Comments by "Mats From" (@matsfrommusic) on "Anders Puck Nielsen" channel.

  1. It blows my mind that the west more or less are just standing by reacting to Russia's terror, I have to say that I never expected that to be the case. Great analysis. Gott Nytt År Anders.
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  2. I agree, it's very strange some western politicians is so easily mislead. I don't think it's wrong to say those should be held accountable tbh, a lot of people have lost their lives after all. The absurdity of the aggressor being allowed to do absolutely anything while the victim is actually prevented from defending themselves is so far off everything, it's so bizarre and deranged.
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  3. Yes but the focus has shifted away from Ukraine to be about our own defences. If only we had stood stronger from the start.
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  4. Couldn't agree more
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  5. Anders! Absolutely fantastic. I've been on about exactly this for almost 3 years now and no one is even willing to talk about it :/ In my view there are important distinctions to be made between different regimes. Many believe Putin will go on until he have conquered half of Europe and compare him with Hitler, someone who was driven by ideology. That's not the case with Putin as it's pretty well established he's an opportunist, a realist, a pragmatic. Some may even say he's a psychopath, in which case explains why he's not driven by ideology. Unlike Hitler, Putin will not go down with the ship so to speak, he will not sacrifice himself. This war will end the minute Putin realize he can no longer win, he will then withdraw the troops from Ukraine and make up a decent enough story he could sell the Russian citizens.
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  6. Couldn't be overstated.
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  7. Great point about the failures of escalation management, something that needs to be repeated a lot more.
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  8. Really good points. I think Prigozhin had a pretty good chance making it all the way had he continued moving towards Moscow. What I can't figure out is what actually made him to stop. He knows Putin would never accept him after this, that he would become a traitor in Putins mind, so giving up or believe in some sort of mutual agreement seems very unlikely (ie it's polonium time even) I share your thoughts on Lukachenko, though it's hard to say if he understands that remain in power will probably be very difficult for him once Putin is gone. Arresting Surovkin is a huge deal and I can imagine people in Kremlin who's just outside the sphere of silovikis, who's only looking out for themselves, they from now on will try to undermine Putin if there's ever another coup or bigger uprise of some sort. Just like the tale of the emperor's new clothes, the fake of the Russian State will eventually fragment enough to finally make it to collapse. I just wish we in the West could be more brave and see to this more hands on but we don't seem to even acknowledge the fake of the Russian State.
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  9. Anders, hats off to you, you're such a clever guy. This video explains some very important parameters perfectly.
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  10. Stellar analysis. Absolute agree about Putin wanting this war to end quickly. I think the western world need to understand how weak he really is and how afraid he is. The worst we can do is to respond in a weak manner, the tougher our respond is, the quicker he will be removed. About the upcoming nuclear talks, that seems like a very likely scenario.
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  11. Yes, great topic! The trouble I have with Nato is in the case of Ukraine where it has done just the opposite to what ut suppose to do, be a force against Russian aggression. Being a member of Nato doesn't really mean much if we send troops to a non Nato country anyway, that's what it seems to be. Either we are for democracy and are willing to fight for it, or we are not, and btw Ukraine is a very pro democratic country too. What's really weird to me is that we, meaning all the countries that like this free life style and democracy, we are so much bigger in total and should be a able to stand up to Russia. If we just could abandon this lame rhetorics and notion that diplomacy will always work. You won't stop a serial killer thru compromises, that's just how it is. So tired of hearing analysis from people like Jan Eliason or Carl Bildt.
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  12.  @ailinofaolin8897  Why do you lie about something so obviously wrong?
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  13. This war is probably not because of one single reason but I would say on top of everything else it's about Putin trying to stay in power. Russia and Ukraine having such an intertwined culture, history and probably most importantly, close relation between people where every other Ukrainian family has some uncle or wife who is born in Russia. So when Ukraine becomes a democracy and is moving closer to the western style of society, that becomes a big problem for Putin. Especially after the Orange revolution with Janykovych leaving the office and fleeing the country, made him very aware that something like that could (and probably would have) happen in Russia. When Russians see the higher living standard in Ukraine(or "little Russia as their called) it's hard to argue for the current state. I think only about 20% of the Russian population has a passport or something like that, not sure but, as you could imagine, it's then easier to remain in power when many citizens (meaning the older generation) don't know or believe it's possible to change. The ´90 was such a missed opportunity, though we did try to help Russia in the transition in many ways. But as mentioned in this video, a shift in generation might be what does it if nothing else.
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  14. Very interesting video, Thank you!
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  15. This guy has the right ideas and approach. He's talking about having the obligation to talk to Russians in Russia, trying to figure out ways how to change things in Russia. Doesn’t anyone wonder why you can get 10 years in prison just for talking about the war and criticize the Russian military and everything that is happening in Ukraine? It’s so far over the top and beyond, and the only reason it can be is because Putin is afraid. Sometime people need to wake up from this imperialism dream and Nato getting closer to Russias border nonsense. Why do so many people believe in anything Putin says to begin with? There's absolutely no logical reason for this war. None! Unless of course Putin is afraid of Russia becoming a democracy. I don't think Putin wanted this at all, he had to invade Ukraine because there where no other options left on the table, and for many years now he has seen this threat growing each year. I may be up around a thousand comments on Youtube by this point about this error. It's been a year and I feel there is no one listening. Not one single person has ever explained to me that I'm wrong and here's the reasons why, it's just dead silence, no respons whatsoever. And sure to a degree it’s anyone's guess, but still. Not one single argument against it. I just find that incredibly remarkable. And no one seems to be questioning the importance of knowing the actual reason either. Meanwhile politicians and media it's still talking about Russia like it’s their inherited imperialistic world view, and it’s about the interests of Russia’s national security and Putin thinking it’s the hostile Nato’s fault blah blah blah blah blah… And we seem to eat it all up, whatever loony story Putin is feeding us with, we’re still listening to him. Like Putin is not out of the ordinary. Like there’s a normal country we’re talking about. Like it’s not a corrupt kleptocratic government and not to mention, despite the fact that we have deemed Russia a terrorist state to begin with. For some reason, imperialistic dreams it’s still the only possible agenda for the war in Ukraine. WTF!? The reason I care about it is because it’s hurting our ways to deal with Russia and the war itself. I know the outcome will be about the same whatever the actual reason is, but the end result in terms of casualties will obviously be different if we can find a way to end this war earlier, or if there's other ways than people getting blown to pieces on the battlefield as well as civilians. As dictatorships goes, they tend to do whatever they can to remain in power, it’s not a new concept to anyone. And yet Putin being afraid of Russia becoming a democracy is somehow not even considered as being the reason for this senseless war. Apparently it’s much more likely he wants the best for Russia and the Russians and they need to have these insurances, these absolutely insane demands that their neighboring countries should act as cushion states because Russia needs to appear big and strong. Putin feels betrayed too because of all the efforts and promises of insurances he has made to Ukraine, who then refuses to have any of it. If only there had been countries threatening to invade Russia, that’s at least something to go on. But no. Try to figure out Putin’s next move if you don’t know why he choose to invade Ukraine and Georgia in the first place. The fact that over 60% of the Russian population is still supporting Putin is absolutely crazy. That is a huge problem. We all need to talk about Putin as the murderer he is. As the thief he is who has stolen billions from the Russian citizens. The very same citizens he has now sent to die in Ukraine to essentially defend these crimes. The Russian people have been fooled for 20+ years and I understand that is hard for many of them to take in but somewhere in there is the best way to start making a difference.
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  16. Yep 👍
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  17. "What Putin is actually fighting for" is a question which answer is long overdue. OT: Congrats to the 2-1 win against Canada last night. Pretty amazing!
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  18.  @ailinofaolin8897  Why do you ask me?
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  19.  @ailinofaolin8897  ...and why do you call it a civil war? I suspect the number of Ukrainians in the east where a lot fewer than you try to picture this.
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  20.  @blackcatdungeonmastersfami5311  Oh you so missed my point.
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  21. Even though I don't agree with Mearsheimers conclusions I think he's 100% right in this video(minus the clip at the end) I also agree with him that Putin HAD to invade Ukraine which I think is very important to understand. Understanding Putin makes a difference, not Russia necessarily IMO. Ie understanding the Russian mindset or not doesn't make much difference.
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  22. Just imagine if Putin hadn’t been portraid like a strongman or a tsar like figure, how that would have affected Russia’s allies. People like Kim Jong Un, Khamenei, Xi Jinping etc would never want to be associated with a weak leader, someone no one takes seriously and who’s constantly being ridiculed. So from that perspective it’s so stupid to keep embolden Putin which we do by keeping the gloves on.
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  23. Here’s an important question I never seem to get the answer to, and I’m going to pose the question to a five YouTubers, and I hope I don't interrupt anything by doing so, to see if anyone could come up with a good answer. Here it goes: @anderspuck @dr.gerdes @JakeBroe @VladVexlerChat @SiliconCurtain The big Russian depoliticized population have the least honest view of this war out of everyone, at the same time they are the group that really could make a difference in Russia. Still we don’t even try to communicate with them for some reason. The baltic states have talked about this pretty much since day one and of course Bill Browder for even longer than that. For us in the West we should talk about Vladimir Putin in the correct terms, especially all the bigger media outlets. And with some detail describe how he and his oligarch friends have stolen billions from the Russian population for years. In the fear of getting caught of these crimes, Putin is now sending their sons and brothers to die in Ukraine, in an attempt to keep democracy out of Russia to make sure he won’t be held accountable for these crimes, all while lying to the Russian population and calling it a special military operation. That is the brutal reality. What if the Russian depoliticized population actually did know about this? How significant would that be?
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  24. Putin is not well minded I think anyone can see that, he's clearly a psychopath or have some form a mental disorder. Just look what he's been doing since day one, everything from the Moscow bombings in 1999, Kursk, Dubrovka, Beslan, Chechnya, Syria etc etc, to indiscriminately bombing Ukrainian civilians in this horrific war. He's been murdering his own people in Russia too along the way. A normal person would never do that obviously. I wonder if that is taken into consideration at all, because you never hear anybody talk about that really?
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  25. This was really great!
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  26. The only thing the west needs to do is to make sure Putin understand he can't win. That's all it takes.
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  27. When the president say, stay out of the politics it should trigger some red flags. Kind of like Hitler and "Stop thinking and follow me" Good point about the need of citizens being both super engaged and yet not at all :) Great video!
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  28. This was really great!
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  29. You're absolutely right, all else is secondary (which this analysis doesn't really say unfortunately)
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  30. But the sanctions and the fact that Russia at some point just have to deal with non military expenses as it gets worse and worse for Russia, shouldn't that also been included somehow? After all it's capacity we're talking about.
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  31. I think this is very true. I believe Putin will remain in power after the Ukrainians have kicked the Russians out and the war will not end because of it. There's no real solutions to this conflict from the West, all we really do is watching people lose their lives in Ukraine and talk about it.
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  32. I agree that Putin will not be satisfied with leaving Ukraine empty handed, that’s obviously dangerous for him personally. However my point here is that even that is secondary to him and that’s exactly why a peace deal is the worst idea. Because he will leave Ukraine empty handed if needed.
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  33. Of course sanctions works as an instrument of deterrence. If company after company in Russia is closing down due to decreased consumption it's a huge problem that can't be ignored and eventually it will affect the Russian society to a point where it ultimately becomes a choice between either withdrawing the troops or face complete chaos. We're just not there yet.
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  34. "It undermines Russia's ability to have a sphere of influence" Why is that sphere of influence so important to Putin? There’s any number of much easier ways to show greatness for Russia than to wage a war, so therefore that logic doesn’t really hold up.
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  35. Exactly my view as well. The problem as I see it is that there's no plan in place, no real solution to what we should do once we get there. What can we do then but just wait for the next Russian attack? The only hope is these Russian partisan groups and the damage of the Russian economy which was said to be really showing after 18 months. What else is there? How and when can Ukraine become a Nato member?
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  36. I wonder why the western world is choosing to sacrifice so many peoples lives over one persons madness, it doesn't make much sense and it doesn't jive with how far we as humans have come in terms of understanding ourselves and the world in general. The fear of facing a nuclear war with Russia can't be the staple answer to everything, because then we will loose. There's a lot of videos about Putin and Russia but there's almost none about our response to the Russian aggression, at least with a sensible and thoughtful analysis about why we’ve taken this route despite everything we know is going on, all the horrors the Ukrainians are exposed to. If we all have agreed to never negotiate with terrorists and what signal that will send to other corrupt states if we do, then why this illogical response? We also know what will happen if we surrender to an aggressor and where that will ultimately leave us, so what is really going on? The more we are backing up and letting Russia to continue moving forward, the worse the situation becomes too. What will actually happen when we reach a critical point in either direction? Basically, is there a plan? Also, what will happen the next time a despot decides to challenge the world, have we learned anything from this by then, we seemingly haven’t learned that much from WW2? It would make a great video, probably not an easy one but a rare and important one.
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  37. Russia is not Ukraine's biggest opponent, it's fear that is. And Europe is the real actual enemy of Ukraine. The spineless west enabling all this to happen is what we really should talk about. Trump or Putin are single maniacs that shouldn't have agency but for some reason they are now ruling the world, affecting so many people.
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  38. Of course, how is that even a question?
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  39. I think the problem ultimately lays with the western world and not Trump. Not to take away from this video, but crazy actors will always pop up from time to time, we just have to be better at dealing with them. Managing the grey areas so to speak. Sweden is a great example on how to stick your head in the sand instead of identifying the problems and then dealing with them. In doing so military deterrence will be less important although never completely redundant most probably.
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  40. Thank you, very helpful video.
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  41. Trump is a populist and this is what they do, they're attracted to people who seem to be assertive, that's all it is.
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  42. Absolutely agree. I don't believe in Putin losing his power just because Ukraine kick the Russians out, or that the war will end because of it for that matter. And there's not much signs of any change within the rather large depoliticized group, but these attacks on Russian soil, I think will change everything.
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  43.  @parcomolo256  Tell what?
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  44. What is said about what kind of information the west should put out is very true. I've said some pretty awful things about Russians online these last 2 years, all well deserving but I agree it's probably not that clever.
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  45. Anyone?
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  46. Great point.
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  47. Great info. I can't fathom how they could have any more tanks, over 8000 tanks of theirs are destroyed, it's insane. IMO the western democratic world should send troops to UA, it's not right to leave them alone on the battlefield.
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  48. Surovikin getting caught being the inside man in Kremlin, was probably the main contributing factor to why Prigozhin decided to back down.
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  49.  @Jole30  According to the real world he's in custody.
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  50. As someone who has been comparing GDP between the two that bluntly a few times I'm glad to be corrected. Well done! I do however wonder about the difference in quality as military forces and what is actually achieved on the battlefield. By just watching from afar it's been astonishing to see Russia grinding down their brigades one by one and be defeated as much as they have against an opponent with one hand tied behind their back using yesterdays equipment.
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