Watching Putin teleconferencing with Biden.

[Beastly Boy]

He is trying to act smug and self-confident, but he is overdoing it. His hands are betraying his posture. They dance around the objects on the table in abrupt, tense and random, almost involuntary, motions.

Putin is nervous.

[Wounded Bear]

1. He knows the US is working with Western Europe again, not in his interests...

[uponit7771]

7. +1

[hlthe2b]

2. Is "he" Putin?

[Beastly Boy]

4. yes

[jmbar2]

3. Where are you watching it?

[Beastly Boy]

5. Reports on MSNBC. Not the entire teleconference.

I don't believe the entire thing has been posted yet.

On edit: no sound either, which helps with paying attention to his hands.

[Wounded Bear]

8. Doubtful we'll ever see the whole thing...

bound to be some classified shit in there.

[gratuitous]

6. Putin's talking to someone who doesn't jump when he says "Frog!"

It's understandable that he got very accustomed to the former guy, and he may just now be dealing with the fact that President Biden isn't cut from the same cloth.

[RFCalifornia]

9. That could also be his Parkinsons

It's an open secret Putin has Parkinson's Disease

[Beastly Boy]

10. Or a hangover.

Either way, his fake bravado is coming across less effectively than he thinks it does.

[RFCalifornia]

11. He's on borrowed time. Expect the ex-KGB who runs the show to find a new leader

[Xolodno]

12. Or he's trying to communicate the severity.

Putin does this quite frequently, so its hard to gauge without some audio.

I hope I'm wrong, but I think war is on the horizon. For Putin, this is unfinished business and he's got probably a decade left in the cards. The fact they are drawing up plans to evacuate Embassy staff and citizens in Ukraine doesn't bode well.

I don't believe Putin intends to take all of Ukraine, just the east including Kyiv and the south and link up to Transnistria.

This will probably start out as some sort of pro Russia protest, which Zelensky will no doubt quash, followed by a revolt/coup/etc. Then an invitation by the opposition to invade. Unofficial poll numbers have him in the toilet as he has basically been "meet the new boss, same as the old boss".

Forgot where I read it, but it's been the hawk Victoria "Fuck the EU" Nuland vs. John Kerry in advising Biden. It appears the hawk philosophy is winning.

And for the record, I'm not blaming Biden for this mess, this was inherited from the W administration, which Nuland was a part of.

[Beastly Boy]

16. What you are describing is Putin's wet dream.

That is to say if everything goes Putin's way, that might happen. But Putin learned a hard lesson in Georgia. He failed to subdue it, and had to settle for an unstable Georgia rather than Georgia the Russian satellite.

If Putin were to take a large chunk of Ukraine and Transdnistria and annex it to Russia, it has a good chance of backfiring. Along with additional territories, he would get millions of newly minted Russian subjects who oppose his rule. As it is, his popularity in Russia proper is not stable enough to make such reckless maneuver that would jeopardize his hold on power. And that doesn't even take the West's reaction into account. I doubt Putin will risk losing the presidency over Ukraine.

Russia us fairly weak, both militarily and economically, and building an empire is just out of its reach. My guess is that Putin is bluffing in order to get the West's commitment not to admit Ukraine into NATO. And I believe I saw a small sign of Putin getting nervous even over that.

[Xolodno]

17. Putin's wet dream is the end of NATO.

What you state is what I constantly hear on our side of the media. Not so much elsewhere and no I'm not referring to Russia backed media.

There is one constant I've noticed continuously, we keep underestimating the Bear. We also assume to much, the population in the east and south is sympathetic to Russia. Those that are not, will simply move to Western Ukraine which indeed resents Russia.

And I have to disagree with your reading of Georgia, an unstable Georgia is preferable than a stable Western leaning Georgia according to Putin.

If a diplomatic solution isn't found, I believe it will get ugly. The next term for Putin will be his last, so he's got nothing to lose. And that makes him all that more dangerous.

Of course, we could both be wrong, were just two schmucks debating on the internet.

[Baked Potato]

13. The next round of sanctions will squeeze Oligarchs hard. Nt

[msfiddlestix]

14. xfingers, turns out this way...

I'm a bit pessimistic when it comes to that fascists pig and his agenda.

[msfiddlestix]

15. is it streaming on line?

[AZProgressive]

18. Biden standing up to Putin

Is one of the little things why I’m glad Biden is in charge.