Wednesday 27 April 2022

Nothing it seems is stopping Putin from carrying on with his war

The supply by Nato countries of heavy weapons to Ukraine is unprecedented. The scale of the sanctions imposed on Moscow is unprecedented. Yet Vladimir Putin is just carrying on with his war plan as if nothing is happening. What more can the West do to prevent this man from seizing eastern Ukraine and then piling on to grab Moldova? Some Pentagon officials believe that it is possible Ukraine could defeat Russia. But I don't seee Putin ever giving up until he has acheived his goals - whatever they might be. He talks blithely about how all planning decisions have already been made and that probably includes what action he will take if he feels Nato has gone too far in arming Ukraine or if he suspects the counter-attacks across the Ukraine border into Russia are being inspired by the West. He mentions nuclear weapons like they are just some additional systems that he could turn to if necessary. Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, said at a big allied conference in Germany yesterday that he was prepared to move heaven and earth to get Ukraine what they needed. But in the meantime the Russian forces under their new leader, the monster general formerly in charge of Russian brutalities in Syria, are finally adopting sound military tactics to make slow but steady progress in the Donbas region. For example instead of forming a long 40-mile convoy of tanks and armoured vehicles and going down one route through northern Ukraine, like they did initially when the invasion began, they have been ordered to spread out in eastern Ukraine and to advance along an extended front. It's simple warfare tactics but until this general arrived, none of the previous commanders seemed to have a clue about what to do. This is ominous for the Ukrainian defenders, and despite all the firepower and effort the US and others have contributed to their cause, it appears to be not enough. And now Putin is turning to other ways of getting back at western sanctions, turning off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria. He has a lot of cards up his sleeves. How can he be stopped? The US 82nd Airborne Division in Poland must be itching to take him on. But Biden and Nato are fearful of World War Three and nuclear exchanges. Because of this, nothing is going to stop Putin, however long it takes.

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