Russian troops could invade Ukraine within 12 hours of getting an order - NATO commander - Polidicks

[QUOTE]Russian troops could invade Ukraine within 12 hours of getting an order, General Philip Breedlove, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Wednesday. “It’s my opinion that they could move within 12 hours of a go,” General Breedlove said from NATO headquarters in Brussels. “So essentially they could move right away if given the go.” General Breedlove said that there are now 40,000 Russian troops massed on Ukraine’s eastern border. But even that number, he said, doesn’t tell the full story. “This is a combined-arms army, with all of the pieces necessary should there be a choice to make an incursion into Ukraine,” he said. Forces are “supported by fixed-wing aircraft [airplanes], rotary aircraft [helicopters] – all of the logistics required in order to successfully make an incursion if they needed.” NATO announced on Tuesday that it will suspend "all practical civilian and military cooperation" with Russia because of its annexation of Crimea. Ukraine is not a NATO member, but many countries that are members – such Poland and the Baltic states – have voiced their increasing anxiety about Russia’s recent actions. [/QUOTE] [url]http://amanpour.blogs.cnn.com/2014/04/02/russia-could-invade-ukraine-12-hours-after-order-says-nato-commander/[/url]

I'd hardly expect Russia to push further into Ukraine. I personally thought he overplayed his hand with Crimea, but continuing on from that would be crazy.

First Ukraine, then America.

I thought that would be a given a month ago, let alone now.

[QUOTE=MuTAnT;44435744]I'd hardly expect Russia to push further into Ukraine. I personally thought he overplayed his hand with Crimea, but continuing on from that would be crazy.[/QUOTE] Putin could be crazy. If half the stuff reported about him is true it should be a concern

[QUOTE=The golden;44436271]Merkel met with him personally. Said Putin was "detached from reality". I think that should say a lot.[/QUOTE] It depends on what 'reality' she means. Russia took Crimea, that's a done deal. No one can boot them out short of a full scale war. We can do sanctions and whatnot, but when have sanctions worked? Iran, North Korea? Nope. So if everyone thinks 'reality' is Russia saying "OMG, what are we doing, we'll leave Crimea" then those people are the ones detached from reality. The only thing left to wonder now is if Russia also wants eastern Ukraine, or are they just positioning themselves for the end game. What if Russian diplomats tell Ukraine and the West "We were going to annex eastern Ukraine too but we'll make a deal. We keep Crimea, everyone shuts the hell up about it, and we all call it a day?" Positioning troops in this way gives credibility to that threat.

I don't see a real benefit to Russia in further invading Ukraine. Crimea was full of ethnic Russians, which lent the operation at least a veneer of legitimacy. The rest of Ukraine doesn't have many people that would welcome Russian rule.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;44437034]I don't see a real benefit to Russia in further invading Ukraine. Crimea was full of ethnic Russians, which lent the operation at least a veneer of legitimacy. The rest of Ukraine doesn't have many people that would welcome Russian rule.[/QUOTE] I don't think it matters whether or not they want it.

So this is about the "threat" of an invasion in under a day, and not actually invasion.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;44437034]I don't see a real benefit to Russia in further invading Ukraine. Crimea was full of ethnic Russians, which lent the operation at least a veneer of legitimacy. The rest of Ukraine doesn't have many people that would welcome Russian rule.[/QUOTE] Eastern Ukraine is very much like Crimea, full of ethnic Russians. Western Ukraine is where are the Ukrainians are.

Get your invasion in 12 hours or it's free.

[QUOTE=nikomo;44438053]Get your invasion in 12 hours or it's free.[/QUOTE] Buy another for a friend and get a free bottle of vodka

fucking christ i feel for those of the ukraine and bordering countries, i never liked russia even though a friend of mine is from there.

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;44438038]Eastern Ukraine is very much like Crimea, full of ethnic Russians. Western Ukraine is where are the Ukrainians are.[/QUOTE] But they're certainly not a majority there. Outside of Crimea, there are very few rayons within individual oblasts where the Russian population actually outnumbers Ukrainians. Putin has no way of getting at any other region of Ukraine, because Ukrainians are the majority, and any referendum is doomed to fail in favor of the Ukrainian majority. Attempts to skew the demographics are going to be revealed - the majority doesn't just suddenly and conveniently become the minority when it comes to voting, which is going to raise suspicions. Ferrying in extra voters and rigging/multivoting is not going to work in these regions.The only (impractical for obvious reasons) method is just breeding until they outnumber the Ukrainians. Hypothetical situation: an oblast has a population of 10,001. 5001 Ukrainians and 5000 Russians. Assuming a lawful basis for secession and a voter turn-out of 100%, the oblast will not secede, because by all means, it's democracy at work, whether the Russian minority likes it or not. They always have the choice of moving to Russia if it's such a problem, and if they choose not to help themselves in their predicament, I see no other reason for their troubles than stubbornness and self-entitlement. Again, this implies a voter turn-out of 100%, and solidarity between the sides. But realistically there are going to be people who will not be voting and also Ukrainians for Russia/Russians for Ukraine; statistics are more of a guideline than anything.

[QUOTE=cecilbdemodded;44436355]It depends on what 'reality' she means. Russia took Crimea, that's a done deal. No one can boot them out short of a full scale war. We can do sanctions and whatnot, but when have sanctions worked? Iran, North Korea? Nope. So if everyone thinks 'reality' is Russia saying "OMG, what are we doing, we'll leave Crimea" then those people are the ones detached from reality. The only thing left to wonder now is if Russia also wants eastern Ukraine, or are they just positioning themselves for the end game. What if Russian diplomats tell Ukraine and the West "We were going to annex eastern Ukraine too but we'll make a deal. We keep Crimea, everyone shuts the hell up about it, and we all call it a day?" Positioning troops in this way gives credibility to that threat.[/QUOTE] You realize the sanctions on Iran actually DID work to a degree.