Russia - threadbanned users in OP

I don't know about this. Based on what we're seen so far, I get the feeling that we're going to be going back to a mostly attritional phase for awhile yet. I think the set back Ukraine had during the Robotyne assault has shaken them and they will be more reluctant to use the newly formed brigades in a risky attack. We've already seen a change of tactics from the Ukrainians in the last week, they are for the first time starting to use GLMRS against frontline targets. This is acknowledgement that the mainline of the Russian defences are currently too strong to assault.

You sat up all hours waiting for the lastest footage of people being killed! You seriously need to have a chat with someone about that kind of weirdness!

While other kids were learning for their spelling tests the next day....

That remarks speaks to them being invested in what they expect to be a long conflict. There is nothing there to indicate your spin on it - "than helping them to deliver a devastating blow".

Reports already of big increase in forces into Kupyansk, would be surprised if they didnt mount some form of attack in that direction this summer.

It's a very antiquated view (that Kermit displays) i.e. that the EU is primarily about economics. That might have been true 40 years ago but certainly isn't now.

Member states have already helped to integrate Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Croatia, Bulgaria, Latvia, Slovenia, Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia. Not to mention East Germany.

Poland is forecasted to have a higher GDP per capita in 2030 than the UK. EU expansion is a win-win.

Integrating Ukraine is not the challenge people think. There is a well-established and very successful playbook for this. Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Albania are also in the process - and (apart from maybe Serbia, who need to clean their act in quite a few ways) will also gain accession.

Start the clock, we'll see if their training is done in 4 months, 6 months or 18 months.

One of the ideas that i saw mentioned by some Ukranian official was:

Part of the training packages is split between engaging aerial targets/ engaging marine targets / engaging ground targets. Under normal cicumstances, coupled with the basic training on the aircraft you would teach each pilot all of these skills. However in this case to expedite the timeline you could simply teach all of them the basic and then teach Pilot group A : Air, Pilot group B: Sea and Pilot group C: Land. Effectively giving you the capabilities but spread across your pilot base while significantly cutting the training time for each.

So I personally would definitely be leaning towards the shorter timespans.

A century ago a quarter of the worlds population was in Europe and its nations would war against eashother for resources. Now Europe is less than ten precent of the world population and falling. The EU is a club of former rivals pooling resources to compete in the world of rising trade blocs. It's amazing how little coverage the RCEP gets on this side of the world yet it's most likely going to be the driving engine of the world economy in the future.

The UK and Russia still have control or be controlled imperial mindsets which is why neither was ever going to be cooperative EU members.

You really think America couldn't give Ukraine better and more devastating weapons if they wanted to, that would crush the Russians?

Of course they could - the Ukrainians keep asking for them. Why they choose not to is another matter.

Congress, the dominant Party in most of post Independent India saw it self as Socialistic, and for many in it pure Socialist all the way to Communist.

India tried to straddle all horses in the cold war and kept a strong trade and political relationship with Russia going.

There is a strong undercurrent of solidarity with Russia still there, very strong given the surge in imports to India.

They are not unique in that, most of the world outside of Europe, North America and a few more are non plussed to rooting for Russia.

How long did the British people, from Joe Public to military brass and senior politicians, think World War II would last?

And was it World War I or II (or both!) when everyone was saying it'd 'be all over by Christmas'?

War only lasts 2 hours in movies, or you can stretch it out, Band of Brothers style, to 10 hours.

And did all that happen in the press conference???

Nope. I challenged you specifically with reference to the "long hail" comment - your response doesn't even reference the statement from the press conference.

That you have to resort to this shows there was nothing in the press conference to justify your remark.

They don't necessarily have to reach the coast. Anything from 20km from the coast should be good enough, as then all their road and rail supplies East-West come under artillery fire.

If they can, and it's a big if, knock the Kerch Bridge out of action for a long period of time, it might be game over for anything West of the Ukrainians.