The Russians are asking for Chinese military help in Ukraine. That confirms our earlier analysis that Russia is now beholden to China in several ways, effectively becoming a Chinese client state.

China denies the report. Which, given the dismal performance of the Russian military in Ukraine, means it’s true. If the Chinese were to directly intervene in Ukraine it would be a significant escalation of the conflict.

But, it could backfire, as the below the surface enmity between Russia and China is eternal. The same could be said for their respective militaries, who have clashed in the past. Allen Drury, call your office.

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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that Russia would end its invasion “in a moment” if Ukraine kowtowed to ultimatums, including recognizing Crimea as Russian territory and the separatist regions of Donetsk and Lugansk as viable states. They may be lying.

But if not, that is a major climbdown from their previous demands for no Ukraine EU membership and effective neutralization of the country. It would be a loss for Putin.

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Zelenskyy to address US Congress. “As war rages on in Ukraine, it is with great respect and admiration for the Ukrainian people that we invite all Members of the House and Senate to attend a Virtual Address to the United States Congress delivered by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine on Wednesday, March 16th at 9:00 a.m,” it added.

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Ukrainian military going after Russian supplies. Smart. “The Armed Forces of Ukraine inflicted devastating blows on the rear infrastructure (field bases and warehouses) in order to disrupt the system of logistical support of the enemy in the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the occupiers,” it said.

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The General Staff added: “The moral and psychological state of the enemy remains low, which leads to the refusal of servicemen of the [Russian] Armed Forces to carry out the orders of the command.”

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said, “We destroyed the myth about ‘invincibility’ of the Russian Armed Forces.

“They have been expecting to conquer us in 48 hours. The stocks of food, fuel and ammunition were targeted for maximum 3 days. Nevertheless we have stopped them and disrupted their usurpation plans.”

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Pentagon says no to MIG deal.  “The intelligence community has assessed that the transfer of MiG-29s may be mistaken as escalatory and could result in significant Russian reaction that might increase the prospects of a military escalation with NATO,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters Wednesday. “Therefore, we also assess the MiG-29s to Ukraine to be high-risk.”

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The war creeps closer to NATO…Russian airstrike 13 miles from Poland. “We have been consistently concerned about NATO’s eastern flank and that airspace … and we continue to look for ways to bolster defense of NATO allies, we continue to look for ways to try to protect that airspace,” Pentagon spox John Kirby said.

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Estonia’s parliament is calling for the establishment of a no-fly zone in Ukraine. “The Riigikogu asks the U.N. member states to take immediate steps to establish a no-fly zone in order to prevent massive civilian casualties in Ukraine,” it said in a statement.

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Polish Foreign Minister and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Chairman-in-Office Zbigniew Rau told the U.N. Security Council Monday, “This operation — poorly prepared and executed — turned out to be a strategic and tactical failure. But instead of preventing further unnecessary deaths in its own ranks, the Kremlin changed its tactics.

“The invading force started to target the civilian population and infrastructure in an attempt to break the spirit of the Ukrainian people. This is deplorable and shameful and amounts to state terrorism. Schools, hospitals and kindergartens are deliberately being targeted with internationally-banned weapons. The reports of women and children killed are devastating.”

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Zelenskyy wants to meet the head gangster. “Representatives of our countries’ delegations speak in video format every day. Our delegation has a clear task – to do everything to ensure a meeting of the presidents. The meeting that I am sure people are waiting for,” Zelenskyy said in a video posted to his Facebook page Sunday evening.

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Breakthrough? We’ll see. “We will not concede in principle on any positions. Russia now understands this. Russia is already beginning to talk constructively,” presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said in a video posted online Sunday. “I think that we will achieve some results literally in a matter of days.”

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