The Duran Podcast - Ukraine Military Crisis, Burnham To The Rescue, Ceasefire Buffer Zone Plan

Episode Date: August 26, 2026

Ukraine Military Crisis, Burnham To The Rescue, Ceasefire Buffer Zone Plan

All right, Alexander, let's talk about Project Ukraine, and we are getting a lot of messages from various collective West officials, Ukrainian officials, the UK telegraph. They are talking about women conscripted into the Ukraine military and going to the front lines. What do you make of this? Well, I find it very disturbing and very sinister at multiple levels, and particularly sinister the way this campaign is being run, you know, that this is somehow a massive act of empowerment, you know, that all these women are eager to go and fight the Russians. This simply proves that they can do all of the things that men can do and all of that.

But of course, the reality is that the true story behind this is that it admits the problem that we have been talking about for months now, longer, which is that Ukraine is in the middle of a huge manpower crisis. The infantry, the infantry is thinning out along the contact lines. Ukraine simply doesn't have enough soldiers on the front lines to hold all of the positions. And they've tried every conceivable expedient. They lowered the conscription age, if you remember, from 27 to 25. They have tried to get men to be sent back from the West, which has succeeded to some degree, by the way.

But again, there are massive legal obstacles in the face of that. And I think this time, they are probably insuperable, because when I talk about legal obstacles, I'm talking about international law obstacles, violating treaties and many things, and it would require a unity within the EU, which doesn't exist on this issue, for that to happen. And they've recruited all sorts of other people, you know, people with mental health problems, very old people, people with other disabilities. is if you spend any time researching what is going on in the war, you read and learn lots about all of this very, very quickly.

Anyway, along the short of it is that all of this has run out, the attempt to pay people more to get them to join up is being unsuccessful. They've been trying to enlist recruits from around the world, but increasingly I think people are unwilling to come. So they're down to recruiting women, and that's an admission of how bad the crisis within the Ukrainian army has become. And I suspect that this is going to encounter enormous opposition within Ukrainian society. But the West, which is intent on keeping this war going for as long as it can, is now ready to do that. And as I said, spinning all of these campaigns and telling all these tall stories to persuade us that this is actually

a good thing when it is in fact an admission of disaster. Exactly, exactly. The empowerment of women so that they can go to the front lines and fight the Russians. That was how the UK telegraph was framing it. Yes. Absolutely despicable. And I agree with you 100%. This is an admission that the war of attrition, you called it aggressive attrition at one point.

to time is destroying the Ukraine military and the collective West instead of of surrendering and admitting that this war is lost, they are now going to sacrifice the women of Ukraine. Andy Burnham in Kiev. His first state trip, Alexander, official. Absolutely. Official visit. First official visit. He's also given Zelensky the classified information about the stormshare, the blueprints for the storm shadow. And he got AI. He also got AI data from Ukraine as well. I think that's kind of meaningless. I guess they just want, they wanted to present it as sort of a win for the UK, some sort of a deal. We give you this,

you give us that, but I imagine this is meaningless. I also want you to touch upon Peskos comments about the UK, where she is now openly saying, Britain is a party to this war. I think this is big news. It is huge news. And it's not getting anywhere there near enough attention in Britain that it should. What we see instead is our media rejoicing in the fact that we've given the storm shadow blueprints to Ukraine, which is, I mean, again, an exercise in absurdity because we provided Ukraine with storm shadow missiles. The Ukrainians have launched many of them at the Russians. And they've proved overall to be very, very ineffectual.

I mean, they have not achieved all of the things that were expected or promised of them. The Russian air defences have shown repeatedly that they have no difficulty shooting down these missiles. And so they're not again changed. and pretending that they are still is absurd. But what this story tells you is three things at the same time. Firstly, Britain is out of storm shadow missiles. You've stopped our entire style pile. We've sent everything that we have there to Ukraine.

So all that we have is to give blueprints. And that's the first thing. So this is just as recruitment of women, is an admission of Ukraine's manpower crisis. This is an admission of the immense depletion in precision weapons within the British military, which is, by the way, orders of magnitude worse than that in the US, which we spent so much time talking about. So that's the first thing about this. The second is that this is an utterly meaningless gesture, because, of course, the Ukrainians can't make the storm shadows, the British and French do make storm shadows.

We've got factories in Britain and France that supposedly make these things. They are largely handmade, so I understand. So the British and the French cannot ramp up production. It is nonsense to imagine that Ukraine can. I mean, quite apart from the fact that it would take a while for the Ukrainians to learn to make these things and to work out how to make these things. Given the realities in Ukraine now, Ukraine being bombed from the sky, factories being destroyed across Ukraine, a total shortage of air defense missile interceptors. These missiles cannot be produced in Ukraine. So they cannot be produced in Britain, in France, in the quantities that Ukraine needs,

and they cannot be produced in Ukraine. Handing over the blueprints is a totally empty gesture. And all of this AI data, as you say, which has been trumpeted noisily in the media here, is also theatre and nonsense. It's not going to change anything in terms of Ukraine's situation or a Britain situation. And I get to add something else. It comes with what I strongly, believe, in fact, I am sure is a lie that only Britain has been provided with this data.

In fact, I'm sure we've been receiving this data all along, as of the Americans, as have the French, everything, the entire surveillance information apparatus in Ukraine, from what I can tell, is mostly run by American intelligence. British and French intelligence undoubtedly have a role. I mean, this has been information. We've almost certainly been receiving for years, and now we're pretending that this is something that's being new and that it has been privileged to us. And the third thing, as you say, Andy Burnham, going to Kiev, supposedly, I've heard this. I'm sure, you know, stories about this spread, that he has his doubts. Where we see how far those doubts go. Whatever private doubts.

he has. He's far too weak of personality to change course. He's gone to Kiev. He's embracing Zelensky, not perhaps quite embracing Zelensky in the same way, but he's gone to Kiev and he's again expressing his full-throated 100% support for Ukraine. Now, the Russians have had enough of all of this. They're saying the Britain is a direct party in the war. They've withdrawn their ambassador. there is now no Russian ambassador in Britain for the first time, by the way, since the 1920s, just saying. So there's no British ambassador, there's no Russian ambassador here. The Russians gave a warning a short time ago about the fact that they're prepared to take action against Britain itself and that they will make sure that Britain pays a price.

I'm sure that sooner or later it is coming. So we're making all of these empty gestures here in London over storm shadows, over AI, over sending Burnham to Kiev, where to be absolutely clear, he's not able to give or offer anything. Jose Vardifu, the German foreign minister, was recently in Kiev too. He came before the others. and he made quite clear, despite the fact that he too is an ardent supporter of Ukraine, that Germany is not prepared or able to provide Ukraine with air defense systems. So all of these visits, but especially if you like, the one from Burden,

is an empty gestures. The episode with the storm shadows and the AI data proves it. And yet he still goes. and the Russians have had enough. And our relationship with this extremely powerful country, which is, of course, Russia is now going from the bad to the catastrophic and ultimately and before long to the extremely dangerous. Yeah, the AI data, which is all run by American companies.

Exactly. It's so dumb. Dumb. These narratives are for the dumbest of the dumb of people to believe. Yeah, we're going to give Ukraine, is going to give their AI data to the UK. The UK can just ask the United States for the AI data, which is all sitting in Germany at the Vice Biden or whatever is called headquarters

that is running the whole operation. As per the New York Times is reported. Two years ago, they've told us everything's being run by NATO and the U.S. in Germany. The whole thing is stupid. But it leads me to my question. And by the way, I think you're exactly right. When I listened to Burnham speak in Kiev, one thought came to my mind. this guy is weak.

Yes. I mean, he is weak as an order, as a prime minister, his stature. Everything about him is weak. He shows doubts. He shows a lack of confidence. It's almost as if he doesn't really want to be prime minister. He's kind of like sitting there saying, I am way in over my head. That's what I saw when I watched Andrew Burnham speaking.

Which he is. And by the way, the same is true to me. messy policy and I'm not okay to get into the details of that now. But anyway, it's true. So my question to you then is, I'll just say bluntly, why does the UK establishment want to go to war with Russia? Because they gain, I'm saying this because they gain nothing from, from, there is no AI data. There are no magic storm shadow blueprints that are going to result in Ukraine manufacturing a thousand storm shadows a month and turning the tide of this war. This is all fantasy. They gain nothing out of this except the Russians openly saying, you are a party to this war.

Now, Peskov said it. The fact that you're exchanging blueprints is further proof that you're a party to this war, a party to this war, not funding this war, not helping Ukraine, none of that stuff. you're a participant in this conflict. I don't think Peskov has said this of any other country, not even the United States. What is the UK establishment's angle here? This is so difficult in so many levels to understand, because again, when it's up against ultimately the irrational. I mean, a couple of about two weeks ago, there was a report.

that some members of the British military were becoming very worried about the latest threat from the Russians to start seizing British commercial ships in the Far East because we can't protect them. By the way, just to give an idea of how the extent to which we can't protect them, a few weeks ago, the previous Prime Minister, Kirstama, sent a fleet, the British fleet to the Arctic. to threaten the Russians. So the fleet consisted of three ships, three. One aircraft carrier that had eight fighter jets instead of the 36 is supposed to

because we can't afford the other aircraft and the eight that we had we borrowed from the Americans. And the aircraft carrier is constantly breaking down. One frigate, which apparently is also subject to repeated breakdowns. And one of the very old frigates we have left over from the Navy of the 1980s, which is still thankfully in service, because the entire Royal Navy now has just 11 warships and two aircraft carriers.

I'm talking about surface ships. So, I mean, you know, this is the real state of Britain, the real military state of Britain. But we had the military trying to contact the Russians to find out whether these threats to seize our ships in the Far East are real, which of course they are, by the way. The Russians slammed the door in our face as inevitably they would. So what do we do? We have to show the Russians that we're strong, that we're strong, that we're. We are determined that we are prepared to stand up to them.

We have to force our extremely weak prime minister to confirm that he remains completely committed to project Ukraine. So here we are. We give the Ukrainians the blueprint for the storm shadows, making, as I said, our whole relationship with the Russians even worse. So at some level, we understand that we're getting in over our heads. We also understand that the Americans might not be there to save us. But we can't stop ourselves. We can't show weakness to the Russians.

And we are so fixated, so obsessed with the Russians. We have been arguably for the last 200 years, but we are particularly so at the moment. We are so obsessed with the Russians that we can't take a step. back and admit that they are strong and we are not and that it really isn't a good idea to tangle with them. In order to get a difference in policy, you would need someone like Margaret Thatcher in charge in London. And of course, there is no one, no one in London who would carry her hand back, let alone actually lead the country in the way that she did. And I speak, say all of that as a critic golfer.

I just don't understand what the benefit is to the British people of all of this. So what? You're not ready to take on the Russians. Your economy, your country is not ready to go up against the Russians. Why should you have to go up against the Russians? Why should you be at war with the Russians over Ukraine? When was the UK ever, ever an ally, a friend of Ukraine? Ukraine's a 30-year-old country, if that. The whole thing is so bizarre. It's all about Russia and it's all about this century-old

axe-to-grind with Russia. I don't know. George is axed to grind with Nicholas. You know what I mean? This is beyond nuts. It's absolutely beyond nuts. And the UK doesn't have the money to do this. They don't have the resources to do this. Zelenzky announced not only does he need 30 billion euros or 36 or 39 billion dollars, whatever the exchange is, but he also then said, I need an additional 27 billion euros on top of that. Yes, yes. Who's going to pay for all of this? Well, if these people in London have that way, we will undoubtedly contribute to our share. Do you remember a year ago, almost a year ago, when there was all the talk about confiscating the Russian assets, and they ended up instead agreeing this 90 billion euro loan, which was

supposed to last Ukraine for two years? You and I was saying at that time it's not going to get past the summer. We called it. We called it exactly right. It hasn't got past the summer. By the way, also, what's something else Zelensky did in his various statements, he's admitted that a lot of that money was blown on the drone offense. Yes. I was going to say that exact same thing. He admitted that the money that he needs now for defense was earmarked for the second half of the year, but they blew it all in the first half of the year. Exactly. Exactly. Now, you know, again, I'm going to make a point here.

We were practically the only channel, I think. I think there were some others, but we were the main channel making the point that this drone offensive is extremely expensive indeed. $60,000 per drone, at least some of them costing. You were Alexander, you on your channel. You were the one pointing this out. I even had my doubts about the whole drove thing. I was like, man, this is, it's hitting Russia and it's hurting Russia. But you consistently pointed out, and you got a lot of flack for it. Absolutely. And it did hurt Russia.

It did hurt Russia. There's no doubt about it, that it did hit refineries, and it caused disruptors and disturbance in the gas and everything. That's true. But you consistently pointed out that Russia will get through this, and you'll see this whole drone thing is going to end up being a complete bust. Yeah. And we go on, I'm interrupting.

Well, it has turned out to be a complete bust. But of course, the thing always to say, and it comes back to your point about this being a grift, this is the whole point. This is exactly what the drone offensive ultimately was. It was to spread money amongst various people in Kiev and in Europe, money that ultimately has to be provided by European taxpayers. Now, it's burnt through Ukraine's supposed allocations from the 90 billion euro loan and all of the other loans and all of the other payments that Ukraine is receiving. But of course, the Ukrainians are able to do this and are doing this because they believe, and they're always certainly right to believe, that the money is going to come.

Zelensky wants another 30 billion and then another 27 billion. And he is going to get it. This is what is so preposterous about all of this. So, yes, it has proved a bust. It was as an allocation of resources. It was a grotesque misallocation of resources. It did not achieve the results it was intended. It provoked the Russians into throwing off restraints in the war in the sky,

blockading Ukraine sports, destroying the agricultural system, going after the metallurgical system, creating a massive crisis in Kiev. But of course, the circle of people around Zelensky, they are not directly affected by this because they need the money to keep flowing. There are all sorts of people in Europe now and some in the United States who also want to keep the money flowing. What is another $57 billion between friends? They're going to come and they're going to ask for it. And Europeans, European governments, Friedrich Merz and Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen and yes, Andy Burnham too, are going to provide it, even though in Britain we have our own budget crisis, which is getting worse by the day. It's insanity. It is absolute insanity. Talk about, since we're on the subject of insanity, talk about this new ceasefire deal, which is, in essence, the same ceasefire deal over and over again. That Zelensky says he's cooking up with the Trump administration.

and economic zone in Dombas, troop pullback, ceasefire on the contact line. What do you make of this? Well, you summed it up. I mean, he won't withdraw his men from Dombas. His troops from Dombas, even though it is obvious to anybody who follows what is going on in Dombas that if the Ukrainians try and stay there, they will be defeated. There's a high chance that they will be surrounded. We've discussed this in recent programs, that the Russians,

are now outflanking the two key fortress cities of Slaviansk and Kramatosk. So everything points to a military disaster in Dombas. But of course, Zelensky won't agree to any withdrawal. And he understands at the same time that Ukraine needs a ceasefire, even as he wants the funding to continue. Even if there were a ceasefire, he would still demand, come back and demand, funding because you'd need all that funding as he would save for reconstruction. So, you know, he's always going to find some reason to demand more money. But anyway, he won't agree to a

withdraw from Dombas because as he all but admitted, he is afraid that when Dombas falls, the Russians are going to advance on Kiev, that the forces that are gathering in Brians region are going to cross over into Charnigov region in Ukraine and then they're going to move on to Kiev itself. The Russians are going to move on to Kiev and that is the one thing in this war that Zelensky fears. I mean, everything else he can live with. But another siege of Kiev is a nightmare for him and it's what keeps him awake at night. So he doesn't want that to happen, even though he went withdraw from Donbass. He needs a ceasefire because he knows how terrible the state of the Ukraine army is. He needs the ceasefire so that he can recruit the women to plug the holes in the front

lines. I mean, it is as cynical as that. So he goes to his friends, the Americans, and he makes the same proposal that he made essentially, or was made essentially last year, a buffer zone in the Donbass, Russian forces withdraw, Ukrainian forces supposedly withdraw. Dombass, however, remains under Ukrainian administration, at least this part of Donbass that we're talking about, remains under Ukrainian administration. So Ukrainian local governments continue to run Slaviansk, Klamatosk, all of these places. The Americans establish a buffer zone there, the European sent troops, the Americans develop this region economically.

One wonders why what's actually, in fact, really in it for the Americans. I mean, what kind of a free economic zone is this supposed to be? But anyway, that's Zelensky's proposal. There are some people in the US who seem to be attracted to this idea. Keith Kellogg has returned to Kiev. He's been there advocating. the mobilization of women. And I doubt he's also keen on this idea too.

The Russians rejected it last year. They said, no, this is not acceptable. We have to have a complete withdrawal of the Ukrainians from Dombas. That's the only proposal we are prepared to discuss. So last year, the Russians were in a weaker position. This year, they're in a much stronger position. So we come back. Zelensky comes back.

Some people from the US come back, and they make the same proposal all over again. And at the same time, they insist, you know, this is a good proposal, which of course it isn't. And when the Russians rejected, as they will, they will blame the Russians, and they will say that it is the Russians

who are being intransigence. Whereas, of course, this is an absurd proposal. It is a proposal that Putin has referred to as an exotic proposal. I wish you would use stronger language, by the way. Not exotic, simply absurd. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

The American people need an economic, a free economic zone in Slavians. And crameteris. This is beyond dumb. Dumb. All right. we'll end it there Alexander the durand.orgals.com. We're on XronRumble. We're on telegram.

We are also on substack. Go to Durandshop, pick up some merch. Those links in the description box down below. Take care.