So the suggestion that Ukraine should accept being neutral and NOT part of NATO if Russia pulls out entirely (including Crimea) and agrees to respect its territorial integrity is a non-starter because unless Ukraine is IN NATO then Russia will inevitably invade again? Makes sense. And boy is it great that more countries have joined NATO. It's such BS that this threatens Russia. It's only a problem for them if they plan to invade!
But what do you think about it in general? A stalemate sort of favors Russia, right? Is it better Ukraine keeps getting stronger and can actually push Russia out? Or is this a dangerous escalation, no matter what weapons Ukraine would understandably want? Is the pre-2014 border the only acceptable end game here?
The only way to end this war is for Ukraine to join NATO, or for NATO to basically occupy Ukraine (so there's a de facto Article V because NATO troops will die if Russian invades again). Short of that, or Ukrainian get nuclear weapons, no peace deal means anything, as Russia will simply attack again in a few years when they build their weapons up again. That means, if you're Ukraine, there's no point in making concessions, short of the NATO promise in return. So, I don't know how you end this, short of just giving Ukraine what it needs to get back everything. And even then, Russia will still invade again in 5 years. NATO membership is really the only way to end this, IMHO.
Great news for Ukraine and the rule of (international) law. Maybe Biden doesn't want Putin to lose face by publicly mocking the idea of them using nukes. (I'm sure you're right that using them is not a real option. Plus, they'd be nuking their own country since they insist Ukraine and Crimea is theirs.) And maybe the sigh of relief report is nonsense. Certainly UK did it with US approval. Is it a positive that many countries are symbolically involved -- stuff from the US, tanks from Poland, longer range missiles from UK and so on? That alone seems a really powerful message, rather than everything coming from us. A secret deal would be bonkers, including a specific promise for the US not to send a specific type/class of weapon. The Griner release surely wouldn't qualify but maybe some general understanding behind the grain shipment would? Maybe the only unusual thing here is the reporting!
True, but I also don't generally get why Biden is okay with this. They sure didn't sound like they'd prefer another country to do it instead -- with the tanks, they admitted that. Maybe Biden came around. Its weird.
So the suggestion that Ukraine should accept being neutral and NOT part of NATO if Russia pulls out entirely (including Crimea) and agrees to respect its territorial integrity is a non-starter because unless Ukraine is IN NATO then Russia will inevitably invade again? Makes sense. And boy is it great that more countries have joined NATO. It's such BS that this threatens Russia. It's only a problem for them if they plan to invade!
Unless we station NATO troops all over the country, so that a Russian invasion means NATO troops die.
But what do you think about it in general? A stalemate sort of favors Russia, right? Is it better Ukraine keeps getting stronger and can actually push Russia out? Or is this a dangerous escalation, no matter what weapons Ukraine would understandably want? Is the pre-2014 border the only acceptable end game here?
The only way to end this war is for Ukraine to join NATO, or for NATO to basically occupy Ukraine (so there's a de facto Article V because NATO troops will die if Russian invades again). Short of that, or Ukrainian get nuclear weapons, no peace deal means anything, as Russia will simply attack again in a few years when they build their weapons up again. That means, if you're Ukraine, there's no point in making concessions, short of the NATO promise in return. So, I don't know how you end this, short of just giving Ukraine what it needs to get back everything. And even then, Russia will still invade again in 5 years. NATO membership is really the only way to end this, IMHO.
Great news for Ukraine and the rule of (international) law. Maybe Biden doesn't want Putin to lose face by publicly mocking the idea of them using nukes. (I'm sure you're right that using them is not a real option. Plus, they'd be nuking their own country since they insist Ukraine and Crimea is theirs.) And maybe the sigh of relief report is nonsense. Certainly UK did it with US approval. Is it a positive that many countries are symbolically involved -- stuff from the US, tanks from Poland, longer range missiles from UK and so on? That alone seems a really powerful message, rather than everything coming from us. A secret deal would be bonkers, including a specific promise for the US not to send a specific type/class of weapon. The Griner release surely wouldn't qualify but maybe some general understanding behind the grain shipment would? Maybe the only unusual thing here is the reporting!
True, but I also don't generally get why Biden is okay with this. They sure didn't sound like they'd prefer another country to do it instead -- with the tanks, they admitted that. Maybe Biden came around. Its weird.