Month: December 2023

Conservative lawmakers on the state level have been a wrecking ball this year to the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing movement, as well as other ‘woke’ trends, including DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) and CRT (critical race theory).

South Carolina State Treasurer Curtis Loftis is taking a stand against radically left-leaning mega-corporations by removing Disney from the state’s investment portfolio. 

“Disney has abandoned its fiduciary responsibilities to its investors and customers by joining far-left activists in boycotting legal, taxpaying, employment-creating corporations to further Disney’s political agenda,” Loftis said in a statement. 

The State Treasurer’s portfolio contains about $105 million of Disney debt that will mature and not be replaced. Loftis will be heavily scrutinizing the equity side of the portfolio in the coming weeks.

 “Multi-billion-dollar corporations should not engage in boycotts designed to silence legitimate debate,” Loftis said, adding, “Since America’s founding, freedom of speech has been one of its core principals, and Disney should not engage in nefarious practices aimed at silencing those with less power and money.”

Loftis is the so-called ‘state’s banker’ and manages approximately $70 billion. We suspect Disney won’t be the only woke mega-corporation to be removed from the state’s debt and/or equity portfolios. 

Disney became a focal point following Florida’s enactment of the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which prohibits classroom discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity for young kids. Disney’s former CEO, Bob Chapek, publicly opposed this legislation, which sparked a war between him and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. 

Meanwhile, earlier this year, Governor DeSantis prohibited state officials from investing public money in ESG funds. Other state governors followed suit, yanking billions of public money from ESG funds. 

The best way to fight the ‘woke mind’ virus is to boycott it (read: Time To Boycott Elon’s Boycotters). 

Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

President Joe Biden’s 2021 infrastructure bill boasts a $7.5 billion investment in electric vehicle (EV) chargers, and his administration insists the country is “on track” to install over a million public chargers by the end of the decade—but reports indicate that so far not a single one has actually been built.

A key part of the Biden administration’s push to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 is to sharply expand the nation’s charging infrastructure for plug-in EVs in order to align with President Biden’s goal of having half of all new vehicles sold in the United States to be electric by 2030.

At the forefront of this effort is the federal government’s commitment to pour in $7.5 billion as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) to build 1.2 million public chargers to keep up with what the White House said over the summer was rapidly growing demand for EVs.

The $7.5 billion federal funding plan for EV chargers consists of the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program and the $2.5 billion Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program, both of which are being administered through agencies affiliated with the Department of Transportation (DOT).

However, despite more than $2 billion of the $7.5 billion in federal EV charger funding already authorized under the programs, not even half of states have started to take bids from contractors for construction—and not a single new public charger has been built.

“Already, seven states have issued conditional awards for new NEVI stations amounting to $101.5 million, two states have agreements in place, and 17 states are soliciting proposals for new stations,” the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, which is leading the Biden administration’s EV charger efforts, said in an update at the end of October.

An initial wave of 26 states are leading the effort to build out the public EV charger network, with Ohio being the first to break a public EV charger construction project funded by the NEVI program.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), which is administering the $5 billion NEVI program, with a request for more up-to-date information about the status of the various federally-funded EV charger projects.

Many Republicans have been lukewarm on the idea of federal funding for EV infrastructure, with former President Donald Trump voicing staunch opposition to EV subsidies, arguing that the government should step aside and let market forces decide what vehicles people drive.

‘On Track’?

While EV sales in the United Sates hit a record 313,086 in the third quarter of 2023, many carmakers are sounding the alarm, saying that demand isn’t keeping up with expectations, forcing them to scale back some EV expansion plans.

Studies show that a key factor hampering widespread EV adoption is so-called “range anxiety,” which is the fear among drivers that their EV will run out of power and grind to a halt on the side of the road with no charger in sight.

In order to alleviate drivers’ range anxiety and support growing EV demand, a recent study from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) estimated that the size of the national charging network needs to grow from roughly 3.1 million ports in 2022 to 28 million by 2030, with the vast majority being private chargers.

Currently, there are 182,892 public chargers in the country, according to the Energy Department, with the NREL study estimating that this figure needs to rise to a total of 1.2 million by 2030 to support roughly 33 million light-duty plug-in EVs.

Including the $7.5 billion in taxpayer dollars from the infrastructure bill, the total cumulative investment in publicly accessible charging infrastructure through 2030 is estimated to require an investment of between $31-$55 billion.

When including the private network, that cumulative national investment estimate increases to $53-$127 billion, with 52 percent of the cost being private chargers, 39 percent being public DC fast chargers, and 9 percent public L2 chargers, per the NREL study.

Over the summer, the White House said in a fact sheet that the Biden administration is “on track” to install a network of 1.2 million public chargers by 2030.

Gabe Klein, executive director of the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, told Politico in a recent interview that it may be slow going for now—but that will change.

“You have to go slow to go fast,” Mr. Klein told the outlet. “These are things that take a little bit of time, but boy, when you’re done, it’s going to completely change the game.”

“I’m probably more excited now … than I’ve been anytime since I took this job because everybody’s paddling in the right direction—purple state, blue state, red state,” Mr. Klein added.

“Everybody’s seeing the impact of the investments,” he insisted.

Meanwhile, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who has been a key figure helping President Biden push EVs onto a reluctant public, recently acknowledged that there weren’t enough chargers to satisfy demand—and that some existing ones don’t work.

His admission came as the federal agency he helms announced $100 million in funding for repairing and replacing exsting EV charging stations.

Love them or hate them, tourists are back.

As Visual Capitalists’ Pallavi Rao and Marcus Lu show in the graphic below, global tourism has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels according to data sourced from the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Report (2023)

They visualize monthly arrivals of foreign visitors to various regions, indexed to December 2019 levels.

Europe Leads as Destination for Resurging Tourism

Having been the first industry to suffer almost immediately from COVID-19 required lockdowns and border closures, global tourism has been on a steady recovery in the last year and a half.

In fact, Europe was the first region to get back to pre-pandemic levels in April–May 2022, with the U.S. nearly approaching the mark in July that same year.

In the tables below we showcase the relative scale of monthly arrivals of foreign visitors to various regions, indexed to Dec 2019 levels. Figures below 100 mean there were fewer foreign arrivals than December 2019, and vice-versa.

Latin America also hit pre-pandemic levels of tourists in June 2022 and then again in April 2023.

One major exception to the recovery is Asia (excluding China), which was at 90.8% of 2019 levels as of April 2023. As it happens, the lack of Chinese tourists—due to China’s prolonged period of COVID-19 lockdowns—are likely a major factor for Asia’s slower tourism recovery.

Rising Chinese income levels has made the country the world’s largest source of tourists. For example, in 2019 (pre-COVID), China ranked first in terms of outbound tourism spending, at $255 billion.

Airlines Passenger Share Mirrors Tourism Trends

Consequently, the airline industry of these regions has also seen correlating gains and losses in traffic. European airlines had the highest share of passenger traffic, followed by the U.S. in 2022. At the same time all four of China’s largest airlines saw a fall in traffic.

Meanwhile the outlook on the Chinese economy (second largest in the world) remains uncertain at best, which is casting a pall on global growth prospects for the next year.

Via SchiffGold.com,

Central banks gobbled up gold over the summer and the buying spree has continued into the fall.

Globally, central banks added another net 42 tons of gold to their reserves in October.

China continues to be the biggest gold purchaser. The People’s Bank of China added another 23 tons of gold to its hoard in October as it expanded its official reserves for the 12th straight month.

Since the beginning of the year, the People’s Bank of China increased its reserves by 204 tons, and it has added 255 tons since it resumed official purchases in November 2022. As of the end of October, China officially held 2,215 tons of gold, making up 4% of its total reserves.

Most people believe the Chinese hold even more gold than that off the books.

There has always been speculation that China holds far more gold than it officially reveals. As Jim Rickards pointed out on Mises Daily back in 2015, many people speculate that China keeps several thousand tons of gold “off the books” in a separate entity called the State Administration for Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

Last year, there were large unreported increases in central bank gold holdings.  Central banks that often fail to report purchases include China and Russia. Many analysts believe China is the mystery buyer stockpiling gold to minimize exposure to the dollar.

The Central Bank of Turkey also made another big gold buy in October, expanding its holdings by 19 tons. Even with big purchases over the last several months, Turkey is still a net seller on the year.

The Turkish central bank sold 160 tons of gold last spring but returned to buying in the third quarter. According to the World Gold Council, the big gold sale earlier this year was a specific response to local market dynamics and didn’t likely reflect a change in the Turkish central bank’s long-term gold strategy. It sold gold into the local market to satisfy demand after the government imposed import quotas in an attempt to improve its current account balance. The country is running a significant trade deficit.

Although the Turkish government reinstated gold import quotas in early August, so far we haven’t seen a repeat of sales into the local market to meet elevated demand.

The National Bank of Poland also continued its recent gold-buying spree, expanding its reserves by another 6 tons. Its gold holdings have now risen by over 100 tons this year.

In 2021, Bank of Poland President Adam Glapiński announced a plan to expand the country’s gold reserves by 100 tons. Now that it’s reached that gold, Glapiński indicated it will continue to add gold to its holdings.

This makes Poland a more credible country, we have a better standing in all ratings, we are a very serious partner and we will continue to buy gold. The dream is to reach 20 percent.”

When he announced the plan to expand its gold reserves, Glapiński said holding gold was a matter of financial security and stability.

Gold will retain its value even when someone cuts off the power to the global financial system, destroying traditional assets based on electronic accounting records. Of course, we do not assume that this will happen. But as the saying goes – forewarned is always insured. And the central bank is required to be prepared for even the most unfavorable circumstances. That is why we see a special place for gold in our foreign exchange management process.”

Other significant gold buyers in October included:

• India — 3 tons

• The Czech Republic — 2 tons

• The Kyrgyz Republic — 1 ton

• Qatar — 1 ton

There were two notable gold sellers in October.

The Central Bank of Uzbekistan sold 11 tons of gold during the month. The National Bank of Kazakhstan also continued its recent selling, lowering its reserves by 2 tons.

It is not uncommon for banks that buy from domestic production – such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan – to switch between buying and selling.

October’s buying came on the heels of the second-highest third-quarter total of central bank gold buying on record, only coming in behind Q3 2022.

The World Gold Council said it’s “all but certain that central banks are on course for another colossal year of buying,” after a record-setting 2022.

The strength of buying has, to some degree, exceeded our expectations. While we were confident that central banks would remain net purchasers in 2022, we thought it unlikely that it would match last year’s record buying volume. Should buying continue to be strong in Q4, the full-year total could get closer than we anticipated. Nevertheless, the historically high level of buying in Q4 2022 may be difficult to top.”

Total central bank gold buying in 2022 came in at 1,136 tons. It was the highest level of net purchases on record dating back to 1950, including since the suspension of dollar convertibility into gold in 1971. It was the 13th straight year of net central bank gold purchases.

According to the 2023 Central Bank Gold Reserve Survey recently released by the World Gold Council, 24% of central banks plan to add more gold to their reserves in the next 12 months. Seventy-one percent of central banks surveyed believe the overall level of global reserves will increase in the next 12 months. That was a 10-point increase over last year.

Just days after it was reported that Jeff Ubben would be shutting down his “green” Inclusive Capital fund, the former ValueAct manager isn’t pulling any punches with what he thinks about green investing. 

In a new Bloomberg report, Ubben spoke out about what he is calling the “echo chamber” of traditional climate summitry. After shuttering his sustainability fund, which he said was not “rewarded” by markets, Ubben has joined a chorus of voices speaking out about “green” energy advocates who, in the name of virtue, the climate and the environment, are creating more division than they solve. 

“It’s been this echo chamber of diplomats going to these conferences and putting out flowery language and goals, but it doesn’t have traction,” Ubben said, talking about climate conferences. 

“There’s no money behind it, which is why company balance sheets are so important,” he added. “We all need to work together.”

Ubber originally had the goal to “collaborate with companies whose core businesses address essential societal needs with a focus on reducing negative externalities” when he started Inclusive Capital. But, as the report notes, the “exact opposite” played out over the last 3 years. 

“Shares of companies pursuing capital-intensive projects needed to drive lower greenhouse gas emissions have been ‘sold off’ in the public markets as being too risky or too far out in terms of any potential reward,” he said.

Recall less than a week ago we noted that $30 billion has been shaved off the value of clean energy stocks over the last 6 months. 

Rate hikes, which affect the profitability of large-scale projects like solar and wind farms, have led to project cancellations and even bankruptcies in the field, the report says. The optimism spurred by the Inflation Reduction Act has faded, resulting in a 25% reduction in the market value of U.S. companies listed in the S&P Global Clean Energy Index in the half-year period ending November 27.

The report noted that the downturn highlights the significant challenges facing Biden’s climate objectives. Clean energy firms not only grapple with steep financing costs but also face hurdles in community acceptance, obtaining government permits, and integrating into an aging power grid that struggles to support the influx of renewable energy.

Meanwhile, oil and gas companies are intensifying their extraction activities – and, according to Biden, making ‘more money than God’ in the process. Either way the message is clear: the U.S.’s journey towards a carbon-neutral electricity grid by 2035 is becoming increasingly difficult.

Eric Scheriff, senior managing director at Capstone, told Bloomberg: “We’re in the moment of realization now where some of the euphoria has worn off and we’re starting to realize it’s still not going to be easy.”

 

We also pointed out just days ago how the ESG grift was reaching endgame after Markus Müller, chief investment officer ESG at Deutsche Bank’s Private Bank stated that sustainability funds should include traditional energy stocks, arguing that not doing so deprives investors of a prime opportunity to invest in the transition to renewable energy.

“When we think about clean energy, these are business models which are quite new and sensitive to interest rates,” he said.

It’s not surprising, as we have been calling out ESG as a grift since the virtue signaling “trend” was born from the soil of near-unlimited liquidity during the Covid years. Recall, back in August we noted that companies with good ESG scores polluted just as much as those with low ones. 

By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com

Global emissions from the combustion of hydrocarbons such as oil and gas are set for another record this year, the Global Carbon Budget report has warned.

“Fossil CO2 emissions are falling in some regions, including Europe and the USA, but rising overall – and the scientists say global action to cut fossil fuels is not happening fast enough to prevent dangerous climate change,” the report’s authors said.

Released during the COP28 conference, the report said that global emissions will reach 36.8 billion tons this year, which would be a 1.1% increase in 2022, the report’s authors said.

The report is produced by a group of scientific institutions led by the University of Exeter.

These are the emissions generated directly from the combustion of hydrocarbons. When emissions from land use are added, the total rises to 40.9 billion tons of carbon dioxide. This total has plateaued, the authors of the report said, due to a decline in land use emissions from activities including deforestation.

Emissions from oil, gas, and coal, however, are on the rise, driven by the leading economies of the developing world. China’s emissions were on the rise after it reopened its economy following pandemic lockdowns, the report said. India, on the other hand, saw its emissions rise because demand for energy was rising faster than India was adding low-carbon energy sources to its grid, the authors also said.

“It now looks inevitable we will overshoot the 1.5C target of the Paris Agreement,” Pierre Friedlingstein, lead author of the report and Chair of Mathematical Modelling of the Climate System at the University of Exeter, said.

“Leaders meeting at COP28 will have to agree rapid cuts in fossil fuel emissions even to keep the 2C target alive,” Friedlingstein added in comments included in the press release detailing the findings of the report.

COP28 has a special focus on hydrocarbons but few believe this would lead to any meaningful agreement for phasing these out.

Tesla’s Scandinavian labor disputes may intensify, as Denmark’s most prominent union announced its workers will stop offloading and transporting Tesla vehicles to Sweden. This comes amid Tesla’s ongoing labor disputes in Sweden. Elon Musk has labeled the industrial actions threatening to disrupt operations in Europe as “insane.” 

According to Bloomberg, the Danish union 3F plans to direct dockworkers and truck drivers to stop offloading and transporting Tesla cars to Sweden in about two weeks. This action will prevent Tesla from bypassing a blockade by Swedish dockworkers who’ve already blocked sea shipments. 

Tesla has been in a labor dispute with Swedish unions for over a month. It has refused to sign a collective bargaining agreement with the union IF Metall. 

Swedish cleaners, dockworkers, and postal workers have stood behind striking Tesla mechanics. The dispute revolves around 130 mechanics at body shops across the country. 

Musk, a staunch critic of unionization, told the crowd at a New York Times event last week:

“I disagree with the idea of unions.

“I just don’t like anything which creates a lords and peasants kind of thing.”

Elon Musk disagrees with the idea of unions because they “create a lords and peasants sort of thing” and definitely has nothing to do with the fact he’s acquired obscene wealth by exploiting the labor of his workers.

Unionize Tesla.
Unionize X.
Unionize SpaceX. pic.twitter.com/P5kHqNgRN4

— We Are Somebody (@StrikeForAll) December 1, 2023

Tesla has fired back at the unions, filing two lawsuits in Sweden after labor actions impacted the delivery of license plates to new vehicles. 

Given the high number of unionized workers, mounting labor actions against Tesla in the Scandinavian region should come as no surprise. 

Tesla’s fifth-largest European market is Sweden. Should all transport unions join the blockade, then the company would have to ship EVs to Germany.

The most significant risk to Tesla is that unions in other EU countries join in solidarity with their Swedish counterparts. 

Is the EU weaponizing unions against Tesla for Musk’s ‘free speech’ stance on social media platform X?

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

A city in Belgium has cancelled a scheduled Christmas event in which a black female ‘Santa Claus’ was set to reeducate attendees about “colonial ideology” and how “generations of Flemish people are racists.”

The Telegraph reports that people in Ghent have pressured the mayor to call off the appearance of one Queen Nikkolah, a character created by artist Laura Nsengiyumva, who would have ‘reworked’ Christmas fables about Santa for children at the event.

The report claims that the character was set to be dressed in the colours of the Palestinian flag (for some reason) while handing out gifts to children.

Ahead of the event which was scheduled for Wednesday, Queen Nikkolah announced “I dream of a Belgium liberated from colonial ideology and a society without discrimination.”

Conservatives in Belgium labelled the event “woker than woke,” with Nadia Sminate, a vice-chairman of the Flemish parliament, warning that “Queen Nikkolah’s initiative is actually saying that entire generations of Flemish people are racists.”

“There is nothing wrong with Sinterklaas, as we know him,” said Mathias de Clercq member of the Flemish liberal party, adding  “We shouldn’t try to turn him into something else.”

The report also notes that anti-racism protesters in both Belgium and Holland are campaigning to put an end to traditional celebrations of St Nicholas Day on Dec 6 that usually feature ‘Sinterklaas’ accompanied by Zwarte Piet – or Black Pete – a black-faced boy with curled-hair and large, painted on red lips.”

Geert Wilders, the Dutch populist who recently won the general election and is close to forming a coalition government in Holland, promised to bring back the tradition in his manifesto.

*  *  *

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Recent conversations about climate change, emissions, and health have put a spotlight on the world’s energy sources.

As of 2021, nearly 90% of global CO₂ emissions came from fossil fuels. But energy production doesn’t just lead to carbon emissions, it can also cause accidents and air pollution that has a significant toll on human life.

Visual Capitalist’s Freny Fernandes introduces this graphic by Ruben Mathisen uses data from Our World in Data to help visualize exactly how safe or deadly these energy sources are.

Fossil Fuels are the Highest Emitters

All energy sources today produce greenhouse gases either directly or indirectly. However, the top three GHG-emitting energy sources are all fossil fuels.

Coal produces 820 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e) per gigawatt-hour. Not far behind is oil, which produces 720 tonnes CO₂e per gigawatt-hour. Meanwhile, natural gas produces 490 tonnes of CO₂e per gigawatt-hour.

These three sources contribute to over 60% of the world’s energy production.

Deadly Effects

Generating energy at a massive scale can have other side effects, like air pollution or accidents that take human lives.

According to Our World in Data, air pollution and accidents from mining and burning coal fuels account for around 25 deaths per terawatt-hour of electricity—roughly the amount consumed by about 150,000 EU citizens in one year. The same measurement sees oil responsible for 18 annual deaths, and natural gas causing three annual deaths.

Meanwhile, hydropower, which is the most widely used renewable energy source, causes one annual death per 150,000 people. The safest energy sources by far are wind, solar, and nuclear energy at fewer than 0.1 annual deaths per terawatt-hour.

Nuclear energy, because of the sheer volume of electricity generated and low amount of associated deaths, is one of the world’s safest energy sources, despite common perceptions.

Authored by John Cody via ReMix News,

Germany’s Welt newspaper, perhaps the most popular publication in the country, is well known for its pro-Ukraine stance and ran numerous articles in the past about the likely success of Ukraine’s military offensive against Russia.

However, in a column published yesterday by the paper’s chief correspondent, Sascha Lehnartz, the assessment of Ukraine’s chances in the war is decidedly bleak.

Entitled “Has Kyiv already lost?” the article describes Ukraine’s military growing increasingly despondent to the point that the country’s commander-in-chief admits there is a “stalemate” at the front.

“Winter is just around the corner. The counteroffensive seems to have failed. The allies are weary. And since the beginning of November at the latest, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has a new opponent who was not necessarily to be expected: his own commander-in-chief, Valery Zaluzhny,” writes Die Welt.

Welt is referring to a recent interview in the Economist, in which Ukraine’s top general, Valery Zaluzhny, stated that “(a)s in the First World War, we have reached a technical level that puts us in a stalemate situation” and that in order for Ukraine to win, it would take miracle weapons to defeat the Russians, “like Chinese gunpowder.”

The paper details how the admission from Zaluzhny is a clear embarrassment for Zelensky.

“Everyone is tired and there are different opinions, regardless of their status,” said Zelensky in response to the comments at a press conference with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, adding:

“But it’s not a stalemate.” His deputy bureau chief, Ihor Zhovkva said that talks of a stalemate “makes the aggressor’s job easier” and causes “panic” among Ukraine’s allies.

Soldiers of Ukraine’s National Guard 1st brigade Bureviy (Hurricane) practice during combat training at a military training ground in the north of Ukraine, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

In response, Welt wrote that the growing divisions between Ukraine’s armed forces and the government over the status of the war could mark a major turning point.

“The dispute between the president and the top military officer shows that the unified home front in Ukraine is crumbling. And every doubt expressed in Kyiv about Ukraine’s prospects of success is being reinforced in the corridors of European and American government headquarters,” writes Lehnartz.

Welt also points out that political victories of various populist leaders within Europe will likely create severe difficulties in terms of ongoing material and financial support to Ukraine. A deepening budget crisis in Germany also could mean further cuts to Ukraine’s budget, placing the country’s war effort at risk.

“The recent election victories of Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and Robert Fico in Slovakia — both of whom reject further arms sales to Ukraine — are also symptoms of growing war weariness in the West,” writes Welt.

“Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni admitted this in September when she was tricked on the phone by a Moscow comedian duo: she saw ‘a lot of fatigue on all sides.’ Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has already declared the Ukrainian strategy ‘failed.’ Everyone knows that, but no one (except Orbán) dares to say it out loud,” the paper continues.

Orbán has long been criticized for his peace efforts in Ukraine, warning that Russia cannot be defeated because it is a nuclear power and that thousands of Ukrainians and Russians are losing their fathers and brothers due to a war of attrition.

Welt then lists the major obstacles facing Ukraine on the battlefield, noting that Ukraine has retaken less than 0.25 percent of the territory it wishes to recapture from Russia during the counteroffensive. As a result, ‘the number of those who believe that Ukraine can still ‘win’ this war, i.e., achieve the liberation of all its territories occupied by Russia, is dwindling day by day. Russia’s Plan A, to take Kyiv in a few days and rule more or less directly, has ‘failed miserably,’ says James Nixey, director of the Russia and Eurasia program at the British think tank Chatham House. ‘But Plan B appears to be working: waiting for Ukraine’s allies to give up and go home.’”

…

Tatiana Burchik, center, mother of Ukrainian soldier Vadym “Gagarin” Belov, says her last goodbyes to her son near his coffin at a cemetery in Polonne, Khmelnytskyi region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. Vadyn was killed during an assault mission on Sept. 7 near Bakhmut, serving as an infantry serviceman of the 3rd Assault Brigade. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

However, the paper notes that this stalemate appears to be by design — at least to some extent. Western governments, for example, are struggling to provide simple military tech, such as artillery shells, in the promised number. These governments are still leery about providing more advanced military weapons, such as the Taurus guided missiles, which in theory could destroy the Kerch Bridge, a vital supply route for Russia. However, Western governments are still extremely wary of providing such weapons to Ukraine out of fear that the war could escalate. In effect, they want to provide only enough weapons to make sure Ukraine cannot lose, but also cannot win:

This is symptomatic of the German attitude, but ultimately also of the U.S. government. The American foreign policy expert Walter Russell Mead recently complained in the Wall Street Journal that the stalemate was ultimately the goal of the Biden government: exhausted Ukrainians would have to offer peace to Russia at some point, “and the White House then sells this as a glorious victory for democracy and the rule of law.”

However, the Welt article ends on a controversial note.

Despite spending much of the piece outlining how the war has reached a stalemate, resulting in incredible losses for both Russia and Ukraine, the article implies that the only way forward is doubling down on military support for Ukraine instead of working towards a peaceful solution.

…

“The West will have to decide whether it still believes in itself. And soon,” Welt concludes.

…

Read more here…