The Ukrainians have issued war bonds to help fund them - maybe the west should identify Putins personal cash and use it to buy them
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116 Russian billionaires have lost $126 Billion since 16th February, thatâs some poke and theyâll either what their money back or regime change, more to come as well.
Theyâve grown some balls.
This could be how it ends.
They get their shit together Putin is gone.
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It has to come from within Russia and can not be outside forces, free tv media would be a start.
Free media?TV?
It will be an ice pick in Vladsâ back mate, and some guards walking away with a nice 90m yacht or 5 and a suitcase full of bearer bonds on a Private Jet.
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There needs to a recognition that the only way this ends in a âgoodâ way is if the west can conjure up a solution that allows Putin to âsave faceâ ⊠no easy task.
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Not sure how that happens - what he will demand as a minimum is a neutral federal Ukraine with autonomous regions and those regions having Russian peacekeepers there
I cannot see that happening
This isnât just about Ukraine - China is watching
Currently they are probably thinking Taiwan isnât worth the effort
If the west cave n on this - they might just think it is
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Thread from someone who looks like he has the credentials to know what he is talking about giving his opinion on what went down during the first 96 hours of the Invasion:
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In short, theyâre fucked, totally fucked, they can win this by carpet bombing and using rockets indiscriminately as buildings like they did in Aleppo but do they want to do that to their brothers theyâre trying to convince that they are their friends?
Theyâll also be sanctioned back to the stoneage and will be Chinas lackey for a generation, pointless and the lives lost as well, he is becoming Kim Jong-un very quickly and his long table with his minions all crowded round the bottom with star wars buttons on the tables is something Iâd expect in a Mel Brooks parody.
As were the British volunteers of the International Brigade in the Spanish civil war in the 30s. I doubt very much that you would have been in favour of prosecuting them though.
Unfortunately they did that in the Chechen War and suffered zero long term consequences
Ah, so weâre conflating âpointing something outâ with âwanting to prosecute peopleâ?
Canât help with that, sorry - although with the benefit of hindsight, Iâd probably have told those fighting Franco not to bother.
No Iâm not. I am pointing out that your accusation of the Foreign Secretary encouraging people to break the law is predicated on it being for a cause you do not support, and that you would have made no such charge if the people were going to fight in a cause you would support.
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The Chechen war was an internal dispute so the international community couldnât do anywhere near as much as they can do now, sadly if this continues itâll be the Russian people who also suffer, theyâll have no money, itâll be gone in interest rate raises and even if they do have money they wonât be able to access it or spend it.
The economy of Russia is tiny compared to NATO nations, in fact it probably wouldnât register against them so if Putin thinks he can ride it out he canât on sanctions, the issue is how much pain do you make innocents have and how safe will regime change be, the west could do it quite easily Iâd say (by effectively sanctioning regime change through civil disorder and internal strife)
But what would be the damage be? Would Putin backed into a corner go nuclear?
He has already used the banned thermobaric bomb (vacuum bomb) and cluster bombs in this conflict (used them on his own citizens in Chechnya) so that is the sort of person the west is dealing with.
How far do the west go?
How many casualties can Ukraine sustain?
Putin has lost Ukraine even if he manages to gain and hold the Cities, he wonât elsewhere and he wonât in the minds of Ukrainians as they obviously wonât be subjected so heâll have to do a British style Ireland occupation that used so many forces youâd have to wonder whether it was worth it?
A constant western backed internal war with the best weaponry? The Russians wouldnât win that is for sure and that is what Putin wants (outright victory and dominance) so the only way out of this with this deranged madman is to let have some form of dialogue where he thinks heâs won.
The red lines are Ukrainian sovereignty and the right to join NATO and the EU if when they so want, those lines will not change and rightly so.
These sanctions are unprecedented and also the start, they can close down the country and the only winner would be China as theyâll have a rather large North Korea on their hands.
Stick your thumbs up now you fucking clown.
So those brave people who volunteered to fight Franco, the CASA in Liverpool I donât know if you know but on the wall there are all the names of the brave men from Merseyside who fought and died to fight fascism in Spain, youâd have told them it was a mistake?
Pap you need to learn and respect a bit of history, many scousers and sotonians (memorial in Watts Park) foresaw the future and wanted to help stop the spread of nationalism and fascism.
So the West to enforce a âno-flyâ zone over Ukraine?
How? How does this not result in NATO aircraft firing on Russian aircraft? How is that not taken as a causus belli by Putin?
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I donât think it will but I like to see Johnson slapped round his vacuous chops with a dose of reality.
Personally Iâd like to see him questioned on why his party is awash with Russian money, why he hasnât published the long overdue Russia report and why he hasnât issued more support for refugees but hey ho.
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That is another issue altogether but I suspect everyone can agree to, this is about Russian aggression or more specifically Putinâs aggression towards Ukraine, not corruption within (has to be investigated as they are awash with Russian money and influence) the tory party.