War crimes in Ukraine

Who knew you had to read the thread ?

I wasn’t making fun of you. My smiley face was directed at volver

Maudi

14:35Whitewavemark2

maudi yes we do know all that. I’m not sure of your point?

Eer that the EU are Russia's biggest customer and are paying billions into Putin's war chest. The chart is to show my point. Posting funny smilies and trying to make fun of me doesn't distract from the facts.

Read the thread

Interestingly I was listening to Rory Stuart this morning who has recently returned to the Middle East from Africa, and he said that they by no means back the west in this war.

Of course Russia and China have spent a great deal of time and money in these countries. I think that this should be a salutatory lesson to those who think our overseas budget should be limited. Soft power is so important.

You haven't read this thread, have you?

I don’t think your opinion is unpopular GrannyGravy13, as I said, I agree. It would require the government to introduce a diesel rationing system, and for businesses and the British public to accept reduced goods availability, higher prices and delays though - which presumably the government have decided not to introduce. In the meantime all we can do is to reduce our own consumption as far as possible.

14:35Whitewavemark2

maudi yes we do know all that. I’m not sure of your point?

Eer that the EU are Russia's biggest customer and are paying billions into Putin's war chest. The chart is to show my point. Posting funny smilies and trying to make fun of me doesn't distract from the facts.

GG13 If all the money stopped flowing in tomorrow do you think Putin would pull out of Ukraine?

Its not a simple sum where we send him money, and he buys tanks with it.

Its a large economy and I have no doubt that he would use anything he can to finance this war, for as long as possible. Although its highly distasteful we have got ourselves into the situation where we, the West, rely on Russia for fuel. And if that stops we're not talking about a few more pence on diesel, we're talking about the collapse of industry and with it, the Western economies. As far as I can see, all the countries of the West are trying to extract themselves from this situation, but it cannot happen overnight, and even if it did it wouldn't stop the killing.

Yes I’m sure - but they need fighter planes I would like to read that is happening.

gg13

Whitewavemark2

Your opinion isn’t unpopular with me, I heartily concur. I would go further and supply much more military hardware to ukraine, and agree their membership of NATO and the EU within the next say 5 years.

I think the hardware is on its way, at least the U.K.’s is.

Your opinion isn’t unpopular with me, I heartily concur. I would go further and supply much more military hardware to ukraine, and agree their membership of NATO and the EU within the next say 5 years.

Thank you DaisyAnne, always glad to be appreciated

Casdon

I agree GrannyGravy, but the point is that we don’t know where the fuel we use comes from when we fill up. Not pretending I know what the answer is, but a reduction of 20% in diesel availability would be very challenging for the UK.

Nowhere near as challenging as the situation that the Ukrainian population is in.

I know my opinion is unpopular, but the only way to,stop President Putin is to stop the money flowing into Russia.

I agree GrannyGravy, but the point is that we don’t know where the fuel we use comes from when we fill up. Not pretending I know what the answer is, but a reduction of 20% in diesel availability would be very challenging for the UK.

My grin was to volver

?

Our business has four diesel delivery vehicles, all use diesel (lots of) but I am more that willing to pay more for fuel that has not come from Russia.

I would absolutely despair if I knew that I was financing President Putin’s war machine, albeit in a minuscule way.

maudi yes we do know all that. I’m not sure of your point?

Yes Maudi, we know. That's what we've been talking about for the last hour and a half.

(ps - the graph's about gas, not oil. HTH)

Germany top Russian oil importer

Posted by mistake, sorry. Posted it before. Please ignore.

The EU is Russia's biggest customer.

news.sky.com/story/the-west-is-chipping-away-at-russias-ability-to-finance-its-violent-campaign-in-ukraine-12582864

How do we know whether we are using fossil fuels that have come from Russia though? My car’s a diesel, I live in the sticks and do a lot of miles, and when I go to the garage to fill up I have no idea where the fuel comes from. The country can’t grind to a standstill because we are 20% down on diesel imports so there’s an urgent need to find an alternative source - but the government are saying it won’t be before the end of the year. I think that demonstrates how complex the situation is.
I agree in principle that we should sanction Russia as far as we possibly can, but it’s not that easy.