Re: Transfer of MBT from US, UK, Germany etc to Ukraine

Aesma wrote:

WIth that said, Germany is also part of the problem, ordering F-35s for example. And not pressuring Poland into buying at least some stuff from EU makers. Instead they buy US, with our money.

Re: Russian Invasion of Ukraine - *Discussion* Thread

"Germany and France renewed calls for a more closely aligned Europe to counter the imperialist ambitions of Russian President Vladimir Putin and to bolster the democratic values that underpin the EU." https://www.bloomberg.com/explore/see-hk/?utm_medium=dotcom&utm_source=Display&u...

Re: Russian Invasion of Ukraine - *Discussion* Thread

Agreed. Adenauer, Schumann et al were responsible for ending the risk of military conflict between the countries of western Europe, not NATO. Unification of western Europe was possible thanks to NATO. Absorbing most WE countries in NATO's system of collective defense, and de facto taking decision-m...

Re: Russian Invasion of Ukraine - *Discussion* Thread

western and central europe, had kept themselves in total peace with each other for 75 years. This is achieved through extreme carefullness, the construct of the EU, and putting exactly the kind of over-carefull diplomat-minded quasi pacifist types such as Olaf Scholz in power everywhere in the syst...

Re: Russian Invasion of Ukraine - *Discussion* Thread

More from Germany and their ridiculously slow process of sending help to Ukraine. https://www.euractiv.com/section/defence-and-security/news/germany-to-ship-additional-weapons-to-ukraine-after-weeks-of-stalling/ Color me surprised... Germany has not discontinued its collu... I mean "cooperatio...

Re: Russian Invasion of Ukraine - *Discussion* Thread

william wrote:

To give them an excuse to up the brutality. Give them an excuse to turn once beautiful towns and cities into parking lots, think Dresden.

Re: Russian Invasion of Ukraine - *Discussion* Thread

I wonder how much of it is true as surely you wouldn't want to reveal all your secrets/sources no matter how vague the implication might be? Or is it just to send the russians on a wild goose chase and nobody to trust anybody anymore in the upper echelons of power? What is the objective truth is so...

Re: Russian Invasion of Ukraine - *Discussion* Thread

marcelh wrote:

Evil was already there in 2014

Re: Russian Invasion of Ukraine - *Discussion* Thread

You don’t understand it. There will be a Russia after Putin/this war and this kind of statements will be used for years to show “how bad the West/US/NATO” is and frustrate some kind of “normalization” proces. Big deal. As long as majority of Russians conflate Putin with Russia and vice versa, there...

Re: Russian Invasion of Ukraine - *Discussion* Thread

tomcat wrote:

Questions surely need to be raised about Merkel (I would go as far as to question her allegiance to Germany) but before her there was Schröder who is the one who initiated the NS2.

Re: Russian Invasion of Ukraine - *Discussion* Thread

IMO Merkel fully inderstood Putin & could talk sense into him, because of their shared past. Now there is distance. "Shared past"? Unless Merkel was a career STASI officer (which she wasn't) I don't see what "shared past" are you talking about. Merkel and Hollande/Macron hav...

Re: Russian Invasion of Ukraine - *Discussion* Thread

Totally unprofessional, very unwise, and totally in line with past remarks made by Joe “ I’d take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him ” Biden. Agree, almost everybody thinks that you have to leave the opponent (Putin) escape routes. Not doing so isn't Bidens smartest move, US speaks peo...

Re: Updated: Russia invasion Ukraine begun

How stupid can one be? Macron won the prize. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-speaks-macron-explains-russian-actions-ukraine-kremlin-2022-02-24/ Stupid for what ? To have continued talking to Putin early February ? . Stupid for having no balls and no backbone, yet forxing himself in serio...

Re: Updated: Russia invasion Ukraine begun

In my opinion, NATO membership is frozen until the Russian bear has settled down, perhaps France will encourage them to join the EU army. Absolutely. The Nordic countries, watching the Normandy Format fiasco and collusion, will be all lining up, begging to join the EU Army , where weak, by default ...

Re: Russia invasion could begin any day, US warns

And so the excuses begin. It's in the name - ethnic cleansing. Telling your guests that the time is up and they better go home, since their further presence might be (ab)used by Putin as an excuse to break into your house, again ... is not ethnic cleansing. If things go even more south, Russian tan...

Re: Updated: Russia invasion Ukraine begun

What is stupid about keeping communication lines open trying to find a solution ? Oh yes, the tired old "keeping communication lines open"... How many times have we heard that empry cliché for the past 8 years? Germany and France kept "communication lines open" only to reassure ...

Re: Russia invasion could begin any day, US warns

marcelh wrote:

Actually, there is no war between EU and Russia now.

Re: Russia's decent into madness and irrelevancy as a world power.

The issue with the new pipeline cancellation is that it allows Germany and its allies to show the public that they are doing something to punish Russia for invading, For years and years, Germany stubbornly denied the beyond pale obvious that the NS2 would allow Russia to weaponize the existing pipe...

Re: Russia invasion could begin any day, US warns

sierrakilo44 wrote:

tommy1808 wrote:

The risk of Putin having filtered in spechial forces into NATO countries is too high. Russian citizens need to expelled.

best regards
Thomas

How can you call for ethnic cleansing and then say "best regards"?

Re: Russia invasion could begin any day, US warns

N14AZ wrote:

At least Putin has now shown his true face. We will never forget this.

Re: Russia invasion could begin any day, US warns

The EU should not only be a economic and political union, but also defensive. Unfortunately, the US don’t like that idea, No one liked the idea other than France... "Defensive"? Just a quick refresh: Macron was trying to organize some sort of Munich 2.0 just 72 hours ago. Only to make him...

Re: Russia invasion could begin any day, US warns

That is not on the table: the EU does not want to punish ordinary Russians, at least not directly as they are not to blame for this. Of course they are to be blamed for this. That's not how it works. Do you think Putin's bellicose appetite does not stem from public support and yearning for the fmr ...

Re: Russia invasion could begin any day, US warns

Dunk on the Germans and any others if it makes some over there feel better about having until last year, an explicit admirer of Putin in the White House (which as you found out last January has about as much respect for democracy as his mate and financial buddy Vlad). Who still holds considerable s...

Re: Russia invasion could begin any day, US warns

sierrakilo44 wrote:

It would seriously embarrass the West if Putin and Zelensky signed a treaty in Beijing with Xi.

Re: Russia has started a major exercise of its nuclear system.

Honest question, does Putin or the average Russian for that matter have nostalgia for the USSR and the cold war? Heck how many Americans have nostalgia for the Cold War. I wasn't really here for it but by all accounts it sounded terrible. Well, I once saw a picture from the 90s (I think) where ther...

Re: Russia invasion could begin any day, US warns

I find it strange that people are eager to send others fighting, that's all. I'm not denying we have a military to do it, but actually sending them should be a carefully taken decision. And if this starts WW3, it's not only soldiers that will be affected. I would rather be on the other side of the ...

Re: Russia invasion could begin any day, US warns

When you talk about safety, where are you and will you be fighting in Ukraine in your proposed attack ? Will you send your children fight, maybe ? What kind of argument is this? Why do nations have military forces? There is no conscription in Western nations anymore, so anybody who willingly joins ...

Re: Russia invasion could begin any day, US warns

I just don't know what concession Ukraine would be willing to give at this point. A pledge to never join NATO is off the table, they have also promised to never cede the disputed territories to Russia, so what then ? What makes you think Ukraine should be making ANY concessions? This is really like...

Re: Russia has started a major exercise of its nuclear system.

Mortyman wrote:

.
This happens as there is a security conferance in Munich, Germany regarding Ukraine.

Re: Russia invasion could begin any day, US warns

Trump was busy torpedoing NATO from the inside (much to the delight, and possibly at the demand, of Putin),along with shunning the US' strategic allies in Europe throughout his presidency and would essentially have happily given Ukraine away to Putin on a silver platter... Perhaps he was just tryin...

Re: Russia invasion could begin any day, US warns

If someone with some power in Russia believes Russia should control all of Europe, and with 150 millions Russians rule over 500 millions non Russians, I have a bridge to sell them ! The imminent danger is that some in Western Europe (France and Germany) believe in some sort "Concert of Powes&q...

Re: Kamila Valieva doping case.

You should study how a girl becomes a woman. When its about gymnastics or figure skating it makes a big difference. Always when a kid wins in those sports they are destroyed before they turn 20. Kids body vs. adults body in those sports make a huge difference yet the kids body can't take all that s...

Re: Russia invasion could begin any day, US warns

I found this article interesting. It appears that a large group of hardline retired Russian generals is against the invasion, Where do you see "large group of hardline generals being against the invasion" mentioned or implied in the article? I read an article earlier that was more in-dept...

Re: Russia invasion could begin any day, US warns

johns624 wrote:

I found this article interesting. It appears that a large group of hardline retired Russian generals is against the invasion,

Re: Russia invasion could begin any day, US warns

The question is, why invade ? If Russia goes in they will be cut off economically from the west, or is Putin sure that will not happen ? Restore the Soviet Union in all its "glory" . Legacy is all that matters to Putin right now. He knows too well, that certain usual suspects would yap ab...

Re: Russia invasion could begin any day, US warns

Germany's Foreign Ministry advised its citizens to leave Ukraine on Saturday after it said conflict in the region "cannot be excluded" while fears remain that Russia plans to invade its neighbor. https://m.dw.com/en/german-nationals-urged-to-leave-ukraine/a-60754593 Who would have better ...

Re: Adult child molester to serve sentence in juvenile facility

Francoflier wrote:

If anything, that 26 y/o transgender predator may not find it any easier in juvenile prison than in the regular slammer.

Re: EU & Russia & border nation issues, a broad open discussion on events occurring between all parties (including the U

I don't mean to be rude, but what on earth are you trying to say?

Re: EU & Russia & border nation issues, a broad open discussion on events occurring between all parties (including the U

It is unfortunate that NATO so explicitly expanded into eastern Europe. Since we are getting into revisionist history... it was even more unfortunate that Roosevelt let Stalin play him like a violin at Yalta. :thumbsdown: Too bad he could not have put top notch negotiators to come up with some face...

Re: Russia now wants NATO out of Romania and Bulgaria

tommy1808 wrote:

[
There are a dozen EU countries more depended on Russian gas than Germany,