Will Russia come to the "aid" of Ukraine?

[Mr.United_Nations]

First Russia didn't occupy Crimea, it is allowed to have up to 25000 troops there. Secondly, it was about people's vote, and now western politicians are denying Crimeans this right, but it was ok for Kosovo. Hypocrisy and double standards

thats because Serbia was full of extreme nationalists that no one liked

[Mikko-kun]

I just wish it didn't come to a big fight.

[keithisco]

Can the Crimea vote for Russian Anexation be legidimate while being occupied by Thousands of Russian Soldiers and while those soldiers are barring outside observers?

The simple answer is "No". Such a move is not permitted in International Law, and any result in the affirmative holds no weight in the World (except for Russia). Annexation by Proxy (Russia insists that their troops are not involved) is not validated at any level

[keithisco]

He's pretty much the only serious world leader. And the concern coming from the west is real, am I a paranoid lunatic too?

In your mind, what makes a "serious" World leader. Come to that which part or parts of the World does he lead?

He displays classic "small man syndrome" - just like Tom Cruise, and Napolean 3rd. Ukraine is not a member of NATO, if it was then you would have a completely different scenario to contend with "any attack on a NATO country is an attack on NATO itself", and Putin would never even dare to do that!

[Mr.United_Nations]

In your mind, what makes a "serious" World leader. Come to that which part or parts of the World does he lead?

He displays classic "small man syndrome" - just like Tom Cruise, and Napolean 3rd. Ukraine is not a member of NATO, if it was then you would have a completely different scenario to contend with "any attack on a NATO country is an attack on NATO itself", and Putin would never even dare to do that!

He's just upset

[+and-then]

I just wish it didn't come to a big fight.

Agreed! These folks aren't just neighbors, they're kin. Putin seems to think it's easier to take than to talk... we'll see how it works for him but my guess is he isn't going to like how this evolves if shooting starts.

[Mikko-kun]

Yeah, I can't imagine them really wanting to be a part of Russia though it might be a more pleasant option for some than staying with Ukraine, might be a means to an end to them. The best Russia could do to them is protect Crimean sovereignity if they wanted to be sovereign, though it is hypocrite from them considering their past history.

[SolarPlexus]

thats because Serbia was full of extreme nationalists that no one liked

yeah hit me with more baseless nonsense plz

[MordorOrc]

First Russia didn't occupy Crimea, it is allowed to have up to 25000 troops there.

Yes it is occupying the Crimea. It does have the ability to have 25,000 troops deployed there, but they're not actually allowed to leave the base and occupy airports and government buildings in the Ukraine. They're there either in support of Russian naval operations there, or guarding the base.

Secondly, it was about people's vote, and now western politicians are denying Crimeans this right, but it was ok for Kosovo. Hypocrisy and double standards

Firstly, no one cares about Kosovo. Secondly, your country had just finished committing one of the worst genocides of the 20th century. Your so-called "leaders" (war criminals) were going to do the same in Kosovo.

Hypocrisy and double standards are only your opinion. And that opinion comes from someone who support genocide.

[SolarPlexus]

Firstly, no one cares about Kosovo. Secondly, your country had just finished committing one of the worst genocides of the 20th century.

eat more mass media trash )..... we call em fairy tales... stay in the dark plz

[MordorOrc]

eat more mass media trash

Well, aren't you a little gem? Don't like the facts presented so you call it "mass media trash".

Protip: defending genocide isn't a good thing to do.

Edited March 10, 2014 by MordorOrc

[acidhead]

defending genocide????

WOW

[Harry_Dresden]

HD does this statement not also point to a very VULNERABLE situation for Putin/Russia as well?

Obviously the EU would rather not have disruptions in their current agreements but if a teenager with a couple of hundred dollars can start a fire that stops the gas flowing for weeks then how "secure" will it be to keep relying on Russian gas? The very disruption caused by occupation probably has business in Europe starting to look for alternate sources.

...absolutely...no one will win a trade war, no one will win a proxy war and the only logical alternative IMO is a compromise. As far as how "secure" the gas/oil lines are well the same could be said about most methods of transportation and storage regardless of where they are. Besides, Russia has heard all these threats about trade wars before...in Georgia, the USA said the same and what happened? Nothing! and nothing will happen in the Crimea or Eastern Ukraine. A tacit agreement has probably been already reached and the spoils (Ukraine) will be split between the spheres of influence of the USA and Russia.

Cheers

[Helen of Annoy]

defending genocide????

WOW

When wounded Croats were taken out of Vukovar hospital and their throats were cut, solely because they were Croats, and that was done by Serbian aggressor, what was that if not part of genocide?

When complete population of Croatian Ilok was taken to camps in Serbia, from the youngest child to the oldest grandmother and all women raped there, all men tortured and most of them murdered, what was that if not part of genocide planned, supported and carried out by Greater Serbs that control Serbia even today?

When Martic dropped cluster bombs on Children’s hospital in Zagreb and HNK (Croatian national theatre), blasting sick children and ballerinas (I kid you not, our prime ballerina Almira Osmanovic was badly wounded while practicing) what was it than part of genocide planned to eradicate Croats?

Now let’s take a look across the river, in Bosnia. Ever heard of Sarajevo siege? Ever heard of Srebrenica? Do you want details if you managed not to hear them until now?

Yes, GENOCIDE.

You are defending genocide when you’re denying it too.

Only in Serbia it is forbidden to talk about GENOCIDE Greater Serbian ideologists planned and chetniks carried out.

What I survived in 1990s was done to me for one reason only: I wasn’t Serb.

That, my uninformed acquaintance, is genocide.

“Croats must be slain, using rusty spoon because cutting their throats with a knife is too good for them.” are the words of Sheshelj, chetnik vojvoda, so now you tell me if he had genocide in mind.

Just because Serbs failed in carrying out the genocide doesn’t mean they were not doing it.

Now back on topic.

There’s only one guy here that keeps harping about Kosovo that is not related to the Ukraine, except through the fact that you can find few chetniks in Crimea today too. “We came to relate our experiences.” they said and promptly blocked a road. True, that’s how the operated. Road block, singling out non-Serbs and murdering them at the spot or later in the camps.

That’s what you’re defending by denying it. In case you were not aware.

Back. on. topic.

For your own good.

[Helen of Annoy]

...absolutely...no one will win a trade war, no one will win a proxy war and the only logical alternative IMO is a compromise. As far as how "secure" the gas/oil lines are well the same could be said about most methods of transportation and storage regardless of where they are. Besides, Russia has heard all these threats about trade wars before...in Georgia, the USA said the same and what happened? Nothing! and nothing will happen in the Crimea or Eastern Ukraine. A tacit agreement has probably been already reached and the spoils (Ukraine) will be split between the spheres of influence of the USA and Russia.

Cheers

It’s up to Ukrainians to decide.

Stereotype spread by Russian propaganda is wrong, not all Ukrainian Russians and Russian speakers are more fond of Russia than of their own Ukraine.

That’s probably why it’s so important for Russia to forcefully take at least a chunk of Ukraine – if they were certain the population in the south-east is really that pro-Russian, they’d agree with sane method called free and fair elections.

Monitored by neutral observers. Who are not allowed to set foot near Crimea.

[acidhead]

wow?

[Mr.United_Nations]

defending genocide????

WOW

Yeah basically hes defending the Serbs on what they did and Kosvo should be belong to Serbia and Serbs only,a nation full of facists

[SolarPlexus]

xD

[Just Dave]

Nothing more than Saber rattling, First US cant afford a war, second Russians know that and they will help Crimea to become a part of them again... end of story... while in news you will see " We are at the brink of a war! " and " USA harassing Russia or other way around".

[NiteMarcher]

Russia Has Already “Won” in Ukraine

By: Byron King

I spent much of last week in Houston at a major energy conference. I spent most of this week up in Toronto at the annual convention of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), the world’s largest mining conference.

Along the way, I followed news and spoke with knowledgeable people about Russia and its political-military moves toward Ukraine. I won’t drop names, but the other night I had dinner with a former Canadian ambassador to Russia; and that was after spending an entire afternoon talking with members of the Canadian diplomatic corps who deal extensively with NATO, Russia and nations of the former Soviet Union (FSU).

Byron King

Edited March 15, 2014 by Saru
Trimmed for length - please avoid copy and pasting entire articles

[SolarPlexus]

So to sum up, Crimea isn’t really all about Crimea anymore. It’s about what protocols the West establishes for other nations with territorial and demographic disputes. ....

Regards

Byron King

Yup, Kosovo was the Pandora box. Let them west reap its well-deserved "rewards" now )

[SolarPlexus]

Ukraine never needed EU, it just destroyed it

[Helen of Annoy]

50,000 protested in Moscow against aggressive Russian politics. They carried both Russian and Ukrainian flags, demanding the occupation of Crimea is stopped.

This is what brotherhood is. That’s how you protect everyone, not just one minority or majority but everyone, protect it from sick ideas and anachronic wars.

[Helen of Annoy]

Meanwhile, in Duma (Russian parliament) Zhirinovsky is trying to abolish a vowel from Russian alphabet:

http://www.theatlant...-letter/284389/

The letter in question is the vowel "ы"—a difficult-to-pronounce sound for non-native Russian speakers that is usually transliterated simply as "y" in English. Zhirinovsky says he wants the letter removed from the Russian alphabet, calling it a "nasty Asiatic" import. The vowel came to the Russian language from the Mongols, Zhirinovsky was quoted as telling the State Duma on March 12.

"Only animals make this sound, 'ы- ы,'" he said, adding that the regular 'и' ('i') is enough for the Russian alphabet. 'Ы' doesn't exist in any other European language, argued Zhirinovsky. "This primitive, Asiatic sound is the reason people don't like us in Europe," he told lawmakers.

That's one of those anti-fascists that will save Europe from Europe

Edit: Since UM doesn't support č, ć, ž, ы or Cyrillic you'll just have to click the link if you wonder what criminal letter looks like

Edited March 15, 2014 by Helen of Annoy

[+and-then]

Apparently Putin decided he needed to secure the gas for Crimea before saboteurs could hit it.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304914904579441200573049792?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304914904579441200573049792.html

He is all in on this.