For a change, the White House is doing the right thing, ramping up the pressure on Putin and calling his bluff. Ordering staff to leave and potentially placing thousands of US soldiers in Eastern Europe is the right move to put the heat back on Putin. He never wanted a real conflict with the US, he was calculating that again, he will end up merely on a negotiating table without NATO hardware being moved close to him. As an Eastern European, I would sleep much better if there were a few thousand NATO soldiers and hardware in the neighborhood to deter the Russian bully.


https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/23/u...o-ukraine.html

Uk has done the same
Here is the link (you must register)

Probably the best summary of the situation in this article:

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/...24-p59qop.html

Bottom line is it is now or never for Vlad...Europe is too gas-dependent, Germany isn't willing to lead European opposition (so no-one will), NATO doesn't have the teeth it needs, and the US has bigger battles to choose.

The only thing stopping Russia from invading is Ukraine itself...the Ukrainians will put up a big fight with a home-ground advantage, and if propped up enough by the US, could make it a costly for Putin in the longer term.

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

Thanks.

How do you, or anyone here, see the UK's position in all this???

OR...

What if the Ukraine buildup is a diversion and Putin wants to bring the Baltic states back into Russia?

There was some odd unknown drone activity reported recently on Gotland - Sweden's largest island in the Baltic. Sweden is also non-NATO. Im not sure what treaties and such are in place for that kind of exercise though.

They are NATO members since 2004, he will absolutely not do that, he's not stupid. I thin he's not after Ukraine proper, he's after Donbas. Enough to weaken Ukraine and control it and just enough not to trigger a harder response from the US.

Lets see, there's a probability he miscalculated this time if the US indeed places thousands of soldiers in Eastern Europe. Then he would have been out-witted.

Never a truer word, Slaphead. And 1000x more so now, 8 years later.

If a psychopath presses the button to test 'how it goes' Switzerland, nor the UK, will be far enough.

Much as the UK likes posturing and spouting empty rhetoric, is it really relevant ?

The Russians have some very advanced weaponry, they may see this as a sales opportunty to demonstrate how well their weapons work in a real conflict.

Depends for whom. Perhaps it is for those of us with all our loved ones in the UK. And as Slaphead said above ...

As I recall the United States and British embassies had 'grab bags' available in their embassies in Bonn
( West Germany ) in the event of the Soviet 'shock armies' breaking through the Fulda Gap on one of
their purported '7 Days to the Rhine' invasions.

Soviet Union together with its Warsaw Pact Allies invade West Germany video

The UK is a considerable distance from the Ukrainian border and the UK has a nuclear deterrent.


The UK doesn't have an offensive military force, after decades of cuts at best it is a defensive military force, it has nothing to do with us, the UK is no longer a world power in the proper sense of the term, they like to posture and relive past glories.,



What can the UK do, apart from empty rhetoric, they have very few armoured vehicles, not many soldiers which is what is needed here. Kicking the bees' nest is only going to make them more angry.



Just take Irak/Afghanistan, they achieved very little at the end of the day, lost a lot of men and equipment and it's business as usual for the Taliban. I think this was the 4th Afghan war now since early 1800's, so far the score is Afghans 4, UK 0.


Sit on the sidelines and let Macron take the lead and let the French get a bloody nose for once.



It is nothing to do with the UK, Ukraine are not even in Nato, there closest neighbours, Germany and Poland need to act and decide what they want to do instead of leaving it to the others.



Germany supplied a "field hospital", not a lot of use if the Ukrainians have no ammunition or tanks to shoot back with....



It's time the UK understands it's current position in the food chain and it's power, and please, don't hark back to WWII, it was very different them both power wise, influence wise and economically speaking.

I totally agree!

@Biro

WWII? Won by the Americans and the Russians.

The number of US soldiers deployed to England on D-Day 1,527,000, at the time the British army had little more than 100,000.

This is going to be about what the US can push through in NATO and what Germany is ready to commit to, in my view.

Germany, especially with its new, amateur and (at least for the Social Democrats) somewhat pro-Russia stance, is facing tough choices as they are uber-dependent on Russian gas, still have this pathological idea that Putin can be reasoned with, and realize they will pay the most if they take on Russia over principles worth fighting for.

The UK likes to hark back to WWII, just think how gooey eyed they all go if you talk about a Spitfire.



It is standard BBC fare over Xmas, The Dambusters, Battle of Britain, Guns of Navarone, Dad's Army....etc etc


They cannot leave it alone, has to be glorified at any opportunity, just think of an England/Germany football match and the headlines The Sun comes up with !


Remember our fallen comrades by all means and with great respect, but don't use it to glorify war and live in the past.

If this works then Putin will be looking for his trousers
"U.S. in talks with energy producers to supply to Europe if Russia invades Ukraine"

It simultaneously takes away his ability to pressure Europe plus seriously cuts his income.

There is already record inflow of LNG into Europe now, attracted by record prices. It will not be enough to make up for increased Russian supply cuts.

In the long term of course, Europe may tend to buying more LNG again, this time hopefully under firm contracts.

So Will Two Tribes Go To War ??

Deutschland 83 - When Two Tribes go to War

US Embassy urging US citizens to "consider departing" Ukraine by commercial or private means.

https://ua.usembassy.gov/message-to-...0%af%e2%80%af/


It also appears Croatia is announcing intent to abandon their NATO obligations in the event of hostilities. (That is my personal interpretation.)

https://news.am/eng/news/683762.html