It is not enough for an ally or cooperating country to have their military needs met, we have to provide for the people, too.

 "Oligarch Toys" -- The extreme wealth disparities (click here) are glaring between Ukraine's oligarchs and the average person living on $500 a month in Europe's second-poorest (after Moldova) nation. We round-up what we know of the mansions, yachts, jets and other luxuries of the top 5 oligarchs. -- The revolving door continues at Ukraine's almost-bankrupt state railway, on the brink of collapse because of subsidies to oligarchs' steel, coal & metal, a bloated workforce & a history of management in private rather than national interests. -- Hacking is big business now. Ukraine's cyber defenses need to be improved. -- Will Amos Hochstein mitigate the damage of Nord Stream 2? -- Belarus dictator retains firm grip after stealing an election a year ago. -- The 25 Ukrainians who won 19 Olympic medals at Tokyo Games. -- Eugene Czolij: Why Ukraine's renewed independence matters.

There is poverty in Moldova and Ukraine. NATO nations need to address the poverty within these important democracies. The people are allies as much as a country's military. Where there is poverty there are always underlying beliefs about the government that never improves the people's circumstances. NATO allies need to examine more closely the economies of these poorer countries and provide immediate relief to the people in some of the basic needs such as food, clean water, and medical needs. The people are as important as the military in supporting democratic principles that provide a good education to their children and an economy that is always improving to meet their needs. The USA cannot appear to be the bogeyman with the state-of-the-art military while the people wallow in poverty and lack hope. USAID should be strongly at work in these countries and bring about change to end any and all corruption and provide a far better quality of life.

Russia's presence is rather insidious. They send in oligarchs to bring some sort of economic opportunity to the people and in doing so begin to develop propaganda the people will listen to in order to protect their interests in Russian oligarchs and their MOBILE economies. We see this same dynamic in Kentucky with oligarchs that are viewed as essential to any type of economy.

The Oligarch Regimes of Russia MUST END!

The people need heroes and the USA should be supplying them.

Moldova cooperates with NATO on a range of issues. (click here) The main focus of NATO’s cooperation with Moldova is to support the country’s efforts to reform and modernise its defence and security structures and institutions. Moldova is also a valued contributor to the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo....

Russia is running scared since President Biden took office and it should remain that way. These INVITES are typical on many occasions by leadership because these smaller countries are interested in peace rather than a military invasion by Russia. Ukraine lives as a democracy attempting to remove Russian corruption from all of it's citizen and government structures. But, Ukraine's loss of control in Crimea and the War of Donbas are all examples of Russian aggression to avoid. So the leadership in Russia become a diplomatic issue and not a military issue, hence, a prolonged occupation by Russia. NATO needs to engage diplomatically and be involved with the military, but, also the people have to have the promise of democracy and upward movement to a better quality of life to ensure the stability of their democracy, hence economic growth.

With China and Russia becoming a bit of a nightmare when it comes to individual rights and engagement of ideas, I would think Wall Street should be less interested in Russia and China and more interested in allies and cooperating countries to offer ways to stronger economies.

August 12, 2021
By Vladimir Socor

Deputy head of the Russian presidential administration, Dmitry Kozak

The Kremlin (click here) has wasted no time reacting to the positive signals from Moldova’s new, Western-oriented leadership. On August 11, only five days after Moldova’s new government took office, the deputy head of Russia’s presidential administration, Dmitry Kozak, descended unexpectedly on Chisinau for talks with President Maia Sandu and government members. Kozak carries out the Kremlin’s policy toward Ukraine and toward Moldova on parallel, correlated tracks (see below).]

Kozak rushed to be the first foreign official of high rank from any country to visit Moldova after the new authorities came to power. According to the Russian side, Sandu invited Kozak; but the Moldovan side did not mention this (TASS, Moldpress, August 11). It may well have been an informal self-invite by Kozak followed by Sandu’s formal but unpublished invitation....