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That's utter bullshit and i'll tell you why: Russia has been severly weakened by democratic Europe. They have lost an insane amount of area since the fall of U

That's utter bullshit and i'll tell you why: Russia has been severly weakened by democratic Europe. They have lost an insane amount of area since the fall of USSR and Europe has never been "closer" to Moscow, their capital. They are now getting punished for actions of last resort. Eg. Invading Ukraine, because otherwise their entire naval fleed would be rendered useless, since it couln't even go out. Russia is weak, although Putin tries to portray it like it isn't. The conflicts they create (eg. with their jets) is just for the show, they can't even afford it to build those jet en masse for themselves, lol.

namdnay 6y ago
I don't think he's saying that Russia is the most powerful country in the world, I think he's saying that as an individual person, Putin is more powerful than any other individual person. I guess the main question would be "is Putin with total control of a less powerful country more powerful than the US president with carefully defined control of a more powerful country?"
- NicoJuicy 6y ago
  I'm implying on the : "he plays everyone like a fiddle". The sanctions against Russia are still in place and it seems to be working. It will only get worse when Trump will ( probably) lose. Their ally is China and they are the weak partner on that end and China knows it. Additionally, Russia is probably getting an extra "big reward" in the coming year for their meldding in the western world.
  - namdnay 6y ago
    He's managed to keep sole control of Russia for 20 years, and probably made himself one of the wealthiest people in the world, so he's definitely playing fiddle for a lot of people
    - brutt 6y ago
      Putin had plan to make himself and his friends richest people in the world. According to this plan, Gazprom must be valuated at $1T at the end of 2016[0]. [0]: https://politua.org/ekonomika/30270-gazprom-ostanavlivaemyj/ https://politua.org/ekonomika/30270-gazprom-ostanavlivaemyj/
    - NicoJuicy 6y ago
      It's more about being corrupt than fiddling a lot of people. The one who fiddles the "best", is the one that you don't think about :) Everyone knows what Putin is doing, so i would say he's not doing such a good job.
      - bryanrasmussen 6y ago
        at some point fiddling by it's nature becomes loud enough for people to notice, no matter how deft the fiddler.
    - danjac 6y ago
      At this point he's a prisoner of his own making. Yes he has personal wealth to last generations, but there is no clear path for him to retire and quietly step aside for a younger successor. Even during late Soviet times there was always a slightly fitter and younger General Secretary to take over, but it's unclear how this would happen in modern Russia without a bloody power struggle. A strong leader at this point would be trying to build a legacy of consitutional, democratic (or even quasi-democratic) rule of law that would outlast him. I doubt Putin could achieve this now even if he wanted to; so instead he fixes the consitution to make himself President for life and let Russia fall apart when he dies.
      - namdnay 6y ago
        Yeah and it's not like he'll be able to keep his wealth once he steps down... he's really in the position of a Mafia boss. There's only one way out
        6y ago
- 082349872349872 6y ago
  Total control is arguable, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Russian_constitutional_referendum#Proposed_adoption_without_a_referendum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Russian_constitutional_re... suggests that he may be attempting to circumvent the legislature.
surewhynat 6y ago
> invading ukraine Ukraine is currently having a civil war, they ousted their president before their legal election, and a huge chunk of the population highly disagreed with doing that, so much so to take up arms and begin a civil war. The Crimean populi voted to get out of that mess. They were lucky that there were Russian forces there strategically and historically stationed. Perhaps if Ukraine straightens out it's crap, there will be opportunity for that same island to vote again, and rejoin Ukraine. Look at the economy in Ukraine now. It's worse than most African countries, which is pathetic for a country with so many educated people, and so much infrastructure. Say what you will, but Crimea caught a lucky break and I wouldn't blame a single one of those people for voting that day to join Russia and keep the peace and day to day life.
roelschroeven 6y ago
Are they really getting punished for Ukraine though? My impression is that Europe by and large does almost nothing, partly out of fear of getting cut of from Russian gas. There are some economical sanctions, yes, but do they hurt Russia? More than they hurt Europe's farmers? If there's any punishment, it certainly is not effective. Russia still occupies large parts of Ukraine (even some areas outside of the Crimea).
- NicoJuicy 6y ago
  They aren't getting punished enough, that's a fact. And currently Europe is subsidizing green energy a lot, so it's a slow process. If i'm not mistaking, Ukrain is becoming more and more anti-Russia.
  - vic9109 6y ago
    I’m always confused when I see people cheering for sanctioning other nations. Is it pleasant to know that people are suffering, having done nothing wrong? I think it’s a global issue. Pretty sure almost everyone has had these thoughts when reading a news article about some wrongdoing of a foreign government and thought “why don’t we just nuke those Reds?”, “why can’t we just come and take over the North Korea”, “that’s it, it’s time to show those damn Iranians who’s the boss on this planet”. The media has evolved to take advantage of our emotional response. Hate seems to be the most useful one.
    - lovelyviking 6y ago
      Would you rather stand nearby and do nothing when Hitler was starting to kill and occupy? Well, Russia is doing exactly the same now. Russia took part of Ukraine, Russia is killing Ukrainians as we speak ... and they plan to do more ... Would you prefer that 'love' attitude toward all kinds of scumbags?
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
      - 6y ago
antidaily 6y ago
I worry about Russian nuclear materials disappearing into the black market. We have no deal with them. And they are run in a very ramshackle manner.

namdnay 6y ago

I don't think he's saying that Russia is the most powerful country in the world, I think he's saying that as an individual person, Putin is more powerful than any other individual person. I guess the main question would be "is Putin with total control of a less powerful country more powerful than the US president with carefully defined control of a more powerful country?"

NicoJuicy 6y ago
I'm implying on the : "he plays everyone like a fiddle". The sanctions against Russia are still in place and it seems to be working. It will only get worse when Trump will ( probably) lose. Their ally is China and they are the weak partner on that end and China knows it. Additionally, Russia is probably getting an extra "big reward" in the coming year for their meldding in the western world.
- namdnay 6y ago
  He's managed to keep sole control of Russia for 20 years, and probably made himself one of the wealthiest people in the world, so he's definitely playing fiddle for a lot of people
  - brutt 6y ago
    Putin had plan to make himself and his friends richest people in the world. According to this plan, Gazprom must be valuated at $1T at the end of 2016[0]. [0]: https://politua.org/ekonomika/30270-gazprom-ostanavlivaemyj/ https://politua.org/ekonomika/30270-gazprom-ostanavlivaemyj/
  - NicoJuicy 6y ago
    It's more about being corrupt than fiddling a lot of people. The one who fiddles the "best", is the one that you don't think about :) Everyone knows what Putin is doing, so i would say he's not doing such a good job.
    - bryanrasmussen 6y ago
      at some point fiddling by it's nature becomes loud enough for people to notice, no matter how deft the fiddler.
  - danjac 6y ago
    At this point he's a prisoner of his own making. Yes he has personal wealth to last generations, but there is no clear path for him to retire and quietly step aside for a younger successor. Even during late Soviet times there was always a slightly fitter and younger General Secretary to take over, but it's unclear how this would happen in modern Russia without a bloody power struggle. A strong leader at this point would be trying to build a legacy of consitutional, democratic (or even quasi-democratic) rule of law that would outlast him. I doubt Putin could achieve this now even if he wanted to; so instead he fixes the consitution to make himself President for life and let Russia fall apart when he dies.
    - namdnay 6y ago
      Yeah and it's not like he'll be able to keep his wealth once he steps down... he's really in the position of a Mafia boss. There's only one way out
      - 6y ago
082349872349872 6y ago
Total control is arguable, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Russian_constitutional_referendum#Proposed_adoption_without_a_referendum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Russian_constitutional_re... suggests that he may be attempting to circumvent the legislature.

surewhynat 6y ago

> invading ukraine Ukraine is currently having a civil war, they ousted their president before their legal election, and a huge chunk of the population highly disagreed with doing that, so much so to take up arms and begin a civil war. The Crimean populi voted to get out of that mess. They were lucky that there were Russian forces there strategically and historically stationed. Perhaps if Ukraine straightens out it's crap, there will be opportunity for that same island to vote again, and rejoin Ukraine. Look at the economy in Ukraine now. It's worse than most African countries, which is pathetic for a country with so many educated people, and so much infrastructure. Say what you will, but Crimea caught a lucky break and I wouldn't blame a single one of those people for voting that day to join Russia and keep the peace and day to day life.

roelschroeven 6y ago

Are they really getting punished for Ukraine though? My impression is that Europe by and large does almost nothing, partly out of fear of getting cut of from Russian gas. There are some economical sanctions, yes, but do they hurt Russia? More than they hurt Europe's farmers? If there's any punishment, it certainly is not effective. Russia still occupies large parts of Ukraine (even some areas outside of the Crimea).

NicoJuicy 6y ago
They aren't getting punished enough, that's a fact. And currently Europe is subsidizing green energy a lot, so it's a slow process. If i'm not mistaking, Ukrain is becoming more and more anti-Russia.
- vic9109 6y ago
  I’m always confused when I see people cheering for sanctioning other nations. Is it pleasant to know that people are suffering, having done nothing wrong? I think it’s a global issue. Pretty sure almost everyone has had these thoughts when reading a news article about some wrongdoing of a foreign government and thought “why don’t we just nuke those Reds?”, “why can’t we just come and take over the North Korea”, “that’s it, it’s time to show those damn Iranians who’s the boss on this planet”. The media has evolved to take advantage of our emotional response. Hate seems to be the most useful one.
  - lovelyviking 6y ago
    Would you rather stand nearby and do nothing when Hitler was starting to kill and occupy? Well, Russia is doing exactly the same now. Russia took part of Ukraine, Russia is killing Ukrainians as we speak ... and they plan to do more ... Would you prefer that 'love' attitude toward all kinds of scumbags?
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - 6y ago

antidaily 6y ago

I worry about Russian nuclear materials disappearing into the black market. We have no deal with them. And they are run in a very ramshackle manner.