• YappyMonotheist@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    What are they supposed to do, really? They already have NATO on their doorstep and they’re currently fighting a war…

      • YappyMonotheist@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Have you heard of NATO, Western imperialism and being surrounded by military bases? 🤔

        Putin is a crook, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not that simple.

        • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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          7 hours ago

          Fucking NATO. Buying their gas, selling them technology, letting their oligarch buy nice holiday homes all over Europe. What did poor Russia do to deserve it? Is it all because Putin poisoned some of his critics? What else was he supposed to do? They were criticizing him!

            • Katana314@lemmy.world
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              3 hours ago

              Okay.

              Ukraine agreed to disarm in exchange for protection. Russia “won” that concern already. Russia broke that agreement themselves, because they care about land, not “fear”.

              Take a look at the murder of Renee Good, and what ICE viewed as defensive action. “I feared for my life” are pussy words used by monsters.

            • sidelove@lemmy.world
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              1 day ago

              🤡

              Considering that the only way that Ukraine could’ve avoided being attacked, pillaged, having had their women raped and schools and hospitals bombed, and been locked into a forceful quagmire over their own goddamn home is if they didn’t miss the window to join NATO in the first place.

              Like, you can play word games and place rhetorical traps all you want, it doesn’t stop you from looking like an idiot for carrying water for the biggest crybully on planet Earth.

              • YappyMonotheist@lemmy.world
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                1 day ago

                Do you consider Ukraine not a part of NATO/aligned with the West de facto? If not since they got couped, by now? What does that even mean and how would it have changed things? America wanted to “'contain” Russia, and for it it used Ukraine, and here we are. The rest is wind.

                • Grimy@lemmy.world
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                  1 day ago

                  Odd choice of words. Countries are contained by their borders. Invaders are always the scum, there’s no situation where attacking Ukraine was justified.

                  I wish someone would have “contained” them sooner so Ukraine wouldn’t have to deal with the sewage spill.

                  • vzqq@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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                    1 day ago

                    It’s not an odd choice of words. It’s exactly the words used in certain circles.

                    They are staying on message.

        • brucethemoose@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          This amazes me every time I hear it.

          Russian Strategist: “Comrades, NATO has surrounded our homeland with military bases. They are aggressive, needlessly paranoid, using the absurd notion of our aggression as justification. We must not encourage this aggressive expansion. What shall our strategy be?”

          Subordinate 1: “Bolster our defenses in kind?”

          Subordinate 2: “Seed our economy!”

          Subordinate 3: “Create ties with other nations peacefully, to show them a better way than Western aggression, manipulation and coercion.”

          Subordinate 4: “Unite with our allies and resist the corrupt west.”

          Subordinate 5: Taps chin. “…What if we expend vast resources and hundreds of thousands of young men ‘liberating’ our tiny neighbor, as they aren’t yet in NATO? To, uh…… discourage NATO from expanding?”

          The room looks to the young advisor, in dead silence.

          Strategist: “Brilliant! Genius! That will certainly discourage the growth of NATO.”

        • shawn1122@sh.itjust.works
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          1 day ago

          What I’ve heard is Russia wants access to the black sea since its crucial to their power projection. Russia had its puppet running Ukraine until 2014 so they were ok with Ukraine’s sovereignty but the revolution leading to his overthrow opened the door for installation of a Western puppet and Russia responded to that by annexing Crimea and eventually war. Zelensky has recently said Ukraine will be letting go of its NATO membership aspirations which should help with achieving peace, especially since leadership in both Russia and the West seem accepting of a war of attrition with Ukraine stuck in the middle.

          Putin’s strategy:

          He’s betting that Russia’s authoritarian system can endure high casualties and economic hardship longer than Western democracies can maintain political support for Ukraine. He is waiting for political fatigue to flip elections in the U.S. and Europe.

          A state of perpetual war allows the Kremlin to frame all domestic dissent as treason, effectively cleansing the Russian political landscape of pro-Western or liberal elements.

          West’s strategy

          By providing aid incrementally rather than all at once, NATO avoids red lines that might trigger a nuclear escalation or a direct Russia-NATO war. The goal is to weaken Russia slowly enough that the Kremlin doesn’t feel backed into a corner where they resort to extreme options.

          The war acts as good justification for Western nations to revitalize their neglected defense sectors. This long-term ramp-up in production is seen as necessary to prepare for other future conflicts.

          There is a quiet fear in some Western capitals that a total, rapid Russian defeat could lead to the collapse of the Russian state, leaving thousands of nuclear warheads in the hands of unknown warlords. A controlled attrition is seen by some as more predictable.

          • brucethemoose@lemmy.world
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            1 day ago

            Yeah, the last point is especially interesting. Some reports I’ve read suggest that Putin is a relative moderate in Russian politics, and there are some figures that would make him look tame without Putin “keeping them in line,” so to speak.

      • brucethemoose@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Russia beats neighbor in the face.

        Russia: “Stop making me do this, everyone!”

        Continues to beat neighbor in the face, who just won’t go down.

        Russia : Come on guys, you’re mean! Why are you making me do this!

        China, looking on, rubs forehead and shakes their head. “Yes, that is our ally. Yep…” Gazes to a VERY drunk US shooting wildly.

    • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      NATO was standing there MENACINGLY

      You know Russia could have joined, right?

        • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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          7 hours ago

          What if they stopped posing a threat? Elect someone who’s not a murderer, stop killing opposition leaders, build trade relations with Europe, stop undermining EU governments, help NATO oppose China. Would they be allowed to join then?