Aeroflot’s CEO seems to be misdirecting his frustration…
Continue reading: Aeroflot CEO Demands Russia Punish Foreign Airlines
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Boycott Turkish Airlines. They should not be flying to Russia. Do not fly them anywhere. ----supporting PUTIN
Of course Aeroflot’s CEO is going to blame foreigners. If he said anything about Putin or his invasion of Ukraine, he would probably have an "accident" and mysteriously fall off his hotel balcony to his death. It's amazing how often that happens to Russian businessmen who have said something uncomplimentary about Putin. Those slippery hotel balconies...
I’m sure Putin’s useful idiots in American’s alt-right will be along shortly to cheer on their Russian masters.
Maybe if NATO hadn't continued to expand against it's promise to Russia, or the US hadn't meddled in overflowing the democratically elected leader of Ukraine a few years ago... Russia wouldn't have had ANY reason to lash out.
We poked the bear for years, then blame the bear for attacking.
This is what the US wants - more war. And boom, here we are.
Wow - you really are slurping Tucker C's misinformation. Classic right wing low information voter.
What a load of trash, this is the sort of nonsense that comes out of Russian web brigades!
For once, I agree with UA-NYC. Your comment is a Putin-kissing load of manure.
That's it, blame others as opposed to the actual cause of your problems. Namely, the psychopathic POS dictator that has led a once-great nation down a corrupt path to ruin. And that can't happen fast enough for me.
This is true. Hotel balconies are incredibly dangerous places in Russia right now.
You don't have to take a position on the war to see the obvious: the Aeroflot CEO had two choices: say nothing, or say what he said. Accusation the he's "blaming the wrong person" is silly. I'm sure he prefers his current job to immediate defenestration.
Turkey is by itself an aggressor towards many countries and behaves no different to if not worse than Putin’s regime! They can stand on their own merits on this one!
In fact hotel balconies everywhere (E.g. India) if the room is occupied by a Russian.
Even as a Republican, I am not buying what you are selling. Sure the US and West could have acted differently. But Russia could have offered a better deal than the West if it wished to keep its former CIS members in its orbit. Instead, it grabbed Crimea when the Ukraine was down, destroying any friendship that may have existed.
Actually you can blame the USA for starting the Ukraine conflict for the simple reason the USA was trying to get Ukraine into NATO directly on Russia's doorstep. That's like China putting a Military base on Cuba, I'm sure the USA would love that. So in Short put the blame where it belongs.
Even if your nonsense was true, you’re argument is irrelevant…Russia invaded Ukraine…then other countries sanctioned Russia. Those are the facts. Anything before and after that is either speculative, irrelevant, or both.
If any country deserves to be sanctioned and prevented from flying or sailing, it's the United States. The US invaded or fought in 84 of the 193 countries recognized by the UN. Only Andorra, Bhutan and Liechtenstein never had US soldiers invade or "protect" them (=used as a military base). In addition to conquering TX, Cali and several other states from Mexico, the US also conquered Florida, Puerto Rico and in the past the Philippines. The US even invaded Russia right after WW1. In our lifetime - Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan are just the tip of the iceberg.
Russia struck back because the US was trying to surround it with military bases. By contrast, when the Soviets tried to create a base in Cuba (far further away from the US than Ukraine from Russia's heartland), JFK threatened nuclear war. The US should stop placing its military in Russia's neighbors and there won't be any war.
The idea that Russia just invaded for no reason is not "reasonable." It's aloof. The people (Americans) who invaded more countries than any other people in the history of the world have no right to judge someone, particularly when the war is the result of NATO's aggressive actions all along Russia's borders.
Passed through IST three times this fall and the most spoken language at the airport is Russian. Turkish definitely benefited from this war, and Russians still like to travel so now they do it with a stopover. Seems like a minor inconvenience vs what people in Ukraine are experiencing.
Russia is smaller than many US States, economically.
It is not a first world country.
It is an economic mess.
It needs Ukraine to boost itself economically.
Putin should vanish and the world would be in a better place!
In Miami, we have all the wealthy Russians, and I think they would agree.
He is a mess.
If he didn't say anything he would mysteriously fall out a hotel window suddenly and accidentally.
I'm shock Russian bot accounts have enough free time to post here. But good on you for improving your English grammar. It's almost believable. But a quick check of the timestamps of all the "guest" comments pretty much confirms what most here already knows.
Now back to the article …..they want to punish non aligned country’s airlines for taking advantage of this unique situation they are in……no what about that? That is the subject, not who started the war.
At least someone else is blaming the ME carriers for unfair competition. It’s ok, they will develop an alliance soon and be best of friends
You are right. The US should invade Russia right now and overthrow the Putin regime; is that what you're thinking?
The US and Russia are just two sides of the same coin. Which evil does one to live with? They are both untrustworthy, love fighting wars in foreign countries to bolster their economy and are basically run by idiots. The reason they hate each other is simply because each sees the other as a threat and yet sees so many similarities.
Im now in Thailand, same in Phuket... 40/50% tourists russian? However I wonder russian regimen thugs are on holidays, all the asian oountry donkeys, alcoholic crap and mix of psychos will be already at the front. Esch time I see latter ones making silly selfies I vomit...
In Budapest at the moment and Russians are everywhere especially the nice restaurants so sanctions seem to mean nothing . As far as the Aeroflot boss goes he has to say the right thing . It would be terrible if he fell out a hotel window or slipped and hit his head in the shower.
You have one side that understands both sides and, therefore, understand that the Russians struck back only because they were getting surrounded by NATO military bases.
You have the other side that listens to CNN regurgitate CIA's talking points. They can only scream "Russian bots!" and have nothing substantive to add. Maybe consider actually learning something instead of repeating talking points.
"Anybody who disagrees with me is a Russian bot" is not an argument. Clearly nobody here is a bot, it's people who understand both sides vs people who regurgitate talking points.
* Gotta love the guy who made spelling mistakes in his own post accusing others of not knowing how to spell even though that person's posts had perfect grammar. Very symbolic of the whole debate.
So a little bit of history is too complex for you? "Me good. Russia bad, you bot" is as far as we are allowed to get?
So no argument, just personal attacks? Because there's nothing you can possibly say in response. Let's face it, we all know that personal attacks is what you engage in when you have nothing substantive to say.
@Wizard of Oz:
Bah Humbug.
There was - geostrategically - no need for Russia's invasion.
1) It has well established footholds in the Black Sea, Baltic Sea, and Atlantic / Pacific Oceans. There was no reason to wage war to assure access to Europe, the Middle East, or Asia. Europe was happy to trade with Russia prior to their war of agression. There is thus no economic justification for Putin's war.
2) Russia was in no danger of being attacked. It is a nuclear power whom no one attacks, particularly not Ukraine, and arguably, even NATO could not conquer all of Russia if it wanted to (NATO struggled to do this in AFG, and the US in Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq, all vastly smaller). And NATO had great respect for Russia's conventional deterrence, taking manifold steps of informing and incorporating Russia in its defensive plans for Eastern Europe, including regular contacts of US and European militaries with Russia on all levels, to avoid a scenario whereby Russia would feel threatened. And Russia was and is not threatened by NATO in its territorial integrity or sovereignty (bar its gains in Ukraine since 2014).
So your argument of Russia being threatened by NATO is not applicable. Rather, Putin's suffering from post-Empire anxiety (see eg Ayse Zarakol's "After Defeat") and is threatened by Ukraine's slow march to capitalism and democracy, which provides an anti-Putin in the form of Zelensky and thus is percieved by Putin to threaten his regime's legitimacy. Russia's explosive rethoric around the loss of empire and the grave threat that a "Westernization" of former GUS states poses to Russia's cultural identity and regime legitimacy are much stronger causal variables than economics or the general security situation in Europe.
After seeing the comments, I'm going to offer the perspective of an American who has lived in Russia for a decade. First and foremost, keep in mind that all media is extreme propaganda: FOX, CNN, MSNBC, etc, as well as Russian media. You'll never get a fully truthful or fair or balanced viewpoint from any of them. That being said, I encourage people to read media from both perspectives (RT is an English-language Russian state media source). Read between the lines and don't take everything you read or watch on TV as the absolute truth.
Secondly, this conflict is the ultimate result of a massive (intentional?) failure of diplomacy, and both Russia and US-backed countries utterly failed. On the one hand, the US was interested in a weakened Russia harried by NATO allies filling it's western border. Part of that weakening included stirring up a coup in Kiev that would ultimately leave Russia feeling as if it had no choice but to respond militarily. Basically, it feels like a situation orchestrated to draw Russia into a proxy war without a direct confrontation with the aim of severely weakening it. I have several Ukrainian colleagues that fled Ukraine following Maidan because they saw this coming. They did not trust the US, and felt that the US would simply use Ukrainian blood for its own purposes. This conflict seems to have proven their fears right. On the other hand, Russia kept pumping weapons into the breakaway regions, which resulted in continued fighting and the impossibility of implementing the Minsk Agreements. Russia seemed interested in keeping Ukraine in a situation whereby NATO wouldn't dare bring them into the fold in fear of Ukraine triggering Article 5. For Russia, the instability in Ukraine and the Western influence is deemed a security threat.
Third, make no mistake. Ukraine is NOT fighting for democracy. It was neither a free nor democratic country following Maidan, as a large portion of Ukrainians were effectively disenfranchised due to the banning of major politcal parties. It is illegal in Ukraine for media outlets to dissent with the official government position. The Ukrainian government has seized assets of and jailed individuals that dared criticize it. Nearly 30% of its population are no longer allowed to speak their native language, and that started well before the conflict. Effectively, the current regime has used the situation to speed up what it had started before the conflict - total control and power with no dissent allowed. In other words, it's effectively the same type of corruption seen in Russsia. Literally no difference.
Fourth, Ukrainian soldiers have committed unspeakable atrocities that have been largely ignored, swept under the rug, or directly blamed on Russia. They are NOT innocent lambs. For example, the dead women and children that were killed in Donbass by Ukrainian shelling over the past several years attest to that. The many photos of Ukrainian soldiers donning Nazi symbols is very concerning. The extreme xenophobia that Kiev displays against even ordinary Russians around the world is worrying, and so there IS an element of truth to Russia's claims of Nazism in Ukraine. They literally are trying to erase everything Russian.
Fifth, this war shows why major countries cannot fight one another directly in modern warfare. Russia has advanced modern weaponry, and the US is supplying Ukraine with advanced modern weaponry. The result? EXTREMELY high casualty rates on both sides of the conflict. This conflict will remain a bloody stalemate as long as weapons are pumped into Ukraine. Eventually, Ukraine's benefactors will run out of money or weapeans, or maybe even desire. Russia has significantly more resources, so I don't see a realistic victory for Ukraine. Henry Kissinger's peace proposal seems to be the most practical one, as both Ukraine and Russia's (especially Ukraine's) peace demands are too far apart and simply unreasonable. Ukraine will never regain it's pre-2014 borders. It simply won't happen. There will be no tribunal for Russian leaders, as a UNSC P-5 member will never submit to that, and no one has the power to enforce any judgements against Russia's will. Plus, any tribunal should account for Ukrainian war criminals as well, and I somehow don't think that'll happen. Ultimately, it's time for both sides to negotiate without preconditions and be willing to make concessions. Until that happens, nothing will change.
Let me finish by saying this: Russians are not evil, as so often portrayed in Western media. I am a teacher. I look into the eyes of the hundreds of Russian kids that I teach, and I see no evil. I see kindness, intelligence, talent, creativity and, above all, innocence. They're normal kids with the same desires, interests and insecurities as American kids, or German kids, etc. My Russian neighbors, people who work in shops, parents of my students, colleagues, etc, all treat me with kindness and respect. Please, don't hate an entire country because you don't agree with its government's actions.
Remember, your country is probably an aggressor nation, too. Keep that in mind while you're being a pot calling a kettle black.
He is absolutely correct. No explanation required. The US and NATO share equal blame on why there are so many problems in Europe now. They kept pushing and provoking Russia into this mess. Look at all the countries the US have invaded and occupied. This is all the evidence needed. The US is full of shit. The Russian people are one of the nicest, respectful, kindest and best humans on earth. I used to teach for several years at MGU. I know Russians well.
You know Russians well? That is nice. Almost like you have black friend comment. Makes it seem you are an authority on the matter. Well I have traveled to and guess what most common people in every country are nice people. It is there governments that are the issue. Almost every soldier is a good person. It is the governments that direct them to wear are the problem. All of the constant bashing of America is typically Americans doing it. Then you have common people from other countries telling us how good we got it and they don't bash America at all. Isn't that strange? So why don't ask you Americans who trash talk America get your lame behind our. Go experience all these great countries and cut your citizenship to this trashy country called America? Well get going! Oh right you won't do that because those other countries will kill you, put you in a prison, reeducate you riigghhttt! So keep talking it up one day maybe people here will get tired of your garbage and help you get to where you claim it is great.
Thank you for this clear exposition. I'm very much in the dark about all that is happening over there, but this explanation of the background was helpful. I feel like I've had a "presidential" briefing and I am most grateful.
Glynn, your comment is very ignorant. You're basically saying that any American who disagrees with some of the shady dealings the US has had should leave? Why can't,in your estimation,,an American call out the US government for its poor behavior? James has a point. And, yes, living in a country for several years does make him significantly more knowledgeable than the average American about that country. I've lived in Russia for a decade. I can say that I know a heck of a lot more than you about Russians, especially since I hold a third master's degree in foreign policy and diplomacy from a Russian university. This conflict WAS created by the US causing significant instability in Ukraine and creating a security threat for Russia. Of course the US, particularly Democrats, wanted a proxy war. If the US didn't want this to happen, they would have taken Russia's security concerns seriously.
@WOZ
No you’re a weirdo because that’s not what this article is about……you are ranting about whose fault the war is, who is to say I don’t agree with you on many points. The fact remains you went on a rant that had little to do with the actual subject at hand, are neutral “3rd country” airlines to be punished for being in the advantageous position they now find themselves in. Do you have a position on that? Or are you just gonna go off on the US and NATO again?
I guess "snowflakes" could not imagine that the readers of this forum could be also native Russians, Belarussians, the citizens of those countries or so-called Russian speakers.
Seems that you do not have any clue what MGU means or at the best Mahatma Gandi University in India because Google search engine says so! :-). I do not have citizenship nor residency in America, so nothing to cut.
Blaiming US with NATO to be responsible for Russia"s invasion to Ukraine is utter BS, regardless who is saying so. Those do not know anything about the only reason which is a fundamental.
P.S I should have choose other nickname, something like Borya Sichkin.
Ok...Im sure the average Ruskie is good and probably follows the God given rule of being nice to their fellow human being but that despot Putin is perhaps probably 1 of the most despicable humans that has lived..I rank him with xi and Kim and all the others that are enumerable to have lived..God this world would be a better place if they would just die and all those that think like them..
If your masters degree is not from MGIMO, then it is basically useless peace of paper.
The confilct WAS created by RF who did not and still accept the movement of Ukraine towards to EU and not staying with Eurasian Economic Union. It is called geopolitics. Some random former KGB officer do not have any right to decide what other countries must do and when and with whom.
Russian security concerns are caused by themself and mostly it has been given as "reason" to justify the invasion. No one wants voluntarily be allie of RF, beside some communist regime countries(China, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba etc.) plus some African countries.
Now, for two of self proclaimed "Russian experts". I do follow every single day a significant time the news from all three affiliated parties(RF, Belarus and Ukraine) of the "3-Day War". I follow ONLY IN RUSSIAN!!! and there is a reason why.
And yet, the Russians illegally occupied Crimea. They illegally supplied troops and weapons to the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. I know personally a member of the Russian army who was one of the green men in Donetsk in 2014. There we active combat units of the Russian military there. So please don't tell me it was the will of the people. They said exactly as they were told for the cameras.
Yeah, and what was your salary for this post? I'm a Russian and this comment disgusts me. There were war crimes on both sides, but there is only one which targets civilians. Hint, it's not Ukraine. All that Russia has gained so far is economic isolation, NATO 100 km from its second largest city, a complete collapse of odkb, it's version of NATO, and the destruction and disarmament of the myth that it is the second most powerful army.
Vladimir, please respond with more than the usual "what was your salary for this post." Exactly 0 rubles, to answer your question. I just have common sense to know that none of the parties involved are innocent victims. If you believe the current regime in Kiev is in power due to the will of the people, then you're delusional. If you believe that Ukraine is fighting for freedom, then stop drinking the koolaid. Mr. Zelensky is nothing more than a typical Eastern European strongman like Lukashenko and Putin. The ONLY reason the US backs him is because they want to create a problem for Russia. It's definitely not because Ukraine espouses "American values." The Ukrainians are exactly like the Russians - same mentality. If people hate what Russia is doing, then they should equally hate what Ukraine is doing.
While you are correct on some points, you suffer the same fail in perspective: Putin did not have to invade Ukraine to achieve his objectives. He didnt invade Belarus, Kazakhstan, or other former republics where he has control and direction. No, he made the worst mistake and traded lives and lies, at the loss of his standing in the world, and the future of Russia. Your comments reveal you live in the past and can only blame the US, like so many others. Russia and the strong Russian people are now the losers where had Putin chosen a different direction, they could eaisly have raised their position in the World. What a shame.....
In 2014 we had an au pair from Donetsk. And it was very much Ukraine who targeted civilians. They hit her mom's apartment building and a hospital (killing at least a mom with her newly born).
Something you certainly did not see in western news.
James, Your a horrible human! Your disgusting and just the type of sociopath that has not one emotion for thousands of innocent civilians that are being slaughtered in Ukraine by those criminal Russian troops. They illegally cross that border to commit crimes against humanity,& then there’s people like you pointing a finger somewhere else.
The stronger side will prevail, right or wrong and its obviously not Russia being backed by Iran, it's Ukraine being backed by the US. Russia has become a hermit nation like NK. However, Russia and Ukraine were shitty places to live before this war and that continues as normal.
Obviously you state they had no choice...thays total bs and you know it. Russia has put themselves in this position all by themselves. No other country trusts them on anything. That is all their fault. And by the way this is the second time they have attacjed Ukraine, the first time taking Crimea so why would Ukraine even think about peace talks?