QuoteReplyTopic: WAR Ukraine Posted: March 05 2022 at 12:35am
Everything you need to know about war crimes and how Putin could be prosecuted
(CNN)There is a loud and growing chorus of calls for the International Criminal Court to pursue Vladimir Putin. On Wednesday, the court said it would immediately proceed with an active investigation of possible war crimes following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The US Embassy in Kyiv said on Friday that Russia committed a war crime by attacking a nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
"It is a war crime to attack a nuclear power plant," the embassy said on its official Twitter feed. "Putin's shelling of Europe's largest nuclear plant takes his reign of terror one step further."
Russia's suspected use of cluster bombs and so-called vacuum bombs in dense areas with many civilians has also been described as a war crime.
"I want to be very clear about this, that Mr. Putin is a war criminal," former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told the Council on Foreign Relations on Thursday. "He has to sit behind the bars in International Criminal Court."
It’s simply not true that China and Russia are friends. China and Russia don’t want friends. They want power, and territory. In 2014, Vladimir Putin saw his stock rise in Russia when he took Crimea fairly easily and decided he would give himself a boost by reclaiming the rest of Ukraine for Russia this year. What could go wrong? Turns out, everything.
His military is getting more decimated by the day, and even if he eventually does manage to topple Kyiv, how the hell is he going to hold onto it? The insurgency hasn’t even started, and Putin simply doesn’t have the resources or funding. With a collapsing economy, Russia is fast becoming a third-world nation that is angering his people and, more importantly, the elites he needs to stay in power.
China is just as shocked as everyone else in the world to see the mighty Russian military turn out to be an over-bloated, underfunded, poorly trained pool of corruption and incompetence. China would love to put Taiwan under its thumb, as it is currently trying to do in Hong Kong, but seeing the West completely unified and strengthened from this conflict has probably put any imminent plans on hold.
China Cannot Condone Russia’s Aggression in Ukraine
China’s attitude toward the Ukraine war stems from functional calculations, diplomatic and military bonds with Kyiv, strategic considerations, and normative reflection.
On the phone call between China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmyro Kuleba on March 1, Wang expressed his profound regrets on the current conflict and paid particular attention to the civilian casualties. He also stated that China would be willing to facilitate negotiations between both sides for a ceasefire. At the United Nations General Assembly Emergency Special Session one day before, Chinese Ambassador to the U.N. Zhang Jun suggested that the rapidly unfolding situation in Ukraine was something China “does not wish to see and which is not in the interest of any party.”
The two statements could be seen as early signs of China taking a less ambiguous position on the ongoing crisis, which came as a shock for Beijing, according to some observers. Yet, both events follow China’s abstention from the U.N. Security Council Resolution 2623 condemning Russia’s military actions.
Is China slowly shifting attitudes toward the crisis? Will its position become less and less enigmatic as the war develops? Although this remains to be seen, there are several reasons for China to hold back from embracing the Kremlin’s aggression within a sovereign Ukraine, including functional calculations, diplomatic and military bond with Kyiv, strategic considerations, and normative reflection
DJ; A few reasons why that ship is "in the region" (Mediterranean Sea);
-French pride, presidential elections
-Show of strenght...will be part of a larger group, could be interesting to see what kind of group...If this French ship is part of a group of south European ships-not mixing with US/UK vessels it may allready indicate a split in "western unity"...
"On February 23 at 21:00 Zelensky was given an ultimatum from the Kremlin, in which the President of Ukraine was given 5 hours to decide on the recognition of Crimea and the LDNR within its borders. We [Ukraine] reported this to the State Department and the British Embassy, to which we received a response to ignore the ultimatum."
About two hours after the ultimatum expired, Russia invaded Ukraine.
So ALL the death, destruction, and pain being caused by the ongoing hostilities is directly laid at the feet of the US State Department in Washington, DC, and the British Embassy in Kiev, who told Ukraine to "ignore" the ultimatum!
DJ The picture I have US/UK pushed Ukraine under the (Russian) bus).
DJ-Ukraine had no chance in this war. Why NATO has to keep expanding east ? Why is this question such a toboo...most politicians/media run away from...
This war would not even have started if Ukraine would not be close to NATO membership....
And yes-Russia started this war...as expected...I think Russia had other options...certainly in combination with China. Apart from energy Russia/China could put missiles on Cuba...A repeat of the 1962 Cuba crisis [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis ...in reaction to US missiles in Turkey, the Soviet Union did start putting missiles in Cuba...Kennedy did stop the crisis by getting the missiles out of Turkey...
One can speculate on why Russia did not go that road....
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
The U.S. Army’s V Corps will deploy the bulk of its headquarters to Europe to enhance command and control of ground forces as troops continue to deploy to the Continent in the wake of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Putin lashes out at cabinet over Russian airline collapse
Russian president Vladimir Putin gave his transport minister a public reprimand on Wednesday after airline VIM Avia said it needed state support to continue operating and carry thousands of passengers stranded abroad. Highlight text Mr Putin told Maxim Sokolov, the minister, and deputy prime minister Arkady Dvorkovich that he held them responsible for the airline’s collapse, which has seen investigators launch fraud charges against its owner. The airline, Russia’s tenth largest, asked for Rbs840m in state support on Tuesday in order to operate flights to repatriate 39,000 stranded passengers. Mr Sokolov said he saw no use in propping up the airline because it had essentially ceased all operations after failing to pay Moscow’s Domodedovo airport, its home base, for fuel. VIM Avia has between Rbs3bn and Rbs10bn in debt, affecting as many as 200,000 passengers who had bought tickets for upcoming flights, according to Russia’s tourism industry association. The head of Russia’s state tourism agency said on Wednesday that he believed VIM Avia’s owner, Rashid Mursekaev, had fled the country after he missed an emergency meeting and turned off his phone.
The Russian business aviation industry is on the verge of collapse due to the EU and U.S. closing their airspace to all aircraft owned by Russians in retaliation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to industry analysts, this will lead to the decline of business aviation traffic in Russia by almost 85 percent and force business jets owned or controlled by Russian interests to switch to Asian and domestic routes. The move also threatens a wave of bankruptcies of Russian business aircraft charter operators and FBOs.
Amid the ever-growing threat of detentions of Russian-owned business jets by Western authorities, these owners are considering reregistering their aircraft from Western jurisdictions to offshore registries and “friendly” states such as Montenegro. While the latest sanctions apply to all Russian-owned or -controlled aircraft, regardless of where they are registered, it is unclear how authorities will determine aircraft ownership given the widespread use of anonymous shell companies.
Meanwhile, Russian business jet owners could soon see bans on repairs and insurance of their aircraft, as well as the supply of parts and components. These measures have already been implemented for Russian-owned airliners and could be extended to the business aviation sector.
Experts predict that the already approved sanctions will all but cut off business jet sales in Russia, which has historically been one of the largest business aircraft markets in Europe.
PUTIN TOLD MACRON HE WAS FIGHTING AGAINST A NEO-NAZI REGIME, DENIED HE WAS HITTING CIVILIANS IN UKRAINE, DENIED BOMBING KYIV - FRENCH OFFICIAL MACRON REPLIED TO PUTIN HE WAS MAKING A "MAJOR MISTAKE" ABOUT UKRAINE AND ITS PRESIDENT - FRENCH OFFICIAL
MACRON TOLD PUTIN UKRAINE WAS NOT A NAZI REGIME, THAT PUTIN WAS DELUDING HIMSELF AND NOT DESCRIBING REALITY MACRON TOLD PUTIN WHAT YOU'RE DOING WILL COST YOUR COUNTRY DEARLY, RUSSIA WILL BE ISOLATED, WEAKENED AND UNDER SANCTIONS FOR A VERY LONG PERIOD - FRENCH OFFICIAL
THERE WAS NOTHING REASSURING IN WHAT PUTIN TOLD MACRON, PUTIN SHOWED HIS DETERMINATION TO CARRY ON OPERATIONS - FRENCH OFFICIAL MACRON THEN SPOKE TO UKRAINE'S ZELENSKIY WHO TOLD HIM UKRAINE WILL NOT SURRENDER, THAT NEGOTIATIONS CAN'T BE HELD WITH GUN TO HIS HEAD - FRNCH OFFICIAL
Russia likely to impose martial law on Friday according to this. Today they passed a law with a punishment of 15 years for anyone writing "wrong" (the truth) about the war. It's already a police state. Domestic crackdown coming.
Russian intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service, has plans to conduct public executions in 🇺🇦 after cities are captured, according to a European intelligence official - Bloomberg
Emergency statement of the official representative of the People's Militia of the DPR at 15.30 02.03.2022
According to operational information received in the city of Mariupol, on the territory of the Azov-Stal plant, the commander of a separate special forces detachment "Azov" of 12 armored units of the National Guard of Ukraine is preparing for a mass provocation with the death of civilians. For this purpose, the civilian population is brought into the territory of the Azov-Steel plant, which is placed in mined workshops and office premises. Military equipment is placed in the courtyard of the enterprise. In the event of a breakthrough in the defense of the city of Mariupol by units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the nationalists plan to blow up the plant's buildings, with further accusation of the Russian side of destroying civilians and civilian infrastructure with artillery fire.
In the basement and premises of school No. 34 on 17 Gastelo Street, more than 60 civilians are forcibly detained, of which more than half are women and children. All civilians who tried to leave the city through the provided humanitarian corridors are forcibly brought to the school. According to information from the teachers of the Priazov State Technical University, located along Universitetskaya Street, 7, militants from the Azov unit began to mine the building, as well as the approaches to it with controlled explosive devices.
DJ...a western false flag....So far "media" has show themselves to be going for the most crazy stories...most likely only will get worse....
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
World’s largest shipping companies suspend bookings to and from Russia
Shipping giants including Switzerland-based MSC, Denmark’s Maersk and France’s CMA CGM all announced on Tuesday that they would halt cargo bookings to and from Russia until further notice.
The move exempted deliveries of essential supplies, such as food, medical equipment and humanitarian goods.
The confluence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the barrage of punitive Western sanctions has triggered a mass corporate exodus from Moscow.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian rouble slid to new record lows against the dollar and euro on Thursday, after ratings agencies Fitch and Moody's downgraded Russia's sovereign debt to "junk" status.
At 1012 GMT, the rouble was more than 9% weaker against the dollar at 116.8 and down almost 8% against the euro at 125.1 on the Moscow Exchange, marking the first time the rouble has traded weaker than 110 to the dollar in Moscow and the first time it has breached 123 to the euro.
The Russian central bank imposed a 30% commission on foreign currency purchases by individuals on currency exchanges - a move brokers said appeared designed to curb demand for dollars - but that did little to halt the rouble's slide.
The finance ministry said it was halting purchases of foreign currency and gold this year as part of a suspension of parts of its fiscal rule - a move also aimed at easing pressure on the rouble.
Ukraine war: Kremlin adviser is shocked by Putin’s actions, and cannot understand logic of Ukraine invasion
‘My advice today, given the situation on the ground, would be to turn a ceasefire into the top priority. We have to stop the conflict.’ says foreign policy analyst Andrey Kortunov
I love my country, but the collective ignorance of the American people empowers so-called public servants who abuse their positions of trust to push policies that further individual agendas at the expense of the nation they ostensibly serve. Fact-based logic no longer matters.
Do WE still live in a democracy or has it all gone "democrazy"???
Scott Ritter
@RealScottRitter
Former United Nations Weapons Inspector, former Marine Corps Intelligence Officer, author, analyst.
did write his words in july 2019...another US government...but at least NOT at the brink of starting World War Three !
Putin’s perspective: it is impossible to reason with a political counterpart whose policy formulations need to conform with ignorance-based narratives.
If NATO was supposed to be "defensive"...and the Warsaw-pact-formed in reaction to NATO (started in 1949..including a.o. Portugal under fascist military...) allready gone for decades...
The most likely answer-allthough hard to swallow-NATO is NOT defensive...it is agressive...nazi-germany may have ended in 1945 but anti-Russian sentiments-around most of western history-did not.
DJ, Western royals also had lots of investments in Russian railways, oil...All getting nationalized in the bolsjevik revolution...
Since Germany did enable Lenin to start the Russian revolution [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin#February_Revolution_and_the_July_Days:_1917[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin#February_Revolution_and_the_July_Days:_1917 ; He decided to return to Russia to take charge of the Bolsheviks but found that most passages into the country were blocked due to the ongoing conflict. He organised a plan with other dissidents to negotiate a passage for them through Germany, with whom Russia was then at war. Recognising that these dissidents could cause problems for their Russian enemies, the German government agreed to permit 32 Russian citizens to travel in a sealed train carriage through their territory, among them Lenin and his wife.[129] The group travelled by train from Zürich to Sassnitz, proceeding by ferry to Trelleborg, Sweden, and from there to the Haparanda–Tornio border crossing and then to Helsinki before taking the final train to Petrograd in disguise.[130]
In May 1919 Karl Mayr became commander of the 6th Battalion of the guards regiment in Munich and from 30 May as head of the "Education and Propaganda Department" (Dept Ib/P) of the BavarianReichswehr, Headquarters 4.[36] In this capacity as head of the intelligence department, Mayr recruited Hitler as an undercover agent in early June 1919. Under Captain Mayr, "national thinking" courses were arranged at the Reichswehrlager Lechfeld near Augsburg,[36] with Hitler attending from 10–19 July. During this time Hitler so impressed Mayr that he assigned him to an anti-bolshevik "educational commando" as 1 of 26 instructors in the summer of 1919.[37][38][39][A 7]
As an appointed Verbindungsmann (intelligence agent) of an Aufklärungskommando (reconnaissance commando) of the Reichswehr, Hitler's job was to influence other soldiers and to infiltrate the German Workers' Party (DAP). While monitoring the activities of the DAP, Hitler became attracted to the founder Anton Drexler's antisemitic, nationalist, anti-capitalist, and anti-Marxist ideas.[40] Impressed with Hitler's oratory skills, Drexler invited him to join the DAP, which Hitler did on 12 September 1919.[41]
Captain Karl Mayr (5 January 1883 – 9 February 1945) was a German General Staff officer and Adolf Hitler's immediate superior in an army Intelligence Division in the Reichswehr, 1919–1920. Mayr was particularly known as the man who introduced Hitler to politics. In 1919, Mayr directed Hitler to write the Gemlich letter, in which Hitler first expressed his anti-semitic views in writing.[1][2]
Mayr later became Hitler's opponent, and wrote in his memoirs that General Erich Ludendorff had personally ordered him to have Hitler join the German Workers' Party (DAP) and build it up.[3] As far as it is known, his last rank was major. In 1933, he fled to France after the Nazis came to national power. Mayr was tracked down by the Gestapo, arrested, imprisoned, and later murdered at the Buchenwald Concentration Camp in 1945.
A fact-based portrayal of Mayr is dramatized in the 2002 film Max, a fictional account of Hitler's life in Munich just prior to joining the German Workers' Party.
)
A part of re-written history is nazi-germany as a western tool to end the Soviet Union....hitler came to power in 1933 (never had a majority of German votes...most of the support from the catholic south part of Germany...his party nsdap was part of a coalition - still that coalition let Dachau happen...first concentration camp for communists, socialists, trade union members...).
Like his father, Luns demonstrated a preference for conservative and authoritarian political parties and an interest in international politics. As a young student he positioned himself on the political right, favouring a strong authority for the state and being of the opinion that socialism, because of its idealistic ideology, had fostered the rise of fascism and nazism.[4] Luns joined the National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands (NSB) in 1933 and left three years later but when questioned about it in later years, never admitted that it might have been "a youthful misjudgment".[5]
His choice for a diplomatic career was inspired by his father. He joined the Dutch Diplomatic Service in 1938 and, after a two-year assignment at the Private Office of the Foreign Minister, was appointed as attaché in Bern (Switzerland) in 1940. In late 1941, he moved to Lisbon, Portugal. In both countries, he was involved in assistance to Dutch refugees, political espionage and counterintelligence. In 1943, he was transferred to the Dutch embassy in London.
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Luns was more successful in the normalisation of the bilateral relations with West Germany. Luns shared Dutch public opinion in demanding that Germany recognise the damage it had caused during the Second World War, and so a mea culpa required. He demanded that before any negotiations on other bilateral disputes could start, the amount of damages to be paid to Dutch war victims had to be agreed upon. During the final stages of the negotiations on bilateral disputes between the two countries, Luns decided to come to an arrangement with his German colleague on his own accord. He made concessions and so the Dutch parliament threatened not to ratify the agreement. With the full support of the government however, Luns was able to overcome the crisis.[9]
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In 1971, Luns was appointed as NATO Secretary-General. At the time of his appointment, public protests against American policies in Vietnam were vehement throughout Western Europe and among European politicians the credibility of the American nuclear protection was in doubt. Though there were initial doubts about his skills for the job he soon proved that he was capable of managing the alliance in crisis.
DJ [url]https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velser_Affaire[/url] or https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velser_Affaire like many other governments the NL government did not only fight germany during world war two...they also did fight communism-even when those people themselves were fighting the nazi-occupation...(When the germans moved in Dutch police gave all the info they had on communists to the germans...In civil administration the germans had no problem to find out where Jews lived...it was all in the administration...).
It goes to far to write all of the links between nazism, nazi's and nato...Most military serving NATO will be anti nazi ! Not aware of the historic links....
But NATO history is "as rotten as dead fish"....now again moving east we have to get rid of NATO !!!
Just my opinion...hope I do not get banned or blocked for sharing it...do not get shot for having that opinion...
The west has gone crazy...again...
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
I've often wondered when we will know that World War 3 has started. I wonder at what point the world will agree that it has (or hasn't)? I've seen people say we're already in it, and others who are saying that it might start.
I guess it's one of the things for which there isn't a definite starting point.
Those who got it wrong, for whatever reason, may feel defensive and retrench into a position that doesn’t accord with the facts.
Wake up...western governments are attacking democracy-or what is left of it !!!
Tulsi Gabbard 🌺@TulsiGabbard·20h
This power elite operation to crush freedom of speech IS the enemy attack from within – it threatens the very core of our democratic republic. It’s a complete betrayal of the vision of the American Founders, and a direct attack on…the mission statement in the Declaration of Independence. Instead of a government ordained “to secure these rights,” we now face a government determined to take them away.
Tulsi Gabbard's CPAC full speech - Our freedom comes from God, not from any other person or government
A comment; Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard should be the first female US President. Tulsi is a great Patriot who loves this great country. God bless Tulsi Gabbard. God bless America
How crazy will it get ? If you state" the Ukraine War is the outcome of NATO moving east" will it get me in prison...because our NATO-o so democratic leaders never give up expansion...
The much bigger 'rest of the world' has not condemned Russia but understands how the conflict came about. They blame, like political scientist John Mearsheimer, the U.S. for causing the crisis. This includes, as far as I can tell, all of Africa (54 states), South America, Central America, the Middle East, and all of Asia ex Japan and Singapore.
This rest of the world that did not condemn Russia includes several notable U.S. allies and 'partners' like Turkey (Nato's second biggest army!), India, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Israel.
The case shows how much the standing of the once unilateral superpower has been diminished.
Since 2014 the war in east Ukraine against the people of the Donbas regions has cost more than 14,000 lives. Some 10,000 of those were civilians on the Donbas side. The dying there continues as the Ukrainian army and its nazi battalions continue to shell the cities of Donetzk and Luhansk:
At least 136 civilians have been killed, including 13 children, and 400 have been injured since Russia invaded Ukraine last week, a United Nations agency said on Tuesday.
"The real toll is likely to be much higher," Liz Throssell, a spokesperson for the U.N. human rights office (OHCHR), told a briefing, adding that 253 of the casualties were in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine.
Over the last days I also read several commentators claiming that that the Russian 'regime change' incursion into Ukraine would not have the support of the Russian people and would set them up against their president. Here is news for them:
DJ...The West is blocking access to Russian info on this.....Ukraine also not in the ICC...
"The West" is in a very dangerous tunnelvision...this can not end well...
Even if the present Ukraine government would accept neutrality..."The West" would come up with an "alternative Ukraine government" still pushing Ukraine towards NATO membership...even if that would start a "very major war"...The end goal of "The Free West" seems to be regime change in Russia, Iran, China and all other countries not doing what the west is telling them...
If the West does not change that goal we are on our way to World War Three !!!
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Thanks WitchMispelled (agree with every word you wrote) and KSC. Hadn't seen the news about Russions violating Sweden's airspace - yikes. A couple of other things I hadn't seen also - appreciate them!
DJ - I've greatly valued your contributions during the pandemic. Thank you for your time presenting a ton of information. I found new sources to follow thanks to you. But this? Nah. I'm with Witch.
Four Russian Air Force fighter jets (2 Su-24s & 2 Su-27s) violated Sweden’s airspace over the Baltic Sea today and were intercepted by Jas-39 Gripen’s.
Russell Brand is an award-winning comedian, writer, actor and presenter. He is one of the most recognisable and best-loved comedy performers in the world
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly voted at an emergency special session Wednesday to demand an immediate halt to Moscow’s offensive against Ukraine and withdrawal of all Russian troops, with very strong support from the world organization’s 193 member nations that sparked sustained applause.
The vote on the resolution, entitled “Aggression against Ukraine,” was 141-5 with 35 abstentions.
Russia got support for its appeal to vote against the resolution only from Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea, a powerful indication of the international isolation that Russian President Vladimir Putin faces for invading his country’s smaller neighbor. Emphasizing that isolation was a major goal of the resolution’s supporters.
There was a very interesting article in the UK's Daily Telegraph about 3 days ago, written by a colonel in the British Army about the Ukrainian situation. He made a few excellent points, and the one that really stuck in my mind was that this invasion wasn't a surprise to anyone. For a long time Putin has been saying don't let the Ukraine into Nato because I don't want nuclear weapons parked in my back yard.
All the West had to do was to assure Putin that they wouldn't do this. Instead, and just to poke the bear in the opinion on this colonel, Nato said we have no interest in letting Ukraine into Nato but we might change our minds at some point and so won't give you that guarantee. Then the president of Ukraine announced that he wanted to join Nato and again Nato poked the bear. Putin gave plenty of warning that he wouldn't tolerate this and then he backed up those threats with action.
The point is, that the West had every opportunity of averting this war. All they had to do was to meet Putin half way. This colonel made the excellent point that it's not just Putin who is to blame for this situation, but the leaders of a number of Western countries too, who in their determination to look like they are calling the shots, were unwilling to assuage Putin's fears.
I don't agree with Putin's invasion of the Ukraine, but I do understand why he did it.
I'm not going to jump down your throat, Kiwimum. Like Josh, you are entitled to whatever opinion you choose. That being said, you are not expecting the rest of us to own that opinion. Josh's spamming of this board with links to all his little blogs and personal opinions is ramming it down the throat of anyone reading.
What I will point out is that Putin's NATO narrative is false. Ukraine has been in a sort of partnership with NATO since 1992. Yet, Ukraine is not part of NATO, nor will it ever be. If Putin's narrative were true, Ukraine would already be a member. Member or not, the partnership would have enabled NATO to place nukes in Ukraine. That would have been negotiated and already done decades ago.
In terms of negotiation. Putin does not have a history of negotiating in good faith. (Read up on Putin's Crimea land grab in 2014.) Historically, Putin gives a list of demands and made them non-negotiable. Further, they threaten to strong-arm those who are non-compliant or attempt to interfere. It's Russia that has walked away from the table. It is Russia that has threatened other nations with military intervention and possible Nukes if they "interfere" with Putin's agenda. It is all or nothing. So, the "meeting half-way" argument is also a false narrative.
What Putin did not expect was for Biden and other EU leaders to play his hand. Macron tried, bless him, but there again, Putin's word that he would re-enter negotiations was proven to be a false narrative.
There will be no cease fire, here Kiwimum. That choice is Putin's. No matter what anyone believes here. The fate is cast. Putin will ruin his economy, his people will starve and Ukraine will become Russia's Vietnam. A war he can not win.
Young and scared Russian soldiers are crying as they go into war where they are being asked to “ fire at everyone, even civilians”, claim reports.
Russia ’s invasion of Ukraine has not appeared to have gone according to plan against stiff resistance and major cities have yet to fall to Vladimir Putin ’s troops.
The attack on its neighbour, with many Russian’s seeing Ukrainians as brothers, has been vilified around the world, and reported to have left some of Putin’s army unhappy.
Russian troops have been bombarding ill-equipped Ukrainians, some of whom are making home-made weapons, and civilian areas have been hit by bombs.
"Looking at the Russian operation so far, they're having tremendous problems with logistics and communications. The whole effort seems shambolic," Michael Kofman, an expert on the Russian military at Washington's Wilson Center, wrote in a tweet.
Deploying the most brutal military tactics with no concern for civilians, Vladimir Putin is a war criminal.
Kyiv’s TV tower is one of many civil sites to have been targeted by barbarous assaults from the Kremlin tyrant’s military machine.
Despot Putin is not only sacrificing Ukranians but his own country’s soldiers in a ruthless drive for what would be an empty victory.
Deploying overwhelming force to overcome courageous resistance and occupy cities would come at such a cost that he would be the loser.
It is why megalomaniac Putin must not and will not win this war.
Kyiv may fall within days but Putin will never fully control the city or country, while mounting unrest in a Russia crippled by economic sanctions will forever be his legacy.
Strategically, he is already beaten, his place in history guaranteed – as the paranoid pariah who destroyed a neighbouring nation as well as his own. We salute the spirit of Ukrainians and Britain’s mission is to fight authoritarianism until Ukraine is free and Putin is gone.
Kazakhstan takes distance from Russia’s Ukraine war
Kazakhstan, one of Russia’s closest allies, has denied a request for its troops to join the offensive in Ukraine and will not recognise the so-called republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. Instead, an aeroplane carrying humanitarian assistance will leave Kazakhstan for Ukraine on 3 March.
Anewspaper group in Russia has risked the wrath of government authorities by publishing editions that carry a stern anti-war message.
The publishing group VK-media, which is not connected to social media giant Vkontakte, published editions of their papers in the Urals region with a cover dedicated to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The message "This madness must be stopped" sits above the fold of Wednesday's editions of Vecherniy Krasnoturinsk, Vecherniy Karpinsk, Pro Severouralsk and Globus.
In the left-hand corner, the papers issue a direct challenge to Russia's media watchdog, Roskomnadzor, which has ordered media outlets in the country to delete reports using the words "assault," "invasion," or "declaration of war" to describe the conflict.
"Roskomnadzor prohibits Russian media outlets from calling what is going on in Ukraine in the last few days a war," the papers' message said. "But if you call black white, then it won't stop being black."
DJ, Since I think the Ukraine war is an "East-West confrontation" increasing risks of a nuclear war I will put some extra attention on that...The pandemic is far from over (but my time is limited...)
China FM Wang Li had talks with German and Ukraine FM.
AM see the present conflict has ;
1-A military aspect; Russia's goal is keeping Ukraine out of NATO...not to take over Kiev...(The US wanted the Kiev government to move to Lviv-Western Ukraine...Ukraine refused).
2-Economic warfare, the West learning the hard way sanctions may damage the west more then it harms Russia...the fall-out of it is on its way...may be very dramatic and some EU "leaders" may regret the hard words/choices they made...
3-Diplomatic warfare. China underlining the basis of this conflict is NATO moving east. NATO should rethink its goals if the cold war was supposed to be over....
DJ; The US does NOT !!!! want the Ukraine government to be talking with Russia...(by the way, the Russian delegation is led by a former Russian minister of culture-very anti-communist, friend of Putin...The head of the Ukraine delegation is a politcal veteran that was in a leading position in the last days of the Soviet Union....AM in an earlier video).
My words (DJ); China wants Ukraine to give up its plans for joining NATO...The talk with German FM may be underlining the question why NATO has to move east....
DJ-I have very serious concerns about the "wisdom" of western leaders...they may have no idea of what they are doing...have become a risk for democracy itself !
Again-DJ-my words; China and Russia may be looking at what price Ukraine is asking for giving up its NATO-plans...(The US/UK/EU may try to offer a "better deal" but so far only in words...). Kiev knows it can not win this war..."moderates" in the Ukraine government may want to get rid of "hardliners/extremists" and may not mind if Russia would be willing to do the dirty work....
China may be one of the countries willing to invest in Ukraine...DJ-Ukraine needs investments more then weapons....
DJ-China is not the only country trying to "solve the conflict"....Turkey, Iran, the Arab World...even Israel may be-more or less-on the same "road"....NATO expension is the problem...a neutral Ukraine may fit in their plans/interests...
AM mentions a.o. that if this Chinese mediation would be succesfull it would; 1- increase Chinese influence, 2 embarrase both the US/UK/EU...
DJ Ukraine giving up plans for joining NATO may NOT be accepted by "some" NATO members (hardliners US/UK in a different position then most of the EU...)
What AM does NOT mention is that if Ukraine is unwilling to give up its ideas China may even more move towards the Russian side....Also US plans/ideas on putting nuclear weapons in Japan do NOT improve US-China allready very bad relations....
DJ-The way I see it the US and UK do NOT want to give up the idea of including Ukraine in NATO....may even go that far to create "another Ukraine government" seeking NATO membership...That road only will bring us close to nuclear war.
AGAIN !!!!! IF THE US AND UK DO NOT GIVE UP NATO MOVING EAST WE WILL HAVE NUCLEAR WAR !!!!!
DJ-The problem is NOT Putin but NATO moving east....Not willing to see that problem will result in even worse problems soon !
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Russia hoped talks with the Ukraine government-under pressure-would result in Ukraine giving up the idea of Ukraine joining NATO....so far Ukraine does NOT give up that idea...
It may be one of the weak spots in the Russian "war-strategy"....To "convince" the Kiev government "neutrality is better"....via a "peace keeping intervention" (Russia does not want it to be seen as an "invasion" or "war"...people using those kinds of words in Russia face serious problems...).
What if Ukraine does not give up its idea of joining NATO ? What if NATO refuses to exclude Ukraine becoming a member ? Did Russia think of that option ? I think they did...
-Russia does not "want to occupy" Ukraine is the story now (untill recent Russia did not have invasion plans...was the Russian story...). But if it can not get its goals in another way an outcome may be Russia does occupy Ukraine...
In the south and east of Ukraine a lot of ethnic Russians live...Most likely the Russian idea is they may be willing to become "part of Russia"....or a "Russian Ukraine"...In Kiev, the north-west of Ukraine ethnic Russians are a minority...
Still Russia's goal will be to "limit NATO becoming a risk for Russia"....however that part of the Ukraine may be very strong anti-Russian...Occupying it would bring long term conflict...the Russian strategy will be to "keep this war as short as possible" and also "winning hearths and minds"...(sounds familiair...).
One way NATO still could go "east" is by NATO member states going for "new borders" so parts of western Ukraine becoming part of Poland, Hungary, Romania....allready in NATO...at least for some time "protecting" western Ukraine...
Dividing a country has been often the way out of a conflict in history...(Korea, Sudan are recent examples...).
DJ-Russia most likely not only will be having talks with Ukraine...but may have (indirect) talks with "(some countries of) the west". Both Russia and the West needs to claim they did win...it is allready clear Ukraine did lose...
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
While in their unprecedented broadside of sanctions on Russia, the U.S. and Western allies went out of their way to spare Russian energy shipments and keep economies humming and voters warm, the oil market has gone on strike anyway. Acting as if energy were already in the crosshairs of Western sanctions officials, refiners have balked at buying Russian oil and banks are refusing to finance shipments of Russian commodities, the WSJ reports citing traders, oil executives and bankers.
This self-imposed embargo which has effectively halted a majority of Russian oil shipments, threatens to drive up energy prices globally by removing a gusher of oil from a market that was tight even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia, waging war and in need of revenue with its financial system in turmoil, is taking extreme steps to convince companies to buy its most precious commodity.
We previously reported that owners of oil tankers had already started to avoid Russian ports because of both the military invasion of Ukraine and apprehension that sanctions for oil could also come soon, and as a result rates for oil tankers on Russian crude routes had exploded as much as nine-fold in the past few days.
But now, amid growing fears they will fall afoul of complex restrictions in different jurisdictions, refiners and banks are balking at purchasing any Russian oil at all, traders and others involved in the market say. Market players also fear that measures that target oil exports directly could land as fighting in Ukraine intensifies.
“This is going to make it very complex to trade with Russia,” Sarah Hunt, a partner at law firm HFW who works with commodities traders, said of the sanctions laid out as of Monday. “These sanctions against Russia will have an incredible effect on global trade and on trade finance.”
Brent-crude futures, the benchmark in international energy markets, rose nearly 8% Tuesday to above $105 a barrel. But in a sign that demand for Russian oil has evaporated, prices for the country’s flagship Urals crude moved in the opposite direction.
On Tuesday, traders offered Urals brent at a record discount of around $15 a barrel below the price of Brent - with the discount at one point hitting as much as $18.60 - and even then not finding buyers. A drop in the price of Espo, a grade of Russian crude popular in Asia, suggests refiners in Japan and South Korea are hitting pause on purchases alongside those in Europe and the U.S.
DJ, so (pro)western countries are even allready stopping to buy Russian oil...When you look at how Iran oil got "renamed" as coming from Iraq I expect some Middle East countries may be willing to import Russian oil and export the same oil as "Arab oil" with enough western buyers willing to be fooled...
Besides that-the most important energy consumer is China...however if "the west" was seen as "one buyer" that west was the major buyer for Russian oil...so...yes...financial sanctions do effect Russian energy trade...however it may hurt us much more...make us weaker not stronger...
The west still has lots of energy reserves. Companies could not make profits out of them with "low" energy prices. Now prices are that high lots more energy sources can offer profit. (Here in NL there is renewed discussion on gas-exploration in the north of NL...stopped because of earthquakes...we may restart gas exploration and have extra funds to rebuild houses in the north of NL more earthquake proof).
Most of OPEC is "not in a hurry" to increase production...some countries may however be willing to increase exports...
So "will the west run out of energy" because of sanctions against Russia ? No, but prices will go up ! Transports/logistics will get more expensive.
Will it hurt Russia very hard ? To be honest...NO...there are enough Asian buyers-overland pipelines...
-The US had the (silly) idea that India would join the US, Australia and Japan in an anti-China coalition....China and India are on their way to become the #1 and #2 global economy...wich would leave the US at #3 (if you would see the EU as one that may be at #3...US at #4...). However ignoring reality still the US wants to go for not only a confrontation with Russia but also with China...
India has its own interests in EurAsian trade...if it wants to grow Asia, Europe, Africa, Latin America have to bring that growth...Both India and China have to go global with their automobile, aircraft industry....for that matter BRICS still matters....Boeing, Airbus face competition from Brazil, India, China with most of the growth of markets no longer in "the aging US, EU, Japan"...
Australia still exporting raw materials...(and facing climate change problems getting extreme)...
The US putting nukes in Japan is-again-sending the wrong signal...not only to Russia and China but all of Asia....(North and South Korea are united in anti-Japan hate...).
The present situation only underlines the importance of knowing international history...China did see 400,000 Chinese being killed-most by the US-in the Korea War...The way the US is dealing with both Taiwan and Japan most likely will "worsen dramaticly" international relations even more...
-The link between the US dollar and global energy once may have been very strategic in the early '70's...Now it has become a major weak spot. The US has to think of something better !
Confrontationalism mixed with denialism is a very dangerous mix. On top of that "exceptionalism"; the idea of being above any international law-in my opinion made the US to a global risk....
You may not like that vision/idea...see it as anti-US...but the US should make better choices, has a lot to offer ! Communication and cooperation may bring much more results then-always-confrontation...
"Brittania rules the waves" illusion ended after world war 2 (for most, bojo may still not get it...)...Spain, NL did see their "global dominance" vanish earlier...it is the way history works...US was the #1...but in reality no longer is the #1...get used to it...stop fighting it !
This is a friendly advice...NL was a major player in early US history...We did learn some lessons the hard way...still have to learn a lot more! Live is learning...(that is why we get old...).
Stay safe and sane !
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
KiwiMum, thanks for the very welcome nuanced reaction....You dared to write what now seems to be a "denied reality"...NATO moving east as the reason for this war. In Russian (not only Putin) perspective to prevent an even worse war if Ukraine did become a NATO member and nuclear weapons were based inside Ukraine (and for that matter it would not make a difference if those weapons were American or Ukraine did get its own nukes...However when Zelinsky started talking about Ukraine getting nuclear weapons of its own he could/should have known this was crossing a Russian red line. One question is who "advised" Zelinsky to start talking about Ukraine getting its own nuclear weapons....).
What I find most shocking is that asking why NATO has to move east...just that question alone...has become allmost a form of treason...beyond crazy ! And even more far beyond acceptable in any democratic country-if you are not allowed to ask those questions what does "democracy" mean ???
[url]https://www.rt.com/news/551005-china-japan-nuclear-weapons/[/url] or https://www.rt.com/news/551005-china-japan-nuclear-weapons/ (Somehow in "western democrazies" watching info from Russia, China HAS TO BE disinformation....The US did take over the site of Press.tv -Iran state media...because the public would be to stupid to see what is propaganda and what is not....but it should not be seen as "US democratic totalitarian...") Chinese officials have rebuked Japan over former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s call to ease the country’s non-nuclear principles and consider hosting strategic US weapons to boost security amid rising geopolitical tensions.
-
Wang said Japan’s leaders must be “cautious in words and deeds on the Taiwan issue to stop provoking trouble.” He added, “We strongly ask Japan to deeply reflect on its history.”
DJ Do we get another "Ukraine-scenario" in East Asia ? Putting nuclear weapons in Japan and then blame any reaction from China as "agression" ?
Maybe another point, understanding why some steps are taken is not supporting them...only understanding those steps...Russia does (still) have energy as a "basic weapon"...I think it may have been wiser if the Russian government (again-not only Putin...) had choosen that weapon...
-Now a reaction on the (rather bad informed) article;
Russia may have gone-so far-for a "more soft" form of warfare in urban area's, they did use (lots of) heave weapons, cruise missiles most-against military targets...It has the option to increase artillery/drones/bombing in urban areaś however why ??? It is NOT !!! the Russian goal to occupy Ukraine but to make Ukraine stay out of NATO !
In the east of Ukraine a major part of the Ukraine armed forces have been encircled - they may become a target for "more heavy weapons" ...i think Russian heavy weapons on (most) military targets in Ukraine did result in large numbers of people being killed - a bloodbath...
In western propaganda (no other words for it...) the picture they want to create is "Putin is a crazy dictator" ...He most likely is not...He-and his very experienced ministers-know what they are doing...(I doubt if western leaders understand what they are doing...). The west now going for "regime change in Moscow" is playing with fire...
Because the article mentions Russian nuclear weapons...the disinformation is that Russia did prepare ICBM's ..Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles...NOT for use in Ukraine (why should they ? If even the-bad-article mentions the use of more non-nuclear weapons as the more likely option...) but against western targets....In Russian eyes the US is behind these crises...
DJ-What would make Russia go for using nuclear weapons (against NATO-NOT Ukraine !!!) ? A full NATO intervention into Ukraine most likely would...I fear NATO could be thinking of R2P Right to Protect excuses...for some kind of intervention(s) (in West Ukraine).
It would be yet another major mistake to believe Russia would NOT be willing nuclear weapons....
The outcome of western confrontation politics since 1991-end of the Soviet Union-has resulted in Russia-Iran-China in many ways becoming "strategic partners"...India did have good relations with the Soviet Union/Russia since independence in 1947...Pakistan switched from the US to China as major ally (a.o. after insults from trump...Pakistan was involved in the "dirty work" in Afghanistan since the 70's...trying to create "a Vietnam for the Soviet Union"...with Pakistan being ruled by brutal dictators...).
Still some in the "West" seem to think "we are the world" -while they are no longer in the most strategic positions...that is a very major risk and may cause very serious even bigger mistakes bringing us even closer to World War Three....(What is the point of US nuclear weapons in Japan ???? Other then to further provoke China, Russia, North Korea...)
-Maybe some more words about the war inside Ukraine. Civil wars are the worst kind of wars people can do to eachother...Ukraine nationalists killing ethnic Russians...Ethnic Russians killing nationalists or "foreign fighters" they do not trust...
IS was able to recrute a lot of people in western Europe around ten years ago...most likely both the cia and Turkish secret services were involved (maybe without even informing their governments...). Now Ukraine is calling for volunteers to enlist for an "International Brigade"...(NL a.o. is trying to limit/stop that however...NL, a.o. also pointing out Ukraine becoming an EU member is something ALL EU present members decide on...so not in a hurry)....
In the east of Ukraine "western volunteers" are allready facing eachother...On the pro-Russian side they only want people with military experience speaking Russian...The Kiev regime has a.o. the Azov-regiment...untill recent seen as neo-nazi....with all kinds of nazi symbols...now somehow "acceptable" for "the west"...in the south of Ukraine there have been reports of IS...(most likely supplied by the cia/turkey...but the jihadi's "may have been used" in other wars allready; Libya, Armenia...).
I did se the woman in Warsaw asking bojo questions on why "the west" now is refusing a no-fly zone...I fear she may be right...we are allready in World War Three...."bringing democrazy to Russian oil and gas".....
George Bush's grandfather, the late US senator Prescott Bush, was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany.
The Guardian has obtained confirmation from newly discovered files in the US National Archives that a firm of which Prescott Bush was a director was involved with the financial architects of Nazism.
I start an other "inconvenient truth" story ..."we do not want to learn from history" , history is a mirror-once we face ourselves we have to drop all the illusions we had....
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
MARK ALMOND: A rat with nuclear weapons... That's why we mustn't drive Vladimir Putin so far into a corner he will do anything to save his own skin
Vladimir Putin likes to tell a story about how, as a boy from a poor family in Leningrad (now St Petersburg), he used to hunt and kill rats in the basement of the flats they lived in.
Once, wielding a stick, he cornered a big one. It fought back, launching itself at his face.
The implication of the tale is that the Russian president sees himself as a big rat who will take on any aggressor if trapped.
And right now he is backing himself into a corner — a rat with nuclear weapons that he hints he will not hesitate to use.
This is the image that Western leaders and generals must keep to the forefront of their minds in the coming days.
The chances of Armageddon have, in less than a week, gone from zero to 4-5 per cent in my view. That may not sound very much but it is very worrying indeed.
The emotional pressure is huge. News footage from Ukraine, much of it captured by brave civilians on their camera phones, is horrific.
Cities rocked by volcanic bomb blasts; children huddled in shelters; body bags being carried from burning apartment blocks; and dead soldiers on street corners. Scenes that were unthinkable in a European capital just days ago are a blood-soaked reality.
For people to see this and know that Western governments are holding back from acting to stop the carnage is deeply frustrating. Our natural human urge is to help in any way we can.
But there is a terrible danger that by taking dramatic action to halt the slaughter we could actually make it worse.
At a press conference in Poland yesterday, a Ukrainian journalist pleaded with Boris Johnson to call on Nato allies to impose a no-fly zone across her country to stop Russian bombers from carrying out raids on the capital Kyiv, Kharkiv and other cities.
But if we took this course of action, RAF pilots and their Nato counterparts would have to be prepared to shoot down Russian jets.
It is highly probable that Putin would regard that as an open declaration of war rather than a humanitarian intervention to protect innocent civilians.
Sanctions are causing an internal crisis in Russia. He has to achieve his war aims or face political and personal disaster — and Putin would see a no-fly zone as posing a direct threat to him.
No doubt he remembers the fate of Libya's Colonel Gaddafi, who was lynched at the end of a Nato 'humanitarian intervention' in 2011.
So Boris Johnson and his fellow leaders are right to resist calls to deploy war planes.
However well intentioned, such a move would inevitably inflame an already unstable conflict.
For the horrors in Ukraine today are nothing compared to what could happen if the war spread to full-blown hostilities against Nato.
The West's immediate goal is to get Putin out of Ukraine. Somehow, anyhow — be it by face-saving diplomacy, a retreat in the face of Ukrainian resistance or the consequence of sanctions in Russia.
In the short-to-medium term, we want to see him prised from power. It's clear that while he remains in the Kremlin, global peace is threatened.
But what we cannot do is help drive him even further into that corner to the point where he decides that ten million deaths are a price worth paying to save his own skin.
The Ukrainians have resisted with far greater courage than the Kremlin's generals and yes‑men predicted. If the war continues to go badly for Russia, then a nuclear strike becomes increasingly likely.
Yesterday there were signs that Russia is abandoning its initial 'softly-softly' approach (although it may not have felt like that to Ukrainians) and opting for heavy bombing.
Ukrainians are being warned to evacuate areas of Kyiv — to 'flee or die' says the Kremlin — so the Russians can bomb 'technical facilities'.
In the worst-case scenario, if the Ukrainians continue to hold out and Russian casualties mount, Putin might sanction a nuclear assault on Kyiv to wipe out resistance there.
Ukrainians are being warned to evacuate areas of Kyiv — to 'flee or die' says the Kremlin — so the Russians can bomb 'technical facilities'
This will result in hundreds of thousands of deaths. Then pressure for a nuclear retaliation from Nato would be huge.
But can we sacrifice millions of innocent Russians just as casually as a ruthless dictator?
Of course not. Yet somehow we must make it clear there are limits to the West's patience. Putin cannot be allowed to think he can hold the planet to ransom.
There is another chilling possibility — that the Russians will use a battlefield nuke, a tactical weapon to wipe out military resistance or key Ukrainian facilities.
This would create comparatively fewer casualties but would put incalculable amounts of nuclear waste into the atmosphere — and it risks other potential consequences.
The Ukrainians might decide to use nuclear rods from the nation's power stations to build a 'dirty' bomb for a strike in revenge or desperation.
Threat
This war has rapidly escalated into a life-or-death struggle for Putin. If he is forced from power, he faces trial and possible execution at home, or prosecution for war crimes at The Hague over, for example, the use of cluster bombs.
And he is not alone. He is surrounded by hardliners, men who are as steeped in blood as their president.
Unless the entire Russian government is overthrown by a people's revolution, with ordinary citizens rising up against the police, bureaucrats and oligarchs, the only way Putin can be brought down from within is by his own generals.
It is not impossible. But they will expect concessions from the West, including absolution for war crimes and probably geopolitical gains, such as UN recognition that parts of Ukraine, including Crimea, are officially Russian.
This is not a conflict with easy solutions.
Yes, sanctions will exert pressure on Russia to back down. But not instantly.
One of Putin's cronies, Dmitry Medvedev, tweeted a barely veiled threat yesterday: 'Some French minister has said that they declared an economic war on Russia.
Watch your tongue, gentlemen! And don't forget that in human history, economic wars quite often turned into real ones.'
And while the cost of the war is extraordinary — one estimate puts it at £12 billion a day — the Kremlin is paying for it in roubles, and can simply print more.
Atrocity
In the long run, this will lead to hyper-inflation. But again, that takes time to kick in and impact living standards.
Russians are, however, already suffering some of the consequences. Many found this week they can no longer use Western smartphone apps to pay for Metro tickets and other everyday purchases.
And those who rely on money from family members overseas will not be getting their cash.
Over time, all this will increase the pressure on Putin at home, but not immediately.
For now, however much the West feels provoked, we have to avoid rash reactions. Voices in Ukraine say World War III has now begun, but we cannot allow this to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
No, we must not appease Putin, but we must avoid giving him any excuse to expand the conflict.
We have to support the Ukrainians' right to resist invasion, and give them the means to do that. Yet we must not blunder into the tripwire of all‑out war.
The awful reality is that even when confronted by the worst of the pictures from Kyiv and other scenes of atrocity in Ukraine, ice-cold rationality is the only option.
Mark Almond is Director of the Crisis Research Institute, Oxford.
Those who got it wrong, for whatever reason, may feel defensive and retrench into a position that doesn’t accord with the facts.
Now before anyone misinterprets what I've said as support for Putin and jumps down my throat about this, let me clarify. I, in no way support Putin's invasion of the Ukraine but I do think that the West must share some of the responsibility for the current situation. There was a perfectly reasonable back door out of this situation but the West chose to paint themselves into a corner instead of taking it. I don't support Putin's actions but I do understand why he has invaded the Ukraine.
Those who got it wrong, for whatever reason, may feel defensive and retrench into a position that doesn’t accord with the facts.
And yes it's laugh out loud funny the hyprocritical nature of the financial sanctions being levied against Russia. Kick them out of the Swift system but then fret that Russia might decided to cut off the fuel supply to the West? Send out of date armaments out to the Ukraine to be used against Russian forces but continue to buy as many Russian weapons and ammunition as possible? It's laughable.
Either trade with them, or don't. Don't be so secretively selective.
Those who got it wrong, for whatever reason, may feel defensive and retrench into a position that doesn’t accord with the facts.
DJ, I fully agree with you about only one opinion being allowed on a subject. We've seen that a lot recently. It appears that society has recently developed to a point where unless you support the instant popular narrative being shouted from the media, you are the devil himself. Rational discussion and debate has gone out the window. And it's not just just on this war, but prior to that and still ongoing, Covid. Prior to that Brexit.
What on earth has happened to make everything so black and white? It's a form of extremism.
Without a shadow of a doubt, terrible things are happening in Ukraine right now and there are awful stories and photos of the effects of this military action on the general population. Those poor people. We can all see that. But if debate and understanding are not allowed to happen, then this situation will never be resolved. Even now, a promise that Nato will never allow the Ukraine to be a member and Nato weaponry will never be on Ukrainian soil would probably end this conflict. Personally I think that certain world leaders would see it as an affront to masculinity to make such a concilatory promise. They've decided to use this as an opportunity to kick Putin's arse and put him in his place and to hell with the consequences.
The video clip that really affected me was that of a woman in Kiev saying that their media constantly downplayed the threat of invasion and was backed up by the government assuring them that it was all bluster and sabre rattling, to such an extent that when the invasion happened, she and everyone she knew were completely blindsided. It was too late for them to escape with anything other than what they could carry, and no men were allowed to leave. They were hoodwinked. I felt so sorry for her.
Those who got it wrong, for whatever reason, may feel defensive and retrench into a position that doesn’t accord with the facts.
There was a very interesting article in the UK's Daily Telegraph about 3 days ago, written by a colonel in the British Army about the Ukrainian situation. He made a few excellent points, and the one that really stuck in my mind was that this invasion wasn't a surprise to anyone. For a long time Putin has been saying don't let the Ukraine into Nato because I don't want nuclear weapons parked in my back yard.
All the West had to do was to assure Putin that they wouldn't do this. Instead, and just to poke the bear in the opinion on this colonel, Nato said we have no interest in letting Ukraine into Nato but we might change our minds at some point and so won't give you that guarantee. Then the president of Ukraine announced that he wanted to join Nato and again Nato poked the bear. Putin gave plenty of warning that he wouldn't tolerate this and then he backed up those threats with action.
The point is, that the West had every opportunity of averting this war. All they had to do was to meet Putin half way. This colonel made the excellent point that it's not just Putin who is to blame for this situation, but the leaders of a number of Western countries too, who in their determination to look like they are calling the shots, were unwilling to assuage Putin's fears.
I don't agree with Putin's invasion of the Ukraine, but I do understand why he did it.
Those who got it wrong, for whatever reason, may feel defensive and retrench into a position that doesn’t accord with the facts.
France's finance minister Bruno Le Maire said the global sanctions targeting Russia for its invasion of Ukraine were proving powerful and effective at putting pressure on Vladimir Putin’s government. Follow our live blog for the latest updates https://on.ft.com/3huAxNu
Breaking news: China signalled it was ready to play a role in finding a ceasefire in Ukraine as it 'deplored' the outbreak of conflict in its strongest comments yet on Russia's invasion https://on.ft.com/35lqSGu
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