Belarus dictator Lukashenko warns the West's sanctions are 'pushing Russia into a Third World War' after Putin puts his nuclear deterrent forces on 'alert', while Ukrainian president Zelensky says he doesn't hold much hope for Monday's peace talks

Daily Mail ^ | 2/27/2022 | James Robinson

[marcusmaximus]

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko tonight issued a chilling threat that the West's sanctions on Russia are pushing the Kremlin into a Third World War, after Vladimir Putin put his nuclear deterrent forces on 'alert'.

Lukashenko's comments came as Kyiv and Moscow agreed to hold peace talks at the border with Belarus - though Volodymyr Zelensky admitted he wasn't confident of a positive resolution, adding that he owed it to his people to at least try and engage.

This evening also saw the EU unveil a fresh package of sanctions against Putin's regime, closing off its airspace to all Russian planes and banning Kremlin propaganda outlets Russia Today and Sputnik. In response to the measures, Russian carrier Aeroflot said it was suspending all flights to Europe.

'Now there is a lot of talk against the banking sector, gas, oil, SWIFT,' Lukashenko said. 'It's worse than war. This is pushing Russia into a Third World War. We need to be restrained here so as not to get into trouble. Because nuclear war is the end of everything.'

[marcusmaximus]

And the Putin-Lukashenko fan bois go wild!

[BootsOfEscaping]

The peace talks will be something like:

Putin: Ukraine is mine now.
Zelensky: Ok.

[BlackAdderess]

I really hope that the relevant oligarchs will get control of this loose cannon.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

The peace talks will be something like:

Putin: Ukraine is mine now.
Zelensky: Ok.

I've seen no signs that either Zelensky or the Ukrainian people are going to roll over for Putin. That's why these talks are happening in the first place - if things had gone according to Putin's plans, Zelensky would be either dead or imprisoned by now.

[Brian Griffin]

The Russians probably made a list of demands in the past.

They may be more demanding now, but may settle close to previous demands.

[GingisK]

Our economic sanctions against Japan prior to WWII most certainly got Pearle Harbor attacked.

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

We are verging on WWIII.

Geopolitics with egotistical leaders is a fragile thing. Sometimes leaders forget the stakes when their feelings get hurt and they feel the need to save face. Things can escalate quickly out of control. All we need is for China to attack Taiwan, and we are going to be on the precipice of WWIII.

It is a very surreal feeling sitting in my office typing this in complete peace and security knowing that a month from now, we could be facing severe shortages or martial law because WWIII was declared and the entire world is cratering.

Such a weird feeling.

I mean, the odds are low. Nobody wants really wants it, but things can spiral out of control when you are too many decades away from the last catastrophic event and kind of begin to forget the extreme suffering and horror of it. We don’t have anybody left who really experienced it first hand. Our esteemed idiotic world leaders may get the idea that “it is different this time” and we can win.

We can’t. There are only losers in a world war. The losers who come out ahead and the losers who lose everything. With nucular weapons (GW Bush - the gift that keeps on giving) we really stand to lose everything. China thinks they can win a nuclear war.

Life is weird. I hope cooler heads prevail but I don’t trust the current crop of idiots further than I can spit.

[Brian Griffin]

Putin has the backs of the security forces, whose heads he probably personally chose.

If the Russian rich lose foreign wealth, then the rich Chinese will avoid Western investments.

[mass55th]

I can’t blame Putin for putting his nuclear deterrent forces on alert. A dementia-ridden potato has control of the nuclear football.

[Brian Griffin]

The Communist Chinese will seal off the sea and air off Taiwan, then wait.

[Brian Griffin]

‘alert’

more pressure at no cost in Russian lives

[RummyChick]

This guy with the landmine cracks me up..he couldnt waste his cigarette
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10557399/Symbol-Ukraines-toughness-Man-disposes-anti-tank-smoking-CIGARETTE.html

[baclava]

Dumb and dumber, Putin is a retard and his errand boy will go down with him.

[Zhang Fei]

[Our economic sanctions against Japan prior to WWII most certainly got Pearle Harbor attacked.]

---

Nope - that was Japanese over-confidence. They thought they’d re-run the Russo-Japanese War, figuring that since we were on the other side of the world, we couldn’t or wouldn’t retaliate with any vigor. It made pretty good sense - the costs for the US were high and the benefits puny. But they failed to reckon with white hot public anger. If they had known we wouldn’t stop until we took Tokyo and every single Japanese city, they wouldn’t have started the war.

[Ouderkirk]

What’s the end game for Putin and Lukashenko after the trash talk?

Is there an off-ramp, or are they going to ride the bull straight to hell and push the button down?

Alternatively, are they both so weak that they have nothing to lose because their governments are ready to implode?

[marcusmaximus]

Putin just as whacked as Biden.



This was his briefing with Shoigu and Gerasimov yesterday.

[dsrtsage]

Better WWIII than mean tweets

[ConservativeMind]

“Trade with me on my terms, or I will nuke your country.”

Yeah, that’s not going over with me.

[AppyPappy]

Putin: Ukraine is mine now.
Zelensky: NO!!! Never!!!
Putin: I’m paying in cash
Zelensky: Ok.

[BlackAdderess]

My feeling on the Russian/Chinese “marriage” is that they are both expansionistic. Any comfort the Russians might feel in that relationship is an illusion. The Chinese might play along for a while, like they did with Hong Kong, but even all the wealth Hong Kong brought to the table wasn’t enough to save it. Russia will be safe until it isn’t.