So what do you all think of Putin's decision to move nuclear weapons closer to the Polish border

[WinchesterWoman]

Some say he would push the button because he knows that the West never would. I'm so interested to hear what people think.

[justgivemeamo]

I could only find this in the red tops but looks worrying whats ria?

[ChardonnayKnickertonSmythe]

Russian Information Agency

[WinchesterWoman]

Hi so in the last two days I've heard -

Russian relatives called home (thanks for the info also)

and some crazy broadcast on Russian TV telling people to find the nearest bunker

The Russian relatives I drilled down and it seemed to be a nationalistic 'why are you sending your children abroad to be educated - bring them home at once or you aren't a patriot and will be punished' which was a little reassuring

The second one - I don't know. Maybe just a Russian Alex Jones type? However I continue to believe it's the biggest story of the moment and it's not being reported. Have you seen the recent BBC coverage of the Ukraine conflict - a civil war on the borders of the EU?

You wouldn't have, because there isn't any.

[ToujeoQueen]

I agree, the lack of coverage of this is astounding.

[hollyisalovelyname]

Scary stuff.

[Natsku]

Putin is nuts but I think he's just trying to show he's more powerful than he is, trying to push everyone around. I live in Finland and we've been having so many cases the last few years of Russian jets coming into our airspace to try and make a point and bully us into not joining NATO. I think the likelihood of anything major happening is still pretty slim but I do miss living in a block of flats with a bomb shelter in the basement!

[NotDavidTennant]

Putin is playing a global chess match against Nato. He is not a lunatic, and he is not prone to wild, irrational actions. It's all about moves and counter-moves.

[B9494]

This made me feel a whole lot better:

//www.rt.com/document/57fe2b1ac4618865578b4567/amp?

The US, Russia and others are meeting today in Switzerland to try to make progress on Syria. The fact that talks are continuing is a good sign.

[WinchesterWoman]

Thank God because the alternative end game is us shooting Russian jets down.

[ClaudiaApfelstrudel]

I think if you look at things from the Russian perspective, the US thinks it can dictate what happens in the world but sees no need to go through the UN.

These are very dangerous times, US is on defcon 3 and Hillary seems obsessed with using every opportunity to provoke Russia.

Putin has been in charge a long time and never needed to do this. He's not the only one to blame seems to me

[AtMyHouse]

So who is worse regards Russia? Clinton or Trump? Can't believe I'm having to ask!

[megletthesecond]

Apparently we are keeping an eye on Russian ships being moved down towards the Med and Syria. (Quick snip of today's headline)

'Two Portsmouth warships have been sent to meet a Russian aircraft carrier group which is due to sail through the North Sea and English Channel.

The Admiral Kuznetsov task group is heading to join the Russian combat mission in Syria.'

[ClaudiaApfelstrudel]

seems to me the Russian ships are sailing through international waters, the whole thing is a big non-event

[claig]

'So who is worse regards Russia? Clinton or Trump? Can't believe I'm having to ask!'

Trump wants peace. He wants to get along with Putin and together sort Isis out.

This was from last year. Of course he may not make it and win.

"Donald Trump on Friday accused his GOP rivals of seeking to “start World War III over Syria” and suggested the U.S. let Russia take up the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)

"They want to start World War III over Syria. Give me a break," Trump said at the State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City."

thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/255052-trump-gop-rivals-want-to-start-world-war-iii-over-syria

[WinchesterWoman]

Claudia I'm interested in your posts on this. Sounds a ridiculous thing to say but if you have any random thoughts (or not random!) pls post, as I want to read them. It's interesting to have what sounds like quite a different perspective.

As an aside - have you read Christopher Meyer on Ukraine?

[AnnaForbes]

I can't begin to keep up with current events. However, everying i read is suggesting ww3 is more likely with HRC as POTUS. This is from comments on news twitter feeds, comments on The Independent website and the dear ol' Daily Mail. The guardian and telegraph dont have comments.

Trumps a reprehensible bully but he seems to have a more conciliatory approach to Russia whereas general opinion is HRC is hell-bent on war with Russia hence the no-fly zone.

I don't really know where to start to unravel this but, like 99.99% of the population, I dread global war. And irrationality I'm angry with one of my closest friends because she's American.

[ClaudiaApfelstrudel]

I don't have anything else to say at present Winchester but I will keep you informed don't forget that Russia only has access to one ice free port so it has no option but to send it's warships that way the geography means it's surrounded by NATO nations

[WinchesterWoman]

Thanks Claudia - for myself, I was surprised by the west's shock and horror I've Crimea and Sevastopol. What the heck did they expect? Russia to just hand over that previous sea access just like that? At the time I blamed Catherine Ashton for her ineptitude.

[BungoWomble]

Countries like North Korea and to an extent Russia tend to whip up the paranoia in their populations about conflict and war to distract them from the dire situations on home ground. So people rally against the imagined threat and start looking outwards rather than inwards at the corruption and failing economic policies.

Does anyone know that that isn't what is happening in Britain? Our media are definitely rather selective and god knows we have domestic problems enough.

[scaryteacher]

Bungo Whilst that may be true to an extent, and people are more concerned about GBBO, X factor and Strictly (bread and circuses perhaps?), we do at least have the ability to use different sources to piece together what is going on for the most part. People in Russia and N Korea don't have that. You will have noted that Putin is reviving the KGB foreignpolicy.com/2016/09/21/putin-has-finally-reincarnated-the-kgb-mgb-fsb-russia/....not really a surprise, after all once KGB always KGB, and that is Vlad's background.

[BungoWomble]

I don't doubt N Korea is a locked-down totalitarian regime, but I struggle to know what to believe here sometimes. Government is very distant from the concerns of ordinary people.

[WinchesterWoman]

I think the average person (include myself obviously) doesn't have my sort of s clue what's going on unless they read outside the main papers and tv news. You have to choose your websites.

[ClaudiaApfelstrudel]

If Hillary wants to posture against Russia in a live debate, stating that no fly zones will be imposed and so on what is Russia expected to do? It's no surprise that the whole country appears to be utterly paranoid about Hillary Clinton's intentions toward it.

Possibly the Russia show of force comes through fear rather than intention. If we in the West were watching Putin on live TV posturing against us and mentioning the four minutes it would take him to launch an offensive how would we feel or react? Would we ourselves not be terrified of him and flexing our own muscles in a show of fear mixed with force?

For me Hillary is war-mongering and on this one issue I agree with Trump. She has very very bad judgement.