Posted on 01/14/2025 8:01:00 AM PST by marcusmaximus
Russian elites are increasingly frustrated over Putin's handling of the Ukraine war, as the conflict drags on into its third year.
-snip-
Putin's army has leveraged its superiority in manpower and weapons to regain the battlefield initiative over the course of the last twelve months.
Last year, the Kremlin's forces seized around 1,609 square miles of territory, primarily in the Donbas region.
However, this represents just 0.69 percent of the country, and the gains have come at a horrific cost in human lives.
(Excerpt) Read more at express.co.uk ...
But, the Colorado fat-assed slimy Democrat (is there any other kind) governor claimed that none of this happened. Ergo, this must be misinformation (a Democrat term describing truth that they don’t want you to know about).
Howz about a rule: One democrat politician put to death for each responsible American citizen (e.g., not a Democrat) that was killed by an illegal alien.
They must be insisting that Putin get serious and bring in the 3,000,000 troops and the 100 state-of-the-art tank battalions of T-14 Armatas, he’s been holding on reserve. Else they will get really mad.
And you know this how, Ace?
An interesting assertion, excepting the history. "Stuck with" isn't quite the only option. Wasn't with Nixon, and doesn't have to be with Trump.
President Nixon declares an end of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War in 1973 NY Daily News, 24 January 1973, updated 8 April 2018So, "...like Nixon with Vietnam, Trump is stuck with the Ukraine War ...." suggests the above is an option, and perhaps the option. We'll wait and see,Nixon Announces End of U.S. Involvement in Vietnam NY Times, 23 January 1973, updated 2012
President Nixon announces Vietnam War is ending History,com
MI6 media says so.
like Nixon with Vietnam, Trump is stuck with the Ukraine War and is likely to put the screws to Putin and Russia rather than have an Afghanistan style Ukrainian collapse and a refugee crisis blamed on him.
Remind me what Nixon did in Vietnam, Ace?
Oh yeah, he negotiated an end to the war, which essentially ceded 1/2 of the country to Ho Chi Min and the Communists. It provided for a paper-thin pretext that we were not completely abandoning our clients, the Republic of South Vietnam. But that's all it was, a pretext.
Then the ax fell on South Vietnam:
So, if your theory is right (it's your theory, Ace, not mine, so I'm not expecting it will be)... then Kiev will fall within a couple years of Trump negotiating a faux peace deal (like Nixon!) Maybe Kiev will also be renamed Vladimir Putin City, following the Saigon model.
Is that your theory, Ace? It seems to be.
According the Rockingham: Trump will follow a policy like Nixon in Vietnam. In which case we should be seeing a scene like the final evacuation of the US Embassy in Kiev in 2027 at the latest, I guess.
But it gets worse, you further speculate:
In the end, Russian economic collapse may be the best way to end the Ukraine War.
Well it might be if it were happening, but it's not. For instance the Business Insider (hardly a pro-Puting journal) reports:
Vladimir Putin's war with Ukraine is boosting Russia's economy, IMF says
Vladimir Putin's ongoing war with Ukraine is boosting Russia's economy, the International Monetary Fund said.
- The International Monetary Fund raised its 2024 forecast for Russia's economy.
- It now expects the economy to expand by 2.6% this year.
- High military spending is one factor driving growth, the IMF said.
In an update to its World Economic Outlook issued Tuesday, the IMF raised its 2024 growth forecast for Russia from 1.1% to 2.6%. That's the biggest increase it made for any country.
The IMF flagged Russia's high military spending as one factor powering growth. Moscow has allocated nearly a third of its 2024 budget to defense, up from just 14% in 2021 — the year before it invaded Ukraine.
Russia's tight labor market has also helped boost the economy by pushing up wages and consumer spending, according to the IMF. The unemployment rate dropped to a record low of under 3% last year, with many workers emigrating or fighting on the front line in Ukraine.
The IMF's upgrade comes at a time amid rising scrutiny about sanctions against Russia. Moscow has found ways to evade the G7 and EU's $60-a-barrel oil price cap and sold its crude to new buyers such as China and India instead.
"Russia has been living under a sanctions regime for quite a long time, for decades, so we have sufficiently adapted to it," Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in October.
You Zeepers are so full of it. It's almost amusing.
Almost, but not quite.
Cheers!
How dare they doubt the splendid Russian military.
Putin and Russia suck.
So? Sounds like South Vietnam should have fought harder. We gave them a decade, 58,000 lives (300,000 wounded), and about $1,000,000,000,000 in today's dollars.
Is your contention that we owed them even more? What else do we owe other countries around the world that have nothing to do with us as a people or nation?
You trolls are hilarious.
What’s hilarious is that you don’t even know that marcusmaximus is the biggest troll on FR.
Fair question, but please keep the context in mind. The OP, Rockingham aka "Ace", was claiming that Trump, like Nixon in Vietnam, would: "is likely to put the screws to Putin"
My main point is that this is a sort of myopic half-history, that ignores that in the end Nixon signed a treaty that he surely knew would lead to the fall of South Vietnam.
Nixon did apply force, but then backed way down, ended the draft, ended US participation in the war, and signed the Paris Peace accords, which ultimately led to the fall of the South.
My point is THAT (not some tough-guy "putting the screws to Putin") is what Nixon ultimately did. He saved face, he declared "Peace with honor" had been achieved, while knowing full well the real story was: Under Nixon The North Won.
So, did we owe more to the South Vietnamese? Probably. At the minimum we should have continued the military material we had promised. In Korea we managed to create a stable South Korea via a DMZ. That would have been a much better outcome for South Vietnam, and the world.
But, I wasn't in the government at the time.
Henry Kissinger, who negotiated the Paris Peace Accords and won a Nobel Peace Prize for it had this famous quip: "“It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal.”
It's a problem with Democracy (or, conversely one could say it's a strength in many situations) that the people that Country X cut a deal with have a limited term in control, and there is no guarantee that the replacement will continue to honor the deal.
So, yes, we are a dishonorable country that abandons allies when we get bored, or our losses are too high, or we change parties. I think we are a mediocre ally at best. I feel bad for places like Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines (who were an American colony at one time).
I wouldn't trust the USA to actually defend them, based on history. So, I think if I were a leader there I would be looking for other arrangements, while not trying to piss off the USA.
It's like having an unreliable, sibling. You *hope* they will come pick you up after basketball practice, as they promised, but when it's time to go you have to look around to see who else might give you a ride, or end up walking again.
Ah, another UK media outlet predicting Putin’s downfall. Wasn’t he supposed to be dead two years ago now?
He got better. :)
Maxi has reported many miracles of Putin’s cancers, deaths, and miraculous rebirths.
If it wasn’t for Maxi we wouldn’t know what an absolutely, amazing miracle Mr. Putin is.
Thanks Maxi !!! 😘
.
That being so, the best path forward for Trump and the US is to continue to support Ukraine while pushing hard on Russia and Putin for a cease fire and negotiations. In accord with traditional Soviet negotiating tactics, that is being refused initially. That will lead Trump and NATO to add sanctions and provide additional help for Ukraine.
Judging by the lack of whining from NATO, it seems that Trump and our European allies have agreed on a path forward along those lines. Trump sources now talk of about a hundred days to end the war, which implies that severe pressure will be put on Putin and Russia to force a settlement or at least a cease fire.
As to Russia's economy, the current IMF forecast is for 1.3 percent real GDP growth in 2025, with an inflation rate of 5.9 percent. This more recent forecast is decidedly less cheery than the dated one in your post.
For Russians, the more painful consideration is that much of their GDP is being diverted from civilian sector to a failing war. This makes for a shrinking civilian economy, with reduced living standards, as does the inflation that Russia is experiencing due to sanctions and the strains of the war.
Several lines of analysis suggest that 2025 will be the year of decision in the Ukraine War. Russian military capacity is at its limit, with Ukraine's continuing resistance making Russia unable to convert local tactical gains into decisive operational advantages or a strategic victory.
Meanwhile, key sectors of the Russian economy are suffering extraordinary strain that may lead to collapse this year. The Russian rail system is in dire condition due to a lack of roller bearings, lack of skilled manpower, and deferred maintenance. The Russian financial system has been hollowed out by high inflation and mandated lending to Russia's military industries.
Russia and Putin are in a trap of their own making. Clever and relentless as a gangster, Putin is nevertheless extraordinarily vain and stupid as a strategist. As odd as it sounds, the best way out for Russia and Putin is a defeat in the Ukraine War, disguised by a US and NATO because they prefer to have Russia survive as an intact state and functional society.
Crazed warmonger Vlad needs to be removed by patriotic oligarchs with some cojones
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