Putinsv real reason for attacking Ukraine?

As an aside. Does anyone know how long Britain keeps its weapons before deciding to decommission them?
I’m thinking that if there’s kit going end of life span then it’s better in the hands of Ukraine than either nothing at all or scrapping.

I imagine they would like our state of art kit too but a 20 year old rifle or grenade is still valuable to any solider struggling for supplies.

Or am I just naive here (I’ve no knowledge of weapons barring cyber of course)
 
BigHandsOliverKahn said:
Just for balance as people tend to re-write their own history.
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Be careful BHOK.

Your denigrators will soon be adorning their posts with Union Jacks and the words to Rule Britannia.

You're quite right. This country did invade and colonise a lot of the world - as did France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Belgium, Turkey, Italy etc etc.

Certainly Russia did, and Putin hankers for the resurgence of the Russian Empire. Thankfully all of the other countries mentioned above are now more civilised.
 
Ollygon said:
Be careful BHOK.

Your denigrators will soon be adorning their posts with Union Jacks and the words to Rule Britannia.

You're quite right. This country did invade and colonise a lot of the world - as did France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Belgium, Turkey, Italy etc etc.

Certainly Russia did, and Putin hankers for the resurgence of the Russian Empire. Thankfully all of the other countries mentioned above are now more civilised.
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If you go back far enough there are a large number of African, Middle East and Asian countries that did a pretty good job of empire building and colonisation.
The Sudan pharaohs for example.
 
Ollygon said:
Be careful BHOK.

Your denigrators will soon be adorning their posts with Union Jacks and the words to Rule Britannia.

You're quite right. This country did invade and colonise a lot of the world - as did France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Belgium, Turkey, Italy etc etc.

Certainly Russia did, and Putin hankers for the resurgence of the Russian Empire. Thankfully all of the other countries mentioned above are now more civilised.
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thanks for agreeing with me👍 BHOK's original point was nothing but another opportunity for him to put this country down.
 
20togo said:
thanks for agreeing with me👍 BHOK's original point was nothing but another opportunity for him to put this country down.
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You should live in North Korea, it's banned to put the country down so you'd love it there 👍
Everyone is fully compliant with zero dissent, must be music to your ears that. Utopia indeed!
 
Shandypants said:
You should live in North Korea, it's banned to put the country down so you'd love it there 👍
Everyone is fully compliant with zero dissent, must be music to your ears that. Utopia indeed!
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If you weren't aware it's very difficult for outsiders to move to NK. So thanks for your advice but I think I'll pass. To be honest, I thought you'd be better suggesting that BHOK relocates to Germany. But hey, whatever it's not me with the agenda. You?
 
Shandypants said:
Both Russia and China think longer term than Western democracies they have 50 year plans. The nazi invasion is branded on their memory, they suffered monumental casualties in WW2 and the battle of stalingrad the deadliest in history. It's Moscow and western Russia they are bothered about not the vast empty areas, the Eastern flanks are naturally protected by mountains.
I'm not excusing the Russians at all but trying to offer an explanation for some of their behaviour, if I was the Russian president I'd be unhappy about nato (defacto USA) on my doorstep. Invading Crimea was a militarily necessity as the Russian fleet need a warm water port at Sevastopol, which they don't have elsewhere. Many people fall into the trap of calling Putin a madman, his methods may be unpalatable to us but there is a strategic reason for his actions.
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Russia does not do long term planning, at all. Russians in general don't really think about anything other than immediate need. Even the mischief they have been involved in in the west is largely a consequence of western actors approaching Russia for funding according to an acquaintance who was a Kremlin adviser in the past.

The NATO argument holds no water whatsoever and since Putin has been in power Russia have been consistently interfering in ex Soviet countries, often to the detriment of Russians who live in those countries. Another russian acquaintance of mine a game theory expert was telling my business partner and I that he and his colleagues could find no possible rationale for the invasion, they cannot see any beneficial outcome, for anyone; Putin in particular, Russia in general, the West. All they see is lose lose.
 
Costero Poderoso said:
Russia does not do long term planning, at all. Russians in general don't really think about anything other than immediate need. Even the mischief they have been involved in in the west is largely a consequence of western actors approaching Russia for funding according to an acquaintance who was a Kremlin adviser in the past.

The NATO argument holds no water whatsoever and since Putin has been in power Russia have been consistently interfering in ex Soviet countries, often to the detriment of Russians who live in those countries. Another russian acquaintance of mine a game theory expert was telling my business partner and I that he and his colleagues could find no possible rationale for the invasion, they cannot see any beneficial outcome, for anyone; Putin in particular, Russia in general, the West. All they see is lose lose.
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I think that these countries are called 'The Warsaw Pact' countries.
it still means the Russia wants to keep then as such.
 
Archibald Knox said:
After the fall of Communism in 1989 the West should have given so much aid to make the Russians dependent on our trade in return for their oil and gas. Wide and deep trade is the way to avert isolationism and the risk of war. Instead, the West and especially the USA adopted the attitude of “Ya, boo, sucks to you. We won the Cold War and you lost”. Thus fostering more resentment and a hankering in Putin to restore the Soviet Union. That’s a bit like Germany after the Versailles Treaty. So we did not learn the lessons of history.
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It could be argued that this is the situation we now have with China, ie. their economy being dependent on our trade. That is anything but a stable situation with Taiwan in mind. If they choose to act the sanctions imposed by the world will make the Russian situation look like child's play.
 
Davepick said:
I think that these countries are called 'The Warsaw Pact' countries.
it still means the Russia wants to keep then as such.
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but most of those countries dont want to be assocated so closely with russia and as an aside the warsaw pact was dissolved over thirty years ago
 
Costero Poderoso said:
but most of those countries dont want to be assocated so closely with russia and as an aside the warsaw pact was dissolved over thirty years ago
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A reason why NATO could have been disbanded and replaced with a European alliance outside the sphere of influence from the US.
 
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