Let's be real here for a second. Do you REALLY think Russia is going to start a nuclear war with the US and NATO...

I think Putin is a sociopath and if he can't get what he wants, he has no problem making sure no one else can have it either.

You sound a lot like those saying Russia definitely wouldnt go to war with Ukraine just a single day before they did.

this, plus its a political public relations war. Who can get/not lose points with their constituents based on their choices, speeches, and outcome of this. Russia can muscle a small nation - it has ZERO chance in a face to face with US/NATO. Also, Russian people would just revolt if it came to that.

Nukes don't exist anyway

this too. All this shit holes like Venezuela, Cuba, Russia, Syria, etc., the problem is not the psychopath at the top of the triangle, its that the rest of the triangle doesn't remove the fucker because enough people are comfortable/taken care of, and the rest are weak and scared. They would rather leave with their tail between their legs and just be a angry refugee tweeting dumb shit from another country, than to reclaim their own country by removing a person/party that is shitting all over the place.

Seems like Putin miscalculated the amount of resistance he would have, as well as the amount of fight in his own soldiers. It's also at a point where he cant back out, damage is done, the world hates him even more, his economy will be fucked, he might as well keep pushing

The world right now is in a tricky spot. Its kind of a morals vs greater good situation

> Leave Ukraine to suffer for the greater good of many (by avoiding all out war with russia + nukes)

or

> Defend the few, go to war with russia, at the cost of many many many lives and destruction of further countries

pretty sure the majority of russians have no desire to be part of a nuclear war with the west, as it is clear to most people that USA could wipe any country off the face of the planet if they stopped worrying about public relations. The pentagon would LOVE IT if Putin dropped a nuke on Ukraine - it would be the permission they need to swoop in and eliminate Putin, his friends, anyone who says "WHAT?" and basically install a new western-like government in Russia, which would piss of the Chinese tremendously. Russia, just FYI, has TONS of resources that the west would love to get its hands on.

Putin won't bomb anything because it would be suicide at an enormous scale.

Noone ever said that. However in what's probably about the most severe conflict between Russia and the west ever since the Cold War I'd say it's somewhat reasonable to be a little scared.

For example I know that monsters don't exist, and yet if I wake up from a nightmare there's a brief moment where I'm actually really scared of something reaching up from under the bed. It's the same here, most people don't expect a nuclear confrontation, but the fact that the possibility is greater than most people can remember has them scared.

Putin hates NATO. By NATO not defending Ukraine, he is proving that NATO is useless. But by NATO coming in to defend Ukraine, the amount of death and destruction will increase immensely

NATO protects its members, Ukraine isn't a member. Is this complex to you somehow?

I would say that the problem here is, Russian's aren't that good at war anymore. They remember the days of WWII and think they can overcome anything, but that is not the case. Their equipment is aging poorly, their logistics (the true backbone of any war) is crap, their morale is shit, and their strategy is lacking (in an already very complicated strategic/political theater). They can eventually level cities and briefly occupy Ukraine, but it has no prospects for success in the future/long term. This won't go well on Putin's resume.

you seem to suffer from a condition called Stupidity, where you say shit without understanding what you are saying, and wrap it up like its fact or something.

See what this guy wrote?
It's really that simple. If Ukraine were a member, Russia would have never invaded. Same reason he doesn't want anyone else on his border to join NATO - it becomes an automatic "can't touch this".

Ironically, he just gave all those eastern european countries a real good reason to join and he can piss and moan all he wants - he can't do much about it.

Russia is not capable of starting a nuclear war with anyone. Russia has been flat fucking broke for the last 40 years and has had to greatly reduce it's military, and has found itself unable to even pay basic wages to soldiers on several occasions.

There is no way its nuclear arsenal survived. Nukes built in the 1960s have long expired, and even nukes built later require constant maintenance. There is no way Russia has been able to afford this maintenance.

They don't have a nuclear arsenal. They have a mothballed pile of duds.

I honestly don't think he has the resources to do another Ukraine. It's hilariously expensive to wage war and with all the sanctions I don't think he can shake out enough supplies to keep going unless he's been stockpiling most resources since the 80's.

Ukraine's application has been denied by nato, helping Putin prove his point of nato being useless

>>Russian peoples opinion

Russia is a dictatorship under the cloak of a confederation. The people of Russia don’t have any measurable say.

This is true of most of Europe. Germany is also, very incapable at the moment of waging war against anything. People like to critique USA spending on military, but it takes enormous amounts of money to not only BUILD an army, you have to feed it, supply it, maintain it, train it, and that all requires money.

A single training flight of a modern combat jet, can cost around $30,000 per hop, depending on the type of training and aircraft. Software has to be updated. Electronics swapped out. Wages for enlisted and private sector. R&D with private companies. And that doesn't include all the dark stuff buried in some crazy budget.

Russia simply doesn't have that kind of money, especially because Putin and his buddies drained the coffers a long time ago.

I think you have proved everyone's point, that you are useless. NATO has no interest in adding countries to its lists, unless they A. can afford it and B. don't expose the rest of NATO to fall into some dumb conflict.

You do know that Ukraine has had a separatist movement in the East for like a decade, right? NATO would never add a member who has that kind of issue (Russian separatists to boot), until those issues are long resolved. Otherwise, then they are compromised and things could get very sticky for European nations. NATO works, and the proof is that Putin is dead against its neighbors joining. If it was meaningless - he wouldn't give a shit.

Get over it and read a book once in a while.