Whatever about the rights or wrongs of Sweden declining to join NATO, I'm not sure doing so by echoing Russia's narrative that NATO has a destablising impact on the security situation in Europe is ideal. In the current context I would think they would have been better advised to re-emphasise that Russia is the destablising force here. Particularly given other countries may be looking to join NATO imminently.
Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion
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Whatever about the rights or wrongs of Sweden declining to join NATO, I'm not sure doing so by echoing Russia's narrative that NATO has a destablising impact on the security situation in Europe is ideal. In the current context I would think they would have been better advised to re-emphasise that Russia is the destablising force here. Particularly given other countries may be looking to join NATO imminently.
A lot of Greeks say that
the only bit I'm interested in is the Swedish part, ignoring his framing of it.The content, not his oration ability
My two cents worth, which probably isn't much......Putin doesn't care about any of this import export stuff. He's a communist at heart and wants the old Soviet Union back. No trade, in or out , with the outside work doesn't bother him too much. He's very happy to have the iron curtain back up and look after Mother Russia only from the inside.
Will be interesting to see how much of an escalation this causes (if at all)
Although in essence no different to supplying a rifle or anti tank missiles I think supplying russian made planes to fight against Russia and backfilling that with us planes and presumably us pilots at least until conversion training us undertaken is quite a statement
Probably quite a bit.
I cannot see anything changing with arms supplies even if Putin starts making threats.
What’s the equivalent to a Fulcrum?
She also said in the same press conference that Sweden & Finland have written a letter to the EU about the mutual defense clause to put it on the agenda of EU:s next meeting. And she clearly implied that EU:s mututal clause offers enough security guaranties.
Some people here seem to be freaking out and making it look like we are as "helpless" and "threatened" as Ukraine was.
My (dubious) theory is that all the demands No Fly Zones and the refusal of the US/NATO to go that far makes other steps that are short of it seem less of an escalation. In the absence of discussion of a NFZ, this would be seen as a much bigger escalation. How Putin sees this might be slightly different. I’ve been trying to think of places for the transfer to happen that would be feasible and make Russian response very difficult.
At least they will get to share about £50, should be able to get a few sweets for them.
F-16?
yeah i mean at this point the EU defense clause and NATO defense stuff are pretty much intertwined with how many countries are in both. An EU partner gets attacked, another EU partner who happens to be a NATO country as well joins, now that second country gets their troops attacked would that not bring in NATO now as well
F15 or f16 probably
Edit Poland already has 48 f16c
So probably those as they would already have the missiles trained pilots and mechanics
That was re-emphasized many times in the same Press conference by our Prime Minister. But people who hate the government are just taking that "bad quote" out of context.
Agreed.
Don’t stop paying them. They are going to suffer enough at the moment and the pay they do receive will be worthless.
F16s surely? Will just need to train the Polish pilots, which would take time. So imagine the US will need to act as Poland’s air defence for the time being.
Poland already operates F-16s so I assume they’ll get newer F-16s with better tech. Some of the issues with transferring US planes is lots of tech is nontransferable to other countries. The US won’t even transfer F-22s to the UK or Canada.
I’m not sure what benefits the EU clause offers tbh? There’s one nuclear power in the EU (France) and its debatable what the majority of other EU nations bring to the table in terms of military threat.
NATO has the additional US and UK benefit (two nuclear powers who put a hell of a lot of military personnel and equipment into NATO)
Checked and Poland already has 48 f16c
Compared to 23 mig fulcrum
As such they probably have pilots mechanics and munitions if USA sends f16c with minimal need for support personell
F15. Twin engine highly survivable air superiority fighter from the same era. I don't know how well updated the Polish aircraft will be, I'd assume more than the Ukrainian aircraft they're replacing but will the pilots know how to use any additional capability?
I also doubt the US will send F15s as they're transitioning to the EX model now. Probably Poland will get the easier to run F16.
Truck crashes into gates of Russian Embassy in Dublin
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c72j714kj75o
The ironing is delicious:
In a tweet, Russian Embassy officials said Garda officers had "stood idle" during the incident.
The embassy condemned the "criminal act of insanity" and accused Ireland of being in breach of the Vienna Convention by not protecting the embassy from damage.
"The incident is cause of extreme concern. We believe that no people of sound mind could support such senseless and barbaric actions," the embassy said.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c72j714kj75o
The ironing is delicious:
In a tweet, Russian Embassy officials said Garda officers had "stood idle" during the incident.
The embassy condemned the "criminal act of insanity" and accused Ireland of being in breach of the Vienna Convention by not protecting the embassy from damage.
"The incident is cause of extreme concern. We believe that no people of sound mind could support such senseless and barbaric actions," the embassy said.
Russians moving more troops to Ukraine?
Let's say Austria gets attacked by Russia. And Austria invokes EU clause. Germany, Italy, and France (maybe more) will have to help Austria. But at that point, I'm not sure NATO is obliged to help France or Germany when they suffer reprisals. It will be up to the other NATO members (US, UK..) to interpret the situation. After all NATO countries don't have to help you when you are in "attack mode".
There are not many F-22s built and the project has been canceled. That’s why the US won’t transfer them to any other country cause they need them for themselves.
I agree that the average Russian is also a victim in this mess, but their plight pales in comparison to the Ukrainians who are literally being killed or watching their family be killed. Every last thing that might help one additional Russian open their eyes, take to the streets and put just a little bit more pressure on Putin's regime is worth it, in my opinion. I admit that may not be all that thought-through or nuanced, but the sanctions are meant to make it hurt for the Russian economy, so might as well pile one.
I think it's fairly clear what he was doing.
Churchill:
"We shall go on to the end...we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight...in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills"
Zalensky:
"We will fight till the end, at sea, in the air. We will continue fighting for our land, whatever the cost. We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets."
What are they supposed to do, stand in the way?
The BBC reports:
"Here in Moscow, the mood is sombre amongst many Russians.
The invasion of Ukraine – which the Kremlin insists should be called a ‘special military operation’ – has resulted in crippling Western sanctions which are hitting the economy hard.
The impact on ordinary Russians is already being felt.
Russia’s currency, the ruble, has crashed, and prices for a whole range of goods and services are rising fast - including travelling abroad.
Foreign travel itself is now much harder – the US, EU and others have closed their airspace to Russian aircraft. Thousands of young, educated Russians have already left the country.
Several large Russian supermarkets are limiting the number of basic goods people can buy at one time. In one shop I saw a notice stating: 'Only one 5kg bag of sugar per person'. The government says this is to limit black market dealing and inflation.
The list of Western companies pulling out of Russia grows ever longer. In shopping centres in central Moscow, many Western shops are shuttered; others cannot accept card payments.
Before the invasion, Moscow was one of the most technologically advanced and well-connected cities in the world – with a first-class system of streaming services, online payments, tech and digital services. Using cash was rare. But with companies such as Apple, Visa and Netflix curtailing or shutting down in Russia, these services are grinding to a halt."
"Here in Moscow, the mood is sombre amongst many Russians.
The invasion of Ukraine – which the Kremlin insists should be called a ‘special military operation’ – has resulted in crippling Western sanctions which are hitting the economy hard.
The impact on ordinary Russians is already being felt.
Russia’s currency, the ruble, has crashed, and prices for a whole range of goods and services are rising fast - including travelling abroad.
Foreign travel itself is now much harder – the US, EU and others have closed their airspace to Russian aircraft. Thousands of young, educated Russians have already left the country.
Several large Russian supermarkets are limiting the number of basic goods people can buy at one time. In one shop I saw a notice stating: 'Only one 5kg bag of sugar per person'. The government says this is to limit black market dealing and inflation.
The list of Western companies pulling out of Russia grows ever longer. In shopping centres in central Moscow, many Western shops are shuttered; others cannot accept card payments.
Before the invasion, Moscow was one of the most technologically advanced and well-connected cities in the world – with a first-class system of streaming services, online payments, tech and digital services. Using cash was rare. But with companies such as Apple, Visa and Netflix curtailing or shutting down in Russia, these services are grinding to a halt."
No, it’s because it would be illegal to transfer them. Most of the US’ best military equipment is blocked from being transferred to other countries by statute. It’s moot generally because nobody else could afford to operate the planes/ships, but it’s still the reason that they can’t be exported.
Japan and Israel were interested in the F22 back in development, but they knew they would never be able to buy them.
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Yes, you kind of f*** us with Brexit. But the EU is still a very large continent with many fronts. I don't think anyone wants to be fighting against the combined navy power of Italy, Spain, and France. And with Germany finally starting to make the necessary investments, it will be even less likely someone will want to attack an EU country.
And then, if EU is at war, Ireland will be at war... UK will have to join.
Exactly that. The Polish AF primary fighter jet is the F16 Falcon.
Their Mig 29 jets are quite a bit bigger and has twin engines. They are also to a standard compliant with NATO in terms of communication and weapons systems.
But they are older than the F16, which is single engine, smaller and more agile.
You transfer it to SW Germany. How will you get it to Ukraine? American pilots or they truck it over?
What's it got to do with 'breaking' people??
Surely we should question everything from all sides, not just from one?
They are already having their wages tanked by the Ruble’s drop.
He also threw in a Shakespeare reference for good measure. Clearly an attempt to pull on the heartstrings of the British politicians which was a smart move.
Let Ukraine fly sorties out of Rammstein? That might cause some trouble, though.
Good.
I can see the Russians now ramping up their attacks on landing strips/bases ahead of this. Why the Ukrainian air force bases are not out of commission yet is a mystery.
On top of everything else, the dog image hurts a lot.