LogFAQs > #962923926

cyko posted...

The reality is that no other countries will do anything, just like they didn't do anything when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 and took Crimea. That was basically a practice run for this full scale invasion. The other world leaders will issue strongly worded statements, shake their fists, and impose economic sanctions, but Russia controls so much of the energy supply to the rest of Europe that the sanctions will backfire. They are going to end up pushing inflation and energy costs even higher in the west.

So, why is Putin invading Ukraine? Basically, it's because noone is going to stop him and he is simply proving that he can.

I (mostly) agree, but Putin is not a perfect, terrifying warlord who can do no wrong. While I think there's a good chance there's a lot of handwringing and little actually gets done, there's also a high chance this blows up in Putin's face, Russia's economy tanks and the oligarchs finally get tired and shake things up. One of the many reasons for the invasion in the first place is Russia's stagnant economy has meant Putin needs to resort to ultranationalist rhetoric and action to maintain his grip on power.

All of this is absolutely going to hit the rest of the world. In case invading one of the biggest European countries wasn't going to already. The West needs to wean itself off of Russia's natural gas as it is, and war in Europe is going to tank the economy something terrible, sanctions or no. I don't trust any world governments to keep tightening sanctions until Putin is out, but the consequences of doing so would be far worse for Russia. While it's almost definitely not going to make Putin withdraw Russian forces, it might force internal change given time. Saying this as someone living in Europe, the rest of the continent is just gonna have to suck it up and deal with the consequences.