He believes that Ukraine is part of Russia and should never have been allowed leave the Russian 'empire' (he stated all this clearly in his televised rant last week).
As Vicky Pollard says, am I bovvered?
Seesm to be the case wouldn't be surprised if he gifted parts of Ukraine to Belarus ,
It will be interesting to see what comes out of the discussions to day , highly doubtful ukraine will be offered anything consesssions wise
Eh?? I though the "Putinbot" talking point was that Ukraine will not be fast tracked into the EU
I know the CC isn't exactly beloved in Ireland, and I'm not Catholic meself, but take all that baggage and all those ad hominems away, and the Pope's anti-war message yesterday was powerful and carried the wisdom of ages.
This thread is cringe. Back to Politics and normality.
Probably something like 'see all those women and kids we just murdered in Kharkiv? Kyiv is next.'
The Starsky YouTube video basically says the west neutered itself by not keeping a big stick . He also insinuates the majority of the world would be celebrating Putins bloody nose to the west. Doesn’t say how the world might react if Putin uses that big stick , I’m not sure anybody wins if nuclear war starts.
What I was waiting to hear was his take on USA. They are ultimately the wests “big stick”. He also didn’t state what he thinks would happen if Putin uses his stick or how the Americans may respond.
The EU is probably going to have to start building up arms but I’m not sure it’s as exposed as he implies , unless the US wouldn’t see a full on invasion of Europe (NATO) as an invasion of themselves. Even for self preservation reasons, surely the US would intervene so at the minimum not to leave themselves totally isolated from anywhere outside their boarders.
Was certainly an interesting video.
He wants to hobble Ukraine within a federal structure, so that the artificial enclaves he created in the south east would have a veto on it ever joining EU or NATO. He wants it demilitarized so it can't resist Russian demands and subject to Russian influence and business exploitation. He won't tolerate any elections where the people actually have a say as if they have that they will choose to pivot to the West.
If Ukraine prospers outside Russian influence, it will send messages to the other states still under Russian thumb.
He might accept, if he gets bogged down, taking large chunks of eastern ukraine and its resources and strategic territory.
That's the crux of it. The mask really slipped.
It's nothing more than a personal quest based on a grudge to shore up his legacy. His entire career and Presidency has led up to this point and he sees the west as weak now with the leaders in place and post Covid finances to fund a war under pressure.
Unfortunately for him, he's made a fatal miscalculation.
In regards to orthodox Church and roman Catholic Church.
There is fundamental differences.
But close ties have been between both reparative poes over the last decade.
Lol. Which of these looks like the basket case? Debt per citizen:
As I said, Ukrainian spin about "**** you russian warship" and the heroes of snake island was just propaganda piece, the men are alive and well (in russian captivity)
fierce snaky feckers
Roman Abramovic claiming to be playing peacemaker at the request of the Ukrainians.
How much real influence do these oligarchs actually have? It's always hinted at and said, but we will see..
Truth is always the first casualty in situations like this.
The daily mail is a pro-putin newspaper - wha?
Also ironic that the article references the photo of the dead boy on a turkish beach years ago, no mention of how that photo was staged - photographers were caught moving the poor boys body to the beach and positioning it to get a more emotive shot.
That's just the Putin engaging in good faith negotiations.
On less Putinbot /s
Are these talks still happening in the same location, i.e. the Ukraine-Belarus border? I saw someone else posting that Ukraine were seeking talks in Russia now, which sounds more supplicatory (Oh, that's really a word. Thought I would get the red squiggly.) as if Ukraine thought the military situation was turning too bad.
What the Russians are currently offering is little less than total subjugation. Again, it's really an own goal for them long term. Even if they got what they want, the resentment they must have now sown in Ukraine means there can be no real going back in terms of friendly relations. They can install as many puppet governments as they want, but the Ukrainian people would reject it at the first opportunity given, or one they just take.
I think the Russians are basically just going to threaten the Ukrainians in these talks and say that if the terms aren't agreed to, they'll bulldoze Kiev and set the country ablaze, and it'll be on Zelensky's head because he wouldn't take the deal. Again, it reminds me a bit of how Lloyd George allegedly threatened the Irish delegation at the Anglo-Irish peace talks to accept or face 'terrible and immediate war'.
Thats what I've been saying - there is a whopper amount of propaganda from both sides, but if you point out the Ukrainian propaganda you get labelled a "putinbot" 🙄
Snake island and the "tank" running over a car were 2 big propaganda pieces - snake island soldiers were captured, and the tank (a strela AA gun) was a friendly fire incident amongst Ukrainians. Ukrainian army and civil militias firing on each other according to people in Kiev. Thankfully the old man got out alright.
The Ukrainians need propaganda to boost morale because they are fighting a much superior force in terms of numbers and equipment, its understandable. But if you want a true view of whats going on you have to take all reports from both sides with a massive pinch of salt.
I find myself conflicted. On the one hand I find the whole scenario riveting. A real war being played out in my lifetime. In the ultimate age of information and communication. We normally only see or hear war in movies, plays, audio or read about in books. On the other hand this war has real life catastrophic consequences. Lives lost, infrastructure destroyed and just plain misery inflicted. I'm rooting for the Ukraine and with the rest of the world behind it Russia will not succeed.
It is crucial that Putin is forced from power be that through sanctions or a failed military campaign. All his cronies must also be held accountable for their actions. For reasons I don't understand the Russian people seem to love a strong man in power. However Putin is just a megalomaniac bully who has lost touch with reality. His desire to reform the Soviet Union is laughable. He is stuck in a time warp.
Lets not forget about Lukashenko in Belarus. He also needs to go. Another despot Putin lite. The people of Belarus deserve the chance to lead free and democratic lives. It is crazy to see history unfolding before our eyes. I am too young to clearly remember the fall of the Berlin Wall. But I now understand it's significance.
Hail Hail Ukraine may she free herself of the invaders completely and ultimately prosper.
I have a sinking feeling the hyper optimistic "plucky Ukrainians, floundering Russians" narrative will be punctured dramatically in the next few days.
Would be happy to be wrong on that.
ahem.. I told yous so
I'm very glad to hear they're still alive, if that is indeed the case, but the defiance of (probably approximate translation) 'Russian warship, go f**k yourself.' shouldn't be degraded by misinformation on whether the men died or not.
The ridiculousness of Putin's demands of federalisation of Ukraine is that Russia itself is outrageously centralised. It's a federal country in name only. All the oblasts and republics of Russia are ruled by Lord Lieutenants and Viceroys of old, thoroughly vetted by the Kremlin and displaying absolute obedience to a narrow circle in Moscow.
The proposed federalisation of Ukraine would follow the exact same pattern - Eastern federal units of Ukraine would be under the pay and command of the Kremlin. Why would or should Ukraine accept such an outcome? This is the stuff of the 19th century.
There is an arguement for Ukrainian federalisation, but only when Kremlin lackeys and agents routed and scrubbed from the system, and not before.
The pope refused to condemn Russia so as not upset the Orthodox cnuts who's leader said this:
"Head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, calls Putin’s opponents in Ukraine “evil forces,” and believes “we must not allow dark and hostile external forces to laugh at us.”"
The Pope is a POS.
If I were Ukraine, I wouldn't want the vatican making the tea, let alone mediating anything.
It won't matter in the end, as the war will escalate to a nuclear confrontation with Nato. At that stage, talks of federalisation become redundant.
Contact was lost and the island bombarded, it was normal to presume they were dead. They still told the ship to go **** itself and got attacked.
Am very glad to hear they are alive.
Ukraine is being invaded and in a critical situation, it's also natural there will be exaggerations and propaganda on their side, especially for morale. There's no need to be an utter twat and start celebrating if something doesn't turn out to be exact.
Good
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