wait what?
So lets recap.
Russia invades Ukraine, because Nato painted them into a corner because Nato let other countries join but didnt let Russia?
I dont think I would hesitate to suggest that Russia would not fulfil the requirements to join Nato, with the big one being that you dont point your missiles at other NATO members!
Was Russian requests to join NATO and EU rebuffed or does Russia simply not qualify due to a) their missiles pointed at Western countries b) human rights abuses and corruption?
Developments not welcome? Germany is buying Russian gas by the very big bucketload and is building a hose direct from Russian oilfields so they can give Russia more money. Your not welcome but here is a stack of cash.
So Russia is painted into a corner and has to invade Ukraine because they couldnt join NATO without putting down their missiles.
I can see why you are focused on spelling out The West's aggression and provocation against Russia.
Let's recap and completely misrepresent what I said.
A lot has happened since 2000 when Russia asked about joining NATO. Russia have pushed the West, the West have pushed Russia. I am simply presenting the side of the story which is overwhelmingly ignored here and in the media.
You can continue to have your one-sided view of the conflict or you can try and understand what is going on. I hasten to add here, before the inevitable misrepresentation, I am not justifying Russia's invasion, I am explaining their motivations. You may only want to hear one side as it clearly makes you feel better, but I prefer to understand what is going on.
Needless to say Russia's missiles would not continue to be pointed at NATO if they were allowed to join, FFS I thought that would be obvious. Sorry, I'll try and spell out the bleedingly obvious in future.
But let's think about this. Russia is opposed by NATO, there simply is no other reason for NATO's existence. When the cold war ended there was an opportunity to bring Russia further into the fold, I'm not sure they would exactly be an ally of the west, but as a neutral on good terms with the west, it could have been a very good situation. Their elections were more democratic back when Putin was first elected, now we all know Putin never wanted to be challenged, but shunning Russia certainly made it easier for him to ignore any complaints about rigging elections. Now that Russia is isolated in Europe what do they do? Well, most great powers and even lesser powers seem to like the notion of my enemy's enemy is my friend - so Russia is chummy with China. Gee, that strategy of shunning Russia and isolating them worked well didn't it? F*cking great outcome, well done. I'd give it an F.
Gas, as evidence that Russia was being brought into the fold is rubbish. The reality of that is that Russia needs cash, Germany needs gas so the transaction goes ahead, still going ahead isn't it? Even with all these sanctions and Russia totally on the outer, Russian gas is still being sold to Germany.
Mr Poshman, Russia is a nuclear power. During the Cold War it was a superpower. Russia is not like the other countries who were asking to join NATO. If you can't see that the strategic pros and cons of allowing Russia into NATO are somewhat different to letting in small former Soviet republics then you are simply not looking at the full picture. The reality is that the West did not want to ally with Russia, they wanted to undermine Russia so the we would have a unipolar world. What they did not see is that another country was rising, China. Now the dream of a unipolar world is crumbling and Russia is matey with China. Again, that went well didn't it?
I'm not pro-Russia, I just reckon the West is just as bad (how many countries have the West invaded over the last 20 years compared to Russia??), I call bullsh1t on the so-called "rules based world order", I call bullsh1t on the outrage over invading another sovereign country, and I am not willing to swallow one-sided propaganda without question. Both sides propaganda is just that, propaganda.
In any case, I don't need to repeat the western perspective, it is repeated ad nauseum here and in the media, I just try and add some understanding of what motivates Russia and their perspective. You may not agree with Russia's perspective, I don't, but you ignore the Russian perspective and your understanding of how the conflict arose will be deficient.
DS
