The flaw in your defence is that Putin is a dictator. He is doing what is in his interests, not Russia. Are the majority of Russians benefiting from his warmongering ? Do they have a choice ? Is he allowing them the free will to see all sides of the debate and make their own minds up ?
This isnt Russias war, this is Putins war. For all the issues people try and put on the West, people are "more free" to make choices. Yeh theres propaganda and its not perfect, but a person in Ireland or USA has far more opportunities to get informed and make a change , then those in Russians.
I
Sorry its above my paygrade as a lowly "Putinbot" 🙄
How do you know he intends to sit and occupy Ukraine? Their goals seem far more likely to be regime change and demilitarization of Ukraine, a full on occupation makes no sense and as you say, is not easy to do without a revolt. None of this points to ethnic cleansing or genocide, so yet again just scaremongering from yourselves.
Sorry, where did I say it would be 'ok'?
The purging has begun
He has made clear threats to do exactly that. With his generals in the room looking petrified.
What is wrong with you? Why are you being deliberately obtuse?
Quote me where I said he would use them ?
China and India looking at facilitating Russian trade in Yuan and Rupee respectively. Could be a big shock to confidence in USD status as "petrodollar" if Russian oil is trading in other currencies, same for SWIFT if parallel systems are in use instead.
However so far energy/oil trading has not been suspended with Russians?
Yeah but who is it going to stink ?
The people working for these leasing companies based here?
Can't imagine there are thousands working for these companies as they basically are accounting functions with a few aircraft technicians thrown in.
The investors who are no doubt not Irish for the most part?
Youre implying hes a rational human and sane being because he thinks his cause is just. That implies his actions are ok (using threat of nuclear war and possibly escalation). I am sorry Wibbs, but his actions look that of a desperate dictator who is not getting what he wants, so is causing global unrest by throwing nuclear war into the mix. Its not a free, democratic country deciding to go to war, its a dictator making a decision on behalf of the people for his cause and lieing constantly to his population to keep them onside.
The OP was about nuclear deterrence as a means to make your enemies think twice, you responded with:
And if he uses nukes, its ok because he believes what he is doing is correct ? Destroying the world for Russia is not insane because he believes it.
Insinuating that Putin would actually use nuclear weapons offensively rather than as deterrence.
So which is it? You reckon Putin is insane and believes in using nuclear weapons against the world, or you are full of crap
Remember last week when he said if anyone interferes in their invasion in Ukraine will face “consequences you have never faced in your history”?
Idle threats, maybe, but they are an actively aggressive nation at war. This isn't a scenario where you take that type of rhetoric with a pinch of salt.
We have "cultural and historic ties" to the UK, it doesn't mean we have to bend and scrape to them to avoid the threat of invasion.
Beautiful crash.
Ironically, I could link to a quote, but it would be a RT link. So I guess it's not true.
And that is different from trading oil in USD? Learn how currencies work.
And the flaw in your defence is that you're quite naturally thinking like someone living in the 'free west'. To many Russians his interests are Russias. He's not a mere politician in the Western sense. We looked on as he made himself president for life thinking WTF?, for many Russians they looked on with much more of a 'yep that's expected of course. We need a strong leader/king". Far fewer questioned it on the ground.
Talks officially begin.
Idle threats, maybe, but they are an actively aggressive nation at war.
Well this is the thing, and an act of aggression that went beyond what many/most were expecting to boot.
His actual words, and the manner in which they were delivered are arguably less bellicose than
but in context they are far scarier
Your on the wrong thread Sergey.
China is a big trading partner of Russia's. The biggest single country I think.
It would be easy to think, "Russia will be OK once it still has China".
But when you take the US, UK and EU combined, China's share of Russian markets is comparatively small. China and India still trading with Russia is little more than a consolation. It falls very far short of saving their economy.
What a ridiculous comment. So an independent country shouldn't have the freedom to join the EU or to make its own decision to do so?
That and the equally ridiculous argument that where an independent county has "historic and cultural ties", then they should simply capitulate their sovereignty to appease its warmongering neighbour?
What universe to you live in exactly?
lol. amazing.
Without a doubt, at least with Trump you know the grown ups in the room would stop him from doing something stupid. This is the benefit of a democratic system with failsafes for these things. We're more in the dark around how much control Putin has over his military and if any of the grown ups there have the ability to stop him from doing something stupid.
Can you provide a link to these "petrified" looks?
I think aul Putin prick genuinely assumed the Ukrainian people would welcome him as some kind of “liberator”. Supposing his invasion is “successful” what does that even mean? He’s never going to take their hearts and minds now.
There was a Ukrainian woman in her 20s who escaped via Poland, interviewed on BBC yesterday - she said her relations in Bellarus are totally brainwashed and not speaking to her- just shows you what power these governments have over their own people
Russian economy is already largely self-sufficient, and with access to Chinese markets that covers just about everything else they really need. Having Yuan reserve to spend will stop them from collapsing. And sure they can still spend EUR on designer handbags from Italy
If its a threat to be the first to nuke someone then it absolutely is an idle threat - mutually assured destruction means there are no winners. There will be no nukes launched.
Absolutely, you are a shinning example of someone in the west who has bought into the propaganda flowing like an open sewer into the west from Russia.
I see that you liked my post linking Starkey's analysis. I agree with pretty much all of it, and if you see Putin as a Tsar then the throne, the opulence, the despotism, and the fearful lackeys all make sense.
But surely a self-serving, absolutist Tsar would have no interest in having all his foreign assets seized and instigating - through his own actions - protests on the streets of his cities which threaten his rule? Surely self-interest would prevent him from taking such massive risks to his position. Surely a self-serving Tsar would not want Germany to re-arm when it was practically set to be his energy slave, or Turkey to consider closing the Black Sea, or Finland and Sweden to join NATO, when none of these things were on the menu a few weeks ago.
Considering the understandable emotionals around what we see unfolding, too often rationality, like Putin's opponents, tends to go out the nearest window.
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