3 ms·

It is not some insidious entity in the background trying to destroy Russia. It is just Putin, thinking that he can take over Ukraine like USSR took over Czechos

It is not some insidious entity in the background trying to destroy Russia. It is just Putin, thinking that he can take over Ukraine like USSR took over Czechoslovakia in 1968. But unexpectedly for Putin he got full scale ware which he can't back off from because that would be political end of his. So he can only continue to fight and hope that Ukraine folds first. Unlucky for him, Ukraine is being economically kept alive and still fighting after 4 year by the blue elephant in the room called EU, which Russians are so desperately trying to ignore.

tim333 9mo ago
From the comments I've seen they seem to curse the EU/Europe more than ignore it. See Putin calling the leaders little pigs and the like.
- general1465 9mo ago
  They do curse EU, but then they will avoid talking to EU. I believe they do that because negotiation with EU would mean recognition that EU is a power. And by Russian logic powers have spheres of influence. So now by Russian logic, EU could have a legitimate claim on Ukraine, Kaliningrad and Belarus as they are in the EU's sphere of influence. So let's close our eyes and pretend that EU does not exist. See below Peskov from few days ago: "Russia will never discuss anything with EU Foreign Policy chief Kaja Kallas and so Moscow will simply wait for her to leave her post, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said." https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2026/01/25/russia-will-never-discuss-anything-with-eu-s-kallas-the-kremlin-says https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2026/01/25/russia-w...
  - tim333 9mo ago
    It's a completely different system really - Russia with it's ruler in Moscow commanding a large army and dictating what happens vs the EU with no central army, no central ruler, governed by local democracies and human rights laws and the like. It doesn't fit with their way of thinking much really. With Trump they can kind of say we get this bit of Ukraine you get that, we both get rich from iffy minerals deals but the EU doesn't work like that. Kaja Kallas for example recently announced "the first €10 million for the establishment of a Special Tribunal for Crimes of Aggression." She wants to prosecute the Russians for war crimes, not make a deal with them. So you can understand why they are not keen to chat there. Not sure how that all works out.
    - drysine 9mo ago
      >the EU doesn't work like that It does work like that. The EU just plays a zero-sum game. "As part of its strategy to secure supplies of critical raw materials, the European Union signed an EU-Ukrainian strategic Partnership on Critical Minerals with Ukraine in July 2021. This agreement, which covers around a hundred projects, aims to secure the supply of ten essential raw materials. It forms part of the European Action Plan on Critical Raw Materials, which seeks to diversify sources of supply and reduce dependence on suppliers from outside the EU. This partnership brings together several major players, including the European Raw Materials Alliance, a platform that aims to ensure a sustainable and secure supply of raw materials for the European industry, and the European Battery Alliance, a strategic initiative to build a competitive and sustainable battery value chain in Europe." [0] [0] https://regard-est.com/ukraine-critical-materials-a-strategic-challenge-for-europe https://regard-est.com/ukraine-critical-materials-a-strategi...
  - drysine 9mo ago
    >they will avoid talking to EU The only thing the EU is saying is "Get out of the Ukraine and we maybe remove sanctions in some distant future if you behave". You may think that it is a right stance towards Russia but it leaves no place for talking and you can't put the blame for lack of talking on Russia. > EU Foreign Policy chief Kaja Kallas She's a rabid russophobe and was put into her position exactly for that reason.
    - general1465 9mo ago
      The problem with "not talking to EU" is that it is the side keeping Ukraine funded and fighting. Russians keep talking to USA, which has increasingly smaller leverage to have influence on anything in the conflict. > She's a rabid russophobe and was put into her position exactly for that reason. Compared to Putin calling European leaders piglets. I don't think that next EU Foreign Policy chief will be much different. Thus it sounds more like an excuse not to engage with EU.
      - drysine 9mo ago
        Here is yesterday's Euronews article[0] which quite clearly shows who doesn't want to engage. "Russian President Vladimir Putin should make tangible concessions before the European Union picks up the phone to re-establish direct communications, High Representative Kaja Kallas said on Thursday as more European leaders call for direct engagement with the Kremlin as part of the Russia-Ukraine peace process currently being brokered by the White House." "Instead of focusing on who should talk to Putin, Kallas added, European countries should devote their energy to further crippling his war machine" "The European Commission, a long-standing advocate of the strategy of diplomatic isolation, later admitted that direct talks will happen "at some point" but not yet." [0] https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/01/29/putin-should-make-concessions-before-direct-talks-with-europe-says-kallas https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/01/29/putin-should-m...

tim333 9mo ago

From the comments I've seen they seem to curse the EU/Europe more than ignore it. See Putin calling the leaders little pigs and the like.

general1465 9mo ago
They do curse EU, but then they will avoid talking to EU. I believe they do that because negotiation with EU would mean recognition that EU is a power. And by Russian logic powers have spheres of influence. So now by Russian logic, EU could have a legitimate claim on Ukraine, Kaliningrad and Belarus as they are in the EU's sphere of influence. So let's close our eyes and pretend that EU does not exist. See below Peskov from few days ago: "Russia will never discuss anything with EU Foreign Policy chief Kaja Kallas and so Moscow will simply wait for her to leave her post, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said." https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2026/01/25/russia-will-never-discuss-anything-with-eu-s-kallas-the-kremlin-says https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2026/01/25/russia-w...
- tim333 9mo ago
  It's a completely different system really - Russia with it's ruler in Moscow commanding a large army and dictating what happens vs the EU with no central army, no central ruler, governed by local democracies and human rights laws and the like. It doesn't fit with their way of thinking much really. With Trump they can kind of say we get this bit of Ukraine you get that, we both get rich from iffy minerals deals but the EU doesn't work like that. Kaja Kallas for example recently announced "the first €10 million for the establishment of a Special Tribunal for Crimes of Aggression." She wants to prosecute the Russians for war crimes, not make a deal with them. So you can understand why they are not keen to chat there. Not sure how that all works out.
  - drysine 9mo ago
    >the EU doesn't work like that It does work like that. The EU just plays a zero-sum game. "As part of its strategy to secure supplies of critical raw materials, the European Union signed an EU-Ukrainian strategic Partnership on Critical Minerals with Ukraine in July 2021. This agreement, which covers around a hundred projects, aims to secure the supply of ten essential raw materials. It forms part of the European Action Plan on Critical Raw Materials, which seeks to diversify sources of supply and reduce dependence on suppliers from outside the EU. This partnership brings together several major players, including the European Raw Materials Alliance, a platform that aims to ensure a sustainable and secure supply of raw materials for the European industry, and the European Battery Alliance, a strategic initiative to build a competitive and sustainable battery value chain in Europe." [0] [0] https://regard-est.com/ukraine-critical-materials-a-strategic-challenge-for-europe https://regard-est.com/ukraine-critical-materials-a-strategi...
- drysine 9mo ago
  >they will avoid talking to EU The only thing the EU is saying is "Get out of the Ukraine and we maybe remove sanctions in some distant future if you behave". You may think that it is a right stance towards Russia but it leaves no place for talking and you can't put the blame for lack of talking on Russia. > EU Foreign Policy chief Kaja Kallas She's a rabid russophobe and was put into her position exactly for that reason.
  - general1465 9mo ago
    The problem with "not talking to EU" is that it is the side keeping Ukraine funded and fighting. Russians keep talking to USA, which has increasingly smaller leverage to have influence on anything in the conflict. > She's a rabid russophobe and was put into her position exactly for that reason. Compared to Putin calling European leaders piglets. I don't think that next EU Foreign Policy chief will be much different. Thus it sounds more like an excuse not to engage with EU.
    - drysine 9mo ago
      Here is yesterday's Euronews article[0] which quite clearly shows who doesn't want to engage. "Russian President Vladimir Putin should make tangible concessions before the European Union picks up the phone to re-establish direct communications, High Representative Kaja Kallas said on Thursday as more European leaders call for direct engagement with the Kremlin as part of the Russia-Ukraine peace process currently being brokered by the White House." "Instead of focusing on who should talk to Putin, Kallas added, European countries should devote their energy to further crippling his war machine" "The European Commission, a long-standing advocate of the strategy of diplomatic isolation, later admitted that direct talks will happen "at some point" but not yet." [0] https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/01/29/putin-should-make-concessions-before-direct-talks-with-europe-says-kallas https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/01/29/putin-should-m...