Putin Or Maduro: Is Turning From One Dictator To Another A Good Idea?

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War In Ukraine

Things in Ukraine are getting much worse and the US Government said it expects the Russian government to become even more aggressive. Over the next few weeks, Putin has faced an unexpected level of resistance from the Ukrainians whose strength has been immense. But because Putin has been unable to force the Ukrainian government to collapse, his response has shifted to pursuing indiscriminate violence against innocent civilians. So the Russian military's bombarding Ukraine in civilian areas like against apartment buildings, hospitals, and businesses and literally inflicting terror on people.

This week, the Russian military bombed a children's hospital and maternity ward in the eastern city of Mariupol and they're not going to stop there. There are reports that the Russian military may consider using chemical weapons and that they're recruiting Syrian fighters to come to fight with them. Some cities are encircled and will run out of food and water in a matter of days.

The number of refugees fleeing Ukraine continues to rapidly grow. In fact, over two million people fled over the course of 12 days in what is the largest movement of displaced people in Europe since World War Two.

And Russia had said last week it would agree to a ceasefire to allow civilians to safely leave but unsurprisingly they never meant it. In fact, at the latest round of Russia-Ukraine talks, the Russian foreign minister looked at the world and lied when he said that Russia never attacked Ukraine.

Meanwhile, people inside Russia continue to protest this war and so far 13,000 Russians have been arrested. Even Russian moms of soldiers have come out against the Russian government for sending their boys to war. And let me tell you don't mess with moms.

The Ukrainian president has asked for a no fly zone which is when other countries helped protect the airspace so that the land under that area remains safe for civilians. And he's also asked for fighter jets and for anti-missile defense systems. Poland offered to send fighter jets to Ukraine but they're worried about getting sucked into the conflict. So they wanted to send the planes to a US Airbase in Germany so that NATO could deliver them instead. The US rejected the plan though because they're worried that if the Russian military strikes the pilot delivering the plane, then that could be interpreted as an attack on a NATO member. Therefore roping NATO into this war.

US Officials Travel To Venezuela

US officials traveled to Venezuela over the weekend to meet with the Venezuelan regime to talk about energy, security. and the safety of US citizens who are detained there. We don't know how long this meeting had been planned for. But the timing during the war in Ukraine and just two days before the US announced oil sanctions on Russia isn't a good look.

Now it's normal to pursue diplomacy, especially when you have American citizens detained abroad. Nicolas Maduro whom we and 60 other countries have said it's not the legitimate president of Venezuela.

But a guy like that doesn't give anything for free. So what's he getting in return? His hope is to start selling his oil again to the US and to take advantage of the high prices right now.

Here's the situation. Russia is the world's third-largest producer of oil. 8% of our energy imports are from Russia. So that's a small amount and something we can replace. But this isn't just about US consumption, Europe has also pledged to cut its Russian energy imports by two-thirds by the end of the year.

And that's a lot since 40% of Europe's energy imports come from Russia. So the administration is looking for ways to replace Russian oil in the market by increasing production so that prices don't skyrocket

Want to see more on these topics, and who’s on our Crush List and $h!t List this week? Stay tuned to the video!

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!

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