A "solution" as cynical as the invitation to send Ukrainian refugees through humanitarian corridors leading to Russia.

One of the bigger issues how the West will deal with war crimes. It has almost gone beyond the point of no return that Putin will have to be held accountable for these, not sure how they'll ever get him to the Hague.

The biggest problems with a conflict like this is the longer it goes for, the more difficult the legacy socio-political issues are to deal with...people forget what peacetime life is like. For example, armed civilians develop a combat mindset...and when the conflict dissipates, it can be difficult to return to normal life. The thousands of small arms wlll never get returned, and may come back to haunt a return to normality. Dispossession, permanent injury, crime, looting, rape, exploitation.. these are the coal-face horrors of war that haven't quite surfaced on social media yet.

__________________
So sayeth the 'Speed
* I do look like my avatar

They didn't work after 18, but they worked after 45 so it seems we have learned how to implement them in a way to deter. Or you believe it is someone else that should pay for the senseless destruction of putler?

Looking forward to seeing your thoughts on solutions. I hope they will be more realistic than saying Russia must capitulate, hand over Putin to The Hague and pay reparations.

Interesting analysis here (just pre-invasion).

-ten, twenty years later, UA joins the United States of America and Europe...

I take it you're not really interested in my view anyway so let's leave it here.

I agree. A solution must be reached very soon otherwise we'll see even more disasters and tragedies... As if it's not enough to see that already two millions of people have run for their lives from Ukraine.

But what if he knows Ukrainians won't agree with all of his conditions and keeps killing civilians till it makes Nato intervene in UA? Maybe this is his plan, drag everyone else into this conflict.

Plus who can trust Putin anymore when he says he will stop as soon as UA gives up here and there. I don't know anything for sure, like everyone else here, just trying to see these issues from every angle.

Many see Putin as a Chess player and that he has his strategy many steps ahead of the West. But right now he seems more like a poker player, going full tilt, doubling down with threats of nuclear arms and spill-over conflict.

Is it victory at any cost? Only getting inside Putin's head can answer this one.

To me, a sign for me for optimism is that he has his family hidden in Switzerland. That means he values them, has emotional attachment for their wellbeing. I doubt he wants them living in a nuclear waste land.

Now that Coca-Cola, Levi, VW, BMW, Visa, Nike and many others are abandoning Russia it seems Putin's dream of restoring the USSR is coming true; the land of empty shelves and few consumer brands.
He just needs to restart Trabant's production to gild the lily.

Meanwhile, in China, at least two of China’s largest state-owned banks are restricting financing for purchases of Russian commodities. They are treading a fine line between staying friendly with Russia and avoiding upsetting their major customers in the West; the two biggest are US and Japan.

The oil price is also hurting, China is the world's largest oil importer with currently only 15% from Russia.

You can't polish a turd. It was hardly a lily to start with.

Well, I see your point. But let us not forget that the reparations after WWII followed the unconditional surrender of Germany.

I only try to see these things now from Ukraine's point of view:

- they agreed to hand in to Ru the nuclear weapons that have been stationed on their territory during soviet times in exchange for an agreement in '94 by which Ru has recognised their independence and promised to respect their borders
- Ru has already proved in 2014 that they didn't really mean that
- Ukraine's biggest problem seems to be (to them and many others) that Russia wants the whole Ukraine not only Crimea and the self-declared independent republics in the Eastern part.
It's hard to argue some arguments. I am optimistic though but know that nobody can win under these conditions especially when having to deal with a rather unpredictable Putin.

At the current moment, with all the censorship (and sanctions) in Russia, bringing him in front of The Hague or in some sort of Nurenberg Trials seems just wishful thinking.

Yes, but the objective should be to change the calculus of putler / russia.

Imagine the following outcome: "successful" negotiations in which the soviets pull out, keep Crimea and the two independent republics, get some sanctions relief and Ukraine declares "neutrality". In this scenario, putler has basically won as he will go unpunished, undeterred and more likely to do that again in the future.

Ukraine will be devastated for years, probably decades to come and someone else will be paying the bill.

It's not only immoral, it's dangerous.

p.s. lets not forget that the west already has control of circa USD 400bn of Russian assets, which is not a bad starting point.

Very interesting read from Swiss Handelszeitung . I guess I'm shopping for iodine tablets now

https://www.handelszeitung.ch/politi...nktionskonigin



https://www.castellum.ai/russia-sanctions-dashboard

That will only protect you for radioactive iodine. Which makes up only a few percent of nuclear fallout.

Can I question the use of putler as opposed to calling the megalomaniac by his real name?
Can we not let his name exist in it's own right with all the negativity and evil associated with it, rather than trying to tack it on to another evil?

It strikes me of the habit of affixing -gate to every scandal to the point where it's lost the bite and has nearly turned into a comic reference.

Let Putin be called Putin and have his name be directly associated with his actions.

True. But AFAIK it's the only one that the body actively absorbs.

I guess it was a failed attempt at humor. Even the use of the ROFL emoji did not help

Don't worry, I'm not running to the pharmacy yet.

I agree, language is much more important than some may think.

Before the war there were all sorts of internet memes and jokes that made him look almost "sympathisch". Hahaganda.

Agree. I just don't think it could ever be called reparations.

And to the point of Russia winning in this scenario: There are no good solutions here, but holding negotiations only makes sense if you keep your eyes on a possible agreement. That was my point - at the moment both RU and UA are losing this war. I was just trying to think through possible alleys, and had in mind the concept of stopping the actual bleeding now, move the economic bleeding to Russia long term and buy time and bet on Russia getting weaker and essentially a form of regime change.