Tag: invasion

The EU is going to Ukraine empty-handed ― thanks to Hungary

Posted on by Lone Candle

“After a brutally cold winter in Ukraine, months of supposed peace talks that have produced little more than political theater, and with Russia showing no sign of stopping its barrage of attacks, the EU had been confident it could finally bring Kyiv some concrete help.
But the carefully choreographed support was spoiled when Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó announced his country would block Europe’s 20th round of Russian sanctions because of an oil dispute Budapest has with Ukraine, ratcheting up the two countries’ long-simmering feud.

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Hungary’s move marked a “new low” for Orbán, Sweden’s Europe Minister Jessica Rosencrantz told POLITICO. “We’ve seen in previous decisions that Hungary is not acting in a way of sincere cooperation” with other EU states. “That should send an alarm to many of us. We’re seeing what Orbán is doing: he’s using Ukraine as a punching bag.”

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The crux of Hungary’s row is the Druzhba pipeline, which stretches 4,000 kilometers from eastern Russia to Central Europe, providing vast quantities of oil for Hungary and Slovakia. Both have exemptions from EU sanctions on imports of Russian refined oil.

The pipeline has been offline since Jan. 27, when Ukrainian authorities said a Russian strike damaged it. But Budapest and Bratislava aren’t buying that, accusing Ukraine of intentionally keeping the pipeline inoperative.

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Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said he was “really upset and frustrated,” adding Hungary’s move not only calls the EU’s support for Ukraine into question but its unity and ability to act decisively when major decisions are constrained by unanimity.

“I hope that Europe can deliver,” he said. And “that tomorrow it won’t be the situation when we will be saying, ‘We are sorry, 20th package is not there. We are sorry, €90 billion maybe next month, maybe somewhere in the future.’””

https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-ukraine-visit-hungary-blocks-russia-sanctions-funding-feud-viktor-orban/

Russian Progress Erased in One Week

Posted on by Lone Candle

The Ukraine war doesn’t have a normal frontline. It has two lines separated by a 13 mile gray zone where a small number of soldiers try to infiltrate and drones search and destroy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1ZV79oIwSo

Vietnam ‘is secretly preparing for a second invasion by US’

Posted on by Lone Candle

“The classified assessment, compiled by Vietnam’s Ministry of Defence in August 2024 and titled ‘The 2nd US Invasion plan,’ was made public on Tuesday by Project88.

It reveals that Hanoi’s defence establishment was privately preparing for a possible ‘war of aggression’ even as the two countries upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2023.

The partnership, announced during former US President Joe Biden’s visit to Hanoi in September that year, marked the highest level of diplomatic ties since relations were normalised in 1995.

But the leaked document suggests Vietnamese military planners were treating the United States as a hostile ‘belligerent’ power and remained deeply suspicious of Washington’s intentions.

Far from considering the US to be a strategic partner on par with China, Hanoi considers it a rogue state that is preoccupied with regime change and which might invade Vietnam if the country refuses to join its anti-China coalition.

According to Project88, the assessment warns that the US could seek to undermine Communist Party rule through support for a so-called ‘colour revolution’ – similar to pro-democracy uprisings in post-Soviet states – and could exploit Vietnam’s long coastline and maritime geography in future conflict.

Project88 quoted the document as stating: ‘While there is currently little risk of a war against Vietnam, due to the US’s belligerent nature, we need to be vigilant to prevent the US and its allies from ‘creating a pretext’ to launch a war of aggression against our country.

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‘Hanoi sees Washington as an existential threat and has no intention of joining its anti-China alliance,’ Swanton wrote.

‘In this respect the plan upends over a decade of US policy, which has sought to court Vietnam into such an alliance, while turning a blind eye to human rights abuses in service of this goal.'”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/vietnam-is-secretly-preparing-for-a-second-invasion-by-us/ar-AA1VzxWe?ocid=msedgntp&pc=NMTS&cvid=69821ebb1c2345ed855b809b25059d82&ei=6