Ukraine

[Bayleaf]

'Evidence suggests Russia is planning "the biggest war in Europe since 1945", Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said.'


Part of me can't help thinking him (and Biden) and really hoping something does happen - like they're gagging for a fight.

'Let's whip up the fear of the nation, and all the corruption we're so addicted to can go unnoticed.'

[niemeyjt]

As I said before, the real corruption in all this is with Joe "The Big Guy" Biden and his offspring. Vested interests and dodgy deals need protecting.

Boris is just hanging on the coattails looking for a distraction from Partygate.

[Blaze]

It would be a bloodbath. Are sanctions going to be enough to stop the Russians in their tracks ?

[niemeyjt]

Nope. They will push Russia further towards China - an even worse scenario.

And a well-placed bomb or two on Ukrainian Gas transit lines will give Europe a cold choice - open Nord Stream 2 and forget your sanctions or be very cold.

[Blaze]

Russia recognises Ukraine separatist regions .....
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60468237
Not the news we wanted to hear.

[niemeyjt]

I guess that means Ukraine's refusal to implement the Minsk Accords has come to a head.

Not good indeed, but not unexpected.

[manonthemoon2]

My OH works with a lot of Ukranians.

They're worried about the situation and have said that if Russia attacks, they would be on the Russian side, not Ukranian. These workers are predominantly Russian, although since the previous actions now live in Ukraine.

Weird scenario

[niemeyjt]

Yes - but there is not a weird scenario that cannot be made worse by US interference.

[Blaze]

There was always going to be a problem in Ukraine since Stalin's mass murders and the installation of Russians in the south eastern states. We can only hope that this doesn't spread to other former Soviet countries where Russians also settled after Stalin's purges.

[Spardo]

Hasn’t he rather shot himself in the foot there? Not that it matters because he is probably not the full quid. But how can he recognise 2 small enclaves as independent states while denying that the much larger established Ukrainian state does not exist?

On the other hand, if there is indeed a large proportion of the populations of those 2 enclaves who speak Russian and consider themselves Russian, doesn’t that put them in some ways in a similar boat to other regions which would/might rather be independent, like Catalonia and Scotland for example, and thus could legitimately have their positions clarified by a free and fair referendum?

Just a thought, but if so and if it could be organised and overseen independently (very difficult if not impossible I know) would not that be one way out of this crisis?

Of course, they may just be an excuse in the mind of Putin, but personally I have never understood what advantage Russia could have in a bloody absorbing of an unwilling population into its own, already diverse, one.