Sanction the **** out of them. Cut them off from the entire world and freeze anything coming in or out of that country, whether it be goods or credit. If Vlad thinks the juice is worth the squeeze, it’s time to squeeze him really ****ing hard.
We haven't reached that bridge, thankfully. But there are practical challenges there that don't necessarily exist here.
Putin stated thurs a goal is “demilitarization and de-Nazification of Ukraine”. Ukraine’s President, (Volodymyr Zelensky) and their Prime Minister are both Jewish.
Sadly, this will not be regional in Ukraine. It appears from his insane war speech (that he appears to have recorded two days ago but aired during the UNSC meeting) that what Putin wants to do is install a puppet regime in Kyiv, then hold a rigged “vote” where the Ukrainian population will suddenly want to be part of Russia, a la Crimea.
His goal is to have his legacy be the reunification of mother Russia and the fatherland. Sanctions are a joke. The only question are will the rest of the world watch it occur. Slowly. The answer is yes. And what portion of the Ukraine military and population embrace vs resist.
In a sane world, if everyone cooperated. Not everyone will cooperate. As we have seen from this precipice, it is tough to deal with non rational actors. How many plants have slowly been entrenched 8n the old com bloc countries, social media influence, etc. I admit to being negative. And if they did work, Putin would probably get some giant concessions for returning to normal and claim victory
Just two months ago I was a speaker via Zoom at a conference in Ukraine. The people were very nice and hospitable, they sent a nice "gift basket" for speaking. I hope everyone is okay. When it is a long way away the normal reaction is that it doesn't get personal, but I had several lengthy discussions with the Ukrainians. I hope they stay safe.
President of Finland, a country that also has a remote history as part of Russia and is considered NATO membership.
I sent an email to the person who coordinated my zoom conference call. I wished him well and hope he and ihis family were safe. I was shocked I got a reply, here it is: Hej We are also hope Thank you for your care!
Nice to send him a note. Do you know him well? It would be insightful to get his feedback over next day or so.