Boris Johnson to address nation as he describes Russian invasion as 'catastrophe for our continent

[Ponyclubkick]

Anyone finding the tone of this really quite terrifying...

I’m not one to get myself in a tizz over sensationalised news but this is starting to feel very different!

Hating to put a financial spin on things but surely no-one in the entire world can afford a war now on the back of a bloody pandemic?

And good grief, Johnson at the helm. It's his dream scenario and everyone else's nightmare.

The UK response would be talk and little action, as is normal for Boris Johnson. We can hope that the EU and/or NATO propose proper sanctions and the UK follows them.

We can’t go in and physically protect Ukraine, because Putin would see it as an attack against Russia and there is a risk if nuclear retaliation. It’s not safe. It’s nothing to do with Russian money.

We and other western leaders will isolate Russia financially but the reason it’s a catastrophe is becayse the financial impacts to our own economy will be huge when we do that. Think the cost of living is high now? We ain’t seen nothing yet.. And he might retaliate by shutting off gas to Ukraine knocking on the impact to all of us.

In addition there is a risk he will go after the Baltic states once he has taken Ukraine, if he does, it would likely be the start of ww3 as we need to step in and fight with them, troops are already being deployed now.

Right now the world is on the edge of the cliff. It’s a very, very dangerous time the global leaders need to manage carefully. The cost of rhe sanctions to us and our living costs will be enormous, no one should under estimate it, but if he goes after the baltics, it would be terrifying.

@Seriouslymole

Hating to put a financial spin on things but surely no-one in the entire world can afford a war now on the back of a bloody pandemic?

And good grief, Johnson at the helm. It's his dream scenario and everyone else's nightmare.

War is quite good for the GDP of countries that make armaments. It is also very useful to have your equipment battle tested. Very good for arms dealers. It could be rather good for the UK

@balalake

The UK response would be talk and little action, as is normal for Boris Johnson. We can hope that the EU and/or NATO propose proper sanctions and the UK follows them.

He will take sanctions and they will be severe and it is us who pays. Don’t mistake it. The cost to us and our economy, our living costs are about to have a devastating impact.

What Boris does need to do is balance what sanctions he puts in place with the devasting impact on our economy and our people that will follow becayse of it.

I think a lot of people don’t understand just how much we rely on Russian money, when it goes we all pay

Start counting your pennies, you will need every last one.

@Classica - another top tip, when criticising something - always consider the alternative because if you succeed at getting rid of the thing you dislike the alternative is what you are left with. In this situation I’m glad Boris is at the helm.

@CornishGem1975

We have to do something, it's as simple as that. We can't just sit by and watch Putin do this.

WE cant do anything on our own . No way .

Russia would retaliate and hit us - even if it was cyber attacks and then missiles .

We have to wait for our Allies .

[quote Bunnyfuller]If you have time, read this. Makes Russia’s position very clear.

en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67828[/quote]
It does read like the ramblings of someone who has lost the plot to be honest.

It is worrying, even my ex-forces husband is concerned. Most worrying is the UK have been reducing military numbers over the years. It is sad and concerning.

@Seriouslymole

Hating to put a financial spin on things but surely no-one in the entire world can afford a war now on the back of a bloody pandemic?

And good grief, Johnson at the helm. It's his dream scenario and everyone else's nightmare.

Putin's dream scenario having Boris in the UK. Putin will just be disappointed that the useful idiot he had installed in the White House got kicked out.

OMG12 I agree with this. This situation is enough without prime minister Corbyn creating Russia’s second front in NW1. We dodged disaster there.

@pandai

If we are invaded no I wouldn't expect other countries to get involved either. Getting involved is likely to escalate things further imo

Like Tom and Jerry fighting in the park. Mark joins tom and Fred Joins Jerry. Does this help ? The Sarah is friends with Mark so she joins in too and lucy things thats not fair so she joins Fred and Jerry.
The fight isn't over in fact now its getting bigger and bigger and more people are getting hurt.

Much better for Mark and Fred to defuse if possibly.

[quote OMG12]@Classica - another top tip, when criticising something - always consider the alternative because if you succeed at getting rid of the thing you dislike the alternative is what you are left with. In this situation I’m glad Boris is at the helm.[/quote]
So am I. He at the very least has a good working knowledge of Eastern European history. And I'd say this to the people whining on about 'parties', distractions etc; grow up, there are infinitely more important things at stake. Do you really think the people at the pointy end of the current situation give a shit? Of course they don't, they are thinking about their country, their way of life, their safety, their very lives.

Johnson noticeably silent on any offer to help with refugees, unlike many other countries. Heaven forbid we should offer genuine help to those in need.

Boris will be privately delighted there is a WAR to deal with. I hope Russia will not go further than the 2 disputed areas that they have been manipulating for years. Fucking men.

@OMG12

This is terrible -I feel so dreadfully terrified for everyone in the Ukraine. I suspect within a week the Ukraine will be annexed. But from the UKs perspective thank God we haven’t got Corbyn! He would probably be sending troops to back up Russia!

Keir stammer will probably do fuck all to keep his nose clean, Angela “sacrificial lamb” Raynor will pop up saying it’s the fault of Posh people, David Lammie will appear saying he hasn’t got a fucking clue what to do but the Tories are doing it wrong!

What a load of offensive shit whataboutery. Are people actually this stupid?

In this situation I’m glad Boris is at the helm.

In that case your judgement cannot be trusted.

So am I. He at the very least has a good working knowledge of Eastern European history. And I'd say this to the people whining on about 'parties', distractions etc; grow up, there are infinitely more important things at stake. Do you really think the people at the pointy end of the current situation give a shit? Of course they don't, they are thinking about their country, their way of life, their safety, their very lives.

Why should I think that a Prime Minister who thought it appropriate to break the law and attend boozy parties whilst in a pandemic that he was consistently mismanaging, would be any good at dealing with the crisis arising from Russia invading Ukraine? Especially when said Prime Minister is bankrolled by the mates of the Russian President?

In this situation I’m glad Boris is at the helm

Ffs how can this be serious? Boris is an idiot.

@Lottapianos

He can absolutely fuck right off. It's a bit late for him to be hand wringing about 'our continent', as if he gives a shit about anything other than himself. It's just an opportunity for him to do his Big Important Statesman act

Oh do give over.

No fan of BJ but not sure you'd have the answer either.

To wish people would stop conflating the Ukrainian invasion with WW3.

It's shite and completely unacceptable and my thoughts are with thee innocent people affected but it is not a world war and isn't going to become one.

I think the hope is that China will continue to support peace and not support Russia in this action. Of all the world leaders Xi Jinping is the leader that Russia is most likely to respect - the USA under Jo Biden looks weak and irrelevant and under Donald Trump was ridiculed therefore China has an important part to play.

I suppose this means that the six planned joint military exercises in Ukraine won't go ahead this year.
We rattled the bear, why is anyone surprised.

Most of us on here were brought up thinking US, UK, NATO - good : Russia - bad
What if you were Russian and thought Russia - good : US, UK, NATO - really rather worrying?
What do Ukrainians think? Probably a good mix of the above.

Johnson is talking tough whilst appeasing the oligarchs. Putin will see-through thus. He is /we are irrelevant.

Even if this is the biggest issue for the continent, as Boris Johnson has shown himself to be totally untrustworthy, I am unable to trust a word he says.

It's so sad, I feel so sorry for the people of Ukraine, and as a history graduate I think I have an element of critical thinking, but I'm so sad that our current PM has led me to this place of absolute distrust in every word which comes out of his mouth.