Is Russia about to invade Ukraine? (1 Viewer)

[superchuck500]

Russia continues to mass assets within range of Ukraine - though the official explanations are that they are for various exercises. United States intelligence has noted that Russian operatives in Ukraine could launch 'false flag' operations as a predicate to invasion. The West has pressed for negotiations and on Friday in Geneva, the US Sec. State Blinken will meet with the Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov.

Certainly the Russian movements evidence some plan - but what is it? Some analysts believe that Putin's grand scheme involves securing Western commitments that NATO would never expand beyond its current composition. Whether that means action in Ukraine or merely the movement of pieces on the chess board remains to be seen.

VIENNA — No one expected much progress from this past week’s diplomatic marathon to defuse the security crisis Russia has ignited in Eastern Europe by surrounding Ukraine on three sides with 100,000 troops and then, by the White House’s accounting, sending in saboteurs to create a pretext for invasion.

But as the Biden administration and NATO conduct tabletop simulations about how the next few months could unfold, they are increasingly wary of another set of options for President Vladimir V. Putin, steps that are more far-reaching than simply rolling his troops and armor over Ukraine’s border.

Mr. Putin wants to extend Russia’s sphere of influence to Eastern Europe and secure written commitments that NATO will never again enlarge. If he is frustrated in reaching that goal, some of his aides suggested on the sidelines of the negotiations last week, then he would pursue Russia’s security interests with results that would be felt acutely in Europe and the United States.

There were hints, never quite spelled out, that nuclear weapons could be shifted to places — perhaps not far from the United States coastline — that would reduce warning times after a launch to as little as five minutes, potentially igniting a confrontation with echoes of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Russia Issues Subtle Threats More Far-Reaching Than a Ukraine Invasion

If the West fails to meet its security demands, Moscow could take measures like placing nuclear missiles close to the U.S. coastline, Russian officials have hinted.

www.nytimes.com

Blinken Will Meet With Russia as U.S. Pushes for More Diplomacy

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will meet with Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov of Russia in Geneva on Friday as the United States warns that Russia could soon attack Ukraine.

www.nytimes.com

How to think about war in Ukraine

Start with the Ukrainians

snyder.substack.com

 

[SaintForLife]

Jimmy Cater is the paragon of a president to peace doves. Ok ,maybe you weren't alive for that. Surely, you praised Biden pulling out of the ME? No? Well you at least didn't criticize the democratic administration for ending the forever wars? Oh God, you did.



Edit to add: SFL did someone take over your account during this period? You can't both be the same guy.

You: Props to Biden on pulling out of Afghanistan after 20 years. This is something Obama, and Trump both campaigned on and failed to accomplish.

My reply: It was already announced by Trump that we were leaving. Biden just delayed the withdrawal. But either way we need to get out of Afghanistan.

Biden Tracker

For all the things related to the Biden/Harris Administration and their latest hits and misseshttps://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-suspends-deputy-press-secretary-for-allegedly-sexually-harassing-threatening-reporterInteresting story, looks like 'only the best people' didn't stop with...

madaboutpolitics.com

One can be for getting out of Afghanistan, but also be against the way Biden did it. Leaving all of our equipment, leaving all the Afghanis who helped us there, leaving the Taliban in charge of evacuating the 13 troops that died are legitimate things to criticize.

I'm still the same person. What changed was the Ukraine war and yalls unwavering support for it.

 

[DaveXA]

Jimmy Cater is the paragon of a president to peace doves. Ok ,maybe you weren't alive for that. Surely, you praised Biden pulling out of the ME? No? Well you at least didn't criticize the democratic administration for ending the forever wars? Oh God, you did.



Edit to add: SFL did someone take over your account during this period? You can't both be the same guy.

He'll do whatever his talking points tell him. His posting history is abundantly clear.

 

[J-DONK]

My reply: It was already announced by Trump that we were leaving. Biden just delayed the withdrawal. But either way we need to get out of Afghanistan.

Biden Tracker

For all the things related to the Biden/Harris Administration and their latest hits and misseshttps://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-suspends-deputy-press-secretary-for-allegedly-sexually-harassing-threatening-reporterInteresting story, looks like 'only the best people' didn't stop with...

madaboutpolitics.com

Trump doesn't get credit at all for the withdrawal. He only did it to spite Biden after he lost the election. Try again.

One can be for getting out of Afghanistan, but also be against the way Biden did it. Leaving all of our equipment, leaving all the Afghanis who helped us there, leaving the Taliban in charge of evacuating the 13 troops that died are legitimate things to criticize.

I'm still the same person. What changed was the Ukraine war and yalls unwavering support for it.

This doesn't sound like a peace dove at all. This sounds like a man advocating for a longer occupation to better stabilize the regime, and withdrawal.

Who is this guy? Why is he showing up in this Ukraine thread?

Not very principled SFL.

 

[bird]

You: Props to Biden on pulling out of Afghanistan after 20 years. This is something Obama, and Trump both campaigned on and failed to accomplish.

My reply: It was already announced by Trump that we were leaving. Biden just delayed the withdrawal. But either way we need to get out of Afghanistan.

Biden Tracker

For all the things related to the Biden/Harris Administration and their latest hits and misseshttps://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-suspends-deputy-press-secretary-for-allegedly-sexually-harassing-threatening-reporterInteresting story, looks like 'only the best people' didn't stop with...

madaboutpolitics.com

One can be for getting out of Afghanistan, but also be against the way Biden did it. Leaving all of our equipment, leaving all the Afghanis who helped us there, leaving the Taliban in charge of evacuating the 13 troops that died are legitimate things to criticize.

I'm still the same person. What changed was the Ukraine war and yalls unwavering support for it.

Your rigidity regarding Ukraine is irrelevant to Afghanistan. The two are completely unrelated.

Regarding leaving Afghanistan Trump set the deadline and did nothing to push things along.

“When you’re wounded and lying on Afghanistan’s plains
And the women come out to cut up what remains
Just roll to your rifle
And blow out your brains
And got to your God like a soldier”

Perhaps not a completely accurate quote from Kipling but applicable. We were offered OBL by the disgusting Taliban but chose stupidly. The Middleeast is a mess primarily, imo, due to meddling by the West and Russia in the so-called Great Game and the aftermath of WW1 which we are still feeling the impact of. 1930’s solutions that is isolationism are not applicable to 21st century problems.

 

[SaintForLife]

Oh, how this must pain you to say. It only took some directly calling you out on your hypocrisy with your own post.

You probably feel pretty stupid for not finding that since you did search my posts.

Trump doesn't get credit at all for the withdrawal. He only did it to spite Biden after he lost the election. Try again.

I didn't say Trump should get all the credit. I simply stated that Trump had already announced we were leaving Afghanistan.

This doesn't sound like a peace dove at all. This sounds like a man advocating for a longer occupation to better stabilize the regime, and withdrawal.

Who is this guy? Why is he showing up in this Ukraine thread?

Not very principled SFL.

You are the one who supports all the wars. Do you ever think that's a bad thing?

 

[SaintForLife]

Your rigidity regarding Ukraine is irrelevant to Afghanistan. The two are completely unrelated.

Regarding leaving Afghanistan Trump set the deadline and did nothing to push things along.

“When you’re wounded and lying on Afghanistan’s plains
And the women come out to cut up what remains
Just roll to your rifle
And blow out your brains
And got to your God like a soldier”

Perhaps not a completely accurate quote from Kipling but applicable. We were offered OBL by the disgusting Taliban but chose stupidly. The Middleeast is a mess primarily, imo, due to meddling by the West and Russia in the so-called Great Game and the aftermath of WW1 which we are still feeling the impact of. 1930’s solutions that is isolationism are not applicable to 21st century problems.

Jdonk brought up Afghanistan.

 

[J-DONK]

You probably feel pretty stupid for not finding that since you did search my posts.

I didn't say Trump should get all the credit. I simply stated that Trump had already announced we were leaving Afghanistan.

You are the one who supports all the wars. Do you ever think that's a bad thing?

Oh but you were very much trying to give Trump credit. Why else would you mention it?

Trump gets zero credit. It's easy to "announce" something that will take place long after you are gone. His motives were purely vindictive.

You aren't fooling anyone here dude.

Can we all just take a second to appreciate, that I call SFL out on this, and his first instinct is to try and give Trump the credit for something that happened after he left office.

Thank you for proving my point.

 

[SaintForLife]

Oh but you were very much trying to give Trump credit. Why else would you mention it?

Trump gets zero credit. It's easy to "announce" something that will take place long after you are gone. His motives were purely vindictive.

You aren't fooling anyone here dude.

Can we all just take a second to appreciate, that I call SFL out on this, and his first instinct is to try and give Trump the credit for something that happened after he left office.

Thank you for proving my point.

Lol okay dude. You aren't making the point you think you are. You seem to be okay with supporting every war. You must not worry about all the people who die and are directly affected by war. Must be nice to not have a conscience.

My support of Trump doesn't negate my antiwar stance.

 

[J-DONK]

Lol okay dude. You aren't making the point you think you are. You seem to be okay with supporting every war. You must not worry about all the people who die and are directly affected by war. Must be nice to not have a conscience.

My support of Trump doesn't negate my antiwar stance.

No, I'm making my point extremely clear. You have been, and continue to be a massive hypocrite.

You aren't unique. You know how many conservatives become deficit hawks, peace doves, and border patrol experts every time a Democrat is president?

Pretty much all of you.

 

[SaintForLife]

America wouldn't feel threatened about a DEFENSIVE security pact on our borders. I'm not a history buff, but I'm pretty sure the American-Mexican war ended before the civil war.

THERE WAS NO PLAN TO ADD UKRAINE TO NATO.

If you didn't get all your news from Glenn Greenwald, Tucker Carlson, and RT. You would know this fact. In reality, even in the current climate America is not sure about adding Ukraine to NATO.

U.S. and Germany Push to Delay Ukraine NATO Membership Invite

Ukraine and its Eastern European allies want the invite to come soon, but Washington and Berlin are wary.

foreignpolicy.com

That's how Russia pilled you are, and you come in here expecting serious discussions about your sickle, and hammer fever dreams.

Again, go back to RT, and stop posting this inane crap.

That article was from January.

 

[J-DONK]

That article was from January.

What's the point of this? Do you think Russia started the war over 2 years ago because America in the last 3 months has decided Ukraine can join NATO?

Do you really think Russia invented time travel?

Also stop trying to change the subject, lets keep talking about what a massive hypocrite you are. The "principle position" you have that only shows up under democratic presidents.

 

[UriUT]

 

[Lapaz]

I've been wondering about why we haven't given or used Russia's $300B of frozen assets to fund the war in Ukraine. The attached link has an interesting discussion on why we're hesitating to use Russia's assets.

Russia’s Frozen Assets Present a Policy Dilemma

Appropriating frozen Russian assets to use them for Ukraine’s needs is morally justified and may help Kyiv finance its war needs, but it would also entail risks, and that explains the EU’s hesitancy to follow this path—at least for now.

carnegieendowment.org

I think their assets will be frozen and given to Ukraine if we fail to provide aid, and definitely if Trump wins, because that's when I think the risk of using the frozen the assets will be deemed to outweigh the risk of sitting on the frozen assets. It seems like the risks are exaggerated, and it has to happen, because at some point Russia should be required to pay for all of the damage that they have caused.

 

[J-DONK]

Yeah SFL's brainrot is so bad the dude unironically brings up the Bucharest meeting in 2008. Russia invaded Georgia by August of that same year. I'm sure that's America's fault as well.

 

[UriUT]

I've been wondering about why we haven't given or used Russia's $300B of frozen assets to fund the war in Ukraine. The attached link has an interesting discussion on why we're hesitating to use Russia's assets.

Russia’s Frozen Assets Present a Policy Dilemma

Appropriating frozen Russian assets to use them for Ukraine’s needs is morally justified and may help Kyiv finance its war needs, but it would also entail risks, and that explains the EU’s hesitancy to follow this path—at least for now.

carnegieendowment.org

I think their assets will be frozen and given to Ukraine if we fail to provide aid, and definitely if Trump wins, because that's when I think the risk of using the frozen the assets will be deemed to outweigh the risk of sitting on the frozen assets. It seems like the risks are exaggerated, and it has to happen, because at some point Russia should be required to pay for all of the damage that they have caused.

The us and UK are in favor and are pushing the eu to seize those assets. The fear from the eu is that it may be illegal under their laws and opens their banks to litigation from Russia. I saw the eu had a creative solution to use the interest as a payment and maybe the assets after the war as insurance on reparations. The details I'm unsure of. I'll have to find where I saw that again.

 

[DaveXA]

Yeah SFL's brainrot is so bad the dude unironically brings up the Bucharest meeting in 2008. Russia invaded Georgia by August of that same year. I'm sure that's America's fault as well.

Brainrot...pretty much. He's stuck so much in the past he doesn't know which way is up.

 

[SaintForLife]

No, I'm making my point extremely clear. You have been, and continue to be a massive hypocrite.

You aren't unique. You know how many conservatives become deficit hawks, peace doves, and border patrol experts every time a Democrat is president?

Pretty much all of you.

How does me being antiwar during the Trump presidency work for your narrative about me?

 

[UriUT]

Yeah SFL's brainrot is so bad the dude unironically brings up the Bucharest meeting in 2008. Russia invaded Georgia by August of that same year. I'm sure that's America's fault as well.

Lol yeah. It's a rabbit hole chase.

There is legitimate criticism from yeltsin's foreign minister, lavrov's former boss that the us focused too little on Russia after the soviet union collapse. He asked Bush Sr and Clinton for more aid and investment to stem further economic hardship. His argument was that had the us been more proactive, the improved economic state in Russia may had boosted the liberals standing like himself and the late nemtsov. We didn't help.

At that point, I think our focus was to eliminate the nukes and Chem weapons, then do some victory dance. After the Budapest memorandum, we just didn't put focus in Ukraine. Julia ioffe thinks we didn't cover Ukraine enough until it became apparent that Russia was belligerent to Georgia and the little green men in crimea. Even then, putin was slapped on the wrist. A light tap.