Ryuu96 said:
"In addition to the question of geodata and possible personnel, German government representatives are also said to have expressed concern that the Kerch Bridge to the Crimean peninsula could be hit with Taurus cruise missiles. According to the information, there have been talks with British government representatives in recent weeks who wanted to convince Germany of the delivery. At the same time, the German side had expressed concrete concern that the bridge in Crimea could be destroyed with German weapons." So F*cking What?!?! How...Just how, are there countries still this cowardly after all this time, after everything we've seen, it's so frustrating. Ukraine has to show the West for the 1,000th time that Russia is all bark and no bite. I swear Ukraine could drop a Storm Shadow on Moscow itself, on the fucking Kremlin, and even if Russia didn't do anything back to the UK, we'd still have some in the West like "but what about escalation!?!?!" in regards to sending certain weaponry. How many times!
How many goddamn Russian "red lines" does Ukraine have to show to the West that they mean f*ck all? |
As a german myself, I thought quite a lot about this. The first thing that comes to mind is the notorious german angst, of course. Deeply rooted insecurity leads germans to be very planning and risk-averse, that's kind of the stereotype and as with many stereotypes, there's truth to that. However, thinking about it further, this line of analysis seems quite one-dimensional. We are in a complicated geopolitical game, after all, and reducing the actions of one player to something as simple as cowardice seems amiss, especially when all evidence suggests that there actually isn't that much to be afraid of, as Ryuu laid out so many times already. Playing into this german angst stereotype, having the world think of germany as cowardly, that might just be what's intended by the german government, as a veil for their true strategy.
Fact is that the war in Ukraine is bad for Russia. Really bad. It's an economic, demographic and geopolitical disaster. A fast victory for Ukraine might be the best possible outcome for Russia at this point, in my opinion. Not for Putin and his cronies, oh no, but for Russia overall, I think so. On the other hand, the worst thing for Russia would be a long, drawn out grind, where no victory can be won, but where the people in charge still can't back down because that would hurt them politically. It's a bit like the US involvement in Afghanistan, a conflict of 20 years and with a monetary cost of mayben 1 trillion USD, depending on who you ask. In the end it was all for nothing, of course. There was no lasting victory, it was just bad for the US (and even more so for Afghanistan, but that's beside the point), a giant waste of life and resources that in turn played into the hands of its adversaries. Every time that conflict was prolonged it was a win for Russia and China, essentially. And I think it's possible that we're seeing the same dynamic here.
My fear is that the secret goal of my country (and maybe the US as well) is to ruin Russia and not to help Ukraine. That they don't want the Kerch Bridge to be destroyed, that they don't want to deprive Russia of its ability to wring itself dry by cutting off the supply lines. Don't stop your enemy while he makes mistakes, something like that is how the saying goes. The more Russia ruins itself, the more incapable and dorsile they might be later on. This might also mean the end of their influence in central europe. And of course their vast natural resources won't go anywhere in the meantime, no matter how many young Russians are getting slaughtered.
Although I'm a bit torn on the resources angle. The thing is, Brittain and France, the two countries that already provided cruise missiles to Ukraine, have one thing in common: They both don't benefit very much from russian resources. France, of course, is well known for its abundance of nuclear power, while the UK has its own gas fields, as well as nuclear and other sources. Germany, on the other hand, well... let's just say we're getting by for now, but our energy prices certainly are a problem. Cheap russian gas would be great for us and since we're so awfully nice not to provide those dreaded cruise missiles, Russia might just be inclined to accept us as customers again. And since they ruined themselves so hard with years of fruitless war, their leverage would be awfully small. Beggars can't be choosers after all. Ideally Russia becomes a third world country that's getting exploited like a third world country. I'm not sure how plausible this line of thinking is though.
What seems more plausible to me is the thought of ruining Russia to weaken its influence on the world. Just geopolitical power plays, fought on the back of Ukraine and its people. One less ally for North Korea, Iran and everyone else in Russias back yard. And one big warning signal towards China, of course. For some, all that might be well worth the price of thousands of ukrainian lives that would otherwise be spared with a swift victory. Kind of disgusting, if true and I actually hope I'm wrong.
