Russia - threadbanned users in OP

How about allowing Russia to keep Crimea, Russia give up Donbas & as compensation Ukraine join NATO?

NATO membership could be a serious bargaining chip.

The path to end corruption in Ukraine began in 2013, with the Maidan protests and removal of the Russian stooge, Yanukovych. That broke the link with Russia and its lifelong endemic corruption. Given time, and EU membership, Ukraine will become less and less corrupt, but on the other hand Russia will only sink lower and lower into the cesspit of corruption it has manufactured all by itself under Putin. A successful independent Ukraine is what Putin feared more than anything else, and that's what caused him to invade Ukraine.

Full NATO memembership for Ukraine is only likely if there is a dictation of terms to Russia rather than a true peace deal, as it would represent total capitulation and humiliation for Putin.

But

A genuine peace deal would have to involve a western-backed guarantee of Ukraine's future security that would give Ukraine most of the benefits of actual NATO membership.

I wonder if the Russian ban for Irish politicians is foreseeing the next election. All FG & FF with a snipper of Labour. They probably see a chance to reset relations with Ireland with a Sinn Fein government.

I personally don't think Sinn Fein will deviate much from EU policy. But it could be something we will be talking about a lot over the next 2.5 years, with accusations of Russian interference in the next general election.

Maybe this is for the Irish political thread but it is Russia related.

No, it's not, and that's an absurdly beyond tenuous attempt to deflect the thread.

Exactly - the security guarantees in the Budapest agreement didn't amount to much did they?

It either has to be NATO membership or a bilateral treaty with US ratified by Congress.

Anything else means there is no guarantee peace will mean the end to bloodshed, it will just be a truce while Russia regroups.

What Russian territory exactly?

The first train since the start of the dictator Putin's fallacy of genocide in Ukraine arrives into Kherson from Kyiv.

Note the empty flat bed carriage on the front, just in case.

There's nothing sensitive in the clip above bar the people's faces at the train station.

Ukraine tells allies it may not be able to recover from more Russian attacks on energy systems

The Russians have damaged or destroyed the substations, it's not like you can go down to the store and pickup a new 330KV transformer and the Russians are playing whack a mole, so when fixed, they can get destroyed again. Why are they doing it?

Nov. 18: Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine

The lack of energy is degrading Ukraine's railway network that brings weapons from the western side of the country to the eastern front. It makes redeployment of units from one front section to another very difficult and time consuming. It will give the Russian forces the advantage when they change the locus of their attacks from one corner of the front line to another.

Another knock-on effect of the strikes on the electricity systems and the blackouts in the big cities that follow them is a renewed stream of refugees that will want reach western Europe. It will over time change the public opinion and the political priorities of EU countries. If they fail to end the war they will have to carry the burden and we know from other discussion threads on housing that is a problem here in Ireland.

There may be a public perception that Ukraine is winning (e.g. Kherson) is seen by elements if the US administration as a good moment for pushing for negotiations in the knowledge that, Ukraine is not winning. The recent reaction to President Zelensky when the missile fell on Poland and killed civilians belies panic in the Ukrainian administration, they are desperate to pull NATO armies into direct combat with Russia. President Zelensky may ultimately find himself in the same position as South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem, if he overplays his hand with the US.

U.S. General Sees Little Chance Ukrainian Military Can Turn Recent Successes Into Broader Victory

While it seems obvious that President Putins' power as been weakened, it is not known who will replace him. History shows us the Russians will keep going until they cannot, before turning in on themselves and from a Russian perspective that is to be avoided, hence much of the population may believe it is better to have external aggression than internal strife.

..

So you are saying that civil war will not break out in Russia. What do you think happened in Russia during the Yeltsin Gorbochov period with high food prices , a severe shortage of even basic food items , a requirement for a fairer ‘political ‘ system. You don’t think that the Russians Could rise up again - given a reason? . The number of body bags returning, the number of injured,the deepening effects of the sanctions might give rise to protests and we have loads of examples of where that might end

This is the biggest threat.

Russia can bring Ukraine to its knees if it keeps targeting its energy infrastructure.

You can’t sustain a war without energy infrastructure.

Don't be lazy. Go and look into this yourself, form an opinion and post here about it, then deal with the discussion. What you 'can't imagine' is irrelevant.

Sunak extending the support from Boris.

Ukraine not giving up Crimea.

Time to go all in and give them the proper weapons and defence systems.

It's going to happen sooner or later anyway.

Here's an article explaining how the investment in Ukraine from the US is such good value for money for them and keeping Ukraine fighting to destroy russian military resources is money well spent.

Full reconstruction of Ukraine will cost a lot and I don't see any reason all russian assets internationally that have been frozen should not be given directly to Ukraine to help compensate them for the destruction caused by the invasion of their territory from russia. I've seen a multi billion dollar figure put on these but would expect russia should also make additional payments of compensation on top of these if it ever wants to return to trade with the rest of the world.

Russia is digging in defensive position in Ukraine as it no longer has the capacity for offensive operations and a call for any pause to the war to help them conscript more troops for their invasion and genocide operation in Ukraine is correctly recognised as a ploy to regroup by Ukraine. This article references Zelenskyy explaining this and they know to delay the destruction of the russian military machine will just prolong the terror that the russians have demonstrated is their normal means of operation. They may be justifiably calling out the damage russia is doing to their electrical grid as the war crime it is with the specific targeting of civilians but I don't think this will convince them that their efforts to free their country should stop with the evidence in so many areas that have been liberated showing the cost of allowing russia to continue to occupy their country.