The head of the German Navy has resigned for Telling the Truth

Vice admiral Kay-Achim Schoenbach was the head of the German navy until he made his comments on Friday at a think-tank discussion in India , Vice admiral Schoenbach is reported to have said that Vladimir Putin deserves respect and that the annexed region of Crimea "is gone , it will never come back, this is a fact".

"What he (Putin) really wants is respect," he said. "And my God, giving someone respect is low cost, even no cost... It is easy to give him the respect he really demands - and probably also deserves."

Mr Schoenbach conceded Russia's actions in Ukraine needed to be addressed, but he added that "the Crimea peninsula is gone, it will never come back, this is a fact", contradicting the joint Western position that Moscow's annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 cannot be accepted and must be reversed.


His remarks, which were published on YouTube and widely circulated on German media, were publicly rejected by the German defence ministry which said Mr Schoenbach's views did not reflect the nation's position in either content or wording.
news.sky.com...

In my opinion the words of Vice admiral Schoenbach are true , like it or not Vladimir Putin does deserve respect and annexed territories are rarely or never given back , doesn't mean we have to like Mr Putin but his record as leader of Russia shows he deserves respect.

I get that the Vice admiral wasn't towing the NATO line but his remarks were made at a think-tank meeting which are designed for spitballing and finding solutions to problems and if showing a powerful leader respect and accepting that Crimea is a lost cause avert a looming war then that is what we should do , NATO has created this situation with its continued expansion now NATO need to pull up back from the brink.

a reply to: gortex

like it or not Vladimir Putin does deserve respect

Why? By whom? If even he does not respect the Russian citizens, why should anyone respect that oligarch?

originally posted by: Direne
a reply to: gortex

like it or not Vladimir Putin does deserve respect

Why? By whom? If even he does not respect the Russian citizens, why should anyone respect that oligarch?

Have you ever looked into his polling figures.

The Russian people love him.

You, not so much.

P

originally posted by: Direne
a reply to: gortex

like it or not Vladimir Putin does deserve respect

Why? By whom? If even he does not respect the Russian citizens, why should anyone respect that oligarch?

Who says Putin does not respect Russian citizens ?
You mean Globalists/globalists stooges ?
Garbage people like CONVICTED EMBEZZLER Navalny that support Pussy Riot who sexually acted out and desecrated a Russian church ?
Supporters of western decadence ?

No, I don't support Putin but at least respect his defence of Russian people, their history and culture from the degenerates that would rape Russian culture the way they raped the West.

originally posted by: Direne
a reply to: gortex

like it or not Vladimir Putin does deserve respect

Why? By whom? If even he does not respect the Russian citizens, why should anyone respect that oligarch?

He's a strong leader looking out for the interests of his country and standing up to western bullies.

a reply to: M5xaz

his defence of Russian people

You mean Navalny is not Russian? Nor Pussy Riot? You mean only Putin decides who is a Russian citizen?

a reply to: gortex

What is is with western countries and poking hornet's nests.

They're really trying to provoke Russia into a conflict, or to engineer one.

a reply to: pheonix358

his polling figures

You mean the polling after any oppositor has been jailed? Or the polling when people is not free to freely express any deviant opinion? You mean his popularity is very high once we substract from the equation any other opinions, is that what you mean?

a reply to: Direne

Why? By whom? If even he does not respect the Russian citizens, why should anyone respect that oligarch?

Respect because he has been Russia's leader for over 20 years and in that time they have become a stronger and more powerful country , in the political world that alone deserves respect.

By whom? , by the West.
If it were Russia building alliances and creating pacts with countries bordering Western countries NATO would not like that and see it as a threat , why the do we assume it's OK for NATO to expand eastwards to Russia's borders and not expect them to see it as a threat.

a reply to: AaarghZombies

He's a strong leader

Strong you mean? Strong as in I am not frightened by a democratic elections and let the people freely choose? Or you mean strong as in if you don't vote for me, you'll be killed?

Or you mean strong as in I am Chuck Norris?

a reply to: gortex

Respect because he has been Russia's leader for over 20 years

By that token we need to also respect that clown in North Korea, or the clown next to him, in China, or the King of Saudi Arabia... No, gortex, oligarchs do not deserve any respect. At all.

a reply to: gortex

It's not coming back, Obama gave it to him, and now we will see if Biden will give him Ukraine.

a reply to: Direne

Strong as in he's not afraid to stand up to western nations, corrupt oligarch, and domestic terrorists.

Putin is the most popular Russian leader in a generation, people don't need to be threatened to vote for him. Russians want somebody who will keep of of this touchy feely western snowflakery out of their country, and Putin is the man to do it.

a reply to: AaarghZombies

I see... Good luck then. It is not Western countries who will throw that clown into a deep hole. The Russian people he loves will.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

It's not coming back, Obama gave it to him, and now we will see if Biden will give him Ukraine.

Nobody gave it to him he took it to stop the home of the Black Sea Fleet becoming a part of NATO , Obama was powerless to stop it as Biden will be powerless to stop a Russian incursion into Ukraine , or risk a hot war.

a reply to: gortex

NATO has created this situation with its continued expansion now NATO need to pull up back from the brink.

The Russians are right for not wanting NATO in their back yard.

The USA went nuts when they found the launch sites on Cuba back in the cold war.

Difficult situation as there are neutral countries in the region like Sweden and Finland , who one day might want to join NATO should they choose so.

This is something Putin will not accept , he got valid points for that.

But these neutral nations also have the right to decide who to join or not join.

So difficult situation all around.

NATO should add some water to the wine and reduce NATO garrisons in the east to a minimum.

We need to improve relationships with the Russians , ignoring them does not make the problem go away.

Dang , someone call the Weather service and check if Hades has frozen over.
Here I find myself strongly agreeing with 2 of my better debate opponents.
Y'all know who you are .
Carry on , and good thread.

(marking for later visit.)

a reply to: Gothmog

But these neutral nations also have the right to decide who to join or not join.

Exactly. That's the point.

The Russians are right for not wanting NATO in their back yard.

Yes, they are right. But invading Ukraine will precisely get you closer to the NATO countries. By geometric reasoning, only retreating will get you farther. If Russia wishes to have a buffer zone in between them and the NATO countries, wouldn't be better to turn part of your own country into such a zone? Why requiring others to become such a buffer zone? On the other hand, missiles can reach you anywhere anytime from anywhere anytime with absolute precision. No excuses to impose onto your neighbors the obligation to remain neutral.

Anyone is free to join or not to join any club anywhere, anytime.

Respect can be given on many levels and amounts.

Putin deserves to be respected for his willpower and training, the things he learned and earned, his accomplishments. I do not think that he intends bad for his country or countrymen in general.

Just look at his move with the CO2 taxes, at first everybody hated him for agreeing and the western media rubbed their hands in glee. Now look at the numbers and Russia greatly benefits from it. Because he knew from his research team and made the best decision.

Things might not run perfect there but the western media traditional is anti Russian while ignoring a lot of corruption itself. Everything Russian always is #ty is what is implied and "oh it's Russian". That's a misconception, and why would Russia really work to lift this misconception, let the enemy think this.

It's psychologic twist. Yeah it is degrading but it also mind #s a false sense of superiority into the citizens of the country that is producing the misconception, and therfore their soldiers too.

Let them underestimate.

Who is respected more, Putin or Biden?
You can no longer say "Well Putin systematically repressed all opposition leaders and organizations and Biden didn't" because Biden and the Democrats have been operating exactly like Putin.

The respect that Putin does or does not deserve can only be measured through comparison with other world leaders and at this moment in time, while he does not qualify for sainthood and probably not even as a "nice" guy, he is certainly not the ugliest contestant in the "World Leader" beauty pageant.

And that is what we have now.
Biden is so bad that he even makes Putin look good.

Biden has banned unvaccinated truckers from Mexico
while allowing unvaccinated illegal aliens from anywhere to enter this country through Mexico.
Putin is nowhere near that bad