Bloomberg has wolfgang manchau, European Intelligence Director, and German journalist,

[JohnSJ]

bashing Biden’s “silly remark” regarding Putin should not be in power, as causing division among Western allies, and “forcing” them to distance themselves from the U.S.

He argues that France and Germany are working hard to negotiate a settlement, and how what Bidn said will cause a split in the alliance.

Whether his arguments have validity or not, if Biden’s statement actually caused a breakdown in the alliance, then there there was never an alliance, Putin has already won.

I personally do not believe the alliance with Europe will dissolve because of this

And the implied assumptions by manchau seems to ignore the fact that Putin has lied throughout this whole ordeal, and he poises a real risk to Europe which they are well aware

Just at the comments/lies Putin has made regarding Ukraine. “They are liberating it from the nazis”. “They have bio-labs to create weapons against Russia, funded by Hunter Biden”. Or even Putin’s speculation on the use of nuclear weapons Etc etc etc

Some are so concerned by the comment “putin should not remain in power”, but where is the concern about comments coming from the Kremlin

Wha a double standard we are held to

[brush]

1. Pres. Biden was just foretelling the future. Of course Putin's...

time as leader Russia is short after the war crimes he's committed. And history tells the same story. Every time Russia loses a war, heads roll. Their failure in Afghanistan lead to the break up of the Soviet Union.

IMO Joe did Russia a favor by putting that thought out there. And there are probably Russians in the country already thinking that and figuring out how to make it happen.

[JohnSJ]

5. I agree brush, but because of the lack of information in Russia, it is unlikely what is happening

there is actually getting out to the majority of Russians, who I believe most still support Putin

[brush]

7. I'm thinking the higher-ups in the Kremlin who know what a failure...

the Ukraine invasion is. Remember Gorbachev was forced to resign after the USSR felt apart. Yeltsin resigned because he thought he'd failed the nation after the break up. Brezhnev died in office but Khrushchev before him was deposed.

I don't think megalomaniacal Putin will resign. But it's pretty obvious that the world has witnessed the horrible, on-going war crimes committed by Putin and his tenure as head of state is not sustainable for long, IMO.

Somewhere Kremlin bigs, oligarchs and generals are hatching plans.

[JoanofArgh]

2. One could argue that Germany and France's

conciliatory attitudes toward Putin are part of what made him think he could get away with invading Ukraine.

“ We mustn’t offend Vladimir” So tired of this .

[JohnSJ]

3. What bothers me is the double standard we are held to. Putin has gone as far as threatening

use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, and yet we are the “unreasonable ones”

Europe has a hell of a lot more to lose if Putin expands his ambitions then we do.

Europe did a lot of appeasement prior to WWII, and that did not work out particularly well

[JoanofArgh]

13. Agree. I was thinking of WW2 as well.

I guess it happened too long ago for them to remember any lessons from it.

[Lonestarblue]

12. And the UK became one of Russian oligarchs' favorite money laundering destinations.

Leaders in the West appeased Putin too often because of greed for the Russian money Putin and his buddies took when the USSR broke up. Putin has been the aggressor for years, yet the sanctions placed on Russia for various wars and acts were never debilitating. They still aren’t totally debilitating, mostly because Europe still needs to buy gas from Russia.

My fear is that the billionaires in the EU and here will start pushing to end sanctions so they can get back to their business deals with Russia. I read a comment a few days ago from a UK government official saying that the sanctions would be lifted as soon as Putin stopped attacking. I hope that is not true because the sanctions are needed indefinitely to convince Russians to get rid of Putin. There will never be peace in the region with him still in power. Biden knows that, and so do EU leaders, but it will be a struggle to hold off the corporate titans who are only concerned about their profits.

[Pachamama]

4. Feigned disagreement and opposition to what Biden said

Biden and the NATO and EU discussed and agreed upon strategy and what would be said.

They are all playing their part in this…including what this European Intelligence Director and Macron and and Olaf Scholz all say regarding the comment.

[JohnSJ]

6. Perhaps, but they sure seem ro be taken as off guard

[Pachamama]

11. To be effective it must appear that way.

Psyops 101

[Bernardo de La Paz]

9. For Putin to worry about something else while NATO can hold a line

Whether or not there are regime change operations of any kind, including cyber, psych, and information war, NATO leaders are all on record as being on the "good" side of the line, Biden by way of spokespeople.

Meanwhile Putin has to spend time checking on things around him and into the mood of the Russian people and among the forces like generals and oligarchs. Time not spent devising new horror operations.

[Pachamama]

10. For Putin to sleep with both eyes open

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. We hold OURSELVES to higher standards because we are not thugZ like putZin.

They do what they do and we do what we do. More often than not the differences are clear and more often in one direction than the other.

Well, there are a few fascist thugZ among us, like the guy who said "Don't worry about banging their heads as you put them in the police cars".

Get Out the Vote in 2022 like Ukrainians would.

[jaxexpat]

14. "Typical" interpretations of diplomatic negotiations are not suitable in the current scenario.

The western world and especially Europe are in the peculiar position of being the most powerful, economically and militarily, yet most consciously restrained lest the weaker power, Russia, use its most powerful weapon.

It's certainly not helpful that the "usual" suspects and their "usual" format scramble to capitalize on rumors, manufactured scandal and dubiously qualified "experts'" insights. It'll be very disappointing, but so just, when WWIII goes down because of some performance outrage about some fabricated talking point broadcast by some would-be celebrity in order to garner a few infinitely valueless clicks.

I'm so old, I remember when wars were over important things, things of value, like the prestige of frail egos, wielding weak-minded people's fear and pride into a force for violence to be reckoned with and "respected". As Archie and Edith would say, "Those were the days".

[Pepsidog]

15. Screw them. Biden gave one of the greatest speech's of all time.

[Tommymac]

16. And that is EXACTLY why the 1% sponsored news services are harping on it. Maskirova for sure

[Xoan]

17. Raise your hand if you think Putin ...

should remain in power.