Monday Reading

 

As always, please go to the links for the full articles/ op eds.

Adding to the evidence that Russian war criminal and thug Putin badly miscalculated the fury and effectiveness of the response by Ukraine and the world to his war, there's this:

Russia has turned to China for military equipment and aid in the weeks since it began its invasion of Ukraine, U.S. officials familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, did not describe what kind of weaponry had been requested, or whether they know how China responded.

The development comes as White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan plans to travel to Rome on Monday to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi.

“We are communicating directly, privately to Beijing, that there will absolutely be consequences for large-scale sanctions, evasion efforts or support to Russia to backfill them,” Sullivan told CNN.  [snip]

While Sullivan, who spoke on several Sunday talk shows, focused his remarks on economic aid and sanctions evasion, the officials said that Russia is running low on certain types of weapons. They declined to specify which kinds.

“If Beijing is offering any type of military assistance to aid Moscow’s war in Ukraine, the spillover effects on U.S.-China policy could be vast,” said Eric Sayers, a former adviser to the U.S. Indo Pacific Command and now senior vice president at Beacon Global Strategies.

In a related development,

Ukrainian officials said negotiations with Russia will continue Monday. Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Sunday that Russia is “starting to talk constructively” and predicted “some concrete results” in a matter of days.

To coin a phrase, never trust Putin and always verify.

Oh noes:

Russia’s promised ban on Instagram has kicked into effect today, with the social media platform inaccessible for the vast majority of the country’s population, according to internet monitoring service GlobalCheck.

The country announced plans to ban Instagram last week, in response to parent company Meta’s decision to allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against Russian soldiers following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia has been steadily restricting access to online platforms in an effort to control the flow of information about the war and has already banned Facebook and Twitter.

Last Friday, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said in a tweet that “This decision will cut 80 million in Russia off from one another, and from the rest of the world as ~80% of people in Russia follow an Instagram account outside their country. This is wrong.”

Fuck you, Mosseri.  Get with the program.

Noah Smith says it's time for a diplomatic revolution, to create an anti-authoritarian coalition:

Now we find ourselves at another dangerous, potentially pivotal moment in history. Three weeks ago, it seemed as if a partnership between a newly ascendant China and a revitalized Russia might dominate the globe, bringing authoritarian values back into preeminence. The U.S.’ NATO allies seemed sleepy and irresolute, while India — the next great power on the horizon — still maintained close ties with Russia. When Putin sent tanks rolling into Ukraine without any provocation, it looked as if the authoritarian coalition’s moment had finally arrived.

Then two remarkable things happened. First, the Ukrainians resisted the invasion with a ferocity and skill that exposed the deep weaknesses in Putin’s vaunted military machine, and reminded the world that people will fight to resist totalitarian tyranny. Second, Europe suddenly roused itself from its post-Cold War torpor, imposing fierce sanctions that threaten to cripple Russia’s economy for decades, furnishing the Ukrainians with all the anti-tank weapons they can carry, pledging to boost defense spending back to late Cold War levels, and uniting around the NATO alliance.

This changes the global strategic situation overnight. Suddenly, the U.S. has a new and powerful ally in the form of a reunited Europe, while China’s most important ally turned out to have feet of clay. The war is not yet over, but things are looking much brighter for the democratic powers.

It’s not enough, though. To meet the new authoritarian challenge, the U.S. and its existing allies will have to bring more partners into the fold. A 21st century diplomatic revolution is necessary in order to create a coalition that has the power both to stabilize international relations and safeguard the human rights that have gradually but steadily made the world a better place to live.

It starts with India.

Smith points out the obvious issues with the current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and how a deeper alliance can help resolve those issues.  Good read.

Here are your NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament brackets, and your NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament brackets.  You're welcome. 

Last but never least, please visit Infidel 753's link round-up for his excellent compilation of links to worthy blog posts from around the Internet.  He also has several excellent posts about the war in Ukraine here and here.  Keep an eye on his blog for more.