This is what distinguishes a true world leader from the people we call temporary caretakers, who come for five minutes to show off on the international platform, and then disappear just as quietly. — Putin

The Russian losses at Avdiivka are grim. And yet another "deadline" has been set to secure the Donbas. I don't see how Russia's ability for offensive operations can recover, and yet clearly the calculus is that "more must be taken to make it worth it." — Count Timothy von Icarus

[...] into the EU if [...]

1. Constitutional Court   Good progress
2. Judicial governance    Completed
3. Anti-corruption        Some progress
4. Anti-money laundering  Some progress
5. De-oligarchisation     Some progress
6. Media legislation      Completed
7. National minorities    Some progress

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister, who was also part of the delegation at Sharm el-Sheikh, told the BBC programme that Mr Bush had said: "I have a moral and religious obligation. I must get you a Palestinian state. And I will." — Ewen MacAskill · The Guardian · Oct 7, 2005

What have we done to them? Look at the destroyed houses. Nobody has warned us. We are civilians. What have we done to them? — Hassan Zidane (Store Owner, Gaza)

We reject the practices of killing civilians or abusing them on both sides because they contravene morals, religion and international law. — Mahmoud Abbas · Ali Sawafta, James Mackenzie, Mark Heinrich, Jonathan Oatis · Wafa via Reuters · Oct 12, 2023

[...] we clearly know that captured weapons from Ukraine were still transferred by the Russians to the Hamas group. It is mostly infantry weapons.
There is some information that something was going to Hezbollah, but we don't know for sure at this point.
Everyone could see the video on social networks - a completely, let's say, natural for our region and completely unnatural for the Middle East tactic, when FPV drones were used against armored vehicles.
This is the know-how of our war after all. No one other than people who passed through our theater of war could do such a thing. Since we were not there, it means that it was the Russians.
Two more interesting facts. First: a little more than a week before the start of these actions, the Russian station "Sputnik" began to officially speak in Arabic on the territory of Lebanon. This is broadcast in an absolutely propagandist style with clear Russian narratives.
Second: on September 24, a Russian spacecraft capable of conducting radio-electronic reconnaissance and intercepting satellite signals was moved to Israel's geostationary orbit.
Let me remind you that in the period from September 22 to 24, there was an official visit of the Russian military delegation to Iran. We know that there were several, shall we say, wishes from the Iranian side. One of them concerned the expansion of intelligence capabilities.
It is now clear what intelligence information the Russians began to provide to all interested parties. I emphasize that it is not Iran alone, but all interested parties. — Kyrylo Budanov · Roman Kravets, Nazariy Mazilyuk · Ukrainian Pravda · Oct 12, 2023

After the Cold War, many NATO allies scaled down the number of air defence units to reflect their assessment that they faced only a limited missile threat, from countries such as Iran.

Similar to what's come up before (2022Mar13, 2022Jul21, 2022Oct8, 2022Nov9), suppose that Ukraine had ... ▸ declared neutrality with respect to international military alliance memberships, formally on paper / constitutionally (2022Mar8, 2022Mar9, 2022Mar11); ▸ retained right to self-defense, e.g. from invaders (shouldn't be controversial), including foreign training and/or weaponry as the case may be; ▸ explicitly stated that others respect sovereignty, self-determination, freedom to seek own path (shouldn't be controversial); ▸ actively pursued EU membership, and perhaps sought other such cooperation ... Something along those lines. — Sep 26, 2023

As to the former, now suppose that Ukraine had entered a defense agreement with, say, France, the UK, Luxembourg, Australia, South Korea, Japan, whoever, so that Ukraine had a multinational force (+ gear) present, and those countries had Ukrainian forces present. What might we then have expected from the Kremlin? (Say, anything significantly different from what we're seeing today?) — Oct 6, 2023

The way that you phrased your hypothetical, those other countries would be forming a bloc that would function essentially the same as NATO.
So in that sense it doesn't matter which military bloc or hegemon takes the role of NATO and US respectively, assuming of course there's a credible threat of Russia being kicked out of Ukraine permanently. — Oct 7, 2023

Except it wouldn't. There'd be no NATO expansion involved for example (as linked), but rather a "defense agreement" involving "whoever" (perhaps including China). Okie, so, in this case, we wouldn't expect much difference from the Kremlin from what we're seeing today. (?) — Oct 7, 2023

Yes, slap yourself in the face. You will quickly see cause and effect. Seriously, you are questioning logic itself. — ButyDude

-Einstein — Isaiasb

Albert Einstein's religious views have been widely studied and often misunderstood. Albert Einstein stated "I believe in Spinoza's God". He did not believe in a personal God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings, a view which he described as naïve. He clarified however that, "I am not an atheist", preferring to call himself an agnostic, or a "religious nonbeliever." In other interviews, he has stated that he thinks there is a "lawgiver" who sets the laws of the universe. Einstein also stated he did not believe in life after death, adding "one life is enough for me." He was closely involved in his lifetime with several humanist groups. — Religious and philosophical views of Albert Einstein

If Israel wanted to fully annihilated Palestine, they could, but they don't. On the other hand, if Palestine could annihilate Israel, they would, but they can't. — Hanover

Ukraine’s survival is Taiwan’s survival. Ukraine’s success is Taiwan’s success. — Hsiao Bi-khim

Taiwan has been careful not to weigh in on the U.S. debate about continued funding for Ukraine

not a zero-sum game — Bradley Bowman

↪javi2541997, say what...? — jorndoe

They are free to attempt to get a different type of world. — javi2541997

I'll take the tedious task of ruling with an iron fist. — Nov 30, 2022

not sure what else you expect me to say — Tzeentch

Nazism — Lavrov

Nazism — Zakharova

Things have taken some U-turns. [...] — Oct 13, 2022

The way that you phrased your hypothetical, those other countries would be forming a bloc that would function essentially the same as NATO. [...] — Tzeentch

[...] I also wonder how much of that 5 billion was spent on bribes. :sweat: — Tzeentch

There have been quality elections in Ukraine since 2014, and they might have been hard to digest for the Kremlin. — Oct 5, 2023

If Ukraine's neutral status were threatened in some other way, we might expect the very same behavior from the Kremlin, especially if no meaningful dialogue takes place. — Tzeentch

I never said the Maidan coup was "just a US thing", so I'm not sure what misrepresentation you're talking about. — Tzeentch

A "coup"? :chin: — Oct 6, 2023

Repeatedly calling 2014 just a US thing, ignoring the Ukrainians — like the Putinistas — is repeated misrepresentation. — Oct 6, 2023

The protests were sparked by President Viktor Yanukovych's sudden decision not to sign the European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement, instead choosing closer ties to Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union. Ukraine's parliament had overwhelmingly approved of finalizing the Agreement with the EU, but Russia had put pressure on Ukraine to reject it. The scope of the protests widened, with calls for the resignation of Yanukovych and the Azarov government. Protesters opposed what they saw as widespread government corruption, abuse of power, human rights violations, and the influence of oligarchs. Transparency International named Yanukovych as the top example of corruption in the world. The violent dispersal of protesters on 30 November caused further anger. Euromaidan led to the 2014 Revolution of Dignity. — Euromaidan

There have been quality elections in Ukraine since 2014, and they might have been hard to digest for the Kremlin. — Oct 5, 2023

We have to respond to the constantly growing military-political pressure. I have said more than once that we did not start the so-called “war in Ukraine.” On the contrary, we are trying to finish it. It was not we who organized the coup d’etat in Kyiv in 2014 – a coup d’etat, bloody, unconstitutional. Wherever it happens, we always immediately hear all the world media [mass media], subordinate, first of all, of course, to the Anglo-Saxon world: this is impossible, it is impossible, it is anti-democratic. But here you can. They even named the money, the amount of money that was spent on this coup. Everything is possible.
[...]
The war started by the Kyiv regime with the active, direct support of the West is now in its tenth year, and a special military operation is aimed at stopping it. And it reminds us that unilateral steps, no matter who takes them, will inevitably be met with retaliatory actions. Action, as we know, gives rise to reaction. This is what any responsible state, a sovereign, independent and self-respecting country does.
[...]
Look, you started with Ukraine and asked me whether it is fair that we publicly declare that we are striving for the denazification of the Ukrainian political system. But now we were just discussing the situation that developed in the Canadian parliament, when the President of Ukraine stood and applauded the Nazi who killed Jews, Russians and Poles. — Putin

Unfortunately, we have to admit that our counterparties in the West have lost their sense of reality and have crossed all possible boundaries. In vain. — Putin

Listen, everyone here is informed, literate people. It’s a good idea, excuse the bad manners, to fool the minds of millions of people who perceive reality from the media. — Putin

We have not merely been given the world from our parents, we are also borrowing it from our children. — some African proverb I think

In the face of mounting tensions, Vladimir Putin’s overarching strategic objective is now clear: to dismantle Nato and expose the alliance’s vulnerabilities.

This plan accomplishes three goals: distract the West from Ukraine, strengthen Moscow’s regional standing, and give Putin leverage over Western powers if they want to keep conflict in the region from escalating.

We have repeatedly said before that, according to our forecasts, there will be fatigue in this conflict, growing fatigue in various countries from this completely absurd sponsorship of the Kiev regime, including in the United States. This fatigue will lead to a fragmentation of the political leadership and growth of contradictions. — Dmitry Peskov · Reuters · Oct 2, 2023

An embarrassing moment for Trudeau and the Canadian government. Trudeau, Zelensky, and the Ministers of parliament gave a standing ovation to a Ukrainian WW2 veteran in the House of Commons. It turns out he was an actual Nazi, fought for the SS in Ukraine and everything. You can’t make this stuff up. — NOS4A2