This is what worries me the most about the Ukraine war. Escalation...

[mitch96]

Gloom and doom or just expect the worst and hope for the best...
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[Chainfire]

1. I try not to worry about things that I have no control over.

If world leaders decide that it is time to end civilization, there is not a damn thing that I can do about it.

[roody]

2. We can try to pressure ours into diplomacy.

[Chainfire]

3. We can't even pressure our government to prosecute known criminals.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

5. Putin has made it very clear that he has no intention of negotiating

unless it's on his terms and his terms only, so how do you negotiate with a despot like that?

BTW, the West has tried to convince Putin to back the fuck off, but again, Putin doesn't want to back the fuck off...................so, now what?

[Emrys]

7. Please explain what this "diplomacy" would look like.

Putin never saw an international agreement he wasn't willing to breach with glee.

Any "diplomacy" that ceded territory to the Russian Federation would consign the inhabitants affected to misery, terror and death.

So, other than Putin withdrawing what's left of his troops and armaments to within his own internationally agreed territory, ceasing hostilities, trying belatedly to cobble together the almighty miserable mess he's made of his horrible federation for the common good, submitting to very lengthy war crimes tribunals, and paying out vast reparations for the untold damage he's done, what's to negotiate about?

[Kaleva]

8. That worked for Hitler. Diplomacy appeased him for a few months

[genxlib]

4. This is the Chamberlain problem all over again with a huge twist.

I hate invoking Hitler because it cheapens the true horror that he brought on the world.

But we find ourselves at a key turning point.

"IF WE LET PUTIN(HITLER) HAVE CRIMEA(SUDETENLAND) THEN HE WILL JUST WANT PEACE AND BEHAVE HIMSELF

It didn't work last time and I doubt it will work this time. If he gets Crimea as part of the bargain, he will just want something else soon.

The major variable is nuclear weapons. It gives him power even if loses every field soldier he has.

[Bettie]

6. And there is no possibility that even if he is given a chunk of Ukraine

that he won't come back in a year or two for another and then a piece of Poland or some other country.

A line must be drawn at some point.

[maxsolomon]

11. He is after Novorossiya, which is in Ukraine. Not Poland.

Poland is in NATO, as Ukraine wanted to be. So are the Baltics. They knew it would protect them from violent Russian paranoia.

NATO is a line Putin knows not to cross; it means WW3.

[Bettie]

12. You think he won't decide he wants more?

If you buy that, cool, good for you.

I don't. If he keeps getting what he wants, he'll always demand more. Remember, this is a guy who has stated that he wants the old Soviet Union. That includes some NATO countries and so far, just threatening to use nuclear weapons has got him what he wants.

So, ultimately, if he does decide he needs another chunk of land after this, what's to stop him? It's still nuclear war, so, why is it less scary if he wants some other land than Ukraine?

Also, the US and UK made promises to Ukraine when they gave up their nuclear arsenal. This wouldn't be happening if they hadn't.

[maxsolomon]

13. Sure, it's a non-zero possibility that Putin would invade Poland

However, it is not likely.

Poland was never in the USSR; it was in the Eastern Bloc. At this point, Russia doesn't have much left to invade Poland with.

NATO is a mutual defense treaty: an attack on one (Estonia, for instance) is an attack on all (US, Germany, France, England: real Militaries). Putin isn't THAT crazy.

So yes, it is "cool" and "good for me".

[EndlessWire]

9. I'll go with what NATO thinks.

And most all other figures of authority. And that is, that if Russia is NOT stopped, that Putin will continue to conquer territories that do not belong to Russia.

It is astonishing that the world is now being taken over by fascism. Just a handful of people want to tell millions how to live. Whether we like it or not, whether we are frightened or not, we are in the fight.

It wouldn't hurt to prepare in some manner. But, we can't stop living. Someday, Putin will die. Trump will die. One thing is for sure, climate change is coming. We have to make THAT adjustment.

I have faith that Ukraine will prevail. They are not psychologically prone to quitting, or victimization by Putin's propaganda. We have the examples of the Ukrainian farmers to follow.

And also, the Irish Fishermen. They're important, too.

[dutch777]

10. After many lessons, I wonder when we will learn that letting nations get away with bullying leads...

...to even worse situations as they become emboldened and go even bigger and get even greedier? The time to fix this was 2014 when we just let Russia take the Crimea with no meaningful response. Now our options are all bad and the risks and costs much higher. One can blame the EU for getting hooked on RU oil and gas, but we were complicit too.

[EndlessWire]

14. I agree with this.

It is time to make an adjustment away from dependency on oil. We had it good for a long time. Now, we can push forward and get used to solar energy and electric vehicles. We can do it. New tech will be invented to help us.

I am sitting in a place where for the most part, snow is rare. I like hot climate. So, I have to be mindful that this winter will be tough on Europe and parts of the States. We have to do a work around for each other. No one nation can be allowed to bully the world because of oil.

Some machines we use NEED oil and gas. I get it. But, the rest of the smaller, less important stuff can be worked on.

And yeah, Putin getting away with Crimea emboldened him. It was a mistake.