Ukraine

All the more reason to keep talking.

As the old saying goes, keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

As it stands right now, Putin has no way of knowing NATO intentions. He can only guess. What if he guesses that NATO is planning Russia's destruction and defeat, and preemptively launches nukes? What if NATO guesses wrong. Same outcome.

What incentive does Putin have to give up now? He'll look weak, and defeated.

What if Putin knows that we won't accept him attacking his neighbours, but we're here to help rebuild peace if he behaves?

If we or anyone else cut him off and aid his defeat without any diplomacy, then we are exactly as bad as him.

 

It's like every these days, when the crisis starts we are given lots of one sided information.
It's only after a while that the truth starts to come out in dribs and drabs

Russia was wrong to invade Ukraine but it's nowhere near as simple as we were told in day one.

 

I half agree. But then I've seen kids fight over one toy, while there's an identical toy right there, unused.

But I agree with the sentiment. I remember the first time I went on holiday to Spain with my parents. My little sister went missing and we were all searching frantically. We found her safe and sound, playing with a local kid. They couldn't speak a word of each others language but that didn't stop them playing perfectly happily together.

By that same token, I've often wondered how people traded and built empires together thousands of years ago, when even today in the modern world we can't seem to communicate effectively across the language barrier, except through violence.

 

Politics and religion.
Take them away and the world would be a safer place.

 

I always tend to think of it as greed, wanting what someone else has.

 

Does Ukraine have oil, not something I've heard mention.
I did hear that Russia stole all Ukraine's grain many years ago and Ukrainians were dying of starvation.

 

Ukraine has a massive belt of coal, spanning most of the Donbas region. There's still a depressingly huge demand for coal.

 

A huge section of the country has soil so naturally rich in humous they have a special name for it, which unfortunately I can't remember, but apparently the soil is nearly black with it, and it's entirely natural, not added by farmers.

There's an insult in Ukraine, it translates as 'put some seeds in your pocket, then at least flowers will grow where you die'.

 

Do you mean Chernozem @Clueless 1 v2 ?

 

That's the one, yes. Thanks.