Putin is more likely to blame NATO / the West for everything, nuke them to hell, and be gone.
I can't see him quietly exiting the world stage.
They poked the bear...the US will fight this until the last Ukrainian...as per usual
In case anybody is unaware of the vile regime that is Belarus, a simple fact.
Belarus has legal slavery. Serfdom was re-introduced in Belarus in 2014. About 3 million people in Belarus are legally owned by state collective farms.
Our only hope at this stage is the number of assets the US has inside the Russian security forces. The quality of US intelligence would suggest the answer is "quite a few", but whether they are up to the task of assassinations or a coup is another matter entirely.
One would hope that someone has been building sufficient backdoor relationships in Russia to have a failsafe plan that doesn't require open warfare with them. The weak point of any dictatorship is the government. Loyalty to the regime depends on the existence of the leadership. Remove the leadership and everything changes.
Figuratively it's a nuclear option though. It creates a big unknown in terms of what happens next.
Hurts us and EU a lot too though if we go high on sanctions. US get away with it but we depend on the Russians for some key resources so have to be careful really.
Only because the Russian central bank is propping it up. And they are able to do that because the ruble is...wait for it.... a fiat currency
It's a non-committal tightrope that they will stay on for the duration of this.
I don't think most people would be in favour of censorship. Robust adult discussion flushes out the naive and the (rare) serious disinformation plant.
Poor lads, remember a dictators first victims are his own people.
Well we have to believe/hope that Russian military top brass are not also suicidal madmen and if Putin tried to press the nuclear button they would 'intervene'. Also that said Russian generals have some sort of back channel contact with their American counterparts to stop that nightmare coming true.
This is near Antonov airport, northwest suburbs of Kiev.
Will they invade us and use here as a base? or can the fishermen stop them on their own?
It's a nice thought. But I am pretty sure they would be killed by russian soldiers/generals at first hint of switching side
The Bear poked Ukraine thats not a member of NATO and on its own in case you missed it
You'd need to wake up there.
Wait for it, wait for it...
Russia has tonnes of gold to back their fiat currency. Tonnes upon tonnes. Buying hard since 2009. As are China. And Russia export the stuff.
Canada exports it too. But their treasury has.... Wait for it , wait for it...
NONE.
As is, effectively, the case for most Western FIATs.
The USA may have (they say they do but it may be apothecated) but even if they do, it will put the price to the moon in order to cover the dollar at 40%. Which is considered a doable dilution.
Thankfully, Irish Central Bank copped on in Q4 2021 and started buying some. A little as a hedge only.
Who is "we"?
We are neutral. We don't have any sort of army. What can we do?
you really dont understand Russian people if you think that will work
Putin should blame them , they refused proper negotiations and specifically the expansion eastward of NATO. Russia sees that as a threat - rightly too from their prospective .
In any case, after the shafting of Gaddafi nobody in their right mind would trust NATO. NATO has shot themselves betraying Gaddafi . Russia , Iran , North korea & China , none of them will play ball again.
For all the moaning about Putin in the media and here , there are 2 sides at play here. Both can be **** as the notion of goodies and baddies is for children. We have seen the West/NATO at play in the past and their record is far from unblemished.
This is the first time today since I posted here in the early hours of this morning that I’ve had a proper chance to catch up on here, news feeds, social media.
I can’t believe how fast they’ve attacked. This is the first time I’ve watched an invasion in real time.
In all seriousness ..if it worked i would be up for it ..i imagine a lot of them do have families in russia tho
Yep he needs to be made an example of. Something loud and clear for Putin
TBH the time to be "careful" passed this morning at 4am, this is now a time for action and the first step is we should not be transacting with this rogue regime.
ha ..and putins kids have all the protection people don't even know who they are.
I'd be careful about posting anything from that guy - his Twitter feed looks to be blatant pro-Russia propaganda
What an unusual Irish response.
Plenty of corroboration to confirm it's true. This is the location. You can see the yellow warehouse in the background.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/kXsEzNf7DiFdry3f6
Thanks.
I think my 'fake news-ometer' is at all time highs. Although the Russians don't even bother to hide it anymore.
This is the only voice of dissent I have seen come from Russia. This guy will pay a heavy price for this statement. The NovoFuhrer won't be happy.
In a rare act of public dissent against the war, the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta has announced that its next edition will come out in Russian and Ukrainian languages.
Dmitry Muratov, the Nobel prize-winning editor of the paper, said that “together with our grief we feel shame” about a war that he directly blamed on Vladimir Putin.
“What’s the next step?” he said. “A nuclear salvo?
“We’re going to release this next edition of Novaya Gazeta in two languages because we will never see Ukraine as an enemy or Ukrainian as the language of the enemy.”
He added a call for protests against the war.
“Only an anti-war movement of Russians in my opinion can save life on this planet.”
He is a very brave man.
Lifted from The Guardian Live feed https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/feb/24/russia-invades-ukraine-declares-war-latest-news-live-updates-russian-invasion-vladimir-putin-explosions-bombing-kyiv-kharkiv
you serious? Trump would have done absolutely nothing. He doesn't give a toss about Europe and he'd happily take US out of NATO if he could have.
Deploy what what we have to Ukraine and hope others brake rank and follow suit
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