Are we witnessing the recommunization of Russia? Should we now expect defections to become illegal?
I'd imagine the US needs to keep a channel open. I'm glad it isn't Boris.
You got it in one.
why havent putins entire family (daughters, girlfriend, ex-wife, friends, anyone remotely related to him) been sanctioned yet...
does the west have no imagination?!
Your post got me interested. He tweeted this:
Not sure exactly what it is he called wrong but at least he admits it now.
What is the likelihood that Putin invades an EU country? And what are the ramifications?
Avolon the biggest of those is Chinese owned now I believe.
So right back at ya.. China!
He knows several things are highly probable.
Russia is done.
He'll either be killed for this or sent to Ukraine as they start to run out of cannon fodder. That is a man who is just done.
Be hard to get them back anyway seen as flights and insurance are now blocked.
Zelenskyy said there were moving to defensive tactics last weekend. But that changed today Ukraine ministry of defense said we are moving to counter attack objectives.
Yes. I would imagine he has to be very careful what he tweets, therefore the coyness of expression.
Remember when Russia was banned from the Olympics for a massive state run doping program ,
Who turned up at every Olympics since the Russian Olympic committe athletes who are neutral but are the Russian Olympic committe athletes, as seen in the womens skating event caught cheating but still taking part and winning medals,
Of course this will be over turned
He is the kind of person who will not only leave the party, but ruins it for everybody else.
If Russia wants an aviation industry they'll have to be returned. No one will lease them aircraft otherwise.
Priobably because Putin knows he can lie to his face.
Maybe I'm codding myself, but I don't think Putin wants WW3. To take the chess analogy people keep bringing up, he is in a vastly weaker position, and Russia is in a vastly weaker position than both were in a week ago. He knows he can't checkmate. The best he can hope for is a stalemate. He wants a stalemate. He likes stalemates. The USSR was at its 'greatest' during a worldwide stalemate.
I'm starting to see Europe needs to get its military act together. Europe and Russia in conflict while the two real giants in the room (the US and China) look on? That seems to be the way we are headed.
That's it. They're screwed. I don't care if we shut off the gas coming into Europe for a few weeks because if the Chinese are starting to not buy their **** then they're done. This whole escapade was based on the premise that China was going to buy loads of gas from them, which would include whatever the get in Ukraine.
All of these would be a given. To be honest, I cannot see how all the sanctions, airspace bans, sporting and cultural bans etc can be lifted whilst Putin remains in office....even if this takes many years (I'm not sure this penny has even dropped with the Russian public yet).
Just sieze every Russian vessel currently outside of russian waters ,they may rethink the idea,but then again the leadership has joined a end of the world cult
I'm not sure if that's what his statement meant. However, we treat enemy combatants on our own dime - so for Abramovic to fund care for victims on both sides is fine by me. An 18 year old Russian soldier with his leg blown off still needs to be treated, aggressor or not.
Not an expert on these matters by any means, but for me it seems that there are two fundamental flaws in Putin's thinking:
1) Since when were Russia not part of the "west"? It seems that this is just some fictional category that exists in Putin's head. The Russian people have been part of the west for a long time and I don't think they see the difference.
2) I don't think he is accounting for how much the sanctions are going to destroy his country. At the end of the day, the "developed" world is run by corporations, not governments. The corporations let the governments pretend to run things but at the end of the day its just a charade. So if you are a "developed world" country, and all the biggest global corporations (Apple, Nike, Mastercard etc) decide they are no longer going to provide products/services to your people, you are F&*Ked!
The real question is how many rational brains exist between Putin and the button! I use to think we were safe as he was only motivated by Money and Power but it seems he is starting to lose the plot a bit.
Advice from military experts that I've seen is to fortify defensive positions. Russia will pick off offensive moves by Ukrainians.
Very very sad to see.
Just for the guns to fall silent and Russia pulling out of the Ukraine, couldn't Putin just round up a couple of his generals, blame them for the botched up war or "operation in the Ukraine" and fire them, or send them to a labour camp? He'd still be seen as the big strong man in his media, he owns......
Exactly. The Ukrainians need to bog the Russians down in a War of Attrition. Hit and Run guerilla warfare, akin to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan in the 1970's and 1980's.
If that's the case Avolon should get theirs back.
If he was smarter he would have left that open as an option by having underlings do all the talking and keeping some distance. He has said too much in public at this stage for that to be in any way plausible though.
develop a plant to take the bastard out somehow.
I believe Triffids are quite aggressive
Perhaps there's a McDonald's there with a ball pond and climbing frame?
Might not be that simple.
While majority Chinese owned, Avolon is still a registered Irish/EU entity.
The face on your one. If looks could kill :)
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