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At Least No T-Shirt. Absurd: “If he’s going it's because Zelensky allowed him to go, because he feels Korea is doing enough to warrant it.” Again, Ungrateful? Disastrous NATO Summit. No Urban Meeting?

Absurd: “If he’s going it's because Zelenskiy allowed him to go, because he feels Korea is doing enough to warrant it.”

Government Of Ukraine Should Welcome Any Head Of State Or Head Of Government That Offers To Visit- Regardless Of The Amount Of Tribute They Offer.  Zelensky Administration Should Particularly Encourage Those Who Disagree With It To Visit Ukraine.

South Korea Offering What Most EU Countries Are Offering- Loans, Loan Guarantees To Ukraine Rather Than Gifts And Grants.  Only United States Taxpayers Are Borrowing More Than All Other Countries Combined To Give To Ukraine.  US$113.1 Billion In 2022 Alone.

Ukraine Has No Right To Demand A Country Change Its Constitution, Change Its Policies, Change The Will Of Its People Just To Satisfy Ukraine.

President Zelensky’s Disastrous Performance At The NATO Summit In Lithuania Has Broken The Spell Caste Upon NATO And EU Government Leadership.

Mistake For President Zelensky Not To Publicly Seek A Meeting With Viktor Orban, Prime Minister Of Hungary, During NATO Summit In Lithuania.  Hungary Is Both A Member Of NATO And EU- Which Ukraine Wants To Join And Which Requires Unanimity To Add New Members.  He Needs Orban Far More Than Urban Needs Him.

That President Zelensky Did Not Grasp The Impact Of His Mocking Concerns About A Lack Of Gratitude From Government Leadership In Those Countries That Have Provided More Than US$200 Billion During The Last Seventeen Months Will Be Consequential.

For the visit by Yoon Suk Yeol, President of the Republic of Korea, to Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine (2019- ) dispatched the ubiquitous olive color t-shirt he believes a wardrobe fixture which he wore for two days while a guest at the 11/12 July 2023 NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania and at a media event with representatives of the G7.

In its place, a freshly pressed long-sleeve olive color shirt.  His wife, Olena Zelenska, was as has become her moniker wearing stylish, perhaps couture, clothing.  One head of government attending the NATO Summit quietly reflected on why Mrs. Zelenska was not wearing olive-colored clothing as does her husband?

Disrespectful for President Zelensky to wear a t-shirt when invited to meet with those heads of state and heads of government whose taxpayers have provided more than US$200 billion related to Ukraine since 24 February 2022- nearing seventeen months.  The NATO and G7 leaders were wearing suits- President Zelensky could have at minimum wore what he did to meet with the President of the Republic of Korea, who was wearing a suit.

President Zelensky is an ordinary man encountering extraordinary circumstances.  If not for his conscious and flagrant disregard of political norms, many of those residing today in Ukraine may have been carrying Russian Federation passports and spending Russian Federation Rubles.  He is pushy.  He is insulting.  He is demeaning.  He is annoying.  His shtick is increasingly grating.  He has been successful due to skillful management of media and due to support (narrative buy-in) by media.  He will not however be president of Ukraine when some of what he seeks materializes- in part due to his treatment towards some heads of state and heads of government.

“South Korea's Yoon pledges more military supplies, aid to Ukraine

SEOUL/KYIV, July 15 (Reuters) - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Saturday his country will provide a bigger batch of military supplies and humanitarian aid to Ukraine during a visit to Kyiv for a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The surprise trip came after Yoon attended a NATO alliance summit in Lithuania and visited Poland this week, where he expressed solidarity with Ukraine against Russia's invasion.

South Korea is a U.S. ally and the world's ninth biggest arms exporter, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) think tank. But it is also wary of Russia's influence over North Korea and has been resisting Western pressure to help arm Ukraine directly.

In a press conference, Yoon said South Korea plans to provide "a larger scale of military supplies" to Ukraine this year, following last year's provision of non-lethal supplies such as body armour and helmets. He did not give more details.  Yoon said South Korea also plans to provide Ukraine with $150 million in humanitarian aid this year, following about $100 million in 2022.

It would also cooperate with Kyiv in projects such as infrastructure construction, which can be backed by concessionary loans from South Korea, he said.  "We are discussing everything that is important for the normal and safe life of people," Zelenskiy said, thanking Yoon for "powerful" support.

ZELENSKIY'S APPROVAL

Yoon's office said he also visited Bucha and Irpin, small towns near the capital where Russian soldiers are accused of war crimes against civilians. Moscow denies that.  Yoon said this week his administration was preparing to send demining equipment and ambulances, following a request from Ukraine, and will join NATO's aid fund for Ukraine.

Yoon's visit is significant because few other Asian leaders have visited Ukraine, said Ramon Pacheco Pardo, the Korea chair at the Brussels School of Governance research organisation.  How much of a policy shift towards providing more support for Ukraine remains to be seen, he added, but the trip shows Kyiv's approval for aid sent so far.

"If he’s going it's because Zelenskiy allowed him to go, because he feels Korea is doing enough to warrant it," Pacheco Pardo said, adding that it also suggested South Korea may be offering more support behind the scenes.

Zelenskiy asked Yoon to boost military support when they first met in May. Yoon said on Saturday South Korea has delivered safety equipment and humanitarian aid that Ukraine needs, since May, including mine detectors.  South Korea's defence ministry has said it was discussing exporting ammunition to the U.S., but said parts of a media report that Seoul had agreed to send artillery rounds to the U.S. for delivery to Ukraine were inaccurate.

In 2022, South Korea's arms sales jumped to more than $17 billion from $7.25 billion the year before, including a $13.7 billion arms deal with Poland - Seoul's biggest ever - supplying rocket launchers and fighter jets.

South Korean companies and entities in Ukraine and in other countries signed agreements on Friday to help with reconstruction, Seoul's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement.”

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Thirty-One Members: United States, United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Albania, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Romania, Germany, Slovakia, Greece, Slovenia, Hungary, Spain, Turkiye, Latvia, and North Macedonia. 

  • The 600-member Grand National Assembly of the Republic of Turkiye has yet to approve the ascension of the Kingdom of Sweden- which has no border with the Russian Federation.  The 199-member National Assembly of Hungary (Country Assembly) has yet to approve the ascension of the Kingdom of Sweden.  

Group of 7 (G7): (2014-Present) includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States. The Russian Federation was excluded in 2014 due to its military actions on the Crimean Peninsula.

On 24 February 2022, the armed forces of the Russian Federation invaded and further invaded the territory of Ukraine in what Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation (2000-2008 and 2012- ), defined as a Special Military Operation [SMO] then on 22 December 2022 he redefined as a war.  The initial invasion of Ukraine by the armed forces of the Russian Federation was in part from the territory of Belarus.  

The war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine did not commence on 24 February 2022.  The roots began their trajectories on 20 February 2014 when the armed forces of the Russian Federation invaded the Crimean Peninsula and the area known as the Donbas Region (Donetsk Oblast and Luhansk Oblast).

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