Dahnsouff

Big leap to couple growth under Biden with growth under Trump tbh, especially after recent signals and discontent from markets

Agree with plenty of this, except the bit in bold. Who wants to fight Russia? Except Ukraine, as they see been given no choice! There should not be a desire to fight, merely a reluctant willingness to so should further incursions occur. Best case, ceasefire occurs on best possible terms, Europe recognises its military negligence and the US returns to democracy.

Did I just read that the FAA just cancelled a contract in favour of StarLink? No conflict of interest here

Curious that the Baltic states did not get an invite to todays meeting

Making Ukraine concede territory is not the only option here, as this 100% cannot be a concession by the perceived smaller country. There is a known aggressor here and for them not concede something is madness, with exhibit a being Crimea. Yes the possibility of a wider conflict then exits, but it will not be a nuclear conflict as there remains an exit strategy for Russia that allow them to save face.

just tell her to shut up Kier

Turkey seems to be making a strange pivot with regards to Ukraine, or perhaps this is just the latest example of playing both sides to the benefit of Turkey.

Agree that this is the status quo, but we do have right to disapprove.

Summarised in 3 words as “might is right”

So either let Russia have sovereign Ukraine territory to end the or the war just rumbles on?

Not sure this is the wrong outlook, as we would be par of a peacekeeping source. So it would be Russia (re) engaging in a war.

Wasn’t the US supposed to protect Ukraine as part of the deal that saw Ukraine give up its Nuclear weapons (The Belgrade agreement)?

What weight does Putin have? 3 years suggests not a massive amount. There is of course a risk of escalation, but if Europe enters Ukraine as peace keepers, the only complaint can be the point @leicsmac raised about perceived ownership from Russia.

I shall call one of you Neville and the other Chamberlain.. (I jest) This episodic flexing of power needs to be called out at some point, and I don`t necessarily mean boots on the ground, but it also should not stand without some allied response.

Question is, if Europe makes a stand and send troops to Ukraine - what happens? Nuclear exchanges? Putin gets assistance from the US?

Doesn’t it also have open territorial disputes with both Tibet and India ?

Suppose the rallying cry for Sundays Europe bash has been given….

So rather everyone else is just busy losing?

Although to be honest, it does feel like Trump thinks or at least acts like he is just pumping the ratings on the this most irreverent of Truman shows.

Russia is a plutocracy like us and the US but with a larger dose of kleptocracy for good measure.

I am not so sure it’s that cut and dried once the US moves closer to Russia.

So with US retreating into deeper isolationism (To focus on 24x7 reruns of The Apprentice along with the daily pledge) we assume that Europe will need to be become more unified to fill this void. But is Europe the only entity that can provide the security guarantees? (As it will likely take many months for those to have teeth) Isn’t this a golden opportunity for China to flex its muscles?

Stephen Fry

The Art of the Deal ....and it's live!!

Absolute sh*t show, but won’t panic until the US MSM goes dark.