Quote (fender @ Jul 4 2023 02:41pm)
bahahaha... you can't even acknowledge simple facts that go against your "russia is so great, and the west is so bad" narrative, there isn't an ounce of kremlin copium you don't eagerly huff like the bot you are.
point is, russia DID push for the whole of ukraine, and ^ferdia's narrative about them "just" wanting parts of the country is complete bullshit.
No one has argued that Russia is so great and the West so bad and YOU KNOW IT
People have argued that NATO should wake up to the fact that their main adversary doesn't want an opposing military alliance on their doorstep and that makes complete sense...
Your trash excuses like "those countries wanted it, lol" won't work, any sensible person understands that, lol
Take your losses and GTFO of Ukraine, perhaps you'll be able to buy Russian natural gas again after a decade or so has passed
Quote (Malopox @ Jul 4 2023 03:39pm)
I’ll give it a go.
Crimea status is currently disputed as international community largely does not recognize the annexation of Crimea by Russia. As there is no effective legal way to make countries leave disputed land known to humanity except 1) outright invading and freeing the occupied land, 2) signing an agreement ceasing this land. As such this is will be the future and current status quo.
Russians claim it’s theirs due to historical reasons and security reasons however they did sign 1994 and 1997 memorandums which makes them in breach of those.
This might change if eg Russia “wins” this and signs a peace treaty that will force Ukraine to revoke territorial claims to Crimea and then if that peace treaty will be recognized by the international community (big if).
I have serious doubts if Ukraine is able to reclaim Crimea militarily as Russians will probably use tactical nukes to repel the invasion of the island. The only way for them to reclaim it is for current Russian govt to be removed and a treaty (similar to eg Brest-Litovsk treaty of 1918) signed by the successors. I don’t think this is realistic as unlike Nicholas II situation of 1917 - Putin has very high support in polls which I feel is genuine from my discussions with Russians.
There are plenty of disputed occupied territories in the world right now eg Northern Cyprus, Golan Heights, Diego Garcia etc. Which essentially poses the same challenge from international law perspective albeit most of them are a lot less known.
I’ve actually had a pretty interesting conversation with a Turk and a Cypriot over a barbecue few weeks ago drawing historical parallels between Northern Cyprus conflict and what is going on now.
The ideal situation would be a neutral Ukraine recognized by NATO after which the occupied territories are handed back to Ukraine but I realize it's too late for that. Russia / Ukraine relations are destroyed for at least a generation