301–310 of 347 posts
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Russia is entirely incapable of projecting force that far, Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova and the Baltics are about their level.
> Russia is entirely incapable of projecting force that far, Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova and the Baltics are about their level. Though they have been palling around with Assad in Syria.
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> Until Ukraine there hasn’t been a war in Europe for 75 years. You forgot the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s.
Don't forget the Cod Wars between Iceland and UK!
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Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan lost a war and they were punished by the victors. Makes sense and is a well established pattern. Russia is in a war with Ukraine and it’s getting punished by… the US. Well, technically US allies are also involved but with different degrees of enthusiasm. This one seems much more arbitrary. The idea that the US is getting involved because of the war crimes doesn’t hold water either, bec…
No, Russia is also being punished by the victors, in this case by Ukraine. US is secondary here: they are providing help to Ukraine, like other western (and even not so western) countries. Anything that hurts Russia is fair game, because that's how war works. It's not just in the interests of US, it's in everyone's interests, in particular for countries bordering with Russia.
The US is contrary to what you’ve said essential to this conflict. Without the US, Ukraine would already have a new pro-Russia president and the EU would have folded like a wet towel.
Finally, “everyone” is not really everyone: it’s the US and allies. Countries that are bordering Russia like China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan or Belarus don’t necessarily share those interests or have opposite interests.
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Plentiful 2000s have nothing to do with Putin. These were plentiful regardless of Putin not because of him. It is normal for every society to take a time to adapt with completely new situation. The fact that it was the beginning of 2000s where things started to become much better after the mess of 1990s is true for almost every ex-USSR and Eastern Europe country. But Putin has always been the man he is now – the war…
>It is normal for every society to take a time to adapt with completely new situation. This is a very generic and abstract statement. If you think that the growth could happen without economic reforms that took place in early 2000s, please explain how exactly could that happen in the aftermath of second Chechen War and economic crisis of 1998.
What you saw in early 2000s in Russia was mostly caused by reforms in 1990s, but times were already turning to worse.
> In early April, Nivos Energia announced it is buying a bioheat center from local firm HansHeat, which uses wood pellets or grain as fuel. [Emphasis mine] Grain seems like a rather inefficient way to generate power. Do they mean the waste straw left behind after harvest!
Dried grains are actually very energy dense, even though they are rarely used directly as fuel. Their high protein content is problematic for burning, though.
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1. Yeh, your presentation is pretty friendly. Putin probably do not know what the k VK is, cause the all news he received through literally files :) But if you think that there is 'ex' in their circle of relationships - you are completely wrong. The fact that he was arrested actually proves it. 2. Look into Bell research against widberries, its quite public. 3. Yep, fair point.
>But if you think that there is 'ex' in their circle of relationships - you are completely wrong. The fact that he was arrested actually proves it. Sorry, I do not understand this. I did not mean literally Putin himself, but VK was not in any relationship with anyone from his inner circle (e.g. Timchenko, Rotenberg) or other oligarchs (e.g. Matvienko clan). Founders were forced to sell the company under pressure exac…
//It is a typical success story of an online retail business. It actually does not show anything that could be even slightly resemble affiliation with Putin and his inner circle. I know other relatively big companies which had similar growth trajectory and are still controlled by their founders.//
In Russia? really? show me them. For now, I think you are really trying to look fav into Russian biz-scene, but that's not the case for the last 9 years. You either work with gov or you f-ked. That the rule here. Last example is Tinkoff, who at the beginning of his bank licked Putin ass as hard as he could, but now was forced to sell )
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No, Russia is also being punished by the victors, in this case by Ukraine. US is secondary here: they are providing help to Ukraine, like other western (and even not so western) countries. Anything that hurts Russia is fair game, because that's how war works. It's not just in the interests of US, it's in everyone's interests, in particular for countries bordering with Russia.
First of all, the destruction of property, the deaths and the displacement of millions of people that Ukraine’s suffering is certainly not winning. They’re also not punishing Russia, as they lack the capability of doing so. They’re fighting for survival. The US is contrary to what you’ve said essential to this conflict. Without the US, Ukraine would already have a new pro-Russia president and the EU would have folded…
Yes, it is true that without US Ukraine maybe wouldn’t be able to defend. We know what would happen: mass genocide. Russians already demonstrated that in Bucha, Mariupol and others.
As for “everyone”: no, I mean literally everyone. Kazakhstan is leaving Russian “economic union”. China declines to buy from Russia, because that market is worthless and the risk doesn’t justify the price drop for Russian resources.
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Anything that hurts Russia is fair at this point. This isn't one of those weird conflicts: this time there's clearly the bad side and the good side; Russia is guilty invading and perpetrating genocide for ideological reasons, and the West is helping the victim defend itself. (And also solve the root of the problem in the long run, by making sure Russia won't be able to invade anyone else in forseeable future.) Of cou…
> This isn't one of those weird conflicts: this time there's clearly the bad side and the good side But people always say that. Every single time.
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It makes sense to punish Russia in the same vein we punished the citizens of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Putin was legitimately elected even if there were discrepancies, he's still extremely popular. The war has elevated his approval within Russia. The rest of this post operates under the premise that Ukrainians wanting to be a part of the EU/NATO was manipulated by the West. Even if that were the case, the inva…
Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan lost a war and they were punished by the victors. Makes sense and is a well established pattern. Russia is in a war with Ukraine and it’s getting punished by… the US. Well, technically US allies are also involved but with different degrees of enthusiasm. This one seems much more arbitrary. The idea that the US is getting involved because of the war crimes doesn’t hold water either, bec…
Europe was out in front of everyone issuing sanctions before the US was able to come up with anything. All of Europe was singing the same tune of it's own accord. Watch Prime Minister's Questions (UK) and you'll see all the houses are united in a way I've never seen before. They're all trying to one up each another in proposing sanctions against Russia and the oligarchs. Trying to pawn this off as something the U.S. has somehow architected the almost unprecedented unity you're seeing across Europe beggars belief. It was Putin (not the U.S.) who talked the Fins and Swedes into applying to NATO. Putin is also the reason why Europe is arrayed against him in so many areas. Sadly, the Russian people are suffering for Putin's colossal blunder.