Summary

The article presents two-pronged strategies involving sanctions and oligarchs to deter Putin's aggression in Ukraine, advocating for strong Western action to prevent further escalation and to support Ukraine's recovery.

Abstract

The author, sharing personal experiences from visits to Ukraine and Russia, outlines a hardline approach to halt Putin's military campaign in Ukraine. The article suggests two options for sanctions: extending them for every day Russian forces remain in Ukraine or lifting them only after Putin's removal through a democratic election following a popular uprising. It also proposes two strategies concerning Russian oligarchs: either covertly encouraging them to act against Putin in exchange for asset relief or sowing distrust by spreading rumors of their disloyalty. The author emphasizes the need for Russia to pay reparations to Ukraine for infrastructure rebuilding, suggesting Putin's frozen assets as a starting point. Furthermore, the article warns of the potential for chemical or biological warfare by Russia, urging NATO and the US to preemptively declare that any use of such weapons would trigger a full military response, asserting that inaction could lead to further aggression by Putin, who seeks to restore the USSR.

Opinions

Sanctions against Russia should be intensified, either by extending their duration for every day of occupation or by tying their removal to a democratic transition in Russia after Putin's ousting.
Russian oligarchs should be heavily sanctioned and exiled back to Russia, with the possibility of covertly incentivizing them to take action against Putin.
Putin's reported $600 billion war chest, currently frozen due to sanctions, should be used to fund Ukraine's reconstruction.
The West should clearly communicate to Putin that the use of chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine will provoke a full military response from NATO and the US.
There is a belief that Putin harbors ambitions to restore the USSR and that his aggression will not stop with Ukraine if left unchecked.
The author suggests that World War 3 has already begun with Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022.
The article implies that the West has previously been too lenient with Putin, allowing him to remain in power with minimal resistance.

How to stop Putin

This is just one man’s thoughts

Over the last 10 years, I’ve spent a lot of time in Ukraine, mostly in the Kyiv region. I also spent a week in Moscow in 2010 and loved it. Both countries have great people and cultures, but sadly Russia dropped off the edge into full-on totalitarianism.

Sanctions

First off, let’s stop this crazy talk about if Putin plays nice and leaves Ukraine that the sanctions will be lifted. Here’s what needs to happen.

Option 1, for every day the Russian armed forces are in Ukraine and fighting with Ukrainians, another year of sanctions will be added.

Option 2, sanctions will only be lifted when the people rise up, replace Putin and a free and fair election happens.

Yes, that’s wishful thinking, but not many saw what’s happening now as a reality either, and don’t forget, Russia had a small taste of Democracy not long after Putin came to power. He squashed that fast.

Oligarchs

Some say the Oligarchs are Putin’s pawns and I suspect there’s some truth to that but not as much as the West believes. They also say that Putin hides most of his estimated $200 Billion with these Oligarchs to keep it out of Russia and ‘safe’.

Most, if not all of the Oligarchs are businessmen and as such, they all have to be asking themselves if the threat of Putin is worse than the threat of being international pariahs with no money and can’t go anywhere except Russian territories.

Here are my two options with regards to the Oligarchs, and they both involve sanctioning the heck out of them, their finances, their yachts, their jets, their business, and even their properties. Then exile them all back to the Russian Federation.

Option 1, Secretly offer one or more the Oligarchs a get out of jail free card for killing Putin and tell them they’ll even get their assets released (with certain restrictions of course).

Option 2, Don’t make a deal with any Oligarch, instead get whatever intelligence operatives to spread multiple rumors about multiple Oligarchs being ‘turned’ against Putin and it’s just a matter of time before one of them attempts to steal power. I personally prefer this idea as we’ll get to see the rats attack each other.

Putin is losing this war on every front, if he can no longer trust his inner circle, the die is cast.

Ukraine

There is nothing that will restore Ukraine to before Russia illegally invaded. The senseless loss of life on both sides can never be replaced.

But with time and money, they can rebuild their infrastructure and Russia absolutely should pay reparations and a good starting point is Putin’s reported war chest of over $600 billion that has been frozen by sanctions.

Nato and the US

Lastly, we’ve seen how dirty the Russians fought in Chechnya and Syria. They used chemical weapons in Syria to keep a dictator in power.

Russia seems to project ‘false flag’ operations to justify its own tactics. In layman’s terms, that means they say that enemy x is using this illegal weapon, so we will use our illegal weapon to combat it.

They are already projecting this about possible chemical and or biological weapons in Ukraine.

What happens if those weapons carry in the air over to Poland for instance? Nato is very clear about enacting Article 5 Collective Defense. The US has already sent more troops to help Nato bolster certain borders.

I believe at this point, today, not after the Russians use these illegal weapons, that Nato and the US need to tell Putin directly.

Any Chemical or Biological weapons used in Ukraine will provoke a full military response from the west and Nato.

You may say “but that would be the start of World War 3”, I contend World War 3 started on February 24th, 2022.

Putin has contempt for the west, he sees us as weak. We have to make a stand now or Ukraine will NOT be Putin’s last target, he believes restoring the USSR is his destiny and at every turn, we’ve allowed him to stay in power relatively unchecked.

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