by Oui
Tue Dec 2nd, 2025 at 11:45:42 PM EST
Escalation may end in Russia conquering more territory on the Southern border and leave Ukraine as an independent, but landlocked nation.
Will Russia retaliate by shutting Odessa as Ukrainian port to the black Sea?
The Crown Jewel of the British Empire and Tory foreign policy vs Ukraine.
🇷🇺⚔️🇺🇦
Putin warned that Russia could cut Ukraine
off from the sea entirely if Kiev continues
its pirate-style attacks on Russian vessels.
Russo-Ukraine Conflict - View from the Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean | VIF Indis - 17 March 2022 |
Biggest advances have been made by the Russian forces in the South where they captured Kherson in the second week. Heavy bombardment in Mariupol port indicates the strategic value Russia attributes to this port probably because it lies between the Russia-backed-separatist-held eastern Ukraine and the Black Sea Crimean peninsula which Moscow seized from Kiev in 2014. The thrust on Ukraine's southern front aims to strategically cut the country off from the sea and provide a land bridge between Crimea and breakaway Donbas Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk and onto mainland Russia.
President Vladimir Putin has put his nuclear forces on "a special mode of combat duty" bringing a nuclear over hang over the conflict and an indirect warning to NATO to stay out of the conflict.
Odessa enduring hybrid war despite Black Sea ceasefire | TRT World |
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Moldova corridor for arms smuggling
Подробности скандала о контрабанде оружия, ввезенного в Молдову из Украины. Власти обещают отставки
Details of the arms smuggling scandal brought into Moldova from Ukraine. Authorities promise resignations.
The sabotage-terror arms corridor Ukraine-Moldova-Türkiye with involvement of Israel ... need reminding the same consortium supported Syrian terrorist Jolani in blitzkrieg to overthrow Bashar Al-Assad one year ago ... seems like eternity. The Idlib based Khorasan group hired Tajiks for the Moscow City Hall terror strike. Earlier IS-K bombed the burial site of Soleimani during an commemoration in Januari 2024.
Turkey's Evolving Geopolitical Strategy in the Black Sea | FPRI |
Fidan press briefing progress needed EU membership
Türkiye puts onus of membership bid on EU, urges political will | TRT World |
Ankara's top diplomat says Türkiye still seeks full EU membership, outlines emerging openings for peace in Ukraine, and warns regional stability efforts face new risks.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made Ankara's desire to join the European Union "crystal clear", stressing that the next step must come from Brussels and that a "political will in Europe" could swiftly resolve the remaining obstacles to Türkiye's accession.
Speaking to Germany's Welt am Sonntag during a visit to Berlin on Saturday, Fidan said Türkiye still seeks full EU membership and expects "objective and fair progress", arguing that past blockages stemmed from political objections by certain member states rather than technical shortcomings in the negotiation process.
Russia-Ukraine
On the war in Ukraine, Fidan said both Kiev and Moscow now appear "more prepared for peace" than in the early months of the conflict.
He asserted that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to agree to a ceasefire and a broader peace deal "under certain conditions," noting that Türkiye has conveyed such signals to Ukraine and is engaged in parts of the ongoing diplomatic effort.
Fidan highlighted the debate over security guarantees for Ukraine, distinguishing between NATO forces and non-NATO international observer missions.
He said Washington is discussing a security guarantee that resembles NATO's Article 5, while European countries insist Kiev should decide its security arrangements independently.
Russia, meanwhile, views the "upper limit" of any deal as part of its own security framework, he added.
A lasting peace, he said, would require detailed clauses and "explicit commitments" ensuring that neither side attacks the other "for any reason", which he argued could secure Europe's stability for decades.
Türkiye, Iran vow deeper cooperation, slam Israel as biggest threat
See also yesterday's diary ...
Severe Drought In Tehran, Iran
