War & Zelensky

[Mac1958]

Just for the record, this thread has zero (0) to do with American partisan politics, so perhaps we can have an interesting discussion.

Do we have anyone here who is up on Ukraine and its overall politics? From what I've seen, Zelensky is taking a pretty independent stance, in between Russia and US and its allies.

While everyone else appears to be waiting for the first bombs to drop, Zelensky remains defiant and doesn't appear to think war is imminent. He also seems to think that his job is pretty secure. If he's sweating, he sure doesn't seem to be showing it.

Any guesses about his strategy?

>>>>>> Facing maximum pressure from Russia, Zelensky refuses to blink at the negotiating table

 

[eagle1462010]

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Didn't Biden threaten to withhold funds from the Ukraine unless they stopped investigating his son?

 

[Mac1958]

Ukrainians are wondering if their comedian-turned-president can handle the world stage | CNN

Michael Bociurkiw writes when Volodymyr Zelensky gave up his comedy career to jump into the world of Ukrainian politics, he could not have known within two years he'd become a president staring down thousands of Russian troops along his country's border. Now Ukrainians are wondering whether the...

www.cnn.com

"Both Zelensky and his administration are paying the price for the mistakes they made in the past couple of years," Olga Rudenko, chief editor of the English-language Kyiv Independent newspaper, said at a Frontline Online panel Thursday evening." I think if the invasion happened in 2019, a couple of months after he was elected president when his trust level was very high, it would've been a different story."

Zelensky's mixed messaging on the threat from Russia has also failed to inspire trust in his presidential capabilities, said Rudenko. She pointed to a video address last month in which Zelensky said, despite dire warnings from Washington about the threat of an imminent invasion, Ukrainians should go about their lives as normal, including celebrating Easter holding barbecues. But then the very next day, in a Washington Post interview, Zelensky said Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, could be occupied.

 

[playtime]

Didn't Biden threaten to withhold funds from the Ukraine unless they stopped investigating his son?

no. but i'd love to see you post a credible unbiased link claiming that.

 

[Mac1958]

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tried to project calm as he observed military exercises Saturday near Crimea, the peninsula that Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014.

“We are not afraid, we’re without panic, all is under control,” he said.

Ukrainian armed forces chief commander Lt. Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhny and Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov issued a more defiant joint statement.

“We are ready to meet the enemy, and not with flowers, but with Stingers, Javelins and NLAWs” — anti-tank and -aircraft weapons, they said. “Welcome to hell!”

Um, I can't help this, but the name "Baghdad Bob" does come to mind.

Biden warns Putin of 'severe costs' of Ukraine invasion

The White House says President Joe Biden told Russia’s Vladimir Putin that invading Ukraine would cause “widespread human suffering” and that the West was committed to diplomacy to end the crisis but “equally prepared for other scenarios."

apnews.com

 

[JoeB131]

Just for the record, this thread has zero (0) to do with American partisan politics, so perhaps we can have an interesting discussion.

Do we have anyone here who is up on Ukraine and its overall politics? From what I've seen, Zelensky is taking a pretty independent stance, in between Russia and US and its allies.

While everyone else appears to be waiting for the first bombs to drop, Zelensky remains defiant and doesn't appear to think war is imminent. He also seems to think that his job is pretty secure. If he's sweating, he sure doesn't seem to be showing it.

Any guesses about his strategy?

My first thought is that why are we getting involved. This is something that Obama did was wrong when he supported the 2014 Revolution in Ukraine. The Russian Minority got behind Viktor Yanukovych and won an election fair and square, only to see their candidate toppled by parliament. At that point, the Russian minority in Crimea and Donbass decided they were done.

What is probably needed is a redrawing of the border ceding those regions to Russia, but this is unlikely to happen. Zelensky is probably hoping that this is just saber rattling. I think he underestimates how much Putin might need a war to shore up his own political position.

We also really need to recognize that Russia has a sphere of influence in the world, just like we do, just like the Chinese do.

 

[struth]

Just for the record, this thread has zero (0) to do with American partisan politics, so perhaps we can have an interesting discussion.

Do we have anyone here who is up on Ukraine and its overall politics? From what I've seen, Zelensky is taking a pretty independent stance, in between Russia and US and its allies.

While everyone else appears to be waiting for the first bombs to drop, Zelensky remains defiant and doesn't appear to think war is imminent. He also seems to think that his job is pretty secure. If he's sweating, he sure doesn't seem to be showing it.

Any guesses about his strategy?

>>>>>> Facing maximum pressure from Russia, Zelensky refuses to blink at the negotiating table

I think he’s acting like a duck. On the surface he’s calm, trying not to get his people in a panic, but underneath he is working with fellow european allies, since he recognizes he can’t trust xiden, in the event of an invasion, and on top of that pushing back against the propaganda from xiden

 

[ESay]

Just for the record, this thread has zero (0) to do with American partisan politics, so perhaps we can have an interesting discussion.

Do we have anyone here who is up on Ukraine and its overall politics? From what I've seen, Zelensky is taking a pretty independent stance, in between Russia and US and its allies.

While everyone else appears to be waiting for the first bombs to drop, Zelensky remains defiant and doesn't appear to think war is imminent. He also seems to think that his job is pretty secure. If he's sweating, he sure doesn't seem to be showing it.

Any guesses about his strategy?

>>>>>> Facing maximum pressure from Russia, Zelensky refuses to blink at the negotiating table

Zelensky doesn't have any strategy. His administration and government are a manifestation of unprofessionalism and unfitness for their posts. Do you know that the head of the main secret service of Ukraine - SBU - is a former TV producer, Zelensky's companion, with no experience in this field.

Yes, Zelensky is downplaying the possibility of Russian invasion. One of the reasons is he doesn't want panic to spread across the country.

Another reason is his administration thinks that some Western countries will demand a full implementation of the Minsk agreements on Russian terms as a part of de-escalation solutions.

 

[gipper]

The mess in Ukraine is the consequence of yet another coup by the US. O, Joe, and Nuland got it done in 2014. Overthrowing a freely elected democratic government. A government friendly to Russia. We can’t have that, when we must expand NATO right up to Russia’s border. A provocation Russia isn’t likely to accept.

Dumb Americans think Putin invaded Ukraine to take the Crimea. The truth is the Crimea was part of Russia for more than a couple centuries, before Khrushchev unilaterally gave it to Ukraine. A vote was taken after the Maidan coup and Crimea wanted to return to Russia, which Putin accomplished.

Most Americans couldn’t find Ukraine on a map, even if they were told it borders Russia and is in Eastern Europe.
How The Western Press Lied About The 2014 Coup In Ukraine, Pretending That It Was Instead A Real Democratic Revolution
RAY McGOVERN: Ukraine For Dummies

 

[theHawk]

Do we have anyone here who is up on Ukraine and its overall politics?

The overall politics cannot be separated from American politics, although I’m sure you’d like to pretend it is.

The Clinton Foundation’s biggest foreign donors are Ukrainian Oligarchs.

Obama funded an insurrection that overthrew the democracy that was there, and installed a puppet regime loyal to NATO.

It’s eastern provinces, full of ethnic Russians, don’t want any part of the new Junta that Obama and Soros money funded.
The new government of Ukraine thinks it has claim to all of its previous lands and people, even though it doesn’t have consent from those people.

 

[Mac1958]

Zelensky doesn't have any strategy. His administration and government are a manifestation of unprofessionalism and unfitness for their posts. Do you know that the head of the main secret service of Ukraine - SBU - is a former TV producer, Zelensky's companion, with no experience in this field.

Yes, Zelensky is downplaying the possibility of Russian invasion. One of the reasons is he doesn't want panic to spread across the country.

Another reason is his administration thinks that some Western countries will demand a full implementation of the Minsk agreements on Russian terms as a part of de-escalation solutions.

The more I read about Zelensky the less confident I am that he’s equipped to handle this. Admittedly I don’t know the accuracy of the reports I’m reading.

I guess it could be that he’s trying to assert his credibility, or that he knows something we don’t. From the outside, though, yikes. Not confidence-inspiring.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

The more I read about Zelensky the less confident I am that he’s equipped to handle this. Admittedly I don’t know the accuracy of the reports I’m reading.

I guess it could be that he’s trying to assert his credibility, or that he knows something we don’t. From the outside, though, yikes. Not confidence-inspiring.

Have you seen the dysfunctional mess in the White House?

 

[ESay]

The more I read about Zelensky the less confident I am that he’s equipped to handle this. Admittedly I don’t know the accuracy of the reports I’m reading.

I guess it could be that he’s trying to assert his credibility, or that he knows something we don’t. From the outside, though, yikes. Not confidence-inspiring.

Not only isn't he equipped, he is totally unequipped and incompetent. He tries to be taken confident and having all under control. What will be next, we will see. It seems that this coming week will show many things.

The US and NATO rejected key Russian demands despite all Putin's sabre rattling. Basically, he has two choices now - to take a decisive step or stop puffing up his cheeks and bring his troops back to permanent locations.

 

[gipper]

Not only isn't he equipped, he is totally unequipped and incompetent. He tries to be taken confident and having all under control. What will be next, we will see. It seems that this coming week will show many things.

The US and NATO rejected key Russian demands despite all Putin's sabre rattling. Basically, he has two choices now - to take a decisive step or stop puffing up his cheeks and bring his troops back to permanent locations.

If the US and NATO would get the fuck out, no war occurs. Of course the imperialists and war profiteers in our government would never do this. War is wonderful. It greatly enriches and empowers the elite.

 

[Mac1958]

Not only isn't he equipped, he is totally unequipped and incompetent. He tries to be taken confident and having all under control. What will be next, we will see. It seems that this coming week will show many things.

The US and NATO rejected key Russian demands despite all Putin's sabre rattling. Basically, he has two choices now - to take a decisive step or stop puffing up his cheeks and bring his troops back to permanent locations.

I'm beginning to wonder if whether Putin's so-called NATO concerns are the underlying issue here.

It may be that he's just after specific territory. I don't see him blowing up Kiev intending to occupy it.

 

[gipper]

I'm beginning to wonder if whether Putin's so-called NATO concerns are the underlying issue here.

It may be that he's just after specific territory. I don't see him blowing up Kiev intending to occupy it.

Wrong. He’s made his concerns known. They are old concerns. Ukraine can’t go NATO and can’t oppress the Russian population in the Donbas.

 

[petro]

My first thought is that why are we getting involved. This is something that Obama did was wrong when he supported the 2014 Revolution in Ukraine. The Russian Minority got behind Viktor Yanukovych and won an election fair and square, only to see their candidate toppled by parliament. At that point, the Russian minority in Crimea and Donbass decided they were done.

What is probably needed is a redrawing of the border ceding those regions to Russia, but this is unlikely to happen. Zelensky is probably hoping that this is just saber rattling. I think he underestimates how much Putin might need a war to shore up his own political position.

We also really need to recognize that Russia has a sphere of influence in the world, just like we do, just like the Chinese do.

Doesn't happen often, but I agree.

 

[ESay]

If the US and NATO would get the fuck out, no war occurs. Of course the imperialists and war profiteers in our government would never do this. War is wonderful. It greatly enriches and empowers the elite.

Your ilk are tirelessly advocating the right of Crimean people to decide their future and with whom they want to be. While ignoring such a right to the Poles, Czechs, Estonians and so on. Have you asked them whether they want 'NATO to get the fuck out'?

The majority of East European nations don't want to get back under Russian rule. Quite strange, eh? Even Putin's buddy Orban isn't so eager to pull back from Western blocs.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Why is Sleepy Joe suddenly concerned, Hunter is no longer getting paid by Ukrainian oligarchs, or is he?