In Related News...

 ... BS primarily occupies the space in the brains of NATO military "leaders" where such things as sound military education, experience, logic and Sun Tzu's triviality about "knowing thy enemy et al" should reside instead of this substance of bovine excrement, but who am I kidding.  

WIESBADEN, Germany (Reuters) - NATO will not be cowed by Russian threats but keep up its strong support of Kyiv, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on his first visit to the alliance's Ukraine mission in Wiesbaden, set to take over the coordination of military aid from the U.S. "The message (to Russian President Vladimir Putin) is that we will continue, that we will do what's necessary to make sure that he will not get his way, that Ukraine will prevail," he told Reuters in a joint interview with German public radio Hessischer Rundfunk on Monday. Rutte spoke at Clay Barracks, the U.S. base hosting the headquarters of the new mission, dubbed NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU), which will gradually assume the coordination of Western military aid to Kyiv.

Yes, it is always a good idea of creating the commission on managing the previous commissions which have been created for the study of the issue on creating more commissions. 

Speaking in one of 12 green tents that house NSATU as it is built up, Rutte earlier on Monday addressed allied troops from more than a dozen nations already working on the mission that will, at a later stage, move into a nearby hangar and be complemented by Ukrainian troops. NSATU is expected to have a total strength of some 700 personnel, including troops stationed at NATO's military headquarters SHAPE in Belgium and at logistics hubs in Poland and Romania. The Wiesbaden base is also home to the U.S. unit in charge of long-range missiles that Washington will deploy to Germany temporarily from 2026, to counter what both countries describe as a threat posed by Russian missiles stationed as close as Kaliningrad, some 500 kilometres (311 miles) from Berlin.

Say what? How could they have allowed this thing to happen in the midst of... only 12 green tents. There should have been at least... three times more green tents. 

How can anyone plan aid and NATO operations for VSU in only 12 green tents is beyond me, plus--what kind of a joke is this? Why green tents? They should be pink or, at least, of some sort of light reddish hue. 

But, of course, the reality of the resources and scales is not known to such people as Rutte (look up his bio--the guy's background is... fabulous) who from the day one has a firm hand of Washington up his ass to assure that he doesn't deviate from the party line while NATO (a euphemism for the USA) is in desperate search of a solution to this conundrum. After all, in accordance to Pentagon and State Department "planning" Putin's "regime" was supposed to collapse some time late 2022--early 2023. Well, it is the end of 2024, and apart from demolishing best ever American proxy, the news are really bad. Like this:

МОСКВА, 15 окт — РИА Новости. Рубль по итогам августа впервые стал главной валютой для расчетов за импорт товаров и услуг из стран азиатского региона, следует из анализа РИА Новости данных Банка России. В конце лета его доля в платежах достигла рекордных 43,6% против 42,9% месяцем ранее. При этом удельный вес рубля превысил валюты дружественных стран в августе на 0,6 процентного пункта, что позволило российской валюте стать основной для оплаты поставок. Рекордную долю рубль также занял в расчетах за африканские товары, увеличившись на 0,5 процентного пункта — до 69,9%, а также за поставки из Океании, где им оплачивается 84,3%. В целом в августе российская валюта стала использоваться в импорте немного меньше — 44,7% против 45,9% в июле. Одновременно сократилась и доля дружественных валют — сразу на 2,2 процентного пункта, до 31,2%. А вот главными бенефициарами стали "токсичные" валюты, в которых стали оплачивать 24,1% российского импорта против 20,7% месяцем ранее. Главным образом это произошло за счет увеличения доли недружественных валют в расчетах за импорт из Азии (+1,1 процентного пункта, 13,3%), Америки (+8,3 процентного пункта, 71%) и Европы (+6,9 процентного пункта, 49,3%).

Translation: MOSCOW, 15 Oct — RIA Novosti. The ruble became the main currency for payments for imported goods and services from Asian countries for the first time in August, according to RIA Novosti’s analysis of Bank of Russia data. At the end of summer, its share in payments reached a record 43.6% against 42.9% a month earlier. At the same time, the share of the ruble exceeded the currencies of friendly countries in August by 0.6 percentage points, which allowed the Russian currency to become the main one for paying for deliveries. The ruble also took a record share in payments for African goods, increasing by 0.5 percentage points to 69.9%, as well as for deliveries from Oceania, where it is used to pay for 84.3%. Overall, the Russian currency began to be used slightly less in imports in August — 44.7% against 45.9% in July. At the same time, the share of friendly currencies also decreased — by 2.2 percentage points, to 31.2%. But the main beneficiaries were "toxic" currencies, which began to pay for 24.1% of Russian imports, compared to 20.7% a month earlier. This was mainly due to the increase in the share of unfriendly currencies in payments for imports from Asia (+1.1 percentage points, 13.3%), America (+8.3 percentage points, 71%) and Europe (+6.9 percentage points, 49.3%).

These numbers (with minor fluctuations) are the material manifestation of what real military power buys one, not just sovereignty but the ability to trade with your partners in whatever currency and on whatever conditions one wants. And Kazan is coming...