• Welcome to the new Internet Infidels Discussion Board, formerly Talk Freethought.

How should west respond to potential (likely) Russian invasion of Ukraine?

Things are looking good for the aid package. It's split into three bills, Ukraine, Western Pacific, and Israel. The Know Nothing, Do Nothing faction of the Republican party is expected to oppose the Ukraine bill. I expect it will pass with bipartisan support. Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries will muster House Democrats "as a caucus, as a family, as a team" this morning in an effort to show unanimity in the passing of these bills. We'll see how he does with the Israel aid bill. The dems will want to amplify the divisiveness on the Republican side of the House by showing they've got their shit in one sock.
 
And Elensky signed a new bill which will make kidnapping men and sending them to to die even easier.
8 years in prison for refusal to die. Future is bright for Nezalezhnaya!
 
Last edited:
TV and credit cards said:
Things are looking good for the aid package. It's split into three bills, Ukraine, Western Pacific, and Israel. The Know Nothing, Do Nothing faction of the Republican party is expected to oppose the Ukraine bill. I expect it will pass with bipartisan support. Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries will muster House Democrats "as a caucus, as a family, as a team" this morning in an effort to show unanimity in the passing of these bills. We'll see how he does with the Israel aid bill. The dems will want to amplify the divisiveness on the Republican side of the House by showing they've got their shit in one sock.
Click to expand...
I forgot to mention, under the House bill, Biden will have to submit a strategy plan for Ukraine within 45 days. The bill also pushes Biden to provide Ukraine with long range ATACMS.
Good, good, good. Thank you Republicans for pushing Timid Joe out of the prevent defense he’s been forcing on Ukraine. Hit Russia where it needs to be hit.
 
TV and credit cards said:
TV and credit cards said:
Things are looking good for the aid package. It's split into three bills, Ukraine, Western Pacific, and Israel. The Know Nothing, Do Nothing faction of the Republican party is expected to oppose the Ukraine bill. I expect it will pass with bipartisan support. Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries will muster House Democrats "as a caucus, as a family, as a team" this morning in an effort to show unanimity in the passing of these bills. We'll see how he does with the Israel aid bill. The dems will want to amplify the divisiveness on the Republican side of the House by showing they've got their shit in one sock.
Click to expand...
I forgot to mention, under the House bill, Biden will have to submit a strategy plan for Ukraine within 45 days. The bill also pushes Biden to provide Ukraine with long range ATACMS.
Good, good, good. Thank you Republicans for pushing Timid Joe out of the prevent defense he’s been forcing on Ukraine. Hit Russia where it needs to be hit.
Click to expand...
Agree. "Timid Joe" has been pushing mighty hard for arms to Ukraine for months. Many months. It's been the Maga's that have been holding it back.
 
Saw an article recently that would indicate the republicans warming up to Ukraine aid might be because of evangelical groups making deals.

crooksandliars.com

'The Family' Forces Zelenskyy To Cut Deal For Aid From U.S.

If you see evangelical House Republicans softening their opposition to military aid for Ukraine, don’t assume it’s divine intervention.
crooksandliars.com crooksandliars.com
 
Russia was destroyed in July 1918 in Yekaterinburg. It didn't make much difference to most ordinary Russians; They swapped one set of idiotic dictators who claimed to embody and personify Russia for another. Four legs good, two legs better, and all that. Then Russia was destroyed by a stroke on 5 March, 1953. Again, after a brief period of turmoil, not much changed. Then Russia was destroyed in 1991, and after yet another period of turmoil, yet again nothing much changed.

Destroying Putin's kleptocratic rule won't matter much either. It would be nice to think that when Russia is destroyed (again), the next new Russia to replace it might become a nice place to live; But it probably won't.
 
bilby said:
Destroying Putin's kleptocratic rule won't matter much either.
Click to expand...
There would be an immediate effect, and probably a good one for people outside Russia. But yeah. A leopard can’t change its spots. And whatever comes next for Russians won’t seem much different.
 
barbos said:
Loren Pechtel said:
Ukraine is modifying light planes as drones and hitting deep in Russia--a light plane isn't remotely stealthy, such systems do not have any terrain-following ability--they're sitting ducks. Yet they're getting through because you can't mount an air defense. The world thought it was a fluke when that kid flew a Cessna to Red Square and didn't get intercepted--but even in times of war Ukraine is doing the same thing to you except with a robot at the controls.
Click to expand...
Dude, go easy on propaganda drink.
Click to expand...
We've seen them hitting. Light planes. There's no way to make them stealthy, putting terrain following on them would be an awful lot more expensive than the rest of the package. No way to make them not sitting ducks--yet they're getting through. That means you have no air defenses around important targets or between said targets and Ukraine. While I would presume they lack transponders military radars won't care.
 
ZiprHead said:
barbos said:
zorq said:
Russia should figure out that if it is having a problem with "unfriendly countries," the quick and easy solution is to become friendly to them.
Click to expand...
Like it's humanly possible to become friendly with people who are literally paid to be unfriendly to Russia.
Click to expand...
We tried to be friendly to you. We gave you western technology and the internet. Hell, we gave you fucking McDonalds along with numerous other western franchises for Russians to make money off of them. How is that working out for those franchisees and the people they employed now?
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's another way Russia is hurting itself. Foreign investment will very leery for a long time.
 
Loren Pechtel said:
Yeah, that's another way Russia is hurting itself. Foreign investment will very leery for a long time.
Click to expand...
Burger King has never left, that's all that counts.
You live in a bubble of lies created by neocon media.
Your own criminal government forbids their puppets from hitting russian oil refineries?
Do you know why?
 
barbos said:
Loren Pechtel said:
Yeah, that's another way Russia is hurting itself. Foreign investment will very leery for a long time.
Click to expand...
Burger King has never left, that's all that counts.
You live in a bubble of lies created by neocon media.
Your own criminal government forbids their puppets from hitting russian oil refineries?
Do you know why?
Click to expand...
You seized the businesses, they lost their investment.
 
barbos said:
Loren Pechtel said:
Yeah, that's another way Russia is hurting itself. Foreign investment will very leery for a long time.
Click to expand...
Burger King has never left, that's all that counts.
You live in a bubble of lies created by neocon media.
Your own criminal government forbids their puppets from hitting russian oil refineries?
Do you know why?
Click to expand...

Yes, Burger King is proof that the West still has a serious business interest in Russia. In 2022, they announced that they would pull out of Russia, but they still haven't simply walked away like other Western companies have. Restaurant Brands International (RBI) owns the brand, and below is the statement they released then to explain the situation. It is now 2024, and Putin's major social media fanboy, barbos, still gets to brag that they haven't left Russia yet. RBI's excuse? Basically, they're still saying "It's complicated."

Actions on Burger King Russia​


Actions on Burger King Russia

The following is an open letter on March 17, 2022 from RBI’s International President, David Shear, to RBI employees.


I know that many of you have been following the horrifying attacks on Ukraine. There have been a lot of media reports about brands continuing to operate in Russia and internally, we have been working around the clock to do all the right things. I want to share this letter to keep everyone up to date on our actions.

We entered the Russian market ten years ago through a joint venture partnership, similar to our approach in 15+ other global markets. We have three joint venture partners in Russia: Alexander Kolobov, who has extensive restaurant experience and is responsible for the day-to-day operations and oversight of the ~800 restaurants in Russia; Investment Capital Ukraine ("ICU")– one of Ukraine’s largest investment firms; and VTB Capital. VTB Capital, as an affiliate of one of Russia’s biggest banks, has partnered with several other western companies in Russia, including other large QSR brands. We own a minority stake (15%) in the joint venture and none of the partners has a majority share.

These are the actions we have taken to date:

  • We started the process to dispose our ownership stake in the business. While we would like to do this immediately, it is clear that it will take some time to do so based on the terms of our existing joint venture agreement.
  • We contacted the main operator of the business and demanded the suspension of Burger King restaurant operations in Russia. They have refused to do so.
  • We suspended all corporate support for the Russian market, including operations, marketing, and supply chain support in addition to refusing approvals for new investment and expansion.
  • We committed to redirecting any profits we receive from the business, including our ownership stake, to the United Nations’ refugee agency (UNHCR) and made an immediate donation of $1M toward that commitment. We’ve also worked with franchisees from more than 25 countries to distribute $2M of free meal coupons for Burger King restaurants to NGOs supporting Ukrainian refugees.
The economic sanctions that have been imposed by many countries include VTB Bank and its controlled affiliates, including VTB Capital and I want you to know that we are in full compliance with all applicable sanctions.

We have been asked why we can’t unilaterally suspend operations. I want to answer that question directly.

When master franchise agreements and joint ventures are formed, there are extensive commitments to long-term investments and accountabilities to grow the business together. There are no legal clauses that allow us to unilaterally change the contract or allow any one of the partners to simply walk away or overturn the entire agreement. No serious investor in any industry in the world would agree to a long-term business relationship with flimsy termination clauses. This is exactly why we say it’s a complicated legal process when we are asked why we can’t just unilaterally shut down the business.

Any current attempt to enforce our contract would ultimately require the support of Russian authorities on the ground and we know that will not practically happen anytime soon. This is also why you may see other brands in Russia with similar structures continue to operate in the market.

Would we like to suspend all Burger King operations immediately in Russia? Yes. Are we able to enforce a suspension of operations today? No. But we want to be transparent with our actions and explain the steps we have taken to stand with the international business community in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine and its people.

David Shear
President, International
Restaurant Brands International
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom