The Duran Podcast - Biden WH in hurry to get money to Zelensky, as time works against Ukraine

Episode Date: October 22, 2023

Biden WH in hurry to get money to Zelensky, as time works against Ukraine

All right, Alexander, let's do an update as to what is going on in Ukraine. And let's start with what is happening on the front lines. Hirsson, Avdyevka, where else? Kupianzhakabut, maybe. But I think Avdavk and Herzson are the big focus points with what's going on on the front line. Though I think the Russians are, they're putting pressure all along the entire front line in Ukraine. the counter-offensive is over and the Russians are now in active defense. Those are the words that Putin used in active defense.

Your thoughts? Absolutely. And just to say that even as we're making this program, there are reports now from the Russian media and from the Kremlin that Putin has just gone to Rostov and he's gone to the military headquarters there and there's pictures of him with the overall Russian commander, General Gerasimov. So, you know, this is a success. of meetings have happened,

Shoygu went to the headquarters a short time ago, now Putin is going. Clearly the Russians are working on things and I've noticed that Russian officials, Russian military officials, Shoygu, Gerassim of others, are now talking about our plan or plans. So clearly they have a strategy.

Of course they're not telling us what it is, but they do have a strategy. So what's been going on on the front lines? Well, we've been hearing for weeks about a Ukrainian crossing of the NEPA from the West Bank of Herson region to the east bank, pushing towards Crimea from there. And over the last couple of days, we've seen something that could perhaps be that or perhaps start with that. We have had a number of small groups of Ukrainian troops trying to cross onto the East Bank. We're not talking about large numbers. We're talking about, you know,

people, numbers, dozens or scores, rather than hundreds, and certainly not thousands. And they seem to advance towards some village or other than the Russian's response, and they push them back. It all for the moment looks extremely underpowered and frankly very unconvincing. And I mean, following what Russian commentators say and they seem to think that they have this whole thing under control and that it isn't a serious threat to them that they've pushed the Ukrainians back to the actual river line and they do expect that the Ukrainians will continue to try to do this, but the Russians don't seem to be afraid that this is going to change the military picture in any substantial way. And there's been points made about how the,

this is a much more difficult area for Ukraine to mount an offensive in than Zaporosia region was, which is the main axis of Ukraine's offensive. And the offensive that has failed. So it's not realistic to imagine that Ukraine is going to achieve anything here. But nonetheless, it is going on. And the general view in Russia, and you know, this is a Russian take. I mean, you know, I can only report it. The Russian view is that more than anything else, this is intended again as a presentational thing. You say that, well, we may not have broken through elsewhere, but we're making, we haven't given up on our offensive yet we're still crying with these cross-border raids

across the NEPA. So far they look more like raids than anything else and as I said it doesn't look particularly significant. Now, what is happening in other places looks much more serious and the big battle at the moment far bigger than anything that we're seeing in Hurson whereas I said we're talking about numbers of troops

and in the dozens, not even the hundreds, the big battle is taking place around Avdyevka. And here there's been an awful lot of fog of war, which is you would not, is unsurprising. But the Russians resumed the big offensive towards, to try and circle Avdewka, that they started back in March. That was then put on pause,

whilst the Ukrainian offensive was underway. Now they've restarted it. It's clear that here we are talking about tens of thousands of troops fighting on each side. Now the Ukrainians have made many claims about destroying hundreds of Russian tanks, thousands and hundreds of Russian armoured vehicles, having killed thousands of Russian troops,

there is no independent confirmation of this. People who understand these things say that the video evidence doesn't corroborate it. The reality seems to be that the Russians are gradually, incrementally, methodically clearing the Ukrainian fortifications. So they've apparently taken something called the slag heap, which you can actually see. It's near this big factory, which is now a major fortification. They've apparently gained control of it, or at least gain control of part of it. They've gained control of something else called the waste heap.

I'm not going to discuss these things in detail. But they do seem to be making actually progress. And we're starting to see on some Ukrainian telegram channels worries about this and concerns that at some point, over the next couple of weeks, there is a real risk that Avdhaevka could be completely encircled and that the Ukrainian troops there might be trapped. And the Ukrainians now are in a difficult position. Do they rush troops to try to hold the line in Afdeiakka,

in which case they might weaken their positions on other front lines, whereas you're absolutely rightly said that Russians are piling on. the pressure, they're counter attacking in the south, they're counter attacking around Bachman, they're putting more pressure around Kupyansk, do they redeployed troops from these places, do they pull their troops out of Avdavka and accept the loss of that town, do they commit their troops to a further long stand in Avdavka and risk another Bachmut in which we have a kind of repeating of D'EFCA of the Bachmut meat grinder. So this does look like it's concerning for Ukraine and

there's even reports that they're redeploying troops on the south towards Avdafka in order to try to hold the line there. So this is what's happening. The Russians are gradually, steadily, piling up more and more forces along the front lines and pushing the Ukrainians in various places. And the main focus at the moment appears to be Avdewka. Yeah, and the Aletsky regime, their main focus is how do you get more money?

And so I imagine that they're going to have to move military assets towards Avdefka, but you know that the Olensky regime would much prefer to put all of its force, whatever it has, towards Herzln, in order to gain whatever territory can gain, in order to convince the collective West to give it more money. In this case, the 60 billion that Biden would like to hand over to the Oletsky regime. So I mean, this, for the Aletsky regime, this is a pretty, pretty bad choice. that he's faced with. And I guess that's why the Biden White House

is in a hurry to get the money to the Oletsky regime because the more this drags on, the worst this choice gets for the Aletsky regime. I completely agree. It's also the reason, by the way, why the Biden White House provided Ukraine with attack him's missiles. The purpose of providing those attack him's missiles

was to support whatever military operation it is that the Ukrainians are trying to conduct in herself. region. So they attacked this big air base where the Russian helicopters are located. And the idea is put the base out of action, destroy lots of helicopters in order to facilitate the advance in Herson so that we can then talk about a great victory and a continuation of the offensive. And that way we can go convincingly to Congress and demand more money. Now, what I am hearing and reading from people who understand these things better than I do and who've looked at the satellite photos

is that the missile strike on the air base that took place didn't actually do a significant amount of damage. Perhaps two helicopters were destroyed or perhaps damaged, but overall it was, again, less effective than expected. and the Russians now of course understand that the attack and's missiles are there they know roughly now where they are they're deploying these MiG 31 jets to the Black Sea

the MiG 31s have enormously powerful radars and are designed to shoot down cruise missiles and we'll probably see more Russian air defence assets being deployed capable of shooting down Attachms' missiles. else. And I suspect that we will fairly quickly see that particular problem resolved. Certainly Putin seemed to think so. Yeah. Okay. And anything else that we need to talk about as far as what's going on on the ground? Do you want to shift over a bit? So you want to shift over so we could talk a bit about the geopolitical panic, I guess that's taking place in it around Ukraine, specifically with

the EU. It seems like the EU and NATO there, they're in a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's in big panic mode because they understand that from the media side of things, no one's really paying attention to Ukraine. And of course, you have the muddy situation, which the EU has admitted without the United States. They just can't cover Ukraine's costs. So time is definitely working against the entire collective West as far as project Ukraine is concerned. And there is a panic that has set in. Yeah, there's a panic. And it's a very interesting panic because, of course, there's nobody coming forward and offering any kind of solution. They can't keep providing Ukraine with weapons.

I mean, they are now at the bottom of the barrel. I mean, they were admitting that themselves just a few, just, you know, two weeks ago. We had the Dutch Admiral who heads, you know, NATO's military committee. He says we're now out of ammunition. And, of course, we now have a war in the Middle East. And there's already now confirmation in Axios that in terms of shells, ammunition, it's Israel that gets priority, which is inevitable. I mean, that is, you know, the inevitable political reality from this moment. So it's all but impossible to keep the focus on Ukraine.

It's all but impossible to keep Ukraine supplied with the weapons it needs. and of course they're conscious of this enormous build-up that is taking place on the Russian side. So they're getting very, very, very nervous, very panicky about this and one senses that behind the scenes there's an awful lot of recriminations underway, but they have no plan, they have no solution.

Nobody wants to start any kind of serious negotiation process. I think everybody's come to understand that the Russians are not, going to, are not interested in this freeze proposal. The Russians have made it absolutely clear that that is absolutely not something that they will agree to. So that has died a death and they just don't know what to do. They're committed to this conflict, indefinitely committed to this conflict. They made all kinds of incredible assertions and claims about it.

But they have no answer. They have no way of resolving it. And of course, if the United States does distance itself from this conflict, which it probably will at some point, Israel being, as we've said, more important, then Europe is left hanging out to dry. It has no way that it can turn things round by itself as even they are admitting. So they're in a terrible mess. And of course all of this is coming at a time when the European economies are in extremely bad shape.

And it isn't just the European economies. By the way, the Western economies are generally. I've come to the view, incidentally, that the reason interest rates are so high is because yields on bonds, especially treasury bonds, are very high. And that is pulling up interest rates. It's even more that problem than inflation. And the reason yields on bonds are so high in the United States and in Europe is because under the pressure of the war and under the pressure of the economic crisis,

the inflation crisis, the reductions in industrial output. By the way, in the United States, industrial output apparently has been falling year on year for seven consecutive months. in the face of all of this, the only thing they know how to do is to keep spending. And budget deficits are widening. In the United States,

it's going to end the year, apparently, at over 8% of GDP. The same thing is happening in Italy, apparently. And that's pushing up bond prices because people are nervous of lending to governments when they see the fiscal situation deteriorating in the way that it is and debt levels, government debt to GDP levels, rising so alarmingly.

But they're not able to do that thing, that single thing, which might at least to some extent, alleviate the situation, which is end project Ukraine. Because doing that would be to turn around and admit, to their people, first, that Putin has won, which of course they can't do, not after all the things they've said to him, about him. And secondly, their people would then ask, well, what was it all for then? What, what, why did we give up the, you know, the gas from Russia, the impose all those sanctions, do all of those things? If the Russians are going to

get what they want in Ukraine after all. So the Europeans are stuck. The administration is basically out of ammunition. And there is no real answer to this, no real solution. And if you listened to Putin in Beijing, he is becoming increasingly more confident. Yeah. He's making all kinds of deals with China. Actually, I think it was the gas prop CEO who said that the gas to China is going to replace all the gas that was going into the EU, like within the next year. So I mean, you know, Russia, Russia's fine. Siberia 1, power of Siberia 1, power of Siberia 2. I mean, this is, this is such a catastrophe for the collective West and the EU leaders, if you want to call them that. They've led the entire European Union into just such a debacle of just epic proportions.

Here's a quick question to wrap up the video. What happens with Project Ukraine if, if Biden gets his way and 60 billion goes into the coffers of the Oletsky regime, which is not a definite because we all know the situation in the House. And while all the representatives in the House and in Congress would definitely support whatever money is asked to go to Israel, Ukraine's a different situation. And the House still does not have. have a speaker. Jim Jordan, two rounds. He's going to probably go for his third or fourth round. And, you know, that's not even a definite that he's going to become the Speaker of the House. And the point of where everything is, is hinging on is money for Ukraine. But let's just say that somehow Biden finds a way to get $60 billion to the Aletka regime. What happens with Project Ukraine and for Europe? It makes no difference. I mean, they'll burn through that money very fast. they're like they've burned through all the other money they've been given. I mean, they've been given, well, I've lost track of how much the money they've been given.

They've been at least double the amount that Biden is asking for. And where has it brought them? What is it achieved for them? I mean, it hasn't won them the war. And it cannot win them the war. Their economy is now getting into ever deeper problems. There's talk that they're going to the, the IMF is telling them. to engage in budget cuts.

The Europeans, as I said, are running out of fiscal road faster than the Americans are, by the way. So it will, as Putin put it, it will prolong Ukraine's agony by a few weeks and months. But that's all. If you, you know, the administration, the rhinos, I can talk about that.

They're always talking about, Ukraine being this wonderful investment. It's a smart investment. You put your money there. You degrade the enemy. You degrade the Russians. You do all of those things. The reality is the diametric opposite.

Sending $60 billion to Ukraine is throwing good money after bad. That's all it is. It's the worst investment that the US has made and could make. Yeah. There's been Project Ukraine. The worst. It's destroyed the entire. Europe, European Union, and it's destroying the United States.

Project Ukraine is destroying the collective West. Yes. Yes. But it remains the overriding obsession. It remains the overriding obsession. Even the Middle East crisis, I mean, this is the astonishing thing about that article in the financial times that appeared recently about ex-diplomats worrying about the West's response to the crisis in the Middle East. Their concern was not about the crisis in the Middle East. It was about

the perception around the world about the West's project Ukraine, that people in the Middle East and in the global South would say, you know, all that you're saying about the project Ukraine, why should we believe you, given what you're doing in the Middle East? So it remains the obsession. they continue to be as fixated with it as always. They can't give it up. Oh, boy. All right. We'll leave it there, I guess.

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