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Provocation.
Will we see Putin blame Finland and Sweden for provoking Russia into some sort of action against them?
That would be akin to the burglar condemning someone for installing a an alarm after their neighbour was burgled.
Russian media will start quoting Waterford Whispers and The Onion soon
I keep pressing the thing and it don't work. Press Return after the link as I understand it?
Edit: You have to press Return before the link it seems. lol
In a single post, you move from claiming the war wasn't provoked, to acknowledging the 'shoring up' of Ukraine, i.e. the attempt to bring it into the Western sphere of influence.
Of course it was provoked - even someone like Robert Kagan admits so.
To acknowledge that doesn't mean calling the war just, nor is it an attempt to exculpate Russia.
But denying it is just denying reality.
I think the looming food shortage because of the Black Sea Blockade has got a lot of leaders thinking Putin need to be hit harder.
Ukraine have added up to 20 SU-25 fighter jets and helicopters to their arsenal from spare parts!
Some countries including Bulgaria and Georgia wanted to send jets but were afraid of upsetting putin so they disassembled the jets and sent "spare parts" to Ukraine which were then put back together.Crazy,but they got more jets.https://mezha.media/en/2022/05/26/it-seems-that-ukraine-received-su-25-aircraft-in-a-very-unusual-way/
Ukraine are defending well so not much change to the map despite very heavy fighting.Russian forces are on the outskirts of Sererodonetsk but the supply road in from the south is still open.There is also another smaller road out of Severodonetsk in case a retreat is chosen.
Russian forces still stuck on the north side of the river.That River is like an Iron curtain!
Lyman,NorthEast of Sloviansk may have been lost so Ukraine may retreat across the river and blow the bridge.
@BorneTobyWilde In your scenario, are the Irish in the "strong" or "weak" gang?
Easy on there Thanos
Half of ‘them’?
Too many people on the planet, ultimately something drastic will be done to address it, as in eliminating 1/2 of them, that is the scary truth. This is what the powerful nations will do eventually, they'll eliminate the weak, so that the strong survive. We have hunger issues now, what happens in 20 year when the 8b people become 13b people?
It would be far cheaper and more beneficial to support them properly and end this war rather than the piecemeal approach (or in the case of the Germans and French the financial bankrolling of Russia).
If countries really want to have a proper crash then keep the status quo going.
I agree they're dangerous alright. But i dont buy into the deliberate policy of provoking a war. What is the strategic benefit to the US/NATO of getting into a proxy war with Russia in Ukraine? Weakening Russia? What's the benefit of that? They've got nukes so they're more dangerous when weak. More to the point perhaps, why would Russia rise to the provocation? It may sound facile but the idea that Putin is in this to prevent contagion of a functional democracy that would see him overthrown stands up without the need for speculation about dark forces and unknowns, and it explains the NATO/US support of ukraine as good intelligence and preparation. Shoring up ukraine post 2014 is a no brainer in that paradigm.
For the love of God and all that is holy please learn where the return key is so we don't have to keep loading a new page to see the twitter post, but I suspect you don't actually read the thread
Should this pass it's a large advantage.
...
Check out this response from a retired 4 star US general. He's quite right, this stuff is absolutely unhinged in the modern era. It's as if they are broadcasting from a lunatic asylum. Imagine openly threatening neighbouring countries with nuclear weapons on a current affairs show....grossly irresponsible.
The Pentagon: China continues military cooperation with Russia despite the brutal war in Ukraine
Looks like Scholz,Germany and Poland is the next victims of Russias nuclear threat propaganda circus
They keep forgetting UK,France have nuclear subs and Germany and other NATO members have nuclear bombs as well.
Hilllarious,sounds like Russia is on their knees soon
putin has F’d with a lot of peoples money….
The thing is, the warlocks in the Kremlin are DANGEROUS people and you don't mess with them unless you want trouble. The question is, did they want trouble? I don't know, this is deep state stuff but none of it can, in the slightest way, excuse the evils of the Kremlin or the evils of this war.
You'll be telling women what to wear next.
Interesting commentary but what I cannot make out from it is a coherent moral basis for the underlying proposition. When you strip away the "strategy" and "sphere of influence" and "humiliation" and "provocation" you're left with "Don't poke the Bear". That's not to say that the outcome was mot foreseeable. But it was foreseeable because Russia was a likely candidate to mount an illegal invasion of a country that evinced no intention of causing any actual harm to it. Look, without going outside Russia's own borders, it is a bad actor. There is no civil discourse. It's a kleptocracy. The government kills its opponents. The World must tolerate that up to a very high threshold because of the need for international respect for sovereignty (the moral argument) and in russias case because it has nuclear weapons (the practical argument).
But Ukraine was given its independence in 1991. Has Putin ever articulated a coherent argument based on any moral principle (regardless of whether one agrees with it) for interfering with the governance of that country and then invading it? Did he ever say: "Please listen to me, if Ukraine join NATO, my country will be rendered unsafe because [insert reason]."? No he didn't. Did he say "We will pull out of Crimea and Donetsk and Luhansk if Ukraine agree not to join NATO "? No he didn't. Its all this "Ukrainians (that we blow to bits) are really Russians" and Ukrainians (that are jews) are Nazis".
So yes, these experts may be realists about the animal we are dealing with in Russia, but ultimately the strength of the argument lies in the proposition that the weak suffer because they must.
He does indeed,but even reatreating and losing land means fighting another day,just like around Kiyv.
Once Ukraine gets their reserves mobilised and specialists trained on NATO equipment,maybe there is a hope.
Russians was lucky to get their reserves in before Ukraine and are closer to supplylines,but that could change,because Russians are allready suffering from losses of both manpower and equipment.
This thread gives substance to the theory that wars are deliberately provoked Arnaud Bertrand on Twitter: "Most fascinating thing about the Ukraine war is the sheer number of top strategic thinkers who warned for years that it was coming if we continued down the same path. No-one listened to them and here we are. Small compilation 🧵 of these warnings, from Kissinger to Mearsheimer." / Twitter
I bet they'll break through the encirclement and lambaste the Russians. They saw this coming and are ready for it. Temporary encirclement is not a defeat.
He has a tough call to make around the potential encirclement of Severodonetsk
Doesnt sound like Zelensky is giving up yet ,or planning on giving anything to Russia
Ukrainian Kamikaze
Why would Russia have any interest in peace talks?
Could they come up with even one good reason to be serious about peace talks.
There isn't one. It would be of no utility to their aims.
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