Russian Invasion of Ukraine[In Progress]

[DaRude]

It seems that what the west is no willing to do in full, Ukraine is managing to do on its own. "Sanctions" have now been applied by effect of a few drones in the port of Ust-Luga, not far from the Letonian border. The port has suspended all operations with gas and oil.

Also, and it is not longer news but it is there... another Lukoil refinery hit.

...
He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day.

The trick is fighting or running in shackles. If they ain't gonna fight, why waste the upkeep on them. Execute them. You can always sell their remains and make good money off them... as the Zelensky team seems to be doing long time now.

True. Â The Little Green Goblin can 're-hypothecate' his troops and continue his grift until all of his sponsors are broke (or run out of office although as Romania shows us, it isn't going to happen by voting.) Â Much of Ukraine is now owned by Western financial kinkpins like Larry Fink and they have extensive experience with rehypothecation.

Sadly for Fink, the cherry on top of his grift - the creme de la creme - was going to be that 'Ukraine' was to receive multi-trillion dollars in 'reconstruction' funds to rebuild his newly purchased property at Western taxpayer expense. Â Now nobody has much interest in doing so except a handful of WEF 'young global leader' puppets playing prime minister roles in the Collective West countries. Â And their ranks are rapidly shrinking as people finally wake up to their games.

Investing is not giving away. Europe and the US are always looking for the right place to invest. It is usually a win-win, Ukraine gets proper development, has higher level of independence and get to actually vote, employment gets much much better and obviously "the West" as you call some countries have the expectations of a return.

All this is very basic, but we are all going to see the difference... 100 meters from where Ukraine ends, there will lay a devastated unpopulated land where Ruzzia will do... nothing, they first have to re-build their own oil industry for decades to come.

Ah yes, because desperate poor countries selling the only thing they have left, the rights to their resources to multinational corporations, never get exploited. That's why European/US investments in African resources worked so great for Africans? Wondering if there were people convincing Africans how selling their rights to their resources was somehow a win-win for Africa too. Also, then why is EU/US is so against Chinas belt and road initiative? You funny, as usual

Shall we talk about how the Ruzzian multinationals and the Ruzzian pressence in Africa is affecting the countries that DID NOT choose to have them there?

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_BRI(2024)757654

Russia's expanding influence in Africa also plays out through non official channels, such as the use of private military companies (such as the Wagner Group) and information manipulation campaigns. Russia has concluded military cooperation agreements with 43 African countries, and is a major, though declining, arms supplier to Africa. This cooperation is not linked to democratic pledges, and in multiple African countries hit by coups, Russia has continued or strengthened its military cooperation.

So... yeah... the Western capitalism so bad, just takes and does not give... All those multinationals are so terrible but...



How is it that growth arrives when Ruzzia leaves?

lol combined population of those 3 Baltic micro states is like 15% of Ukraine in 2013 And where is Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina etc on the chart?

But clearly on financial field, Russia and US are in different categories. Thus the attempt at financial expansionism via cookies that we're observing now. Thing is, only countries strategically located on the competitors boarder get all the cookies allocated to them, the not important countries the ones away from your competitors are the ones suffering and providing all those cookies. If you're willing to offer yourself to the highest bidder have you considered China? But in any case, if current sphere of influence you're under is not collapsing, it will not want to let you go, and claim national security to keep you in by force. Think of the American backyard, Cuba, Mexico, lol even Greenland

"For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity," -Trump

Plus there are other downsides of becoming a vassal, you're first to be sacrificed when your overlord decides to make itself great, or he can just outright annex you

Trump suggests he could use military force to acquire Panama Canal and Greenland and 'economic force' to annex Canada

I'm not saying that this is right or fair or that i agree with it, just that these are realities of how this world operates. And the point of a good leader is to navigate these waters, and get the most optimal outcome for his people considering such geopolitical restrains. That's why if i was in US's place, I'd also probably try to pry some country into my sphere with soft powers as well, and if i was in Russia's or China's place i'd switch to a field i can compete in with US to keep my bordering countries under my sphere, and if i was a buffer country i'd try to play both sides as much as possible, like Turkey. The only one i don't understand here is Zelenskyy and why he volunteered to suicide his nation in these games for spheres of influence. The only reasons i could think of is, he's either really dumb, or he just doesn't care about his people, and now with Trump in US once he's done with Ukraine, he still has UK to escape to with his family.

[Leadersquada]

You have good battles going on here, Ukraine needs peace, period. Ukraine does not have so many personnel.

[be.open]

You have good battles going on here, Ukraine needs peace, period. Ukraine does not have so many personnel.

Russia's conditions for ending the conflict have not changed - the key ones being the refusal to join NATO and Ukraine's neutral status. But Ukraine needs to think faster, the conflict will soon spread to the Dnipropetrovsk region.

[kotmolodec]

You have good battles going on here, Ukraine needs peace, period. Ukraine does not have so many personnel.

Russia's conditions for ending the conflict have not changed - the key ones being the refusal to join NATO and Ukraine's neutral status. But Ukraine needs to think faster, the conflict will soon spread to the Dnipropetrovsk region.

They definitely won't be accepted into NATO in any case.

[be.open]

You have good battles going on here, Ukraine needs peace, period. Ukraine does not have so many personnel.

Russia's conditions for ending the conflict have not changed - the key ones being the refusal to join NATO and Ukraine's neutral status. But Ukraine needs to think faster, the conflict will soon spread to the Dnipropetrovsk region.

They definitely won't be accepted into NATO in any case.

Yep. All that remains is to accept the objective reality and make the appropriate amendments to the Constitution.

[paxmao]

You have good battles going on here, Ukraine needs peace, period. Ukraine does not have so many personnel.

Russia's conditions for ending the conflict have not changed - the key ones being the refusal to join NATO and Ukraine's neutral status. But Ukraine needs to think faster, the conflict will soon spread to the Dnipropetrovsk region.

They definitely won't be accepted into NATO in any case.

Yep. All that remains is to accept the objective reality and make the appropriate amendments to the Constitution.

Of course, it could be expected from you to say anything different. But why don't we talk about the elephant in the room?

You probably were thinking that Trump was going to hand over Ukraine, and now you have probably realised that it is not only the case, but further more Trump is going to arm twist the Ruzzian economy further into reaching a reasonable peace plan.

And do not get me wrong, it may happen that Ukraine provides some short of written guaranty of not joining NATO - I can provide a paper saying that too if you want... paper is cheap - but who needs to join NATO when 80.000 NATO soldiers will be placed in the border with Ruzzia. Wherever that border ends up being.

After 800,000 Ruzzians dead, billions lost and the stores of vehicles depleted, there is a country called Ukraine, there is clear intent to become a modern free and western leaning country and there will certainly be physical guarantees of safety for them.

Congratulations, you get to keep the wasteland - I mean, possibly.

It seems that what the west is no willing to do in full, Ukraine is managing to do on its own. "Sanctions" have now been applied by effect of a few drones in the port of Ust-Luga, not far from the Letonian border. The port has suspended all operations with gas and oil.

Also, and it is not longer news but it is there... another Lukoil refinery hit.

...
He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day.

The trick is fighting or running in shackles. If they ain't gonna fight, why waste the upkeep on them. Execute them. You can always sell their remains and make good money off them... as the Zelensky team seems to be doing long time now.

True. Â The Little Green Goblin can 're-hypothecate' his troops and continue his grift until all of his sponsors are broke (or run out of office although as Romania shows us, it isn't going to happen by voting.) Â Much of Ukraine is now owned by Western financial kinkpins like Larry Fink and they have extensive experience with rehypothecation.

Sadly for Fink, the cherry on top of his grift - the creme de la creme - was going to be that 'Ukraine' was to receive multi-trillion dollars in 'reconstruction' funds to rebuild his newly purchased property at Western taxpayer expense. Â Now nobody has much interest in doing so except a handful of WEF 'young global leader' puppets playing prime minister roles in the Collective West countries. Â And their ranks are rapidly shrinking as people finally wake up to their games.

Investing is not giving away. Europe and the US are always looking for the right place to invest. It is usually a win-win, Ukraine gets proper development, has higher level of independence and get to actually vote, employment gets much much better and obviously "the West" as you call some countries have the expectations of a return.

All this is very basic, but we are all going to see the difference... 100 meters from where Ukraine ends, there will lay a devastated unpopulated land where Ruzzia will do... nothing, they first have to re-build their own oil industry for decades to come.

Ah yes, because desperate poor countries selling the only thing they have left, the rights to their resources to multinational corporations, never get exploited. That's why European/US investments in African resources worked so great for Africans? Wondering if there were people convincing Africans how selling their rights to their resources was somehow a win-win for Africa too. Also, then why is EU/US is so against Chinas belt and road initiative? You funny, as usual

Shall we talk about how the Ruzzian multinationals and the Ruzzian pressence in Africa is affecting the countries that DID NOT choose to have them there?

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_BRI(2024)757654

Russia's expanding influence in Africa also plays out through non official channels, such as the use of private military companies (such as the Wagner Group) and information manipulation campaigns. Russia has concluded military cooperation agreements with 43 African countries, and is a major, though declining, arms supplier to Africa. This cooperation is not linked to democratic pledges, and in multiple African countries hit by coups, Russia has continued or strengthened its military cooperation.

So... yeah... the Western capitalism so bad, just takes and does not give... All those multinationals are so terrible but...



How is it that growth arrives when Ruzzia leaves?

lol combined population of those 3 Baltic micro states is like 15% of Ukraine in 2013 And where is Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina etc on the chart?

But clearly on financial field, Russia and US are in different categories. Thus the attempt at financial expansionism via cookies that we're observing now.
[... useless propaganda removed...]

Where are those in the chart? I am not sure, they are certainly not in the EU and they are still pro-Ruzzian mostly.

But I can tell you where Croatia, who did join the EU is... (did you conveniently forget that one )

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskBalkans/comments/h7rzwc/what_is_your_opinion_on_this_gdp_per_capita_ppp/

Here, compare also with Romania, also in the EU.

Your fixation with cookies does not let you see a simple reality. Effective Ruzzia and the West play in different leagues.

[be.open]

Of course, it could be expected from you to say anything different. But why don't we talk about the elephant in the room?

You probably were thinking that Trump was going to hand over Ukraine, and now you have probably realised that it is not only the case, but further more Trump is going to arm twist the Ruzzian economy further into reaching a reasonable peace plan.

Trump is a chatterbox and a fascist. But this is not Russia's problem now, but rather Canada, Denmark, Panama, Ukraine and the EU. Trump promised to end this conflict in 24 hours and did not do it. Now Trump wants to end this conflict in 100 days and it is unlikely that anything will happen again if he has not even bothered to call Putin. This is all empty talk, not worthy of interested attention.

[paxmao]

Of course, it could be expected from you to say anything different. But why don't we talk about the elephant in the room?

You probably were thinking that Trump was going to hand over Ukraine, and now you have probably realised that it is not only the case, but further more Trump is going to arm twist the Ruzzian economy further into reaching a reasonable peace plan.

Trump is a chatterbox and a fascist. But this is not Russia's problem now, but rather Canada, Denmark, Panama, Ukraine and the EU. Trump promised to end this conflict in 24 hours and did not do it. Now Trump wants to end this conflict in 100 days and it is unlikely that anything will happen again if he has not even bothered to call Putin. This is all empty talk, not worthy of interested attention.

I am no fan of Trump, and be sure it is everyone's problem  

You are right about one thing there, he makes a lot of noise for every tiny thing he does, but he wants to end the war in Ukraine and he cannot be seen as a weakling, so... expect an inordinate degree of pressure to be on the table.

Biden, in my view, never wanted to really end the war, it would have been very easy to provide the right level of support for that, and not a few bradleys here and there.

[Liliana1304]

I would not really put my money on Trump agreeing to end the war in Russia even though he has the power to do so. Three days ago, Putin agreed to end the war if only the West can stop their partnership of sorts with Ukraine. In Putin's words "Ukraine won't be able to last one month if not for the intervention of the West" and from the looks of it, I don't know who to believe as both are politicians and can say anything just to sway the public.

We all know that Putin had a hidden agenda for invading Ukraine aside from the fact that he believes the West are putting too much interest in Ukraine, trying to get them into NATO and him coming out now to say he would stop his attack seems a little suspicious.
His change of heart is not coming from a place of goodwill but rather because as a result of the war he has lost the influence in the former Russian territories and also, in trying to widen the distance between the Russian border and NATO, he has as a result of the war, brought them close.

[be.open]

Of course, it could be expected from you to say anything different. But why don't we talk about the elephant in the room?

You probably were thinking that Trump was going to hand over Ukraine, and now you have probably realised that it is not only the case, but further more Trump is going to arm twist the Ruzzian economy further into reaching a reasonable peace plan.

Trump is a chatterbox and a fascist. But this is not Russia's problem now, but rather Canada, Denmark, Panama, Ukraine and the EU. Trump promised to end this conflict in 24 hours and did not do it. Now Trump wants to end this conflict in 100 days and it is unlikely that anything will happen again if he has not even bothered to call Putin. This is all empty talk, not worthy of interested attention.

I am no fan of Trump, and be sure it is everyone's problem  

You are right about one thing there, he makes a lot of noise for every tiny thing he does, but he wants to end the war in Ukraine and he cannot be seen as a weakling, so... expect an inordinate degree of pressure to be on the table.

Biden, in my view, never wanted to really end the war, it would have been very easy to provide the right level of support for that, and not a few bradleys here and there.

Trump has nothing to put pressure on Putin with. Well, maybe Trump has something to put pressure on Zelensky with, we'll see.

[paxmao]

Of course, it could be expected from you to say anything different. But why don't we talk about the elephant in the room?

You probably were thinking that Trump was going to hand over Ukraine, and now you have probably realised that it is not only the case, but further more Trump is going to arm twist the Ruzzian economy further into reaching a reasonable peace plan.

Trump is a chatterbox and a fascist. But this is not Russia's problem now, but rather Canada, Denmark, Panama, Ukraine and the EU. Trump promised to end this conflict in 24 hours and did not do it. Now Trump wants to end this conflict in 100 days and it is unlikely that anything will happen again if he has not even bothered to call Putin. This is all empty talk, not worthy of interested attention.

I am no fan of Trump, and be sure it is everyone's problem Â

You are right about one thing there, he makes a lot of noise for every tiny thing he does, but he wants to end the war in Ukraine and he cannot be seen as a weakling, so... expect an inordinate degree of pressure to be on the table.

Biden, in my view, never wanted to really end the war, it would have been very easy to provide the right level of support for that, and not a few bradleys here and there.

Trump has nothing to put pressure on Putin with. Well, maybe Trump has something to put pressure on Zelensky with, we'll see.

You may need glasses, even with 2 minutes of thinking anyone could come up with some ideas...

- What if the aid to Ukraine triples for a year? It would not take much of the US budget to do so.
- What if the US decides that, after all, it is OK for Ukraine to join NATO?
- What if the oil production is increased until barrel at 35 USD? Ruzzia would not be able to finance the war, but not only that, the debt that is hidden all over the privates companies would be at default most likely.
- What if the US decides that Wagner should be expelled from Africa?

If you ask me, this war has not finished yet because the US wants it to continue. From US point of view, you do not always get the chance to destroy the Ruzzian arsenal, damage their economy and harm their diplomacy all that for just a tiny bit of your GDP and without any US human loses whatsoever.

I would say that, again from the US point of view why not making this last another 5 years? It costs them nearly nothing.

[BADecker]

^^^ To end the war, Trump would have to take America off the Fed Banking system

Maybe if Trump dropped the sanctions, Russia would be more interested.

However, Trump is not setting up a meeting date with Putin - Ukrainian Media Outlet Leaks Alleged Trump Plan To End The War

[be.open]

You may need glasses, even with 2 minutes of thinking anyone could come up with some ideas...

- What if the aid to Ukraine triples for a year? It would not take much of the US budget to do so.
- What if the US decides that, after all, it is OK for Ukraine to join NATO?
- What if the oil production is increased until barrel at 35 USD? Ruzzia would not be able to finance the war, but not only that, the debt that is hidden all over the privates companies would be at default most likely.
- What if the US decides that Wagner should be expelled from Africa?

According to legend, when Philip of Macedon approached the walls of Sparta, he sent a message to the Spartans saying: "I have conquered all of Greece, I have the best army in the world. Surrender, because if I take Sparta by force, if I break down its gates, if I batter its walls, I will mercilessly destroy the entire population and raze the city to the ground!" To which the Spartans sent the shortest known answer: "If."

Don't threaten if you can't follow through - it's a sign of weakness.

ps Here is a fresh interview with the new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

We deceived ourselves and convinced others that Ukraine would somehow not only defeat Russia, but push it back to the borders before the annexation of Crimea. And as a result, they have been asking us for the last year and a half to finance a draw. A drawn-out draw that multiplies human suffering. At the same time, Ukraine itself has been thrown back 100 years, its energy infrastructure wiped off the face of the earth.

[BADecker]

Itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout.

Code:

Ukraine shooting at Russia
with drones and missiles.

Down came the rain and washed the spider out.

Code:

Russia uses bigger missiles, drones and 
more bombs to to discipline Ukraine.

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain.

Code:

Some big banking system owner funds Ukraine a
little more $$$ as a temptation to keep on fighting.

Itsy bitsy spider climbs up the spout again.

Code:

Ukraine shooting at Russia
with drones and missiles.

Down came the rain and washed the spider out...

[paxmao]

You may need glasses, even with 2 minutes of thinking anyone could come up with some ideas...

- What if the aid to Ukraine triples for a year? It would not take much of the US budget to do so.
- What if the US decides that, after all, it is OK for Ukraine to join NATO?
- What if the oil production is increased until barrel at 35 USD? Ruzzia would not be able to finance the war, but not only that, the debt that is hidden all over the privates companies would be at default most likely.
- What if the US decides that Wagner should be expelled from Africa?

According to legend, when Philip of Macedon approached the walls of Sparta, he sent a message to the Spartans saying: "I have conquered all of Greece, I have the best army in the world. Surrender, because if I take Sparta by force, if I break down its gates, if I batter its walls, I will mercilessly destroy the entire population and raze the city to the ground!" To which the Spartans sent the shortest known answer: "If."

Don't threaten if you can't follow through - it's a sign of weakness.

ps Here is a fresh interview with the new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

We deceived ourselves and convinced others that Ukraine would somehow not only defeat Russia, but push it back to the borders before the annexation of Crimea. And as a result, they have been asking us for the last year and a half to finance a draw. A drawn-out draw that multiplies human suffering. At the same time, Ukraine itself has been thrown back 100 years, its energy infrastructure wiped off the face of the earth.

Of course, he is not going to say that the previous administration did anything good. But words are wind, while facts are facts.

It is truem they US has been financing a draw. It has been very useful for the US, decapitalise and reduce the means of the Ruzzian army, get many people they do not care about killed ....

The point is that it may very well happen that the new administration follows up in that line and eventually does not longer finance a draw, but does finance a lasting peace. There is only one winner in all this.

[DaRude]

...
Your fixation with cookies does not let you see a simple reality. Effective Ruzzia and the West play in different leagues.

You can replace cookies with "financial expansionism", if you wish. As i previously said, yes i agree, on a financial plain, "west" and RU are clearly in different leagues. And that's exactly the reason why US started to play on this field, to leverage it's advantage, and exactly the reason why RU decided to switch plains to the one it's more level on (military). Everyone was well aware of RU's red lines and were fully aware that RU wouldn't play on the field where it's guaranteed to loose from the start. RU even demanded written response to their security demands before this all started which i fully expect them to publish once this is over. Knowing all this, why Zelenskyy still volunteered to sacrifice his people is beyond me

Of course, it could be expected from you to say anything different. But why don't we talk about the elephant in the room?

You probably were thinking that Trump was going to hand over Ukraine, and now you have probably realised that it is not only the case, but further more Trump is going to arm twist the Ruzzian economy further into reaching a reasonable peace plan.

Trump is a chatterbox and a fascist. But this is not Russia's problem now, but rather Canada, Denmark, Panama, Ukraine and the EU. Trump promised to end this conflict in 24 hours and did not do it. Now Trump wants to end this conflict in 100 days and it is unlikely that anything will happen again if he has not even bothered to call Putin. This is all empty talk, not worthy of interested attention.

I am no fan of Trump, and be sure it is everyone's problem Â

You are right about one thing there, he makes a lot of noise for every tiny thing he does, but he wants to end the war in Ukraine and he cannot be seen as a weakling, so... expect an inordinate degree of pressure to be on the table.

Biden, in my view, never wanted to really end the war, it would have been very easy to provide the right level of support for that, and not a few bradleys here and there.

Trump has nothing to put pressure on Putin with. Well, maybe Trump has something to put pressure on Zelensky with, we'll see.

You may need glasses, even with 2 minutes of thinking anyone could come up with some ideas...

- What if the aid to Ukraine triples for a year? It would not take much of the US budget to do so.
- What if the US decides that, after all, it is OK for Ukraine to join NATO?
- What if the oil production is increased until barrel at 35 USD? Ruzzia would not be able to finance the war, but not only that, the debt that is hidden all over the privates companies would be at default most likely.
- What if the US decides that Wagner should be expelled from Africa?

If you ask me, this war has not finished yet because the US wants it to continue. From US point of view, you do not always get the chance to destroy the Ruzzian arsenal, damage their economy and harm their diplomacy all that for just a tiny bit of your GDP and without any US human loses whatsoever.

I would say that, again from the US point of view why not making this last another 5 years? It costs them nearly nothing.

We can discuss what if it's aliens, but i think it'd would be of benefit to all to discuss probable outcomes.

We all see what Ukraine was able to achieve with the previous level of support. Naturally, to change the current trend, the support must not only continue but it needs to be increased, and as you've pointed out, exponentially. So far, there is not even a discussion of sending any more aid from US instead US even froze the current aid it already promised to deliver. EU is posturing as if they can compensate the missing US aid but i believe everyone knows that's just laughable. Sanctions are also in the same boat, not even hint of new sanctions from Trump on Russia but instead we do have this Trump vows to launch trade war on EU “The European Union has treated us so terribly,” U.S. president complains, as Canada and Mexico get nailed with blitz of tariffs.

US cannot do that because Ukraine simply doesn't have human resources to last 5 years. Sure Ukraine can be pressured to mobilize 18yr old kids now, but how effective do you expect them to be and how long will they last, it'll probably just buy Ukraine another year tops and they'll be in even worse position than now, and then what? Total collapse will cause even more resentment against US and will have ripple effects in EU which it might not be able to survive, look at the already appeared cracks Orban, Fico, Vucic, AfD... Once again, there's no free lunch.

[paxmao]

...
Your fixation with cookies does not let you see a simple reality. Effective Ruzzia and the West play in different leagues.

You can replace cookies with "financial expansionism", if you wish. As i previously said, yes i agree, on a financial plain, "west" and RU are clearly in different leagues. And that's exactly the reason why US started to play on this field, to leverage it's advantage, and exactly the reason why RU decided to switch plains to the one it's more level on (military). Everyone was well aware of RU's red lines and were fully aware that RU wouldn't play on the field where it's guaranteed to loose from the start. RU even demanded written response to their security demands before this all started which i fully expect them to publish once this is over. Knowing all this, why Zelenskyy still volunteered to sacrifice his people is beyond me

Of course, it could be expected from you to say anything different. But why don't we talk about the elephant in the room?

You probably were thinking that Trump was going to hand over Ukraine, and now you have probably realised that it is not only the case, but further more Trump is going to arm twist the Ruzzian economy further into reaching a reasonable peace plan.

Trump is a chatterbox and a fascist. But this is not Russia's problem now, but rather Canada, Denmark, Panama, Ukraine and the EU. Trump promised to end this conflict in 24 hours and did not do it. Now Trump wants to end this conflict in 100 days and it is unlikely that anything will happen again if he has not even bothered to call Putin. This is all empty talk, not worthy of interested attention.

I am no fan of Trump, and be sure it is everyone's problem Â

You are right about one thing there, he makes a lot of noise for every tiny thing he does, but he wants to end the war in Ukraine and he cannot be seen as a weakling, so... expect an inordinate degree of pressure to be on the table.

Biden, in my view, never wanted to really end the war, it would have been very easy to provide the right level of support for that, and not a few bradleys here and there.

Trump has nothing to put pressure on Putin with. Well, maybe Trump has something to put pressure on Zelensky with, we'll see.

You may need glasses, even with 2 minutes of thinking anyone could come up with some ideas...

- What if the aid to Ukraine triples for a year? It would not take much of the US budget to do so.
- What if the US decides that, after all, it is OK for Ukraine to join NATO?
- What if the oil production is increased until barrel at 35 USD? Ruzzia would not be able to finance the war, but not only that, the debt that is hidden all over the privates companies would be at default most likely.
- What if the US decides that Wagner should be expelled from Africa?

If you ask me, this war has not finished yet because the US wants it to continue. From US point of view, you do not always get the chance to destroy the Ruzzian arsenal, damage their economy and harm their diplomacy all that for just a tiny bit of your GDP and without any US human loses whatsoever.

I would say that, again from the US point of view why not making this last another 5 years? It costs them nearly nothing.

[...]
We can discuss what if it's aliens, but i think it'd would be of benefit to all to discuss probable outcomes.

We all see what Ukraine was able to achieve with the previous level of support. Naturally, to change the current trend, the support must not only continue but it needs to be increased, and as you've pointed out, exponentially. So far, there is not even a discussion of sending any more aid from US instead US even froze the current aid it already promised to deliver. EU is posturing as if they can compensate the missing US aid but i believe everyone knows that's just laughable. Sanctions are also in the same boat, not even hint of new sanctions from Trump on Russia but instead we do have this Trump vows to launch trade war on EU “The European Union has treated us so terribly,” U.S. president complains, as Canada and Mexico get nailed with blitz of tariffs.

US cannot do that because Ukraine simply doesn't have human resources to last 5 years. Sure Ukraine can be pressured to mobilize 18yr old kids now, but how effective do you expect them to be and how long will they last, it'll probably just buy Ukraine another year tops and they'll be in even worse position than now, and then what? Total collapse will cause even more resentment against US and will have ripple effects in EU which it might not be able to survive, look at the already appeared cracks Orban, Fico, Vucic, AfD... Once again, there's no free lunch.

Nice cherry picking job, your specialty as usual.

But all the what ifs that I wrote about are on the table. Ukraine has been able to withstand and let Ruzzia burn people and lots of vehicles, nearly 10.000 military units according to some decent sources. The Ruzzian economy has suffered, and after 3 years it will not be able to cope with serious pressure.

The fact remains that, if the US chooses to put pressure by sending more aid to Ukraine or pressing just even a bit on the oil exports, Ruzzia will start making plenty of goodwill gestures. And this IS a realistic scenario, and it would imply Ruzzia no longer to claim that at least  is "advancing". Wheter you choose to post pictures and ignore what is happening is irrelevant, anyone can see what is happening in terms of what Putin is saying and what Marco Rubio is saying.

Probable outcome? Ruzzia will not recognise Ukraine, but there will be on-the-ground "guarantees" to keep Ukraine as independent country. That is the outcome.

The only question remaining is how long does the US have to strangle the Ruzzian economy before Putin realises that he has failed in taking Ukraine.

Orban a crack  Orban is in Putins pocket but he means nothing, is everyones elses favourite joke. You know what is a crack? The Ruzzian fleet sailing out of Syria.

RE "financial expansionism", some countries out there would be gladly join the queue to have some "financial expansionism" if given the chance.

[DaRude]

...
Your fixation with cookies does not let you see a simple reality. Effective Ruzzia and the West play in different leagues.

You can replace cookies with "financial expansionism", if you wish. As i previously said, yes i agree, on a financial plain, "west" and RU are clearly in different leagues. And that's exactly the reason why US started to play on this field, to leverage it's advantage, and exactly the reason why RU decided to switch plains to the one it's more level on (military). Everyone was well aware of RU's red lines and were fully aware that RU wouldn't play on the field where it's guaranteed to loose from the start. RU even demanded written response to their security demands before this all started which i fully expect them to publish once this is over. Knowing all this, why Zelenskyy still volunteered to sacrifice his people is beyond me

Of course, it could be expected from you to say anything different. But why don't we talk about the elephant in the room?

You probably were thinking that Trump was going to hand over Ukraine, and now you have probably realised that it is not only the case, but further more Trump is going to arm twist the Ruzzian economy further into reaching a reasonable peace plan.

Trump is a chatterbox and a fascist. But this is not Russia's problem now, but rather Canada, Denmark, Panama, Ukraine and the EU. Trump promised to end this conflict in 24 hours and did not do it. Now Trump wants to end this conflict in 100 days and it is unlikely that anything will happen again if he has not even bothered to call Putin. This is all empty talk, not worthy of interested attention.

I am no fan of Trump, and be sure it is everyone's problem Â

You are right about one thing there, he makes a lot of noise for every tiny thing he does, but he wants to end the war in Ukraine and he cannot be seen as a weakling, so... expect an inordinate degree of pressure to be on the table.

Biden, in my view, never wanted to really end the war, it would have been very easy to provide the right level of support for that, and not a few bradleys here and there.

Trump has nothing to put pressure on Putin with. Well, maybe Trump has something to put pressure on Zelensky with, we'll see.

You may need glasses, even with 2 minutes of thinking anyone could come up with some ideas...

- What if the aid to Ukraine triples for a year? It would not take much of the US budget to do so.
- What if the US decides that, after all, it is OK for Ukraine to join NATO?
- What if the oil production is increased until barrel at 35 USD? Ruzzia would not be able to finance the war, but not only that, the debt that is hidden all over the privates companies would be at default most likely.
- What if the US decides that Wagner should be expelled from Africa?

If you ask me, this war has not finished yet because the US wants it to continue. From US point of view, you do not always get the chance to destroy the Ruzzian arsenal, damage their economy and harm their diplomacy all that for just a tiny bit of your GDP and without any US human loses whatsoever.

I would say that, again from the US point of view why not making this last another 5 years? It costs them nearly nothing.

[...]
We can discuss what if it's aliens, but i think it'd would be of benefit to all to discuss probable outcomes.

We all see what Ukraine was able to achieve with the previous level of support. Naturally, to change the current trend, the support must not only continue but it needs to be increased, and as you've pointed out, exponentially. So far, there is not even a discussion of sending any more aid from US instead US even froze the current aid it already promised to deliver. EU is posturing as if they can compensate the missing US aid but i believe everyone knows that's just laughable. Sanctions are also in the same boat, not even hint of new sanctions from Trump on Russia but instead we do have this Trump vows to launch trade war on EU “The European Union has treated us so terribly,” U.S. president complains, as Canada and Mexico get nailed with blitz of tariffs.

US cannot do that because Ukraine simply doesn't have human resources to last 5 years. Sure Ukraine can be pressured to mobilize 18yr old kids now, but how effective do you expect them to be and how long will they last, it'll probably just buy Ukraine another year tops and they'll be in even worse position than now, and then what? Total collapse will cause even more resentment against US and will have ripple effects in EU which it might not be able to survive, look at the already appeared cracks Orban, Fico, Vucic, AfD... Once again, there's no free lunch.

Nice cherry picking job, your specialty as usual.

But all the what ifs that I wrote about are on the table. Ukraine has been able to withstand and let Ruzzia burn people and lots of vehicles, nearly 10.000 military units according to some decent sources. The Ruzzian economy has suffered, and after 3 years it will not be able to cope with serious pressure.

The fact remains that, if the US chooses to put pressure by sending more aid to Ukraine or pressing just even a bit on the oil exports, Ruzzia will start making plenty of goodwill gestures. And this IS a realistic scenario, and it would imply Ruzzia no longer to claim that at least  is "advancing". Wheter you choose to post pictures and ignore what is happening is irrelevant, anyone can see what is happening in terms of what Putin is saying and what Marco Rubio is saying.

Probable outcome? Ruzzia will not recognise Ukraine, but there will be on-the-ground "guarantees" to keep Ukraine as independent country. That is the outcome.

The only question remaining is how long does the US have to strangle the Ruzzian economy before Putin realises that he has failed in taking Ukraine.

Orban a crack  Orban is in Putins pocket but he means nothing, is everyones elses favourite joke. You know what is a crack? The Ruzzian fleet sailing out of Syria.

RE "financial expansionism", some countries out there would be gladly join the queue to have some "financial expansionism" if given the chance.

Current US aid to UA is frozen, Trump talks about starting a trade war with EU, support for more aid to UA in US and EU is at the all time low, and you talk about scenarios where current republican US congress approves and then Trump signs and starts to send even more aid to Ukraine than Biden?   i'm sure that'll happen, any second now, keep believing, just don't hold your breath.

Sure, no NATO, neutral status, minimal military, Russian language gets official status and RU orthodox church, protected in the new UA constitution, no LGBT, new UA government (Z looses), and Russia keeps it's land, and we can get some UN peace keepers there. Pretty sure that's all that Russia asked for from the begging, minus the new territories. Then what was the point of spilling so much blood? This will be an easy sell for Putin, but will Z be able to somehow sell it as a win to Ukrainians or will they run him out to London with pitchforks?

This is what Trump just did to it's closest ally Canada where they were clapping for that Ukrainian Nazi

Even as Canada’s prime minister announced more than $100 billion in retaliatory tariffs, he made clear that he was imposing them reluctantly.
...
“We don’t want to be here,” Mr. Trudeau said in a somber televised address from Ottawa that evoked the deep bonds between the two neighbors and close trading partners. “We didn’t ask for this.”
...
Mr. Trudeau addressed Americans directly, saying that the U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods would harm them, too.
...
Mr. Trudeau is a lame-duck leader at a crucial moment. He has said that he will resign as prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party when his party chooses a new leader, and automatically prime minister, in March. But experts believe the tariffs that take effect on Tuesday will tip the country into a recession, putting hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk.
...
But he also focused on the historically close ties between Canada and the U.S., including military cooperation in two world wars as well as the Korean War and the war in Afghanistan. “From the beaches of Normandy to the mountains of the Korean Peninsula, from the fields of Flanders to the streets of Kandahar, we have fought and died alongside you during your darkest hours,” he said.

Looks like Trump doesn't care and is just retaliating against everyone that didn't support him, or supported Biden more.

Yeah Cuba wanted to take a piece of that "financial expansionism", don't think it turned out well for them either, but Z still decided to try

Edit:
Trump is already sending signs to Ukraine

U.S. wants Ukraine to hold elections following a ceasefire, says Trump envoy
...
Keith Kellogg, Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, said in an interview that Ukrainian presidential and parliamentary elections, suspended during the war with Russia, "need to be done".
...
"Most democratic nations have elections in their time of war. I think it is important they do so," Kellogg said. "I think it is good for democracy. That's the beauty of a solid democracy, you have more than one person potentially running."
...
His opponents are also encouraged by the barrage of criticism Mr. Trump and his aides have aimed at Mr. Zelensky.

Yep Trump is about to send so much aid to Zelenskyy he won't be able to handle it  

[paxmao]

...
Your fixation with cookies does not let you see a simple reality. Effective Ruzzia and the West play in different leagues.

You can replace cookies with "financial expansionism", if you wish. As i previously said, yes i agree, on a financial plain, "west" and RU are clearly in different leagues. And that's exactly the reason why US started to play on this field, to leverage it's advantage, and exactly the reason why RU decided to switch plains to the one it's more level on (military). Everyone was well aware of RU's red lines and were fully aware that RU wouldn't play on the field where it's guaranteed to loose from the start. RU even demanded written response to their security demands before this all started which i fully expect them to publish once this is over. Knowing all this, why Zelenskyy still volunteered to sacrifice his people is beyond me

Of course, it could be expected from you to say anything different. But why don't we talk about the elephant in the room?

You probably were thinking that Trump was going to hand over Ukraine, and now you have probably realised that it is not only the case, but further more Trump is going to arm twist the Ruzzian economy further into reaching a reasonable peace plan.

Trump is a chatterbox and a fascist. But this is not Russia's problem now, but rather Canada, Denmark, Panama, Ukraine and the EU. Trump promised to end this conflict in 24 hours and did not do it. Now Trump wants to end this conflict in 100 days and it is unlikely that anything will happen again if he has not even bothered to call Putin. This is all empty talk, not worthy of interested attention.

I am no fan of Trump, and be sure it is everyone's problem Â

You are right about one thing there, he makes a lot of noise for every tiny thing he does, but he wants to end the war in Ukraine and he cannot be seen as a weakling, so... expect an inordinate degree of pressure to be on the table.

Biden, in my view, never wanted to really end the war, it would have been very easy to provide the right level of support for that, and not a few bradleys here and there.

Trump has nothing to put pressure on Putin with. Well, maybe Trump has something to put pressure on Zelensky with, we'll see.

You may need glasses, even with 2 minutes of thinking anyone could come up with some ideas...

- What if the aid to Ukraine triples for a year? It would not take much of the US budget to do so.
- What if the US decides that, after all, it is OK for Ukraine to join NATO?
- What if the oil production is increased until barrel at 35 USD? Ruzzia would not be able to finance the war, but not only that, the debt that is hidden all over the privates companies would be at default most likely.
- What if the US decides that Wagner should be expelled from Africa?

If you ask me, this war has not finished yet because the US wants it to continue. From US point of view, you do not always get the chance to destroy the Ruzzian arsenal, damage their economy and harm their diplomacy all that for just a tiny bit of your GDP and without any US human loses whatsoever.

I would say that, again from the US point of view why not making this last another 5 years? It costs them nearly nothing.

[...]
We can discuss what if it's aliens, but i think it'd would be of benefit to all to discuss probable outcomes.

We all see what Ukraine was able to achieve with the previous level of support. Naturally, to change the current trend, the support must not only continue but it needs to be increased, and as you've pointed out, exponentially. So far, there is not even a discussion of sending any more aid from US instead US even froze the current aid it already promised to deliver. EU is posturing as if they can compensate the missing US aid but i believe everyone knows that's just laughable. Sanctions are also in the same boat, not even hint of new sanctions from Trump on Russia but instead we do have this Trump vows to launch trade war on EU “The European Union has treated us so terribly,” U.S. president complains, as Canada and Mexico get nailed with blitz of tariffs.

US cannot do that because Ukraine simply doesn't have human resources to last 5 years. Sure Ukraine can be pressured to mobilize 18yr old kids now, but how effective do you expect them to be and how long will they last, it'll probably just buy Ukraine another year tops and they'll be in even worse position than now, and then what? Total collapse will cause even more resentment against US and will have ripple effects in EU which it might not be able to survive, look at the already appeared cracks Orban, Fico, Vucic, AfD... Once again, there's no free lunch.

Nice cherry picking job, your specialty as usual.

But all the what ifs that I wrote about are on the table. Ukraine has been able to withstand and let Ruzzia burn people and lots of vehicles, nearly 10.000 military units according to some decent sources. The Ruzzian economy has suffered, and after 3 years it will not be able to cope with serious pressure.

The fact remains that, if the US chooses to put pressure by sending more aid to Ukraine or pressing just even a bit on the oil exports, Ruzzia will start making plenty of goodwill gestures. And this IS a realistic scenario, and it would imply Ruzzia no longer to claim that at least  is "advancing". Wheter you choose to post pictures and ignore what is happening is irrelevant, anyone can see what is happening in terms of what Putin is saying and what Marco Rubio is saying.

Probable outcome? Ruzzia will not recognise Ukraine, but there will be on-the-ground "guarantees" to keep Ukraine as independent country. That is the outcome.

The only question remaining is how long does the US have to strangle the Ruzzian economy before Putin realises that he has failed in taking Ukraine.

Orban a crack  Orban is in Putins pocket but he means nothing, is everyones elses favourite joke. You know what is a crack? The Ruzzian fleet sailing out of Syria.

RE "financial expansionism", some countries out there would be gladly join the queue to have some "financial expansionism" if given the chance.

Current US aid to UA is frozen, Trump talks about starting a trade war with EU, support for more aid to UA in US and EU is at the all time low, and you talk about scenarios where current republican US congress approves and then Trump signs and starts to send even more aid to Ukraine than Biden? Â i'm sure that'll happen, any second now, keep believing, just don't hold your breath.

Sure, no NATO, neutral status, minimal military, Russian language gets official status and RU orthodox church, protected in the new UA constitution, no LGBT, new UA government (Z looses), and Russia keeps it's land, and we can get some UN peace keepers there. Pretty sure that's all that Russia asked for from the begging, minus the new territories. Then what was the point of spilling so much blood? This will be an easy sell for Putin, but will Z be able to somehow sell it as a win to Ukrainians or will they run him out to London with pitchforks?

This is what Trump just did to it's closest ally Canada where they were clapping for that Ukrainian Nazi

Even as Canada’s prime minister announced more than $100 billion in retaliatory tariffs, he made clear that he was imposing them reluctantly.
...
“We don’t want to be here,” Mr. Trudeau said in a somber televised address from Ottawa that evoked the deep bonds between the two neighbors and close trading partners. “We didn’t ask for this.”
...
Mr. Trudeau addressed Americans directly, saying that the U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods would harm them, too.
...
Mr. Trudeau is a lame-duck leader at a crucial moment. He has said that he will resign as prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party when his party chooses a new leader, and automatically prime minister, in March. But experts believe the tariffs that take effect on Tuesday will tip the country into a recession, putting hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk.
...
But he also focused on the historically close ties between Canada and the U.S., including military cooperation in two world wars as well as the Korean War and the war in Afghanistan. “From the beaches of Normandy to the mountains of the Korean Peninsula, from the fields of Flanders to the streets of Kandahar, we have fought and died alongside you during your darkest hours,” he said.

Looks like Trump doesn't care and is just retaliating against everyone that didn't support him, or supported Biden more.

Yeah Cuba wanted to take a piece of that "financial expansionism", don't think it turned out well for them either, but Z still decided to try

Edit:
Trump is already sending signs to Ukraine

U.S. wants Ukraine to hold elections following a ceasefire, says Trump envoy
...
Keith Kellogg, Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, said in an interview that Ukrainian presidential and parliamentary elections, suspended during the war with Russia, "need to be done".
...
"Most democratic nations have elections in their time of war. I think it is important they do so," Kellogg said. "I think it is good for democracy. That's the beauty of a solid democracy, you have more than one person potentially running."
...
His opponents are also encouraged by the barrage of criticism Mr. Trump and his aides have aimed at Mr. Zelensky.

Yep Trump is about to send so much aid to Zelenskyy he won't be able to handle it Â

Oh, no, he will hand over Ukraine and, now that we are at it, part of Poland and the Baltic countries, and then he will come to the European Union and tell them that they have to spend money in the US military industry.

Surely that sounds like a plan to you.

Do not get confused by the noise, Trump promised to end the war in 2 days and it is not happening, so make your own conclusions about how "accurate" he is when speaking.

RE CUBA You are an absolute ignorant.

Castro DID seek that financial expansionism. He travelled to Washington and was denied a reception on the Oval Office on the grounds that "dictators are not allowed there". Embracing the USSR was not by choice... Ruzzia was the second pick altogheter... as usual.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/17/fidel-castro-visit-washington-cuba-1959

National Airport in Washington, April 15, 1959, from Havana.
[...]
These charges of communism do not really touch the American peoples’ concern about Castro. They do not think he is an agent of Moscow.
[...]
He breathed goodwill on the United States and hoped the visit would wipe away the clouds of misunderstanding about the situation in Cuba.

but....

The State Department - which was overwhelmed by surprise when Castro swept Batista into oblivion - at first murmured sad doubts about the wisdom and propriety of inviting Castro at this time. This official timidity led some nervous editors to complain to their society.

[montaga]

The final days of the Zelenskyy puppet
https://x.com/i/status/1885748980539109771
Time for everone to be the own president, in charge of owns destiny.