Neutrality didn’t work that well for Finland and they desperately want to be part of NATO. Austria didn’t want to be neutral - they had to back in the early 1950’s because the Soviet Union forced it and would not sign the State Treaty without it. Also - quietly, Austria has joined in supporting the Sky Shield project after Russia attacked Ukraine. As for Sweden, they were neutral in the Cold War in a hope to not anger the Soviet Union. Now? They are applying to join NATO.
“Territory changing hands” is not a good metric. A few hundred meters or a few kilometers changing hands doesn't make something not a “stalemate” - this conflict has all the hallmarks of the classical understanding of such a term. There is a static frontline that has been pretty much the same, with very minor changes, for 15 months. Soon, large scale offensive operations won’t be possible again for another 7-8 months due to fall mud and then winter and then spring mud. Of course some dramatic development could always take place which breaks a stalemate. I acknowledged that previously. That doesn’t mean what we currently have isn’t a stalemate. Or the term “stalemate” would never be applicable because some dramatic event could be in the offing. Here, both armies are deeply entrenched in their positions and neither has the strength to effectuate a breakthrough. Might that change in the future? Sure. But there is certainly no signs of any imminent developments in that regard. This is conflict is most definitely “stalemated” as of the time of this post.
As another poster noted Finland And Sweden are joining NATO. Austria, not Finland, wanted to be neutral but were pressured into it by the Soviet Union. Again though are you saying that becaue Russia has nukes that see shouldn’t support Ukraine? You and @los Pollos Hermanos seem to be dancing around giving a straight Forward answer.
Finland has done well for many years. Austria has also done well. Sweden also. These are facts. Another example,not as happy is S.Korea, which has an unhappy peace in some ways but has 4x's the income of Ukraine prior to this war.
They advocate for it because the other side is using it dipshit morons. Man the anti ukraine crowd is so ****ing annoying. Elon is such a ****ing cry baby. Its perfectly okay for Russia to use cluster bombs on UKR civilian territory but if UKR uses it the worlds richest man needs to cry about it. This past year has made me lose total respect for anyone who drives a Tesla. I wouldnt be supporting that dipshit if Tesla was the last car on planet earth.
It woudl be funny if liberals made viral videos of themselves exploding their Teslas with AR-15s. Also it would be totally psychotic and pathetic.
@SamFisher this is the point I've been making for weeks here. @rocketsjudoka . Crude oil has gone up by 10 bucks in the past month but gasoline is coming down by 30 cents simply bcz of crack margins are coming down because of winter time. The most important thing when you look at gas prices is refinery margins aka crack spreads. It's why ending the war and bringing Russian refineries online will help cut gas prices big time in non winter months.
Who cares? Your Rube Goldberg geopolitical-electoral causation theory is way more dubious and speculative than any underlying theory of crack spreads. I'd basically give your hypothesis of "us abandons Ukraine -> price drop -> Biden reelected" a confidence interval of maybe 1% or less chance of coming true, certainly not more than any alternative scenarios like "Biden walks picket lines --> UAW triumphs -> Biden reelected" or "fascist cuckboys lose on the battlefield in Ukraine and at the ballot box in the US " or any number of myriad alternative scenarios with Biden winning, like Trump incarcerated etc. You just simply haven't made a very good causative argument. It's frankly very difficult to do so with regard to such a complex multifaceted thing like this so it's no shame, but it still means your theory is top shaky to be credible Finally there's the moral ethical component. Not only is supporting Ukraine s war against the global fascist movement pretty cheap and good realpolitik - it's morally the right thing to do.
I see your response to nook and it still makes no sense. Yes SK is nervous about NK but Finland is nervous about Russia. That why they are joining NATO. Do you seriously think that SK would’ve been happier neutral or tht NK or Mao would’ve just let SK be neutral? Do you know why the Korean War isn’t actually over? Also that still doesn’t answer my question regarding nukes? Do you believe that we shouldn’t be supporting Ukraine becaue Ruasia might use a nuke?
What you’re showing indicates that gas prices can drop even while the war is still going on. That would imply that there might be ways to bring down gas prices without doing things, which Biden can’t do unilaterally, like compelling a peace treaty.
The fact you think killing people is morally right thing to do shows how f up in the head you are. It is never morally ok to kill another human being. Necessity is a different topic.
The only reason it dropped is demand is all time low at this time of year Aka why spreads are collapsing. In summer or spring time the margins will shoot back up and we'll be crazy margins again cuz Russian refineries are offline. My point was the most important thing are crack spreads which you folks never understood. The day you bring back Russian refineries crack spreads will collapse so yes the war will guarantee to bring down gas prices. Not saying we throw ukr to the wolves for gas but it's disingenuous to claim ending the war won't collapse gas prices
