Didn't Help Much.

Tony Blinken is a typical product of Ivy League degree mill. He thinks that US Dollar numbers in war matter--they don't, when you are dealing with the country with comparable industrial (real economy that is) output. 

Washington has provided around $100 billion in financial aid and military assistance to Kiev since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said. The bulk of the money was spent inside the US on defense manufacturing, he told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Wednesday. This comes amid recent efforts by the outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden to spend every dollar allocated by Congress before leaving office in January. “We’ve spent a lot of money on Ukraine and defending Ukraine, about $100 billion. Our allies and partners, they’ve spent about $150 billion doing it,” the secretary of state said. Financial assistance to Kiev, according to Blinken, represents “the best example of burden sharing” between NATO members.

It is akin to feeding a proxy with 9 mm bullets against the enemy which operates long-range artillery. But you cannot explain these realities to any high positioned bureaucrat in Washington across the board: economic, political, intel or military. This result of the US losing any remnants of cognitive faculties was long in the making. I want to stress again--some people in the US military understood that:

But the time has been lost and purely political class in the West needs only credentials. Real knowledge and serious skills--come on, who needs them in the West. Vladimir Putin is semi-joking when inviting NATO to a duel with Oreshnik today. Those few in NATO who have a serious intel and military-technological background know they are defenseless. I talk about this in my today's video.

Yeah, So?

As if it is something new. 

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, gave his strongest hint yet that the White House is about to lift its restrictions on Ukraine using long-range weapons supplied by the west on key military targets inside Russia, with a decision understood to have already been made in private. Speaking in Kyiv alongside the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, Blinken said the US had “from day one” been willing to adapt its policy as the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine changed. “We will continue to do this,” he emphasised. Blinken said he and Lammy would report back to their “bosses” – Joe Biden and Keir Starmer – after their talks on Wednesday with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The foreign secretary suggested Iran’s dispatch of ballistic missiles to Moscow – revealed this week – had changed strategic thinking in London and Washington. It was a “significant and dangerous escalation”, he said.

I have to constantly stress that it changes absolutely nothing because attacks on, as an example, Belgorod have been occurring on a weekly bases and most of them have been on civilian targets. They are really desperate, including obvious serious lack of understanding of the ramifications and as Phil Giraldi says here starting at 7:00--historians will be astonished by "pure insanity and where did they get these people"...

Well, we know where they came from and who they are--they all came through Israeli-first orgs in the US, ranging from AIPAC to CUFI and through degree mills in Ivy League. A defining trait of these people is sociopathy--otherwise you will not get far in American politics. Especially in American politics. Exceptionalism and greed are serious mental illnesses and here is an incredibly interesting piece (in Russian) that the US is actually not a Rome despite all of its efforts to emulate it, but rather it is a Carthage. 

Основатели американского государства сделали многое, чтобы их страну считали новым Римом: отсюда вся символика в оформлении Вашингтона, Капитолийский холм, здание Конгресса с римскими колоннами, должности консулов и сенаторов. Америка пытается «вести за собой мир», как недавно заявил Байден. Но аналогия с Римом здесь вообще неуместна. 

Translation: The founders of the American state did a lot to make their country to be considered the new Rome: hence all the symbols in the design of Washington, Capitol Hill, the Congress building with Roman columns, the positions of consuls and senators. America is trying to "lead the world", as Biden recently said. But the analogy with Rome is completely inappropriate here.

Read the whole thing--it is a compelling case. And we all know what famous words are associated with Carthage, yes, Carthago Delenda Est. Make your own conclusions. 

On Blinken's Visit To China...

 ... and for creeps from Kommersant and specifically for Yusin shyster. That is what they all feel. A little bit of (low-brow) fun for Saturday. 

I finally located the music which describes modern world;)) Go at it...
 

They Confabulate...

This is the only thing they can do. 

Russia—after suffering Western oil embargos and price caps on its oil and oil products, has shipped its first crude oil cargo to Brazil in its quest to find more outlets for its fossil fuels. The Aframax tanker Stratos Aurora is now less than 500 miles off the shore of Brazil, according to Bloomberg ship tracking data, carrying 650,000 barrels of Varandey crude oil from the Murmansk port. Russian oil hasn’t been shipped to Brazil since 2016, but sanctions on Russian crude oil, as well as the price cap, have made it difficult for the country to find outlets. 

I just returned from Russia and nowhere did I find any signs of "suffering". On the contrary, Russians overwhelmingly praise sanctions. It is also difficult to explain to average Western "academic" or journo that Russia is absolutely free in her decisions on oil output and goes about it as she wishes. If London and Washington want to send ships to "enforce" the price cap--they are welcome, let them see what happens. We all know that nothing could be done and price cap failed the first day it was introduced. Now, Russia and SA extended their output cut and here we are today. 

Meanwhile, Daniel Larison reacts to Walter Russel Mead's wet fantasies of "wearing Russia down". It has to be reiterated again that Mead is not an academic but shyster from what WSJ calls geopolitics, but let Larison speak:

Wall Street Journal columnist Walter Russell Mead thinks that the right way to wear down Russia in a war of attrition is by attacking Russian interests in far-flung, peripheral areas around the world. Mead claims that “we operate in a target-rich environment” for bringing the “cost of war home to the Kremlin,” and he lays out a series of policies that are either unworkable, counterproductive or useless. Among other things, he calls for the U.S. to “roll up” the Wagner Group in the Sahel, work with Turkey and others to “make Mr. Putin’s presence in Syria ruinously expensive,” bring pressure to bear on Russian forces in Moldova, and “target Mr. Putin’s Latin American allies.”

Even assuming that it was practical and wise for the U.S. to do any of these things, it is hard to see how they would significantly impair Russia’s war effort or aid Ukraine in a war of attrition. If the U.S. managed to make things difficult enough for Russian forces and mercenaries in other parts of the world that it was no longer worth it for Moscow to keep them there, that would just lead to additional resources and manpower being redirected to fighting in Ukraine. It isn’t clear why Mead believes that the U.S. and “its allies in Europe and the Gulf” have the capabilities to eliminate Russian influence in the Sahel. French influence is in retreat in many countries, U.S. partners keep losing control in military coups, and so-called “allies” from the Gulf are not reliably on the same side as the U.S. in political and military crises across Africa. The problem wasn’t that the U.S. and its allies were “standing passively by” but that they were actively pursuing militarized policies that have repeatedly blown up in their faces. Russia has managed to exploit some of the resulting upheaval to its advantage.

Well, I have the answer why creatures like Mead, and even many in the outlet Larison published piece in--Responsible Statecraft--believe this. The answer is simple--99% "degrees" from US universities in history, political science, journalism, economics and other subjects like that are fraud and disqualify overwhelming majority of their bearers from any serious discussion on the subject matter, such as REAL strategy, warfare, resources management and the military history of the XX century. Mead is just a propagandist who has no tool kit to grasp those things, as for Russia Study field--I repeat myself ad nauseam. There is NO such field in the US anymore. 

I guess, the unpleasant truth of the US losing economic race to China and military one to Russia will take some time to get internalized, possibly by new US political elites, but even if to assume that, as many report (in Russian), Blinken was in Kiev trying to force Ze to the negotiating table with Russia, one has to keep in mind that Russia has no reasons whatsoever to negotiate anything with Kiev. Election cycle in the US is of no concern to Russia who has written Washington off no matter who comes to power. As for Mead--I have a suggestion, instead of "teaching" Clausewitz and Strategy, he may take basic classes on WWII history, not the BS he teaches, and how real economy works. I do not expect him succeeding studying modern warfare--too complex and requires graduate STEM degree (and clearance), but he may try. Hey, at 60 I learned some basic chords on piano and even know how to play The House of the Rising Sun. But, in all seriousness, most of US "geopolitical" and "strategy" academy should be fired and given jobs as greeters at the Walmart's entrances.

Good God!

No, I mean it! Baghdad Bob is having the time of his life, watching this. 

The title of this surreal video is: Blinken says Ukraine has reclaimed about half of land Russia seized.  Get it? Well, here is yesterday's map by Russian MoD. These guys are good at strategy, operations and situational awareness, they are also extremely good at math and geography--all those things which are not taught in all those pseudo-academic degree mills in Ivy League humanities where people like Blinken go to get their liberal arts (a euphemism for absence of serious skills) degrees. 

There are two shysters in this video--a genuine ignoramus and uncultured hack Zakaria and, of course, Tony Blinken. Not only they have zero math skills, both of these "professionals" sit and humiliate their (their?) country in a front of the whole world, because unlike Blinken everyone knows the real deal and the map reflects it. But I repeat, the only thing these sociopaths know is how to lie and PR, for the sake of own promotion within deep recesses of bureaucracy which can't do anything to stop, in fact it accelerates it, a demise of what remains of America's nation.

Major General Bakshi...

 ... talks here about strategy and he makes much more sense than any of the NATO or US generals parading themselves as military amateurs in the capacity of military "experts" for all kinds of "news" outlets. 

The only point I disagree with General is the NATO involvement which will only trigger Russia's additional mobilization and escalation of the SMO into the War. I do agree with our own ARW's observation that Blinken is in China for more than just discussion of US-China relations. As ARW astutely observes:

My guess... : USA can not be seen picking up the phone and calling Russia. So, they are in China trying to get them to negotiate the US position with Russia which is a peace deal that splits Ukraine but with NATO security guarantees for the western portion. Edit…I also think that all the public disclosures of the Korean solution, no NATO, NATO security council, etc. were the Wests attempts to negotiate with Russia but doing it publicly. I also don’t think China would have agreed to mediate unless Russia showed a willingness to talk about it.

I think he absolutely nails it here and the search for off-ramp in Biden Admin has started some time ago. But as I stated the minute Putin showed the draft of the agreement with 404 last year's May, Putin never does anything just because. Meeting of the leaders of African countries is a big deal and a highly publicized event, and those drafts saw the light of day (and media) for a very specific reason. Things may get very-very hot and very-very soon.

Larry Nails It.

Exactly! Will China send weapons to Russia.

Yes. I think they will. But not because Russia is running out of shells and rockets. Nope. I think China wants a chance to field test some of its weaponry and drones against a foe that shoots back in order to see how they perform in a combat environment. Firing artillery or surface-to-air missiles on a closed range does not compare with lighting them up on a bona fide battlefield.

Real General Staffs salivate at the opportunity to try their technology and fighting doctrines on a real battlefield. It is all about those precious war correlates, performance data and its statistical analysis which allow to constantly update tactical and operational manuals, to shape technical requirements, which, in the end, translate into crucial advantages over the enemy. 

We, who have some background in military-intelligence affairs, already know about dismal performance of the NATO weaponry, which cannot be fixed, because it is systemic, and this fact inevitably translates from operational reality into the strategic and political one. Any unbiased observer can see the agony in Washington precisely because of that, while Chinese who are present (rumor has it) on some level in Moscow, also were learning to fight together with Russians as single joint units and formations as early as Vostok 2018 maneuvers.  

The signs of Washington's agony? Here comes this LOL)) Maria already explained what current US "diplomacy" is--Blinken trying to catch (ambush, actually) Lavrov in lobbies. Now State Department responds...

ВАШИНГТОН, 2 мар - РИА Новости. Госсекретарь Энтони Блинкен в ходе беседы с главой МИД РФ Сергеем Лавровым поднял волнующие Вашингтон темы, поэтому США не станут за нее извиняться, сказал официальный представитель госдепа Нед Прайс. "Я знаю, наши российские коллеги пытаются наделать из этого шума. Но с нашей стороны важно отметить, что это был короткий контакт, а не полноценная двусторонняя встреча. Но в более широком смысле, мы не станем извиняться за действия в наших интересах", - сказал Прайс. Так он ответил на вопрос о том, по чьей инициативе состоялся контакт. Ранее в МИД РФ сообщили, что о беседе попросил Блинкен. 

Translation: WASHINGTON, March 2 - RIA Novosti. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, during a conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, raised topics of concern to Washington, so the United States will not apologize for her, said State Department spokesman Ned Price. "I know our Russian colleagues are trying to make a fuss out of this. But on our part, it is important to note that this was a short contact, and not a full-fledged bilateral meeting. But in a broader sense, we will not apologize for acting in our interests," Price said. That is how he answered the question on whose initiative the contact took place. Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that Blinken had asked for a conversation.

 

So, Blinken did ambush Lavrov. I guess being schlimazels comes naturally to the modern crop of the US "diplomats". God, how the mighty have fallen. Once upon a time one could at least reason with American diplomats and have a meaningful conversation with them. Evidently, not anymore. But, what can I say, sic transit gloria mundi. The American mundi, that is, aka Pax Americana. In conclusion, a little bit of a strategic boohoo:

Disgruntled airlines have said that Chinese carriers have an “unfair advantage” because they can fly over Russia, cutting time and costs. A raft of airlines including British Airways, Swiss and Virgin Atlantic have recently announced that they are either restarting flights to China or increasing the number due to global travel restrictions relaxing. Western airlines have been banned from crossing Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 but Chinese carriers are still free to fly shorter routes over the territory. “Between Paris and Seoul, it can add up to three hours in flight time. If you’ve got a Chinese carrier that is flying over Russia, they’ve got an unfair advantage over us,” Ben Smith, chief executive of Air France-KLM, told the Financial Times. Finnair chief executive Topi Manner also spoke with the publication and said that airlines were at a “significant” disadvantage. Finnair was forced to rethink its flights to Asia after formerly relying on routes across the north of Russia to reach countries like Japan.

What can I say. They wanted it and now they complain of getting unfair disadvantage, cry me a river. Or as they say--well, too bad--you reap what you sow. 

A Monday Primer.

Andrei Raevsky posted the transcript of Nebenzya's speech at the UNSC today. It is about dirty bomb and Russia calling everybody on this hugely important issue. Nebenzya opens with this:

First I want to express my bewilderment. We do not quite understand which added value other than a time extension of today’s meeting, carries the inclusion in the list of the speakers representatives of Slovakia, Poland, Germany and Greece. We’re not having a debate today, we are conducting a briefing. These countries’ position we already know very well. It could be nicely summed up by a [single] representative of the European Union. Nothing, but a desire to be featured on national TV screens, can we see in that. In the future, Mr. Chairman, we would like to ask you to be more careful when compiling the list of the speakers for the UN meetings on this subject.

Read the whole thing at Saker's blog. It is extremely important.  

As you may expect, the stalwart of American faux-diplomacy, Mr. Blinken continues to dismiss Russia's warnings about dirty bomb as transparently false allegations. One would expect such a reaction from people "populating" Biden's (and Obama's) Administration, because any allegations about integrity and professional competence of American "diplomats" are transparently false, hence the US being both non-agreement capable and, de facto, ungovernable, increasingly so with Midterms approaching. But then again, and I touch on this subject periodically, they don't teach Moliere and they do not attend either ballet or dramatic interpretations of his immortal comedy Le Bourgeois gentilhomme in D.C. because it hits too close to home with its message that you cannot buy class, especially in current US "diplomacy". Blinken should have concentrated on practicing law in NYC and should have never tried to become Mr. Jourdain. 

The desperation before Midterms is palpable in the US and for people who say that I "interpreted" Hu Jintao's exit from XX Congress was wrong--it is fine with me, I constantly stress that I am no Sinologist and if Comrade Hu was simply having a bout of dementia, it is fine with me. What I know for sure is not wrong is the fact of a massive purge of the top political and economic echelon of China of Komsomolets (Youth League) faction in CCP which was a radically pro-Western (pro-American) fifth column. For the most part it is over now and Xi solidified his power with far reaching strategic ramifications. Mr. Hu, however, was a direct offspring of the Chinese Komsomol. So, the whole event was emblematic, no matter how one views it. Ramifications are simple though, China now openly admits the possibility of the military solution around Taiwan and that means a serious geopolitical split for the US which is already now out of resources. 

That brings us to the issue of 101st in Romania. I think the United States has been put on notice by Russia that Syria and Ukraine are not the same game. Unlike illegal occupation of parts of Syria by the US, Odessa is historically Russian city and in WW II Red Army, first defending it from Axis in 1941 and then liberating in in 1944  shed so much blood--it is beyond experiences of the American military. If, as some observes speculate, 101st is ordered to repeat Al-Tanf thingy with further "de-conflicting" scenario while maintaining some kind of "exclusion zone" in and around Odessa--they need to understand that 101st will be annihilated. I am sure this was conveyed by Shoigu to Mr. Austin and by Gerasimov to Mr. Milley. Unlike Blinkens or Sullivans of Biden's cabinet, no matter what one says about Milley--he is still a military professional and he has a grasp of such things. I repeat again--I can imagine what is being talked about when Gerasimov and Milley speak. I cannot imagine Lavrov communicating with this schlimazel Blinken without Lavrov chain-smoking because he has to talk to an amateur. Mr. Jourdain, that is. 

Per this.

Moscow and Tehran have struck a deal that will see the Islamic Republic selling 40 domestically produced gas turbines to Russia, Reza Noushadi, the CEO of Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company, told the Iranian oil ministry’s news agency Shana on Sunday. According to Noushadi, Iran is currently capable of independently producing “85% of … the equipment needed in the gas industry.” This capability allowed it to sign the contract with Moscow, he added. The CEO did not reveal when exactly the deal was struck and when the turbines are to arrive in Russia. Russian officials have so far not commented on Noushadi’s statements. The development comes as the sanctions policies of the US and its allies have hit industry ties between Russia and its Western equipment suppliers. Earlier this year, state energy giant Gazprom had to gradually reduce gas deliveries to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline due to technical problems related to servicing turbines.

Is it possible? Sure. Iran was in the oil and gas business since the start, so this part of Iranian industries surely has some competencies in extraction and processing and it is purely non-military peaceful technologies. We just need to wait for confirmation from Russia on that and on the nomenclature of such turbines, if the deal was, indeed, struck. As per Russia military industries, as usual Western intel failed miserably.  

Russia is about to greatly enhance its military arsenal, the country’s former president, Dmitry Medvedev, said on Monday, adding that output of tanks, high-precision missiles, drones, and artillery pieces is growing “multifold.” He made the statement after inspecting the production lines of Russia’s leading arms manufacturer, the Uralvagonzavod tank plant. Medvedev, who is currently the deputy head of the Russian Security Council, posted a video on Telegram showing him touring the production halls of the plant together with a delegation of government officials. The video also featured dozens of modern T-72B3 and T-90M battle tanks under construction at the facility, including ones that appeared to be in the final assembly stage. The official said he has repeatedly seen claims by Western analysts “that Russia will soon run out of military equipment and weapons.”

I see these claims all the time and my only suggestion to those who make those claims in the West is to throw away their useless degrees in social and political "sciences" and pseudo-economics, communications and "international relations" and get to some serious schools to study industries, technology, math and, maybe, try to get to some War Colleges, especially Army and Naval--that may help. Other than that, as I am on record for years--the West's crisis is systemic and that means it cannot be fixed without changing the system itself. I don't have the recipe for fixing it, I just know that this is the end. Enjoy your Monday.

Have Some Class.

No matter how one views British Royalty, but one fact cannot be denied, in the times of British politics turning into the tawdry freak-show, Elizabeth II was projecting what is sorely lacking today both in UK and in the West--the class. We can give her that, at least. Not to mention the fact of many Brits sincerely loving her. So, the Queen is dead, long live the King. But, of course, the death of Elizabeth II has a very strange unintended consequences for... Ukraine. Kiev regime is dependent on Western media publicity and, in fact, is in serious business (together with major Western media outlets) of faking most of it military "victories" which then are used as the only argument in Kiev's begging the combined West for weapons and money. But Queen's death definitely removes Ukraine (for now) to the status of secondary issues. This photo also speaks volumes:

Rest in Peace, Your Majesty!

But in Ukraine news this is what Blinken "brought" to Kiev.

The administration of US President Joe Biden has pledged another $2.2 billion in long-term military financing to Ukraine and 18 neighbor states and territories “potentially at risk of future Russian aggression,” pending approval by Congress, Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed on Thursday during an unannounced visit to Kiev. Blinken met with President Vladimir Zelensky and other senior officials to discuss the details of the $2.2 billion package, of which $1 billion will go to Ukraine. The rest will be divided among “regional security partners” in order to help them “deter and defend against emergent threats to their sovereignty and territorial integrity” through strengthening their coordination with NATO and combating “Russian influence and aggression,” according to the State Department.

Blinken, being a complete moron militarily, did this:

Blinken hailed the Ukrainian “counteroffensive” against Russian forces in the south as “effective,” calling it a “pivotal moment” for Kiev, while Zelensky thanked the visiting diplomat for “this enormous support that you’re providing on a day to day basis.”  

And he is absolutely correct, since, granted that the average attention span of armchair strategists is about that of an aquarium fish, VSU's offensive was effective in terms of disposing of many thousands VSU personnel killed, and even more wounded, not counting the hardware lost. The new number which begins circulating now re: VSU KIAs is huge--up to 10,000 KIAs. Confirmed number of wounded in Krivoy Rog hospitals--mind you, it is more than 150 kilometers from the battle area--was in excess of 3,500. Hospitals in much closer Nikolaev were overflowing with thousands of wounded. Same goes for Odessa hospitals, but hey, at least they hoisted a flag over hospital in Vysokopolie. Same pattern, now in different terrain, repeats itself in Kharkov oblast. 

For two days now Telegram Channels manned mostly by military ignoramuses scream about doom for Balakleya. Sure, it may even fall. But here is Apti Alaudinov, the commander of Kadyrov formations (Akhmat) today:

«То, что сегодня происходит, было запланировано. Это является тактической уловкой, которая нам помогла вытащить все их силы и средства на территорию, где нам с ними удобно воевать»

Translation: “What is happening today was planned. This is a tactical ploy that helped us to pull all their forces and means to the territory where it is convenient for us to fight with them.

But, of course, what this courageous and shrewd tactician in command of a large formation really knows compared to those Telegram Channels "analysts". Moreover, I stumbled today into new military "profundity". I will not say where, but get this--one moron concluded that total physical annihilation of enemy's personnel and hardware is not enough for victory. Right, you need the photo of the flag over some building and then the victory is complete. Meanwhile Milley, together with Pentagon, continue to live in alternative universe and continue to embarrass US Armed Forces. 

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley confirmed Thursday that Ukraine has officially launched a major counteroffensive on its 1,500-mile-long front lines in a move to repel Russian forces from its borders. "At the beginning of this month, on or about the first of September, Ukraine launched an offensive in order to seize operational and strategic initiative. That offensive is ongoing," Milley told reporters from Ramstein Air Base, Germany. "That offensive is in its early stages." Milley said it was too early to provide an assessment of how Ukraine is progressing, though reporting this week has suggested that Ukrainian forces made some operational advances in the Kharkiv region in the north as well as the Kherson region in the south. 

Evidently, Milley and JCS have a very vague understanding of modern warfare and offensive operations, not to speak of scales, but while Milley was delivering this BS to Rammstein format "conference". Kadyrov people entered Soledar and solidify their hold on it (in Russian). And that is another thing which has to be kept in mind--I am officially now on record--SMO's result is a complete destruction of any remaining reputation of the American ground warfare "school". US is DIRECTLY (together with London) is involved into C4ISR of VSU. Or, as Russian Permanent Representative at UN Nebenzya stated today (in Russian): NATO literally runs the war in Ukraine in manual mode. Considering the fact of the West's (primarily US) "glorious" ground war history, it is not surprising that the only effect American generals can achieve is the one in PR arena. They are desperate for a number of purely "professional" reasons, those reasons being the modern US military history where it lost all of its wars after 1953. With the exception of grand operation in Grenada and turkey shoot in Iraq. 

So, what's the real deal, then, in Kharkov oblast? I think we will see similar developments as it was in Kherson with that difference that this time VSU losses will be even more terrifying. Have patience and do not read telegram channels if you really want to follow events as they unfold operationally, and strategically. And pay attention to the increased activity of IPSO assets on all media platforms--it is the only type of warfare the combined West knows how to conduct. The rest? Well, as Andrei Raevsky yesterday astutely pointed out:

First, this how Hollywood and the mainstream media present defense: you stand and fight, and if the enemy overruns your defensive position, you lost. The reality could not be further from this silly notion.For one thing, the USA never fought a real war, nevermind a defensive one.

Couldn't have said better myself. Meanwhile Russian Army reserves are pouring into Kharkov oblast (in Russian) and something tells me that this is just the start of the slaughter of VSU which will make even Kherson "offensive" pale in comparison.

Lavrov Picked Up The Phone.

As you may expect, in the US media and State Department, where meaning of class does not exist, a "proper" language describing Blinken's communications with Lavrov was used. You know, Tony "demanded", he "warned", he "threatened" etc. A typical attitude of a New York low-rung thug trying to talk to higher-ups to show his "toughness". Reality, however, is such that Tony Blinken is scared shitless and there are reasons for that. Russian Foreign Ministry, however, released the summary in a typical Russian pro-forma and proper decorum manner. 

On July 29, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, at the latter’s initiative. The ministers discussed current developments in Ukraine. Sergey Lavrov laid out Russia’s principled approaches in the context of the special military operation in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Lugansk People’s Republic and Ukraine. He emphasised that its goals and tasks will be fully achieved. The Foreign Minister drew the Secretary of State’s attention to the fact that the continued arming of the armed forces of Ukraine and nationalist battalions with US and NATO weapons, which are being used against civilians on a large scale, is only prolonging the agony of the Kiev regime by dragging out the conflict and increasing the number of victims. Mr Lavrov stressed that the armed forces of Russia strictly observe the norms of international law and that Russia has engaged in consistent efforts to restore peaceful life on the territories that it is liberating.

And so on. Lavrov, however, noted that Blinken had to wait "only 24 hours" (wink, wink) and, after all, it was State Department which was bombarding Russian FM with requests to talk to them. While the issue of exchange of imprisoned citizens was, indeed, discussed, in reality, the whole thing was about the US desperately trying to gauge Moscow's mood against the background of events in Ukraine, which are developing pretty badly for Washington's SOBs in Kiev and, certainly, not in accordance to plans by Blinken, Sullivan, Nuland and other Washington "strategists" who wouldn't be able to plan properly the visit to grocery store, let alone fighting Russia in Ukraine. That is the reason I always smile when some Russian "analysts" calls Vicki Nuland an "experienced diplomat". It is difficult to explain to people that being a four wheel drive uncultured bitch who learned some basics of diplomatic decorum is not enough to be a real diplomat. Let alone great diplomat. 

Incomparable Michael Brenner notes:

Russia has blunted everything thrown at them – to the shock of Western planners. Every assumption underpinning their scorched-earth assault on the Russian economy has proven mistaken. A dismal record of analytical error even by C.I.A. and think tank standards. Off-the-charts forecasts on the country’s economy, and the global impact of sanctions, crippled Washington’s plan from the outset. Tactical initiatives of a military nature have proven equally futile; another 1,000 vintage Javelins with dead battery packs will not rescue the Ukrainian army in the Donbass. So, you are stuck with the albatross of a truncated, bankrupt Ukraine hung around your neck. There is nothing that you can do to cancel these givens — except a direct, perhaps suicidal test of force with Russia. Or, perhaps, a retaliatory challenge elsewhere. The latter is not readily available — for geographic reasons and because the West already has expended its arsenal of economic and political weaponry.

And Lavrov already told Blinken directly:

As for the potential prisoner swap between the countries, Mr Lavrov strongly advised a return to professional dialogue in the context of “quiet diplomacy” without any dubious media leaks.

We all know that media leaks will happen anyway because the US "diplomacy" is totally corrupt as is US media, but the message is clear: you want to talk to Russia now tone down your BS and follow the rules which has been set up in the international diplomacy before the United States even existed as a country. Russia will talk to the US, because it is still huge and powerful country--noblesse oblige--as per Europe. Well, they always hated Russia and Russians, they always will no matter who comes to power--the break is existential. 

The Desperation Sets In.

When you have no class this is the only thing you have to project:

Russia is preparing to launch an invasion of Ukraine in the “coming days” and is planning a real or false flag attack, maybe even using chemical weapons, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed at the UN Security Council on Thursday. Speaking in the Security Council, Blinken claimed Russia had “more than 150,000 troops around Ukraine’s borders” and that the US and its allies don’t see any of them withdrawing but instead, “preparing to launch an attack against Ukraine in the coming days.” He also claimed Russia intended to “manufacture a pretext” for attacking, though the US did not know what form that would take. “It could be a fabricated so-called ‘terrorist’ bombing inside Russia, the invented discovery of a mass grave, a staged drone strike against civilians, or a fake – even a real – attack using chemical weapons,” Blinken said, before venturing into a description of what a Russian “invasion” would look like.

Tony Blinken is a schlimazel whose cultural level is limited to, at maximum, Broadway shows and understanding of warfare on the level of a bar stool. He should have resigned himself to a role of a New York lawyer dealing with car crash trauma, but he had a higher calling of following in the footsteps of the US State Department psychopaths and war criminals, such as this collection of DNA:

Or this one:
 

So, lying comes naturally for these people, same as being responsible for deaths of millions of innocent civilians--a defining feature of the US foreign policy. Remember? 

So, mass murder is their specialty, same as covering it up.  Blinken is no exception. As I stated, the US-UK false-flag should be something big--with many civilians, preferably women and children, dead and it goes without saying that projection becomes a "thing" for modern US policy-makers. Tony, you have to follow glorious examples:

 

Tony, that's you and America's "diplomacy" at its best. Be worthy of it. So much to strive for.

Desperation Sets In.

I am not the first one who noticed this, anyone with IQ higher than room temperature could have noticed that. Difficult to miss really: 

BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States on Thursday called on China to use its influence with Russia to urge a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis, but policy experts doubted Beijing would back Washington in the standoff. China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke by phone with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Beijing said it wanted all sides to remain calm and "refrain from doing things that agitate tensions and hype up the crisis."Blinken stressed that tensions should be reduced and warned of the security and economic risks from any Russian aggression, the State Department said.U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said U.S. messages to Beijing had been very clear. "We are calling on Beijing to use its influence with Moscow to urge diplomacy, because if there is a conflict in the Ukraine it is not going to be good for China either," Nuland said at a regular State Department news conference. "There will be a significant impact on the global economy. There will be a significant impact in the energy sphere."

Basically, this whole panopticon is akin to asking China to influence China's crucial military ally whom huge chunks of China's security depend on to act counter to Russia and China's national interests just because petulant and ignorant children in Foggy Bottom want so. This, folks, is the "level" of the US "diplomacy", which for the last 20+ years provided us with a panoply of amateurs who in normal country wouldn't be allowed to run a 7-11 convenience store or even mow the lawns in any self-respecting middle class Home Owners Association. Yet, here we are--the bunch of State Department chicken-hawks, war-mongers and neocons desperately try to repeat their failed "strategy" of 2014 hoping yet again that Russia will bait and will "go in" and will tie her resources in 404 which Russia doesn't want or need and thus will allow neocons' "plan" to deal with China without Russia to succeed. Good God, they ARE that stupid. 

Here is J.D. Vance:

Billions spent on the Kennedy school, grand strategies seminars, and the Georgetown school of foreign service has bought us an elite that’s about to blunder us into a Ukraine war. Our country is broken, especially in how it trains its leaders.

I have news for J.D. Vance--there is a whole issue with the US education starting from K-12. They do not teach there, as it is done in normal countries, the relation between cause and effect. That is why the US lost its all post-WW II wars, lost its economic race to China, arms race to Russia and effectively produced "elites" which constantly humiliate their own country by their ignorance, incompetence and bizarre behavior. Read an acerbic piece by Fred Reed about the art of governance. They don't teach real governance in the US. Fred has a point, in fact, many of them. 

A Faintly Curmudgeonly Analysis of the Sino-Dimbulbian Clash

Well, Paul Craig Roberts notes in his latest: 

It is over. Putin has won. Victoria Nuland, the neoconservative war monger appointed Undersecretary of State by the White House fool, announced Washington’s surrender when she called on China to use its influence with Russia to save Ukraine from invasion. She thus acknowledges what everyone had already concluded: the US and NATO lack the capability. Washington’s surrender followed the request of the Ukrainian president that Washington stop the “Russian invasion” propaganda as there were no signs of an invasion being prepared and Washington’s rhetoric was too provocative. Germany refused flyover permission to the UK for arms deliveries to Ukraine. Two NATO members announced that they would not send troops if NATO got involved in Ukraine. Washington saw the writing on the wall.

The reality is catching up with Washington. West will have to pay for a mess which it created in 404 in 2014. Russia is NOT taking this freak of a country on her balance and it was the West which precipitated Russia's ultimatum and the issue today is way bigger than just the Ukraine. It is about Russia breaking off with the West on Russia's terms. Those in the West who would have second thoughts--they are welcome to Moscow if they have something to say of substance. If not, too fvcking bad, it's West's problem and they should go back. As Saker noted, Russians are "snow niggers" for the West and Russians, overwhelming majority of them, are just fine with that. This is the fact the combined West should internalize. Russians don't give a damn.  Except when they do, but for that Russia has Defense Ministry and damn good Armed Forces. 

Speaking of which, some details have been revealed about modernization of good ol' Udaloys (pr. 1155) and, as you might expect, all of them will get 3M22 Zircons in addition to other weapon systems and full update of electronic suites (in Russian). 

There is an interesting "slip of the tongue" in this video that Admiral Nakhimov will actually get a navalized version of S-400, albeit media state that Nakhimov will retain Fort-M (S-300FM), but then again, it is not long now for Nakhimov to get to trials.

Good God!

Russia is being damaged as I type this because of millions upon millions of Russians having a severe sudden hernia symptoms due to a Homeric laughter after Mr. Blinken in his remarks "addressed" Russians with the BS of unimaginable proportions, starting at 1:08:00

I mean, there are good medications and treatments available for treating schizophrenia and delusion, but at this stage even that may not be enough to treat a severe case of the US "diplomacy" parading itself as a bunch of ignorant clowns not understanding that Russians are not that stupid. But as great American Mark Twain once stated:

“Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.” 

I understand that this sounds very unfair as a blanket statement but US "diplomacy" in general is not a diplomacy--it is a bunch of lawyers who are trained to spew same BS time after time and avoid any substantive answers to anything. Part of it is because they don't know any better. And, yes, Blinken and his ilk they do think that Russians are morons, because they never knew real ones, with the exception of Russian diplomats, and have experience only with fringe Russophobic groups (such as Navalny's org) of freaks who are morons and who supply the US with expertise based entirely on BS. Recall this "intelligence professional" Rebekah Koffler who wouldn't know shit from shinola but still sold, successfully, her comical "knowledge of Russia's strategic culture" to US "intelligence".  No shit, that is why the US finds itself where it is today. Who needs Russian psyops when one has "experts" such as Solzhenitsyn, Koffman, Bezmenov or whoever "advises" Mr. Blinken in State Department on Russia. My question, however, is simple--if they know that they preach BS what is then the level of psychopathy in these people that that can live with this. If, on the other hand, they are true believers I think Russia did absolutely the right thing by putting them against the wall and refusing to hold "secret negotiations" and demanded public answers. Read Mark Twain's quote, you do not argue with idiots. 

In related news and approaching Friday. I love this meme from 1970s, because it applies to me fully too))

The top: when you tell about the USSR. The bottom: how you actually looked in the USSR. Those bell bottoms, Good God! LOL.

Pepe Escobar Wrote On Blinken.

Pepe Escobar wrote a short but substantive piece on Blinken's visit to Ukraine for Saker's blog. Pepe writes:

Leaked info on the closed-door meeting between Blinken and Comedian-in-Charge Zelensky is no less than incandescent. Blinken seemed to have read a no holds barred riot act. Here are the guidelines. All Ukrainian state corporations must be controlled by the proverbial “foreign interests”. So board majorities must be either foreign or 5^th columnists. The entire anti-corruption vertical drive must also be foreign-controlled. Same for the judicial system. Andriy Kobolyev – an American asset – must be reinstated as head of Naftogaz. Zelensky moved mountains to get rid of Kobolyev. Blinken demanded a massive push against every Ukrainian oligarch, so that huge chunks of Ukrainian economy are transferred to – who else – foreigners. Same for land privatization. Somewhat hilariously, Blinken warned that Russian troops might invade Ukraine. In this case, Zelensky can count only on huge political assistance, not military. So Zelensky in fact was ordered to stop asking to join NATO and cease provoking Russia, as President Putin, who already drew red lines, could make a “drastic decision”. Blinken demanded that American assets should be untouchable by Ukrainian law, and named honored figures of civil society. Maidan cookie distributor Victoria “F**k the EU” Nuland, also in the room, drew up a list of The Untouchables, and Blinken met with them separately.

And so the final act of turning Ukraine into the used condom unfolds. Russia observes this whole travesty with amusement. While late Zbig Brzezinski is rotating in his coffin, Russians are counting their blessings that they have been spared from being "brothers" to such a clusterfuck place and "nation" as Ukraine. The red line by Russia, however, as Pepe notes, remain pretty clear--no military bases or any stupid ideas about NATO. The rest, as I am on record, US and EU wanted this--let them pay. Blinken, a NYC Jewish boy and Nuland, a NYC Jewish girl, in a classic New York gangster fashion drew for Ukraine the future as a slave for a gang and Ukraine will be squeezed for everything it got. The clown who thinks that he was a president of Ukieland has been shown exactly his place as a clown and I am sure he finally recognized what a pile of shit did he step in when ran and won elections in Ukraine. The surrealism of this whole situation is such that my descriptive powers fail me completely because the whole Ukraine situation is one Kafkaesque theater of absurd.  

Honestly, this was expected. Russia is getting ready to remove 152,000 illegal Ukrainians back to Ukraine (in Russian) and, in general, doesn't exhibit any compunction regarding Ukrainians who didn't want to be "brothers" with Russians but found it to be absolutely reasonable to go to Russia to earn living which is even in its lower pay bracket is much better than in Ukraine. So, there you go--the process of incorporating of LDNR into Russia will continue and at this stage I don't think any talk about Ukraine as a country makes any sense--it is a classic Ukrainian way, they turned, with the help of the US and EU into Gulyai Pole.

Have fun, America. Pop-corn?