All of this could have been avoided if western powers and Ukraine actually implemented Minsk and Ukraine chose neutrality. And then there was a second chance to avoid this back in March which US and UK ensured wouldn't happen. Now we're inching closer to WW3 each and every day.
Europe
Europa
@yogthos All of this could have been avoided if Russia would have not invaded a sovereign nation for land-grabbing purposes.
Do you actually believe that the only reason Russia attacked was for "land-grabbing purposes", or do you just say that to argue with people on the internet?
@DerPapa69 Let's imagine Zelensky disappears overnight. And now there is Yanukovych or other Kremlin-loyal person heading Ukraine. Do you think Russia will return Crimea, Donbass, southern Ukraine to Kyiv control? Lands that are already annexed by Russia? Do you think any sane Ukrainian thinks that? Do you think Putin will pull out its troops from Ukraine if this happens? Do you think any sane Ukrainian does that?
The longer the war goes on, the less Ukraine there will be left in the end. It's as simple as that.
Same is true for Russia. Except US corporate ghouls are already lining up to rebuild Ukraine. Who will do that for Russia? China? Don't make me laugh.
First of all, the same is not true for Russia at all. Even western media admits that the war isn't actually costing Russia all that much, and that Russian economy is actually projected to grow while EU is already in recession. And yeah, China as well as the rest of Asia has replaced all the trade Russia was doing with the west at this point. The only thing laughable here is that people could be so ignorant not to know the basic facts of the situation.
CSTO is dead in the water, Russia has officially denied military aid to member states at war. Kazakhstan is warming up to China and the EU. Russia lost more than 2000 tanks. A sizeable portion of its navy is defunct. It has had to mobilize conscripts. No matter how they put nice numbers out, it does cost Russian society a lot. Even if you don't count anything else, even by conservative estimates, 50000 Russian men are dead.
Saying that the war barely cost anything to Russia is an affront to their memory. Those are 50000 people with families, dreams, kids who will never see them again because Russia apparently needs a "sphere of influence".
Also, the EU is not in recession, Germany is by some counts, other states are doing fine. The war is not in the top 3 discussed issues in my EU country right now, it comes right after farmer subsidies, housing prices and whether we can all continue working from home.
Also, just to put it in perspective, Russia's economy is around the same size as Italy's. It can grow a lot until it will be a match for Germany, let alone the EU or the US.
This alternate universe you inhabit sounds fascinating.
First, EU is very much in recession, and the situation is only getting worse https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/08/euro-zone-enters-recession-after-germany-ireland-growth-revision.html
Also, Russia's economy is absolutely not the size of Italy, and it's frankly incredible that anybody actually believes that https://nationalinterest.org/feature/can-we-please-stop-comparing-russia%E2%80%99s-economy-italy%E2%80%99s-206404
And the only study done in western media that actually shows any methodology only managed to account for 16k losses, so not sure where you're pulling your numbers from, presumably same place you got your 2k tanks figure https://kyivindependent.com/news-feed/media-public-data-suggests-over-16-000-russian-soldiers-have-been-killed-during-first-year-of-all-out-war
I don't really understand what you're trying to say with that and you didn't answer my question. Do you think the only reason for Russia's attack was because they were hungry for more land? Because if you do, you seriously need to educate yourself a bit more.
Nah, Russia attacked because they think they are still the Soviet Union instead of the world's number two gas station (behind the OPEC) in a world where oil is losing its importance.
Russia felt threatened in its sphere of influence by the fact that Ukrainian internal events made it align more with the west.
The reason the war didn't end yet is that no one wants to deal with Russia collapsing again. The oh-so-crucial weapons shipments are mostly stuff from the last century, and a bunch of stuff the West wants to battle-test.
Again, Russia exists because the West and China allows it. It will cease to exist when they demand it. Russia is not a superpower with an own sphere of influence, and would do better to accept that before more people get killed for its false delusions of grandeur.
Well at least you didn't call it a democratic nation.
The result of Russias imperialist action. Last Hitler, now Putin. Hopefully Ukraine will manage to drive the invaders from their territory and that all nations respect international law..