US has urged Ukraine to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries
ft.comI cannot imagine the frustration of Ukrainians upon hearing this.
"Can't you please just die quietly?" is a common sarcastic reaction that I am seeing.
I am indeed certain they're frustrated. And equally frustrated by the opposite snide remark that the US is "willing to fight to the last Ukrainian". The US is damned if it does and damned if it doesn't.
There's a surreal agreement that somehow this war can be contained as long as we obey certain arbitrary rules. The US can send all the weapons it wants (except nuclear ones), but they can't send soldiers. The fight is against the Russian army, not the Russian people -- except for the fact that they (supposedly) just re-elected Putin. If Putin starts to feel the war will damage himself, then he'll feel free to end the entire world.
This is bizarre and insane. But not necessarily wrong.
They don't need to die; they can just surrender. Sometimes the good guys lose.
And in that scenario, what would prevent the kremlin from taking the rest of Ukraine a few years later?
Hmm:
> Ukraine denies US requested to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries
https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/ukraine-denies-us-requested-...
This sounds awfully complicated.
It's simple, and mentioned more than once in the article:
> “Nothing terrifies a sitting American president more than a surge in pump prices during an election year,” said Bob McNally, president of consultancy Rapidan Energy and a former White House energy adviser
That part is simple. The interaction of the parts is what's complicated.
For example, consider what policy led to that pressure on Ukraine and this on UAE and Austria: https://www.wsj.com/finance/banking/russias-backdoor-to-the-... (https://archive.is/QbHZf).