Right, but these people (15-20%) do not run this country. They are trying, but so far they are all landing in jail. It is Trump who promises to pardon them if gets reelected.
Trump is the danger . He likes to play roulette with other people’s money.
Looks like America has moved on from Ukraine with loser Blinken in Australia to discuss China
I don’t think you can tell a winner apart from a loser. All you have is hot air, nothing substantial. On second thought, that may be a saving grace… 
@triplex, your not very trustworthy source doesn’t support you conclusions
It’s good to know you don’t see WP as being trustworthy
Oh they are, You are not quoting them correctly.
This is truth. It clearly shows Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine. All other tall tales are designed to obscure this fact. Russia poses an existential threat to Ukraine.
I was referring to Morning Star
USA has now sent a nuclear sub into Russian waters. What a psychopathic country it is risking a world war to maintain its global dominance
That is in response to Russia’s aggressive posture. You cannot talk away that Russia made the initial military aggressive measures.
If Russia withdraws its troops the US will withdraw their subs.
This is a poker game for high stakes and The US is showing it is not intimidated by a bluff and is upping the ante.
Go home Yankee warmonger. Under the “international rules based order,” the covert entry of an armed naval vessel into RF territorial waters grants to the RF the immediate right to self defence.
The RF can act as it wishes to eliminate the threat.
During the Cold War the USSR repeatedly downed US assets entering its airspace with the Gary Powers U2 incident being one of the few that was widely reported. A significant number of American servicemen died. There was no American bluster; they took the risk and they paid the price.
The fact the US submarine exited at high speed demonstrates it was aware of the consequences of its action.
Who says US subs are in Russian territorial waters? Do you have proof of such a provocative charge?
What about the Ukrainians, looking across their territorial boundaries and seeing
140, 000 Russian troops surrounding their country?
Russia is the aggressor. Your arguments are weak and without logical foundation.
Russia, go home and extend your hand to your neighbor Ukraine, not co0nduct military drills with your fricking tanks on their border.
140 k now . Quite a pathetic hysteria making attempt
Yes they shot down an unarmed surveillance aircraft 20,000 ft in the sky, so your argument holds no water.
No, I watch better news sources than you.
Reznikov: 140,000 Russian troops already deployed near Ukraine’s border
As of today, there are a total of 140,000 troops along the borders of Ukraine from the direction of the Russian Federation, Belarus, and occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
“As of today, there is a ground component of 119,000 soldiers along all borders of Ukraine from the direction of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, and the temporarily occupied territories. If we add the air and sea components, there will be 140,000 troops. These are 72 battalion tactical groups, 11 of which are stationed in the Republic of Belarus. These are objective facts,” Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov said on the air of ICTV channel on February 7.
First, this is not one of my “favorite” news sources.
Second this is a verbatim copy of Ukraine’s Minister of Defense Rexnikov’s speech, but now you are going to call Rexnikov a liar, I’m sure These Ukrainians are just spoiling for a war, no?
Stop your stupid propaganda tactics . You are just painting yourself into either a fool or a liar. Just keep digging that hole deeper and deeper.
Without me taking a stand on what is behind these words, this is the problem in the world of “fake news”. People don’t evaluate news based on how it can be verified, but, primarily on the source, then other fallacious reasoning.
The Morning Star piece had some facts, but it also had a lot of “dot connecting” that went beyond those facts, assuming motivations and creating conclusions not based on the few facts. NYT, in this case, it doesn’t matter who does it, quoted an official. The full interview could be tracked down. If he was misquoted, he would know it and would go talk to a different source. That would not be good for the NYT.
That’s the difference between a good and bad source, they care if they get fact-checked.
Truthout is also a decent source, as is Noam Chomsky himself, so, one of the few relevant, actual, and noteworthy facts that @triplex69 has raised is this one,
For obvious reasons, German reunification within a hostile military alliance is no small matter for Russia. Nevertheless, Gorbachev agreed to it, with a quid pro quo: No expansion to the East. President George H.W. Bush and Secretary of State James Baker agreed. In their words to Gorbachev: “Not only for the Soviet Union but for other European countries as well, it is important to have guarantees that if the United States keeps its presence in Germany within the framework of NATO, not an inch of NATO’s present military jurisdiction will spread in an eastern direction.”
You don’t hear this on the news, not even NPR, partly because that’s not how news works. But it does make me wonder, what else am I not aware of. What is Putin saying that I don’t know about? or France or Germany? As Michael Parenti said in the long speech I put up a couple of weeks ago, it’s not an arm “race”, a race has two people close to each other and you’re not sure who might win. America dropped the bombs and made the bombs and has bases all over the world. Russia just tries to keep up.
Ok that sounds reasonable. NATO will not actively seek to expand its influence in Eastern Europe.
But what about an Eastern European country spontaneously wishing to join NATO.
Does Russia have the right to forbid a sovereign country to make its own choices?
For 50 years, Finland accepted it after WWII.
Under the leadership of Paasikivi and Kekkonen, relations with the Soviet Union were stabilized by a consistently friendly policy on the part of Finland. A concrete expression of the new foreign policy—designated the Paasikivi-Kekkonen line—was the Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance concluded between Finland and the Soviet Union in 1948 and extended in 1955, 1970, and 1983. The agreement included a mutual defense provision and prohibited Finland from joining any organization considered hostile to the U.S.S.R.
Following the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991, Finland moved to end the old mutual defense agreement. A new agreement was reached with Russia in 1992, in which the two countries simply pledged to settle disputes between them peacefully. Finland, now freed from any restrictions, applied for membership to the European Community (from 1993 the European Union [EU]), which it joined in 1995.
[Finland - Postwar Economy, Arctic Region, EU Member | Britannica]
Austria got a special status. during WWII, the allied powers declared that the Anschluss was null and void. Soviet troops liberated Vienna on April 13, 1945.
An Austrian delegation visited Moscow in April 1955, and an agreement was reached by which the Soviet government declared itself ready to restore full Austrian sovereignty and to evacuate its occupation troops in return for an Austrian promise to declare the country permanently neutral.
The State Treaty—signed in Vienna on May 15, 1955, by representatives of the four occupying powers and Austria—formally reestablished the Austrian republic in its pre-1938 frontiers as a “sovereign, independent, and democratic state.” It prohibited Anschluss between Austria and Germany as well as the restoration of the Habsburgs. It also guaranteed the rights of the Slovene and Croatian minorities in Kärnten, Steiermark, and Burgenland. Great Britain, the United States, and France relinquished to Austria all property, rights, and interests held or claimed by them as former German assets or war booty. The U.S.S.R., however, obtained tangible payment for the restoration of Austrian freedom. This included $150 million for the confiscated former German enterprises, which Austria bought back from the Administration of Soviet Property in Austria; $2 million for the confiscated German assets of the First Danube Steamshipping Company; and 10 million metric tons of crude oil as the price of Austrian oil fields and refineries that had been Soviet war booty.
The treaty came into force on July 27, 1955, and by October 25 all occupation forces were withdrawn. On October 26 a constitutional law of perpetual Austrian neutrality was promulgated.
From: [Austria - Sovereignty, Restoration, Politics | Britannica]
Russia is an afraid country and the Western powers which should have proposed a Finnish or Austrian solution to Russia when it was possible.
It is too late and Putin is the matter.
Putin and his goons were KGB men.
Putin has declared that the collapse of the Soviet empire “was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century” and had fostered separatist movements inside Russia.
Putin has declared that Ukraine was a part of Russia. His aim is not to secure Ukraine neutrality but to restore the Russian empire, at least putting friendly and autocratic governments .
He could have chosen to invest in economic and social reforms, he has preferred dictatorship and empire.
The annexation of Crimea and his attitude are such that nowadays, Suede and Finland want to be admitted in Nato.
Putin has created a dead end and a catch 22 for him.
He knows that Ukraine will not been admitted in Nato for many reasons, he knows that Europa is weak and divided, and that he can get what he officially asked, neutrality of Ukraine.
But the negotiation is impossible as that is not what he wants. He wants Ukraine controlled by a friendly government, in Russian sphere of influence, and under Russian thumb, for strategic and inner political reasons. Many people are unhappy about his policies in Russia and he needs a success. If he backs off without any true results, he will lose prestige.
Last and not least, he despises democracy and seeks alliance with any autocratic government, even of traditional ennemies, as Turkey.
He is afraid of the western democratic political system and hates it as the Chinese government does.
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Wow didn’t know you were in Putins head. You know all about what he wants and thinks. Can’t wait for your take on the USA ruling class desires and ambitions with Ukraine in the headlines and what they hate and are afraid of. CIA goons get a mention?
BREAKING: Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK tells BBC Ukraine might consider abandoning its goal of NATO membership to avert war