Sanctions on Russia

rustywalker82 said:The cheap energy that the European Union and Germany have been sucking up isn't some stroke of human genius; it’s just a gift from nature handed straight to Russia.
On the flip side, the fact that Germany doesn't have its own nuclear weapons is a man-made situation, and honestly, it's a huge reason why Ukraine is bleeding right now. The West was never truly invested in nuclear disarmament deals anyway, which is why you don't see any real pressure being put on a criminal, nuclear-armed Russia to disarm.
We're watching the consequences of that play out on the news every single night.

Germany remains an occupied state, essentially. There is zero chance they will arm themselves with nukes, and even their conventional military capabilities are highly questionable at best.

Anthony Hill5 said:Oh, how incredibly considerate they were. Did they bother to ask the Baltic states or the Poles for their opinion regarding Nord Stream? Of course not.

How foolish and naive German policy regarding Nord Stream 2 truly was has become painfully obvious to everyone today. Angela Merkel will be remembered in history as one of the most naive politicians of the modern era, and her policy of appeasement will go down in the annals of history right alongside Chamberlain's.

The Minsk agreement was a compromise that didn't strip Ukraine of its sovereignty, but rather restored it. In the Donbas, 83% voted for Ukrainian independence from Russia (the USSR), only to have 90% vote for autonomy just a few years later—though decades have already passed since then. It isn't all black and white, even regarding Russia; naturally, Russia politically supported the demand for such autonomy because they are themselves a federation (the Russian Federation). How much they were bluffing to achieve their actual criminal objectives is another matter entirely, but that has nothing to do with Germany or France.

The Minsk agreement was no compromise whatsoever; it was forcing Ukraine, under the threat of a Russian gun, to sign Minsk just so Germany and France could continue enjoying the blessings of peace and prosperity.

With that agreement, the Germans and the French essentially handed a handful of Putin's mafia thugs from the Donbas veto power over critical Ukrainian matters, such as joining NATO and the EU. The Minsk agreement effectively signaled the end of Ukrainian sovereignty and independence, which is precisely why it was never actually implemented.

Eight years after Minsk, we find ourselves facing exactly this situation today, thanks again—I repeat—to the misguided, naive, and utterly senseless policy of Germany.

It’s dangerous to assume Merkel was just being naive. Not at all—a truly naive person wouldn't have pushed things as far as she did. She was extremely ruthless... more like a deliberate undertaker for Europe...

Mark Harris66 said:It’s dangerous to assume Merkel was just being naive. Not at all—a truly naive person wouldn't have pushed things as far as she did. She was extremely ruthless... more like a deliberate undertaker for Europe...

Treating Germany as if they are the primary culprit is madness. A colleague of mine put it perfectly:

There is some German culpability here, but we need a more realistic perspective. Germany is burdened by historical guilt, which heavily influenced its decision-making. That is partly due to their own actions and partly due to the other Western nations that constantly stoked that sense of guilt. Now we find ourselves in a war in Europe—one of the few instances where Germany isn't directly to blame—yet forces still emerge to try and pin this entire debt of guilt on the Germans. It isn't fair. One must also consider the immense suffering the German people endured following the last war with Russia.
And Trump supporters look at this through the same one-dimensional lens. Trump never proved himself to be a reliable ally to Germany or the EU; instead, he viewed them as rivals. When you examine the relationships Merkel had to manage, what choice did she really have? Pick a fight with Russia? Or stay adrift? The West collectively bears responsibility for this, not just Germany. Had there been any collective will within the West to take decisive measures against Russia, Germany would have followed suit out of sheer inertia, just as they are doing now. Blaming Germany exclusively is simply incorrect.

It’s not crazy at all. It isn't just about how she messed up regarding Russia—she’s tripped up on so many other things too. If you look back at what I listed about her in other threads back in 2015🙂...
I mean, honestly, "naivety" is a pretty easy way to land a seat leading a superpower (you can't even get elected to lead a small local community of 2,000 people if you're that clueless, let alone hold a major global position)
. Sure, she’s not the only one to blame—there are plenty of others—but she definitely bears a huge chunk of it. She's responsible for a lot of the mess within the European Union.
Putin is the one responsible for the war in Ukraine.

This isn't some episode of "Servant of the People."

Let’s skip all the talk about being weighed down by guilt or making excuses🙂...

P.S. The West is never going to truly grasp Russia—they'll never understand how they actually think. Just look at how the West ignored everything happening in the USSR under Stalin... actually, they stayed silent about it (and according to Russian demographers, somewhere between 60 to 110 million people perished within the USSR from 1914 to 1958), while guys like Sartre were even finding excuses for that kind of situation. Sapienti sat.

Mark Harris66 said:It’s not crazy at all. It isn't just about how she messed up regarding Russia—she’s tripped up on so many other things too. If you look back at what I listed about her in other threads back in 2015🙂...
I mean, honestly, "naivety" is a pretty easy way to land a seat leading a superpower (you can't even get elected to lead a small local community of 2,000 people if you're that clueless, let alone hold a major global position)
. Sure, she’s not the only one to blame—there are plenty of others—but she definitely bears a huge chunk of it. She's responsible for a lot of the mess within the European Union.
Putin is the one responsible for the war in Ukraine.

This isn't some episode of "Servant of the People."

Let’s skip all the talk about being weighed down by guilt or making excuses🙂...

P.S. The West is never going to truly grasp Russia—they'll never understand how they actually think. Just look at how the West ignored everything happening in the USSR under Stalin... actually, they stayed silent about it (and according to Russian demographers, somewhere between 60 to 110 million people perished within the USSR from 1914 to 1958), while guys like Sartre were even finding excuses for that kind of situation. Sapienti sat.

Personally, I find this whole mantra a bit naive—this idea that the West will never understand Russia, or that Russians are somehow uniquely different... 🤦
Sorry, but romanticizing "Russian exceptionalism" is just an empty narrative.

It wasn't actually difficult for the West to figure out what the Russians wanted; the reality is they essentially behave and think exactly like the West did a century ago. They aren't introducing anything new or revolutionary; they are simply lagging behind, operating under the delusion that the rest of the world stopped spinning.
It's nothing more than a smaller-scale version of what we've witnessed in the North America: a volatile cocktail of mythomania and archaic nationalism that has been lost in both time and space.
Best regards,

rustywalker82 said:The cheap energy that the European Union and Germany have been sucking up isn't some stroke of human genius; it’s just a gift from nature handed straight to Russia.
On the flip side, the fact that Germany doesn't have its own nuclear weapons is a man-made situation, and honestly, it's a huge reason why Ukraine is bleeding right now. The West was never truly invested in nuclear disarmament deals anyway, which is why you don't see any real pressure being put on a criminal, nuclear-armed Russia to disarm.
We're watching the consequences of that play out on the news every single night.

Even Steinmeier has finally realized the sheer stupidity of his position and offered an apology to everyone, yet you persist in lecturing us about how Germans have nothing to do with this mess.

German President: I misjudged Putin

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who spent years advocating for the West to move closer to Russia, has expressed regret over his stance, admitting that his long-standing support for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was a massive blunder.

“My commitment to Nord Stream 2 was clearly a mistake,” Steinmeier stated. Many critics have pointed out that the now-defunct Nord Stream 2 will only serve to weaken Ukraine by cutting them out of the energy business.

“We clung to a connection that even Russia no longer believed in, despite our other partners warning us against it,” he added.

When Steinmeier organized a “solidarity concert” for Ukraine, Melnik took to Twitter to sarcastically remark that it seemed the Russians were the only soloists performing.

“That’s an insult. Sorry, but I’m not coming,” Melnik wrote.

Furthermore, Steinmeier is the architect behind the "Steinmeier formula" intended to facilitate a peace process in Ukraine just so Nord Stream could flow toward Germany as quickly as possible, ensuring poor Germany wouldn't suffer too much. Given your last five or six posts where you've been busy blaming Ukrainians, I can only hope you share Steinmeier's sentiment. ☕

Christian Bennett2 said:Treating Germany as if they are the primary culprit is madness. A colleague of mine put it perfectly:

There is some German culpability here, but we need a more realistic perspective. Germany is burdened by historical guilt, which heavily influenced its decision-making. That is partly due to their own actions and partly due to the other Western nations that constantly stoked that sense of guilt. Now we find ourselves in a war in Europe—one of the few instances where Germany isn't directly to blame—yet forces still emerge to try and pin this entire debt of guilt on the Germans. It isn't fair. One must also consider the immense suffering the German people endured following the last war with Russia.
And Trump supporters look at this through the same one-dimensional lens. Trump never proved himself to be a reliable ally to Germany or the EU; instead, he viewed them as rivals. When you examine the relationships Merkel had to manage, what choice did she really have? Pick a fight with Russia? Or stay adrift? The West collectively bears responsibility for this, not just Germany. Had there been any collective will within the West to take decisive measures against Russia, Germany would have followed suit out of sheer inertia, just as they are doing now. Blaming Germany exclusively is simply incorrect.

I don't think Germany is to blame here. I mean, you've got a nation of 80 million people relying on a single supply line like Nord Stream 1, and then they go ahead and plan Nord Stream 2 instead of building LNG terminals? You could interpret that in all sorts of malicious ways, I guess.

Even we have an LNG terminal, despite there being only 4 million of us, even though the Democrats fought against it.

Mark Harris66 said:It’s dangerous to assume Merkel was just being naive. Not at all—a truly naive person wouldn't have pushed things as far as she did. She was extremely ruthless... more like a deliberate undertaker for Europe...

Kohl was the one who pushed her into power, and she basically stabbed him in the back... she definitely isn't naive.

Christian Bennett2 said:Treating Germany as if they are the primary culprit is madness. A colleague of mine put it perfectly:

There is some German culpability here, but we need a more realistic perspective. Germany is burdened by historical guilt, which heavily influenced its decision-making. That is partly due to their own actions and partly due to the other Western nations that constantly stoked that sense of guilt. Now we find ourselves in a war in Europe—one of the few instances where Germany isn't directly to blame—yet forces still emerge to try and pin this entire debt of guilt on the Germans. It isn't fair. One must also consider the immense suffering the German people endured following the last war with Russia.
And Trump supporters look at this through the same one-dimensional lens. Trump never proved himself to be a reliable ally to Germany or the EU; instead, he viewed them as rivals. When you examine the relationships Merkel had to manage, what choice did she really have? Pick a fight with Russia? Or stay adrift? The West collectively bears responsibility for this, not just Germany. Had there been any collective will within the West to take decisive measures against Russia, Germany would have followed suit out of sheer inertia, just as they are doing now. Blaming Germany exclusively is simply incorrect.

There is certainly a sense of German culpability at play here, yet we must maintain a more realistic perspective on the matter. Germany remains weighed down by historical guilt, which is precisely why they have reached such decisions.

During WW2, Ukraine was bypassed just as Ribbentrop and Molotov bypassed them with a gas pipeline, so why should anyone feel any sense of historical guilt toward them? Ukrainians aren't even a nation, so there is absolutely no reason for it.

Kyle Nelson2 said:Kohl was the one who pushed her into power, and she basically stabbed him in the back... she definitely isn't naive.

What exactly do you mean by "driving a knife into someone's back"?🤔
Lp

Anthony Hill5 said:

There is certainly a sense of German culpability at play here, yet we must maintain a more realistic perspective on the matter. Germany remains weighed down by historical guilt, which is precisely why they have reached such decisions.

During WW2, Ukraine was bypassed just as Ribbentrop and Molotov bypassed them with a gas pipeline, so why should anyone feel any sense of historical guilt toward them? Ukrainians aren't even a nation, so there is absolutely no reason for it.

That’s a massive stretch. German policy was clearly a mess (pretty much right up until February 24th), and nobody is out here claiming they were saints. But comparing this to the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact is a reach. It’s vaguely reminiscent of the appeasement seen by the UK and France back in 1938—though, to be fair, we didn't have a Munich situation this time around; the Western powers didn't just roll over.

Should they have built some LNG terminals? Absolutely.
Should they have shuttered their nuclear plants ahead of schedule? Not a chance.

Gerald Chavez7 said:That’s a massive stretch. German policy was clearly a mess (pretty much right up until February 24th), and nobody is out here claiming they were saints. But comparing this to the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact is a reach. It’s vaguely reminiscent of the appeasement seen by the UK and France back in 1938—though, to be fair, we didn't have a Munich situation this time around; the Western powers didn't just roll over.

Should they have built some LNG terminals? Absolutely.
Should they have shuttered their nuclear plants ahead of schedule? Not a chance.

They essentially turned a blind eye to Putin's war in Georgia, the murder of Litvinenko, Politskajev, and the German operative, the poisoning of Skripal, the poisoning and imprisonment of Navalny, the poisoning of Karim Masaud, the daylight assassination of Kangošvili in a park in Berlin, the millions of war crimes and the destruction of hospitals across Syria, the annexation of Crimea, the orchestration and incitement of the war in Donbas, and the downing of MH17 which claimed hundreds of European lives, and so on and so forth.

Forgive me if I say this, but Chamberlain looks like a saint compared to Merkel and her brand of appeasement.

Not only did they prove themselves to be naive fools, but because of NS2, they effectively threw all the Baltic states under the bus—including Poland and several other Eastern European nations, not to mention the USA. In short, they dismantled the cohesion within the EU simply because it served their own interests, all at the behest of criminal Russia.

What has transpired here is a massive disgrace and a slap in the face to German leadership within the EU, one from which they won't recover for the next twenty years—unless they fundamentally shift their policy toward a firmer stance against China, though I suspect they will likely end up being a disruptive force there as well.

But they stuck to the rules about not shipping out weapons, so they just donated 5,000 helmets to Ukraine instead.

Okay, I guess things actually did change after all.

Anyway, the only one who was constantly sounding the alarm about Putin was John McCain.

Anthony Hill5 said:Even Steinmeier has finally realized the sheer stupidity of his position and offered an apology to everyone, yet you persist in lecturing us about how Germans have nothing to do with this mess.

German President: I misjudged Putin

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who spent years advocating for the West to move closer to Russia, has expressed regret over his stance, admitting that his long-standing support for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was a massive blunder.

“My commitment to Nord Stream 2 was clearly a mistake,” Steinmeier stated. Many critics have pointed out that the now-defunct Nord Stream 2 will only serve to weaken Ukraine by cutting them out of the energy business.

“We clung to a connection that even Russia no longer believed in, despite our other partners warning us against it,” he added.

When Steinmeier organized a “solidarity concert” for Ukraine, Melnik took to Twitter to sarcastically remark that it seemed the Russians were the only soloists performing.

“That’s an insult. Sorry, but I’m not coming,” Melnik wrote.

Furthermore, Steinmeier is the architect behind the "Steinmeier formula" intended to facilitate a peace process in Ukraine just so Nord Stream could flow toward Germany as quickly as possible, ensuring poor Germany wouldn't suffer too much. Given your last five or six posts where you've been busy blaming Ukrainians, I can only hope you share Steinmeier's sentiment. ☕

That’s a pretty sharp takeaway right there. I mean, after laying out all those facts about how everyone in Europe basically handed Putin a massive pile of cash by ignoring decarbonization—even while they were pouring billions into that German-French energy mess—it really hits home. It's wild when you look at it that way.

Nancy Gomez26 said:Germany remains an occupied state, essentially. There is zero chance they will arm themselves with nukes, and even their conventional military capabilities are highly questionable at best.

Look, let's stop obsessing over who wants to sit on a pile of nukes and start talking about the actual pressure we need to put on Russia and everyone else to finally get them to disarm. It’s a different conversation entirely.
Honestly, there’s just no excuse for Germany skipping out on signing that UN request for total nuclear disarmament. I mean, look at Austria—they stepped up and signed it. They're one of the few in Europe to actually do it, along with Ireland and Malta. It’s pretty hard to justify why Germany is sitting this one out when other neighbors are leading the way.
I was just digging through the latest updates on the signature and ratification status for the treaty, and man, there is a lot to unpack here. It’s one of those things that sounds pretty straightforward on paper, but once you start looking at who has actually signed off versus who has officially ratified it, the whole picture gets way more complicated. It’s kind of like when my buddy tried to organize a massive bachelor party trip to Vegas last summer. Everyone was all in on the idea—they "signed" the group chat poll, so to speak—but when it came down to actually putting money in the pot and booking the rooms, half the guys suddenly had "emergencies." That’s basically what we’re seeing here. You see these signatures piling up, which looks great for momentum, but without that formal ratification step, it's all just talk. If you look closely at the numbers, the gap between the two is telling. A lot of countries are willing to put their name on it to look good on the international stage, especially when they want to signal support for certain global standards. But actual ratification? That requires domestic legal hurdles, legislative votes, and a level of political commitment that most leaders aren't always ready to stomach. It really makes you wonder how much teeth this thing will actually have once the dust settles. Is it going to be a heavy-hitting agreement, or just another high-profile document that sits on a shelf in D.C. while everyone waits for the next big crisis to move the needle? I'm still processing the specifics, but the tension between intent and action is definitely the story here.

It’s easy to just sit back and say we're too scared to send peacekeepers to deal with Russian aggression because everyone's terrified of starting a nuclear war. It sounds good in theory, but honestly, it's a pretty simple way to look at a complicated mess.
The fact that they’re dragging their feet on nuclear disarmament? Honestly, it speaks volumes. You don't even need to dig deep into the details to see where this is headed. It tells you everything you need to know.

Anthony Hill5 said:They essentially turned a blind eye to Putin's war in Georgia, the murder of Litvinenko, Politskajev, and the German operative, the poisoning of Skripal, the poisoning and imprisonment of Navalny, the poisoning of Karim Masaud, the daylight assassination of Kangošvili in a park in Berlin, the millions of war crimes and the destruction of hospitals across Syria, the annexation of Crimea, the orchestration and incitement of the war in Donbas, and the downing of MH17 which claimed hundreds of European lives, and so on and so forth.

Forgive me if I say this, but Chamberlain looks like a saint compared to Merkel and her brand of appeasement.

Not only did they prove themselves to be naive fools, but because of NS2, they effectively threw all the Baltic states under the bus—including Poland and several other Eastern European nations, not to mention the USA. In short, they dismantled the cohesion within the EU simply because it served their own interests, all at the behest of criminal Russia.

What has transpired here is a massive disgrace and a slap in the face to German leadership within the EU, one from which they won't recover for the next twenty years—unless they fundamentally shift their policy toward a firmer stance against China, though I suspect they will likely end up being a disruptive force there as well.

You guys really glossed over the whole German situation.
The reality is that after WW2, Germany gave up all military ambitions and basically put themselves
entirely in the hands of America, who defended them and even fed them when Stalin blocked Berlin.
The Germans have always tried to dodge paying into the NATO treasury; they figured they could get a better deal by playing Russia, and they essentially surrendered all their agency to Putin's whims.
Even when Trump, and later Biden, threatened to scrap NS2, Merkel stayed firm—probably thinking that one day, Putin would just bypass Berlin entirely. There were plenty of voices in Germany warning that this exact thing would happen.

Let's look at a scenario where this war starts after the gas starts flowing through NS2, and Putin begins blackmailing them—either cutting it off or squeezing them dry.
If it weren't for America today, the Germans would be in the same boat as Poland, yet today they're spitting on Americans.🤦

Anyway, just so you know: euphemism and finger-pointing are two specialties of the German masters!

Even if the Germans had marched straight toward Moscow following the annexation of Crimea, they would have faced attacks all over again if only the spineless cowards in Washington weren't such pathetic pushovers.

Let the sinless cast the first stone...

@ David Torres2, do you really think Germany should be acting like Poland toward Russia?

Look at the math: Poland grabs hundreds of billions in EU donations from Germany and France, while Ukraine gets basically nothing. Then, just last year, they pull in $60 billion worth of goods from Russia and their protector China, but only export about $10 billion back. 🤣

Man, my dear Merkel and Steinmeier...

David Torres2 said:You guys really glossed over the whole German situation.
The reality is that after WW2, Germany gave up all military ambitions and basically put themselves
entirely in the hands of America, who defended them and even fed them when Stalin blocked Berlin.
The Germans have always tried to dodge paying into the NATO treasury; they figured they could get a better deal by playing Russia, and they essentially surrendered all their agency to Putin's whims.
Even when Trump, and later Biden, threatened to scrap NS2, Merkel stayed firm—probably thinking that one day, Putin would just bypass Berlin entirely. There were plenty of voices in Germany warning that this exact thing would happen.

Let's look at a scenario where this war starts after the gas starts flowing through NS2, and Putin begins blackmailing them—either cutting it off or squeezing them dry.
If it weren't for America today, the Germans would be in the same boat as Poland, yet today they're spitting on Americans.🤦

Anyway, just so you know: euphemism and finger-pointing are two specialties of the German masters!

Hyperbole much?

Back in 1990, the German military had over half a million soldiers, 2,000 Leopard 2s, 2,500 Leopard 1s, hundreds of F-4 Phantoms and Tornadoes, ballistic missiles, and so on. They were a cornerstone of NATO's defense for Western Europe.

But, like everyone else in Europe, they slashed their budgets drastically during the 90s and beyond.

So, basically, they’ve been letting Russia use their frozen gold reserves this whole time, and now they’ve finally decided to actually pull the plug on all those schemes for good?

Gerald Chavez7 said:Hyperbole much?

Back in 1990, the German military had over half a million soldiers, 2,000 Leopard 2s, 2,500 Leopard 1s, hundreds of F-4 Phantoms and Tornadoes, ballistic missiles, and so on. They were a cornerstone of NATO's defense for Western Europe.

But, like everyone else in Europe, they slashed their budgets drastically during the 90s and beyond.

Just before reunification in 1990, Germany committed
to limiting its military strength to a maximum of 370,000 personnel, under agreements made with the USA and the USSR.