It's not just the narratives of others, it's the lack of historical perspective and common sense. If you want to make peace (or even gain allies as we did with Stalin in World War II) you have to find common ground where everyone gains something. Putin is an adversary, but he needs to have a reason to make peace otherwise the war will continue. Bashing Putin and boxing him into a corner will not result in peace, it will escalate the war, with hundreds of thousands of more people killed and maimed. President Trump is trying to end the war between Ukraine and Russia, on terms that will benefit everyone involved. Heikki needs to set his animus and revulsion for Putin aside and look at this realistically. If there is no peace eventually Russia will defeat Ukraine. Russia has more resources, more people and a determined leader. How many people have to die before cooler heads prevail? And what about the risk of the war expanding or another world war breaking out? It's long past time to make peace, for the sake of everyone involved. Any peace deal needs to be lasting though, a temporary ceasefire would not be worthwhile.
That was my own conclusion. This letter comes off as someone who watches Rachel Maddow... even trying to be reasonable, he betrays himself by listing all the most rediculous ideas first for Trump's motivations. Trump has been 100% clear in his motivation to place America first, end the war, make Europe pay for their own defense, and concentrate on China.
And one more: "My view: never even think of trusting a Russian politician. Full stop." Drop the "Russian" and you are even more accurate. And Trump is NOT a politician, but a businessman and President twice now. He isn't a Biden who spent 50+ years in DC dividing people and never accomplishing anything.
I’m in France right now and there is no wonder why they think the way they think. Sky News International is NON STOP Trump and how radical he is. They are the MSDNC of WEU
"Is he singlehandedly rewriting the US foreign policy?" - No, he got a majority of the votes who want the US funding fewer wars and less involved with wars around the world so there are 10 times the population of Finland who are rewriting it.
Is the Heikki advocating against “democracy”? Perhaps if so, she is a Putin sympathizer? But then again Ukraine hasn’t had an election in a while either. All these globalists seem to be on that same page - against “democracy” and pro-control over the populations of their counties.
Another example of the globalist narratives: "do you and the American people believe Russia is as of this month no longer your enemy?" Just because you don't like one leader doesn't mean you have to like the other, e.g. Putin vs Zelenskyy. Was the USSR an ally in WW2 by the end? Yes. Was Stalin a monster? Yes. Was Hitler a monster? Yes.
Trump's goal is to decrease the China/Russia partnership because having two authoritarian groups working together destabilizes the world.
Well said, and would add that Russia isn't or shouldn't be by nature "our enemy" unless we choose to make them so. When the USSR pushed communist revolution worldwide, it was arguably very much an enemy to the USA, but contemporary Russia/Putin has done nothing comparable to threaten our interests, so why label them as our "enemy" just because we have moral concerns and disagree with elements of their internal affairs? As a prime example, we made Saddam Hussein "our enemy" with the whole WMD narrative, turning what was a morally problematic regime--which nonetheless maintained some balance of power in the region and among the factions within the country--into a target for a nightmare war from which we are still trying to handle repercussions. Had Saddam not been configured into "our enemy," maybe things might have turned out better in the long run, certainly for us and very possibly for the Iraqi people, too.
I am going to add one more. First, hopefully Heikki is reading the comments, but second, who let Putin invade in the first place? If Trump was in his pocket, why did he do it 2017-2020? The one they should have been worried about was Biden - and the Democrats - with their far left's cravenly weak policies.
This. We let Putin invade. We are the ones who really caused this war. To be honest, Russia should have been admitted into NATO about 10 years ago. You make far more progress by engaging people than you do by sanctioning them. You can put a price on it, but a seat at the negotiating table has to be on offer.
Hopefully Heikki and Alex didn’t read The Hill today with their story about how Trump “may have been captured as a KGB agent since he was 40 years old”. With all the “no one has provided any evidence” stuff after saying nonsense like that. If it were true that Trump as a Russian agent, Putin had from Jan 2017 to Jan 2021 to invade and yet he invaded when a weak, corrupt, unintelligent person was in office to do so.
No. You need to believe what the Finns know. The Russians will slit your throat and watch you bleed out. You don't ever trust them. History lived large in Finland. The remembered past. This isn't news, its history.
My take reading this, this person has been listening to Rachel Maddow for the last 8 years.
When does what a supposed Finnish observer have a take on American politics that makes any more difference than my take on Finnish politics would have?
Alex, one would hope that after so much evidence that Trump is neither a dictator nor an idiot, your TDS would start to abate at least a little bit. Apparently it is a terminal condition. I rely on you for my Covid news, and in that arena, you are king! Sadly, your opinion can't be trusted where world politics is concerned because you are incapable of seeing Trump with clear eyes.
I watched Trump talking a while back about the Middle East and he said some people can't negotiate because they don't have a high enough pain tolerance. And this seems to relate to some people who are uncomfortable about Trump's positions, especially initial positions where he insults both people and the status quo. But in order to undo the massive amount of damage done by the left the last 16 years it's definitely going to be uncomfortable at times.
One always MUST remember...it takes TIME to detox as a life long DEM. Alex has marinated in it his whole life. He like many DEMS are breaking free finally with their own personal experiences the past 5 years, but obviously not on the clear side of most things YET!
Yup. It’s the Gell-Mann amnesia thing with Alex. He is super knowledgeable about big pharma and generally cares about the truth, but absorbs other leftist media narratives uncritically because that’s what he’s used to and his immediate surroundings demand. Alex was incredibly brave on COVID and I accord him a lot of respect for that, but he remains a bit gullible on the Orange Man Bad stuff. And yes, I know Trump got rickrolled badly on Covid and that was a major mistake on his part, but as far as I can tell it was an honest one. If Trump was trying to bury that mistake in a harmful way, he would not have installed RFK Jr. and committed to MAHA. I take that to mean that although Trump views admitting mistakes as politically unacceptable, he is still open to rectifying them so much as can be done. Given everything else Trump is trying to do to fish this country out of the toilet, I can live with it.
I really don't get these people. Step up and go to the frontlines and fight if you want constant war! Giving up a few square miles of Ukraine territory is somehow going to stop Russia from invading Finland? Makes total sense to me. We should be bringing Russia into an alliance to stand up against Iran, China, etc., but instead they are our enemy now. Every sane person knows there is a hot place in hell for Putin after what he has done in Ukraine, but no one has made a good argument as to why the bloodshed should continue indefinitely unless you own stock in the military industrial complex.
Finlands leaders sold them down the river, due to a whole lot of globalist BS. Joining NATO will ultimately cost them billions and makes them a direct threat to Russia. Who benefited from this? Hmmmm....let me think. Oh yeah...NATO
they literally had to drug test her over this. although, i honestly doubt she or zelensky pass a legit drug test.
"Marin brushed off questions about whether she was in an appropriate condition, given the tensions between Helsinki and Moscow, in which to “lead the country” while she was at the party."
I think you need to calm down….there has been no talk of leaving NATO rather the other way around. Stop reading the European press it’s all liberal and slanted, yes I lived in Germany and have a degree from a German University. So I had to sit in classes and listen to the drivel….
What I hear is hysterical and a bit over the top….let things play out more than a week.
I do have a problem with all of the pro killing support of the Euros….Ukraine has lost through emigration and war more than a third of it population, realistically to survive the war has to stop.
Personally I worry more about the mothers brothers sister fathers that are burying their was dead everyday rather the the butt hurt your leaders feel when the feed bowl is being taken away.
Exactly- ask yourself who wants to stop the killing? Zielinsky does not care about Ukrainian lives. Now he wants to force 18 year olds to fight. I guess losing 1 generation of men is not enough. Russia has every right to protect their borders & sovereignty. Allowing NATO to continue to push east, after being promised “not an inch” is understandably Putin’s red line. Biden did not communicate with Putin at all during the war. That’s nuts - unless there was money & power to be had. President Trump is not a fool or a sucker; and he’s following through on his promise to end the killing. I think Finland is the sucker by believing globalist & joining nato.
I do care about Finland, Ukraine, and the rest. However, I also know that we/Ukraine are not willing and able to beat back Russia to previous borders. In other words, my caring is real but is also limited. Also, I do buy the story that we did, to an extent, provoke Russia with NATO approaching their border, and that was an error that has cost many lives. - USA taxpayer
And I also fear that Finland got conned into joining NATO, which actually is only a further provocation. Finland was 200 miles from St. Petersburg before 2022 and managed just fine. I’m still scratching my head about why the Europeans embarked on a maximalist anti-Russia economic and military campaign so immediately. Why was Biden able to drive them off this cliff?
It's about the Energy/oil, the globalists want a pipeline through Syria to continue control of Europe. Controlling Ukraine made it possible to disrupt Russia's supply of energy to Europe.
Biden essentially nodded to Putin he could get away with invading Ukraine with the shameful Afghanistan debacle. Then things got worse when Biden didn't give Ukraine enough resources to put a stop to the not-so-surprising Putin invasion.
Putin had also warned about NATO coming to close (remember the Cuban too close for comfort missal crisis?) and clearly he considered reclaiming Ukraine justified based on the fact Ukraine has in recent history (willingly or unwillingly) been part of the USSR.
So yes Putin is a very bad man and guilty of many horrors. That said, his behavior has been perfectly logical.
From Ukraine's point of view they should be able to decide when to stop fighting, the only problem being Americans have been paying to protect Ukraine's borders while our own borders were wide open to a horrific invasion we were also paying for! To add to this I hope it is fully understood how corrupt Ukraine was, is and continues to be, with many reports of billions in our aid enriching Ukrainian oligarchs that I suspect are true.
Zelensky may or may not actually be a dictator as elections aren't usually held during war, but that said, my guess is Zelensky thought he could throw his weight around with Trump and force Trump to give him whatever he asked for and Trump did NOT like that. Rightly so since Mr Trump is going as fast as he can to keep promises he made to us, the American public. America first? Remember that? Trump takes that seriously and we are in debt up to our eyeballs and bleeding billions for all kinds of things the American public does NOT want, including paying for endless wars. How many more dead Ukrainians and Russians before Zelensky is ready to throw in the towel and by then how much more turf will Russia have gained?
My guess is Trump is taking all of this into account, along with his correct thinking Europe needs to step up to the plate. Watching Macron the other day and listening to what he said I got the idea Trump had forced Macron into being a better leader of both his own country and of the European Union at a time when he (Macron) was in political danger himself, along with all the other leaders in Europe - all of whom have betrayed their own people with all the same egregious far left wing Marxist horrors Biden (or his handlers) foisted on us.
So I think Trump is playing 3D chess and if he can stop the bleeding of men and money, get Europe to take their own security seriously, flatter Putin 'just enough' instead of inflaming him so he aligns with China, get access to some of the minerals which would otherwise be taken by Russia or China and use that connection to have a reason to protect Ukraine, I'd say what he is doing makes sense. Above all people should understand Trump will turn on any of these leaders, PUTIN ESPECIALLY, if he/they do not fall in line with what Trump wants/expects.
To think Trump is now Putin's best friend is ridiculous. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.....
Of course Biden would not end the war. Do you know how much graft is possible when the billions flow to support a war? Oh, my, Biden and his ilk have profited nicely. Shame about all the dead Ukrainians bleeding out in ditches.
Well said: "So yes Putin is a very bad man and guilty of many horrors. That said, his behavior has been perfectly logical." Exactly.
"Above all people should understand Trump will turn on any of these leaders, PUTIN ESPECIALLY, if he/they do not fall in line with what Trump wants/expects. To think Trump is now Putin's best friend is ridiculous." This makes a lot of sense and is the opposite of the whole MSM narrative going back to 2016!
I’m guessing the Finn is not now and never has been aware of the promises made by James Baker and countless other US officials regarding eastern expansion of NATO. Western officials have been lying to Russia about that for decades. I suspect that if Finland treated Russia the way they would like to be treated themselves things could work out. Today is not 1939
agree mostly. Finland has been very good at playing the survival game. (ultimate proof is they got away with being germany's allies for 3-4 years and came out with their reputation, and country, intact.) But trusting Russia (or the USA) would be a mistake on their part.
Heikki. I think it's a Texas Hold 'Em. You gotta know when to hold, when to fold, when to walk away and when to run. I doubt Putin and Trump have any love for each other, but no matter how much US taxpayer dollars we throw at Ukraine, they are not gonna win. Why keep throwing good money after badly spent dollars? Regretful but realistic. Meanwhile, the United States is going down the hole in debt, and THEN WHO WILL SAVE THE WORLD WHEN WE ARE THOROUGHLY TRASHED? I do not believe most people in Europe or elsewhere fully understand JUST HOW BAD IT HAS GOTTEN HERE. It's bad. We can't retire. We can't buy stuff. Utilities, rent, food, everything is ridiculous and drugs and crime are ridiculous. The United States just has to stop throwing money on the table and losing. It's stupid to play the game and keep losing and hoping to win. Trump is a lot of weird things, but one thing he is not is stupid.
Bam!!!! Totally agree....Ukraine is on the losing end of the stick. They are losing the war and the loss of Ukrainian life cannot be ignored. We can no longer afford to financially support these European conflicts. And I am tired of making the military industrial complex filthy rich with all these dam wars. Trump it a negotiator but Ukraine has to be willing to negotiate. I hope Trump has told Zelinsky we are all out of money....so negotiate an end to the conflict or you are on your own.
REALLY not interested in straightening out Europe for a third time. If Finland's sovereignty is so important, maybe they should spend more on Defense. If I lived next to Russia, my first thought would be 2.4% of GDP on Defense isn't cutting it.
N = 1 and with a bias. Ukraine is not our problem. If you feel it is, send them a check or go over there are pick up a rifle. Good grief , enough already.
I think there is a false dichotomy pushed out there that you have to either be drooling over Zelenskyy or you are a Putin apologist. It seems like there is a a reasonable approach that could consist of calling out Zelenskyy's failures, while recognizing that we should negotiate when possible with adversaries (especially the nuclear armed ones) but still not necessarily believe Putin is a "good guy". I, personally, don't think that is walking a fine line.
Here here. In addition, I never see evidence of the claims that "Putin" wants to take over Europe. So far, what Russia has done in the Ukraine and Georgia can be explained by aggressive NATO expansion and the anti-Russian hysteria from the UK government (and mimic'ed by the Americans, because our institutional elites always want the British to like us.) I don't excuse what Russia has done, but it can certainly be explained and could have been prevented with actual good-faith negotiation.
I just don't understand why Russia "has" to be our enemy. We have much in common with the state of Russia and the Russian people.
Nuance has been lost. And with that common sense, the ability to negotiate win-win deals, the ability to investigate crazy solutions, and humor. Everything has become a life-or-death fine line. It’s so aggravating.
"But internationally, is he singlehandedly rewriting the US foreign policy?"
Clearly, the President of the United States is interfering with policy. This needs to be stopped! I wonder where Trump gets the crazy idea that he has that kind of authority.
It's easy to understand why he says this, when you realize he believes in the "Institutional" model of democracy. Mike Benz's podcast with Joe Rogan opened by my eyes to this.
1939? Really Alex? That has zero relevance right now. This is the nuclear age and Nazi/Russian expansionism is a thing of the past. WWII will never happen again, at least not in the way it did nearly 100 years ago. Trump is sick of the US funding the destruction of Ukraine so that so many elites can get rich. This war never should have happened, NATOs expansionism is a worse threat than Russia.
Heikki needs to stop consuming mainstream news/ globalist narratives
It's not just the narratives of others, it's the lack of historical perspective and common sense. If you want to make peace (or even gain allies as we did with Stalin in World War II) you have to find common ground where everyone gains something. Putin is an adversary, but he needs to have a reason to make peace otherwise the war will continue. Bashing Putin and boxing him into a corner will not result in peace, it will escalate the war, with hundreds of thousands of more people killed and maimed. President Trump is trying to end the war between Ukraine and Russia, on terms that will benefit everyone involved. Heikki needs to set his animus and revulsion for Putin aside and look at this realistically. If there is no peace eventually Russia will defeat Ukraine. Russia has more resources, more people and a determined leader. How many people have to die before cooler heads prevail? And what about the risk of the war expanding or another world war breaking out? It's long past time to make peace, for the sake of everyone involved. Any peace deal needs to be lasting though, a temporary ceasefire would not be worthwhile.
That was my own conclusion. This letter comes off as someone who watches Rachel Maddow... even trying to be reasonable, he betrays himself by listing all the most rediculous ideas first for Trump's motivations. Trump has been 100% clear in his motivation to place America first, end the war, make Europe pay for their own defense, and concentrate on China.
Not sure he watches Rachel Maddow. If the FIns are being subjected to Rachel, they have cause to drop out of NATO.
LOL
And one more: "My view: never even think of trusting a Russian politician. Full stop." Drop the "Russian" and you are even more accurate. And Trump is NOT a politician, but a businessman and President twice now. He isn't a Biden who spent 50+ years in DC dividing people and never accomplishing anything.
I’m in France right now and there is no wonder why they think the way they think. Sky News International is NON STOP Trump and how radical he is. They are the MSDNC of WEU
I've heard many people refer to Sky NEWS that exact way
"Is he singlehandedly rewriting the US foreign policy?" - No, he got a majority of the votes who want the US funding fewer wars and less involved with wars around the world so there are 10 times the population of Finland who are rewriting it.
Is the Heikki advocating against “democracy”? Perhaps if so, she is a Putin sympathizer? But then again Ukraine hasn’t had an election in a while either. All these globalists seem to be on that same page - against “democracy” and pro-control over the populations of their counties.
Another example of the globalist narratives: "do you and the American people believe Russia is as of this month no longer your enemy?" Just because you don't like one leader doesn't mean you have to like the other, e.g. Putin vs Zelenskyy. Was the USSR an ally in WW2 by the end? Yes. Was Stalin a monster? Yes. Was Hitler a monster? Yes.
Trump's goal is to decrease the China/Russia partnership because having two authoritarian groups working together destabilizes the world.
Well said, and would add that Russia isn't or shouldn't be by nature "our enemy" unless we choose to make them so. When the USSR pushed communist revolution worldwide, it was arguably very much an enemy to the USA, but contemporary Russia/Putin has done nothing comparable to threaten our interests, so why label them as our "enemy" just because we have moral concerns and disagree with elements of their internal affairs? As a prime example, we made Saddam Hussein "our enemy" with the whole WMD narrative, turning what was a morally problematic regime--which nonetheless maintained some balance of power in the region and among the factions within the country--into a target for a nightmare war from which we are still trying to handle repercussions. Had Saddam not been configured into "our enemy," maybe things might have turned out better in the long run, certainly for us and very possibly for the Iraqi people, too.
100%! I was just gonna write the exact same thing.
I am going to add one more. First, hopefully Heikki is reading the comments, but second, who let Putin invade in the first place? If Trump was in his pocket, why did he do it 2017-2020? The one they should have been worried about was Biden - and the Democrats - with their far left's cravenly weak policies.
This. We let Putin invade. We are the ones who really caused this war. To be honest, Russia should have been admitted into NATO about 10 years ago. You make far more progress by engaging people than you do by sanctioning them. You can put a price on it, but a seat at the negotiating table has to be on offer.
Well said ⁵BB
Hopefully Heikki and Alex didn’t read The Hill today with their story about how Trump “may have been captured as a KGB agent since he was 40 years old”. With all the “no one has provided any evidence” stuff after saying nonsense like that. If it were true that Trump as a Russian agent, Putin had from Jan 2017 to Jan 2021 to invade and yet he invaded when a weak, corrupt, unintelligent person was in office to do so.
No. You need to believe what the Finns know. The Russians will slit your throat and watch you bleed out. You don't ever trust them. History lived large in Finland. The remembered past. This isn't news, its history.
This is the type of hysterical exagerated nonsense that prevents pragmatic peace from being achieved.
Have Russians committed murderous atrocities in the past to advance their interests? Of course. Hasn't every country?
"There are only murderers in this room."
Attempting to somehow single Russia out as unique is ignoring the history you take pains to emphasize.
My take reading this, this person has been listening to Rachel Maddow for the last 8 years.
When does what a supposed Finnish observer have a take on American politics that makes any more difference than my take on Finnish politics would have?
I know- "But Putin!!!"
👍🏻
LOL
"But Putin!"
"But Trump!"
Unhinged.
It sounds like she is on the Putin side since she is “anti-democracy” since Trump won. lol
Alex, one would hope that after so much evidence that Trump is neither a dictator nor an idiot, your TDS would start to abate at least a little bit. Apparently it is a terminal condition. I rely on you for my Covid news, and in that arena, you are king! Sadly, your opinion can't be trusted where world politics is concerned because you are incapable of seeing Trump with clear eyes.
"... Trump's embrace of Putin..."
What does this even mean, Alex?
"Russian aggression"
"... they know Russians ..."
"... a lot of good people are very worried..."
This language really betrays Alex's wordview on this. Judgement. No nuance or understanding.
Russia/Putin/Russians == BAD.
Those who fight Russia/Putin/Russians == GOOD
This is beneath what we expect of you, Alex! Read the comments.
I watched Trump talking a while back about the Middle East and he said some people can't negotiate because they don't have a high enough pain tolerance. And this seems to relate to some people who are uncomfortable about Trump's positions, especially initial positions where he insults both people and the status quo. But in order to undo the massive amount of damage done by the left the last 16 years it's definitely going to be uncomfortable at times.
Exactly...he cuts to the chase as most will not dare try
One always MUST remember...it takes TIME to detox as a life long DEM. Alex has marinated in it his whole life. He like many DEMS are breaking free finally with their own personal experiences the past 5 years, but obviously not on the clear side of most things YET!
Phil16….You summed Alex up to a capital “T”!!
Yup. It’s the Gell-Mann amnesia thing with Alex. He is super knowledgeable about big pharma and generally cares about the truth, but absorbs other leftist media narratives uncritically because that’s what he’s used to and his immediate surroundings demand. Alex was incredibly brave on COVID and I accord him a lot of respect for that, but he remains a bit gullible on the Orange Man Bad stuff. And yes, I know Trump got rickrolled badly on Covid and that was a major mistake on his part, but as far as I can tell it was an honest one. If Trump was trying to bury that mistake in a harmful way, he would not have installed RFK Jr. and committed to MAHA. I take that to mean that although Trump views admitting mistakes as politically unacceptable, he is still open to rectifying them so much as can be done. Given everything else Trump is trying to do to fish this country out of the toilet, I can live with it.
I agree stick to covid Alex or maybe some recipes if you are stuck?
100%
I really don't get these people. Step up and go to the frontlines and fight if you want constant war! Giving up a few square miles of Ukraine territory is somehow going to stop Russia from invading Finland? Makes total sense to me. We should be bringing Russia into an alliance to stand up against Iran, China, etc., but instead they are our enemy now. Every sane person knows there is a hot place in hell for Putin after what he has done in Ukraine, but no one has made a good argument as to why the bloodshed should continue indefinitely unless you own stock in the military industrial complex.
Well said!
Finlands leaders sold them down the river, due to a whole lot of globalist BS. Joining NATO will ultimately cost them billions and makes them a direct threat to Russia. Who benefited from this? Hmmmm....let me think. Oh yeah...NATO
they literally had to drug test her over this. although, i honestly doubt she or zelensky pass a legit drug test.
"Marin brushed off questions about whether she was in an appropriate condition, given the tensions between Helsinki and Moscow, in which to “lead the country” while she was at the party."
https://www.politico.eu/article/finlands-sanna-marin-drug-test-leaked-dancing-video/
I think you need to calm down….there has been no talk of leaving NATO rather the other way around. Stop reading the European press it’s all liberal and slanted, yes I lived in Germany and have a degree from a German University. So I had to sit in classes and listen to the drivel….
What I hear is hysterical and a bit over the top….let things play out more than a week.
I do have a problem with all of the pro killing support of the Euros….Ukraine has lost through emigration and war more than a third of it population, realistically to survive the war has to stop.
Personally I worry more about the mothers brothers sister fathers that are burying their was dead everyday rather the the butt hurt your leaders feel when the feed bowl is being taken away.
Exactly- ask yourself who wants to stop the killing? Zielinsky does not care about Ukrainian lives. Now he wants to force 18 year olds to fight. I guess losing 1 generation of men is not enough. Russia has every right to protect their borders & sovereignty. Allowing NATO to continue to push east, after being promised “not an inch” is understandably Putin’s red line. Biden did not communicate with Putin at all during the war. That’s nuts - unless there was money & power to be had. President Trump is not a fool or a sucker; and he’s following through on his promise to end the killing. I think Finland is the sucker by believing globalist & joining nato.
No taxpayer in America gives a crap about Finland. The gravy train is over baby
I do care about Finland, Ukraine, and the rest. However, I also know that we/Ukraine are not willing and able to beat back Russia to previous borders. In other words, my caring is real but is also limited. Also, I do buy the story that we did, to an extent, provoke Russia with NATO approaching their border, and that was an error that has cost many lives. - USA taxpayer
And I also fear that Finland got conned into joining NATO, which actually is only a further provocation. Finland was 200 miles from St. Petersburg before 2022 and managed just fine. I’m still scratching my head about why the Europeans embarked on a maximalist anti-Russia economic and military campaign so immediately. Why was Biden able to drive them off this cliff?
They both serve the same masters, would be my guess. And as Gen. Smedley Butler once said, "war is a racket".
It seems like we’re funding an expansionist EU
It's about the Energy/oil, the globalists want a pipeline through Syria to continue control of Europe. Controlling Ukraine made it possible to disrupt Russia's supply of energy to Europe.
So why would Europe go along with this?
I am in this same place generally speaking.
Biden essentially nodded to Putin he could get away with invading Ukraine with the shameful Afghanistan debacle. Then things got worse when Biden didn't give Ukraine enough resources to put a stop to the not-so-surprising Putin invasion.
Putin had also warned about NATO coming to close (remember the Cuban too close for comfort missal crisis?) and clearly he considered reclaiming Ukraine justified based on the fact Ukraine has in recent history (willingly or unwillingly) been part of the USSR.
So yes Putin is a very bad man and guilty of many horrors. That said, his behavior has been perfectly logical.
From Ukraine's point of view they should be able to decide when to stop fighting, the only problem being Americans have been paying to protect Ukraine's borders while our own borders were wide open to a horrific invasion we were also paying for! To add to this I hope it is fully understood how corrupt Ukraine was, is and continues to be, with many reports of billions in our aid enriching Ukrainian oligarchs that I suspect are true.
Zelensky may or may not actually be a dictator as elections aren't usually held during war, but that said, my guess is Zelensky thought he could throw his weight around with Trump and force Trump to give him whatever he asked for and Trump did NOT like that. Rightly so since Mr Trump is going as fast as he can to keep promises he made to us, the American public. America first? Remember that? Trump takes that seriously and we are in debt up to our eyeballs and bleeding billions for all kinds of things the American public does NOT want, including paying for endless wars. How many more dead Ukrainians and Russians before Zelensky is ready to throw in the towel and by then how much more turf will Russia have gained?
My guess is Trump is taking all of this into account, along with his correct thinking Europe needs to step up to the plate. Watching Macron the other day and listening to what he said I got the idea Trump had forced Macron into being a better leader of both his own country and of the European Union at a time when he (Macron) was in political danger himself, along with all the other leaders in Europe - all of whom have betrayed their own people with all the same egregious far left wing Marxist horrors Biden (or his handlers) foisted on us.
So I think Trump is playing 3D chess and if he can stop the bleeding of men and money, get Europe to take their own security seriously, flatter Putin 'just enough' instead of inflaming him so he aligns with China, get access to some of the minerals which would otherwise be taken by Russia or China and use that connection to have a reason to protect Ukraine, I'd say what he is doing makes sense. Above all people should understand Trump will turn on any of these leaders, PUTIN ESPECIALLY, if he/they do not fall in line with what Trump wants/expects.
To think Trump is now Putin's best friend is ridiculous. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.....
Of course Biden would not end the war. Do you know how much graft is possible when the billions flow to support a war? Oh, my, Biden and his ilk have profited nicely. Shame about all the dead Ukrainians bleeding out in ditches.
Well said: "So yes Putin is a very bad man and guilty of many horrors. That said, his behavior has been perfectly logical." Exactly.
"Above all people should understand Trump will turn on any of these leaders, PUTIN ESPECIALLY, if he/they do not fall in line with what Trump wants/expects. To think Trump is now Putin's best friend is ridiculous." This makes a lot of sense and is the opposite of the whole MSM narrative going back to 2016!
I’m guessing the Finn is not now and never has been aware of the promises made by James Baker and countless other US officials regarding eastern expansion of NATO. Western officials have been lying to Russia about that for decades. I suspect that if Finland treated Russia the way they would like to be treated themselves things could work out. Today is not 1939
agree mostly. Finland has been very good at playing the survival game. (ultimate proof is they got away with being germany's allies for 3-4 years and came out with their reputation, and country, intact.) But trusting Russia (or the USA) would be a mistake on their part.
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Heikki. I think it's a Texas Hold 'Em. You gotta know when to hold, when to fold, when to walk away and when to run. I doubt Putin and Trump have any love for each other, but no matter how much US taxpayer dollars we throw at Ukraine, they are not gonna win. Why keep throwing good money after badly spent dollars? Regretful but realistic. Meanwhile, the United States is going down the hole in debt, and THEN WHO WILL SAVE THE WORLD WHEN WE ARE THOROUGHLY TRASHED? I do not believe most people in Europe or elsewhere fully understand JUST HOW BAD IT HAS GOTTEN HERE. It's bad. We can't retire. We can't buy stuff. Utilities, rent, food, everything is ridiculous and drugs and crime are ridiculous. The United States just has to stop throwing money on the table and losing. It's stupid to play the game and keep losing and hoping to win. Trump is a lot of weird things, but one thing he is not is stupid.
Bam!!!! Totally agree....Ukraine is on the losing end of the stick. They are losing the war and the loss of Ukrainian life cannot be ignored. We can no longer afford to financially support these European conflicts. And I am tired of making the military industrial complex filthy rich with all these dam wars. Trump it a negotiator but Ukraine has to be willing to negotiate. I hope Trump has told Zelinsky we are all out of money....so negotiate an end to the conflict or you are on your own.
REALLY not interested in straightening out Europe for a third time. If Finland's sovereignty is so important, maybe they should spend more on Defense. If I lived next to Russia, my first thought would be 2.4% of GDP on Defense isn't cutting it.
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N = 1 and with a bias. Ukraine is not our problem. If you feel it is, send them a check or go over there are pick up a rifle. Good grief , enough already.
I think there is a false dichotomy pushed out there that you have to either be drooling over Zelenskyy or you are a Putin apologist. It seems like there is a a reasonable approach that could consist of calling out Zelenskyy's failures, while recognizing that we should negotiate when possible with adversaries (especially the nuclear armed ones) but still not necessarily believe Putin is a "good guy". I, personally, don't think that is walking a fine line.
Here here. In addition, I never see evidence of the claims that "Putin" wants to take over Europe. So far, what Russia has done in the Ukraine and Georgia can be explained by aggressive NATO expansion and the anti-Russian hysteria from the UK government (and mimic'ed by the Americans, because our institutional elites always want the British to like us.) I don't excuse what Russia has done, but it can certainly be explained and could have been prevented with actual good-faith negotiation.
I just don't understand why Russia "has" to be our enemy. We have much in common with the state of Russia and the Russian people.
Nuance has been lost. And with that common sense, the ability to negotiate win-win deals, the ability to investigate crazy solutions, and humor. Everything has become a life-or-death fine line. It’s so aggravating.
"But internationally, is he singlehandedly rewriting the US foreign policy?"
Clearly, the President of the United States is interfering with policy. This needs to be stopped! I wonder where Trump gets the crazy idea that he has that kind of authority.
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I know, right? He's a threat to duhmacroz!!
It's easy to understand why he says this, when you realize he believes in the "Institutional" model of democracy. Mike Benz's podcast with Joe Rogan opened by my eyes to this.
I never “shoot the messenger “, but this appears to be a little bit of hysterical thinking.
1939? Really Alex? That has zero relevance right now. This is the nuclear age and Nazi/Russian expansionism is a thing of the past. WWII will never happen again, at least not in the way it did nearly 100 years ago. Trump is sick of the US funding the destruction of Ukraine so that so many elites can get rich. This war never should have happened, NATOs expansionism is a worse threat than Russia.
these countries are retarded to declare themselves enemies of russia and then cry when we don't care