Yes I think need to be more pro-active, say with Moldova.
If the Baltic States weren't already in eu \ nato I imagine they'd have de-stabilised by Russia now.
Russian Foreign Policy
- Thread starter Purple
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If the Baltic States weren't already in eu \ nato I imagine they'd have de-stabilised by Russia now.
Baby boomer
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I agree. But a major problem is that Obama declared the use of chemical weapons in Syria would be a red line. And when Putin crossed it, Obama did..... absolutely nothing.
It's only a red line if you're going to enforce it.
Ukraine rolled back from that in a major way over the last few days, their foreign minister said Ireland is is "at the forefront within the EU and beyond providing essential support for Ukraine in all possible ways."
At the end of the day, we can't even find enough sailors to travel to New Zealand to pick up 2 new ships for our navy, there is little practical military assistance we can provide.
And yet the Russians call us out for being at forefront of Anti-Russian Sentiment in Europe.... Neutrality is tough!
Found the reaction to that speech very bizarre. He didn't exactly give ringing endorsements for Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, France. And certainly not Hungary. And yet we seem to be the only Country that spent time looking for praise/getting insulted....
I think the context was more to do with getting membership of the EU rather than any military assistance. I think Ireland has supported that but doesn't think it can be done immediately...
Again, nobody is suggesting that we send troops to Ukraine, nobody is suggesting that we join NATO. Ukraine is fighting a war. They need weapons. That have asked for weapons. We are refusing to give them weapons or money to but weapons.
Sophrosyne
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Yes, I agree and this has been mentioned repeatedly by politicians and the press.
Also mentioned is the US disorderly withdrawal from Afghanistan.
While the West ruminates about what Putin thinks or what he might do, Ukrainian citizens are being slaughtered and their cities, towns and villages reduced to rubble by persistent and indiscriminate aerial bombardment.
However, there is a groundswell of opinion that fear of being provocative should not dictate what military hardware is provided to Ukraine to enable it to defend itself.
Putin is the aggressor and has already crossed several red lines. It has to be made clear to him that it is not up to him to control who helps Ukraine or the nature of that help.
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Very interesting article on Putin here
www.nytimes.com
The Making of Vladimir Putin (Published 2022)
Tracing Putin’s 22-year slide from statesman to tyrant.
We've like an insecure teenager, the most important thing for us is to be liked. That's why when famous people come here we fawn over them and ask them if they like us and if they think we're great. If they say yes we love them.
He's entitled to his opinion and luckily he can express one without the risk of going to jail for 15 years!
Sophrosyne
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Exactly - and going all around the moon to say nothing!
I remember you raising the concept of 'whataboutism' in the not so distant past.
I guess we can ignore the US orchastrating this whole thing back in 2014 - and just go with the onesided media slant on all of this (and no, I'm not in any way shape or form a Putin supporter).
To say nothing (or maybe notions that are unpalateable to you) - or to say a whole host of very important and relevant things (given the one-sided take on this mess)? To me, it's the latter.
Sophrosyne
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Such as ...?
Practically everything in that article - and given the discourse on here (which has only come from one slant), I would say its pretty much essential reading for anyone to balance up their understanding.
The first casualty in war is truth - it's reasonable to expect that there are a whole host of untruths emmanating from both sides.
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Sophrosyne
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That's not an answer though.
Given that's my opinion and view, it's very much an answer. Now if you'd like to disagree with any of what Greenwald raised, you could do so if you wanted to....or you can just denigrate it without going into it at all. Whatever works.
Hi tecate,
Do you think the Russian actions in Ukraine are in anyway justified?
Firefly.
The link you posted is blocked by my computer. Can you give a summary?
Of course there is a long history in the region and Ukraine is far from a liberal Western society (though that is what they are trying to be) but what matters is that a dictator has used his army to invade another country in an attempt to remove their democratically elected government, the democratic rights of its citizens and their fundamental rights as laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It's a god read if for any reason you are unsure who the good guys and bad guys are here.