Scott Pollok

[Garry Kasparov @Kasparov63]

I do not feel comfortable to say a word in defense of Trump's actions, but he should not be blamed for killing NATO. He has buried it, but the alliance effectively died when Obama in 2014 and, especially, Biden in 2022 refused to unleash its power to stop naked Russian aggression against free Europe -- the only purpose this organization was formed for back in 1949.

[Saint Javelin @saintjavelin]

🇺🇦🇮🇹 42-year-old Italian volunteer Alex Pineschi was killed while defending Ukraine near Lyman, according to reports from fellow foreign volunteers and Ukrainian media.

Before coming to Ukraine, Pineschi had spent years in conflict zones in Syria and Iraq, where he fought against ISIS and worked as an instructor. He later said that he joined Ukraine’s defense because he had found “a cause worth risking everything for.”

Reports say he was serving with a Ukrainian reconnaissance and drone unit and was killed alongside his comrades on May 23.

Alex became one of many foreign volunteers who left behind their ordinary lives to stand with Ukraine against Russia’s invasion. His story is a reminder that this war has drawn people from around the world who believed Ukraine’s fight was also a fight for freedom.

Honor, respect, and gratitude to a man who chose to stand with Ukraine.

[Thomas C. Theiner @noclador]

Ireland is the country making sure russia's war machine keeps running.

Without Ireland russia wouldn't be able to kill so many Ukrainians.

I would just bomb the Irish aluminium factory from the air and sea. Ireland, Europe's worst defence scrounger, couldn't stop that anyway.

[Fabian Hoffmann, PhD @FRHoffmann1]

Setting aside the munition stockpiles expended, the allies alienated, and the broader reputational damage, a peace settlement anywhere near the negotiating points currently outlined would, on its own terms, represent a decisive strategic defeat for the United States and Israel in the Middle East, and, conversely, a victory for Iran.

[Thomas C. Theiner @noclador]

That was the russians.

U.S. Air Force parked its E-3s on the taxiways as Iran has no space recon capability and thus could not know / aim for an E-3 on a taxiway.
russia used its space recon satellites to provide Iran with the exact coordinates / time to strike.

[Michael Weiss @michaeldweiss]

Zelensky has turned the painful question of territorial concessions into a joint challenge for Trump and Putin, and he has deferred responsibility for whatever happens to the Ukrainian people, the better to keep his legacy from being tarnished by a forfeiture of national sovereignty. Trump would have to guarantee the security of holding a national referendum (and it's unclear whether Ukrainians in the occupied territories would get a vote, or how they might vote under foreign coercion). Putin would have to accept a 60-day ceasefire, twice as long as the one on offer by the U.S. and Ukraine in May, which Putin rejected. Comparing a referendum on giving up Donetsk to Brexit is cheeky: 75% of Ukrainians rejected this proposal as of Dec. 15, according to the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, and so to change their minds, the U.S. would have to really incentivize them. In short, Zelensky is calling America and Russia's bluff. And doing it with a handshake and a smile and invitation to Trump to come to Kyiv. https://t.co/gaJktzPfpQ

[Daractenus @Daractenus]

The main insight Yulia Navalnaya was able to share about the immense tragedy suffered by the Ukrainian people at the hands of millions of Russians is that those millions of Russians are apparently having a rather terrible time inflicting it.

[Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦 @AdamKinzinger]

To those thinking Russia is winning in Ukraine:

Imagine if when we invaded Iraq, we were almost four years into it, only occupied 20 percent, and lost a million men.

Not a soul would call that “winning.”

[Sir William Browder KCMG @Billbrowder]

Putin Meets With Witkoff and Kushner for Nearly Five Hours and the two sides did not reach any specific compromises, an aide to President Vladimir V. Putin said, as the United States pushes a plan to end the war in Ukraine.

Let me translate for you what this means. There was never any intention from Russia to settle this conflict (even when they released their 28 point “peace plan”). This whole thing has been a well executed intelligence operation with two very specific objectives: 1) to derail the devastating oil sanctions that Senator Lindsay Graham has tee’d up and 2) to derail the EU plan to transfer the Russian frozen assets to Ukraine.

As a result of these so called “peace negotiations” both of these serious consequences have been kicked into the long grass. Putin is happy and Trump will say “we can’t impose sanctions on Russia while we’re trying to get peace”. And he will lean heavily on the EU to not confiscate the frozen assets so they don’t “derail these productive negotiations”.

For anyone who understands what Russia cares about, this whole thing is so obvious. It’s a shame we let ourselves get played by Putin.

Most importantly, the Russian terrorism against innocent Ukrainians will continue.

[Kyle Glen @KyleJGlen]

Putin said today that Russia will continue fighting until the Donbas and "Novorossiya" are "freed". Anyone pretending this invasion is anything more than a deluded land grab is fooling nobody but themselves. Attached is a map of Putin's definition of "Novorossiya". Delusional.

[Sir William Browder KCMG @Billbrowder]

The Wall Street Journal alleges that the real motivation behind Trump’s eagerness to force Ukraine into an ugly surrender is the idea that a lot of people close to him can make a lot of money doing business and deals in Russia.

If this is true, beyond the disgusting morality of this and the huge geopolitical risks that it creates, none of these people salivating over their future riches are going to make a penny, and perhaps do a lot worse.

I was once the largest foreign investor in Russia and I can say with certainty that the Russians aren’t going to let anyone profit in any way. They will talk nice at the outset to attract the investment, but once it’s there, they will steal, defraud, arrest, torture or even kill to make sure that no American makes any money. I’ve seen it so many times it’s almost universal.

So, this shocking initiative is not only terrible policy, it’s spectacularly stupid business.

https://t.co/2RvCkY1iGb

[Jimmy Rushton @JimmySecUK]

The Americans have humiliated themselves in the eyes of their allies (and the rest of the world), and for what?

All chasing an agreement that Putin now expressly declares he never had any intent to sign.

[Euan MacDonald @Euan_MacDonald]

The first stage of reforming fascist Russia after Putin would have to be to tackle the "root cause" of Russia's problems - fascist-imperialism.

And the first stage of that would be to take responsibility for the crimes Russia has committed.

Without thorough denazification, Russia will never get off the path of genocidal expansionist fascist-imperialism.

Some high-profile figures in the Russian opposition in exile (though not all) seem unwilling to acknowledge this (perhaps with an eye to their future electoral prospects, given that most Russians, their brains addled by over two decades of Kremlin propaganda, support their country's crimes).

[Thomas van Linge @ThomasVLinge]

Serious question here: What is the international community gonna do when the death toll of this single massacre ends up being over 100.000?

With all the (very justified) international upheaval and scrutiny, lawsuits and sanctions over Gaza, are we just gonna ignore all of this?

[Thomas C. Theiner @noclador]

putin invading Ukraine to today: 1,340 days

Pearl Harbor to Germany's surrender: 1,248 days

In 25 days (20 Nov. 25) putin's war will be longer than the Pacific War (1,365 days).

In 76 days (10 Jan. 26) putin's war will be longer than the German-Soviet war 1941-45 (1,416 days).

[Isaac King 🔎 @IsaacKing314]

Anyone who tests AI on their area of expertise rapidly realizes that AI is an idiot.

Unfortunately, it is becoming clear to me that many humans do not have an area of expertise.

[Darth Putin @DarthPutinKGB]

OTD in 2016 Gorbachev stated quite categorically that he never received a promise by NATO not to admit new members to the alliance.

He said the idea that Russia was betrayed is a myth. Which triggers my trolls.

[Maxim Lavrinenko @MaximTruexa]

@DanielJHannan The graph shows how often the Soviet newspaper Pravda used the word ‘fascism’ before WWII. Notice the empty gap from 1938 to 1941.

[Colby Badhwar @ColbyBadhwar]

Those who argued that Russian aggression against Ukraine did not foreshadow incursions against NATO members sure do look even more absurd now, with routine violations of Polish, Romanian, and Estonian air space. How long before the little green men show up?

[Michael Weiss @michaeldweiss]

Steve Witkoff's Public Financial Disclosure form, which he filed late, is unsigned by any ethics official. It also falsely states Witkoff held no federal position before June of this year. He did not divest from relevant assets before he started his diplomatic job, as he was supposed to. And note the company at the heart of the big @nytimes investigation into his questionable business dealings with the Emiratis concerning World Liberty Financial, "a cryptocurrency start-up founded by the Witkoffs and Trumps." On page 23 of Witkoff's disclosure, World Liberty Financial is given with no value listed. https://t.co/RfztMIt1bf