U.S. "Surprised", Wasn't Pre-Consulted On Poland's Announcement Of Jets For Ukraine

"This level of huge contradiction among allies on such a big development is just a bit
awkward and even embarrassing. The Biden administration is saying it was caught completely by "surprise" at Poland's declaration hours ago that it would send all its Russian-produced MiG-29 jets to Ramstein Air Base in Germany for the United States to be able to transfer them to Ukraine.

While the possible plan was reportedly under consideration for days, it doesn't appear the White House was notified of Warsaw's final decision prior to the announcement being declared as a 'done deal' via the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. Apparently for Washington, there was no done deal at all.

"Poland's decision to put all its MIG-29 jets at the disposal of the United States was not pre-consulted with Washington," State Department Undersecretary Victoria Nuland said Tuesday in the wake of Poland's statement. And more:

"To my knowledge, it wasn't pre-consulted with us that they planned to give these planes to us," she said at a hearing of Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "I look forward when this hearing is over to getting back to my desk and seeing how we will respond to this proposal of theirs to give the planes to us," she said.

Here's how the exchange began:

"I was in a meeting where I ought to have heard about that just before I came (to a Senate hearing), so I think that actually was a surprise move by the Poles," Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland told US lawmakers.

Asked by a senator whether US officials coordinated ahead of time with Poland before Warsaw made its announcement, Nuland said: "Not to my knowledge."

The official statement from Poland had said, "The authorities of the Republic of Poland, after consultations between the President and the Government, are ready to deploy – immediately and free of charge – all their MIG-29 jets to the Ramstein Air Base and place them at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America." ZeroHedge

Putin Announces Ban of Certain Exports and Raw Materials in Response to Biden Blocking Russian Oil & Gas

"Putin has signed a decree blocking certain exports and raw materials from leaving Russia
until December 31.

“In order to ensure the safety and smooth functioning of the industry, I decided…To ensure the application of the following special economic measures until December 31, 2022,” the decree says.

These include “a ban on exports outside of the Russian Federation’s territory and (or) imports to the Russian Federation’s territory of products and (or) raw materials according to lists determined by the Russian government,” which will take effect immediately.

The Russian Federation will announce what specific goods and raw material exports will banned in the coming days." ZH

Oil Prices Jump on Reports U.S. Will Ban Russian Oil and Natural Gas Imports

"Oil prices jumped higher on Tuesday morning after news organizations reported that the
Biden administration is poised to ban U.S. imports of Russian energy. '

The ban will cover Russian oil, liquefied natural gas, and coal, according to a Bloomberg news report citing two anonymous sources." Breitbart

Zelensky Ready To 'Discuss & Find Compromise' On Crimea, No Longer Insists On NATO Membership

"President Zelensky's 14-hour old ABC News interview is finally getting widespread
distribution and is being repackaged as a significant nod to Moscow on what's been Putin's core issue he cited as justification for launching the war:

In another apparent nod aimed at placating Moscow, Zelensky said he is open to "compromise" on the status of two breakaway pro-Russian territories that President Vladimir Putin recognized as independent just before unleashing the invasion on February 24.

"I have cooled down regarding this question a long time ago after we understood that ...NATO is not prepared to accept Ukraine," Zelensky said in an interview aired Monday night on ABC News.

"The alliance is afraid of controversial things, and confrontation with Russia," the president added." ZeroHedge

Coca Cola Suspends Business In Russia; McDonald's Temporarily Closes All 850 Locations

"Hours after McDonald's announced plans to shutter every restaurant in Russia, Coca Cola
followed suit, announcing on Tuesday that the company would not longer sell its products in the country, according to Bloomberg." ZH

‘Barbaric’ Russian airstrike branded ‘war crime’

"The “barbaric bombardment” of a residential area in Sumy, Ukraine with “500-kilogram
bombs” has left 21 people dead, including two children.

Ukraine’s Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security said that Russia had committed a “war crime” for bombing the neighborhood.

Footage taken at the scene of the shelling shows the devastating aftermath of the attack, with small bodies being pulled from the rubble.

A video of the scene, too graphic to show, was shared to Twitter by Ukraine’s Ambassador to Austria, Olexander Scherba, who described it as a “barbaric bombardment.” PopulistPress

Claims of Divine Intervention

 "Lytvynenko said one man shared with him a story of his son who's serving in the Ukrainian army.

"He said, 'There's some miracle that happened. It looked like an attack (on the Russians) from a spaceship. There was some kind of lightning shooting from the sky,'" Lytvynenko told CBN News. "And sparks were spreading everywhere." 

In the morning, they (the Ukrainian troops) discovered the Russian tanks and other mobile units had been destroyed.

"All of those soldiers thought maybe it was done by some kind of a weapon we didn't know about," Lytvynenko said. "It was just God's intervention." CBN

Divine intervention claim as 'mysterious crosses' appear over warzones

"BIZARRE flying cross shapes that some believe are 'heavenly signs' have been allegedly
filmed appearing near the conflict zones of the war in Ukraine.

One of the visions is said to have appeared at the spot where the doomed MH17 passenger jet was blown from the sky.

Many viewers of newly-released video footage claim they are digitally-edited hoaxes.

But Mexican paranormal TV channel Tercer Milenio devoted an entire report to the alleged phenomena. Host UFO investigator Jamie Mausaan, who introduced the report, said: "We can clearly see a cross a cross going up and down - it is amazing." UKExpress

MSNBC Race Baiter’s Hot Take On Ukrainians: People Only Care Because They’re White Christians

"Every issue covered by MSNBC’s Joy Reid is filtered through her race bait tinted spectacles,
and the conflict over Ukraine is no different.

In a broadcast Monday, Reid stated that more people care about what is going on in Ukraine than they usually do about crises in other foreign nations because the people there are white and Christians." NW

Canada Says Its Oil Could Replace US Imports Of Russian Crude, All It Would Take Is Approval Of The Keystone XL Pipeline

"Canada has long pitched its crude as one that is not produced in rogue government regimes
such as Venezuela, Iran, or Russia, and Alberta’s top officials now say that its crude could be the answer to more supply from allied nations to the United States.

Retweeting Elon Musk’s comments that “we need to increase oil & gas output immediately,” Alberta’s Energy Minister Sonya Savage said:

“Agreed. And it should come from Alberta, home of the 3rd largest oil reserves. Alberta is the answer to US Energy security. Real emissions reductions, reliable, right next door.” ZH