Putin Tough on Ukraine, Control Odessa, Black Sea; Orban Blocks EU Funding; Israel Hezbollah Strike (Alexander Mercouris)

Another important (daily) geopolitical update from Alexander.

He explains that the Ukrainian side is losing, and warns of escalation in the Middle East after the Israeli strike on Lebanon. The idea with the Israeli strike (not covered here) is that any large scale retaliation from Hezbollah might draw in the US military to support them, and also be used as an excuse to strike Iran. However, any attacks on Iran would only have a limited impact.  

When it comes to Ukraine, what the Russians want is demilitarisaion, neutrality, and de Nazification. The Russian strategy has stayed the same, which is to engage in an attrition war so that the Ukrainian Army no longer exists. It's likely the only way the other remaining terms will be met is via a Ukrainian surrender, which would happen once their military is destroyed.

From the Russian Press conference Alexander cites, there was also talk from Putin indicating that areas of Odessa were considered as traditionally Russian zones. The implication is that the coastline along the Black Sea will be eventually captured and absorbed into Russia, same as we saw for the Donbass region. Alexander further considers that the Russians will target Kharkiv in the north for similar reasons. 

No matter how hard things become the Russians will keep fighting since leaving Ukraine whole, and connected to the West, leaves things open for future fighting.

Alexander talks slowly, so play at x2 speed. 

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, December 17, 2023.]