Folks, we are now in a brand new stage of the battle between Russia and Ukraine and this morning we got a report that a secret meeting took place between Ukraine, the G7 and even supposedly neutral countries on how to end the war at the same time. Russia Angered by this, signaled it will begin production on a stealth bomb that reportedly is banned in 100 plus countries. In today's video, we're going to break down exactly what you need to know, as has been the case since the history of the stock Market, what happens around the world? Whether that's with politics on a geopolitical or domestic basis, well that affects the market and what's going on in terms of pricing of oil, what's going on in terms of fear, hedging, and what's going on across the board. And in today's video, I'm going to do my best to keep you informed.

Okay, so let's go ahead and start with the battle map. So before the February 2022, Invasion, this is what Ukraine looked like. You had Russia's military controlling Crimea and you had Russia backed separatist groups controlling the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine. Now after Russia's rapid Advance by mid-march they took far, far more land.

They took the land in the South and the perimeter around Crimea. They took the key port of Marup. They grabbed a ton of land around the Russo Ukraine border and attempted to capture large parts of key cities like KV and Ke. However, they failed to hold most of those areas and by November 2022, Ukraine had kicked the Russians out of the areas in the north and around Keef and they regained the completely captured territories marked in purple now in December 2023, And the map looks the same now in January 2024.

The lines are basically Bally the same as they were a year earlier in November 2022. Meaning, there's essentially been a stalemate for over a year, but if you zoom in, there's actually a few key battles that the two sides are fighting out for. Russia's stronghold has always been in the Donbass region, but there's a few key cities and Villages that are of strategic importance and it's throwing tons and tons of troops and resources at them. the main one being Abiva.

If Russia wants to hold its substantial gains in the Donbass region and use that as a foundation and launching board to move more West into Ukraine, it needs to take Aviva And if Ukraine wants to prevent Russia from gaining more ground, it needs to protect Aviva with all its gaunt. Aviva is a key City for Russia to capture for several reasons. First and foremost, Aviva is strategically located near the city of Detet, which has been at the center of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Detet is Russian occupied and is essentially the capital of Russia's taking Ukrainian lands.

It's a key point for Russia in this overall offensive. Now, Ukraine's control of ABD has prevented Russia from using Detet and its resources as a Communications Hub and prevented Russian breakthroughs further west. Now, if Russia can capture Aiva, Russia will gain control over a crucial Transportation Route that of course connects its controlled detet with other parts of Ukraine. This is a huge Advantage.

This would allow Russia to exert a lot more control over many of the territories much much further west. Adiva is also home to a major industrial complex, including the largest Coke fuel plant plant and chemical Factory in the country. These industries are, of course, vital for the Ukrainian economy and are a big deal. They provide employment for thousands upon thousands of people by capturing Aiva.

Russia not only disrupts the Ukrainian economy, but also gains control over many, many valuable resources. So if you're Ukraine if you're leading Ukraine right now, you cannot let that happen. Lastly, Adiva also has very, very high strategic importance in terms of military. It's located on high ground.

This would give Russian forces a very, very advantageous position for surveillance and artillery attacks on Ukrainian positions. So for the stalemate to end in Russia's favor, ADV Vdka needs to be one, and if Ukraine wants to hold them off, they need to retain the city. Now, these key areas here, which Russia does control, are also key areas for transportation, but are nowhere near as important as Ad Diviva. now.

there's also an important battle going on right here, right under Bmot. Bmot was captured by the Russians, but Ukraine has heavily fortified the areas around the city to stop Russia from using it as a launching board to capture more land to the West. Now, there are some lessons with this though. in order to originally capture Bmot Russia threw waves and waves of poorly trained soldiers at it, which CA them large losses of men and equipment and it's expected that Russia will use that strategy once again, not just to push farther outside back moot, but to capture the key city of Ab Divka, which we were just talking about a few moments ago.

Now, the reason there is significant fighting there right now is because not only does Ukraine want to keep Russia encircled there, but they want to retake the city of Holds. Not just geopolitical Advantage but also important economic resources. The region is known for its coal deposits, which are some of the largest in Ukraine. The coal industry.

There has been traditionally a major source of employment and revenue for the region, and controlling back moot means control over these valuable resources. Furthermore, Bmot is also home to several industrial and Manufacturing facilities including steel plants and Machinery factories. These industries are essential for Ukraine's economy, and ensuring control over them is crucial for the country's economic stability. Okay, so what's the endgame here? When is the the stalemate going to end and who is in the better position right now? Well, here's the thing: Russia likes to fight with volume.

That has been the case historically and it is the case now today. They've never been a big technological player or had the best fighting techniques, but they've always been able to send endless amounts of troops to overwhelm and demoralize their enemies. In this way, they are excellent at playing games of attrition. One example of Russia's Reliance on volume of troops can be seen in the Battle of Stalingrad during World War II.

The German forces possess Superior weaponry and tactics, yet the Soviets ultimately triumphed due to their overwhelming numbers. You see folks, the Soviets were able to bring in fresh reinforcements constantly. While the German troops face logistical challenges in sustaining their forces, you're seeing a similar game play out today today. 2 years into this current battle, it's estimated that Russia still has around a million active Personnel left in its Armed Forces where Ukraine only has around 250,000 So similar as the previous Russian battles, Russia can continue to send virtually endless amounts of troops to Ukraine Which means that the stalemate, which is essentially a game of attrition can be quite dangerous for Ukraine and for Western countries that are backing Ukraine and don't want it to fall.

Quote: A secret meeting took place last month between Ukraine its Group of Seven allies and a small group of global South countries to try to rally support for Ke's conditions for holding peace talks with Russia. According to people familiar with the matter, the previously undisclosed December 16th meeting of National Security advisers was held in Saudi Arabia and followed larger publicized Gatherings aimed at countering Moscow's attempts to divide and paint Ukraine and its allies as unwilling to negotiate an end to the war. The secrecy was aimed in part at making participant countries feel more comfortable about joining. The smaller format allowed for a fre or more.

Frank discussion on Ukraine's so-called peace formula and plans for moving that process forward as well as principles for potentially engaging with Russia in the future. The people said okay, so you have the secret meeting between allies as well as some countries like Saudi Arabia India and Turkey who are supposed to be more neutral or Pro Russia and their meeting and they're trying to discuss an end to this war. And while this did anchor Russia, it didn't lead to much agreement Ukraine essentially Express that it wants to keep all of its territory and not negotiate on that with Putin. Of course, in order for the war to end, you likely need to have some form of concession which G7 countries and allies and everyone knows and this is making it even harder and harder for countries to rationalize giving Ukraine more financial aid.

Aside from that, there's conflicting issues blocking Aid that weren't there at the beginning of the war. There's concern over corruption and accountability. There's a lot of allegations of embezzlement and misappropriation of funds given there's a lot of politicians upset over the lack of transparency. There's also other political issues blocking Aid Hungary for examp exle blocked an EU Ukraine a deal largely because they are pursuing closer ties with Russia and this allows Hungary to get more leverage over EU countries.

Congress in the US has created more and more obstacles to give Ukraine funding as well. But at the same time, the West knows that if Ukraine does not keep getting funding and Military Support then Russia will eventually win the war of attrition. So now the ball is in the West's Court. Does it continue to put its thumb on the scale Or does it back away? Well, that's what's going to decide the results of this overall conflict.

Anyways, let us know what your thoughts are down below and we'll see you in the next video.