Today's News: Maybe Russia could just declare victory and leave?

I was all excited earlier today when it looked as though Poland and the US had an airplane deal worked out. 

But that doesn't seem to be the case tonight. 

One thing is certain: Biden will do what he can to stop Putin's war of aggression, but he will not be stampeded into actions that could backfire on the security of the west. 

Which means the No Fly Zone continues to be a non-starter - and finally today, I didn't see as many people chattering like the NFZ was the only possible military tactic whose success would be instantaneous, guaranteed, and innocuous.  

In the meantime, the enormous volume of arms deliveries continue:

I really hope the media can now stop fetishizing a No Fly Zone & start acknowledging the importance of maintaining these Western arms shipments to Ukraine.

— Cathie from Canada 🇨🇦 😷🏳️‍🌈 (@CathieCanada) March 8, 2022

Pentagon: U.S. sending two Patriot surface-to-air missile batteries Poland amid Russia tensions

— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) March 8, 2022

#Bayraktar TB2 from #Turkiye, the deadliest weapon to have been delivered to #Ukraine at this point.

The Fate Of Nations: Turkish Support To Ukraine’s Plight - Oryx https://t.co/RnCLpl5y59

— Haris Alisic (@HarisAlisic) March 8, 2022

🚨 Approximately 40k foreign fighters (military and ex military) have made it to Kyiv. So many Canadians, they gave them their own unit (500 and growing). 🍁🇺🇦

— Dean Blundell (@ItsDeanBlundell) March 7, 2022

NATO is not fucking around either:

NEW: NATO Chief warns Russia any attack on supply lines to help Ukraine defend itself will be considered a violation of article 5 which will greatly escalate the war.

Remarks were made while touring a military base in Latvia with Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. pic.twitter.com/SYT5zvXkA7

— Tom Chapman 🌻 🇺🇸 (@realTomChapman) March 9, 2022

Russia is not winning:

The aggressor is not Europe’s most advanced economy but one of its least; it’s not the fearsomely effective Wehrmacht but a badly led, semi-competent, if well-armed, horde better suited for and inclined to the massacre of civilians. https://t.co/7uBEgsAHo9

— toomas hendrik ilves (@IlvesToomas) March 7, 2022

“They’re having morale problems. They’re having supply problems. They’re having fuel problems. They’re having food problems. They’re meeting a stiff and determined Ukrainian resistance.” — Pentagon’s Kirby on Russia’s issues in Ukraine pic.twitter.com/8elwd4JsTc

— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) March 7, 2022

Ukrainian farmers stealing a $25 million Russian Tor Surface-to-Air-Missile 😝 pic.twitter.com/vquosenES6

— StrictlyChristo🇺🇦 (@StrictlyChristo) March 3, 2022

After 12 days of stealing Putin's tanks, Ukrainian farmers are now unofficially the fifth-largest military in Europe pic.twitter.com/ImLfDYrcjU

— Business Ukraine mag (@Biz_Ukraine_Mag) March 8, 2022

Nothing runs like a Deere.
They HAVE GOT to use this footage in a commercial!!!!!

— Manny5049 (@manny5049) March 5, 2022

Gas prices are rising in the US and I think Biden is rightly concerned that the economic pain will dampen US support for Russian sanctions and other support for Ukraine if the war grinds on. There was news today that Biden has tried to talk to Saudi Arabia about increasing oil production but Saudi Arabia brushed him off. Bad idea:

Everyone seems to be entirely mis-reading Biden. He’s a smiling assassin: jovial, polite, and supportive, but he has a shiv in him.

— Yosemite Forest 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 (@YosemiteForest) March 9, 2022

And on a side note, here's a great thread about how Americans can deal with higher gas prices:

But this isn't academic to a lot of people. It will hit hard. Not "get your house rocketed" hard, but it will be difficult, and part of being a functioning advanced society is not to dismiss suffering. 2/

— Mike Jason (@mikejason73) March 8, 2022

One thing that worries me about Putin is his ego may not let him give up irregardless of what damage Russia is enduring:

Given this calculus, sanctions are unlikely to deter Putin, and diplomacy is unlikely to change his mind

Only an intra-elite schism, which poses an immediate threat to his regime, might cause him to recalibrate, and even then, most likely only temporarily /12

— Samuel Ramani (@SamRamani2) March 8, 2022

But there was also other news today of hints from Zelenskiy that the war could end if Putin would settle for keeping the break-away regions he already has - basically, declare victory and leave. 

This might be a deal that both the Ukraine and Putin could live with:

The only way to stop this war may be for Zelensky & Biden to figure out some way for Putin to "win" without Ukraine actually losing. So if Putin keeps the regions of Ukraine that are already Russian in practice, then Putin can strut & Ukraine can live.

— Cathie from Canada 🇨🇦 😷🏳️‍🌈 (@CathieCanada) March 9, 2022

Whether Zelenskyy and Putin could potentially compromise and make a deal is crucial to a ceasefire and should be much more focused upon in coverage. But instead of highlighting this important part of David Muir's interview, this is what CNN ran with: pic.twitter.com/og7FFTTOlJ

— Kevin Gosztola (@kgosztola) March 8, 2022

Here in Canada, Jason Kenny's contribution to the international relations discussion during such a fraught time ---- is to whine about how mean everyone is to poor poor Alberta:

61% of American oil imports come from Canada. 8% Saudi. The others aren't in the top five. And Biden just banned Russian oil. Is it wise to mislead and insult your biggest market in this way? https://t.co/7MB65r7fh6

— Naheed Nenshi (@nenshi) March 8, 2022

Finally, here's one tweet that really startled me today -- basically, its been a hell of a winter for all of us:

Listening to @the_lineca weekly dispatch, a comment stuck with me: the BC floods were only 14 weeks, or 3.5 months ago. In the last 14 weeks we’ve had:

BC floods
Omicron wave
Supply chain worries from both
Trucker occupation in Ottawa
Inflation
Emergencies Act
War in Ukraine

— IreneK (@IreneK71818143) March 7, 2022