Well, come on, let's do Ukraine

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Yeltsin did that ,but no one seemed bothered at the time. He was just an old pisshead. Not worth worrying about apparently.
Seems a bit short sighted now. 

[Kevin Wood]

Yeltsin did that ,but no one seemed bothered at the time. He was just an old pisshead. Not worth worrying about apparently.
Seems a bit short sighted now. 

I seem to recall it was a good day when he could walk at all.

[STEMO]

Donald vs Sippy Cup on the conflict between Nato and Russia

For the record, Donald's piece was filmed at a summit in Brussels in 2018. Doesn't make him wrong though.

Surely that should read 'Fat, cowardly, orange traitor v sippy cup' 

[Doctor Gollum]

Donald vs Sippy Cup on the conflict between Nato and Russia

For the record, Donald's piece was filmed at a summit in Brussels in 2018. Doesn't make him wrong though.

Surely that should read 'Fat, cowardly, orange traitor v sippy cup' 

Possibly. If you respond to 'Hilary'... 

[STEMO]

Donald vs Sippy Cup on the conflict between Nato and Russia

For the record, Donald's piece was filmed at a summit in Brussels in 2018. Doesn't make him wrong though.

Surely that should read 'Fat, cowardly, orange traitor v sippy cup' 

Possibly. If you respond to 'Hilary'... 

Nothing to do with Hilary, just a fair description of the ex- president. 

[STEMO]

Well, they're in. Lot's of rhetoric from western leaders, but I can't see there's that much they can do without it severely depressing our economies.
China will be watching closely.

[STEMO]

Oil up above $102, fill up quick.
Oh wait.....queues at fuel stations....don't fill up quick.

[Varche]

Have you got your grab bag sorted? Might be behind all the rice, beans and pasta!

[Rangie]

Both of ours filled up on Monday had 5p of a litre coupons from our Morrisons home Delivery, so that should give me a combined mileage of around 700 miles , enough for a couple of months.

[Lizzie Zoom]

The thought of a war that could quickly see millions of deaths as in the 20th century is absolutely terrifying.  I personally am against man's violence on this scale knowing what has gone before.

However, there is now only one way to stop a war monger.  No words will stop Putin, as there where no words that could stop Hitler.  It IS military action by the international community, with a hard strike on key Russian targets; the full force of the might that together the NATO have.  Strike him now and heavily before he follows his gamble that the West will do nothing beyond mouthing off words.

China, I believe, will hold back as it's economy relies heavily on trade with the Western nations.  It may have postured with Putin using words, but when it comes to China risking so much when supporting a man like Putin, I do not think they will do any more.  I hope not anyway!

[Varche]

Lizzie. I refer you to my previous post . President Xi stated to his assembled minions that 2022 is the year that Taiwan comes back into the fold. That is 100% going to happen .

If the West intervenes with say military strikes on Russian cities/targets Putin has said that he will unleash unimaginable response. Presumably laser strikes from space etc. in other words not weapons we are used to.

As an aside, I wonder if we have a room full of techno geeks doing Cyber attacks on Russian banks , power stations , gas valves and so on. How long could the West last with internet under sea cables ripped up, power stations not generating, air traffic control not working?

[Olympia5776]

Be under no illusion the events of this morning will effect our comfortable 21st century life in a way that we could never imagine .
The disruption that will follow direct or indirect involvement in this war will be far reaching and above all , lengthy .
The dogs off the leash now and all efforts to inflict damage to each others economy will commence .

Putin's declaration to the world this AM was chilling .

[Doctor Gollum]

He has called the bluff of NATO. They should have had a swift, precise response prepared, but little more than words thus far. The Baltic states could easily be next if we do nothing, but Vlad's statement suggest that he has called Check Mate. Not sure that blowing up the board will achieve anything.

What does Ukraine have that Russia requires so badly? And if we let them have it? Sounds like NATO et Al don't want to find out what 'nothing ever experienced' means, even if that costs the sacrifice of Ukraine.

[STEMO]

Putin plays an excellent game of poker. He is projecting the persona of an unpredictable madman, which is exactly what he wants the west to believe. If the west thought he was cold and calculating, they might have some chance of influencing events. I mean, surely a man who professes to love Mother Russia so much wouldn't want to see it turned to ash? But a lunatic might not care, and be willing to take that chance. Who knows? Certainly not Biden or Johnson.
I believe his main aim in taking Ukraine is to kill any possibility of it joining NATO and, I have admit, I can see his point of view. We have caused this paranoia by ever expanding our sphere of influence and, when we are shown the hawkish, bitter old Russian generals baying for blood, we have to remember that paranoia exists in the west too.
So, a game of economic warfare for now (except for poor Ukraine). A lot of name calling but, hopefully, no fatal errors on either side.


There's going to be a run on popcorn.

[Doctor Gollum]

A quick rummage suggests that Ukraine produces a significantly large amount of grain.

I wonder if, in spite of the bluster and bravado, this simply boils down to food?