The zoomies are not all right...

[Jolly]

Does the U.S. have to be the counter-balance? Surely some of the European nations could step up to the table?

[Renauda]

No. It has to be the US, no other European power can act as a credible deterrent or post armistice arbiter with what is left of a sovereign Ukraine. Besides, it is only with the US that the Kremlin will negotiate in anything that could remotely resemble good faith.

As for alternative continental power to Russia that is the role the US chose for itself in 1945. Nothing has changed in that regard since. The UK and France can only ride its coat tails. Germany and Poland are merely concerned proximity stakeholders in the game. But you know this. I have pointed it out numerous times in this den forum of short term attention and perpetual iniquity.

[Jolly]

You can point it out, but the world changes, as does responsibilities and budgets.

[Renauda]

@Jolly

Make sure you wash your hands thoroughly, Governor Pilate. The world is watching.

[Jolly]

The United States is not the world's 911 service. With our ever-increasing debt, that is becoming more true every day. We've currently spent over $113B in Ukraine. I know that's more than the rest of the world combined. It might be as much as twice as the rest of the world combined.

[Renauda]

The 911 service quip does not fly. Whether you like it or not the world and Europe in particular, has been living since 1945 under Pax Americana. You can’t change that because that is the global reality that brought us all to where we are.

Strategic aid to Ukraine is a lot cheaper than sending troops. The option is there for the US and NATO.

Other NATO members are doing what they can given their GDP and tax base. There is a high cost to everyone. It’s called collective security.

For the record here, I am ashamed my country is not giving and investing more in supporting Ukraine and its own defence and security. If it were up to me a minimum of 4% of GDP would go to defence and security and I am personally doing what I can locally to lobby for what amounts to a forlorn hope in this country among the electorate and all political parties.

.

[jon-nyc]

@Jolly said in The zoomies are not all right...:

The United States is not the world's 911 service. With our ever-increasing debt, that is becoming more true every day. We've currently spent over $113B in Ukraine. I know that's more than the rest of the world combined. It might be as much as twice as the rest of the world combined.

90% of it spent domestically. Best bang for buck of defense dollars I can think of.

[Jolly]

Don't believe in MMT. I do believe the piper will have to be paid at some point. In the eternal question of guns or butter, at some point the expensive projection of power over the globe will falter.

For recent example, I give you Great Britain.

[taiwan_girl]

I am a believer in the power of foreign policy and helping other countries. As the world has gotten smaller and more connected together, I think this is the wrong time to move to be isolation.

[Renauda]

Vladimir Putin would prefer a US president who takes a “more constructive” approach to Russia and understands the “importance of dialogue,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has declared.

Asked whether Putin could work with Donald Trump, Peskov told NBC News that the Russian president could work with “anyone who will understand that from now on, you have to be more careful with Russia and you have to take into account its concerns.”

Though Putin has previously praised Trump’s intention to resolve the war in Ukraine within 24 hours, Peskov said the situation is “too complex” for such a swift resolution.

Peskov has also said that Russia is ready to talk with the US, but only on its own terms, according to state news agency RIA.

Emphasis mine. I read that as Putin has no intention to talk, let alone negotiate in good faith.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/12/15/ukraine-russia-war-news-latest-councillor-grenade-keretsky/