Author: Blazingcatfur

For Ukraine to win, the West still has to answer painful questions of itself

One minute the pundits believe Ukraine will win, the next we are warned that Russia is winning. But what does “victory” mean — and is the West really prepared to pay its price?

There is a tragic irony here. In their own ways, Russia, Ukraine and the West are all committed to a struggle without knowing for sure how the endgame should or will look. For Moscow and Kyiv, this is essentially because they are still waiting on the verdict of the battlefield — but for the West, it is because we are not yet willing to discuss the most difficult questions.

A lot of this sort of reflection going around these days.

I’m not sure if they are hoping to sleepwalk us into a wider conflict or test the waters for an abandonment of Ukraine.

Maybe both.

Here’s the Star’s take: Here’s why Canada could be paying for the economic war against Russia for a long time

This was the week our economic warfare against Russia was exposed for the problematic long game that it is.

As the G7 was readying new ways to cut off Russia’s gold, Vladimir Putin was busy bombing near a Kyiv kindergarten.

As the West contemplated how to cap Russian oil revenues, Putin’s forces struck a shopping mall with 1,000 people inside.

#Ukraine: A Russian T-72 series tank was hit by a Ukrainian ATGM in previously unseen footage. The cope cage flight adds extra flair.pic.twitter.com/LhEM3M3g5U

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) July 2, 2022

At 170 metres long, with a red hull, white painted superstructure and towering deck cranes, the Matros Koshka is difficult to miss.

But the bulk carrier – whose name means “the sailor cat” in Russian – has not been seen since it turned off its transponder in the middle of the Black Sea three weeks ago.

The vanishing ship is one of nearly a dozen Russian and Syrian flagged vessels at the centre of what Western governments believe is large-scale smuggling of looted Ukrainian grain.