On a visit to his Belarusian ally, Putin questions Zelenskyy’s legitimacy as Ukraine’s leader

The Washington Times ^ | May 24, 2024 | Jim Heintz

[McGruff]

...

Russian officials have repeatedly called attention to the question of Zelenskyy’s term in office during the past week.

“Of course, we are aware that the legitimacy of the current head of state has ended,” Putin said at a news conference in Minsk after talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

“We must be completely sure that we are dealing with legitimate authorities,” said Putin, who has repeatedly stated that Russia is ready for talks with Ukraine.

[McGruff]

Plane of Ukraine's former pro-Russian president arrives in Belarus, where Belarussian and Russian leaders meet

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4239932/posts

Related?

[JonPreston]

[Leaning Right]

In related news, Tsar Nicholas II questions Kaiser Wilhelm II’s legitimacy as a ruler. And vice versa.

And yes, I picked those two rulers specifically. WW 1 spun out of control for relatively minor reasons. The result was a horrible slaughter. The same goes today with Russia/Ukraine. Idiots on all sides.

[TonyinLA]

Fighting for Democracy in a country that imprisons political opponents, kills journalists, outlaws religions, political opposition parties, and anything that’s not state-run news, grabs kids and old men off the street to send to the front unprepared, and now cancels elections.

Excuses and deflections, but not facts, will now come pouring in.

[Leaning Right]

Everything you said about Ukraine is true. It’s a trash country. But it is a sovereign nation. It can do whatever it likes within its own borders. Russia had no right to send tanks across a sovereign border, and start a war. For that I consider Putin to be a war criminal.

But wait. NATO has been provoking Russia for decades. Was that provocation deliberate or due to stupidity? It doesn’t matter. As the old saying goes, don’t poke the bear. NATO poked the bear.

Idiots on both sides. Fools on both sides. It’s just like with WW1. No good guys.

Trump might be able to sort this mess out. And he might be the only one.

[xoxox]

Nobody questions his legitimacy as a bag man, though.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

—>> Russia had no right to send tanks across a sovereign border

Which borders are not “sovereign”?

Which nations have a “right” to send tanks across borders?

Military actions are always used as a last resort to resolve serious differences.

I’m not sure “rights” apply…

[exinnj]

You wrote: “ NATO has been provoking Russia for decades.”
Could you give one (as in one, two, three…) example of the said provocation? Poking the effing bear by sending him chicken thighs (Bush’s legs, as they were called in Russia by hungry population), buying his oil and gas for years and propping his economy by foreign investment (Ford’s Russian plants) that gave many Russians decent jobs? Poking the bear, my azz…

[Leaning Right]

> Which nations have a “right” to send tanks across borders? <

Excellent question. As I see it, you send tanks across a sovereign border only as a last resort to protect your country. To do nothing would put your country in mortal danger.

Russia was not in mortal danger from Ukraine. And so that’s why I consider Putin to be a war criminal.

But damn it anyway. For many decades NATO has been provoking Russia. I mentioned that in an earlier post. I still can’t be sure if Putin is mistakenly trying to defend Russia or if he is opportunistically trying to expand Russia.

But I do know that NATO’s unwise (and foolish) moves made Putin’s decision easier.

Idiots on all sides. Just like with the build up to WW1, as I also mentioned earlier.

[Leaning Right]

> You wrote: “ NATO has been provoking Russia for decades.”
Could you give one (as in one, two, three…) example of the said provocation? <

Sure. Here’s just two. If you want more, I can supply them.

NATO was actually formed before the Warsaw Pact was. That’s a provocation.

Then after the fall of the USSR, NATO expanded into regions that were traditionally in Russia’s sphere of influence. The Baltic States, for example.

Think about how America went crazy when Khrushchev tried to send arms to our back yard (Cuba). Are we to expect Russia to react any differently in regards to their back yard?

Don’t get me wrong! The USSR was evil, period. And Putin is a war criminal, period.

But in many ways it’s like a game of poker. To do well, you must consider what your opponent *thinks* is going on.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

—> Russia was not in mortal danger from Ukraine.

I believe Russia believed that placement of missiles in ukraine and joining nato would be mortal dangers.

Russia attempted to resolve it peacefully in international forums, but had no satisfaction.

I believe the west wants war - needs war.

Neither side is a paragon of virtue.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

PS - thanks for your thoughtful response. Reminded me of how it used to be on FR on the old days. 👊🏽

[Leaning Right]

> PS - thanks for your thoughtful response. Reminded me of how it used to be on FR on the old days. <

Thanks for touching base. I look to Free Republic not only as a source of information, but as a way to refine my knowledge on the issues. Yes, I am sometimes wrong. But then I appreciate it when a Freeper gently corrects me. Just like in the old days, as you noted.

Unfortunately, now sometimes I don’t get that gentle correction. No counter-argument. Instead I get a string of personal insults. Not only is that not helpful, it goes against JimRob’s wishes. Sad, actually.

Anyway, regards.
LR

[katana]

Very few countries have any history of benign, competent, and democratically elected governance. Most of humanity has always been and is still ruled under some form of corrupt dictatorial clique. One can argue we've devolved into rule by something along those lines ourselves.

But Russia may have the longest consistent run of misrule of any currently existing great country. Their neighbors despise and fear them and when the door was opened to come into the theoretical protection of NATO they begged entrance. No one had have their arm twisted.

As individual people I have genuinely liked and enjoyed being with the Russians I've known. But their history and their rulers and their attitude toward neighbors make them, as a country, the menacing bully of the neighborhood. Sadly, they seem to need hard rule to function as a society and paranoia, understandable considering history, is their default operating principle of foreign relations.

[roving]

I believe it’s baked into their constitution. No election during wartime. I may not agree, but that isn’t my country.