1. Ukraine joins EU. Today Putin's spokesman confirmed that Russia has no problem with Ukraine joining EU.
2. NATO denies Ukraine entry. Some USA-Ukraine defensive pact still possible
I am curious about this, because the EU also has a defensive pact within the framework that compels (i.e. obligates) EU members to defend others in case of armed aggression against their partners.
I don't really know what make NATO more or a "threat", other than it being strictly a military alliance, whereas the EU is an economic union and defensive pact. Both are alliances in practice that require automatic mutual defense.
Why is one more of a "threat" to Russia than the other?
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I am curious about this, because the EU also has a defensive pact within the framework that compels (i.e. obligates) EU members to defend others in case of armed aggression against their partners.
I don't really know what make NATO more or a "threat", other than it being strictly a military alliance, whereas the EU is an economic union and defensive pact. Both are alliances in practice that require automatic mutual defense.
Why is one more of a "threat" to Russia than the other?
One involves the US and one doesn't would be my guess.
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I am curious about this, because the EU also has a defensive pact within the framework that compels (i.e. obligates) EU members to defend others in case of armed aggression against their partners.
I don't really know what make NATO more or a "threat", other than it being strictly a military alliance, whereas the EU is an economic union and defensive pact. Both are alliances in practice that require automatic mutual defense.
Why is one more of a "threat" to Russia than the other?
NATO= The US, The US has since world war 2 countered and defeated Russia/USSR at every step, if you view history from a pro USSR perspective the US has been just as aggressive and unpleasant as Russia/USSR, frankly even from a US perspective it's hard to deny that for every Hungary the US has been as bad in El Salvador and Hondurus, Iraq and Vietnam and unlike the EU up until last week the US looked like the only real threat to Russia's military, granted at this point it now looks like Portugal could eff them up but that's a recent development
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I'm surprised the USA isn't sending more advanced drones to Ukraine right now. Surely this would be a great opportunity to test out their equipment in real world conditions and against their greatest opposition. Any equipment that Russia is using is likely to filter down into their proxy armies. If the USA were to ever engage Iran, for example, Iran would almost certainly be using the exact same equipment (or an older version of it) that Russia is using now.
I'm surprised the USA isn't sending more advanced drones to Ukraine right now. Surely this would be a great opportunity to test out their equipment in real world conditions and against their greatest opposition. Any equipment that Russia is using is likely to filter down into their proxy armies. If the USA were to ever engage Iran, for example, Iran would almost certainly be using the exact same equipment (or an older version of it) that Russia is using now.
I'd guess given the prevailing feeling that if Putin goes for it Ukraine will fall they want to be careful as to what might fall into Russian hands in the process
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I'm surprised the USA isn't sending more advanced drones to Ukraine right now. Surely this would be a great opportunity to test out their equipment in real world conditions and against their greatest opposition. Any equipment that Russia is using is likely to filter down into their proxy armies. If the USA were to ever engage Iran, for example, Iran would almost certainly be using the exact same equipment (or an older version of it) that Russia is using now.
They're not much use if the people controlling them haven't been trained to use them.
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I'd be interested to know what the level of fuel was in the abandoned vehicles, my best guess is like all of us on a road trip when the gas gets down to almost empty you start looking for a place to bail, it may not have been desertion as the natural desire not to be stuck sitting in a immobile rocket magnet left behind by your mates, it may be they siphoned their gas into fewer vehicles to extend the range
If that's the case its a stunning indictment on how bad Russian logistics are, it's not like they are deep into Ukraine, they are at most just a few hundred km's across the border
Yeah, I don’t think there’s any great mystery behind why so many vehicles are being abandoned - they’ve run out of fuel.
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I am curious about this, because the EU also has a defensive pact within the framework that compels (i.e. obligates) EU members to defend others in case of armed aggression against their partners.
I don't really know what make NATO more or a "threat", other than it being strictly a military alliance, whereas the EU is an economic union and defensive pact. Both are alliances in practice that require automatic mutual defense.
Why is one more of a "threat" to Russia than the other?
Because that EU agreement is just a piece of paper. And EU members ignore the organization’s charters and rules all the time.
NATO is an actual army in being. It has shared forces, organization, infrastructure, logistics, doctrine, training, and decades of experience working together.
Macron has tried to build an EU military arm, and nobody outside of France is really interested.
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Because that EU agreement is just a piece of paper. And EU members ignore the organization’s charters and rules all the time.
NATO is an actual army in being. It has shared forces, organization, infrastructure, logistics, doctrine, training, and decades of experience working together.
Macron has tried to build an EU military arm, and nobody outside of France is really interested.
Which really is unsurprising. It was always designed to be an economic union of mutual financial interests, it was never designed to be anything more than that.
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I'm surprised the USA isn't sending more advanced drones to Ukraine right now. Surely this would be a great opportunity to test out their equipment in real world conditions and against their greatest opposition. Any equipment that Russia is using is likely to filter down into their proxy armies. If the USA were to ever engage Iran, for example, Iran would almost certainly be using the exact same equipment (or an older version of it) that Russia is using now.
Ukraine are using Turkey’s Bayraktar TB2 drones, which are pretty effective, and which they have been training on for months.
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It looks like Russia is deploying their thermobaric missiles. The reddit thread says its in Kharkiv. I don't mean to cause worry especially with everything Huntingwhale has shared with us and I'm so so sorry this is happening to your wife and family. Completely unnecessary violence.
Yeah, I don’t think there’s any great mystery behind why so many vehicles are being abandoned - they’ve run out of fuel.
yes but they are only 100kms or so away from their forward staging areas, I get logistics is the hardest part of a modern war but you would think they could get 100kms reasonably efficiently
It looks like Russia is deploying their thermobaric missiles. The reddit thread says its in Kharkiv. I don't mean to cause worry especially with everything Huntingwhale has shared with us and I'm so so sorry this is happening to your wife and family. Completely unnecessary violence.
i mean, no words for that... if this is proven that it is being used on civilian areas, Putin and his military leadership need to be hung in a public square in Kyiv.
Last edited by oldschoolcalgary; 03-01-2022 at 05:18 PM.
I know I am in the complete minority when it comes to this but what we are most likely to witness and deal with should never been allowed to happen. This is one person, one man who has caused untold destruction to no other level in recent and modern memory.
On the balance of probabilities Putin is done, both politically and physically. He won't be able to leave the Kremlin and than just go onto the sunset and enjoy retirement, given speeches and being an elder statesman. It's over for him in the short term.
We will all look back at this in history and ask why was this allowed to happen? Why didn't the power's at be do more? The human suffering that is going to actually occur in Ukraine, Russia and the global community is vast. Why didn't we all skip a few steps and just end it for Putin? I know this isn't a popular opinion and that there is a complicated issue with military force against Russian leaders but it's over.
I doubt he stops until he is stopped in full. This will only embolden him as he isn't going to go back to regular President Putin who will go onto official state visits, cutting ribbons and discussing Russian and (insert country) interests.
I get that nobody wanted boots on the ground but this situation could have been made a lot easier if a global decision was just made that 1 person can't be responsible for this destruction.
