Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Your posts are clearly putting the blame on the West and Nato and trying to absolve Putin and Russia in this instance.

Just to clarify, it was Russia who sent their military into a sovereign nation last night. Not NATO.

Hate to say I called this out, 8 years ago: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/91601179/#Comment_91601179

And 4 years ago: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/106561330/#Comment_106561330

I am very much a pacifist, but even I recognise that there are some lunatics that you cannot reason with and require push back by force.

Germany's cancelling of Nord Stream 2 and other economic sanctions are the right thing to do. But we know from past experience that when you strangle a country economically, then you risk providing fuel for the fire. Russia gets to blame domestic problems on economic sanctions and gets support for all-out war.

If NATO does nothing and allows Russia's continued invasion, then they will be in Kyiv by the end of next year. If NATO wades in, there's a very real risk of Putin using nuclear weapons. But that can't be allowed to deter NATO, because then that becomes the playbook for future Russian aggression against former USSR states.

I think the most valuable weapons at this stage are spies, drones and sharpshooters. Pre-emptively take out Putin and a number of other top brass, plunge Russia into a power struggle and then provide arms and NATO support to pro-democracy, pro-EU groups. Confine the conflict to within Russia's borders, assassinate the oligarchy and then help them pick up the pieces after.

Conflict is inevitable at this stage, waiting for it to come to us is a losing tactic.

Yes I'm sure that he has, and I'm also sure that he knows that its his last throw of the economic dice. He wont catch the West / EU with that trick again. But, now even if slowly at first, the world will start to react to his riding a coach and four through international law and norms. He is now a leader of a pariah state, as even one of the Russian Generals has said.

Coveneys words that he hopes "Putin feels the pain" being out front and centre on international media as a representation of how EU members feel.

South East rather than south perhaps. I accept the premise, China needs resources, Russia no longer has a market in Europe.

The real danger there is Chinese intentions. Russia/China 2022 is the exact opposite of Russia/China 1972.

Russia is the minnow with the tinpot outdated army, and Siberia has an enormous Chinese population now. Russia needs to be very careful how it deals with China because the Chinese do not have the scruples of western democracies.

I mean every year is record spending on almost everything with inflation but anyway here are the 2020 statistics. The fact remains that UK spends the highest as a percent of GDP at 2.2% in Europe while Russia spend more than double relative to their income at 4.3%. Even in raw terms, Russia spends more than any European country including the UK, Germany and France. Europe has had no interest in war since WW2, hence the reliance on the us. Much to the annoyance of multiple American administrations.

China, Germany, Italy and The Netherlands generate over 50% of all oil revenue, with EU countries at about half of that. They are the largest wheat exporter at 25% of the world total but the next 5 including US, Canada and Ukraine account for nearly 3 times as much. Pain will be on everyone but Russia's fuel and energy products are 65% of total exports. I saw a comment on one site that described Russia as just a big service station. They need us more on this score than we need them.

Putin could use this argument in all ex-soviet states that russians speakers need to be incorporated into Russia, where will this end? short answer- it wont

It is both confusing and scary. Scary because it is quite clear Peskov (Kremlin Press Secretary) did not know the answer to a very basic question. It suggests that policy in the Kremlin is off-the-cuff right now, that is re-inforced by that crazy press conference yesterday where we saw a succession of senior people in the Kremlin being marched up like naughty schoolboys to give the "party line" on The Ukraine only to be corrected several times by Putin.

They are making it up as they go along!!

Thats exactly the point I have been making to the Kremlin BOTS for years now. EVERY country in Europe has population groups in other countries. Hungarians in Romania and Slovakia. Germans in Alasce/Lorraine, Italians in Nice, Austrians In Italian Alps, Croatians in Triest, Irish in Armagh/Derry/Tyrone, Finns in Karelia, I could list 50 to 100 such cases.

But Europe has decided to grow up because these regions are not worth the 30 million dead it cost Europe twice in the 20th century. All except 1 country, Russia. They are stuck in Sarajevo in June 1914.

Eh???