MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 19, 2022 12:10 pm
a fan wrote: ↑Tue Jul 19, 2022 12:03 pm
MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 19, 2022 11:54 am
a fan wrote: ↑Tue Jul 19, 2022 10:59 am
old salt wrote: ↑Tue Jul 19, 2022 10:56 am
a fan wrote: ↑Tue Jul 19, 2022 10:48 am
Question: what do you think will happen to Putin if he Ukrainian forces push him out of Russia, Doc? What do you think will happen to Putin if he "loses"?
...& what will that prompt Putin to do ?
Old Salt gets why I'm asking the question....
So, tell us what
you think he will do...given that you don't think we can know what Putin thinks...
I do think my question set at the end, above, is big and hairy...
EDIT...looks like you just answered...
I. don't. know. No clue.
The ONLY thing I said is: I wouldn't bet against Putin using nukes if Ukraine manages to fulfill Doc's wishes and "win", and starts lobbing missiles into Russia. That's not even close to the same thing as "he'll use nukes for sure". I don't know what he'll do. And I don't know what he'll settle for in Ukraine.
Yeah, anything that is "settled for" with Putin is only temporary...that's the problem. He's never going to be permanently satisfied with only a partial 'win' toward his rather delusional aspirations. and any show of Western weakness, fecklessness only strengthens his propaganda hand, both internally and around the world.
And yeah, gotta be careful about the "lobbing"...I understand the Biden administration being careful...
I don’t think anyone is certain how this will all end.
I suspect Putin would level Kyiv and every other major city in Ukraine before he concedes defeat. That doesn’t mean he will use nukes, but that cannot be ruled out either.
Putin will not accept any “off-ramp” from Ukraine or the allies.
But he is already expressing fear that Ukraine will begin attacking Crimea.
https://www.newsweek.com/russia-threate ... 5383?amp=1
Putin will not accept anything less than territorial control over most of Ukraine and de facto control over the government in Kyiv. That much is clear.
It’s also clear that Ukraine will never accept that outcome, and neither will the United States, NATO, and the EU.
If I had to guess, and it is an informed but still speculative guess, I would surmise the end of the war looking like this ugly, tragic mess:
(1) Most major Ukrainian cities are leveled, including Kyiv;
(2) both the Russian and Ukrainian militaries are exhausted with little functional capability remaining;
(3) over 100,000 Russian troops are dead;
(4) over 100,000 Ukrainians are dead;
(5) President Zelensky may be dead after being killed in a Russian bombardment of Kyiv;
(6) Putin lives, but his power is markedly diminished as Russian military and security forces belatedly restrict his control over Russia; Putin is indicted at The Hague as a war criminal;
(7) the United States and its allies have spent over $100 billion supporting Ukraine; and
(8) Putin’s war concludes with a messy stalemate where both sides have essentially lost.
I hope Putin’s demise comes long before that, but I don’t think this speculative ending is completely unrealistic.
DocBarrister