North America and Europe continuing to buy Russian oil and gas, after a decade of blockading our own production, is cause for deep reflection.
If Ukraine can hold out that long. And the sanctions will affect ordinary Russians more than it will affect Putin,
More likely a radioactive poison in Yeltsin's soup.The UK went after Putin’s assets today, grabbing property and bank accounts..
Hope he doesn’t nuke’m for it
On the upside, he has the unqualified support of the shithead wing of the Republican Party. Which is most of it now.I gotta give the Ukraine Pres. credit; he and his family are staying put while this is going on. Meanwhile they're target 1 and 2 for the Russians.
This from a TV comedian.
Better than some politicians, IMO.
As for Putin; he *thought* he'd have this in the bag by now; he doesn't. He *thought* people in Ukraine would side with him; they aren't. He *thought* people in Russia would be good with this; they aren't.
For a man who used to be considered super dangerous, he's even worse now because his 'thought' is going off into wackadoodle land.
On the upside, he has the unqualified support of the shithead wing of the Republican Party. Which is most of it now.
Reports are saying 10,000 mercenaries so far.Which, had this been 20 years ago, people would be outraged by. Now it's "Meh".
Also saw a video that not only had Brit troops in it but also someone that sounded American. Makes me wonder how many out of country combatants will show to fight for Ukraine.
I think it's a little more complex and subtle than that, though I'd immediately agree that "Make Russia Great Again" is certainly part of his thinking. Putin's an old Soviet-era KGB thug, the fall of the USSR--or more honestly, the Russian Empire--in late 1991 was to him probably the greatest catastrophe of the 20th century. But I think a larger factor is NATO's expansion since then. One of the main drivers of Soviet/Russian foreign policy has always been a degree of paranoia, which is one of the reasons it maintained a ring of buffer states between Russia and the NATO countries. But since 1991 many of those states have joined NATO, the buffer is gone and the western alliance is now right up against its western border, which is perceived as a clear and immediate threat. When Ukraine started to make noises about joining the EU and NATO, the paranoia ratcheted up significantly, and whatever Putin's rhetoric, I'd argue that's the main reason for the invasion of Ukraine. Moreover, Putin's not the sort of man who'd want a successful democracy the size of Ukraine right next door, dictators don't like counter examples to their methods like that, so another of his motives might be described as "Making the world safe for autocracy."I think it is clear at this point that Putin's goal is to reassemble the Soviet Union...
Considering the 'breakaway' parts of the Ukraine, I'm wondering if this won't turn out to be a East/West Germany thing in the end.
That may be part of Putin's motivation, but I rather suspect it's more a flame he fans to keep support for his moves up.I think it's a little more complex and subtle than that, though I'd immediately agree that "Make Russia Great Again" is certainly part of his thinking. Putin's an old Soviet-era KGB thug, the fall of the USSR--or more honestly, the Russian Empire--in late 1991 was to him probably the greatest catastrophe of the 20th century. But I think a larger factor is NATO's expansion since then. One of the main drivers of Soviet/Russian foreign policy has always been a degree of paranoia, which is one of the reasons it maintained a ring of buffer states between Russia and the NATO countries. But since 1991 many of those states have joined NATO, the buffer is gone and the western alliance is now right up against its western border, which is perceived as a clear and immediate threat. When Ukraine started to make noises about joining the EU and NATO, the paranoia ratcheted up significantly, and whatever Putin's rhetoric, I'd argue that's the main reason for the invasion of Ukraine. Moreover, Putin's not the sort of man who'd want a successful democracy the size of Ukraine right next door, dictators don't like counter examples to their methods like that, so another of his motives might be described as "Making the world safe for autocracy."
He's throwing up dust. He's actually only slightly worse than anybody else, but only a fool would believe a single word that falls out of his mouth.Pretty much proof of how out to lunch Putin is, he's asking the military to surrender and stop fighting for "Nazi's"...