RA's private jet was seen departing Nice (he was likely staying on his superyacht in Monaco) on Friday and it flew to Moscow........rumour was Vlad the Mad summoned all his Oligarch cronies for a conference.

BREAKING: Kosovo asks the US for a permanent military base and requests NATO membership

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 27 (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council on Sunday called for a rare emergency special session of the 193-member General Assembly on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which will be held on Monday, as western allies step up a diplomatic campaign to isolate Moscow.

The vote by the 15-member council was procedural so Russia could not wield its veto. A resolution convening the General Assembly session was adopted with 11 yes votes. Russia voted no, while China, India and the United Arab Emirates abstained.

————————-

This will be only the 11th emergency session of the UN General Assembly in the history of the UN.

A ray of hope … thanks, ORAC.

In the meantime, obviously a collector
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....a2cd69bfa.jpeg

Sweden to send 5000 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, along with helmets and other protective equipment - Swedish PM.

Sweden is breaking a long-standing policy of not sending arms to countries engaged in military conflict. First time this kind of support has been offered since Sweden supported Finland against the Soviets in 1939.

Of note in this context: Sweden is ‘alliance-free’, i.e. it is not part of Nato, but it no longer describes itself as ‘neutral’.

We need to be careful - Putin needs to be provided with a way out of this nightmare that allows him to save face.

It seems that some nice pieces of kit from the eastern european air forces will have à second life. But not against the enemy they were built for!

A very good point, but any Exit Strategy would damage his cherished reputation. A simple return to the status quo ante isn’t going to fit his mindset … he will need something in return. A pledge that UA will never join NATO? Fair enough … that can be abrogated at the drop of a hat, just like the Minsk Agreement. He’s already on the back foot … what would anyone offer him to just go back to the ORIGINAL borders (yes, including Crimea)? And that will be a difficult debate.

The Ukrainian government has asked for FJ's they are able to use. Which EU countries still have stocks of old Soviet FJ's in full combat ready state....

https://www.barrons.com/articles/eu-...ll-01645994409

Indeed! This should not be completely ignored. Revenge has rarely done any good in history. However tempting it may be.

Poland?! MiG29s

Save face? As several have said, Putin has crossed the Rubicon, there’s no face to be saved. He will perhaps be made accountable in this life, and most certainly in the next.

We need to provide a way for Ukraine to prevail. We have no need to provide Putin anything.

This is all going pear shaped for Putin, if one of his underlings doesn’t put a bullet in the back of his head this could all turn ugly. Lukashenko might see the writing on the wall here too.