I read the news today oh boy! Page 2,357

Well, he's entered the Donetsk controlled area, where he won't meet a lot of resistance - mainly Russia flags. It's all about how far he goes.
It's a line on a map but it's pretty blurry to the people who live there. I predict he'll do a Crimea for the time being, then sit back. He'll get lots of sanctions - but it remains to be seen wether the City can wean itself off all that dirty Russian money.
My biggest worry is a newly impoverished Chelsea dropping to the Championship (*ironic joke emoji*}

Is it his end game? He has no heir apparent and he has long reached the point where he understands that power supersedes money. His wealth is now beyond realism but he has no dynasty , so he is a lone figure in many ways.
I think he is testing his own people rather than the West. When Gorbachev was under house arrest the plotters gave out dictates that they assumed the public would conform to. But Yeltsin read the people and crushed the coup.
How far will his generals go? They have money property and interests at stake also this is not Chechnya, they can't blanket bomb it . If they invade proper they would struggle to suppress the Ukrainians on a day to day basis.
Once the body bags start returning he has nothing to offer the mothers by way of excuse. Do they see it as their fight? Their lives and freedoms were not threatened like in the Great Patriotic War.
Perhaps he hopes to die on the world stage rather than at his dacha surrounded by wealth that is of no use to him?

Quote: Lazzard @ 22nd February 2022, 10:41 AM

I predict he'll do a Crimea for the time being, then sit back.

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That seems unlikely, as the disputed territory is connected to Russia and it would be easy for troops to just roll across the border - as is already happening. Staging 75% of Russia's entire military strength on three sides of Ukraine leads one to believe that Putin has designs on the entire country. There's no reason to flood troops into Belarus unless Putin has his eyes on the capitol of Kyiv.

Quote: Teddy Paddalack @ 22nd February 2022, 11:47 AM

Perhaps he hopes to die on the world stage rather than at his dacha surrounded by wealth that is of no use to him?

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I'm sure there are people actively working to achieve that outcome.

Nigel Farage thinks we should give Putin what he wants.
Then, I suppose Putin gave Farage what he wanted - so, fair do's.

I see the sanctions have started. No doubt Boris and his cronies were told which ones they could do by their backers. I bet the banks and the individuals took steps to negate the damage after being told it would happen last week.

I see the sanctions have started. No doubt Boris and his cronies were told which ones they could do by their backers. I bet the banks and the individuals took steps to negate the damage after being told it would happen last week.

I bet most of it's gone.
We gave them enough notice, FFS.
Not sure where they'll scurry to - the US have had them on their shit-list for a few years now. so they'll get no joy there.
And with Credit Suisse on the ropes, it might be getting a bit sticky in Toblerone-land.

Two of the banks and the individuals are already subject to Magnitsky sanctions anyway. Johnson and his crew are beholden to serious Russian money as is the city.
As it stands The Chinese used money to hold a winter Olympics in region devoid of snow and the Qataris used theirs to host green grass football in the dessert. Everything is for sale and London is the clearing house . As such any sanctions the UK imposes will be weak and done in collusion with the alleged targets.

The covid pandemic has helped spur him on to make the big move imo. Normal life turned upside down by unexpected killer virus is a perfect time to start an invasion, if anything he's a few months late with it, but then wars need a lot of planning.

Has this finally proved that having nuclear weapons does work as a deterrent? Ukraine scrapped theirs, the third biggest nuclear warhead arsenal in return for a signed declaration that Russia would never invade them. Less than 30 years later Russia have reneged on it and invaded. There's no chance they would have if they faced being nuked.

All it needs is for every person in the west to buy two teddy bears and to send one to the Kremlin and the other to the Ukraine border on the Russian side. It would take about 20 years for them to cope with deciding what to do with the hundreds of millions of teddy bears they receive and they wouldn't have the time or resources to be able to do anything else. I am astonished that no one has mentioned this.

Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 22nd February 2022, 10:54 PM

Has this finally proved that having nuclear weapons does work as a deterrent? Ukraine scrapped theirs, the third biggest nuclear warhead arsenal in return for a signed declaration that Russia would never invade them. Less than 30 years later Russia have reneged on it and invaded. There's no chance they would have if they faced being nuked.

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And that is probably the root of all our fears and why Boris has only stopped Putin's pocket money.
Nobody is going to intervene. They will make all the right noises but stop short of actually helping.

Given the proximity of worried countries that have only broken free of the Russian yoke in the last 20 odd years. There is plenty of scope for accidents that will escalate the situation. The main issue for me is whether this is the death throws of a tyrant or the naked ambition of a nation?.
If Putin has all his generals onboard then the logistics of war suggests that they have an 'Exit Strategy' in place which could mean they take twice as much as they wanted and then withdraw under a treaty that leaves them half of what they took but is in fact all they wanted in the first place.
In the absence of that all this is is war with no gains and losses on both sides.
As for the nuclear option it never happened in Korea or Vietnam or any of the other proxy wars as there is no gain for anyone. But if it does happen then all my scripts that I have stored in the hope of one day being discovered will obliterated which would be a real shame if I was still here to discover the fact that is .

Famously Dame Nellie Melba once said of Vyacheslav Molotov "he is a man I can do business with so yes we can". In this light, I can't for the life of me understand why Liz Tusk isn't able to get her legs across President Nureyev to ease the terrible crisis in Turkmenistan.

I bet Putin is shitting himself!

Quote: Chappers @ 23rd February 2022, 5:44 PM

I bet Putin is shitting himself!

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Oh yes, the old poo tin ting.

What's coming up next?

Something about President Bidet?

The one thing you can say about the Soviet leader is at 69 the ladies find him well hot.

DaButt - you were right.
The f**kers gone in.