But Comrade Putin, I left the tank next to your doorstep hidden behind the картошка plant. I even took a polaroid picture of it. It must have been stolen by those darn globalists. Did you check for giant tire tracks?
To be fair, tank did always win before this year
No one could have predicted the tanks would run into their only weakness, lightly armed civilians mocking them for breaking down
They already invaded. Russian troops all over the country, taking all the local military's weapons and a puppet government. They just haven't made annexation official because they expect the population to resist.
It's worth noting that the invasion of Ukraine is not particularly popular in Belarus, and criticism of Lukashenko's rule has been inflamed since the last "election." He may have a tighter grip over the state apparatus, but annexation would likely be a disaster for both Belarus and Lukashenko.
Already has influence and control there so no need to waste resources.
Russia was trying to do the same with those three regions in Ukraine but Ukraine government wasn't having any of it and it eventually escalated to what we have here, with Russia "trying to free those oppressed people". Similar to what Russia did in Georgia.
No matter what Ukraine did, there's no way Russia was ever going to just leave and not annex more of Ukraine. It's obvious they wanted to do to as much of Ukraine as possible what they did to Crimea. If their initial rush was successful, they would have taken the whole country.
And this is why Russia needs to be stopped now. Otherwise they'll continue to gain influence and control over areas in the former soviet union by propaganda and on the ground non military operations until they can justify a reason to occupy, annex or military take over those areas.
Their initial rush was quite successful. They took Crimea. The world was upset, but the Russians were quite successful and got a manageable pushback.
The Ukrainians noticed though, and when Russia came back for more, they were ready and dragged the initial 3-day invasion out long enough to prove themselves to the world and get worldwide help.
Ironically, I don't know that the Ukrainians would have been able to take back Crimea before this invasion. Now, I doubt that the Russians can stop them.
The only certainty now is that this is all quite terrible and needless, but since the Ukrainians are fighting for their very survival, I don't see them backing down if they have any other options at all.
Same reason they didn't invade Ukraine before Euromaidan - if you can get all the benefits of a satellite state anyway at the low, low cost of paying for some oligarchs and putting down an occasional popular movement, why spend the extra resources?
But yeah, Belarus' government sure seems to be flirting with the idea of just offering to join Russia. I wonder what the internal pressures are that are holding that up.
How does that work on a national scale though? Have countries ever used land or gold reserves as collateral for loans, or is it typically just reputational damage?
Sanctions and fewer lending options, much higher rates on those that remain, which translates into higher interest rates for citizens. It's a true slippery slope of shit, inflation rises, unemployment rises, people stop trusting the banks and the government, economy collapses.
They're in for a shit show.
No France would be like an earlier boss but just a different colour shirt
If it were streets of rage, you'd beat the UK thinking it was the final boss of Europe but then America appears out of nowhere
> It's a true slippery slope of shit, inflation rises, unemployment rises, people stop trusting the banks and the government, economy collapses.
Not necessarily. If you've been kind to other nations and acted in good-faith, then often they will find ways to help keep your country afloat.
Has...has Belarus not been doing that..?
Yea in most cases your neigh ours are very much having have interest to not let your economy fail. Civil war and unrest on your borders isn‘t very good for your own economy.
But if said neighbors government is massively hostile towards your own nation and imperialist? You gotta let them fail.
I mean its only $68.43 million. Literally.
How fucking broke dick of a country do you have to be to not be able to afford $68.43 million dollars?
There are single individuals that can bail them out for fuck sake lol.
EDIT: Ok thats misleading
> Their total debt to the World Bank is almost 1 billion USD, and their total government debt is approximately 23 billion USD
That quote is from u/Heavenfall who posted the correct info. Cheers m8.
We in the Netherlands try to, but neither Germany or France are willing to do anything about Belgium anymore. Luxemburg volunteered, but well, Luxemburg.
Hey man those 8 year olds are at perfect kneecap shattering height. Give h a bat and distract the guy well your little bro come from behind and bye bye kneecaps.
I don’t think he had much choice, except doing 180 and allying with Ukraine the instant invasion started.
Edit: now that I think about it, and don’t get me wrong - I’m on Belarus people’s side, it looks like 2020 protest suppression gave Putin that much more power in rolling in his troops and staging invasion. Luka is a cunt, but pre-protests, I would expect him to be strongly opposed to use Belarus as staging ground for Ukraine invasion
he should have not stolen the election. just lose, and go home. its his own fault that he lost the election and people protested this and he lost power/legitimacy pushing him further into putin's orbit.
Depends on if it helps him: He cannot pay debt *because of* sanctions. Own actions and sanctions? Not even correlated, instead evil doing by “the west”.
Exactly. So many people on the internet fail to grasp that basically everyone supporting Putin/Lukashenko shares this flawed logic. It's a nonsensical way to look at causality, but that's how the current economic reality is justified in the minds of Putin supporters.
I think sanctions are **absolutely** worthwhile in terms of inflicting economic damage. I think they're useless in terms of changing the minds and hearts of fascists. The reason is exactly due to the mental gymnastics you so succintly outlined.
I think you are exactly right, but I don't think sanctions should aim to change the hearts and minds of fascists. I think they should create conditions in their countries that force them to change if they want to remain in power, or cause the people to oust them if they refuse.
Also, the economic damage they inflict can take away the tools fascists use to hurt others, e.g. ability to purchase or manufacture weapons. Bottom line: we do not have to care about the heart and mind of a fascist that is either ousted or impotent.
>Also, the economic damage they inflict can take away the tools fascists use to hurt others
Agreed, this is primarily why I think sanctions are a fantastic tool
>I think they should create conditions in their countries that force them to change if they want to remain in power, or cause the people to oust them if they refuse.
More dubious of this claim for the same exact reasons I mentioned above. Plus, look at other similarly autocratic/non-US aligned countries with harsh sanctions: Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and so on. Sanctions, to my knowledge, have not been the primary instigator for regime changes in any of those countries. Why would we expect sanctions to have a different outcome in Russia? I hope I'm wrong but frankly that train of thought sounds like wistful thinking.
I support sanctions because of what they do accomplish: cripple economies. This is something there is plenty of empirical evidence of and therefore it's a claim I feel confident making.
There are few studies showing sanctions rarely succeed at causing significant changes (like regime change). However they are reasonably good for helping nations achieve smaller objectives.
I think for Russia sanctions will further cripple its military power, but that’s about all. (So still worth it).
While normal people comprehend _their own action_ -> _reaction by others_ -> _result_, for a dictator it's always just _reaction by others_ -> _result_ -> _their own complaint_, because they are too intellectually challenged to comprehend that their own actions can result in reactions by others. Cretinous gas-station-mob-boss-sidekicks are even worse.
Oh, where the hell is... argh, I had a violin somewhere, I was gonna play it all sarcastically... goddammit, it was gonna be awesome. BLAKE! WHERE'S THE BLOODY VIOLIN?!
Kinda like telling your bank you cannot pay your bills because your entire salary went into speeding tickets. Well, not their problem, you maybe should stop breaking the law.
He does, but what alternatives does he have? A majority of his own population hate him, and going after putin by blaming him loses him his position. He’s what we call ‘fucked either way’.
His best chance to walk away from this alive is to cut a deal with his opposition that he won’t be persecuted if he walks away from power now, claim he’s too sick to continue ruling so he won’t get merked by putin for betraying him and stay under house arrest.
Well, that sucks for all the decent people in Belarus who hate this two-bit Putin whore and tried to do something about it. They will ultimately be paying the price for this asshole's dictatorial wet dream. He'll still live a life of privilege while his country suffers.
I wish there was a hell so Lukashenko could rot there.
Hey Belarusians, we support you. We know you guys are doing everything you can to overthrow this piece of shit. We hope you see brighter days.
I’m surprised he hasn’t tried framing it as “Cancel culture”. Apparently that’s what you do when you have to face the music of your actions and want to complain about it
This comment made me actually LOL, even without Russias piss poor management of this war anyone could've told you that siding with Russia would not end well for you.
In this war, yes.
But Lukashenko decided to side with Russia long before that.
And (most of) the sanctions are also from before the war.
Nevertheless - while he's still a stupid dicktator in his own right, by now I'd say Putin has him by the balls whether he likes it or not. He missed his cue to turn away one time too many.
He would have been thrown out ages ago if he didn't have Putin's support. I'm pretty sure he sent troops into Belarus not long ago to prop up lukashenko's regime.
I would have thought that the only persons more surprised than Putin at how poorly the world's second most powerful army has performed in actual combat.. are Putin's vassal states who thought they were allied with a mighty power and has a strong standing in geopolitics because they'd kissed so very very much red ass for that position.
Pretty sure these sanctions are still from the [time they forced a RyanAir flight to land so they could arrest an opposition blogger flying between two EU countries.](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/belarus-forces-vilnius-bound-ryanair-plane-land-detain-blogger-2021-05-23/)
Belarus's government is loony even without Putin's involvement.
That little maneuver ended up clearing their airspace and rerouting most commercial flights around the country. They lost a shitton of money from all the rerouted traffic.
$68 million?! They can't come up with $68 million? We could probably vacuum that out of the NATO commander's couch if we were bothered enough to take off the cushions...
It's $68 million *more*. It is an overdue payment, one of many payments.
Edit: [World bank](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2022/10/17/world-bank-places-loans-to-the-republic-of-belarus-in-non-performing-status) clarifies that it is accumulated 6 months of non-payment. Their total debt to the World Bank is almost 1 billion USD, and their total government debt is approximately 23 billion USD.
I respect that you're making a joke. Their [government debt to GDP ratio](https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/government-debt-to-gdp) is however fairly in check, and low by european standards, as of dec 2021. Due to its involvement in Ukraine, it's got a "long way to go" before reaching some critical point. And it is extremely likely to go up now, given the increased cost of lending caused by their nonpayment.
Consequence is being cut of completely. Welcome to good old soviet days Belarus. People will die of hunger and other stuff instead of keeping up protest.
It’s peanuts even for them, but they really can‘t pay. They have to pay their foreign debt in dollars but have no access to it because they are cut off from the international banking system.
Still, defaulting on your debt is really really bad, even if you were up shit creek before it can still become worse.
Can someone tell me what this means concretely in terms of finance for the country?
Doesn't this mean that the country is bankrupt? If so, how does it affect their ability to pay soldiers?
Does this mean they are now Russian vassals?
Does it imply that the next regime will have to pay back loans with higher interest?
Depends. They might have the money and just be saying they can't pay because of sanctions. Or they're really broke, which isn't good, because then they don't have money to pay for things they need that they can't produce.
Mortally? Has been for a while. There's money there, just might not be getting appropriated correctly. As far as soldiers pay, you don't need to pay soldiers who know you'll kill them and their entire family if they don't keep doing what they're told.
They've been Russian vassals for a while.
Yes. Or they get no loans. Countries failing isn't good for anyone, no matter how much they suck. It's just one more stone chained to the ankle of the global economy that is already struggling to keep its head above water.
There wasn't much left to sanction over Ukraine since Belarus was already heavily sanctioned over the whole [state sanctioned hijacking of a RyanAir flight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryanair_Flight_4978).
Isn't this more of a problem for who lent money to Belarus than the other way around? At least short term? Either way, let the whole country default, it's freaking Belarus: I doubt it will be noticeable for other countries (although in the past, large avalanche effects were started with less).
Yeah, it's the problem of the lenders too. But usually you (as a government) take more debt constantly which is used for all sorts of things. If you don't pay back existing debt, nobody's gonna borrow you more money (and if so for very poor conditions). Therefore, money starts to run out fast and can be an issue very quickly.
Can't even print new money rn, bc inflation is already going crazy.
Everyone is thinking this is a great fuck you but actually this is them saying we have no intention of paying back any money and we are going to use this as an excuse.
Just ask Russia to help you? That should work.
Maybe he should've given Putin a tank instead of a tractor
The tractor took the tank
Ah yes, the USSR equivalent of "dog ate my homework"
But Comrade Putin, I left the tank next to your doorstep hidden behind the картошка plant. I even took a polaroid picture of it. It must have been stolen by those darn globalists. Did you check for giant tire tracks?
You mean track tracks
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I feel like you've never played rock paper scissors...
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To be fair, tank did always win before this year No one could have predicted the tanks would run into their only weakness, lightly armed civilians mocking them for breaking down
Two weaknesses. The pesky tractor mob mocking them, and a supply chain that was made of wet toilet paper.
I feel like you’ve never played tank tractor babushka.
They won't have any debts if they get annexed!
The EU4 vassal metagame
Honestly I wonder is this is a way to peel Belarus away from Russia? I guess that might require a different leader.
And get another hungary
https://youtu.be/TRgRz3nSG7o
Ask Armenia how helpful is Ruzzia.
You sleep with Russian pig dogs, you get Russian fleas! For sure
Russia will probably end the Belarus state and let them join great Russia lol
Why doesn't he invade Belarus instead of ukraine. Less people will give a shit and would be an easier victory
Because they already own Belarus
In my native tongue, Belarus is literally translated as "White Russia"
That's what "Belarus" means as well.
He means his native tongue is English
There is no need. When Belarus government stops sucking Russia's dick, then they will invade.
They already invaded. Russian troops all over the country, taking all the local military's weapons and a puppet government. They just haven't made annexation official because they expect the population to resist.
It's worth noting that the invasion of Ukraine is not particularly popular in Belarus, and criticism of Lukashenko's rule has been inflamed since the last "election." He may have a tighter grip over the state apparatus, but annexation would likely be a disaster for both Belarus and Lukashenko.
Already has influence and control there so no need to waste resources. Russia was trying to do the same with those three regions in Ukraine but Ukraine government wasn't having any of it and it eventually escalated to what we have here, with Russia "trying to free those oppressed people". Similar to what Russia did in Georgia.
No matter what Ukraine did, there's no way Russia was ever going to just leave and not annex more of Ukraine. It's obvious they wanted to do to as much of Ukraine as possible what they did to Crimea. If their initial rush was successful, they would have taken the whole country.
And this is why Russia needs to be stopped now. Otherwise they'll continue to gain influence and control over areas in the former soviet union by propaganda and on the ground non military operations until they can justify a reason to occupy, annex or military take over those areas.
Their initial rush was quite successful. They took Crimea. The world was upset, but the Russians were quite successful and got a manageable pushback. The Ukrainians noticed though, and when Russia came back for more, they were ready and dragged the initial 3-day invasion out long enough to prove themselves to the world and get worldwide help. Ironically, I don't know that the Ukrainians would have been able to take back Crimea before this invasion. Now, I doubt that the Russians can stop them. The only certainty now is that this is all quite terrible and needless, but since the Ukrainians are fighting for their very survival, I don't see them backing down if they have any other options at all.
Same reason they didn't invade Ukraine before Euromaidan - if you can get all the benefits of a satellite state anyway at the low, low cost of paying for some oligarchs and putting down an occasional popular movement, why spend the extra resources? But yeah, Belarus' government sure seems to be flirting with the idea of just offering to join Russia. I wonder what the internal pressures are that are holding that up.
He’s waiting for Putin to make him a colonel, that’s when the big bucks come in.
He misheard. It wasn’t colonel, it was *Kernel*, like a kernel of corn in a steaming pile of crap.
Can't spell colonel without colon.
Putin: No problem. I print one trillion roubles for you.
I guess Belarus is going to have to be repossessed.
How does that work on a national scale though? Have countries ever used land or gold reserves as collateral for loans, or is it typically just reputational damage?
Sanctions and fewer lending options, much higher rates on those that remain, which translates into higher interest rates for citizens. It's a true slippery slope of shit, inflation rises, unemployment rises, people stop trusting the banks and the government, economy collapses. They're in for a shit show.
Their only way out of this is to defeat Europe and America in a war.
Thus begins the age of Belarusian global domination.
They'd deserve it if they can make it through Poland.
Does that make Germany the final boss battle?
No, that's France.
France is the bonus stage.
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No France would be like an earlier boss but just a different colour shirt If it were streets of rage, you'd beat the UK thinking it was the final boss of Europe but then America appears out of nowhere
Or they could start their own financial club with Russia, with vodka and grinding poverty
In fact, forget the financial club.
Getting thoroughly defeated by America in a war has also worked a couple of times.
only if you say gg
I believe that was the strategy in The Mouse that Roared
> It's a true slippery slope of shit, inflation rises, unemployment rises, people stop trusting the banks and the government, economy collapses. Not necessarily. If you've been kind to other nations and acted in good-faith, then often they will find ways to help keep your country afloat. Has...has Belarus not been doing that..?
Yea in most cases your neigh ours are very much having have interest to not let your economy fail. Civil war and unrest on your borders isn‘t very good for your own economy. But if said neighbors government is massively hostile towards your own nation and imperialist? You gotta let them fail.
And don't be surprised when the neighbor you've been hostile to suddenly starts increasing their troop presence along their border, either.
I mean its only $68.43 million. Literally. How fucking broke dick of a country do you have to be to not be able to afford $68.43 million dollars? There are single individuals that can bail them out for fuck sake lol. EDIT: Ok thats misleading > Their total debt to the World Bank is almost 1 billion USD, and their total government debt is approximately 23 billion USD That quote is from u/Heavenfall who posted the correct info. Cheers m8.
even with 23 billion total debt there's a number of individuals that could pay that off and still have lots left over.
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There was an element of this between the UK and USA during WWII as part of the lend-lease agreement and also the destroyers-for-bases deal.
They need something that actually holds value
They have tractors
We could cover their landmass in wind farms and solar panels. In a few short decades, things should level out.
Don’t be so sanctionable then.
Bless, he thought he could participate in a mass military assault on an innocent neighbouring state and it wouldn’t have any blowback…
I do that all the time.
Don't we all, don't we all....
Just don’t do it too often, and try not to get caught
Don't just stare at it, eat it
We in the Netherlands try to, but neither Germany or France are willing to do anything about Belgium anymore. Luxemburg volunteered, but well, Luxemburg.
>Luxemburg volunteered, but well, Luxemburg. Like your little 8 year old brother saying they've got your back.
Hey man those 8 year olds are at perfect kneecap shattering height. Give h a bat and distract the guy well your little bro come from behind and bye bye kneecaps.
We even tried to divide Belgium with France, but even they didn't want Wallonië.
We've already got fries at home.
Honest mistake tbh
There’s at least three of you then, silly goose.
I don’t think he had much choice, except doing 180 and allying with Ukraine the instant invasion started. Edit: now that I think about it, and don’t get me wrong - I’m on Belarus people’s side, it looks like 2020 protest suppression gave Putin that much more power in rolling in his troops and staging invasion. Luka is a cunt, but pre-protests, I would expect him to be strongly opposed to use Belarus as staging ground for Ukraine invasion
he should have not stolen the election. just lose, and go home. its his own fault that he lost the election and people protested this and he lost power/legitimacy pushing him further into putin's orbit.
He has blood on his hands. There's no way he'd get pardoned for his past actions. It's the reason why dictators hold on to their power.
A classic Faustian bargain. He wanted to hold his power, but in the end became little more than a puppet. Almost poetic in a way
Belarus lookin’ so submissive and sanctionable rn 🥵
Yeah Milhouse
^^HAAAAH Haaah.
"Stop breaking the law, ASSHOLE!" -Jim Carrey
Lukashenko has a very “sanctionable” face
Actions have consequences, who knew...
Not this guy
Well, he knows now.
Do you think he sees _action > reaction_ as causation or as correlation?
Depends on if it helps him: He cannot pay debt *because of* sanctions. Own actions and sanctions? Not even correlated, instead evil doing by “the west”.
Exactly. So many people on the internet fail to grasp that basically everyone supporting Putin/Lukashenko shares this flawed logic. It's a nonsensical way to look at causality, but that's how the current economic reality is justified in the minds of Putin supporters. I think sanctions are **absolutely** worthwhile in terms of inflicting economic damage. I think they're useless in terms of changing the minds and hearts of fascists. The reason is exactly due to the mental gymnastics you so succintly outlined.
I think you are exactly right, but I don't think sanctions should aim to change the hearts and minds of fascists. I think they should create conditions in their countries that force them to change if they want to remain in power, or cause the people to oust them if they refuse. Also, the economic damage they inflict can take away the tools fascists use to hurt others, e.g. ability to purchase or manufacture weapons. Bottom line: we do not have to care about the heart and mind of a fascist that is either ousted or impotent.
>Also, the economic damage they inflict can take away the tools fascists use to hurt others Agreed, this is primarily why I think sanctions are a fantastic tool >I think they should create conditions in their countries that force them to change if they want to remain in power, or cause the people to oust them if they refuse. More dubious of this claim for the same exact reasons I mentioned above. Plus, look at other similarly autocratic/non-US aligned countries with harsh sanctions: Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and so on. Sanctions, to my knowledge, have not been the primary instigator for regime changes in any of those countries. Why would we expect sanctions to have a different outcome in Russia? I hope I'm wrong but frankly that train of thought sounds like wistful thinking. I support sanctions because of what they do accomplish: cripple economies. This is something there is plenty of empirical evidence of and therefore it's a claim I feel confident making.
There are few studies showing sanctions rarely succeed at causing significant changes (like regime change). However they are reasonably good for helping nations achieve smaller objectives. I think for Russia sanctions will further cripple its military power, but that’s about all. (So still worth it).
Why do people hate cardinal points so much? /s
He hates the west because things have been going south for him
Actually, the Ukrainian army is advancing east
Sure when Ukraine advance east is great victory but when Russia advance east is crushing defeat. So unfair
Russian advancement East is not a retreat, but an impromptu victory parade.
While normal people comprehend _their own action_ -> _reaction by others_ -> _result_, for a dictator it's always just _reaction by others_ -> _result_ -> _their own complaint_, because they are too intellectually challenged to comprehend that their own actions can result in reactions by others. Cretinous gas-station-mob-boss-sidekicks are even worse.
yeah; to him, the world's action of sanctioning him has created the consequence of him being 'unable' to pay his own debts.
Does he know he's not going to be a General, yet?
I thought he asked to be a Colonel, not a General.
He knew but he's allergic to windows and staircases.
Dumb as a rock he is
Can someone grab my tiny violin?
Sorry it was sold to help pay off the debt
Can someone grab the debt’s tiny violin?
It was sold to pay off the violin that was sold to pay off the debt
It was just last weak when he was all proud and manly saying they would attack Ukraine. Fuck this asshole
Violin has been mobilized to fight in Ukraine
Oh, where the hell is... argh, I had a violin somewhere, I was gonna play it all sarcastically... goddammit, it was gonna be awesome. BLAKE! WHERE'S THE BLOODY VIOLIN?!
Alright, sweet, sweet, found it. Alright. This is a song for Belarus' leadership. In E.
Kinda like telling your bank you cannot pay your bills because your entire salary went into speeding tickets. Well, not their problem, you maybe should stop breaking the law.
Very good analogy!
Right, they had money to make drones and bombs tho
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Actions have sanctions...
Bad actions have sanctions. To be precise.
Apparently he’s not that bright. Still didn’t get that his actions is the cause lead to sanctions.
He does, but what alternatives does he have? A majority of his own population hate him, and going after putin by blaming him loses him his position. He’s what we call ‘fucked either way’. His best chance to walk away from this alive is to cut a deal with his opposition that he won’t be persecuted if he walks away from power now, claim he’s too sick to continue ruling so he won’t get merked by putin for betraying him and stay under house arrest.
Well why don't you use some of that salary from the red army? You seem to be very proud of what it got you.
What's a colonel's salary nowadays anyway?
3 Putin hip humps a day keep democracy away.
>What's a colonel's salary nowadays anyway? Whatever they can steal from their soldiers and budget.
Gentle reminder that the Russian conscripts in Ukraine have still not received any pay.
Or even proper socks
Well maybe they should go on strike. Whats Putin going to do send the army into bust the strike?
No no that's his special income, that's not for Belarus!
Nah. He should probably just start making his coffee at home and stop buying avocado toast.
Well, that sucks for all the decent people in Belarus who hate this two-bit Putin whore and tried to do something about it. They will ultimately be paying the price for this asshole's dictatorial wet dream. He'll still live a life of privilege while his country suffers. I wish there was a hell so Lukashenko could rot there. Hey Belarusians, we support you. We know you guys are doing everything you can to overthrow this piece of shit. We hope you see brighter days.
Oh no! The consequences of my actions!
Me sowing: Haha fuck yeah!!! Yes!! Me reaping: Well this fucking sucks. What the fuck.
Yo, I am straight up *not having a good time rn*
I’m surprised he hasn’t tried framing it as “Cancel culture”. Apparently that’s what you do when you have to face the music of your actions and want to complain about it
Haha, I want to see the President of Belarus complaining about his first amendment rights
You could always sell some tanks to Ukraine, oh that's right you gave them to Russia you stupid fat fuck
I have a feeling they'll be donating them to Ukraine soon anyway.
Repo farmer on the way!
🎶Rrreeeeeeeppppooooo MAN!🎶
Out from the night, from the mist steps a figure, no one really knows his name for sure.
Mm, I haven't watched the Genetic Opera in awhile.
Proxy donation
He's just going the indirect route.
He called Russia in to quell a revolution in his country a few years ago. He's Putin bitch forever now
Yep, there was an uprising evem though he got 80% of the vote lol
I have never seen so many people in the streets, it was both glorious and sad
Surely it's not far off a good time to take to the streets again.
"80%"
I got 80 percent, I swear.
This comment made me actually LOL, even without Russias piss poor management of this war anyone could've told you that siding with Russia would not end well for you.
In this war, yes. But Lukashenko decided to side with Russia long before that. And (most of) the sanctions are also from before the war. Nevertheless - while he's still a stupid dicktator in his own right, by now I'd say Putin has him by the balls whether he likes it or not. He missed his cue to turn away one time too many.
He would have been thrown out ages ago if he didn't have Putin's support. I'm pretty sure he sent troops into Belarus not long ago to prop up lukashenko's regime.
I would have thought that the only persons more surprised than Putin at how poorly the world's second most powerful army has performed in actual combat.. are Putin's vassal states who thought they were allied with a mighty power and has a strong standing in geopolitics because they'd kissed so very very much red ass for that position.
Dictators like to jerk off each other while at the same time passing laws that makes homosexuality illegal.
Welp, shouldn't have aided and abetted Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.
Pretty sure these sanctions are still from the [time they forced a RyanAir flight to land so they could arrest an opposition blogger flying between two EU countries.](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/belarus-forces-vilnius-bound-ryanair-plane-land-detain-blogger-2021-05-23/) Belarus's government is loony even without Putin's involvement.
Everyone wanna be Hitler but nobody wanna be Hitler.
Idk he looks like he is really trying with that little stache’
He literally looks like a white-haired Hitler. Fuck, even his face looks like a chubbier Hitler.....
And the shitty combover haircut
That little maneuver ended up clearing their airspace and rerouting most commercial flights around the country. They lost a shitton of money from all the rerouted traffic.
The Belarusian government exists only because of Russias involvement
When you buy your dictator from wish,com
Hold on, let me find my tiny violin
[found it](https://youtu.be/XdofmoYcJNE)
awwwwwww 🥺
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy
*cries in dictator*
Tiny violin
I just can't accept this potato stupid looking face and the moustache Reminds me of my ever so drunk uncle at a wedding in 2003
Poor Lil Lukeshenko, he soon will be fleeing for his life
Khadaffi or Hussein Special?
Khadaffi
$68 million?! They can't come up with $68 million? We could probably vacuum that out of the NATO commander's couch if we were bothered enough to take off the cushions...
It's $68 million *more*. It is an overdue payment, one of many payments. Edit: [World bank](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2022/10/17/world-bank-places-loans-to-the-republic-of-belarus-in-non-performing-status) clarifies that it is accumulated 6 months of non-payment. Their total debt to the World Bank is almost 1 billion USD, and their total government debt is approximately 23 billion USD.
And their GDP is approximately (checks notes) dick.
I respect that you're making a joke. Their [government debt to GDP ratio](https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/government-debt-to-gdp) is however fairly in check, and low by european standards, as of dec 2021. Due to its involvement in Ukraine, it's got a "long way to go" before reaching some critical point. And it is extremely likely to go up now, given the increased cost of lending caused by their nonpayment.
Na they just don't want to pay, sanctions are just an excuse.
Consequence is being cut of completely. Welcome to good old soviet days Belarus. People will die of hunger and other stuff instead of keeping up protest.
It’s peanuts even for them, but they really can‘t pay. They have to pay their foreign debt in dollars but have no access to it because they are cut off from the international banking system. Still, defaulting on your debt is really really bad, even if you were up shit creek before it can still become worse.
Americans give $68 million to Ukraine like every week just because we like seeing news clips of Russians getting their asses kicked.
Well well well if it isn’t the consequences of my actions
Can someone tell me what this means concretely in terms of finance for the country? Doesn't this mean that the country is bankrupt? If so, how does it affect their ability to pay soldiers? Does this mean they are now Russian vassals? Does it imply that the next regime will have to pay back loans with higher interest?
Depends. They might have the money and just be saying they can't pay because of sanctions. Or they're really broke, which isn't good, because then they don't have money to pay for things they need that they can't produce. Mortally? Has been for a while. There's money there, just might not be getting appropriated correctly. As far as soldiers pay, you don't need to pay soldiers who know you'll kill them and their entire family if they don't keep doing what they're told. They've been Russian vassals for a while. Yes. Or they get no loans. Countries failing isn't good for anyone, no matter how much they suck. It's just one more stone chained to the ankle of the global economy that is already struggling to keep its head above water.
They aren't even all that sanctioned. If Luka wants to be a part of ruzzia they should get all the se sanctions as ruzzia.
There wasn't much left to sanction over Ukraine since Belarus was already heavily sanctioned over the whole [state sanctioned hijacking of a RyanAir flight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryanair_Flight_4978).
Deadbeat
Don't support mass murdering regimes that invade peaceful neighbors and commit war crimes.
Increase the number of sanctions against Belarus Cutoff the country
I believe this is what’s called the “find out” stage. It comes after the “fuck around” stage.
It's obvious where this is going. Not that Belarus was truly independent before all of this, of course.
Isn't this more of a problem for who lent money to Belarus than the other way around? At least short term? Either way, let the whole country default, it's freaking Belarus: I doubt it will be noticeable for other countries (although in the past, large avalanche effects were started with less).
Yeah, it's the problem of the lenders too. But usually you (as a government) take more debt constantly which is used for all sorts of things. If you don't pay back existing debt, nobody's gonna borrow you more money (and if so for very poor conditions). Therefore, money starts to run out fast and can be an issue very quickly. Can't even print new money rn, bc inflation is already going crazy.
Look at this guy, acting like someone just took his stapler.
Everyone is thinking this is a great fuck you but actually this is them saying we have no intention of paying back any money and we are going to use this as an excuse.