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Comment by yalogin | Hacker News Reader

Wow, that is quite brazen. He wouldn't do that unless he is very confident about the fallout from it. Putin is obviously strongly behind him and he also feels that no one else, primarily the US, will do anything about it. Germany and Europe in general might say something but not sure if that will have the same weight as the US.

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Short of invading, which I'm certain Germany doesn't want to do again, what would anyone external power do?

Except of course Putin might invade when the time is right, and no one would do anything about it either. That's his sphere of influence.

> what would anyone external power do?

"The EU is Belarus' second main trade partner, representing 18.1% of the country's overall trade in goods, reaching almost €11 billion in 2019...increasing by 45% over the last 10 years" [1].

In addition, the U.S. and EU have massive trade relations with Russia. There are many non-military mechanisms for deterring Putin. What's unclear is whether the Belarusians are worth the cost.

[1] https://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/coun...

If Putin makes it clear that doing anything except imposing mild sanctions against Belarus equals to attacking Russia, then nobody will raise a finger. China doesn't care, the EU has too much economic interest in maintaining good relationships with Russia, and Trump won't do anything either, because if he does, then Putin begins to talk.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/09/03/belarus-election-fraud-...

It seems to fit a pattern for this administration. By all accounts I've read this is the way Trump views politics, so his silence is not out of character.

If he does speak up it will probably be to brag that he had the idea first to snatch protesters up in unmarked vans.

Better than drawing red-lines that won't be enforced like previous administrations often do.

I would rather try a diplomatic solution than openly extend a hand of friendship to a dictator (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump%27s_disclosures_o...) or even turn a blind eye.

He seems to think he is the one who can "solve" Russia, but he is being played like a fiddle.

I'm getting a little sick in the mouth of the "I'm alright jack" political commentary often seen on hackernews, are you saying it's better to do nothing or should Obama have invaded the Middle East again?

I would like US diplomats work quietly and substantively to produce results rather than making often-toothless public denouncements.

This administration seems to be working towards a diplomatic solution.

They have demonstrated some success with this technique in the past.

https://www.politico.eu/article/us-stands-with-eu-to-push-fo...

edit: removed spurious 'to'

The article I linked originally seems to suggest that some within the administration are doing that but the man himself doesn't care.

I don’t get it, trump enables and worships Putin. Isn’t that a problem? The previous administrations of both parties, would have put sanctions and hurt them a little. Atleast they didn’t enable and worship the guy. This is what gives Putin strength and also weakens Europe's resolve at anything strict. Even if the US does nothing, previously it was known that it will always stand on the right side of the issue until now.

The US has kept up many sanctions on Russia and has added several more during the Trump administration. While there is room for debate as to the type or severity of any given sanction, it is undeniable the US is aggressively using economic sanctions to signal its displeasure with Russia meddling.

FYI: "U.S. Sanctions on Russia: An Overview" [PDF]

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/IF10779.pdf

We are talking about two different things, but its cool, I know where you are coming from.

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