What are the steps that are required to join nato? How quickly and secretly can that process happen ?
I’m not convinced the “bastard Russians” want this war any more than the average Ukrainian does. Putin is the bastard, I don’t extend that to all Russians nor even all members of Russias largely conscript army.
Unfortunately none of that matters in times of war. I’m sure no one had many problems with the Germans in WW1&2. All it takes is one crazy **** and enough people willing to follow their insane orders.
Run Vlad Run ! Russia will no longer be allowed to participate in this year's Eurovision Song Contest, the European Broadcasting Union has said. The EBU, which produces the event, said Russia's inclusion could bring the competition into disrepute "in light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine". Russia launched an attack on its neighbour Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday. Western governments have ramped up international sanctions in response. State broadcasters from countries including Iceland, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands had called for Russia to be banned from the contest.
I read somewhere that the conscripts are only signed up for 1 year and cannot be sent to the front line unless they sign up to stay in the army beyond the 12 months. Can’t find where I read it, or if it is truth, but if it is it might indicate that their army is more “professional” than we are led to believe.
More Eurovision I’m just trying to bring a bit of lightness to this thread , it’s horrific ! ( not the thread , the reality ) No offence meant to anyone . Oh , I like the Eurovision contest .
Following the news today, I struck me as ironic that the logic used to justify theinvasion of Iraq is precisely the one that has been used by Putin to invade Ukraine albeit the weapons in the latter are not exactly ones of mass distruction. This is epsecially the case in that some of the politicians called for action against Iraq are now quick to condemn Russia for doing exactly the same! The action of the Russians is atrocious and can in no way be excused. By the same token, I have to say that the response of NATO has seriously stoked the fire and raised the stakes. I was shocked to see that civilians have now been armed in Ukraine and not doubt many of these weapons will have been issued by NATO even though alot of the pictures seem to show them holding ubiquitous AK-47s. In my opinion, societies that have such ready access to guns are flawed and by providing more, we have helped make the situation worse. We have helped give Putin the excuse he needed. Heaven know how long these weapons will remain in circulation. I just think that this has been really irresponsible and there is no telling where they will eventually end up. The other point i think is shocking is the threat of military action against neutral counties such as Sweden and Finland. They are better off remaining outside of NATO which has well outserved it's purpose and helped create the current problem. There was also a clip on BBC of the British army delivering tanks to Estonia which is on the border with Russia (albeit marginally.) I would be keen to know how this is intended to de-escalate the situation. Finally, I have to say that it is an absolute disgrace that Starmer has threatned to suspend the whip from 11 Labour MPS who signed the "Stop the War " statement. Irrespective of my own feelings on this matter ( I would applaud these MPS and fully concur with Stop the War's statement) , I am shocked that Starmer is effectively denying them the freedom of speech on what is an extremely serious matter. It is surprising that so few MPs have put their name to this statement as anyone sensible must be against war. I am also shocked by some of the comments coming from the UK's generals who seem to be itching for a conflict - they should have been serving prison sentences for what they did in Iraq as opposed to retainiing their positions of power. I was also surprised to learn of EU interference with the Ukraine economy and how it has been instrumental in directing the country towards an agricultural mono-culture and also resulting in high profits for those countries in the EU who had been investing there. This was something I had not been aware of previously. I feel that Putin is completely out of control and extremely dangerous yet the way western politicians have dealty with him has been atrocious from initially taking money from Russian oligarchs through to how NATO is mismanaging the current situation and clearly making the situation much worse. I do not feel it is a time for taking sides but a moment for the world to reject imperialism and military aggression.
I rarely agree with you regarding anything…. And that has continued. NATO is a DEFENSIVE alliance. They have caused nothing
50,000 Finns also just suddenly had the inexplicable urge to buy large white coats and wax up a pair of skis.
That is demonstrably not the case. NATO is expansionist and it is relic of the Cold War. It has been involved in conflicts outside of Europe and gone well beyond it's original remit , gallavanting on imperialist jaunts. It is blatanty incorrect that NATO has ensured peace within Europe or indeed anywhere. It is a complere and utter waste of resources when there are more serious things to contend with like the climate crisis. If you don't resolve that, there will be nowhere worth living to defend, The only way to prevent conflict is to de-militarise. Having weapons vreate problems and not solve them as Putin has shown this week.
I'm sorry, but this is silly. You have the cause and effect inverted here. The Ukrainians have ready access to guns because of the threat of Russian invasion. This is a real threat because Russia invaded them already, eight years ago. And before that, they invaded Georgia. Ukraine was not on a military footing at the time and the Russian paramilitaries were able to seize a large chunk of the country, part of which they have annexed, the rest they have set up as puppet states. I'm not exactly a war hawk, but that's exactly the sort of situation that merits having a bunch of guns. If you think having zero guns would somehow be a deterrent to Putin's ambitions, I would suggest that you are not terribly familiar with Putin.
It is pretty obviousm really. If you don't have weapons, you are not going to be perceived as a threat or threaten other countries yourself. We need to disarm as a planet and start working together to solve problems. You will not doubt call me a Putin apologist, but I think that you will find Ukraine is nothing like the western democracy it has been made out to be. I do not think we should have armed these people and, by the same token, I think we need to take out tanks out of Estonia pretty swiftly.
No one is innocent in this politically but the ONLY violent aggressor in this is Russia. All of this could have been handled with diplomacy. Your arguments are totally wrong, I apologise but they make no sense. You can’t fight a wolf with words. They only understand violence. If we followed your policy, Putin would already own all of Europe
I don't think you're a Putin apologist. I think you're being hopelessly naive. Putin does not perceive Ukraine as a threat. Putin perceives Ukraine as Russian territory that has no business being an independent state. The giveaway here is that he gave a big speech where he declared that Ukraine is Russian territory that has no business being an independent state. Three days ago. In that same speech, he questioned Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania's right to be independent states, as well. Abandoning them would only go one way, and it isn't the way you believe it would go.
Nukes are not a deterrent. They have not prevented war and, in the hands of someone like Putin or countries like Pakistan or Iran , they are highly dangerous. All nuclear weapons should be decommisoned. No one in their right mind should have access to them.
