Ukraine still isn't a member of NATO, like Putin demands.
By intensity of hatred, nations create in themselves the characters they imagine in their enemies. Hence it is that all passionate conflicts result in the interchange of characteristics. — George William Russell
Don't become what you hate. — Akiroq Brost
Chilling out for Putin likely means resupplying and rearming his forces. He'll likely at least push for the land corridor to Crimea, so Mariupol has to give. Kyiv? Now that swift regime change is out of the question, perhpas just to bomb it to rubble. As a "negotiating tactic". Kyiv has many of those high rise apartment buildings, so it will likely be in the end just as devastated like the some European city after WW2.Concessions given. Time for Putin to stand down, or at least chill out and head to the talking table? One could hope. — jorndoe
They haven't called in reservists yet (by law, that can only be done in wartime, but then again, "law" is a very flexible thing in Russia), but they are actively recruiting. People are being called up under any pretext and asked to sign a contract. — SophistiCat
Russian Ground Forces consist of only 280 000 troops.
— ssu
That's the number of active duty troops as of 2020 per Wikipedia, but that would include both conscripts and professionals (Russia has both). — SophistiCat
Russian army reserve is not like US army reserve - it is not just a branch of the military that you can join for a few years of service. — SophistiCat
In Russia every man who is qualified for military service is either on active duty or in reserve - up to the age of about 50. So imagine all those men with families, jobs and beer bellies being called up to fight in the "brotherly" nation of Ukraine! — SophistiCat
Only hopeless pacifist blockheads are capable of thinking that the emancipation and unification of the Ukraine can be achieved by peaceful diplomatic means, by referendums, by decisions of the League of Nations, etc. In no way superior to them of course are those “nationalists” who propose to solve the Ukrainian question by entering the service of one imperialism against another. Hitler gave an invaluable lesson to those adventurers by tossing (for how long?) Carpatho-Ukraine to the Hungarians who immediately slaughtered not a few trusting Ukrainians. Insofar as the issue depends upon the military strength of the imperialist states, the victory of one grouping or another can signify only a new dismemberment and a still more brutal subjugation of the Ukrainian people, The program of independence for the Ukraine in the epoch of imperialism is directly and indissolubly bound up with the program of the proletarian revolution. It would be criminal to entertain any illusions on this score.
...The impending war will create a favorable atmosphere for all sorts of adventurers, miracle-hunters and seekers of the golden fleece. These gentlemen, who especially love to warm their hands in the vicinity of the national question, must not be allowed within artillery range of the labor movement. Not the slightest compromise with imperialism, either fascist or democratic!
Boris Johnson is hoping to line up major Saudi investment in British renewable energy on a visit to Riyadh on Wednesday, during which he will urge the desert kingdom to increase oil production to tackle market volatility. But ahead of the trip the UK prime minister was accused by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer of going “cap in hand from dictator to dictator” to beg for help, arguing that Johnson should have put in place a more balanced energy strategy years ago.
Johnson will fly to the Middle East overnight on Tuesday for talks in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in an attempt to convince the two countries to help boost energy supplies and stabilise markets disrupted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The UK announced last week that it would phase out Russian oil imports by the end of the year.
In early 2012, Navalny stated on Ukrainian TV, "Russian foreign policy should be maximally directed at integration with Ukraine and Belarus… In fact, we are one nation. We should enhance integration". During the same broadcast Navalny said "No one wants to make an attempt to limit Ukraine's sovereignty".[403][404]
In October 2014, Navalny said in an interview that despite Crimea being illegally "seized", "the reality is that Crimea is now part of Russia". When asked if he would return Crimea to Ukraine if he became president, he said "Is Crimea some sort of sausage sandwich to be passed back and forth? I don't think so"
In Ukraine now, there are no politicians who do not have extreme anti-Russian positions. Being anti-Russian is the key to success now in Ukraine, and that is our fault". — Wikipedia
↪boethius For what it's worth, the Ukrainian side estimates that the Russians will have exhausted their stock of cannon fodder by end April - early May.
With any luck, Ukraine can save part of their wheat harvest, that should take place in June I think. If the conflict last longer, the harvest will be compromised, with significant repercussions on food prices and possibly famines in a number of food-importing countries. — Olivier5
Even if true about the cannon fodder, which is certainly difficult for us to know, is this leverage Ukraine has on Russia, or leverage Russia has on Ukraine and the entire world? — boethius
↪boethius, the Nazi thing wasn't in Putin's demands (other than used as a pretext/excuse perhaps). Either way, UN peacekeepers ain't up to him to decide, as he apparently thinks, only to go in with his bombs blazing instead. — jorndoe
those governments will therefore soon want the conflict to be resolved one way or another.
The party that can most easily end the conflict is NATO, — boethius
Reminds me of a passage from Marx about how the "liberal" party of UK, whatever it was called at the time, just represents the aristocrats and their fellow rich friends that benefit from economic liberalisation and getting rid of the rest of aristocratic privileges, and they'll never deliver on their "ideals" of freedom and equality and the rest of it; that it's all talk and you'll never see actions no matter their majority in parliament ... it will always be close but "shucks, can't do it". — boethius
Yeah, the world is really in danger of not talking about Putin's crimes. Just a hair's breadth away from that untenable situation. — StreetlightX
Maybe get a better hobby? Have you tried Elden Ring? — StreetlightX
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