War

DIY-HP-LED

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Ex-CIA director predicts ‘terrible, painful retreat’ for Russia
262,395 views Sep 16, 2022 Retired US Army general and former CIA Director David Petraeus tells CNN’s Jim Sciutto that he thinks Ukraine’s counteroffensive has placed Russia in a “disastrous situation.”
 

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With a Russian nudge, Turkey and Syria step up contacts
Turkey’s intelligence chief has held multiple meetings with his Syrian counterpart in Damascus over the last few weeks, a sign of Russian efforts to encourage a thaw between states on opposite sides of Syria’s war, four sources said.

A regional source aligned with Damascus said that Hakan Fidan, head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization, and Syrian intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk met as recently as this week in the Syrian capital.

The contacts reflect a Russian policy shift as Moscow steels itself for a protracted conflict in Ukraine and seeks to secure its position in Syria, where its forces have supported President Bashar Assad since 2015, according to two Turkish officials and the regional source.
Any normalization between Ankara and Damascus would reshape the decade-long Syrian war.

Turkish backing has been vital to sustaining Syrian fighters in their last major territorial foothold in the northwest, after Assad defeated the insurgency across the rest of the country, aided by Russia and Iran.

But rapprochement faces big complications, including the fate of rebel fighters and millions of civilians, many of whom fled to the northwest to escape Assad’s rule.
Turkey, a NATO member country, has troops on the ground across the area, deemed occupying forces by Assad.

During the meetings, Fidan — one of President Tayyip Erdogan’s closest confidants — and Mamlouk evaluated how the two countries’ foreign ministers could eventually meet, according to a senior Turkish official and a Turkish security source.
“Russia wants Syria and Turkey to overcome their problems and achieve certain agreements ... which are in the interest of everyone, both Turkey and Syria,” said the Turkish official.

One big challenge is Turkey’s desire to include Syrian rebels in any talks with Damascus, the official added.
The Turkish security official said Russia has gradually withdrawn some military resources from Syria in order to focus on Ukraine, and had asked Turkey to normalise relations with Assad to “accelerate a political solution” in Syria.

The Damascus-allied source said Russia had nudged Syria to enter talks as Moscow seeks to nail down its position and that of Assad in the event it must redeploy forces to Ukraine. Russia has sustained stunning losses on the ground in Ukraine over the past week.
The most recent meetings — including a two-day visit by Fidan to Damascus at the end of August — had sought to lay the ground for sessions at a higher level, the source said.

The senior Turkish official said Ankara does not want to see Iranian or Iran-backed forces — already widely deployed in regime-controlled parts of Syria — plugging gaps left by Russian withdrawals.

The Turkish security official said neither did Russia want to see Iranian influence expand as it reduces its presence.
A diplomat based in the region said Russia had pulled a limited number of troops out of Syria’s south earlier this summer, particularly in areas along the border with Israel that were later filled by Iran-aligned forces. While Fidan and Mamlouk have spoken intermittently over the last two years, the pace and timing of recent meetings suggests a new urgency to the contacts.
The regional source allied to Damascus and a second senior pro-Assad source in the Middle East said the Turkish-Syrian contacts had made a lot of progress, without giving details.

A third regional source aligned with Damascus said Turkish-Syrian relations had begun to thaw and were advancing to a stage of “creating a climate for understanding.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Turkey’s MIT declined to comment and the Foreign Ministry did not immediately comment.
The Syrian Information Ministry did not immediately reply to emailed questions from Reuters.

Turkish-Syrian rapprochement seemed unthinkable earlier in the Syrian conflict, which spiraled out of an uprising against Assad in 2011, killing hundreds of thousands of people, drawing in numerous foreign powers, and splintering the country. Erdogan has called Assad a terrorist and said there could be no peace in Syria with him in office, while Assad has called Erdogan a thief for “stealing” Syrian land.

But in an apparent change of tone last month, Erdogan said he could never rule out dialogue and diplomacy with Syria.
Erdogan faces tight elections next year in which a key issue will be repatriating some of the 3.7 million Syrian refugees now in Turkey.
The Turkish-Syrian contacts come against the backdrop of a flurry of meetings between Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin, including one planned on Friday in Uzbekistan.

In July, Turkey helped seal a UN-backed deal that lifted a blockade on grain exports from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports..
After a recent visit to Moscow, Erdogan said Putin had suggested Turkey cooperate with Damascus along their joint border, where Ankara has waged several offensives into areas where Syrian Kurdish groups have carved out autonomy since 2011.
Turkey has been threatening to launch another offensive against the US-backed Kurdish forces, which Ankara deems a national security threat.
Russia has signaled opposition to such an incursion.
 

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Germany takes control of Russian-owned oil refineries
The German government has seized control of three Russian-owned oil refineries to secure supplies of gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel.

Germany’s economy ministry announced on Friday that it had temporarily taken over Russian oil giant Rosneft’s subsidiaries in the country. Rosneft Deutschland and RN Refining & Marketing account for about 12% of Germany’s oil refining capacity, the ministry said in a statement.

The move was designed to “counter the threat to the security of energy supply,” it added.

Europe has been embroiled in a bitter energy standoff with Russia since Moscow invaded Ukraine in late February, and its imports of Russian oil and natural gas have fallen sharply.

Germany’s Federal Network Agency, which regulates its gas and electricity industries, will control Rosneft’s shares in three refineries: PCK Schwedt, near Berlin, MiRo, near Heidelberg, and Bayernoil in Bavaria.

Fuel for the capital
The Schwedt refinery is particularly important to Germany’s energy needs, processing about 220,000 barrels of crude a day. It is responsible for supplying about 90% of Berlin’s fuel, according to Reuters.

In May, the European Union agreed to ban 90% of Russian oil imports by the end of the year to choke off a vital source of funding for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Russia delivers crude oil to the Schwedt refinery via the Druzhba pipeline. The German economy ministry said that it would try to find alternate supply routes.

Shell (SHLX), which owns a 37.5% stake in Schwedt, told CNN Business on Friday that it was “unaffected” by the takeover.

[Shell] will continue to comply with its contractual obligations in accordance with its own shares,” a company spokesperson told CNN Business.
Shell added that it could not speculate on how Schwedt would continue to operate.
 

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
Germany takes control of Russian-owned oil refineries
The German government has seized control of three Russian-owned oil refineries to secure supplies of gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel.

Germany’s economy ministry announced on Friday that it had temporarily taken over Russian oil giant Rosneft’s subsidiaries in the country. Rosneft Deutschland and RN Refining & Marketing account for about 12% of Germany’s oil refining capacity, the ministry said in a statement.

The move was designed to “counter the threat to the security of energy supply,” it added.

Europe has been embroiled in a bitter energy standoff with Russia since Moscow invaded Ukraine in late February, and its imports of Russian oil and natural gas have fallen sharply.

Germany’s Federal Network Agency, which regulates its gas and electricity industries, will control Rosneft’s shares in three refineries: PCK Schwedt, near Berlin, MiRo, near Heidelberg, and Bayernoil in Bavaria.

Fuel for the capital
The Schwedt refinery is particularly important to Germany’s energy needs, processing about 220,000 barrels of crude a day. It is responsible for supplying about 90% of Berlin’s fuel, according to Reuters.

In May, the European Union agreed to ban 90% of Russian oil imports by the end of the year to choke off a vital source of funding for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Russia delivers crude oil to the Schwedt refinery via the Druzhba pipeline. The German economy ministry said that it would try to find alternate supply routes.

Shell (SHLX), which owns a 37.5% stake in Schwedt, told CNN Business on Friday that it was “unaffected” by the takeover.

[Shell] will continue to comply with its contractual obligations in accordance with its own shares,” a company spokesperson told CNN Business.
Shell added that it could not speculate on how Schwedt would continue to operate.
every country in the world that has russian refineries, russian pipelines, any significant russian industry of any kind, should nationalize all of it, now. let russia rebuild from the ground up. then it will take longer for russia to become strong enough to attack their next neighbor.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member

Russia is in a Very Serious Situation - General David Petraeus

Former US Army General David Petraeus joins the Renew Democracy Initiative to offer his insights on Ukraine's swift victories in the northeast and its implications for Vladimir Putin, Russia’s deteriorating military system in the face of Ukrainian resilience, and what the future may hold for Ukraine’s military on their path to securing freedom.

Ukrainian forces are advancing in the northeast region, causing massive setbacks for the Kremlin. General Petraeus discusses the Russian response as they attempt to put out the fires ignited by the Ukrainian counteroffensive, stating that the Kremlin is opting to blame the Russian military, the defense ministry, and anyone who underestimated the fortitude and cunning of the Ukrainian army, except for Vladimir Putin, of course. Petraeus rightly notes the surprise of Russian television networks regarding the successful counteroffensive, a reaction notable enough to make noise in western media.

Ukraine's stunning success is not good news for Putin and the Russian military. General Petraeus has little faith in Russia’s ability to regroup its army, reestablish new defensive lines, and successfully craft and execute coherent plans. The Russian military is logistically bankrupt. Petraeus explains that it is hard to tell how many months it would take for Russia to recruit more people to join their ranks, provide adequate training to convert those people into soldiers, and even correctly equip them to wage a successful fight against a momentous Ukrainian counteroffensive.

With Ukraine’s disciplined military training and successful strategic operations, General Petraeus sees new possibilities for what the Ukrainian military can achieve in their campaign for freedom. Petraeus believes Ukraine’s allies must provide the support necessary to reconquer all territory lost to the Russians. He reminds us not to underestimate Ukraine, as many did months ago when many believed Kyiv would fall to the Russians. Ukraine proved many who doubted them wrong when it successfully defended Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy.

Ukrainians have tasted victory and are harnessing their impressive momentum to push towards the liberation of their territory. Many challenges lie ahead for Ukrainians, but General Petraeus acknowledges Ukrainian resolve and is impressed by their endurance. Ultimately, Petraeus credits Ukraine's fighting spirit and patriotism for their success against the Russian military, an element that the Kremlin appears to be lacking.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member

Putin's tactical nukes 'won't be much use' in Ukraine | Michael Clarke
134,762 views Sep 16, 2022 "To cross the nuclear threshold, even with a small nuclear weapon, I think would turn even China against President Putin and Russia." China and Ukrainian tactics have made Russia's nuclear arsenal impotent, Defence Analyst Michael Clarke tells Times Radio.
 

PJ Diaz

Well-Known Member

Putin's tactical nukes 'won't be much use' in Ukraine | Michael Clarke
134,762 views Sep 16, 2022 "To cross the nuclear threshold, even with a small nuclear weapon, I think would turn even China against President Putin and Russia." China and Ukrainian tactics have made Russia's nuclear arsenal impotent, Defence Analyst Michael Clarke tells Times Radio.
Putin won't use nukes so close to Russian soil anyway. He doesn't want to take control of radioactive lands.
 
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