PINT of Stella. mate!
Many, many Scotches
It is a slippery slope but we’re already on a slippery slope and have been ever since Russia first sent troops into Georgia back in 2008.Don't disagree with the sentiment, but that IS a slippery slope. Who decides? What if they're wrong? Who polices this? Where is the line?
You know who else just takes what they want and makes up the rules as they go?
It's easy to say and hold these views. The reality is much more complex.
We can either start bending a few rules to bring proper pressure to those in Putin’s inner circle while simultaneously hoping that the Russian people manage to form a powerful enough protest movement to remove Putin from power OR we can look forward to potential escalation further down the track, further death and destruction and the very real possibility of a shooting match between NATO and Russia.
Putin himself isn’t very complex. He’s a classic bully and a tyrant. He runs his government the same way a Mafia Don runs his family.
The situation the West have let themselves get into in terms of needing Russian energy (most of mainland Europe), financial infiltration of the government (UK) and allowing Russia to fuel political and racial/social division while exerting very real influence on a former head of state (USA), is very complex but we cannot begin to sort that mess out until Putin is out of the picture and employing half-arsed sanctions while wishing on a falling star will never bring that about .