Russian Ukraine Invasion

[Yazata]

Putin just gave a speech on Russian TV where he said essentially the same thing as Suslov said in the last post.

Putin said that Russia just tested a ballistic missile with a new non-nuclear hypersonic warhead that he claims is impossible for Western ABM defenses to intercept, by striking a major Ukrainian arms manufacturing complex.

I'd say that it was a restrained response to Ukrainian use of American and British long range weapons on Russian installations. Russia could have used their hypersonic missile warheads against Ramstein or Spangdahlem (US air bases in Germany) which would have caused American military casualties and perhaps triggered a direct military confrontation between the US and Russia. My guess is that Putin wants to avoid more direct combat with the US (and the possibility of it going nuclear) before Trump takes office and moves Washington away from a war track onto a negotiation track (even if Kyiv doesn't like that since it would mean settling for something short of total Ukrainian victory, whatever that means).

https://x.com/RadioGenoa/status/1859680249140871557

[stryder]

The idea of Sanctions originally was to slowly tighten down on the economic system that funds Russia in warefare, it was done as a passive approach to try to get Putin to realise that the majority of the world didn't want him war mongering. Since the passive method hasn't generated expediant results, its likely that doubling down on support and weapons was likely a measure to generate further pressure.

(personally I would of suggested that Russia would be facing 1 week of sanction for every day stealing Ukrainian territory. That might not seem like much although I did consider 1 month per day, bu the war has been going over 1000 days, thus 1000 weeks or 19+ years of sanctions.)

If there seems to be no pressure to them (considering they continue to do whatever they want) then it only makes sense to unrestrict and do the things that should be done over time, otherwise everything is only a lesson in futility since everything would be undone but one yahoo and a simple penstroke.

[Secular Sanity]

Putin said Russia was still ready "to resolve all contentious issues by peaceful means. But we are also ready for any development. If anyone still doubts this, it is in vain. There will always be a response."

Personally, I would suggest pulling the plug on the NATO expansion. Never should have happened in the first place. Give up a little territory and STFU.

[stryder]

Putin said Russia was still ready "to resolve all contentious issues by peaceful means. But we are also ready for any development. If anyone still doubts this, it is in vain. There will always be a response."

Personally, I would suggest pulling the plug on the NATO expansion. Never should have happened in the first place. Give up a little territory and STFU.

I don't know about NATO expansion, however I do know that Russia had been messing around with Europe and UK for decades. (such as the 2008 crash where Russia was "bailing out" countries after causing the crash in the first place, interfering in Brexit, attempted assasinations through poisonings in the UK, bombing european ammunition stockpiles, espionage throughout europe etc.)

Collectively the effects Russia has had should likely have caused an "Article 5" (If it's possible on Economic grounds) but the governments wanted to pretend everything was alright... especially with the money Russia was willing to trade (bribe) for influence.

[Syne]

The West has been slow-walking aide for nothing but a stalemate, at best. I guess Europe has been fine with Ukrainians dying, so long as it keeps Russia attention there, and no further afield. Something eventually has to give. Either the West has to go all in for some kind of "victory," or we need an off ramp to peace. No one wants Russia to take Kyiv.

Everyone was fine with Russia taking Crimea under Obama. So I'm not sure some compromise on territory is the worst thing that could happen.
As long as Europe is such a big customer of Russian oil and LNG, they're basically funding the war.

[C C]

[...] Give up a little territory and STFU.

The crazy thing is that is what the Lord Protectors would have tolerated back in February 2022, just before Ukraine demonstrated that it had a backbone. Heck, they would have been passive about Russia turning the whole country into a puppet state.

But being completely quiet would have been just as impossible for them then as now. Due to the impetus of their moral superiority, the Lord Protectors are compelled to lecture whatever barbarian is offending their sensibilities -- whether homegrown or foreign. A missionary's work is never done. Whereas the Soviet Union was once the biggest exporter of left-wing values, today it is the US (or the West at large).

Apparently, rewinding to that former attitude of "que sera, sera" is unacceptable. Ukraine is like some AI or robot that abruptly demonstrated back in early '22 that it had consciousness or a soul. So now the ex Eurotrash zombie has to be saved. Its spiritual status cannot be trampled on to the extent of allowing Putin to keep any captured territory at all.

This new member of the congregation will lose the current pastor's sponsorship come January 20, and that fate is distasteful: The sheep becomes vulnerable to the practical callousness of Trump. Perhaps long-range missiles are only the tip of the Arrakis sandworm, as the Biden administration's shepherdly fretting intensifies into December and past New Year's.