a hand grenade or fire a rifle. . .

Kupol said that he had been motivated to speak out to try to improve training levels but furious Ukrainian generals instead demoted him. The Washington Post said he had consented to have his picture taken but admitted he could face “personal blowback” for his honest assessment. (Read more from “Ukrainian Commander Reveals True Scale of Losses – And Pays the Price” HERE)

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White House Rejects China-Brokered Ceasefire in Ukraine

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The Biden administration came out against China’s push for a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine, saying Thursday that a pause in fighting would work to Russia’s advantage.

Chinese President Xi Jinping intends to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an effort to broker a peace deal between the two nations, which have been at war for over a year after Russia’s invasion. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters the administration believes a ceasefire would work against Ukraine.

“While that sounds perfectly reasonable and it sounds like a good thing, a ceasefire right now would basically ratify Russia’s conquest. Russia would basically be free to use that ceasefire to further entrench its positions in Ukraine, to rebuild their forces, refit them, re-man them, retrain them so that they can then restart attacks at a time of their choosing.”

Kirby said the White House supports talks between Xi and Zelensky, but warned Beijing against adopting a stance that favors Russia.

Xi is scheduled to visit Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Chinese leader has also reportedly reached out to Zelensky, although details on that were also unclear. Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in a Thursday phone call. (Read more from “White House Rejects China-Brokered Ceasefire in Ukraine” HERE)

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