Russia takes control of chernobyl. Personnel taken hostage. What was goi g on there other than nuclear waste?
So sanctions…and what ever punishments are put on Russia… surely Putin calculated it, and doesn’t really care?
The best chance we have to end this without military intervention is to ramp up production and become a much larger net exporter of oil and energy to supply to Europe and other such places. You’re right - Putin has baked in all of the sanctions because he knows money will always flow for oil. If we chop his nuts off on that front, he might curl up as the oligarchs cash flow slows indefinitely.
Actually, after the dissolution of the USSR, there were at least two developments leading to the maintenance of NATO in the face of Russia. One was the attraction of the now free and independent states to the prosperity promised by capitalism, which contrasted greatly with their relative poverty under communism. In fact, the new independent states weren't even able to maintain the meagre prosperity they had known prior to the dissolution of the USSR: "In the decades following the end of the Cold War, only five or six of the post-communist states are on a path to joining the wealthy capitalist West while most are falling behind, some to such an extent that it will take over 50 years to catch up to where they were before the end of communism." Dissolution of the Soviet Union - Wikipedia Putin has been spooked by Ukraine's attraction to Western prosperity, encouraged by Washington: "The United States attaches great importance to the success of Ukraine’s transition to a modern democratic state with a flourishing market economy. U.S. policy is centered on realizing and strengthening a democratic, prosperous, and secure Ukraine more closely integrated into Europe and Euro-Atlantic structures." Our Relationship - U.S. Embassy in Ukraine (usembassy.gov) In addition, Russia continued to have elements of an oppressive, totalitarian state, and there were ongoing concerns about security in its shadow: "In seeking to develop a role in the international order after the end of the cold war, Nato realigned towards a crisis management and conflict prevention security function. The alliance agreed in July 1992 to offer to undertake peacekeeping duties on behalf of the United Nations and the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. The North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC) had been established in 1991 with the USSR and former Warsaw Pact countries as members, to enable dialogue and enhance transparency between western and eastern Europe. But many former Warsaw Pact countries wanted a greater level of assurance of their security after the collapse of the Soviet Union, especially Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. These countries duly signed the Visegrad Declaration in February 1991, with the objective of “full involvement in the European … system of security”. The relative security of the eastern European states was challenged during the 1990s due to the attempted October coup in Moscow in 1993, the first Chechen war in 1994 and Russian assistance to the breakaway Republic of Abkhazia in the south Caucasus. The combination of these events increased the perception of vulnerability, particularly in the Baltic states, indicating that Moscow was prepared to act militarily to pursue its security objectives." Ukraine: the history behind Russia's claim that Nato promised not to expand to the east (theconversation.com)
Putin's speech about his invasion tells us how he thinks about Ukraine and the collapse of the USSR: "Moreover, in the course of power struggle within the Communist Party itself, each of the opposing sides, in a bid to expand its support base, started to thoughtlessly incite and encourage nationalist sentiments, manipulating them and promising their potential supporters whatever they wished. Against the backdrop of the superficial and populist rhetoric about democracy and a bright future based either on a market or a planned economy, but amid a true impoverishment of people and widespread shortages, no one among the powers that be was thinking about the inevitable tragic consequences for the country. . . . Even two years before the collapse of the USSR, its fate was actually predetermined. It is now that radicals and nationalists, including and primarily those in Ukraine, are taking credit for having gained independence. As we can see, this is absolutely wrong. The disintegration of our united country was brought about by the historic, strategic mistakes on the part of the Bolshevik leaders and the CPSU leadership, mistakes committed at different times in state-building and in economic and ethnic policies. The collapse of the historical Russia known as the USSR is on their conscience." Address by the President of the Russian Federation • President of Russia (kremlin.ru)
Biden, when asked if he was urging China to help isolate Russia, answered "I am not prepared to comment on that at the moment".
Russia might want to ask themselves why all their neighbors hate them so much that they ran off and joined the big anti-Russian alliance. If the Baltic States, Poland, etc. had been confident that Russia would leave them alone, they wouldn't have felt a need to join NATO. Its quite possible, likely I think, that without joining NATO the Baltics at least would've been swallowed by Russia already.
More Fun Putin Quotes: “People in the eastern regions [of Ukaraine] are talking about federalisation, and Kiev has at long last started talking about de-centralisation. Order in the country can only be restored through dialogue and democratic procedures, rather than with the use of armed force, tanks and aircraft.” “I do not exclude this, but I would like to draw your attention to one absolutely key aspect: In line with international law, only the U.N. Security Council can sanction the use of force against a sovereign state. Any other pretext or method which might be used to justify the use of force against an independent sovereign state is inadmissible and can only be interpreted as an aggression.” “I'm an adult and I know what power means in the modern world. In the modern world, power is mainly defined by such factors as the economy, defence and cultural influence. I believe that in terms of defence, Russia is without any doubt one of the leaders because we are a nuclear power and our nuclear weapons are perhaps the best in the world.” “You can do a lot more with weapons and politeness than just politeness.” “They are constantly trying to drive us into a corner because we have an independent position, because we maintain it and because we tell it like it is and don't engage in hypocrisy. But there is a limit to everything. And with Ukraine, our Western partners have crossed the line, playing the bear and acting irresponsibly and unprofessionally.” “Kiev's attempts to exert economic pressure on Donbas (region of east Ukraine) and disrupt its daily life only aggravates the situation. This is a dead-end track, fraught with a big catastrophe.”
Um, yes... if China stops exporting goods, American shelves will be completely empty as pretty much everything is made in China these days. Please, stop all this democracy and freedom BS. It's never about that. If it were, we would not be manufacturing everything in communist China or have Saudi Arabia as one of our best friends.
Right. What prevent the USA from moving away from their dependency of China goods or authoritarian countries like Saudi Arabia?
And its very close to the border too. Barely in Ukraine really. Not sure there is any ulterior motive involved here.
Why read quotes by volume when we can just review 15+ years of conduct? OR, better still, just look at a map. If I were a Russian leader, I'd want to annex and "reunite" Ukraine too. That's not being a Putin apologist, nor is it defending military aggression. That's just me not being knocked sideways by what any kid 12-and-over can figure out quickly enough playing a friendly game of Risk.
