DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus Ukraine: I really thought the recent thread would be the last

Here it is from that libtard commie, Dan Quayle... Seriously, though, I think Quayle absolutely nailed it. He's very thoughtful and I agree with everything he said, except for time being on Putin's side. I think they will burn out with more time, should the West hold the line, which is always in question.

Keep in mind Quayle voted for the current administration three times, so childish claims of "TDS" and whatnot are inapplicable here...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/mar...f5eeb8fc742448349336a55a39210&ei=124


Russia-Ukraine war not near end, 'do not understand Trump's affinity for Putin': Former Vice President Dan Quayle

As the 44th Vice President of the United States, Dan Quayle made dozens of diplomatic trips, many aimed at helping to shape the post-Cold War Soviet Union. As a voter, Quayle has cast his ballot for Donald Trump in three consecutive presidential elections. But when you put those two things together, the current view from the former V.P. comes to a pessimistic conclusion about the current posture in U.S.-Russia relations and the war in Ukraine.

"We are not approaching the end," Quayle, who is now chairman of Cerberus Global Investments, said at the CNBC CEO Council Summit in Arizona on Tuesday. "Putin has no desire to see this come to a conclusion until he really dismantles Ukraine," he said.

While Quayle is clear on Putin's thinking, it is Trump's strategy that mystifies him. "I do not understand Trump's affinity for Putin and why he has not demanded anything here," he said. "All he wants to do as president is deals ... So, if you're a dealmaker, what do you need? Leverage. What leverage is he trying to put on Putin? Zero. Absolutely zero," Quayle said.

Over the weekend, Trump had posted on Truth Social ahead of talks with Russian and Ukrainian leaders, "HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A PRODUCTIVE DAY, A CEASEFIRE WILL TAKE PLACE, AND THIS VERY VIOLENT WAR, A WAR THAT SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED, WILL END," in his customary all-capitalized comments.

On Monday, after an over two-hour call between Trump and Putin, the president said he wanted the "bloodbath" to end, but there was little sign of a breakthrough, even as Trump said Russia and Ukraine would hold direct talks on a ceasefire "immediately," on his social media platform. He also spoke to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday.

"Putin says he won't agree to a ceasefire, he just wants to talk, Trump says OK," Quayle told CNBC's Sara Eisen in an interview at the CEO Council Summit. He said the lack of pressure also undermines a U.S. policy alliance with the European Union, that if Russia did not agree to a ceasefire there would be secondary sanctions. "Putin said let's talk, and Trump says yes, and European leaders just had the rug pulled out from under them," Quayle said. "I don't think it will end any time soon," he added.

Quayle's view of the Russian playbook is that all along it's been to "dismantle Ukraine, and time is on his side."

And even though Putin has not been as successful as he would have liked on the battlefield, "he's been very successful with Trump," Quayle said, adding that Putin's KGB background makes him and his circle well placed to know Trump's "weakness and vulnerability and how to deal with him."

While Quayle does not believe Trump can unilaterally "wash his hands" of the conflict when he finally realizes Putin has no interest in a ceasefire — "Congress has something to say about that and there is still bipartisan support for Ukraine," he said — Quayle says the president has blown an opportunity to apply pressure in three ways that would work to change Putin's approach.

To end the war, the U.S. needs "lots of money in Swiss banks that are Russian given to Ukraine," Quayle said.

Second, the U.S. needs to give Ukraine even more weapons.

Third, there needs to be secondary sanctions on Russia.

"Suddenly, Putin would come to the table if you do those three things," Quayle said. "He comes to the table tomorrow."

But Quayle does not think this will happen. "It's not what he believes, he doesn't want to do anything substantial to bring pressure or leverage on Putin," he said.

The strategy on Russia leaves Quayle perplexed. "I don't have an answer," he said.

While he noted that Trump is fond of saying it's "Biden's war," he believes there will be political repercussions for the President's already weakened popularity if Trump lets Ukraine fall. "You inherited this war, but it is on your watch, and if he completely walks away from Ukraine, which I don't think he will, but he might, there will be a significant political price."

"American people do not like war, but they do not like losing wars, and if he is viewed as the loser on this, there will be a price to pay, so he needs to figure it out," Quayle said.

"He wants peace. He doesn't like war, but then he is so one-sided, and that is a problem," he added.

While Trump warned Zelenskyy that he was risking World War III in their infamous Oval Office meeting, Quayle says the bigger risk is the current Trump strategy: "You really want to talk about who is risking [WWIII]? Just let Russia gobble up Ukraine, and then Poland, and then the Balkans, and then you are going to be talking about World War III."

I think trump already knows he is powerless to do anything about the war in Ukraine but would never admit it. As such he is beginning to shift his stance and will be leaving it up to Europe IMO.....


“This was a European situation, and should have remained a European situation,” Trump said on Monday.

Now Putin is massing troops and equipment along the border of Finland. Maybe he decided this would be a good time to start WW3 since America is now inept and cowardly.

Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, and Marco Rubio instill about as much military fear as the Salvation Army.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/25/politics/trump-putin-ukraine-airstrikes

Trump says Putin ‘has gone absolutely crazy’ after major Russian attacks on Ukraine

CNN
—
President Donald Trump said Sunday that Vladimir Putin “has gone absolutely CRAZY,” after the Russian leader launched the largest aerial attack of Moscow’s three-year full-scale war on Ukraine.

“I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY! He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I’m not just talking about soldiers. Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

Hours earlier, Trump had told reporters: “I’m not happy with what Putin is doing. He’s killing a lot of people, and I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin.”

Moscow launched overnight attacks on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Ukraine, killing at least 29 people over three days and injuring dozens more, according to officials. The bombardment from Saturday into Sunday saw more drones and missiles launched at Ukraine than in any other single assault in three years.

Trump’s intervention, coming at a crucial moment in Moscow’s war, will be viewed with relief in the West as a signal that the White House has grown frustrated with Putin’s refusal to accept a proposed 30-day ceasefire in the conflict.

The Kremlin on Monday sought to downplay the significance of the remarks, categorizing them as an “emotional reaction.”

He also said Moscow is “truly grateful to the Americans and personally to President Trump” for his efforts to bring Moscow and Kyiv to the negotiating table.

But the clash could have consequences for Russia. Trump also told reporters Sunday evening that he’s “absolutely” considering additional sanctions against Russia, which Kyiv has pushed for. Trump previously said he would not join in any new sanctions because he thought “there’s a chance” of progress, but remarked that could change.

But Trump also turned his criticism toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said Sunday morning that “America’s silence” encourages Putin to continue his onslaught.

“Likewise, President Zelenskyy is doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does,” Trump wrote. “Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop.”

At least 25 people were killed in two rounds of overnight attacks in Ukraine over the weekend, including children, officials said, and dozens more people were injured. At least four people were killed overnight into Monday, officials added.

Russia has been intensifying its aerial bombardment of Ukraine as international pressure mounts on Putin to agree to the ceasefire plan, which has the backing of the United States and Kyiv.

“The world may go on vacation, but the war continues, despite weekends and weekdays. This cannot be ignored. America’s silence, and the silence of others in the world, only encourages Putin,” Zelensky said Sunday morning.

Russia’s attacks set up another critical week in discussions over an end to the conflict. Earlier this month, teams from Kyiv and Moscow met face-to-face for the first time since the war’s early weeks, but the flicker of hope that surrounded those talks was seemingly extinguished when Moscow pressed ahead with its assaults on Ukrainian cities and again rejected calls to agree to a 30-day halt in fighting.

Some progress was made; both countries agreed to a massive prisoner swap, which began on Friday and will see 1,000 inmates released by each side.

But attention quickly returned to the fighting, which has intensified in recent weeks. Moscow last month claimed to have finally retaken the Kursk region, which Kyiv captured large sections of last summer, taking a significant piece of leverage back from Ukraine.

“We must be prepared for this war to last longer than we can all wish or imagine,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told public broadcaster ARD on Monday. “The question is whether the USA will continue to see it as its political and military duty to help Ukraine, and that is what we are trying to achieve.”

“Trump (is) obviously increasingly disillusioned with Putin from the massive attacks on Kyiv and other cities in Ukraine over the weekend. In this respect, I hope that America stays on board,” Merz said.

Trump said Sunday he was “very surprised” about the latest Russian aerial assault, though just a week ago, Russia launched its largest drone attack against Ukraine – a day before Putin and Trump spoke on the phone. “We’re in the middle of talking, and he’s shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities,” Trump told reporters in New Jersey on his way back to Washington.

Trump, who has often touted his good relationship with Putin, spoke with the Russian leader on Monday in an attempt to negotiate a 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

After the call with Putin, and subsequent calls with Zelensky and other European allies, Trump announced that “Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War.”

Trump added that conditions “will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of.”

So according to trump putin had good reasons to kill before?

Given his actions so far, Trump is selling snake oil again, hoping to shift negative opinions to Putin if we will buy the fiction and play along. The Putin truth is in the invasion, the war, the attacks, and broken agreements. We have tried to hurt Ukraine and extort a deal after cutting off aid and support. Trump should fear Putin who is his mirror image. Disgust for America lowering bars for Trump against allies.

We should just call him President Trumputin. Seems putin tells him what to say and do anyway.

He's basically given up now. How does everyone feel who touted him as a strong leader that was "feared"?

He's essentially complaining about a Russian head of state who is acting the same as........he has always acted.

Everyone from the CIA to the National Security Counsel knew who Putin was. U.S. intelligence knew who he was. Lest anyone forget, trump sided with Putin over U.S. intelligence. Because you know, trump knew better................

Trump sides with Putin over U.S. intelligence during remarkable press conference in Helsinki

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-...in-remarkable-helsinki-press-conference/

I fully grasp the concept of being fashionably late to a party but I mean, come on man!

Exactly. Where has Trump been the last 3 years? Putin is doing the exact same thing he's been doing since Russia first invaded.

Helsinki was jaw-dropping to me, literally. I'll never forget watching that unfold live.

Trump was cuckdom personified in Helsinki. It was embarrassing. I’ve never understood how anyone can look at Trump and see a tough guy. He doesn’t have a single tough atom and damn few guy atoms. He’s a brilliant bully though. He loves to bully simps, betas, and the defenseless.

He has a new party to support him blindly. I t might be convenient to call it the "apartheid party." Their attacks on common citizens, bullied individuals, attacked institutions and crippling cuts attacking those with real needs should make us consider bringing back the practice of labels for individuals as "Public Enemy" with a number attached. Consider who might be designated as a product of their actions against Americans. This dealing out of cuts and dismantling has the single thread and seeming purpose of inflicting injury to insult. often for political fiction-driven revenge. This is amateur hour and it should be rewarded. A commonly embraced lie to consider: One of the largest logical fallacies is widely held and used too often. If you place blame on your opponent whose response is "Yeah, well what about. . . ." Ignore the original issue, and if you offer any negative about your opponent, your issue is overlooked, ignored, and treated a non-issue and acceptable. The starting point still has a "right or wrong" attached. Making the other guy wrong doesn't make you right. This can be seen on many levels with many variations daily. Sickens me.

'Russian bombers are burning en masse' — Ukraine's SBU drones hit 'more than 40' aircraft in mass attack, source says

June 1, 2025 1:52 PM
(Updated:
June 1, 2025 6:09 PM
)
4 min read

A screenshot from a video of the alleged attack released by the SBU on June 1, 2025 (Ukraine's Security Service)

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This audio is created with AI assistance

Editor's note: This is a breaking story and is being updated.

An operation by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) using first-person-view (FPV) drones smuggled deep inside Russian and hidden inside trucks has hit 41 Russian heavy bombers at four airfields across the country, a source in the agency told the Kyiv Independent on June 1.

The operation — codenamed "Spider web" and a year-and-a-half in the planning — appears to have dealt a major blow to the aircraft Moscow uses to launch long-range missile attacks on Ukraine's cities.

"The SBU first transported FPV drones to Russia, and later, on the territory of the Russian Federation, the drones were hidden under the roofs of mobile wooden cabins, already placed on trucks," the source said.


"At the right moment, the roofs of the cabins were opened remotely, and the drones flew to hit Russian bombers."


A picture purporting to show the drones used in the attack placed in the roofs of "mobile wooden cabins" which were then being transported by truck when they were launched (Ukraine's Security Service)
The source said one of the airfields hit was the Belaya air base in Russia's Irkutsk Oblast, more than 4,000 kilometers from Ukraine.

Olenya air base in Russia's Murmansk Oblast, the Diaghilev airbase in Ryazan Oblast, Ivanovo airbase in Ivanovo Oblast were also targeted.

"Currently, more than 40 aircraft are known to have been hit, including the A-50, Tu-95 and Tu-22 M3," the source added.

The full extent of the damage caused is not known, but video provided by the source shows what appears to be a row of heavy bomber aircraft on fire at one of the airbases.



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Unconfirmed videos posted on social media show FPV drones being launched from trucks parked near the airfields.

Irkutsk Oblast Governor Igor Kobzev later confirmed "a drone attack on a military unit in the village of Sredny" and said the "source" of the drones was a "truck."

Murmansk Governor Andrey Chibis later confirmed that "enemy drones have attacked the territory of the Murmansk region" but gave no further details.


Ukraine has long-struggled to target the Russian bombers used to launch mass missile targets against Ukrainian cities, as Moscow has kept them out of range of weapons Kyiv has developed itself as well as those supplied by its Western allies.

The use of FPV drones in such a way would mark just the latest stage in the ever-evolving and still relatively fledgling world on drone warfare.

The attack was also likely highly cost effective — FPV drones can be bought for a just a few hundred dollars each but the cost of 41 heavy bombers runs into the billions.

The source said that those behind the operation have "been in Ukraine for a long time."

"So, if the Putin regime demonstratively detains someone, it will be another staged performance for the domestic audience," they said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky and SBU Chief Vasyl Malyuk personally oversaw the operation, they added.

In March, Ukraine announced it had developed a new drone with a range of 3,000 kilometers but gave no details about its type, its name, the size of its warhead, or when it would go into mass production.


A map of potential targets for Ukraine's new 3,000km drone. (Nizar al-Rifai/The Kyiv Independent)
The Russian aircraft allegedly hit
The A-50 provides several critical functions for the ongoing war in Ukraine, such as detecting air defense systems, guided missiles, and coordinating targets for Russian fighter jets.

Russia possesses fewer than ten of these planes. A-50 aircraft have an estimated price tag of around $350 million.

The Tupolev Tu-95, the Tupolev Tu-22, as well as the Tupolev Tu-160, are all Russian heavy bombers regularly used to launch missiles at Ukrainian cities.

The Tu-95 is the oldest of the three aircraft, a Soviet-era plane that made its first flight in 1952. It was originally used to carry nuclear bombs but has since evolved to launch cruise missiles.

Each aircraft can carry 16 cruise missiles – either the Kh-55/Kh-555 or the newer Kh-101 and Kh-102 air-launched cruise missiles.


A picture of SBU Chief Vasyl Malyuk planning operation "Web," date and location not disclosed (Ukraine's Security Service)
It features turboprop engines rather than jet engines, as during the Cold War, their increased efficiency allowed it to fly all the way to the United States without refueling.

The Tu-22 carries the Kh-22 missiles, which pose a particular problem for Ukraine. It is supersonic and travels at around 4,000 kilometers per hour.

Currently, it can only be shot down with the U.S.-made Patriot air defense system and potentially the SAMP-T, a joint Italian-French system.

The Tu-160 is Russia's more modern strategic bomber, entering service in 1987. To this day, it remains the largest operational bomber in the world.

It can carry a total of 12 Kh-55 missiles and up to 24 Kh-15s.

https://kyivindependent.com/enemy-b...rones-hit-more-than-40-russian-aircraft/

Ukraine's massive drone attack deep inside Russia lays bare Putin's vulnerability
Though the knock-on effects are unclear, some military commentators have called the strike Russia's "Pearl Harbor." Hopes for direct peace talks, which resume Monday, remain low.
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Ukraine claims massive drone strike on Russian bombers

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June 2, 2025, 6:38 AM EDT / Updated June 2, 2025, 10:00 AM EDT
By Alexander Smith

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It was a stunning, audacious attack whose widespread effects are only just becoming clear.

Ukraine managed to smuggle 117 aerial drones on the backs of trucks that deposited them at the perimeter of four Russian air bases — one of them deep inside Siberia some 2,500 miles from Ukraine's borders, according to Ukrainian officials.

While there are differing accounts on the extent of the ensuing damage of Sunday’s “Spiderweb” operation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 40 Russian aircraft — 34% of Russia's strategic cruise missile carriers — were hit. Ukraine's security service, the SBU, put the estimated cost to the Kremlin at $7 billion.

Video released by a Ukrainian Security Service source purportedly shows a drone striking a Russian plane.Source in the Ukrainian Security Service / via AP
Some military commentators and pro-Russian bloggers have called it the country's "Pearl Harbor" — a reference to Japanese attack in 1941 that saw the United States enter World War II.

It came Sunday, a day before the latest round of direct peace talks between Ukraine and Russia on Monday.

There was little optimism for diplomatic progress even before the strike, with Ukraine sending its defense minister, Rustem Umerov, but Russia only dispatching the far more junior Putin aide, Vladimir Medinsky, to the Çırağan Palace in Istanbul.


Those talks have now concluded for the day, Zelenskyy said at a news conference in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius just after midday local time (9 a.m. ET). The president said that the two sides exchanged documents and were preparing a fresh round of prisoner exchanges, extending the only tangible outcome from the two sides' first meeting last month.

“I am waiting to hear minister Umerov’s full report,” Zelenskyy said.

A far more likely outcome of Sunday's strike is Russia continuing to bomb Ukrainian civilians — this time under the pretext of retaliation, “even though in reality these strikes are planned long in advance,” said Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow with the London-based think-tank Chatham House's Russia and Eurasia program.

Ukrainian serviceman from mobile air defence unit fires a machine gun towards a Russian drone in Kharkiv region
Ukrainian air defenses fire at Russian drones Monday in Kharkiv.Sofiia Gatilova / Reuters
Less hard to quantify will be the huge blow to Vladimir Putin's pride, with Western analysts in agreement that this was a humiliation for the Russian president.

“At a time when Putin seems to think that he is winning on the battlefield, this demonstrates that his forces are in fact very vulnerable,” said Sven Biscop, a director at the Egmont Institute, a think tank in Brussels. “This may not change the course of the war, but it does mean that every gain Russia makes will be at high cost.”

He added it was “quite amazing” that “a significant part of their bomber force” could “be destroyed like that.”

head of the Security Service Vasyl Malyuk studies a photo of a map of Russia's strategic aviation location
The Head of the Ukrainian Security Service, Vasyl Malyuk, studies a map of one of the targets of Sunday's operation.Ukrainian Security Service / via AP
The strike took a year and a half to plan, according to Zelenskyy, and played out on the eve of the latest round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul.

It's still unclear what impact the surgical strike will have on Monday's negotiations, hopes for which were already dim thanks to the deep divisions between the positions of Kyiv and Moscow. Ukraine says it is ready to sign an unconditional 30-day ceasefire; Russia is essentially demanding Ukraine's surrender.

Brokering the talks, President Donald Trump has shifted from the unambiguously pro-Ukrainian stance of his predecessor, President Joe Biden, and offered concessions to the Kremlin that have outraged many in the West.

At the same time, he accused Putin last week of going “absolutely crazy” by continuing to launch regular attacks on Ukraine civilians. Ultimately, he has threatened to walk away from the peace talks if they do not yield the results he once promised he would achieve in just 24 hours.

Aftermath of a Russian attack in Zaporizhzhia
The aftermath of a Russian drone strike on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Sunday. Thomas Peter / REUTERS
Indeed, overnight into Sunday, Russia launched some 500 attack drones into Ukraine, Zelenskyy said. The night next came 84 more, with at least 10 people killed and dozens more injured across the country, Ukraine's air force said.

Other pro-Russia observers are calling for even more drastic measures.

“We hope that the response will be the same as the U.S. response to the attack on Pearl Harbor, or even tougher,” one Russian military blogger, Roman Alekhin, said on the messaging app Telegram.

Another pro-war Telegram channel, Dva Mayora, added that it was “a reason to launch nuclear strikes on Ukraine" — a threat often made by Putin since launching the invasion three years ago.

“We can expect a great deal of sound and fury from Moscow,” Giles said. Russia “will be working hard on convincing the United States to attempt to rein Ukraine in, in order to prevent any further damage to Russia’s means of bombarding Ukrainian cities with long range missiles,” he added.

“In a way, the more important question is how the United States reacts, and how eager it is to take Moscow‘s side and constrain Ukraine,” he said.

Alexander Smith reported from London and Daryna Mayer reported from Kyiv.

https://www.nbcnews.com/world/ukrai...-lays-bare-putins-vulnerabili-rcna210300