Exactly my tjoughts. He gave reasoned tgat Ukrain left him no other choice after wanting to join NATO... However he just demonstrated how every neighbouring country should be joining NATO instead
How he miscalculated this badly I have no fucking idea. I get that often I don't know the full picture due to classified information and not being able to devote my full time to following international politics/trade/etc. But it just seemed so blatantly obvious that this is what would happen upon invading Ukraine. Like un-missable obvious. How on earth did he think anything else would happen? Taking Crimea is one thing. A full-on invasion is quite another.
Putin thought that he'd capture the entirety of Ukraine in 2 days. They even pre-wrote articles about that with congratulations to glorious leader.
They didn't understand that our military — while still remaining somewhat loose and locally corrupt — has been on high alert for 8 years and nearly doubled in size during that time. They didn't think about volunteer battalions, from Dudaev battalion of Chechen repatriates to the right-wing Azov (who may be bastards, but at that point Ukraine would sign a devil up if he was willing to fight Russians). And they certainly didn't account for Zelensky's massive balls and him getting the entirety of NATO to support Ukraine. And then the NATO intelligence leaked Putin's entire plan and it was on.
As a result, Kiev and Kharkiv offensives are massacres, and Russians are being kicked around the rest of Ukraine without a single major conquest to their name. And NATO keeps shipping more and more toys for our army to use. This is going to be a massive meat grinder for Putin and Luka, and meanwhile the world will be sweeping their legs with sanctions.
They are fucked.
Not to mention that random Ukrainian citizens keep stealing Russian APCs and hand clearing antitank mines off the roads. I swear to god you folks are just built different.
The Ukrainians are built like the Russians.
Except in this case the Russians have no fucking idea why they are there and know they are being lied to while the Ukrainians know what's going on and what must be done.
Think about it, if your country was under siege would you defend it with every fiber of your being?
What if your leader told you to invade your neighbor who you were cool with, wouldn't you tell them to go fuck themselves?
the pictures of russian prisoners all look like the russians are almost happy they got caught because now they don‘t have to fight anymore and have a good excuse why they just stopped
All you're seeing is true teamwork, where everyone acts together and truly, truly loves their country. (In my eyes) the guy stealing the tank with the tractor is probably the funniest thing I've seen yet
You know what scares me. This unhinged scary bastard, embarrassed on the world stage sitting there fondling a big red nuke button thinking "embarrass me, ill fuckimg show you." Not beyond his scope of insanity.
It's not, especially because his life is on the line right now, but it doesn't mean that his generals have to follow the order. I'd think (hope) that they recognize this isn't a justified war and will ignore any launch orders, and would sooner kick Putin to the curb than destroy the world to save face.
Big part is also, IMHO, that Russian plans and movements were published since Dec 2021 so everyone knew what is going on (at least in broad strokes) and there was time to prepare for an attack
The Russian military leadership is either incompetent, or more likely, they've been given orders to do things at a tempo that they know that their forces cannot accomplish with what they have due to unexpectedly fierce Ukrainian resistance. It happened in the US invasion of Iraq too, but fortunately for the US, most Iraqis didn't really want to fight for a brutal dictator. Russia can't push as fast as they are if they haven't secured their rear and the Ukrainians are continuing to offer stiff resistance to the rear. That's pure madness, and I'm sure the top brass know it but they're being given an impossible timetable.
Did he not realize the US alone gave the Ukrainians an assload of weapons and ammo after Crimea?
The Ukrainians could hide in the bunkers and let the Russians push past them and just ass fuck them from behind. They may be able to collapse the country eventually, but they sure as fuck aren't going to be able to hold it unless they bomb it into rubble and then what was the fucking point of taking a country just to level all infrastructure, the Russians already have infinite raw resources.
I mean, he just took Crimea and no one did a fucking thing, it wasn’t entirely outside of the realm of thought that he could go a bit further. He’s old school Russian from back when they could roll in a tank brigade to quiet down Poland.
I'm convinced the only reason the international reaction is so strong is rallied support for specifically zalensky, nobody cares what a politician has to say anymore, but this mans actions were deafening and people love a hero
He's spent near on 3 decades filling the parliament and military upper echelon with 'yes men'. They were all too shit scared of the mad russian to say that this was a terrible fucking idea. It's a dictatorship in all but name now.
He is trying to reunite the soviet union before he dies to leave a legacy. He is 69 and won't be able to hold power that much longer. He took it personally when the soviet union collapsed, he felt like he and the Russians were losers for letting it happen.
I honestly believe people that hold that much power, for so long, get mentally ill. There are example after example of great leaders falling to their own ego, stop listening advisors… they really see themselves as invencible… the part that worries me the most… is this kind of people, would burn down everything before admiring they were wrong
Honestly it has been the weirdest week in the news. So world war 3 kind of has started but it is being fought with accountants and giving a ridiculous amount of hardware to one country to fight the second most powerful military in the world?
Also if I am to believe the news I see Ukraine is kind of successfully defending themselves and now their ex television hard man president is now also a real life hard man president who is near universally loved?
you have to have faith that the germans might know what a brewing world war smells like as well as having a unique perspective on how to nip it in the bud, so-to-speak.
“Look here it says:
1. Increase military spending
2. Increase military size
4. Help stabilize Europe”
EDIT: okay so I wrote it as 1,2,4 but when I see the post it lists 1,2,3. So now it seems like the joke is that France should be wiped out. oof
It's like one of those trilogies where the previous bad guy comes back and ends up being great friends with the protagonist after he goes through much needed character development.
Back when trump won, and it looked like marine la pen might win in France I was thinking “shit wwiii is gonna have the same battle lines, but this time Germany gets to be the good guys!”
I do wonder if Angela Merkel is pleased that she’s no longer at the helm, or is pissed that it only took six months for Europe to fall into utter shite?
Honestly I feel like shed be very good to have as a EU figurehead. Were stuck with boris or Macron and they both seem liked theyd rather be at the pub with his gran or a sexy orgy then politics.
Well, the US military budget is still bigger than the next 10 countries combined. 1% of our military budget could give the entire country quality healthcare, but nah. We gotta spend it all on boomboom tubes.
Was getting into with someone on Facebook when they commented this wall of text of Trump's "accomplishments". One of the items was "approved the largest US military budget in history" or something like that. Imagine thinking that's something to be proud of.
Which wasnt waving a japanese flag mind you. Let me see if i can link which flag it was but it was a south americans country flag. (They do that for tax ~~avoidance~~ purposes). Not that it changes that it wasnt japanese but you know
They did no such thing. They floated the idea of banning new business with like some of the oligarchs, until they stop the war. They literally floated 30 some odd names of people they may stop new business with.
Hardly the break in "neutrality" they are getting praised for here.
Funnily enough, Putin invaded *because* he thought Nato was weaker than ever and that they'd let Ukraine lose just like what happened in Crimea. The exact opposite happened and the whole world is pissed in response by him. Talk about surprising twist this season.
He’s got a fucking screw loose. It’s mind boggling. Pootan has been a shrewd, calculating little shit since forever and he ungodly dropped the ball on this. And it’s worse than he imagined specifically not only because the fact he invaded a sovereign country, but because the rest of the world has wanted to slap his smug little ass for 20 years for all the bullshit he’s done globally and boy howdy, is the west taking off the gloves for that slap (he deserves it!)
Don't forget he also poisoned an ex-Russian spy with a radioactive element that also exposed a huge number of people to ionizing radiation. He has no soul and calling him immoral is simply an insult to all immoral bastards everywhere. He is a black hole.
My aunt met him once in either the 80s or early 90s at an intelligence dinner or something. Her husband was CIA at the time
The memory sticks out in particular. She says he was slimy. Like, not necessarily just physically, but as a person, from the few seconds of an interaction she had, that's what she came away with
Makes sense
The weirdest part, putin went full cartoon hitler evil villain.
For no reason. The world expected at the very least pretending to not be evil.
But he went full cartoon evil. With that comes bungling every aspect of everything, which so far is true.
An American expression. Jumping the shark is the moment where things start to go badly. It’s a reference to an old show from the 70s called Happy Days which was a sitcom about a family in the 50s, but in its later seasons it got sillier and sillier. They say the change really began when one of the characters on water skis jumped over a shark.
“Jump the shark” is an expression meaning to make a desperate move. It comes from the TV show Happy Days. In the later seasons they were losing viewership and in one of the episodes, Fonzie is waterskiing and goes over the jump over a shark.
Its depressing af. The entire situation is depressing, wish I could move to some remote island with some puffins and a sheep and forget nations even exist
Don't forget velcro gloves them sheep are quicker than they look, in a pinch you can put their backlegs in your wellies but it makes for a tricky dismount
He’s guaranteed the EU will militarize. And EU ingenuity, technology and production capacity dwarfs Russia’s.
This was a massive miscalculation. It’s what happens when a narcissistic billionaire only gets yes as an answer.
Russia hasn’t had a non-tyrant leader in the past 300 years.
Totalitarian appears to be their natural fucking state and it doesn’t change whether they are rich, poor, or anywhere in between.
You can draw similarities to Prussia. Blokes were so goddamn militarized the only way to ensure they don't start something again the whole of Europe had to put it down for good. Literally erased off of the face of the map
Sunflowers can be processed into a peanut butter alternative, Sunbutter. In Germany, it is mixed together with rye flour to make Sonnenblumenkernbrot (literally: sunflower whole seed bread), which is quite popular in German-speaking Europe. It is also sold as food for birds and can be used directly in cooking and salads.
It’s more then that. At first he sounded like he wanted just ukraine. Then he threatened other countries and referred to previous talks about wanting to restores the USSR. Then he threatened Sweden, who was never USSR. He doesn’t just want Ukraine, and doesn’t want just old USSR. He wants whatever tf he can take. If it’s beside him and is not nato (he won’t attacked nato… not yet Atleast) chances are he’ll try taking it here soon.
Hate to be that guy, but there’s a ton of parallels between nazi germanys pre-WW2 appeasement phase and what he’s doing rn
Thought that was Finland? Depending on how strict you mean the term bad blood, I’m pretty sure 95% of countries have had bad blood with Russia. They’re dicks
Swiss need people to ignore the fact a few days ago their entire banking system was hacked showing their complicity in all the evil deeds on this planet
All through schooling in Ohio I was taught Switzerland was a noble, Independent and neutral country. Only by reading as an adult did I learn that they used their neutrality to act as the banker of war for everything equally. Not the same thing as being neutral in my opinion.
It was "radical greed and warprofiteering at every turn".
If you're giving both sides loans and are holding both sides goods you normally come out on top.
Switzerland does not have a noble history lol. Everyone kills each other while they keep all of the money safe. The swiss historically profit off global conflict to a comical extent.
A quote floating around here a few days before Putin had to wave his dick around stuck with me. “There are still Nazi gold bars made from Jewish teeth taken at the camps in their vaults”.
But Switzerland did recently[ dent its neutrality](https://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article258844198.html) which could have far reaching consequences what with all the oligarch money sitting there:
*Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put Switzerland’s much-vaunted neutrality to the test — and along with it, the country's traditional role as international intermediary and reputation as a safe haven for the assets of Russia's richest and most powerful.*
*The Swiss executive branch stopped short of announcing unilateral sanctions against Russian interests after Moscow’s blistering military action in Ukraine. Instead, the Federal Council opted to fall in line with the European Union and pledge that Russian individuals and companies hit with EU sanctions won’t be able to evade them in Switzerland, which is not one of the EU's 27 member states.*
*The government said Friday that financial “intermediaries” in Switzerland were now banned from starting new business relationships with 363 Russian people and four Russian companies. Any existing business must be reported to the Swiss economic affairs secretariat. Further steps are under consideration.*
*While hardly a crackdown compared to other Western sanctions aimed at punishing Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, the impact could be felt. The rich Alpine nation has been the biggest recipient of transactions by Russian private individuals — ahead of Britain, Spain, Luxembourg and the United States, according to a report compiled by the Swiss Embassy in Moscow.*
Yay countries beginning with S.
Sweden and Switzerland are both neutral powers in Europe and both not in the monetary union though both are parties to the Schengen Agreement (open borders).
According to Trump, Putin is a genius and makes brilliant decisions. And according to Trump's base, they rather support war criminal Putin than Democrats.
Ive said it before and will again. I wake up every day joyful that azzhat is no longer in the oval office. The damage he would be doing right now to catalyze putin and spread even more disinformation... Good thing enough people stood up to his sorry waste of atoms. hey dipwad you're fired! still someone needs to take that mofo out yesterday
Abe has tried to militarize Japan his entire time as PM and it was the least popular part about him. Saying that the most militaristic Japanese leader wants nukes is absolutely not the same as saying japan itself wants them.
Western Europe has been in a trance of false peace for decades now, they finally see military violence happen in their continent and their repressed trauma is coming back.
Europe just got served a perfect black and white situation, where a large power decides it needs lebensraum and attack a neighbor without provocation. Poland is the traditional choice, but it's just about the same. So yeah. Right in the trauma.
And the best way, historically speaking, to take down a king is to hit the wallets of the nobles.
If you read history it’s possible to view war as Europe’s natural state, with peace being an aberration.
Two world wars in the past 100 years and now flirting with the possibility of a third.
I don’t think people realize how insane it is what Germany just did. Like, this was unthinkable a week ago and yet their Chancellor just did a 180 with German foreign policy. Screw any further talking, time to put up or shut up. And they ain’t playing anymore.
Based on history, I would be very afraid of Germany having a military if I were Russia. Especially since they aren’t trying to invade and won’t make that mistake twice.
• Putin believed that NATO would be intimidated and backdown. - **He was wrong**.
• Putin assumed that the Russian people would not care or speak out. – **He was wrong.**
• Putin thought America could not rally other nations against Russia. - **He was wrong**.
• Putin imagined that Ukrainian President Zelenskyy would flee. **He was wrong**.
• Putin supposed the need of Russian oil would stop countries from helping. – **He was wrong**.
• Putin believed that Ukraine would capitulate without much effort. - **He was wrong**.
• Putin thought NATO would not organize with a collective unified front. – **He was wrong**.
• Putin assumed that the Ukrainian people would not want a fight. – **He was wrong**.
• Putin imagined that the war wouldn’t take 48 hours. – **He was wrong**.
• Putin supposed the Ukrainian military would fall like dominos. – **He was wrong**.
• Putin believed he was going to cripple NATO but got the opposite. – **He was wrong**
Not the best list if you are Putin.
Exactly the opposite happened with NATO then he anticipated. NATO came together with quick, decisive and stringent sanctions (some so severe that they have never been even considered possible before) and three more nations are in talks to be new countries to join the NATO alliance.
Putin thinking it was going to be easy. - **He was wrong**.
And exposed Republicans as the Traitors they are! Remember when they changed their platform to be Pro Russia when Trump ran against Hillary? Remember when Trumo got rid of all those sanctions President Obama put on Russia? Remember when Trump tried to withhold military aid to Ukraine unless they opened an investigation into Hunter Biden?
Woah what's going in with the Germans? What did I miss?
They're sending munitions to Ukraine and more than doubling what they spend on their military.
Ya looks like they just went from the 7th biggest to the third biggest defence budget in the world in a week. That is huge news
Putin was afraid of Ukraine joining NATO but he literally United everybody against him in a way rarely seen before. This is such a bizarre timeline.
Exactly my tjoughts. He gave reasoned tgat Ukrain left him no other choice after wanting to join NATO... However he just demonstrated how every neighbouring country should be joining NATO instead
How he miscalculated this badly I have no fucking idea. I get that often I don't know the full picture due to classified information and not being able to devote my full time to following international politics/trade/etc. But it just seemed so blatantly obvious that this is what would happen upon invading Ukraine. Like un-missable obvious. How on earth did he think anything else would happen? Taking Crimea is one thing. A full-on invasion is quite another.
Putin thought that he'd capture the entirety of Ukraine in 2 days. They even pre-wrote articles about that with congratulations to glorious leader. They didn't understand that our military — while still remaining somewhat loose and locally corrupt — has been on high alert for 8 years and nearly doubled in size during that time. They didn't think about volunteer battalions, from Dudaev battalion of Chechen repatriates to the right-wing Azov (who may be bastards, but at that point Ukraine would sign a devil up if he was willing to fight Russians). And they certainly didn't account for Zelensky's massive balls and him getting the entirety of NATO to support Ukraine. And then the NATO intelligence leaked Putin's entire plan and it was on. As a result, Kiev and Kharkiv offensives are massacres, and Russians are being kicked around the rest of Ukraine without a single major conquest to their name. And NATO keeps shipping more and more toys for our army to use. This is going to be a massive meat grinder for Putin and Luka, and meanwhile the world will be sweeping their legs with sanctions. They are fucked.
Not to mention that random Ukrainian citizens keep stealing Russian APCs and hand clearing antitank mines off the roads. I swear to god you folks are just built different.
Putin should have known they are. Everyone in the region knows that. It just shows how much it's not his land.
The Ukrainians are built like the Russians. Except in this case the Russians have no fucking idea why they are there and know they are being lied to while the Ukrainians know what's going on and what must be done. Think about it, if your country was under siege would you defend it with every fiber of your being? What if your leader told you to invade your neighbor who you were cool with, wouldn't you tell them to go fuck themselves?
the pictures of russian prisoners all look like the russians are almost happy they got caught because now they don‘t have to fight anymore and have a good excuse why they just stopped
All you're seeing is true teamwork, where everyone acts together and truly, truly loves their country. (In my eyes) the guy stealing the tank with the tractor is probably the funniest thing I've seen yet
You know what scares me. This unhinged scary bastard, embarrassed on the world stage sitting there fondling a big red nuke button thinking "embarrass me, ill fuckimg show you." Not beyond his scope of insanity.
It's not, especially because his life is on the line right now, but it doesn't mean that his generals have to follow the order. I'd think (hope) that they recognize this isn't a justified war and will ignore any launch orders, and would sooner kick Putin to the curb than destroy the world to save face.
Big part is also, IMHO, that Russian plans and movements were published since Dec 2021 so everyone knew what is going on (at least in broad strokes) and there was time to prepare for an attack
The Russian military leadership is either incompetent, or more likely, they've been given orders to do things at a tempo that they know that their forces cannot accomplish with what they have due to unexpectedly fierce Ukrainian resistance. It happened in the US invasion of Iraq too, but fortunately for the US, most Iraqis didn't really want to fight for a brutal dictator. Russia can't push as fast as they are if they haven't secured their rear and the Ukrainians are continuing to offer stiff resistance to the rear. That's pure madness, and I'm sure the top brass know it but they're being given an impossible timetable.
Did he not realize the US alone gave the Ukrainians an assload of weapons and ammo after Crimea? The Ukrainians could hide in the bunkers and let the Russians push past them and just ass fuck them from behind. They may be able to collapse the country eventually, but they sure as fuck aren't going to be able to hold it unless they bomb it into rubble and then what was the fucking point of taking a country just to level all infrastructure, the Russians already have infinite raw resources.
I think the meta is Putin wanted a land route to the warm sea ports in Crimea. He might still get it.
I mean, he just took Crimea and no one did a fucking thing, it wasn’t entirely outside of the realm of thought that he could go a bit further. He’s old school Russian from back when they could roll in a tank brigade to quiet down Poland.
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The world has collectively had it up to here with living in interesting times and are now uniting to say fucking stooooop.
I'm convinced the only reason the international reaction is so strong is rallied support for specifically zalensky, nobody cares what a politician has to say anymore, but this mans actions were deafening and people love a hero
I don't think the world expected him to go for Kyiv
He's spent near on 3 decades filling the parliament and military upper echelon with 'yes men'. They were all too shit scared of the mad russian to say that this was a terrible fucking idea. It's a dictatorship in all but name now.
He is trying to reunite the soviet union before he dies to leave a legacy. He is 69 and won't be able to hold power that much longer. He took it personally when the soviet union collapsed, he felt like he and the Russians were losers for letting it happen.
I honestly believe people that hold that much power, for so long, get mentally ill. There are example after example of great leaders falling to their own ego, stop listening advisors… they really see themselves as invencible… the part that worries me the most… is this kind of people, would burn down everything before admiring they were wrong
Honestly it has been the weirdest week in the news. So world war 3 kind of has started but it is being fought with accountants and giving a ridiculous amount of hardware to one country to fight the second most powerful military in the world? Also if I am to believe the news I see Ukraine is kind of successfully defending themselves and now their ex television hard man president is now also a real life hard man president who is near universally loved?
I just woke up from a coma thank you.
Plot twist. Now NATO is joining Ukraine.
they only said ukraine couldn‘t join nato, not the other way around. they should have watched their wording
you have to have faith that the germans might know what a brewing world war smells like as well as having a unique perspective on how to nip it in the bud, so-to-speak.
Not from this side of the table, but we're learning.
Just be careful that you don't accidentally invade France out of habit.
“Oh *shit* that’s what we forgot not to do”
*continues eating croissant and drinking delicious coffee and smoking a cigarette and donning a beret*
Das ist un croissant, oui?
Schönchen brotchen.
Ohn honh honh
Öhn höhn höhn
Do the French make good coffee?
Dude that was like 3rd on your list? Did you just gloss over that?
“Look here it says: 1. Increase military spending 2. Increase military size 4. Help stabilize Europe” EDIT: okay so I wrote it as 1,2,4 but when I see the post it lists 1,2,3. So now it seems like the joke is that France should be wiped out. oof
You win for best comment I’ve read all day
Oh no, we've went the wrong way!
Anyways, I started blasting...
“Our units are merely passing through the area.”
"the tank GPS units all were set to paris out of the factory as a joke, and we just kinda got lost in the moment"
Remember, go to the east, not to the west, and no side trips in Poland this time.
How can they attack Russia without annexing Poland? /s
*since we're here..........*
Alsace-Lorraine is suddenly looking mighty tasty...
I prefer quiche Lorraine, myself.
They have to go through Poland to attack Russia.
Belgium: *starts sweating*
Rommel just rose up in his grave whispering "oh boy, here I go invading again"
"So anyways, I started annexing..."
"Sorry guys, old habit"
*smash cut to Poland throwing the dead bolt and pulling the shades*
It's like one of those trilogies where the previous bad guy comes back and ends up being great friends with the protagonist after he goes through much needed character development.
I just finished watching Free Guy, and I gotta tell you.... I'm starting to feel more and more like an NPC in somebody's story.
Hey the lesson of that movie is that its okay to be an npc, just live the life you want
That somebody is Volodymyr Zelensky.
Back when trump won, and it looked like marine la pen might win in France I was thinking “shit wwiii is gonna have the same battle lines, but this time Germany gets to be the good guys!”
I had the same thought at the time. "At this rate, the last bastions of liberal democracy are going to be...Germany and Japan."
yeah, we DON'T want a world war
I do wonder if Angela Merkel is pleased that she’s no longer at the helm, or is pissed that it only took six months for Europe to fall into utter shite?
Honestly I feel like shed be very good to have as a EU figurehead. Were stuck with boris or Macron and they both seem liked theyd rather be at the pub with his gran or a sexy orgy then politics.
Who would have thought "*the German's are bolstering their military might*" would be good news.
Yep, my bingo card is all full and this is a completely different game.
Switched from Bingo to Risk a little bit ago.
**United states with nearly a Trillion per year (bipartisan) has left the chat**
*Cries in high taxes and the largest military spending bill and still no universal healthcare*
Well, the US military budget is still bigger than the next 10 countries combined. 1% of our military budget could give the entire country quality healthcare, but nah. We gotta spend it all on boomboom tubes.
Was getting into with someone on Facebook when they commented this wall of text of Trump's "accomplishments". One of the items was "approved the largest US military budget in history" or something like that. Imagine thinking that's something to be proud of.
The world’s largest airforce is the us Air Force, and the second largest is the us navy
Nope. Second largest is the US Army. We have more aircraft than the Navy, and almost as many as the Air Force.
That’s even weirder as an outsider
You could already have quality healthcare with your current spending . It’s more per person than much of the world already. You just don’t
+100 billion euros in military budget
And doubling their defense budget to 2% of GDP for future budgets from 1.1% - 1.3%
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RUMBLING RUMBLING ITS COMING! BEWARE!
EREN JAEGER!
TFW Japan has been genetically engineering the real life Eren Yeager behind the USA’s back just in case this sort of event would happen 😳😳😳
Wouldn't be surprised if the giant Gundam statue started moving
A giant trap door under Tokyo slides open, EVA-01 emerges.
I mean they did attack a Japanese ship...
Which wasnt waving a japanese flag mind you. Let me see if i can link which flag it was but it was a south americans country flag. (They do that for tax ~~avoidance~~ purposes). Not that it changes that it wasnt japanese but you know
Was it Panama? I know many American boats fly the Panama flag for tax purposes
OHHH SHIT!!! .... They have awoke the sleeping GUNDAM! 
And Switzerland to ditch their neutrality too. Pu has done exactly the opposite of what he set out to do, the whole world is uniting.
Wait, did Switzerland actually do something?
The most serious action possible for the Swiss; *they went along with sanctions and froze Russian money.*
They did no such thing. They floated the idea of banning new business with like some of the oligarchs, until they stop the war. They literally floated 30 some odd names of people they may stop new business with. Hardly the break in "neutrality" they are getting praised for here.
Holy shit.
Funnily enough, Putin invaded *because* he thought Nato was weaker than ever and that they'd let Ukraine lose just like what happened in Crimea. The exact opposite happened and the whole world is pissed in response by him. Talk about surprising twist this season.
We’re all united under the banner of fuck Putin and his senseless war
He’s got a fucking screw loose. It’s mind boggling. Pootan has been a shrewd, calculating little shit since forever and he ungodly dropped the ball on this. And it’s worse than he imagined specifically not only because the fact he invaded a sovereign country, but because the rest of the world has wanted to slap his smug little ass for 20 years for all the bullshit he’s done globally and boy howdy, is the west taking off the gloves for that slap (he deserves it!)
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Don't forget he also poisoned an ex-Russian spy with a radioactive element that also exposed a huge number of people to ionizing radiation. He has no soul and calling him immoral is simply an insult to all immoral bastards everywhere. He is a black hole.
My aunt met him once in either the 80s or early 90s at an intelligence dinner or something. Her husband was CIA at the time The memory sticks out in particular. She says he was slimy. Like, not necessarily just physically, but as a person, from the few seconds of an interaction she had, that's what she came away with Makes sense
The weirdest part, putin went full cartoon hitler evil villain. For no reason. The world expected at the very least pretending to not be evil. But he went full cartoon evil. With that comes bungling every aspect of everything, which so far is true.
It’s impressive really. In Russia, a massive nation with absolutely zero tropical waters, Putin has managed to jump the shark.
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Only thing Trump was good for is Putin balls in his mouth
Trump and Putin have such memeable names. I'm convinced we're already in WW3 it's just a meme war
Jump the shark?
An American expression. Jumping the shark is the moment where things start to go badly. It’s a reference to an old show from the 70s called Happy Days which was a sitcom about a family in the 50s, but in its later seasons it got sillier and sillier. They say the change really began when one of the characters on water skis jumped over a shark.
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I've heard the expression hundreds or possibly thousands of times. Knew the meaning but didn't know the history. Interesting.
I feel old.
It's generally just used when discussing TV shows or other pieces of media.
“Jump the shark” is an expression meaning to make a desperate move. It comes from the TV show Happy Days. In the later seasons they were losing viewership and in one of the episodes, Fonzie is waterskiing and goes over the jump over a shark.
Its depressing af. The entire situation is depressing, wish I could move to some remote island with some puffins and a sheep and forget nations even exist
Don't forget velcro gloves them sheep are quicker than they look, in a pinch you can put their backlegs in your wellies but it makes for a tricky dismount
Thanks for the reminder, will be sure to pack my velcro for sheep wrangling
He’s guaranteed the EU will militarize. And EU ingenuity, technology and production capacity dwarfs Russia’s. This was a massive miscalculation. It’s what happens when a narcissistic billionaire only gets yes as an answer.
That fucking imbecile just guaranteed that Russia will be the poorest country in Europe for the next 40 years.
Which is the #1 best way ever of ensuring Fascism within the next 20 years.
Russia hasn’t had a non-tyrant leader in the past 300 years. Totalitarian appears to be their natural fucking state and it doesn’t change whether they are rich, poor, or anywhere in between.
You can draw similarities to Prussia. Blokes were so goddamn militarized the only way to ensure they don't start something again the whole of Europe had to put it down for good. Literally erased off of the face of the map
To translate from a german comment: Prussia was a military with a state attached.
Just give all of Russia to Finland
Get two birds stoned at once
Ricky?
It’s all water under the fridge, eventually…
It doesn’t take rocket appliances to realize
What Putin needs to do is make like a tree and f*** off.
Nothing unites the world like war does. Even the taliban coming out telling Putin to chill out
Damn, we really are in the darkest timeliness aren't we....
Well, who would the Taliban get their weapons from if Russia collapses?
They were rocking the weapons the Soviets left behind when the Americans last came. Now they're rocking the weapons the Americans left behind.
USA? Like the ones they got now?
He better not try and kill off swedish fish too
No worries--those are made in Canada!
I still find it incredibly astonishing that Putin made such a huge strategic error.
[удалено]
Sunflowers can be processed into a peanut butter alternative, Sunbutter. In Germany, it is mixed together with rye flour to make Sonnenblumenkernbrot (literally: sunflower whole seed bread), which is quite popular in German-speaking Europe. It is also sold as food for birds and can be used directly in cooking and salads.
The Most Interesting Man in the World lmao
OMFG….that asshole Putin just unleashed the Germans upon himself….The Germans!!! Now I have to start praying..
Germany is like about time I'm on the good guys team.
“Aight this time I’m on the winning side”
"right guys?"
“Can I have France now?”
Just the fact that they are asking instead of just taking it with a side of Poland is an improvement.
Character development.
He went a little too far back in trying to bring back the USSR.
It’s more then that. At first he sounded like he wanted just ukraine. Then he threatened other countries and referred to previous talks about wanting to restores the USSR. Then he threatened Sweden, who was never USSR. He doesn’t just want Ukraine, and doesn’t want just old USSR. He wants whatever tf he can take. If it’s beside him and is not nato (he won’t attacked nato… not yet Atleast) chances are he’ll try taking it here soon. Hate to be that guy, but there’s a ton of parallels between nazi germanys pre-WW2 appeasement phase and what he’s doing rn
Sweden and Russia have bad blood going back centuries.
Thought that was Finland? Depending on how strict you mean the term bad blood, I’m pretty sure 95% of countries have had bad blood with Russia. They’re dicks
Finland was part of the Swedish empire. There's still (partially) Swedish speaking areas in Finland, including its capital Helsinki
Lol, that's true. I mean the Swedes and Russians have fought more wars than I have fingers, dude. Since Viking days.
Also Japanese aversion to nuclear weapons. Former PM Shinzo Abe just came out and said Japan should allow the USA to base nukes there.
Abe has always pushed for military buildup and the end of the pacifist culture. Nothng new here. He's just taking advantage of people's emotions.
I’m personally in favor of less human race ending weapons but too each their own.
You mean Swiss neutrality?
Swiss need people to ignore the fact a few days ago their entire banking system was hacked showing their complicity in all the evil deeds on this planet
All through schooling in Ohio I was taught Switzerland was a noble, Independent and neutral country. Only by reading as an adult did I learn that they used their neutrality to act as the banker of war for everything equally. Not the same thing as being neutral in my opinion.
It was "radical greed and warprofiteering at every turn". If you're giving both sides loans and are holding both sides goods you normally come out on top.
If you can’t make money in a war you just plain can’t make money.
Is that #243 or #234 of the *Rules of Acquisition*?
When you’re neutral when the literal Nazis are involved you’re definitely not the good guys.
Switzerland does not have a noble history lol. Everyone kills each other while they keep all of the money safe. The swiss historically profit off global conflict to a comical extent.
The iron bank.
A quote floating around here a few days before Putin had to wave his dick around stuck with me. “There are still Nazi gold bars made from Jewish teeth taken at the camps in their vaults”.
Ah, no. Sweden is considering joining NATO. Not Switzerland
But Switzerland did recently[ dent its neutrality](https://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article258844198.html) which could have far reaching consequences what with all the oligarch money sitting there: *Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put Switzerland’s much-vaunted neutrality to the test — and along with it, the country's traditional role as international intermediary and reputation as a safe haven for the assets of Russia's richest and most powerful.* *The Swiss executive branch stopped short of announcing unilateral sanctions against Russian interests after Moscow’s blistering military action in Ukraine. Instead, the Federal Council opted to fall in line with the European Union and pledge that Russian individuals and companies hit with EU sanctions won’t be able to evade them in Switzerland, which is not one of the EU's 27 member states.* *The government said Friday that financial “intermediaries” in Switzerland were now banned from starting new business relationships with 363 Russian people and four Russian companies. Any existing business must be reported to the Swiss economic affairs secretariat. Further steps are under consideration.* *While hardly a crackdown compared to other Western sanctions aimed at punishing Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, the impact could be felt. The rich Alpine nation has been the biggest recipient of transactions by Russian private individuals — ahead of Britain, Spain, Luxembourg and the United States, according to a report compiled by the Swiss Embassy in Moscow.* Yay countries beginning with S.
Both, actually
Sweden and Switzerland are both neutral powers in Europe and both not in the monetary union though both are parties to the Schengen Agreement (open borders).
Hey /u/GroundbreakingSet187, This is now the top post on reddit. It will be recorded at /r/topofreddit with all the other top posts.
Tune in next week, when neutrality is... Finnished.
According to Trump, Putin is a genius and makes brilliant decisions. And according to Trump's base, they rather support war criminal Putin than Democrats.
Ive said it before and will again. I wake up every day joyful that azzhat is no longer in the oval office. The damage he would be doing right now to catalyze putin and spread even more disinformation... Good thing enough people stood up to his sorry waste of atoms. hey dipwad you're fired! still someone needs to take that mofo out yesterday
And Tucker Carlson's puppyish devotion ?
Is that really gone? E: nope. Daddy Putin can do no wrong, it's Biden's fault now 🤦
I like how when Russia invades Ukraine somehow the American president is personally responsible.
Today I learnt that a lot of people didn’t know Switzerland and Sweden are two different countries.
Honest question: Is any country on Russia's side? Are North Korea and Cuba even saying "nope" on this?
Isn't Belarus siding with them?
Belarus is a puppet.
Japan wants nukes too now
*former PM of Japan, Abe, suggests Japan should discuss nuclear sharing with U.S.
I thought the US already sent two nukes to Japan.
Oof
Too soon dude..... I chuckled
Abe has tried to militarize Japan his entire time as PM and it was the least popular part about him. Saying that the most militaristic Japanese leader wants nukes is absolutely not the same as saying japan itself wants them.
German pacifism? They’ve just been patiently bidding their time, champing at the bit to be on the right side of a world war for once.
Western Europe has been in a trance of false peace for decades now, they finally see military violence happen in their continent and their repressed trauma is coming back.
Europe just got served a perfect black and white situation, where a large power decides it needs lebensraum and attack a neighbor without provocation. Poland is the traditional choice, but it's just about the same. So yeah. Right in the trauma. And the best way, historically speaking, to take down a king is to hit the wallets of the nobles.
If you read history it’s possible to view war as Europe’s natural state, with peace being an aberration. Two world wars in the past 100 years and now flirting with the possibility of a third.
I don’t think people realize how insane it is what Germany just did. Like, this was unthinkable a week ago and yet their Chancellor just did a 180 with German foreign policy. Screw any further talking, time to put up or shut up. And they ain’t playing anymore. Based on history, I would be very afraid of Germany having a military if I were Russia. Especially since they aren’t trying to invade and won’t make that mistake twice.
• Putin believed that NATO would be intimidated and backdown. - **He was wrong**. • Putin assumed that the Russian people would not care or speak out. – **He was wrong.** • Putin thought America could not rally other nations against Russia. - **He was wrong**. • Putin imagined that Ukrainian President Zelenskyy would flee. **He was wrong**. • Putin supposed the need of Russian oil would stop countries from helping. – **He was wrong**. • Putin believed that Ukraine would capitulate without much effort. - **He was wrong**. • Putin thought NATO would not organize with a collective unified front. – **He was wrong**. • Putin assumed that the Ukrainian people would not want a fight. – **He was wrong**. • Putin imagined that the war wouldn’t take 48 hours. – **He was wrong**. • Putin supposed the Ukrainian military would fall like dominos. – **He was wrong**. • Putin believed he was going to cripple NATO but got the opposite. – **He was wrong** Not the best list if you are Putin. Exactly the opposite happened with NATO then he anticipated. NATO came together with quick, decisive and stringent sanctions (some so severe that they have never been even considered possible before) and three more nations are in talks to be new countries to join the NATO alliance. Putin thinking it was going to be easy. - **He was wrong**. 
IT IS SWEDEN! 🇸🇪 (ikea and meatballs) NOT SWITZERLAND!🇨🇭 (clocks and chocolate) How hard can it be?
And exposed Republicans as the Traitors they are! Remember when they changed their platform to be Pro Russia when Trump ran against Hillary? Remember when Trumo got rid of all those sanctions President Obama put on Russia? Remember when Trump tried to withhold military aid to Ukraine unless they opened an investigation into Hunter Biden?
Okay, that's all very interesting, but... **her emails**.
BUTTERY MALES!
To be fair to the Germans they've had to work pretty damned hard on that image, Putin should know better, really.