Putin Recognizes Donbass Republics, Sends Russian Military to 'Denazify' Ukraine

[Bluegazer]

Henry Kissinger appeared at the age of 100, but with his intellectual faculties intact. He came up with a plan and presented it to the White House. And now the strategy or plan B of the United States in this world war in installments is becoming clearer.

The plan is to gravitate on the BRICS through Brasilia in order to stop Beijing from supporting Putin in Ukraine. In this way, Russia would be isolated in economic terms since, in the face of Western sanctions, almost all of Russia's serious trade today is in China.

The aim is to economically choke the Russians to get them off their multipolar world order project, but that may result in Moscow being cornered and responding with the brutal force of nuclear weapons to settle the issue and there being no winner.

Interestingly, Kissinger was the one who saw it most clearly many years ago when he said that cornering a nuclear power like Russia could lead to world war and that, after 1945/1950, is always in danger of escalating into nuclear war and the destruction of the world.

If Beijing agrees with Washington in the mediation proposed by Brasilia, the unipolar hegemony of the United States will be renewed with the mask of a bipolarity similar to that of the Cold War. But China would be making a very serious mistake if it were to accept such terms.

If Biden is going to be Roosevelt and Xi Jinping is going to be Stalin, then Putin is going to be Hitler, the third position between Western capitalism and Eastern socialism. But after that there will be a strengthening of Yankee hegemony and the fate of the USSR awaits China.

What destiny is that? That of subalternity and dissolution in the medium and long term. The Yankees neither forget nor forgive: they invoice. They used the Soviets to defeat Hitler and then screwed them into dissolution.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1625948118922727429

 

[Pierre]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1625857245530718210

 

[iamthatis]

Seymour Hersh im Interview: Joe Biden sprengte Nord Stream, weil er Deutschland nicht traute

Der Investigativjournalist Seymour Hersh hat eine umstrittene Recherche zum Nord-Stream-Anschlag veröffentlicht. Wir haben mit ihm gesprochen. Ein Interview.

www.berliner-zeitung.de

New Seymour Hersh article, in Berliner Zeitung. Original in German, below is translated with DeepL.

Key takeaways from Pepe Escobar's perspective:

1) "The point is that... the President of the United States would rather have Germany freeze than have Germany potentially stop supporting Ukraine."

2) "They met in a very secret office (...) for a secret outside group of advisors called the President's Intelligence Advisory Board. I mentioned that to signal to people in the White House that I had information."

3) "It was the CIA (...) National Security Agency (...) State Department (...) Treasury Department (...) Joint Chiefs of Staff. I don't want to go into any more detail here (...) because I have to protect my source."

4) "At the last minute, the White House got nervous. The president said he was afraid to do it. He changed his mind (...) we actually had to turn to other intelligence agencies, which I deliberately didn't write about."

5) "Shortly after the attack (...) there was a lot of anger among those involved about the operation (...) That is one of the reasons I learned so much. People in America and Europe who build pipelines know what happened."

6) "In the White House (...) they were always obsessed with reelection, they wanted to win the war (...) we have gotten ourselves into something that is not going to work,the war is not going to end well for this government."

7) "Even this community [the CIA] is appalled that Biden has decided to expose Europe to the cold in order to support a war that he is not going to win. That, to me, is nefarious."

Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh has published research according to which the attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines were instigated by the U.S. government with the support of Norway. In response to Hersh's inquiry, the U.S. government and the CIA have denied his account. Many media outlets have accused Hersh of failing to disclose his anonymous source, making his claims unverifiable. Criticism was also formulated that the research was not coherent. Berlin-based publicist Fabian Scheidler spoke with Seymour Hersh for the Berliner Zeitung.

Mr. Hersh, please explain your findings in detail. According to your source, what exactly happened, who was involved in the Nord Stream assassination and what were the motives?

It was a story that cried out to be told. At the end of September 2022, eight bombs were to be detonated near the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea, six of them went off, in an area where it is quite shallow. They destroyed three of the four major pipelines of Nord Stream 1 and 2. The Nord Stream 1 pipeline has supplied Germany and other parts of Europe with very cheap natural gas for many years. And then it was blown up, as was Nord Stream 2, and the question was who did it and why. On February 7, 2022, just over two weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine, U.S. President Joe Biden said at a White House press conference he held with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that the U.S. would stop Nord Stream.

Biden literally said, "If Russia invades, there will be no more Nord Stream 2, we will put an end to the project." And when a reporter asked how exactly he planned to do that, given that the project is primarily under German control, Biden said only, "I promise we'll be able to do it."

His deputy secretary of state, Victoria Nuland, who was deeply involved in the events of the Maidan revolution in 2014, had made similar comments a few weeks earlier.

You say that the decision to shut down the pipeline was made even earlier by President Biden. You write in your report that in December 2021, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan convened a meeting of the newly formed task force of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the CIA, the State Department, and the Treasury Department. They write, "Sullivan wanted the group to come up with a plan to destroy the two Nord Stream pipelines."

This group was originally convened to study the problem. They met in a very secret office. Right next to the White House there's an office building, the Executive Office Building, it's connected underground by a tunnel to the White House. And at the very top is an office for a secret outside group of advisors called the President's Intelligence Advisory Board. I mentioned that to signal to people in the White House that I had information. So the meeting was called to look at what we would do if Russia went to war.

This was three months before the war, before Christmas of 2021. It was a high-level group that probably had a different name, I just called it the Interagency Group, I don't know the official name, if there was one. It was the CIA and the National Security Agency, which monitors and intercepts communications, the State Department and the Treasury Department, which provides money. And probably a few other organizations that were involved. The Joint Chiefs of Staff were also represented. The point was to make recommendations on how to stop Russia, either with reversible measures, such as further sanctions and economic pressure, or with irreversible, ''kinetic'' measures, such as blasts.

I don't want to go into any more detail here or talk about any particular meeting because I have to protect my source. I don't know how many people participated, you know what I mean?

In your article, you wrote that the CIA working group reported to Sullivan's "Interagency Group" in early 2022 and said, quote, "We have a way to blow up the pipelines."

They had a way. There were people there who knew about what we call in America "mine warfare." In the United States Navy, there are units that deal with submarines, there's also a nuclear command. And there is a mine command. The area of underwater mines is very important, and we have trained specialists in that. A central place for their training is a little resort town called Panama City in the middle of nowhere in Florida. We train and deploy very good people there. Underwater mine specialists have great importance, for example, to clear blocked entrances to ports and blow up things that are in the way. They can also blow up a particular country's underwater petroleum pipelines. It's not always good things that they do, but they work absolutely in secret.

It was clear to the White House group that they could blow up the pipelines. There is an explosive called C4 that is incredibly powerful, especially at the quantity they use. It can be remotely controlled with underwater sonar devices. These sonar devices send out signals at low frequencies. So it was possible, and that was communicated to the White House in early January, because two or three weeks later, the Under Secretary of State, Victoria Nuland, said we could do it. I think that was on January 20th. And then the President, when he held the press conference with the German Chancellor on February 7, 2022, also said we could do it.

The German Chancellor didn't say anything concrete then, he was very vague. One question I would like to ask Scholz if I were chairing a parliamentary hearing is this: Did Joe Biden tell you about this? Did he tell you at the time why he was so confident that he could destroy the pipeline? We as Americans didn't have a plan worked out at that time, but we knew we had the ability to do it.

You write that Norway played a role. To what extent was the country involved - and why would the Norwegians do such a thing?

Norway is a great maritime nation, and they have deepwater energy resources. They are also very keen to increase their natural gas supplies to Western Europe and Germany. And they have done that, they have increased their exports. So why shouldn't they join forces with the U.S. for economic reasons? There is also a pronounced hostility toward Russia in Norway.

In your article you write that Norwegian intelligence and the navy were involved. You also say that Sweden and Denmark were informed to some extent, but did not learn everything.

I was told, "They did what they did, and they knew what they were doing, and they understood what was going on, but maybe nobody ever said yes." I worked a lot on this issue with the people I talked to. Anyway, for this mission to happen, the Norwegians had to find the right place. The divers who were trained in Panama City could dive down to 100 meters without heavy equipment. The Norwegians found us a site off the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea that was only 260 feet (about 80 meters) deep, so they could operate there.

The divers had to return up slowly, there was a decompression chamber, and we used a Norwegian submarine hunter. Only two divers were used for the four pipelines. One problem was how to deal with the people monitoring the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Sea is very thoroughly monitored, there's a lot of freely available data, so we took care of that, there were three or four different people for that. And what was done then is very simple. For 21 years, our Sixth Fleet, which controls the Mediterranean Sea and also the Baltic Sea, has conducted an exercise for the NATO navies in the Baltic Sea every summer (BALTOPS, editor's note). We send an aircraft carrier and other large ships to these exercises. And for the first time in history, the NATO operation in the Baltics had a new program. It was to be a twelve-day exercise to drop and detect mines. A number of nations sent out mine teams, one group dropped a mine, and another mine team went out and searched and blew it up.

So there was a time when things blew up, and during that time the deep-sea divers could operate, and they put the mines on the pipelines. The two pipelines run about a mile apart, they're a little bit under the silt on the ocean floor, but they're not hard to get to, and the divers had practiced it. It only took a couple of hours to place the bombs.

So that was in June 2022?

Yes, they did it toward the end of the exercise. But at the last minute, the White House got nervous. The president said he was afraid to do it. He changed his mind and gave new orders, so they had the ability to detonate the bombs remotely at any time. You do it with a normal sonar, a Raytheon product by the way, you fly over the site and drop a cylinder. It sends a low frequency signal, you can describe it as a flute sound, you can set different frequencies.

The concern, though, was that the bombs wouldn't work if they stayed in the water too long, which was actually going to be the case with two bombs. So there was concern within the group about finding the right means, and we actually had to turn to other intelligence agencies, which I have purposely not written about.

And what happened next? The explosives were planted and a way was found to remotely control them.

Joe Biden decided not to blow them up back in June, it was five months into the war. But in September, he ordered it done. The operational staff, the people who do "kinetic" things for the United States, they do what the president says, and they initially thought this was a useful weapon that he could use in negotiations. But at some point, after the Russians invaded and then when the operation was completed, the whole thing became increasingly repugnant to the people who were doing it. These were people who were in top positions in the intelligence agencies and were well trained. They turned against the project, they thought it was crazy.

Shortly after the attack, after they had done what they were ordered to do, there was a lot of anger among those involved about the operation and rejection. That is one of the reasons I learned so much. And I will tell you something else. The people in America and Europe who build pipelines know what happened. I'll tell you something important. The people who own companies that build pipelines know the story. I didn't learn the story from them, but I quickly learned that they know it.

Let's go back to that situation in June of last year. President Joe Biden decided not to do it directly and postponed it.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a press conference a few days after the pipelines were blown up that Putin had been deprived of an important power factor. He said the destruction of the pipelines was a tremendous opportunity-an opportunity to take away Russia's ability to use the pipelines as a weapon. The point was that Russia could no longer pressure Western Europe to stop supporting the U.S. in the Ukraine war. The fear was that Western Europe would no longer participate.

I think the reason for this decision was that the war was not going well for the West and they were afraid of the approaching winter. Nord Stream 2 was put on hold by Germany itself, not by international sanctions, and the U.S. was afraid that Germany would lift sanctions because of a cold winter.

What do you think are the motives for the attack? The U.S. government was against the pipeline for many reasons. Some say it was against it because it wanted to weaken Russia or to weaken relations between Russia and Western Europe, especially Germany. But perhaps also to weaken the German economy, which is, after all, a competitor to the U.S. economy. High gas prices have caused companies to move to the United States. What is your view of the U.S. government's motives?

I don't think they've thought this through thoroughly. I know that sounds strange. I don't think Secretary of State Blinken and some others in the government are deep thinkers. There are certainly people in the American business community who like the idea of us becoming more competitive. We sell liquefied natural gas (LNG) at extremely high profits; we make a lot of money on it.

I'm sure there were some people who thought: Boy, this is going to give the American economy a long-term boost. But in the White House, I think they were always obsessed with reelection, and they wanted to win the war, they wanted to win a victory, they wanted Ukraine to somehow magically win. There might be some people who think that maybe it's better for our economy if the German economy is weak, but that's crazy. I think that we have gotten ourselves into something that is not going to work, the war is not going to end well for this government.

How do you think this war might end?

It doesn't matter what I think. What I do know is that there is no way this war is going to end the way we want it to end, and I don't know what we are going to do as we look further into the future. It scares me that the President was willing to do something like this. And the people who carried out this mission believed that the President was aware of what he was doing to the people of Germany, that he was punishing them for a war that was not going well. And in the long run, this will not only damage his reputation as President, but it will be very damaging politically. It will be a stigma for the United States.

The White House was concerned that it would be on the losing end, that Germany and Western Europe would stop supplying the weapons that we wanted, and that the German Chancellor would restart the pipeline - that was a big concern in Washington. I would ask Chancellor Scholz a lot of questions. I would ask him what he learned in February when he was with the President. The operation was top secret, and the President wasn't supposed to tell anybody about our capability, but he likes to chat, he sometimes says things he shouldn't say.

Your story was reported rather cautiously and critically in the German media. Some attacked your reputation or said that you had only one anonymous source and that it was not reliable.

How could I talk about my source? I have written many stories based on unnamed sources. If I named anyone, they would be fired or, even worse, jailed. The law is very strict. I have never debunked anyone, and when I write, of course I say, as I did in this article, that it is a source, period. Over the years, the stories I have written have always been accepted.

How did you fact-check?

I worked with fact-checkers as experienced for the current story as I used to have at the New Yorker. Of course, there are many ways to fact-check obscure information that is shared with me. Moreover, the personal attacks on me miss the point. The point is that Biden has decided to let the Germans freeze this winter. The President of the United States would rather have Germany freeze than have Germany potentially stop supporting Ukraine, and that to me is a devastating thing for this White House.

The point is also that this can be perceived as an act of war not only against Russia but also against Western allies, particularly Germany.

I would put it more simply. The people who were involved in the operation saw that the President wanted to freeze Germany for his short-term political goals, and that appalled them. I am talking about Americans here who are very loyal to the United States. At the CIA, as I put it in my article, you work for power, not for the Constitution.

The political advantage of the CIA is that a president who can't get his plans through Congress can go for a walk in the White House Rose Garden with the CIA director and plan something secret that can hit a lot of people on the other side of the Atlantic-or wherever in the world. That has always been the CIA's unique selling point-which I have my problems with. But even this community is appalled that Biden has decided to expose Europe to the cold in order to support a war that he is not going to win. That, to me, is nefarious.

You said in your article that the planning of the attack was not reported to Congress, as is required for other covert operations. It was also not reported to many places within the military. There were people in other places who should have been informed but were not. The operation was very secret. What role does courage play for you in your profession?

What is courageous about telling the truth? Our job is not to be afraid. And sometimes it gets ugly. There have been times in my life when ... - you know, I don't talk about it. But threats are not made to people like me, but to the children of people like me. There have been terrible things. But you don't worry about it, you can't. You just have to do what you do.

 

[Bluegazer]

Russia preparing special UNSC meeting on investigation into Nord Stream blasts

It was emphasized that Moscow did not accept the statement made by Spokesperson for the UN Secretary General Stephane Dujarric, claiming that the United Nations did not have the authority to investigate the Nord Stream incidents

tass.com

 

[Aeneas]

On the Telegram channel Slavyangrad, a French tank officer has written a letter explaining how things are in the French army. We don't know if it really written by a French officer, but the picture he paints sounds real enough. Link to the Telegram post, here:

Intel Slava is proud to present a commentary piece by a friend of the channel. They are currently serving in a NATO military and wish to offer their opinion in the context of the increasing tensions we face in the world today.
____

Hello Intel Slava, I am an officer of the French Army. I have been reading your page for some time to get a different view of the conflict in Ukraine. Thank you for what you do.

If I write to you today, it is to tell you exactly what it is like to be an officer in a Western European army in 2023.

In concrete terms, we are constantly being told about "high-intensity warfare" and "the return of modern warfare". We, specifically, are told about the importance of our role as armored officers, because "tanks will play a major role against our enemies". We are constantly being fed a pro-war arguments, very anti-Russian, very pro-NATO discourses (no surprise there). In other words, we are in an era like in 1872, when France had just lost against Germany, and the whole country was in propaganda mode to prepare the "revenge" (we call this "revanchisme" in France).

That's kind of the feeling I get (even if I don't really see the revenge we would have to take on the Russians, Lol).

But this bellicose speech is a facade, like a cat growling at a bear hoping to scare it. In reality our army is in tatters. We are unable to maintain our Leclerc tanks for example: only fifty of them are functional, a shame for "the first army in Europe"... A shame for an armored cavalry officer like me... It is not better in other sectors of the army, we have for example almost no more CAESAR (thanks Ukraine!). In other words, we have neither tanks nor guns.

The French like to make fun of China, which they say is a "paper tiger". The paper tiger is us. Our army was unable to eliminate 500 terrorists in Africa, it would not last 2 days in a real modern war.

But the most ridiculous thing is what? It is that our army is wallowing in this mediocrity. Like an old man who contemplates his reflection in the mirror, dreaming of his past glory. I'm thinking of a specific episode that happened recently and that justified my writing to you: an evaluation for my officer class that we just passed consisted in "eating properly" and "knowing how to set a table in a noble way", to respect the tradition of armored cavalry officers (supposed to be particularly noble)... Funny if it was just some tradition. Except no: it was decisive. Those who misaligned knives and forks got very bad marks, which would be reflected in their career and choice of regiment. The French army breaks the ambitions of young people who have been preparing for 6 years to lead tanks, for a story of forks...

This army is ridiculous, it is only a shadow of its former self. It disgusts all the sincere French patriots: most of my comrades consider leaving the army as soon as they can. For this reason in particular, because the army brings nothing. But also because they do not want, for some of them, to be the minions of NATO while they enlisted to serve France...

TL;DR: you don't have to worry about Western European countries, our arrogance is theater.

I give you my greetings, take care of yourselves and let's pray (whatever our obedience) that this conflict will stop and that Europe will find again a peaceful and multipolar balance.

 

[f1esk]

The machines rose...
Frames from the video.




Combat ingenuity of Russian fighters. Machine gun robots in the Kupyansk direction.

On the video - tests of self-propelled robotic combat modules. The vehicles are already undergoing a baptism of fire near Svatov today and are helping our infantrymen.

The first copy is an eight-wheeled all-terrain vehicle with a remote-controlled tractor. Fire is fired from two twin 7.62-mm PKT machine guns, and the barrels are regulated by a generator.

The second copy is more perfect and not so noisy. It is equipped with rechargeable batteries, which allows it to sneak up to enemy firing lines undetected. The shells of a single NSVT 12.7 mm machine gun penetrate the side armor of most armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles.

And a few more important points. Both mini-robots are controlled online. The video from the cameras is sent to the operator's console. And to prevent the development of our craftsmen from falling into the hands of Ukrainian militants, an explosive device was installed on it. It is also operated by the operator.

Военная Хроника

Z

t.me

 

[loreta]

I like very much this man, his knowledge of this situation.

 

[Olivierlejardinier]

New details about Nord Stream, given by Hersh in this video, relayed by Tass :

"15 Feb, 22:00

CIA provided decompression chamber to Norwegian ship for Nord Stream sabotage — Hersh​

According to the journalist, this was done so that divers could install explosive devices on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines

NEW YORK, February 16. /TASS/. The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) delivered a decompression chamber to a Norwegian ship during the BALTOPS exercise, so that the divers could plant charges on Nord Stream pipelines, US reporter Seymour Hersh said in an interview for the democracynow.org website.

"The ship had a decompression chamber that had been flown in by the CIA. […] The divers had to go down 260 feet," Hersh said. He noted that the gas pipes are "steel covered, but they’re also covered by concrete shields, so it’s a serious job to blow them up."
The journalist pointed out that the Norwegian ship that the compression chamber was installed on is a "submarine hunter," calling Norway’s denial of involvement in the operation a "stupid lie."

On February 8, US journalist Seymour Hersh, who specializes in investigative journalism, stated in his article, citing a source, that the Nord Stream pipelines were bombed using explosive devices planted by US Navy divers in June 2022 under the guise of the BALTOPS exercise, with support from Norwegian specialists. According to Hersh, the operation was authorized by US President Joe Biden personally, following nine months of discussions with White House security specialists.

White House National Security Council Spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a commentary for TASS that Hersh’s version is "utterly false and total fiction".

 

[PERLOU]

Boris Karpov 🇷🇺 📣 Chroniques de Russie

« La Pologne fanatique est en train de devenir un chef militaire en Europe. L'axe franco-allemand est fatigué et l'OTAN regarde vers l'Est » : Le Times a publié un discours selon lequel Berlin et Paris sont des alliés peu fiables qui pensent trop à eux-mêmes. Les vrais nouveaux dirigeants de...

t.me

"Fanatic Poland is becoming a military leader in Europe. The Franco-German axis is tired and NATO is looking east": The Times published a speech according to which Berlin and Paris are unreliable allies who think too much of themselves. The real new leaders of Europe are the Poles, who have created the most powerful army on the continent and are ready to fight the Russians.

"President Biden is expected to visit Poland in a few days to mark the first anniversary of NATO's not-so-secret war. He is expected to bless Poland's aspirations to build the largest land army in Europe. One thing is clear: there is a major shift towards NATO's eastern flank. "It looks like the centre of gravity in Europe has shifted east," says General Ben Hodges, former commander of the US Army in Europe.
Poland has 647 main battle tanks, almost three times the number of the UK. It has an order for 250 new Abrams and a second batch of 116 Abrams from the US and 1,000 K2 tanks from South Korea, of which 180 have already been built. The Polish defence budget was already high at 2.4% of GDP. Today, this figure has risen to 4%. Poland has 114,000 men but is aiming for 300,000: 250,000 professionals, 50,000 in reserve. Even before the Russian special military operation, Poland had signed a contract for 32 fifth-generation F-35 fighters.

 

[Nević Nenad]

Seems that Poland is going again to be disciplined by Russia and duped by the West.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

'I don't think it's gonna happen.'

Russia wants UN probe into Nord Stream blasts

Moscow wants the UN Security Council to investigate the US, citing Seymour Hersh’s revelations about how the pipelines were bombed

www.rt.com

14 Feb, 2023

UN insists on not being authorized to probe into Nord Stream case

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier that Russia does not agree with this position

tass.com

15 FEB, 2023

'Even if it happens, it would be without Russia.'

US says ‘partners’ should investigate Nord Stream blasts

America’s NATO allies should investigate the Nord Stream sabotage, the State Department said in response to calls for a UN probe

www.rt.com

16 Feb, 2023

 

[1peacelover]

Suppose this is a test to see what the people of the world want. What would we have to do? Most of "the people" want freedom. Not to be controlled by another. To have the freedom to choose what is best for one regardless of their personal interest without greed. I am sure that greed plays a big part in the outcome. IDK anymore what to say.

 

[Search]

Another law, that are about to be applied #8225

Here is the link

Shortly to say, they want to apply changes that allow government in Ukraine to take you land plots, property, etc., due to needs of reconstruction, etc.

 

[Possibility of Being]

"Fanatic Poland is becoming a military leader in Europe. The Franco-German axis is tired and NATO is looking east": The Times published a speech according to which Berlin and Paris are unreliable allies who think too much of themselves. The real new leaders of Europe are the Poles, who have created the most powerful army on the continent and are ready to fight the Russians.

"President Biden is expected to visit Poland in a few days to mark the first anniversary of NATO's not-so-secret war. He is expected to bless Poland's aspirations to build the largest land army in Europe. One thing is clear: there is a major shift towards NATO's eastern flank. "It looks like the centre of gravity in Europe has shifted east," says General Ben Hodges, former commander of the US Army in Europe.
Poland has 647 main battle tanks, almost three times the number of the UK. It has an order for 250 new Abrams and a second batch of 116 Abrams from the US and 1,000 K2 tanks from South Korea, of which 180 have already been built. The Polish defence budget was already high at 2.4% of GDP. Today, this figure has risen to 4%. Poland has 114,000 men but is aiming for 300,000: 250,000 professionals, 50,000 in reserve. Even before the Russian special military operation, Poland had signed a contract for 32 fifth-generation F-35 fighters.

"Fanatic" is correct. But not necessarily the rest.

"The Polish defence budget has risen to 4%."

No, it's still below 3%. Defence24 estimated it as 3% back in September 2022

The 2023 Budgetary Bill adopted on 30th August 2022 envisages defence spending levels of PLN 97.445 bn. This is equivalent to 3% of GDP, planned for the year 2023.

but the spending levels are lower by about 10.000 bn in the final version already adopted and signed by the President.

"Poland has 647 main battle tanks"

Not really. It's hard to know for sure because the Polish government it quite secretive about the number of tanks (and whatever else) sent to Ukraine, but according to this website (PL):

Currently, the Polish army is equipped with 249 Leopard tanks in versions 142 2A4, 105 2A5 and 2 2ANJ. An upgrade of the 2A4 version vehicles to the Leopard 2PL standard is underway. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has in recent days announced plans to transfer 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. -

Poland also has 230 Polish-made PT-91 Twardy tanks (PT-91, PT-91MA and PT-91MA1 versions). As Morawiecki announced, our country will send 60 tanks of this type to Ukraine. In addition, the Polish army had at least 301 Soviet T-72 tanks (T-72A, T-72M, T-72M1, T-72M1D and T-72M1R versions) before the war in Ukraine. At least 260 were transferred to Ukraine.

Leopards: 249 - 142 (undergoing upgrade) - 14 (gifted) = 93
PT-91: 230 - 60 (gifted) = 170
T-72: 301 - 260 (gifted and destroyed) = 41
Left: 304 (but it's very likely that at least another 100 of them went east-ward and perished)

"It has an order for 250 new Abrams and a second batch of 116 Abrams from the US"

It doesn't make Poland stronger.

How many M1 Abrams can the US produce in a month, and where did the tanks go from the reserves of the Marine Corps - Defence View

In its publication concerning "three people familiar with the course of negotiations on the supply of tanks," the American Politico tried to find an answer to

www.defenceview.in

...now only one tank factory in the city of Lima, Ohio, is operating in the USA. This plant is a state-owned enterprise under the management of the General Dynamics company.

Its capacity allows the production of only 12 tanks per month. Even if we assume that this factory completely switched to the order of the White House for Ukraine, it will take three months to produce only the battalion set.

But now General Dynamics has a contract for 108 M1A2 tanks for Taiwan, to be manufactured and delivered in 2024, and a contract for the supply of 250 tanks for Poland, the delivery of which should begin after 2025.

 

[Aeneas]

"It has an order for 250 new Abrams and a second batch of 116 Abrams from the US"

Yes, the article is from The Times, so what to expect.
As you said then the 250 new Abrams ( $4.7 billion) will start being delivered after 2025. The other 116 Abrams happen to be old ones, the Abrams M1A1, which were produced between 1985-1992, so a good 30 years old.
They allegedly will start to be delivered this year and likely come from the US stock of used tanks. They will likely serve the purpose of "full of fury signifying nothing" and add very little to the Polish imperial aspirations. The price was half of the newer models and that is telling to.

Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak signed the $1.4 billion deal at a military base in Wesola, near Warsaw. The agreement foresees the delivery of 116 M1A1 Abrams tanks with related equipment and logistics starting this year.

“We are strengthening Poland's armed forces, we are strengthening the iron fist of the Polish army in order to increase the power to deter the aggressor,” said Blaszczak, who is also a deputy prime minister.

The key word is 'iron' as they will likely end on the metal scrap heap, each weighing around 60 tons.
The 116 Abrams in question in the deal signed this week. From wiki:

M1A1:[nb 1] Production started in 1985 and continued to 1992, pressurized NBC system, rear bustle rack for improved stowage of supplies and crew belongings...

"The Polish defence budget has risen to 4%."

No, it's still below 3%. Defence24 estimated it as 3% back in September 2022

Perhaps they know something we don't. If the Polish GDP falls considerably this year, then the amount might end up being close to 4%.