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Ukraine invasion by Russia Discussion and it's impact on Singapore and Asia? (compiled)


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On 2/27/2022 at 10:12 PM, heman said:

Latest from BBC ....Putin has ordered his nuclear forces on high alert ! 

Waaa, lose already now so desperate, want to fight dirty.

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Now is the best time for Chechnya and other separatists to mount an attack on Moscow behind their backs.

 

Putin has many enemies just waiting for this opportunity.

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On 2/27/2022 at 9:08 PM, Guest Guest said:

US cannot be trusted. 

 

They are just making use of Ukraine to pursue their interest. 

 

If they dare interfere, Russia should immediately send a nuclear bomb to teach them a lesson.

If he use nuclear weapons then the whole world will join in the war to stop him before he ended humanities.

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Guest Cumming Now

 

 

The woman's scream is scarier and more jolting than the actual event. 

 

 

 

As man , we are expected to die defending the country, while women jusr cry and wail , no, no , no, 

 

Even as they are forcibly.gang raped as a casualty of war, while men.shed blood and gets shot, bayonetted, gets blowned to bits and gets amputated by shrapnels, bleed to death.

Women just cry and wail and scream . Gang rapes, rapes of women happens in war situation, men just take advantage of the breakdown of law and order and have free for all, its nature's way of spreading his DNA  in case he dies in war battle, the more he rapes, the more likely.some of the women may.carry his seed to full term . 

 

As men , we just need to be prepared to die , fighting and killing in a war situation. 

 

And then we have feminist wgo insist that men and women are totally equal in ability and strengths. 

 

In war, men defend women.so that they will carry babies with.their DNA.

 

WAKE UP.

 

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22:10, 27 Feb 2022

 

Ukraine says it will meet Russia for talks at Belarus border

 

 

MOSCOW/KYIV (AFP, REUTERS) - Ukraine said on Sunday (Feb 27) that it would hold talks with Russia at its border with Belarus – near the Chernobyl exclusion zone – after a call between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko. 

“The politicians agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet the Russian one without preconditions at the Ukraine-Belarus border, near the Pripyat River,” Mr Zelensky’s office said. 

Mr Zelensky has said he will not hold talks with Russia on the territory of Belarus, where some Russian troops were stationed before invading on Ukraine’s northern border. 

 

But Kyiv said Mr Lukashenko assured Mr Zelensky that “all planes, helicopters and missiles stationed on Belarus territory will remain on the ground during the travel, negotiations and return of the Ukrainian delegation”. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that a Russian delegation was currently in the Belarusian city of Gomel. Moscow had wanted to hold the talks in Kremlin-aligned Belarus. Mr Zelensky, refusing to travel to Minsk, said Kyiv had proposed “Warsaw, Bratislava, Budapest, Istanbul, Baku” as options to Russia. 

Russia dropped its preconditions for talks after suffering military setbacks, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said, adding that Ukraine would attend the talks to listen to what Russia had to say.  

 

He also told a briefing that Mr Putin’s move to put nuclear forces on high alert was timed to put pressure on Ukraine during the negotiations.  

 

High alert 

The announcement of the impending talks came shortly after news broke that Mr Putin had ordered his military command to put Russia's deterrence forces - a reference to units that include nuclear arms - on high alert, citing aggressive statements by Nato leaders and economic sanctions against Moscow.

"As you can see, not only do Western countries take unfriendly measures against our country in the economic dimension - I mean the illegal sanctions that everyone knows about very well - but also the top officials of leading Nato countries allow themselves to make aggressive statements with regard to our country," Mr Putin said on state television on Sunday. 

Mr Putin's order is an unacceptable escalation, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said.

 
“It means that President Putin is continuing to escalate this war in a manner that is totally unacceptable and we have to continue to stem his actions in the strongest possible way,” she said in an interview with CBS. 
 

Mr Putin’s order is part of a pattern of Moscow manufacturing threats to justify aggression, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in an interview with ABC.

“We’ve seen him do this time and time again. At no point has Russia been under threat from Nato, has Russia been under threat from Ukraine,” she added.

“This is all a pattern from President Putin and we’re going to stand up to it. We have the ability to defend ourselves, but we also need to call out what we’re seeing here from President Putin." 

The United States is open to providing additional assistance to Ukraine, Ms Psaki said, adding that Washington also has not taken sanctions targeting Russia’s energy sector off the table.

“We have not taken those off, but we also want to do that and make sure we’re minimising the impact on the global marketplace and do it in a united way,” she said. 

The battlegrounds 

Ukraine fought off an incursion by Russian troops into its second-biggest city Kharkiv on Sunday, the fourth day of the invasion.

Officials claimed to have expelled Russian troops after Russian armoured vehicles got through its defences.

In the capital of Kyiv, too, Ukraine was still holding the line, although it was fighting Russian “sabotage groups” that had infiltrated the city. 

The mayor of Kyiv said there were no Russian troops in the capital, which was holding its defence against attacks.

hzkyiv270222.jpg?VersionId=KiewmhufodNEp
 
 
 
Kyiv's Independence Square on Feb 27, 2022. The mayor of Kyiv said there were no Russian troops in the capital, which was holding its defence against attacks. PHOTO: AFP
 
 

 

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Ukraine agrees to talks with Russia even as Putin puts nuclear forces on high alert

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MOSCOW/KYIV (AFP, REUTERS) - Ukraine said on Sunday (Feb 27) that it would hold talks with Russia at its border with Belarus – near the Chernobyl exclusion zone – after a call between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko. 

“The politicians agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet the Russian one without preconditions at the Ukraine-Belarus border, near the Pripyat River,” Mr Zelensky’s office said. 

Mr Zelensky has said he will not hold talks with Russia on the territory of Belarus, where some Russian troops were stationed before invading on Ukraine’s northern border. 

But Kyiv said Mr Lukashenko assured Mr Zelensky that “all planes, helicopters and missiles stationed on Belarus territory will remain on the ground during the travel, negotiations and return of the Ukrainian delegation”. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that a Russian delegation was currently in the Belarusian city of Gomel. Moscow had wanted to hold the talks in Kremlin-aligned Belarus. Mr Zelensky, refusing to travel to Minsk, said Kyiv had proposed “Warsaw, Bratislava, Budapest, Istanbul, Baku” as options to Russia. 

Russia dropped its preconditions for talks after suffering military setbacks, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said, adding that Ukraine would attend the talks to listen to what Russia had to say.  

 
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He also told a briefing that Mr Putin’s move to put nuclear forces on high alert was timed to put pressure on Ukraine during the negotiations.  

 

High alert 

The announcement of the impending talks came shortly after news broke that Mr Putin had ordered his military command to put Russia's deterrence forces - a reference to units that include nuclear arms - on high alert, citing aggressive statements by Nato leaders and economic sanctions against Moscow.

"As you can see, not only do Western countries take unfriendly measures against our country in the economic dimension - I mean the illegal sanctions that everyone knows about very well - but also the top officials of leading Nato countries allow themselves to make aggressive statements with regard to our country," Mr Putin said on state television on Sunday. 

Mr Putin's order is an unacceptable escalation, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said.

“It means that President Putin is continuing to escalate this war in a manner that is totally unacceptable and we have to continue to stem his actions in the strongest possible way,” she said in an interview with CBS. 

Mr Putin’s order is part of a pattern of Moscow manufacturing threats to justify aggression, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in an interview with ABC.

“We’ve seen him do this time and time again. At no point has Russia been under threat from Nato, has Russia been under threat from Ukraine,” she added.

“This is all a pattern from President Putin and we’re going to stand up to it. We have the ability to defend ourselves, but we also need to call out what we’re seeing here from President Putin." 

The United States is open to providing additional assistance to Ukraine, Ms Psaki said, adding that Washington also has not taken sanctions targeting Russia’s energy sector off the table.

“We have not taken those off, but we also want to do that and make sure we’re minimising the impact on the global marketplace and do it in a united way,” she said. 

The battlegrounds 

Ukraine fought off an incursion by Russian troops into its second-biggest city Kharkiv on Sunday, the fourth day of the invasion.

Officials claimed to have expelled Russian troops after Russian armoured vehicles got through its defences.

In the capital of Kyiv, too, Ukraine was still holding the line, although it was fighting Russian “sabotage groups” that had infiltrated the city. 

The mayor of Kyiv said there were no Russian troops in the capital, which was holding its defence against attacks.

hzkyiv270222.jpg?VersionId=KiewmhufodNEp
Kyiv's Independence Square on Feb 27, 2022. The mayor of Kyiv said there were no Russian troops in the capital, which was holding its defence against attacks. PHOTO: AFP

Mr Vitaly Klitschko said that in total, 31 people have died in the capital since the attacks started, including nine civilians, while 106 people have been injured. 

“Our military, law enforcement and territorial defence continue to detect and neutralise saboteurs,” he wrote on his Telegram channel. 

 

 

Mr Zelensky  has urged foreigners to sign up for an “international brigade” of volunteers at Ukrainian embassies to help fight invading Russian forces.

 

'Lost momentum' 

Russia has ordered an advance “from all directions” and pounded the Ukrainian military with cruise missiles. But at the same time, it offered talks if Kyiv surrenders its arms. 

Moscow said its forces had “entirely” besieged the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson and Berdyansk in the south-east on the Sea of Azov. 

But Washington said the invading forces have lost “momentum over the last 24 hours” after meeting stiff resistance and still have not gained air superiority.

 

 

 

The United Nations’ refugee agency said at least 368,000 people are fleeing the fighting, with most crossing into Poland. Tens of thousands are also seeking shelter in Hungary, Romania and Moldova. 

Germany’s train operator Deutsche Bahn offered free rides to refugees travelling into the country from Poland, as Pope Francis called for the “urgent” opening of humanitarian corridors for civilians to flee the fighting.

hzrefugees270222.jpg?VersionId=Qu.hmpp0m

 

 

Ukrainian refugees passing the Romanian-Ukrainian border crossing point in Siret, northern Romania, on Feb 27, 2022. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

 

Help from the West 

Germany said it was sending 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 “Stinger” surface-to-air missiles to help Ukraine, after the United States vowed US$350 million (S$474 million) in additional military funding.

In a dramatic reversal of its post-war disarmament policy, Germany also announced that it would invest €100 billion (S$153 billion) in military equipment this year and plough more than 2 per cent of its economic output into defence annually, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said. 

 

France, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Portugal and Greece are also rushing military equipment, light weapons or fuel to Ukraine, while Italy has sent €110 million in immediate aid.

Western nations, as well as Japan, have pledged to remove some Russian banks from the Swift interbank system, crippling part of its global trade.

Earlier in the day, tech billionaire Elon Musk ordered his SpaceX’s Starlink satellite service to supply broadband to Ukraine after a government minister pleaded publicly for his help after Russia blocked Internet coverage in the country.

 

Google followed Facebook in preventing Russian state media from earning money on its platforms in response to the invasion of Ukraine. 

 

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Putin races against clock as fast military advance in Ukraine 'frustrated'

mi_russiatank_270222.jpg?VersionId=NOlCT
A fragment of a destroyed Russian tank in Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv on Feb 26, 2022. PHOTO: AFP
 
PUBLISHED 27 Feb 2022
 
 

MOSCOW (BLOOMBERG) - Russia's plans for Ukraine face rapidly rising costs due to delays caused by tougher-than-expected resistance from forces on the ground, even as its military retains overwhelming advantages.

A person familiar with Russian planning said the military would have hoped for faster progress. The Kremlin has declined to comment on details of the military operation, and its Defence Ministry says the campaign has been successful.

A senior US defence official said the United States had indications that in the last 24 hours Moscow had become frustrated by slow progress, caused by an unexpectedly strong Ukrainian defence and failure to achieve complete air dominance.

 

Still, with Russian forces closing on the capital Kyiv amid fierce street battles on Saturday (Feb 26), the official added Russia so far had committed only about 50 per cent of its available firepower to the war.

Pushing back against a narrative that the invasion has stumbled and is targeting population centres, a Russian official also familiar with the campaign's planning said it was on track and designed specifically to avoid urban warfare in cities.

 

The time frame for the operation's military goals was between one and two weeks, rather than a few days, after which Ukraine's military should be crushed and its government replaced with one friendly to Moscow, said the official, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters. The official added that capturing cities, with the heavy loss of civilian life that would likely entail, was not on the agenda.

 
 

That account of Russian goals largely fits with the analysis of military specialists in the West and President Vladimir Putin's stated aim of "demilitarising" rather than occupying Ukraine, although it does not appear to match everything that has happened on the ground.

 
 

"Russia still has the initiative, but it is not really achieving the goals it wanted at this point because the Ukrainians are resisting," said Dr Pavel Felgenhauer, a Moscow-based military analyst for the Jamestown Foundation, a US think tank, adding that Moscow's leaders may have been misled by their own belief in the strength of pro-Russia sentiment in Ukraine.

 

 

Ukraine's morale

A rapid assault of this kind has to follow up quickly on the initial shock of invasion to make clear that resistance is futile, Dr Felgenhauer said. With every day that Ukraine's organised defence continues, morale will rise and with it the number of people who take up arms as reserves.

 

That has implications for Russia's ability to impose control without having to eliminate resistance by force, especially in urban centres, according to Dr Felgenhauer, failing the military coup Putin appeared to call for in remarks at a security council meeting in Moscow.

 

 

"The next week will be decisive," Dr Felgenhauer said, adding that while a Ukrainian military collapse or putsch remains possible at any moment, cities may just have to be taken, an inevitably bloody task and a threat to Moscow's political goals once the government was replaced. "The Russian plan has a lot of holes."

A longer campaign will also provide more time for Ukraine's Western allies to funnel new weaponry, such as anti-tank and shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, to strengthen its defences.

 

 

Since the conflict began on Feb 24, the US approved an extra US$350 million (S$474 million) for expedited weapons supplies to Kyiv, Estonia said it will send more Javelin anti-tank missiles and the Netherlands agreed to supply 200 Stinger shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. Germany made an historic about-face on postwar weapons policy and is now also sending arms.

"Weapons and equipment from our partners are on the way to Ukraine. The anti-war coalition is working!" Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a Twitter post on Saturday.

 

 

By Sunday morning, it was clear too that Russia will face more aggressive economic penalties than expected, putting pressure on its finances. The US and European Union agreed to sanction Russia's central bank and to shut some commercial banks out of the international SWIFT payments system.

So far, Mr Putin faces very little opposition to his campaign at home and the Kremlin's tight control of politics and protests limits any threat to his rule. But if new western sanctions cause deeper economic upheaval, discontent could add to pressure on the Russian president.

 

Failed assaults

According to a Saturday military assessment by the Institute for the Study of War, a US non-profit, Russian forces attempted to take Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv, as well as Chernihiv close to the border with Belarus, but abandoned that effort and are now heading toward Kyiv.

In the south, units that poured out of occupied Crimea have abandoned an eastward drive toward Odesa, heading instead toward the eastern city of Mariupol to trap Ukrainian forces dug into the long front lines of the separatist Donbas territories.

Overnight, Russian air attacks hit critical infrastructure including an oil depot and gas pipeline.

 
 

Ukraine's general staff on Saturday said it had shot down a Russian transport aircraft capable of carrying airborne assault troops or equipment, as well as fighter jets and helicopters, claims that could not be independently verified. It also said Russian many Russian vehicles had stalled for lack of fuel.

Images of a high rise building in Kyiv's suburbs hit by an apparent missile strike have fuelled allegations that Russian forces are targeting civilians, which Moscow denies.

 
 

The account of progress laid out by the Russian official was more upbeat. The official said the main battle formations of the Ukrainian army in the south and east are being encircled and the country's air defences are mostly wiped out, assessments that do not line up with what some military analysts and officials in the US are saying. The US estimates Russia has fired 250 cruise and ballistic missiles at airfields, air defence installations and other targets.

 

What remains consists of Soviet-era equipment that is a threat only to slow moving transport aircraft and helicopters, the Russian official said. In Kyiv, the goal is not to capture the whole city but to put enough pressure on Mr Zelensky that he either flees or surrenders, the official said. Much larger Russian units are forcing their way toward Kyiv and on Saturday there were reports of a firefight close to the central Independence Square.

 

A carved-up Ukraine

After that a Russian-backed government-in-waiting would take control and eventually hold elections, the official said.

Ukraine would be carved into three parts: The eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk that Putin recently recognised as independent states; a rump Ukraine under de facto Russian control that would pay for its own reconstruction; and the western regions of Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv, which are strongholds of pro-European sentiment and would be left alone.

 

The new, shrunken version of Ukraine would have no armed forces of its own. Its air space would, however, become part of the Russian air defence system and there might be a permanent Russian military presence, the official said.

 

 

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On 2/27/2022 at 6:56 AM, Guest Eye in the Sky said:

Believe it or not, suddenly it seemed to me that Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan is a far sighted decision.

 

From satellite and ground Intel, he must have already known that Putin is preparing to invade Ukraine.

 

From military strategy, you don't want to fight 2 wars at the same time and dilute your strength and concentration against each.

So he withdrew from Afghanistan with enough time to prepare actions against Putin.

 

Then he pretend to be the weak POTUS losing the war in Afghanistan to lure Putin into showing his aggressions.

 

Now the whole world is against Russia. If Putin failed to win in Ukraine, he will be weakened politically, then other Russians will take the opportunity to depose of him.

 

Now, we must fight against Putin on the intranet. Putin is trying to shut down the internet in Russia to mute the growing internal dissent.

In this age, he can never shut down the internet.

 

That's the only way to depose this tyrant. Otherwise he'll be comfortably in power for very long if he don't fall into this trap.

 

 

I like your theory that Biden did set up a trap by faking weakness.  

 

It seems VERY probable that, if things turn out right and Ukraine is not invaded, conquered,  the days of Putin in power may be counted.  It is difficult to imagine that a free Ukraine will establish a friendly relationship with Putin after what he is doing.  The will of the Russian people is also well in display with their daily protests.  The economy of Russia will be severely damaged.  Today the Allies are holding billions of dollars in Russian money.  Will they return it to Russia, or will they discount most if not all of it as a reparation of war given to Ukraine?

 

If this crazy action of Putin is defeated,  Biden will go into history as a great statesman. 

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On 2/27/2022 at 7:08 AM, Guest Guest said:

US cannot be trusted. 

 

They are just making use of Ukraine to pursue their interest. 

 

If they dare interfere, Russia should immediately send a nuclear bomb to teach them a lesson.

 

 

We already know.  You trust Russia, not the US.   And you love Trump, for his intelligence and his ability as a statesman. 

 

And if it finds itself not winning,  Russia may send a nuclear bomb to the US.  They have ways to send it that go faster than regular airmail.  But they would not need to include a return address,  because with this action there would not be anything left of Russia.

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On 2/27/2022 at 8:49 AM, Guest Cumming Now said:

 

The woman's scream is scarier and more jolting than the actual event. 

 

As man , we are expected to die defending the country, while women jusr cry and wail , no, no , no, 

 

Even as they are forcibly.gang raped as a casualty of war, while men.shed blood and gets shot, bayonetted, gets blowned to bits and gets amputated by shrapnels, bleed to death.

Women just cry and wail and scream . Gang rapes, rapes of women happens in war situation, men just take advantage of the breakdown of law and order and have free for all, its nature's way of spreading his DNA  in case he dies in war battle, the more he rapes, the more likely.some of the women may.carry his seed to full term . 

 

As men , we just need to be prepared to die , fighting and killing in a war situation. 

 

And then we have feminist wgo insist that men and women are totally equal in ability and strengths. 

 

In war, men defend women.so that they will carry babies with.their DNA.

 

WAKE UP.

 

 

You describe perfectly well the situation some centuries ago.

 

Today,  women are more assertive.  They find more that screaming is worthless.  And today,  a weak woman with an AK-47 is as dangerous as a Russian giant with a weapon.  

 

We gays are also able to pass on to babies our DNA.  And we don't need to rape women in battlefields.  

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On 2/27/2022 at 8:12 AM, heman said:

Latest from BBC ....Putin has ordered his nuclear forces on high alert ! 

 

It is very possible that Putin has a solid bunker to protect himself against nuclear bombs.   Hitler also had a solid bunker,  but nonetheless he didn't make it.

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Guest Gay during War
On 2/28/2022 at 5:46 AM, Steve5380 said:

And today,  a weak woman with an AK-47 is as dangerous as a Russian giant with a weapon.  

Women crocodile tears are their greatest weapon.  Otherwsie, their cunt is equally capable of getting them what they wanted. 

On 2/27/2022 at 10:49 PM, Guest Cumming Now said:

 

 

In war, men defend women.so that they will carry babies with.their DNA.

 

WAKE UP.

 

What about gay. Who are we defending with no DNA to pass to, and our country is discriminating us?   Best is to stay out of the warsome world and find our own peaceful path. 

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Guest Singaporeans
On 2/27/2022 at 1:11 PM, Steve5380 said:

 

Great!  Aligning with NATO is the smart move to make.  Usually in matters of policy a government does not individually poll their electorate about each decision, it is understood that by having been elected, it represents the will of the people.  Biden didn't ask me if I was in agreement with supporting Ukraine. 

 

What I don't understand is that with Singapore being aligned with NATO, why does one read here so many posts praising Putin and bashing Biden. 

Your questions is not difficult to answer.  Our leader (being the highest paid politician among all NATO leaders) has the temptation to over-display its arrogance by speaking the wrong thing.  There were past records about them criticising China being filthy and as recent as talking bad about India leaders being corrupted, simply out of the blue, to gain political mileage locally and overseas.

 

Your second question why Singaporeans are not aligned with NATO, is simply reading too much into the teacup stir up in this forum.  Outside this forum, the sentiment is completely different. People do not support Putin, but our main stream media also did not shy away talking about Biden's lost in popularity - both locally and on world stage - after speaking to several experts in this field.   Ukraine's war, might just be the final test on Biden's performance.  

 

One last observation,  members here who have no special liking for you, will tend to quarrel and pick bones verbally with you, even though the same members may quietly agree with you.  If you have not observed tonnes of salt thrown, surely you have noticed sprinkling of small pinch?

 

 

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What I find strange is the awfully quiet stance taken by the Singapore government on this matter: no condemnation of the attacks, no reports on the number of Singaporeans there, no announcement of the evacuation of the Singapore embassy and/or Singaporeans etc. Why? Is it because of the influence of China and India which both seem supportive of Russia in their refusal to condemn Russia? Will Singapore even become supportive of the Russian invasion? Is this silent consent? This is worrying. 

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On 2/27/2022 at 6:56 PM, Guest Guest said:

 

Even though Russia cannot be trusted, is US trustworthy under Biden's leadership? 

 

 

Biden is completely trustworthy.  You see that he has been cautious escalating the sanctions.  He wants to prevent Putin from taking these sanctions as a declaration of war.  There are some republican politicians who are pressuring "to do more".  Maybe these miserable politicians are in the pockets of arms manufacturers and want to profiteer even more with the war.  Or they may find any excuse to bash Biden.

 

 

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On 2/27/2022 at 6:55 PM, Guest Singaporeans said:

Your questions is not difficult to answer.  Our leader (being the highest paid politician among all NATO leaders) has the temptation to over-display its arrogance by speaking the wrong thing.  There were past records about them criticising China being filthy and as recent as talking bad about India leaders being corrupted, simply out of the blue, to gain political mileage locally and overseas.

 

Your second question why Singaporeans are not aligned with NATO, is simply reading too much into the teacup stir up in this forum.  Outside this forum, the sentiment is completely different. People do not support Putin, but our main stream media also did not shy away talking about Biden's lost in popularity - both locally and on world stage - after speaking to several experts in this field.   Ukraine's war, might just be the final test on Biden's performance.  

 

One last observation,  members here who have no special liking for you, will tend to quarrel and pick bones verbally with you, even though the same members may quietly agree with you.  If you have not observed tonnes of salt thrown, surely you have noticed sprinkling of small pinch?

 

 

I can understand that your nation has to maintain a balance being multicultural and also being economically successful in the part of the world you are in.  China could see you as a good prize to grab, the same as it sees Taiwan as a valuable catch.  All the talk of historic and ethnic reasons Taiwan should belong to China are nonsense,  China wants it for its high worth today.

 

I am aware that some members and guests here like to contradict me.  This is especially true about the two "tenors",  who are always after me,  even when in their minds they know that I am right.  I am not after being a champion of popularity,  I like to present what I find are useful facts and add my personal opinions.   If they want to fight them,  this gives me an opportunity to evaluate my facts and opinions even more and check that I am right.  This is really what matters to me, this self-satisfaction.

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Guest Veiling Prophecy
On 2/28/2022 at 9:31 AM, Steve5380 said:

All the talk of historic and ethnic reasons Taiwan should belong to China are nonsense,  China wants it for its high worth today.

If Taiwan does not belong to China is what you considered as "FACT",  your mental functioning is highly questionable.  Many Taiwanese will not agree with you, at least not in their history book, They knew they belonged to China, but will not want to rock the boat to maintain the current status quo. Taiwanese can only hope, in their wildest impossible dream, that someday they can become independent.   Similarly, all your past and current president (with the exception of Donald Trump), recognised the fact that Taiwan is part of China.  Many countries (be they pro or anti China) hope that Taiwan do not antagonise China. 

 

If war break between  China and Taiwan and America or European tried to interfere with weapon, then it is no longer just the war  between China/Taiwan, but became the war between the entire Chinese population vs Ang Mo population around the world. 

 

Even though taiwan may appears on its own as an island, there is no legitimacy to separate Taiwan from China, unlike Ukraine from Russia,  America cannot afford the support of Eastern countries if the former happened.  Japan, cannot mount  war to defend Taiwan, due its unflattering WWI history which still remain raw in many Asian memories.  The entire sentiments is a hlghly complex one and may become WW3 of monumental scale (WWI and II combined) , not only affect weaponry might, but Asian human emotions.  Given up defending Taiwan, may be the only choice to bring peace and order back.

 

Your thinking process is very dangerous and borders along Donald Trump's thought.  Luckily, you are not the president. 

 

 

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Let's keep a Taiwan discussion out of thread. 

 

Taiwan has never gained the status of an independent country. 

 

This is the difference to Ukraine. 

 

Ukraine gained independence on 24 August 1991 and has since been a member of the UN. 

 

Ukraine has since then established diplomatic relations with about 180 of the 193 United Nations member countries, the Holy See and the Sovereign Order of Malta.

 

 

Now compare this with Taiwan. 

 

However, please focus on Ukraine in this thread. 

 

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On 2/28/2022 at 11:20 AM, Guest Mississippi Paddlefish said:


Biden’s weakness is what emboldened Russia Putin to attack Ukraine. Biden has all the intel Russian troops are building up along borders of Ukraine for months but Biden did not take any significant actions to deter a full scale incision. If Biden had shown greater leadership and acted faster, there will be no war. However, it’s too late now and Biden has lost the narrative. 

 

Can you stop with your bad habit in repeating the same propaganda slogans over and over as you did in other threads. 

 

You have posted exactly the identical same phrase at BW  already the fifth time. 

 

 

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On 2/28/2022 at 8:31 AM, Steve5380 said:

All the talk of historic and ethnic reasons Taiwan should belong to China are nonsense,  China wants it for its high worth today.

 

I am aware that some members and guests here like to contradict me.  This is especially true about the two "tenors",  who are always after me,  even when in their minds they know that I am right.  I am not after being a champion of popularity,  I like to present what I find are useful facts and add my personal opinions.

"I like to present what I find are useful facts"

Before this topic is rightly moved to a separate thread, let me add that what you write in your first paragraph is NONSENSE - utter nonsense. It's about time you read up on history of the FACTS about Taiwan before make such an inflammatory political comment. It's pure nonsense as other posters above have pointed out.

 

I laid out the true FACTS in my post above -

 

On 2/26/2022 at 1:39 PM, InBangkok said:

You say because of your age you understand history better. Well, you are wrong regarding the history of Taiwan and it would benefit your discussions if you took time to read up more and understand that history better.

 

Thanks to the USA and to a lesser extent the United Kingdom, Taiwan is not a "completely separate island" from China. I wish it were and I wish Taiwan could be independent. As do my friends in Taiwan. But if the invasion of Ukraine is a violation of international law, then that presupposes that international law must also prevail as regards Taiwan - along with the reality of international diplomacy over many decades . . . 

You may have a different opinion - but it is certainly anything but FACT.

 

Then, you would do well to remember the guidance provided to you by  the Moderator just two days ago -

 

Get back to the topic and leave your debates in the "3 Tenors" thread!

 

This was your second warning in just a few days. You may wish to continue calling me a "tenor" - you started that idiotic nomenclature - but you have to keep that for the thread as advised by the Moderator. Here, and in all other threads, I am a poster like any other poster and should be referred to as such. Watch your behaviour please.

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On 2/28/2022 at 8:55 AM, Guest Singaporeans said:

Ukraine's war, might just be the final test on Biden's performance.  

 

Besides rhetoric, deciding sanctions, financial aid and sending military equipment what performance can a US president give regarding Ukraine?

 

You  ignore the fact that Ukraine is not a member of NATO and Ukraine has no military defence cooperation treaty with the US. 

 

Posters here should not confuse that Biden is not the aggressor or invaded an independent country but Russia's president. 

 

 

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On 2/28/2022 at 8:55 AM, Guest Singaporeans said:

Ukraine's war, might just be the final test on Biden's performance.  

 

Even if you argue Biden as the current US president following 4 preceeding US presidents after 1994 did not seriously engage in talks with Russia on Europe's security or Nato's relations with Russia, you must acknowledge Russia didn't also.

 

Further, Russia staged "red lines" in any discussions prior to any talks and in the past 10 years imposed pre-conditions before even any talks started. 

 

Nobody likes to negotiate something if one side imposes to accept prerequisites. 

 

This was alike your friend inviting you to a party but telling you you can't wear anything in red, bring your boyfriend and not eat or drink anything. How willing would you be to go to your friend's party?

 

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On 2/28/2022 at 10:24 AM, singalion said:

Let's keep a Taiwan discussion out of thread. 

 

Taiwan has never gained the status of an independent country. 

 

This is the difference to Ukraine. 

 

Ukraine gained independence on 24 August 1991 and has since been a member of the UN. 

 

Ukraine has since then established diplomatic relations with about 180 of the 193 United Nations member countries, the Holy See and the Sovereign Order of Malta.

 

 

Now compare this with Taiwan. 

 

However, please focus on Ukraine in this thread. 

 

 

Can it get any more ironical and hypocritical than this? Asking people to "keep a Taiwan discussion out of thread" which he himself has named "Ukraine conflict impact on Singapore and Asia? " If Taiwan is not in Asia, where is it? If TS himself doesn't even know to discuss in his own thread, then this thread should be merged into the more generic one titled "The invasion of Ukraine by Russia".

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On 2/27/2022 at 9:20 PM, Guest Mississippi Paddlefish said:


Biden’s weakness is what emboldened Russia Putin to attack Ukraine. Biden has all the intel Russian troops are building up along borders of Ukraine for months but Biden did not take any significant actions to deter a full scale incision. If Biden had shown greater leadership and acted faster, there will be no war. However, it’s too late now and Biden has lost the narrative. 

 

Aren't you one of those who criticize America for getting involved in the issues of other countries?  Why should the US under Biden or anyone else "take significant actions to deter a full scale invasion"?    Why doesn't YOUR country take these significant actions?

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Guest Markie Wallburg
On 2/26/2022 at 11:16 AM, Guest Guest said:

 

War already broke out and you still can sing songs? Please lah! How much more hippie can you get? Get real, can or not?

 

 

Only Hippie and flower child can save the wars lah. 

 

Hippie wants to meditate, make love, eat vegetarian, smoke marijuana , get high, wear sarong and dread locks, dont bathe , dont use deodorant, smell and live as nature intended, spread world peace, spread hindu teachings of rebirth, reincarnation, karma and payback . 

 

PM MODI OF INDIA wants to be peace mediator for Ukr and Russia. 

 

Really no one else can do it except India, land where no harm, no violence , no killing of all sentient beings come from, Jainism . 

 

Hippies will be revived as you can see the world is more fucked up since the days Beatles and the peace movement was sidelined. 

 

I think its either India or China that will give this world a HARD RESET BUTTON.

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Singapore is taking a side... oh, it isn't... or is it?

 

Singapore will impose export controls on items that can be used as weapons in Ukraine: Vivian Balakrishnan

 

 

SINGAPORE - Singapore will impose export controls on items that can be used directly as weapons in Ukraine to inflict harm or to subjugate the Ukrainians, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan told Parliament on Monday (Feb 28).

It will also block certain Russian banks and financial transactions connected to Russia, he added in a ministerial statement on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

 

Specific measures are being worked out, and these sanctions will be announced shortly, the minister added.

"We continue to value our good relations with Russia and the Russian people. However, we cannot accept such violations of sovereignty and territorial integrity of another sovereign state," Dr Balakrishnan said.

"We will continue to work with our Asean and international partners to take a strong stance against the invasion of Ukraine and to end further violence and bloodshed, and to de-escalate tensions."

 

Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine on Feb 24 after months of tensions at the border - amassing troops and conducting military exercises. Its actions have been widely condemned by countries around the world.

 
 

Dr Balakrishnan noted that Singapore was one of 82 co-sponsors of a recent United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Russia's aggression against Ukraine. The resolution was not passed as Russia - a permanent member of the council - vetoed it.

 

The resolution was supported by 11 of the 15 council members, with China, India and the United Arab Emirates abstaining.

 

A similar resolution will be debated by the UN General Assembly later on Monday (Feb 28).

 

"Singapore has always complied fully with sanctions and decisions of the United Nations Security Council. But we have rarely acted to impose sanctions on other countries in the absence of binding Security Council decisions or directions," said Dr Balakrishnan.

 

"However, given the unprecedented gravity of the Russian attack on Ukraine, and the unsurprising veto by Russia of a draft Security Council resolution, Singapore intends to act in concert with many other like-minded countries to impose appropriate sanctions and restrictions against Russia."

 

Dr Balakrishnan added: "We must expect that our measures will come at some cost and implications on our businesses, citizens and, indeed, to Singapore. However, unless we as a country stand up for principles that are the very foundation for the independence and sovereignty of smaller nations, our own right to exist and prosper as a nation may similarly be called into question one day."

 

After the minister's speech, Mr Gerald Giam (Aljunied GRC) asked how Singapore can maintain its interests with all parties involved, from the United States to Ukraine, Russia and other countries in Europe, given recent events.

Dr Balakrishnan reiterated that Singapore does not take sides, but upholds principles. "And in this case, the principles at stake are independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity."

 

The Republic's foreign policy is consistent, coherent, and "almost always predictable", he added, noting that since he became foreign minister seven years ago, he has had to say no on occasion to every superpower.

"But it has not stopped us from being able to sit at the table, look at each other's eyes, shake hands, explain where and why we differ, and at the same time, pursue areas of cooperation where our interests align and where our principles are shared," Dr Balakrishnan said.

 

"This is not a new posture. This, in fact, is a posture that we have adopted for every single year since we've been independent, and I am maintaining that tradition."

 

 

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On 2/28/2022 at 9:42 PM, Nightingale said:


why do you share articles that are full of factual errors? 
 

at least some people commenting on the article are more intelligent than the writer, eg:

 

The author is outright wrong in asserting that “Russia has not invaded any country since the dissolution of the Soviet Union”. 

In 1992, Russian troops intervened in internal Moldovan disputes and established a formal occupation of the Transnistria region, locking out the central government. Despite calls by the Moldovan government, Russia refuses to withdraw its troops.

Russia invaded Georgia in 2008, Russian troops remain on internationally recognized Georgian territories to prop up proxy regimes, and Russian troops keep moving the ceasefire line ever further into Georgian territory from South Ossetia.

In 2014, mysterious troops without insignia fanned out of the Russian naval base of Sevastopol and took over the Crimea. Putin later admitted that they were Russian troops. 

Also in 2014, Russian special forces personnel in disguise took over administrative centres and armouries in Ukraine’s Donbas region. Mysterious local armed formations were created, out of proportion with the local population, and these engaged Ukrainian security forces. When the Donbas “militias” were losing against the Ukrainian army, the regular Russian army directly intervened both via long-range artillery across the border and also in battle formations on Ukriainian territory. Arms deliveries from Russia to the Donbas “militia” were extensively documented, including the “lending” of a Buk missile launcher that shot down from Ukrainian territory the Malaysian Airlines’ MH-17 service. Subsequent criminal investigation and court case confirmed Russian complicity.

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I have promised G_M not to respond to nasty trolls, and this includes some guests in addition to the two tenors.

 

So, they can write what they want,  the typing by my good fingers will not descend to an involvement with their stinky crap.  :) 

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On 2/28/2022 at 7:42 AM, Nightingale said:

 

One finds in the Internet the most bizarre news articles and political comments.  They are generated by the dozen, motivated by obscure ideologies. 

 

Unfortunately,  the article you posted is full of misinformation.  Instead of conveying some valuable and relevant information,  it is nothing but a dirty attack on America.  The relationship between the US and Germany continues to be very friendly,  thanks in part to the ability of Biden to make friends and gain cooperation.  And so,  Germany is willing to give up an energy resource it can surely put to good use.

 

The mere suggestion that America would foster the humanitarian disaster that has befallen Ukraine to interfere in the Germany - Russia relationships is pure abomination.  They are already plenty of anti-Americanisms here around,  but this is one of the worst.

 

Europe had plans for phasing out most nuclear power plants, but they don't have sufficient clean energy substitutes.  Nuclear is a relatively clean energy source,  especially the modern power plants envisioned for the future with increased safety and lower cost.

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Guest TuesdayOpen
On 2/28/2022 at 8:32 PM, singalion said:

Singapore is taking a side... oh, it isn't... or is it?

 

Singapore will impose export controls on items that can be used as weapons in Ukraine: Vivian Balakrishnan

 

 

SINGAPORE - Singapore will impose export controls on items that can be used directly as weapons in Ukraine to inflict harm or to subjugate the Ukrainians, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan told Parliament on Monday (Feb 28).

It will also block certain Russian banks and financial transactions connected to Russia, he added in a ministerial statement on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

 

Specific measures are being worked out, and these sanctions will be announced shortly, the minister added.

"We continue to value our good relations with Russia and the Russian people. However, we cannot accept such violations of sovereignty and territorial integrity of another sovereign state," Dr Balakrishnan said.

"We will continue to work with our Asean and international partners to take a strong stance against the invasion of Ukraine and to end further violence and bloodshed, and to de-escalate tensions."

 

Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine on Feb 24 after months of tensions at the border - amassing troops and conducting military exercises. Its actions have been widely condemned by countries around the world.

 
 

Dr Balakrishnan noted that Singapore was one of 82 co-sponsors of a recent United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Russia's aggression against Ukraine. The resolution was not passed as Russia - a permanent member of the council - vetoed it.

 

The resolution was supported by 11 of the 15 council members, with China, India and the United Arab Emirates abstaining.

 

A similar resolution will be debated by the UN General Assembly later on Monday (Feb 28).

 

"Singapore has always complied fully with sanctions and decisions of the United Nations Security Council. But we have rarely acted to impose sanctions on other countries in the absence of binding Security Council decisions or directions," said Dr Balakrishnan.

 

"However, given the unprecedented gravity of the Russian attack on Ukraine, and the unsurprising veto by Russia of a draft Security Council resolution, Singapore intends to act in concert with many other like-minded countries to impose appropriate sanctions and restrictions against Russia."

 

Dr Balakrishnan added: "We must expect that our measures will come at some cost and implications on our businesses, citizens and, indeed, to Singapore. However, unless we as a country stand up for principles that are the very foundation for the independence and sovereignty of smaller nations, our own right to exist and prosper as a nation may similarly be called into question one day."

 

After the minister's speech, Mr Gerald Giam (Aljunied GRC) asked how Singapore can maintain its interests with all parties involved, from the United States to Ukraine, Russia and other countries in Europe, given recent events.

Dr Balakrishnan reiterated that Singapore does not take sides, but upholds principles. "And in this case, the principles at stake are independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity."

 

The Republic's foreign policy is consistent, coherent, and "almost always predictable", he added, noting that since he became foreign minister seven years ago, he has had to say no on occasion to every superpower.

"But it has not stopped us from being able to sit at the table, look at each other's eyes, shake hands, explain where and why we differ, and at the same time, pursue areas of cooperation where our interests align and where our principles are shared," Dr Balakrishnan said.

 

"This is not a new posture. This, in fact, is a posture that we have adopted for every single year since we've been independent, and I am maintaining that tradition."

 

 


Singapore uphold principles and if these principles is akin to taking sides, then it is what it is. We cannot sit back and do nothing. Singapore is one of the financial hubs in Asia, and the sanctions on Russian banks will contribute towards making funding of the invasion Ukraine that much more difficult. 

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On 2/28/2022 at 9:36 PM, Steve5380 said:

Nuclear is a relatively clean energy source,  especially the modern power plants envisioned for the future with increased safety and lower cost.

Pity they are not safe because there will always be people who run them who are not 100% reliable. Most recently there was the serious June 2021 incident at the French built and partly run Taishan plant in China, very close to huge population centres in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.. Before then the massive Fukushima disaster in Japan. Before then there was the disaster in Chernobyl, Before then there was the Three Mile Island near meltdown in the USA. Before that there was Windscale/Sellafield in the UK.

 

And these were merely the tip of a very large iceberg. Discounting Three Mile Island, there have been more than 50 nuclear incidents in the USA alone, 40 of which have occurred in the last 40 years. 

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https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/4660023288ec0e9a19a8f7e7cd0c6bc84e93b8fc/0_144_5000_3000/master/5000.jpg?width=620&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=5124adf985d0147bf2feb33b51618cde

 

 

Talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials have ended at the Belarusian border, the Russian state news agency Tass cited a source as saying.

Ria news agency quotes a Ukrainian official as saying that both sides will return to their respective capitals for further consultations, before participating in a second round of talks.

The next round of Ukraine-Russia talks will be held in coming days, the Belarusian state news agency cited the Russian delegation as saying.

The Russian delegation told Belta that they had “identified certain points from which we can predict general positions”.

 

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This was actually the best news of today:

 

One Russian media already prematurely announced the victory of Russia against Ukraine on Saturday...

 

As I wrote earlier, Putin must have gotten that delusional idea that he thought the Ukrainians would welcome the Russian soldiers with flowers and Russian flags considering them as liberators .... but... hm guess. 

 

 

Putin’s propaganda machine is breaking down

 

28 February 2022

 

 

Consider, for example, the work of Petr Akopov, who a week ago was writing for the state’s RIA Novosti news agency that ‘the West abandoned Ukraine’ because ‘the Anglo-Saxons have long ago overstrained themselves with their project of global domination.’ He knocked off a piece headlined ‘Russia’s Advance and the New World,’ clearly written in anticipation of a quick victory. Larded with vainglorious assertions such as that ‘Ukraine has returned to Russia,’ it presents the Kremlin’s ambitions as much more imperialist than Putin has openly admitted:

 

'Russia is restoring its unity – the tragedy of 1991, this terrible catastrophe in our history, its unnatural dislocation, has been overcome. Yes, at a great cost, yes, through the tragic events of a virtual civil war, because now brothers, separated by belonging to the Russian and Ukrainian armies, are still shooting at each other, but there will be no more Ukraine as anti-Russia. Russia is restoring its historical fullness, gathering the Russian world, the Russian people together – in its entirety of Great Russians, Belarusians and Little Russians.'

 

In other words, the endgame is the unification of not just Ukraine but also Belarus in a single union under Moscow. This was presumably written to be run after that glorious victory had been won. However, RIA Novosti somehow jumped the gun and published this on Saturday. This mistake was quickly realised, but in the modern information age our edits and mistakes remain embedded in the geological layers of the internet. Following the link on the RIA Novosti website now tell you ‘there is no such page’ but, the original remains archived on the Wayback Machine. It also ended up reprinted in The Frontier Post, an English-language daily published in Pakistan. Oops.

 

But it’s harder to know what to make sense of the TASS news wire report from Sunday that, after dutifully reporting Putin’s order to bring nuclear forces to the next level of readiness, added that: ‘According to reliable sources from the Russian Federation Ministry of Defence, Putin is personally extremely disappointed with the progress of the military operation’. It then proceeded to list the tally of destroyed armour and casualties, including 146 tanks and 4,300 soldiers.

 

The article has since been scrubbed from the net more effectively than Akopov’s, but these tallies coincides with the figure announced by Ukraine’s deputy defence minister. Was this clumsy editing? A Ukrainian hack that added the damning butcher’s bill to an anodyne report? A deliberate act of sabotage by a journalist at TASS? 

 

As the information war hots up, too – and as Russians find clever ways to signal their own disapproval of the invasion – we are likely to see more and more grit in the workings of Putin’s propaganda machine.

 

Edited by singalion
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Macron speaks to Putin

 

At the request of the Ukrainian government, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, has spoken to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, the Élysée Palace has said in a statement:

 

The president reiterated the international community’s demand that [Russia] halt its offensive against Ukraine, and reaffirmed the necessity of immediately establishing a ceasefire.

With ceasefire talks between Kyiv and Moscow under way on the Belarus border, Macron also asked Putin to ensure that for the duration of the negotiations all strikes and attacks on civilians and their homes would be halted, civilian infrastructure would be preserved, and all main roads – particularly the road south out of Kyiv – would remain safe to use.

 

Putin “confirmed his willingness to commit to all three points”, the Élysée statement said.

Macron also called on Putin to ensure international humanitarian law was respected and civilian populations and aid transports protected, and asked the Russian president to “stay in touch over the coming days to avoid the situation worsening”.

 

Edited by singalion
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And that gives you the right to invade other countries???

So you force countries to talk while attacking them with your military???

 

 

 

Russia’s actions in Ukraine are being “distorted and thwarted”, Russia’s UN ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, has said.

 

Speaking at the United Nations, Nebenzya blamed the crisis on Ukraine and claimed it had been unwilling to engage in dialogue.

Nebenzya said:

The root for the current crisis lies in the actions of Ukraine itself. For many years it sabotaged and flouted its direct obligations under the Minsk package of measures.

He continued:

Just recently there was a hope that in Kyiv they would reconsider and that they would indeed comply with what they signed on to in 2018.

 

However, the latest confirmation from the senior leadership of the country was that Ukraine was unwilling to engage in this dialogue, and they were unwilling to take steps to grant special status to Donbas.

 

Russian ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya addresses the UN General Assembly on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Russian ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya addresses the UN General Assembly on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York
Edited by singalion
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On 3/1/2022 at 1:42 AM, singalion said:

This was actually the best news of today:

 

One Russian media already prematurely announced the victory of Russia against Ukraine on Saturday...

 

As I wrote earlier, Putin must have gotten that delusional idea that he thought the Ukrainians would welcome the Russian soldiers with flowers and Russian flags considering them as liberators .... but... hm guess. 

 

 

Putin’s propaganda machine is breaking down

 

28 February 2022

 

 

Consider, for example, the work of Petr Akopov, who a week ago was writing for the state’s RIA Novosti news agency that ‘the West abandoned Ukraine’ because ‘the Anglo-Saxons have long ago overstrained themselves with their project of global domination.’ He knocked off a piece headlined ‘Russia’s Advance and the New World,’ clearly written in anticipation of a quick victory. Larded with vainglorious assertions such as that ‘Ukraine has returned to Russia,’ it presents the Kremlin’s ambitions as much more imperialist than Putin has openly admitted:

 

'Russia is restoring its unity – the tragedy of 1991, this terrible catastrophe in our history, its unnatural dislocation, has been overcome. Yes, at a great cost, yes, through the tragic events of a virtual civil war, because now brothers, separated by belonging to the Russian and Ukrainian armies, are still shooting at each other, but there will be no more Ukraine as anti-Russia. Russia is restoring its historical fullness, gathering the Russian world, the Russian people together – in its entirety of Great Russians, Belarusians and Little Russians.'

 

In other words, the endgame is the unification of not just Ukraine but also Belarus in a single union under Moscow. This was presumably written to be run after that glorious victory had been won. However, RIA Novosti somehow jumped the gun and published this on Saturday. This mistake was quickly realised, but in the modern information age our edits and mistakes remain embedded in the geological layers of the internet. Following the link on the RIA Novosti website now tell you ‘there is no such page’ but, the original remains archived on the Wayback Machine. It also ended up reprinted in The Frontier Post, an English-language daily published in Pakistan. Oops.

 

But it’s harder to know what to make sense of the TASS news wire report from Sunday that, after dutifully reporting Putin’s order to bring nuclear forces to the next level of readiness, added that: ‘According to reliable sources from the Russian Federation Ministry of Defence, Putin is personally extremely disappointed with the progress of the military operation’. It then proceeded to list the tally of destroyed armour and casualties, including 146 tanks and 4,300 soldiers.

 

The article has since been scrubbed from the net more effectively than Akopov’s, but these tallies coincides with the figure announced by Ukraine’s deputy defence minister. Was this clumsy editing? A Ukrainian hack that added the damning butcher’s bill to an anodyne report? A deliberate act of sabotage by a journalist at TASS? 

 

As the information war hots up, too – and as Russians find clever ways to signal their own disapproval of the invasion – we are likely to see more and more grit in the workings of Putin’s propaganda machine.

 

 

 

This is the full article that was published prematurely and erroneously as a praise for Russia winning the war against Ukraine...

 

Читать ria.ru в
 
Петр Акопов
Петр Акопов

Наступление России и нового мира

https://web.archive.org/web/20220226224717/https:/ria.ru/20220226/rossiya-1775162336.html

 

The new world order

26 Feb 2022

Petr Akopov

 

A new world is being born before our eyes. Russia’s military operation in Ukraine has ushered in a new era – and in three dimensions at once. And of course, in the fourth, internal Russian. Here begins a new period both in ideology and in the very model of our socio-economic system – but this is worth talking about separately a little later.


Russia is restoring its unity – the tragedy of 1991, this terrible catastrophe in our history, its unnatural dislocation, has been overcome. Yes, at a great cost, yes, through the tragic events of a virtual civil war, because now brothers, separated by belonging to the Russian and Ukrainian armies, are still shooting at each other, but there will be no more Ukraine as anti-Russia. Russia is restoring its historical fullness, gathering the Russian world, the Russian people together – in its entirety of Great Russians, Belarusians and Little Russians. If we had abandoned this, if we had allowed the temporary division to take hold for centuries, then we would not only betray the memory of our ancestors, but would also be cursed by our descendants for allowing the disintegration of the Russian land.


Vladimir Putin has assumed, without a drop of exaggeration, a historic responsibility by deciding not to leave the solution of the Ukrainian question to future generations. After all, the need to solve it would always remain the main problem for Russia – for two key reasons. And the issue of national security, that is, the creation of anti-Russia from Ukraine and an outpost for the West to put pressure on us, is only the second most important among them.
The first would always be the complex of a divided people, the complex of national humiliation – when the Russian house first lost part of its foundation (Kiev), and then was forced to come to terms with the existence of two states, not one, but two peoples. That is, either to abandon their history, agreeing with the insane versions that “only Ukraine is the real Russia,” or to gnash one’s teeth helplessly, remembering the ti-mes when “we lost Ukra-ine.” Returning Ukraine, that is, turning it back to Russia, would be more and more difficult with every decade – recoding, de-Rus-sification of Russians and inciting Ukrainian Little Russians against Russians would gain momentum. Now this problem is gone – Ukraine has returned to Russia.


This does not mean that its statehood will be liquidated, but it will be reorganized, re-established and returned to its natural state of part of the Russian world. In what borders, in what form will the alliance with Russia be fixed (through the CSTO and the Eurasian Union or the Union State of Russia and Belarus)? This will be decided after the end is put in the history of Ukraine as anti-Russia. In any case, the period of the split of the Russian people is coming to an end.
And here begins the second dimension of the coming new era – it concerns Russia’s relations with the West. Not even Russia, but the Russian world, that is, three states, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, acting in geopolitical terms as a single whole.


These relations have entered a new stage – the West sees the return of Russia to its historical borders in Europe. And he is loudly indignant at this, although in the depths of his soul he must admit to himself that it could not be otherwise.
Did someone in the old European capitals, in Paris and Berlin, seriously believe that Moscow would give up Kiev ? That the Russians will forever be a divided people? And at the same time when Europe is uniting, when the German and French elites are trying to seize control of Eur-opean integration from the Anglo-Saxons and assemble a united Europe? Forg-etting that the unification of Europe became possible only thanks to the unificati-on of Germany, which happened according to the good Russian (albeit not very smart) will. To swipe after that also on Russian lands is not even the height of ingratitude, but of ge-opolitical stupidity. The W-est as a whole, and even m-ore so Europe in particular, did not have the strength to keep Ukraine in its sphere of influence, and even more so to take Ukraine for itself. In order not to understand this, one had to be just geopolitical fools.


More precisely, there was only one option: to bet on the further collapse of Russia, that is, the Russian Federation. But the fact that it did not work should have been clear twenty years ago. And already fifteen years ago, after Putin’s Munich speech, even the deaf could hear – Russia is returning.


Now the West is trying to punish Russia for the fact that it returned, for not justifying its plans to profit at its expense, for not allowing the expansion of the western space to the east. Seeking to punish us, the West thinks that relations with it are of vital importa-nce to us. But this has not been the case for a long ti-me – the world has changed, and this is well understood not only by Europeans, but also by the Anglo-Saxons who rule the West.


No amount of Western pressure on Russia will lead to anything. There will be losses from the sublimation of confrontation on both sides, but Russia is ready for them morally and geopolitically. But for the West itself, an increase in the degree of confrontation incurs huge costs – and the main ones are not at all economic.


Europe, as part of the West, wanted autonomy – the German project of European integration does not make strategic sense while maintaining the Anglo-Saxon ideological, military and geopolitical control over the Old World. Yes, and it cannot be successful, because the Anglo-Saxons need a controlled Europe.


But Europe needs autonomy for another reason as well — in case the States go into self-isolation (as a result of growing internal conflicts and contradictions) or focus on the Pacific region, where the geopolitical center of gravity is moving.
But the confrontation with Russia, into which the Anglo-Saxons are dragging Europe, deprives the Europeans of even the chance of independence – not to mention the fact that in the same way Europe is trying to impose a break with China. If now the Atlanticists are happy that the “Russian threat” will unite the Western bloc, then in Berlin and Paris they cannot fail to understand that, having lost hope for autonomy, the European project will simply collapse in the medium term.


That is why independent-minded Europeans are now completely uninterested in building a new iron curtain on their eastern borders – realizing that it will turn into a corral for Europe.


Whose century (more precisely, half a millennium) of global leadership is over in any case – but various options for its future are still possible.


Because the construction of a new world order – and this is the third dimension of current events – is accelerating, and its contours are more and more clearly visible through the spreading cover of Anglo-Saxon globalization.
A multipolar world has finally become a reality – the operation in Ukraine is not capable of rallying anyone but the West against Russia.


Because the rest of the world sees and understands perfectly well – this is a conflict between Russia and the West, this is a response to the geopolitical expansion of the Atlanticists, this is Russia’s return of its historical space and its place in the world.


China and India, Latin America and Africa, the Islamic world and Southeast Asia – no one believes that the West leads the world order, much less sets the rules of the game. Russia has not only challenged the West, it has shown that the era of Western global domination can be considered completely and finally over.


The new world will be built by all civilizations and centers of power, naturally, together with the West (united or not) – but not on its terms and not according to its rules.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by singalion
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There was no outcome in the Ukraine - Russia talks yesterday which was expected.

The only good news is that they did not shut doors but plan to continue their talks and meet again.

 

 

We are now waiting for the outcome of the UN General Assembly and the passing of a  resolution.

Due to the amount of countries such UN General Assembly sessions take time, when every country has something to say with 193 members of the UN it takes up to 3 days until it comes to passing a resolution.

 

 

 

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 28 (Reuters) - The 193-member United Nations General Assembly began meeting on the crisis in Ukraine on Monday ahead of a vote this week to isolate Russia by deploring its "aggression against Ukraine" and demanding Russian troops stop fighting and withdraw.

The General Assembly will vote this week on a draft resolution similar to a text vetoed by Russia in the 15-member Security Council on Friday. No country has a veto in the General Assembly and Western diplomats expect the resolution, which needs two-thirds support, to be adopted.

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On the military development, a huge convoy seems to approach Kyiv since the morning...

 

 

9417.jpg?width=700&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=86131b6746c217f9580396076f694139

 

 

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/6186924557a0bc2d06a93bec268de02980ef64b4/0_3_9163_5501/master/9163.jpg?width=620&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=b5ede3a8f443bcc034edb4dd84e2da46

 

https://media0.faz.net/ppmedia/aktuell/3772960457/1.7842064/format_top1_breit/diese-satellitenaufnahme-soll.jpg

 

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/05176fa0ec24692767227d378bea0f611da4e3f2/174_0_3152_1893/master/3152.jpg?width=620&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=cbdd1096bc1a033fcd53cfe64a25ae05

 

Huge Russian convoy north-west of Kyiv, images show

Satellite images taken on Monday show a Russian military convoy north of Kyiv that stretches for about 40 miles (64km) in an area north-west of Kyiv. It is substantially longer than the 17 miles (27km) reported earlier in the day, according to the US company Maxar.

 

Edited by singalion
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Guest PP - Psycho Putin
On 2/27/2022 at 11:39 AM, Guest Guest said:

The presidents of Russia and Ukraine - both are quite handsome ... different kinds of charm. 🥰

 

 

The Ukrainian President is a fuckable cutie - agree.

Putin on the other hand is a psychopath! Fuck around with him and he will chop off your dick and feed it to his dogs.

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Guest Guest
On 2/28/2022 at 11:39 PM, Guest TuesdayOpen said:


Singapore uphold principles and if these principles is akin to taking sides, then it is what it is. We cannot sit back and do nothing. Singapore is one of the financial hubs in Asia, and the sanctions on Russian banks will contribute towards making funding of the invasion Ukraine that much more difficult. 

 

The statement from MFA made me wonder if Singapore has always been exporting weapons to everywhere in the past? Otherwise, why is the country imposing export controls on such items only now. 

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Guest Guest

First it was Dickson Yeo and the LKY School professor Huang Jing; Now a foreign trash scientist at Duke-National University of Singapore (Duke-NUS). It makes one wonder if Singapore is a country for all the criminals to gather and work, while the police focus on the locals' misdemeanors. 

 

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/double-life-two-wives-duke-nus-researcher-spied-on-us-for-russia

 

Double life, two wives: Duke-NUS researcher spied on US for Russia

mi_hacf_010322.jpg?VersionId=kPldRpY.46N

 

 

SINGAPORE - He was a scientist at Duke-National University of Singapore (Duke-NUS), contributing to research on heart disease since 2016.

 

Hector Alejandro Cabrera Fuentes, 36, has authored more than 20 cardiology papers, and has also been linked to multiple academic institutions around the world.

 

But the Mexican, described as short and stocky, lived a double life with two wives, and was spying on the United States for Russia when he was in Miami, Florida.

 

On Feb 16, Fuentes pleaded guilty in an American court to spying on an informant in the US on behalf of the Russian government.

 

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) said he had been acting under the direction and control of a Russian official to provide information on an informant who was providing information on Russia to the US government.

 

Fuentes had spent significant time in Russia, having graduated from Kazan University there in 2009, according to his LinkedIn page.

 

He was employed by the National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS) as a senior research fellow, and held a joint appointment in the cardiovascular and metabolic disorders programme at Duke-NUS Medical School. His services have since been terminated.

 

The Washington Post reported that he often flew from Singapore to Russia, where his first wife and two children were.

 

During one such trip in 2019, he was recruited by a Russian agent who was an acquaintance from past professional meetings.

 

The agent had told Fuentes that he could help get his family out of Russia if Fuentes helped him.

 

The DOJ said that between May 2019 and February 2020, Fuentes met Russian officials in Moscow at least five times.

 

He was instructed to rent a unit in Miami, to spy on a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informant who lived in the same building.

 

The informant was reportedly providing the US intelligence on Russian activities in Florida.

 

Fuentes flew to Miami in February 2020 to obtain the licence plate number and parking location of the FBI informant, the DOJ said.

 

He had travelled to the US with his second wife, whose identity has not been publicly revealed.

 

Fuentes was instructed by the Russians to write down the licence plate number and parking location of the informant, but he instead told his wife to take a photo.

 

The duo had rented a car and tailgated a vehicle to enter the housing complex where the US informant's car was.

 

A security guard stopped them, and when the wife stepped out of the car, she took the photo of the informant's licence plate.

 

The guard later told them to leave the premises.

 

Fuentes and his second wife later tried to fly to Mexico, but were arrested at the airport.

 

Checks on their phones showed that the woman had sent Fuentes the photo of the license plate through WhatsApp, and he admitted he was being ordered by a Russian government official to spy on the US informant.

 

He has pleaded guilty to illegally acting in the US on behalf of the Russian government, and is expected to be sentenced on May 17.

 

He may be jailed for up to 10 years for the offence.

 

The DOJ said the FBI and US Customs and Border Protection are investigating the case.

 

A spokesman for NHCS said it was alerted to the news in February 2020 and terminated Fuentes' services that same month.

 

The Straits Times has contacted the Ministry of Home Affairs for comment.

 

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Guest Steve
On 2/27/2022 at 10:15 PM, Guest Guest said:

 

Can it get any more ironical and hypocritical than this? Asking people to "keep a Taiwan discussion out of thread" which he himself has named "Ukraine conflict impact on Singapore and Asia? " If Taiwan is not in Asia, where is it? If TS himself doesn't even know to discuss in his own thread, then this thread should be merged into the more generic one titled "The invasion of Ukraine by Russia".

 

Very good point.  The way the conflict Russia-Ukraine plays out will have a significant influence in how the other bully will approach Taiwan.  A majority of Ukrainians want independence from Russia even if in the past they were united.  A majority of Taiwanese want independence from mainland China, the PRC, even if in the past they were united.

 

Steve is the Thread Starter of this thread "The invasion of Ukraine by Russia".   You are cordially invited to post there any opinions you have on how the Ukraine conflict may impact the security of Taiwan. 

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Guest Steve
On 3/1/2022 at 1:34 PM, Guest Lim Peh said:

Do you think other countries should not meddle into this and only remain neutral?

 

This soul searching by countries may not be much different from our own soul searching as individuals.  Should we stay uninvolved if see an innocent person close to us being attacked?  We have no obligation to do this if our own life can be endangered,  but what if it is not?

 

A recent police case in the US has dealt with it:  the three officers who were bystanders in the killing of George Floyd by the one who asphyxiated him with his knee, have been found guilty of violating Floyds rights.  But then, they were police officers whose job was to defend the innocent.

 

A small nation which has stepped in to help Ukraine is Switzerland.  This is very unusual for this cautious country that even remained neutral during WWII.  This may show how the humanity aspect of this conflict has influenced the whole free world and made us all take sides.  It says something good about our humanity in today's world.  

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Guest Steve

The way the conflict is evolving seems to be limiting the options of the main instigator, Putin.  There could be as little as two:

 

Either he defeats Ukraine and quickly breaks the spirit of its people and installs his puppet regime,  or he may be deposed by his own Russians.  It is difficult to imagine how he will back out of it if Ukraine keeps fighting without end.   The poor Russians are running out of money, they cannot travel away from Russia, they feel worldwide blame on them. It could happen that with continuing protests and thousands being imprisoned they could break the grip of Putin's inner circle.  Didn't the pebble prevail over the nobility in the French revolution?  Could they do with Putin what the Italians did with Mussolini, hanging him upside-down?  If so, his martial arts won't help him much...

 

If the correct outcome comes to happen,  and Putin is removed in Russia and replaced with a more moderate lieder,  then the alleged "weakness" of America and its leaders in the past will have achieved a noble mission.  And if so,  Biden will surely claim the credit for it, and...  he will have deserved it. 

 

I am very curious to hear what he will say in his State of the Union speech today.

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Guest Try and see

Am I the only one who thinks that the Ukraine president is fucking hot?!

 

This is him getting his Covid vaccine 😍

AP21061452635927.jpg

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Unfortunately, Ukraine is a mere pawn in the grander scheme of the power politics of Russia and the European Union/NATO.

 

Do note that in 1994, Ukraine signed the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, together with the US, Russia and the UK. The memorandum included security assurances against the threat or use of force against Ukraine’s territory or political independence. The countries promised to respect the sovereignty and existing borders of Ukraine. As a result, Ukraine eliminated the last strategic nuclear delivery vehicle on its soil in 2001 as part of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).

 

In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea, as well as sending in troops to assist the separatists in the Eastern Luhansk and Donetsk provinces. The occupation of Crimea has lasted since, and was used as a launching point of the Southern flank of the current invasion.

 

What has the US and UK done for Ukraine since 24 February? Increased sanctions of Russia, and the delivery of some weapons. Yet, not all Russian oligarchs have been affected. Some are still doing business in London, since the City of London is a major money laundering capital for the Russians.

 


Watch Boris Johnson being grilled by Ukrainian Activist, Daria Kaleniuk, and his weak response.

 

Слава Україні!

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Guest Try and see
On 2/27/2022 at 11:39 AM, Guest Guest said:

The presidents of Russia and Ukraine - both are quite handsome ... different kinds of charm. 🥰

 

 

The Ukrainian president is sexy AF!

Q663YT3Z55NV5J67JZZEZDUP7A.jpg

 

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On 3/1/2022 at 2:22 PM, singalion said:

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/05176fa0ec24692767227d378bea0f611da4e3f2/174_0_3152_1893/master/3152.jpg?width=620&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=cbdd1096bc1a033fcd53cfe64a25ae05

 

Huge Russian convoy north-west of Kyiv, images show

Satellite images taken on Monday show a Russian military convoy north of Kyiv that stretches for about 40 miles (64km) in an area north-west of Kyiv. It is substantially longer than the 17 miles (27km) reported earlier in the day, according to the US company Maxar.

 

We know the Ukrainians have drones and bombs. With such a huge convoy on just one road, I wonder why they simply do not bomb the first dozen or so tanks and other vehicles. That would surely make it difficult for the rest of the convoy to get round them or at least delay its movement by a day or two.

Edited by InBangkok
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On 3/2/2022 at 11:23 AM, sgmaven said:

Unfortunately, Ukraine is a mere pawn in the grander scheme of the power politics of Russia and the European Union/NATO.

 

Do note that in 1994, Ukraine signed the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, together with the US, Russia and the UK. The memorandum included security assurances against the threat or use of force against Ukraine’s territory or political independence. The countries promised to respect the sovereignty and existing borders of Ukraine. As a result, Ukraine eliminated the last strategic nuclear delivery vehicle on its soil in 2001 as part of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).

 

In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea, as well as sending in troops to assist the separatists in the Eastern Luhansk and Donetsk provinces. The occupation of Crimea has lasted since, and was used as a launching point of the Southern flank of the current invasion.

 

What has the US and UK done for Ukraine since 24 February? Increased sanctions of Russia, and the delivery of some weapons. Yet, not all Russian oligarchs have been affected. Some are still doing business in London, since the City of London is a major money laundering capital for the Russians.

 


Watch Boris Johnson being grilled by Ukrainian Activist, Daria Kaleniuk, and his weak response.

 

 

 

First of all, problems started when the Ukraine people ousted the Pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014. Yanukovych was born in Donbas the "Russian" region, his father was from Belarus. Nearly his whole government was made up by Donbas people or Oligarchs.

Except President Yushchenko who was balancing between Russia and the West and who was more West leaning, all other previous Ukrainian presidents since independence were Russia friendly.

 

To understand the side of the Russians  Kyiv-Russia was the origin of the Russian people, the capital of this empire in 892 was Kyiv but there had been a separation and the later Russians left this part more to the north east.

Therefore, Russia considers the Ukraine ( Kyiv) as the birthplace of Russia.

But that is not the whole truth as most of Ukraine belonged to other powers:

 

While this part was under the rule of different other countries, parts of today's Ukraine were not part of Russia.
Here you can see an expansion of Russia in the 17th century:

 

 

1920px-RussianEmpire1600.png

 

Parts of Ukraine during those times belonged to the Poland, Lithuanian empire, in the south such as the Krim, Odessa to the Ottoman empire.

 

It was with Peter the Great, when Russia started conquering more parts in the Western parts, while these people were speaking a different language to the traditional Russian.

 

 

 

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