Russia

[Kugelfisch]

Scratch nukes. Those things need maintenance and it's likely that besides the USA, France and Israel nobody has functioning nukes anyway. They have close to no tactical value besides being a deterend and their actual destructiveness is well overrated.

I still think that Russia will get exactly the territory they have wanted for almost ten years now. It won't have been worth the losses but anything less isn't an option for them, thanks to western involvement.

The winner is China. Our real enemy, as Otter pointed out.

[Toodles]

But the NATO did get closer to the borders.
Because the want to annex parts of the Ukraine.
And because Finnaldn joined the NATO (because of the whole parts-annexing thing).
They likely also want to turn Ukraine into a puppet state, which doesn't help.

Finland joining NATO did make NATO closer to Russia but quite less than if Ukraine had joined. I don't know if Russia has anticipated Finland and Sweden joining NATO as a response to their invasion, but in any case it's a good trade-off.

Annexing the eastern parts of Ukraine made Russia spatially closer to NATO countries, but not that much that it matters, and Ukraine is sufficiently large country that the rest of it can still function as a comfortable buffer zone. And it will be a buffer zone that will be organized how Russia wants it.

But how will Russia be achieving that amount of leverage?

I predict that once it becomes unambiguous that Ukraine will lose (latter half of this year), the collective West/NATO will unceremoniously dump Ukraine and leave it to its down devices. It will have its hand full with trying to save face after the debacle.

[rabidtictac]

That does sound like a very Biden Administration move. Just like what Demento Joe did in Afghanistan.

[RAPEMAN]

Once they stop funneling enough money into their pockets they'll stop giving a shit about the Ukraine like with Iraq.

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

It's such a retarded mistake the collective West basically forced Russia to side with China when we have to circle around and isolate China which is the real threat.

Everyone does business with Cina.
Everyone.

[rabidtictac]

Including us. So how are we going to sanction them if they attack Taiwan again?

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

We will send them a strongly-worded letter about how concerned we are about the situation.

[Le Redditeur]

Including us. So how are we going to sanction them if they attack Taiwan again?

By blockading the South China Sea and letting them starve for a few months.

[rabidtictac]

Including us. So how are we going to sanction them if they attack Taiwan again?

By blockading the South China Sea and letting them starve for a few months.

Letting China starve or Taiwan?

[RAPEMAN]

Including us. So how are we going to sanction them if they attack Taiwan again?

By blockading the South China Sea and letting them starve for a few months.

Letting China starve or Taiwan?

Taiwan is were the Ukrainian money should have went.