Good on them, FIFA like the IOC have no balls, basically if no one takes part against the drug cheating invaders then theyâll have to exclude them until the invasion ends.
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I realise the whole Iraq precedent, BUT not one country will play against Russia in Qatar.
FIFA risk destroying their bribed WC with this stance, and tbh they are screwed whichever way they turn.
Good
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Iâve spent a good portion of the day watching Professor Mearsheimer videos. What youâve written here is only just about intelligible but itâs also total bullshit.
Yanukovych was offered a deal by the EU and he was offered a much better deal by Russia. So he took the Russian deal. Then the coup happened.
Mearsheimer up until as recently as 15th Feb didnât believe that Putin would full scale invade Ukraine (i.e. beyond Donbass), the downside was/is too great and the reward too little and there seems to be very many other credible people who also didnât forsee this. So far I personally cannot see why Putin has done this and i havenât seen any credible reasoning for it. On the other hand Putin has shown himself in the past to be strategically sound, and he has had so long to consider this course of action I find it unlikely he has taken this course rashly without an achievable end game in sight.
He has claimed that his objective is denazification and demilitarisation of Ukraine and of course to stop Ukraine joining NATO and the EU. So far he hasnât unleashed the full force of what is available to him. Casualties appear to be relatively low along with damage to civilian infrastructure. Is it possible he is going to somehow do exactly what he said he would do and interestingly not bother with the longer term occupation and regime change part that would normally be expected under the circumstances? I.e. is he gonna weed out Azov Batallion, destroy any significant military installations claim Donbass then fuck off to his side of border before giving Ukraine another go at deciding whether they really want to join NATO or not?
Apparently this all went wrong last September when Russia wrote to NATO and US and asked them to progress Minsk II. NATO membership was definite red line but there was negotiation possible on other points. When they got no serious engagement from US this was final straw.
Interestingly Mearsheimer is quite complimentary of Trumpâs intelligence. He notes that Trump correctly viewed the rise of China as a competing global power as the main issue US should be focussing on. Trump wanted to pivot US attention away from Europe and towards China bringing Russia on board as an ally against China. However Trump was prevented from doing this by Congress and instead his administration ended up arming the Ukrainians which has eventually preciptitated this invasion.
Iâm wondering whether Germany has seen that Russiaâs invasion is the last nail in the coffin for US interest in NATO in Europe and are now anticipating that US will now finally pivot towards China leaving Europe to fend for itself. We are now entering a multipolar world with China at one pole allied to Russia and US at the other. EU army coming???
What the fuck are you on about
The far east is always an improvement over Chernobyl
Well he got that rather wrong didnât he?
The Russians will have to look to China now and theyâll become a lapdog for them in 10 years as Europe will be free of the shackles of Gas.
China simply trades far too much with the US for too much ruffling of feathers, Putin has gambled and as it stands he is losing and China is gaining from this.
And the Ukrainian Government is the legitimate Government as its recognised by many as so, why does Putin recognise Lukashenko, why arenât you crying about that?
The far east of Russia, Siberia and the general arse of nowhere, not your arse of nowhere.
But assuming Europe does end up rejecting Russian gas and so Russia ends up selling to China instead, why is it that according to your double standards in the Europe buying gas from Russia scenario, Russia is an oppressor putting shackles on the people itâs selling gas to, whilst in the Russia selling gas to China scenario, Russia becomes a lapdog to the people theyâre selling gas to?
I thought this was about Putin for you, why are you denigrating Russian lands, like a Russophobe?
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This article seems to suggests that claiming Donbas might still not happen if Russia gets Minsk IIi in exchange for walking away:
Concerning Ukraine, there are two possible paths for Russia to take. Which one will be chosen will become apparent in the next days, or possibly hours. The first would be an agreement with the existing Ukrainian government (as publicly demanded by Russia immediately after the invasion) that would guarantee Ukrainian neutrality and the exclusion of Western armaments. Moscow will almost certainly also demand that the Donbas republics, and any other Russian-speaking areas occupied by the Russian army, receive fully autonomous status within a federal Ukraine. Moscow would likely present this to the West as an expanded version of the Minsk II agreement of 2015 on autonomy for the Donbas within Ukraine.
Is she for fucking real?
Well thereâs two options isnât there.
Either people like Truss and Barry know that what they are spouting is nonsense but they do it anyway because thatâs what their job demands and they have few scruples.
Or
They really believe in our obviously flawed democracy and foreign policy.
Truss is actually encouraging people to break the Foreign Enlistment Act of 1870.
To be fair to her, so was I yesterday when trying to goad Bwarky Sanchez into accepting the offer of going to Ukraine to fight.
To be fair to me, Iâm not Foreign Secretary.
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Portsmouth is a shithole as is many parts of the UK, Russians also take the piss and have done for years concerning the east so take your faux upset elsewhere.
Russian policy of selling gas and in turn getting an easy ride has been the case for years Germany as a number one suspect, I know they have a long, shared and varied history and the Germans have seek dialogue and try to understand Moscowâs view but this is beyond, clapping and applauding in the Bundestag after Germany agrees to send arms and raise NATO annual spending to annual 2% GDP is something I think we can agree no one saw.
Because Russia WILL have to sell to China simply to function, China owns Africa and it will basically own Russia in 10 or so years, Russia is a failing state, emigration and an ageing population is massively weakening it and now crippling sanctions that will get worse (China in a few years but that is another story and other reasons).
Putin has massively overstretched and heâs united the international community few ever thought could happen, Germany is now a weapon exporter to his opposites, Germany will now spend 2% GDP to NATO, NATO will no be far far more aggressive and right on Russiaâs borders, Sweden and Finland will be more aggressive in their posturing with Russia concerning NATO membership (I donât think theyâll join but theyâll play that card more often), Ukrainian unity has probably never been higher and Russian dissent is growing throughout the regions and cities and that will grow with the failure of Putins campaign and sanctions.
Putin did this and he did it to his people, no one else, yes there are nuances and yes there are Russian historical concerns but that does not excuse invasion.
If I were in intelligence Iâd be talking to Russian on the periphery of Putins sphere to see whoâll take over and see if the west can repair some damage after this for the Russian people.
Putin did this and this is his crusade.
I have just read some of the opinions and views above before the invasion of Ukraine and I must say they havenât aged very well.
Iâm glad to hear that the monkey in your head shouting âHitler! Hitler! Hitler!â gave you the time and space for some reflection.
Some of the views up there are pure comedy in a black comedic ignorant kind of way, also Putin is acting like Hitler, he is an invading tyrant and most of the World agrees, your defensive shield is its more complicated and nuanced than that, ok was the Iraq invasion more nuanced and complicated?
Were there large, English speaking provinces where people had American accents in Iraq?
Were those provinces getting shelled by the Iraqis?
Is Iraq a bordering state of the United States?
Finally, what were you saying about ignorance?
An invasion is an invasion Pap, geography matters little unless you want to agree with one and disagree with another, what youâre saying is you can only invade your next door neighbour, thats ok, so you agree with Iraqâs Kuwait occupation and invasion?
Good to knowâŠ
Not really Barry. You only have to look at the âinvasionâ of Crimea.
Most of the forces already in place. I think six people died on the day. No partisans.
Not exactly Blitzkrieg, is it?