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Originally Posted by Osem
And at what point do the stakes become too high? If Ukraine succeeds in this very likely other former Soviet states will want to follow. I don't know about you but I think a) the EU has more than enough balls to juggle right now and b) being seen to undermine Russia too much would be a very bad idea and I have no desire for us to return to the days of the cold war or anything like it.
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Backing away from them will only make the problem of an aggressive Russia worse. If they manage to impose their will upon the Ukraine they'll do it elsewhere too. If we don't want another cold war then it's a bad idea to cede the former soviet bloc to them against the will of the people of those countries.
---------- Post added at 21:34 ---------- Previous post was at 21:26 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by RizzyKing
Russia is almost if not larger then the EU and like it or not cannot be disregarded plus given how much energy goes from Russia to the west it's not smart to create tension. In an ideal world of course it would be as simple as what the Ukrainians want but this is the real world with real consequences for recklessness. I might understand this rabid rush by the EU to expand if all was well and good with currant members but the whole thing right now is a mess they have better priorities right now to sort out without creating tension with Russia.
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Where do we draw the line if not at the infringement of the will of the people of a sovereign country? Do we just cut them loose in the hope that it will quench Putin's thirst for more influence, do we cut other Eastern European countries loose as well? Maybe the line is drawn at Poland? Germany?
Russia isn't all-powerful either. They have domestic trouble and are heavily dependent on selling energy to power their economy and if Western European increasingly adopts alternative forms of energy (nuclear, shale gas, renewables) then that could undermine Putin's regime. We should stick up for ourselves and for the people of the Ukraine. Granted we shouldn't start a war with Russia and the EU should not trample on them for the sake of cowardice and appeasement either.