What the West should do now (fortunately much has already been done): 1. Do not communicate with Putin, Shoigu or Lavrov in any way. Excommunicate them! 2. Expel all Soviet embassies and their intelligence agencies & murderers in Western countries.
3. Do not give any visas to Russian state officials or their children, but open up to Russian civil society. 4. Kick out Russia from all kinds of international organizations when and where possible: Council of Europe, IOC, UEFA, FIFA, etc.
5. Pursue blocking Iranian-style financial sanctions against Russia and its state financial institutions. 6. Prohibit exports of relevant technology to Russia as long as Putin is in power (what Biden just did).
7. Identify and freeze the assets of Putin, his cronies and close oligarchs. 8. Identify and publicize Putin's personal wealth. My assessment is about $120 billion. It is based on how the money was stolen from the Russian state and brought out of Russia.
9. Eventually, Putin should be prosecuted by the International Court in The Hague for his many crimes against humanity.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Unsurprisingly, the Russian invasion of Ukraine seems to be a spectacular failure in so many ways:
The idea of a Blitzkrieg failed. None of the planned tasks was accomplished as planned.
Not one single key city has been taken and held.
The Russian losses have been enormous.
The Russians failed to take out the Ukrainian air force and air defense. Many planes were apparently in the air.
The key airborne attack on Kyiv failed as the Russians failed to take either of the selected airports & the Ukrainians shot down to big IL-76, each w 125 paratroopers.
The attack from three directions on Kyiv is going nowhere. Massive Russian losses on the eastern bank. The attack from the north has been stopped far away (30 km?). The attack from the south is going nowhere.
A sloppy saying is that Europe has returned to the Cold War. But Putin pursues a hot war in Europe. The most obvious parallel to Putin's assault on Ukraine is Adolf Hitler's attack on Poland on September 1, 1939, another unjustified and unprovoked war of conquest.
Similarly, Putin is more reminiscent of Hitler than Brezhnev. Remember that Brezhnev signed the Helsinki Final Act with its Third Basket of human rights. Putin has people murdered at home and abroad even with prohibited nerve agents.
The aim of Western policy should be to prosecute Putin in the International Criminal Court in The Hague. To make such a claim credible, the US had better join the ICC.
The February 26 EU sanctions on Russia:
"First, we commit to ensuring that selected Russian banks are removed from the SWIFT messaging system. This will ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system..." ec.europa.eu/commission/pre…
"Second, we commit to imposing restrictive measures that will prevent the Russian Central Bank from deploying its international reserves in ways that undermine the impact of our sanctions."
"Third, we commit to acting against the people and entities who facilitate the war in Ukraine and the harmful activities of the Russian government. Specifically, we commit to taking measures to limit the sale of citizenship—so called golden passports..."
Trying to catch up with Russia's war against Ukraine. A few observations (I welcome corrections):
Russia's attempt at a Blitzkrieg has failed. None of the big cities has fallen. Nor are they likely to fall.
Russia's initial bombing failed. Ukraine has some air force left.
Ukraine also has some air defense left, shooting down two IL-76 with Pskov parashooters (250?), other plans and many helicopters.
Ukraine has destroyed a large number (200?) tanks and armoured vehicles.
At least 1,000 Russian soldiers have been killed.
Most pathetically, Russian soldiers have abandoned armoured vehicles after they have sold their diesel for personal gain.
Most disgustingly, Russia has bombed large apartment houses entirely for civilians.
Great, the US has sanctioned the whole Russian Security Council!
Putin, Lavrov, Shoigu &
Chief of the General Staff General Valeriy Gerasimov home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/…
Previously, the US sanctioned 11 members of the Russian Security Council:
Valentina Matviyenko, Chairwoman of the Council of Federation
Sergei Naryshkin, Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service
Vyacheslav Volodin, State Duma Speaker
Sergei Ivanov,
Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Security Council
Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Interior Minister
Alexander Bortnikov, Director of the FSB
Igor Krasnov, Prosecutor General
Igor Shchegolev, Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Central Federal District
Remember their names! These were the oligarchs who came to Putin's support in the Kremlin yesterday:
Петр Авен, Андрей Акимов, Вагит Алекперов, Олег Белозеров, Андрей Бокарев, Александр Винокуров, Герман Греф, Андрей Гурьев, Михаил Гуцериев, Александр Дюков, Владимир Евтушенков,
Сулейман Керимов, Владимир Кириенко (VK), Сергей Когогин, Дмитрий Конов, Андрей Костин, Сергей Куликов («Роснано»), Алексей Лихачев, Дмитрий Мазепин, Андрей Мельниченко, Алексей Миллер, Леонид Михельсон, Алексей Мордашов, Вадим Мошкович, Михаил Осеевский («Ростелеком»)...
Михаил Полубояринов, Владимир Потанин, Дмитрий Пумпянский, Владимир Рашевский, Андрей Рюмин («Россети»), Игорь Сечин, Николай Токарев, Петр Фрадков (Промсвязьбанк), Тигран Худавердян («Яндекс»), Александр Шохин, Игорь Шувалов, Александр Шульгин (Ozon) = 37 kommersant.ru/doc/5230566?fr…