Soviet union

[Grassroots2]

Flexing it musles yet again . Imo Putin is thier worst head of stat in the last fifty years .

[Mr Saxon]

He's been there that long and there's no decent opposition. A bit like the UK if I'm honest although I never , ever vote conservative. I never have and never will. They only cause abject misery.

[Grassroots2]

He's been there that long and there's no decent opposition. A bit like the UK if I'm honest although I never , ever vote conservative. I never have and never will. They only cause abject misery.

Every one too thier own , but I wonder how Blair got the honour he got , surely it wasnt because he sent so many of our troops to thier graves on a filthy lie as did GW B .

[bensherman]

It isn't the Soviet Union.
That's the point.
Putin would like it to be.
Not least to distract internally from the corruption, inefficiency and lack of democracy.
Threatening Ukraine is a no-brainer for him. Popular internally, gives him a way to blackmail the west.

[said]

Every one too thier own , but I wonder how Blair got the honour he got , surely it wasnt because he sent so many of our troops to thier graves on a filthy lie as did GW B .

No idea about how he even manage to deserve any award - but there have been more than a million signatures objecting to his award.

[said]

It isn't the Soviet Union.
That's the point.
Putin would like it to be.
Not least to distract internally from the corruption, inefficiency and lack of democracy.
Threatening Ukraine is a no-brainer for him. Popular internally, gives him a way to blackmail the west.

Media dramatics again! Half of Putin's government comprises Ukrainian citizens - and many Ukrainian's opted to go with Russia as opposed to other choices. Like it or not - Putin is always one step ahead of the opposition.

What you don't seem to realise is that the west is declining, that is why it is becoming far more authoritarian. Russia, China, India, Brazil, etc., are the emerging countries now.

[Alikado]

Flexing it musles yet again . Imo Putin is thier worst head of stat in the last fifty years .

Russia needs a Black Sea Port.

Particularly now that NATO is now on his doorstep.

[sandGroundZero]

It isn't the Soviet Union.
That's the point.
Putin would like it to be.
Not least to distract internally from the corruption, inefficiency and lack of democracy.
Threatening Ukraine is a no-brainer for him. Popular internally, gives him a way to blackmail the west.

Putin taking a risk in Kazakhstan and may hope for reward

In fact, Comrade Putin's foreign interventions will quite likely be his undoing:

Vladimir Putin has claimed the unrest in Kazakhstan last week that killed at least 164 people was the result of foreign meddling, and said a Russian-led military bloc should take steps to ensure future attempts to interfere in the region failed.

Formal talks are under way between US and Russian officials in Geneva over the fate of Ukraine, amid low expectations and high tensions driven by fears that the Kremlin will order an invasion.

Though Putin has retained power for two decades, or more, it is more of a crime syndicate with a (big) country attached, than an effective regime. His interventions will become an historical footnote in the longer term.

[said]

Putin taking a risk in Kazakhstan and may hope for reward

In fact, Comrade Putin's foreign interventions will quite likely be his undoing:

Though Putin has retained power for two decades, or more, it is more of a crime syndicate with a (big) country attached, than an effective regime. His interventions will become an historical footnote in the longer term.

Again you are jumping onto the media bandwagon. Pick on Russia and forget Israel or Korea. Sharon was similar to Putin - but the newspapers are reluctant to feature Israel's lawyers/paper pushers as leaders at any time because they don't have the same power as military personnel. Israel is the armed hand of the USA. Kim Jon Un is also a criminal - but he is also an American paid puppet. Successful military men appear to make better leaders.

[bensherman]

Sadly Said is in the grip of fantasy about this as other topics.
I suspect the hand of RT in this.
Kim a US paid puppet...
There's a lot to criticise Israel for but to deflect discussion about Russia by quoting it is desperate stuff.

[sandGroundZero]

Putin taking a risk in Kazakhstan and may hope for reward

Putin's foreign interventions may eventually be his undoing, but his demise is not necessarily imminent. European governments are confronted with extortion over the Ukraine in that their energy supplies are under threat as Russia supplies Europeans with gas. Though the United Kingdom receives only a small proportion of its gas from Russian sources, it is indirectly exposed because energy price rises in Europe will have a knock-on effect, here.

A news report suggests US President Biden's administration is coordinating global gas suppliers in an effort to blunt the threat of a reduction or complete stoppage of Russian gas to Europe.

It is a contentious view to say that unregulated market forces are largely responsible for this conundrum. The Market's remedy for supply shortages is (in very broad terms) price rises.

Storage of gas for conceivable but not, in the normal course of events highly probable, contingencies is a matter of political judgement. In this case, some vulnerable people (in the UK and elsewhere) may suffer and die over geopolitical manoeuvring. Alternatively, the Ukrainians could be sacrificed to briefly appease a dictatorial regime.

chilblains?

[local]

Putin blames us for meddling, people here blame him for meddling.

Yet it turns out China is already here and meddling.

Boris will be meddling again soon.

[The PNP]

'Comrade' Putin has tried it on, by sending his military machine to the border with the unoccupied portion of Ukraine. Unfortunately for him, far from the West caving in to his demands for appeasement, the West has turned round and dug in its heels.

Now he's only left with two choices: 1) Either disperse his forces and go home, saying 'See, I told you we were just there on exercise'. 2) Or, literally bite the bullet and launch a full-scale invasion, in the hope of winning and then being able to install a puppet leader.

[bensherman]

Difficult see the demise of Putin.
Being an opponent is effectively a crime.
He has a network of rich bullies around the west who could take out any potential opponent.
He is possibly the world's richest man

[sandGroundZero]

Russian weapons and fighters continue to flood into the Donbas, and the OSCE monitoring mission is regularly impeded by the separatists.

'Comrade' Putin has tried it on, by sending his military machine to the border with the unoccupied portion of Ukraine. Unfortunately for him, far from the West caving in to his demands for appeasement, the West has turned round and dug in its heels.

Too soon to say "the West" has "dug in its heels." It may be that US President Biden is bluffing and European leaders are cowed by the prospect of threats including possibly their gas being restricted or cut-off altogether. [Our PM is keen to distract us from his domestic chaos by talking tough. That possibly appeals to his base.]

Now he's only left with two choices:

1. Either disperse his forces and go home, saying 'See, I told you we were just there on exercise'.
2. Or, literally bite the bullet and launch a full-scale invasion, in the hope of winning and then being able to install a puppet leader.

1. Putin is wily and evidently prepared to take risks. For the gas threat it would of course, damage Russia's foreign exchange to lose gas revenues. However, it would not be fatal in the short-run. It is "high stakes ", but European governments would take a big hit, if their citizens were without affordable fuel in the winter.
   
   
2. Hot warfare is a bigger gamble. It would effectively be calling Biden's bluff. This is perhaps a consequence of President Biden's handling of the US withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. Biden's wish to appear decisive in fulfilling his promise to end foreign military engagements, handled as it was in Afghanistan, gives the look of (from Putin's perspective) an opponent unwilling to commit to further military conflict.

For the Russian President it is perhaps enough to highlight the tensions and insecurities of the European governments.
I wonder whether the Poles' and Hungarians' experience of Russia's intimidation will give them pause for though in their EU wind-ups?