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Welcome back to Political Misfits on Radio Sputnik, where we bring you news, politics and culture - without the red and blue treatment. I am John Kiriakou here with Michelle Witte.
Mark Sleboda is an international affairs and security analyst.
In Ukraine, a war of incremental gains as counteroffensive stalls
Putin to discuss Israel-Hamas war during a 1-day trip to Saudi Arabia and UAE | AP News + Iran president coming to Moscow
Zelensky to call senators https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/05/world/europe/ukraine-aid-zelensky-congress.html
Today, we have the Washington Post’s second of a two part series on Ukraine’s offensive this spring - the first detailing how, according to the Post’s sources at least, how the effort was hamstrung by miscalculations and divisions between Ukrainian and American leaders. Now we have a look at the battlefield and, once again, arguments over tactics. I did think there was on little telling detail about preparing for battle in Zaporizhzhia - the story notes that “the 47th’s insignia on vehicles was covered up in case locals sympathetic to Russia might reveal their location.” Not quite the black and white, Ukrainians vs Russians story we usually get.
Ukraine gives swift justice to suspected collaborators in recently liberated areas (lemonde.fr)
Thousands of Russian Collaborators in Ukraine Have Made One Hell of a Fuck-Up (thedailybeast.com)
The hunt for collaborators in Ukraine: Suspects face trial in liberated areas - Focus (france24.com)
A lot of this is stuff we’ve heard before - arguments about NATO tactics, arguments about who was ready for combat, the US wanting to push ahead with Ukrainian commanders wanting to take more time, Ukrainian commanders generally being more concerned about preserving the lives of their men, it seems. The Post tells us in 2023, in all, Ukraine has retaken only about 200 square miles of territory, at a cost of thousands of dead and wounded and billions in Western military aid in 2023 alone. The Ukrainian president has been asking that people not forget about his conflict. Is this the kind of attention he’s going to welcome?
How the Front Line Has Barely Moved in Ukraine This Year - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is going to address US senators today by video call to beg them to pass an emergency funding bill tomorrow that contains $61 billion for his country’s war effort. At this point, do you think a personal appeal from Zelensky will help or hurt the cause?
Zelensky abruptly cancels US Senate appeal — RT World News
Is Hersh story on secret Ukraine peace talks true? - Asia Times.
What do you make of Sy Hersh’s reporting from last week that there are actually forces pushing for peace talks in Ukraine - and those forces are General Valery Zaluzhny on Kiev’s side and General Valery Gerasimov on Russia’s. I find some of the details a little implausible - supposedly Ukraine wouldn’t contest Russia’s absorption of the border regions it already controls, Russia gets security guarantees for Crimea, Ukraine keeps Odessa and Black Sea access and - Ukraine can join NATO provided that NATO troops are not stationed on its territory. The idea of Russia taking a NATO promise seems pretty far fetched to me. What do you think?
Zelensky trying to directly control army – media — RT Russia & Former Soviet Union
Apparently Izvestia is reporting that its anonymous sources say Russia wouldn’t oppose sitting down for talks with Ukraine in some European country, like Hungary. So even if it isn’t Zaluzhny and Gerasimov, is there an appetite for talks in Russia now? I know you always say there is not, I just wonder what you think is driving these reports if they’re all garbage.
Meanwhile, the Russian president is headed to Saudi Arabia and the UAE tomorrow and will host the president of Iran in Moscow later this week. Wednesday’s talks in both countries will reportedly focus on bilateral relations, oil price caps under OPEC+ and the war between Israel and Hamas. Now, Russia hosted members of Hamas not too long ago, and so when AP pushes this as Russia “wanting to reassert its role in the Middle East” and wanting to mediate peace talks between Israel and Hamas, ok, Russia’s obviously interested in hearing people out. But English media always want Russia’s every move to be about taking charge of global affairs. I wonder if this is as much about oil and economic relations as anything else. What do you think?
What about this visit by Raisi to Moscow? What will you be watching for?
What do you make of the US response so far to attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and what the administration says are maybe, maybe not attacks on American warships there. Politico today has a story out saying, according to its anonymous sources, that at least some DOD officials think that the Houthis in Yemen are very clearly targeting US military ships in the Red Sea and the Biden administration is playing it down because it doesn’t want the war in Gaza to escalate. The Biden administration so far has said that US ships have answered distress calls by commercial vessels in the sea and that it is not clear that missiles fired from Yemen are targeting US vessels. And considering such missile seems to have fallen 10 miles from a US ship, I could buy that. But certainly the Houthis don’t seem to be worried about “accidentally” hitting a US ship with a drone or a missile. What do you think is going on here, and what do you think of the White House response?
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/04/biden-response-red-sea-attacks-00130018
US officials frustrated by Biden administration’s response to attacks in Red Sea - POLITICO
Zelensky's Begging Now Grating on West Doing More Harm Than Good, WaPo Epic Post-Mortem on Why NATO/Kiev Offensive Failed, Hersh Falls for Zaluzhny-Gerasimov Peace Talks Disinfo, much more...