Putin wants ‘normalization’ of global relations, saying there is ‘no need’ for sanctions on Russia.
“I think that everyone should think about normalizing relations and cooperating normally,” he said.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/04/putin-russia…
JG4
Putin wants ‘normalization’ of global relations, saying there is ‘no need’ for sanctions on Russia.
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So that means sanctions are hurting Russians from top to bottom. Lets pile on more sanctions until the weight topples Putin. We need to attack the Russian O&G next - it does not need to be sudden cutoff of everything - it just needs to start eating away so that Europeans are not left in a lurch while they figure out alternative sources for energy.
Jaak
“I think that everyone should think about normalizing relations and cooperating normally,” he said.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/04/putin-russia……
JG4
Gosh, that’s really reassuring to hear the words, right from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.
It would be even more reassuring and a nice touch if his army would refrain from shelling residential buildings, schools, and nuclear power plants.
I saw that. It reminded me of that line in the Arlo Guthrie classic “Alice’s Restaurant.”
Vlad, “… you got a lot a damn gall …”
Chutzpah: a Yiddish word meaning “nerve.” Example: the defendant on trial for murdering his parents who throws himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan.
Wendy
So that means sanctions are hurting Russians from top to bottom.
Just what I was thinking. Putin went from not giving a fig what the world thinks, to pleading for business as usual.
Sure, business as usual…as soon as Russia pulls it’s troops out, stops the war, and pays hundreds of Billions of dollars in reparations for physical damage and upsetting the lives of 40 million people.
Steve
Or is it just Russian disinformation?
By choosing his words appropriately, putin can claim to be “the rational one”. And that the Western response is irrational.
ralph
Everybody is a clown at heart. Including Vlad.
Chutzpah
On the world’s stage Putin is the biggest idiot we have seen in a long time.
I was not alive for Hitler’s personal out in flames.
The costs of these morons and those who support them is horrific.
I am beginning to get the feeling Putin is only keeping his own counsel as head commander of the Russian military. While forceful he may well get defeated. His generals will be blamed. Heads will roll.
When even a private company like SpaceX can disrupt your plans, you are in trouble!
The Captain
Where are those 70 fighters jets that were given to the Ukraine? I’d love to see the 40KM convoy turned into a junk yard.
Where are those 70 fighters jets that were given to the Ukraine? I’d love to see the 40KM convoy turned into a junk yard.
Deal fell apart a few days ago.
02/28/2022
European plan to donate fighter jets to Ukraine collapses
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/28/ukrainian-pilots-ar…
Events are moving way too fast for the US to organize something like the AVG.
Too bad no-one thought of deploying 50,000 NATO “peace keepers” in Ukraine a couple months ago. NATO boots on the ground first would have preempted the Russian invasion.
Zelensky is loudly demanding a NATO enforced no-fly zone, but that isn’t going to happen. Remember how the US and Russia had to coordinate their air ops in Syria so they didn’t show up in the same area at the same time? US air would pound the Russian backed Syrian government troops all morning, then fly away. Then the Russians would fly in during the afternoon and pound the US backed rebels.
Steve
Deal fell apart a few days ago.
Thanks for the update. It seems the EU is not all that united after all. Sad.
Without the fanfare it might have been done.
The Captain
Without the fanfare it might have been done.
My suspicion is that the fighters were too big an item. The NATO thinking is probably that this will devolve into a guerilla war, like Afghanistan in the 80s: The Russians eventually overrun the cities and install their puppet government. The play is to provide man-portable weapons, like Stingers, Javelins, and, iirc, someone is sending Carl Gustaf recoilless rifles, so the Ukrainians make the Russians bleed, a lot, for years.
The more I think about NATO deploying “peace keepers” in Ukraine, the more I wonder why that wasn’t done a few weeks ago. The threat from Russia was clear. NATO has deployed outside of NATO member states before.
NATO in Kosovo
Today, approximately 3,500 Allied and partner troops operate in Kosovo as part of NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR).
NATO in Afghanistan
…the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was established under the request of the Afghan authorities and a UN mandate in 2001. ISAF was led by NATO from August 2003 to December 2014
NATO and Libya
-the enforcement of an arms embargo on the high seas of the Mediterranean to prevent the transfer of arms, related material and mercenaries to Libya;
-the enforcement of a no-fly-zone in order to prevent any aircraft from bombing civilian targets; and
-air and naval strikes against those military forces involved in attacks or threats to attack Libyan civilians and civilian-populated areas.
https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_52060.htm
Why did NATO wait until after the invasion started to mobilize the Rapid Response Force? Probably because the bad actor was Russia, rather than Libya, Afghanistan or Serbia.
Steve
My suspicion is that the fighters were too big an item.
Makes sense.
The Captain
would have loved to see target practice on the sitting duck 40 KM convoy.
The Captain
would have loved to see target practice on the sitting duck 40 KM convoy.
Or the obsolescent MiG25s that were on the gift list being slaughtered by the two generations newer fighters the Russians fly.
Steve
Why did NATO wait until after the invasion started to mobilize the Rapid Response Force? Probably because the bad actor was Russia, rather than Libya, Afghanistan or Serbia.
Steve
Yes, “Libya, Afghanistan or Serbia” do not have nuclear weapons.
>>Probably because the bad actor was Russia, rather than Libya, Afghanistan or Serbia.<<
Yes, “Libya, Afghanistan or Serbia” do not have nuclear weapons.
I was thinking along different lines. Did NATO not move in Ukraine preemptively because Russia was the threat? Does that mean, if Putin masses troops on the Finnish border, NATO can’t move into Finland to preempt an invasion? NATO can’t move anywhere outside of member states, for fear of upsetting Putin? I don’t like where that track of thought is leading, where NATO can’t act preemptively anywhere.
Steve
I don’t like where that track of thought is leading, where NATO can’t act preemptively anywhere.
Earlier you wrote: My suspicion is that the fighters were too big an item.
NATO is being careful not to go to war with Russia. Too careful? Every time you allow the bully you are empowering the bully. It seldom ends well, “Peace in our time” is war soon after.
“We seem to be very near the bleak choice between War and Shame. My feeling is that we shall choose Shame, and then have War thrown in a little later on even more adverse terms than at present.”
Winston Churchill
https://richardlangworth.com/war-shame
The Captain
I was thinking along different lines. Did NATO not move in Ukraine preemptively because Russia was the threat? Does that mean, if Putin masses troops on the Finnish border, NATO can’t move into Finland to preempt an invasion? NATO can’t move anywhere outside of member states, for fear of upsetting Putin? I don’t like where that track of thought is leading, where NATO can’t act preemptively anywhere.
Steve
Which is why some weeks ago I stated France and Germany need to simply land boots in Ukraine. Looking at the Russians now.....for a major well armed air force, navy and army Russia would go home.
Yes Germany was not ready for it, France was so so ready for it. There was no organizational preset to go into Ukraine for them, but hell they should have.
The spheres of power in the cold war have long been disrespected. The thoughts of Russian and Chinese leadership are treating them with disregard. France and Germany could have moved.
Yep should have would have could have.......
I am not seeing much on Ukrainians shooting down Russian aircraft. That is where this war is won in the theater by the Ukrainians.NATO is being careful not to go to war with Russia. Too careful?
That is what I am wondering. Are we back to a binary world, where you either have US boots on your ground, or Russian? The Finns seem to be thinking along those lines: if they don’t join NATO, they will be in Putin’s crosshairs.
The US reportedly has been, very quietly, putting a few troops in Taiwan. Seems the move sould be to very publicly and loudly, do a major deployment to Taiwan, rather than an occasional “freedom of navigation” exercise in the South China Sea.
Keeping in mind that there were attacks on some Ukrainian computer systems the day before the invasion, I was wondering if something was afoot in Taiwan when the power failure occurred.
Taiwan restoring power after outage that hit 5 million homes
It was not immediately clear what caused the cut, which affected about a third of the island’s electricity supply.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/taiwan-restoring-power-ou…
Steve