Well that's a bizarre argument. So if you can't solve a problem 100%, it's doesn't make a difference? Why have laws against murder - they don't stop all murders, so it's pointless. A no-fly zone limits Russia's ability to invade Ukraine. It saves lives and likely turns the tide of the war in favor of Ukraine if they can start going on the offensive without worrying about Russian airpower. What is the political solution? Give Putin part of Ukraine? If not, what else is there? You always have the option for that to be the end. In Syria, we didn't go beyond a no-fly zone, even though it didn't work great. Wouldn't be ideal, but we can certainly limit our intervention if we really want to. We have massive air superiority - Russia can't even conclusively defeat the Ukrainian Air Force. We can pretty effectively create a fly zone fairly easily. Instead of cowing to Putin saying "if you send planes, it's an act of war", you say "on Saturday, we will be establishing a no-fly-zone over Ukrainian territory at their request. Any unauthorized planes flying over their airspace will be shot down. Do so at your own risk". Start setting the terms of this. If you don't like a no-fly zone, let Ukrainian pilots come take all the MiGs and fly them back into Ukraine themselves - transfer ownership to Ukraine. It would be Ukrainian pilots flying Ukrainian planes over Ukrainian territory. It's no different than what we're already doing giving Ukrainian troops missiles, guns, and other weapons to fight with. There's no reason to red-tape these things. Putin should not get to tell Ukraine or NATO what they are allowed or not allowed to do. Agreed. So do what we want and put the burden on Putin. As evidenced by sitting 30 feet from his generals, he really, really does not want to die.
Or he might have been more likely to because he knew Trump wouldn't really push the US to intervene and NATO was dysfunctional. No way Putin invades in Trump's first term, because he wanted Trump to win a 2nd term to finish off NATO as an effective organization.
Who said anything about NATO being the aggressor? There are a number of things that the USA and the West could have done and didn't do. That includes including the Ukraine in NATO or sending more weapons and support at ANY point in the last decade. The movement of Putin into the Ukraine isn't a surprise. He has threatened it before and actually invaded the Ukraine before. Instead the West did very little out of fear of upsetting Russia. It was clear YEARS ago that Putin was not going to align with the West. He doesn't care about the vast majority of Russians. Numerous people that know him well have all said the same thing. He is to the point where he cannot distinguish between what is best for him and the will of his country. He has oil, and he knows that there are a number of nations that will ultimately want access to his energy. He will always have the option of China as well, who was already helping Russia violate the sanctions. There is no way that the West is going to continue all their sanctions long term. Well he already has been able to get the Crimea, take land in Georgia and now the Ukraine. There are other nations that are not NATO that he can go after. Also, there is ZERO guarantee that the nations of NATO will go through if Putin attacks a country like Finland or Sweden. There are lots of options for him, and it is OBVIOUS that the West will do anything possible to avoid war. I respect your opinion, but no I don't think that it will seal him or his country off. The USA turned Iraq and Afghanistan into parking lots and they still have a presence internationally. China has done numerous things and still have a presence, same with Russia after the Crimea. If Putin is so set on nuclear weapons, he can use them without crossing into a NATO nation. Why wait if he is willing to use them? He knows that he personally would pay a high price. There is a reason that they have seldom even been threatened. The West has used sanctions against Putin without success.... and they continue doing the same thing. What I want is for Russia to leave the Ukraine, but that isn't likely to happen. Realistically, the West needs to be more proactive in the future. Send weapons and troops to the border, as this is at least a cold war. Stop doing what is easy and convenient. The West could have fortified the Ukrainian border at any point. They could have let them in NATO as well. Would I start a war? Not unless the war has already started. I personally would likely secure the air space.
Didn't Putin in the last week say that he considered anyone actively engaged in helping the Ukraine as being at war with Russia? Is getting those planes under any means to the Ukraine, a declaration of war? Seems to me that Putin really can use any limits or claims he wants to start a war with the West, regardless of what the West does... its all very arbitrary.
It was already leaked that he has plans on Moldova. And realistically, if the world doesn't stop them from taking Ukraine, we certainly wouldn't stop them from taking Moldova, who most people haven't even heard of.
No. We're doing everything we can. Putin is already doing horrific things to the Ukrainian people. Use of biological and chemical weapons is horrible and he may very well do it and blame the US or Ukraine, but there isn't much we can do other than help evacuate Ukrainians from target cities.
Just let Ukrainians fly them there. Putin considers it an act of war for Ukrainians to fly their own planes over their own territory? Who cares?
At the same time rhetoric does not equal intention. The best thing we can do now is strengthen positions to deter him from further action. The fact that he has had this much trouble in Ukraine probably will make him think twice. I also think had he known that this is how things would turn out - a mess in Ukraine, uniting the west and much of the world against him, the severity of sanctions - had he known all that, I doubt he still invades Ukraine. He's stuck right now - all in, he's not going to stop until he gets some kind of tangible victory. If he can negotiate holding onto the eastern and southern lands between Crimea and Russia, he may call it a day. It's surprising he won't let citizens evacuate though - you'd think that would be the goal is to reduce the population of the cities which would make it easier to occupy. It's hard to understand the purpose of targeting civilians if you won't let them leave - seems at the very least a waste of munitions.
The purpose is to make them pay a price for fighting back, and to drain Ukraine's will to fight - and the next country's. He's pissed that Ukraine is resisting and he's trying to punish them for that.
I don’t know why these losers here hate him. Nobody here is smart enough and rich enough to send satellite internet to Ukraine Just a bunch of jealous socialist Starbucks employees
The use of a nuclear weapon would probably force a change in calculus and be a very grave development. But overall, Ukraine is lost beyond what we are doing now. We simply can not get involved as the risk of escalation to a nuclear conflict is too great. As much as we want to step in and save lives, the net result of our involvement would actually be to put more lives at risk - both in and out of Ukraine. That may be hard to swallow and not easy to understand, but we have to operate with our brains and not our hearts. Lets say we get involved in Ukraine, and Putin retaliates to a no-fly zone with missile strikes using chemical, biological, or even nuclear weapons on Ukrainian cities. What then? More life has been lost vs less. More horror. This is the problem with a no-fly zone. It doesn't stop him from wreaking massive civilian casualties.
When I said Russia, I'm not talking about the people, but the State and its ability to wage war. Putin doesn't care about anyone except himself and his "tools". I want free nations to continue sanction forever and private entities to continue to isolate forever. A fair political solution is when I want to see that being backed off. EU would be very stupid IMO to not find a way to continue to sanction and isolate and become independent of Russia's O&G. Due to Russia's behavior, there is going to again, sadly, be an emphasis on defense spending everywhere and we should do everything possible to be a few steps ahead. Long-term sanctions' number one priority should be to keep Russia behind the West in technological advancement. Never know, but given the poor performance in Ukraine, he's in no position to attack anyone else now or in the near future. Finland and Sweden are not Ukraine and EU countries are going to build up their military. This is where Putin grossly miscalculated. Everyone around him will get stronger. Again, I don't think Putin will use nuke (at least not strategic nukes). I don't think anyone is crazy enough to do it. If it happens, it's due to mistakes and we do have a system in place to ensure that mistakes end civilization. I'm not betting against that unnecessary. I would like to secure the air space if it's just secure the air space. But it's not, it will be war. Zelenskyy said he can secure the air space - just give him the planes. Given Russia's new strategy of going after civilian infrastructure, the US needs to quickly figure a way to get those planes to him. Furthermore, new or more weapons against rocket launchers, artillery, missiles system should be provided to Ukraine fast. I know nothing about the Iron Dome (mobile system designed to intercept rockets and artillery shells by Israel), but if it's useful (and it sure sounds like it) pressure should be put on Israel to provide to Ukraine.
