Russia - threadbanned users in OP

It's not a case of the West organising peace talks when Russia is weakened to an acceptable degree, but that Russia's only going to compromise at this point. There have already been peace talks arranged and held, but Russia wouldn't budge on their demands, thus they broke down.

There are a number of places NATO forces could go into tomorrow and drastically change the situation - North Korea, Iran, Taiwan (defensively), to name a few, but the potential ramifications of doing so make it a risk they're unwilling to take. Ukraine's just another on that list (direct confrontation with Russia), so it won't likely happen.

Delighted UK has signed a security pact with Finland and Sweden. Clever tactic to call his bluff. He's mouthed threats against it. Now it's his move. Fcuk him.

A thread of hope at Kyiv train station.

Not one bit surprised. The same happened in Crimea.

When you consider the actions of the military. Well they didn't lick it off a stone.

Lovely scene.

Maybe someone with (military) expertise could answer this. The UA trains are normally blue and yellow in colour, and later in the video there is one that is. Any reason why this train would be stripped of colour?

Nothing to do with military matters. That looks like a Hyundai-Rotem HR-CRS2 trainset. Ten of these were ordered to provide modern rail services during Euro 2012. These trains are painted in a two-tone grey paint scheme.

..

As stated above, I reckon it's not the Russian people who are being referred to as Orcs. Rather the term is specifically being used to describe the Russian army in Ukraine. This from an article in Le Monde on the use of Lord of the Rings terminology following the invasion of Ukraine.

"In early March, in the city of Melitopol occupied by Russian troops, demonstrators protested against the "looting Orcs." A little later that same month, the Ukrainian defense minister vowed in an official speech that his troops "would stand firm against Mordor's assaults." On April 8, Dmytro Jyvytsky, the governor of the Sumy province, announced from the Russian border that the area was now "free of Orcs". He was followed the next day by the mayor of Makariv, near Kyiv, stating on television that the bodies of 132 civilians had been found and that they had been "killed by the Russian Orcs."

"Whether in the speeches of Ukrainian officials, in the country's press or on social networks, the comparison is everywhere: Ukraine, a peaceful country comparable to the Shire in the Lord of the Rings, is defending itself against a purely evil force, the Russian army, compared to the troops of Mordor, which are led from Moscow by a Vladimir Putin likened to Sauron."

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/pixels/article/2022/04/23/ukrainian-and-russian-tolkien-fans-battle-over-the-legacy-of-the-lord-of-the-rings_5981383_13.html

If the Ukrainians are calling the invading Russians "Orcs", and considering what they and the world now knows about what the invading Russians are doing in Ukraine, then that's good enough for me

Interesting thread. It tells us that the Russians have gone in there as a hostile occupying army and an oppressor, definitely not as a 'liberator' - probably akin to Nazi occupation of various countries in Europe in 1940 and later.

Why do you think that Finland joining NATO will broaden the potential for conflict?

We have never seen any direct conflict between any NATO countries and Russia yet. Do you think this will change if and when Finland joins NATO?