Military victory against Russia “unlikely” without MLRS long-range artillery from the U.S. and others, Ukraine official tells CNN.

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Global poll finds many countries maintain positive views of Russia.

From The Guardian:

The sharp polarisation between mainly western liberal democracies and the rest of the world in perceptions of Russia has been laid bare in an annual global poll of attitudes towards democracy.

The annual Democracy Perception Index, carried out after the invasion of Ukraine, covers 52 highly populated countries in Asia, Latin America, the US and Europe.

Majorities in a total of 20 countries thought economic ties with Russia should not be cut due to the war in Ukraine. By contrast, among the 31 countries that favoured cutting ties, 20 were in Europe.

The countries with a widely held most negative view of Russia included Poland (net negative 87%), Ukraine (80%), Portugal (79%), Italy (65%), UK (65%), Sweden (77%), US (62%) and Germany (62%).

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Scott Ritter: Russia will suffer a strategic and humiliating defeat in Ukraine unless it expands its military operation beyond the Donbas and removes the Zelensky government from power.

Vladimir Putin’s stated goals of demilitarizing and denazifying Ukraine are unattainable without a third phase of the military operation, Ritter argues.

The “Nazification” of Ukrainian political life has expanded exponentially since Russia’s invasion, making denazification impossible to achieve without a new political leadership in Kiev that will aggressively pursue the eradication of neo-Nazi ideology in Ukraine.

Furthermore, massive military aid from the U.S. and NATO has enabled Ukraine to reconstitute combat power, which had been previously destroyed by Russian forces. Hence, meaningful demilitarization will also require a new political and military leadership in Kiev or Russia’s full control over Ukraine’s western borders.

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UPDATE: Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu says that one of the obstacles that prevent grain-carrying ships from leaving the war zone are mines placed in the sea by Ukraine in the Odessa region, some of which have floated into Turkish territorial waters.

Biden: We do not want to prolong the war just to inflict pain on Russia, but the U.S. will help Ukraine be in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table.

President Biden outlined what America will and will not do in Ukraine in an op-ed for The New York Times. Here are the highlights:

— America’s goal is straightforward: We want to see a democratic, independent, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine with the means to deter and defend itself against further aggression.

— We have moved quickly to send Ukraine a significant amount of weaponry and ammunition so it can fight on the battlefield and be in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table.

— We will provide the Ukrainians with more advanced rocket systems and munitions.

— We will send billions more in financial assistance.

— We will continue to work to strengthen Ukraine and support its efforts to achieve a negotiated end to the conflict.

— We will continue cooperating with our allies and partners on Russian sanctions.

— We will help our European allies and others reduce their dependence on Russian fossil fuels.

— We will not be directly engaged in this conflict, either by sending American troops to fight in Ukraine or by attacking Russian forces.

— We are not encouraging or enabling Ukraine to strike beyond its borders.

— We do not want to prolong the war just to inflict pain on Russia.

— The United States will not try to bring about the ouster of Mr. Putin in Moscow.

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Russia is winning the economic war and Putin is no closer to withdrawing troops from Ukraine.

From The Guardian:

The sanctions have had the perverse effect of driving up the cost of Russia’s oil and gas exports, massively boosting its trade balance and financing its war effort.

When the EU announced its partial ban on Russian oil exports earlier this week, the cost of crude oil on the global markets rose, providing the Kremlin with another financial windfall. Russia is finding no difficulty finding alternative markets for its energy, with exports of oil and gas to China in April up more than 50% year on year.

When the global movers and shakers met in Davos last week, the public message was condemnation of Russian aggression and renewed commitment to stand solidly behind Ukraine. But privately, there was concern about the economic costs of a prolonged war.

These concerns are entirely justified. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has given an added boost to already strong price pressures. As a result of the war, western economies face a period of slow or negative growth and rising inflation – a return to the stagflation of the 1970s.

From the start, the Russian president has been playing a long game, waiting for the international coalition against him to fragment. The Kremlin thinks Russia’s threshold for economic pain is higher than the west’s, and it is probably right about that.

If proof were needed that sanctions are not working, then President Joe Biden’s decision to supply Ukraine with advanced rocket systems provides it. The hope is that modern military technology from the US will achieve what energy bans and the seizure of Russian assets have so far failed to do: force Putin to withdraw his troops.

Putin is not going to surrender unconditionally, and the potential for severe collateral damage from the economic war is obvious: falling living standards in developed countries; famine, food riots and a debt crisis in the developing world.

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Russia now controls 20% of Ukrainian territory, which also happens to be the country’s most economically viable land.

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Hillary Clinton: Putin has messianic belief in himself and aims to restore the Russian empire.

Speaking to an audience at the Hay Festival, Clinton said that she had witnessed Putin’s “almost messianic belief in himself and what he was destined to be” as well of his “goal of restoring imperial Russia” while working with him. This had prompted her to write memos warning he would become a “threat to Europe and the rest of the world.”

Clinton called for the creation of a tribunal similar to those held after the Balkan wars and Rwandan genocide to hold individual Russians accountable for their war crimes, though she acknowledged that it was “always difficult to go after a head of state” unless they were deposed.

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There’s no way the Ukrainians will ever have enough combat power to destroy, defeat or kick the Russians out of Ukraine, says Lt. Gen. Twitty — the former deputy commander of the U.S. European Command.

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❗️Putin warns U.S. against supplying Ukraine longer range missiles.

If longer-range missiles are supplied, "we will strike targets which we have not yet been hitting," Putin said in an interview, likely referring to command centers in Kiev and beyond.

Putin noted that the range of the HIMARS systems depends on the munitions supplied and that, so far, the announced U.S. missiles do not pose a serious threat because their striking distance is around the same as Soviet-made systems that Ukraine already had.

According to Putin, while Western arms supplies are designed to drag out the conflict, they will not be able to change the outcome.

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Medvedev: Ukraine risks losing its sovereignty if it continues refusing to negotiate on Moscow’s terms.

Russia’s ex-president and deputy chairman of the Security Council also advised authorities in Kiev to cut back on cocaine use and approach key decisions with a sober mind.

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European shipping firms ‘making a mockery’ of Russia sanctions as oil cargos double.

From The Independent:

European companies have almost doubled their shipments of Russian oil since February, despite desperate efforts by EU leaders to squeeze the Kremlin by blocking Russia’s exports from global markets.

Europe’s three major shipping countries – Greece, Cyprus and Malta – have rapidly increased the amount of Russian oil they were transporting each month since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Despite the European Commission announcing plans to ban seaborne imports of Russian crude into the trading bloc, Russian oil will continue to flow into Europe via a pipeline through Hungary, and after lobbying from shipping interests in Greece, Malta and Cyprus, EU-registered boats and companies will be allowed to continue moving oil from Russian ports to non-EU countries.

That means EU companies can continue to profit from facilitating transfers of Russian oil to countries such as India and China, which have proved to be willing buyers for the crude oil that Europe no longer wants.

As oil prices have risen sharply, the Russian government has seen a huge boost to its finances and is on track to receive an unprecedented $250bn inflow of cash this year.

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Mexican president undermines the U.S. in the Western Hemisphere with Summit of the Americas boycott.

From CNN:

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Monday he won't be attending the Summit of the Americas, hosted later on this week by the United States, due to the exclusion of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

"I am not going to the summit because not all American countries are invited and I believe the need to change the policy that has been in place for centuries: The exclusion, the desire to dominate without any reason, the disrespect of countries' sovereignty (and) the independence of each country," President López Obrador said at a news conference in Mexico City.

Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela were not invited to the summit because of the "lack of democratic space and the human rights situations" in the countries, a senior Biden administration official said in a statement to CNN on Monday.

The move is a significant snub to President Joe Biden and his administration and threatens to undermine the gathering.

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❗️Ukraine has missed the opportunity to negotiate the return of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. Moscow will now treat them as Crimea, DPR and LPR in any future peace arrangement with Kiev — Russian paper citing a high-ranking source.

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Medvedev calls Russia’s enemies ‘bastards and degenerates,’ vows to ‘make them disappear.’

Russia’s ex-President and deputy chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev lashed out at his country’s enemies in a Telegram post on Tuesday:

“I hate them. They’re bastards and degenerates. They want death to Russia. And for as long as I am alive, I will do everything to make them disappear.”

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Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), one of the most prominent figures in the Russian Orthodox Church, dismissed from influential “foreign minister” role as head of the External Relations Department.

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Wages in Ukraine have dropped by an average of 25-50% from their pre-war levels, according to a report published by the Ukrainian central bank.

Amid soaring inflation, Ukraine hiked its interest rate to 25% on June 2.

The World Bank predicts that Ukraine's economy could shrink by as much as 45% this year.

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❗️Russia-installed Melitopol mayor (Ukraine’s Zaporozhye region) announces preparations for secession referendum after meeting with top Kremlin official.

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South African MP blames U.S. meddling and Ukrainian foolishness for the conflict with RussIa.

Member of the South African Parliament Shaik Emam accused the United States of causing the Ukraine conflict, and called out Western hypocrisy and double standards during a fiery parliamentary debate back in March.

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