So, what is the deal with the Azov Battalion? Is there a primer of them? I keep hearing they are nazis.

They are backing Russia, they will back Russia, they have stated many times they are backing Russia and their role is to negotiate peace (on behalf of Russia). They have made their position extremely clear.

They are a hair length away from signing a joint security agreement, similar to what Nato is.

This was just before the Olympics when everyone thought Russia wouldn't invade.

Russia and China Unveil a Pact Against America and the West

In their matching mauve ties, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping last week declared a “new era” in the global order and, at least in the short term, endorsed their respective territorial ambitions in Ukraine and Taiwan. The world’s two most powerful autocrats unveiled a sweeping long-term agreement that also challenges the United States as a global power, nato as a cornerstone of international security, and liberal democracy as a model for the world. “Friendship between the two States has no limits,” they vowed in the communiqué, released after the two leaders met on the eve of the Beijing Winter Olympics. “There are no ‘forbidden’ areas of cooperation.”

Agreements between Moscow and Beijing, including the Treaty of Friendship of 2001, have traditionally been laden with lofty, if vague, rhetoric that faded into forgotten history. But the new and detailed five-thousand-word agreement is more than a collection of the usual tropes, Robert Daly, the director of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States, at the Wilson Center, in Washington, told me. Although it falls short of a formal alliance, like nato, the agreement reflects a more elaborate show of solidarity than anytime in the past. “This is a pledge to stand shoulder to shoulder against America and the West, ideologically as well as militarily,” Daly said. “This statement might be looked back on as the beginning of Cold War Two.” The timing and clarity of the communiqué—amid tensions on Russia’s border with Europe and China’s aggression around Taiwan—will “give historians the kind of specific event that they often focus on.”

Beyond security, the declaration also pledged collaboration on space, climate change, the Internet, and artificial intelligence. Politically, the document claimed that there is “no one-size-fits-all” type of democracy, and heralded both forms of authoritarian rule in Moscow and Beijing as successful democracies. “It’s a pretty striking step closer to an alliance and shows that they’re very much aligned in their vision of the world order in the twenty-first century,” Alexander Vershbow, a former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, told me. Putin described the broader strategic partnership with China as “unprecedented.” Xi said that their joint strategy would have a “far-reaching influence on China, Russia, and the world.”

U.S. experts described the lengthy statement, which was riddled with false and accusatory language, as startling. “I’ve never seen a joint statement from both leaders using this kind of language. They’ve joined forces,” Angela Stent, a Russia expert who served at the National Intelligence Council and wrote “Putin’s World: Russia Against the West and with the Rest,” told me. She described the communiqué as “quite Orwellian” and called it an “inflection point” in which Russia and China are challenging the balance of power that has defined the global order since the Cold War ended, three decades ago. “We could be at the beginning of a new era as the Russian relationship with the West deteriorates and China’s does as well.” The agreement puts Washington and its key allies “in a terrible bind,” she added. “The fact is, whatever we do to counter what Russia is doing only reinforces its reliance on China.”

The joint statement is, at least for the moment, a diplomatic boon for Putin amid his showdown with the United States and Europe over Ukraine. For the first time in any of Russia’s recent aggressions, Putin has won the open support of China’s leader. China did not back Russia’s war in Georgia in 2008, or its invasion of Ukraine in 2014, nor has it recognized Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Now Moscow and Beijing, which both have the ability to veto any resolution at the United Nations, have declared their opposition to further enlargement of nato and to the formation of other regional security alliances. “Russia and China stand against attempts by external forces to undermine security and stability in their common adjacent regions, intend to counter interference by outside forces in the internal affairs of sovereign countries under any pretext, oppose colour revolutions, and will increase cooperation,” the often unwieldy statement declared. “This is where they pledge their troth,” Daly said.

Washington had been pressuring Beijing, including in a call last month between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in an attempt to keep China neutral or out of the Ukraine crisis. Now, at least on paper and in public voice, it has budged, Andrew Weiss, a former National Security Council official who is currently at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told me. “Russia now has China as an endorser of the egregious and inflammatory position that Putin has staked out on Ukraine.”

Hints of China’s shift have been emerging in the past two weeks, as the Ukraine crisis began spilling over onto already tense U.S.-China relations. President Biden’s foreign policy had hoped to steer relations with Beijing toward stable and manageable competition. Instead, China, which is normally discreet in its diplomacy, is visibly pushing back. After his conversation with Blinken last month, the Chinese foreign minister said publicly that Russia’s security concern about nato expansion is legitimate and must be addressed. The Biden Administration countered last week with an admonition. The State Department warned that the West has “an array of tools” to deploy against foreign companies—including in China—that help Russia evade punitive sanctions.

In the new agreement, Russia, in turn, reaffirmed its support for Beijing’s One China policy that Taiwan is “an inalienable part of China, and opposes any forms of independence.” The joint communiqué also supported Beijing’s ruthless crackdown on dissidents in Hong Kong in the past two years. The bold assertions in the joint statement follow deepening military ties between the two nations in the past decade, Weiss noted. Russia and China have conducted dozens of joint exercises and war games that have involved as many as ten thousand troops to hone tactical and operational capabilities. Russian officials have boasted that the growing defense partnership was designed to warn the United States and nato not to pressure Moscow. The naval operations have included mock seizures of islands, patrols by long-range bombers over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea, and surface-to-air missile targeting. Last summer, Putin and Xi both witnessed military exercises in China. In October, they held joint naval exercises off Russia’s far-eastern coast. “The frequency, complexity, and geographic scope has steadily increased, reflecting the growth in the overall bilateral defense relationship,” the U.S. Naval Institute reported last year. As two nuclear-armed countries that span Europe and Asia, the more muscular alignment between Russia and China could be a game changer militarily and diplomatically. “They want this to be as threatening as a formal alliance to the West, but don’t want to formally commit to mutual defense,” Daly said. “They don’t have to. The spectre of their mutual aid will serve as a deterrent.”

The joint announcement reflects a shift in the balance of power between Russia and China as well. “The Russians for the longest time were condescending in their view of China as an uninteresting rural society,” Weiss said. “Now China looks at Russia and says, ‘What are you good for?’ China’s ambitions do not run through Moscow.” China has become “canny” in exploiting Russia’s neediness, he said. “It uses Russia as a cat’s paw to disrupt the U.S. pivot to Asia. The fact that we have to keep coming back to Putin, as the neighborhood bully, is beneficial to China.”

Putin was the highest-profile leader to show up for the opening of the Winter Olympics in Beijing. The U.S. and other major powers opted not to send high-profile delegations, to protest China’s human-rights abuses, particularly against its Uyghur minority. Russia had received a two-year ban from officially sending teams to the Olympics after conducting a years-long, state-sponsored doping scheme. Russian athletes—who are not supposed to carry their nation’s flag, wear the Russian insignia, or play the national anthem—instead compete as part of the Russian Olympic Committee. After his meeting with Xi, Putin applauded the team during the opening ceremony’s Parade of Nations on Friday. But his visit clearly had another purpose.

The question now is how far Russia and China will take their agreement. “Words are one thing,” Vershbow, the former Ambassador, said. “We still have to see if the statement will translate into greater tangible Chinese support for Russia’s aggressive behavior—or whether they’ll say, ‘We’re with you, good luck,’ and then turn the other way.” The Chinese have different and sometimes more pragmatic interests in their relations with the U.S. and Europe, which are vital to their economy. “They don’t want to burn all bridges for the sake of a relationship with Russia.”


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https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/not-just-putin-most-russians-support-the-war-in-ukraine/

"Recent polling data provides the clearest indication of Russian popular support for the war in Ukraine. In the days following the February 24 invasion, Putin’s personal approval rating actually rose to multi-year highs. According to state pollster VTsIOM, his rating jumped six percent in the week ending February 27 to reach 70%. Fellow polling agency FOM recorded a seven percent increase over the same period, bringing approval of Putin to 71%.

Ordinary Russians have been queuing up to publicly endorse the war effort. The “Z” branding used by Russian troops in Ukraine is becoming increasingly ubiquitous across the country as a shorthand symbol of support, while a rapidly expanding list of public figures and professional collectives have released statements backing the invasion. For example, the heads of 250 Russian universities published an official address by the Union of Russian Rectors on March 4 justifying the war and calling on Russians to rally around Putin."

What I'm saying is that I dont see the US abandoning the protection of global seaways prcisely because of its desire to build a coalition to contain china that includes Japan/Taiwan/Australia/South Korea etc who are all dependent on global seaways and energy imports.

And until the US decouples from China for manufacturing, I also dont see us abandoning the sealanes of allowing a return to state sponsored piracy.

What does Russia have they need?

Yes and their mascot is a cartoon frog

KEK

Farmland?

I'm not an expert. Just spitballing.

Related to nothing, my family is actually from Ukraine. Well, not exactly. They're from "South Russia," Germans who moved there after Catherine the Great murdered her husband and took over the Empire. All four of my great great grandparents got out just before shit went south, in 1899, 1900, 1902, and 1904 respectively. All came to North Dakota to farm and make babies. Their grandkids went back to Europe to fight Nazis in WWII.

It's my understanding that Ukraine is pretty much a bread basket. China would benefit from owning large swatch of arable land, even by proxy, and importing the foodstuff very cheaply. Especially if they weren't the one's responsible for controlling the uppity population.

Anyway, just an idea as to why China might decide to own large swaths of Russia in the guise of "helping them out." Not to mention oil, mineral extraction, etc.

ETA: My maternal side of the family, in regards to the "related to nothing" bit. My Dad's side is all from Norway/Sweden.

Put more succinctly by my fellow Montanan. Thanks, elcope. We should have another beer one of these days.

I doubt they will get anything "Modern" either.

Thanks... I just wanted some info. Don't really care about the stupid stuff.

They aren’t. It’s been covered extensively here about 2 dozen times so far. Initially has some Nazi types amongst their ranks but were weeded out. What they are is a far right ultra nationalist group. Nothing wrong with that given the scope of what they are up against.

Sirens in Kviv? They're not nuke ones, are they?

Targettarget retread?

Thank you. That is what I thought. I just wanted someone to guide me to where the info is. I have been trying to follow the thread but it goes fast. I don't trust the narrative and figured the worst it was some jagoffs in the group. Thank you.

All of their Nat Gas exports to europe are still intact. As are their exports to China. They also still have decent weapon sales to India and other countries.

Their economy is taking a massive hit but its incorrect to say they have no money coming in.

Missouri not New York.

Dougout Doug passed the Chinese red line, got his ass kicked and wanted to kill millions of people to recover from that. I will never understand where his reputation comes from.

I don't trust our own polls. I certainly don't trust their polls. It's still probably higher than it should be, but I doubt it's 71%

they have death camps and everything, gas chambers, holocaust 2.0 its just aweful....

we have nazis here in america too.

Listen... I am just trying to get info. I don't belive they are nazis. I want so.e info to counter propaganda I keep getting. Fuck me. I apologize for asking a question.

Agreed. But they can get those by not acting beyond empty words and moral support.

No risk in that approach for them.

Whatever comes in just won't be enough, and their weapon sales are going to drop significantly which won't help them. I suspect gas will be rapidly replaced by Europe as fast as they can too. Russia is boned.

Have you read anything that makes you think so? The Russians seem to have reorganized for another push and I'm sure they'll gain some ground but they don't seem to be capable of the organization and logistics to support a deep penetration. I'm thinking they'll have to grind it out leaning heavily on rocket and conventional artillery. Honestly this is what I figured they would do from the start and was kinda surprised they tried all that half assed fancy pants shit.

When that was tried the USA moved in and staged a couple, overthrew the democratically elected government,  installed a puppet regime and began using the country like a piggy bank.

The unbiased answer is kind of. Real Nazis are a product of one particular country in the 1940s, and unless a modern fascist group follows their ideology straight down the line, I wouldn't dub them Nazis. I don't think it's unfair to call them ultranationalists, and they've used Nazi symbols in the past. Beyond that, you're only going to get wildly different takes from the pro/anti-Russia crowds here. I don't really care about them, personally. I do think it's hypocritical to treat them like a boogeyman, when Putin's also basically an ultranationalist fascist.

So, are gen Z the new cold warriors?