ZELENSKY: “Regarding NATO, I lost interest in this issue after we realized that NATO is not ready to accept Ukraine. The alliance is afraid of contradictory things and confrontation with the Russian Federation”
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has again called on Russian President Vladimir Putin for a dialogue, stressing that Ukraine is ready to talk and seek compromises, but is not ready to capitulate.
"First of all, I'm ready for a dialogue, but we're not ready for surrender," Zelensky said in an interview with the American television channel ABC News, asked whether Ukraine is ready to comply with the demands of the Russian Federation for a ceasefire: to change the Constitution and refuse to join NATO, recognize Crimea as Russian, recognize the independence of the so-called LPR/DPR.
"Because it's not about me, it's about the people who elected me. Regarding NATO, I lost interest in this issue after we realized that NATO is not ready to accept Ukraine. The alliance is afraid of contradictory things and confrontation with the Russian Federation," he added.
He also noted that Ukraine does not want to be a country that "begs for something on its knees, and we are not going to be such a country, I do not want to be such a president."
"I'm talking about security guarantees. I think that we can discuss and find a compromise on the points about the temporarily occupied territories and unrecognized republics, which are not recognized by anyone except the Russian Federation," Zelensky said.
At the same time, he stressed that the key issue is how people in these territories will live, who want to be part of Ukraine.
"What needs to be done is Putin needs to start talking, start a dialogue, instead of living in an information balloon without oxygen. I think that's where he is," he said.
The Office Of The Prime Minister Of Poland has denied reports of Poland sending fighter jets to Ukraine or allowing it use its airports.
@Nexta_tv❗️#Poland may provide #Ukraine with MiG-29 fighters and Su-25 attack aircraft and receive F-16 fighters in exchange from the U.S., The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources in the U.S. administration.
A team of Sky News journalists came under fire while reporting in Kyiv this week - with one reporter and one camera operator both being hit by bullets.
The team, who were in a car, were out reporting on the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine when they heard gunfire, shortly before the car was peppered with shots.
In shocking footage, bullets rain down on the car causing the windscreen to break - amid the chaos the team shout to the shooters that they are journalists.
Chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay was hit in the lower back by a bullet, while camera operator Richie Mockler was hit twice - thankfully, the shots were stopped by his body armour.
Speaking about the attack, Ramsay said: “The first round cracked the windscreen... Camera operator Richie Mockler huddled into the front passenger footwell. Then we were under full attack.
“Bullets cascaded through the whole of the car… the steering wheel and dashboard had disintegrated. I do recall wondering if my death was going to be painful.”
He went on: “Richie was shouting to me, but I can't really remember much.
“I do recall wondering if my death was going to be painful.
“And then I was hit in the lower back. "I've been hit!" I shouted.”
Incredibly, Ramsay said the shot ‘didn’t hurt that bad’, and he was still able to get out of the car and make a run for it.
Fortunately, the whole team were able to flee the vehicle and run to a nearby factory for safety, before later being rescued by Ukrainian police.
Ramsay said the team were later told they had been ‘ ambushed by a saboteur Russian reconnaissance squad’. He added: “It was professional, the rounds kept smashing into the car - they didn't miss.”
He also credited his protective gear with saving life, explaining: “My armour and helmet almost certainly saved me.”
A Trump appointee on Friday accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of being a "puppet" and said Russia has been too gentle in their attack on Ukraine.
In an interview with Fox Business' Stuart Varney, retired Col. Douglas Macgregor who former President Donald Trump appointed as a senior advisor to the Secretary of Defense said that there was nothing "heroic" about Zelensky, who has led his country's resistance against invading Russian forces.
"The first five days Russian forces I think frankly were too gentle," he said. "They've now corrected that. So, I would say another ten days this should be completely over."
MacGregor - who was also tapped by Trump to serve as ambassador to Germany in July 2020 before the nomination stalled in the Senate - said that the war could have "ended days ago" if Zelensky had accepted what the Russians have sought, which he said is a "neutral Ukraine."
"I think Zelensky is a puppet and he is putting huge numbers of his own population in unnecessary risk," Macgregor expressed.
Macgregor then laughed when Varney was asked if he thought Zelensky was a hero for standing up and fighting.
"I don't see anything heroic about the man," Macgregor said. "I think the most heroic thing he could do right now is come to terms with reality. Neutralize Ukraine."
He continued: "This is not a bad thing. A neutral Ukraine would be good for us and Russia. It would create the buffer that frankly both sides want but he's I think being told I think to hold on and trying to drag this out, which is tragic for the people that have to live through this."
Former President Trump reportedly joked on Saturday that the U.S. should “put the Chinese flag” on F-22 fighter jets and “bomb the shit” out of Russia.
Trump made the comment to top Republican National Committee donors at a retreat in New Orleans, according to CBS News.
The network reported that the former president suggested that the U.S. should blame China for the offensive, then watch as the two countries engage in a conflict.
“And then we say, 'China did it,' ” Trump said, which, according to an unidentified source cited by CBS News, elicited laughs in the room. “Then they start fighting with each other, and we sit back and watch.”
The Washington Post also reported on Trump’s comments.
Trump sparked criticism last month for calling Russian President Vladimir Putin “smart” and “pretty savvy” as Russia was beginning its invasion of Ukraine. A number of GOP figures pushed back on those comments, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Days later, the former president appeared to shift his tone, calling the conflict in Ukraine “a Holocaust” during a wide-ranging interview with Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo and urging Russia to stop fighting. He said Moscow had “to stop killing these people,” and suggested that a deal could be reached to end the conflict.
During that same interview, Trump said he believed China would invade Taiwan sooner rather than later.
He said such an offensive would occur on a faster timeline “because they're seeing how stupid the United States is run.”
“They're seeing that our leaders are incompetent, and of course they're going to do — this is their time,” he added.
Russia has completely blocked access to Facebook in retaliation for the platform placing restrictions on state-owned media.
It was later reported that it had also blocked Twitter. The Russian state communications regulator said access had been restricted, according to the state-owned Ria news agency.
Facebook and its sister platform Instagram have removed Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik from their output in the European Union this week and did the same with the UK on Friday, which drew an immediate response from the Russian communications regulator.
The Roskomnadzor watchdog said there had been 26 cases of discrimination against Russian media by Facebook since October 2020, with access restricted to state-backed news services like Russia Today and the RIA news agency. Last week the regulator had announced a “partial” block of Facebook, claiming that the social network had violated the “rights and freedoms of Russian nationals”.
Nick Clegg, the president of global affairs at Facebook’s parent, Meta, said blocking the platform would cut off “millions of ordinary Russians” from reliable information, deprive them of communications with friends and family and mean they were “silenced from speaking out”. He said: “We will continue to do everything we can to restore our services so they remain available to people to safely and securely express themselves and organise for action.”
It comes as Russia seeks to control the spread of information on the invasion of Ukraine and to move against independent news sources. It follows the blocks imposed earlier on Friday on the BBC, the US government-funded Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle and Latvia-based website Meduza.
Meta said on Friday that it was blocking RT and Sputnik in the UK. It followed a request from the culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, in a letter a day earlier to TikTok, Twitter and Meta. Meta has already blocked the news organisations across the EU.
“Earlier this week, we announced that we’d be restricting access to RT and Sputnik across the EU. Consistent with that action, and following a request from the UK government, we will also be restricting access to RT and Sputnik in the UK at this time,” said a Meta spokesperson.
Meta announced on Monday that it had taken down a disinformation network targeting people in Ukraine, comprised of about 40 accounts, pages and groups on Facebook and Instagram.
In a blogpost, Nathaniel Gleicher and David Agranovich, Meta’s head of security policy and director of threat disruption respectively, said the networks were run from Russia and Ukraine.
“They were operated from Russia and Ukraine and targeted people in Ukraine across multiple social media platforms and through their own websites. We took down this operation, blocked their domains from being shared on our platform, and shared information with other tech platforms, researchers and governments,” they said.
For those of you supporting NATO and the US, you know nothing.
The blood of the innocents on the hands of America can never be washed out, even in 20 centuries to come.
At this point i have no choice but to support Russia and President Putin. Kudos to him. And i urge you all to do the same. We must also put pressure on our government & leaders to stand with Russia.
The International Feline Federation (FIFe) has weighed in on the Ukraine crisis, banning Russian-owned cats from competing in its shows as a sanction for Moscow’s military attack on the former Soviet republic.
“The FIFe executive board is shocked and horrified that the army of the Russian Federation invaded the Republic of Ukraine and started a war,” the Paris-based federation said on Tuesday. The group added that it “cannot just witness these atrocities and do nothing.”
As a result, cats belonging to Russian residents will be banned from entry at FIFe shows. In addition, no cats bred in Russia can be imported and registered in a FIFe pedigree book, the group said.
"No cat belonging to exhibitors living in Russia may be entered at any FIFe show outside Russia, regardless of which organization these exhibitors hold their membership in."
The sanctions will remain in place through at least May and may be extended, presumably depending on what transpires in Ukraine. FIFe said it will use some of its budget to support cat breeders and fanciers in Ukraine. “Our Ukrainian fellow feline fanciers are desperately trying to take care of their cats and other animals in these trying circumstances,” the federation said.
FIFe is a federation of cat registries with member organizations in 39 countries in Europe, South America and Asia. It’s also one of nine World Cat Congress members.
The international punishment of Russia over the Ukraine attack has extended far beyond economic sanctions against the country. Russian athletes have been barred from competitions, and individuals in various walks of life have been penalized. Russian conductor Valery Gergiev was fired from his position at the Munich Philharmonic for failing to denounce Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He also lost bookings with the Bavarian State Opera and was forced to resign as honorary president of the Edinburgh International Festival. Legendary soprano Anna Netrebko also lost bookings in Germany despite issuing a statement in opposition to the war.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov complained on Wednesday that Western sanctions have been aimed not just at leaders of the state, but also ordinary people, contrary to international norms. “I did not think that these sanctions, caused by impotent anger, would cover the sports movement, cultural exchange and would concern contacts between people,” he told media outlet Al Jazeera.
AyarmBoye: my guess exactly..... her sister believes in Odin and freya... he doesn’t really believe in those gods ,, he most like will become a Christian king and battle against his sister..... I’m longing for more
Vikings Valhalla > 5.0/10
The show would have been perfect and a straight 10/10 without those unnecessary female characters.
Trying to portray them females as strong warriors when in real life they're scared of Men's shadow as it's happening in Ukraine today.
OhBritannia: Vikings Valhalla is 8/10 for me. They just Left us with a huge cliffhanger. It may seems as though the Vikings has won over the Christians but i have a feeling that Freda's brother is a Christian by heart and he is to lead the Christians to attack vikings and restore England in season 2. Perhaps that is the reason the little girl gave him a cross when he was almost dead close to the bridge. I feel he will become a Christian king because clearly he knew the reason why he is alive was the cross. Hmmm season 2 is going to be bloody.
Leif Eriksson.
Call him by his name.
He's the lead character and the main star of the show.
Kramerr: Why won't he confuse both countries. The average American is so self absorbed they don't know what happens outside the four corners of america
Vladimir Putin has deployed thermobaric bombs, a multiple rocket launcher system which 'sucks the air out of its victims' into Ukraine as his war of occupation intensifies.
The TOS-1 Buratino fires fuel-air 'thermobaric' rockets which, when they explode, consume all oxygen in the blast zone, killing everyone in the area.
Victims can appear to have no visible external injuries but will have suffered massive internal damage.
The weapon is based on the Soviet-era T-72 main battle tank with the main turret removed and replaces with a rocket launcher system holding 30, 8.5-inch rockets.
The system was developed in the mid-1980s and the unguided rockets have a two-mile range.
Witnesses claim to have seen the weapon system crossing into Ukraine from Belarus, possibly heading towards Kyiv.
The indiscriminate weapon is very effective against people and lightly-armoured vehicles causing devastation within a 1,000ft diameter area.
Russians describe the TOS-1 Buratino as a 'flamethrower' but military experts say it fires a 'wall of napalm towards its victims.
CNN reported that one of the terrifying weapon systems was seen on the back of a transport truck in Belgorod, near the northern Ukrainian border.
Charlie Gao, defence and national security commentator told The Sun: 'The Buratino and Solntsepek are very useful weapons for a military that might be going into urban combat with little regard for collateral damage.'
Foreign Affairs › Zelensky: I Lost Interest In NATO, I Realized They're Afraid To Confront Russia by WriterNig(op): 1:23pm On Mar 08, 2022
