He needs a huge force to take and occupy the country. He can't even take a few cities with this large force. Ukraine will fight and he can't beat down an insurgency as he runs out of money. There are many phases of this to go and none of them favour Russia.
The west should give an inch because the alternative is a third world war. And then there will be no kids to teach, because they will all be dead. I do not like saying these things. But yours are fighting words, and fair play to you, but you should know that a fight between Great Powers in 2022 will mean the end of the world and the permanent destruction of the future.
Giving him an inch is how he's become a despotic ruler.
good read
Macron and Scholz tried all this - went to Moscow and gave him all sorts of assurances and guarantees and then he went and invaded Ukraine (and must have already have decided to invade at the time he was talking to them).
yea very decent
No, I think the West/NATO have done the right thing for the greater good of humanity. They've called Putin out - and the more they threaten Nuclear war the more it sounds hollow. BUT, I don't think NATO should engage Russia over Ukraine. I do think they WILL engage Russia if Russia attacks a NATO country. The rest of the non Russia sycophant countries should continue to hammer Russia with sanctions.
Taking it with a big pinch of salt, but still, after the situation in LNR and DNR, I don't know..
The FSB are an outfit who have no problem openly murdering individuals with exotic nerve agents or radioactive substances
Why have Belarus not been included in the FIFA/UEFA ban?
They're included in the IOC ban.
If anyone wants to do something about it, https://www.fai.ie/domestic/future-football/contact
Yes, a very good read. Stubb seems to suggest that the only way this can end long term is if Putin is removed by the Russians themselves. Otherwise we are stuck with having a very aggressive authoritarian dictatorship on our doorstep for some time to come and will have to adapt accordingly.
"Genocide is a very specific crime. It's not about numbers, it's about acts that specifically have "the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group" "
Isn't that what Russia has threatened, intended and is carrying out?
Crazy **** going down in Russia
So sovereign countries can't make decisions for themselves, in case a dictator somewhere is upset.
"At the moment Putin isn't giving an inch and this isn't sustainable"
Fixed that typo for you.
You're welcome
The scary thing is what you describe isn't just a fanciful vision of a post nuclear war world, but more likely a true reflection of what could come if it cane to that.
Democracy score is 39 out of 100, which is what I should have linked when mentioning democratic freedom.
I wasn't trying to "both sides"as I explained earlier.
Serious question.
Is there general agreement that putin needs to be killed ASAP.
Second question how can that be done or is there someone close to him that can be kidnapped.
I am deadly serious because thousands have been killed by him since this thread started.
So in a few hours you've gone from prank calling the public number (which does nothing but clog up the line for ordinary people, perhaps aid agencies or journalists looking for visas or papers to be signed), to wanting to burn the building down.
Crimea was annexed, nothing done
Donbass region taken, nothing done
Ukraine invaded, finally sanctions imposed. And still he pushes on.
People are seriously deluded if they think appeasement is the option here, Moldova is 100% next. Finland and Sweden being threatened as well and Russians shooting whatever nationality ship to bits just because they can.
Unfortuanetly, I don't think the sanctions will last much longer, as I think Putin's counter will be to say that they are an attack on Russia, so he will demand they be lifted or he will now now take Finland, or Moldova to prove he's serious.
This may be the start of a geo-political blitzkrieg, hence not committing the heavy stuff at the outset - keeping his powder dry for the next adventure.
I think he can take whatever non-NATO countries are on his list that he wants. The west has shown it's colours - predominantly yellow.
There is no guarantees Putin will launch nukes if attacked of course he wants us to believe he will.
Russia would be erased off the planet if it came to that, before it could launch a full scale meaningful attack on the west.
And yes there would still be kids to teach in the west so calm down dear.
Okay, but you didn't address the question. You think we should let Putin "have" Ukraine, where do you draw the line? If he goes for Moldova that's okay for you? Georgia is okay? Taking territory in Finland? Where is the line according to you?
I miss the Cold War. :-(
Which is a terrible thing to say.
One point that stands out:-
"Putin has no option. He has to succeed "
The question we all wonder, at what cost, if he has no options and must succeed what will be do to ensure he succeeds, or rather what will he do in desperation if he realises he can't succeed, trapped animal in a corner comes to mind.
We can't declare war on Putin, or intervene militarily, that's a 3rd world war.
As for launching a second front on another country, he's struggling to take one city in Ukraine.
"At this point, western utopianism is going to get us all killed, because it has ignored the fact that there are other, lethal powers out there who won't allow liberal democracy to encroach into what they see as their back yards"
You're about a week late with this talking point. Initially it was, "Putin has attacked the West because it's become a bunch of sissies arguing about gender and allowing homosexuality to become mainstream".
Of course, this might actually be correct, and like all hyper-macho gobshites, Putin is wedded to the idea that you win by being the toughest. And the belief that other countries, by their relatively peaceful and progressive stance, will be incapable of standing up for themselves.
It turns out that Russia/Putin, by failing to move with the times, is in fact the one who has become weak. His country economically unprepared for the response of the West, and his military, unconvinced by his toxic macho bullsh1t, unwilling to fight a war in his name.
The west, by virtue of being progressive and multicultural rather than aggressive & isolationist, has united to cripple Russian interests in less than a week without firing a single shot.
What good is a legacy if no one is around to recall it. Does Putin want to go to worse case scenario really?
Her face says a lot... Christ.
The focus solely on Putin, here and in the media, seems too simplistic to me. Let's say the news breaks today that Putin has had a stroke, does anyone know who comes next? Does anyone really think the next day we will see tanks pulling out of Ukraine and a jovial meeting over tea between the new leader and Zelenskyy? Another scenario, one would expect Putin already has some idea who he wants to be installed after him.
On a different topic, Blinken is getting a very high profile in the US now. Could be a contender for president in 2 years.
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