REFERENCE: The Opponent Across The Board (Part II)

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The following references are associated with Part II - The War » Preclude To War » The Opponent Across The Board

NARRATIVE

Ukraine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volodymyr_Zelenskyy

During his presidential campaign, Zelenskyy promised to end Ukraine's protracted conflict with Russia, and he has attempted to engage in dialogue with Russian president Vladimir Putin ... Zelenskyy has repeatedly called for direct talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying: "Good Lord, what do you want? Leave our land. If you don't want to leave now, sit down with me at the negotiating table. But not from 30 meters away, like with Macron and Scholz. I don't bite." Zelenskyy said he was "99.9 percent sure" that Putin thought the Ukrainians would welcome the invading forces with "flowers and smiles".

 

https://abtc.ng/volodymyr-zelensky-approval-rating-2022/

The latest polling shows that Zelensky’s approval ratings have almost tripled since December 2021, when just 31 per cent of Ukrainians supported him ... Prior to the invasion of Ukraine, there were doubts over whether the 44-year-old had the political nous to lead the country during an existential crisis.

 

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/20/1158150926/volodymyr-zelenskyy-president-ukraine-russia-war

Before Russia invaded Ukraine, Zelenskyy was polling around 25%. Today, some compare him to Winston Churchill.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_Security_Conference

The Munich Security Conference (MSC; German: Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz) is an annual conference on international security policy that has been held in Munich, Bavaria, Germany since 1963. Formerly named the Munich Conference on Security Policy (German: Münchner Konferenz für Sicherheitspolitik), the motto is: Peace through Dialogue. It is the world's largest gathering of its kind ... Over the past four decades the Munich Security Conference has become the most important independent forum for the exchange of views by international security policy decision-makers. Each year it brings together about 350 senior figures from more than 70 countries around the world to engage in an intensive debate on current and future security challenges. The list of attendees includes heads of states, governments and international organizations, ministers, members of parliament, high-ranking representatives of armed forces, science, civil society, as well as business and media.

 

Belarus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Lukashenko#Sixth_term_(2020%E2%80%93present)

On 9 August 2020, according to the preliminary count, Lukashenko was re-elected for his sixth term as the President of Belarus. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned that the election was "not free [or] fair" ... Mass protests erupted across Belarus following the 2020 Belarusian presidential election which was marred by allegations of widespread electoral fraud. Subsequently, opposition presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya claimed she had received between 60 and 70% of the vote and formed a Coordination council to facilitate the peaceful and orderly transfer of power in Belarus ... Lukashenko, with a gun, arrived by helicopter in the Palace of Independence ... On 17 April 2021, Russia's FSB security service exposed an alleged military coup and assassination attempt of Lukashenko. Russia also stated that it prevented Lukashenko's murder

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_State

The Union State, or Union State of Russia and Belarus, is a supranational union consisting of Belarus and Russia, with the stated aim of deepening the relationship between the two states through integration in economic and defense policy. Originally, the Union State aimed to create a confederation; however, both countries currently retain their independence.

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-ally-lukashenko-keeps-belarus-out-of-war-in-ukraine-2022-8

Even after independence, Belarus has remained close to Russia, joining Moscow in political and economic organizations like the Union State and the Eurasian Economic Union. Belarus also joined the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a mutual security alliance ... But Lukashenko — in power since Belarus' presidency was created in 1994 and long labeled "Europe's last dictator" — didn't completely align with Russia until after the 2020 Belarusian election, which was widely viewed as fraudulent.

 

US - Biden

https://www.healthfitnessrevolution.com/joe-biden-fitness-profile/

Vice President Joe Biden of the United States of America Second in charge of the most powerful world democracy, Joe Biden, at 71, is the picture of health and fitness and a phenomenal example to fellow Americans He makes sure to stay fit by using the Senate gym. Bikes. Runs. Works on core exercises

 

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-approval-rating/

How unpopular is Joe Biden? An updating calculation of the president's approval rating, accounting for each poll's quality, recency, sample size and partisan lean.

 

https://nypost.com/2023/03/02/68-of-voters-say-biden-is-too-old-for-another-term-new-poll/

A majority of registered voters believe President Biden is too old for another term in office — and more Democrats agree rather than disagree with that assessment, a new poll shows ... Nearly seven in 10 registered voters, 68%, say the 80-year-old president is “too old for another term,” according to a Yahoo News/YouGov poll released on Wednesday.

 

US - Trump

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42549687

US President Donald Trump has boasted that his nuclear button is "much bigger" and "more powerful" than North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's.

 

https://news.yahoo.com/stormy-daniels-ridicules-tiny-trump-140131736.html

Stormy Daniels ridicules ‘Tiny’ Trump in string of tweets ahead of possible New York indictment for hush money.

 

Beijing Winter Olympics

https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2022/02/13/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-2022-winter-olympics/>

The 2022 Winter Olympics are set to take place on Friday, February 4 through Sunday, February 20, just six months after the Tokyo Games. However, the competition begins with curling on Wednesday, February 2, two days before the Opening Ceremony.

 

https://news.yahoo.com/beijing-olympics-then-now-why-094316717.html

This week, Beijing will become the first city in the world to have hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics.

 

https://thediplomat.com/2022/02/putin-and-xi-frame-a-new-china-russia-partnership/

Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Beijing for the inauguration of the Winter Olympics on February 4. While there, he also held significant discussions with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on a range of global issues. The lengthy 99-paragraph joint statement that followed their meeting details how Russia and China have come to adopt shared positions on several global and regional issues ... None of this suggests a formal military alliance; nevertheless, the statement does say that “the new inter-State relations between Russia and China are superior to political and military alliances of the Cold War era,” and that the “friendship between the two States has no limits, there are no ‘forbidden’ areas of cooperation, strengthening of bilateral strategic cooperation is neither aimed against third countries nor affected by the changing international environment and circumstantial changes in third countries.”

 

https://www.insider.com/putin-caught-sleeping-during-beijing-olympic-opening-ceremony-2022-2

But he appeared to miss part of the festivities while taking a cat nap in the stands ... Cameras caught the Russian leader sleeping during the parade of nations. As athletes from Ukraine marched into Beijing's National Stadium — better known as the Bird's Nest — cameras caught Putin slumping in his chair with his eyes flitting as if he had just awoken from slumber.

 

Start of Invastion

https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/22/europe/putin-uses-word-war-fighting-ukraine-russia-intl-hnk/index.html

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday used the word “war” to refer to the conflict in Ukraine, the first known time he has publicly deviated from his carefully crafted description of Moscow’s invasion as a “special military operation” 10 months after it began.

 

https://www.heritage.org/global-politics/commentary/joe-bidens-minor-incursion-russia-remark-history-proves-it-was-mistake

During his long, rambling Jan. 19 (2022) press conference, President Joe Biden made yet another major policy misstep. Russia, he suggested would face but minor consequences if it restrained itself to but a “minor incursion” into Ukraine. Unsurprisingly, the suggestion that an invasion—if properly sized—would draw only a wrist slap left officials in Kyiv gobsmacked. So, too, were officials across Europe, as well as many in the U.S. political, foreign policy, and defense establishments.

 

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/02/i-want-to-fight-give-me-weapons-not-a-ride-ukrainian-president-zelensky-refuses-us-offer-to-evacuate/

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has turned down an offer from the United States of evacuation from the capital city Kyiv, the Ukraine embassy in Britain said Saturday on Twitter. “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride,” Zelensky told the US, according to the embassy.

 

PICTORIAL