If it takes Putin over 3 YEARS to capture another 5% or so of Ukraine (beyond the initial invasion), then I very much doubt he’s a threat to Europe, unless Europe chooses to ‘get cute’ by trying to blockade Russia, or whatever.
So maybe you guys need to start demonizing others in Russia, as Putin won’t be around long enough to go beyond Ukraine.
“If it takes Putin over 3 YEARS to capture another 5% or so of Ukraine (beyond the initial invasion), then I very much doubt he’s a threat to Europe,”
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People often confuse the European Union with the broader geography of Europe, but they’re not the same. And when we talk about Russia’s actions in Europe, that difference really matters.
Right now, Russia illegally occupies parts of several European countries. It controls Transnistria in Moldova, regions of Georgia like Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and of course, large parts of Ukraine—including Crimea, which it annexed in 2014. These are not vague disputes—these are clear violations of international law. Russia’s strategy is consistent: invade, destroy, steal, and claim territory as its own. It’s an old imperial mindset playing out in modern times.
And it hasn’t stopped. Russia regularly threatens the Baltic States and has carried out sabotage operations in the Baltic Sea. Its submarines have been spotted in Swedish waters, creating real tension even before Sweden formally joined NATO. Now, Russia is building up troops along Finland’s border—the exact kind of move we saw in the lead-up to the Ukraine invasion.
This isn’t just about war. It’s about Russia trying to dominate Europe again, not through diplomacy or cooperation, but through fear and force. That’s why Europe can’t afford to be naive. These aren’t isolated events — they’re part of a much bigger strategy to destabilize the region and roll back the independence of Russia’s neighbors.
Trump’s visit to NATO today was a tremendous success for America and NATO.
Trump has made NATO Great Again - great day!
Now, with Russia partially mobilizing their nation for war, their armed forces are about the same size as ours in absolute manpower. But they won't maintain that long-term. Russia gets the “guns vs. butter” concept and they are trying hard to conduct this war without causing even more damage to their economy.
Before the war, their ground forces were 55% ours. Their air forces 47% ours. Their naval forces 43% ours.
And they did not have the strategic capabilities (carriers, satellites, bombers, theater level missile defense systems... we have). They don't have our IC with 16 members that bring a lot to the table in a conflict as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Intelligence_Community
They do not have our population, 44%. They don't have the number of men reaching military age, 40%. They have ~1/10 our economy in volume, 1/8 or so of our manufacturing base, less high tech, less research funding and centers.
Russia before the war was spending in absolute dollars 1/10 what we were on defense. Even now they are at about 1/4 of what we spend.
Their allies are few: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan. Of these 6 member states, their strongest ally is Belarus, which has about the manpower in their armed forces of the Netherlands, BUT is less well equipped: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_Security_Treaty_Organization
Their allies are weak.
Their allies are mired down in internal or regional/neighbor conflicts (Armenia - Turkey) to where they can't help much.
Yep, Russia with gen 4 fighters, no true stealth, their one carrier that is broke most of the time, using a T72 on steroids (T90)... is something we need to fear according to some. Never mind China BTW, they are our friend (we still manufacture rope there, with which they'll hang us)!
Don't get me wrong, the Russians aren't totally backward and incapable. They are a complex force that understands war is a spectrum, they are doctrinal, they are capable of combined arms and joint operations. They get that information operations, cyber warfare, drone's etc. are part of modern warfare. Like us, they have paramilitary forces they deploy around the world (Wagner) that work hand in glove with their IC and Spetsnaz. They do well making military hardware, on the cheap.
They will achieve their political and military objectives in Ukraine (they mostly already have). They are capable of projecting force. They have one of the larger military's on the planet (#5). But they have NOTHING like what we have and if you include alliance systems, they're a twerp compared to us. This narrative of Russia threatening us is laughable. They avoid us and know we are the big kid on the playground. It's us pushing on them (Venezuela, Syria, Libya, Ukraine, Georgia), not them pushing on us.
The ONLY area where Russian enjoys near parity is with their nuclear arsenal. Even there, in all reality we have more nukes deployed, more capabilities in deploying them, and with our allies the French and UK we have a larger stockpile than they have, BUT at least in total numbers and only us vs. them, we are fairly equal.
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Somehow, this is a threat to NATO and the US, they are going to invade NATO countries and keep rolling unless we stop them in Ukraine. (can't stop LOL)
This narrative was about as stupid as the remake of Red Dawn where North Korea invades the US: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1234719/ (LOL)
When we fear monger and try to get people stirred up (our propaganda in order to get people behind this war effort), at least make it remotely believable.