LvMnky

A citizen of Ireland & New Zealand who believes apartheid & genocide are unacceptable, & silence is complicity. 🇮🇪 🇳🇿 🚧 🩸 🚫 🤫

[LvMnky @Lv_Mnky]

I noticed this on a recent thread:

X is algorithmically constructing bespoke timelines for every user. We aren't debating each other anymore - X is imposing self-reinforcing echo chambers.

Same conversation - different entry points - completely different realities:

[LvMnky @Lv_Mnky]

@BestiaGame I never said I would have, and I don't really know if I would have.

But I have outlined the realist (geopolitical) decision-making process in other branches of this thread. That's my answer.

[LvMnky @Lv_Mnky]

Russia's early 2022 terms were:

1. Reinstating neutrality in the constitution.
2. Protection for ethnic-Russian Ukrainians.
3. Recognizing Crimea as Russian territory.
4. Semi-autonomy for Donetsk.

Only Crimea was absent from Minsk - now Russia will likely demand a blood price.

[Mario Nawfal @MarioNawfal]

🇺🇸 🇺🇦 Trump: “For whatever reason Zelensky doesn't want to make a deal"

Only a complete idiot would wonder why.

Russia's peace terms mean handing over Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia while disarming completely.

Hard to imagine why Zelensky is not jumping at total surrender!

Writer: Bri

[LvMnky @Lv_Mnky]

@V_Al_Zalanski I have dealt with that question in other branches of this thread, but "should" isn't a word I would use. Engage me on an appropriate branch if you want.

[LvMnky @Lv_Mnky]

@V_Al_Zalanski That's not true.

Vetoes don't stop actions or decisions - they impose consequences. Similarly, a murder law doesn't block the decision or the act.

They all function identically within the decision-making process - the only difference is the tools used to impose consequence.

[LvMnky @Lv_Mnky]

@V_Al_Zalanski Actually, that's not quite accurate - America also uses diplomatic and economic tools to get others to place sanctions on Cuba.

[LvMnky @Lv_Mnky]

@V_Al_Zalanski Fair - my wording was poor.

A veto prevents action in the same way a law does - it doesn't physically stop you, it imposes costs if you do.

That's exactly what the US does to Cuba, but using economic and military tools rather than legal or diplomatic ones.

[LvMnky @Lv_Mnky]

Military limits was part of the negotiations, but didn't have a floor:

Russia was asking for 85,000 and Ukraine 250,000, and a compromise would likely have put them on par with European armies, and larger than Poland - a historical adversary.

But it would be weak against Russia

[LvMnky @Lv_Mnky]

@guidodesanctis I believe Russia is talking about language and culture rather than strict ethnicity. Certainly, it was targeting things like restriction of Russian language usage in official documents.

[LvMnky @Lv_Mnky]

@V_Al_Zalanski A country can also ignore a veto - you have to look at the costs. America punnished Cuba severely for sending troops to Angola.

A veto imposes consequences - it doesn't prevent action.

[LvMnky @Lv_Mnky]

@GeloGerCan You're right - 2% isn't a justification.

But denazification isn't entirely a pretext - the Russian population is genuinely horrified by the open celebration of collaborators. They lost 20 million in WW2.

The government uses this grievance to justify a war driven by geopolitics

[LvMnky @Lv_Mnky]

There is likely a 2% Nazi population in many other places too, but only in Ukraine do they celebrate WW2 criminal collaborators openly (to my knowledge).

And yes, authoritarianism is rising everywhere - the UK, EU, US, and in New Zealand (where I live).

[GeloCan @GeloGerCan]

@Lv_Mnky There are nazis everywhere...

In Russia you have a state clearly close to fascism.

[LvMnky @Lv_Mnky]

States are rational actors, not moral ones.

States act morally, and use moral justifications, only when it aligns with their percieved interests - that's realist geopolitics.

[diego varela @diegovarela28]

@Lv_Mnky I love how russia can launch a sneak atack on Kyiv and still present himself as rational actor who just want simple demand that other must honor.

[LvMnky @Lv_Mnky]

@diegovarela28 I think you are conflating rationality and morality. States are rational actors, not moral ones.

States act morally, and use moral justifications, only when it aligns with their percieved interests - that's realist geopolitics.

[LvMnky @Lv_Mnky]

@GeloGerCan There is likely a 2% Nazi population in many other places too, but only in Ukraine do they celebrate WW2 criminal collaborators openly (to my knowledge).

And yes, authoritarianism is rising everywhere - the UK, EU, US, and in New Zealand (where I live).

[LvMnky @Lv_Mnky]

@V_Al_Zalanski I explained that the US imposes a veto via military and economic coersion, rather than negotiated diplomatic or legal mechanisms.

American sanctions and blockades prevent any Cuban foreign policy that the US opposes. And not just those that impact neutrality.

[LvMnky @Lv_Mnky]

@ChampPrivate @mortelib That wasn't a reply to rape allegations, but another question - you have now seen my researched response regarding rape, and replied to it elsewhere.

I assume it was acceptable.

[LvMnky @Lv_Mnky]

I neither brought it up or defended it, but have looked into it.

The level of rape is horrendous - over 1000 documented cases. The UN has blacklisted the Russian military in response.

Further, there is no visible action from Russia to address the issue.

That is what I know NOW

[Froglover42🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧 @frogslayer69]

@Lv_Mnky @callumcormie @ChampPrivate Then stfu and research it tbqh. So many people say this as cover for holding heinous opinions. Get back to us when you've figured this out, thats your homework.

[LvMnky @Lv_Mnky]

@frogslayer69 @callumcormie @ChampPrivate I neither brought it up or defended it, but have looked into it.

The level of rape is horrendous - over 1000 documented cases. The UN has blacklisted the Russian military in response.

Further, there is no visible action from Russia to address the issue.

That is what I know NOW

[LvMnky @Lv_Mnky]

@V_Al_Zalanski The US pledge not to invade Cuba was conditional and non-binding, and the US has threatened to invade since. It was no guarantee.

And while the US didn’t demand a legal or diplomatic veto on foreign policy, it imposed an economic and military veto through sanctions and blockades

[LvMnky @Lv_Mnky]

@DM116RUS That's not really propoganda.

The taking of Crimea was Russia's reaction to fear of a NATO-alighned government withdrawing access to the strategic naval port.

That is well established.

[LvMnky @Lv_Mnky]

@trshoegaze I did leave the military size limit out, and mistakenly. It wasn't really a term in the way I was describing them.

It was being negotiated from both ends - 85000 vs 250000, and was likely to end on about the size of other European militaries, and far below Russia's.