Ukraine

[River Don]

Putin has just said that he regards sanctions as a declaration of war; and we all know what he threatened if we declared war on him.

Get ready, folks, it looks like it's coming.

He said 'akin' to a declaration of war.

He also went on to say he has no intention of declaring martial law. That would only come into force in the event of war. So I think it's another 'back off' threat.

Intervene in my invasion? - back off it will mean war.
No fly zone?-  Back off it will mean war.
We're going on special, high, ultimate nuclear alert - back off I really mean, it will mean war.
Sweden and Finland join NATO? - back off it will mean war.
Sanctions? - back off it will mean war.

So it's open to interpretation of the meaning of the word 'akin'. At every step he's threatening nukes because that's the hand he holds. Let me do as I please with Ukraine or I take us all to kingdom come. He's the Russian soldier negotiating with a pair of hand grenades in his hands.

[glosterred]

Posted on the @FCDOGovUK Twitter feed 8 hours ago


Bloomberg tweet is incorrect, they’ve subsequently apologised and taken down the graphs.  UK has sanctioned 228 individuals, entities & subsidiaries since invasion.


There is no link to the apology

[River Don]

In a new blow to the Oligarchs, Prada are shutting up shop in Russia.

[wilts rover]

Posted on the @FCDOGovUK Twitter feed 8 hours ago


Bloomberg tweet is incorrect, they’ve subsequently apologised and taken down the graphs.  UK has sanctioned 228 individuals, entities & subsidiaries since invasion.


There is no link to the apology

Nor is there one to 228 individuals, entities and subsidiaries being sanctioned. And many of the actual ones that have its just notice of a sanction to apply in a months time.

[wilts rover]

A guide to how Putin's hide and spend their money in London;

https://twitter.com/ByDonkeys/status/1499766468610863106

Apologies if this has been posted previously - and if you dont believe what you read on twitter

[glosterred]

Try these

https://twitter.com/FCDOGovUK/status/1500096229509898242


https://mobile.twitter.com/FCDOGovUK/status/1500050345501863940

[Colemans Left Hook]

Posted on the @FCDOGovUK Twitter feed 8 hours ago


Bloomberg tweet is incorrect, they’ve subsequently apologised and taken down the graphs.  UK has sanctioned 228 individuals, entities & subsidiaries since invasion.


There is no link to the apology

Nor is there one to 228 individuals, entities and subsidiaries being sanctioned. And many of the actual ones that have its just notice of a sanction to apply in a months time.

on a technical programme  i heard them say "cancelling" (the present buzz word) banks or parties from Swift cannot happen instantaneously and requires a month due to the technicalities.

Although paypal deals with much smaller considerations It appears yours truly could convert money into Russian "rubble" (as opposed to the rubble the Russians are causing in Ukraine) if i was stupid enough

[wilts rover]

Ukraine negotiators notice difference in tone and demands of Russians during last round of peace talks

'They are starting to realize the real price of war only now. And now we are starting to have constructive negotiations'

https://twitter.com/markmackinnon/status/1500146915610185732

[wilts rover]

Posted on the @FCDOGovUK Twitter feed 8 hours ago


Bloomberg tweet is incorrect, they’ve subsequently apologised and taken down the graphs.  UK has sanctioned 228 individuals, entities & subsidiaries since invasion.


There is no link to the apology

Nor is there one to 228 individuals, entities and subsidiaries being sanctioned. And many of the actual ones that have its just notice of a sanction to apply in a months time.

on a technical programme  i heard them say "cancelling" (the present buzz word) banks or parties from Swift cannot happen instantaneously and requires a month due to the technicalities.

Although paypal deals with much smaller considerations It appears yours truly could convert money into Russian "rubble" (as opposed to the rubble the Russians are causing in Ukraine) if i was stupid enough

Yes I have heard that too CLH - mostly from government sources.

I have also heard several lawyers say that it is not true and powers to seize assest immediately are contained in 2018 Money Laundering Act.

If only there was some way of knowing why a government funded by Russian oligarchs and led by a PM who partied and enobled them was slow in seizing their money

https://twitter.com/PeterStefanovi2/status/1500114616508108800

[tyke1962]

At what stage are we damned if we do and damned if we don't  in entering directly in to this conflict .

Putin has already threatened us with our support for the Ukrainians and sanctions .

I fully appreciate my nature isn't best placed for situations like this because I was always brought up to take bullies on and punch them in the nose , not run scared of em .

Just basically putting it out there to those who are probably more naturally level headed than me .

So how much do we accept before we go in and sort this little rocket coward out who hides in a cave good and proper ?

[Branton Red]

Fortunately Tyke the school bullies you're parents brought you up to stand up against weren't armed to the teeth with intercontinental nuclear missiles.

The answer is militarily the West is hamstrung unless we wish to endanger a nuclear winter. Severe economic sanctions which hit both Russia and Putin and his chums directly is the answer.

This to discourage him, and others, from carrying out such heinous acts in the future.

And to make it crystal clear that if Russian troops put a boot in NATO countries our military is ready to respond.

[normal rules]

The price to be paid for a nuclear war free Europe will be the freedom of the people of Ukraine and the integrity of that sovereign nation.
44 million people and a single country versus many many more tens of millions of people and the safety of dozens of other countries.
It will be an internal war fought for decades while ever Ukrainians walk this earth .
Only until such time as the World is rid of Putin will this change. Which won’t be long with any luck

[River Don]

At what stage are we damned if we do and damned if we don't  in entering directly in to this conflict .

Putin has already threatened us with our support for the Ukrainians and sanctions .

I fully appreciate my nature isn't best placed for situations like this because I was always brought up to take bullies on and punch them in the nose , not run scared of em .

Just basically putting it out there to those who are probably more naturally level headed than me .

So how much do we accept before we go in and sort this little rocket coward out who hides in a cave good and proper ?

I listened to Any Questions last night and this question came up.

And basically the panel could not or would not answer. All understood and rightly feared the implication of nuclear conflict.

The situation is, assured mutual destruction should prevent conflict but the hanging questions are.. Is Putin mentally stable? Or does Putin just not care and is prepared actually to take the ultimate gamble that the West dare not retaliate?

Putin has to be sure we would retaliate but does he believe it?

And your question is, do we dare call his bluff?

This game of Russian roulette is too high stakes for me. I think we have to remain strong but not give him the excuse to push the button. He's an old man and I think we need to find a way to put this off until he's gone.

Ultimately there is no longer a big ideological difference between east and west. Putin is not a communist. He's a businessman but a businessman beyond the law. A gangster. Russia needs a leader who can see this war is very bad for business.

Another analogy that struck home with me was that we have to understand we live in a kind of paradise brought about by wealth and democracy.

Most of the world does not. It lives in a world of power. Might is right. That is Putins world. Again this is the world of the gangster and the warlord. It's ancient, brutal, pitiless and animal. We have to understand this.

[SydneyRover]

Try these

https://twitter.com/FCDOGovUK/status/1500096229509898242


https://mobile.twitter.com/FCDOGovUK/status/1500050345501863940

Apologies if anything I quoted that was incorrect, I mistook johnson for an aging hooker playing tennis for money and returning from Italy looking like he had been shagged.

[tyke1962]

It's the most stark good v evil contest in my lifetime and extremely difficult for me to accept and obviously I'm not alone in that .

The people of this country who have so far donated £85m to the Ukrainian crisis warms my soul whilst our government actually shames us .

I need to see Putin swinging from a rope to really satisfy my form of justice .

I could easily turn off sky news and not read anything and not get so wound up about it .

Trouble is I ain't made that way .

Let's hope in time revenge is indeed a dish best served cold .

[SydneyRover]

Visa and mastercard suspend operations in russia, it's glacially slow but the noose is tightening.

[tyke1962]

66k Ukrainians based oversees have returned to their country to defend it according to what I've read tonight .

Wow , absolute wow .

I have no words that can give the Ukrainians enough plaudits .

Absolute inspiration .

[Bentley Bullet]

I'm not sure that Ukraine will come out of this as victors but Ukrainians will come out of it as heroes.

[tyke1962]

I'm not sure that Ukraine will come out of this as victors but Ukrainians will come out of it as heroes.

Putin ain't coming out of this as victorious either .

[Bentley Bullet]

Hopefully, someone will kill the bas**rd.

[Colemans Left Hook]

i have just been checking what Russian Art is coming up at the major auction houses (it's hot at the moment - "what isn't faked" )


https://www.sothebys.com/en/departments/russian-art

the above currentlythinks it's having an on line auction next month


Type: auction
Easter Feast
4–14 APRIL 2022 | 2:00 PM BST | LONDON

Just like "ivory" is no go we need to make anything and everything with Russian Provenance "no go"  at these auction houses

Major Auction Houses accept bitcoin etc in payment so at present they can circumnavigate the present rules 


 

[SydneyRover]

''Ukrainians have taken their resistance online through increasingly creative means in an effort to inform Russians of the destruction inflicted upon their country.

In light of Russia blocking multiple social media channels and independent media, one way that Ukrainians are trying to reach the Russian people is through writing unique Google reviews of popular Russian cafes and restaurants''

''Google And TripAdvisor Disable Restaurant Reviews In Russia After They're Flooded Following Orders From Anonymous''

Had a look myself and couldn't open the reviews section.

[SydneyRover]

Here's how to help

'' .................. Another option is donating to the Come Back Alive (Povernys Zhyvym), one of the most accountable and trustworthy charities working for the military in Ukraine since 2014. The charity has been providing the military with auxiliary equipment, specialized software, drones, personal body protection, training, and other supplies ever since the foundation’s inception''

https://kyivindependent.com/national/heres-how-to-support-ukrainian-military/

''War with Russia has come to Ukraine, the Shield of Europe. As we defend the world from tyranny, it’s now or never to show your support for freedom and democracy in Ukraine and the world''

https://www.comebackalive.in.ua/

[SydneyRover]

''Labour leader Keir Starmer said he was “very concerned” about reports surrounding the appointment of media mogul Lord Evgeny Lebedev to the House of Lords.

The Sunday Times reported [paywall] British intelligence officials withdrew their assessment that giving a peerage to Lord Lebedev posed a national security risk after Boris Johnson intervened.

Starmer told the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme:

I’m very concerned about that story, because it goes to the heart of national security and there’s at least the suggestion that the government and the prime minister were warned that there was a national security risk in this particular appointment.

I think, in the circumstances, what the appropriate thing is for the Intelligence and Security Committee, which is a cross-party committee in Parliament that can have access to confidential material - I think this case should be referred to that committee so they can look into this story.

This allegation - which is very serious because, of course, it’s a matter of national security - I hope the Government will answer it today''

[glosterred]

Try these

https://twitter.com/FCDOGovUK/status/1500096229509898242


https://mobile.twitter.com/FCDOGovUK/status/1500050345501863940

Apologies if anything I quoted that was incorrect, I mistook johnson for an aging hooker playing tennis for money and returning from Italy looking like he had been shagged.

Syd, you can call Boris anything you like, I really don’t give a toss, I might even agree with some of the descriptions that you use, all I was doing was correcting information you put on this thread that was incorrect.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Try these

https://twitter.com/FCDOGovUK/status/1500096229509898242


https://mobile.twitter.com/FCDOGovUK/status/1500050345501863940

Apologies if anything I quoted that was incorrect, I mistook johnson for an aging hooker playing tennis for money and returning from Italy looking like he had been shagged.

Syd, you can call Boris anything you like, I really don’t give a toss, I might even agree with some of the descriptions that you use, all I was doing was correcting information you put on this thread that was incorrect.

The confusion seems to be between individuals and "entities".

It is absolutely true that our Govt has:

Only sanctioned 16 individuals
Only 2 of which ever spend significant time in the UK.
Neither of whom have ever donated to the Tory party.

[SydneyRover]

Try these

https://twitter.com/FCDOGovUK/status/1500096229509898242


https://mobile.twitter.com/FCDOGovUK/status/1500050345501863940

Apologies if anything I quoted that was incorrect, I mistook johnson for an aging hooker playing tennis for money and returning from Italy looking like he had been shagged.

Syd, you can call Boris anything you like, I really don’t give a toss, I might even agree with some of the descriptions that you use, all I was doing was correcting information you put on this thread that was incorrect.

Yes my reply does suggest you are a fan of him and his government, but you do rush to support this government, unless of course you're just doing it for balance.

[glosterred]

Try these

https://twitter.com/FCDOGovUK/status/1500096229509898242


https://mobile.twitter.com/FCDOGovUK/status/1500050345501863940

Apologies if anything I quoted that was incorrect, I mistook johnson for an aging hooker playing tennis for money and returning from Italy looking like he had been shagged.

Syd, you can call Boris anything you like, I really don’t give a toss, I might even agree with some of the descriptions that you use, all I was doing was correcting information you put on this thread that was incorrect.

Yes my reply does suggest you are a fan of him and his government, but you do rush to support this government, unless of course you're just doing it for balance.

Syd this isn’t the first time you’ve been corrected for posting incorrect information, all I’m doing is pointing out when you have. As for being a fan of this government, you would again be incorrect

[SydneyRover]

That's good to know gloster, I've never claimed to be perfect but so many expect me to be just that.

[glosterred]

That's good to know gloster, I've never claimed to be perfect but so many expect me to be just that.

People would prefer you to check that what you post is actually correct before you jump in and post it