Why should Russia have Crimea or Kaliningrad? Neither are really contingent to the rest of Russia.
The same reason why we have Alaska and Hawaii.
You could make the same argument you make for Odessa in any number of cases around the globe, but it doesn't change what happens when colonialism or occupation of one sort or another ends. The colonial power or occupier gives it up.
The colonial power in this case is being asked to return... and the people are happy to receive them. Also, you really do corrupt the term "colonial" because in 99% of the cases you are referring to, the colonial power had vastly different ethnic, religious and cultural arrangements than the colony. You and I both know that isn't the case with Donbas, Crimea and the Black Sea coast.
NATO is defensive; that's always been the aim.
You have to be kidding me, right? The objective from the very beginning was to keep the US in, the Soviets out and Germany down. Up until Putin stepped on the stage over two decades ago, they were successful with Russia, but you are now starting to see this conflict destroy and hollow out Europe's largest economy in Germany. Also, since the fall of the Soviet Union, NATO has specifically been used as a way to be provocative towards Russian Federation. They expanded eastward and up to Russia's borders... ignoring any security concerns they may have had. And if they really wanted to show they were genuine about wanting to be a defensive alliance, then they would have allowed a naive and green Putin join NATO in 2000/2001. That was a blown opportunity because the Russian Bear at that time had no teeth or claws and was bottoming out a decade of Yeltsin and economic decay. They were at a weakened, vulnerable and desperate state. But after 2008, Putin and Russia realized that there was no way that The West was going to make peace with them. They had ambitions of at some point trying to do to Russia what they have been doing in Ukraine for the past 30 years... robbing resources, installing Western oligarchs and burning through the labor of the people there.
Obviously if Russia as an aggressor faces a bottleneck like the Bosporus or Kattegat to become a bigger menace, then stopping it might be considered both defensive and offensive depending on point of view - maybe most of us would agree blocking the Russian fleet would be defensive.
A blockade is not defensive, it is an act of war and you damn well know that. Hell, the Arabs tried to blockade the Straits of Tiran and the Israelis called it an act of war.
Do any of the other non-US NATO countries have the ability to manufacture weapons to support a wartime effort? Sweden is in no worse a position than most other European NATO countries. That's the point about the US and NATO (and what should be a NATO analogue in the Pacific), we theoretically have strategically isolated resources and manufacturing during times of war - at least we did before globalism's ugly head popped up.
Your first sentence... at this point there are NO NATO countries that have the ability to support a wartime effort. I just posted an article either today or yesterday where the British defense minister said it would take years to them to replenish what they have given to Ukraine. I posted a story last week where his Polish counterpart or someone in the Polish govt was begging for tanks... even Soviet era tanks, to replenish their stockpiles. And there is a long article that came out just yesterday that points to the lack of manufacturing in NATO/The West to support this measly regional conflict. You won't read it because it isn't going to be in line with your beliefs. But it points out everything I've said, everything Trump has said, everything most people with common sense would say.... this combination of green politics, de-industrialization, globalization, just-in-time manufacturing that is heavily dependent on long supply chains and diminishing the crafts and trades professions. By now, it should be quite clear that Russia does not have those problems. Look at the numbers this British analyst is providing and ask yourself how in the hell the US can replenish it's stockpile of Javelins at the snap of a finger? How the US can produce 1100-2100 cruise missiles in 3 months, which is what the Russians are estimated of using?
The Return of Industrial Warfare | Royal United Services Institute (rusi.org)
Unfortunately, this is not only the case with artillery. Anti-tank Javelins and air-defence Stingers are in the same boat. The US shipped 7,000 Javelin missiles to Ukraine – roughly one-third of its stockpile – with more shipments to come. Lockheed Martin produces about 2,100 missiles a year, though this number might ramp up to 4,000 in a few years. Ukraine claims to use 500 Javelin missiles every day.
The expenditure of cruise missiles and theatre ballistic missiles is just as massive. The Russians have fired between 1,100 and 2,100 missiles. The US currently purchases 110 PRISM, 500 JASSM and 60 Tomahawk cruise missiles annually, meaning that in three months of combat, Russia has burned through four times the US annual missile production. The Russian rate of production can only be estimated. Russia started missile production in 2015 in limited initial runs, and even in 2016 the production runs were estimated at 47 missiles. This means that it had only five to six years of full-scale production.
Of course, Putin's comments about his nukes make too many people here quiver in their boots.
Oh stop it. Putin's comments shouldn't make you quiver, you need to worry about who the f*** has got their finger on the trigger over here with that senile, bumbling hack we have. I can't take you serious right now. You hate Russians more than you love common horse sense. You damn well know that was clearly meant as a warning and a reminder to The West that Russia is not a country they can easily bully without repercussions. The leaders in the West, unfortunately, do not behave like Russia is a nuclear power and continue to act belligerently and provocatively. These Western leaders are corrupt, idiotic and dangerous. And I hope for their downfall (not the people of the West but our leadership) everyday.
. Might want to study on ETMALA too there comrade McVeigh
