@Kierkegaanks
I believe the reason is simply that most EU politicians have realized there is no use, and no benefit, in dealing with the USA.

The EU focus is now on the Eastern side of the union. In other words: how do we deal with Putin once Trump decides to break up NATO and withdraw all US troops from Europe?

@Kierkegaanks

The issue at hand is the US military. The EU would like the Yanks to stay put for as long as possible, in order to prepare for the 'inevitable' clash with Russia.

And so, it avoids criticizing the orange idiot in the White House for the time being.

In this, it follows the US doctrine at the start of the Iraq war, which was at the time: "Ignore Russia, Forgive Germany, Punish France". The current EU doctrine being: "Ignore China, Forgive the US, Punish Russia".

@Kierkegaanks @ParadeGrotesque the inevitable clash with Russia is just a self fulfilling prophecy the EU is enacting at this point, it's also clear that there's no chance of EU being able to compete with Russia militarily given that all Russia outproduces all of NATO where the US accounts for around 70% of military production.

Europeans seem to be completely divorced from the material reality we inhabit at this point.

Sabre-rattling by Russia is definitely NOT improving relations. I hope cooler heads will prevail but it seems to me the Kremlin has started believing its own B.S.

Let's face it: Russia is slowly being bled dry by the attrition in Ukraine. Remember how that was supposed to be over in 2 weeks, tops?

Sure, it is slowly advancing, but at a terrible human & resource cost. Overall, EU and US weapons are making a huge difference because they are vastly superior.

@Kierkegaanks

@ParadeGrotesque @Kierkegaanks there is zero indication that Russia is being bled in Ukraine, Russian army is now bigger than it was before the start of the war, and Russian military production is significantly outpacing the west at this point, here are some raw numbers for you to put things in perspective dialecticaldispatches.substack…

Also, Russia never said this would be over in two weeks tops. This is a line that came out of Biden admin. You'll never find a single Russian statement to that effect.

When Market Fundamentalism Collides With Command Economies

The belief that market-driven economies inherently outperform state-coordinated systems has long been a foundational tenet of Western economic orthodoxy.

^{Dialectical Dispatches}

@ParadeGrotesque @Kierkegaanks meanwhile, the notion that western weapons are in any way superior is pure propaganda. It's incredible people still believe this after the past three years. Here's what analysis from the Royal United Services Institute has to say on the subject.

rusi.org/explore-our-research/…

The Attritional Art of War: Lessons from the Russian War on Ukraine

If the West is serious about the possibility of a great power conflict, it needs to take a hard look at its capacity to wage a protracted war and to pursue a strategy focused on attrition rather than manoeuvre.

^www.rusi.org

Anyhow, I know you probably disagree with most of what I said. Feel free to agree to disagree... 😉

@Kierkegaanks

OK, I'll bite:

According to research by the think tank RUSI, when Vladimir Putin began his invasion, he expected to take control of Ukraine within 10 days. [...]

But don't take my word for it:

iwm.org.uk/history/how-Putin-l…

@Kierkegaanks

Which is probably why Ukrainians, armed with portable Javelin anti-tank missiles (or equivalent) were able to stop columns of modern Russian tanks trying to get to Kyiv.

Again, feel free to ignore me, I don't think we will reach an agreement on this one.

@Kierkegaanks

@ParadeGrotesque @Kierkegaanks oh you mean things that never actually happened. What actually happened was that Russia withdrew troops from around Kiev as a gesture of good will when Istanbul negotiations looked like they were close to ending the war. This was done at the urging of western powers as is now on public record. Then Bojo flew in to Ukraine and told Ukrainians to abandon negotiations.

But by all means, let's not let facts get in the way of your narrative.

It is well documented that Putin said he could take over Kiev in two weeks around 2014.

But then again, @yogthos is proud of “Made in USSR” — a genocidical nation that killed millions… maybe one shouldn’t take a Russian troll and Putin puppet seriously.

@ParadeGrotesque @Kierkegaanks