Is Russia about to invade Ukraine? (8 Viewers)

[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

 

[Lapaz]

As I said earlier, don't blame Trump......blame the American people.

I blame them both, but the buck stops at Trump.

 

[DaveXA]

As I said earlier, don't blame Trump......blame the American people.

While I do agree with you, Trump and his accomplices in office share the blame as well. It's all of the above.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Where’s @TampaJoe at to claim Dems also yell at world leaders in the Oval Office on live TV?

 

[DJ1BigTymer]

The unprecedented scenes in the Oval Office dominated the front pages on Saturday, with the papers united in their horror.

Adjectives including disastrous and vile were used to describe the meeting in which Donald Trump and his vice-president JD Vance openly berated the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The Guardian leads with a quote from Donald Trump: “You are gambling with world war three”, characterising the meeting between the US and Ukrainian presidents as “disastrous”.

In a separate sketch of the furious row, David Smith wrote that “Trump on Friday presided over one of the greatest diplomatic disasters in modern history.”……..

‘A spectacle to horrify the world’: what the papers say about Trump and Vance’s meeting with Zelenskyy

The shocking and unprecedented scenes in the Oval Office dominate UK front pages today, with the papers united in horror

www.theguardian.com

WaPo: Zelensky Booted After Heated Exchange.

 

[Dragon]

WaPo: Zelensky Booted After Heated Exchange.

WP has lost any credibility as a new service... They are 100% supporting Trumps agenda

 

[barbar]

so after reading the posts here and a few articles I finally watched a few of the clips

holy Jesus, how is that even remotely acceptable?! That was beyond embarrassing, beyond humiliating

Sad thing? MAGAworld loved every bit of it. This is exactly what they voted for and wanted. No embarrassment there

Remember when Obama and Biden was in office Trump said the world was laughing at USA?

They weren't, but they laughed at Trump

They aren't laughing now, now they are forking shocked and pissed and we'll see what it leads to

Make note of the date Feb 28th 2025......kids may one day read about it in history class

Same. Saw some headlines and watched about 2 minutes of the video. I couldn't watch any further. Vance and Krasnov are both despicable bullies. They displayed all the classic techniques of habitual abusers. How can anyone on the planet think that was any kind of leadership? Bullying is not leadership.


Anyone who approves of what just happened in the oval office needs to go jump off a bridge.

This is no longer about politics. This is about the fabric of who we are as a nation, what we stand for, and who we stand with. We are watching the fall of very old alliances that have kept us all safe and the rise of several very dangerous dictators who are so clearly in bed together. A new axis of evil is rising and the response from the religious right is "meh."

I just don't get it. The news gets worse every day yet most people don't give 2 craps about it. What happened today is unacceptable and near to treason.

I have been living in Germany long enough to apply for citizenship. It's nothing I ever considered doing but I am looking into it now. I am so embarrassed to be American at the moment.

 

[barbar]

Where’s TampaJoe at to claim Dems also yell at world leaders in the Oval Office on live TV

Don't you know that both sides do this and are equally as bad as the other one? Sarcasm.

 

[DaveXA]

Same. Saw some headlines and watched about 2 minutes of the video. I couldn't watch any further. Vance and Krasnov are both despicable bullies. They displayed all the classic techniques of habitual abusers. How can anyone on the planet think that was any kind of leadership? Bullying is not leadership.


Anyone who approves of what just happened in the oval office needs to go jump off a bridge.

This is no longer about politics. This is about the fabric of who we are as a nation, what we stand for, and who we stand with. We are watching the fall of very old alliances that have kept us all safe and the rise of several very dangerous dictators who are so clearly in bed together. A new axis of evil is rising and the response from the religious right is "meh."

I just don't get it. The news gets worse every day yet most people don't give 2 craps about it. What happened today is unacceptable and near to treason.

I have been living in Germany long enough to apply for citizenship. It's nothing I ever considered doing but I am looking into it now. I am so embarrassed to be American at the moment.

I'm with you. I'm torn on this though. On the one hand, I totally get wanting to leave to the country and calling it quits. On the other hand, I want to fight for the soul of this country. This is supposed to be our home and while it's becoming intolerable if not already there, I'm not ready to give up. Mid-terms could turn the tide some and in 4 years we could possibly return the Capitol to some semblance of sanity. Idk though. I can understand either decision.

 

[DJ1BigTymer]

What this forking moron doesn't get is that he is OUR PRESIDENT and the President is personification of ALL OF US! Not just his MAGA base and Republicans, every single American. His election to office for a 2nd time was a stain that was already a difficult stain to remove and that performance in OUR Oval Office has caused irreparable damage!

 

[Optimus Prime]

What this forking moron doesn't get is that he is OUR PRESIDENT and the President is personification of ALL OF US! Not just his MAGA base and Republicans, every single American. His election to office for a 2nd time was a stain that was already a difficult stain to remove and that performance in OUR Oval Office has caused irreparable damage!

Just watched the HBO doc Stopping the Steal last night

It is truly mind boggling and tragic that this guy not only escaped any consequences for it but was forking re-elected!

The reelection of Donald Trump may (will? absolutely?) go down as one of the most shameful acts this country has ever committed, (and despite what American Exceptionalism says that's not a short list) and one of the hardest to recover from

 

[barbar]

Just watch the HBO doc Stopping the Steal last night

It is truly mind boggling, and tragic that this guy not only escaped any consequences for it but was forking re-elected!

The reelection of Donald Trump may go down as one of the most shameful acts this country has ever committed, and one of the hardest to recover from

It's my personal belief that in 20 years we're all going to find out this was a stolen election.

Remember all those weird results where people voted heavily democratic for local elections and governors but then those same people voted for Donald Trump for president? That never made any sense to me and still doesn't.

No one needs to agree with me here I know that I'm bordering on conspiracy. But look what Elon Musk was able to do with just a couple of months and some computer hackers. President already said that elon's really familiar with the voting machines and that's partially why he won the presidency. I think that was an admission of guilt right in front of all of us. I do not believe we had a free, open, or fair election. And now seeing how he is totally deferring to Putin for everything, All the stuff about Trump being a Russian KGB agent who was recruited in the '80s sounds completely plausible. At this point I think it's actually the most plausible explanation for his current behavior.

I'm not saying I have any proof or any concrete evidence for any of this stuff It's just a gut feeling that everything is NOT on the up and up.

 

[DJ1BigTymer]

It's my personal belief that in 20 years we're all going to find out this was a stolen election.

Remember all those weird results where people voted heavily democratic for local elections and governors but then those same people voted for Donald Trump for president? That never made any sense to me and still doesn't.

No one needs to agree with me here I know that I'm bordering on conspiracy. But look what Elon Musk was able to do with just a couple of months and some computer hackers. President already said that elon's really familiar with the voting machines and that's partially why he won the presidency. I think that was an admission of guilt right in front of all of us. I do not believe we had a free, open, or fair election. And now seeing how he is totally deferring to Putin for everything, All the stuff about Trump being a Russian KGB agent who was recruited in the '80s sounds completely plausible. At this point I think it's actually the most plausible explanation for his current behavior.

I'm not saying I have any proof or any concrete evidence for any of this stuff It's just a gut feeling that everything is NOT on the up and up.

Don't forget about those "mysterious" polling station bomb threats!

Remember, every accusation is a confession, which is why I believe their 2020 accusation was based off the fact that trump tried and failed to steal that election.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Where’s @TampaJoe at to claim Dems also yell at world leaders in the Oval Office on live TV?

and also to say that Kamala would have been just as bad

 

[barbar]

Don't forget about those "mysterious" polling station bomb threats!

Remember, every accusation is a confession, which is why I believe their 2020 accusation was based off the fact that trump tried and failed to steal that election.

Russia, if you are listening...release those emails.

 

[barbar]

Don't forget about those "mysterious" polling station bomb threats!

Remember, every accusation is a confession, which is why I believe their 2020 accusation was based off the fact that trump tried and failed to steal that election.

Also...remember that he spent 2 years telling us the election was rigged against him. With Krasnov, that's an admission since every accusation is a confession. He knew it was rigged because he helped rig it. He just didn't REALLY expect it to work, IMO.