ConCon

[ConCon @ConComComCon]

@MalcontentmentT I bet it's Trump's revenge for thinking Zelenskyy called him weak. This reporter did an awful disservice to Ukraine. A Narcissist can not handle being told he is imperfect.
https://t.co/iDCDftPLsA

[Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський @ZelenskyyUa]

Peace never comes through weakness. Today, representatives of the U.S. Congress were in Kyiv – a bipartisan delegation – and I am grateful to them for visiting Ukraine at such a difficult time. They asked: what is needed to end the war? The answer must be strong. There must be sanctions under the Lindsey Graham bill, there must be support for Ukraine in protecting lives, and there must be pressure on Russia for its war. And today, there was a conversation between the leaders of America and Russia. A conversation that leads to something different.

Recently, there was a European decision to lift sanctions on Russian oligarchs. Since then, Russian strikes and the torment of people have only increased. This past week alone, there was a brutal Russian missile strike on a residential building in Pryluky, aerial bombs were dropped on Kramatorsk – on ordinary city buses – and there have been constant attacks on Kyiv’s energy infrastructure and on the life-sustaining infrastructure in Dnipro, Kharkiv, Odesa, and our other cities. Dozens of people have been killed and hundreds wounded.

The Russians are compensating for their inability to achieve their objectives on the battlefield with this kind of terror. This year, Russia is weaker on the battlefield than at any other point in the war. That is why Putin is relying on terror. That is why he is relying on attempts to strike backroom deals to secure some form of pressure relief for Russia, in order to buy more time and more opportunities for war.

Any easing of sanctions against Russia without a clear and lasting de-escalation agreement with Russia is an obvious weakness. It plays into Russia’s hands – allowing it to kill more, wage war for longer, have even less respect for America, and inflict even greater losses and damage on the world.

Ukraine is ready to take symmetrical de-escalatory steps, and the American team knows our position. Our strikes on Russian oil refineries and other oil facilities are a response to Russia’s years-long campaign of terror against Ukraine’s energy sector. Ukraine will not set Russian oil refineries on fire if Russia does not destroy our energy infrastructure. This is the kind of agreement we are proposing to America, and we believe the United States has enough power to achieve such a compromise.

Gifts to Putin will not bring peace or any benefit to the civilized world. Russia will “repay” the diesel with further terror and perfidy. Allowing Russia to sell petroleum products is an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged. What is needed is real de-escalation with Russia on a reciprocal basis.

We count on America’s fair support for our defense of life, for our defense of people in Ukraine – and on the United States having a correspondingly strong conversation with Russia. A strong one, not a weak one.

[Alex Lorenz @Alexhrlorenz]

@michaeldweiss @TheRickWilson @JDVance This is what the Russian newspaper say!

[ConCon @ConComComCon]

@michaeldweiss @JDVance Vance is a weird combination of machiavellian and dumb.

[ConCon @ConComComCon]

@albafella1 He is handsome, but not eligible to run in French elections :)

[ConCon @ConComComCon]

@stellahelene6 @michaeldweiss @JDVance Many don't know there's a b in it.

[ConCon @ConComComCon]

@michaeldweiss @JDVance They have a bias that attracts them to Russian propaganda.

[ConCon @ConComComCon]

@michaeldweiss @JDVance

[Michael Weiss @michaeldweiss]

Read about how @JDVance and others fell for a lie about Volodymyr Zelensky concocted by agents of Russia's Presidential Administration. And how the Vice President's falling for it was collected in a file sent directly to the Kremlin. Inside Putin's "Doppelgänger" operation, based on leaked correspondence between the PA and Russia's Agency for Social Design: https://t.co/yV9J4DiTh1

[Oz Katerji @OzKaterji]

The stupidest idiots alive want you to believe the US "deep state" is powerful enough to topple a Ukrainian government to start a war with Russia, but also impotent enough that it can't deal with the political interference of a fat South African technonazi.

[Terry Virts @AstroTerry]

We need to vote these people out ASAP.

[NOELREPORTS 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 @NOELreports]

❗️The Atlantic reports Trump wants a Ukraine peace deal signed by Zelenskyy and Putin at the December G20 summit in Miami, hosted at his golf club. Advisers say a November meeting in China between Trump, Xi and Putin could come first. The magazine says Trump is attracted to the idea of the three powers dividing the world into spheres of influence, even if pressure on Ukraine is required. A Ukrainian official said it feels as though decisions are being made without Kyiv. #Ukraine

[Mitt Romney @MittRomney]

Churchill could have shortened WW2 by years if he had just “done a deal” with Hitler. George Washington could have done a deal to end the American Revolution. Zelenskyy is in good company.

[Senator Mark Kelly @SenMarkKelly]

In what world is Putin a "humanitarian?” He's assassinated political rivals and journalists, bombed hospitals, and started a war that has intentionally killed tens of thousands of innocent people, including women and children. He's a war criminal.

[Christiane Amanpour @amanpour]

My take: Putin gave up nothing by releasing a 74-year-old American held as a pawn for this type of moment. Putin is not a humanitarian, despite how Mr Witkoff addressed him. And whereas President Trump says he gave up nothing for Stephen Hubbard's release, you will hear all the experts correctly say that he did: busting his own sanctions for a diesel deal with Putin that could put $4 billion into his war chest; inviting Putin to the G20; and dumping Putin's victim, Ukraine, face down in the mud, as it tries to defend its sovereignty and its freedom. You’ve heard the historians call all this appeasement, going against America's own democratic values.

https://t.co/5EttAmWOCC

[Churchill MGᵀᴹ 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇬🇧🇪🇺🇺🇸 @ChurchillFella]

Russian terrorists attacked a 24-story residential building in the Svyatoshyn district of Kyiv: 2 people died, many injured.

[Jay in Kyiv @JayinKyiv]

Putin's ongoing program of kidnapping Americans and brutally torturing them for years, to later exchange for concessions, finds a ready mark in the oblivious US President.

Trump praising his own "deal" making skill today as he's yet again conned by Putin into promoting the Kremlin.

[Senator Dick Durbin @SenatorDurbin]

While I am pleased that Russia finally released Stephen Hubbard, it is important to note that he never should have been jailed in the first place.

Calling the war criminal Vladimir Putin a “humanitarian” is a disgrace to the tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians that Putin has killed as part of his brutal war.

[Leela Gray @LeelaJGray]

To lead, you have to listen.

Yesterday, at the Largo VFW, veterans and retired military leaders shared what their service has meant to them and their families.

Our veterans have spent their lives serving our country. In Congress, I'll make sure the voices of veterans and military families across FL-13, help shape the decisions that impact their lives.

[Caolan @CaolanReports]

Trump is obsessed with Putin and Xi Jinping because he loves dictators who can do whatever they like. No transparency. No accountability. They can silence the press, jail their critics and answer to nobody. My latest with @anneapplebaum

[Chuck Todd @chucktodd]

This is embarrassing; How can you allow yourself to be a prop for a war criminal?

[Bill Kristol @BillKristol]

I grew up loathing Soviet apologists and I grow old loathing Putin apologists.