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Russia Threatens to Blow up Ukraine Grain Deal Over Western Sanctions

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday threatened to abandon a landmark grain deal with Ukraine if obstacles to Moscow’s exports remained.

Negotiated in July by Turkey and the United Nations, the agreement allows Ukraine — one of the world’s top grain producers — to export grain through a safe corridor in the Black Sea.

“If there is no further progress in removing barriers to the export of Russian fertilisers and grain, we will think about whether this deal is necessary,” Lavrov told a news conference in the Turkish capital Ankara, alongside his counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu. (Read more from “Russia Threatens to Blow up Ukraine Grain Deal Over Western Sanctions” HERE)

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U.S. Needs More Air Power to Avoid ‘Bloodbath’ With China, General Says

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U.S. Air Force officials lack the air power needed to prevent a potential war with China from settling into “the kind of bloodbath” on display in Ukraine.

“We’ve got to get to the ability, maybe not all times in all places … to attain and maintain air superiority,” Air Force Lt. Gen. Richard G. Moore, the deputy chief of staff for plans and programs, said Thursday. “We don’t want the kind of bloodbath that’s going on in Ukraine right now. And so therefore, we have to get to the advanced capabilities that it takes to change the battlefield.”

Air Force planners have budgeted to purchase 72 new fighter jets in the upcoming fiscal year, comprised of a mix of vaunted fifth-generation F-35 stealth fighters and the F-15EX. Yet the Air Force’s ability to continue acquiring six dozen warplanes per year could be tested by defense manufacturing constraints.

“The defense industrial base can only support so much procurement and the ability right now to go beyond 72 — there are some challenges,” Moor said. “You know that it’s great to think that COVID is over, but supply chain and workforce issues are not over at all.” (Read more from “U.S. Needs More Air Power to Avoid ‘Bloodbath’ With China, General Says” HERE)

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UN: Risk of Nuclear War at Record High. Please Engage in Peace Talks, Russia and Ukraine.

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Well, folks, don’t look now, but the “risk of a nuclear weapon being used is currently higher than at any time since the depths of the cold war,” according to the United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu.

The war in Ukraine — obviously — is what is driving that risk. Based on reports made during the UN’s security council on Friday, that war isn’t ending any time soon — as if there were any doubt of that. Americans should know it is not going to end any time soon, our commander-in-chief has said that our tax dollars and equipment will be supporting Ukraine in its battle against Russia for “as long as it takes” — whatever that means. The Swamp wants this war to continue — and so it will.

While Biden has been banging the war drums, Putin has been chatting with its neighbors and new BFF Belarus. Now, reports indicate that Russia will be stationing non-strategic nuclear weapons within Belarus territory. According to the UN, those will be in place for aerial use by July. . .

“We are pursuing cooperation with Belarus without violating obligations,” Russian ambassador and Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia said on Friday. “We are not transferring nuclear weapons. We are talking about the retrofitting of airplanes and training teams in the construction of a storage facility on the territory of Belarus.”

Yet he did make sure to note that Russia would respond to any “provocative measures” as it saw fit, while adding, “A nuclear war cannot be won.” (Read more from “UN: Risk of Nuclear War at Record High. Please Engage in Peace Talks, Russia and Ukraine.” HERE)

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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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