There is an ongoing historical debate over comments that Western leaders, including Baker, made during post-Cold War negotiations, and whether what they said amounted to assurances that NATO would refrain from welcoming in countries closer to modern-day Russia.
But NATO as an organization made no such pledge, and the formal agreement signed at the end of those negotiations said nothing about the alliance not expanding eastward.
We rate this claim Mostly False. — Politifact
In fact, if you really wanted to wreck Russia, what you would do is invite it into Ukraine and let it try and conquer the whole country and swallow it — Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault The Liberal Delusions That Provoked Putin By John J. Mearsheimer
But at this point, given these political times, anything can happen... — Manuel
Although Putin no doubt has autocratic tendencies, no evidence supports the charge that he is mentally unbalanced. On the contrary: he is a first-class strategist who should be feared and respected by anyone challenging him on foreign policy. — John J. Mearsheimer
Personally, I blame the Australians.
— Olivier5
The Dutch! — jorndoe
Putin did something terrible in invading Ukraine and George W. Bush did something in invading Iraq? Not sure if we are all against invasions in violation of the UN Charter. — FreeEmotion
When this is all over, if it is all over, lets see if we agree lives could have been saved by surrendering early. At the moment Ukraine has the worlds support like it never had before the invasion, so a ceasefire will ensure situation hugely in their favor. I hope Zelenski makes the right choices. — FreeEmotion
Really? What is your source for this? I think it would be frontline news.As far as I've read, they matched Russia's nuclear threat level. — Manuel
When Vladimir V. Putin declared Sunday that he was putting his nuclear forces into “special combat readiness” — a heightened alert status reminiscent of some of the most dangerous moments of the Cold War — President Biden and his aides had a choice.
They could match the move and put American forces on Defcon 3 — known to moviegoers as that moment when the Air Force rolls out bombers, and nuclear silos and submarines are put on high alert. Or the president could largely ignore it, sending out aides to portray Mr. Putin as once again manufacturing a menace, threatening Armageddon for a war he started without provocation.
For now, at least, Mr. Biden chose to de-escalate.
I think that raising the DEFCON level wouldn't and couldn't be done secretly. It simply would have such effects that in our time (and in the US) could hardly be kept secret. Besides, with nukes everything is public posturing. Although I'm very well aware of the scare that Able Archer '83 caused the Soviets.Sadly, President Biden didn't personally inform me of his atomic intentions — Bitter Crank
STOCKHOLM, March 2 (Reuters) - Four Russian fighter jets briefly entered Swedish territory over the Baltic Sea on Wednesday, the Swedish Armed Forces said, sparking a swift condemnation from Sweden's defence minister.
Two Russian SU27 and two SU24 fighter jets briefly entered Swedish airspace east of the Swedish island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, Sweden's Armed Forces said in a statement, adding that Swedish JAS 39 Gripen jets were sent to document the violation.
MOSCOW, March 3 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday he believed some foreign leaders were preparing for war against Russia and that Moscow would press on with its military operation in Ukraine until "the end".
Lavrov also said Russia had no thoughts of nuclear war.
Offering no evidence to back up his remarks in an interview with state television, a week after Russian invaded Ukraine, he also accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, an ethnic Jew, of presiding over "a society where Nazism is flourishing".
STOCKHOLM, March 2 (Reuters) - Four Russian fighter jets briefly entered Swedish territory over the Baltic Sea on Wednesday, the Swedish Armed Forces said, sparking a swift condemnation from Sweden's defence minister.
Two Russian SU27 and two SU24 fighter jets briefly entered Swedish airspace east of the Swedish island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, Sweden's Armed Forces said in a statement, adding that Swedish JAS 39 Gripen jets were sent to document the violation. — ssu
US invasion of Iraq was a farce. It was either a strategy to "fool" the world that an invasion was needed, or just the worst intel operators ever. — Christoffer
The key differences are that US didn't invade to make Iraq into a new state of the US. If anything, they just wanted the oil. — Christoffer
My personal opinion knowing what little I do is that I hope Putin will step back and someone with better diplomatic skills steps into his place and improves the current position of Russia. I think it was a mistake for Ukraine to push to get into NATO even though they had every right to apply NOT that that is any excuse for the actions and rhetoric used by Putin at all. — I like sushi
Ukraine doesn't want to be part of a totalitarian regime. They're not just fighting for their lives, they are fighting for their freedom. For many of them I think that if Russia takes over Ukraine, they would try and leave the country, seek freedom somewhere else.
Everything I can find that hints at Putin's mindset seem to boil down to a total miscalculation of what Ukrainians want. I think he had become so delusional about his own importance, maybe even lied so much he started believing his own lies, that he genuinely thought Ukrainians would want him as their leader. It might be that he has now realized this wasn't the case and, therefore, he doesn't care anymore about civilian lives. So now he's only aiming to claim the land. — Christoffer
This is a good demonstration of the role of intention in interpretation. You see what you want to see. They wanted to invade Iraq, they saw weapons of mass destruction there. — Metaphysician Undercover
I don't think this distinction is valid. They wanted to exercise control over what they perceived as an unruly state, through disposal of its leader. Seems like a very similar situation to me. The tactics differ widely. — Metaphysician Undercover
They picked one hell of an opponent to fight for freedom against. — FreeEmotion
I think NATO is pushing the Ukrainian president on, as a pawn in their hands - his pleas for help were not answered in time. — FreeEmotion
Ask any military strategist (not politician) what the best thing to do in the situation. I am sure it will be to agree to a ceasefire. If not, then I will just accept that. — FreeEmotion
Our President Niinistö going to Washington tomorrow to meet Biden.It's ironic that this happens at the same time as I was writing in here about reasons to join NATO for Sweden and Finland as an act of defense against Russian aggression. Maybe people could understand why nations want to join NATO now instead of pushing the bullshit narrative of the US forcing such things upon us. If these fighter jets had breeched our airspace while we were part of NATO, that would have been a serious matter for Russia that they can't just talk themselves out of. — Christoffer
President of the Republic of Finland Sauli Niinistö will make a working visit to the United States and meet President of the United States Joseph R. Biden in Washington D.C. on Friday, 4 March 2022.
At the meeting, to be held in the White House, the Presidents will discuss Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the effects of the war on the European security order, and bilateral cooperation between Finland and the United States.
In addition to meeting President Biden, President Niinistö’s programme includes meetings with several political actors. The tight travel schedule will cover approximately one day.
:brow:And now, it appears Russia is preparing to increase the brutality of its campaign against Ukraine. * We all have seen the 40-mile-long lethal convoy charging toward Kyiv. President Putin continues to escalate – putting Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert, threatening to invade Finland and Sweden. At every step of the war, Russia has betrayed the United Nations. Russia’s actions go against everything this body stands for.
For the first time (like there), polls say that more Finns are for NATO membership than against. Still many that haven't decided. Russia invading Ukraine finally changed the mood here dramatically. — ssu
I haven't heard that from the Russians. That I would put in the "hyping fear" category. At least now, for the time being. — ssu
Yes, but we don't know if that was an intentional play or if they just had bad intel by bad intel operators. — Christoffer
Those are not the same. Putin wants to redraw borders, Ukraine should be "his". — Christoffer
Bad intel doesn't explain seeing what isn't there. Blurry vision, seeing vague and undistinguishable things, does not account for making those things into something identified and intelligible. — Metaphysician Undercover
I generally ignore people who claim to know the intentions of others, especially when the other is a proven strategist, and strategy is a skill based on keeping one's intentions secret. — Metaphysician Undercover
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