Do you think there will be a third world war?

once you're in the list of spamming, you ain't getting out of it :D

If this happens, it will be the last war on the planet because nuclear weapons will be used.

If a 3rd world war starts it will be at the hands of something irrational because on the part of the leaders I think everyone knows that wars are no longer profitable or economically

I dont think it will be a third war at all.

The only way I think there is a "smooth" way out of all of this is an exit-ramp for Putin. He has to be able to walk away and act like he won something, anything, and be able to tell his people that. Otherwise, it'll drag on.

As of this morning, Kremlin officials are on record saying they won't deny the possibility of nuclear weapons - though they're not looking at Tsar Bombs or what the US dropped on Japan in WWII, they're potentially considering a "small nuke" to use somewhere desolate in Ukraine or off in the sea to more or less save face and get a quick victory - though the UN and NATO basically said that if they did use them, and ANY radiation went into UN/NATO countries, it would be considered an attack on those countries, therefore an attack on the UN/NATO.

Putin is the wildcard right now. He has a drastically failing military campaign, his own military is beginning to become upset at him, he's putting KGB agents and Kremlin staff on house arrest, leaks keep happening on state media (Anonymous hacked stated channels to show war footage and a state newspaper/online newspaper was "hacked" to show the actual number of Russian fatalities so far - 10,000+ compared to the RF saying it's only a couple hundred casualties), about half of his country disagrees with what he's doing, Russians are trying to flee the country, the sanctions are crippling to the average Russian (Insulin is now taking 8 months to arrive in the country, a lot of vehicle and machinery pieces are no longer being imported, and a lot of businesses are shutting down), and so much more. Putin has never been so cornered or called out before, so it's hard to tell - even for people who know him personally.

Though the whole reason Putin is doing this is for his/Russia's "legacy" - he wants to the be the one who reunites all former Russian lands back to one Russia. He's doing this FOR the legacy of himself and Russia - so if they did use nuclear weapons, it'd risk the safety of all of Russia, and it might even turn some of their allies against them (China) and might even be the end for Russia (if not the world) - and Putin doesn't want to be remembered as the "leader" who destroyed the entirety of Russia.

I see this, potentially and hopefully, ending soon; the two sides will reach an agreement - Putin will walk away with whatever outcome declaring it a victory for Russia, and somehow be absolved of any war crimes and investigations would cease because everyone else will just be happy that he's calm, happy, and distracted. Hell, Putin might even step down after all of this if he can walk away from any charges, hailing this as his "last victory" so he can end his 20 year term on a "good note." They're literately just asking for a peninsula they've already annexed almost a decade ago to be considered part of Russia, two parts to be considered their own "states", and for Ukraine to be "neutral" and demilitarized. That's a big difference from a month ago where they wanted to control the entire country and absorb it into Russia.

It's not gonna happen lest the leaders of NUCLEAR-capable nations would rather govern and legislate over piles upon piles of rubble.

nah, everything is shit in Ukraine but they're not gonna escalate it beyond the immediate surrounding countries.

It could be, dangerous leaders

august 24th 2024 will be the day