Is Ukraine about to have a war?
you really think that any of Russias neighboring countries are happy with how Russia is currently trying to create its sphere of influence with the exception of Belarus since only thing keeping up the dictatorship there is Russia?
There is no reason for Putin to bully eg Finland, or do you think so?
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
https://www.defensenews.com/global/e...ks-on-ukraine/
Blinken warns Russia ahead of talks on Ukraine
Blinken warns Russia ahead of talks on Ukraine
the germans are doing that themselves.
you really think that any of Russias neighboring countries are happy with how Russia is currently trying to create its sphere of influence with the exception of Belarus since only thing keeping up the dictatorship there is Russia?
There is no reason for Putin to bully eg Finland, or do you think so?
you really think that any of Russias neighboring countries are happy with how Russia is currently trying to create its sphere of influence with the exception of Belarus since only thing keeping up the dictatorship there is Russia?
There is no reason for Putin to bully eg Finland, or do you think so?
reg cuban crisis: US has never placed nukes to Ukraine so it is not very good comparison to Cuban crisis. Actually, the US has quaranteed Ukraines sovereignty if it gives nukes away. Russia did too, but now Russia has conveniently forgotten it and invaded crimea and threatens to invade rest of Ukraine, too.
On top of it Russia is now threatening the rest of its bordering countries too and Putin has said he is ready to re-arm Belarus with nukes.
Dealing with Russia is like lion taming. Show fear and you are dead meat, roar back just as loud and he will back down.
"roar back just as loud and he will back down"
Until he doesn't...................
Until he doesn't...................
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...f-talks-begins
US tells Putin to choose confrontation or dialogue over Ukraine
https://www.politico.eu/article/stol...ia-talks-fail/
Stoltenberg: NATO will be ready if Russia talks fail
US tells Putin to choose confrontation or dialogue over Ukraine
https://www.politico.eu/article/stol...ia-talks-fail/
Stoltenberg: NATO will be ready if Russia talks fail
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Talks about to begin…..
https://www.politico.eu/article/us-e...ukraine-talks/
With Russian guns pointed at Ukraine, West and Moscow dive into talks
What’s on the table — and what’s not
Putin will not discuss his invasion and annexation of Crimea in 2014, which the West still views as a violation of international law that must be reversed. Putin also has never admitted, and won’t concede now, that active-duty Russian military personnel are operating in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, despite ample evidence to the contrary, including a recent Russian court ruling that discussed contracts for supplying food to Russian forces.
The U.S. and its NATO allies, meanwhile, have already said they will not accede to Russia’s demands that the U.S. remove troops and weapons from Eastern European countries that joined the alliance after 1997. They have already rejected a demand for the removal of all U.S. nuclear weapons stationed in Europe, and also flatly ruled out Moscow’s demand for a guarantee that Ukraine and Georgia will never join NATO……
But even as the Russian delegation, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, arrived in Geneva on Sunday afternoon for the first informal meeting — a bilateral discussion with the U.S. — there were signs Moscow was unimpressed by the comments from Washington and not optimistic about the prospect of any deal.
“We are not going there with an outstretched hand, we are going with a clearly formulated task that must be solved on the terms that we have formulated. That’s all,” Ryabkov told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
“If we walk in circles and repeat the same thing, if we do not see the slightest signs of readiness from the other side to take into account our priorities, to react to them in a constructive way, then the dialogue will become pointless,” Ryabkov said.
In Geneva, the U.S. delegation will be led by Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, one of Washington’s most seasoned diplomats and a familiar figure in Moscow. Sherman was the chief negotiator of the Iran nuclear deal under former President Barack Obama, and under former President Bill Clinton, she was the policy coordinator for North Korea and led negotiations with Pyongyang over its nuclear program.
Overall, Russia’s recent litany of requests, put forward last month as a draft “treaty,” would fundamentally rewrite the security architecture of modern Europe. And the far-reaching nature of the document — Kremlin critics would say vastly over-reaching — reflect just how little Putin has to lose in the current round of discussions.
Virtually any concession Putin might be granted would amount to something for nothing for the Russian leader, who has been in power since the end of 1999, and recently oversaw a rewriting of his country’s constitution to allow him to stay in office until 2036……
https://www.politico.eu/article/us-e...ukraine-talks/
With Russian guns pointed at Ukraine, West and Moscow dive into talks
What’s on the table — and what’s not
Putin will not discuss his invasion and annexation of Crimea in 2014, which the West still views as a violation of international law that must be reversed. Putin also has never admitted, and won’t concede now, that active-duty Russian military personnel are operating in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, despite ample evidence to the contrary, including a recent Russian court ruling that discussed contracts for supplying food to Russian forces.
The U.S. and its NATO allies, meanwhile, have already said they will not accede to Russia’s demands that the U.S. remove troops and weapons from Eastern European countries that joined the alliance after 1997. They have already rejected a demand for the removal of all U.S. nuclear weapons stationed in Europe, and also flatly ruled out Moscow’s demand for a guarantee that Ukraine and Georgia will never join NATO……
But even as the Russian delegation, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, arrived in Geneva on Sunday afternoon for the first informal meeting — a bilateral discussion with the U.S. — there were signs Moscow was unimpressed by the comments from Washington and not optimistic about the prospect of any deal.
“We are not going there with an outstretched hand, we are going with a clearly formulated task that must be solved on the terms that we have formulated. That’s all,” Ryabkov told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
“If we walk in circles and repeat the same thing, if we do not see the slightest signs of readiness from the other side to take into account our priorities, to react to them in a constructive way, then the dialogue will become pointless,” Ryabkov said.
In Geneva, the U.S. delegation will be led by Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, one of Washington’s most seasoned diplomats and a familiar figure in Moscow. Sherman was the chief negotiator of the Iran nuclear deal under former President Barack Obama, and under former President Bill Clinton, she was the policy coordinator for North Korea and led negotiations with Pyongyang over its nuclear program.
Overall, Russia’s recent litany of requests, put forward last month as a draft “treaty,” would fundamentally rewrite the security architecture of modern Europe. And the far-reaching nature of the document — Kremlin critics would say vastly over-reaching — reflect just how little Putin has to lose in the current round of discussions.
Virtually any concession Putin might be granted would amount to something for nothing for the Russian leader, who has been in power since the end of 1999, and recently oversaw a rewriting of his country’s constitution to allow him to stay in office until 2036……
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Well, according to Sky, good news and bad news from today’s talks.
Bad, news, no real progress on defusing things. Good news, both the US and Russia agreed a nuclear war would be a bad thing and neither side would use them in a conflict.
Bad, news, no real progress on defusing things. Good news, both the US and Russia agreed a nuclear war would be a bad thing and neither side would use them in a conflict.
This the moment when the US and Europe can't blink. If they do Putin wins and then sets his sights on the Baltic republics, then Poland etc etc.. His end game is to recreate the Warsaw pac
Evertonian
A relatively cheap way to dilute the sanctions. Make the West think you’re preparing for a fight and negotiate a backdown. Hasn’t he played this hand before?🤔
Putin remains in power because he has the support of the Russian elites. They are evil but not stupid. If there are real personal consequences to those elites because of real meaningful sanctions the Ukrainian invasion thing will go away.
The challenge is to make Russia believe that the West is not fooling around. That may well mean short term pain for the EU and especially Germany. Failure to show resolve now, however guarantees long term pain for Europe and the US. The only question is do the Western politicians have the stones to call Putins bluff ?
The challenge is to make Russia believe that the West is not fooling around. That may well mean short term pain for the EU and especially Germany. Failure to show resolve now, however guarantees long term pain for Europe and the US. The only question is do the Western politicians have the stones to call Putins bluff ?
Verbally maybe. Nostalgia. Practically: No way.
He will even not be able to swallow and keep the whole Ukraine permanently. Maybe Donbass/Luhansk. Maybe whole (South-) Eastern Ukraine. Those parts where his supporters are strong/majority. The rest?: Nope.
I'm amazed how everyone out of pure scare inflates Vlad' and his Army so disproportionally. Again: Russian Armed Forces is conventionally about 10-15% of the size of the Warsaw Pac Amred Forces back in the day.
Nuclear is a whole different story. There, Russia and the US are still able to wipe out Mankind. And I'm happy to read that they are seemingly aware of this and seem not to want to pull this joker over Ukraine
He will even not be able to swallow and keep the whole Ukraine permanently. Maybe Donbass/Luhansk. Maybe whole (South-) Eastern Ukraine. Those parts where his supporters are strong/majority. The rest?: Nope.
I'm amazed how everyone out of pure scare inflates Vlad' and his Army so disproportionally. Again: Russian Armed Forces is conventionally about 10-15% of the size of the Warsaw Pac Amred Forces back in the day.
Nuclear is a whole different story. There, Russia and the US are still able to wipe out Mankind. And I'm happy to read that they are seemingly aware of this and seem not to want to pull this joker over Ukraine
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Blunt talk….
https://www.politico.eu/article/russ...ead-end-ahead/
Russia talks buy time for Ukraine but stark disagreements signal dead-end ahead
……With all that as cover, Putin has used the threat of invasion to revisit decades-old grievances about NATO’s eastward expansion, as well as to express genuine fury over the situation in Ukraine, which despite the ongoing war in Donbass has continued to make steady progress in is integration with the EU and shows no sign of turning back to Russia.
The raw anger that the Kremlin still feels over NATO’s presence on its borders — Putin insists that the West broke a promise by allowing former Eastern bloc countries like Poland to join the alliance — was evident in Ryabkov’s remarks in Geneva on Monday.
“We underscore that for us, it’s absolutely mandatory to make sure that Ukraine, never, never ever becomes member of NATO,” he said. “So we would favor a formal replacement — eventually at the forthcoming Madrid summit of NATO — of the Bucharest formula of 2008 that says, Ukraine will become member of NATO, with exactly the wording I mentioned now: Ukraine and Georgia will never ever become member of NATO.”
He continued, “We are fed up with loose talk, half promises, misinterpretation of what happened at different forms of negotiations behind closed doors. We do not trust the other side … We need ironclad, waterproof, bulletproof, legally binding, guarantees — not assurances, not safeguards — guarantees, with all the words — shall, must — everything that should be put in this …. Never, ever becoming a member of NATO. It’s a matter of Russia’s national security.”
Sherman was just as unequivocal in her rejection of the demand. She said the U.S. was willing to negotiate with Russia on missile deployments and on nuclear arms control, as well as to discuss limiting the scope and scale of military exercises, provided such moves were reciprocal.
But she said: “We were firm, however, in pushing back on security proposals that are simply non-starters for the United States. We will not allow anyone to slam closed NATO’s open-door policy, which has always been central to the NATO alliance. We will not forego bilateral cooperation with sovereign states that wish to work with the United States. And we will not make decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine, about Europe without Europe, about NATO without NATO. As we say to our allies and partners, nothing about you, without you.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/russ...ead-end-ahead/
Russia talks buy time for Ukraine but stark disagreements signal dead-end ahead
……With all that as cover, Putin has used the threat of invasion to revisit decades-old grievances about NATO’s eastward expansion, as well as to express genuine fury over the situation in Ukraine, which despite the ongoing war in Donbass has continued to make steady progress in is integration with the EU and shows no sign of turning back to Russia.
The raw anger that the Kremlin still feels over NATO’s presence on its borders — Putin insists that the West broke a promise by allowing former Eastern bloc countries like Poland to join the alliance — was evident in Ryabkov’s remarks in Geneva on Monday.
“We underscore that for us, it’s absolutely mandatory to make sure that Ukraine, never, never ever becomes member of NATO,” he said. “So we would favor a formal replacement — eventually at the forthcoming Madrid summit of NATO — of the Bucharest formula of 2008 that says, Ukraine will become member of NATO, with exactly the wording I mentioned now: Ukraine and Georgia will never ever become member of NATO.”
He continued, “We are fed up with loose talk, half promises, misinterpretation of what happened at different forms of negotiations behind closed doors. We do not trust the other side … We need ironclad, waterproof, bulletproof, legally binding, guarantees — not assurances, not safeguards — guarantees, with all the words — shall, must — everything that should be put in this …. Never, ever becoming a member of NATO. It’s a matter of Russia’s national security.”
Sherman was just as unequivocal in her rejection of the demand. She said the U.S. was willing to negotiate with Russia on missile deployments and on nuclear arms control, as well as to discuss limiting the scope and scale of military exercises, provided such moves were reciprocal.
But she said: “We were firm, however, in pushing back on security proposals that are simply non-starters for the United States. We will not allow anyone to slam closed NATO’s open-door policy, which has always been central to the NATO alliance. We will not forego bilateral cooperation with sovereign states that wish to work with the United States. And we will not make decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine, about Europe without Europe, about NATO without NATO. As we say to our allies and partners, nothing about you, without you.”
"We need ironclad, waterproof, bulletproof, legally binding, guarantees — not assurances, not safeguards — guarantees, with all the words — shall, must — everything that should be put in this …. "
as long as they restore E Ukraine and give the same promises regarding the security of states on their borders.
as long as they restore E Ukraine and give the same promises regarding the security of states on their borders.
They gave "guarantees" before and signed treaties. It's not about paper anymore but about containment.
"We need ironclad, waterproof, bulletproof, legally binding, guarantees — not assurances, not safeguards — guarantees, with all the words — shall, must — everything that should be put in this …. "
as long as they restore E Ukraine and give the same promises regarding the security of states on their borders.
as long as they restore E Ukraine and give the same promises regarding the security of states on their borders.