Putin and the West

[Monty]

Where's Trump when you need him?

[Kwacky]

Last I saw he was praising Putin for being smart for invading.

[Kwacky]

There's lots of footage of a big convoy of rocket launchers heading to Kyiv

For Ukraine or for Russia?

Russian.

I've not seen any large columns of Ukraine vehicles.

[Cav]

It's so wrong. From what I can gather there's no official reason for invasion. It's just another unlawful war from what I can see.

[Kwacky]

It's Putin wanting the old Soviet Union. Ukraine has a lot of resources as well. Have a look at the link I posted.

[Monty]

I'm guessing Putin is still pissed that NATO sent troops into Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria after signing a treaty that forbade it. It makes him look weak, and these nut jobs don't like looking weak.

[Kwacky]

It was encouraging to see so many take to Russian streets last night to protest against the war

[Cav]

It's Putin wanting the old Soviet Union. Ukraine has a lot of resources as well. Have a look at the link I posted.

I will take a look at that.

My point was more about the official line of the invasion, I've seen nothing that appears to hold water. It's all speculative stuff.

[Cav]

http://www.politico.eu/article/putin-tr ... -analysis/

Well that was foretelling...

[Kwacky]

Officially Putin says that two states in Ukraine had declared independence and Putin recognised them. They asked for protection so Putin sent troops in.

[Cav]

Oh right, I haven't seen that.

[Jack]

Oh right, I haven't seen that.

It's Bullsh!t , he also claimed to be invading to de-Nazify the Ukraine - They have a Jewish President......

[D41]

Where's Trump when you need him?

[Cav]

I'm well aware it's bullsh!t, I just didn't know what the official narrative was.

Those pesky Jewish Nazis!

[Monty]

I'm guessing Putin is still pissed that NATO sent troops into Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria after signing a treaty that forbade it.

I'm wrong about that, according to Gorbachev the treaty only extended to East Germany.

We now have a very authoritative voice from Moscow confirming this understanding. Russia behind the Headlines has published an interview with Gorbachev, who was Soviet president during the discussions and treaty negotiations concerning German reunification. The interviewer asked why Gorbachev did not “insist that the promises made to you [Gorbachev]—particularly U.S. Secretary of State James Baker’s promise that NATO would not expand into the East—be legally encoded?” Gorbachev replied: “The topic of ‘NATO expansion’ was not discussed at all, and it wasn’t brought up in those years. … Another issue we brought up was discussed: making sure that NATO’s military structures would not advance and that additional armed forces would not be deployed on the territory of the then-GDR after German reunification. Baker’s statement was made in that context… Everything that could have been and needed to be done to solidify that political obligation was done. And fulfilled.”

Gorbachev continued that “The agreement on a final settlement with Germany said that no new military structures would be created in the eastern part of the country; no additional troops would be deployed; no weapons of mass destruction would be placed there. It has been obeyed all these years.” To be sure, the former Soviet president criticized NATO enlargement and called it a violation of the spirit of the assurances given Moscow in 1990, but he made clear there was no promise regarding broader enlargement.

[Monty]

Go **** yourself!

https://www.theguardian.com/world/video ... 1645799054" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[StMarks]

Go **** yourself!

https://www.theguardian.com/world/video ... 1645799054" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

However, they may yet become the martyr symbol that ultimately outlives all the rest of the players in this conflict.

[Jack]

NATO fast response force has been activated for the first time ever .
Not deployed yet .

[Kwacky]

Lots of countries are pledging weapons to Ukraine.

[Tuffers]

There's no coming back from this for Putin. France seize a Russian ship, Turkey tell Russia it can't use the Black Sea, Poland and Sweden refuse to play Russia at football. He might just snap and send a bomb to another country yet. He's gone too far. He's started something he might regret? My thinking is he wanted to take the east of the country where a river divides it so that he has a stronger border between the west and east, it's gone further than that. My neighbour's parents live east of the river.