Why do you think Russia invaded Ukraine?
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Europe under extreme duress
- Thread starter Randy Daytona
- Start date
Offramps that are tolerable to both sides.
Good to see RUS and UKR peace negotiators sitting at the same table this week. It seems they are still far apart on terms, though, which is fine and is their prerogative as the combatants. But if this conflict is still being fought 5 years from now in 2030 with the same intensity as today, that’s a missed opportunity for peace.
Fundamentally, Putin's ego.
It's what happens in authoritarian dictatorships where there is no democracy to reign Dear Leader in.
That's true, and it is also linked to Putin's survivability as a dictator. Keeping the war justified is critical to him remaining in power, especially given the number of Russian men that have been killed fighting his war of aggression. The Kremlin lies publicly, but there are an awful lot of families affected. If he gives concessions to the West, he'll lose a lot of power, and be vulnerable to potential enemies in his own oligarchy.
I can see that, but clearly Ukraine is well ahead in terms of tactical and strategic deployment. Operation Spiderweb was a brilliant bit of work.Interesting article from Politico.
China helps Russia pull ahead in lethal drone war race with Ukraine
Beijing denies helping Moscow, but Russia is scaling up both the production and the sophistication of its drones.www.politico.eu
I also think Putin genuinely believes the territory can simply become part of Russia if he conquers it, installs a population, governs it from Moscow, then waits XX years. The world worked this way 200 years ago so why not now? (in his view)
Case in point: The US-Mexico border 1824-1924.
Had Putin not launched the 2022 invasion, Moscow might have held onto Crimea seized in 2014 for a hundred years (and they still might).
Ok. So do you think all of Russia’s demands are reasonable?
Because right now, they clearly are not tolerable to Ukraine, the broader international community, or even a US administration that came in hot on pressuring Ukraine to negotiate.
No. And that is why it must be tolerable to both sides.
Right now, Putin's Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) is war. We want to move the "intolerability" needle for him.
Putin started this war, his rationale for doing so is BS, he can end it in a second. He should be the focus.
Not Zelensky.
hlg6016
A/C Wings Here
Short term maintenance storage?
Probably a mix of securing their Western approaches out of fear of future NATO aggression combined with trying to recover historic territory.
Allegedly an anti-drone measure, although I’m not sure exactly how they thought it would effectively confuse drone sensors. They have decoy plane outlines and aircraft debris in plane shapes elsewhere on those fields that are supposedly for the same purpose.
“Historic Territory” should be the most BS and fear instilling way of hearing Russia refer to its right to sovereignty over Ukraine.
1. It’s BS because if being perviously controlled by another capital historically counts for anything there are 4 kingdoms with better claim over Ukraine than the Russian empire.
2. It’s the same twisted logic that allows him to justify the Stalinist subjugation of the Baltics as proof of sovereignty and therefor evidence of them not being real independent states today, which is nonsense since both they and Poland predate the Soviet Union as well as any territorial control by the Russian Empire.
I’m sure Putin wouldn’t be considerate the other way and hand back the territory stolen from the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth during Prussian, Austrian, and Russian expansionist moves.
Not saying it's right.