All Things Russia & Ukraine

[Brooklyn]

Your reply will cleave the board’s Democrats. And I respect your reply, because that’s what Democrats used to stand for. Now the Dems are the neocon pro-war crowd, sitting alongside Bill Kristol, David Frum, John Bolton.

John Bolton was on MSNBC!!! You can imagine what he wants to see happen now. For those not familiar, let’s just say that John isn’t advocating for peace.

Still, Biden is seen as weak beyond compare and I want to know what the next mess he’s gonna get us into and capitulate. I say Taiwan.

Biden is weak? The only ones who say that are, again, those who stand to profit from war. You think Dems want war with Russia? Name them.

[MDlaxfan76]

jimminy Brook, Russia acknowledged that Crimea was part of Ukraine.

And the bloody ambassador two days ago said, unambiguously, that these two areas, by name, are part of Ukraine. Not Russia.

What Putin is NOW saying is that none of that matters, no past assurances of sovereignty matter, all that matters is what he claims is Russia's.

Do you really not understand that these assurances to Ukraine were made, unambiguously, to get Ukraine to give up its nuclear weapons????

Do you realize that Putin's claims includes all the Balkans, Poland and more? Anywhere czarist Russia had ever conquered?

Correction: that both Crimea and Ukraine were parts of Russia. I am aware that Putin has sent diplomats into the Balkan states but know of no plan to invade or annex anything. Serbs and Russians are Slavics so their alliance is understandable. Can't say that about others in that region. Czarist Russia? When Russia invaded the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (Chechnya) the rest of the world looked the other way. Strange how certain interests who stand to profit from war have taken so much interest today.

As for giving up nukes, Iran should not have given up any plans to develop theirs. Imperialists such as Israel and the USA have no business hassling them over any such possible ambitions.

I'm not following your logic. Putin was super clear in his rant yesterday.

All vassal states of the Soviet Union have no basis to claim sovereignty and for that matter any territories conquered by czarist Russia.

I certainly wouldn't think that you are aware, "know" any of Putin's plans...but he made the clear claims yesterday, much akin to prior statements but bat-sh-t crazy yesterday. That's what he's selling on Russian propaganda.

Not sure what you think the "correction" is. Are you aware of the prior acknowledgments and assurances by Russia as well as the rest of the world, that Crimea, and these other parts of eastern Ukraine are sovereign territory of Ukraine, not Russia?

Yes or no?

The problem is that some of them want to be actual democracies, reducing corruption, rather than remaining vassal to an authoritarian kleptocracy.

That scares the bejesus out of Putin as it threatens the possibility of that happening in Russia as well. Which is existential for him personally.

[Peter Brown]

Your reply will cleave the board’s Democrats. And I respect your reply, because that’s what Democrats used to stand for. Now the Dems are the neocon pro-war crowd, sitting alongside Bill Kristol, David Frum, John Bolton.

John Bolton was on MSNBC!!! You can imagine what he wants to see happen now. For those not familiar, let’s just say that John isn’t advocating for peace.

Still, Biden is seen as weak beyond compare and I want to know what the next mess he’s gonna get us into and capitulate. I say Taiwan.

Biden is weak? The only ones who say that are, again, those who stand to profit from war. You think Dems want war with Russia? Name them.

Shifty Schiff for one,

Putin’s unilateral declaration that territories within Ukraine are now independent republics is an arrogant and dangerous move by the Kremlin dictator.

The U.S. and our NATO allies are united in our determination to punish this blatant violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty.

https://twitter.com/repadamschiff/statu ... 38304?s=21

[MDlaxfan76]

Does that now equal "war"?

Does one need to be pro-Putin, pro-Russian aggression, pro-appeasement, pro-capitulation to not be "pro-war"???

[Peter Brown]

Does that now equal "war"?

Does one need to be pro-Putin, pro-Russian aggression, pro-appeasement, pro-capitulation to not be "pro-war"???

Well, that language….I don’t think Adam is proposing to send a bouquet of roses to Vladimir, is he?

[MDlaxfan76]

Does that now equal "war"?

Does one need to be pro-Putin, pro-Russian aggression, pro-appeasement, pro-capitulation to not be "pro-war"???

Well, that language….I don’t think Adam is proposing to send a bouquet of roses to Vladimir, is he?

Nope, nor am I...big difference, though, with war.

Have you decided to become "pro-Putin, pro-Russian aggression, pro-appeasement, pro-capitulation" too?

How does that calibrate? Have you polled that one?

[old salt]

So...we must move hard and fast in a full "blitzkrieg" of economic sanctions, and follow that with dramatic increases in support for a Ukrainian military and insurgency as is likely to be necessary.

It makes no sense to blast all our sanctions at once in a blitzkrieg before there's a blitzkrieg in the fighting.
The objective is to reach a settlement at some point. Play out the increasingly severe sanctions intermittently.
That will make it easier to keep the allies onboard. It will also spook the markets less.

There's not much new military support we can provide without US forces operating it, in harms way, risking US involvement.

[Brooklyn]

I'm not following your logic. Putin was super clear in his rant yesterday.

All vassal states of the Soviet Union have no basis to claim sovereignty and for that matter any territories conquered by czarist Russia.

I certainly wouldn't think that you are aware, "know" any of Putin's plans...but he made the clear claims yesterday, much akin to prior statements but bat-sh-t crazy yesterday. That's what he's selling on Russian propaganda.

Not sure what you think the "correction" is. Are you aware of the prior acknowledgments and assurances by Russia as well as the rest of the world, that Crimea, and these other parts of eastern Ukraine are sovereign territory of Ukraine, not Russia?

Yes or no?

The problem is that some of them want to be actual democracies, reducing corruption, rather than remaining vassal to an authoritarian kleptocracy.

That scares the bejesus out of Putin as it threatens the possibility of that happening in Russia as well. Which is existential for him personally.

Adam Schiff - one Democrats wants to see some form of action taken. But I don't see him calling for military action. Nor do I see any indication Dems want another war. Try again.

I saw only part of Putin's speech which went on for an hour or so. He sees Ukraine membership in NATO as a "threat" to its sovereignty. Dunno if this is actually true. One thing's for sure ~ I see USA membership in it as a threat to our sovereignty. To me, we need to GTFO of it now. Europe for Europeans, not for us. Let them solve their own problems. Meanwhile our problems needlessly continue because we are so damn busy fixing up everybody's else's hassles. As for the rest of his speech it is his business, not ours, for him to recognize the separatist movements/governments. After all, the USA recognized the puppet regime of Karzai rather than the Taliban which had (and has always had) the approval of the majority of Afghanistan's people. If we can pick and choose who to accept then he can do the same. The world stood by and appeased tyrant imperialist Bush. A million people died. Trillions in resources wasted. Big time corporations happily profited as the world wide kiss up campaign continued. Now it's time for the world to apply the same standard as it did with imperialist Bush.

[MDlaxfan76]

So...we must move hard and fast in a full "blitzkrieg" of economic sanctions, and follow that with dramatic increases in support for a Ukrainian military and insurgency as is likely to be necessary.

It makes no sense to blast all our sanctions at once in a blitzkrieg before there's a blitzkrieg in the fighting.
The objective is to reach a settlement at some point. Play out the increasingly severe sanctions intermittently.
That will make it easier to keep the allies onboard. It will also spook the markets less.

There's not much new military support we can provide without US forces operating it, in harms way, risking US involvement.

This may be an honest difference of opinion.

I simply don't think there's a "settlement" with Putin without his withdrawal that doesn't encourage him to take more such actions in the future, and more importantly, encourages China to do so as well.

There are no "settlements" that he's ever going to honor.

So, I see the sanctions as inevitable and should be levied in full right away, this sort of transgression being the clear marker going forward. Removal can be offered but only with withdrawal.

That said, an incremental approach may get there anyway.

[old salt]

So...we must move hard and fast in a full "blitzkrieg" of economic sanctions, and follow that with dramatic increases in support for a Ukrainian military and insurgency as is likely to be necessary.

It makes no sense to blast all our sanctions at once in a blitzkrieg before there's a blitzkrieg in the fighting.
The objective is to reach a settlement at some point. Play out the increasingly severe sanctions intermittently.
That will make it easier to keep the allies onboard. It will also spook the markets less.

There's not much new military support we can provide without US forces operating it, in harms way, risking US involvement.

This may be an honest difference of opinion.

I simply don't think there's a "settlement" with Putin without his withdrawal that doesn't encourage him to take more such actions in the future, and more importantly, encourages China to do so as well.

There are no "settlements" that he's ever going to honor.

So, I see the sanctions as inevitable and should be levied in full right away, this sort of transgression being the clear marker going forward. Removal can be offered but only with withdrawal.

That said, an incremental approach may get there anyway.

Until Putin unleashes his entire military force on Ukraine, a settlement is still possible.

[Typical Lax Dad]

So...we must move hard and fast in a full "blitzkrieg" of economic sanctions, and follow that with dramatic increases in support for a Ukrainian military and insurgency as is likely to be necessary.

It makes no sense to blast all our sanctions at once in a blitzkrieg before there's a blitzkrieg in the fighting.
The objective is to reach a settlement at some point. Play out the increasingly severe sanctions intermittently.
That will make it easier to keep the allies onboard. It will also spook the markets less.

There's not much new military support we can provide without US forces operating it, in harms way, risking US involvement.

This may be an honest difference of opinion.

I simply don't think there's a "settlement" with Putin without his withdrawal that doesn't encourage him to take more such actions in the future, and more importantly, encourages China to do so as well.

There are no "settlements" that he's ever going to honor.

So, I see the sanctions as inevitable and should be levied in full right away, this sort of transgression being the clear marker going forward. Removal can be offered but only with withdrawal.

That said, an incremental approach may get there anyway.

Until Putin unleashes his entire military force on Ukraine, a settlement is still possible.

Game On!

[old salt]

A good friend of mine is a public speaking consultant who works almost exclusively with politicians. Several years ago he had the chance to spend extended time in Kyiv working with the woman candidate that was running against Putin’s puppet.

Was he working with one of the Tymoshenko ladies, mother or daughter ?

[Farfromgeneva]

So...we must move hard and fast in a full "blitzkrieg" of economic sanctions, and follow that with dramatic increases in support for a Ukrainian military and insurgency as is likely to be necessary.

It makes no sense to blast all our sanctions at once in a blitzkrieg before there's a blitzkrieg in the fighting.
The objective is to reach a settlement at some point. Play out the increasingly severe sanctions intermittently.
That will make it easier to keep the allies onboard. It will also spook the markets less.

There's not much new military support we can provide without US forces operating it, in harms way, risking US involvement.

This may be an honest difference of opinion.

I simply don't think there's a "settlement" with Putin without his withdrawal that doesn't encourage him to take more such actions in the future, and more importantly, encourages China to do so as well.

There are no "settlements" that he's ever going to honor.

So, I see the sanctions as inevitable and should be levied in full right away, this sort of transgression being the clear marker going forward. Removal can be offered but only with withdrawal.

That said, an incremental approach may get there anyway.

Until Putin unleashes his entire military force on Ukraine, a settlement is still possible.

Game On!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_for_Godot

[MDlaxfan76]

So...we must move hard and fast in a full "blitzkrieg" of economic sanctions, and follow that with dramatic increases in support for a Ukrainian military and insurgency as is likely to be necessary.

It makes no sense to blast all our sanctions at once in a blitzkrieg before there's a blitzkrieg in the fighting.
The objective is to reach a settlement at some point. Play out the increasingly severe sanctions intermittently.
That will make it easier to keep the allies onboard. It will also spook the markets less.

There's not much new military support we can provide without US forces operating it, in harms way, risking US involvement.

This may be an honest difference of opinion.

I simply don't think there's a "settlement" with Putin without his withdrawal that doesn't encourage him to take more such actions in the future, and more importantly, encourages China to do so as well.

There are no "settlements" that he's ever going to honor.

So, I see the sanctions as inevitable and should be levied in full right away, this sort of transgression being the clear marker going forward. Removal can be offered but only with withdrawal.

That said, an incremental approach may get there anyway.

Until Putin unleashes his entire military force on Ukraine, a settlement is still possible.

ok, Biden is following your recommended approach.
Sanctions are serious, but relative to what is possible, there's much, much more in reserve.

[Jim Malone]

Dana White should offer an Octagon Match PPV with President Putin v. Ukrainian opponent where winner gets Ukraine and 50% of PPV revenue.

Instead of hiding in their palatial estates or bunkers miles away and sending in military to do their dirty work killing men, women and children, the world leaders should grow a pair and fight amongst themselves when making a land grab where winner gets all.

[old salt]

Except that Putin just announced that Ukraine has no right to exist, is a fiction created either by Lenin or the Bolsheviks (both untrue) and that Russia has every right to absorb any and all vassals of the Soviet Union, and indeed any territories of the former Czarist Russian Empire.
Putin is referring to the arbitrary way that Czarist Russia was administratively subdivided into component Republics in the USSR.
The Politburo retained the power to shift borders within the USSR. e.g. => https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publicatio ... -years-ago

Poland's neck is on the chopping block...all the Balkans, and more.
Putin won't risk war with NATO.

It's quite possible that we see Finland and Sweden move to join NATO.
Maybe, or they might prefer to remain neutral if they can. It has served them well to this point.

This all about Putin's fear of democratic success on his borders.
That's part of it, but not all of it.

[MDlaxfan76]

Except that Putin just announced that Ukraine has no right to exist, is a fiction created either by Lenin or the Bolsheviks (both untrue) and that Russia has every right to absorb any and all vassals of the Soviet Union, and indeed any territories of the former Czarist Russian Empire.
Putin is referring to the arbitrary way that Czarist Russia was administratively subdivided into component Republics in the USSR.
The Politburo retained the power to shift borders within the USSR. e.g. => https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publicatio ... -years-ago

Poland's neck is on the chopping block...all the Balkans, and more.
Putin won't risk war with NATO.

It's quite possible that we see Finland and Sweden move to join NATO.
Maybe, or they might prefer to remain neutral if they can. It has served them well to this point.

This all about Putin's fear of democratic success on his borders.
That's part of it, but not all of it.

nah, that's all of it.
It's existential to prevent the challenge to his authoritarian kleptocracy.

You could say it's also ego and his desire to be a 'great man' in Russian history. Maybe.

But none of it is actually concern about a military invasion from the west. He's not that stupid.

I don't really care what his justifications might be pertaining to prior conquered lands, he's made his claims that it's entirely up to him.

[Peter Brown]

Does that now equal "war"?

Does one need to be pro-Putin, pro-Russian aggression, pro-appeasement, pro-capitulation to not be "pro-war"???

Well, that language….I don’t think Adam is proposing to send a bouquet of roses to Vladimir, is he?

Nope, nor am I...big difference, though, with war.

Have you decided to become "pro-Putin, pro-Russian aggression, pro-appeasement, pro-capitulation" too?

How does that calibrate? Have you polled that one?

You’ll be happy to know that in l’affaire Ukraine, I’m opinion-less.

What I will note is how catatonic the Dems would be right this very minute if all of this stuff was occurring on Trump’s watch. I can only imagine the unhinged hysteria. I recall so many folks saying he was Putin’s stooge…as it turns out, Putin didn’t do squat while Trump was in office, but apparently he’s so unafraid of Biden, he’s just marching around Eastern Europe like he owns the place.

His next move is Belarus, which I guess he already has. Then the Baltic’s need to worry.

Our problem is the doofus in office. Unfit, with awful advisors, and to boot a military focused on white rage as they try to grovel for scraps from the party of woke in power. It’s really a toxic combo all around.

We simply need to make it to November 8. We are going g to have to admit one lunatic lefty to the SCOTUS I suppose, but that shouldn’t damage the country anymore than Breyer already has. I worry about it all, MD. You should move out of Maryland and live in a free state like Florida. Everyone should really. Florida is what America used to be.

[MDlaxfan76]

opinion-less other than "boo Biden"...

[Peter Brown]

Dana White should offer an Octagon Match PPV with President Putin v. Ukrainian opponent where winner gets Ukraine and 50% of PPV revenue.

Instead of hiding in their palatial estates or bunkers miles away and sending in military to do their dirty work killing men, women and children, the world leaders should grow a pair and fight amongst themselves when making a land grab where winner gets all.

My man Wladimir Wladimirowitsch Klitschko

FA22A58E-4F12-450E-8A2A-E31E666D67E9.jpeg (147.62 KiB) Viewed 833 times