Flew a B2 directly over Putin’s head, too.
3 Likes
Look at that big smile and little wave! Dude looks excited to be meeting with someone more important than the PM of some Eastern European country.
Is Putin beguiled, or just putting on a show to seem less threatening, like when he sang karaoke to Pres Bush?
He’s loving it. He’s a paria in the west. Now the west’s most powerful country gives him a grandeur entrance and a moment in spotlight.
I reckon this is Putin’s one goal. To show that Russia needs to be taken seriously. It’s not Soviet Union -size power anymore (or yet?), but it has shown that it can still present a threat.
Remember. Russia’s budget is primarily pointed towards rearmament now. It’s clear he’s preparing something big.
Russia’s defence budget is estimated to amount to more than 30 percent of the Russian federal budget, ie at least $120 billion.
The Russian challenge to European security will not end with the conclusion of hostilities in Ukraine, and elevated production will continue even after Soviet stocks are depleted. Our data shows a constant shift to more modern weapon systems that continue to add to Russia’s strength. Russia will also continue to export its battle-proven systems to governments and armed groups hostile to Western democracies, especially in Asia and the Middle East (Bergmann et al , 2023).
1 Like
It crazy to think murderous billionaire dictators who are all powerful in their own countries are just acting out like little kids who want attention.
But it seems to work when Pres Trump treats them that way.
1 Like
The ultimate grift oof…. libs are such gullible dopes
Was nose to nose with the rabble during the riots. They look like Garbage Pail Kid rejects
2 Likes
It’s all certainly quite staged, but there’s probably some genuine smiles there, too.
I’m optimistic that a deal’s already been made, but we’ll just have to see.
And F-22s.
Had to show him what a real 5th gen fighter looks like.
3 Likes
As long as the deal is not a kick to the Ukraine’s and west’s balls I’m all for it.
If Putin is smiling, that’s very conserning.
Why are you, or your countrymen, interested in Ukraine’s independence?
1 Like
I’m not sure anything quite like this has happened before, certainly not with a Russian or Soviet leader.
My hunch is that Russia will continue to occupy most of what it presently occupies and has held on to in this long and brutal war. Some face-saving concessions between both parties and some kind of peace guarantee, likely a whole bunch of American businesses doing business in Ukraine. Probably some kind of DMZ. Something along those lines.
Whether that’s a kick in the balls to Ukraine or not depends on who you ask. If you don’t want to be kicked in the balls, don’t be so easy to kick in the balls in the future. Like Finland.
Poland is a better example IMO.
They’re becoming like a little European Texas… I kind of want to adopt them as the 51st state.
1 Like
I happen to live in country next to Russia. More countries it swallows, more dangerous it is.
Also, I don’t support dictators who don’t give rat’s ass about lives of men, women or children (within or outside of Russia’s borders).
I’ve said this before, but if China would decide to enslave Taiwan, I would think many of you would mind (even if Taiwan would not be your ally).
1 Like
Finland already kicked Russias ass, unlike Poland, but yes, be like Poland.
2 Likes
American military might is greatly unknown… we would decimate anyone
5 Likes
It was nice of China to temporarily STFU about Taiwan and ease tensions a little.
2 Likes
I keep my ear to the ground about all new developments, and had the inside scoop about a lot of stuff. Still do.
Russia says they made a thing that can do ABC.
We design a thing that can beat ABC handedly.
Turns our Russia overstated its capabilities by 30-40%.
Well our thing still beat it’s supposed overstated capabilities, so…
This is the story of the F22.
The tech we have right now is staggering. We’re no less than 40 years advanced over every other countries’ military capability. Like I’m very certain we could take on the entire world and win (not without casualties).
1 Like
That’s a fundamentally different situation from the US’s perspective. We actually do have a security agreement with Taiwan, although it is vaguely defined. Ukraine was a corrupt cesspool people like Hunter Biden went to to carry out bags of money. Taiwan has huge strategic importance, is a valued trading partner and has been for decades, and also has symbolic importance as the only ethnically Han Chinese state that isn’t under Chinese Communist Party control.
It’s also a huge embarrassment to the CCP, because it shows what the same people can achieve when they aren’t shackled by socialist ideologues.
Apples and oranges comparison for the USA. We held up our end of every international agreement we made with Ukraine.
Somehow almost all European countries next to Russia have the strongest militaries in Europe (or are eager to be with NATO). Wonder why.
That’s probably it. And no Russians will ve arrested about rapes, forced immigrations, killings or looting.
Sad, but realistic assumption.
True too. Places like Georgia and Ukraine were low hanging fruits (well Ukraine is not exactly a winning streak for Russia, but anyway). My quess is that next in line will be some Balkan country, like Moldova.
For the USA yes. And Taiwan is much more succesful society than Ukraine.
But the outlying situation remains the same: A free autonomic state next to a imperialistic state who wants to own it.
The difference is that Taiwan has never been part of China since civil war.
Ukraine, among other East European states, got independence when USSR collapsed.
Putin has openly declared that he wants the situation reversed, and these areas back under Russian influence. Ukrainians, Polish, Estonians, Lithuanians etc. don’t seem too happy with the idea.
Ukraine (with it’s societal problems), clearly did not prepare fast enough. Baltia, Poland and Finland are currently out of reach for example. We’re too strong and a part of NATO.
No, it doesn’t. We had no equivalent to this agreement with Ukraine, and all of the other agreements that came after it. It isn’t the same type of alliance as NATO, but it’s more than the non existent treaty we had with Ukraine.
The USA has already done enough dying and killing on the plains of Europe in the last 110 years. NATO is doing its job and I also don’t rule out Putin actually having a reasonable rationale for what he did that simply isn’t known to me. NATO and the USA in previous administrations has had a long track record of meddling in affairs through NGO’s, something Americans are just learning about in large numbers. We also kept pushing NATO east when we said we wouldn’t, with nukes on Russia’s doorstep for generations.
In other words, I don’t think Putin is a madman anymore than Hitler was, although Hitler was certainly an ideological fanatic. I think Putin is a lot more pragmatic. Hitler’s ideology didn’t really give him many other options other than invading Poland. Being an actual socialist society, they needed another out-group to extract wealth from for their entire economic system (and the Reichsmark) to be propped up. Then another, and another, and more after that, too. After seizing power and implementing their National Socialist domestic policy, they were setting their economy to crash without extracting wealth from non ethnic Germans.
I’m still not sure why Russia actually invaded Ukraine, but I doubt it was the actions of a madman out for blood. The USA was also operating biolabs in Ukraine prior to the war. All kinds of possibilities exist, and at this point I highly doubt that Putin’s rational as explained by western media is accurate at all.
1 Like