Ukraine will be able to use Danish and Dutch F-16s to strike into Russia, while Belgium is saying only for use in 1991-border Ukraine.
Archived version: https://archive.ph/Iv4Fu
Ukraine: “I consent.”
Denmark: “I consent.”
Russia: “Was there somebody you forgot to ask?”
The myth of consentual flights of F-16s into Russian territory.
Same way Russia forgot to ask Ukraine, Ukraine forgot to ask Russia. Seems fair.
forgot to ask Ukraine
After how many Minsk Agreements mediated by the OSCE would you consider Ukraine properly “asked”?
The same ones that Russia and Ukraine hates? They can’t even agree on the meaning of them, since they are such an ambiguous mess that doesn’t specify anything.
The problem with the Danes is that they have been so sheltered for so long that the concept of their actions having consequences simply don’t register any more. Everything is going to be welfare, roast pork and padding ourselves on the back for all eternity, war and disaster and calamity is something they have in “the warm countries”, it will never affect us.
So what happens if some Danish military bases get bombed or a frigate gets sunk with dozens of dead? Does Denmark pull back or call for WWIII?
Lots of commotion internally in Denmark while the reaction would be decided upon in Washington.
I don’t think Russia wants to retaliate so directly though. As I see it they have very little to gain from taking that bait. More likely acts of retaliation would be plausibly deniable cyber attacks or supporting some proxy in attacking Danish interests abroad. If I was a Danish troop in Iraq, I would be watching my back after this.
I doubt Russia would escalate in that way. If it happens, I’d imagine a “tit for tat” thing happening, where the Nordic countries sink the Russian Baltic Fleet and say that they consider the matter resolved.
When you say nordic countries, you mean sweden, norway, and finland would do a massive escalation, and open themselves up to retaliation? Surely they’d do the calculus and see there’s nothing to gain and a lot to lose? I’ve heard the political situation in the EU was not great, but I expect that kind of hawkishness here on the other side of the planet, not from the countries that actually stand to lose anything.
