It's just the beginning. I'm sure NATO will be directly involved at some stage. Ukraine is already unofficially part of NATO.
I’m responding to @TreasureHunter acting like a Karen saying that every action is escalating to war when that is a clear example of restraint. I know how this circular conversation goes. Putin could execute the family members of everyone in this forum and it would be the direct fault of USA, no point saying anything otherwise aye.
Of course, NATO didn't start this war, but it will be foolish to think they are scared of Russia. You can see that this is entirely a trap.
Ukraine is being used like a "pawn" and Putin says they attacked, because it would have been far more difficult for them to face a conflict with them later (remember: EU and US were arming Ukraine heavily and the Ukrainian president requested nukes from the US). If NATO gets directly involved, it's World War 3 from then on. For some reason, the EU is playing the US' game of pushing more towards war. There are almost no peace efforts besides France and Hungary, no-one else offered mediation. PEACE cannot be achieved by sending more weapons. Russians will keep bringing their own as well. It's a bit like Vietnam. No-one seems to comprehend, the Ukrainians even less. THEY are going to suffer the most (like the Vietnamese did), but for some reason they think they need military help. No, that doesn't work against Russia. Peaceful discussions, a compromise is needed. But at this stage there is little intelligence and maturity in most of those politicians. EU politicians are sub-par, Biden is senile and Kamala is a street whore, Zelensky used to be a comic actor (LITERALLY) - it's as is Seinfeld or Mr.Bean would be president. On the other side, Putin is a former KGB high-weight predator. Clowns like Boris Johnson, actors like Zelinsky, adolescents like Macron, seniles like Biden, whores like Kamala... come, on they can't face the situation. They are sub-par. PEACE is urgent, the longer this drags on, the worse it will be and the entire Europe will suffer. Politicians just play chess. Sad thing is, none of them seem to want to end the war...
I think there are stages, where the war/violence can be stopped, but compromise is necessary (like during the Cold War or the Cuban Missile Crisis). Mature intelligent people are needed. Kennedy's team had plenty of brains. Jimmy Carter's team, Ronald Reagan's as well. But today's western politicians are sub-par. They can't face the situation. This is very dangerous. They don't even know how to treat the situation.
It would be direct confrontation with Russia if NATO would enforce a "no fly zone". Right now the entire EU became a "no fly zone" for Russia and vice-versa. Didn't you see? Planes are no longer flying above Russia (towards Asia). But my question is: are Chinese, Korean Japanese jets still flying above Russia towards the EU? Almost all European planes are flying above the Middle East (gosh, what traffic!) to reach Asia. Everyone flying to Thailand, Bali, Vietnam, Philippines, Australia will fly above Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia... the space is tighter there than above Siberia. The Russians were making a lot of money from jets flying above their heads (jets traveling between Europe and Asia above Siberia). Now they will make less money. On the other hand, the routes to Japan, China, Korea are much longer for Europeans via the Middle East. Longer flights, more fuel, higher cost... more jet lag!
Proof that news are superficial and fabricated: the immature narrator in this video miss-spells the name of Kyrgyzstan and says "Kyrzygstan" TWICE: How much more stupid can a journalist be?
Everyone is now playing poker with the cards faced up Putin have AA - has no personal concern West have KK - only concern is their own economies Ukraine has 72 - Abandoned in all but name only. Taking out NATO members, nothing stopping Australia, Singapore, Korea and Japan etc sending their own troops. Most of these defence personal wont even need to take their tank, planes or arms etc they use the same assets with many NATO forces. Much like Polish airforce giving Ukrainian pilots Polish Mig29 to replace Ukrainian MIG29 destoryed on the ground.
^ Polish, Slovak and Bulgarian governments promised (allegedly) to give used Mig-29's to Ukraine (about 70 pieces of 'em). Russia threatened them to bone marrow and they peed themselves. After that, it hit the news that all 3 countries pretended that they have no idea about the deal and that they are NOT giving any jets to Ukraine The Russian bear barks and the entire eastern Europe gets diarrheas. It is amazing how the Russian "wonder weapons" don't seem to be anywhere on the battlefield. They must have lost hundreds of tanks and dozens of helicopters due to hand-held missiles. The kind of losses Russia is experiencing is tremendous vs. what the US & its allies did not experience in Iraq. Not to mention Ukraine's losses. Must be devastating. The EU should have created its own common military, analysts say, because otherwise one-by-one they are going to fall vs Russia. NATO is a US-driven rigid structure in which the entire Europe is depending upon the US to protect it. Economically the US is a competitor to Europe, so the current trends are weakening Europe as well as Russia. The US gains, so why would the US put an end to the conflict, if the US dollar is going up? They will push Europe to buy their liquified gas (transported on ships to Europe) for 10-25x the price of the Russian gas.
In the case of Poland back tracking MIG29, the Flop, Street and River looks like Putin have AA - has no personal concern West have KK - only concern is their own economies Ukraine has 72 - Abandoned in all but name only. FLOP is 6, 9, 5 Turn is J River is Q Game over WILDCARD if Ukraine announced their primary target is one of the two Russian-EU Gas Pipes and BLOWS one up, to declare their resolve to the West and Russia. FLOP is 2, 5, A - Ukraine declares their intention to BOMB an EU-Russia pipleine Turn is 2 - Ukraine goes All IN and bombs a pipeline, and EU start planning for rolling blackout in few months River is - Who will flinch Ukraine or Russia, will it be 2, 7 or A (West have folded), will Ukraine sink EU into immediate 12 hours outages a day from next week and sabotage the second pipe. Will Ukraine go out with a Bang and end up Russian or slink away with a whimper and become Russian
It seems like Russias economy will be much better to withstand this turmoil than most western nations. Their gdp is much healthier, central bank gold holdings are much stronger and they have good reason not to let the Federal Reserve take them over. After looking into the Russian economy Brandon should be embarrassed. It looks like theyve been doing something right all these years.
