P.K. Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 1 hour ago, woolley said: Absolutely. The Budapest Memorandum. CND take note, but you can understand Ukraine's rationale at the time. Hindsight is a glorious thing innit. I'll bet even you have 20/20 hindsight... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phantom Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 (edited) They've knocked Navalny off now. To be honest he lasted a lot longer than I was expecting. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68315943 Edited February 16 by The Phantom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Passing Time Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 7 hours ago, The Phantom said: They've knocked Navalny off now. To be honest he lasted a lot longer than I was expecting. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68315943 Are you saying his death was suspicious? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman1980 Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 10 hours ago, Passing Time said: Are you saying his death was suspicious? A 47 year old dying in prison? Who was locked up for speaking out against Putin? And who was a political opponent? Just happens to die in an "election" year? No, not in the slightest bit suspicious. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Passing Time Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 7 hours ago, manxman1980 said: A 47 year old dying in prison? Who was locked up for speaking out against Putin? And who was a political opponent? Just happens to die in an "election" year? No, not in the slightest bit suspicious. that's what I thought... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shake me up Judy Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 It's Putin 'electioneering'. They've got one coming up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anyone Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 And the result will be ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman1980 Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 11 hours ago, Anyone said: And the result will be ?? Probably not the people of Russia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phantom Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 On 2/18/2024 at 9:45 PM, Anyone said: And the result will be ?? Vladimir Putin, Mr Putin, V Putin, or Vladimir Vladmiriovich Putin. The suspense is killing me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phantom Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 7 more very expensive frontline jets and a decent sized Naval vessel lost by Russia in the last week. Ukraine pulled out of Aadivka. An almost identical scenario to Bahkmut. It's a very mixed bag. In terms of equipment, Russia are suffering terribly. But they just keep on throwing meat waves into the breech. I think few people realised how brutally effective they would still be in modern warfare; assuming you give zero fucks about your troops. The Europeans seem to be rallying more with aid recently; caused mainly by the delays in funding from the US. The problem is, now with Trump's comments in relation to NATO and Putin seemingly getting more confident due to the West's toothless blustering, it looks more and more likely Russia will try their luck against NATO within the next 5 years. NATO (sans US) has to re-arm and expand its military. The main blocker to this is the fact that so much equipment (both old and new) is being sent to Ukraine that the military industrial complex is unable to rearm NATO and Ukraine at the same time. I'm now starting to think that Ukraine will only have 2024 to try and make some significant impact, otherwise they are going to be pushed by NATO to negotiate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman1980 Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 19 hours ago, The Phantom said: The main blocker to this is the fact that so much equipment (both old and new) is being sent to Ukraine that the military industrial complex is unable to rearm NATO and Ukraine at the same time. Come on now... You know perfectly well that the military industrial complex will happily increase production to meet a growing market demand if necessary. They just won't be "ready" to do so just yet because they are ensuring that demand far outweighs demand in order to ensure a return for their shareholders. The larger items, such as surface ships etc, will probably be of limited use given the proximity of land bases, the effectiveness of naval drones as shown by Ukraine, and generally being vulnerable to advanced weaponry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phantom Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 34 minutes ago, manxman1980 said: Come on now... You know perfectly well that the military industrial complex will happily increase production to meet a growing market demand if necessary. They just won't be "ready" to do so just yet because they are ensuring that demand far outweighs demand in order to ensure a return for their shareholders. The larger items, such as surface ships etc, will probably be of limited use given the proximity of land bases, the effectiveness of naval drones as shown by Ukraine, and generally being vulnerable to advanced weaponry. True, but the problem is it would take at least a few years to spin up industry in order to meet the demands of both NATO and Ukraine. Plus god knows what regulatory nightmares these defence companies now have to navigate. It's probably time to buy some more BAE and Raytheon shares. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman1980 Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 3 minutes ago, The Phantom said: True, but the problem is it would take at least a few years to spin up industry in order to meet the demands of both NATO and Ukraine. Plus god knows what regulatory nightmares these defence companies now have to navigate. It's probably time to buy some more BAE and Raytheon shares. I would not be surprised if those companies were already planning or have in place the ability to increase production. Under a real threat I am sure Governments would start to waive regulations for those companies. I am also sure that defence ministries will already be in discussion about how to meet future demands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phantom Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 15 minutes ago, manxman1980 said: I would not be surprised if those companies were already planning or have in place the ability to increase production. Under a real threat I am sure Governments would start to waive regulations for those companies. I am also sure that defence ministries will already be in discussion about how to meet future demands But what happens if they spin up sufficiently to rearm NATO and Ukraine, then the war in Ukraine finishes shortly thereafter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.K. Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 On 2/22/2024 at 4:08 PM, The Phantom said: The problem is, now with Trump's comments in relation to NATO and Putin seemingly getting more confident due to the West's toothless blustering, it looks more and more likely Russia will try their luck against NATO within the next 5 years. NATO (sans US) has to re-arm and expand its military. The main blocker to this is the fact that so much equipment (both old and new) is being sent to Ukraine that the military industrial complex is unable to rearm NATO and Ukraine at the same time. I'm now starting to think that Ukraine will only have 2024 to try and make some significant impact, otherwise they are going to be pushed by NATO to negotiate. The Russians have been taking a beating, no question. Not only in equipment and inevitably in badly trained conscripts but also in their "professional" units. It will take them some time to re-build. Especially in terms of morale. However there are some massive differences between taking on NATO compared to Ukraine. The two key areas are in air power, which has taken some two years for just small elements to reach the Ukraine battlefield, and the NATO doctrine of deploying tactical battlefield nuclear capability in the event of an invasion from the East. Goodnight Vienna...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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