that NATO expansion isn't a strategic threat because everything Western is totally benign — Benkei
More interesting question is what the Ukrainians will do.What do you think the US will do if Putin uses nukes? — frank
The NATO thing has been done to death... — SophistiCat
It's far more than just a fashion: almost a mandatory opinion, hammered hour after hour, day after day, week after week. — Olivier5
Worth remembering that Ukraine was indeed led to believe that Russia would respect Ukrainian independence and sovereignty in the existing borders it had. — ssu
Point being, nothing you're quoting is remotely new, and so it isn't a very good explanation for the decision to invade. — Count Timothy von Icarus
even if NATO's actions were one of the more relevant factors in the decision to invade, there are obviously multiple other major factors. — Count Timothy von Icarus
nothing you're quoting is remotely new, and so it isn't a very good explanation for the decision to invade. — Count Timothy von Icarus
plenty of other nations still opposed giving membership to Ukraine, so it hardly seemed membership was immanent. — Count Timothy von Icarus
Russia clearly did not take Western aid to Ukraine to date to be a serious threat. They clearly thought all that aid amounted to a small speed bump on their path to a three day route and conquest of Ukraine. — Count Timothy von Icarus
So, you have a military command who clearly doesn't take aid to Ukraine seriously, but then Russia felt it had to invade because Ukrainian's military — Count Timothy von Icarus
...moving its military infrastructure ever closer to the Russian border.
...these past days NATO leadership has been blunt in its statements that they need to accelerate and step up efforts to bring the alliance’s infrastructure closer to Russia’s borders.
Any further expansion of the North Atlantic alliance’s infrastructure or the ongoing efforts to gain a military foothold of the Ukrainian territory are unacceptable for us.
Focused on their own goals, the leading NATO countries are supporting the far-right nationalists and neo-Nazis in Ukraine
First a bloody military operation was waged against Belgrade, without the UN Security Council’s sanction but with combat aircraft and missiles used in the heart of Europe. The bombing of peaceful cities and vital infrastructure went on for several weeks. I have to recall these facts, because some Western colleagues prefer to forget them, and when we mentioned the event, they prefer to avoid speaking about international law, instead emphasising the circumstances which they interpret as they think necessary.
Then came the turn of Iraq, Libya and Syria.
They will undoubtedly try to bring war to Crimea just as they have done in Donbass
in the 1990s and the early 2000s, when the so-called collective West was actively supporting separatism and gangs of mercenaries in southern Russia
Why did Russia invade Ukraine in 2014? The main issue was Ukrainian ties to the EU — Count Timothy von Icarus
one can say with good reason and confidence that the whole so-called Western bloc formed by the United States in its own image and likeness is, in its entirety, the very same “empire of lies.”
Not that NATO is “evil,” but that agreements were made (alas, informal - not that that matters much either way) and quickly broken. Of course Russian propaganda will embellish the point for their own purposes. Doesn’t make it any less relevant. — Xtrix
If Russia uses one tactical nuclear weapon, that actually isn't an existential threat. Then an Ukrainian unit or part of a city is destroyed. If it would be tens or hundreds of tactical nukes, that would be different, and then even the Russians would be nervous about the radiation effects. The Ukrainian army is so large and dispersed in a large country that one nuke doesn't matter so much. It's impact is far more political and psychological as then the Pandora's box has been opened. Never underestimate what kind of issue the media would make of it.What are their alternatives? — frank
I think the sinking of the Moskva and the alleged attacks on Russian towns can result that Putin finally admits this is a war. And he can declare a martial law.The fact that Russian propaganda is feeding this narrative and blowing it out of any sensible proportion is precisely the reason we are talking about it right now. Otherwise, what relevance is there to the idea that Bush once made promises he couldn't keep? It's long been water under the bridge. — Olivier5
Conscription happens normally every year in Russia. With martial law you can call the reserves, those that have already done their conscription service. So basically your pool for potential soldiers jumps to the millions.Maybe but not sure what the advantage would be. Allowing conscription? — Olivier5
Where's the story that Ukraine was making headway with it's anti-corruption drive? — Benkei
The idea is that the use of a tactical nuke would cause enough fear of a strategic exchange to force adversaries to compromise. It's part of a trend towards a more aggressive nuclear posture that Putin's Russia has continually made as it falls further behind its neighbors technologically and militarily. — Count Timothy von Icarus
The fact that Russian propaganda is feeding this narrative and blowing it out of any sensible proportion is precisely the reason we are talking about it right now. Otherwise, what relevance is there to the idea that Bush once made a promise he couldn't keep? It's long been water under the bridge. — Olivier5
With the use of nuclear weapons, I think the obvious response would be widespread condemnation of the act and a global cry for imminent cessation of the hostilities. You would see it everywhere, even on this forum, how shocked people would be...and how they would get over it as the "new reality — ssu
One alternative is that it's only Putin's successors that will make a peace-agreement with Ukraine. — ssu
Since 2010, they have also had an explicit first use policy of "escalate to descalate," which calls for using tactical nuclear weapons if they begin losing a conventional war, and face existential threats. — Count Timothy von Icarus
But I think we can all agree this is an awful situation — and exceedingly dangerous. — Xtrix
But yes, extremely dangerous. Stupid (and criminal) from Russia, the West ain't helping much either. — Manuel
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