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I still wonder why Russia reacted this way, unless there is a whole lot more going on than what we know in public. This is a serious military adventure to be undertaken just on w him of a revolt, the second in ten years at that. Putin was not even a fan of Yanukovich or anything. Ukraine is poor and the geographic importance is overstated in my opinion, especially given relations between Russia and the EU. As for the navy base, important, but it is on lease, there are other areas to construct one, and hard power is not as important now days as soft power which Russia is lacking.
Even if NATO expands into Ukraine, NATO has proven its ineffectiveness time after time, with only the US providing the weight for NATO. Sure, having NATO troops would be a slap in the face to Russia, but not really, not if Russia shifted its policies to become more embracing of the EU and cooperation with NATO, instead of adversarial. Of course there is the constant knowledge that there are factions within the US that want Russia to disappear and lose military capability to challenge the US, that itself would put Russia on the defensive.
And what about China? Anyone know their stance on this issue? China frequently flies under the radar on these things.
Well hell may be on its way. Ukraine now has to deal with an ultimatum by tomorrow. Russia has noted
'If by 5am tomorrow morning they do not surrender a real assault will begin on units and sections of the Ukrainian armed forces all over Crimea.'
If this is true then Russia truly will force Ukraine to fight. And Ukraine might now have to fight like the Finns. It will be interesting to see how Europe and the US deal with this one. The KGB man is surely forcing things. Maybe radicals have won this game? And oh Admiral Berezovsky is now also a target. A mess.
boxus, it's also always a question of popularity.
Politicians say and do, what they think gives them votes
and support from the population. And this is being
steered by the media.
The polls from Russia would be interesting ...
Well hell may be on its way. Ukraine now has to deal with an ultimatum by tomorrow. Russia has noted
'If by 5am tomorrow morning they do not surrender a real assault will begin on units and sections of the Ukrainian armed forces all over Crimea.'
If this is true then Russia truly will force Ukraine to fight. And Ukraine might now have to fight like the Finns. It will be interesting to see how Europe and the US deal with this one. The KGB man is surely forcing things. Maybe radicals have won this game? And oh Admiral Berezovsky is now also a target. A mess.
No one wants a civil war other than perhaps the egg heads in Washington or the creeps in Germany....apparently they think that the Ukraine is and can be like another Syria...what a joke....The Ukraine will settle down in short notice...and the trouble makers that hope for the worst should just back off.
you would assume that that sort of ultimatum had to come from Putin and/or parliament.
It's in direct conflict with the declared purpose to just protect Crimea-citizens, which are not at
danger from Ukraine military, let alone from a blocked one.
Also, there could be Russians or Russian speaking people in the Ukranian military.
Or even non-fascist soldiers from the Ukrainian "brother-people", who knows.
Russia's Black Sea Fleet has told Ukrainian forces in Crimea to surrender by 5 a.m.
(0300 GMT) on Tuesday or face a military assault, Interfax news agency quoted a
source in the Ukrainian Defence Ministry as saying.
The ultimatum, Interfax said, was issued by Alexander Vitko, the fleet's commander.
The United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, reaffirm their obligation to refrain from the
threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of
Ukraine, and that none of their weapons will ever be used against Ukraine except
in self-defense or otherwise in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.
hmm, do we really know whether Ukraine returned all nukes to Russia in 1994 ?
Maybe Yanukovich released some interesting info about this to Putin in revenge
for the actions against him in Kiew
(pure speculation)
The United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, reaffirm their obligation to refrain from the
threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of
Ukraine, and that none of their weapons will ever be used against Ukraine except
in self-defense or otherwise in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.
Except the issue of; who is the legitimate president.
Sort of how like the US changed the meaning of "coup" when the Egyptian military overthrew the gov, the question of who is the legitimate president of Ukraine is still in the air, no matter what the US wants to think.
This was a coup, Yanukovich, an elected president by a fair election, was ousted by a coup, then the parliament illegally stripped him of power, it is illegal because parliament did not have the authority to do so by the means they did it.
So technically, even by international standards, Yanukovich is still the president, and he has requested assistance from another country. It is legal for him to request assistance.
So, if the West has issues, they need to address this issue first, the issue of an elected president ousted by a coup.
Also, the Budapest Memo is not a treaty, and has no enforcement mechanism in it other than reference to international law. If to go by international law, Yanukovich is still the president of Ukraine until he resigns, or the parliament uses legal means to oust him from the presidency.
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