Russia will stop 'in a moment' if Ukraine meets terms - Kremlin

Russians seem to be running out of weapons.
Russia asks China for weapons, U.S. officials say

 

Here is the city Grozny.

The Russians cleaned up after their work.

 

Putin could have made his NATO case diplomatically. Instead he chose to flatten cities and kill civilians. He'd rather waste human life than put forth diplomatic effort. Even back then.

 

And yet, an Iraqi has a heck of a lot more personal liberty than a Chechen.

 

Putin Diplomatically invited NATO to sign a security assurance treaty... after 7 years urging Ukraine to fulfill the Minsk agreements, and not to kill the people of Donbass. Putin diplomatically all these seven years asked France and Germany, who were guarantors from Ukraine, to force it to comply with the Minsk agreements.

 

Yeah, and when he didn’t get it his way, he murdered several thousand people.

 

And how did you want? Ukraine is a criminal who kills people in the Donbass. Putin has been trying to resolve the conflict peacefully for seven years. How long did you have to let the criminal kill people? So that the perpetrator does not suffer?

 

The Russians are on their way to defeat.

Could Putin lose? Here’s why the ‘End of History’ author is optimistic.
Opinion by Greg Sargent

 

The author who was wrong about his most important idea is making another prediction? Err...OK. I'm going to guess the opposite of whatever he says.

 

... six weeks of intensive carpet bombing in Irak and in Serbia.

 

I'm not sure on Serbia. But they must have rebuilt quickly in Baghdad, because I was there 6 months later, and there is no way we did near the damage we have seen in Kharkov or Mariupal.

We had the confidence to set up in the midst of the enemy for 2 decades without turning the cities to rubble, and without incurring the wrath of every single citizen.

 

Putin lies.

 

Didn't we do that after both World Wars and after the Mexican American War?

Uhhhhhhhhh??????

 

Most of the world sees civilization in more than cars, tv's, and concrete buildings. I realize that to an American's eyes that's all there is and since the US bombed the bejesus out of Baghdad much of its heritage, buildings, and artefacts are gone forever. As far as "rebuilding quickly" I was in Beirut in 1977 when ra-ta-ta, bombs and missiles were a nightly occurrence. By the time I got up in the morning shop-keepers had already started to patch up what was left in order to do business for the day ..... but that's not the same thing. Baghdad was a historical treasure and most of it has been blown to smithereens, never to be seen again.

Hate, true hate, lies in the bunker of the mind until the day it comes to the surface. The Iraqis endured Saddam for a very long time, it doesn't mean they didn't feel the wrath - and you can be sure they feel wrath ten-fold for the Yankees.

 

What is this supposed to mean? Putin spent his diligence seeking a peaceful solution by way of the Minsk agreement."Not getting his way" means what? What exactly was it he "didn't get"? The promised terms of the agreement. Do you know what a legal agreement is? Do I have to define it for you or can you manage to look it up the definition for yourself?

 

Why do you presume to know what "an American's eyes" see and think?

 

I looked into it, and these claims of genocide actually HAVE been investigated, by 3 international organizations. One found no evidence, at all. A second, the Office of the UN Commissioner for Human Rights, in 2021 found "abuses," on both sides, though nothing rising to genocide, and the number of incidents, involving Ukrainian organs of government, were few.

The International Criminal Court actually did investigate this, as well, and was the 3rd, aforementioned, Organization. Their 2016 report, studying the 2013-14 period (before the current Administration), did find evidence of what could be called an attack directed against a civilian population, but found "no reasonable basis to believe that the attack was systematic or widespread."

This proves false, your allegations that these charges were simply ignored or dismissed, and never looked into. It also, clearly, shows that "genocide" is a wildly inappropriate way to categorize, any offenses that did take place. As I had anticipated, both sides broke international conventions, but nothing close to approaching what was being alleged, against Ukraine. Those parts that are against Ukraine, I highlighted for you, in red.

[Snip]
Top Russia-Ukraine war myths:
Myths that exaggerate Ukrainian aggression or downplay Russia’s intentions:
MYTH: Russian-speaking residents in Donbas have been subjected to genocide

THE FACTS: The International Criminal Court, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe have all said they have found no evidence of genocide in Donbas, the eastern Ukrainian region partly occupied by Russian-backed separatists since 2014. The U.S. mission to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe called the genocide claim a “reprehensible falsehood” in a Feb. 16 2022 post on its official Twitter account. It said that the mission “has complete access to the government controlled areas of Ukraine and HAS NEVER reported anything remotely resembling Russia’s claims.”

A 2021 Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights report blamed the authorities of the separatist Donetsk and Luhansk republics for various abuses, including severe restrictions on the freedom of movement, forcing people to adopt Russian citizenship, and arbitrary arrests. At the same time, the UN reported three cases of arbitrary detainment and ill-treatment carried out by Ukraine’s SBU (secret service), and 13 such cases in the self-proclaimed republics, which the UN said were “usually” carried out by the “ministry of state security” officers, known as MGB.

A 2016 report by the International Criminal Court found that the acts of violence allegedly committed by the Ukrainian authorities in 2013 and 2014 could constitute an “attack directed against a civilian population.” However, it also said that “The information available did not provide a reasonable basis to believe that the attack was systematic or widespread.”

https://www.newsguardtech.com/special-reports/russian-disinformation-tracking-center/

 

There has been some scuttlebutt floating around that the Russians are mixing in Chechen free-agent fighters which means they may not be as in control of what is happening on the streets as some would think. If true, it would certainly explain some of the stories about "Russian" troops executing people who surrendered and such.

 

x

 

@DEFinning very nice. Western propaganda writes that the killings of people in the Donbass are insignificant. Just think, peaceful cities were shelled for only eight years - Russians are not a pity - they are worse than negers.

 

I thought the pandemic managers were alone in such an extreme ignorance of the concept of proportionality...

 

Biden needs to find a way to make a deal. I know Zellensky doesn't want to cede Crimea, but I think it will be temporary. Unfortunately we will have to wait until Putin dies. Let's see what happens in Russia after that. It's enough hope, with not much time to wait, to justify a ceasefire to save lives. We need to guarantee that Ukraine gets at least Kherson and Odessa.

Biden has more chips to play than lifting sanctions (which I still wish he didn't do). He can put 200k troops and 800 aircraft in Europe, and then use the withdrawal as a bargaining chip. Just their presence alone could maybe slightly influence the way Putin is treating the Ukranians. But the WH would have to adopt the strategy of "all options except nuclear are on the table, always" in response to reporters.

Another chip is the promise of immediate drawdown of NATO troops and weapons (we leave the Patriots, stingers, and Javelins to our friends when we leave) in the former Soviet republics. Article 5 remains in effect despite our withdrawal. I'm confident enough in our military to adequately responding to the Russian threat from a position further away. Back off Putin imo; we don't need to be that close to handle him if need be.

Just my two cents since no one seems to be discussing any potential deals nowadays.