• .Donuts@lemmy.world
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    22 hours ago

    Quite possibly the best answer to the Putin talking point (and therefore, Trump’s talking point) that he’s a dictator.

    A dictator would never offer to step down. I hope the people see it for what it is. We all know Putin will be unfazed and continue anyway.

    • 小莱卡@lemmygrad.ml
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      47 minutes ago

      owning putin by stepping down after leading his country to a disaster, masterful act.

    • Majestic@lemmy.ml
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      12 hours ago

      A dictator would never offer to step down.

      Not good logic regardless of whether you think Zelensky is or is not a dictator. A dictator might if the terms he demanded for it were those that both parties of the conflict had already ruled out.

      Making an impossible ask is hardly a sign of being reasonable or truly willing to do a thing. If I tell you I’ll give you ten million dollars but only if you can settle the mess in Palestine with the the “israeli” state and the Palestinian people permanently I’m not seriously offering you ten million dollars, my ask is impossible. No one would say it’s a good faith offer on my part.

      Trump’s team has acknowledged NATO is not viable and doesn’t even want to commit US troops in the event of a ceasefire (something Russia refuses anyways), preferring it be a Europe problem and Russia categorically will not accept Ukraine in NATO. This is a FACT.

      This conflict started over eastward NATO expansion, one of the primary, if not the most primary goals of Russia in their fight is to stop Ukraine from becoming part of NATO and stationing western weapons/troops there near them.

      Russia is winning and the support of the US is waning. They are not going to accept having spent all that treasure and blood and taken all these sanctions and in the end not get their primary goal just to get Zelensky to step down for another person who hates Russia.

    • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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      21 hours ago

      I hope the people see it for what it is.

      A loser petulantly asking for something he isn’t going to get, in exchange for something that’s going to happen any way.

      • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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        13 hours ago

        It’s not going to happen anyway, Ukraine can’t join NATO while they’re a Russian forces in the country, as that immediately triggers article 5 which is obviously not something NATO want to happen.

        • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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          7 hours ago

          Let me clarify.

          Zelenskyy is out of a job as soon as the war is over. That’s going to happen anyway. NATO membership is something he isn’t going to get.

        • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.ml
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          21 hours ago

          It’s obvious to anybody with even a minimally functional brain that Ukraine won’t join NATO and will be divided between US and Russia now.

            • highduc@lemmy.ml
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              13 hours ago

              Lol the EU isnt even invited to negotiations. The US doesnt need their lap dog, they can speak for themselves.

            • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.ml
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              16 hours ago

              I’m gonna be shocked if the EU is around in a decade. The economic situation in Europe is dire, and nationalist parties are gaining ground all across Europe. The liberal parties might hold them back for an election or two using coalitions, but eventually they will get in power as the standard of living continues to collapse. And there will likely be all kinds of ladder pulling even before that happens.

        • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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          19 hours ago

          He’s not getting NATO membership and he is already on his way out as soon as the US decides so, surely you see that?

        • Alk@sh.itjust.works
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          20 hours ago

          He’s implying that he will lose power anyway and is trying to use that as a bargaining chip by offering to step down. (I don’t agree, I’m just interpreting)

          • Grapho@lemmy.ml
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            16 hours ago

            Or learn about that war in the first place. They think Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor was a documentary.

          • Grapho@lemmy.ml
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            16 hours ago

            Much better. The US wouldn’t have had time to reward every single Nazi they could find with a job.

            • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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              19 hours ago

              So you’re saying the USSR would have subsumed all of Europe? I could see that.

              Do you think the military capabilities of Europe are up to fighting off Russia without the US? I don’t see it.

              The Ukraine war is basically over at this point. Zelenskyy has zero negotiating power.

              • Viri4thus@feddit.org
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                19 hours ago

                Russia won’t do anything.

                There’s a massive wall of article 5. Ukraine in NATO was a red line. We tested the waters, the Ukrainians paid for it. It’s easy to fuck around and find out when it’s not your children who get sent to the frontlines. All because Shell got scammed into investing in shale reserves that never existed. Lol, now we’re left holding the bag, the Ucranians have lost an entire generation of young men and the US is now the 4th reich. I’m more worried about jingoism from the yanks than Russia doing anything. They could barely penetrate a Ukraine with its pants down. (pun not intended)

                • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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                  16 hours ago

                  Oh I didn’t mean to imply Russia is going to do anything - I mean Europe doesn’t have the capabilities to fight a proxy war in Ukraine. If the US is dropping out then the war is over, there was never anything else keeping the war going.

  • MechKit@beehaw.org
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    23 hours ago

    This is standard dictator behavior, giving up power for the benefit of their people.

    • exu@feditown.com
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      23 hours ago

      I think you’re being downvoted because you’re missing the /s

    • Grapho@lemmy.ml
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      20 hours ago

      Funny time to do it, once he’s lost the war, had Ukrainians kidnapped straight onto the frontlines, and once negotiations are taking place without him (which might end with him in front of a jury). Not to mention member states have already taken it off the table which means “I’m not going at all”. Might as well have said his only demand is to marry the tooth fairy.

      But sure, y’all just keep fetishizing yet another western puppet who called off elections but did it “for the right reasons.”

        • Grapho@lemmy.ml
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          14 hours ago

          Lmao. Might as well ask me if I condemn Hamas too. It doesn’t matter what I support or don’t support, what matters is what the people of the region support and have the ability to enforce. The DNR and LNR seceded after the US financed coup violated their democracy. Those territories were occupied from 2014 to 2022 by a US vassal, and you can tell by the endless patrols and bombing they endured.

  • mercano@lemmy.world
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    22 hours ago

    The man can get his country into NATO, I’d say he has earned his retirement.

  • Drewfro66@lemmygrad.ml
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    22 hours ago

    Zelensky offers to give up something he’s about to lose anyways in order to gain something that isn’t going to happen.

  • CouncilOfFriends@slrpnk.net
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    10 hours ago

    I’m confused by anyone who demands Ukraine to cede territory and denies they can ever join NATO. Have fun seeing Crimean/Ukrainian/etc. conflicts repeat every few years while Russia keeps learning the lesson that imperialism is back in style. Are these people literal children, or Russian bots?

    Ukraine agreed to give up their nukes as part of the Budapest Memorandum which Russia shat on, and the United States showed how little their security assurances were worth. The sad reality now is Ukraine could be admitted to NATO tomorrow and it would not matter one bit, because our current president believes himself a king who cannot be forced to abide any previous treaty, law, or norm of human decency.

      • soumerd_retardataire@lemmygrad.ml
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        19 minutes ago

        So Ukraine wasn’t building up an army to recover Crimea and fight against anti-n.a.t.o. separatism in its south-east ? Zelensky was elected as an alternative to anti-russians(, without the vote of south-eastern ukrainians under an economic blocus among other things), and did the opposite.
        It’s just like saying that Russia will invade the rest of Europe or other lies(, probably the russian interferences as well since Russiagate was debunked and we have a strong history of lying, Georgia was the aggressor during the Beijing olympics), we just can’t tell the truth and our population is even ignoring the talking points of the opponent. The non-westerners know our point of view, never difficult to understand, we’re the ones systematically ignoring theirs, and lying with biases visible even to those agreeing with us.
        Netanyahu is also a liar but that’s what we(sterners) do, the end justifies the means our leaders/representatives don’t speak from/with their heart, there’s an assumed propaganda of talking points, e.g. unprovoked for Russia or terrorists for Palestine, what are palestinians supposed to do to stop the ongoing colonization and live peacefully together ? What is Russia supposed to do if it’s rejected by the west because of their desire to be independent and in favor of multipolarity, supporting the declared enemies of the “policemen of the world” ? Iran wouldn’t be considered authoritarian if it was zionist.
        What matters here is that there are solutions for each problem, we have a strong tendency to consider our opponents crazy/incomprehensible, without explaining/justifying in order to seek a national unity.
        Now we’re censoring people for their opinions even more than before, it comes from the state and not platforms, with jail time and fees, but since we’re not killing people for posting unapproved opinions it could be worse. JD Vance was right to criticize the censorship wave of these last years in Europe(, and the US as well in a lesser measure), liberty is our only answer for a lack of egality 🤷(, in some forms, « poverty is slavery » though)

    • 小莱卡@lemmygrad.ml
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      36 minutes ago

      it would only be valid goal if the eastern part of ukraine that borders Russia becomes a neutral or russia-controlled buffer zone, which is pretty much what is going to happen. the western part of ukraine can do whatever they want at that point basically.

      it is not a valid goal as it currently stands since the entire reason russia went to war in the first place was to prevent this and well they’re winning the war.

    • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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      21 hours ago

      “Valid” as in feasible? No. The war was started to keep Ukraine out of NATO, and Ukraine wasn’t fully backed by NATO in the war because it isn’t willing to go to war with Russia just for Ukraine.

    • Sodium_nitride@lemmygrad.ml
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      21 hours ago

      The whole war was started because the Russians consider Ukraine in nato to be their red line, and the war was lost by Ukraine because the NATO leadership never seriously considered putting Ukraine in NATO if that meant direct war with Russia.

      So no, it isn’t a realistic goal at all. The war ends only when either

      1. The Ukrainian state collapses
      2. A deal is made in which Ukraine does not join NATO
      3. Ukraine pushes back Russian forces so much that they collapse the Russian government.

      Scenario 2 seems to be the most likely outcome.

      • Grapho@lemmy.ml
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        14 hours ago

        Shit, 1. ain’t looking that unlikely either, give it a few years with the amount of debt it was forced to take up.

    • tomatolung@lemmy.world
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      22 hours ago

      I’m not an expert, but have read a decent amount on this. Others may have more and better info.

      With that said, even if an Article 5 invocation won’t bring the US into your fight, it provides a hefty infrastructure of value to countries in it. From basing, to logistics, to intelligence, to aid, it is valuable. Now the politics of it are complicated and the US can hinder some of that value, but it still means that in Europe if Russia provides an Article 5 reason, other countries in NATO can choose to help in various forms. That’s not nothing. It’s also faster and less arduous then negotiating individual defense treaties with neighbors and others.

      So yes, overall probably still worth it. Even if just as an entree into other alliances.

        • Skyrmir@lemmy.world
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          19 hours ago

          From what I’m seeing out of Germany, NATO isn’t going anywhere. The US might not be a continuing part of it.

          Also there’s still an off chance China might play a part in Ukraine. They have Putin by the short and curlies, and could offer a better deal than the US for mineral rights. It might hinge on if Trump pisses off Xi with this trade war crap, or gets in the way of him taking Taiwan.

          • Grapho@lemmy.ml
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            14 hours ago

            Sure, in the way The Spiders From Mars didn’t go anywhere after Bowie fucked off.