Interesting - but factual   There sis to be added the fact that the Armaments Industry is a kickback center using corruption of both politicians and bureaucrats to get arm production for especially war situations.   

So to be in wars means extra money for corrupt individuals in the USA and throughout the world. 

That Nuland woman is coming to SA soon for negotiations and she should not be allowed to destabilize South Africa any further - specially since she would probably start a civil war in SA as well.  One has to be vey careful when dealing  with snakes like her.    We already sent Blinken packing because he tried to lie to get SA and African support for the USA in Ukraine and he was told to go and negotiate a peaceful solution in Ukraine.

 However, the Biden Administration thrive in corruption and   nothing positive will ever come out from him and his fellow corrupt  crooks.

Sachs is a smart, appealing man. I agree with a lot of what he said in that talk about the need to embrace Russia after the demise of the Soviet Union. But he is also an apologist for bad regimes. For example:

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Sachs vocally rejected the COVID-19 lab leak theory (a version of which was being supported by President Donald Trump), which posited the SARS-CoV-2 virus was released from a Chinese laboratory, denouncing it as “reckless and dangerous” and arguing that right-wing politicians pointing fingers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology could “push the world to conflict... Neither the biology nor chronology support the laboratory-release story.”^[4

Then there is this about the rise of China:

Sachs is a "long-time advocate of dismantling American hegemony and embracing the rise of China."^[55] He believes the term “genocide” is mistaken in relation to the repression of the Uyghurs in China.^[26] He has argued for closer relations between the US and China and warned of the danger of tensions between them.^[56][57]

These are similar themes he echoes in the video. Don’t provoke Russia. And I largely agree with that. I thought the whole Sochi debacle was dangerous.

And Biden clearly played the old game, to the detriment of a solution.

But NATO had not expanded Eastward since 2004. There were ideas, goals, discussions about Ukraine…..but nothing had happened. Then Putin decided to act and the whole tragedy played out….the Ukranian people were caught between defending their homeland and capitulating.

Yes there were things the US did that was unwise….but nothing justifies this slaughter. He should say that,

In the 2008 Bucharest summit. NATO declared that both Ukraine and Georgia would join the US led alliance.

I havnt a clue what you you mean by NATO not moving eastwards. Here you have their intentions. Finally you have Russia's response. Sad, sad, sad all these lives lost, all these billions spent,NATO is fully to blame. 

Intentions, not acted on, mean nothing compared to 500,000 troops killed or injured.

Russia does not recognise the existence of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people; its goal is the destruction of Ukrainian statehood and the assimilation of Ukrainians.

Mozart

There is one thing you conveniently forget.   That is the 2014 coup in Ukraine organized and fuded by the USA.   Nuland even discussed who should take over the Government in Ukraine and the members she mention formed the Interim Government.   

 Furthermore the Ukraine Constitution was discarded and have been a major problem since the constitutional rights of all Ukraine residents was destroyed and so was the constitutional provisions allowing  for substantial authority of the Crimea Parliament.   The Russian element of the population felt threatened by the new Government - especially as it was made up of extreme haters of all things Russian and most of its members had close ties with the Bandera clique.   In World War 2 he lived in a Nazi holocaust camp and from their played a major role in the organization of the holocaust of killing of Poles and Ukrainian Jews.   His associates also formed the Nazi Ukraine leadership cadre co-operating the defence of the Ukraie whe the German Army deserted Ukraine.  That is why the Russians claim the Ukraine Government is made up of Nazi's.   

Be it as it may a civil war started in Eastern Ukraine and the Crimean Parliament decided t call for a referendum in Ukraine since the ripping up of the Constitution also ripped up the situation that allows a self-governing Crimea - with its Ukraine speaking population  to be taken over and destroyed.    The Zelenskyy Government stated that Russian culture will be destryed and if Russians speaking population will be expelled - one would call that ethnic cleansing.   Incidentally 85% of the population are Russian speakers and to that must be added 10% of the Tartar population who also do not want anything to do with te new Unconstitutional Government in Kiev.    A referendum was held in the Crimea and 95% of the people voted that the Ukraine Parliament made arrangements for t he incorporation of the Crimea into Russia.     Only 4% of the voters wanted the Crimea to remain part of Ukraine.   

In 2015 there was a serious attempt to cause a ceasefire in Ukraine and for the civil war to be stopped.   The peacemaking effort was led by Germany and France and involved the Ukraine Government, the Rusian Government and Representatives of the Russian speaking Donbas area where they were in control,   In terms of the agreement signed by all parties concerned. the -

^    Ukraine would get a new constitution to replace the discarded in 2016 and the Ukraine waould implement a federal format of Government;

*     that the borders of Ukraine at the time - which incidentally by 2015 did not include the Crimea -- would be retained,   

*     Ukraine membership of NATO shall not be considered,  

Be it as it may this agreement was approved by the UN Security Council - but never before 1917 was submitted to Congress for implementation.   Basically the Ukraine became a proxy state of the USA.   USA Grant funding was subject to Ukraine following  the implementation of instructions from Washington.   A  typical example is how Biden in Public in 2018 in a video bragged about how he used a US loan guarantee to force te Ukraine Government to fire the Ukraine Prosecutor involved in investigating Burisma - the company on the Board of which Hunter Biden was serving,   

The Ukraine was always since 1991 the most corrupt country in Europe - so US politicians like Biden, Pelosi and Schiff saw an opening to get kickbacks from US Aid funding to Ukraine running into Billions of dollars,   In fact the Ukraine Government do not look after the interest of Ukrainians - but are totally under control of the  Washington Government,

In the md the Ukraine Government started oppressing Russian speaking people.  It started off by fining Russian speaking  Ukrainians fine when they speak Russian in public.   After 2019 it got worse when Russian as a language and as a means of instruction was banned in Ukraine schools,  In the final days Zelenskyy signed a peace agreement with Putin based on implementation of the Minsk agreement - but there is real proof that Washington sabotaged the Minsk agreement implementation.  

In the weak before the invasion started Boris Johnson acting fro the USA and the UK went to Kiev to ensure the Minsk agreement not to be implemented,     As a result Zelenskyy banned all political parties not supporting him in Ukraine and arrested all the Russian speaking members of the Ukraine Parliament,    They same Russian speaking  members supported a resolution opposing a potential attack by Russia of Ukraine.   The arrested members have never been charged with anything since their arrest and there whereabouts are unknown/    Zelenskyy went on and also banned the functioning of the Ukraine Orthodox Church from functioning.    The Ukraine without a Constitution is not a democracy anymore.- the fact is it is a proxy government of the USA in Ukraine.   

The fact that the USA sabotaged all efforts to prevent the War in Ukraine and the present regime in Ukraine and is effectively the proxy US Government in Ukraine - nothing more,    If there was any effort by the USA to prevent the Ukraine - nothing more,   In that respect the Professor is 100% correct.   You mentioned that  nothing happened since other countries joined NA TO in 2007,   Russia objected to the incorporation - but did nothing since the countries - especially the Baltic States had Russian components living in the country.   The USA did not do in the case of those countries - but none of those countries have overthrown  there Constitution - the way it happened in Ukraine/    

,   .        .    .                                                                                                             .                 

BB 

BS - the Guardian is the liars in chief in this case.   Russia signed two agreements that recognize Ukraine as an independent country - Zelesnjkyy also signed it and the USA sabotaged it.   If th e Minsk agreement was implemented there would have been no Ukraine War and the civil war in Eastern Ukraine would have stopped,   

Even in Africa coups are not recognized - why should the 2014 coup in Ukraine be any diffe rent?         

Yes we have heard all that before. Different credible sources claim Putin was negotiating in bad faith, and was never going to accept the peace agreement. It gave him time to prepare and it was a useful cover after he invaded.

What makes that credible? For one thing the fact that he urgently pulled his yacht out of repair just weeks before invading and had it sailed back to Russia.

As for the most corrupt country in Europe, Musk thinks Putin is the richest man in the world….Russian corruption dwarfs anything the Bidens or the Ukraine have done.

Putin's daughter's a whole lot richer than Hunter

There is plenty real evidence of Hunter being his father's bagboy and his father and him started more than 20 shelf companies found by them to route corrupt money through to the Biden's.  Have you got any evidence of Putin's being more rich than Hunter other than propaganda.

It is weird  that you came up with the Putin's daughter story to counter facts.  Is that not so that the USA is supposed to be a democratic country where honest government is a central element of administration and you claim Russia is not.   So Putin's daughter is more corrupt because she is richer than the Biden's  - weird  and contradictory thinking on your part.

      .         

Not contradictory…..you support Putin who owns three super yachts, countless properties and who may be the richest man in the world. Now how does he do that on a politicians pay?

And yet you are always referencing Biden’s supposed corruption.

Now that’s contradictory or perhaps just plain dumb.

So we should respect Jeffery Sachs? Why, because he is a professor? 
If so, then what about the other 99% of professors who disagree with his opinion?

A brain surgeon could say XYZ, but who are you going to believe? He or the other 99.9% of brain surgeons.

Anyway, subject experts are important in their niche area - but outside of this, they are just another person with an opinion.

Sachs has been involved personally in a lot of his countries. He has real world experience. But he also has a position. The US should step back, these countries like Russia, China, Venezuela and others are not really all that bad.

That position colors all his opinions. He for example believes Putin was negotiating in good faith….many other experienced people disagree.

Putin or Russia's leaders in general, rarely seem to operate in good faith.
They are run by ex-KGB agents who are imperialistic and prepared to sacrifice their own people in wars. 

If it was not for NATO, Russia would have tried this stuff ages ago. Not just with Ukraine, but with other countries. 

NATO was created after WW2, mostly as a means to protect against Russian imperialism. 

Putin may have been waiting for Trump to leave NATO but lost patience when Biden got elected. Crimea was just the tip of the iceberg. 

0Mzart

You are talking supershit and is too self-opinionated to make any sense whatsoever.    I do not support Putin - I look at facts and  proven information - you hate facts.   Most of the properties you mentioned arte owned by re Russian Government and now owned by Putin - he can use them for own purposes while he is President.

You have no real proof of any properties owned by Putin - zilch,   Him sending a yacht to Germany for repairs and when the repair is done the yacht returned to Russia.  Voila Putin moved the yacht because he intended to attack Ukraine.   That is total BS to be expected from an idiot.   

Putin negotiated in bad faith - your idiot President as leader of the West did everything in his power to undermine negotiations instead of letting France and Germany to negotiate an agreement.

I believe there is proof of everything I wrote  as to Ukraine is FACTUAL with proof that would fill a room.    What you write is based on newspaper reports, so it is way below what I expect from you.       

Who undermined the agreement and he did so in good faith?        `       

So Musk was ill informed. And Bill Browder was just winging it when he testified before the Senate:

OK - Musk guess that Putin is wealthiest man in the world or near to  it and Bill Browder - a fierce critic of the Kremlin estimates th at Putin is worth billions.    I will rather not believe Browder in what he told CNN - since I do not believe CNN is a reliable news source.   Browder can tell the Senate anything since even if he is wrong an estimate would cover him against lying  to the Senate.    Estimates can be made by anyone and unless he produce factual information confirmnation of how he estinamated Putin's wealth.   

The Emperor of Russia was at one stage accused of being  the richest man in the world and yet his family had virtually nothing when some of them like the Empress Minnie had a jewel chest and his sister Xenia lived in Frogmore House and was financially supported by King  George V.    They had really nothing  to property they had any wealth at all,    When the Empress Minnie died in 1928 Queen Mary sent s delegation to Denmark - where the Empress lived to get old of her jewel collection from he Romanov family,       .       

I  mentioned this because the ancient believe in Russia always was the palaces  they lived in was accommodation allocated to them  during their lifetime - that was the process then and s the process in Russia,    That was the process then and is te process still.   

Then  there  is the story of wristwatches - the most expensive ones in the world sold on the open market is estimated to cost a few Hundred throusand dollars.   So ho many of those does Putin have?     

I dountt not that Putin may be a wealthy man - but in the USA any story about him spread is regarded as gospel - no need to prove anything.

His wealth is not the problem - the Ukraine situation is.   W hat I th ink is childish  is to make statements that he negotiated in bad faith - there is no proof whatsoever of that.    He sig ned agreements n th e Ukraine issue on at least two occasions that he insisted on should be implemented.   F or their own reasons the USA sabotaged both.   Since the USA sabotaged the implementation who acted in bad faith?

Now lets get back to Ukraine and what is factual.    You apparently believe that Russians who lived in part of Ukraine that the Communists in 1053 decided to incorporate in the Ukraine to reduce the influence of Ukrainians in the then "Socialist Republic" are sub-humans without any human rights whatsoever as do the Ukraine Government .    Their ancestors live in what is Eastern Ukraine or centuries after the Crimea Sultanate and the Ottoman Empire lost control of the area was conquered by the Russians in the period 1500 to 1800.    They should have no rights and  should be expelled from Ukraine as per stated policy of the Zelenskyy  Government.  

I believe that there were ample opportunities to restore democracy in Ukraine after the Ukraine coup in 2014 and for compilation of a new Constitution for Ukraine.    

The fact that that did not happen was caused by th e uSA - which had heir own agenda on the Ukraine.   I also criticzd Putin for attacking Ukraine and said furher negotiations should be conducted but the US Government was NOT interested in a peaceful solution in Ukraine.

I always supported a negotiated settleemnt - but you make me out to be supporting Putin.If I am a supporter of Putin - you are a supporter of the arsehole piece of shit you have as President at present.        .       .    

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 He believes the term “genocide” is mistaken in relation to the repression of the Uyghurs in China

It is mistaken.

Liberals have been engaging in activities that are similar. On a greater scale than China.

That is the issue. This dude sticks to what is supposed to be a genocide, a definition coined in order to exonerate liberals from their own actions.

By liberal standards, there is no genocide. The term is only applied as a smearing strategy. It has no legal weight.

Different credible sources claim Putin was negotiating in bad faith,

. He for example believes Putin was negotiating in good faith…

One liberal strategy: they withdraw from the picture.

Good faith, bad faith, it means what when negotiating with liberals.

What good and bad faith means in a liberal society. It has no meaning. It is empty.

Just taking a look at US history and it shows the result of negotiating in good faith with liberals, just taking a look at the Indians and see where it leads to negotiate in good faith.

Anyone negotiating with liberals (anyone including Putin) must be aware that good faith is not to be factored in.

As stated, liberals withdraw from the pictures, Putin is negotiating with random dudes.

Nope, Purin negotiates with liberals, good or bad faith are inappropriate qualities to expect.