Cross-posted from: https://feddit.de/post/9202260

Vladimir Putin will spark a third world war if the Russian president is allowed to declare victory in Ukraine, according to the boss of the country’s biggest private employer.

Yuriy Ryzhenkov, chief executive of Metinvest, which ran the sprawling Azovstal steelworks that became the site of a relentless Russian assault at the start of the 2022 invasion, warned of the consequences of a Kremlin victory.

“I don’t believe that if Ukraine fails, Putin will stop,” he said in an interview ahead of the two year anniversary of the war in Ukraine. “The Baltic states, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia are the next targets.”

  • Thief_of_Crows@lemmy.ml
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    9 months ago

    That’s absurd, what is anybody’s source on this claim? America can end this war in a month by just strong arming Ukraine to surrender Crimea. And best of all, if the conspiracy theory is true, we will know immediately, because Russia will have already gotten what they say they want.

    • khannie@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      My neighbour keeps trying to steal my property. Maybe if I just give him some he’ll stop.

      Brilliant.

      • Thief_of_Crows@lemmy.ml
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        9 months ago

        You left out that your neighbor is more than capable of taking it by force, and you making him do so will cause millions of deaths. The answer to this question depends entirely on America’s ego. If we do our usual thing, we will save face and cause millions of deaths. If we instead choose to wage peace, we look slightly weaker, and prevent a world war. It’s unlikely America is capable of advanced reasoning such as this, but I really hope we are.

        • khannie@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Let’s go back to the days of redrawing borders by force. That definitely won’t encourage more wars.

          Brilliant.

    • maynarkh@feddit.nl
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      9 months ago

      The problem with that, beyond the moral one, is that if that happens, it basically establishes a world order where the only guarantee to any kind of territorial sovereignty are nuclear weapons and the will to use them.

      The deal with Ukraine was that they agreed to give away their nuclear weapons in exchange for guarantees to its territorial integrity. Russia went back on that promise, if the US would follow suit, that means a global arms race for nukes.

      • Schmetterchen@feddit.de
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        9 months ago

        The deal with Ukraine was that they agreed to give away their nuclear weapons in exchange for guarantees to its territorial integrity. Russia went back on that promise

        Ukraine and Russia had an agreement and Russia leased Sevastopol from them. Then after the Euromaiden protests / ouster of the Russia friendly regime they wanted to join Nato. So they’d either lose Sevastopol, their Fleet HQ for Russia in the Black Sea, or have it surrounded by Nato weapons. What use is a naval HQ if it’s surrounded by the enemy?

        Here is a pretty good article why this war started: https://jacobin.com/2022/02/maidan-protests-neo-nazis-russia-nato-crimea

        And no, I don’t like Putin at all or make any excuses for Russia, but the invasion wasn’t quite willy nilly or makes him Hitler.

      • Thief_of_Crows@lemmy.ml
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        9 months ago

        Nobody should want American nukes in Ukraine, any more than we should want Russian nukes in Cuba. So Russia went back on their word, that’s not actually relevant to anyone else. I can assure you that going forward, people will definitely continue to lie, especially concerning global politics/war

        • maynarkh@feddit.nl
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          9 months ago

          Ukraine had Soviet nukes, not American ones.

          If they knew the Russians were lying, they would have never given up their nuclear weapons. And it’s because Russia lies as a matter of course that nobody takes CSTO seriously as opposed to NATO.

    • flappy@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      That would be a 180 even someone as dumb as Trump wouldn’t do.

        • enieffak@feddit.de
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          9 months ago

          Trump wouldn’t have started a war with Hitler. We all should vote for Trump. He’s a stable genius.

          • Thief_of_Crows@lemmy.ml
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            9 months ago

            Good thing America has literally never been criticized for being too uninvolved in other peoples busoness. I promise you, if Hitler 2 comes around, not even a president can prevent America joining the war.

    • tobi@feddit.de
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      9 months ago

      You never know - Putin attacked Georgia and Syria.

      • Thief_of_Crows@lemmy.ml
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        9 months ago

        True, Putin could be plotting global domination as we speak. Hell, he might be planning domination of the entire galaxy as we speak! But we have zero reason to believe he wants to do so, even if he were capable of it, which he’s not. Y’know, I bet his incapability of it has a lot to do with why he doesn’t want to try.

        • enieffak@feddit.de
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          9 months ago

          Putin is a totally trustworthy open-minded guy caring for people. Letting him do what he wants will lead to safety, democracy and peace. He is just like Hitler. We should have never gone to war against Hitler.

    • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Now they no longer provide any support… how will that strong arming work? Give them less? (This is the thing that the isolationists overlook in the US, the US buys their influence).

      Sure Ukraine has it difficult, but it has not even conscripted their youngest fittest men. It is silly to think either side currently has the power to beat the other. In the current stance this can last another decade.

      • Thief_of_Crows@lemmy.ml
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        9 months ago

        Oh, is America no longer supporting Ukraine? News to me. If that were true, that’d be great. If Ukraine can win their war without us, more power to them, seriously. I hope they win. As long as America is uninvolved, I’m happy. The east is more than welcome to settle border disputes on their own.

        • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          LOL, isolationism and no understanding of geopolitics.

          The US is as rich and powerful because one of their key exports is safety for their allies.

          Once that goes out the window many other things might change or fade away.

          Trying to be top dog of a global trade empire and being an isolationist don’t go well together.

          And if the US where to abandon Europe/Ukraine, why would anyone care to stop trade with China, once the inevitable clash between the US and China occurs.

          The US needs their allies just as much as they need the US.

          • Thief_of_Crows@lemmy.ml
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            9 months ago

            Agreed, we need to stop being the top dog, and start coexisting with Russia and China as equals. There is zero reason we need anyone to not trade with China, or why we need to be the “world police”. It’s gotten us nothing but inequality and terrible life outcomes, we NEED to stop trying to make it happen.

    • WhiteWolfLT@pawb.social
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      9 months ago

      Article may be exaggerating the possible escalation if ukraine fully looses the war. But your comment makes no sense. US is not at liberty to force the US into a decision by itself, for that europe would have accept that and it could very well brake NATO (Not even mentioning a partizan movement if Ukraine would lose). Not sure why would Russia want Ukraine to surrender a land that they were already occupying for what, eight years? This is less of a conspiracy and more of an actual possibility, no NATO country is at liberty to defy russia with their own soldiers without being attacked first. Any conflict between nuclear powers could easily escalate into nuclear war, any direct confrontation between NATO countries besides the US could still lead to that as a chain reaction.