Sy Hersh: US diplomacy needed to avoid Ukraine’s ‘overwhelming’ defeat

US diplomatic efforts, which are withheld due to President Joe Biden's irrational views on Russia, could have resolved the Ukrainian conflict that Americans and their allies are now unable to win, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh said.

"America, in the years Biden has been in office, has spent $175 billion to fight a war that cannot and will not be won. It will only be resolved by diplomacy—if rationality prevails in Kiev and Washington," Hersh wrote in a Substack article.

Otherwise, the "undertrained, understaffed, and poorly-equipped Ukrainian army faces an overwhelming defeat," he predicted.

In addition, Hersh, citing a longtime senior US official said that the US intelligence community has been concerned about Biden’s views on Putin and Russia, which date back to his time serving in the Senate. However, some within the American intelligence community believe that the US bears its own share of responsibility for the conflict in Ukraine, Hersh added.

"Putin and his predecessors in Moscow watched for three decades—since the reunification of Germany in 1990—as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) added member states that brought NATO to Russia’s doorstep," Hersh said.

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Trump: Biden 'doesn't know he's alive'

Former President Donald Trump says US President Joe Biden doesn't know he's alive while asserting during a rally in South Bronx that he can make the people of New York happy.

"It's really about the people and in this case, the people of New York City, New York State, we're going to make you very happy and Biden can't do it. He [Biden] doesn't know he's alive," Trump said.

Trump and Biden recently agreed to debates on June 27 and September 10, but Biden rejected additional debates proposed by NBC News and Fox News in the coming months.

The Trump campaign has been calling on Biden to agree to have a debate each month leading to the November 5 vote in the US presidential election.

Furthermore, Trump said he would demand a drug test before a debate with Biden and that he declined the Biden team's offer to hold a "sit-down" debate.

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❗️ During the night, Russian air defenses destroyed three ATACMS missiles over Crimea and two Ukrainian drones over the Belgorod region, the Ministry of Defense said. In addition, Russian naval aviation destroyed three Ukrainian Navy unmanned boats in the Black Sea that were heading in the direction of Crimea.

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❗️ Latest statements by Alexander Bortnikov, director of the Russian Federal Security Service, at a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of National Security Enforcement Agencies and Special Services in Bishkek:

◾️ The situation in the CIS and in the world as a whole remains tense, the US, UK, and their NATO allies are using the full arsenal of “hybrid” warfare.

◾️ With the assistance of NATO countries, terrorists from other regions of the world continue to be massively transferred to Ukraine, some of them used for further terrorist expansion in the CIS.

◾️ Ukraine, having no real opportunities to achieve its goals on the battlefield, has turned to total terror. Sabotage raids are being carried out in the Russian border area.

◾️ The circle of states that are not willing to go against the interests of their peoples at the command of the outside world is widening. Russia is closely cooperating with these countries. Contacts in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Latin America are being used.

◾️ Ukraine's special services are actively recruiting young people to serve as terrorists through the propaganda of pro-Ukrainian nationalist formations on social networks.

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❗️ The West is forming “governments in exile” to seize power in CIS countries, Russian Federal Security Service Director Alexander Bortnikov says

The West is trying to create conditions for “color revolutions” in CIS countries using agents of influence, controlled opposition parties and movements, non-profit organizations, and pseudo-independent media. It is also forming “governments in exile” from political immigrants abroad to seize power in the commonwealth states in the event of the situation deteriorating and mass unrest, Bortnikov said.

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🗣 The Anglo-Saxons want to gain a foothold in Central Asia and influence the region by any means, including pressure on the leadership of CIS countries, Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Alexander Bortnikov says.

“We see persistent attempts by the Anglo-Saxons to influence the situation in Afghanistan. This explains their intentions to gain a foothold in Central Asia at all costs and use this platform to influence the entire region,” Bortnikov said.

“Of course, with such stakes, any means are at play. Hence the constant rotation of militants in the Syrian-Iraqi and Afghan-Pakistani zones, and the emergence of new militant training camps near the southern borders of the commonwealth. This can also include the imposition of various formats of cooperation in the sphere of defense and security, as well as political and economic pressure on the leadership of CIS states,” the FSB director added.

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❗️ Statements by Western politicians and media about the “Russian threat” show that Europe is preparing to start a war with Russia, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says

“Before the two world wars, there were preparations for entering a war using the media for quite a long time. I think what is happening today in Brussels and Washington, but more in Brussels than in Washington, is a kind of preparation of the attitudes for a possible direct conflict. We can safely say that there are preparations for Europe's entry into war, and this is happening in the media and statements of politicians,” Orban said.

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◾️ West is forming “governments in exile” to seize power in CIS countries - Russian Federal Security Service

◾️ What says Iranian Army General Staff's first report on the President Raisi helicopter's crash

◾️ Watch Putin arrival in Belarus to discuss security issues and non-strategic nuclear weapons exercises

◾️ US influence fades as Bahrain calls for Russia's help with Gaza Peace Summit

◾️ US has begun review its cooperation with Georgia, why?

◾️ Oregon conservatives seeking to secede from the woke state

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Biden prefers Hollywood to much hyped Ukraine peace summit

Joe Biden will probably not participate in the summit on the Ukraine conflict in Switzerland, which will be held on June 15-16, Bloomberg has reported.

The US president is scheduled to hold a campaign fundraising event on these dates. According to the news outlet, Vice President Kamala Harris will not go to Switzerland either.

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❗️ NATO working groups in Brussels are trying to determine how the alliance can take part in the conflict in Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said.

At the same time, Hungary is thinking about how it as a NATO member can avoid participating in the alliance's actions outside its territory, he emphasized.

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US not planning to let post-war Gaza slip out of its grasp

The Biden administration is considering appointing a US official to serve as its top civilian adviser in the region, Politico reported, citing four US officials, as Washington is preparing for a “prominent” role in post-war Gaza.

This adviser would reportedly work in close contact with a commanding officer of a force of mostly Palestinians.

The degree of official authority that such an adviser would have is being debated in private discussions involving the White House, Pentagon, and State Department, the report read.

Such a US adviser would reportedly not enter the embattled enclave itself to avoid “any implication that the US would be dictating the future of the territory.” The adviser could be based in Sinai or Jordan instead.

The “adviser” plan is one of various post-war scenarios involving the US being considered by Washington, the insiders said. This comes as the Biden administration balances between duly “outraged” bombast about Gaza’s plight with “business as usual” weapons sales to its ally Israel.

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Ukrainian troops camouflage bombs as coffee and sugar packets

Ukrainian forces have begun to experience an acute shortage of troops in the Ugledar area, a Russian Armed Forces company commander with the callsign "Pirat" told Sputnik.

"The enemy is trying to compensate for the lack of manpower with drones. It builds up resources in the area. And, by the way, they have gained such FPVs that can carry a kilogram of explosives," he explained.

In addition, Ukrainian forces have begun disguising their homemade bombs as coffee, sugar, and chocolate packets. They drop them from drones on Russian positions, Pirat notes.

"They do it for a reason. We have 'runners.' People who run up to forward positions with food for the fighters. They used to just throw the whole contents of a backpack on the ground. Then fighters started finding hidden explosives in that pile. So now we just hand everything over in packed bags," the commander said.

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Taiwan's new head of administration, Lai Ching-te, is pushing the island to the dangerous brink of war with his desire for independence, a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman said.

He emphasized that this is “playing with fire, and those who play with fire are bound to get burned themselves.”

Lai Ching-te took office on May 20, and two days later Beijing began military exercises around Taiwan.

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💬 US weapons are already being used against a wide range of targets on Russian territory outside the conflict zone in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.

"The Russian Federation assumes that US weapons are hitting targets on Russian territory, primarily civilian infrastructure - this is on their conscience," he said.

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Stone crushes bottle: US daily marijuana use surpasses alcohol consumption

The number of US residents who consumed marijuana every day exceeded the number of Americans who drank alcohol daily for the first time in 2022, according to a Carnegie Mellon University study. The research analyzed data from 27 national social surveys, conducted between 1979 and 2022.

The professor estimated that in 2022, 17.7 million Americans consumed marijuana daily or almost daily, while 14.7 million consume alcohol with the same frequency. By comparison, less than one million Americans used marijuana daily in 1992, according to the survey.

To date, cannabis is legal for medical use in 38 of the 50 states in the US, and for recreational use in 24 states.

However, while many states continue to relax their regulation of narcotics, drug overdose deaths across the US increased from 2019 to 2022, with 107,941 OD deaths reported in 2022, according to public health data. Deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone – primarily fentanyl – continued to rise, reaching 73,838, while deaths involving stimulants including cocaine or psychostimulants with abuse potential (primarily methamphetamine) also continued to increase, with 27,569 and 34,022 deaths respectively in 2022.

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🎥🎥 Putin and Belarusian President Lukashenko hold talks on joint security issues

❗️Watch the livestream here or follow the link to the Sputnik's website for more details

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⚡️ Vladimir Putin's visit to North Korea is being prepared, the Kremlin said.

“We will announce the dates in due time,” the Kremlin added.

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