Trump didn't have a close association with Putin. In one sentence you say we have been facilitating the current situation for 20 Years. Then go and blame Trumps recent association with Putin. Trump was in office for four Years. So who was facilitating for the other 16 Years?
All of the above and more.
Is the U.K. not sending aid?
All the weapons will just prolong the war and lead to more death. Russia will sacrifice any amount of tanks and troops to achieve its objective. Once they secure the black sea they will have achieved one of them. If not taking Kiev is a fail after ten days then people need to look at the bigger picture. They are taking NPP and closing the black sea. Massive leverage. Remember dead troop's mean nothing to vlad.
Yeah! We should just allow the Ukrainians to be slaughtered and just provide nice posts on Social Media to them.
Did anybody see the video where Zelensky trolls Putin by moving the mic out of the way with his hand?
China has been busy trying ring fence their energy needs and now Russia will be extremely dependent on China meaning they can get a decent price. I would like to the see the West saying to China unless you are openly working on a plan to stop this terror on Ukrainians we can no longer buy your tack.
this would be a better move than escalating through NATO.
The China angle is awkward as they have a need to avoid losing favour with both sides, one which feeds their massive trade surplus and the other who could irrationally threaten to cut off their energy. The extent and speed of the sanctions will make them very nervous.
Inadvertently this whole misadventure may lead to even less demand for Russian energy resources and other commodities. There is a report this morning about our food plan, for grain in particular, something that other countries may well look at.
Looks like the NovoFuhrer is preparing the way with Russian public to justify using a nuke on Ukraine.
Why would he need to pave the way with the public. They'd all be dead including him before the first report of what happened came back. A nuke is a redline no matter where it lands.
I suspect more so an attempt to get (Russian) public backing/justification for Russia's invasion...I hope...rather than a threat to use nukes? Like US/UK justification for invasion of Iraq to disable their (phantom) WMD.
Thats just sabre rattling so Putin can continue to indiscriminately slaughter civilians, pure blood lust.
Has this been confirmed it’s Russian military? The Z looks like it’s sellotape on it could be Ukraine military
A limited nuclear strike on Ukraine would not be a redline for a nuclear strike back. Lots of outrage yes, but no retaliation in kind or general nuclear strike back
That propaganda is not to justify the nuclear option..people on here and others are losing the run of them selves .and proclaimed military analysts..its only to justify a conventional war.and since putins soldiers are in it for the long haul .he has to have them.prepared...plus as their economy in shreds and in total isolation .so stop the scare mongering..people seem to be getting off on it ..
As opposed to spray paint? What has been put on looks more difficult than painting on.
Has anyone noticed the focus both radio and TV have given this weekend to understanding the Russian people themselves- both how they think and what they think?
It's important to take into account, especially when watching and seeing the Putin propaganda machine in action internally in the country.
It's become apparent to me from taking a step back, that 10s of millions of Russians actually believe the news stories issued on their national broadcast stations. "The government wouldn't lie to us" is one such quote on a BBC feature this morning from a Russian lady in her 60's.
The implications of sanctions on the Russian people, will ensure a much stronger nationalistic feeling in Russians and a greater hatred of the West in general- I'm pretty much convinced of that. The use of the term Nazi's in relation to the regime in Ukraine is a very powerful word, and resonates strongly with the Russian people- essentially, if my TV station says there are Nazi's in Ukraine, then I believe that to be the case.
Also, we haven't been in listening mode to Russia over the last decade, and we're paying for that now. I'm not talking about appeasement- I'm talking about understanding. What this current war is teaching us, is, we don't understand how Russia thinks.
Taking the money of the oligarchs is the right thing to do- but we won't be able to use it in any negotiations - simply because by law, our laws, if this money is found to be the proceeds of crime or tax evasion or moneylaundering, it must be seized. So while we might give back this money to the Russian government, we can't hand it back to the oligarchs - so what motivation do they really have to help end the war? They won't get their money back.
The sanctions were important for us to implement- Russia gave us no choice there- but I think we should all realise also, the implications on the psyche and attitudes of the Russian people on the west- especially in conjunction with the Russian propaganda machine.
We're going to have to rethink how we deal with not just Russia but China also, in the future, especially with the threat of invasion of Taiwan - the US government, NATO and other institutions in the West are not set up correctly to successfully navigate these complex countries.
While these countries may not be willing to understand us, we'll only face wars in the future, if we don't understand them.
It would do away with any notion that they ever had of taking Ukraine and would at least bring even more sanctions until the Russian economy collapsed completely. They'd also kill their own troops. China would intervene directly anyway if they did.
Can we just get back to figuring out a way to remove the tyrant putin from the face of the earth please.
God bless Ukraine 🇺🇦
To hell with Putin.
If the west allows a nuclear strike anywhere on European soil and doesn't retaliate, all bets are off. They will have shown just how weak they are and Putin exploits weakness.
You're right. We should probably invite Russia to take over all our governments. This might make them not angry with us. 😠
If you think I've not give enough thought to your points, on the contrary, I've given them too much respect by replying.
So you didn't read my post then is essentially what you're saying. I haven't said any of that bollox that you've posted above so obviously there's no engaging with you - good luck with hatching a plan to get rid of Putin and enjoy spending the reward money. Oh while you're at it, can you work out a solution to world peace and the climate crisis too.
As I stated last night from some media outlets Mariupol had been taken by Russia turned out to be not true.
You basically said, let's not ti overly piss off Russia, understand them you said.
May as well ask a domestically abused person to understand their abuser, and its okay to be upset with them for a little while, but ultimately we need to understand you have to take them back.
No I didn't- but like I said, you obviously don't have the capability to engage in any level other than "bomb Russia" so I'll just leave you to shout at the internet.
The west has been far too cosy with Putin and Russian oligarchs for too many years and that includes Trump, whether your politics is hurt by that fact or not.
Moldova press conference taking place right now on BBC news
No, I think the West/ROTW is doing a good job as it is.
1. Applying very hard sanctions
2. Supplying armaments/Intel to Ukraine
3 resisting calls to directly intervene
It's merde more direct help can't be given to Ukraine, but it's too risky.
The main take away/understanding of Russia is that they are happy with a 'strong man' and Putin can be made look weak by the above actions - the soonest the better.
The Z on a number of these vehicles looks like it has been applied on top of the charring.
You're convinced that sanctions will harden the Russians resolve behind the dictator and against the west, which is a legitimate agruement, but I wouldn't be a convinced as you are. Perhaps in the short term, but in the long term I'd disagree myself. It will bring unease. But the real target will be the people with influence. When you don't live in a democracy its the people with money that have a far higher level of influence on the future of what happens. You could argue this happens in a democracy too, and it does happen, but to a lesser degree.
In any event, we can't sit back and just watch, we either hit thim with sanctions or bullets, we may be doing the latter by proxy, but some action needs to be taken and the absolute overwhelming majority of the west in in favor of sanctions