When Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, I didn’t realize that Ukraine was not formally part of the European Union. Ukraine had applied in 2014, but there had been holdups over the years, including Vladimir Putin’s anger that Ukraine was trying to join the EU. Putin sees Ukraine as “his” and “belonging to Russia.” Which is why… all of this. In any case, on Monday, Ukraine’s President Zelensky formally applied for EU membership yet again. He basically filled out the paperwork from the battlefield of Kyiv, and he did so on camera:
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine urged the European Union on Monday to grant his country immediate accession to the bloc in response to Russia’s invasion.
In a passionate speech aimed at rallying Ukrainians to continue to defend their country and encouraging further international support, he thanked E.U. countries that have decided to supply arms to Ukraine over the past few days and said he had spoken to Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, to urge her to take “even stronger steps.”
“We appeal to the European Union for Ukraine’s immediate accession under a new special procedure,” Zelensky said in a video broadcast from the capital, Kyiv. “Our goal is to stand alongside all Europeans and, most importantly, to stand on their level.”
The European Union wants Ukraine to join the bloc “over time,” Ms. von der Leyen said in an interview with Euronews on Saturday, although she gave no indication of timing.
This application follows a phone call Zelensky had with European leaders last Thursday, a phone call which likely changed the war fundamentally. Before the phone call, Europe’s leaders – especially German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, were reluctant to do anything more than the bare bones minimum to support Ukraine, mostly because none of them wanted to piss off Putin. This is what happened with Zelensky called in from the Kyiv battlefield:
Then Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dialed into the meeting via teleconference with a bracing appeal that left some of the world-weary politicians with watery eyes. In just five minutes, Zelensky — speaking from the battlefield of Kyiv — pleaded with European leaders for an honest assessment of his country’s ambition to join the European Union and for genuine help in its fight with the Russian invaders. Ukraine needed its neighbors to step up with food, ammunition, fuel, sanctions, all of it.
“It was extremely, extremely emotional,” said a European official briefed on the call. “He was essentially saying, ‘Look, we are here dying for European ideals.’” Before ending the video call, Zelensky told the gathering matter-of-factly that it might be the last time they saw him alive, according to a senior European official who was present.
Just that quickly, Zelensky’s personal appeal overwhelmed the resistance from European leaders to imposing measures that could drive the Russian economy into a state of near collapse. The result has been a rapid-fire series of developments boosting Ukraine’s fight to hold off the Russian military and shattering the limits on European assertiveness in national security affairs.
I’ve also read that European leaders were grateful that the Biden White House didn’t throw around their weight as everyone discussed what to do about Ukraine and Russia, that Biden gave everyone time to come to the table and figure out how much help they wanted to give Ukraine, and there was no strong-arming from President Biden or American diplomats. WaPo even reports that the huge momentum swing from European leaders following Zelensky’s call surprised the White House, and they scrambled to follow Europe’s lead and sign off on the tougher measures the EU wanted. Which is wonderful positioning by Biden diplomatically, allowing Europe to take the lead and using American power to provide backup.
A few more things… even neutral Switzerland will impose sanctions against Russians and Russian assets and freeze accounts. A Ukrainian sailor working for a Russian oligarch tried to sink the Russian’s yacht!
President @ZelenskyyUA signed #EU membership application for #Ukraine. This is the choice of 🇺🇦 and Ukrainian people. We more than deserve it. pic.twitter.com/FRhLTfyjvJ
— Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) February 28, 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin huddled with officials to discuss the economic turmoil amid his invasion of Ukraine.
LIVE UPDATES: https://t.co/CZbl8SEbUO pic.twitter.com/3jRt7QWfrd
— ABC News (@ABC) February 28, 2022
Photos courtesy of Zelensky’s IG.
First thing I do in the morning is check for Ukraine updates. I’m really worried about Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people.
@OriginalLala, you are not alone in this. Its my prayer before going to sleep and my prayer in the morning that the Ukrainian people prevail, that God stays on their side fighting for and with them. I want Putin to fail miserably and hopefully this will be his downfall as Russian’s president. I so despise that man.😒🤮
Slava Ukrain ✊
Same here. And frankly, what I saw this morning made me feel a little nauseous. Surrounding Kyiv… This invasion has been nothing but a succession of war crimes. Putin shouldn’t be allowed a peaceful night’s sleep for the rest of his hopefully short and excruciatingly painful life.
Same here. We’ve been talking about it a lot at home. My teenager’s history teacher is Ukrainian-American, with a lot of family and friends still there. He used Ukraine as a case study for his Power, Politics & Citizenship class last semester. He will be running a lunch discussion tomorrow at school to talk about what’s happening there (optional, any interested high school student can attend, I sort of wish it was open to parents, too, even virtually).
I don’t see an exit ramp for Putin. I don’t think he wants one. He will destroy both countries, just out of spite.
Same. Throughout the day, I’m checking to see. Just want this to end quickly with minimal casualties. Let the Ukrainians, zelenskyy, and the Russians soldiers that don’t even want to fight be okay.
Me too….I open up the NY Times and CNN. It stresses me out. I’m so worried for them and it’s not going to get any better. As one retired general put it yesterday, it’s going to be ‘gruesome’ and that just made me cry.
Same. I’ve been going to sleep at 3am and waking up at 7am every day since the invasion started. First thing I think about when I wake up is “I hope Ukraine is still standing”.
This is making me so anxious and so fearful of what the Russians will do. Putin is beyond reasoning and will completely destroy Ukraine rather than concede anything.There is no government opposition to him at all in Russia. I hope more military aid makes it way to Ukraine and the sanctions hit hard and collapses the economy. As for those US politicians praising him and refusing to condemn his yes man Trump,they are not fit for office and are a disgrace to this country and democracy. There is no both sides here.
Same. Ukraine, her people and their leader, The Lion of Ukraine, occupy my mind and heart daily. I check for news, and on twitter, hoping all the while to read that someone murdered putin.
Same here. I am GLUED to the news.
Im in Slovakia, Ukraine is our Eastern border neighbour. To wake up on friday and read the news while the horror keept unfolding. Nobody was sure if 1968 was going to repeat as it happened in Czechoslovakia back then. Im very very ashamed to say that my knowledge of Ukraine was very poor to this day. Most of the Ukrainians i could have met until now were people who work in my country as labour men. Thanks to previous regimes of course, because many of them are engineers, doctors and so on ,yet there was no work for them at home. I ve dusted off the history for me, as l read about Krym, trying to “understand” what and why this is going on. I can only understand one thing and that s that one bald evil man didnt think that his oponent will be a BOLD MAN who won stand down. It is so courageous and hopeful to watch president Zelenskyy as he leads his country men and women against aggressors that are non stop attacking their country. I watched the video of Putin today where he addresses his country from 5 days ago. Man, i hate guns and wars and violence but he made me want to throw a grenade in his direction. I want this war to stop now. One man cannot be destroying the world of men! Enough of this 😞😞😞😭😭😭😭😭
Hi, Sonishka from Slovakia, I’m Ukrainian and have been staying in Slovakia to escape the war and you guys are lovely) Actually managed to hold conversations with dozens of Slovakians with them speaking Slovakian and me Ukrainian, just really slowly)) About half of the words are very similar!
@Katherine i am so glad you are safe. Greetings from an Estonian. We, too are taking this whole disaster very much to heart and hoping for the best for all of you guys.
Yeah Biden probably realizes that nothing will escalate the whole thing faster than the US driving changes. Putin is already upset at westernization of former USSR countries and the US is probably the westernmost in his mind.
I really think this is more about the US than Ukraine anyway. If Russia take over Ukraine and potentially even move onto other countries, his level of power and influence will inevitably increase, making Russia the worlds most powerful country.
He knows Europe, including the EU are easy targets but probably still underestimated them somewhat. He also knows the US have little choice. They’re either going to lose that title as more of Europe become sucked into Russia or they’re going to start WWIII, which they may also not win. All we can really hope for is that Russia runs out of money or fire power and backs down, but I can’t see it happening.
This isn’t about America at all. They are expansionist ideals to reunify all of the ussr’s former countries. What’s scary? Putin won’t stop at the Ukraine’s borders. In the long term if they don’t do something about this now Putin will push the boundaries of other key countries crucial to rebuilding the former ussr.
Of course this is partially about the United States. Putin’s interfered in US elections in order to try to pave the way for this. Part of his vision of a reunified USSR is a strong world power that can oppose the US, because he wants to pretend it’s the Cold War still. Opposition to the United States, in varying degrees, was obviously a huge aspect of living under Soviet government.
After the resistance of Ukraine and how it’s fallen out, I doubt he’ll come for the rest. But he seems like the type to raze Ukraine to the ground to save his pride if nothing else.
This is about the USA also. It’s about NATO too… Cold war was never over…
A thought crossed my head last night in that if the US went in guns blazing, that would open the door for Putin to attack the US, so it could well be about the US as well.
Putin couldn’t take the loss of power on the world stage, as the two main players are now the US and China. His goal was to undermine the EU to make Europe weaker, and they had a win with Brexit. Even now the UK is compromised, refusing to take Ukraine refugees and relatively weak in applying sanctions compared to EU/US. Instead, the EU and NATO are achieving more consensus and pulling together over this. Russia has always distrusted the West, and Putin does not like being ignored. He had out attention once again and is commandeering the world stage.
@L4Frimaire Its funny but Brexit has actually seemed to have helped the EU as they managed to get rid of a lot of anti EU MEPs. If we (the UK) were still there you’d have had idiots like Farage causing problems as he is definitely a Putin puppet. The UK leaving seems to have bonded the rest of the EU together. The more the EU succeeds, the more the liars that led the UK to leave the EU are being shown for what they are.
Russia has become almost a third rate power. California GNP is double that of Russia. All he has is oil and nuclear weapons. I read this morning that the rest of oil producing countries are going to release surplus oil to try to keep gas prices down. The nuclear weapons are definitely a problem though…
Also we should never forget that Trump’s first impeachment was for withholding security assistance and weapons to Ukraine. He is a traitor and repub senate stood behind him in his treachery and love for Putin.
Most don’t understand that if the US does anything that involves our military, we are in WWIII
Maybe so but what’s the alternative? Kyiv will fall soon without outside intervention, period.
The US and Nato shouldn’t and mustn’t do a thing military wise… We can provide weapons, food, and money….
@Colby,
There’s no maybe about it. If NATO steps in, it *is* WWIII, and putin will escalate. Then two of the three largest nuclear nations on the planet will be involved.
NotSo – You’re not wrong. I guess where I land is that ok, say we dont get involved this time. Is Putin going to stop at Ukraine? Absolutely not – as long as he’s alive he will be trying to put the USSR back together, and now hes threatened Finland and Sweden. IMO WW3 is already here as long as Putin is in control, it’s just a matter of when.
It is only a matter of time before Kyiv falls to Russia. Now, that being said, feeding the Ukraine resistance and monetary sanctions on is the safer route. It also may debilitate Russia more than they know. Even if Kyiv falls, how long before a rebellion? And if Russia is already facing economic turmoil over this, how will they stop Ukraine from rebelling? What if other smaller areas begin to rebel and what if her own citizens begin to protest. Add to it the Oligarchs, who are hemorrhaging money. It can become the perfect storm.
Fiona Hill is right, WW3 is just a matter of time. But we need this time to prepare. We need more of everything military, and we need to divest ourselves of Russian oil & gas. All of NATO needs to spend 4% of GDP on defence. The economic stuff can be done relatively quickly, but the rest takes time. Putin could be in Moldova (the next target, according to Lukashenko) and other countries faster than we know it.
THIS 100000000%!!! The US HAS to stay out of this in anything other than vocal or background support. It may seem counter to US sensibilities and how they sees themselves but the best way to help in THIS situation is to offer support in the background. I never thought I’d say this but for how Trump taunted Biden’s softness, he is absolutely the best option between the two. While, I think Trump is under Putin’s thumb so Putin stayed away during his presidency, IF this happened between Putin and Trump those two proud narcissists would have had us all in troubles.
Putin can’t be allowed to snatch up Ukraine. I am constantly in prayer for that country and those on the ground. Like, I wake up in the middle of the night, pray for them, check my phone, pray for them, wake up, pray for them, get ready, pray for them…..it’s all day!😔. If Putin takes Ukraine he WILL NOT stop there at which point the US may feel forced to get involved and the entire world would be dealing with a new issue that’ll push COVID off stage. He MUST be stopped. I pray God preserves the lives of MANY Ukranians and reluctant Russian soldiers in this war, that there is no anti-Russian sentimentality or hostility towards the PEOPLE of Russia as those poor people are oppressed too, and for the good of all He removes that man from power however He sees fit. I am so saddened and disgusted by this but wars and rumors of wars are to be expected. We’ve been living the good life for decades!
I have already seen memes that Jeremy Renner will be great to play him in a biopic.
There is a resemblance. And Renner can actually act.
Yeah – very strong resemblance but he could play himself as he’s a former actor.
I don’t think he would do it, but agree with the other poster that they can just hire a Ukrainian actor. If there’s a movie about this, they really need to get Ukrainian actors to do it.
I’m praying this war ends soon and this man and his family make it out to have the option of him playing himself. Honestly, I’d love to see him play himself but he’ll likely be too busy rebuilding his country.😕
Or, you know, they could hire an actual Ukranian actor to play a Ukranian.
It always mystifies me how Hollywood constantly seems to forget that there are actors and actresses in every country who just might have a stronger grasp on the motivations driving a character thanks to coming from the same culture, speaking the same language, and being personally invested in similar issues.
Plus, as a former actor himself, Zelensky would likely appreciate the chance going towards a fellow Ukranian actor, what with having intimate knowledge of scarcity of roles in mainstream Western cinema for foreign actors.
. . . Well, at least for those who didn’t study Drama at Oxbridge.
There are plenty actors of Ukrainian descent in Hollywood 🙂 I am sure they can find one.
I was talking to hubby yesterday and asked him if he thought this would lead to WW3 or nuclear war and he said no to both. I don’t think it will go nuclear but we are teetering awfully close to WW3. I bring this up because I saw Biden was asked if Americans should be worried about nuclear war and he answered with a definitive “no”. That response from him and the way he said it….made me believe him. It made me remember that we have adults at the table that know what they’re doing and I really am pleased with the way the Biden Administration is handling this.
And for anyone that think this wouldn’t have happened under Trump, you’re right…. because Putin played Trump like a fiddle…Biden isn’t rolling over like that.
@BUSYANN
same with MerlinsDad.
I am forever and always grateful this happened on President Biden’s watch. I shudder to think if the dumpster were still in office how this would play out.
And there stands that asshole trump, and his continued sucking up to putin. He should be exiled to Russia.
“And for anyone that think this wouldn’t have happened under Trump, you’re right…. because Putin played Trump like a fiddle…Biden isn’t rolling over like that.”
yeah, whenever I hear people say that, I’m like “yeah, that’s not the flex you think it is”.
I agree with whatWHAT …
I had a few people stupidly tell me that this would never have happened under Trump’s reign. and that Putin is scared of Trump. At first I had to pause to ensure I heard that correctly. Putin played Trump like a yoyo. Putin is not scared of anyone. The brainwashing and idolizing of trump is just freaking mind boggeling.
As a wise man said – better to remain silent and thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
@Busyann, my kids have asked and they surmise that it can’t happen because no one will win. It’s an end game. I have to agree with that logic. Who wins? No one. It reminded me of the ending to that 80’s movie Wargames – where the computer stated: what an odd game, it appears no one wins this game (or something like that). And that is truth.
Sadly we have a mad man in charge of Russia. Let’s pray cooler and logical heads prevail.
Yeah, I have deeper concerns about WW3 than nuclear. I just looked at more news and I’m even more concerned that we are heading there. I don’t think anyone really realizes how it would just take one NATO member being attacked and it sets it off. Somewhere I read that people are wondering if cyberattacking a NATO country is enough to set off Article 5…I think it might be but no one wants to say that. And honestly, it almost, almost feels like people are trying to goad the US to act more aggressively to start a larger war. Cooler heads need to prevail.
Thank God we have Biden in office for this. He has handled this brilliantly so far.
Seriously, this all would have been so different with Putin’s puppet in the White House for this.
Biden is absolutely the right person for the job right now. Thank God the other Dem primary candidates dropped out and/or endorsed him when they did. Thank you James Clyburne, Mayor Pete, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O’Rourke, etc. South Carolina was a game changer. Biden wasn’t my first choice but I was always perfectly comfortable with him as the nominee. He know people around the globe, he has been involved with foreign policy and diplomacy for most of his life, going back to the 70s. And he has wisdom.
It’s not WW3 if America doesn’t get involved and I don’t think Biden wants to do that. I don’t think Putin wants Biden to do that either. His whole plan depends on nobody daring to directly attack Russia and declare an all out war with it because Russia has a nuclear arsenal. Any other non-nuclear country and America would have gotten involved already of course. They meddle anywhere that is nuclear free because having nukes is the only thing that stops Americans from interfering. Why’d you think North Korea was so adamant about building them…
I am so afraid for Ukraine. Putin will not stop and to him there are only 2 kinds of people. Those who do not resist and those who will die resisting. He has gone mad and you better believe he will be emboldened. I truly think this is only the beginning. I think Europe is too afraid to let Ukraine in. I hope I am wrong.
@K it`s not about fear. Becoming a member of the EU is a long process mainly because there are so many laws, rules and regulations that all have to be discussed etc because the membership encompasses all aspects of live. Like food regulations, economic regulations etc. Even things like agreeing on what is a fruit and what`s not (lol). And there are some economic and regulational standards that the candidate country has to meet.
My home country went through this process and it took many many years.
On the other hand, Ukrainian refugees are already being welcomed and I think right now it`s the most important thing.
Such a badass move – and smart. If they reject the application, they don’t care nearly as much as they say they do. If they approve it, it’s all forces “go” against Russia. Zelenskyy doesn’t play – he’s passionate about his country, his family, his cabinet members, his people…I’m sure he feels 100% he’s not going to make it out of this conflict alive, so he’s literally leaving it all on the field and making the most of his time. Just…wow. Did anyone see that the Lakota Nation honored him with a name, “Warrior of Hope”? Also, Dictionary.Com is doing some Grade A Putin trolling.
It’s not so black and white as you’re putting it.
The Copenhagen Criteria exist for a reason. You should read what Valois says on comment 7…
Thank you – though I didn’t mean so much the letter of the law in this as much as the court of public opinion- I’m sure there are tons of procedures and measures and stipulations – more his asking in a public way, “Are you in or out”? Even the signal of support for or against or a sense of stalling in the public arena can make a huge difference.
THe EU has authorized and is shipping armament and money for financial aid… We’re in… Without soldiers… And without accepting them into the EU yet…
By the way, northern Europe is putting itself at risk energetically speaking, since they depend on Putin’s gas to produce electricity… I don’t think they’ve found a solution yet. Germany alone depends on Russia for 55% of the gas consumption…. Also about half of the coal consumption…
That’s just one of the things Europe is risking… And if Putin presses the button, we’re the ones being blown up, not the US…
I adore Angela Merkel, but she dropped the ball on Putin. Germany needs to retain nuclear power (as does France). We in Europe need to accept that we are going to have a couple of cold winters, if we are to survive.
@Desdemona, its a two way traffic where gas is concerned. EU is not getting free gas from Russia, they buy. This means its a symbiotic relationship, give me this and I’ll give you that. Russia cutting off gas supply in times like these, with all the economic and/or otherwise sanctions in place would be a very stupid thing to do; they need the money from that gas if nothing else but to prop up their limping economy. Even the Russians are not that stupid.
Just to add some context, there is no way Ukraine will actually become a member anytime soon. There is no such thing as immediate accession. You need to fulfill the Copenhagen Criteria to join and the Ukraine doesn’t and didn’t before 2014/2022. It will take years for them to fulfill both the political criteria (they would have to reduce the enormous corruption, secure human rights etc.) as well as the economic ones. The EU has little to no means to sanction members and struggles with members who did not really fulfill the criteria when they joined which makes it even more important to not ignore the criteria from now on. It takes ages to join and every single country has to agree. Turkey has been a candidate to join since 1999 (unlikely they will ever join), Albania since 2014 (not in active talks to join yet which is another step on the road to become a member), Montenegro (candidate since 2010, in talks since 2012), Northern Macedonia (candidate since 2005, Bulgaria has been blocking the talking stage since 2020) and Serbia (in talks to join since 2014– still no member).
BUT this a clear signal from Ukraine that they see their future in the EU and it’s a clear signal from the EU that they’re willing to help. I think it’s also meant to help Ukraine in talks with Russia. If Ukraine were to become an official membership candidate (Ukraine’s president wants immediate accession but I think the best-case scenario is membership status), they would receive billions in aid to help them fulfill the criteria.
Exactly.
Exactly – politically this is a massive step from both the EU and Ukraine, the EU are basically saying ‘Yes we want you to be a member’ even though it can and will take years. It’s showing Putin that the EU does have Ukraine’s back, esp as the EU are sending money and military equipment to support Ukraine and they are not stopping their citizens from going to help and are opening their borders for Ukrainian people.
As i said yesterday THIS is why Putin has raised the spectre of nukes – the thought of having the EU and/or NATO on his doorstep has sent him over the edge.
And yes i do believe he will push the button – if he goes down he will take Europe with him.
Putin’s not the only person running Russia. If he was actually going to go nuclear (he’s not and won’t but it’s a useful saber to rattle), he’d take a tragic fall out of high story window first.
@Evening Star, thank you for that imagery. I busted laughing out loud.
As the ruble crumbles, as more assets are frozen and properties seized, the oligarchs that surround and support Putin are losing billions. My guess is they will turn on Putin at some point, maybe stage a coup and, as Evening Star says, he’ll have a tragic fall out of a high window or get a lethal dose of Novichok.
I think you underestimate one thing, putin is the richest of them all, he could buy all of the rest of them combined. This war scares me shitless, as I’m from a neighboring country, but I do feel people call putin crazy, underestimating him. I still do not understand why he invaded Ukraine, as his 2014 attack made it impossible for it to join NATO. I’m only hoping the adults at the table are able to understand and predict his moves.
Ukraine begging to be admitted to the EU, yet Britain just casually left it so Boris Johnson could hold COVID parties with impunity. Wonder if Britain feels like an idiot now.
BoJo was in on the global autocrat train, broken down as follows:
Xi would have Asia.
Rump & BoJo would have the Americas.
Putin would have Europe.
Those were their aspirations, and it is truly frightening.
With each passing day of this awful events I am more amazed with the bravery and resilience of the ukrainian people. His president is amazing, like they belong to that times when people had honor….
Hope this ends soon, I have a close friend who happens to be ukrainian and her family is still in Kiev and it breaks my heart to see her suffering for their safety.
Let’s pray someone puts plutonium in Putin’s vodka or accidentally shots him in the head…
Slava Ukraini!
Slava Ukraini!!!🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 ✊✊
It’s strange that a few short weeks ago we saw Putin wandering around maskless at the Olympics then pretending to fall asleep when Ukraine made their entry. Now he’s a coward in his hidey hole bunker while President Zelensky is the true hero of this conflict. Slava Ukraini!
This parody video was created for Trump when he went hidey in his bunker but applies to Putin as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VBevEYELQ0
Randy Rainbow is a legend!!!!
Omg, that was hilarious!
Thank you for that link!
What happens when the Russian army reaches Kyiv? All of these economic policies do what when Russia has the size of its army and weaponry on its side? Kyiv is being bombed, Kherson another city is reportedly completely surrounded by Russian military. Civilian areas in Kharkiv are being bombed.
The sanctions will only get worse and impact more and more people as time goes on, and Ukraine will never belong to Russia even when a puppet president is put in place. If Kyiv is taken, Russia will have to deal with an already mobilized and energetic insurgent/resistance force for years.
I think it’s already over for Ukraine, I’m horrified to say. Russia will, however, be in economic ruin by the time this is over.
Im beginning to think the US should send in troops. Hear me out on this logic. I think Putin is bluffing with his threat of nukes. He knows full well if he uses nukes on Ukraine or the US, it is over. He will have lost. I don’t think we should let this bully, bully us. I don’t think it has to start world war iii at this point because no one except Belarus supports this guy. Even China and Turkey are like hard pass. We do not have to occupy Ukraine for 10 years. Just push these young kids and Belarussian ones back to their countries. Period.
I agree in a sense but it’s too late to send it troops from the US now. It’s a home game for Russia and they’re already at Kyiv’s doorstep.
I agree. Obviously Americans don’t need to be involved in more foreign wars but seeing how Putin is aiming for civilians and civilian populations, the rules have already gone out the window. Putin is a monster. My dad is ex military and the thinks specials ops are already on the ground helping anyways. Once you start bombing and killing children, I’m ok with protecting innocent life anyway necessary.
I am ok with us being involved on the down-low, with special ops like you said. They signed up for the job and they’re professionals, experts. It’s a matter of right, necessity, safety and principle.
We cannot send in troops. It has to be an EU country, preferably one not in NATO. If we send in troops, we will turn into the perfect propaganda Putin needs to stay alive and galvanize his base. we are winning right now with a chance to get the Putin tossed out of power. we can’t screw it up by being the USA everyone hates.
Nato and the US cannot be involved for several reasons. @goofpuff has said one and the other… If the US attacks it’s Europe that will be destroyed.
> Hear me out on this logic. I think Putin is bluffing with his threat of nukes. He knows full well if he uses nukes on Ukraine or the US, it is over.
I disagree with this logic, by a lot. The man knows that he lost, there is no way to winning now (even if he takes Ukraine, his country is still in shambles because of the economic sanctions etc). We in the area are already afraid he will use nukes because he is like a trapped animal, ready to do anything to escape its fate.
And let’s not forget he’s already been getting them ready recently. The very, very, very last thing everyone needs is to give him an extra pretext to actually use them. I am not convinced by a lot of things in general, but I am very convinced that what he says is more than just bluffing.
I pray that Putin will eventually be charged for war crimes. Meanwhile, it’s good to see countries and leaders rising to the occasion. Hopefully, NATO and EU can figure out how to help Ukraine withstand the onslaught until economic sanctions have the desired effect. It’s good to see that Ukraine managed to elect a good president, and that Zelensky acting like a true leader.
Just saw an interview with Zelensky on CNN. He looked as pale as a ghost and like he hasn’t slept in days. This is a man that has the weight of the world on his shoulders, a target on his back and a target on his family’s back.
He does look quite pale today and like he hasn’t slept. I pray everyday that that man survives, for his family and quite frankly, for the world at this point. We are all pulling for him. Everyday he remains alive I find it is a good day for democracy. He has become a beacon of hope for me. He says he isn’t iconic, Ukraine is iconic and that for me makes him iconic. I get that he is just an ordinary man, but what he is doing is an extraordinarily brave thing. Most leaders would have hightailed it already.
If this helps-
We have a friend who is a sort of real life James Bond. He may have been in Ukraine a few weeks ago and is not allowed in Russia.
He confirmed nearly 5000 Russian casualties in the first three days of the invasion. They Russian army is young, poorly trained and badly equipped. It could be another Afghanistan for them.
Ukraine surprised them/him. I don’t think Kyiv will be so easily taken, if at all.
The financial sanctions are crippling and if there’s one thing oligarchs like more than power it’s money.
Regardless it’s heartbreaking to witness and the bravery of the Ukrainian citizenry is astonishing. I hope this ends quickly and with a gutted Russia.
Steph, I thought the same thing. He looks utterly exhausted. What a heroic man. God bless him and Ukraine.
Zelenskyy & the people of Ukraine are brave legends resisting Putin, a despot who deserves to be run off.
having said that, given the US’ own recent history of invading sovereign nations for minerals (legitimised by Western Europe) really undercuts the moralistic posturing.
as a brown ex-colony citizen, it’s also interesting that “illegal territorial occupation” as a concept is so readily understood when it’s white people involved. there continue, in 2022, to be occupying forces that far from facing sanctions and opprobrium, are rewarded and feted for dispossessing indigenous communities. but it’s ok if it’s brown and black bodies, I suppose.
in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and all the oppressed of the earth.
Yeah, I hear you. It’s absolutely shameful how this war is depicted in Western media as opposed to the US invasions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Don’t even get me started on the lack of coverage of Syria and Yemen. It’s as if wars only really matter when they happen to white nations and directly impact the 1st world.
Also the incredible shift from blocking and returning Middle Eastern and African refugees to welcoming Ukrainian refugees in the EU without even the need to claim asylum speaks volumes.
I agree with you about white people being opressed or attacked getting way more attention in the US media.
But in Russian or ex soviet territory it is a very common thing to destroy white indigenous peoples and languages. it just happens that USA have a tender spot when it comes to oppressing “darker” (sorry i can`t think of a better word right now) people, so they try to avoid talking about it.
I am a member of an indigenous nation living in a nation state (Estonia) and we have been on the receiving end on colonialist oppression from Denmark, Germany and Russia for 700 years. We were beaten, robbed and raped just as much as any colonial nation that for example the Brits trampled over. The difference being, we got to stay in our own land. With the exception of the Soviet Union when 10% of our nation was deported to Siberia to die of overworking and hunger and cold, while russians were brought in to fill our homes to russify the whole area, kill our culture and language. Russia failed to wipe us out and they are still salty about it. We are nazis to them because we didn`t let them do genocide on us (imagine that). So yes, Race and colonial oppression are a different beast when it comes to the eastern hemisphere.
Sorry to hear about the experience of being a white indigenous community oppressed by a white colonizer. Imperialism is bad on principle, no matter the colour. Putin is obviously seeking to recapture some non existent glory days of the Russian Empire and Soviet Union that he wants to rule for all time (megalomania). In my (brown) country our religious majoritarian leadership also has similar delusions of grandeur of “uniting (other brown) territories” once part of our realm in the ancient days. So I understand what’s happening.
I just find it really telling that it’s all “Mister President Biden and NATO” when the American military machine has been just as horrible as “those damned Russians”. The US state has been just as bad throughout the past century. And nobody wants to talk about certain other nations (this comment won’t make it to the board if I mention it by name) whose settler-colonial agenda is lauded, their celebrity citizens propped up by the American establishment.
Maybe Ukraine will show us the way. I’ve been baffled by lack of sanctions against the US for its invasions and occupations and bombings and meddling in other countries’ elections and supporting corruption and dictators also. We just can’t keep letting bully governments do this.
The US can’t get more directly involved because then it really does become a war between two nuclear powers who idiotically each have an arsenal capable of rendering much of the planet uninhabitable. The fools who have put nuclear disarmament on the back burner do not understand that these are weapons that backfire on the user even far away. They are both homicidal and suicidal at the same time. The reason they must be reduced and eliminated isn’t because everybody is nice and sweet and trustworthy, but because they are stupid and counterproductive and kill us during manufacture, storage, use, and destruction when they degrade. It’s not like stockpiling snowballs for a snowball fight.
Thanks to worldwide weather patterns, we are all interconnected on this planet whether we like it or not. Just particles picked up and transported by the atmosphere due to a volcano eruption long long ago affected crops in the USA in the infamous Year Without a Summer. We will all share both the discharged radioactivity and the dust kicked up by nuclear explosions. Yay. Stupid stupid humans. [End rant about my own stupid stupid species]
Anyway, there is plenty to do to help
Ukraine without making it a surefire WWIII situation. The economic sanctions are fierce and Biden did exactly the right thing by waiting for European decisions before making our own moves in sanctions like SWIFT. Defensive weapons like anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons are crucial to supply, along with everything needed for military and civilians to hold out for a long siege. And of course supporting refugees in all the countries that have opened their borders to them.
Figuring out how to protect against cyber attacks and keeping communications up is yet another area where we need all hands on deck. How much sunlight does Ukraine have this time of year? Solar powered phones possible?
But unfortunately the nuclear danger is already there, even if Putin never moved any nuclear weapons at all. Ukrainian nuclear power plants are all Chernobyls in the making if they get damaged by Russian attacks. And the Russians now hold the original Chernobyl, and containment measures for its radioactivity are already being breached by military activity. This is bad news for Ukraine and all of its neighbors, including Russia. And including us. After the Chernobyl accident, we saw some effects all the way over here in the US. So imagine what happens with a batch of Chernobyls.