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Putin’s Defeat in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Photo: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov
JNS.org – Last Friday, President Biden announced new sanctions targeting 500 Russian officials and companies.
His aim was to deliver the “devastating” consequences that, three years ago, he vowed Russia’s ruler, Vladimir Putin, would face if Russia’s most prominent opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, were to die in a Siberian penal colony—as he did, on Feb. 16 at the age of 47.
“Make no mistake, Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death,” Biden said. “Putin is responsible.”
The sanctions also are intended to hobble Russia’s economy as Putin’s war to conquer Ukraine enters its third year.
To call these 500 sanctions a slap on the wrist would be unfair. To call these sanctions 500 slaps on the wrist would not be unfair. And Muhammad Ali never won a fight by slapping wrists.
If only the United States had allies willing—on their own, without putting American troops at risk—to do the hard work necessary to degrade Russia’s military capabilities, to diminish Putin’s threat to NATO and reduce his value to America’s other adversaries!
Oh wait! America does have such allies. Their capital is in Kyiv, their president is Volodymyr Zelensky and they are only asking for more of the tools necessary to get the job done.
A bipartisan bill to authorize new military assistance—old ammunition made in America which we’d replace within U.S. war stocks by new ammunition made in America—passed 70-29 in the Senate.
But a faction of Republicans in the House is blocking a vote in that body—a vote that would easily garner a bipartisan majority.
Meanwhile, the rulers of Iran, China and North Korea—an axis of anti-American tyrannies—are sending Putin an abundant supply of missiles, drones and other weaponry.
Memo to Donald Trump: You’ve said that upon returning to the Oval Office you’ll negotiate a peace deal. Will you have more leverage if the Ukrainian defenders are making progress, or if the Russian invaders are advancing?
Not so long ago, anyone who called himself a conservative regarded Putin as a villain: a former KGB colonel who said the “demise of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of the 20th century.
Conservatives winced when Vice President Joe Biden, in 2009, declared that “it was time to press the reset button and to revisit the many areas we can and should be working together with Russia.”
In 2013, conservatives criticized President Obama for not enforcing his “red line” after Bashar al-Assad persisted in slaughtering opponents and civilians with chemical weapons. Instead, Obama trusted Putin to rein in the Syrian dictator—which, of course, he did not.
Was it just coincidence that, the following year, Putin invaded Ukraine for the first time?
Conservatives were dismayed by Obama’s weak response; his refusal to give Ukrainians weapons that might have deterred Putin going forward.
Over the past two years, President Biden’s support for Ukraine has not been insignificant. But neither has it been sufficient to allow the Ukrainians to drive the aggressors from their lands.
American and European sanctions have had only a limited impact on Russia’s economy. Russian hydrocarbons remain valuable commodities. China, India and Brazil are eager customers.
Also: A whopping 6% of Russia’s GDP is now going to the military. That has stimulated Russia’s economy, which has been growing faster than expected.
On Friday, Biden vowed “to continue to ensure that Putin pays a price for his aggression abroad and his repression at home.”
If he’s serious, three measures should be at the top of his list.
One: He should immediately send a dozen ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile Systems) with unitary warheads (better against hard targets than the cluster munitions variant) and with longer ranges than anything now in Ukraine’s arsenal. He can do that without congressional approval.
Though these missiles wouldn’t be silver bullets, they’d make a difference.
Among the targets they could reach: the Kerch Strait Bridge that connects Russia to Crimea. Built following Putin’s 2014 annexation of the peninsula, it has been attacked several times, but not damaged beyond repair. It was fully reopened in October.
Two: Biden should seize the $300 billion in frozen Russian bank reserves and utilize those funds to help Ukrainians defend themselves and begin rebuilding. It’s an extraordinary measure but one justified by Russia’s unprovoked and illegal invasion and the multiple war crimes that have followed.
A slight variation: Biden could use the funds as collateral for a lend-lease program for Ukraine.
Three: Biden should reverse his decision to curtail exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Without an abundant and reliable supply of American LNG—sales of which earn profits for Americans—the Europeans will be tempted to increase their purchases of oil and gas from Russia (they’ve never gone cold turkey) or buy more from Qatar, which has spent lavishly over the years on Hamas and other terrorist organizations.
As for getting additional military aid to Ukraine quickly, one other promising path is now in the mix. A bipartisan group of House members have introduced the Defending Borders, Defending Democracies Act, which combines providing weapons to allies with a version of Trump’s “remain in Mexico” policy for aliens seeking admission.
That will cause some Democrats to vote against it, but it will pass—if it has the support of Speaker Mike Johnson and some of the Republicans most determined to curtail Biden’s open-borders policy.
They should provide that support, because having allies willing and able to fight common enemies makes America stronger.
And because the axis of anti-American tyrannies would see Putin’s victory over Ukraine as a significant defeat for America.
And they’d be right.
The post Putin’s Defeat in Ukraine first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Security Warning to Israelis Vacationing Abroad Ahead of holidays
A passenger arrives to a terminal at Ben Gurion international airport before Israel bans international flights, January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – Ahead of the Jewish High Holidays, Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) published the latest threat assessment to Israelis abroad from terrorist groups to the public on Sunday, in order to increase the Israeli public’s awareness of the existing terrorist threats around the world and encourage individuals to take preventive action accordingly.
The NSC specified that the warning is an up-to-date reflection of the main trends in the activities of terrorist groups around the world and their impact on the level of threat posed to Israelis abroad during these times, but the travel warnings and restrictions themselves are not new.
“As the Gaza war continues and in parallel with the increasing threat of terrorism, the National Security Headquarters stated it has recognized a trend of worsening and increasing violent antisemitic incidents and escalating steps by anti-Israel groups, to the point of physically harming Israelis and Jews abroad. This is in light of, among other things, the anti-Israel narrative and the negative media campaign by pro-Palestinian elements — a trend that may encourage and motivate extremist elements to carry out terrorist activities against Israelis or Jews abroad,” the statement read.
“Therefore, the National Security Bureau is reinforcing its recommendation to the Israeli public to act with responsibility during this time when traveling abroad, to check the status of the National Security Bureau’s travel warnings (before purchasing tickets to the destination,) and to act in accordance with the travel warning recommendations and the level of risk in the country they are visiting,” it listed, adding that, as illustrated in the past year, these warnings are well-founded and reflect a tangible and valid threat potential.
The statement also emphasized the risk of sharing content on social media networks indicating current or past service in the Israeli security forces, as these posts increase the risk of being marked by various parties as a target. “Therefore, the National Security Council recommends that you do not upload to social networks, in any way, content that indicates service in the security forces, operational activity, or similar content, as well as real-time locations.”
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Israel Intensifies Gaza City Bombing as Rubio Arrives
Displaced Palestinians, fleeing northern Gaza due to an Israeli military operation, move southward after Israeli forces ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the south, in the central Gaza Strip September 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Israeli forces destroyed at least 30 residential buildings in Gaza City and forced thousands of people from their homes, Palestinian officials said, as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived on Sunday to discuss the future of the conflict.
Israel has said it plans to seize the city, where about a million Palestinians have been sheltering, as part of its declared aim of eliminating the terrorist group Hamas, and has intensified attacks on what it has called Hamas’ last bastion.
The group’s political leadership, which has engaged in on-and-off negotiations on a possible ceasefire and hostage release deal, was targeted by Israel in an airstrike in Doha on Tuesday in an attack that drew widespread condemnation.
Qatar will host an emergency Arab-Islamic summit on Monday to discuss the next moves. Rubio said Washington wanted to talk about how to free the 48 hostages – of whom 20 are believed to be still alive – still held by Hamas in Gaza and rebuild the coastal strip.
“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them (the Israeli leadership). We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” Rubio said before heading to Israel where he will stay until Tuesday.
ABRAHAM ACCORDS AT RISK
He was expected to visit the Western Wall Jewish prayer site in Jerusalem on Sunday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and hold talks with him during the visit.
US officials described Tuesday’s strike on the territory of a close US ally as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests. Rubio and US President Donald Trump both met Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on Friday.
Netanyahu signed an agreement on Thursday to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state – a move the United Arab Emirates warned would undermine the US-brokered Abraham accords that normalized UAE relations with Israel.
Israel, which blocked all food from entering Gaza for 11 weeks earlier this year, has been allowing more aid into the enclave since late July to prevent further food shortages, though the United Nations says far more is needed.
It says it wants civilians to leave Gaza City before it sends more ground forces in. Tens of thousands of people are estimated to have left but hundreds of thousands remain in the area. Hamas has called on people not to leave.
Israeli army forces have been operating inside at least four eastern suburbs for weeks, turning most of at least three of them into wastelands. It is closing in on the center and the western areas of the territory, where most of the displaced people are taking shelter.
Many are reluctant to leave, saying there is not enough space or safety in the south, where Israel has told them to go to what it has designated as a humanitarian zone.
Some say they cannot afford to leave while others say they were hoping the Arab leaders meeting on Monday in Qatar would pressure Israel to scrap its planned offensive.
“The bombardment intensified everywhere and we took down the tents, more than twenty families, we do not know where to go,” said Musbah Al-Kafarna, displaced in Gaza City.
Israel said it had completed five waves of air strikes on Gaza City over the past week, targeting more than 500 sites, including Hamas reconnaissance and sniper sites, buildings containing tunnel openings and weapons depots.
Local officials, who do not distinguish between militant and civilian casualties, say at least 40 people were killed by Israeli fire across the enclave, a least 28 in Gaza City alone.
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Turkey Warns of Escalation as Israel Expands Strikes Beyond Gaza
Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not seen) at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, May 13, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
i24 News – An Israeli strike targeting Hamas officials in Qatar has sparked unease among several Middle Eastern countries that host leaders of the group, with Turkey among the most alarmed.
Officials in Ankara are increasingly worried about how far Israel might go in pursuing those it holds responsible for the October 7 attacks.
Israel’s prime minister effectively acknowledged that the Qatar operation failed to eliminate the Hamas leadership, while stressing the broader point the strike was meant to make: “They enjoy no immunity,” the government said.
On X, Prime Minister Netanyahu went further, writing that “the elimination of Hamas leaders would put an end to the war.”
A senior Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, summed up Ankara’s reaction: “The attack in Qatar showed that the Israeli government is ready to do anything.”
Legally and diplomatically, Turkey occupies a delicate position. As a NATO member, any military operation or targeted killing on its soil could inflame tensions within the alliance and challenge mutual security commitments.
Analysts caution, however, that Israel could opt for covert measures, operations carried out without public acknowledgement, a prospect that has increased anxiety in governments across the region.
Israeli officials remain defiant. In an interview with Ynet, Minister Ze’ev Elkin said: “As long as we have not stopped them, we will pursue them everywhere in the world and settle our accounts with them.” The episode underscores growing fears that efforts to hunt Hamas figures beyond Gaza could widen regional friction and complicate diplomatic relationships.