US has no good options in Ukraine

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am having trouble seeing an ending to this conflict other than for Ukraine to agree to maintain neutrality in the future -- that is, to stay outside of NATO.

I admire Zelensky's bravery. But I wonder if, in the end, he will simply have to agree to roughly the same deal he could have obtained prior to the invasion.

It isn't just Putin who doesn't want Ukraine in NATO -- according to William Burns, it is virtually the entire Russian government.

Putin will not stop till he gets all the Eastern Ukraine. It is not Zelensky's call.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am having trouble seeing an ending to this conflict other than for Ukraine to agree to maintain neutrality in the future -- that is, to stay outside of NATO.

I admire Zelensky's bravery. But I wonder if, in the end, he will simply have to agree to roughly the same deal he could have obtained prior to the invasion.

It isn't just Putin who doesn't want Ukraine in NATO -- according to William Burns, it is virtually the entire Russian government.

They dont need to be in NATO. Get virtually the same benefits by being in the EU. It'd be a win win and is the obvious compromise that allows Russia to save face.

At this point not being in Nato and demilitarization as per putin means annihilation of Ukraine - If not in this war, then in a future war 5, 8 or 10 years down the road. It’s not a viable option for Ukraine and not worth fighting and the sacrifices it is now making.

DP. Many Ukrainians would rather die than lives under Russia’s thumb.

Unfortunately, many of them died and many of them will die if this war doesn't stop.

Millions were starved to death in the 1930s under Stalin. They would die either way, might as well defend their home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am having trouble seeing an ending to this conflict other than for Ukraine to agree to maintain neutrality in the future -- that is, to stay outside of NATO.

I admire Zelensky's bravery. But I wonder if, in the end, he will simply have to agree to roughly the same deal he could have obtained prior to the invasion.

It isn't just Putin who doesn't want Ukraine in NATO -- according to William Burns, it is virtually the entire Russian government.

Putin will not stop till he gets all the Eastern Ukraine. It is not Zelensky's call.

It’s not putin’s call either. It’s what he wants, it’s not what he gets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am having trouble seeing an ending to this conflict other than for Ukraine to agree to maintain neutrality in the future -- that is, to stay outside of NATO.

I admire Zelensky's bravery. But I wonder if, in the end, he will simply have to agree to roughly the same deal he could have obtained prior to the invasion.

It isn't just Putin who doesn't want Ukraine in NATO -- according to William Burns, it is virtually the entire Russian government.

Putin will not stop till he gets all the Eastern Ukraine. It is not Zelensky's call.

It’s not putin’s call either. It’s what he wants, it’s not what he gets.

Putin and the Russian army are starting to remind me of Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi army in 1990/91. Maybe Tucker can be the stand-in for Baghdad Bob.

[Anonymous]

I wonder how long the Russian troops will last. I find it odd that they need Syrians and Chinese to help when they have “850,000” in their military.

Maybe 30k are wounded or dead but they still have a lot of people to throw in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how long the Russian troops will last. I find it odd that they need Syrians and Chinese to help when they have “850,000” in their military.

Maybe 30k are wounded or dead but they still have a lot of people to throw in.

They can’t, who will then ensure that it doesn’t flare up in Caucasus, Georgia or Transnistria if they do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how long the Russian troops will last. I find it odd that they need Syrians and Chinese to help when they have “850,000” in their military.

Maybe 30k are wounded or dead but they still have a lot of people to throw in.

They can’t, who will then ensure that it doesn’t flare up in Caucasus, Georgia or Transnistria if they do that.

Russia has relatively few soldiers in those areas. Putin’s real problem is that he has publicly promised inside Russia that he is not using Russian conscripts for this “special military operation”. Except, it turns out he was using some conscripts, and when they started to come home in coffins and their moms started to get phone calls from their babies informing them that they were now POWs of Ukraine, it angered the Russian soldiers’ mothers who are a powerful politica force and not afraid to challenge authority.

Putin had to apologize for the error in the use
of conscripts and fire some people.

Also, it is new conscript season when people come to sign up for the military - Putin doesn’t exactly want these new conscripts that they are really meat foe the grinder that Ukraine has turned out to be.

So, although Russia has, on paper, a large military in terms of personnel, if Putin uses them, he will suffer more blowback internally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how long the Russian troops will last. I find it odd that they need Syrians and Chinese to help when they have “850,000” in their military.

Maybe 30k are wounded or dead but they still have a lot of people to throw in.

The Russians has deployed 60% of their combat power and 50% of their air assets to Ukraine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who says we have no good options. Tik Tok influencers to the rescue (can't make it up...)

https://www.toddstarnes.com/politics/white-house-briefing-tiktok-stars-on-ukraine-war/

Unlike Putin and Xi, the US and EU politicians have to answer to their voters. It makes their jobs easier to have Zelensky and social media convince their voters first, before they announce the decisions. Social media outrage is also driving a lot of companies out of Russia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And before he became a president, he was a great comedian, like Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert. This is one of his most famous videos (yes, it's not very polite, but it's very funny):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oua0Puihrkc

My son, 16, just watched this over my shoulder and asked: "And on that basis he was elected President?"

Hmmm...

So you and your son think you are smarter than 70% of the voters in Ukraine ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And before he became a president, he was a great comedian, like Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert. This is one of his most famous videos (yes, it's not very polite, but it's very funny):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oua0Puihrkc

My son, 16, just watched this over my shoulder and asked: "And on that basis he was elected President?"

Hmmm...

So you and your son think you are smarter than 70% of the voters in Ukraine ?

Not just any son, but a *16*year*old* son. And PP thinks her son is smarter than she is, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how long the Russian troops will last. I find it odd that they need Syrians and Chinese to help when they have “850,000” in their military.

Maybe 30k are wounded or dead but they still have a lot of people to throw in.

They can’t, who will then ensure that it doesn’t flare up in Caucasus, Georgia or Transnistria if they do that.

Hearing they don't have enough FSB to quell the cities that they've currently captured - FSB has its hands full trying to monitor and quell dissent at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And before he became a president, he was a great comedian, like Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert. This is one of his most famous videos (yes, it's not very polite, but it's very funny):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oua0Puihrkc

My son, 16, just watched this over my shoulder and asked: "And on that basis he was elected President?"

Hmmm...

So you and your son think you are smarter than 70% of the voters in Ukraine ?

Zelenskyy's comedy also included a lot of astute political commentary. Yes, he did win a popular election, but his skeptics and critics were like the 16-year-old son and called him the "TV President" but with the leadership he's shown in the face of the invasion, he has gained massive, almost universal popularity within Ukraine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how long the Russian troops will last. I find it odd that they need Syrians and Chinese to help when they have “850,000” in their military.

Maybe 30k are wounded or dead but they still have a lot of people to throw in.

They can’t, who will then ensure that it doesn’t flare up in Caucasus, Georgia or Transnistria if they do that.

Hearing they don't have enough FSB to quell the cities that they've currently captured - FSB has its hands full trying to monitor and quell dissent at home.

While being busy with it's own internal purge.

[Anonymous]

Take a lesson from these two elderly Ukranians.