I am very surprised this hasn't happened already to be honest.
If [without the EU] by fine you mean Russia okay being back in the 70s/80s, fine. The EU can still trade with the rest of the world.
As regards the Russian Embassy in Ireland. To function they only need a handful of the diplomats to be present. Allegedly there are at least 31 "diplomats" onsite probably with support staff. 4 have been expelled. We should expel the majority and leave 2 diplomats and a couple of support staff to allow the embassy to carry out its functions for Russian citizens in Ireland. If the Russians kick all our staff out in Moscow so be it but we need to show that we are disgusted at the illegal invasion and the subsequent war crimes that have been carried out by the Russians.
Not being mean but I think Russia will get by fine with the EU. We on the other hand are bunched gas,oil, fertilizer, food.... or maybe I'm wrong? That's just what I've been reading.
Germany (or indeed any of the other EU states) didn't "break" the EU arms embargo, perfectly legit under the EU rules at the time.
"Honestly from senior Russian official" = ex Russian official.
and if you're female.....
It's been posted for weeks now that Mariupol is about to fall and it never did. Unfortunately now though, barring an intervention they are now giving themselves days if not hours.
No fly zone is a classic example of a euphemism. A no fly zone means shooting down Russian planes and attacking Russian anti aircraft installations in Russia. It is basically all out war. And won’t happen unless Russia attacks NATO first.
It sounds like something harmless like some humanitarian intervention like some patrolling of the skys by NATO planes but it’s not it means dogfights and bombing of Russian targets it’s an aggressive act of war.
Another German political figure who became a branch office for Gazprom, Manuela Schwesig, chief minister of the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, is the latest member of Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) to come under pressure over her links to the Kremlin.
German political leadership has been bought by Russia for 20 years, especially at the top.
It's a deeply compromised State. The stories are daily now.
A story on how Germany broke an EU embargo on weapons sales to Russia post 2014.
Germany have not been fooled, they haven't been naive, they have been complicit and see a conquered Ukraine as ensuring security of cheap resources from their Russian ally.
Ukraine gets promises. Russia gets weapons and Billions of Euro.
Basically any 4th Gen fighter would wipe the floor with Mig-29's. Most air-conbat nowadays is conducted BVR ( Beyond Visual Range) and the Gripens and associated AMRAAM's are excellent in this regard.
Migs, while simple and practical in construction, and with some having avionics upgrades, are only as good as their pilots and available weapons systems. Plus their radar is abysmal.
Another poster below mentions thrust-vectoring. Impressive to look at in an airshow display, not much good in a BVR dust-up. Did any Russian aircraft enthusiasts go to RIAT the year Mig displayed their Thrust-Vectoring proof of concept aircraft? It was before the concept was installed on the Su-34's. What an aircraft! Here's a vid of the display. Impressive at close quarters in a dogfight, but pretty useless against 5th gen fighters ( some of whom incidently also have TV) who can dispatch you from over100km away.
Anyone here at RIAT the year of this display? Anyone going this year?
https://youtu.be/BdVJPZAKAQE
Fly Agric has a poor attitude towards the Ukrainians.
They are not an infantile people who do not know what is good for them or who their real friends are.
It shuts down a key hub of Russia's espionage and intelligence networks in Europe. Calling it an embassy is is a disgrace. That intelligence centre is assisting Russia's war effort and working against Ukraine's. In doing so it's playing a part in killing Ukrainians and enabling the commission of huge numbers of war crimes.
In the past 48hrs, Ukraine has downed an SU-30, and 34.
Germany have prioritised protection of their economy and wealth over the lives and welbeing of Ukrainians In the face of a country that uses war crimes as SOP and doctrine. They are atrocious; tiny and far less resourced Baltic states have done far more. And what really underlines the moral paucity of your'e defending them is the large numbers of Germans who are angry and embarrassed at their governments unhelpfulness the shenanigans of saying one thing and doing another that's been going on, which has been contemptible.
Are you for real trying to paint the Ukrainians as being muddle headed? They have prosecuted an extraordinarily well run military conflict against a previously thought to be unbeatable foe that has surprised the world and not put a foot wrong, but they aren't smart enough to be able to tell which countries have been helpful and which haven't? Zelenskyy has been universally praised, he's got the Germans sussed to a 't'.
Your appraisal is complete nonsense.
Apparently, the head of the Central Bank is one of the very rare good guys in the regime and is no fan of Putin's, which is how she is able to give an honest assessment of what is actually happening.
If an Irish citizen in Russia needs consular assistance then they will still get it, all they have to do is ring the DFA on Stephens Green and ask to speak to the Russia desk. Theres no difference between doing that and walking into the Irish embassy in Moscow because ultimately they will still get assistance in so far as any embassy working abroad can do it. If they need an emergency passport the British embassy will supply it, an arrangement that has been in place for decades and works perfectly well.
As for your question I would ask does Ireland as a nation state really want diplomatic relations with another nation state whose leader has no scruples in his army murdering civilians, raping women and sexually abusing children? Im not alright with that and nor should the Irish State be. Its a waste of time keeping an Irish ambassador in Moscow with his phone bugged and all the rest, its not like he is going to convince Putin to end the war.
The poor oul' Oligarchs won't be too happy and the Putster's latest decree removing Russian companies from foreign exchanges.
It's about giving them as much as possible while, plausibly, saying that they're not taking part. This has been getting ramped up for weeks and could eventually become a proxy war but actually involving Russia. NATO gets the equipment used in combat to reduce the Russian war machine, better than any exercises. While it's hard to see what the west can do to stop russia rolling into a non-NATO country, It's equally difficult to see what limit russia can put on the weapons being supplied against them, most country's are ignoring their threats now, not so a few weeks ago.
It has gone nowhere near to plan for putin.
More insight from how the sanctions and controls are hurting Russia
Inventories will run out very soon and inflation will soar. (2/11)
Andrei Belousov, deputy prime minister [this one wasn't reported in the West, but it's crucial]: economic stimulus to fight the crisis without risking further inflation is limited to 7-8 trln rubles and the government has already reached this limit. (4/11)
Thus there's not much room to further stimulate the economy financially. (5/11)
Overall: economic sanctions are very effective at disrupting the Russian economy. Whether they can weaken the war machine is another matter. There are two factors: 1) overall military budget, 2) dependence on imports in the military-industrial complex. (6/11)
The fact Ireland doesn't have many embassies or consulates is purely a function of Ireland's size and demographics. We are an overwhelmingly (or certainly until recently have been) western European nation with a population of some 5 million. Our diaspora is largely confined to the Americas, Britain, and Australia. So the fact that Ireland has an embassy at all in Russia should tell you that there is a demand for it.
As for your assertion that it's "not the Irish state's problem" you're partially right; but the point is that Irish citizens may not be able to just up and leave Russia at a moment's notice. They may require time and support to unwind their Russian assets and try to return back to Ireland without being a further drain on Ireland's public services. Public services which are already stretched amid a housing crisis and war in Europe by the way.
You're also ignoring services for Russians who might want to escape Russia and work in Ireland.
Let me try a different approach: what exactly does shutting down the Irish embassy in Russia and the Russian embassy in Ireland achieve?
Excellent overview of the situation from the yanks (who have been pretty spot on so far)
That has got to be justification to blow the Nordstream gas pipeline
The Americans sent 18 howitzers and something like 40,000 round of 155 mm shells , still only a relatively small number of guns they could definitely do with larger numbers
Imagine just as it's been recommended to rebrand the air corp to the Air Force our few armed planes end up elsewhere
They don't have the power or thrust vectoring of the Russian suhkois mig 31 but light , fast and very advanced avionics and data links makes the saab griphen very capable aircraft
I remember seeing this a few years ago, don't now how they would match up against Russian Migs though
Takeoff and land from any wide enough street or avenue
Rheinmetall have struggled to produce stuff ever since they lost all that cheap labour they had back in the 40s.
I would not be opposed at all to NATO forces entering Ukraine in order to push Russian forces out of Ukraine. Not in principle at least. Making it clear that this was a defensive campaign that only went up to the Ukrainian border would be the best bet to prevent it ballooning into something far bigger, but this is in no way a given when taking into consideration how Putin is acting. I wouldn't expect him to go, "Ah yeah, fair enough..." on that.
But the big problem would be that NATO cannot and should not fight in Ukraine where Russia can fire rockets at them from inside Russia, or artillery when NATO got closer to the border, and NATO can't respond. That stuff would need to be neutralised by someone and that would mean attacking Russia directly.
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