Comments by "Paul Aiello" (@paul1979uk2000) on "Russia vs Ukraine: Should the West Intervene? - TLDR News" video.

@ЭЮЯ-о3к Very bold to say that, I've travelled a lot and that is BS. From what I've seen, Moscow and St Petersburg's have around the same standard of living as some of the Eastern EU members, much of the rest of Russia is down the toilet and we should remember that Russia has a massive leg up with it's oil, gas and other natural resources, without those, Russia would be a basket case and it really shows how far those eastern EU members have come along considering they have little to no natural resources and are doing well on the economy scale whiles quickly catching up to the west.
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That's the thing, Russia is quite weak whiles depending on a lot of others to buy it's natural resources. If push comes to shove, the kinda might EU countries could bring to the table because of the economy, skill set and advancement would be enough to scare Russia. But lucky for Russia, Europeans are not war like any more but if the threat becomes big enough, that can quickly change. In any case, Russia only really plays games with none EU countries because they are easy pickings, it's what Russia fears the most, countries joining the EU because Russia wouldn't dare take on an EU countries in any meaningful sense, it's also the reason why so many countries want to join the EU, for protection from Russia. Still, it would be funny if a war broke out with Russia and the west, especially in today's age when it's all about the economy, so basically, Russia might learn a valuable lesson in how weak they really are.
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@TheManinBlack9054 That's true but overall GDP is key, that matters because it allows a countries to develop in which ever way they want, basically they have a lot more resources to play with or to put it another way, if a modern European country felt threaten, they could put a lot more resources into the army that Russia can't afford, in fact, it's what the US did to Russia, spend more with the aim of bankrupting the Soviet Union. Many EU countries on their own have a bigger economy then Russia and lot bigger if combined, if the economy resources are put towards arms, Russia would have a major problem.
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@robb5828 That's why I said the Eastern EU members are doing much better than Russia with only really Moscow and St Petersburg competing. That's the main problem for Russia, what does it have to offer eastern European countries apart from threats as we are seeing with Ukraine right now? At least with the EU, it's showing it's actually helping to develop those countries which has a far bigger impact on peoples lives and yes it takes a long time to transform countries but the EU has proven many times that it knows how to do it. It's also why more eastern European countries will want to join the EU, they will look at the eastern EU countries that are already in and will want the same thing, that is what Russia is really worried about. The funny thing is, if Russia just mellows down a bit, they could become a future EU member as Russians are not that different from other Europeans and I suspect the real problem isn't the people but the political system that's living in the past which reminds me of Brexit Britain, pinning for the good old days but it's all a delusion.
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@ЭЮЯ-о3к None, but then I don't want to get arrested at the airport lol. But hey, check the wages of some of the poorer eastern EU members like Bulgaria and Romania, they are about twice as high as what they are in Russia and remember, these are the poorest in the EU, go to others like Poland and the wages are much higher. The population started to decline in those countries because those countries wanted open boarders with the western countries, that's not the EU's fault, that's just a side effect of open boarders when there is a big gap in wealth, but in time that will change. After all, what do you really think the real threat to Russia is? they worry that the EU is offering eastern European countries something Russia can't offer and thats wealth which is very enticing for the population and the scary thing for Russia, as the Eastern EU members keep modernizing, it has a knock on effect on it's neighbouring countries and then they will want to join, thats what scares Putin the most. For the average person, they want their quality of life to improve, the EU has shown time and time again that it knows how to do that and delivers on that, Russia on the other hand only delivers on threats which does nothing for the people, hence why the EU is winning that battle and why Russia is getting desperate with Ukraine.
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@undefined6341 So some are not having a jolly old time, that doesn't change the reality that living standards are some of the best in the world in the EU, many studies have shown that over the years. As for the deck of cards, we've heard that one so many times on the EU, heck many keep predicting the EU to fall apart with each crisis and yet it's still here even thought it's had many crises, got to give the EU credit, it's very resilient as the British found out with Brexit.
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@ЭЮЯ-о3к Both did the same mistakes of not preparing for winter which give the Russians a massive advantage. Also the game is very different today and it's based on the economy and advancement of tech, EU countries have a massive advantage over Russia on that and more so if they combine resources. Got to remember that western countries spend very little resources on the army, if a real threat did happen, they could ramp that up a lot, Russia on the other hand can't and they did try to do that against the US, it bankrupted the Soviet Union which was the main aim the US had, outspend the Soviet Union and let it fall apart overtime and clearly it worked.
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@c.augustedupin8860 The eastern Europeans got help because they were doing the reforms needed to join the EU, Russia have shown no signs on wanting to join and won't get any help. Russia could get a lot of help from the EU but Russia would have to change a lot, especially at the political level, but until then, Russia is going to get squeezed by the EU expanding eastward, the US and China becoming more powerful and other players like India once they get their act together. You keep making excuses for Russia, remember they've got a lot of natural resources from oil, gas and other natural resources that a lot of those other eastern European countries didn't really have, with those kinds of resources, Russia is doing really poor even compared to the eastern Europeans that joined the EU. So ask yourself, what on earth is Russia going to do when a lot of countries are not buying their oil, gas and other natural resources? Without that, Russia would go into reverse, thats why it's poor how bad Russia is doing considering the natural resources they have.
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@andreyakovlev8332 EU countries don't need protection from Russia, only Russia and the US to a less degree thinks that lol, hence why Russia mostly plays games with countries that are not in the EU and if they do with EU countries, it's very short term that doesn't really have any impact and it all boils down to the economy, if push comes to shove, the EU can muster up a powerful army if needed, just for now there's little need, the economy opens up lots of doors and options, the EU and US has that, Russia doesn't and the main difference from the EU and US is that the US is more united whiles also willing to spend more on it's army, but like I said, if push comes to shove, the EU countries can quickly change on that, hence why I see Russia as a game player but not a threat. Besides, let's be honest, Russia fears the EU far more and mostly because the EU is expanding eastwards, Russia doesn't have an answer to that apart from threats which ironically is pushing more countries to want to join the EU so they are safe from Russia, in that sense, you could say Russia is doing the EU a massive favour by scaring those eastern none EU countries to become closer to the EU.
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@engelgirl7360 Debt levels are pretty much a thing for a lot of countries now, especially with the pandemic and more so with western countries but then they can afford to pay it back over the long run.
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@ЭЮЯ-о3к When it comes to salary figures, you've got to be careful on which sector you're looking at because some sectors, the salary figures are not that drastically different from rich and poorer countries whereas a lot of other sectors, the difference can be massive which usually hits the poor and middle classes the hardest. Also what you said at the end is true to a degree but it misses the point that richer countries have a lot more options when it comes to buying things, especially from outside the countries because at the end of the day, many items are sold in Russia at western prices and clearly that would be a problem for people that have much lower wages than others that don't. Either way, GDP per capita isn't a good indicator of the well-being of a country.
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