"Daddy’s" triumph at the NATO summit

 

• NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte summarized the three priorities of the Atlantic Alliance on the eve of the Hague Summit. He said:

"Our defense budgets must increase," he stressed. "Today, we are safe. But if we still want to be safe in three to five years, we have to make an extra effort. The proposed standard for defense spending was set on the basis of indisputable facts. Together, we have made a comprehensive inventory of our capability gaps and explored how to fill them; Last Thursday, the Defense Ministers approved the new capability objectives; now it is up to the Heads of State and Government to approve the defense spending standard that will enable us to implement these targets."

"In the U.S., throughout Europe and Canada, we have industries that are remarkable, but they are not producing fast enough. They must therefore run faster and equip themselves with new production lines."

"We must ensure that Ukraine is in the most favorable position possible not only today, to resist Russia’s aggression, perpetrated without any provocation, but also in the future, when a ceasefire or a lasting peace agreement takes shape. The goal is that Mr. Putin never ventures into an enterprise of this nature again."

• Exceptional security measures surrounded the NATO summit in The Hague. However, the summit was kept to a minimum: just three hours of work, during which unelected Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky was not admitted.

• US President Donald Trump has asserted himself as the undisputed leader of the West, basking in his glory for his role in the Israeli-Iranian ceasefire. Mark Rutte affectionately called him "Daddy" [after Trump had compared Iran and Israel with two fighting kids that need to be separated].

• The final declaration, which holds on a single page, reaffirms that member states will support Ukraine in the long term, nothing more. It said:

"Allies agree that this engagement [in response to Russia’s long-term threat to Euro-Atlantic security and the persistent threat of terrorism] will have two main components. On the one hand, by 2035, they will increase to at least 3.5% the share of GDP devoted each year to the financing of defense needs in the strict sense – i.e. the expenditure covered by the definition of defense expenditure agreed to NATO – and to the achievement of NATO capability objectives. Allies will present a national plan each year setting out a realistic path to achieve this percentage gradually. On the other hand, they will make investments with the aim of protecting their critical infrastructure, defending their networks, ensuring civil preparedness and resilience, unlocking innovation potential and strengthening their defense industrial base; they will be able to declare each year under this component expenditures representing up to 1.5% of GDP. The trajectory and distribution of expenditure set out here will be reviewed in 2029, in light of the changing strategic context and the review of capability objectives [...] Aid that contributes directly to the defense of Ukraine and the development of its defense industry will be included in the calculation of the Allies’ defense expenditure."

This is the editorial from our paywalled "Voltaire, international newsletter", n°139.

https://www.voltairenet.org/article222537.html

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

 

Not daddy cool, but daddy fool.....

Trump Asked Zelensky If He Could Strike Moscow If the US Provided Longer-Range Weapons

 

    Trump later denied that he was considering sending long-range weapons to Ukraine and said that Ukraine shouldn't target Moscow 

     by Dave DeCamp | Jul 15, 2025

Updated on July 15, 2025, at 2:50 pm EST

 

President Trump has encouraged Ukraine to step up strikes deep inside Russia and even asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky if his forces were capable of striking Moscow if the US provided longer-range weapons, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

Sources told the FT that the conversation occurred during a July 4 phone call. “Volodymyr, can you hit Moscow? . . . Can you hit St Petersburg too?” Trump asked. Zelensky replied that his forces could “absolutely” strike the Russian cities if the US provided the necessary weapons.

The report said that Trump signaled backing for the idea of providing long-range weapons in order to “make them [Russians] feel the pain” to pressure Moscow at the negotiating table. In comments to reporters, Trump later denied that he was considering providing Ukraine with long-range weapons and said that Zelensky “shouldn’t target Moscow.”

The White House confirmed that the conversation about striking Moscow took place, but insisted Trump wasn’t encouraging Ukrainian attacks inside Russia. A White House official told the BBC that Trump was “merely asking a question, not encouraging further killing. He’s working tirelessly to stop the killing and end this war.”

The FT report said that US officials have also provided Zelensky with a list of potential long-range weapons the US could supply. The Ukrainians have been asking for Tomahawk missiles, which have a range of over 1,000 miles, making them capable of hitting Moscow from Ukrainian territory.

Last year, the Biden administration gave Ukraine the green light to use ATACMS missiles in strikes on Russian territory. The ATACMS have a range of about 190, which is not far enough to hit Moscow. Moscow has made clear that attacks on its territory risk nuclear escalation since it lowered the threshold for its use of nuclear weapons in response to the US backing ATACMS attacks on Russia.

The revelation about the Trump-Zelensky call came after the US president announced a new plan to provide Ukraine with “billions of dollars” worth of weapons by selling arms to NATO countries that will then transfer them to the war-torn nation. He also threatened major tariffs on Russia and its trading partners if a peace deal isn’t reached in 50 days, an ultimatum Moscow has rejected.

https://news.antiwar.com/2025/07/15/trump-asked-zelensky-if-he-could-strike-moscow-if-the-us-provided-longer-range-weapons/

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxq-vzLEH6A

The discussion continues by analyzing the Russian response to Trump’s recent “50-day ultimatum” for ending the war in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasized that Russia's military actions aim to eliminate long-standing NATO threats at its borders. Lavrov stressed that the West's hostility toward Russia has nothing to do with ideology—whether the Soviet Union was communist or today’s Russia is nationalist and capitalist. The perception in Moscow is that the West seeks to contain or destroy Russia regardless of its political system.

Larry Johnson, the guest analyst, supports this view, arguing that Russia's warnings were ignored and likens the West’s disregard to “touching a hot stove.” He also warns that some of Trump’s floated policies—such as sending Tomahawk cruise missiles—could have triggered nuclear conflict, as Russia would not be able to distinguish between conventional and nuclear warheads in real time.

Lavrov also questioned Trump's credibility, noting his shifting timelines—from 24 hours to 100 days to now 50 days. Russia interprets this as incoherent and driven by Western and NATO pressure on Trump, especially from pro-Ukraine actors like Zelensky.

The panel then critiques Trump’s inconsistent stance toward Zelensky, noting that even after a public shouting match in the Oval Office, Trump appeared to revert back to appeasing him. Johnson suggests Trump is insecure and easily manipulated in private settings, which Zelensky may have exploited by appealing to Trump's ego. In contrast, Putin, while respectful, does not flatter Trump.

Finally, Johnson criticizes Trump’s one-sided rhetoric, pointing out that he has failed to condemn Ukrainian attacks on Russian civilians, while falsely accusing Russia of deliberately targeting civilians—despite evidence that Russia uses precision strikes.

Russian Warnings Being Ignored /Lt Col Daniel Davis & Larry Johnson

 

MAKE A DEAL PRONTO BEFORE THE SHIT HITS THE FAN:

NO NATO IN "UKRAINE" (WHAT'S LEFT OF IT)

THE DONBASS REPUBLICS ARE NOW BACK IN THE RUSSIAN FOLD — AS THEY USED TO BE PRIOR 1922. THE RUSSIANS WON'T ABANDON THESE AGAIN.

THESE WILL ALSO INCLUDE ODESSA, KHERSON AND KHARKIV.....

CRIMEA IS RUSSIAN — AS IT USED TO BE PRIOR 1954

TRANSNISTRIA WILL BE PART OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

A MEMORANDUM OF NON-AGGRESSION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE USA.

 

EASY.

 

THE WEST KNOWS IT.

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

 

SEE ALSO: https://yourdemocracy.net/drupal/node/43171