If you had been a CEO instead of a lawyer, you would know that you do not necessarily need to be loved, but you must be respected.
Trump on Putin plan to recognize breakaway Ukraine regions: 'This is genius'
- Thread starter bver_hunter
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He couldn't make it five years ago. Putin, like a good Russian civil servant brought up in the atmosphere where failure was a very bad career move, needed to be in the situation where he could predict and control an outcome. Biden and Obama are predictable- even someone like me could predict the response to the Crimean and the latest annexations. To Putin, Trump was an unknown quality, therefore unpredictable. And there's nothing that Russians hate more than unpredictability.
Secretly the Ukrainians are relieved to be rid of the Donbas and Luhask, they are decaying rust buckets with Soviet Industries. Putin didn't want to recognize them, he has his hands full subsidizing Crimea already. The Donbas was subsidized by Ukraine's wealthier cities like Lviv and Odessa. Economics isn't Putin's strong point. Dnipropetrovsk is the richest city in Eastern Ukraine.
Bald the Babushka Whisperer.
Bald the Babushka Whisperer.
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Let's start with you main mistake (and, since you are not from Russia, you are likely to make this mistake): Putin does not care about the well-being of Russians. What he cares is about is his ego, his power, and his money. He likes to win, so, he plays by the rules but he plays dirty. He does not want to simply invade Ukraine, he wants to get what he wants without breaking the rules but stretching them as far as possible and he remains the judge of whether such stretching is allowed. But in his own world he always believes that what he does is right and he does not break any rules. Also, such "win" increase his popularity inside the country where many people also fill that they are "winning" (despite the economic losses they will suffer). In some sense, these Russians are like you or Franfooter: you are happy when your side "wins" and this is the only thing you care about. You are willing to overlook any stretching of the law as long as the letter of law is not violated: I do not believe you are so dumb that you truly believe that non-violent demonstration, even if it is lasted for 3 weeks and includes road closure and noise is truly a national emergency that warrants Emergency Act (again, you will argue that it does not contradicts the law and it helps makes things easier for the government, but it is just another way to say that JT stretched the law to make it easier for himself)
Now, back to Putin: Putin does not care about sanctions for 3 reasons. First, these sanctions affect ordinary Russian people, not him, and he does not care about people. Second, he knows that U.S. and the West will be afraid to go after him personally. And, third, he knows that Europe is not willing to bear the costs of thigh oil and gas prices and will never embargo Russian oil and gas, so, he will always have enough money to do what he wants.
The reason he did not invade Donbass over the last 7 years is simple: he enjoyed his "win" over Western world from annexing the Crimea for 3 years. Then he enjoy playing " Ukraine doe s not want to follow Minsk agreements" for a few years. Then he needed NS2 to be built, so, he backed up a bit. Now he is pissed that he had to behave the last few years and he wants another win. So, he gets it. It is like with fine food: why don't you it 20 stakes in one sitting? Because you like to enjoy them and spread them around a few weeks. So does Putin. He simply enjoys it. What else a dictator with large nuclear arsenal can do (and world destruction is not among his desires)
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Yes, this is the nice way to put it. When Economy is bad, people like to have something to be proud about, and Putin gives this "national pride" to the plebs.
However, Putin and most Russian believe that he did not invade Ukraine: he simply provided military support to two independent countries who asked for it. And, technically, he is correct and did not violate any laws. This is how he likes it. This is what JT did when he invoked the Emergency Act (but, of course, at a much smaller scale)
There are now threads from Kremlinologists on twitter, suggesting that Putin is becoming senile. I'm not sure that the "respect" thing is working out for him here.
Trump is completely predictable. Every time putin snaps his fingers Donnie gets on his knees and starts sucking
Trump has at least half a billion on loan from Russian banks... So yeah that can happen!
Trump and where the gop is going is what russia is.
An autocrat nation where the leader can eliminate his opponent without consequences, a nation where men are men and women are women (no lgbt), a nation without immigration...
While I wouldn't call it genius, it's a strategic move, just not for the reasons Trump thinks.
Putin's playbook is actually quite predictable. First he frames the whole situation as to paint Russia as the victim of foreign aggression, and he does it in the face of a massive Russian troop build-up and military exercises. He then makes strategic alliances that will allow him to at least reduce the pain of impending Western sanctions. Then he enters Ukraine under the guise of peacekeeping, which will lead at least some countries to dawdle on their response in a way they would not have if it were a full-scale invasion of a sovereign territory. When Ukraine fights back, Putin will use the resulting attacks as a provocation and justification that Russia must seize additional territory, and perhaps the entire country, in order to ensure its defense and maintain order.
Like I said, not genius, and quite predictable, but also likely to be effective. I'm not sold on this move being a net positive for Russia, but it's certainly a negative for the Western world.
what's there to Justify? It's no secret Vlad and Donnie were BFFs right from the start...Of course he will support Vlad's moves.
Maybe he should have picked before winter when Germany would get shiver-y without that oil.
Trump was as right in that "Genius" statement of his as he was when, "President Putin said it's not Russia. I don't see any reason why it would be". Now when Putin and his Foreign Affairs Minister plus other spokespersons all along were denying that they had any intentions of entering or invading Ukraine, we know that they were blatantly lying. But then liars like Trump would always praise other downright dishonest individuals like Putin.
But totally hilarious, that you compare Putin's actions to that of The Emergency Act. The Emergency Acts are an internal affair that has the support of the vast majority of Canadians and it was 100% necessary to keep the billions of dollars of trade flowing, businesses reopened, and The local residents getting their normal lives and jobs back!!
That is not the letter of the law. If there was a serious problem, the UN would be involved and send in peacekeepers from countries not involved in the dispute. This was an invasion, pure and simple. Just like when a certain German dictator took parts of Czechoslovakia by saying Germanic people living there had the right to see determination...So, from 1938-45, it was occupied by the German...
The Emergency Act is legal. It was passed by the HOC, and signed by the GG. Was it the appropriate tool to use? Maybe, maybe not. There is likely stuff happening behind the scenes of the protests that might make it essential that they used it. We may never know.
