Comments by "Paul Aiello" (@paul1979uk2000) on "Are Russian gains in Ukraine worth the costs so far?" video.

  1. The reality is, Russia is bleeding resources and lives, this is resources being taken away from the Russian people and put towards the war effect, there's also the impact of the losses of Russian troops, that has a negative impact on the Russian economy long term, especially considering Russia's population has been in decline for some time. The truth is, the longer the war drags on, the more it's going to be a drag on the Russian economy and people, that could spill over into politics, which if it does, Putin could be in trouble. There's also the factor that the EU, US and the west can afford to keep supporting Ukraine over the long term, for one, the resources the west are giving to Ukraine is tiny compared to its economy and two, the west is rich, Russia on the other hand is having to spend more on its war effort, it's having to recount more troops, all this is having a negative impact on the Russian economy and the longer the war drags on, the more of a drag it becomes on Russia. So you really do have to wonder, was it worth Putin starting this war? Probably not and in hindsight, if he knew it was going to be this difficult, he probably wouldn't have started it, remember that Putin predicted that he would take Ukraine in a matter of weeks, months and he was banking on this being a quick war with little opposition from the west, he got all that wrong. Also, Putin didn't think it was possible for the EU and other European countries to move so quickly away from Russian oil and gas, many in the west didn't think it was possible, yet over the last two years, the shift has been remarkable and ongoing, that's costly for Russia on three fronts, one because he's losing one of his richest costumer, two, Russia is becoming more dependent on China, and three, we are seeing a renewable energy surge in a lot of countries, that's basically killing the fossil industry sooner rather than later, in the end, Putin didn't understand basic economics, never threaten your rich customers, because they can look at alternatives, which is more or less what they are doing.
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