To my readers: if you don’t follow Inside Story I recommend it.
What I notice here is a convergence of views from people who might a year ago have been to some extent ‘supporting’ Ukraine with strong critics – Chris Hedges. That is good news.
One final point; the aim of this package might be to get Biden over the election line. The House speaker said that he changed his view on the package as a result of being given security briefings about how Iran, Russia and China are collaborating and how Russia will attack Europe after Ukraine. – I wonder if he wasn’t simply manipulated by the intelligence bureaucracy to give Biden a win and help prevent a Trump victory.
Is this going to be like Afghanistan? They will keep it going, keep laundering money to the military contractors, until a political suitable moment arises when they can slip away?
I am not sure that Anatol Lieven is correct at [23.00] when he says that the Russians suggested deferring the status negotiations about territory in Eastern Ukraine at the negotiations in March 2022. I thought that was a Ukrainian suggestion, at least with respect to Crimea, which was not acceptable to Russia. Or, maybe there was a separate proposal for Donbas.
I love the way the military affairs theorist at 20.00 says that it probably wasn’t made clear enough to Ukraine that they aren’t a core ally. That is rather a blunt point. (I am not criticising the speaker).