Ukraine

Even China can't buy all the stuff Russia is famous for - which isn't a lot. And at the moment they sit back and watch everything from the outside, still thinking about whether they should get involved or not.

Russia is not a rich country. They have a lot of military but even that is mostly outdated and only worth something when going up against a weaker enemy. Only thing that is saving them now is their nuclear arsenal keeping enemies that would see eye to eye at bay.

 

Let this be a lesson to our governments, no more Russian or Chinese, so called "investment " in our countries.

 

Massive inflation is guaranteed - supply and demand. Blocking access to the worlds banking system means that Russia will have to send truck loads of depreciating Roubles to China. They won't be able to transfer money from one bank to another. Having a supplier and then paying them - two different things.

 

Watching the lunchtime news was unbearably hearbreaking.

 

The Ukrainians can fight and watch Russia blow the place and the people to pieces or give in.
Neither option sounds good.

 

Difference is Ukrainian soldiers are fighting for their homes - Russian troops are fighting at the behest of a dictator.

I see that Poland are offering help to and taking in refugees - this is what it's all about - humanity.

 

I reckon that Chinese military won't get involved. They will probably have the same agreement with Russia as they have with North Korea - if you are attacked we will help you - but if you start the war you're on your own.

 

funny: I stopped listening to or watching the BBC a while back when it became apparent that Boris and James Murdoch’s threats to them had taken effect and they seemed to have become something of a Government mouthpiece - no longer even trying to hold the Government to account.

Funny how the same thing can be perceived so completely differently.

 

Truly. Absolutely heart breaking. War again in Europe. Will we never learn?

 

Chatted with an old Serb friend yesterday - always interesting to get a very different perspective. Basically it seems Russia’s friends are indulging themselves in a big old game of false equivalence (‘The west is just as bad’) and whataboutery (‘look what NATO has done all over the world’).

While we could argue about the first, the second is true but irrelevant. NATO
Behaving badly doesn’t excuse Russia…

I have to say that the huge amounts of Russian cash in the Uk and donated to the Conservative party are absolutely disgraceful. We have been corrupted completely by our appalling political class. And as others have rightly pointed out buying all the stuff we do from people who really do not have our interests at heart at all has been insanity. We should trade with Europeans to the extent we can - as we have more shared values, and for environmental reasons. Buying ‘cheap’ from Russia, China and Saudi is suddenly not looking quite so cheap after all

And Starmer can stick his war mongering - if I want a to vote for war mongering conservative, there’s a whole great big party of them right there already… what an absolute disgrace of a man he is.

 

Completely. On the one side running the BBC down has been the clear policy of the Tories for decades. Even when their 3 lead political journalists were notedly well right, the public was constantly told that they were a bed of socialists. The constant attacks on them has led them to them becoming so cautious in holding the government to account it’s ridiculous.

So no one trusts them - which is exactly what the conservatives want. Very self fulfilling prophecy there. The destruction of the BBC journalism is utterly tragic.