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[…] Men häpnadsväckande snabbt visade det sig både att det ukrainska motståndet var långt starkare än någon räknat med – och att den ryska krigsmaskinen saknade effektivitet. Nej, jag vet inte mycket om militär verksamhet och kapacitet. Men så mycket förstod jag ganska snabbt, att en helt avgörande faktor var moralen på den ukrainska sidan.

Ukrainarna har något att kämpa för, helt enkelt. De slåss för land och frihet, medan soldater i den ryska armén ofta inte haft en aning om varför de ens skickats in i ett grannland där de till och med ofta har släkt och vänner. Befälsordningen i den ryska armén verkar dessutom vara lika auktoritär som det politiska styret.

Självklart har vapenleveranserna från väst också varit avgörande för att ukrainarna så framgångsrikt kämpat emot ockupationen. Men först kommer nog ändå moralen, sedan vapnen. […]

Till senhösten lär striderna i Ukraina delvis lägga sig, på grund av vintern. Hur läget på marken då ser ut vet ingen. Men det är inte helt uteslutet att någon sorts trevande fredsförhandlingar faktiskt kan ta vid. Det är i sådana lägen man för övrigt önskar att Sverige aldrig ansökt om Natomedlemskap – en ansökan som drevs fram av en skräck för Putins militära kapacitet som av allt döma var helt felaktig – och kunnat medverka till att få till stånd någon form av dialog mellan Ukraina och Ryssland. Läs artikel

[…] Judy Woodruff: You have blocked the admission to NATO of both Sweden and Finland and raised the issue of people you refer to as Kurdish terrorists.

Are you close to resolving this? I know that they have asked Turkey to provide evidence that these people you want them to deal with are terrorists. But are you — first of all, are you close to an agreement? And if they don’t accept whatever Turkey explains, are you prepared to just permanently block Sweden and Finland from joining?

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (through translator): Here especially, Sweden has been a cradle for terrorism. And the terrorists have infiltrated all the way into their parliaments.

And, in Stockholm, we see terrorists are demonstrating all the time. The banners, the poster of the leader of the terrorist organizations are abound. They are demonstrating. They’re throwing slogans. And they’re attacking the innocent Turkish descendants in Stockholm. And we have given all the evidence relevant to these developments to our Swedish interlocutors.

Finland, on the other hand, they’re not like Sweden. They’re a bit more calm, and they have more control over the developments. But Sweden is not like that. They’re always using certain reasons. They’re always using certain excuses. They always talk about the Constitution. And, as the reigning principle of the Constitution, they value the freedom of expression. And, in return, I say terrorism has nothing to do with the freedom of expression. And the Turkish Parliament is the eventual decision-maker. […]

Judy Woodruff: Last question. Your relationship with the United States, what shape would you say it’s in?

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (through translator): I can’t say that our relations are ideal. Why? Because our trade volume with the United States is not supposed to be where it is today.

And in the defense industry, we are not at the level that we desire. For example, we have the outstanding issue of F-16s. We have procured F-16s from the United States. But, instead, certain political decisions are being made, resulting in the imposition of sanctions upon Turkey. This is not very becoming of two friendly countries such as the U.S. and Turkey.

We have spoken to the Republicans, and we have received the support of the Republicans. If we can’t get the results out of the United States about the F-16s, what are we going to do? Of course, we’re going to take care of our own selves. Läs intervjun

Mobile units able to maneuver quickly around NATO’s eastern flank could be preferable to permanent bases with large numbers of U.S. troops in the Baltics, top allied commanders said over the weekend after talks in Estonia.

“I don’t think we need (a) brigade-size unit permanently here in Estonia,” Lt. Gen. Martin Herem, commander of Estonia’s defense forces, said Saturday in Tallinn. “I don’t think it’s efficient.”

Herem said NATO is looking at the types of units needed to reinforce countries on Russia’s periphery, moves that come in the wake of the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine that began Feb. 24.

U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley and other allied defense chiefs were in Estonia for two days of talks, which concluded Saturday.

Milley traveled on to Poland, where he met with U.S. troops Sunday at an undisclosed military base that is assisting in the transport of weapons to Ukraine. Milley cautioned that recent Russian setbacks in the war mean that U.S. troops will need to be vigilant, given Moscow’s unpredictability. Läs artikel

Politikernas närmaste kuppartade ansökan om medlemskap i Nato är en beklämmande förskingring av det ovärderliga arv som vår alliansfrihet har varit.

Konsekvenserna som knappt diskuterats r allvarliga även för enskilda individer och familjer. Sverige förbinder sig att vid behov skicka unga medelålders krigsplacerade värnpliktiga män och kvinnor till konfliktområden landets gränser med skyldighet att där vara redo att döda och dödas. Detta klargörs av överbefälhavare Micael Bydén i DN den 6 juli. ”Det kan bli aktuellt att skicka svenska soldater till baltikum […] vi måste vara redo att i högre utsträckning delta i operationer, insatser och övningar”.

Endast ett eget, självständigt och starkt försvar, inklusive civilförsvar är att lita på för svensk militär säkerhet.  Artikel bakom betalvägg

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is celebrating 20 years of its success and diversity. It has graduated from a small organisation to one of most important organisations of the world. […]

Political figures and experts from the West are putting consistent efforts to draw parallels between SCO and Nato. Howbeit, SCO and Nato have no comparison. Nato was created to guarantee security to the member states through political and military arms.

Political arm was tasked to lead promotion of Western values and diplomatic solutions for conflicts and problems. The organisation also has the duty to advocate for liberal economic, democracy and human right models. Through these values, they created a window for interferences in other countries. […]

On the contrary, SCO was built by adhering to the philosophy of Shanghai Spirit which revolves around the principles of trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilisations and pursuit of common development. It is open to all. It promotes consultation and inclusiveness for decision-making.

Second, SCO is based on the principle of partnership. It means there is no binding on the members. They are free to take decisions and formulate policies according to their own interests and circumstances. The organisation has no right or mandate to interfere in the internal affairs of the member states. Läs artikel

70 ryska lokalpolitiker har skrivit under ett öppet brev där de kräver Putins avgång.

Lokalpolitikern Ksenia Thorstrom är en av dem som samlat in underskrifterna.

– Jag var så frustrerad att jag var tvungen att göra något, säger hon till Aftonbladet.

Kriget i Ukraina kostar mycket, både i människoliv och pengar. I Ryssland har missnöjet börjat pysa ordentligt den senaste tiden.

Nu har lokalpolitiker i olika ryska städer skrivit under ett öppet brev där de kräver Putins avgång, skriver CNN.

Hittills har brevet 70 signaturer, enligt Telegram-kanalen Populjarnaja politika. En av de som hjälpt till att samla in underskrifterna är lokalpolitikern Ksenia Thorstrom. Läs artikel

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a highly unexpected public admission on Thursday that China’s leader Xi Jinping had “questions” and “concerns” over the war in Ukraine.

This acknowledgment of tensions with Beijing over the war is a dramatic reversal from February when, just before the invasion, Putin traveled to the Winter Olympics in China to proclaim a “no-limits partnership” with Xi.

That dynamic felt rather different at Thursday’s meeting in Samarkand, where a sullen Putin said that he highly appreciated “the balanced position of our Chinese friends in connection with the Ukrainian crisis.” Läs artikel

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin hit yet another diplomatic setback at the hands of a supposed friend Friday, when India’s leader openly criticized his war on Ukraine as harking from another age.

“I know that today’s era is not the era for war,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Putin at a meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. “We’ve spoken to you many times on the phone before on this, that democracy, diplomacy and dialogue — these things help the world. In the coming days, we will get the chance to talk about how to move on to the road to peace, I will also get the chance to better understand your viewpoint.”

Modi’s disapproval came just a day after Putin publicly admitted that China’s President Xi Jinping harbored “questions” and “concerns” over the war. Läs artikel

Turkey is seeking membership to the China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attempts to forge alliances with friendly countries in the East.

Erdogan made the announcement after attending the SCO summit in Uzbekistan on Friday where he held talks with leaders including China’s President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. A successful bid would make Turkey the first member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to join the bloc. Läs artikel

Många länder i västvärlden bidrar med vapen och ammunition till Ukraina. Vissa är öppna med vad de skickar medan andra är mer hemlighetsfulla. Det står ändå klart att stödet på bara några månader är på väg att bli historiskt stort. […]

Tydligt är i alla fall att USA är ledande i det militära stödet. Den 8 september uppgick det till 15,2 miljarder dollar. Det motsvarar 160 miljarder svenska kronor, vilket är dubbla Sveriges försvarsbudget för 2022. Inklusive civilsamhällets beredskap. Läs artikel

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) is once again receiving electricity directly from the national grid after engineers repaired one of the four main external power lines that have all been damaged during the conflict, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) learnt at the site today. […]

While the ZNPP’s power status has improved over the past week – in sharp contrast to earlier this month when all power lines at one stage were down and it depended on its last operating reactor for vital electricity supplies – the general situation for the plant located in the middle of a war zone remains precarious, Director General Grossi said. While there has been no recent shelling at or near the ZNPP, it continues to occur in the wider area, he said.

To help stabilise the situation, the Director General has initiated consultations with the relevant parties aimed at the urgent establishment of a nuclear safety and security protection zone at the ZNPP. Earlier this month, he established a continuous IAEA presence at the ZNPP after leading a team of experts to the site. Läs artikel