Geopolitics
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Summary of Military Aid to Ukraine in Feb 2022 as of 27 Feb
Germany1000 anti-tank weapon500 Stinger missiles Netherland400 rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers200 Stinger missiles100 sniper rifles30000 rounds of ammunition? x radar devices? x landmine detectors Poland ? x ammunition Estonia? x 122mm howitzers? x Javelin anti-tank missiles Latvia ? x Javelin anti-tank missiles Lithuania? x Stinger missiles? x ammunition Bulgariaannounced but unknown Belgium2000 machine guns3800 tonnes fuel…
Germany finally stop their military rot: promising to keep defense spending above NATO’s 2% GDP requirement
Germany, one of the country specifically called out by former US President Donald Trump, for failing to meet NATO requirement of annual defense spending of at least 2% of the GDP, has finally committed officially to keep it’s defense spending over 2% of GDP immediately. This is the most significant shift in Germany’s policy when…
Belarus to vote on constitutional changes to host nuclear weapons and effectively make Lukashenka a dictator – Russia pushed to the brink
Lukashenka, 67, has proposed amending the constitution, the third time he has done so since coming to power in 1994, that would allow him to rule to 2035, offer him a new lever of power, and abolish a section of the document defining Belarus as a “nuclear free zone,” possibly paving the way for the…
[ CNA ] Singapore and Vietnam sign 5 agreements, MOUs across defence, trade and social sectors
Singapore and Vietnam signed five agreements and memoranda of understanding (MOUs) on Friday (Feb 25), aimed at strengthening cooperation in defence, the digital economy and intellectual property among other areas. The signing by ministers and senior officials from both countries was witnessed by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Vietnam President Nguyen Xuan Phuc.…
[ Civil.ge ] Georgia Won’t Join Russia Sanctions, PM Says
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced today Tbilisi will not join international sanctions on Russia over its full-scale attack on Ukraine. “I want to state clearly and unambiguously, considering our national interests and interests of the people, Georgia does not plan to participate in the financial and economic sanctions, as this would only damage our…
[ National Post ] Turkey cannot stop Russian warships accessing Black Sea, says foreign minister
Turkey cannot stop Russian warships accessing the Black Sea via its straits, as Ukraine has requested, due to a clause in an international pact that allows vessels to return to their home base, the Turkish foreign minister said on Friday. Ukraine has appealed to Turkey to block Russian warships from passing through the Dardanelles and…
Belarus denied claims that Belarus took part in the attack on Ukraine
President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has denied claims that his nation is taking part in a Russian attack on Ukraine, Belarusian state media reported on Thursday. Ukrainian border guards had made the accusation against Minsk earlier in the day. The Ukrainian statement asserted that some of the Russian troops entering Ukraine came from the territory of neighboring Belarus,…
Biden reimposed sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline after lifting it 9 months prior
“Yesterday, after further close consultations between our two governments, Germany announced that it would halt certification of the pipeline. Today, I have directed my administration to impose sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and its corporate officers,” “These steps are another piece of our initial tranche of sanctions in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine. As…
Putin announces “Special Operation” – multiple Ukrainian cities reported explosions
Explosions were reported across multiple cities in Ukraine, including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odessa and Mariupol. There are also unverified reports that amphibious assault on Mariupol and Odessa. Mariupol is in Donetsk oblast. But if Russian troops lands in Odessa (which is west of Crimea), it would invalidate our assessment that this would just be a limited…
Donbas is the final warning from Putin
As the world buzzes with the news of Putin recognizing the independence of the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic + the decreed to OFFICIALLY deploy the Russian military into the 2 regions as “peacekeepers” – the headline calling this an invasion is actually a bit of a misnomer. You can’t invade what you…
Russia will not invade Ukraine… unless…
There are so much media hype and perhaps, even misinformation, on the “Ukraine Crisis” – as the western media narrative of an impending invasion of Ukraine by the Russia – the layman on the streets are not going to realise how far it is from the reality. Yes, Russia had massed a lot of forces…
[ Express ] Global tensions grow as Chinese rocket scientist defects to the West
Described as a rocket technician, the Chinese national was attached to the stateowned Aviation Industry Corp of China, where he helped develop a mid-range hypersonic boost-glide vehicle capable of carrying DF-17 missiles to a range of up to 2,000 miles. Sources say the scientist, in his 30s, is connected with a more recent hypersonic missile…
NATO doubled down as the alliance demands Russian withdrawal from Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova
NATO had officially replied to Russia and provided NATO’s own proposals to Russia. In short, NATO basically doubled down on their position and further demanded Russian withdrawal from Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. Russia was waiting for a reply from the United States, and the reply had instead came from NATO, and in General Jens Stoltenberg…
[ AP ] Russia threatens retaliation if Ukraine demands not met
Russia warned Wednesday it would quickly take “retaliatory measures” if the U.S. and its allies reject its security demands and continue their “aggressive” policies, ratcheting up pressure on the West amid concerns that Moscow is planning to invade Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly denied it has any such designs, but the United States and its NATO…
Are small and medium states ready to stop terrorists with cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrency, or “crypto” as some prefer to call it, is slated to be the future of financial transactions. While the further development of crypto is widely celebrated, with mild speculations, traceability remains the most important issue surrounding the digital currency that requires abject focus. Often, acute discussions about the pros and cons of cryptocurrency assume…
[ AP ] Indonesia, Singapore sign key defense, extradition treaties
The agreement on defense cooperation — along with separate treaties on extradition and airspace rights — were signed in the presence of Indonesian President Joko Widodo of Indonesia and Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The defense cooperation agreement will significantly boost Singapore’s ability to carry out naval and military exercises amid regional tensions over…
[ Reuters ] Indonesia, Singapore sign extradition, airspace and defence agreements
Indonesia and Singapore signed on Tuesday a bilateral extradition agreement, a move that Jakarta expects to help authorities in their effort to bring to justice people accused of stashing offshore billions of dollars in state money. Senior cabinet ministers from both countries also signed bilateral agreements covering airspace and defence in a ceremony aired on…
[ Reuters ] Singapore PM backs continued exclusion of Myanmar junta from ASEAN meetings
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a video call on Friday urged the regional group’s new chair, Cambodia, to engage all sides in Myanmar’s conflict, Singapore’s foreign ministry said on Saturday. Lee told his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen that ASEAN should continue inviting a non-political representative from Myanmar to its meetings and any decision to…
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