Literally zero foreign military bases were in Ukraine except Russian ones. Overwhelmingly more Russian weaponry and personnel in Ukraine before the war.For Russia it would have meant a continual weakening of their security situation as more and more weapons and training flow into Ukraine[...]
Hysteria.and either eventual subjugation by the United States or very likely a war later on that would be more difficult to win and even more likely to escalate into a nuclear apocalypse.
What does "bullying Russia with impunity" look like, exactly?They were losing the 'peace' (such as it was). Ultimately what this war is about is whether Russia is weak enough for the United States and NATO to bully it with impunity. All sides seem to agree that, no, it isn't, and Ukraine is paying the price. It is a price that the US and NATO deem worth it as they are still insisting that Zelensky be the one to negotiate any peace while at the same time not empowering Zelensky to negotiate on their behalf an end to sanctions or other conditions which the Russians want in exchange for peace.
They weren't controlling Russia's domestic or foreign policy. They weren't forcing it into economic devastation. They weren't attacking it or threatening its territory. They were paying it over a billion a day for its oil, and letting it rule however it wanted... within its own borders.
You're just characterising NATO offering other countries membership to be "bullying Russia", which is laughable absurdity. Its not Russia's fucking business whether a different sovereign country joins; they don't get to control the foreign policy of other sovereign countries anymore.
All the while, of course, you have absolutely no problem with gigantic coercion aimed at other countries. The only country that earns this hand-wringing about "bullying" is poor victimised Russia; all the countries that Russia is invading, ethnically cleansing, carpet-bombing etc, they don't receive that same concern. When it comes to them you'll just label them all Nazis and look the other way as civilians are gunned down in the street.
You know what approach would minimise the damage to Russia, save those Ukrainians, and also avoid imperial annexation?"Imperial annexation" is the only result that will satisfy the West because it will mean that Ukraine has indeed fought to the last Ukrainian and maximized the damage to Russia.
Russian withdrawal. In fact, that's the only approach that would, since they're the sole power here with complete control over whether to end the invasion.
They chose to attempt to conquer a neighbouring country and forcibly absorb its territory. They then failed, lied about their reasons for invading in the first place, and are now dragging it out in at effort to save political face by extracting something they can sell as a victory. Literally every party involved wants them to withdraw, except a small cabal of Russian ultra-capitalists who fear their own political position would collapse if they retreated. So unwilling Russian conscripts and Ukrainian civilians die in their tens of thousands.
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