The problem with “hurting” the people around him is that it puts them all in the same dingy - is there then any advantage in sinking it or getting rid of the most able sailor? As it is right now, they are all probably thinking that Putin will survive this and in a few years time this will all be swept under the carpet and all will be back to normal. The sanctions approach will surely have to applied for years possibly decades(?) if Putin survives…
Meanwhile. try as you might to carry out precision sanctions, as with precision bombs, there will always collateral damage - we are in essence green lighting the “levelling” of ordinary Russians (socially and economically) - especially if sanctions go on for years/decades… I find the language of politicians a bit unsettling and disingenuous when they talk of targeted sanctions - somehow it echoes Rumsfeld and co, whilst trying to paint an overly rosy picture of the (likely) impact ordinary on people…
I wonder how many Ukrainians have a passport (young children for example), let alone a biometric one, and easy access to the internet and access to support for the application…
Is that a threat?
I mean will Russia really start sinking ships and airliners ifthe EU and Nato continue?
Bastards as I know they have already sunk ships!
No, it’s the repeated suggestion made by Russia that these MANPADS being provided to Ukraine will not only be used to shoot down the peace-keeping Russian bombers but also to target civil aviation too. Because the Ukrainians are all terrorists and nazis.
Hopefully there is a silver lining to this awful horrible mess… real investment in clean energy/ shift away from oil/gas. Get those electric cars made, make them better, and gain energy independence so the oil states don’t have as much influence.
In 20 years, i bet Europe has all clean energy and is energy independent, and then countries like the US will look at it and say wow, we should have that as well…
But for now everything sucks. Petrol in the states has hit an all time high as well.
That is clearly a threat from Russia, to take out civilian aircraft and ships, “in Europe and beyond”. Those last few words are significant, she’s saying Putin is prepared to escalate this madness.
Every day,I follow the news, hoping for this nightmare to stop and Putin has turned his armies around. But at the moment, I can’t see any signs for optimism and, in my opinion, military conflict between the west and Russia is inevitable, if Putin does not change course.
And in war obviously every shot, rocket, attack and death is meticulously recorded and investigated afterwards. No opportunity whatsoever for the Russians to down an airliner and blame it on a Ukrainian with a UK supplied AA missile. No sir. No chance.
