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General Says Putin Days Away From Critical Point Where War Could Turn; Russia Assault Stalls; NATO Country Calls for Ukraine No-Fly Zone

By Daily Wire. Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges told Fox News on Monday that he believes Russian military forces are just days away from not being able to continue to their war against Ukraine.

“The Russians went after his [Fmr. Amb. to NATO Kurt Volker’s] training center in Yavoriv, outside the city of Lviv, partly to demonstrate that they could reach the lines of communication that bring supplies and support from Poland into Ukraine,” he said. “But also I think to maybe go after the logistics buildup that’s happening there. I don’t think we should overreact to this.” (Read more from “General Says Putin Days Away From Critical Point Where War Could Turn” HERE)

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Russia Assault Stalls, US Official Says

By USA Today. Almost all of Russia’s assaults on Ukrainian cities remain stalled, and there have been little or no advances made over the weekend, a senior U.S. Defense Department source said Monday.

Ukrainian resistance to the Russian invasion remains strong, particularly around the cities of Kyiv and Cherniv, according to the official who was not authorized to speak publicly about intelligence assessments.

The assessment comes the same day Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the military operation is “proceeding in accordance with the original plan and will be completed on time and in full.”

The U.S. official acknowledged that some cities have been surrounded and face increasing bombardment from Russian long-range artillery and missile attacks. Russia has fired more than 900 missiles at Ukrainian targets since the invasion began, and the attacks have become increasingly indiscriminate, the official said. (Read more from “Russia Assault Stalls, US Official Says” HERE)

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NATO Country Calls for Ukraine No-Fly Zone

By Fox News. Estonia is the first NATO member nation to have a body formally call for the implementation of a no-fly zone amid Russia’s ongoing invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pleading with the United States and western allies to implement a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

But President Joe Biden and NATO have ruled that out, saying that enforcing it would put the U.S. and NATO in direct confrontation with Russia and would expand the conflict. (Read more from “NATO Country Calls for Ukraine No-Fly Zone” HERE)

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Why Die for Biden?

As you would expect from brain-dead Biden and the people controlling him, American policy has been moving in the wrong direction. Whatever you think about the situation in the Ukraine, one thing is obvious. It’s a crisis. Shouldn’t we try to stay out of danger? Instead, the US has led the way in imposing drastic economic sanctions on Russia, backing Putin to the wall. What if he gets desperate and uses atomic weapons? This could result in the end of civilized life on our planet. Is this what Americans want?

The danger isn’t just something I and other critics of American policy have conjured up. “President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday [March 5] that Western sanctions on Russia were akin to a declaration of war and warned that any attempt to impose a no-fly zone in Ukraine would lead to catastrophic consequences for the world. . . ‘These sanctions that are being imposed are akin to a declaration of war but thank God it has not come to that,’ Putin said, speaking to a group of flight attendants at an Aeroflot training centre near Moscow. He said any attempt by another power to impose a no-fly zone in Ukraine would be considered by Russia to be a step into the military conflict.”

The neocon warmongers brush this danger aside. They say that “we” have to do something to defend the Ukraine from an unprovoked Russian attack. But this totally distorts what is happening there. The Ukrainian government started things by moving against Donbass, a territory that declared independence and is allied with Russia. According to the Ukrainian government, the Ukrainians can secede from Russia but people can’t secede from the Ukraine. As Rick Rozoff pointed out in an article on February 2, “Two-thirds of Ukrainian army servicemen have been amassed along the Donbas contact line, Eduard Basurin, spokesman for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) militia, said on Thursday.

‘Another three brigades are on their way [to Donbas], which is 20,000 to 25,000 troops more. The total number will reach 150,000, not to mention the nationalists. This is about two-thirds of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ personnel,’ Basurin said on the Rossiya 1 television channel (VGTRK) on Thursday.

The Ukrainian troops are stationed along the 320-kilometer front line, he said. . . The situation in Donbass has reached a critical mark in the past week due to Ukraine’s aggressive actions, Donetsk People’s Republic representative at the Minsk talks, DPR Foreign Minister Natalia Nikonorova said on Thursday.”

But the provocative actions against Russia go much further back. Vasko Kohlmayer gives an excellent account of these and highlights the danger of nuclear war that reckless American policy has caused: “The war drums are, of course, beating for US involvement in the Ukrainian conflict.

‘Declare a NoFlyZone over Ukraine,’ tweeted Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.).

Lindsey Graham, a powerful US Senator, went so far as to publicly advocate the assassination of the Russian head of state. Tweeted he:

Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military? The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out. You would be doing your country – and the world – a great service.

Such brazen incitement to murder by a highly positioned US official could be construed as a war act by the other side.

Watching the mounting hysteria, we can be certain that the beating of the war drums is going to become only louder in the days ahead. . . Before the situation escalates into a nuclear Armageddon, ordinary people would do well to ask themselves whether we have any dog in this fight.

And if we do, what is the size of this dog? Is it big enough to run the risk of nuclear annihilation?

Until last week, most Americans knew almost nothing about Ukraine. If you asked them what is its capital or major river, you would get no response. . . What triggered Putin was the globalists’ push to expand NATO to Russia’s doorstep in Ukraine. The globalists wanted to make it part of their New World Order which they use to prettily enrich themselves.

Joe Biden’s family has been at it for years already. They pulled millions from that land through the President’s son Hunter in one of the most brazen and shameless schemes of influence peddling in American history. . . If Trudeau, Biden and their friends want us to go to war with Russia, they must explain to common people how exactly it is in their vital interest that Ukraine join NATO.

Until they give us a good reason, we should say NO to the war in Ukraine.

The Russians have made it amply clear what they want. They want a neutral Ukraine that is free of NATO. This is a reasonable demand. To start World War III over this would be an act of most regrettable foolishness.”

Is there anything we can do to de-escalate the situation? The greatest Congressman in American history, Dr. Ron Paul, has the answer. American should end its encirclement of Russia and disband NATO. Let’s look at his vital message to us: “When the Bush Administration announced in 2008 that Ukraine and Georgia would be eligible for NATO membership, I knew it was a terrible idea. Nearly two decades after the end of both the Warsaw Pact and the Cold War, expanding NATO made no sense. NATO itself made no sense.

Explaining my ‘no’ vote on a bill to endorse the expansion, I said at the time:

NATO is an organization whose purpose ended with the end of its Warsaw Pact adversary… This current round of NATO expansion is a political reward to governments in Georgia and Ukraine that came to power as a result of US-supported revolutions, the so-called Orange Revolution and Rose Revolution.

Providing US military guarantees to Ukraine and Georgia can only further strain our military. This NATO expansion may well involve the US military in conflicts unrelated to our national interest…

Unfortunately, as we have seen this past week, my fears have come true. One does not need to approve of Russia’s military actions to analyze its stated motivation: NATO membership for Ukraine was a red line it was not willing to see crossed. As we find ourselves at risk of a terrible escalation, we should remind ourselves that it didn’t have to happen this way. There was no advantage to the United States to expand and threaten to expand NATO to Russia’s doorstep. There is no way to argue that we are any safer for it.

NATO itself was a huge mistake. . . I believe as strongly today as I did back in my 2008 House Floor speech that, “NATO should be disbanded, not expanded.’ In the meantime, expansion should be off the table. The risks do not outweigh the benefits!”

The same people who imposed Covid-tyranny on us now want us to risk war with Russia. Let’s stop them before it’s too late. (For more from the author of “Why Die for Biden?” please click HERE)

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Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. [send him mail], former editorial assistant to Ludwig von Mises and congressional chief of staff to Ron Paul, is founder and chairman of the Mises Institute, executor for the estate of Murray N. Rothbard, and editor of LewRockwell.com. He is the author of Against the State and Against the Left. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

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White House Transcript Steps in With Adjustment After Kamala Harris Makes Rather Curious Comments About NATO (VIDEO)

On Saturday afternoon, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at the DNC Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C., after returning from Poland, in the midst of Eastern Europe and the world being rocked by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. As Landon covered earlier, the vice president made some eyebrow-raising remarks about how voters “got what they ordered.” Her comments about NATO also raised some suspicion, including with the White House, considering that the transcript includes an edit.

“So I will say what I know we all say, and I will say over and over again: The United States stands firmly with the Ukrainian people [and] in defense of the NATO Alliance,” Harris said to applause, according to the official White House transcript. The “and” was added after the fact, as indicated by brackets.

Our friends at Twitchy highlighted a clip as well as reactions to Harris’ comments, which shows her remarks as delivered being “So I will say what I know we all say, and I will say over and over again: The United States stands firmly with the Ukrainian people, in defense of the NATO Alliance.”

While Harris’ commitment to standing with the people of Ukraine may be admirable, screwing up the facts about the NATO alliance is not something one ought to communicate she will say, and thinks others will say, “over and over again.”

Ukraine had attempted to get into NATO, especially as the Russian invasion loomed closer, but before it happened, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in February calling for a “clear” timeline on when he could join. However, earlier this month, Zelensky indicated he is no longer pressing to join. (Read more from “White House Transcript Steps in With Adjustment After Kamala Harris Makes Rather Curious Comments About NATO” HERE)

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Russia Is Requesting That China Provide Support for the Ongoing Invasion of Ukraine; US: China Faces Consequences if It Helps Russia

By New York Post. Russia asked China for assistance in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, U.S. officials warn.

The New York Times reported that Russian officials sought military equipment and support from their Chinese counterparts as the invasion of Ukraine — launched last month by Russian President Vladimir Putin — continues.

Russian leaders also sought economic assistance from China to help lessen the burden of sanctions issued by Western nations that have devastated the Russian economy.

American officials declined to describe the specific hardware requested by the Russian government.

Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser, said that China will “absolutely” face consequences if it chooses to support the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Fox News reported. (Read more from “Russia Is Requesting That China Provide Support for the Ongoing Invasion of Ukraine” HERE)

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US: China Faces Consequences if It Helps Russia

By BBC News. The US says China will face harsh “consequences” if it aids Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, according to US media reports.

Unnamed officials reportedly told multiple US news outlets that Russia asked China to provide military assistance after it began the invasion.

The Chinese embassy in Washington said it was not aware of this request.

The warning comes ahead of a meeting in Rome on Monday between top US and China officials.

Since the start of the crisis Beijing has expressed strong rhetorical support for long-time ally Moscow, but is not publicly known to have provided any military or economic support. (Read more from “US: China Faces Consequences if It Helps Russia” HERE)

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Deputy Secretary of State Predicts the War Will End ‘Very Badly for Ukrainian People’

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman warned the war “looks like it ends very badly for Ukrainian people” during an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”

“Right now it looks like it ends very badly already for Ukrainian people. I think we all spend everyday just horrified by the suffering…” Sherman said. “As your reporter on the ground discussed, it is just awful particularly in Mariupol where people are either going to starve to death or freeze to death or die because they don’t have their medicine. It is truly horrifying.”

Sherman said President Joe Biden’s administration has put $1.2 billion in security assistance to help Ukraine defend itself. She also said the U.S. must put “enormous pressure” on Russian President Vladimir Putin to potentially convince him to stop his aggression in Eastern Europe. (Read more from “Deputy Secretary of State Predicts the War Will End ‘Very Badly for Ukrainian People'” HERE)

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Ukraine Can Hold Out Against Russians for Years: Former Ukrainian Soldier

As Victor Kovalenko, a former Ukrainian soldier and journalist, has watched the war in his home country unfold he says the daily reports he receives from his former comrades gives him hope Ukraine can fend off Russian aggression for years.

From his home in Michigan, Kovalenko told Newsweek that he’s in regular contact with friends, family and former fellow soldiers who provide him with videos and other first-hand information about the conflict. While he receives images of the Russian bombardment of Ukrainian cities and the accompanying rubble, Kovalenko said other messages from back home leave him heartened about his country’s resolve.

“We can beat Russia. We stopped them in 2014 and 2015, it was a success,” he said. “Everyone watches Ukraine and everyone realizes that Ukraine is actually stopping Russia, and for the last two or three days the Russian army had no major advances. They just stopped.”

Kovalenko said he’s made a routine of staying up all night verifying and translating videos and other information from Russian or Ukraine and posting them to his Twitter feed. He said he’s in daily contact with people he served with in the military. (Read more from “Ukraine Can Hold Out Against Russians for Years: Former Ukrainian Soldier” HERE)

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White House Briefs TikTok Stars on Ukraine War

The White House briefed an assortment of TikTok stars Friday on the war in Ukraine.

White House officials, including National Security Council staffers and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, met with the group of about 30 top TikTok influencers over a Zoom call to discuss the situation, The Washington Post reported.

The officials offered information on the goals of the U.S. in the region and answered questions from the group on how to get aid to Ukrainians, working with NATO, and what the U.S. response to a Russian nuclear attack would look like. . .

The White House sent out invitations to TikTok creators for the Zoom event on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“People in my generation get all our information from TikTok,” said Kahlil Greene, 21, a TikTok influencer with more than half a million followers, saying he was not surprised that the White House reached out. “It’s the first place we’re searching up new topics and learning about things.” (Read more from “White House Briefs TikTok Stars on Ukraine War” HERE)

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The War Launched in Ukraine by Russia Is ‘Good News,’ Dem Claims

While much of the free world is lamenting the deaths, possibly thousands, of Ukrainians in the war launched by Russia’s Vladimir Putin against his neighbor’s civilian population as well as the deaths of possibly thousands of Russian soldiers, that’s all “good news” for Democrats.

That’s according to a Democrat pollster, Celinda Lake of Lake Research Partners, who told the Washington Post, “The good news is we now have a very specific reason for rising gas prices and a specific villain.”

Just the News explained the circumstances, “U.S. gas prices hit a record high on Tuesday, and they have continued to climb ever since. As of Thursday, a gallon of regular gas costs $4.318 while diesel is at $5.058 per gallon, according to AAA. Gas prices have risen sharply since Russia invaded Ukraine last month.”

But while inflation was announced as 7.9% this week, it already had reached 7.5% under Biden’s policies – before the Russian war. And gasoline prices had exploded after Biden took office and attacked the American energy industry, with prices up by a dollar a gallon before Russia’s aggression was launched. . .

But the reality is energy prices were climbing quickly because Biden canceled the Keystone pipeline, tried to shut down federal oil leasing procedures and made it harder to run a natural gas facility. (Read more from “The War Launched in Ukraine by Russia Is ‘Good News,’ Dem Claims” HERE)

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No Progress in Talks on Ending Russia Ukraine War; GOP Rep Slams Zelensky as a ‘Thug’ Overseeing ‘Evil’ Government in Ukraine

By NBC News. Civilians across Ukraine were subjected to intensifying attacks Thursday as Russia’s war entered its third week, bringing growing accusations of war crimes against Moscow over its assault.

Fresh strikes hit the besieged southern city of Mariupol, and Ukrainian officials said a Russian airstrike on a hospital a day earlier had killed at least three people, including a child.

Russian troops also moved closer to the capital Kyiv on Thursday and could be just 10 miles from the city center, a senior U.S. defense official said.

News of the advancements and civilian deaths came on the same day Ukraine’s top diplomats met for the highest-level talks since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of his democratic neighbor on Feb. 24. The meeting was brief, however, and appeared to produce little progress toward any end to the fighting.

Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking during a visit to Poland, embraced calls for Russia to face an international war crimes inquiry and joined the growing outrage over the Mariupol hospital bombing. (Read more from “No Progress in Talks on Ending Russia Ukraine War” HERE)

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GOP Rep Slams Zelensky as a ‘Thug’ Overseeing ‘Evil’ Government in Ukraine

By New York Post. Rep. Madison Cawthorn labeled Volodymyr Zelensky a “thug” and his government “incredibly evil” amid Russia’s blood-soaked invasion of Ukraine.

The Republican from North Carolina was caught on tape at a campaign rally over the weekend attacking the Ukrainian president — who, according to his aide, has survived more than a dozen assassination attempts in the first two weeks of the war.

“Remember that Zelensky is a thug,” Cawthorn said, according to a video obtained by North Carolina’s WRAL. “Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt, and it is incredibly evil, and it has been pushing ‘woke’ ideologies.”

Cawthorn’s comments stand in stark contrast to the bipartisan support that’s grown around Zelensky and the Ukrainian military since the start of Russia’s brutal invasion last month.

But they echo the Republican line from 2019, when then-President Donald Trump was impeached for allegedly threatening to withhold military aid from Zelensky’s government unless the Ukrainian government investigated then-candidate Joe Biden. (Read more from “GOP Rep Slams Zelensky as a ‘Thug’ Overseeing ‘Evil’ Government in Ukraine” HERE)

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What Happens if Putin Nukes Ukraine?

Russia has repeatedly pointed to its nuclear arsenal while waging war on Ukraine, seemingly alluding that nukes could be on the table to counter what it perceives as “Western aggression.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s nuclear forces to be placed on a “special regime of combat duty” while speaking with top military officials Feb. 27, in response to Western economic sanctions and “aggressive statements” from NATO countries. A few days prior, Putin said that the West would face consequences “such as you have never seen in your entire history” if it intervened in Ukraine. Belarus, Russia’s neighbor that has served as a launchpad for Russian soldiers, voted to abandon its non-nuclear status Feb. 28. . .

Peter Rough, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, told the Daily Caller that there is one unlikely scenario in which Russia may resolve to use nuclear weapons.

“I think it’s highly unlikely that Putin uses nuclear weapons in Ukraine. The scenario in which I see that decision being taken and executed is in the event of a defeat of the Russian army in a conventional war. By this, I don’t mean a quagmire in Ukraine but a force marching on Moscow or St. Petersburg. I don’t see that on the horizon,” he said.

“If Russia were to launch nuclear weapons against Ukraine, it’s not extremely likely that a nuclear war would begin, but we can’t rule out that possibility,” Alexis Mrachek, Research Associate for Russia and Eurasia, Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy, told the Daily Caller. (Read more from “What Happens if Putin Nukes Ukraine?” HERE)

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