I would be much more content that our economy suffers to push back against Putin that I was ever happy that our economy suffered over Covid restrictions.
Yes, because a victorious Putin would be extremely dangerous for western Europe. Everyone would be asking "when does he invade the Baltic states, Moldova or Poland?". Even the NATO thing mightn't dissuade him in such a case.
Well maybe we should start thinking about not relying on China for tech, in the same way we should start thinking about not relying on Russia for energy.
There is no maybe about it - a very clear and present danger.
That push already started as a result of supply chain issues during COVID; I imagine the Ukraine invasion will further highlight the need to move manufacturing back to the West at least to some extent.
I don't see any path to a victorious Putin. He's dead in the water already.
Somehow I think he wanted a disastrous end, for the record books. As if he fought the good War for the USSR (RIP)
He will push this as far as he can, because this is a war with the West and not only Ukraine.
We are very close to a NATO war with Russia. When that happens Putin is dead. I don't think that's far off tbh.
I have complete confidence there will be no nuclear war with Russia.
That whole nuclear war scenario is just a scare tactic. It's not gonna happen, rest assured.
What we must do, is make sure that Putin knows that most every country in the world is against him, and that even if China gives support, he's still f*cked.
Garry Kasparov on CNN just now:
'Ukraine has plenty of courage but not enough weapons. NATO has plenty of weapons but not enough courage. I don't know if they are afraid of Putin or their own shadow. They can't avoid this conflict, they either act now on their terms or later on Putin's terms.'
where do you come to this assumption of no nuclear war? I am in awe at your confidence
I watched the interview too. He said NATO should call Putin's bluff and establish a no fly zone immediately. He thinks Putin is a spoofer and a blackmailer (all mouth and no trousers essentially) and that NATO should face him down right now, rather than put the inevitable off.
And that is also what a former Russian foreign minister thinks and has been saying. Neither of these people are either stupid, naive or suicidal, so the west should act accordingly on what is good intel, rather than dither at the cost of several cities destroyed and millions of lives lost.
Your man and his nukes is really akin to a lunatic in a suicide vest standing in a busy public place threatening to blow himself and everyone else up.
Terrorism on a massive scale.
I’m a fan of Gary and he talks a good ( chess) game-and he claimed in another interview, Putin wasn’t a chess player but a poker player and that he’s bluffing but, when watching the news last night and how the Russian police dressed in riot gear with Z on the side of their helmets, arresting protestors, it struck me that Putin is still very much in control of that country.
Police forces throughout Russia, if they felt as these protestors felt, could have, enmasse refused to arrest them, sending a strong signal to Putin - how does a leader in Russia lose the support of their police force I wonder? Doesn’t look like there are any signs of descent quite yet which might indicate a wider overthrow of govt.
I don’t believe escalating at this late stage is the way to go - if a “peaceful” solution can be found then I’m on for trying that first and they do appear to be talking - but if it’s proving to be a sham by Russia then I think NATO needs to declare a red line somewhere- either chemical weapons or nuclear reactor attacks or maternity wards bombed or non-respected humanitarian corridors -right now they’re sending the message “do what you want, not our business” .
Oooh I love a bit of hot gossip- bring it on 😂
Coverage of the incredible conditions for those leaving Ukraine by foot on the Ukraine/Polish border by an Australian Journalist.
From what he says it appears that a lot of Journalists are leaving Ukraine
Does the Z in Russia mean zombie. Seems like that’s what people have become there.
I wonder is this the end game towards a resolution or is it Putin being cynical and buying himself time pretending to negotiate as he gets his troops aligned for a final onslaught? I mean would you actually trust Putin in an negotiation right now after what he’s done?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10608677/Russia-Ukraine-say-positive-result-peace-talks-DAYS.html
Is it possible for a ukraine "false flag" incident to drag NATO into the war?
E.g a stray missle....
I would expect that China is having a good belly laugh at the US warnings about helping Russia.
China are the economic powerhouse so sanctioning them would be suicidal.
They know the US are not a military threat to them.
except it is no longer a 10:1 material advantage - russia's equipment is $hite and the west has flooded ukraine with a steady stream of state of the art modern defensive weapons
Wouldn't trust him one bit at this stage, but you have to keep talks up, regardless, in the hope that events force a shift in trustworthiness. Also if they are planning conscription drives within Russia and are actively recruiting from the Mid East, I can't see these talks amounting to much. Would be brilliant if true though and one of those situations where you'd be delighted to be wrong.
Eritrea became a base of operations for the Russian military following an initial agreement in 2018.
Z is the new swastika it seems,different of course but has a nasty presence
I doubt it and they have this! We know well what effect that can have! They need the continued massive trade surplus to pay for Xi's vision. Being lumped in with Russia is a big loss of face and a very big financial risk.
In other news, probably the least of Russia's worries right now:-
https://uscnpm.org/2022/03/12/hu-wei-russia-ukraine-war-china-choice/
Interesting read and a good site for perspectives.
Surely there are Russian military top brass who have seen putin and his henchmen make a complete miscalculation, a balls up of the invasion, and now rounding up tow rags from Syria to fight for them, and wondering should we continue letting this clown bring our motherland to its knees!
I would imagine many are secretly against him, but who will be the first to act?
Would take some balls and most are probably too scared of Putin and the repercussions of acting or even discussing acting, funny thing is they probably all feel the same but are too scared to share their feelings with each other?
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