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corendisguise · 1 month ago

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Naughty Easter Bunny

Chapter 1

Jan shifted uncomfortably on the park bench, the warm spring sun beating down on his neck as his wife waved goodbye, hurrying off to her shift. Jan was a cute blonde guy in his mid twenties with a darker goatee. He had joined his wife to a promotion job for the local telecommunications company. He glanced around, the bustle of the Easter event in full swing. Children squealed with delight, parents chatted, and on the stage, three oversized Easter bunny mascots hopped around, their fuzzy grey suits gleaming in the sunlight. One of them—a tall, broad-shouldered bunny—was crouched down, speaking to a group of kids in a deep, muffled voice that carried a hint of something�� intriguing.

Jan’s heart skipped as he subtly pulled out his phone, glancing around to make sure no one was watching. His thumb swiped over the screen, and within seconds, he was immersed in the kind of video he’d never admit to watching. His breath quickened as he tucked the phone closer to his chest, his other hand instinctively adjusting the front of his shorts. This is wrong, he thought, his pulse racing. But I can’t help it. He loved his wife—he really did—but this secret craving, this forbidden desire, gnawed at him relentlessly. From time to time he even used his wife’s dildo and he enjoyed it.

He was so engrossed in the gay porn video, showing a huge top dominating a twink, that he didn’t notice the large, fuzzy figure approaching until it was right in front of him. Jan’s head snapped up, his cheeks burning as he fumbled to lock his phone. The Easter bunny loomed over him, its oversized head tilting slightly, as if studying him.

“No more eggs in my basket,” the bunny said, his voice low and gravelly, muffled by the costume. He held up the wicker basket, empty except for a few strands of plastic grass. “But… maybe I can find two more for you.”

Jan’s throat went dry. Did he… did he see the video? The bunny’s hand drifted down, grazing the crotch area of the suit in a way that was anything but innocent. Then, without another word, the bunny turned and began walking toward the nearby restroom building, his fluffy tail swaying slightly with each step. He turned around and waved his hand to make him follow.

Jan’s heart pounded in his chest. What the hell is happening? He glanced around, half-expecting someone to jump out and yell, Gotcha! But the park was alive with oblivious families, their laughter and chatter blending into a distant hum. His palms were sweaty, his breath shallow. This is insane. I should just stay here. My wife— But the thought was quickly drowned out by the thrum of excitement coursing through him.

Before he could talk himself out of it, Jan stood up, his legs feeling like jelly. He stuffed his phone into his pocket and made his way toward the restroom, his steps quickening with each stride. The door creaked as he pushed it open, the dim light inside a stark contrast to the bright sun outside. The air was heavy with the scent of cheap cleaning products and something else—something primal.

The bunny was waiting in the last stall, the door slightly ajar. Jan hesitated, his hand trembling as he reached for the handle. He pushed the door open, and there he was—the bunny, his fuzzy torso exposed, the upper half of the costume pulled apart to reveal a muscular, hairy chest. The bunny’s gloved hand was splayed across his pecs, his fingers teasingly tracing the line of sweat that glistened in the dim light. His head was still covered by the mascot’s oversized head, the wide, toothy grin eerily juxtaposed with the raw, sensual energy emanating from him.

“Come in,” the bunny said, his voice low and inviting.

Jan stepped inside, his heart hammering as he closed the door behind him. The space was tight, their bodies close enough that Jan could feel the heat radiating from the bunny. Before he could say anything, the bunny’s gloved hands were on him, the soft fur brushing against his skin as they slid up his sides. Jan gasped, his body trembling as the bunny’s fingers lifted his shirt, pulling the fabric over his head to expose his chest.

“You’re so tense,” the bunny murmured, his hands moving lower, tugging at the waistband of Jan’s shorts. “Let me help you relax.”

Jan’s breath hitched as the bunny’s hands slipped inside his shorts, his gloved fingers wrapping around his hardening cock. He bit his lip to stifle a moan, his hands instinctively reaching out to touch the bunny’s chest. His fingers brushed against the warm, sweaty skin, the coarse hair tickling his palms.

“Oh God,” Jan whispered, his voice trembling.

The bunny’s hand moved with practiced ease, stroking him inside the fabric of his boxers. Jan’s knees nearly buckled, his whole body electric with sensation. He leaned forward, his forehead resting against the bunny’s fuzzy shoulder, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

“That’s it,” the bunny coaxed, his voice a low rumble. “Let go.”

Jan’s hips bucked involuntarily, his hands gripping the bunny’s chest as if anchoring himself. The bunny’s other hand reached up, pulling him closer, their bodies pressed together in the cramped stall. Jan could feel the bunny’s own arousal pressing against him, the thick fabric of the costume doing little to hide it.

Then, with a sudden movement, the bunny pulled off the mascot head, revealing a strikingly handsome face—dark curly hair, a thick mustache, and piercing eyes that locked onto Jan’s with an intensity that made his stomach flip.

“Hi,” the man said, his voice no longer muffled, sending a shiver down Jan’s spine.

“Hi,” Jan managed to choke out, his voice barely above a whisper.

The man smirked, his hands moving with renewed purpose as he pulled Jan’s shorts down to his ankles, his cock springing free.

“Oh my god,” Jan moaned, his eyes fluttering shut as the man’s gloved hand wrapped around him, stroking him with a slow, deliberate rhythm.

“Look at you,” the man murmured, his voice thick with desire. “You’re so fucking perfect.”

Jan’s head fell back, a low groan escaping his lips as the man’s hand sped up, the friction sending waves of pleasure coursing through him. His hands gripped the man’s shoulders digging inside the sweaty costume, his fingers massaging the sweat-slick skin as he tried to steady himself.

“Tell me what you want,” the man whispered, his breath hot against Jan’s ear.

“I—I—” Jan stammered, his mind a haze of desire.

“Let me help you,” the man said, his free hand guiding Jan’s to the front of the bunny costume, where the man’s own arousal strained against the fabric.

Jan’s fingers trembled as he digged deep into the costume, finally touching the man’s cock—thick, hard, and glistening with pre-cum. He hesitated for a fraction of a second before wrapping his hand around it, the heat and weight of it sending a jolt of arousal straight to his core.

“Oh, fuck,” the man groaned, his head tilting back as Jan began to stroke him.

Their movements became frantic, their breaths mingling in the stifling air of the stall. The man’s hand tightened around Jan’s cock, his thumb swiping over the sensitive tip, drawing a strangled cry from his lips.

“I’m close,” Jan gasped, his hips bucking into the man’s hand.

“Me too,” the man growled.

With this words he made a step back and released Jan’s dig. „Please don’t stop now.“ Jan said. „That was…” Jan started, but the man cut him off with a kiss, deep and hungry, leaving him dizzy with desire.

“We’re not done yet,” the man whispered, breaking the kiss.

Jan’s eyes widened, his cock still twitching in anticipation.

“What do you mean?”

The man smirked, his hands trailing down Jan’s body.

“I think you know exactly what I mean.”

Jan’s breath hitched as the man dropped to his knees, his hands gripping Jan’s hips, and he couldn’t help but think—What the hell am I doing? But as the man’s mouth closed around his cock, all thoughts of his wife, of right and wrong, vanished. This… this is what I’ve been craving.

The man’s tongue swirled around the sensitive tip, his hand moving in rhythm with his mouth, driving Jan closer to the edge once more. He leaned back against the stall wall, his hands tangling in the man’s dark curls as he surrendered to the sensation.

“You’re so fucking good at this,” Jan moaned, his voice trembling.

The man looked up at him, his eyes dark with lust.

“I’m just getting started.”

The sound of his voice sent a shiver down Jan’s spine, and he knew—this isn’t the end. Not even close.

But before he could respond, the man stood up, his hands reaching for the remains of the bunny costume.

“What are you—” Jan started, but the man’s grin silenced him.

“Help me taking it off,” the man said, his voice low and commanding.

Jan’s breath hitched as the man’s hands opened more of the zipper of the bunny costume. The sound was slow, deliberate, and it sent a wave of anticipation through him. This is really happening. The thought buzzed in his mind, mingling with the heat pooling in his gut. The man stepped out of the costume, revealing a muscular body glistening with a light sheen of sweat. His dark, curly hair clung to his forehead, and his mustache gave him a rugged, almost dangerous look.

The man grinned at Jan, his eyes locking onto his with an intensity that made Jan’s knees weak. “Come here,” he said, his voice dripping with command. Jan obeyed without hesitation, stepping closer until their bodies were almost touching. The current atmosphere inside the restroom made his skin tickle, but it did nothing to quell the fire burning inside him.

The man’s fingertips traced a path down Jan’s chest, sending shivers through his body. His touch was electric, and Jan couldn’t help but let out a soft moan. “You’re beautiful,” the man murmured, his voice low and husky. The compliment sent a flush of warmth through Jan, and he leaned into the touch, craving more.

Before he could respond, the man dropped again to his knees, his hands sliding down to Jan’s hip. Jan’s cock was extremely hard, and the man didn’t hesitate. He wrapped his lips around the tip, swirling his tongue again in a way that made Jan’s legs buckle.

“Oh, fuck,” Jan groaned, his hands instinctively reaching for Chris’s head. His fingers tangled again in the man’s thick dark curls as Chris took him deeper, his mouth hot and wet. The sensation was overwhelming again, and Jan could feel himself losing control. Every movement of the man’s tongue, every suction of his lips, sent shockwaves of pleasure through his body.

The man didn’t let up, bobbing his head with a rhythm that had Jan gasping for air. His hands gripped Jan’s hips, holding him steady as he worked his magic. Jan’s moans grew louder, echoing off the walls of the tiny restroom. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this good—this alive.

But just as Jan thought he might burst, the man pulled away, leaving him panting and desperate. “Not yet,” he said, his voice rough with desire. He stood up, his hands turning Jan around and pushing him gently but firmly against the wall. Jan’s heart raced as he felt the man’s hands on his hips, his mouth trailing kisses down his back.

Then, his tongue found its way to Jan’s ass, and he let out a surprised gasp. The sensation was unlike anything he’d ever experienced. His tongue was relentless, licking and probing in a way that made Jan’s entire body tremble. “Oh, God,” Jan moaned, pressing his forehead against the cool tile of the wall. His hands clenched into fists as waves of pleasure crashed over him.

The man didn’t let up, his tongue working Jan’s hole with a skill that left him breathless. Jan could feel himself getting wetter, more open, and the anticipation was almost too much to bear. When the man finally pulled away, Jan let out a whimper of protest.

“You’re ready,” he said, his voice thick with desire. Jan nodded and soon after felt the pressure of Chris’s cock against his entrance. He braced himself against the wall, his heart pounding in his chest.

The man pushed in slowly, giving Jan time to adjust, but the sensation was still overwhelming. “Fuck,” Jan hissed, his nails digging into the tile. The man’s hands gripped his hips tighter, holding him in place as he began to move. Each thrust was deliberate, deep, and it sent ripples of pleasure through Jan’s body.

“You feel so good,” he groaned, his voice strained with effort. His pace quickened, each thrust driving Jan closer to the edge. The sound of skin slapping against skin filled the small space, mingling with their ragged breaths and muffled moans.

Jan’s hands scrambled for purchase on the wall, his body trembling with the intensity of it all. “I’m close,” he panted, his voice barely above a whisper. The man’s hand snaked around his waist, gripping his cock and stroking in time with his thrusts. Jan’s vision blurred, the sensations overwhelming him as he felt the familiar tightness in his stomach. The combination was too much, and Jan felt himself unraveling.

With a cry, Jan came, his release splattering against the floor. The sensation overwhelmed him, his vision going white as waves of pleasure crashed over him. The man wasn’t far behind, his thrusts becoming erratic as he chased his own release. With a low groan, he came, his body shuddering against Jan’s.

They stayed like that for a moment, both of them catching their breath. The man finally pulled out, pressing a kiss to Jan’s shoulder before turning him around. The kiss that followed was passionate, desperate, and it left Jan feeling dizzy.

“I’m Chris,” the man said, his lips brushing against Jan’s as he spoke. “And I hope I’ll see you again.” He winked before stepping back, reaching for the bunny costume. Jan watched as Chris redressed, the sight almost surreal. Once the mascot head was back in place, Chris gave Jan one last look before stepping out of the restroom.

Jan was left standing there, his body still humming with the aftermath of their encounter. He looked down at the mess on the floor. What have I just done? The thought crossed his mind, but it was quickly pushed aside by the memory of Chris’s hands, his mouth, his— Jan shook his head, a small smile tugging at his lips. He knew one thing for certain: this wasn’t the end.

to be continued…..

#gay #unmasking #gay roleplay #mask #muscle #mascot #mascot costume #costume

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rjzimmerman · 3 months ago

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Excerpt from this story from Inside Climate News:

The coalition-building started a dozen years ago: conservationists, ranchers and outdoor recreationists, from hunters and snowmobilers to bikers and hikers. They all had different preferences for public lands in Colorado, but they thought they could work together to preserve more of it from extraction.

If they could hammer out a plan, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet told them, he’d introduce it as a bill. In September, he and Colorado’s other U.S. senator, John Hickenlooper, did just that.

The Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection Act, or GORP is one of the biggest public lands bills to come out of the state in over a decade. As the name hints, outdoor recreation is at the core of the ambitious protections the legislation proposes, a sign of how supporters think adventure sports could be key to winning votes for new public land protections in a “drill, baby, drill” environment.

If the bill comes up for a vote after Jan. 20, it would need buy-in from a Republican-controlled Congress and President Donald Trump. But people across the political spectrum hunt, fish, hike, bike and camp.

“In Colorado, outdoor recreation is a core part of our culture and critical for local economies,” Bennet said in an email. “The broad support from public lands user groups—including from summer and winter motorized recreation, conservation, mountain bikers, whitewater recreation, ranchers, water users, rock climbers, and hunters and anglers—underscores that importance.”

The GORP Act is aimed at conservation and management practices in over 730,000 acres of public lands in and around Gunnison County, which is south of Aspen. The bill would protect huge parcels of Colorado’s high country from mining and drilling while preserving access for all existing recreation, like boating, mountain biking and off-roading. It would preserve land for planned future trails.

Community support, including from outdoor lovers, convinced the Biden administration in April to remove more than 220,000 acres in Colorado’s Thompson Divide—near the land the GORP Act would protect—from areas permitted for new mining, mineral and geothermal leases. Two other public-lands bills proposed by Bennet in recent years, the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Act and legislation to establish the Dolores River National Conservation Area, grew out of similar coalitions.

#outdoor recreation #public lands #Colorado

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angrywhispers7 · 14 days ago

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Horoscope for Saturday, February 15, 2025

Aries (March 21-April 19) Tread carefully, because discussions with partners and close friends might be intense today because someone can’t let go of something. They’re obsessed and they’re going to hammer their point home. (Might this person be you?) In either case, be patient with others.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Today you’re keen to make improvements to your job or your health or even how you take care of a pet. You might want to find better ways of doing something, and you certainly want to get better results. This is also a good day to explore ways to eat healthier or exercise more.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) Be easygoing today because you might be too focused on issues with your kids. You might be too intense or you might go overboard. Likewise, jealousy or an obsessive feeling could arise in a romantic relationship. Stay calm and be reasonable.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Today you want to make home improvements, which is why you’re determined in some way. However, this could lead to family arguments, especially if you get pushy. Unfortunately, this is the kind of day where it’s easy to become obsessed with an idea. Lighten up.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) You might fall victim to compulsive behavior because you can’t stop thinking about something or you’re blindly focused in a discussion with a sibling, relative or neighbor. Or you might attract someone to you today who is similarly intense?

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) If shopping today, be careful because you might be obsessed with buying something, and then later regret your purchase. At least, save your receipts (and the box). Likewise, you might feel secretive about your finances or how you spend your money.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) Today the moon is in your sign dancing with Pluto, which makes your emotions more intense than usual. You won’t take things lightly. You might even be obsessed about something and feel you have to have it, or you have to do something, or you have to tell someone something. Take it easy.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Discussions with family members will not be lighthearted today. Quite the opposite, someone will really mean business. If talking to a parent, don’t be pushy because in a day or two, you might have a different point of view. Likewise, someone else might be obsessed about an idea. (Yikes.)

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) An exchange with a friend or a member of a group will be memorable today because people are intense. They insist on getting their way, or they will insist on making you agree with their point of view. Therefore, tread lightly. Don’t be pushy; and don’t let anyone push you around.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Be careful because discussions with parents, bosses and people in authority (including the police) will be intense today. This means it’s a poor day to ask for permission or approval. It’s also a poor day to push any projects or advance your agenda. Just sit tight.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Avoid controversial discussions because they could go sideways in a New York minute mainly because people are obsessed with their own ideas and values today. They might try to persuade you to see things their way. Avoid disagreeing with people.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) This is the classic day to have a disagreement with someone because of a difference in values. Some people prefer bread. Some people prefer rice. Some people prefer potatoes. That’s just the way things are. Everyone is not the same.

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mariacallous · 1 month ago

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“We’re giving away pure gold,” Yuri Kostenko declared in 1994, “and getting back ore.”

In the years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the West was cobbling together the scaffolding for a new global security architecture. And Kostenko, then a Ukrainian legislator, was one of the negotiators trying to figure out how to trade the “gold” of nuclear weapons and strategic bombers for long-term security.

Kostenko proposed “security guarantees,” signed by the United Kingdom and the United States, which would commit Ukraine’s allies to the country’s defense.

But Kostenko was eventually removed from the negotiating team. His successors received no guarantees in the final deal, dubbed the Budapest Memorandum—only vague “assurances.” It was on that deal that Europe’s promises of protection to Ukraine were built. And it is that system that “has burst like a soap bubble,” as Kostenko wrote last year.

Today, talk of security guarantees is back in vogue. U.S. President Donald Trump promised to resolve the conflict “on day one” of his term. (The promise was subsequently revised down to the first “100 days” of the administration, which began on Jan. 20.)

Ukraine’s Western allies are already tripping over themselves to promise protection for Kyiv against further Russian aggression. And just like three decades ago, they are playing fast and loose with what’s on offer.

Ukrainians are as skeptical today as Kostenko was in 1994.

There are two types of security guarantees that NATO countries could offer Ukraine in the context of a peace deal with Russia, one senior Western official told Foreign Policy while speaking on the condition of anonymity.

The first kind would see NATO members committing to sending substantial economic and military aid to Kyiv for years after a cease-fire deal. Eventually, under this guarantee, Ukraine might be allowed to join the trans-Atlantic alliance.

The second type of guarantee would extend NATO’s Article 5 protections over Ukraine immediately, effectively extending the West’s nuclear umbrella over the country and committing the rest of Europe, the United States, and Canada to defending Ukraine. This would deter Russia from invading, these nations hope, but it would also commit NATO to the conflict with Moscow if it did.

The second option, the official agreed, was unlikely to be endorsed by either NATO or Russia. The first, they accepted, was basically just an extension of the status quo.

This is the problem that has faced Kyiv for more than a decade: Real security guarantees are difficult, while meaningless promises are easy.

When Russia and Ukraine first met at the negotiating table in 2014, after Russian special forces crossed the border to aid separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk, it was France, Germany, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) that promised to help keep the peace. A cease-fire deal, the first Minsk Agreement, committed the OSCE to monitoring violations of the truce. The agreement defined, however, little in the way of consequences for breaking the deal.

Unsurprisingly, the agreement was thoroughly ignored by the separatist groups, as the OSCE bemoaned often, and the Minsk II agreements in February 2015 did not fare much better.

When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, elected on a platform of bringing peace to Ukraine, met with his Russian counterpart in 2019, he opened their meeting with a quote from Leo Tolstoy: “The path on paper looked so smooth, we all forgot about the pitfalls.”

Those meetings didn’t even produce a path on paper. Both sides wouldn’t properly negotiate again until the days and weeks after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. These negotiations occurred first in Belarus and then in Turkey.

Even as Russian troops advanced on, and then retreated from, Kyiv, negotiators were meeting to hammer out a peace treaty. The two sides, surprisingly, came close to agreement on many fronts.

The talks produced the so-called Istanbul Communiqué, draft copies of which were obtained by the New York Times. The deal, drafted from February to April 2022 and not published until 2024, envisioned an unaligned Ukraine—forbidden from joining NATO, free of foreign military bases, and with a considerably reduced military.

In exchange, other powers were to provide security guarantees for Ukraine, committing themselves to act should Ukraine face reinvasion from Russia. Both sides agreed that this list of possible guarantors should include Great Britain, China, the United States, France, and Russia itself—the draft obtained by the Times indicates that Moscow also wanted Belarus added to this list, while Kyiv wanted Turkey.

But the negotiations never produced a deal. The war raged on. And as the conflict crawls toward its third year, many armchair generals have returned to those early negotiations as evidence that a deal was possible—but spurned by Ukraine and its allies.

In recent months, writers in left-leaning publications have claimed that “global powers are actively dashing the chances of a diplomatic resolution to Russia’s war” and that this draft treaty was never signed because “the West isn’t ready for the war to end.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov himself claimed in December 2024, in a chummy interview with American broadcaster Tucker Carlson, that the Istanbul Communiqué was “rejected by Boris Johnson,” who was the U.K. prime minister at the time.

Sergey Radchenko is tired of these arguments.

Radchenko, the Wilson E. Schmidt distinguished professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, co-authored an article in Foreign Affairs earlier this year that investigated “the talks that could have ended the war in Ukraine.”

“The main problem,” Radchenko told Foreign Policy, “is that people read the title and then do not try and understand what the article is about.”

First off, he said, the British prime minister did not scuttle the deal.

“This never happened,” Radchenko said. Nor, though both sides seemed to be negotiating in good faith, was it true that “peace was anywhere around the corner,” he continued.

One of the biggest problems came from Washington, not Moscow. In exchange for Ukraine’s neutrality and its commitment to never join NATO, Kyiv expected firm commitments from the West to rush to its defense, should Russia reconstitute its forces and invade once more.

“This was not raised previously with the Americans,” Radchenko said. “When the Ukrainians raised this, the Americans said: ‘Wait, that’s not in our interest.’”

It’s also not clear just how serious Russian President Vladimir Putin was about the talks. Under the framework being negotiated in Istanbul, the guarantors would only come to Kyiv’s defense in the event of an attack “on the basis of a decision agreed upon by all guarantor states.” In other words, Russia would have a veto over any decision pertaining to the collective defense of Ukraine.

Despite these issues, negotiations continued, even after evidence of war crimes and atrocities believed to be committed by Russia emerged from Bucha and elsewhere—evidence that was met with disinformation from Moscow.

“We believe that this is genocide. We believe that they must all be punished,” Zelensky told reporters in early April. “But we have to find opportunities to meet.”

By May, though, the peace talks had basically fallen apart. Russia, which had poured enormous human and economic capital into the war, would effectively increase its demands by asserting control over all of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts—which include huge swaths of territory that Russia did not manage to capture. Negotiations between both parties continued, but they turned mostly to the issue of prisoner swaps.

As the war raged on, Zelensky increasingly dismissed the idea that Putin would ever accept reasonable terms—even the ones that Moscow’s negotiators had proposed in the spring of 2022.

Radchenko pointed out that the skepticism is warranted.

“It goes into this question of what Putin wants,” he said. Is it merely control of Crimea and Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region? Is it Ukraine’s nonaligned status? Rights for Russophones in Ukraine? Control over the government in Kyiv?

“It’s not always that we don’t know,” Radchenko said. “I think Putin himself does not know the answer to this. He’s playing it by ear.”

Retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg is likely to be tasked with laying the foundation for a peace deal in Ukraine.

As a co-chair of the pro-Trump Center for American Security within the America First Policy Institute, Kellogg has already laid out his vision for what a deal could look like.

In his proposal, published in April last year, Kellogg suggested that the United States should orchestrate an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine while continuing to arm Ukraine “to ensure Russia will make no further advances and will not attack again.” As talks continue, the retired lieutenant general imagines, NATO would close the door to Ukraine’s membership “in exchange for a comprehensive and verifiable peace deal with security guarantees.”

But nowhere does Kellogg explain what, exactly, those security guarantees would look like.

Other NATO countries have started using similar language. Mélanie Joly, Canada’s foreign minister, insisted onstage at the Halifax International Security Forum in November that NATO’s core focus should be on preventing Russia from merely using a cease-fire to reconstitute its military power. She held up a series of bilateral security agreements, inked between Ukraine and its allies, as being an effective deterrent so that, in her words, “Putin cannot just leave, rearm, and reinvade.”

But when pressed by moderator Garry Kasparov to explain how these bilateral agreements would differ from the empty promises of the Budapest Memorandum, the Canadian minister insisted that Ukraine would “eventually” be a member of NATO and that in the interim, “it’s military aid, it’s financial aid.”

Finland’s foreign minister has echoed that sentiment, telling Reuters this month that NATO membership could come “further down the line and hopefully not in [the] too-distant future.”

Tobias Lindner, the German minister of state—responsible for trans-Atlantic relations—told Foreign Policy in a roundtable with journalists at the Halifax Forum that “there are various ideas for security guarantees—one of them is NATO membership. But it’s not the only one.”

But, he added, “what I know is that Ukraine will not accept something like Minsk III or Budapest 3.0.”

These promises did little to impress Hanna Hopko, a former Ukrainian legislator who sat next to Joly at the event.

“It’s great to have security agreements,” Hopko said, “those agreements mean this—” she held up a sheet of paper, as if to say: This paper can’t stop an invasion. “We do remember the Budapest Memorandum. Even if you have all the Ramstein Coalition security partners [sign] paper security agreements, it will never be security guarantees.”

As Radchenko points out, fudging the language—using the word “guarantee” when they really mean to invoke this nebulous concept of “assurance”—is disingenuous for Western leaders. “A general commitment to provide some military support for Ukraine, looking into the future—it’s certainly not comparable to anything solid, like Article 5.”

This all brings Ukraine back to square one. Any peace deal is almost certain to forbid Ukraine’s ascension to NATO for the indefinite future. And Trump has already closed the door to U.S. support for Ukraine’s ascension to NATO—saying that he could “understand” Russia’s concerns about the prospect.

Moscow, meanwhile, continues to insist that it wants to use a peace deal to seize more Ukrainian territory—land it currently holds, land that was recaptured by Ukraine, and land it has never held. Lavrov went even further in an interview given shortly before the new year, rejecting nearly every part of Kellogg’s peace plan.

It’s not clear whether the Trump administration has prepared itself for this intractable situation.

“I have two concerns,” Radchenko said. “I don’t think that the Trump administration has understood what the Russians are likely to demand and what their endgame is, and secondly I don’t think they have the strategic patience, necessarily.”

Foreign Policy also asked Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, who attended a bipartisan congressional delegation that attended the Halifax Security Forum in November, about a possible deal and about these security guarantees.

“Guess who broke [Budapest]?” Rounds answered. “It wasn’t one of the allies that we have. It was Russia, and very specifically Mr. Putin. That tells you the reasons why we are very suspect of any offers of a security agreements by Mr. Putin at this time.”

The congressional delegation in Halifax insisted that U.S. support for Ukraine, particularly in the Senate, remained steadfast.

On Wednesday, Trump posted a message to Truth Social proclaiming “I’m not looking to hurt Russia,” but insisting that “if we don’t make a ‘deal,’ and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries.”

Russian exports to the United States, thanks to sanctions imposed by the Biden administration, have fallen by more than 90 percent since the war began.

In December, Foreign Policy reached Kostenko by phone in his home in Kyiv.

“Ukraine has to be a member of NATO’s collective system of defense,” Kostenko said.

Kostenko’s line then crackled and dropped as he sat in the darkness of his home in Kyiv—a consequence of Russia’s relentless bombing of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

The same issues that the former politician faced when he tried to secure these security guarantees in 1994 are still hanging over Ukraine today, he said. Back then, the risks were hypothetical. Today, they are very real.

The main difference, Kostenko said, is that the West has woken up to Russia’s taste for imperialism. When it negotiated with then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin, Kostenko said, “the Western world hoped that Russia would move to democracy and would be integrated into different structures—including NATO. And now? Everything has changed.”

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coffee-n-bagels-comic-universe · 1 year ago

Text

Neutralised Bios: Bram (1994)

One of Three Grave-Diggers Abraham Machado

A grave-digger and a musician Abraham Machado.

"Morning, Mona, sorry I'm late, Cal… car troubles"

Name

Full Legal Name: Abraham Salvador Varela Machado

First Name: Abraham

Meaning: This name may be viewed either as meaning 'Father of many' in Hebrew or else as a contraction of 'Abram' meaning 'High father' and 'Hamon' meaning 'Many, Multitude'.

Pronunciation: a-bra-AM / AY-bra-ham

Origin: English, Hebrew, Spanish, French, Swedish, Dutch, German, Norwegian, Danish, Biblical, Biblical Latin

Middle Name: Salvador

Meaning: Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan form of the Late Latin name 'Salvator', which meant 'Saviour', referring to Jesus.

Pronunciation: sal-ba-DOOR

Origin: Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan

Surname(s): Varela, Machado

Meaning(s): Varela: Derived from Spanish 'Vara' 'Stick'. Machado: Derived from Spanish and Portuguese 'Machado' 'Hatchet', both from Latin 'Marculus' 'Little hammer'.

Pronunciation(s): ba-REH-la. ma-CHA-dho

Origin(s): Spanish. Portuguese, Spanish

Titles: Mr, Señor

Goes By: Abe, Bram

Characteristics

Age: 30

Gender: Male. He/Him Pronouns

Race: Human

Nationality: American Citizen. Born in America

Ethnicity: Hispanic (Sephardic Jewish)

Birth Date: 12th May 1964

Sexuality: Straight

Religion: Jewish

Native Language: Spanish

Known Languages: Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, Hebrew, (Some) Latin

Relationship Status: Single

Astrological Sign: Taurus

Played By: Alfred Molina

Appearance

Height: 6'3 / 190 cm

Eye Colour: Brown

Hair Colour: Black

Hair Dye: None

Body Hair: Hairy

Facial Hair: Varies between a Clean Shave and a Full Beard

Tattoos: (As of Jan 1994) 1 (Has 'Vivimos, Amamos, Morimos' [We live, we love, we die] tattooed under his left armpit, next to his heart)

Piercings: None

Scars: None

Health and Fitness

Allergies: None

Alcoholic, Smoker, Drug User: Social Drinker, Occasional Smoker

Illnesses/Disorders: None Diagnosed

Medications: None

Any Specific Diet: None

Relationships

Affiliated Groups: Mortimer & Co. Mortuary Services (Employee)

Friends: Cal, Mona, Meg

Significant Other: None

Parents: Rabbi Abiram Machado (63, Father), Haydée Machado (61, Mother, Née Varela)

Parents-In-Law: None

Siblings: Humberto Varela Machado (25, Brother), Aurora Varela Machado (20, Sister)

Siblings-In-Law: None

Nieces & Nephews: None

Children: None

Extras

Level of Education: G.E.D

Occupation: Grave-Digger

Employer: Mortimer & Co. Mortuary Services

Biography: Bram learnt from a young age that being a hardworking man would take him far in the world. He met and befriended a young Mona during his time vacationing in Eloia, Illinois for Hanukkah when he was 19. He moved to Chicago at 21 (after getting his G.E.D) and started working at the facility soon after. Assigned by Mr Mortimer to be a gravedigger after failing his physical fitness test to become a security guard. He soon became close with Cal, a fellow grave-digger and introduced him to Mona upon her joining the staff. Bram's harboured a crush on Mona ever since, even though he would never let her know as he's too busy acting tough.

#original character #original writing #original series #Neutralised #Bram #bram #Abraham Machado #abraham machado #Abraham Salvador Varela Machado #abraham salvador varela machado #alfred molina #i hope the molina girlies like bram

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 1 year ago

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Dave Whamond :: @DaveWhamond

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

January 28, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

JAN 29, 2024

Today—last night U.S. time—three military personnel were killed and 34 more wounded in a drone attack on the living quarters at a U.S. base in Jordan, near the Iraq-Syria border. U.S. troops are stationed there to enable them to cross into Syria to help fight the Islamic State. There have been almost-daily drone and missile strikes on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria since the October 7 attack on Israel by Iran-backed Hamas. The U.S. has blamed Iran-backed militant groups for the attack, and while no one has officially claimed responsibility yet, three officials from such groups have said an Iran-backed militia in Iraq is responsible.

President Joe Biden today called the act “despicable and wholly unjust,” and he praised the servicemembers, who he said “embodied the very best of our nation: Unwavering in their bravery. Unflinching in their duty. Unbending in their commitment to our country—risking their own safety for the safety of their fellow Americans, and our allies and partners with whom we stand in the fight against terrorism.”

“And have no doubt,” he said, “we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner [of] our choosing.”

Republican war hawks have called for retaliation that includes “striking directly against Iranian targets and its leadership,” as Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) said, or by “Target[ing] Tehran,” as Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) said. Republicans are blaming Biden for failing to “isolate the regime in [Iran], defeat Hamas, & support our strategic partners,” as Representative Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) wrote on X, formerly Twitter, today.

But there is, of course, a larger story here. The Biden administration has been very clear both about the right of nations to retaliate for attacks and about its determination to stop the war between Hamas and Israel from spreading.

Iran would like that war to spread. It is eager to stop the normalization of relations between Arab states and Israel, and is backing Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, and Hezbollah in Lebanon—all nonstate militias—to try to stop that normalization.

They are trying to stop what Patrick Kingsley and Edward Wong outlined in the New York Times yesterday: a new deal in the Middle East that would end the war between Hamas and Israel and establish a Palestinian state. The constant round of phone calls and visits of Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken with at least ten different countries is designed to hammer out deals on a number of fronts.

The first is for a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, which would require the exchange of more than 100 Israeli hostages taken on October 7 for thousands of Palestinians held by the Israelis. The second is for a new, nonpartisan Palestinian Authority to take control of Gaza and the West Bank. The third is for international recognition of a Palestinian state, which would be eased by Saudi Arabia’s recognition of Israel. If that recognition occurs, Arab states have pledged significant funds to rebuild Gaza.

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has rejected this proposal, but his popularity is so low people are talking openly about who can replace him. Hamas and Iran also reject this proposal, which promises to isolate Iran and the militias from stable states in the Middle East.

Behind this story is an even larger geopolitical story involving Iran’s ally Russia. As Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg retorted when Senator Wicker called on Biden to respond to the attack that killed three Americans “swiftly and decisively for the whole world to see”: “Wasn’t funding Ukraine and Israel the first, critical step in deterring Iran? We are in this place now due to the Russian fifth columnists in the Republican Party including Trump who slavishly do Putin’s bidding.”

Rosenberg was referring to the fact that Iran is allied with Russia, and Russia is desperate to stop the United States from supporting Ukraine. Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, apparently thought his February 2022 invasion of Ukraine would establish control of the eastern parts of that country in a matter of days. Instead, the invasion has turned into an expensive and destabilizing two-year war that has badly weakened Russia and that threatens to stretch on.

In the United States, today marks the 100th day that extremist Republicans have refused to provide supplemental funding for Ukraine or Israel arguing that funding to protect the U.S. border must be addressed first. On October 20, 2023, as David Frum pointed out today, Biden asked Congress for “$106 billion to aid Ukraine and Israel against attack by Russia, Iran, and their proxies.” That funding has bipartisan support, but “[f]or 100 days, House Republicans have said NO,” Frum said. “Today, Iranian proxies have killed Americans.”

Republicans’ insistence that they want border funding has proved to be a lie, as Democratic and Republican senators have hammered out a strong agreement that extremist Republicans now reject. Former president Trump has made it clear he wants to run on the idea that the border is overwhelmed, so has demanded his supporters prevent any solution. Today, on the Fox News Channel, when asked why Republicans should let Biden “take a victory lap” with a border deal, Senator James Lankford (R-OK), who has been part of the border deal negotiation team, responded with some heat:

“Republicans four months ago would not give funding for Ukraine, for Israel, and for our southern border because we demanded changes in policy. So we actually locked arms together and said we’re not going to give you money for this, we want a change in law. And now it’s interesting, a few months later, when we’re finally getting to the end they’re like, ‘Oh, just kidding, I actually don’t want a change in law because [it’s] a presidential election year.’ We all have an oath to the Constitution, and we have a commitment to say we’re going to do whatever we can to be able to secure the border."

MAGA Republicans in charge of the Oklahoma Republican Party showed where Trump Republicans stand when they voted on Saturday to “strongly condemn” Lankford for “playing fast and loose with Democrats on our border policy.” They said “that until Senator Lankford ceases from these actions the Oklahoma Republican Party will cease all support for him.”

In The Atlantic, Frum noted that “vital aid to Israel and Ukraine must be delayed and put in further doubt because of a rejected president’s spite and his party’s calculation of electoral advantage. The true outcome of the fiasco in Congress will be the collapse of U.S. credibility all over the world. American allies will seek protection from more trustworthy partners, and America itself will be isolated and weakened.”

Rosenberg wrote: “If you are unhappy with Iran today, first thing you should do is come out for funding Ukraine fully. Nothing will embolden Iran more than a Russian victory in Europe.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Dave Whamond #Letters From An American #Heather Cox Richardson #The Atlantic #Immigration Reform #Election 2024 #US Foreign policy #war in Ukraine #war in Israel #Iran #radical republicans #MAGA #Putin Republicans

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