Going by history sanctions do tend to entrench authoritarian rulers. I still think there isn't any choice. He used the "Nuclear" word and now I think Europe's policy will be containment for a very long time.
Edit: added "be"
Edit: added "be"
I don't think we tried to push for Ukraine as neutral state, like Finland, did we? Does EU/NATO really NEED Ukraine to join them?
Seems like it would be a simple peaceful discussion worth having rather than risking more suffering. Discussion might not work... but the fact it's not even on the table is absolutely insane.
Escalated an existing war that has lasted more than 5 years, and which certain NATO members have been very clear is why Ukraine wasn't being allowed to advance in its quest for membership.
Aggression is very very clearly ONLY coming from the Putin inner circle thugs who sacrifice Russian lives to kill Ukrainians and unlawfully attack a sovereign state, recognized as such by the entirety of the UN.
All under the guise of idiotic lies that stink to the Moon. It's incredible how any Russian still listens to Putin, Lawrow and the rest of these thugs. They must fear a lot of repercussions. Russia could be rich, connected and prosperous instead.
The subject of the sentence that I posted the correction to was “Putin”, not “Ukraine”, and the correction was to the verb phrase, from “started a war”, to “escalated a war...”, not to the subject.
So, no, I’m directly stating that Putin escalated war he’s been waging since 2014, not “implying” that Ukraine escalated anything.
During this period, our politics underwent 'Finlandization', basically giving USSR veto powers over our internal policies. It probably was a necessity to avoid an invasion, but certainly nothing you'd recommend to anyone.
Yours is an imperialistic attitude. The question is not, how could EU or US or NATO or Russia push Ukraine about. The question is, what do the Ukrainians themselves want or need.
The situation is incredibly complicated, but I see a few scenarios:
- Russia succeeds in their siege and installs puppet government, however with a lot of casualties. The west and NATO probably convey their disappointment, continue with sanctions and the diplomatic divide. Ukraine will be split. At least with LDR / DNR with Russian interpretation.
- Ukraine succeeds in holding off the pressure, NATO involves themselves more directly (already partially happening). Russia will unleash their anger - this is the worst case which comes with a lot of unpredictability in terms of destruction and casualties.
- Ukraine / Russia come to an agreement of neutrality. This is becoming highly unlikely as Ukraine will seek revenge for what has been happening till now, Russia will have to remove some of the officials and install theirs - this will never happen under current rule. So the above two scenarios are more likely :(
EDIT: indentation