Cheng Mo: Let's talk about why the United States does not use the lease law to aid Ukraine Russia has launched large-scale air strikes on Ukraine
Original Cheng Mo Visionary 2024-04-12 14:51
Morning Mist / Repost
Executive summary: 1. Let's talk about why the United States does not use the lease bill to aid Ukraine; 2. The Russian army launched large-scale attacks on Ukrainian cities; 3. Zelensky said that he had formulated a new counteroffensive plan and responded to Trump's "land cession and peace" plan; 4. Slovakia reached an agreement on lifting restrictions on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products; 5. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba revealed that he is trying to obtain 7 sets of "Patriot" air defense systems from other countries as soon as possible; 6. The Ukrainian parliament passed a new conscription and mobilization law; 7. Ukraine and Latvia signed a bilateral security agreement.
I have repeated this question at least three times more than three times, and even made the title of the article once, and it is clear that very few readers have read my series of articles continuously.
I repeat it again today: every penny that the U.S. government spends, whether it's foreign aid or lending for Lend-Lease supplies, must be approved by Congress, and before the 2023 fiscal year, that is, September 2023, the U.S. Congress approved a large amount of gratuitous aid appropriations for Ukraine, and there is no need to use the lease law for Ukraine, and after September 2023, the use of the lease bill for Ukraine requires congressional approval of a borrowing line for leased goods. Without this capital budget, the US government cannot issue production orders to military industrial enterprises at all, nor can it use US military stocks.
The Trump camp originally did not agree to give Ukraine another penny of free aid, but agreed to give a loan line, that is, the "innovative" aid bill that the speaker of the House of Representatives said two weeks ago, and promised to submit it to a vote immediately after the resumption of the House of Representatives. The latest news is that the Trump camp has proposed that the Biden administration agree to issue more oil and gas exploration licenses before discussing any aid to Ukraine.
The "Huachuan fans" who have a greater voice on the Chinese Simplified Chinese network, in order to prove that the United States' ineffective aid to Ukraine is all Biden's fault, has nothing to do with the Trump camp, ignoring the basic fact that the Republican hardliners have stuck all the aid bills in the US House of Representatives, always leaving messages in the background of my public account, putting forward all kinds of strong words and far-fetched absurd explanations, just as they still believe that the 2020 US election is Biden stealing the presidency through fraud, I don't want to do any war of words, I will not make any response.
On the issue of the US House of Representatives blocking a vote on any appropriations bill for Ukraine, I insist on three basic points:
First, in order to help Trump's election, the hardliners of the Republican Party have tied foreign affairs issues involving major US security interests to domestic affairs, setting a historical precedent for vicious bipartisan rivalry in the US, seriously dealing a blow to US global influence, and causing great harm to US long-term interests.
Second, the vicious fighting between the two parties in the United States has developed to this extent, including the fact that the Republican Party can be kidnapped by Trump, proves that there is indeed something wrong with American society and the current system, but I believe that American society and its system still have a strong error correction mechanism.
Third, the issue of immigration in the United States, traditional energy and new energy policies, the two parties have been at loggerheads for a long time, and it is indeed a mixed bag, and Americans can choose with their own votes. Some outsiders who have been living in an information cocoon for a long time have insisted on taking the position of the US Democratic Party or the Republican Party, making irresponsible remarks about the choices of the majority of the US people, and making sarcastic ridicule of US internal affairs.
(U.S. bipartisan rivalry chills allies)
Late at night on April 10 and early morning on the 11th, the Russian army launched large-scale missile and drone attacks on Ukraine, and energy infrastructure such as power plants in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Lviv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, and Sumy regions were attacked.
The Russian army launched a total of 20 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles, 6 Kh-47M2 "Dagger" hypersonic missiles, 12 S-300 anti-aircraft missiles, 4 Kh-59 supersonic missiles, and 40 "Shahed" drones. Ukrainian air defense forces shot down 16 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles, 2 Kh-59 missiles, and 39 Shahed drones.
A large thermal power station, the Trepylia thermal power station, located 45 km from the city of Kyiv, was hit by Russian missiles. The steam turbine workshop was blown up, which led to a complete cessation of power generation at the power station.
In the early morning of today (12th), the Russian army continued to attack Ukraine with missiles and drones, and air defense sirens sounded in cities around the country. The details of the attacks have not been announced.
Russia's recent attacks on power generation facilities across Ukraine have reduced Ukraine's electricity generation by 30% and have resulted in several regions having to rotate power supply. Depending on the degree of damage, it may take about 1-3 months to repair the damaged power facilities.
On the one hand, Ukraine imports electricity from its neighbors in Eastern Europe to reduce the pressure on power supply, and at the same time, it is supported by power equipment from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, the European Union and other countries, and is stepping up efforts to repair damaged power facilities.
At the same time, because Ukraine is currently entering the spring, the temperature is gradually warming, and the lack of power supply will affect some industrial production and residents' lives, but compared with the cold winter of 2022, when a large number of power facilities were destroyed by the Russian army, this round of Russian attacks on power facilities in Ukraine has much less impact on the lives of ordinary people.
In the case that Ukraine already has the large-scale production capacity of long-range drones, Russia's indiscriminate bombardment of Ukrainian cities will definitely provoke fierce retaliation from Ukraine, and it will definitely not be unable to fight back like in the winter of 2022.
(Thermal power plant on the outskirts of Kyiv was bombed)
On April 10, the German newspaper "Bild" published an exclusive interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky said that Ukraine had developed a new counteroffensive plan, called on Western allies to provide more weapons and ammunition, and once again responded to Trump's plan of "ceding land and seeking peace".
In the interview, Zelensky admitted that the counteroffensive plan in June last year was not successful enough and did not achieve the desired effect. He said that Ukraine has developed a counteroffensive plan, but this will require weapons and ammunition and military assistance from the United States. He vowed that the next counteroffensive "must achieve some results."
He acknowledged that Russia's attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure has caused great harm to Ukraine. "It had a major impact on the war," he said. The attack on energy supplies has caused great suffering to the Ukrainian population and cities. He called on allies to provide more air defense systems.
In response to the recent frequent attacks by the Russian army on Kharkiv and the fact that Russia seems to be massing troops and equipment in the Kharkiv direction, Zelensky said that he did not rule out the possibility of a new large-scale offensive by the Russian army on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, but said that Ukraine is making every effort to prevent this from happening.
Regarding the prospect of a ceasefire, Zelenskyy expressed opposition to leaving the Russia-Ukraine conflict in a "frozen" state, saying that "freezing the war will only give Russia the opportunity to increase the production and stockpiles of military equipment, missiles and drones, and accumulate the ability to attack Ukraine on a larger scale." Zelensky shouted to European leaders and named German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, saying not to fall into the trap of "freezing the war".
Referring to Trump's plan to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Zelenskyy avoided fierce criticism of Trump this time, saying, "If his plan is for us to give up territory directly, then it is very simple and primitive." He added that he was willing to listen to Trump's proposal, "but we need strong arguments." What we need is not a fantastic idea, but a tangible one. Human life is at stake, and we can't joke about it, and we can't take risks. ”
Zelenskyy also revealed that he did not call Trump, but had publicly and privately invited Trump to visit Ukraine, and that Trump had expressed a desire to visit Ukraine but did not specify a specific time. Zelenskyy said he hoped Trump would "soon" implement the visit.
With Trump's openly expressed pro-Russian stance, I don't think Trump is likely to accept Zelensky's invitation to visit Ukraine.
(Zelensky inspects the front line on April 9)
Ukrainian Prime Minister Shmygal, who is visiting Slovakia, said on April 11 that Ukraine and Slovakia have reached an agreement on lifting restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural products. Earlier, the EU had already extended the duty-free policy for imports of Ukrainian agricultural products.
Polish farmers are still fiercely protesting against the import of Ukrainian agricultural products, and they still occupy several Polish border crossings close to Ukraine. The Polish government has introduced a series of subsidy policies for farmers, but farmers believe that government subsidies are not enough to compensate for their losses.
According to a report by The Washington Post on April 10, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba said that Ukraine needs more "Patriot" anti-aircraft missiles to protect Ukraine's population centers and frontline areas.
Kuleba revealed that it is currently focusing on obtaining seven "Patriot" air defense systems from other countries as soon as possible to defend major Ukrainian cities, and at the same time deploying at least one of the "Patriot" air defense systems close to the front line to prevent the Russian Aerospace Forces from firing gliding bombs close to the Ukrainian defense line.
At present, Ukraine has about 3-4 Patriot air defense systems, each with about 6-8 missile launchers, most of which are deployed in the Kyiv region to protect the capital. If 7 more Patriot air defense systems are obtained, at least 2-3 can be deployed to the front line, thereby significantly reducing the threat to the Ukrainian army posed by the Russian Aerospace Forces from launching gliding bombs close to the forward positions of the Ukrainian army.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a new mobilization law on April 11, which came into force on May 1 after Zelensky signed it. The new mobilization law will allow Ukraine to call up more troops to replenish the losses in the war.
On April 11, Ukraine and Latvia signed a bilateral security agreement. The agreement stipulates that Latvia will provide Ukraine with long-term assistance and security commitments, confirming Latvia's commitment to helping Ukraine rebuild, protect critical infrastructure, mine clearance, unmanned technology and cyber security over the next 10 years, provide Ukraine with an annual aid equivalent to 0.25% of its GDP from 2024 to 2026, and provide an additional 112 million euros in military aid to Ukraine in 2024.
As I have explained many times, the amount of aid to Ukraine in the three Baltic countries ranks first among all countries in terms of GDP.
Fighting has continued on the line of contact between Russia and Ukraine over the past 24 hours, with the heaviest clashes taking place around Bakhmut and in the area west of Avdiivka, where Ukrainian forces have repelled all Russian attacks.
On the 779th day of the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the Ukrainian General Staff announced that the battle losses of the Russian army (including Russian locals, enterprises, and separatist groups) in the past 24 hours were as follows: 840 Russian troops were annihilated (killed and seriously wounded), and a total of 451,700 Russian troops were annihilated; Destroyed 9 tanks, 19 armored vehicles, 1 air defense system, 2 rocket launch systems, 41 fuel tankers and logistics heavy-duty vehicles, 6 sets of special equipment (mainly electronic warfare equipment), 34 artillery pieces, intercepted 57 suicide drones, 18 missiles.
(Russian army battle losses counted by the Ukrainian side on April 12)
Based on various information, I roughly estimated that the losses of Ukrainian officers and soldiers were about 94,000, of which the number of dead and seriously injured was also 1:1, and more than 20,000 Ukrainian civilians were killed. The warriors of Ukraine who died defending their homeland will return to heaven with glory and be with God.
Let us continue to pray that God will give peace and put an end to wars, that the wicked may be rewarded and the good be sheltered.
Information source: 2024-04-12 WeChat official account Vision
ID:yjzd-303
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