Posted on 01/22/2022 7:28:01 AM PST by Mariner
MOSCOW (AP) — With tens of thousands of Russian troops positioned near Ukraine, the Kremlin has kept the U.S. and its allies guessing about its next moves in the worst security crisis to emerge between Moscow and the West since the Cold War.
Amid fears of an imminent attack on Ukraine, Russia has further upped the ante by announcing more military drills in the region. It also has refused to rule out the possibility of military deployments to the Caribbean, and President Vladimir Putin has reached out to leaders opposed to the West.
The military muscle-flexing reflects a bold attempt by the Kremlin to halt decades of NATO expansion after the end of the Cold War. In talks with the United States, Russia demands legally binding guarantees that the alliance will not embrace Ukraine and other former Soviet nations, or place weapons there. It also wants NATO to pull back its forces from countries in Central and Eastern Europe that joined the alliance since the 1990s.
Putin has described NATO membership for Ukraine and the others as well as the alliance's weapons deployments there as a red line for Moscow, warning that he would order unspecified “military-technical measures” if the demands aren't met.
Putin pointed to NATO drills with the Ukrainian military, increasingly frequent visits of the alliance warships in the Black Sea and the flights of U.S. bombers near Crimea to emphasize the urgency of Russia's security demands. He argued that by creating training centers in Ukraine, Western powers can establish a military foothold there even without its joining NATO.
"We have nowhere to retreat,” Putin said. "They have taken it to the point where we simply must tell them: ‘Stop!’”
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
That the US is still a member is equally astounding and dangerous.
PRC is not capable of taking Taiwan.
Is that what the leaders of Russia and China talked about, recently?
Biden gave Vladimir Putin the ok nod in his speech guess what happens next.
He only wants us to stop using it has means of pestering his country. We've used Ukraine to make life miserable for the Russians. His demands are very straightforward.
The invasion narrative is being used as a distraction by Biden to take the focus of his failures.
Excellent description.
So Putin, who stands up for his country and people, says “I see that train coming and it is not a headlight. Time to put a stop to this threat.”
Cuban missile crisis in revere.
Why do you say that?
China can destroy Taiwan, but they cannot project occupying forces across 90 miles of open ocean.
It would be a shooting gallery.
His demands are extreme. There are only 3 countries bordering Russia proper; Norway, Estonia, and Latvia.
Granted the Kaliningrad Oblast is surrounded by Lithuania and Poland.
Asking the newer NATO members to renounce their NATO membership is unrealistic and I think he knows that. He can say he does not want to allow neighbors such as Ukraine, Finland, and Georgia to join and, from the Russian perspective, he has a valid point. I suppose we could argue Belarus is pretty much Russian which pushes Russia’s “borders” to Poland and Lithuania.
I also understand his concern about SSMs capable of targeting Moscow and St Petersburg in neighboring counties. We did not like them in Cuba.
Ship visits in the Black Sea is a freedom of the seas issue just like in the South China Sea. I do not see us parking a CVBG in the Black Sea. The Ukranian navy is small and I do not see NATO having a large naval presence in the Black Sea for tactical reasons.
We, through Ukraine, tried to cut off Russian access to the Black Sea. That's the reason Crimea, with the consent of its population. was annexed to begin with. Now, Ukraine is restricting the water supply to Crimea.
And, what business is it of ours to try to stop Russian from building a pipeline like the Nord Stream 2?
Why shouldn't Putin and Russia be fearful of us arming and building up surrounding nations? We're doing it right on their borders?
I would argue we're the aggressors. We've made an enemy out of nation we could have peaceful relationship with.
Meanwhile, China is the nation invading nations against their will and trying to undermine us economically. They buy off politicians and, other than when Trump was President, let them get away with it.
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