HanoiVillan Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 14 minutes ago, tonyh29 said: I don't disagree , but has any nation shown any effective diplomacy in this crises ? , its been clear what Putin was going to do for months , all these leaders meeting him over his large table was just boosting his image back home whilst he used them for his propaganda .. I realise this is maybe my fault, but I'm not really saying our diplomacy was ineffective because we did it poorly, but because we largely do not matter. Russia met Cabinet members, not the PM (contrast to France and Germany). In truth, we have been little involved since 2014; the countries primarily involved in the Minsk process (other than the protagonists, obviously) were the US, France and Germany. 17 minutes ago, tonyh29 said: On the whole sanctions and action topic , do you think the UK government deleted the world leaders from its phone contacts , unplugged the internet and thought , "we'll go this alone ?" ..I'd imagine most of the world leaders , have been in constant dialogue , and presumably have come up with a level of agreed format of what the course of action will be (or lack of) I agree with you; weak sanctions have been a feature of all 'western' responses so far, including America. This is fundamentally a weakness of sanctions as a tool, rather then the will or steel of western governments. Sanctions are generally best at punishing weak, small economies like North Korea or Iran, not giant natural resource behemoths like Russia. In addition, because there are so few military options to deal with Russia, we have used sanctions repeatedly in the past, including for stuff that used to be considered too trivial for sanctions like the hacks a couple of years ago (can't remember what they were called, SolarBears or something?). Russia has learned to live with sanctions; they are an annoyance but not an impediment to action. We are also limited by economic reality, as @LondonLax pointed out yesterday; the public are likely to be even less fussed about Ukrainian sovereignty when oil is $150 a barrel and inflation is running over 10%. This also has an effect on political reality as well; Germans don't want the gas to go off, Macron wants to win an election in a few weeks. Sanctions won't help with either. 23 minutes ago, tonyh29 said: Our government should have and still needs to be doing more ( and hopefully it will ,in co-ordination with the rest of the world ) .... its unlikely anyone on a football forum twinned with Mumsnet is going to have a solution to this crises , but I'd be interested to see what exactly people think the UK should be doing , other than giving back donations to Tory donors My honest belief is that sometimes there are situations where there are no good options, and this is one of them. I doubt making the Tory party give money back to Lubov Chernukhin would make any difference at all (it might arguably be good for other reasons to do with probity in politics, but Vlad isn't changing course because of it). It's hard to accept, especially for British people I think, that sometimes things happen and you just can't do much about them, but again we're not the 'main character' here. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 2 minutes ago, The Fun Factory said: Does this mean I should go out and buy some toilet roll? Where are you? You may not have time to shit yourself Next to Heathrow here. I'll be carbon in less than 2 seconds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 24 minutes ago, osmark86 said: this. let's not pretend that the nuclear threat is anything other than utterly terrifying. Is it though? Like I said, pissing contest No one is going to nuke anyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Dante_Lockhart Posted February 24, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted February 24, 2022 Just now, villa4europe said: Is it though? Like I said, pissing contest No one is going to nuke anyone I'll be wearing a mask so I'll be safe from Nuke fallout. 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 3 minutes ago, Xann said: Next to Heathrow here. I'll be carbon in less than 2 seconds. Beats watching us lose to Brighton 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 I learned from watching '24' that the key to surviving a nuclear explosion is ducking down behind a nearby rock. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post villa4europe Posted February 24, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted February 24, 2022 Just now, HanoiVillan said: I learned from watching '24' that the key to surviving a nuclear explosion is ducking down behind a nearby rock. Thank **** for that cos me and the wife ain't fitting in the fridge 2 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Genie Posted February 24, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted February 24, 2022 2 minutes ago, villa4europe said: Thank **** for that cos me and the wife ain't fitting in the fridge Especially with Boris already in there 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted February 24, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted February 24, 2022 1 hour ago, bannedfromHandV said: If he uses nukes, the US will use nukes, is he honestly prepared to see Russia wiped off the map all for the sake of taking Ukraine? I would agree, but right now i am genuinely concerned about his sanity and if he actually has a grip on reality. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bannedfromHandV Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 Just now, sidcow said: I would agree, but right now i am genuinely concerned about his sanity and if he actually has a grip on reality. Oh well, all the Call of Duty fanboys are about to play out their fantasies then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osmark86 Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 9 minutes ago, villa4europe said: Is it though? Like I said, pissing contest No one is going to nuke anyone and all human beings are rational Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danceoftheshamen Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 So lets just get the important stuff into focus amongst all this.... Apparently Abramovic has been barred from UK. I wonder if they'll freeze his assets which could impact Chelsea, I see China is backing Putin too, does that mean Wolves owners may be impacted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 2 minutes ago, sidcow said: I would agree, but right now i am genuinely concerned about his sanity and if he actually has a grip on reality. In that unfortunate scenario you've got to hope there's someone in the room that realises it's a psychopaths' willy waving competition, and puts a bullet in his head. No point in worrying about it. Buy yourself a nice bottle of grog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted February 24, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted February 24, 2022 47 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said: There’s going to be so much propaganda and misinformation over the coming weeks or months, it’s going to be nigh on impossible to know what’s actually accurate. That's the one thing we know for sure...... Other than that Russian TV reporter being attacked that was on here yesterday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amsterdam_Neil_D Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 6 minutes ago, sidcow said: I would agree, but right now i am genuinely concerned about his sanity and if he actually has a grip on reality. I was thinking the same thing, I don't think he is very well mentally but I also think (and hope) he is physically ill. He doesn't look a well man IMO. (We should hope it's stage 3 pancreatic) The timing is odd, it's like he has found out a clock is ticking somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 1 minute ago, Amsterdam_Neil_D said: I was thinking the same thing, I don't think he is very well mentally but I also think (and hope) he is physically ill. He doesn't look a well man IMO. (We should hope it's stage 3 pancreatic) The timing is odd, it's like he has found out a clock is ticking somewhere. He was probably waiting for social distancing requirements to be dropped so he could have more than 1 person in a tank at a time. In seriousness though, he is in a hurry for some reason. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted February 24, 2022 Moderator Share Posted February 24, 2022 1 hour ago, Wainy316 said: Yeah, was gonna say it's odd to see Corbyn and Farage aligned in their stance. It really isn't 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 24 minutes ago, Xann said: Where are you? You may not have time to shit yourself Next to Heathrow here. I'll be carbon in less than 2 seconds. Don’t forget to keep your freedom, if a nuclear missile comes you don’t want to be locked in - get out, claim your freedom. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 Seems bad: This airfield is literally next to Kyiv, on the western side of the Dniepr river: 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante_Lockhart Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 23 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said: Oh well, all the Call of Duty fanboys are about to play out their fantasies then. 360 no scope! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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