Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Except the Polish bravado risks broadening the conflict. It's a time for further tweaking of sanctions and waiting. I see no cynicism in any country taking time to figure out how to replace 40% of its energy supplies. They are working on a plan, just one that is far more long-term than their hyper impatient neighbours.

Russians kill opponents usually in other countries. More difficult to blame them. He is much safer in prison or in gulag.

My Russian friends parents ( not all, but some definitely) would have been born during the communist times, so that would explain their attitudes, but as has been mentioned here several times, the younger generation are not fooled so easy, and they are not impressed by what the state controlled media is telling them. I remember being in restaurant's and bars, when the news would come on, and people would watch it, and then dismiss it with a flick of their hands. Even in the communist times, people knew it was buls*t, or as the workers used to say " They pretend to pay us, and we pretend to work...." The problem we have here in the west is the sheer amount of information freely available. Democracy means that everyone can have a viewpoint, for better or worse.

The gas side is the difficult one and can't be switched off straight away. Oil however could effectively be turned off with immediate effect.

Alternatives are available, it will cost more but it would have a far more dramatic effect on the Russian economy than the rest of the world.

If Iran are allowed to sell to the west again then their might not be cost issues. This is why the yanks are pushing to resolve things with them.

No need for that language projecting yourself.

Unfortunately they rushed head long in to changing over 40% of their electric power production without any concrete plan to replace it bar Merkel's reward after Crimea of approving Nord stream 2. I don't like coal or nuclear power but a replacement strategy outside of Uncle Vlad should have been considered.

Germany withholding aid, starting to roll back on defense spending, fighting sanctions again.

It's utterly transparent and cynical. They hope for a quick end and return to normality but that's rough on The Ukraine and all of us. They remain needing Russia goodwill and vulnerable to blackmail this winter.

It's the harvest they have sown, now they have to live with the consequences, as do we all unfortunately. Hiding from it makes it worse in the long run and only encourages Putin again.

Looks like that claim of hitting a Russian patrol boat earlier was true

The Americans are working on Venezuela too(highest oil reserves in the world!)

This is the problem, they don't have the resources to police the entire world, so they have to prioritise. If Russia wants to be public enemy number one, then they need to let Iran and Venezuela off the hook. The resources are out there though, its just hard and takes huge investment in risky states to switch suppliers.

Wasn't the old joke that "there is no truth in Pravda (truth) and no news in Izvestia (news)"?

You could safely apply that to today's Kremlin-controlled media. Strange how history repeats itself.

So it's all Merkel's fault? That's hardly a basis for any kind of a solution and very Captain Hindsight. Scholtz has reversed a de facto policy of well over 50 years in a few weeks but clearly that's not enough for some people. They are working their way towards unwinding that dependency. It's hardly an excuse for other countries far less affected by cutting ties, to lecture them on what to do. Who says they are cutting aid and how did the Germans suddenly become the bad guys in this?

"Russian military have food supplies, ammunition and fuels sufficient to meet their needs only for the next three days" Both the Ukrainian army and the American Think Tank Institute For The Study of War claim that the Russian army has serious problems.

Germany's decision to decommission their nuclear reactors was a bigger knee-jerk reaction than anything any of their neighbours have done in recent years.

Apparently Navalnys lawyers have been lifted in Russia.