Russians Pull Back........

[ToraToraTora]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60386141
...but the west is "Disgraced and destroyed" - right oh!

[bhg481]

I'm not convinced there ever was going to be an invasion. I know the Russians can't be trusted but they are very good at chess, a tactical game.

[anneasquith]

Its a positive step .

[poorclare]

Great news, Thank you

[ichkeria]

"But a Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said the day "will go into history as the day western war propaganda failed. They have been disgraced and destroyed without a single shot being fired."

Maria Zakharova is a grotesque figure.
However, as I said before a couple of times, if Russia wants to make a propaganda victory out of this then whatwver floats their boat.
"Jaw jaw" etc as someone once said.
Of course you can never take anything they say seriously until you see it with your own eyes, and hopefully the "eyes in the sky" and elsewhere will back this up.

[pat2604]

I married one! So no insults please ;0)

[ichkeria]

Of course I was talking about the government pat

But ask your husband what "vranyo" is ;-)

[Stickybottle]

bhg481
I'm not convinced there ever was going to be an invasion. I know the Russians can't be trusted but they are very good at chess, a tactical game.
———
Totally agree

Just Mad Vlad telling Ukraine to forget the NATO idea for the foreseeable future and a bit of West-baiting in the process

He is nuts but no Stalin

[Ken4155]

Oh goody. Now we can all get back to Covid and 'Party-gate' :-J

[ichkeria]

If you say you aren't going to invade then it means that when you back off you can claim it was all scaremongering.
Putin probably knows he cannot stop Ukraine joining NATO, but at the end of the day he does hold a very large stick, and he knows that by waving it he may get concessions.
There are plenty of avenues for discussion: there's the situation in E Ukraine, there's the possibility of re-STARTing the missiles treaty etc.

[ichkeria]

I don't know if anyone saw The Rise of the Nazis last night.
It made uncomfortable viewing given the current situation.
Three million Germans on the Soviet border and Stalin refused to do anything.
Probably only saved by the fact that Hitler was nuts.

[Stickybottle]

Ken4155
Oh goody. Now we can all get back to Covid and 'Party-gate' :-J
——-
Indeed
Bozo must be gutted that a de-escalation means there is no distraction any more to his failings as the country awaits Gray 2.0 and whatever the Dick-less hounds at the Met sniff out

lol !

[maggiebee]

Ah yes, great news. I bet Putin et al were all shaking in their shoes at the thought of BoJo wading in to sort things out. As TTT would say PMSL,

[bhg481]

If I were changing energy supplier at the moment I would go for a 1-year rather than a 2-year fixed tariff. Things are too volatile at the moment to fix for 2 years.

[bhg481]

Sorry wrong thread.

[ichkeria]

I probably wouldn’t get too excited until independent verification of a genuine stand down is produced.
The Russians have had 60% of their ground forces surrounding Ukraine. Not to mention the Air Force, navy and missile systems.
Mind you saying “February 15 will go down in history as the day the West was defeated without a shot being fired” is quite a statement.

[Ken4155]

^
True, ich, but did we expect anything less than willy waving and posturing from the Russian hierarchy?

[poorclare]

Ken you forgot the protocol oops thats Northern Ireland
forget about it. as Boris said lets get on with Brexit

(Northern Ireland voted to remain IS that why Boris said
what he said/did)

[ichkeria]

The point is, it would be hard for them now to spoil such a historic occasion it by going and doing exactly what the wicked west said they would do.

It is worth always bearing in mind that a lot of this is for domestic consumption. Russian media blames everything on the US, the west and NATO. I ouldn't be surprised if they come up with a story that the CIA spiked "Unclean Kamila"'s orange squash :-)

[douglas9401]

Don't be Russian to judgement.

[Khandro]

So the West's weak leaders who have been trying to portray the immanent threat of invasion - Biden, Macron, & Johnson - in order to deflect from their own domestic precarious positions can now try to claim credit for saving their electorates from an imaginary full-scale war: all done btw at a comfortable distance from the perceived 'battle zone'.

Anyone who can't understand why Russia doesn't want Ukraine in NATO, shouldn't be in any Premiership position (notably the above named trio). Putin is right to establish that as a red line and anyone in their right mind can understand that considering the history of the region.