The Brink of War?

[StevieWonders]

I think you may expect Putin's apology right after US's apologies for nuclear bombing of Japanese civilians

LOL - another "moral equivalence" point that doesn't wash

[StevieWonders]

Don't worry, Moses said Russia has some gold bars tucked away. Everything is fine.

That will work only if the gold bars get converted into some acceptable currency - and at the moment a devalued rouble isn’t an “acceptable currency”

[StevieWonders]

For those prepared to spend the money l can recommend no better reading on both the background, the current situation, and Vladimir Putin (“Russia’s new Stalin”) than the current issue of the Economist magazine. I particularly enjoyed a point made about the tyres on some photographed Russian military equipment - “cheap Chinese knock-offs”

[cdnmatt]

This could really go either way. The West could be fucked, and the West could always enjoy another 50 years of being at the top of the world's pecking order.

Exciting times!

[StevieWonders]

This could really go either way. The West could be fucked, and the West could always enjoy another 50 years of being at the top of the world's pecking order.

Exciting times!

That rather depends on how much you buy the “end of history” thesis

[Khor tose]

I have been staying out of this and I intend to continue staying out of it, but I do have one question that has been bugging me. Why now? If Putin wanted to do this, why didn't he do it during Trump's presidency. I think we all know Trump liked and admired Putin. It would not have surprised me if Trump supported Putin in this. If not, if there were sanctions at all they probably would have been insignificant - more like a gentle slap on the wrist.

The way I see it, if Putin wanted to do this, he had every reason to do it while Trump was president. Why did he wait for now?

1. Trump told him he would be re-elected and pull the US out of NATO. NATO alone could and would not stand up to Putin the way he is being stood up to now.
2. Also, he had to secure his relationship with China first.
3. And, he truly believed that he could intimidate Zelenskiy into not joining NATO, or into allowing Putin to create a pro-Russian buffer between Russia and what he left of a NATO Ukraine. Which, by-the-way is his current plan.

[StevieWonders]

1. Trump told him he would be re-elected and pull the US out of NATO. NATO alone could and would not stand up to Putin the way he is being stood up to now.
2. Also, he had to secure his relationship with China first.
3. And, he truly believed that he could intimidate Zelenskiy into not joining NATO, or into allowing Putin to create a pro-Russian buffer between Russia and what he left of a NATO Ukraine. Which, by-the-way is his current plan.

Pure speculation

[cdnmatt]

Uh oh, now the gloves are off. Russia even sanctioned Biden and Trudeau, and a slew of other Westerners. Well, they missed the "jr." so sanctioned Biden's father who's been dead for quite some time, but hey, E for effort.

I liked the Whitehouse Press Secretary's response, "probably of no surprise for you to know, none of us have tourist trips to Russia planned, and none of us have bank accounts in Russia, so we are going to continue to forge ahead.".

[Gaybutton]

Pure speculation

I'm not so sure. Even if Putin himself reveals why he waited for now, any ideas would be speculation. But there is a difference between nonsense speculation and sensible speculation. In my opinion speculation is not necessarily a bad thing.

Khor tose and I don't get along. We haven't for years, but I have to admit what he wrote makes a lot of sense to me.

Certainly he could be wrong, but what both he and Moses say about why Putin waited for now is good enough for me.

[StevieWonders]

I'm not so sure. Even if Putin himself reveals why he waited for now, any ideas would be speculation. But there is a difference between nonsense speculation and sensible speculation. In my opinion speculation is not necessarily a bad thing.

Khor tose and I don't get along. We haven't for years, but I have to admit what he wrote makes a lot of sense to me.

Certainly he could be wrong, but what both he and Moses say about why Putin waited for now is good enough for me.

utinrevealing himself?A flash in the pan?