metalblue
Well-Known Member
Diplomacy with Putin, look where that got Ukraine
TBF the opportunity for diplomacy was long gone before he’d invaded back in 2016 but there was a time the west could and should have better engaged with Putin (and his predecessors) and maybe, just maybe, history would be different.
Broadly speaking the west (primarily the US) have dismissed Russia as a bit player since the collapse of the Soviet Union and end of the Cold War - we simply failed to cash in the peace dividend at the time. Russia wanted to face the west, Russia wanted to have a vital role in Europe. The west saw Russia as no longer a threat, weak if you like. Someone with a big ego was always going to eventually take that badly and stop trying to entertain the west. Unfortunately that someone with a big ego was a bigger **** and whilst it’s no excuse for invading Ukraine but we can’t wash our hands of any culpability in where we are today.