Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin – the Russian mercenary leader whose plane crashed weeks after he led a mutiny against Moscow’s military leadership – shows what happens when people make deals with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

As Ukraine’s counteroffensive moves into a fourth month, with only modest gains to show so far, Zelensky told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria he rejected suggestions it was time to negotiate peace with the Kremlin.

“When you want to have a compromise or a dialogue with somebody, you cannot do it with a liar,” Volodymyr Zelensky said.

  • Nioxic@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 year ago

    Withdrawing troops, returning stolen land, children, prisoners and paying for damages… thats all i would accept. Nothing less.

    • A1kmm@lemmy.amxl.com
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      A ‘Treaty of Versailles’ type solution is not a good idea for durable peace though, harsh reparations, despite any sense they might be ‘fair’, seldom lead to both countries returning to be prosperous democratic countries (and to be clear, neither is a capitulation by Ukraine - that would be seen by Putin as locking in its current gains, with no real incentive not to try again for more despite what the treaty might say).

      The best outcome for everyone is if Russia ends up being a genuinely pluralistic democracy (i.e. anyone in Russia can have political views, and the public selects its leadership in free and fair elections). Then Ukraine can normalise relations with Russia, and Russia stops being a threat to democratic institutions across the world as a whole.

      I think the best way of thinking about it is not that Ukraine has a Russia problem, but rather that Ukraine and Russia have an oligarch problem (with Putin chief amongst them). Therefore, in a fair world, the oligarchs, and not the Russian people, would pay. It is true that Russians (and indeed some Ukrainians in occupied regions) have been radicalised by the oligarchs, so some kind of deradicalisation would be needed even if the oligarchs disappeared.

      Solutions that look to negotiate how to reduce corruption and authoritarianism in Russia from the top are therefore the most likely to succeed long term. Shorter term solutions could include a negotiated end to hostilities coupled with agreements for Ukraine to join a defensive alliance that the oligarchs wouldn’t consider provoking - which could be followed up by a carrot approach to easing sanctions in exchange for progressive movements towards genuine Russian democracy. This might give oligarchs enough push to take off ramps to cash in what they have plundered already, and slowly be replaced by less corrupt alternatives going forward.

      Recovery from oligarchy for Russia might also by costly for Russia though - essential assets plundered from the USSR are now in private hands through crony capitalism; the best solution would be for many of the major ones to go back to or be rebuilt under state ownership, under genuine democratic leadership. But that is likely easier said than done given the state of Russia.

      • zephyreks@programming.dev
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        Socialism worked in Russia: it dragged hundreds of millions of people out of subsistence farming and turned the USSR into an economic powerhouse. Of course, the collapse of the USSR showed the failings of an aggressively socialist state, but the funny thing is that China already has the solution: a market-based economy with strong state control. Putin doesn’t dare piss off the oligarchs though, so we’re stuck with this crony bullshit.

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          | Socialism worked in Russia:

          Bullshit. Prosperity advanced much more in the west than in the Soviet Union, or anywhere in the soviet bloc. Corruption was rampant. Lying was rampant. People were miserable. Cultural genocide was the name of the game. Subjugated people hated it, and have fared significantly better since getting out. The only people who seem to be nostalgic about the USSR is the Russians, because they lost the ability to benefit from the slave labor of conquered vassal states.

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            In what universe have corruption and lying not been rampant in “the west” over the last hundred years? Did you just pull this comment out of a book titled “Red Scare Propaganda?”

          • kd637_mi@lemmy.sdf.org
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            It shouldn’t be surprising that prosperity advanced much more in the already advanced and industrialised west than in a former semi-feudal peasant economy country. The point is that that former semi-feudal peasant economy rose rapidly to become at least a perceived competitor to the west, even with the most destructive war ever waged on a large part of its most fertile and productive land.

            Also, corruption and lying? That isn’t specific to the USSR. People are and were miserable in the west too, cultural genocide was and is happening in the west too. Comparing like for like, socialism worked well for the USSR. It was able to heavily industrialise, house populations, create a space program and compete with the USA on the international stage.

            • krakenmat@sh.itjust.works
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              | It shouldn’t be surprising that prosperity advanced much more in the already advanced and industrialised west than in a former semi-feudal peasant economy country.

              If the Russians wanted to industrialize, then good for them. But they did it off the back of the slave labor of other countries obtained through violent conquest.

              Many European countries were decimated in the aftermath of WWII, not just Russia. West Germany, case in point. The West Germans had it significantly better than the East Germans under socialism. France had it better than Poland under socialism. etc… Socialism made peoples lives miserable.

              To whit: 85% of Poles think positively of the change to a multiparty system and market economy. 85% and 83% (respectively) of East Germans. 82% and 76% of Czechs. 70% and 69% of Lithuanians. 74% and 71% of Slovaks. The only people who see it as a negative are the Russians. Go figure.

              | Also, corruption and lying? That isn’t specific to the USSR.

              True, but I never claimed it was. It’s about degree. I’ve heard first hand stories from former soviet residents of how the only way to get a doctor to treat you with anything more than an asprin was to bribe them. That’s an absolutely fucked level of corruption. The idea that that sort of corruption existed in the west at the same time is laughable.

              | People are and were miserable in the west too.

              Claiming that there are some miserable people in the west misses the point. There are miserable people everywhere, but what % of the population are they?

              Research (you know, data), shows that people in South Eastern Europe, Central Eastern Europe and the Baltic states are significantly happier than they were at the fall of the USSR. The only region where this is not true for all countries in the region is the former CIS, which surprise, surprise, includes Russia.

              | cultural genocide was and is happening in the west too

              Where? Show me a country in the west where your mother tongue is banned? Show me a country in the west where you can be sent to prison for practicing your cultural rituals (assuming you aren’t hurting others ofc)? Don’t compare the mixing of cultures due to increased levels of mobility and the internet to Russiafication, because that’s bullshit.

              | socialism worked well for the USSR. It was able to heavily industrialize, house populations, create a space program and compete with the USA on the international stage.

              Socialism worked well for a small number of people and only compared to the rest of the soviet bloc. Gorbechev ordered his motorcade to stop at some random small supermarket in the USA to see what it was really like and was initially convinced it was some elaborate CIA setup because he couldn’t believe that the average American had access to a wider range of high quality produce than the party elite in the USSR. American’s weren’t special in that regard. Everyone in the west had the same. Occupied countries would have been just fine with industrialization and housing their populations. All the USSR did from your list was create a space program which did almost nothing for the average person of the USSR, and it was so inept that Vladimir Komarov insisted on an open-casket funeral to force the point.

              • kd637_mi@lemmy.sdf.org
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                Ok, so the West Germans and France, who received economic aid from the US who wasn’t ravaged by war, fared better economically than those countries being supported by the Nazi devastated USSR.

                I’ve heard first hand accounts from people from the west who talk about the only way to avoid disproportionate targeting by police and other state actors was to be not black or other minority. Not to mention the institutionalised corruption of over the top corporate lobbying. That’s an absolutely fucked level of corruption too.

                Of course people are happier now than at the fall of the USSR. The collapse of a nation has a massive and in this case negative instant impact on people’s lives. The fact that things if gone up from there is not surprising.

                Black people and Native Americans are still dealing with past and current displacement and discrimination, including a push to eliminate their culture and language. Canada is currently dealing with the results of their very recent genocidal attempts on their First Nations people.

                That 'only a small number of people’s argument really doesn’t wash when you factor in the alternative that is capitalism. The very system that is increasing inequality faster and faster since the fall of its former main ideological enemy. It’s true that light industry in the Soviet Union was underdeveloped, people didn’t have as much choice in things like food products or consumer goods, but they were building from a completely different set of conditions. The ability of the west to produce so much that then gets wasted while still having starving, homeless, and undereducated people living in it is not a ringing endorsement of the system.

                • krakenmat@sh.itjust.works
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                  | Ok, so the West Germans and France, who received economic aid from the US who wasn’t ravaged by war, fared better economically than those countries being supported by the Nazi devastated USSR.

                  You seem to have forgotten that the point that I am disputing is that socialism worked in the USSR. The USSR was offered aid (the Marshall Plan) but refused it. That’s on socialism.

                  The simple truth is that the USSR failed its citizens. Non-russian slave nations would have been much better off being autonomous and free to pursue their own ideals and prosperity. Ethnic Russians…well who knows. It’s a messed up culture and that’s hard to break free from, but you could imagine a timeline where they dumped the idea that grinding others under your boot heel was the way to success.

                  | I’ve heard first hand accounts from people from the west who talk about the only way to avoid disproportionate targeting by police and other state actors was to be not black or other minority. Not to mention the institutionalised corruption of over the top corporate lobbying. That’s an absolutely fucked level of corruption too.

                  This is whataboutism and actually supports my point. Which was, again, was that socialism did not work in the USSR. If the west had all that ‘fucked up level of corruption too’, then it still out-performed socialism on pretty much all metrics. But regardless, selecting a disadvantaged minority in one country and then trying to create a false equivalence to the majority in the USSR is exactly that, a false equivalence.

                  | Of course people are happier now than at the fall of the USSR. The collapse of a nation has a massive and in this case negative instant impact on people’s lives. The fact that things if gone up from there is not surprising.

                  Oh, they were unhappy then! I have family who lived through it, and they HATED being part of the USSR. It was a miserable time of poverty, fear and suffering for them. The USSR was an authoritarian, totalitarian, one-party, state that had Orwellian propaganda, a cult of personality and in which the Russian ethic group had an overbearing sense of racial superiority. The state also carried out repression, torture and purges on scales that were genocidal. All of these traits are common with fascism, but the Russians claim to be anti-fascist. It’s odd.

                  Non-russians much prefer being free and out from the Russian fascist boot heel.

                  | Black people and Native Americans are still dealing with past and current displacement and discrimination, including a push to eliminate their culture and language. Canada is currently dealing with the results of their very recent genocidal attempts on their First Nations people.

                  I never claimed that other countries were perfect, I just did a comparison and found the USSR to be severely wanting in terms of whether it worked. I think it’s a good thing that First Nations people are finally getting their language, culture and rights recognised and respected. Maybe Russia could contemplate doing the same and leaving the Ukrainians alone; as opposed to, for example, the Russian man who recently THREW A 10 YEAR OLD UKRAINIAN CHILD OFF A BRIDGE for speaking Ukrainian in Germany.

                  | That 'only a small number of people’s argument really doesn’t wash when you factor in the alternative that is capitalism. The very system that is increasing inequality faster and faster since the fall of its former main ideological enemy. It’s true that light industry in the Soviet Union was underdeveloped, people didn’t have as much choice in things like food products or consumer goods, but they were building from a completely different set of conditions. The ability of the west to produce so much that then gets wasted while still having starving, homeless, and undereducated people living in it is not a ringing endorsement of the system.

                  I’m not claiming capitalism is perfect, far from it and I think the USA goes too way far the other way. But the point (again!) is that Socialism did not work in the USSR. People suffered, literally starved by the millions, and did not have autonomy, the freedom to speak either their language or their thoughts. People were abducted by the state never to be seen or heard of again, connections to community and land were broken, and countries other than russia were worse off than if they had been free to pursue their own path under a democratically elected government.

                  If you want to see a state where socialism has worked, look at Norway, not Russia.

        • mwguy@infosec.pub
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          China’s also showing the problem of that. The state control is too susceptible to corruption. That’s how they have a whole industry if fake construction, fake goods etc… And why they’re on the brink of a massive Construction bond related crash.

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          But for Russia to stop being a threat it’s sufficient to just lose this war finally

          What would be the definition of “losing” in this case? Countries tend use all the weapons at their disposal in order not to “lose”, in the case of Russia that would include its nuclear arsenal.

          Sounds like a better outcome for everyone would be for Russia to get a civil war, and just “forget” about Ukraine.

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            All weapons which make sense for Russia’s leadership. Nukes are not that, they want to still rule over something when this ends.

            Chemical weapons are possible, I think.

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              If we go far enough up the command chain, there are fallout shelters and slaves subordinates to rule over.

              But you’re right, chemical and biological are likely lower on the “let’s fuck every treaty” scale.

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                I suspect they are getting second thoughts there about those fallout shelters and how different they are from wow hypersonic missiles and wow radioelectronic warfare and other kinds of wow they considered real.

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        Solutions that look to negotiate how to reduce corruption and authoritarianism in Russia from the top are therefore the most likely to succeed long term.

        This may be true but the negotiations are with a dictator. It’s not like Putin is going to step down so that the problem is resolved peacefully.

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            That won’t work, it’s not just Putin doing this alone you know. You’d need a powerful (the most powerful, actually) faction inside the Russian state apparatus that want to just give up, and there’s no real reason to think there is such a group. And no anti-war opposition has enough support to do a coup or win elections.

            No defeatist is getting into power. It’s not going to happen unless Lenin rises from the dead.

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              I bet if they had a real option, they’d love to stop sending their kids to die.

              Saying as much now gets you thrown in jail.

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        Eastern European countries love their “macho” leaders. Putin has been doing the whole shtick since forever and Zelensky started it too since 2022. Fucking hate this shit.

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        Democratic leadership hasn’t really done much for Ukraine. The Russians still have Bakhmut (their big gain from last winter). Almost the entirety of the Ukrainian counteroffensive has been dedicated to an area of land less than twenty kilometers across. Meanwhile, Russian forces are massing North of Kupyansk and Ukrainian supplies are drained.

        The West doesn’t seem to really care about Ukraine - while Russia has been able to bring their economy into war footing in about a year, the West is happy to dig around and play accounting tricks to scrounge up what they can. The recent shipment of ATACMS missiles was, well…

        “A surprising discovery could also ease the administration’s choice to send the weapons: The U.S. has found it has more ATACMS in its inventory than originally assessed.”

        That’s what we’re stuck with? Hundreds of billions of dollars down the drain and aid is only being sent because they miscounted inventory?

        • Apollo@sh.itjust.works
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          Just goes to show you the disparity right? NATO is keeping ukraine in the fight against a country which brought its “economy into war footing in about a year” by sending whatever they find lying around down the back of the couch.

        • vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org
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          We’ll see. Ukraine is still regaining land, albeit slowly. In some moments - rather fast and cheap even.

          But also yes, the Russian forces have learned something.

    • OurToothbrush@lemmy.mlM
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      Okay then the war would go on and on until your government collapsed. A peace agreement is actually good here given that they just showed they were unable to reclaim much land with their counter offensive.

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          I’m literally basing this on bloodthirsty weapon manufacturer adjacent media, who’s interests are unaligned with saying things are going badly. Even they are getting cold feet on the war, or saying there never was an offensive or the offensive hasn’t really started yet.

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      How? Ukraine’s made like a few square kilometers of progress with hundreds of billions of dollars of funding while Russia has just fallen back from their low ground territorial gains to the more easily defensible high ground.

      What leverage does Ukraine even have for those demands?

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        Russia’s monetary system is in collapse and its economy is in free fall… the war took up 45% of its budget last year, its foreign exchange reserves have long since run dry and its first defensive line is slowly crumbling.

        If it ends up being a war of endurance, Russia’s going to be in a far worse position in a year than they are now.

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          Russia’s manufacturing PMI is at, what, 55.9 this month? In fact, the Russian Bank is literally worried about higher than expected inflation because their economic output has been too high.

          And of course, by slowly crumbling you mean that one salient near Robotyne? The one that’s known to be in a region of low ground surrounded by defences on high ground? That line?

          Fact is, so long as India can keep buying Russian oil at whatever price OPEC dictates, Russia can keep financing the war. A lot of Russian industries can function entirely domestically (and thus don’t really stress foreign exchange reserves) - the main limiting factor I’d expect is high-tech electronics coming from India and China. Russia’s war economy has been remarkably resilient given the circumstances.

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        The reason for those small gains instead of hard ones is largely air support. The fighting on the ground is very reminiscent of world war I. That is not a good thing. They may seem like modest gains but in terms of that type of warfare they are pretty huge gains. The problem is that without air support it is going to be a long hard battle.

        All that said, it is Ukraine’s territory. Russia could pack up and leave at any time.

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      If only you also were in the position to dictate this to Russia. Even the US isn’t in this position, and will never be.

  • Grant_M@lemmy.ca
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    Russia is a terrorist country. Terrorists can’t be negotiated with. #SlavaUkraini

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      Russia can’t be accepted back into the international community until Putin is in a jail cell or in the ground.

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      “Slava Ukraini” is fascists slogan used by, and mainly associated with, the mass murderers of hundreds of thousands of Poles and Jews. I guess that doesn’t count as terrorism in your worldview.

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        No, it’s neither fascist, nor mainly associated with mass murderers to anyone except redfash

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          I really think “Slava Ukraini” is a fascist slogan, because it is. Since you’re mad at me for pointing it out, I suspect it might be you who would get banned if you said what you really think.

          In April 1941 in German-occupied Kraków, the younger part of the OUN seceded and formed its own organisation, called the OUN-B after its leader Stepan Bandera. The group adopted a fascist-style salute along with calling “Glory to Ukraine!” and responding with “Glory to the Heroes!”. During the failed attempt to build a Ukrainian state on lands occupied by Germany after its invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, triumphal arches with “Glory to Ukraine!”, along with other slogans, were erected in numerous Ukrainian cities.

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              So it’s perfectly normal to revive a slogan that was last used by fascists? I’m sure the fact that Ukraine also made Bandera a national hero and put up statues of him and named streets in his honor right around the same time that slogan made its comeback is just a coincidence? Totally innocent slogan my ass.

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                  Have a good day.

                  Look, you can’t just present an argument and then tell me not to reply.

                  The history of Ukrainian support of him is fairly new and is far more complicated than “we like fascists”,

                  I’d like to hear your arguments why worshiping the leader of an organization that took part in the Holocaust is somehow “complicated”. It’s not like this isn’t some well-known fact. Seriously, this is obviously totally fucked. Why would you feel to need to defend this? It’s not, actually, fucking complicated.

                  hostility so far

                  And whose fault is that?

      • Badass_panda@lemmy.world
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        Ah yes, “Glory to Ukraine,” seems like a super specific slogan that can only be associated with one movement. In no way is it a generically nationalist slogan.

        • gnuhaut@lemmy.ml
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          I already responded to this in a reply to another user:

          So it’s perfectly normal to revive a slogan that was last used by fascists? I’m sure the fact that Ukraine also made Bandera a national hero and put up statues of him and named streets in his honor right around the same time that slogan made its comeback is just a coincidence? Totally innocent slogan my ass.

          You might be blind in your right eye if you think this isn’t some fascist shit. This is like “the swastika is an old Hindu symbol” type defense, only worse because you’re ignoring the Hitler portrait right next to it.

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            I’m blind in my left eye, thank you very much… but since we’re copying other comments:

            https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_of_Ukrainian_Nationalists

            It’s mainly associated with “Ukrainian Nationalists” since WWI, adoped by the fascist organization which took part in the Holocaust and massacre of Poles, whose members have been granted veteran benefits in 2019, and its emblem is being used by present Ukrainians.

            I’m not defending it, and as a Pole I’m definitely suspicious of Ukraine’s true intentions behind the slogan and the emblem… but I’m also pro-EU, and right now it’s better to support Ukraine, than to let Russia think about which EU member state to invade next.

            Afterwards, if Ukraine wants to get its shit in order to a level where it could join the EU and NATO… then go ahead. Germany did it, Italy and Spain did it, and we’re all better for that.

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              Germany and Italy literally did not get rid fascism willingly, they were defeated and this was imposed on them. And being from Germany, I assure you denazification was incredibly half-assed.

              Look at it for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SlCLSBr9sW0

              They’re doing the salute and everything. That salute was introduced by the fascist OUN.

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                FML… that is indeed the fascist salute.

                I know de-nazification was half-assed; I lived in Italy, now I live in Spain, and man, 45 years after the fascist regime was “gone”, there are still those opposing the removal of some fascist symbols. They used to argue that “it’s too soon”, now they’re arguing “it’s too late, let them be”, while there are still people killed by the dictature laying unidentified in some ditch or another.

                Guess we’ll have to live and see where it all goes.

    • OurToothbrush@lemmy.mlM
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      Slava Ukraini was literally the battle cry of the OUN, which collaborated in the holocaust. Find a different motto.

        • OurToothbrush@lemmy.mlM
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          Oh I know. I have a massive ax to grind on how little denazification happened after the war, especially in west Germany.

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        “ahhhhhh splat” is the current warcry of the woefully unprepared orcs getting slaughtered in a war that could end today. maybe you guys could at least come up with something original before winding up as compost?

        as expected tankies and brain-dead conservatives take issue with the fact I’m mocking the vatniks out there being converted into soil. guess what? I give as much a shit about you guys as the decomposing corpses of the mobiks, and find your opinions on the topic to be as usual, laughably silly and predictable. no, I’m not gonna have any need to humanise a bunch of trash that are invading another country. do I feel genuine sympathy for the conscripts who have no choice and no possibility to surrender? sure. that’s their lot unfortunatly, but you won’t find me crying over dead Russians in Ukraine

      • Badass_panda@lemmy.world
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        what a ceasefire would provide

        Like the 2014 ceasefire? All it does is give Russia the opportunity to retrench and dig in. When the Ukrainians ask for a ceasefire, then I’ll support one.

        • vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org
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          Like every ceasefire.

          I suppose right now Ukraine just wants some better guarantees while it has a strong negotiating position.

          So that it takes some effort from Putin to even be heard.

          Or maybe what Zelensky says is what he means, you can’t negotiate with a pathological liar (just like a few of Ukraine’s allies, though) who doesn’t know how to lose with dignity. Be it a person or a whole elite of some country, like Russia. I mean, emotionally I’ve met some and I’d agree. Just don’t know what it is rationally.

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        I’m only repeating what Ukrainians say. They know any concession with ruzzian terrorists now will only lead to ruzzian terrorists regrouping and reloading to perfom more genocide in a few months/years all over again. The fascist moscow regime needs to be stopped NOW.

          • Grant_M@lemmy.ca
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            Murdering, kidnapping and brainwashing Ukrainian children is genocide. Attempting to exterminate the Ukrainian people is genocide.

            • vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org
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              Murdering, kidnapping and brainwashing Ukrainian children is genocide.

              Then we’ll have to introduce degrees of genocide.

              Attempting to exterminate the Ukrainian people is genocide.

              Which is not happening.

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                  You don’t fucking know which things the words you use mean. And since you still dare voice your opinions on real world - blocking me is an important first step at stopping that.

      • abbenm@lemmy.ml
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        I would understand if at least 20% of the Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel would be comprised of western volunteers talking about terrorists and no negotiations.

        Now do Russia. There must be more western volunteers on that side, I take it?

    • zephyreks@lemmy.ca
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      Foundations of geopolitics? Fuck that, more war. More Ukrainians will die, and that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

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        More Ukrainians will die, and that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

        I genuinely can’t tell if you are saying this ironically considering you are all over this thread defending Russia’s invasion.

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      I’m kind of confused why Prigozhin did what he did, even. He knew Putin was going to try to kill him afterwards, I had assumed he had his own play but I guess not.

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        His entire plan made very little sense. And he’s dead now so clearly whatever he thought he was doing definitely did not work out.

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        IIRC, I believe Putin found the family members of the people in his chain of command and threatened with their safety.

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          It’s pretty weird if Prigozhin didn’t have those people all locked down already, too. He knew the gravity of starting an armed rebellion and he knew as well as anyone how Putin operates.

      • Railcar8095@lemm.ee
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        Quite dishonest to equate “not wanting Ukraine invaded by Russia” with being pro NATO.

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            Who cares? Russia sucks. Remember when they were the bad guy in every movie and every American was anti-Russia? What the fuck happened to the GOP that they’re all sucking Russian dick now?

            Putin is a wannabe dictator fucking with Europe, America, and Canada with troll farms while invading non-aggressive neighbours and should be crushed.

          • Railcar8095@lemm.ee
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            Please go ahead and tell yourself what it says and why that makes it ok to kill Ukrainian civilians.

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                No. Just no. Russia is invading. You can’t, in good faith, blame the invaded for the casualties. The same way you can’t tell a woman that she got beaten because she refused to have sex.

                I can understand it’s not a black and white issue, but this is the laziest propaganda imaginable. You want to stop the casualties right now? Russia retreats to their territory at this very moment. It’s that simple. Keep trying to invade the country won’t reduce the casualties. Now you will take your whataboutism card to say it’s your time to do some killing. Or say that US allying with Ukraine and Russia taking my force is basically the same.

                You think the invasion is rightful so the deaths are in there fault of the defenders? Happy that Russia reports low civilian death ratio? Fantastic, you have now used the same argument that all other atrocities used. I’ll also oppose the ones you oppose BTW not only the ones that fit my agenda.

          • Fushuan [he/him]@lemm.ee
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            Remind me again what did RAND Corp outline about US agenda against Russia in 2019 documents, or US ex-VP Dick Cheney tell us what NATO’s vision about Russia is (spoiler: balkanisation),

            Dunno, but not really necessary to know about it when the statement being challenged is “not wanting Ukraine invaded by Russia”.

            how Biden, after pumping $40B into Ukraine, is asking for $60B more from GOP to use Ukraine as a condom to try fuck with Russia till the “last Ukrainian”, causing deaths of both Ukrainians and Russians

            Don’t really care about US but isn’t your yearly military spending like 1Trillion? I looked it up and in 2016 the budget was $639.86B, while in 2023 seems to be $797.B, Accounting for inflation from 2016 to 2023 (Core inflation averaged 3.09% per year between 2016 and 2023 (vs all-CPI inflation of 3.52%), for an inflation total of 23.74%.) $639.86B then is $791,76B now, so accouting for inflation This year’s military budget is not higher than the one in 2016. I picked that year because as an outsider I don’t think the US was doing anything special by then, no covid no Ukraining war, nothing. So basically the US is not spending more than usual for the military, and although I think that’s too much in general, blaming the war maybe isn’t the best approach.

            It took me 5 mins to find these numbers and do the math.

  • tomatopathe@sh.itjust.works
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    So from having had a few exchanges with pro Russian accounts on Lemmy (which seems to be infested with a few very active ones) this is a summary of their arguments:

    • “Ukraine is Nazi”
    • “Well far right parties got a total of under 6% of the vote, and they elected a Jewish man president”
    • “yeah but Bandera and whatabout America”

    • “Ukraine killed ethnic Russians”
    • “A huge percentage of their population are ethnic Russians, including in government, and they are fine, and were until the Russian invasion. And now it’s Russia that has killed, maimed and raped more ethnic Russians, including civilians, than Ukraine every did or even could. Including their own people thorough incompetence and corruption”.
    • “Yeah but Bandera, and whatabout America”

    • “Ukraine is fighting because they are forced to by their colonial masters, the USA and NATO, and Ukrainians will keep dying so long as they keep being armed”
    • “Actually > 90% of the population wants to continue fighting for their country back, so what you’re basically saying is you think Ukrainians should be abandoned to Russian enslavement”
    • “Yeah but Bandera, and whatabout America”

    • “NATO and USA are colonialists and this is just more colonialism”
    • “Actually both Russia and China are actual, bone fide land empires, with ethnic minorities that are forced to live like colonized people - including doing the fighting for Russia while their families back home live in misery and squalor and Putin’s Mafia collect mansions, private jets and yachts”
    • “Yeah but Bandera, and whatabout America”
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          I’m sure some are on a payroll. You don’t get a weird narrative like that started without planting a seed.

          It’s not a coincidence they look like a better version of 2015 the_donald.

          They even mocked me when I said I expected to get banned for saying that… and then banned me. Weird how that works.

      • fiah@discuss.tchncs.de
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        they’re on other instances as well

        edit: having to go through posts like these and blocking all the invader apologists isn’t fun, but it beats accidentally reading their drivel again

      • zephyreks@programming.dev
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        Didn’t lemmy.ca defed with Hexbear because someone called (in jest) for death to landlords while Canada experiences it’s biggest housing crisis ever and rents are rising rapidly YoY solely because landlords, who otherwise deliver no intrinsic value in their position, found a way to make more money from the increased demand?

    • bodgeit@lemmy.sdf.org
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      “whatabout America” - “nooo you can’t just call me out on hypocrisy, it makes me look bad”

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      There’s a reason Western Europe focuses on the Nazis in the context of the Holocaust: the Nazis never saw the Western Europeans as a stain on the Earth like they did the Jews and the Slavs. Russians don’t need to point to Jews to claim Nazism: they can point directly to the treatment of ethnically Russian Slavs during WW2 and the plans that Nazi Germany had for the eradication of Slavs.

      Russia doesn’t need to point at how Ukraine treats Jews because to Russia, the Holocaust is dwarfed in societal impact by the issues that motivated Operation Barbarossa. The Russians lost 19 million Russian civilians in the war, why would they care about the Jews?

      Nevermind that minorities in China get so many advantages it’s actually silly how much affirmative action goes on. Provinces dominated by minorities get significantly more funding per capita and even get loss-leading infrastructure projects like the Tibet and Xinjiang railways. Students from minorities get additional bonuses on gaokao (basically SAT, but imagine if schools didn’t look at anything else). Minorities are exempt from family planning policies and get massive interest-free loans for starting businesses. They get proportional representation in government. Hell, there are 55 minority groups in China making up 8% of the population.

      In the army? The prevalence of rural populations in the army has been observed AROUND THE WORLD. It’s a function of rural communities being rather poor and underserved by governments in general, as well as the lack of economic opportunities that living on a farm provides. In fact, the entire notion of the underserved countryside is what allowed communism to rise in Russia and China.

    • roastpotatothief@lemmy.ml
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      That all sounds like brigading emotional nonsense. In fact, there were strong reasons for Russia to invade. It is probably true that Russia was manipulated into invading, it had no choice because of strategic decisions made by Ukraine. It’s a shame none of the people you talked to were able to argue the issues sensibly.

  • Hexadecimalkink@lemmy.ml
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    Ironically the CIA believes Putin killed Prigozhin to defuse tensions with NATO for exiling Wagner to Belarus.

    • vzq
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      deleted by creator

      • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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        I’m skeptical the government would allow him to do that.

        He’s not actually a god-king. If a leader ever became a threat to the power structure, he’d be eliminated. Just ask JFK 🙃

        • LetterboxPancake@sh.itjust.works
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          I don’t think you can compare those situations. Putin has had everyone fall out the window that was a threat to his power. Or accidentally get himself stabbed with poison by a Russian agent. Or pour themselves poisoned tea definitely nobody else poisoned.

          • ME5SENGER_24@lemm.ee
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            In the west we say Putin, like he’s some sorta boogieman. In the US our politicians are essentially puppets with some corporation’s hand up their ass. Yes, Putin has been in power for years; that doesn’t mean he isn’t in power because he keeps the oligarch’s money flowing. The second the money flow comes into question, someone falls from a window.

            Now I’m not saying Putin isn’t the one ordering the hits - he could be and also potentially couldn’t be. What I am saying is that there are often multiple versions of the truth and/or layers to that truth.

            I think Zelenskyy is right, don’t make deals with the devil. But there’s a 100% certainty that this isn’t only “Putin’s War” and there are more players, potentially those with their hand deep in Putin’s ass, pulling his puppet-strings

          • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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            You think Putin is the one personally pushing people out of windows?

            This is bigger than he is - he’s a figurehead of a power bloc within the government, he isn’t god.

              • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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                Did Putin conquer Russia all by himself?

                The idea that he’s some kind of lonely tyrant and accountable to no-one really implies that he actually is a god, like he somehow managed to take over the largest country on Earth and rule it with an iron fist and there wasn’t anyone else that helped him get there or helps him stay there (and could help him “retire” if he ever became a problem)

                • LetterboxPancake@sh.itjust.works
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                  I’ve never said he alone is responsible for everything. For example, he has loads of assholes trying to defend him online.

                  Good night.

          • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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            Absolute rulers don’t actually exist. That’s fantasy stuff for kids books.

            Even under feudalism and in ancient empires the leader wasn’t actually like that, they could always go too far and be replaced (with lots of violence of course)

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      A day earlier, Prigozhin published a video purportedly from Africa. Next day, he managed to get himself killed on a flight from Moscow. While being exiled.

      Not sure what the CIA believes, but it’s all sus AF.

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    If there isn’t going to be any peace discussions from Ukraine … how does this ever end?

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        So it doesn’t end?

        Edit: barring NATO rolling in and starting WW3 that’s clearly not gonna happen. So what’s next?

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          Why are you arguing for Ukraine to forgive and forget the rapes and murders and to give up parts off their country to the perpetrators rather than arguing for Russia to go back to Russia?

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            Clearly Russia isn’t going to do that, no matter how much a bunch of nobodies argue for it online.

            Which actually realistic path leads to less dead people?

            • Send_me_nude_girls@feddit.de
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              Negotiations don’t exist for Russia, they are known for breaking all agreements anyways. Russia is not trustworthy in the slightest, they have never missed to prove that. You don’t push the trigger on a loaded gun and hope for it to not fire. If you believe otherwise you desperately need to get out of you bubble and drink less Vodka.

              Russian people killing Putin is the only way to end this sooner.

              • SevFTW@feddit.de
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                Putin-fanboys love to say “Ukraine needs to negotiate an end to this war” but like to forget that this war started because RuZZia shat on a treaty ensuring the sovereignty of Ukraine in exchange for their nuclear arms.

              • Hyperreality@kbin.social
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                It doesn’t matter that Russia’s word can’t be trusted.

                Push Russia back to the border so that their invasion isn’t rewarded, negotiate a ceasefire, then almost immediately make Ukraine a (defacto) NATO member, protect their airspace, no fly zone, arm them to the teeth.

                The Russians are far better at keeping their word, when they know that they are weak, and that it benefits them.

            • fhqwhgads@lemmy.ml
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              Clearly this bully isn’t going to stop trying to take your lunch money. If you continue trying to defend yourself it’s just going to lead to more fights and you getting hurt more. If you just give up your lunch money peacefully then it’ll be better for everybody!

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                You can’t just boil geopolitics down like that.

                The longer this goes the more people die. We can’t seem to stop Russia without plunging the world into more war…

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                  The longer you keep fighting back, the more you will keep being hit. We can’t seem to stop the bully without you getting hurt more, so just be a good little boy and hand over your lunch money peacefully. And when the bully demands the contents of your backpack, hand that over to avoid more bloodshed. And when he demands your hat, hand that over too. You don’t want to keep getting hurt, do you?

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          Then russia suffers until they learn (so probably forever).

          Ukraine has the will and the west has the means to make this a very painful lesson, maybe even Russians can learn this time.

          • bdonvr@thelemmy.club
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            By every account Russia has the manpower to outlast Ukraine in this. I’m sure whoever is left in Ukraine once NATO is done teaching Russia this “lesson” will be so glad to have been a part of this.

        • fiah@discuss.tchncs.de
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          So what’s next?

          who knows, but maybe some progress will be made when more modern weapons can be fired from western F16’s. It likely won’t have a huge impact, but every little bit helps

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          If someone invades your country and kills your countrymen you don’t negotiate with them. You tell them to get the fuck out or we’ll kill every one of you motherfuckers that decides to continue being on our land. Why? You going to advocate being like Chamberlain? Or Quisling? What do you suggest someone does if their country is invaded?

              • Hyperreality@kbin.social
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                I don’t think Ukraine is about to conquer Russia or capture Moscow, even if they wanted to or if we want them to.

                Do you think Russia will unconditionally surrender and stop fighting when Ukraine reaches the Russian border?

                • SkyezOpen@lemmy.world
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                  I have no idea. Even if they don’t, Ukraine just has to defend their territory, which they have proven more than capable of.

                  The only one party that can end this conflict is the aggressor.

                • Send_me_nude_girls@feddit.de
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                  A safety buffer zone of a few kilometers, on the Russian side, past the Ukrainian country, sounds reasonable. Depending on how far they still keep shooting.

                • SlopppyEngineer@discuss.tchncs.de
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                  More likely there will simply be no peace and they’ll technically stay at war, with a huge minefield in between the two countries, until one of them runs out of money.

          • Count042@lemmy.ml
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            How do you show you’ve never heard of the war of the triple alliance or of Paraguay, without saying war of the triple alliance or Paraguay.

              • Count042@lemmy.ml
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                Sorry, I was on a long canoe trip without internet access.

                It is specific for a reason.

                It feels good to say that you will support a country that wishes to fight to its last inhabitants. It sounds good. It sounds macho. Very few people actually think about the actual consequences to a policy like that.

                But, we have a real life example, and it is horrible beyond description. Sometimes, if you can make people see the horror and blood of a macho pithy saying, maybe you can get them to see the actual cost of that macho pithy saying.

                Sometimes, sadly, giving up is the right thing to do.

                • Badass_panda@lemmy.world
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                  Sometimes, sadly, giving up is the right thing to do.

                  I get it, but if you are just trying to make the point that, if a country thinks they’ll eventually lose, it’s better for everyone if they give up quickly … then this historical example doesn’t seem relevant.

                  Given that Ukraine already gave up quickly once (in Crimea) and that Russia simply waited until it was convenient to invade them again, I’m sure you can understand why Ukrainians think it’s necessary to fight this one out.

                  Now, the war of the Triple Alliance is often held up as an example of how a minority of belligerents can create massive devastation by continuing a guerilla war after losing the conventional war; if Ukraine seems in danger of losing the conventional war, I’ll admit it’s a relevant parallel, otherwise it isn’t terribly relevant.

            • Badass_panda@lemmy.world
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              They are, mate. You act like the West is standing behind Ukraine threatening to shoot anyone that retreats. We’re sending em guns and money, if they wanted to stop fighting they could make that decision tomorrow.

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                You haven’t seen the video of the Ukrainian lieutenant throwing a grenade into the trench of the Ukrainian soldiers who disobeyed an order to charge the front. Or the daylight kidnappings of Ukrainian citizens by the recruitment officers.

            • InvertedParallax@lemm.ee
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              I’m fine with the Japanese solution, which Russian cities should we delete?

              The German solution seems awfully similar.

              • Hyperreality@kbin.social
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                I’m fine with winning the lottery. That isn’t likely either.

                Ukraine doesn’t have nukes, so the Japanese solution is off the table.

                Ukraine isn’t about to conquer Moscow, so the German solution isn’t feasible either.

                • InvertedParallax@lemm.ee
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                  North Korea has nukes, you’re honestly telling me ukraine, the ones who figured it out in the soviet union, can’t figure it out too?

                  Ukraine is the smart remnant of the soviet union, Russia needs to surrender out of sheer terror.

                • wanderingmagus@lemm.ee
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                  No, but the US does. I, for one, as an SSBN sailor, am ready and willing to set condition 1SQ for Strategic nuclear launch at any time. Slava Ukraini, HOOYAH AMERICA. Kill the Bear!

              • kd637_mi@lemmy.sdf.org
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                I really don’t like how often I see people ok with the idea of nuclear war. I like Fallout as much as the next person but I don’t think it’s an accurate representation of nuclear apocalypse.

            • Railcar8095@lemm.ee
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              I’m pretty sure the negotiations consisted on total surrender and heavy controls of power in the three cases, which Zelenskyy agrees on. Just giving more territories to Russia is not what they want. That would only mean a new offensive in a few years.

              • Hyperreality@kbin.social
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                In other words, even Zelensky knows there’ll have to be negotiations somewhere down the line.

                It’s just a question of when and under which circumstances.

                It’s in Ukraine and Europe’s interests, that these negotiations occur when Russia has been pushed back to the border. Otherwise they’ll have been rewarded for their military adventurism.

                And obviously Russia can’t be trusted, so the moment a cease fire is signed, it’s imperative that Ukraine gets defacto NATO membership (or something approaching it) and is armed to the teeth.

                • Railcar8095@lemm.ee
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                  They had been open to negotiations in the past, and surely are open now, but the first step is for Russia to get the fuck off Ukraine and stop the aggression. It’s not a negotiation of your have a knife to your neck.

            • Badass_panda@lemmy.world
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              The US negotiated with the Japanese.

              The allies negotiated with the Nazis.

              You know both these groups surrendered unconditionally, right?

              • Hyperreality@kbin.social
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                Yes. The terms were harsh, but ultimately both parties agreed to them. A negotiated settlement.

                Note also how the reality is slightly more nuanced. For example, Hirohito remained in power and all members of the Imperial House were spared criminal prosecution. That was an unfortunate but necessary compromise. If the world was fair, they’d have hanged them all, just like much of the Nazi establishment.

                This also why at one point Japanese officials, basing themselves on the Potsdam Declaration, argued to MacArthur that Japan’s surrender had in fact been contractual and conditional. Obviously he told them to go fuck themselves, and because the country was by now occupied, there wasn’t exactly much they could do about it.

                It’s unfortunate, but this is almost certainly what will happen with Russia. A ceasefire will be agreed under conditions both parties accept. The better Ukraine does, the worse the conditions will be that Russia is forced to accept. With a bit of luck, the conditions will be so bad that Putin falls out of a window and is replaced with someone slightly more sane.

                Once the ink is dry, the west will hopefully arm Ukraine to the gills, perhaps institute a no fly zone, give them NATO membership or something approaching it, etc. etc.

                But before that happens there will still need to agree to a ceasefire, hence all wars end with a negotiated settlement, unless you engage in genocide.

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          1 year ago

          Literally yes. If they capitulate it’s only a matter of time before Putin tries again, either by fomenting a revolution and installing another pro-Russia dictator, or restarting the war. This is a fight for the very survival of Ukraine.

            • Veraticus@lib.lgbt
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              Putin is trying to kill both. Those human beings deserve to live and they deserve a country too – the country they are dying to defend.

              • gnuhaut@lemmy.ml
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                I think them conscripts would rather do something other dying for their country. I know I would.

                Have you ever read Catch-22? Yossarian likes to go on about how everybody is trying to kill him. If you’re a Ukrainian soldier it’s not just Putin who’s out to kill you. It’s your own government too, and apparently the average western lib on this very internet forum.

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                  If you believe this why are you not advocating for the Russian conscripts who are forced to fight a madman’s war of aggression and territorial expansion? Like sympathizing for the Ukrainian troops forced to fight is fine but I think you fail to realize the alternative for them is to die at the hands of the Russian military.

                  Only one side here is engaged in a purely optional war of territorial expansion. And it isn’t “the west” or Ukraine.

                • mashbooq@infosec.pub
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                  Ukrainians would disagree; they’re the ones to want to fight and if their government tried to give up, they’d throw them out and find someone willing to keep going

        • lonke@feddit.nu
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          Either you give them land from which they can prepare their next attack or you show them that they’re unable to take and hold land. So yeah. Pretty much.

    • mean_bean279@lemmy.world
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      With Russia leaving. They started this war. Fuck off with your “If there isn’t going to be any peace discussions from Ukraine … how does this ever end?”

      Ukraine, and only Ukraine can be the one to talk about any negotiations. I’ll back their decisions whether it’s to fight to the bitter end, or stop and give up. Their people control their destiny. Russia on the other hand is the one that could simply bring an end to this by leaving. They could have brought peace in fact by simply never killing others. You’re victim blaming. Fuck off.

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      Why is it that country A starts occupying parts of country B, and some people start expecting country B to have peace discussions (ie, give land to country A)? There should be calls to country A to stop occupying country B’s land, and that’s it.

      • vzq
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        deleted by creator

          • lonke@feddit.nu
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            Yup. Russia doesn’t understand diplomacy. Only force. It’s sad that russia acts this way, so, unfortunately, beating them is the only way to have lasting peace.

            That or leadership change but I don’t think putler fears anything more than losing power and the people are either weak or live in a propaganda bubble.

          • GreenMario@lemm.ee
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            Peace through Superior firepower.

            There can be no peace if one side wants to wipe your very existence out.

            • DaDragon@kbin.social
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              Well technically, considering historical precedent, anyone who feels they have more might than their neighbours has the right to do whatever they want to do to them. Historically, that was mostly conquest. Other’s use that might for what can generally be construed as the common good. (EG. Team America world police)

              Ultimately the one who decides what is right and wrong is the collective, and honestly, the world is much less unified in its opinion than it probably should be.

              • InvertedParallax@lemm.ee
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                Great, then let’s give ukraine f15es, fleets of predators and more, give them them much more might than their neighbor and let them solve this solution.

                I’m fine with ukraine demonstrating that might means right.

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            deleted by creator

          • jcit878@lemmy.world
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            if only your heros had billions* in weapons to use lol

            • in USD, not rubles. Watching the red army collapse has been one of the few joys of the past few years
    • InvertedParallax@lemm.ee
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      Russia doesn’t need to ask permission to leave, they just leave.

      Seems like a lot fewer Russians and Ukrainians will die if the Russians left ukraine.

          • Count042@lemmy.ml
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            Because there is no faster way to turn off critical thinking then to self-enforce an echo-chamber?

            But whatever, you do you. I don’t actually give a shit if you block me. Like, holy fuck, “In a sentence, tell me why you deserve to be my friend.” God, I wish I had that sort of self-confidence. That may be why you want to live in an echo chamber, though.

    • lonke@feddit.nu
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      It ends the second russia withdraws its troops or they are beaten out of Ukraine.

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      It takes two to make peace. And how can there’s be peace after the mass murder, torture and kidnapping of children, destruction and death wrought upon Ukraine.

      If Canada did that to the USA, how keen for peace would you be exactly?

      There can only be peace if there is justice.

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          The president is an ethnic Russian you lying piece of garbage.

          Russia has killed more ethnic Russians than Ukraine (or anyone else) ever has. Including 200k of it’s own soldiers. There is nobody in the world more russophobic than Russia.

          As for “Banderite Nazis” I wonder how much they got in the elections? You know, those things that Russia doesn’t have, unless “United Russia” wins. Every single action taken by Russia over the past decade is an exact reflection of Naziism.

          How can you be so completely and utterly brainwashed as to not see what’s right in front of your dumb face.

          • Hexadecimalkink@lemmy.ml
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            I mean the Nazis got into power because Victoria Nuland acted as kingmaker for them… this is all available on the internet from reputable sources. It just hasn’t hit your brainwashed mass media sources because you watch literal propaganda and are such a useful idiot that rather than think critically you regurgitste it on link sharing forums. Sad.

            • tomatopathe@sh.itjust.works
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              Yeah Nazis elected a Jewish man president. You truly do believe such bullshit.

              In the meantime the real Nazis were in an alliance with Russia until the Russians were betrayed.

      • zephyreks@programming.dev
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        Oh, so, war?

        Korea ended in peace. Vietnam ended in peace. Iraq ended in peace. Afghanistan ended in peace. Hell, even China-Taiwan ended in what, by any means, could be defined as peace.

        War and peace are intricately tied together and compromises are often made to save lives. Did the KMT never trade with the CCP again after literally getting booted out of their own country? Did China never trade with Japan again despite millions of people dead, raped, and experimented on?

    • volodymyr@lemmy.world
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      Good question, every war ends in some kind of negotiation, even for surrender. I think when Russia loses, Putin is unlikely to keep power, and some sort of agreement will happen without him.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    As Ukraine’s counteroffensive moves into a fourth month, with only modest gains to show so far, Zelensky told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria he rejected suggestions it was time to negotiate peace with the Kremlin.

    The Wagner leader’s dramatic death, which followed a short-lived rebellion that threatened the authority of the Russian president, was a warning to be heeded, Zelensky suggested.

    While the United States and other key Ukrainian allies continue to supply weapons to Kyiv, and stress that conditions to pursue a “just and durable” peace are not yet in place, a handful of world leaders, such as Brazil’s Lula Da Silva, have put the onus on Ukraine to end the war.

    As evidence for his position, Zelensky cited other countries which have been attacked by Russian soldiers and continue to be partially occupied by them.

    Ukraine has made incremental gains in the south amid fierce fighting with Russian troops, accounts from the front lines suggest.

    Geolocated videos on Friday showed a wasteland of shell holes, abandoned trenches and wrecked military hardware in the area between Robotyne, Verbove and Novoprokopivka — a triangle of villages that hold the key for Ukrainians to getting closer to Tokmak, an important hub for Russian defenses.


    The original article contains 282 words, the summary contains 201 words. Saved 29%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

    • tomatopathe@sh.itjust.works
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      Oh it’s you, idiot and Russia shill.

      Do you wet your panties everytime Putin gets a new yacht, goes through another round of Botox or assassinates another journalist?

      • Hexadecimalkink@lemmy.ml
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        Your comment adds no value and we’re all worse off as a group for reading your ad hominem vitriol. Please go and sit in the corner and think about how useless you have been until you have something constructive to share.

        • tomatopathe@sh.itjust.works
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          Here is something constructive: the Russian Mafia state might just collapse soon, giving a window to hundreds of colonized peoples, like Chechens, Dagestanis, Mongols, Tatars, etc, a chance for freedom.

            • tomatopathe@sh.itjust.works
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              Oooh so now you go from “Russia is the bestest, Ukraine nazis” to “whuddabout” as you run out of anything constructive to say.

              • Hexadecimalkink@lemmy.ml
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                Not at all, I just think these comments are disingeneous and filled with fallacies. We use the same arguments when we pollute the earth (other countries should lead by example if we should stop polluting), so why does the same not apply to foreign interference? Maybe the USA should remove its 800+ military bases around the world before telling other countries they can’t interfere in another countries sovereignty. Imagine a country saying, USA please leave. Do you think the USA will just say, “OK sure I’ll pull all my troops out tomorrow.”

            • fhqwhgads@lemmy.ml
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              Hey did anybody else consider the relevance of what happened in America? Have you guys heard? About America? America. What about America. No forget Russia, we’re taking about America right now! America…

              • Hexadecimalkink@lemmy.ml
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                This entire comment thread pretends like their poop doesn’t stink while telling someone else their poop stinks. American Exceptionalism is a bad thing to defend.

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                  Hey, guys what about America!? Did anybody hear about America? AMERICAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

            • tomatopathe@sh.itjust.works
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              Oooh, what a great comeback.

              In the meantime 1/4 of Russians shit in a hole in the ground for lack of plumbing while their children die in Ukraine with shit equipment so that Putin and his Mafia can collect mansions, private jets and yachts.

              If the CIA really wanted to kill Russians they couldn’t have done it better.

    • bodgeit@lemmy.sdf.org
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      he was ready for peace talks 3 days into invasion (russian military backed down, preparing for negotiations), but got talked out of it by Boris Johnson.

      Nowadays his entire existence hinges on the war continuing. If it stops - no matter who wins, he will lose his seat, then get murdered.

      Quenching the conflict over Donbass and Crimea was the main point of his election campaign. People on both sides believed he would finally put an end to it, after the low times under Poroshenko. It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad, how it turned out in the end.

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        Pretty much. Dude’s stuck between a rock and a hard place. If he steps down, his propaganda machine has made it so he’ll probably get executed for betraying Ukraine. If he doesn’t, he’s stuck in a war he knows he can’t win without NATO troops.

    • dsmk@lemmy.zip
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      he would have not genocided tens of thousands of ethnic Russians since 2014

      Zelensky became president in May 2019…

      edit: I am really being downvoted for pointing out a fact? lol.

  • flaneur@lemm.ee
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    Zelensky has forgotten to mention Mink and Mink2 agreement that he and EU have broken, thus lying to Russia, and even admitted it.