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PaperclipPerfector  6mo ago (text post)   1539 thread views

Transnational Thursday for October 17, 2024

Transnational Thursday is a thread for people to discuss international news, foreign policy or international relations history. Feel free as well to drop in with coverage of countries you’re interested in, talk about ongoing dynamics like the wars in Israel or Ukraine, or even just whatever you’re reading.

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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/10/17/zelensky-ukraine-seek-nuclear-weapons-join-nato

“Either Ukraine will have nuclear weapons, which will serve as protection, or it must be part of some kind of alliance. Apart from Nato, we do not know of such an effective alliance,” Mr Zelensky said.

Ukraine has four nuclear power stations and German magazine Bild quoted a Ukrainian official specialising in weapons procurement who said that Kyiv could build a nuclear missile.

“We have the material, we have the knowledge. If the order is given, we will only need a few weeks to have the first bomb,” he said. “The West should think less about Russia’s red lines and more about our red lines.”

Despite this, the Ukrainians are also accusing poor Julian Ropcke of the Bild of spreading disinformation:

https://www.unian.ua/weapons/yaderna-zbroya-u-zelenskogo-vidreaguvali-na-informaciyu-pro-namir-ukrajini-vidnoviti-arsenal-12791010.html

According to Dmitry Litvin, an adviser to President Vladimir Zelensky, it has long been possible to confuse where the words of Bild military columnist Julian Röpke, and where the statements of Russian propagandists, writes 24 Channel.

"Because both Röpke and rospropaganda are 'turning the same nonsense into informorism,'" he added.

Later on the Bild publication as well responded head of the Anti-Disinformation Center Andriy Kovalenko. He stressed that "any fantasies of Western journalists about Ukrainian nuclear weapons are fabrications."

I guess they're trying to tone it down, or perhaps someone has reminded them of the likely outcomes of nuclear escalation against a country with an overwhelmingly larger nuclear arsenal. Zelensky probably received some very angry phone-calls from the 'you're totally joining NATO at some unspecified future time' crowd for this one and was forced to backtrack.

Ukraine is now in a very unpleasant position and they're not making it any better by constantly trying to wriggle out of it. There isn't some cheat code that lets Ukraine win the war, whether it's long range strikes, F-16s (which seem not to have produced any significant effect) or even nuclear weapons.

At this point the West should stop all kind of aid for ukraine for couple of months just to teach this loudmouth who is really in charge. And make it official - no face savings.

...isn't that.... too much? if they want to punish Zelensky, they can sanction some of his property or send his wife back

The point is not to punish Zelensky but to humiliate him.

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