In Moscow: Mark Sleboda, IR & Security Analyst & US Navy vet-Nuclear Engineering;
In the US: Scott Ritter, former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer & UN weapons inspector;
In Canberra: Tony Kevin, Ret. Australian ambassador to Poland & diplomat in Moscow. (The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Consortium News or CN Live!)
The war in Ukraine began in 2014 as a civil conflict when Russian-speakers in the east resisted a coup that overthrew a democratically-elected president. The post-coup state then launched a war against the resisters for eight years, a war which Russia entered nine months ago on Feb. 24.
It was an expansion of the fighting that could have easily been prevented. A peace accord was never implemented by the Western-backed Kiev regime. Instead NATO armed and trained Ukrainian forces that included extremist groups which early this year began amassing at the conflict line with the east, poised for an offensive, prompting Russia to intervene. Peace treaties Russia presented to the U.S. and NATO last December, which would have seen NATO deployments of troops and missiles in Eastern Europe rolled back, were ignored, even as Russia spoke of a technical-military response.
The U.S. got the invasion it wanted and needed. Without it, it could not have launched its economic, information and proxy war designed to “weaken” Russia and return it to the servile state of the 1990s. Make no mistake. This is a U.S. war against Russia. Ukraine is simply the stage on which it is being acted.
However, the war is not going according to U.S. plans. The economic war, intended to bring down the Russian government, has backfired, with dire economic consequences and growing popular discontent in the West instead.
The information war is being lost outside of territories controlled by the West – which comprises the vast majority of humanity. And the war on the ground is not being won.
But the war hasn’t gone according to Russian plans either. Moscow sought negotiations with Ukraine almost immediately upon entering the conflict. In March they had a deal in which Ukraine would remain neutral and Crimea would be recognized as Russian and Donbass as independent. But Western leaders, wanting to bleed Russia, stopped it.
A restrained invasion, insofar as invasions can be restrained, is now on the verge of a major Russian offensive. It is being preceded by widespread Russian strikes against power infrastructure, raising troubling questions about the effect on civilians.
Despite continuing propaganda that Ukraine is winning the war, Western leaders know what they are facing: freezing Ukrainians and Europeans and the looming Russian attack. This has led to talks about talks to end the war, but is it now too late?
Is Russia committed to reabsorbing all of Catherine the Great’s imperial conquests in Ukraine or will keeping Ukraine out of NATO, recognition of Crimea and Donbass as part of Russia and withdrawal of NATO’s forward deployments of men and missiles in Eastern Europe still be enough for Russia?
Is the U.S. and NATO still committed to a long war in the vain hope that it will bring down the Russian government? — Joe Lauria, editor-in-chief, Consortium News.
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Please don't forget about China when you talk about the reconstruction of Ukraine! Ukraine could be an important part of the Belt and Road initiative. All of Europe could flourish with the New Ukraine as a European B&R hub. And China already has many economic ties with Ukraine. Also, don't forget about the influential economist Sergei Glazyev, who was born in Zaporizhia. He is one of Putin's most important economic advisors, and he is very familiar with MMT (Modern Monetary Theory) and with how the US financed massive reconstruction during the New Deal. Right now he's trying to help create a new Eurasian international currency that can partially replace the use of the US dollar. Consortium News and Scott Ritter should both try to get an interview with Glazyev.
Maybe USA government prepare in Ukraine white supremacy USA militants. To make chaos in the United States when they have returned home. I already can't stand the story about White supremacy. But they are means in the hands of the powerful people. Just like Talibans, ISIS, Al-Qaeda etc, etc.
My dear friend who don't know how to repair Ukraine after the war. You can go in Mariupol and see what happens when Russia attacks another country. The whole blocks of the city are fully repaired. In the midst of the war. Workers coming from all over the Russian territory in Mariupol to rebuild the city.
Scott, please do look at the East — China is benefiting from the transfer of US Industry and will be getting those EURO factories. Euripean and USA politicians are payed off by China to take these actions. They are traitors.
Interesting discussion… I would point out to Mark that the western economy is about to collapse and Russia along with the BRICS system is doing quite well…
A new Holodomor is coming. Sudly its like History Automation. Bloodlands (Ukraine & Poland). Feel so sorry for them.
Carthago delenda est.
In the Peloponesian war Sparta won. Athens went eternal. Then came the Macedonian era. Parallelism between Russia , Usa and China ?
Poles and Romanians would be literally be committing suicide. And 101st is there only in minor numbers around 5k(that is nothing) and lightly armored with no tanks, IFV and artillery. The moment hey step on the UA soil they would be annihilated as Ritter and Andrei have pointed many times. This is not Syria, this is totally different situation, and an existential treat to Russia which would not and will not go unanswered. I honestly dont know what a hell is Europe doing and think it will achieve by all this. Am ashamed to call myself European. Borell is(I dont want to swear) of the highest caliber. Great point Mark on artillery rounds production/usage by Russia compared to USA, people have a hard time wrapping their shallow minds around that. Scott I love you and respect you brother but US and its Army has not waged an honest and moral war since WW 2. Great show everyone.
A bunch of VVP loving anti-Ukranian vatniks speaking nonsense and supporting terrorist russia. You should all be ashamed of yourselves!
Thanks for this excellent discussion, especially the measured comments by Tony Kevin. I do hope this war ends soon with a change in regime in Kiev and a change in factional dominance in Washington
Hey guys!
Beautiful lead in music.
Scott Ritter is the most literate man in America! Give him power and he will build a real America, where there will be no word for war!
Fantastic discussion, good food for thought, thanks a lot
What's the name of the song at the start of the video? It's beautiful.
To a certain extent, Mark Sleboda seems disconnected from the facts be they military or economic. I will give a simple obvious example of the economic; Europe is dying. Their economies are imploding with exploding energy and food costs. With companies cutting workers left and right. Their cost base is been rendered permanently uncompetitive. As for the military, Mark has too much faith in the quality of US military hardware. If you search on 'Philip Garber US marine Russian way of war' you will discover that even back in 2018 Philip Garber was be grudgingly admitting before Putin announced hypersonic missiles and anti air defences that Russia had many areas of superior systems compared to the US or NATO. Unless Mark is coming out and saying that the Russians are lying on the scale of losses, they are grinding the Ukrainians down. 100k in deaths is nothing to be sneezed out.
rebuilding Ukraine… belts and roads… with all the potential commodity resources in the Donbas , along with the new joint world reserve currency I expect Russia and China will manage
another great talk, but the swipes taken against Stalin seem to not consider that it WAS under him reconstruction took place. you can't lay everything bad (& untrue like western rumors that have been fostered & built upon for decades) on him then discredit him when all these amazing things happened.
Stalin was a great man & great leader. thanks to the US & UK he faced immense outside interference his entire tenure. & yet, the USSR persevered. that's a pretty incredible feat in itself.
the author, William Blum, gets into the level of CIA & MI6 antics, via declassified documents, in his book 'Killing Hope'. the # of operations in play to destabilize the USSR are off the hook. the US spread mad lies/rumors & cash to f w/ them. they ran endless psyops against civilians in east germany to foster mistrust & hatred of the Soviet gov't.
& the same western actors did this with Mao in China. & they're still at it, 100 years later. you can't trust our historians anymore than you can trust each successive administration in the UK & US as their foreign policies with Russia & China have remained the same…to conquer & carve up their resources. so of course they need to paint them guilty of both non existent crimes & of oppression internally to this day, like with the completely fake uygher genocide b.s.
the only uyghers being 'oppressed' are the ones the CIA has trained, armed & funded to be terrorists in Xinjiang, that got caught doing acts of terrorism there.
It is a credit to the humanity and intelligence of the Russian people and Russian military that they are resisting Ukrainian provocations to respond to Ukrainian atrocities in kind.
Russia will do whatever should be done for her security. If needed she will go to the west of Ukraine and that will be decided only by Shoigu.
I agree with Tony and Scott. The USSR was able to rebuild and revive after the horrid devastation of WWII. I am sure Russia will be able to deal with it in the most awesome way.
55:00 Liość pocisków artylerii produkowana przez USA to 30 000 rocznie. A FR w jeden dzień wystrzela 30-40 tys
i notice I am getting worried about the vehemence of the anti-Ukrainian feelings of Scott Ritter …. seems like he's spewing venom to me … what is the cause of this? Not buying into Russia being THE Villain is one thing, but to make a full 180 degrees another …..
What a show. All the guests are great and have huge respect for on this Ukraine war
How long does it take Scott Ritter to learn the fact based reality that lemmings don't run off cliffs? How long will it take him to learn the fact based reality that the myth of lemmings jumping off cliffs was created by film makers hired by Walt Disney?
Late to this, but does anyone realize how much Russia has already done to change the world order? They've been able to withstand the sanctions, NATO intervention, and the combined might of the Western propaganda machine. I think we are getting to the end of the US Empire or Unilateral control of the world. But, the US has a tremendous amount of momentum and could win this one.
peskov is a Traitor, and Putin is Weak and not a War leader, Russiam must topple putin not to please the west but to desytoy the west.
Watching from Fayetteville Arkansas too!
A tour de force discussion! Thx CN, Tony, Mark and Scott!
Brilliant analysis by Scott Ritter. Well-done, sir. The EU is broke, having destroyed the liquidity of their bond markets by negative interest rates since 2014. Currently, the Greens and Socialists are dismantling Germany, the economic engine of Europe, through Climate Change zealotry. Globalization is over. We are witnessing the worst group of global leaders ever. The euro experiment is done. Western money and weaponry to the massive corruption in Kyiv is not unlimited. Ukraine will tragically be destroyed or split in half over a NATO v Russia proxy war, complete western hegemony hubris. I also agree that 2023 will witness alarmingly-high civil unrest in the EU, thanks to the brain-dead governments who consistently kiss the southern border of Klaus Schwab. A phenomenal book that explains how Putin got where he is, was written by Martin Armstrong called, “The Plot to Seize Russia”. The west tried to thoroughly strip mine Russia of its natural resources through Boris Bereznovsky and a group of seven oligarchs, while the Kremlin communist hardliners filed impeachment documents against Gorbachev, prompting Yeltsin to stop the attempted coup after NATO offered Gorbachev membership. All documents were obtained by a FOIA from the Clinton library. Putin is doing exactly what Yeltsin asked him to do in December of 1999: “…take care of Russia…”. What might happen with eastern reconstruction of Ukraine if China, India, or others purchase the energy produced by Donbas oil, coal, and natural gas? It would certainly be easier on the Kremlin coffers.
1:43:16 me
Спасибо Скотт! Ты – лучший!
Mark Sleboda has a grim look on his face. And I think his analysis is probably more in line with how things will play out.
Excellent as always. Please consider an invite to Matt Bracken and George McMillan.
What the West needs most is free and independent media like the Consortium News and not corporate media in the hands of the big oligarchs! Because there is no Democracy without free and independent media to scrutinize all the powers that be! With CN as MSM this war had never happened! It was necessary to question the presence of NATO for 8 years in a country that never belonged to NATO like Ukraine and the aggression against Donbass!
I am a long time fan of Scott Ritter.
His fiery rants are my favorite 👍
I tend to really enjoy listening to Mark but I'm sorry to say he's deeply wrong and most likely full of hate like the banderites. Probably with your reasons with family in Crimea. But with Mark in the Kremlin the US achieved its goals of isolating Russia in no time! Most likely frustrated with SMO so far and in my opinion for no reason. Russia foresaw all these phases of the conflict! And the proof is that an agreement could have been reached as early as March and Ukraine per se no longer poses any threat to Donbass. The conflict is now with NATO!
Mark must not have stopped to think yet because Russia has more than 80% of the world with her and the West is isolated today. Russia entered Ukraine after triggering art. 51 to prevent an attack on Donbass. Once it crosses the Dnieper it becomes a war of aggression which most likely leaves Russia alone. And Russia, no matter how big it is and no matter how many resources it has, can have up to 2/3 of the world's natural resources today, but it's not going anywhere alone. The global south has been instrumental in overcoming economic sanctions and quite frankly I am not seeing countries like China or India supporting wars to change borders in the 21st century! Nor do I believe that the Kremlin is interested in crossing the Dnieper. Kherson City was never more than a diversionary ploy to trap and destroy Ukrainian forces. Nobody ever saw any intention of Russia proceeding to Odessa. Political objectives cannot be achieved with weapons alone! They are also reached at the negotiating table!
And as for the hatred of Europeans, I don't even comment! Tony is absolutely right. Russia must recover its European vocation after the change of some governments in Europe. And especially in Brussels. I am European and I also find the EU and US Russophobic campaign infamous. Just as I wish the end of NATO! But I don't wish Mark anything bad! Which is not to say he isn't wrong on a number of counts to my surprise. How is the power attributed today to the US with the ongoing de-dollarization of the global economy and above all with the fact that a multipolar NWO is impossible?! When in reality it is already a reality today! Only in the last few months has the US been literally expelled from the Middle East and we even heard a South African Minister say to Bliken's face that she did not accept threats from the US!
Would you like Mark to say how this was possible in the unipolar world? And as for the China Sea war, surely the country that least wants it is the US. Even if they are completely out of control! And Scott must not have heard Germany's Civil Protection announce power cuts from January either. Reserves were another bluff! Germany consumes around 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas and will receive 137 thousand cubic meters from the UAE in December. And 2 million from Qatar from 2026. Habeck's ridiculous purchases. As for America First, according to the January RAND Corporation report – "Saving America, Weakening Germany" – America can no longer survive without material and financial resources from abroad. Wars are always economic.
I'm a pensioneer in Russia. 🧔🧔🧔🧔🧔🧔🧔🧔🧔🧔That is Bashkortostan in Ural. My pension 400 dollars. My wife's 400 dollars. Gaz in my home 40 dollars in january and 2 dollars in june. 89 % of russians say: We are with PUTIN in this WAR again NATO in Ukraine….
As a Canadian, I can tell you that western exceptionalism is absolutely rampant in this country. It's also wrapped in plausible deniability, in that… if you ask people they'll deny it, but if you ask them their opinion on any global topic their answer will be exactly aligned with western exceptionalism. That's Canadian mentality. F*cking brainwashed morons.
Mr Putin is a very nice man. He cares for not just the Russian people but all the peoples. How can this man be held responsible for all these people surely others should stand up to help him to ensure that a good functioning world happens. I’m sure he would appreciate adequate people like him to liberate this planet from the aggression that is prevalent
It shouldn’t just be a male leader in Europe there are two; Clare Daley and Mick Wallace
Well done Tony! In addition to China, the EU and the US will contribute to the reconstruction of eastern Ukraine. Good or bad. If they don't pay tomorrow in oil, gas and all commodities fees. The world will not end after the conflict! And when Scott says that Ukraine's economy never worked after the USSR. It didn't work for Ukrainians! How did the oligarchs make the big fortunes like Kolomoisky in Dnipro? Or the richest oligarch in Ukraine, owner of Azovstal? One of the largest steelworks in Europe. Eastern Ukraine is one of the richest regions in Europe.
In natural resources and industries. Ukraine is the poorest country in Europe only because it is the most corrupt! And with one of the largest coal basins in the world in Donbass they buy coal from the US. Because when the machines from the 80's broke down they started to use the machines from before WWII. In mines across the country! And with the Nicoalev shipyards, which have already built aircraft carriers, they ordered a frigate from Turkey. No Navy, just to join NATO. And they closed down the aeronautical, space industry. etc. Oligarchs are good at stealing! In partnership with the US as Hunter Biden at Burisma. Ukraine is a very rich country and nobody knows that better than Russia!