He wants to recreate the Soviet Union and take back everything he feels belongs to him. That's it. He's a tyrant who wants more power. Thinking he won't do this or that or it won't be that bad is just being naive. Start looking at him like how people think about Hitler. It is the same.
I don’t think there’s 100k troops on our border.Explains why they have moved 100 000 troops on the Polish border then with Intel suggesting Poland is next. Stop burying your head in the sands
Nah he's a nutter now. He's using reasoning even die hard Russian patriots are finding hard to defend. He's demoralising his country with this, and making sure the countries around him who have the option will invest in military and never believe him again. He might gain momentarily but there is no way he gains from this long term.
Nah he's a nutter now. He's using reasoning even die hard Russian patriots are finding hard to defend. He's demoralising his country with this, and making sure the countries around him who have the option will invest in military and never believe him again. He might gain momentarily but there is no way he gains from this long term.
Even an old crow like Biden knew that Putin could not be convinced. For the last few months, Biden was fairly confident even when the press was crying that diplomacy was the only solution that he believed that Putin would invade Ukraine: Biden predicts Russia will invade Ukraine, warns Putin | AP News. He said that on January 19th, more than a full month before the start of the invasion. Macron was trying to negotiate until what, three days ago? This in and of itself proves your bolded statement incorrect also, people really did think Putin would invade long before this. Analysts were saying it even before Biden: .
People can become nutters with age. Especially if they are isolated and pampered.by no means he is a nutter. It is not his character. He is a calculating and cold blooded psychopath, though.
Do you honestly want Germany to have intercontinental nuclear missiles? Because that's what it takes to go head to head with Putin. Everything else is a waste of energy when fighting someone who has them. Put your hand on your heart and tell me you're comfortable with it, or that either dems or republicans would accept it?First, see my updated post, I included timestamps of when people thought Putin would actually invade. Months before the actual invasion so one can't say it was unreasonable to expect Putin to invade, you just chose not to listen. Second, It's actually not clear that you understand what Putin's reasons are as the reasons he has cited certainly could be defended by die-hard Russian patriots. These people genuinely feel shame at the way the Soviet Union fell apart and how the world doesn't seem them as a great power anymore. Just because you think they are insane doesn't mean that these people dreaming back to an earlier time do not truly believe in their views. When looking at an adversary, one should never impose their own worldview on the other party, it just leads to miscalculation like we saw from certain EU leaders in the leadup to this conflict (and currently with the SWIFT controversy). There was plenty of evidence to back up that Putin could act in a psychopathic way (even going back to Chechnya), leaders have to be willing to educate themselves and use this knowledge in any interactions with the opposition figure.
This points to a larger issue: folks think that all countries are required to follow the rules-based international order and think that military power is irrelevant in this day and age. They unilaterally decide to live by this utopian view and expect others to go along with it just because. The reality is that this freedom to express such naivety is only guaranteed by US military might. We should not be seeing the type of statements like those coming from the head of the German army, after 2014 Germany should have done much more to prepare itself for a European conflict but did not.
Do you honestly want Germany to have intercontinental nuclear missiles? Because that's what it takes to go head to head with Putin. Everything else is a waste of energy when fighting someone who has them. Put your hand on your heart and tell me you're comfortable with it, or that either dems or republicans would accept it?
Edit: Also I'm having trouble keeping track of all the posts and edits, I've been awake far too long because of this, sorry if parts appear incoherent because of that.
They're the 2 countries in Europe that rely on Russia the most for gas imports. I think Netherlands is up there as well, not sure what's their view on the situation.Embarrassing that Germany and Italy are so weak willled when it comes to removing Russia from SWIFT. Can't say the UK were much better with their relatively weak sanctions either.
That's because the Soviet Union was a lost cause at that point. They had after all just come out of 70 years of hardcore communism that was undergirded by a highly corrupt KGB apparatus. There's a reason eastern European states had a much easier time transitioning into democracy after the cold war - they only had to deal with communism for 40 years. Post Soviet Russia was therefore doomed to take much longer, which was only exacerbated by the arrival of the rat who has managed to crown himself dictator for life.
Macron should have just called out Putin for what he's doing and not engage in a sham negotiation.
He let Putin play him for a fool as the talks made Putin look like a legitimate party when Putin had no intention of holding his troops back, regardless of what anyone in the West said. Literally hours before the launch of the invasion Macron was celebrating that he had negotiated a summit with Biden and Putin that will now not happen. He's hopelessly out of his depth.
I'm sorry but I really fundamentally disagree with this. Diplomacy has to be tried at all costs to avoid war. If it doesn't work, then OK you need to act accordingly. You cannot act on an international stage though by just refusing to speak to Putin and brazenly calling him a liar.
Some people also seem to think that its somehow a privilege to speak to Western leaders, one reserved only for our friends. That again makes little sense to me and diplomacy is not there to have a chat with your friends and allies only.
What I did find strange were the French and Germans briefing persistently against the 'Anglo-Saxon' panic and not seeing where this perceived escalation came from, even as they themselves ramped up their own diplomatic efforts.
What? Which country transioned better? Albania or Romania? The only reason some did better, is because West provided them with money. Russia lost territory and was treated like Germany after WWI.
Diplomacy was not what Macron was doing, he was begging. One could say, "we are always willing to negotiate and talk as long as needed to stop a war, but we can only engage in good faith negotiations if the other party agrees to pull its troops back". Macron was lying to everyone about saying, for example, that a peace plan was in reach when he and others knew it was total nonsense: Ukraine crisis: Macron says a deal to avoid war is within reach - BBC News.
One could actually say he hasn't gone insane and is acting in a very calculated way. He knew that no one would intervene militarily on Ukraine's behalf and knew that his military was strong enough to attempt to install a puppet regime. The West would never have agreed to his core demands, we knew it and he knew it. He coldly did the one thing he felt would be the most efficient solution to his problems w/r/t Ukraine.
Even an old crow like Biden knew that Putin could not be convinced. For the last few months, Biden was fairly confident even when the press was crying that diplomacy was the only solution that he believed that Putin would invade Ukraine: Biden predicts Russia will invade Ukraine, warns Putin | AP News. He said that on January 19th, more than a full month before the start of the invasion. Macron was trying to negotiate until what, three days ago? This in and of itself proves your bolded statement incorrect also, people really did think Putin would invade long before this. Analysts were saying it even before Biden: .
So long as your energy-related transactions are channelled through non-sanctioned non-US financial institutions, for instance a European bank, you are in the clear.
...
The German government has pushed for an exemption for the energy sector if there is a move to block Russian banks from clearing U.S. dollar transactions, according to documents seen by Bloomberg. People familiar with recent discussions said other major western European nations hold similar views.
...
Nor are the carve-outs limited to energy, they apply to Russia’s agricultural commodity exports too. So long as the transactions run through non-US non-sanctioned banks, the US Treasury raises no objections.
So, if on “day one” we learned that SWIFT is a red herring, what can one say for the sanctions that the US has actually imposed?
Then American mindset has to change.
We'll hear more and more of this as Ukrainians get ever more desperate:
Zelensky: "This morning, we are defending our country alone. Just like yesterday, the most powerful country in the world looked on from a distance."
No the idea is to have UKR as a buffer client state, not to add more territory.
In what ways was Russia treated like Germany post WW1?
Still a lot of people who don't recognise Western atrocities.
I'm calling bullshit. He could have negotiated Ukraine not being allowed to join NATO but chose not to.
Russia was treated like a defeated power and the West was happy that a drunk, yes man was in charge.
Yeah, it is hard...It's hard not to be cynical, this guy was blaming the US for stoking tensions just a week ago and now he wants a military intervention: Ukrainian official tells CNN Biden's call with Ukrainian President 'did not go well' but White House disputes account - CNNPolitics, Ukraine leader says warnings of imminent Russian invasion are stoking 'panic' | The Times of Israel. But it is a hard situation that none of us would do better in to be fair.
People can become nutters with age. Especially if they are isolated and pampered.
Do you honestly want Germany to have intercontinental nuclear missiles?
Yeah, it is hard...
I know that in the weeks leading up to the invasion, Ukrainian media and Zelensky played down the possibility, because the public was starting to freak out. Some believed that was all Putin wanted to do - wage a war of fear.
As has been stated a million times in this thread, the whole NATO Ukraine thing was not the primary reason he wanted to invade Ukraine.
A softer version of the Versailles Treaty was imposed on the them. Letting their economy to die, while moving fast to take away any potential ally for them; US wanted EU and Nato expansion on countries like Poland, while they supported Turkeys effort in the CARs. Russia was treated like a defeated power and the West was happy that a drunk, yes man was in charge.
Yeah, Ukrainians are a bit too thick to have any military strategy…These counterattacks seem to have been spontaneous (not an organized plan for the whole country) but was still effective because of the surprise factor.
Yup... Now, as Ukraine falls under the might of Russia, the West will look on in shock and dismay as a country they support get obliterated. Images and videos of crying/dying people will make the global voyeurs feel guilty and utterly pointless.There also is an argument to be made that Zelensky accepting the real possibility of a Russian invasion would have led to a panic in the streets and an even greater flight of economic capital, very tricky situation.
Primary is debatable. With someone who now seems so unstable that is hard to tell. The world needs him gone ASAP. Sadly I think that means limiting further Russian expansion until he is overthrow, assassinated or loses power due to old age. I suspect the later is most likely which will be painful for the world.
