World war 3....

Exactly. It is a great pity that they had far too Russian-friendly and, one must say, corrupt, governments in the decades after independence.

This is why it was so important for countries such as the Baltics, and those of the former Warsaw Pact, to get into NATO and the EU as quickly as possible -- even if a proportion of the citizens were leery of, or even hostile to, both. It is not an ironclad guarantee of safety, but it is nonetheless very good. If I were Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, I'd be worried rather more now; even Finland should be concerned, and take steps to enter NATO.

The sad/depressing thing is that we will be stuck with this situation for another two decades or so -- until all of Putin's generation have gone. They were all born at the height of the USSR, with the "Great Patriotic War" (which they won on their own -- ha!) fresh in the memory, and an Empire. Putin and his type want that back. The rest of the world has moved into the 2020s, but he/they are back in the 1920s and 30s, using exactly the same techniques as then. Only now, no one is fooled. But still, when the bully is a nuclear superpower, it is difficult to fight force with force -- the only thing that would be understood.

A very sad day for Europe; sadder still for the Ukrainians.

RCB

 

We should be offering the likes of India, Brazil and others developing countries as much expertise as we can from their Western allies, your correct as with most things British in the past we have sold off so much of our industries, thankfully most were to European countries and Japan.
It looks like they are going on relentlessly to take Kyiv can't see a way back from that.

 

Just where will Russian stop, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, Eastonia, never thought I see anything like this in my lifetime.

 

I would hope our sports men and women would feel just as passionate about the Ukraine and what is happening to its people as our footballers do about taking the knee to show their solidarity against racism both shocking situations.

 

I do hope your right, what a tragedy that would be to show the Russia people what their leader is doing.

 

How would that play out with regards Romania being a part oc the EU ?.

 

But we were told the EU was a big part of the reason there has been no conflicts in Europe since the second World War, maybe they forgot the likes of Russia do what they want.
Macron is trying to look like a world leader offering his time up to meet with Putin and sort if out, anyone would think there was a Frencb general election on the horizon.

 

All sport should stop

Couple of f1 drivers have spoken out about the race in Russia.

One.. Said f1 will do the right thing. (Alonso)

Second... It's wrong what's happened and he will not go to that race. (Vettle)

 

NATO is a double edged sword, Would the public accept sons and daughters coming home en mass in body bags fighting for another country? They were already sick of it with Afghanistan and Iraq

 

Russia will always think defensively after its history of wars and oppression. Losing 20 million dead in WW2 alone makes it nervous about the west

 

wow. That’s hilarious…..

 

I feel unfortunately it’s heading towards all our war, Boris Johnson alluded to as much at the end of his speech mentioning military action. No chance Putin stops at Ukraine, he’s a mad man and if we sit back and do nothing will see NATO nations as weak and will happily invade the Baltics then it’s war anyway or NATO is finished if it doesn’t defend its members. It maybe a case of moralising asap while they get bogged down with a relatively large country, or wait until that’s all done and they can swarm into to much smaller Baltics with even more of an army.

Unfortunately the despot has also more or less threatened anyone who intervenes with nuclear weapons, it shows how crazy he is considering NATOs own nuclear arsenal.

The biggest hope is that Ukraine can hold strong long enough to weaken the Russian peoples resolve and send as many back in body bags as possible.

 

The west has been weakening for years. Russia won't fear the west.

 

And this is the sad reality of war: the more bodies you produce, the better for your side. The Russians have the weaponry and manpower to win, but if that must be, the Ukrainians nonetheless have to make it as bloody for them as possible. Whether this will alter Putin's course though is debatable -- Russian leaders, both civil and military, have form for not being all that bothered by how many of their own die... At least there have been protests in Russia, but note the arrests in response.

I forgot about Moldova in my last post. Yes, that may well be the next one to go. It has been good to hear both the US and NATO stress Article 5 in their announcements today; good too that forces are being repositioned and more are on the way. Putin is all the more dangerous because he is intelligent (always assuming he is still in full posession of his marbles). An old saying of Lenin's applies, to the effect that you thrust with your bayonet, and if you meet something soft, you keep pushing, but if you meet steel, you pull back. NATO (along with the individual countries) needs to provide that steel; so far it seems to be doing so: the F35s, the various attack helicopters, the troop redeployments and the additional troops on the way.

But this, too, is why Finland needs to be concerned. It, too, was once part of the Empire that Tsar Vladimir the First (Vladimir III) would like to recreate.

It is going to be a worrying time for all, and even more so for those of us with connexions to the countries on Europe's/NATO's eastern border.

(edited to add the "if" in my reply to Park)

RCB

 

Ukraine is being left to stand alone. The response of NATO and 'the West' has been pathetic. If NATO won't deploy its military might to defend a sovereign nation from being illegally invaded in this manner, then what's the point of NATO?

Enough with the sanctions and statements of condemnation. Its time for the West to rediscover its backbone and step up in the only way that matters, and send Russian troops home in bodybags by the thousands.