Show them a map of Ireland.
Didn't work out to bad here in the end
They still had to go through the motions.
There will be no peace in Ukraine. They will be shelling each other for 20 years. The Ukrainians will never accept loss of access to the black sea.
Are they a viable state without it?
The airstrip would be right on the polish border (not the Russian), meaning any missed Russian strike could hit Poland.
the germans are turning back the clock to 1933 as a result of Putins warmongering and turning Germany into a war machine again
WE could really do with an Icelandic Volcanic eruption right now, hopefully it could keep Russians planes out of the skies for a while possibly
Just listened to Clare Daly interview on RTE. She's in absolute cognitive knots, embarrassing. Really, really embarrassing.
Demands the end of the war, but demands nothing from Putin.
"Promote peace" while handing over the keys to a sovereign nation under a hail of cruise missiles to a man and a despot that would have her chucked in the Moskva river for looking sideways at him.
Unbelievably sh*t take.
I suspect that people's attitude will change once the cost of the sanctions on us start to really bite with increases in fuel costs and more importantly the price of food. There's also the question of what are we going to do if the lack of supply of grain from Ukraine to places like Egypt and other countries creates another huge wave of refugees in the south of Europe. I can't see the populations of Italy and Spain being too happy once they are being flooded with refugees from Africa. Or will we ignore the plight of these refugees because they are not white?
I feel terrible for the people of Ukraine, but at the moment the only logical solution is for them too surrender or at least compromise by creating a neutral state in between Europe and Russia.
The Russians beat that army in WW2, I hope they are better equipped this time
The mig 29 is a very capable ground attack aircraft ,it's all down to the munitions it's loaded with ,the SU25 primary role is ground attack, but the mig29 has a multirole capability,
I wonder if the likes of this is an unofficial effort to funnel troops into Ukraine without 'putting NATO boots on the ground'.
Biden is supposed to have shutdown such a recommendation in January.
I don't believe so. I think it will cause the west and non NATO countries to reconsider their options.
What Russia has shown, is they can invade a non NATO country and the only response from the west is sanctions (I'm not downplaying the sanctions)
There was a belief in Ireland that if we were invaded, the UK or USA would come to our rescue, that's now show to be false.
If Russia decided to bomb or invade Ireland tomorrow, there's very little more sanctions they would face, but they would have a nice foothold in between 2 major NATO areas on the map (US/Europe)
Covid caused us to consider out health spending, this war will cause us to consider our defense spending.
As someone who was 100% against any kind of EU army, I would certainly reconsider it in light of what's happening in Ukraine.
A "neutral" Ukraine is shorthand for the Belarussianisation of Ukraine, not the Finlandisation of Ukraine - condemned to a future of poisonings, kidnappings, gerrymandering, the suppression of media, the end of their democracy, and the murder of political dissidents at the behest of the Kremlin. The EU taken off the table naturally. Neutrality in this situation is the Orwellian word for capitulation and national death for Ukraine.
You also may as well gift wrap Moldova and Georgia for Putin with this formula also. Care to take this message to Tbilisi and Chisinau?
At the end of the day it doesn't matter what me or you think. From the way things are looking it's going to end up as a puppet state or being cut in half by Russia. At least surrendering or compromising would spare thousands of lives and unnecessary suffering by civilians.
I welcome the refugees that Europe is taking in from Ukraine but I want them to be able to return home eventually and preferably have their husbands and sons still alive.
Meanwhile..
Ah here, I couldn't agree with that. We should leave him there.
No way could the response of this invasion by NATO be compared with what the response would be if Ireland was attacked.
I think that no matter how hard we try to bolster our defense we are too small for it to make a difference. We aren’t Ukraine and never will be. We are deeply part of the West, English speaking , UK is a stones throw away. It would never even be let get to a point of a troop build up around us. Not a chance.
That said, I was naive before and since this I am less naive and for that reason I would now agree with an increased budget towards an EU army.
Its a pity though, I sort of live and hope that the likes of Putin is the last of his breed in this chapter of humanity. In fact I genuinely didn’t think he was capable of this.
And in English... what's that mean? the US is pretty energy secure, so why would they face crippling energy prices?
I'm not being a smartarse in asking this, but what's the practical difference for Ireland between an EU army and NATO? Both mean our military neutrality is over - so (and this is an open question btw), why not choose by far the more secure of the two with the Americans and British as treaty partners?
The chatter for an EU Army actually is a product of Brexit and Macron, who was concerned that with the UK leaving the EU and Afghanistan, the Anglo axis' (US & UK) commitment to NATO was under question.
France was left with being the only major military spender and standing army in the EU and the worry was described in a podcast as this: "Wars would be decided in Brussels, paid for by Berlin, and fought with young French men."
I think after Ukraine, the Anglo axis of NATO have awoken from their stupor, along with every other member and even neutral states. NATO is back in a big way, and it's all down to Putin.
You're not being a smartarse at all. I had the same line of thought, but if I had suggested Ireland look to join NATO, I'm afraid people would be in uproar on here and in Ireland. removing our neutrality for an EU army could be an easier sell to the public. EU = Good etc...
I've thought about it, especially with what's happening in Ukraine. You'll have people saying we can't afford a squadron of F16's and all the maintenance etc...
Easy, just have a NATO airbase in Ireland and we have a few planes and the bulk would be the rest of NATO, the servicing and maintenance would be handled by NATO. We just house them while our pilots train with them.
Likewise the navy needs a good investment for the water they patrol, NATO naval base off the west coast would be ideal.
We can't kid ourselves anymore, the world is changing and unless we arm ourselves to the teeth like Israel, we can't stay neutral for ever.
In short, Russian oil, exports, make up 8% of the global supply. So removing them from the market by banning Russia from exporting it's oil will result in driving up the price globally which will lead to increased oil profits for Iran and Venezuela.
energy secure perhaps because they’re sitting on untapped reserves
they do import 8m barrels a day
Besides the implications aren’t just on the US we’re talking global here.
This is a romanticised view.
Without direct foreign intervention or a peace deal, Ukraine will eventually fall. A few old donated Russian airplanes and Stinger missiles isn't going to be enough to hold back the Russians forever. Russia is a ruthless opponent who can take an enormous toll in terms of causalities and materiel lost. Also, this is a matter of survival for Putin, and no price is too small to pay to achieve victory, he will not care. At some point someone in Ukraine is going to look at the scale of the life that's been lost and the damage that's inflicted and sue for peace. They will undoubtedly get the **** end of the stick, but who exactly is going to step in to ensure Ukraine get a fair deal?
the tables have turned though, germans being defenders now and russians being invaders
An EU army sounds like the red tape to go to war would take years to get through
Russian oil isn't banned, it's just tainted.
And Iran are still under sanctions, the West can agree to buy more from them, but the other sanctions still remain, it's not like Iran can then go and buy western tech as they are still under sanctions.
If what "me or you think" doesn't matter why did you log in this evening? Why do you post about anything? And why are you reading my reply and doubtless will have something to say of it?
Before you plant the Russian flag in the middle of Maidan Nezalezhnosti, I'd wait for this week to play out if I were you. Ukrainians aren't putting on a Christmas play in the community centre for your entertainment, they're in a war for national survival, and they are in it with the financial & materiel backing of every powerful country in the world (with the exception of those charming folks in Beijing), with the security architecture of Europe at stake as well.
If every time Russia invades a country to wipe it off the map do you and the likes of you throw up your hands and say "Ah shur that's it now, these lads may as well roll over as well." Because to disabuse you of your illusions here, Putin won't stop if life is made easy for him invading countries. This is a man with an appetite and you give him comfort.
They’re about to reinstate the JCPOA in Vienna, possibly in the next few days.
Putin couldn’t have chosen a ‘better’ time,
and due to the fact that Russia are signatories on the deal, they tried to torpedo it coming up with last second remarks as if they found a loophole in the agreement to avoid sanctions.
blackmail
Because of that, the US seem to be willing to concede even more, leaving the russians out and Iran getting the deal of their dreams and the Israelis surely won’t be happy (pretty sure that what Bennet’s visit to Moscow was all about and perhaps talk about Ukraine if they had time left)
The world is waiting for the Russians to run out of missiles, and hoping Ukraine is still standing. That president zelensky can have a Independence Day type of victory. Life is not the movies though, but hopefully he can inspire his people to a good fight like the movies
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