Don't kid yourself. The countries that are uninvolved are nowhere near enough to carry Russia through this without a drastic reduction in the Russian population. More than half of Russian imports came from the US and the EU, and at least 87% of Russia's foreign reserve funds have been frozen. That is hundreds of billions of dollars that Russia cannot afford to lose. China is the only country that hasn't frozen Russia's foreign reserves, and that only accounts for 13%. If you think that this won't have an exponentially devastating effect on Russia's economy as time goes on, you're dreaming. Average Russians are in for an unspeakably brutal time in the coming years if sanctions are not lifted. Their only hope is if they can forcibly remove Putin from power and mend relations with the US and EU, or wait for the suffering of the Russian people to become so acute that the West finally has mercy on them, and I don't see that happening as long as Vladimir Putin is alive and free.Numerous countries have abstained, which, as I pointed out, means that they don’t want to get involved.....and that’s all Russia really needs. Claiming that “they’re the next North Korea” is silly when China and India, to name just two examples, are still more than happy to engage with the Russians.
Don't kid yourself. The countries that are uninvolved are nowhere near enough to carry Russia through this without a drastic reduction in the Russian population. More than half of Russian imports came from the US and the EU, and at least 87% of Russia's foreign reserve funds have been frozen. That is hundreds of billions of dollars that Russia cannot afford to lose. China is the only country that hasn't frozen Russia's foreign reserves, and that only accounts for 13%. If you think that this won't have an exponentially devastating effect on Russia's economy as time goes on, you're dreaming. Average Russians are in for an unspeakably brutal time in the coming years if sanctions are not lifted. Their only hope is if they can forcibly remove Putin from power and mend relations with the US and EU, or wait for the suffering of the Russian people to become so acute that the West finally has mercy on them, and I don't see this happening with Vladimir Putin in power.
I'm not saying that the Putin regime will collapse. In fact, I agree with you and expect him and his closest allies in Russia to weather the sanctions just fine, since the Russian people are incapable of taking their prosperity back from him. The oligarchs might lose a yacht or two. Maybe have to downsize from a palace to a mansion, but they will be ok. It is the average Russian I'm talking about here.Once again, given that Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and numerous other much weaker regimes all withstood “unspeakably brutal” sanctions campaigns, your post simply isn’t based in reality. Americans have been declaring that all those regimes would undoubtedly fall and their people come to beg us for mercy for literally decades. How’s that worked out again?
Iran was an actual global pariah yet fought a bloody war for EIGHT years despite the US pouring in all kinds of aid to their enemies.....and yet the regime didn’t collapse. Hmmm.....
I'm not saying that the Putin regime will collapse. In fact, I agree with you and expect him and his closest allies in Russia to weather the sanctions just fine, since the Russian people are incapable of taking their prosperity back from him. The oligarchs might lose a yacht or two. Maybe have to downsize from a palace to a mansion, but they will be ok. It is the average Russian I'm talking about here.
A typical North Korean family makes the equivalent of between $1 and $3 USD per month.
View attachment 67386845
A typical Cuban family makes the equivalent of about $166 USD per month.
View attachment 67386846
A typical Iranian family makes the equivalent of about $580 USD per month.
View attachment 67386847
But at least they aren't reliant on the goodwill and friendship of their neighbors, right?
And the AVERAGE Russian, judging by said previous examples, isn’t going to blame Putin for said sanctions.....they are going to blame the West.
If anything, it might shore up even more support for Putin tor at least the next five years to a decade.
The West wouldn't have sanctioned Russia had Putin not unilaterally decided to annex and then invade Ukraine. And any support the Russian people would have for Putin would be the sad kind of support that North Koreans have for Kim Jong Un as he gets fatter and they starve. Again: I don't care about Putin. I care about the Russian people who are going to be getting steadily poorer for generations for no good reason.
Except, of course, for the fact that the US has decided to unilaterally invade countries numerous times without giving much in the way of a shit when anyone else— in some cases, just about everyone else— condemned it. Which, from most of the world’s point of view, makes our stance hypocritical at best.
.....you mean blind, unthinking devotion to the point where the regime, despite putting them through constant disasters, remains unchallenged at just about every level? Because that’s the kind of support North Koreans have.
Are you saying what Putin is doing is excused by the fact that the US has invaded other countries in the past?Except, of course, for the fact that the US has decided to unilaterally invade countries numerous times without giving much in the way of a shit when anyone else— in some cases, just about everyone else— condemned it. Which, from most of the world’s point of view, makes our stance hypocritical at best.
Yes, that's what I mean. If you are correct that the Russians would respond they way the North Koreans, Cubans, and Iranians did to US sanctions, then they will sacrifice their future prosperity in support of a dictator who takes their resources for himself and leaves very little for them......you mean blind, unthinking devotion to the point where the regime, despite putting them through constant disasters, remains unchallenged at just about every level? Because that’s the kind of support North Koreans have.
Are you saying what Putin is doing is excused by the fact that the US has invaded other countries in the past?
Yes, that's what I mean. If you are correct that the Russians would respond they way the North Koreans, Cubans, and Iranians did to US sanctions, then they will sacrifice their future prosperity in support of a dictator who takes their resources for himself and leaves very little for them.
A country that engages in terrorism against its neighbors should expect such an attitude.I’m saying a lot of the world sees our sudden outrage as completely hypocritical.
Yep, and judging by those examples, rather than “embracing western democracy and liberalism” they’ll see it as nothing more than a tool of a hostile foreign power which wants to destroy their country.
A country that engages in terrorism against its neighbors should expect such an attitude.
The US literally brought the world to the brink of nuclear war because it was pissed an American backed dictatorship got overthrown, yet we still throw a tantrum whenever other countries call us out on our own bad behavior.
People just don’t see it that way. Russians don’t see their actions as “terrorism”.
Oh yes people do see it that way. The only people who don't aren't paying attention. Russia is indiscriminately bombing cities in Ukraine, they are deliberately targeting buildings known to house children with missiles painted with the words "For the children" in Russian, and they are executing captive civilians in droves.The US literally brought the world to the brink of nuclear war because it was pissed an American backed dictatorship got overthrown, yet we still throw a tantrum whenever other countries call us out on our own bad behavior.
People just don’t see it that way. Russians don’t see their actions as “terrorism”.
Oh yes people do see it that way. The only people who don't aren't paying attention. Russia is indiscriminately bombing cities in Ukraine, they are deliberately targeting buildings known to house children with missiles painted with the words "For the children" in Russian, and they are executing captive civilians in droves.
Russia is engaged in war crimes and terrorist activity against Ukraine, and the Russian people are going to share in the consequences for this.
Then they are dishonest. Targeting civilians for the purpose of terrorism is miles away from unintentional collateral damage from a targeted strike against a legitimate military target.Yep, they certainly did commit war crimes. And guess what? A lot of the world doesn’t see any difference between that and the US’ drone strikes vaporizing non-combatants from Pakistan to Somalia and back again.
Then they are dishonest. Targeting civilians for the purpose of terrorism is miles away from collateral damage from a targeted strike against a legitimate military target.
Differentiating between terrorism and legitimate warfare is not making excuses. There is a clear legal distinction and a clear and unequivocal definition for both, and the modern-day US has not engaged in terrorism. Russia has.And they see THAT as nothing more than mealy-mouthed excuses to try to avoid facing the consequences of American strikes which kill non-combatants.
Differentiating between terrorism and legitimate warfare is not making excuses. There is a clear legal distinction and a clear and unequivocal definition for both, and the modern-day US has not engaged in terrorism. Russia has.
And they see THAT as nothing more than mealy-mouthed excuses to try to avoid facing the consequences of American strikes which kill non-combatants.
There’s a reason Pakistan is one of the most anti American countries on earth.
They are not only nazis.........they're also drug addicts!!!Do you think Russia attacked Ukraine to save them from nazis?
I'm not too worried about your hypothetical scenario.What happens to all the weapons in Ukraine if and when Zelensky finally surrenders, or Ukraine is successfully invaded?
Russia gets them.
That squirrel looks dangerous.Well since the Canuck Army is mostly staffed by squirrels, they dont need something as big as those artillery pieces anyway, so why not give it to the ones who need them the most.
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Again taking Putin's side. He doesn't think we should be helping the Ukraine army either. All weapons are defensive when you are fighting an invading army, We have already sent 10 anti-tank missiles for every tank that Putin has there. The Ukrainians need heavy artillery to fight fire with fire and you would deny them that? The French are sending mobile artillery vehicles too now.I didn't say they were useless. I said they'd do more harm than good. If we're going to support Ukraine with weaponry, which I don't think we should be doing, then focusing on more direct fire weapons would be better, like anti-tank missiles and such.
Again taking Putin's side. He doesn't think we should be helping the Ukraine army either. All weapons are defensive when you are fighting an invading army, We have already sent 10 anti-tank missiles for every tank that Putin has there. The Ukrainians need heavy artillery to fight fire with fire and you would deny them that? The French are sending mobile artillery vehicles too now.
https://news7f.com/france-sends-caesar-self-propelled-artillery-vehicle-to-ukraine/
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