5 ms·

"Russian special operation for expanding NATO has been completed successfully."

Hamuko 5y ago
NATO should really award Putin for being the most effective NATO spokesman of the decade. Finland went from 20% in favour of NATO membership (2019) to 68% in favour of NATO membership (April, 2022).
- nix23 5y ago
  Raytheon and Lockheed should gift Putin some champagne ;)
  - MisterTea 5y ago
    Interesting idea. Just keep sending them lavish thank you gifts from foreign politicians, investors, and corporations until the people get suspicious.
    - nix23 5y ago
      Ok, now that's a idea i can stand behind...for example some polarbear-paws-ashtrays from Sudan? From Nord-korea, a stolen Japanese singer?
- fy20 5y ago
  And he's possibly done more than any other European politician towards shifting Europe off fossil fuels.
  - golemotron 5y ago
    We'll see. Some things are easier to say than they are to do.
  - stjohnswarts 5y ago
    I think NATOs new popularity is what will ultimately save Macron in the French elections. Le Penn wants to disband NATO and snuggle up with Putin and I doubt if the majority of the French will fall for that.
dehrmann 5y ago
Pre-invasion, I put the odds of invasion around 30% because one of Putin's gripes was Ukraine flirting with the West and NATO, and while invading would could cement its role as "borderlands," it would also convince Sweden and Finland to join, and quickly. I also saw it as long-term detrimental to its role as an energy exporter because this would inspire Europe to quickly migrate to more renewables, though this take is more of a western perspective and probably wasn't a priority for Putin.
- Mordisquitos 5y ago
  Pre-invasion my own thoughts would have tended to agree with yours. I think that what caught us off guard was the mistaken assumption that Putin was actually well-informed enough to reach similar conclusions, rather than him sitting in a Potemkin ivory tower while being advised by pusillanimous yes men.
d0mine 5y ago
Let's assume Putin is not a NATO puppet or a masochist. Why do you think he attacked Ukraine? What is there to gain? Russia made concessions to NATO for 30 years and got nothing but NATO expansion Eastward. I don't see any other explanation except that allowing NATO rockets in Ukraine is suicidal for Russia, therefore there is no choice: it is a fight for survival. Think what US would do if Russia were to put its rockets in Mexico and/or Canada. Or just remember Cuba/Turkey situation in 60s. (it is funny how socialism was replaced by capitalism long ago but it didn't affect the cultivated hatred to / dehumanization of Russian people on the West).
- SahAssar 5y ago
  > I don't see any other explanation except that allowing NATO rockets in Ukraine is suicidal for Russia Are there any nuclear weapons in previous Warsaw pact countries? From everything I can read it seems like there are not.
- mrep 5y ago
  > I don't see any other explanation except that allowing NATO rockets in Ukraine is suicidal for Russia, therefore there is no choice: it is a fight for survival. > Think what US would do if Russia were to put its rockets in Mexico and/or Canada. Or just remember Cuba/Turkey situation in 60s. If it is just a defense pact and not first strike nukes, I wouldn't care. AFAIK, the US hasn't expanded nuclear weapons eastword since the cuban missile crises so I'm not sure what your point is. Estonia is part of NATO but we don't host nukes there because we don't want to trigger the Cuban missile crises again.
- stjohnswarts 5y ago
  No one I know "hates" Russia. Most just don't care about it. Russia has some strange national narrative that the West is trying to westernize it. We don't care if Russia is westernized or not. That is up to the Russian people who also seem fine with adopting some western concepts, it's mostly the boomers in the Russian government that demonize it. Instead of governing well they make a "western" strawman and cry over that instead of fixing their country and moving into the 21st century.

NATO should really award Putin for being the most effective NATO spokesman of the decade. Finland went from 20% in favour of NATO membership (2019) to 68% in favour of NATO membership (April, 2022).

nix23 5y ago
Raytheon and Lockheed should gift Putin some champagne ;)
- MisterTea 5y ago
  Interesting idea. Just keep sending them lavish thank you gifts from foreign politicians, investors, and corporations until the people get suspicious.
  - nix23 5y ago
    Ok, now that's a idea i can stand behind...for example some polarbear-paws-ashtrays from Sudan? From Nord-korea, a stolen Japanese singer?
fy20 5y ago
And he's possibly done more than any other European politician towards shifting Europe off fossil fuels.
- golemotron 5y ago
  We'll see. Some things are easier to say than they are to do.
- stjohnswarts 5y ago
  I think NATOs new popularity is what will ultimately save Macron in the French elections. Le Penn wants to disband NATO and snuggle up with Putin and I doubt if the majority of the French will fall for that.

dehrmann 5y ago

Pre-invasion, I put the odds of invasion around 30% because one of Putin's gripes was Ukraine flirting with the West and NATO, and while invading would could cement its role as "borderlands," it would also convince Sweden and Finland to join, and quickly. I also saw it as long-term detrimental to its role as an energy exporter because this would inspire Europe to quickly migrate to more renewables, though this take is more of a western perspective and probably wasn't a priority for Putin.

Mordisquitos 5y ago
Pre-invasion my own thoughts would have tended to agree with yours. I think that what caught us off guard was the mistaken assumption that Putin was actually well-informed enough to reach similar conclusions, rather than him sitting in a Potemkin ivory tower while being advised by pusillanimous yes men.

d0mine 5y ago

Let's assume Putin is not a NATO puppet or a masochist. Why do you think he attacked Ukraine? What is there to gain? Russia made concessions to NATO for 30 years and got nothing but NATO expansion Eastward. I don't see any other explanation except that allowing NATO rockets in Ukraine is suicidal for Russia, therefore there is no choice: it is a fight for survival. Think what US would do if Russia were to put its rockets in Mexico and/or Canada. Or just remember Cuba/Turkey situation in 60s. (it is funny how socialism was replaced by capitalism long ago but it didn't affect the cultivated hatred to / dehumanization of Russian people on the West).

SahAssar 5y ago
> I don't see any other explanation except that allowing NATO rockets in Ukraine is suicidal for Russia Are there any nuclear weapons in previous Warsaw pact countries? From everything I can read it seems like there are not.
mrep 5y ago
> I don't see any other explanation except that allowing NATO rockets in Ukraine is suicidal for Russia, therefore there is no choice: it is a fight for survival. > Think what US would do if Russia were to put its rockets in Mexico and/or Canada. Or just remember Cuba/Turkey situation in 60s. If it is just a defense pact and not first strike nukes, I wouldn't care. AFAIK, the US hasn't expanded nuclear weapons eastword since the cuban missile crises so I'm not sure what your point is. Estonia is part of NATO but we don't host nukes there because we don't want to trigger the Cuban missile crises again.
stjohnswarts 5y ago
No one I know "hates" Russia. Most just don't care about it. Russia has some strange national narrative that the West is trying to westernize it. We don't care if Russia is westernized or not. That is up to the Russian people who also seem fine with adopting some western concepts, it's mostly the boomers in the Russian government that demonize it. Instead of governing well they make a "western" strawman and cry over that instead of fixing their country and moving into the 21st century.