US allies from around the world — including NATO nations but also many others from Asia, Africa, and beyond — are openly discussing how best to strengthen Ukraine to resist Russian aggression and to throw the invaders back to original borders. This tougher attitude comes in spite of recent multiple Russian threats to trigger a global thermonuclear war if it is not allowed to annex any country it decides to take over.
The congregation of so many countries – not only from NATO allies, but also partners based in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East – on Tuesday sends “a powerful signal,” Austin continued. Several nations, including Germany and Canada, announced new heavy weapons shipments to Ukraine over the course of the event.
Meeting Every Month Until Russia Driven Out
The aim is to render Russia incapable of doing to any other country what it has attempted to do to Ukraine. 40 nations met in Germany with a common goal of putting an end to international Russian barbarism for the foreseeable future.
[US SecDef] Austin earlier met with his counterparts and other defense officials to discuss aid for Ukraine, the progress of the conflict, as well as Kyiv’s postwar military needs.
He said allies will now meet monthly to discuss Ukraine’s self-defense and “continue to build on our progress,” with gatherings to be in person, virtual or mixed.
Austin also said officials are coming away from the meeting determined to help Ukraine win the war and build strength for future conflicts, noting that Germany earlier on Tuesday pledged 50 Cheetah anti-aircraft armored vehicles and Canada the same day announced it would also send armored vehicles.
International Consultative Group of 40 Nations
Germany prepares to send 100 armored infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine
Is it Time to De-Nazify Russia?
If there is any country in the world reminiscent of Nazi Germany these days — besides communist China — it would surely be Putin’s Russia. While Putin is distracted by his attempts to de-Nazify Ukraine — a country that he says does not really exist — it is more obvious every day that the country that truly needs de-Nazification is Russia. Starting in the Kremlin and working outward, winnowing the elites without mercy, scrub the Nazism out of the empire.
If Russia were to cleanse itself of Nazism, there would be a lot less work for the war crimes tribunal — a Nuremberg like international court — that will take up where internal de-Nazification leaves off.
Russian Forces Go Deeper In the Quicksand
Russia’s military forces have been losing 1,000 casualties daily, on average, since the expanded invasion began in late February of this year. Dead and wounded, roughly 60,000 Russian personnel have been rendered incapable of combat, and several hundreds join them every day. As Ukrainians become more proficient with a wider range of weapons, those numbers could go up steeply. Particularly as Russians mass their forces in the open.
The Kremlin and the Russian high command do not seem to have any brilliant new tactics or strategy — just more pounding of civilian infrastructure in the attempt to make Ukraine unlivable and unworkable as a going concern. But it is a stupid strategy to give your opponent no choice other than total destruction. Every Ukrainian understands what happens to those who surrender to Russia. “Filtration,” rape, murder, and transport to the neo-gulags.
….. over 20,000 people are deported to Russia every day, and Ukrainians are in 35 regions of the Russian Federation. Denisova said this fact was confirmed by the Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia, Tatiana Moskalkova.
“Currently, there is a filtration camp in the Donetsk region, where more than 10,000 of our citizens are staying. These are filtration camps in which they force our citizens to cooperate. Learn about their interests and their support for Ukraine or Russia. They will find out if there are acquaintances of law enforcement officers, and then they will be arrested and tortured, and possibly destroyed in this way,” Denisova added.
Filtration Camps
There is a growing mass of wrongs to be avenged, the longer Russia rampages outside of its boundaries. It would be best for Russia’s current leadership to die off, allowing Russians to choose a less destructive path to oblivion, earning less vengeance from those it has wronged than is likely to be the case if Russia continues along its current path.
al fin next level 
With all the threats from Russia it might be worthwhile preparing the world (at least through unofficial channels—popular media debates) for the idea of a preemptive nuclear strike on Moscow. Even if it isn’t very likely it is an idea that should be discussed before hand, rather than after. Maybe it would help Russia see that this isn’t a game.
The Soviets once asked the Americans how they would react if the USSR nuked China. America helped defuse tension between the 2 in that context but it might be worth asking China (privately) what their to taking out Moscow and a few silos, ships and subs would be. Just for the record, hypothetically speaking.
Saint Petersburg might be a better capital of whatever is left of Russia when all this is over.
Interesting.
Putin is bringing about all the things he hoped to prevent by invading Ukraine. Calling his actions counter-productive is a vast understatement.
His constant threats to use his nuclear weapons fleet can have multiple unpleasant consequences for Russia in a relatively short time.
The oligarchs and siloviki do not want to lose everything they have based upon Putin’s long string of miscalculations.
https://warontherocks.com/2022/04/ukraines-military-advantage-and-russias-stark-choices/
Until China gains control of Taiwan, I don’t see it taking any big chances. It wants Siberian resources, but China has time to play out its hand, unlike Russia.