Invasion of Ukraine • Page 161

I'm starting to think our leaders want another world war.

 

I think that they're fighting a world war right now, but from a distance via proxies. Ukraine, Gaza, southern Lebanon, the Red Sea, Syria are all fronts in that war.

 

This gives every world leader way more credibility than they deserve.

What we’re seeing is just a continuation of what’s been happening since the end of WW2. Neither side surrendered; some lost significant influence, while others faced major pushbacks. But this is still about the major powers trying to maintain and expand their influence. None want a war because war is unpredictable, and even the ‘victors’ will experience significant losses. They’re panicking but there’s no actual game plan for action. Just current arm wrestling for global influence.

Manipulating the public (or proxy wars mentioned above) is much easier than an actual war with troops.

And with Russia, you really can’t take their nuclear threats seriously. He knows Russian troops can’t win against NATO and he won’t commit suicide with an exchange of nukes.

You definitely can’t abandoned a sovereign nation fighting for its right to exist based on Putin’s nuclear threats. If you give in, troop invasion to invade small nations might become trendy again. Both sides (and their allies) are watching this and seeing how much the other is willing to lose, and they’ll escalate accordingly.

 

“Russian President Vladimir Putin has described the RS-28 Sarmat as a “formidable weapon,” claiming that the system has virtually no range limitations”

 

Some dogs bite after they bark….others simply whimper

 

Kremlin scrambles to reassure ‘Iranian friends’ after Tehran condemns war in Ukraine — Novaya Gazeta Europe

 

96 times in the last 24 years.

A Timeline of Russia’s Nuclear Threats Against the West

 

Zelenskyy’s spokesman says Russians will be first to know if Ukraine gets permission for long-range strikes on Russia

 

I just feel like Zelenskyy's "victory plan" to use long range strikes to force the Russians into signing a peace deal on Ukraine's terms feels very misguided and likely to have the opposite effect. I think it will make Russia triple down and escalate things even further honestly.

 

My whole take on this war right now is that a stop to the carnage has been realistic for at least a year. Zelenskyy is prolonging it because peace right now would mean giving up on Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk (whose populations largely don't want to be a part of Ukraine anyway) and losing a guarantee that Ukraine will be able to join western alliances.

Is getting pre-2014 borders back and Ukraine in NATO/EU really worth tens of thousands more people dying and playing chicken with dragging a dozen other countries into a potential global catastrophic war? I just really don't think it is.

 

I think a big part of it was it wasn’t even about joining NATO or the EU when it first started back in 2014, it was simply just having closer economic ties with the EU. If they surrender now, they’re basically giving up their right to freely trade with anyone but Russia, or at least will feel like as much.

 

escalate how, exactly?

I would say Russia is already fully committed to subjugating Ukraine for the long haul given that they've organized their entire economy accordingly. they can't triple down any more than they already have.

do you mean more and larger rounds of conscription in Russia, or something like using nukes on Ukraine?

 

By escalating I just mean it is going to encourage them to keep fighting and drag the war even longer and not going to have the intended results.

 

gotcha

I genuinely do not see any other realistic way out of this situation other than negotiations. I have to assume that Ukraine is trying to push right now for some advantage or leverage in such negotiations at some point in the future

 

The negotiations have to be favorable to Ukraine so that Russia will not attempt this again in the future. If the negotiations are not favorable to the invaded nation, it will set a precedent.

 

It’s true. You need to have a sense of suicidal ideation to use nukes

Ukraine war latest: Zelensky says Putin 'afraid' to use nuclear weapons because he 'loves his life'

 

The neoliberal battle for Ukraine’s reconstruction

 

this article ended on a slightly more optimistic note than I was expecting...?

 

Neoliberalism is never good for the working class. It will be no different in Ukraine.

 

Why Russia is more likely to go nuclear in Ukraine if it's winning

 

One wrong move, and that's it.