"Has Russia Won?" Topic

Or once a deal is made whoever is involved give Ukraine into Europe asap and give them tactical nukes with the go code maybe that will give Russia pause for thought.

Your handle seems to have developed a superfluous "M."

NPR
Took me second LOL bravo very good!
🤣

The idea for the invasion didn't start as soon as Biden was elected.

Regardless, of the date of Putin started lining up on the border. He was posturing. It is very highly unlikely to have invaded at all. If he had to deal with much stronger US leadership. And I am not the only one to say that. Putin knows we see everything his military does. With a number of assets and sources. If nothing else just orbital.

What do you think should be done now?

It has been said many times by many at a much higher pay grade than mine[was].

Biden drug his feet sending everything Ukraine would have needed to make Putin's little war never happen. Or at least him to think twice. It took months for Russia to get their forces to the border. We/NATO, etc. saw all that movement to the border. And Putin knew it.

Putin is no tactician or strategist and seems nor are most/ many of his senior officers. As well as his intel about Ukraine's ability to resist was faulty. Putin's move was to intimidate. And thought he would have repeat what he did in the Crimea in 2014. While Obama and Biden were in the WH. They rolled thru secured Crimea with little resistance.

Again, he was lining up on the border which took months. He was prepared to intimidate or roll into Ukraine again. Last time he did that Biden was VP. Now he was POTUS. Putin neither respected or feared him. Or Obama …

Once Putin saw how poorly Biden and his admin handled the situation in A'stan. He knew Biden, Blinken, etc. didn't listen to his Military and Intel assets. The plan was poor at best. And was proven out as so. Putin saw Biden was risk adverse and feared escalation. Putin then decided he would cross/attack into Ukraine.

Biden, and NATO would have followed the USA's lead, and rush more military aid/assets to Ukraine. Much sooner, which may have deterred Putin's invasion. And if not it would have given Ukraine more and better assets sooner. To do much more damage to the Russian Army much sooner. As it was, they did pretty damn good anyway.

Biden thought his civilian planned A'stan withdrawal was a success. No one who knows anything about that type of operation thought it could br considered a success. As it wasn't.
They thought they could just talk their out of it. Stop the invasion as they thought their A'stan debacle was successful.

They were very wrong. The Biden admin kept thinking they could just talk to Vlad, like they did with the Taliban. And were trying to do with Iran.

They all saw the weakness in the US leadership. They took advantage of it. Putin saw Biden did not think to rush equipment to Ukraine, as the US did to Israel during the '73 Arab-Israeli War. The word was the Russian invasion would be over in 3 days. Both Biden and Putin wrong.

Biden's risk aversion and fear of escalation was because the Admin feared/was concerned about Putin using his nuke. Even if only Tactical nukes. And Putin kept rattling the nuclear saber.

The Biden admin had other priorities than defense and NATO. It was all about woke progressive, DEI/CRT/1619, LGBTQ, Climate Change/Going Green, etc., etc. Putin saw that … he saw Biden's priorities wouldn't really interfere with his invasion.

My answer was not complete, as I ran out of time to edit and answer all the questions. Bottom line it is going to take some master dealmaking to try to bring this war to its end. And stop the killing. This could have been avoided with much better US leadership and NATO having more assets available to support Ukraine's against Russian aggression.

But hindsight is 20/20 …

'nuff said …

But will it be master dealmaking? It appears to me that Trump is prepared to give Russia what it wants and screw Ukraine.
Name one thing Trump has told Russia they will have to give up? It ahs all been Ukraine must give this and that.

But will it be master dealmaking? It appears to me that Trump is prepared to give Russia what it wants and screw Ukraine.
Name one thing Trump has told Russia they will have to give up? It ahs all been Ukraine must give this and that. It is easy to end a war if you just let one side get everything.

"…Name one thing Trump has told Russia they will have to give up?…

The deep admiration and respect from Putin and his gang in the press revering the powerful, charismatic and wise President of the USA… maybe some real estate deals?

Armand

Geesh. Russia LOST. Putin tried to conquer Ukraine. He failed. He has sustained hundreds of thousands of casualties, lost untold billions in military equipment, and hundreds of billions in losses to the Russian economy. Putin has been forced to confront coup attempts against him and has had to wage an internal power struggle, while also being generally isolated. His goal of stopping NATO led to an expansion of NATO, and maybe…maybe…Europe putting on its "big boy pants" and starting to effectively defend itself and act as an independent deterrent against Russia.

Will Putin admit he has lost and paid a heavy price? No, of course not -- he's a dictator. No matter what happens he'll declare victory. Who cares what he says?

But will it be master dealmaking? It appears to me that Trump is prepared to give Russia what it wants and screw Ukraine.

Is the war over ? Both Ukraine and Russia know they will have to give up something. Unless Russia wants to continue the bloodbath ? But again … the fat lady ain't sung yet.

Name one thing Trump has told Russia they will have to give up? It ahs all been Ukraine must give this and that.

What goes on behind closed doors is not always covered by the media. It is not allowed in the back room. Putin wants to drag this out to try gain a little more ground, kill a few more Ukrainians, launch a few more drones, etc.

But regardless, both sides know they will have to compromise. But Putin is trying to see how far he can push the envelope with Trump. Trump knows the US can't continue the level of support for Ukraine. Putin sees that the Dems are fighting everything Trump tries to do. That plays all into Putin's favor.

And maybe the EU should start they version of NATO. Don't shut NATO down. But the US won't be part of the EU forces. Just like the UN. NATO troops are many times UN troops. But The EU will be another force they could use. To suit their needs.

So along with NATO and UN troop deployments, add EU forces. Again many will be in NATO, the UN and in the EU troops. E.g. UK, France, etc. will have memberships in 3 distinct military organization.

Just like Gaza there has to be some sort of solution. With neither side getting everything they want. That is generally how this sort of geopolitical dealings go.

SB and Legion +1