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Will Putin attack Ukraine again this week?

I am not so sure how this will play out. The Europeans also depend (30%+) on Russia for their energy supplies and can't switch to other sources. Already, West Europeans are humming and hawing about any strong actions, and public opinion in Germany and France is not supportive of antagonizing Russia.

BERLIN - German central bank chief Jens Weidmann said on Tuesday (25 March) that Russia has more to lose than Europe if economic sanctions are imposed over its actions in Ukraine.

EUobserver / German central bank: Russia has more to lose than we do

^^ Doesn't sound like "huming and hawing" does it? more like, "if need be, we will do it".

Plus a whole host of actions aimed at supporting the Baltic nations and Poland. Namely, additional air patrol aircraft from US, UK, France, Denmark with AWACS support.
 
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^^ Doesn't sound like "huming and hawing" does it? more like, "if need be, we will do it".

The action in Poland and elsewhere is worthless since Russia has no intention of attacking NATO.

What are the Europeans waiting for to determine the "need" for action?
Crimea is already part of Russia. It's a fait accompli and all the Europeans could do was to ruffle their feathers.

It's like the weakling who boasts that he is deliberately holding back and will hit back the next time.
 
The action in Poland and elsewhere is worthless since Russia has no intention of attacking NATO.

What are the Europeans waiting for to determine the "need" for action?
Crimea is already part of Russia. It's a fait accompli and all the Europeans could do was to ruffle their feathers.

It's like the weakling who boasts that he is deliberately holding back and will hit back the next time.

To me, it appears that Russia has been tip toeing to take over Ukraine military base by military base. On the other hand Russia has abandoned a very few old military posts in Eastern Ukraine which Russia itself held ever since Ukraine became a free of Russia nation.
 
To me, it appears that Russia has been tip toeing to take over Ukraine military base by military base. On the other hand Russia has abandoned a very few old military posts in Eastern Ukraine which Russia itself held ever since Ukraine became a free of Russia nation.

The saddest part of this whole drama is the fact that Ukraine's sons are refusing to fight and most that have encountered Russian troops have defected.
 
No. He dont have to.
The troops on border are just to remind people that just in case somebody decide to do foolish things then its both sided party.
 
The saddest part of this whole drama is the fact that Ukraine's sons are refusing to fight and most that have encountered Russian troops have defected.

Objective data I read suggests defections to Russian military in just seized parts of Eastern Ukraine are proportional to Ukraines and other ethnic groupings to the Russian ethnic grouping in that part of Ukraine, about a 60% defection of soldiers rate.

With Putin now "saying" Russia will return captured arms to Ukranian military this sounds absurd for if the ethnic Russians in Ukranian militry have defected, then Putin is giving them back the Ukranian arms...solely to avoid Russia having to provide arms to them themselves.

Quite a tricky public relations shells and peas game. I give you back that I just took from you, and you remain newly my soldier vs. having been a Ukranian soldier. Unless I totally misperciever what is going on with Putin.

If anyone expects Russia to return to prior to invasion status quo geopolitically, that is a big mistake. I oppose illegal annexation of Eastern Ukraine just as I would have opposed pre-WW II Germany "justifications" to seize Alsace Lorrainel the Sudatenland; and half of Poland. I was only a young boy during WW II.
 
It is highly doubtful that Putin will occupy Eastern and Southern Ukraine unless the US and the West go all out against Russia with costly Sanctions. Any such Western Plan to Punish Russia with biting Sanctions will backfire because they will remove all incentives for Russia to refrain from further encroachments.

Let us not forget that all these parts of Ukraine ( Eastern Ukraine and Crimea) were given to Ukraine by Nikita Khrushchev in 1954 and prior to that time they were part of Russian Province.
 
It is highly doubtful that Putin will occupy Eastern and Southern Ukraine unless the US and the West go all out against Russia with costly Sanctions. Any such Western Plan to Punish Russia with biting Sanctions will backfire because they will remove all incentives for Russia to refrain from further encroachments.

Let us not forget that all these parts of Ukraine ( Eastern Ukraine and Crimea) were given to Ukraine by Nikita Khrushchev in 1954 and prior to that time they were part of Russian Province.

I, for one, as a "Westerner" do not and never will accept land and population grabs at gun point.

You clearly don't appreciate the meaning of "democracy" as we know it in the West.

The fact that all but about 5 nations of the total UN General Assembly have condemned Russia and Putin and ask them to return Ukraine to the status quo tells you how the vast majority of the world see this matter.
 
I, for one, as a "Westerner" do not and never will accept land and population grabs at gun point.

You clearly don't appreciate the meaning of "democracy" as we know it in the West.

The fact that all but about 5 nations of the total UN General Assembly have condemned Russia and Putin and ask them to return Ukraine to the status quo tells you how the vast majority of the world see this matter.


Pray do enlighten us with some links to back this claim of yours. You must live in some Parallel World because your claims don't jibe with Ground Reality.

According to the next link down below 100 members supported the General Assembly vote.
11 opposed and 58 abstentions. Unlike your unsubstantiated claims, I will actually provide you with a link:

General Assembly Adopts Resolution Calling upon States Not to Recognize
Changes in Status of Crimea Region


ITAR-TASS: World - Vote on Ukraine resolution in UN GA shows Russia not in isolation

Crimea Resolution Backed by U.S. Barely Gets UN Majority - BusinessWeek

Armenia, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, North Korea, Nicaragua Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Zimbabwe joined Russia in objecting to the text, while Serbia, Iran, Bosnia and Yemen didn’t cast ballots. The abstentions included China, Egypt, India, Iraq, Mongolia, Myanmar and other African nations.

China and India abstained ( just these two Nations have a combined Population of 2.6 Billion people on Planet Earth ), plus all the African countries and others. Stop smoking that stuff which is clouding your judgment.

Even the US most trusted ALLY Israel did NOT support the US Resolution:

Why did Israel fail to back US-supported UN resolution on Crimea? | The Electronic Intifada
 
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Pray do enlighten us with some links to back this claim of yours. You must live in some Parallel World because your claims don't jibe with Ground Reality.

"According to the next link down below 100 members supported the General Assembly vote.
11 opposed and 58 abstentions. Unlike your unsubstantiated claims, I will actually provide you with a link. Russia voted for itself as the 11th NO vote"

"Armenia, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, North Korea, Nicaragua Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Zimbabwe joined Russia in voting NO. No opinion/abstains do not count in measuring a Yes/No vote, so you had 100 Yes to 11 no, a ratio of approximately 10 to one in favor of YES."


General Assembly Adopts Resolution Calling upon States Not to Recognize
Changes in Status of Crimea Region


ITAR-TASS: World - Vote on Ukraine resolution in UN GA shows Russia not in isolation

I and perhaps much of the Western World are not impressed by slanted journalism of the Russian owned TASS News Agency, a "state owned" propaganda tool.

Crimea Resolution Backed by U.S. Barely Gets UN Majority ( 10 to 1 ratio of those voting Yes or No, which is how you measure an up or down Resoslution. Absentees and abstentions are not counted.- "BusinessWeek"

Armenia, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, North Korea, Nicaragua Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Zimbabwe joined Russia in objecting to the text, while Serbia, Iran, Bosnia and Yemen didn’t cast ballots. "These are hardly pro-Democratic nations.


The abstentions included China, Egypt, India, Iraq, Mongolia, Myanmar and other African nations. ABSTENTIONS ARE NOT COUNTED IN AN UP OR DOWN YES/NO VOTE.

China and India abstained ( just these two Nations have a combined Population of 2.6 Billion people on Planet Earth ), plus all the African countries and others. Stop smoking that stuff which is clouding your judgment.

Even the US most trusted ALLY Israel did NOT support the US Resolution:


There were 100 votes in favor, 11 against

Why did Israel fail to back US-supported UN resolution on Crimea? | The Electronic Intifada

Israel is mad at President Obama over Iran. But you already knew this fact.

My answer, unlike many I do post here with factual backup Internet references, dealt with the democratic world members of the UN who voted YES.

Look at the politics of the NO votes:

Here is the by country name vast majority vote condeming Russian's illegal and unconstitutional acts in Ukraine:

Yes votes over no votes, combined with abstentions, still left a 2 to 1 ratio against Russia's actions in Ukraine:

U.N. General Assembly declares Crimea secession vote invalid| Reuters

U.N. General Assembly declares Crimea secession vote invalid
BY LOUIS CHARBONNEAU AND MIRJAM DONATH

UNITED NATIONS Thu Mar 27, 2014 2:43pm EDT

(Reuters) - The U.N. General Assembly on Thursday passed a non-binding resolution declaring invalid Crimea's Moscow-backed referendum earlier this month on seceding from Ukraine, in a vote that Western nations said highlighted Russia's isolation.

There were 100 votes in favor, 11 against and 58 abstentions in the 193-nation assembly. Two dozen countries did not participate in the vote, either because they did not show up or because they have not paid their dues, U.N. diplomats said.

Western diplomats said the number of yes votes was higher than expected despite what they called Moscow's aggressive lobbying efforts against the resolution.

Before the vote, one senior Western diplomat had described a result with 80-90 yes votes as successful for Ukraine. Other Western diplomats agreed, saying the result showed how few active supporters Moscow has around the world.

The General Assembly resolution echoes a text Moscow vetoed earlier this month in the Security Council. The approved declaration dismisses Crimea's vote as "having no validity, (and) cannot form the basis for any alteration of the status of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea or of the City of Sevastopol."

The resolution, which does not mention Russia by name, says the General Assembly "calls upon all States, international organizations and specialized agencies not to recognize any alteration of the status" of Crimea and Sevastopol.

Although the resolution is non-binding, Western diplomats said it sends a strong political message about Russia's lack of broad support on the Crimean issue. They said the fact thatRussia lobbied so hard to persuade U.N. member states not to vote for it was proof that Moscow took it seriously.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia, who introduced the text to the assembly, said after the vote that an "overwhelming majority of nations in the world supported this resolution."

"The purpose of this document is to reinforce core United Nations principles at a moment when they are experiencing a major challenge," he said before the vote.

"This text is also about respect of territorial integrity and non use of force to settle disputes," he added. "It sends an essential message that the international community will not allow what has happened in Crimea to set a precedent for further challenges to our rules based international framework."

'DIRTY DOZEN'

Speaking before the vote, Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin urged countries to support what he said was Crimea's right of self-determination and to respect the Crimeans' choice to place themselves under the authority of Moscow.

"Russia could not refuse the Crimeans to support their right to self-determination in fulfilling their long-standing aspiration," he said. "Historical justice has been vindicated."

Churkin described the voting result as "a moral victory for the Russian diplomacy."

"The fact that almost half of the members of the United Nations refused to support this resolution, I think, is very encouraging," he said.

Several Western diplomats, however, said Churkin led an aggressive lobbying campaign against the resolution, adding that many states which sympathize with Ukraine abstained or chose not to be present for fear of angering Russia.

Israel, Iran, Serbia and several former Soviet republics in Central Asia like Tajikistan andKyrgyzstan were among those that did not take part in the vote.

Ukraine's former Russian-backed president, Viktor Yanukovich, was ousted last month after a crackdown on demonstrations in Kiev that left dozens dead. That prompted Moscow to seize the Black Sea peninsula.

U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said all countries supported the idea of self-determination but that Russia had used its military to forcibly annex Crimea.

"Coercion cannot be the means by which a self determines," she said. "The chaos that would ensue is not a world that any of us can afford. It is a dangerous world."

Power added that the resolution showed "that borders are not mere suggestions."

Kaha Imnadze, the ambassador of Georgia, said Moscow was repeating what it had done in his own country's 2008 war with Russia over the Georgian breakaway enclave of South Ossetia.

"What happened in Ukraine reminds us of what we saw in Georgia in 2008, when Russia seized Georgia's Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions," he said. "Six years after the war, 20 percent of my country remains under illegal Russian occupation."

Only 10 other countries stood with Russia in voting against the resolution. The group of 11 states, which the senior Western diplomat described as the "dirty dozen", included critics of Western nations like Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, North Korea, Nicaragua, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

Both Nicaragua and Bolivia railed against what they described as Western attempts at "regime change", which they said was meant to undermine democratically elected governments.

China, which since 2011 joined Russia in vetoing three Security Council resolutions that condemned Syria and threatened it with sanctions, abstained, as it did in the Security Council vote on Ukraine earlier this month.
 
To me, it appears that Russia has been tip toeing to take over Ukraine military base by military base. On the other hand Russia has abandoned a very few old military posts in Eastern Ukraine which Russia itself held ever since Ukraine became a free of Russia nation.

My feeling is that, unlike the US, both the Russians and West Europeans are eager to put this behind them and pretend it never happened. Heightened tensions don't benefit either side.

The only losers will be the Ukrainians and, I suppose, they have been deemed expendable by the West Europeans.
 
That's going to be hilarious UN declares US illegal state hands it over to aboriginals/red indians/native...natives rejoice distribute marijuana all across newly declared country redeon indion.

What non sense is US/west getting into they can bomb the hell outta afghanistan and iraq and libya and than point fingers at rest of the world.
 
That's going to be hilarious UN declares US illegal state hands it over to aboriginals/red indians/native...natives rejoice distribute marijuana all across newly declared country redeon indion.

What non sense is US/west getting into they can bomb the hell outta afghanistan and iraq and libya and than point fingers at rest of the world.

If you condone the ex-regime run by the Taliban in Afghanistan, complicit in the World Trade Towers bombing, which killed men, women, and children (there were nurseries inside the WTT for children of some female workers) ...then why not go back to the violence in today's Pakistan and get out of the Canadian democracy you enjoy to make such anti-free world statements.

The "worthiness" of this thread is that it focuses violations of the worldwide understood international rule of law, national constitutions, and use of brute force to run roughshod over the 40% of Eastern Ukraine who are not Russian "speakers." And "all Russian speakers" do not wish to be under a growing tyrannical rule of Mr. Putin whose KGB credentials an ex-Lt. Colonel of same.

The history the madman Hitler created doing this type of take over of both Alsace Lorraine and Czechoslovakia is a literal comparison of today's Russia under Putin. The fact that Hitler then made a secret deal with Stalin and the old USSR to violently militarily, guns blazing, seize half of Poland is what we in the West are hoping to forestall right now...with 88,000 or more Russian troops, tanks, and gunship helicopters dug in on the border opposite the short pathway to Kiev in the Ukraine.

Ousted Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovych reported to be in Russia | World news | theguardian.com

"The president has lost authority even among his closest allies following his flight from Kiev – the mayor of a town in his eastern heartland has described him as "history", his close aides have fled and even the oligarch most tightly allied to him, Rinat Akhmetov, has said he is ready to work with the new authorities.

Ukraine's new prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, accused Yanukovich's government on Thursday of stripping state coffers, saying $37bn of credit had "disappeared in an unknown direction".

Speaking in parliament before he was appointed head of a national unity government, Yatsenyuk said that in the past three years "the sum of $70bn was paid out of Ukraine's financial system into offshore accounts".

"I want to report to you: the state treasury has been robbed and is empty," he said.

The new government's authority does not extend to Crimea, and it is possible Yanukovych may find support there. However, even in areas that are cynical about the makeup of the new government, there is little support for Yanukovych personally."

Pakistan, from whence you either came or choose to identify with, is trying hard to further implement democracy, having now elected two successive national governments and Parliaments vs. past history of Pakistan under military dictators. Your "chain of thought" fits the military dictatorship style. I don't think you represent the sentiment of Pakistan in today's world where emerging democratic governments worldwide are exhilarated to breath more fully the air of freedom which does not use force to invade another nation's lands.

NATO's military might may yet have to be used to reverse Russia's acts of aggression and illegal land seizure in Ukraine.

Oh, yes, the fact that Cossacks, who are a Muslim faith minority in Eastern Ukraine, and Eastern Orthodox Catholic Ukrainians, who together with the Cossacks (Muslims) are about 40% of the total population in Ukraine, must be viewed by you as American Indians, right? That is your logic except you prefer to let Russia have it's violent military way in hopes things will just "blow over and quiet down."

Russia is itself inciting ethnic hatred and violence where none existed previously inside Ukraine.

Putin and Russia created this dilemma.
 
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