Thread:
Our experience with the 10-Ruble Army here in the past suggests otherwise. They’re not exactly Russia’s best and brightest. The usernames are likely generated by computer from a very limited corpus, they’re given a short list of talking points du jour, and they often don’t seem aware that Google Translate exists.
While South Korea might be willing, Japan has been reluctant to send “loud messages” regarding Taiwan. Last year when they sent vaccine aid to Taiwan they mentioned Tiawan explicitly for the first time, instead of the usual “cross-Strait” vague references as they’ve done in the past.
In fact the vague statement late last year was seen as pretty seismic. It read:
“The stability of the situation surrounding Taiwan is important for the security of Japan and the stability of the international community,”
The fact that such a seemingly-anodyne statement was seen as a Big Deal says a lot about how cautious Japan has been with all this, as well as the growing power of Conservatives, and the perceived threat China brings.
about that edge …
Yeah and they only have like 18 of the damn things.
Before or after the supply flights from Turkey? If I were Baykar I’d be shipping everything I had into the Ukraine just for the marketing opportunity. Their clients are not fighting NATO, typically, and to be going up successfully against the next biggest and baddest actor is going to print money for them.
Oh nos, should this guy even bother going back to Moscow?
As an American citizen it’s heartening to me to see the French, Poles, Brits, and Germans so easily sliding into coordinating on defense. I remember when German troops staffed the NATO mission to Yugoslavia in the 1990s, and all the angst that went with that. While the circumstances here suck, it’s great to see how seamless this is.
I think he might have been in Russia. Since the Ukrainian delegation had to shelter, it seems like it might have been an online conference.
The meeting was not public, although summaries are published that describe the positions countries take. The language was shared with POLITICO via a translated transcription and confirmed by another person who attended the meeting.
A bit shitty of Politico to blow up his spot like that, if he expected it to be a closed meeting, no?
Putin being resisted on multiple fronts. Belarusians should take this opportunity to escape his grip and depose his puppet.
I believe that’s what they call substantial reputational risk in the boardroom.
Ukrainian civilians blocking a Russian military convoy and not retreating even after Russian gunfire.
Given how despotic and violently, ruthlessly repressive Lukashenko is, this is significant.
Back in the Cold War days, a Polish colleague told me a joke, popular at the time, that I’m sure you are familiar with. Thankfully it seems to be obsolete now.
Q: Poland is invaded simultaneously by Germans from the west and Russians from the east. Whom do you shoot at first?
A: You shoot at the Germans first, of course. Business before pleasure.
