Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion

matherto said:
I'm aware that lots of the Trump-hating world did the same to him (myself included) and so it looks like I'm defending Biden, who I can't really tolerate either, but I realised the error of my ways with Trump too.
Click to expand...
OK, it's an opinion: I think he (almost certainly) has dementia and we will find out that it was a known fact ten or fifteen years after his term ends.

I never advanced this line with Trump. Even though he was incoherent and beside the point to whatever he was supposed to be doing, most of the time you got the sense that he was playing to his own self-interest whereas with Biden you get the sense that he is being stage managed. In fact, he is being protected from interviews in a way that has never happened with any American president, ever. Which becomes relevant when he starts sabre rattling for a potential war with a nuclear super power.
 
Raoul said:
Known unknowns FTW
Click to expand...
I knew he was in trouble two years ago when he had to use "Here's the deal: one, two, three" as a way of remembering the order of his sentences (and usually tripped over that order, so maybe he's fine but reinvented himself during his timeout to work according to a non-linear rhythm, a kind of futurist president :smirk:).
 
Bobcat said:
What is Putins plan here? If he really wanted Ukraine, why the 20th century strategy? Why brodcast your invasion months and months in advance?

Honestly i think he tried to bluff and overplayed his hand here. A conflict with NATO is going to end badly for him and backing down will really ruin his image back home among his supporters
Click to expand...
No one doubts that his initial plan was to bully the West to submission without having to play his hand. It’s not the question — it’s wherever he’s willing to go all in with his bluff being called out. And no one knows that still.
 
Smores said:
If Russia do withdraw its probably a winners all round situation. The politicians got to talk tough for their domestic audiences and Ukraine got new weapons and support. Plenty will have made big money in the markets throughout.

I'd rather the world didn't get into the habit of brinkmanship though. The next villain will be Iran and then concerns that China are daring to build foreign bases.
Click to expand...
Putin didn’t make more money throughout, unless you mean him personally. Despite the rise of oil prices the country has been struggling economically through the entire crisis (which begs the question what would happen if the war itself would actually happen), overall losing a lot more than gaining. Only Ukraine suffered more, I think, this thing had really hit them hard.
 
VorZakone said:
What do you think the West hoped to achieve by lying?
Click to expand...
Oh, and by the way, here’s your answer (in a quote below). Although I wouldn’t use the word lying probably — all sides were using each other for different gain. Biden’s administration saw it as an opportunity to redeem their reputation after Afghanistan. They were certainly the most sensationalist and provocative out of all of the NATO block and the “leaking info to stop Putin from using it” theory is ridiculous, so they had to gain something by it.

Russia saw an opportunity to gain some influence by simply threatening an action (not that there wasn’t an option of an actual invasion happening, of course, the exercises weren’t merely a lucky coincidence)… and it’s still the main culprit of this whole thing by the way, I somehow feel the need to remind people about my own stance on this.

RoyH1 said:
I'm not sure how definite this Russian de-escalation is, but I think Putin made a strategic mistake long term. Nato was in a bit of political disarray after the Kabul debacle and a lot of voices in Europe were starting to talk about a more robust European force. With this Ukraine business, the vast majority of European countries have doubled down on a strong US led Nato and will probably pump a bit more money in those decaying defense budgets.
Click to expand...
 
harms said:
Putin didn’t make more money throughout, unless you mean him personally. Despite the rise of oil prices the country has been struggling economically through the entire crisis (which begs the question what would happen if the war itself would actually happen), overall losing a lot more than gaining. Only Ukraine suffered more, I think, this thing had really hit them hard.
Click to expand...

No i just mean speculators in general. Times of instability tend to make the rich richer and you can be sure plenty have over this given each updates impact on the market.
 
Paxi said:


Just off topic slightly, say their get their independence - what will happen to Shakhtar? Which league will they play in, and how do they go forward considering, one would assume most, if not all of their fans are pro-Russian?
Click to expand...

Shakhtar haven’t been in Donetsk for years now — I’m too lazy to check on my phone but probably since 2014? When the airport & the stadium were destroyed. They’ve played in Lviv for a while and are now playing in Kiyv if I’m not mistaken. And it’s unlikely that they’ll come back any time soon — not that it’s the worst thing to come out if this war.
 
Rajma said:
Trust germans to do a backdoor deal with Russia. Historically, it worked out really well last time for eastern europe. Appeasing dictators will never work.
Click to expand...

Like reading the Daily Mail comments section :lol:
 
Oh, Putin has spoken again tonight. Looks like the invasion isn’t happening at the moment but the same goes for de-escalation. He says (repeating what he has said to Lavrov yesterday) that there’s some basis for future negotiations on NATO’s last response even though generally he’s not happy and wants more.
 
Mciahel Goodman said:
I knew he was in trouble two years ago when he had to use "Here's the deal: one, two, three" as a way of remembering the order of his sentences (and usually tripped over that order, so maybe he's fine but reinvented himself during his timeout to work according to a non-linear rhythm, a kind of futurist president :smirk:).
Click to expand...

I thought he was done in the 2008 campaign and have thought so at least two more times between then and now. Whatever one thinks of him, he's a resilient guy who seems to oddly flourish at times when people write him off.
 
Last edited:
Raoul said:
I thought he was done in the 2008 campaign and have thought so at least two more times between then and now. Whatever one things of him, he's a resilient guy who seems to oddly flourish at times when people write him off.
Click to expand...
I thought he'd run in 2016 during his 2012 VP performance, but Clinton made it impossible by making her intentions known. Anyway, it was 2012 Biden (lucid, quick, humorous) I expected in 2020 and he was very far from it.
 
harms said:
Shakhtar haven’t been in Donetsk for years now — I’m too lazy to check on my phone but probably since 2014? When the airport & the stadium were destroyed. They’ve played in Lviv for a while and are now playing in Kiyv if I’m not mistaken. And it’s unlikely that they’ll come back any time soon — not that it’s the worst thing to come out if this war.
Click to expand...
I know they wouldn’t come back to the area but then if the area no longer considered itself by Ukraine and was recognised as such by Russia; would Shakhtar be still a Ukrainian club? It would be quite odd, to me, anyway; if they played in Ukraine whilst it’s area separated further from Ukraine.
 
Fair speech from Bido, gave the feeling he really thinks something is going down though.
 
1am tonight is thesun's prediction, if they end up getting that right I don't know what to do with myself.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.