Russia - threadbanned users in OP

We owe so much to social media and the creation of the woke generation.

Reality is though technically as it stands right now a rogue nation with nuclear weapons could bomb the shite out of us right now and NATO countries could only stand and watch. That is the Russian doctrine. And supplying weapons to us through a back door would be even more difficult by sea. And after the events of the last week and the comments of the Russian ambassador etc we are very much considered an enemy of Russia as much as any other European country. He actually said we are at the forefront of vociferous opposition to this invasion.

I remember in my school days whenever I got in a schoolyard scrap with another student one of the first things you quickly realize is that you are on your own.

According to news reports this morning

The Russian military will hold fire and open humanitarian corridors in several Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv and Mariupol, at 10am Moscow time (7am UK) today, according to reports.

The corridors, which will also be opened from the cities of Kharkiv and Sumy, are being set up at the personal request of French President Emmanuel Macron, the Interfax news agency cited Russia's defence ministry as saying.

The ministry added that those who leave Kyiv will then be airlifted to Russia and that drones will be used to monitor the evacuation.

Going by past performance the Russians certainly  cannot be trusted to hold to promises regarding ceasefire and evacuation.  But perhaps even more worryingly, the Russians are claiming that those fleeing will be airlifted to Russia. 

Report from the Kyiv Independent on Russian attacks around Irpin Close to the Capital Kyiv

According to Putins latest dictate Russia will stop the war special military operation only if Ukraine surrenders and that Russia is ready to negotiate after “all known Russian demands are met"

So that means there will be no negotiation at all then?

Likewise. A month ago I would have been clearly on the "No EU Army" Side of the fence. Now I'm firmly on that fence in that regard but not convinced, yet. What I am convinced of is that we need to seriously increase our defense spending. It's not fair to expect the US and UK to pick up the slack just because we want to maintain an image. Time to get real and Russia is a big wake up call. Lot's of Polish "I told ya so's" coming at us let's not make the mistake of ignoring them.

Wonder what the surprise will be (assuming there is one)?

Sure. If they had a Russian aligned neighbour, they might not be able toninvade. They would definitely change regime though, democratically elected or not. And if the US had 5 or 6 Russian aligned neighbours, Then the military zeal you say has evaporated, would reappear (it never would have evaporated if they had all those hostile neighbours in the first place).

You seem to be thinking all this stuff is 20 years in the past bu Venezuela is a very recent regime change supported by the US. Venezuela isn't even a neighbour, its just within the same larger continent and they still toppled the government.

None of that is relevant to condemn what Russia is doing (won't Putin be furious to find out that we both co dendem his behaviour)

NATO and particularly the US, would wet themselves if they got a base in Ireland, especially on the West Coast.

BA trained Concorde pilots out of Shannon for a good reason - thousands of miles of open water for the sub-sonic to Supersonic transition.

Plus, Ireland is one of the most strategic, geographically speaking, countries in Europe.

Could you imagine a Red Flag being staged out of Shannon...

I rest my case....

It's Russia, a coup/putsch is always rumbling away somewhere even if it's only in people's heads. It won't be the first nor the last of these rumours but it is by far the cleanest solution to end this.