NATO needs to stop the bleeding. It's silly to think Ukraine is where it will stop. Stop pussyfooting with the sanctions and fully block trade with Russia. Might need to consider sanctions with China as well... https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-24/china-ref...
If they reacted too forcefully, that could mean retaliation by Putin and escalation of the conflict into WW3. Do we really want that? As a Belgian citizen, I'd rather not wake up to artillery fire in Brussels...
NATO needs to stop the bleeding. It's silly to think Ukraine is where it will stop. Stop pussyfooting with the sanctions and fully block trade with Russia. Might need to consider sanctions with China as well... https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-24/china-ref...
That's just what Russia wants - they are waiting to use all the goodies they found from the SolarWinds attacks. China and Russia are taking America down, IMHO.
NATO needs to stop the bleeding. It's silly to think Ukraine is where it will stop. Stop pussyfooting with the sanctions and fully block trade with Russia. Might need to consider sanctions with China as well... https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-24/china-ref...
If they reacted too forcefully, that could mean retaliation by Putin and escalation of the conflict into WW3. Do we really want that? As a Belgian citizen, I'd rather not wake up to artillery fire in Brussels...
Did we learn nothing from World War 2? Appeasement doesn't work on someone like this. Only force. The only thing keeping dictators like this in check was the threat of nukes and mutually assured destruction. Apparently that has stopped working. So now what? It's not going to stop with Ukraine.
> “Ukraine, a new and important space on the Eurasian chessboard, is a geopolitical pivot because its very existence as an independent country helps to transform Russia. Without Ukraine, Russia ceases to be a Eurasian empire.” He claims that without any proof. This maybe would have been true in the 19th century given the technologies for war and power at that time. But we have the 21st century now. Why should the Ukr…
sadly, Putin lives in 19th century and wants everyone join him there
Russia is close to a modern day feudal state if you think about it. The only difference is that Putin splits the country's mineral resources with the oligarchy instead of the land. This is coming from an acclaimed Russian novelist, Vladimir Sorokin. This Spiegel interview with Sorokin dates from before the 2008 Russo-Georgian war:
NATO needs to stop the bleeding. It's silly to think Ukraine is where it will stop. Stop pussyfooting with the sanctions and fully block trade with Russia. Might need to consider sanctions with China as well... https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-24/china-ref...
If they reacted too forcefully, that could mean retaliation by Putin and escalation of the conflict into WW3. Do we really want that? As a Belgian citizen, I'd rather not wake up to artillery fire in Brussels...
Biden made it clear, if russians open fire on US troops (NATO), we have WW3.
NATO needs to stop the bleeding. It's silly to think Ukraine is where it will stop. Stop pussyfooting with the sanctions and fully block trade with Russia. Might need to consider sanctions with China as well... https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-24/china-ref...
Everything seems obvious when we are seated on our sofa within the comfort of our homes.
> “Ukraine, a new and important space on the Eurasian chessboard, is a geopolitical pivot because its very existence as an independent country helps to transform Russia. Without Ukraine, Russia ceases to be a Eurasian empire.” He claims that without any proof. This maybe would have been true in the 19th century given the technologies for war and power at that time. But we have the 21st century now. Why should the Ukr…
This is all assuming you share an underlying rational with the leader of Russia, which you don't. Putin obviously doesn't care about having a good economy or making life better for the average Russian. He cares about making himself look strong and maintaining power, and showing strength. In the long run Russia is going to hurt over this, but that's not what Putin cares about.
+1 to this comment -- as you state it's not possible to apply western success metrics to Russian politics or Putin. Of that Italian-sized economy, the spoils go to Putin's oligarchs and the average Russian is apathetic about political influence and fed government-owned TV news. Historically, they haven't been able to influence things and their needs matter little. It isn't a western democracy or economy -- it's more like an authoritarian regime where it's the needs of the political leadership that matter. They should have seized Putin's super-yacht before it fled Germany last week.
He is hinting that he can nuke everyone who will stand against. This is a typical tactic of bullies – to hint death threats, without directly stating them. Also they want to assure you that they can definitely do it, even though they know about the consequences. I wrote about such tactics in a blog post https://dandanua.github.io/posts/counterfactual-communicatio...
Nukes are probably not Russia's strongest offensive resource, and certainly will not be the first resource to be drawn upon.
Strongest practical resource you mean? What else would be a stronger offense than a barrage of nukes crippling a country for hundreds of years to come and effecting the entire global environment with radiation, fallout, complete civil destabilization, etc.
NATO needs to stop the bleeding. It's silly to think Ukraine is where it will stop. Stop pussyfooting with the sanctions and fully block trade with Russia. Might need to consider sanctions with China as well... https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-24/china-ref...
If they reacted too forcefully, that could mean retaliation by Putin and escalation of the conflict into WW3. Do we really want that? As a Belgian citizen, I'd rather not wake up to artillery fire in Brussels...
History has shown that trying to let people like Putin take chunks of land as they please doesn't end well. They don't one day decide, "Yep, that's enough! Sorry for the trouble, lads!"
They see how easy it is and do it again and again until one day they're bombing your home because you're in their territory.