The Situation in the Ukraine. #27

Russia is fully aware of the essence of NATO and its owner, the USA. The use of diplomatic tactics (including language such as "partners")
has borne fruits. It has allowed Russia to rebuild and rearm after 2000 with NATO expecting Russia to keep on disintegrating and assuming
Putin was the only factor that prevented total capitulation. History has demonstrated just how retarded NATO deciders are.

You can see Germany acting against the US agenda in spite of not being Russia's "friend". Russia loses nothing from Nord Stream II.
Ukraine is royally f*cked once Nord Stream II and Turk Stream come online and ramp up in the next couple of years. You will note
that Turkey isn't exactly Russia's best pal either. But both Germany and Turkey are being handled by Russia through the leveraging
of their interests. Uncle Scumbag is sitting impotently and barking like a chihuahua.

In the background, Russia is growing its LNG infrastructure and export capacity spectacularly. While Americans like to trash talk about
how they can replace Russia's natural gas supply to the EU with LNG, it is actually Russia that will be able to transition to LNG in the
next decade. America is snookering itself. It has negligible LNG export capacity. And any move to LNG spot pricing for global
natural gas distribution will not leave Russia out in the cold.

What is the political plstform of Vladimir Zelensky (that commedian who wants to imprison Poro)?

Co-opting them is the right strategy but Nordstream II and Turkstream (European leg) is sadly a reaction to losing Ukraine in the geopolitical chessboard. Otherwise we would be talking about Union State integration ala Belarus right about now.

Given the torpedo that hit the Russian geopolitical sub with the Maidan, some moves thereafter have been solid but still as a reaction (that is a huge problem in Russian foreign policy in general).

ATLASCUB wrote:Co-opting them is the right strategy but Nordstream II and Turkstream (European leg) is sadly a reaction to losing Ukraine in the geopolitical chessboard. Otherwise we would be talking about Union State integration ala Belarus right about now.

Given the torpedo that hit the Russian geopolitical sub with the Maidan, some moves thereafter have been solid but still as a reaction (that is a huge problem in Russian foreign policy in general).

Russia is not obliged to baby sit hater idiots. Ukrainians are guilty of falling into NATO's hands and not Russians. If Russia tried
to meddle to "secure Ukraine" it would only make it worse in both the short and long term. By letting this steaming pile evapourate,
Russia is opening up the possibility of most of Ukraine waking up and growing a brain in the near future. The Kiev regime is utterly
unable to control Ukraine's economic collapse and can't even get the right singer to participate in Eurovision. And for some mysterious
reason Ukraine lost the ability to even make tanks even though it had the biggest tank factories in the USSR. This tells me that
there is a lot of passive resistance and voting with feet going on in Ukraine. No amount of lying by Kiev about Russian forces in
the Donbass will save it and NATO's agenda.

The eventual integration of Belarus with Russia will make the military standing of the Ukraine a little more... shall we say... exposed...

Ukrainians were like the baltic states during WWII and many were keen to collaborate with the nazis... the Soviets fought the Finns just before WWII but during WWII when the Finns fought along side the nazis they didn't take advantage of the situation except to regain what they had lost...

I have much more respect for the Finns than I do for the Ukrainians and Baltic states... I think Russia would be better off if the Ukraine broke up into lots of pieces...

GarryB wrote:The eventual integration of Belarus with Russia will make the military standing of the Ukraine a little more... shall we say... exposed...

Ukrainians were like the baltic states during WWII and many were keen to collaborate with the nazis... the Soviets fought the Finns just before WWII but during WWII when the Finns fought along side the nazis they didn't take advantage of the situation except to regain what they had lost...

I have much more respect for the Finns than I do for the Ukrainians and Baltic states... I think Russia would be better off if the Ukraine broke up into lots of pieces...

Ukraine is on its way to splitting into Novorossiya (stretching from Odessa to the Donbass in the south) and the mostly Polonized western part. This
will reflect a natural and not a fake partition since the people living in those regions do not even sound the same when they speak Ukrainian. Religion
is another difference since Uniates are basically Catholics that dress like Orthodox. The recent creation of the Ukrainian autocephalous Orthodox Church
will not unify the country. The dirty tricks used to forcibly convert the churches which are part of the Moscow patriarchy are only poisoning unity.

Central Ukraine around Kiev is more obscure to me but is not viable if Ukraine splits anyway.

You can see the desperate propaganda by the Kiev junta trying to smear Russia as some invader. This is the only shtick they have and it is long past
its expiry date. Anti-Russian Ukraine will not stay together with this rotten glue. That is why Putin's response to the 2014 coup is brilliant. He
robbed the Kiev regime of its sole raison d'etre which is to fight Russia. Ukrainians are not naturally predisposed to this thinking and the more their
economy collapses the less they will abide by this agenda.

GarryB wrote:The eventual integration of Belarus with Russia will make the military standing of the Ukraine a little more... shall we say... exposed...

Ukrainians were like the baltic states during WWII and many were keen to collaborate with the nazis... the Soviets fought the Finns just before WWII but during WWII when the Finns fought along side the nazis they didn't take advantage of the situation except to regain what they had lost...

I have much more respect for the Finns than I do for the Ukrainians and Baltic states... I think Russia would be better off if the Ukraine broke up into lots of pieces...

There is nothing yet to say Belarus will join the Russian Federation.

Their president has made this comments time and time before, you need to show restraint when politicians talk. Because they love to do one thing and say another.

I doubt Ukraine will ever break up, and Russia would be in a worse position if it does. In Russia's case there is only three good outcomes for them.

1. They buy enough time to allow a friendly president to Russia to take office this is what they are currently hoping for.

2. Complete Annexation of Ukraine this would be economically bad since Ukraine would take a massive drain on Russia already fragile economy, let alone the international heat it would draw. But from a military perspective, it would be a good outcome.

3. Simply keeping Ukraine out of NATO.

In Ukraine there are essentially two poles dragging the country in opposite directions. Splitting the country may be the best option or otherwise there will be a revolution every decade.

Look, Ukraine since 1991 has been a massive failure in every possible way. Why keep it at all if it is unsustainable?

Walther von Oldenburg wrote:In Ukraine there are essentially two poles dragging the country in opposite directions. Splitting the country may be the best option or otherwise there will be a revolution every decade.

Look, Ukraine since 1991 has been a massive failure in every possible way. Why keep it at all if it is unsustainable?

splitting it isn't the best option, this would allow Nato to dig into Western Ukraine and this would turn Ukraine into another Eastern and Western Germany something else Putin doesn't want. From a military perspective that's bad for Russia.

Putin doesn't want it, his goal is to keep all of Ukraine out of NATO.

His hands are pretty tied here, he cannot just absorb it. It's not worth it for him to do, His current plan is to keep the frozen conflict going while trying to reassert control over their government.

In the end this will be his play until another president takes office. What they will do, we will see.

splitting it isn't the best option, this would allow Nato to dig into Western Ukraine and this would turn Ukraine into another Eastern and Western Germany something else Putin doesn't want. From a military perspective that's bad for Russia.

Replace the Ukraine with Poland and NATO for Germany and it makes perfect sense for Russia to protect half of the Ukraine that is not totally hostile to Russia...

If Russia doesn't take half of the Ukraine then NATO is going to take all of it and we know NATO doesn't care about the wishes of the local population... look at Macedonia 20% vote and it is still not a clear majority but the results are accepted because it suits the NATO agenda... endorsed by the US of A no less.

Putin doesn't want it, his goal is to keep all of Ukraine out of NATO.

Putin wants the US to fuck off and leave Russia alone and that isn't happening either...

His hands are pretty tied here, he cannot just absorb it. It's not worth it for him to do, His current plan is to keep the frozen conflict going while trying to reassert control over their government.

He is not interesting in gaining more ground... do you hear yourself... you are going to end up in Guantanimo if you are not careful buddy...

"UKRAINIAN ARMY IS BEING SUPPLIED WITH RUSSIAN SPARE PARTS."


https://southfront.org/ukrainian-army-is-being-supplied-with-russian-spare-parts/

Ukrainan soldiers kill commanding officer

https://www.fort-russ.com/2019/03/major-ukrainian-soldiers-kill-their-commander-after-being-forced-to-commit-war-crimes-non-combat-losses-now-exceeds-10000/

Co-opting them is the right strategy but Nordstream II and Turkstream (European leg) is sadly a reaction to losing Ukraine in the geopolitical chessboard. Otherwise we would be talking about Union State integration ala Belarus right about now.

Given the torpedo that hit the Russian geopolitical sub with the Maidan, some moves thereafter have been solid but still as a reaction (that is a huge problem in Russian foreign policy in general).

Russia has lost the Ukraine... please spell out the dates when Russia "had" the ukraine on side?

Maiden didn't overthrow a proRussian government... Yanukovych wasn't anything like pro Russia, but he also wasn't an idiot either and when offered to mutually exclusive choices... there was no chance of picking both... 7 billion in loans from the EU or 15 billion in investment from Russia he picked the obvious choice... at that time the Ukraine had very few serious links to the EU and was pretty much joined at the hip to Russia.

Also the Nord Stream II project started in 2011 and had nothing to do with the Maiden coup from washington, and everything to do with ongoing problems with the Ukraine stealing gas and not maintaining their pipelines properly and constantly complaining about the price they pay for gas and the amount they get paid for transit fees.

Why did the Russian side allow and international companies and intermediator firms to buy military supplies, which then are being delivered to the Ukrainian Armed Forces?

There are dozens of sources they could get ex Soviet equipment spare parts from... who cares... if they managed to block off all supplies from everywhere... which they literally could not actually do... the ukrainians would go cap in hand to eastern europe and accept donations of their ex Soviet gear for free... at least this way Russia makes a little money and the amusing thing is that the Ukrainians are screwing other Ukrainians into the deal... when they find out... who are they going to hate.... the Russians making a few roubles selling some spare parts, or some of their leaders and people in power in their government making a small fortune by screwing their own armed forces....

The Ukraine needs to sort its own shit out... Russia cannot do anything to improve the situation except leave them to eating themselves and then turn up with a mop and bucket afterwards to help clean up the mess.

Because Russia has no moral spine.
One of many examples is this very tragic one
https://m.tsargrad.tv/articles/gibel-aktivistki-russkoj-vesny-ubijstvo-ili-suicid_114418

and this as well..
https://www.unian.info/society/10376589-russia-to-deport-ukraine-s-pro-russian-journalist-for-violation-of-migration-rules.html
There are many more examples.
Russia can arm Ukrainian military for what they care. Ukrainians are spineless cunts as well as they still import goods from Russia.

Russia is not the one rejecting and pushing away the Ukraine, Russia has been happy to trade as normal with that state, it is the Ukrainian government that is pushing their country away from Russia and all ties with Russia towards the EU and the US...

Russia has a moral spine, what it lacks is an evangelist need to impose its morals on every other country like the US does and the EU does...

GarryB wrote:Russia is not the one rejecting and pushing away the Ukraine, Russia has been happy to trade as normal with that state, it is the Ukrainian government that is pushing their country away from Russia and all ties with Russia towards the EU and the US...

Russia has a moral spine, what it lacks is an evangelist need to impose its morals on every other country like the US does and the EU does...

EU can't even impose their morals on UK. Failed Union.
I am disillusioned of Russia due to them not giving fuck about Russians living in Ukraine and Donbass. Deporting separatists to Ukraine and etc.. Helping Syria more than their people.
True test for Russia will be when Putin will be away- Ukranisation is a possibility.

EU can't even impose their morals on UK. Failed Union.

The reason the UK voted to leave the EU was because they were sick of the EU imposing their morals and their rules on the UK without any discussion or consultation... there wasn't even the illusion of choice... it was dictatorship by an unelected group in Brussels... perhaps if the EU had a really good think about things they might change things around to actually make them more democratic and the UK might not want to leave... perhaps a few other countries thinking of leaving might also reconsider, but the arrogant EU considers itself the centre of civilisation and can do no wrong so it wont look at itself... the problem is the UK and so making the UK suffer as much as they can possibly make it suffer is the goal... otherwise other countries might consider leaving too.

The EU was all about unity creating strength, but it has turned into a dictatorship where either Germany or France tell everyone else what to do... I doubt that is what most signed up for.

Of course most of the recent signings are just to join a big group they can give the fingers to Russia from behind... they really only understand being a bitch, which is why many of them are inviting the US to send troops to their country.

I am disillusioned of Russia due to them not giving fuck about Russians living in Ukraine and Donbass.

If they didn't give a fuck their border would be closed and I suspect the Ukrainian government would already be in a much better position in trying to force those regions to fail.

What they don't have is a clear message from the victims of the aggression from Kiev that it is Russian help they actually want... Hold a referendum and make a decision... so far all we have heard is these people are Ukrainians and not Russians and want the current illegal government in Kiev replaced by one that is elected by the people. No need for a Russian invasion... just wait for elections and if they are proven to be legitimate then everything would be fine... of course they wont be legitimate because the American puppet is unlikely to win a free and fair election so there will be a lot of cheating... but that it a problem for the Ukraine... what do you expect Putin to do? Invade?

There are plenty there who are not anti Russian who would oppose a Russian invasion and of course even more who would love a nice civil war so they can try to kill some more Russians... whether they are unarmed civilians in their own country or troops arriving from next door.

Even if he does not have your respect, which I am sure he will get over... what next? Invade the Baltic states too... look at how they treat their ethnic russians?

Even worse... the UK... they bloody try to murder Russians and their own if they get in the way...

True test for Russia will be when Putin will be away- Ukranisation is a possibility.

Funny that the west thinks when putin is gone things will be fine... because there could only be Putin in Russia opposing their plans of course... will laugh at the irony of the mushroom clouds when Putin goes Because if you get rid of Putin and his party like they will try, and the next most popular party is the communists, so they can't support them... they are left with Zhirinovsky... hahahahaha... they might get the nuclear war they so obviously crave...

Plus, like Yeltsin, Putin will find his replacement. Putin won't leave them high and dry. There are other options too. Ukrainianization of Russia cannot happen because no one in their right mind wants what happened in Ukraine. People who say this are people who have zero idea about events in Russia (looking at your Regular).

Yes, I wish Russia would do more too to push back. But they are playing safe for now. Maybe next guy won't

GarryB wrote:Russia is not the one rejecting and pushing away the Ukraine, Russia has been happy to trade as normal with that state, it is the Ukrainian government that is pushing their country away from Russia and all ties with Russia towards the EU and the US...
Russia has a moral spine, what it lacks is an evangelist need to impose its morals on every other country like the US does and the EU does...

Russian governance system lacks modern, free, fair and just values to inspire others. It also lacks the promise of prosperity...

With regards to Ukraine along list of due change should take place both inside Russia and inside Ukraine if Russian soft power is to win back the hearts and minds.
Alternatively, quadrupling existing stocks of smart weapons and doubling modern land and naval forces weapons could win it decisively back minus the hearts and minds for a while.

william.boutros wrote:

GarryB wrote:Russia is not the one rejecting and pushing away the Ukraine, Russia has been happy to trade as normal with that state, it is the Ukrainian government that is pushing their country away from Russia and all ties with Russia towards the EU and the US...
Russia has a moral spine, what it lacks is an evangelist need to impose its morals on every other country like the US does and the EU does...

Russian governance system lacks modern, free, fair and just values to inspire others. It also lacks the promise of prosperity...

With regards to Ukraine along list of due change should take place both inside Russia and inside Ukraine if Russian soft power is to win back the hearts and minds.
Alternatively, quadrupling existing stocks of smart weapons and doubling modern land and naval forces weapons could win it decisively back minus the hearts and minds for a while.

Hilarious ignorance. Ukraine has its own Banderite identity that has captured the hearts and minds of about half of the
population since WWII. It's not Russia's job to make these morons think and they clearly are a burden that NATO is not
prepared to shell out any serious coin for.

As for your prosperity drivel. That is some breathtaking delusions you have. Even if CNN can't be bothered to report anything
but fake news, you still don't get to run around and pull such "facts" from your ass and try to pass them off as reasonable.
Russian real wages grew 6% in 2018 and this has been the pattern for over 15 years with the exception of the 2008 and 2015
recessions. Russia's middle class is growing. The USA and Canadian middle class are shriveling away. But for you moving goal
posts cherry pickers it is all just a matter of redefining what the middle class is. And you are back to your "exceptional"
prosperity.

kvs wrote:
Hilarious ignorance.  Ukraine has its own Banderite identity that has captured the hearts and minds of about half of the
population since WWII.  It's not Russia's job to make these morons think and they clearly are a burden that NATO is not
prepared to shell out any serious coin for.  

As for your prosperity drivel.  That is some breathtaking delusions you have.  Even if CNN can't be bothered to report anything
but fake news, you still don't get to run around and pull such "facts" from your ass and try to pass them off as reasonable.
Russian real wages grew 6% in 2018 and this has been the pattern for over 15 years with the exception of the 2008 and 2015
recessions.  Russia's middle class is growing.  The USA and Canadian middle class are shriveling away.   But for you moving goal
posts cherry pickers it is all just a matter of redefining what the middle class is.  And you are back to your "exceptional"
prosperity.

I will redirect this conversation by adding some words to the previous arguments.

Soft power is mostly about gaining influence over the hearts and minds. US first then the EU models are based on freedom, equality and the promise of prosperity. Of course there is a notion of cultural supremacy.
-That being said it does not mean the ordinary Ukrainians will get much beyond a feeling of belonging to such a promise-.
Communism promised equality, liberty and prosperity for the poor masses.
At the moment Russia lacks an ideology that inspires and a model to copy.

It's not as much about actual ideology as being recognize as prosperous via culture/consumer products.

US literally defines modern pop-culture, it is the trend-setter in every area of it.

Yes, I wish Russia would do more too to push back. But they are playing safe for now. Maybe next guy won't

The fact is that Russias hand gets better with time, they have a lot of problems but are dealing with them... the last thing they want now or ever is open war with the US, and those that claim that is already happening, it is not.

Russian governance system lacks modern, free, fair and just values to inspire others. It also lacks the promise of prosperity...

For a foreign country the Russian system is ideal because it does not interfere with them. The Russians don't seek to impose their rules and morality on others... they just want to trade... you can buy their stuff or you can choose not to. They wont punish you or withhold business because you trade with someone else like the US does.

The Russians seem to be much more free and much more fair than the west.

And a promise of prosperity is worthless... how do those people in the US who live in trailer parks because the bank owns their house, who work three jobs to pay the bills including the mortgage on the house they no longer own feel about the promise that anyone can make it rich... their only chance of getting rich is dealing drugs and the CIA doesn't like competition so you will either end up dead or in jail for that...

It is not the position of any countries government to make promises of a good life... not until there are sure fire cures for things that can kill you like cancer, or things that make you wish you were dead like AIDS... they can keep you alive... if you can afford the medication you will be on for the rest of your life... which will keep you poor.

With regards to Ukraine along list of due change should take place both inside Russia and inside Ukraine if Russian soft power is to win back the hearts and minds.
Alternatively, quadrupling existing stocks of smart weapons and doubling modern land and naval forces weapons could win it decisively back minus the hearts and minds for a while.

The territory comes with the people and vice versa, and both have enormous baggage that makes them not so appealing.

Best case for Russia is that they finally have a free and fair election that elects someone all Ukrainians can get behind and everyone puts the guns down and moves on and tries to salvage the mess that is what the country is today.

US first then the EU models are based on freedom, equality and the promise of prosperity.

Bullshit.

Both places big is power and power rules. All the major media in the US is controlled by 6 people... 6 very white very rich people who are men. How do you think that effects the freedom and equality of the country.

I am glad you call it the promise of prosperity... because that is all it is for most of the people.

The UK wants to exit the EU because the EU has a small group of elected people who tell everyone in the EU what they should do.... that is the opposite of freedom, and very little to do with equality.

That being said it does not mean the ordinary Ukrainians will get much beyond a feeling of belonging to such a promise-.

What are the ordinary Ukrainians getting right now... apart from being shelled by their own government... they are not in NATO or the EU and their own government has blocked them off from their closest largest neighbour that was their biggest customer in all areas of their economy... so what sort of freedom and equality and prosperity are they enjoying right now?

The freedom to eat grass or move away from the country you grew up in to avoid starving and poverty?

Communism promised equality, liberty and prosperity for the poor masses.

They did no worse than the west... there were no poor in the sense of no job and no home and no food like there is today in the west...

At the moment Russia lacks an ideology that inspires and a model to copy.

Isn't that the best ideology though, what is wrong with you that you need your government to make you want to progress and succeed?
Would you believe your government if they say you could be rich too?

US literally defines modern pop-culture, it is the trend-setter in every area of it.

It is at the core of a consumerist culture of use and then throw away that is leading to mountains of waste plastic that China has stopped accepting and will likely end up dumped somewhere on the sly.

When 350 million americans were doing it they were creating more waste than the rest of the world put together, so what happens when 1.5 billion Chinese and 1.3 billion Indians start doing the same thing...

America... doing more to fuck the world than the last 5 big asteroids to hit us... including the one that wiped out the dinosaurs.

Ironically they could be part of the solution... but they wont... it isn't good for business.

GarryB wrote:

Yes, I wish Russia would do more too to push back. But they are playing safe for now. Maybe next guy won't

The fact is that Russias hand gets better with time, they have a lot of problems but are dealing with them... the last thing they want now or ever is open war with the US, and those that claim that is already happening, it is not.

Russian governance system lacks modern, free, fair and just values to inspire others. It also lacks the promise of prosperity...

For a foreign country the Russian system is ideal because it does not interfere with them. The Russians don't seek to impose their rules and morality on others... they just want to trade... you can buy their stuff or you can choose not to. They wont punish you or withhold business because you trade with someone else like the US does.

The Russians seem to be much more free and much more fair than the west.

And a promise of prosperity is worthless... how do those people in the US who live in trailer parks because the bank owns their house, who work three jobs to pay the bills including the mortgage on the house they no longer own feel about the promise that anyone can make it rich... their only chance of getting rich is dealing drugs and the CIA doesn't like competition so you will either end up dead or in jail for that...

It is not the position of any countries government to make promises of a good life... not until there are sure fire cures for things that can kill you like cancer, or things that make you wish you were dead like AIDS... they can keep you alive... if you can afford the medication you will be on for the rest of your life... which will keep you poor.

With regards to Ukraine along list of due change should take place both inside Russia and inside Ukraine if Russian soft power is to win back the hearts and minds.
Alternatively, quadrupling existing stocks of smart weapons and doubling modern land and naval forces weapons could win it decisively back minus the hearts and minds for a while.

The territory comes with the people and vice versa, and both have enormous baggage that makes them not so appealing.

Best case for Russia is that they finally have a free and fair election that elects someone all Ukrainians can get behind and everyone puts the guns down and moves on and tries to salvage the mess that is what the country is today.

US first then the EU models are based on freedom, equality and the promise of prosperity.

Bullshit.

Both places big is power and power rules. All the major media in the US is controlled by 6 people... 6 very white very rich people who are men. How do you think that effects the freedom and equality of the country.

I am glad you call it the promise of prosperity... because that is all it is for most of the people.

The UK wants to exit the EU because the EU has a small group of elected people who tell everyone in the EU what they should do.... that is the opposite of freedom, and very little to do with equality.

That being said it does not mean the ordinary Ukrainians will get much beyond a feeling of belonging to such a promise-.

What are the ordinary Ukrainians getting right now... apart from being shelled by their own government... they are not in NATO or the EU and their own government has blocked them off from their closest largest neighbour that was their biggest customer in all areas of their economy... so what sort of freedom and equality and prosperity are they enjoying right now?

The freedom to eat grass or move away from the country you grew up in to avoid starving and poverty?

Communism promised equality, liberty and prosperity for the poor masses.

They did no worse than the west... there were no poor in the sense of no job and no home and no food like there is today in the west...

At the moment Russia lacks an ideology that inspires and a model to copy.

Isn't that the best ideology though, what is wrong with you that you need your government to make you want to progress and succeed?
Would you believe your government if they say you could be rich too?

US literally defines modern pop-culture, it is the trend-setter in every area of it.

It is at the core of a consumerist culture of use and then throw away that is leading to mountains of waste plastic that China has stopped accepting and will likely end up dumped somewhere on the sly.

When 350 million americans were doing it they were creating more waste than the rest of the world put together, so what happens when 1.5 billion Chinese and 1.3 billion Indians start doing the same thing...

America... doing more to fuck the world than the last 5 big asteroids to hit us... including the one that wiped out the dinosaurs.

Ironically they could be part of the solution... but they wont... it isn't good for business.

Yes, the fulfillment of the promises is different from the promise. You need a catchy idea to inspire and differentiate your country. Ideas can be addictive too.

EU is not in prosperity at the moment.
Soviet Union model was not applied.
US has significant behind the scenes corruption and manipulation.

That being said, the average eastern European still thinks the EU and US models are fairer for him and will make him richer and culturally more advanced compared to what Russia has to offer.

Again reality and perception are 2 different things. Some men accept living with unfaithful wives ...

william.boutros wrote:
Soft power is mostly about gaining influence over the hearts and minds. US first then the EU models are based on freedom, equality and the promise of prosperity. Of course there is a notion of cultural supremacy.
-That being said it does not mean the ordinary Ukrainians will get much beyond a feeling of belonging to such a promise-.
Communism promised equality, liberty and prosperity for the poor masses.
At the moment Russia lacks an ideology that inspires and a model to copy.

Please explain why almost 4 millions of Ukes are in Russia since the orcs started the war against Novorossiya. Mother must be doing something right.