Demand for gas to rise as Germany exits nuclear, coal – analysts | Clean Energy Wire - "Germany’s gas demand is set to increase significantly from 90 billion cubic metres (Bcm) today to 110 Bcm by 2034 as the country exits both nuclear and coal, said the energy research company and consultancy Rystad Energy... Increasing amounts of gas would be necessary as more gas-fired power generation capacity will be needed to meet demand and to offset the intermittency of renewable sources... importing more Russian gas through the contentious and unfinished Nord Stream 2 pipeline under the Baltic Sea was the most reliable and cheapest option versus US liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargos and other intra-Europe pipe routes. “If Germany decides price is the most important factor, Nord Stream 2 will go ahead, as it diversifies supply to the market, reducing the risk of high energy prices,” said Carlos Torres Diaz, Rystad Energy’s head of power and gas markets."
From 2020. One person demanded to know what climate change had to do with increasing dependence on Russian oil, them studiously ignored my explanations. Climate change hystericists don't want to understand reality
Why Europe depends on Russia for natural gas - "the EU has been reducing its dependence on coal to reach its climate goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and cutting emissions by at least 55% by 2030. Currently, about 20% of EU’s electricity comes from coal production... Over the same period, the EU has been reducing its dependence on coal to reach its climate goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and cutting emissions by at least 55% by 2030. Currently, about 20% of EU’s electricity comes from coal production... Germany summarily rejected investments in nuclear energy with its Atomic Energy Act in 2011, a decision made in response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. Only 13% of Europe’s energy now comes from nuclear power. About 25% of the EU’s energy consumption comes from natural gas... The EU has been focusing on its buildout of renewable sources. But the buildout isn’t happening fast enough to eliminate that foreign dependence. That’s partly because the EU’s energy infrastructure is not set up to handle the intermittency of renewable energy — it’s hard to store energy from renewables for times when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow. A number of solutions are being developed for this problem, including large-scale utility batteries and “green” hydrogen (generated from renewable resources then stored and transported before being burned for actual fuel consumption), but those solutions aren’t at scale yet... E.ON, a utility in Germany, has started a €22 billion investment over the next five years to upgrade and digitize its energy distribution networks. “In light of the Ukraine crisis, these plans may be coming in a bit late,” Sobotka said. Also, the permitting process is slow, and in certain instances, there is public opposition, “the so-called NIMBY issue”"
Time to shut down more nuclear plants and increase renewables, to increase Europe's dependence on Russia
Can Germany function without Vladimir Putin’s gas? - "Sceptics have questioned how it made sense for Germany to make itself so dependent on Russian gas when it should be distancing itself from Putin’s autocratic machinery. Until recently, the answer from the top of government was that this was an economic project, not a political one. The robotically repeated mantra now sounds at the best naive, and at the worst, given the current turn of events, a self-defeating decision which has helped fund Putin’s war... Leonhard Birnbaum, the CEO of Germany’s biggest gas and electricity provider E.ON, said that while energy supplies for this winter were secure, next year could be more of a challenge. “If Russian gas imports were to break down completely, the immediate effect wouldn’t be so dramatic as we’re almost at the end of the heating season. But next winter it could be the case that we’re not able to meet the supply demands of all the industrial customers. Some of them may have to turn off the power. It is utopian to believe that Russian gas can be completely replaced from one day to the next by other sources”... Beyond Germany’s borders the short-term answer is thought to be simple: why not reverse the decisions, or at least prolong the use of coal-fired power plants and temporarily restart the nuclear reactors? But these options are seen as politically suicidal in Berlin – in particular the reactivation of nuclear plants (as well as being highly impractical and disastrous from a legal point of view). Opposition to nuclear was the founding principal of the Green party – two of whose former leaders, Habeck and the foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, are now in government. Both have always opposed the pipeline."
Nuclear, coal, LNG: 'no taboos' in Germany's energy about-face - "Germany signalled a U-turn in key energy policies on Sunday, floating the possibility of extending the life-spans of coal and even nuclear plants to cut dependency on Russian gas, part of a broad political rethink following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Europe's top economy has been under pressure from other Western nations to become less dependent on Russian gas, but its plans to phase out coal-fired power plants by 2030 and to shut its nuclear power plants by end-2022 have left it with few options. In a landmark speech on Sunday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz spelled out a more radical path to ensure Germany will be able to meet rising energy supply and diversify away from Russian gas, which accounts for half of Germany's energy needs... "We must change course to overcome our dependence on imports from individual energy suppliers," he said. This will include building two liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, one in Brunsbuettel and one in Wilhelmshaven, and raising its natural gas reserves"
The West's Green Energy Delusions Empowered Putin - "Russia ends up supplying about 20 percent of Europe’s oil, 40 percent of its gas, and 20 percent of its coal... Green ideology insists we don’t need nuclear and that we don’t need fracking. It insists that it’s just a matter of will and money to switch to all-renewables—and fast. It insists that we need“degrowth” of the economy, and that we face looming human “extinction.” (I would know. I myself was once a true believer.) John Kerry, the United States’ climate envoy, perfectly captured the myopia of this view when he said, in the days before the war, that the Russian invasion of Ukraine “could have a profound negative impact on the climate, obviously. You have a war, and obviously you’re going to have massive emissions consequences to the war. But equally importantly, you’re going to lose people’s focus.” But it was the West’s focus on healing the planet with “soft energy” renewables, and moving away from natural gas and nuclear, that allowed Putin to gain a stranglehold over Europe’s energy supply. As the West fell into a hypnotic trance about healing its relationship with nature, averting climate apocalypse and worshiping a teenager named Greta, Vladimir Putin made his moves. While he expanded nuclear energy at home so Russia could export its precious oil and gas to Europe, Western governments spent their time and energy obsessing over “carbon footprints,” a term created by an advertising firm working for British Petroleum. They banned plastic straws because of a 9-year-old Canadian child’s science homework. They paid for hours of “climate anxiety” therapy. While Putin expanded Russia’s oil production, expanded natural gas production, and then doubled nuclear energy production to allow more exports of its precious gas, Europe, led by Germany, shut down its nuclear power plants, closed gas fields, and refused to develop more through advanced methods like fracking. The numbers tell the story best. In 2016, 30 percent of the natural gas consumed by the European Union came from Russia. In 2018, that figure jumped to 40 percent. By 2020, it was nearly 44 percent, and by early 2021, it was nearly 47 percent. For all his fawning over Putin, Donald Trump, back in 2018, defied diplomatic protocol to call out Germany publicly for its dependence on Moscow... This prompted Germany’s then-chancellor, Angela Merkel, who had been widely praised in polite circles for being the last serious leader in the West, to say that her country “can make our own policies and make our own decisions.” The result has been the worst global energy crisis since 1973, driving prices for electricity and gasoline higher around the world. It is a crisis, fundamentally, of inadequate supply. But the scarcity is entirely manufactured. Europeans—led by figures like Greta Thunberg and European Green Party leaders, and supported by Americans like John Kerry—believed that a healthy relationship with the Earth requires making energy scarce. By turning to renewables, they would show the world how to live without harming the planet. But this was a pipe dream. You can’t power a whole grid with solar and wind, because the sun and the wind are inconstant, and currently existing batteries aren’t even cheap enough to store large quantities of electricity overnight, much less across whole seasons... Green campaigns have succeeded in destroying German energy independence—they call it Energiewende, or “energy turnaround”... Germany has also spent lavishly on weather-dependent renewables—to the tune of $36 billion a year—mainly solar panels and industrial wind turbines. But those have their problems. Solar panels have to go somewhere, and a solar plant in Europe needs 400 to 800 times more land than natural gas or nuclear plants to make the same amount of power. Farmland has to be cut apart to host solar. And solar energy is getting cheaper these days mainly because Europe’s supply of solar panels is produced by slave labor in concentration camps as part of China’s genocide against Uighur Muslims. The upshot here is that you can’t spend enough on climate initiatives to fix things if you ignore nuclear and gas. Between 2015 and 2025, Germany’s efforts to green its energy production will have cost $580 billion. Yet despite this enormous investment, German electricity still costs 50 percent more than nuclear-friendly France’s, and generating it produces eight times more carbon emissions per unit. Plus, Germany is getting over a third of its energy from Russia. Germany has trapped itself. It could burn more coal and undermine its commitment to reducing carbon emissions. Or it could use more natural gas, which generates half the carbon emissions of coal, but at the cost of dependence on imported Russian gas. Berlin was faced with a choice between unleashing the wrath of Putin on neighboring countries or inviting the wrath of Greta Thunberg. They chose Putin... This is why Germany successfully begged the incoming Biden administration not to oppose a contentious new gas pipeline from Russia called Nord Stream 2... Naturally, when American sanctions on Russia’s biggest banks were finally announced in concert with European allies last week, they specifically exempted energy products so Russia and Europe can keep doing that dirty business. A few voices called for what would really hit Russia where it hurts: cutting off energy imports. But what actually happened was that European energy utilities jumped to buy more contracts for the Russian oil and gas that flows through Ukraine. That’s because they have no other good options right now, after green activism’s attacks on nuclear and importing fracked gas from America. There’s no current plan for powering Europe that doesn’t involve buying from Putin."
The greens will just double down and claim this was because the world didn't switch to renewables fast enough
Ironically, the people who are pro-solar are most likely also pro-farming. Presumably the solution is to turn houses into farmland
When white guilt virtue signalling runs up against reality
Are Russians funding anti-oil environmental NGOs? U.S. lawmakers want to know - "American lawmakers are probing whether Russian oil money is funding anti-oil protest movements in North America, including environmental groups that have fought pipeline projects for Canada’s oilsands... “U.S. presidential candidates, European officials, and the U.S. intelligence community have all publicly noted evidence of Russia and its government corporations funding a covert anti-fracking campaign.”... Facebook revealed that Russian accounts purchased US$100,000 in ads for the American election. That was followed by data from Twitter about impostor accounts from Russia. The ads being purchased have reportedly involved issues that deeply divide Americans. Social-media companies have been briefing members of Congress on the content of Russian-funded election material — and reports say the material involves Islam and terrorism; Black Lives Matter; and NFL protests during the national anthem... The U.S. intelligence community has stated its belief that the Russian government wants to reduce American energy production. It included that assessment in a report on election-meddling, ordered by Barack Obama, and released in its unclassified version this January. The report pointed to one example of the state-backed network Russia Today running anti-fracking programming."
Russian interference/funding is only bad when they're for causes liberals hate
Investigate Russia's covert funding of US anti-fossil fuel groups - "In 2014 – the same year Russia annexed Crimea – then-North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned that Russia was covertly working to undermine European and U.S. fossil fuel production... The media and Democrats mostly shrugged their collective shoulders at these allegations. They were far too busy trying to prove the now-discredited Russian-Trump election collusion to be bothered with a more plausible Russian-environmental activist collusion. Maybe Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will force those naysayers to reconsider the accusations and evidence and begin new investigations... In hindsight, it is increasingly apparent that Putin has been preparing for his Ukrainian invasion for years. Dominating the global energy market by covertly working to limit U.S. production would have been a huge coup — in more ways than one... Had Russia dominated global energy production, Putin would be in a better position to thumb his nose at countries critical of his invasion — and deprive his critics of needed oil and gas. Putin can still squeeze his critics, but the U.S. energy industry may be able to temper the impact."
Russia brands environmental NGOs 'foreign agents'
They know that environmentalism undermines national security
For Ukraine's female soldiers, armed conflict is not the only danger - "A total of 23 percent of Ukraine's army are women, according to numbers released by the Ministry of Defence, a number that has increased 15-fold in just ten years. Around half of them are soldiers while the other half work in civilian support roles."
Since 23% of Ukraine’s army is women, we'll get a lot of the anecdotes "proving" that women are just as good in the armed forces as men. But besides that we can see if all these predictions that women in the military is a bad idea because in a war they'll all get raped come true
Meme - "Russia is in the Ukraine! Russia is in the Ukraine! I need 80 rounds of .223 FMJ and two 40-round pro mags. NOW! *fat man on mobility scooter in gun shop*"
Meme - Janel Forsythe @JLF_comms: "This isn't discussed much, but Putin very much benefits from white privilege. I just can't see a scenario in which a Black or Brown man running Russia would be allowed to invade Ukraine with no devastating consequences (see Crimea in 2014). White supremacy will destroy us."
Meme - Mike Yoder @Yoder_Esq: "I sure hope Russia's squadrons that are invading Ukraine have enough diversity & gender equality... I bet the ENTIRE world is concerned about these important variables Oh, you don't care? Now you get it."
Facebook - "The Wall Street Journal say Russians are no longer white."
Amazing. The article is from 2018, it's about geography and geopolitics, not race, most of Russia is geographically in Asia and apart from Belarus, Russia courts allies in Asia.
Also, the article quotes Fyodor Lukyanov, head of Russia’s Council for Foreign and Defense Policy, a body that advises the Kremlin, and Vladislav Surkov, a close aide of Mr. Putin, about Russia turning away from the West. This is not a WSJ or even a Western writer saying this.
The article also quotes Andrei Kortunov, director of the Russian International Affairs Council, a state think-tank set up by the Kremlin, about the increasing focus on the Mongol Golden Horde. This is not a WSJ or even a Western writer saying this
The racial bias in western media’s Ukraine coverage is shameful - "Now, because of the Ukrainians’ whiteness and proximity to the west, it’s apparently difficult for some political commentators and roving reporters to grasp how this conflict could have come to pass. It’s as though bloodshed and invasion is only to be foisted upon countries inhabited by Black and brown people – and some have had no qualms about sharing their sense of alarm regarding this sobering turn of events, perhaps unaware of how this feeds into white supremacist ideology which renders the lives of others of no value... NBC news correspondent Hallie Cobiella said: “To put it bluntly, these are not refugees from Syria, these are refugees from Ukraine [...] They’re Christians, they’re white. They’re very similar [to us].”"
Of course, the liberals can't resist playing the race card
Of course, this ignores the media fetish for the Palestinians (or, indeed, "minorities"). And if you question why Muslims have special "solidarity" with the Palestinians, you'll get accused of "Islamophobia"
Unsurprisingly, this is written by their "Race Correspondent"
Opinion: Media coverage of Ukraine shows it's time to rethink what we know about Africa
Way to try to make a foreign tragedy about you (the old headline was even worse: "I'm a Black, African woman. It's time to change the channel on Ukraine media coverage"
After covering similar ground to the Independent article this went on a weird tangent about the media not covering African successes
Ironically, the Western media hardly covered Ukraine before the problems with Russia. So that suggests that media coverage of Africa is not due to racism, but the news cycle and what resonates with people
Meme - Cernovich: "Russia: We aren't going to invade Ukraine.
Ukraine: Russia isn't going to invade.
Media: WAR IS IMMINENT arm Ukraine and get t..."
Candace Owens @RealCandaceO: "The best part is that the Ukrainian President has asked the CIA to provide proof that Russia is planning to invade and the CIA refuses to do so. It's so obvious that the Biden administration is attempting to start a war in Ukraine so they can force NATO into the region."
This didn't age well. Of course, the cope will be that the West provoked Russia so they had no choice but to invade
Martyr Made on Twitter - "A major reason Putin felt comfortable attacking: Wolf-crying US intelligence agencies & media have lied about so much for so long that a good portion of Americans would disbelieve anything they say, especially about Russia."
'Mum, I'm in Ukraine. This is a real war. I'm scared, we're firing at everyone, even civilians' - "Russian troops are "operating in complete disarray", their morale sapped and "crying in combat", voice recordings of frontline soldiers obtained by a British intelligence company suggest. Intercepted radio messages indicate that troops are refusing to obey central command orders, including to shell Ukrainian towns, while complaining bitterly about running out of supplies of food or fuel. Separate video recordings show one group of Russian military walking away from the battle front and heading back across the border, having had enough. In a text message to his mother, one soldier purportedly said: "The only thing I want right now is to kill myself." A senior Pentagon official said on Tuesday that parts of the Russian army made up of young, poorly trained conscripts were "ill-prepared" for battle and in some cases had "deliberately punched holes" in their vehicles' fuel tanks to make sure they did not reach the front line... Parts of the Russian military are reliant on mobile phones and analogue "walkie-talkies", making them vulnerable to interception by radio enthusiasts... Ukrainian forces also had no problem jamming the Russian communications, which are often interrupted by recordings of the Ukrainian national anthem... troops were struggling to maintain communications and would often spend 20 minutes doing a "sound check" to make sure they could be heard, offering opportunities for radio hams to listen in. "It's basically like tapping into a police frequency in the US," said Mr Cardillo. "It's basically the Russians transmitting on analogue. So when they request air support, or any kind of support, you will hear the helicopter or the fighter planes... Mr Cardillo said, having listened to the tapes, that the Russian troops appeared ill-prepared. He also said the tapes offered "proof of war crimes", with orders to fire ballistic missiles into urban areas. He added: "There were periods where we heard them [Russian soldiers] crying in combat, a period where they were insulting each other – obviously not a sign of great morale. There was an instance where they shot at each other, there was an instance where they had to transport dead bodies back to their forward operating bases. Many times you can hear them not at their highest level of happiness." Mounting evidence from messages sent back home suggest the Kremlin had convinced Russian troops that they would meet little resistance in Ukraine and instead be treated as conquering heroes. "We were told we would be greeted with open arms, but they call us fascists," one Russian soldier reportedly texted his mother from Ukraine in a message that Serhiy Kyslytsia, Ukraine's envoy, read out loud at the UN... While Russian state media and officials had repeatedly denied plans to invade Ukraine before Thursday's all-out assault, they had suggested that the Ukrainian people were so deeply unhappy with their government that they would welcome Russian soldiers. The opposite is proving to be the case, which often forces Russian troops either to surrender or simply walk away... Michael Kofman, the director of Russian studies at the US Centre for Naval Analyses, said on Tuesday that multiple videos of Russian prisoners of war seemed to prove the troops had not been fully briefed about the large-scale invasion... One conscript, drafted in November, told the soldiers’ mothers he had been forced to sign a contract and was not told what it was for. Russian law does not allow conscripts to be sent on active duty... A few months after its last documented incursion into eastern Ukraine, Russia adopted a law that made casualties in "special military operations abroad" in peacetime a state secret. It took Russian officials five days to admit Russian casualties and prisoners of war in Ukraine, but the defence ministry still would not provide the exact number. Conflict Intelligence Team, Russia's leading open-source group, has used multiple sources to document poor conditions and food supplies for Russian troops. One video published online on Tuesday showed Russian army rations taken by Ukrainian troops that had a 2015 expiry date. There was also CCTV footage showing what appeared to be Russian troops looting grocery shops in Ukraine. Media reports suggested that the troops Russia had amassed before the invasion often had to sleep rough in vehicles or in trenches... The Pentagon believes poor morale and problems with supply lines may help explain why Russian forces, including a 40-mile convoy of tanks and armoured vehicles near Kyiv, have come to a near standstill. The official said Russian commanders may also be "regrouping and rethinking" battle plans. The US believes Russia has now deployed about 80 per cent of its forces"
About 14,000 people killed during conflict in Donbass, top Ukrainian diplomat says - "The conflict in Donbass has claimed about 14,000 lives, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said during his working visit to Slovakia. "To date, about 14,000 people have been killed in Donbass. This number includes [Ukrainian armed forces] servicemen and civilian casualties. We regularly update this data""
This seems to be the source of Russia shills' insistence that Ukraine has killed 14,000 civilians in Donbas. Amazing how this has been distorted to push their narrative. Then again, these people also believe that the US murdered all the Iraqis who died when the US was in Iraq, so everything fits their consistently mindless anti-Western narrative
Putin Urges West To Act Quicky To Offer Security Guarantees - "Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the West on Thursday to move quickly to meet Russia's demand for security guarantees precluding NATO's expansion to Ukraine and the deployment of the military alliance's weapons there."
From Dec 2021. One Russia shill actually claimed that there was a pre-emptive threat which justified Russia invading, and pointed to NATO refusing to grant the "security guarantees" (i.e. saying Russia should be able to interfere in other countries' internal affairs)
Facebook - "I noticed the near complete lack of protest or objection to Ukraine's ban of all fighting age males from leaving the country. Hard truth is the peacetime fluff about gender equality or equal service goes out the window once the balloon goes up for real - faced with threat of extinction, you get the expendable sex up on the battle line, to buy time for the other sex to get to safety. Yes, you'll get volunteers of the fairer sex staying, fighting and dying too, and that's brave. But as a policy maker, you don't want that. 1 male survivor and 9 female ones means you get up to 9 of your depleted tribe back in the next generation. An equal 5 of each means you get 5 at best. No one celebrates being the expendable sex, or the sex delegated to birthing the next generation. But war is a reminder that you can't escape some base hard truths."
Women in Paris go topless to protest against Vladimir Putin, video viral - "Putin had faced similar topless protests by feminist women back in 2013. At that time he had reportedly replied, “I liked it … I didn’t catch what they were shouting, I didn’t even see if they were blondes, brunettes, or chestnut-haired.”"
Feminism is a late capitalist conceit
Meme - "Pray for Ukraine Oh wait, that's Kenosha after BLM."
Elon Musk says SpaceX's Starlink asked to block Russian news sources by some governments - "SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said Saturday that his company won't block access to Russian media sources on its Starlink internet system despite requests from some governments. "Starlink has been told by some governments (not Ukraine) to block Russian news sources," Musk wrote on Twitter Saturday (March 5). "We will not do so unless at gunpoint."... "Sorry to be a free speech absolutist""
Meme - Patricia Arquette @PattyArquette: "Well for Lords sakes. If they would Just the do minimum research before spouting off.."
Patricia Arquette @PattyArquette: "Kick Russia out of NATO"
Is the Russian Air Force Actually Incapable of Complex Air Operations? - "More than a week into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Air Force has yet to commence large-scale operations. Inactivity in the first few days could be ascribed to various factors, but the continued absence of major air operations now raises serious capability questions."
NATO - Topic: NATO-Russia relations: the facts - "Claim: NATO's presence in the Baltic region is dangerous
Fact: NATO has taken defensive and proportionate steps in response to a changed security environment. In response to Russia's use of military force against its neighbours, Allies requested a greater NATO presence in the Baltic region... As part of NATO Allies' commitment to transparency, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania host Russian arms control inspectors. In Estonia, for instance, Russian inspectors recently conducted a Vienna Document Inspection, observing parts of exercise Spring Storm in May and June 2021.
Claim: NATO missile defence threatens Russian security
Fact: NATO ballistic missile defence is not directed against Russia and cannot undermine Russia's strategic deterrence capabilities. It is designed to protect European Allies against missile threats from outside the Euro-Atlantic area. The Aegis Ashore site in Romania is purely defensive. The interceptor missiles deployed there cannot be used for offensive purposes. The interceptors contain no explosives. They cannot hit objects on the Earth's surface – only in the air. In addition, the site lacks the software, the hardware and infrastructure needed to launch offensive missiles. NATO invited Russia to cooperate on missile defence, an invitation extended to no other partner. Unfortunately, Russia refused to cooperate and rejected dialogue on this issue in 2013...
Claim: NATO is aggressive and a threat to Russia
Fact: NATO is a defensive alliance, whose purpose is to protect our members. NATO’s official policy is that "the Alliance does not seek confrontation and poses no threat to Russia." NATO didn’t invade Georgia; NATO didn’t invade Ukraine. Russia did...
Claim: NATO enlargement threatens Russia
Fact: ... Every sovereign nation has the right to choose its own security arrangements. This is a fundamental principle of European security, one that Russia has also subscribed to and should respect. In fact, after the end of the Cold War, Russia committed to building an inclusive European security architecture, including through the Charter of Paris, the establishment of the OSCE, the creation of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, and the NATO-Russia Founding Act.
Claim: NATO nuclear sharing and nuclear exercises violate the Non-Proliferation Treaty
Fact: NATO's nuclear arrangements have always been consistent with the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The NPT is the cornerstone of the global non-proliferation regime. It has an essential role for international peace and security. For decades, the United States has had nuclear weapons on the territory of some European NATO members as part of NATO's deterrence and defence capabilities. These weapons remain under the custody and control of the United States at all times. Furthermore, NATO's nuclear arrangements predate the NPT. They were fully addressed when the treaty was negotiated. It is Russia that is using its nuclear weapons as a tool of intimidation. Russia uses irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and has stepped up its nuclear exercises. Russia is also expanding its nuclear capabilities by investing in novel and destabilising weapons...
Claim: NATO's enhanced forward presence violates the NATO-Russia Founding Act?
Fact: ... By signing the NATO-Russia Founding Act, Russia pledged not to threaten or use force against NATO Allies and any other state. It has broken this commitment, with the illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea, the territory of a sovereign state. Russia also continues to support militants in eastern Ukraine.
Claim: NATO promised Russia it would not expand after the Cold War
Fact: Such an agreement was never made. NATO’s door has been open to new members since it was founded in 1949 – and that has never changed. This “Open Door Policy” is enshrined in Article 10 of NATO’s founding treaty, which says “any other European State in a position to further the principles of this Treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic” can apply for membership. Decisions on membership are taken by consensus among all Allies. No treaty signed by the United States, Europe and Russia included provisions on NATO membership. The idea of NATO expansion beyond a united Germany was not on the agenda in 1989, particularly as the Warsaw Pact still existed. This was confirmed by Mikhail Gorbachev in an interview in 2014... Declassified White House transcripts also reveal that, in 1997, Bill Clinton consistently refused Boris Yeltsin's offer of a 'gentlemen's agreement' that no former Soviet Republics would enter NATO...
Claim: NATO whips up 'hysteria' over Russia's exercises
Fact: Every nation has the right to conduct exercises, but it is important that they are conducted transparently and in line with international obligations. To promote transparency, members of the OSCE, including Russia, commit to follow the provisions of the Vienna Document. If an exercise involves at least 9,000 personnel, it is subject to notification, and if it equals or exceeds 13,000 personnel, observers from OSCE states must be invited to attend the exercise. NATO's concerns about Russian exercises are a direct result of Russia's lack of transparency. Since the end of the Cold War, Russia has never opened an exercise to mandatory Vienna Document observation. Russia has also used large snap exercises, including with tens of thousands of troops, to intimidate its neighbours. This practice raises tension and undermines trust. Russia's intervention in Georgia in 2008 and illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 were masked by snap exercises."
Clearly Malaysia is threatened by Singapore's strong armed forces. So to avoid provoking a pre-emptive strike, Singapore needs to disarm
Lindsey Graham Has a Bold Suggestion on What to Do About Putin - "His suggestion was for "somebody in Russia has to step up to the plate. Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military," Graham also asked, referring to a German colonel who was part of a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944 and subject of the film "Valkyrie." The senator even appeared to use explicit language as he went on to say "the only way this sh*t ends my friend is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out. You'd be doing your country a great service and the world a great service."... [he] had tweeted in December 2016 that "Every responsible nation should condemn the assassination of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey.""
Putin likens Western sanctions to war as Russia's Ukraine offensive traps civilians - "A war that has fuelled Europe's biggest humanitarian disaster in decades. The war, which began with Russia's invasion on Feb. 24, has sent nearly 1.5 million refugees fleeing westward into the European Union"
Redefining war is a great way to justify more attacks
