... Sevastopol-Simferopol line already exists), from a few hours from Novorossiysk.
The other issue is energy supplies to Crimea. Currently, the peninsula produces 10% to 30% of its needs, while the rest of the electricity, around 1,400 megawatts, comes from Ukraine. To deal with Crimean energy supplies, Russia plans to build two new power plants. The first one would be built directly on the peninsula and would deliver 500 to 600 megawatts, whereas the second plant would be located near Novorossiysk and would have a capacity of 600 megawatts. It has been ...
... per year until 2017. The first gas discount negotiated between the two countries was to be applied at the conclusion of the Russian Naval Fleet treaty. In other words, AFTER 2017 the first gas discount Russia gave to Ukraine would cover the yearly fee Ukraine would collect from Russia for the Crimean naval base. Basically, they had worked out a high-economics barter system: Ukraine got cheaper gas in return for giving Russia free rent on the Crimean naval base territory. Perhaps most interesting to this agreement in terms of the present-day ...
... Russian military to actually come in order to protect the lives of ethnic Russians. This was the irony of eastern Ukraine: no one in the West took the Russian entreaties seriously when it was said the lives of ethnic Russians needed to be protected in Crimea. How ironic, then, if it turned out that Russian forces would end up needing to invade eastern Ukraine because ethnic Russians were in fact being killed with impunity.
But that is not what has happened. People have died in eastern Ukraine. They continue to die in eastern Ukraine. They die largely because of one side’s forces. But those ...
... unoffending, are not exactly universally ACTED upon. They are universally SPOKEN about, but not always universally SUPPORTED. Not in all cases and not even by the United States. So I am not sure if I should be so stunned or bothered by the fact that Russia might not either. Indeed, one can feel sorry for Ukraine. It has been dealt a rather bad hand. One it could never have expected as the reveling on Maidan Square took place so many weeks ago. But the people of Crimea, and in turn now the people of Eastern Ukraine and Odessa, seem to be basically saying, ‘You can have your traditions of international law for all we care. What we really want are the traditions of international DATING, ie, why should we ...
... and join Russia, while others are looking at holding a ‘regional referendum on Ukraine’s federalisation’, whatever that means — a nation-wide referendum... ... Annexing large chunks of its southwestern neighbour would come at an enormous cost to Russia, not only because of the West’s potentially tough response, but, primarily... ... popular support for the move is less than evident. In essence, a repetition of the Crimean scenario is possible, but unlikely.
The most likely outcome is far-reaching...
... and non-aligned status similar to that of Finland. In effect, Kissinger has urged the new Ukrainian government to sustain the non-aligned status that had previously been accepted by the government of Viktor Yanukovich.
Yet Kissinger’s views on Russia, Ukraine, NATO enlargement, and Crimea appear to represent only a minority opinion among American elites. His “wisdom” is generally seen as being out of touch with “reality.” After Kissinger cautioned against annexing Crimea, Moscow did just that. With Russian ...
... these things suit the players at the other end of the chess board. And for this very simple and seemingly minor reason alone, Russia is far better off letting Crimea be its one and only move on the board. What victory could be better than checkmate AND confounding your opponents, who had previously thought they had completely understood your psyche, methods, objectives, and purpose? Eastern Ukraine is nothing compared to that value.
And so, if I was President Putin, I would not make a move. I would allow Crimeans ...
... an outcome for Ukraine.
Putting too much pressure on Ukraine, interfering too actively in its internal skirmishes, or even slicing off a part of its territory as a method of exerting influence are only likely to make the situation worse. By acquiring Crimea, Russia will inevitably lose all of Ukraine. It is highly unlikely that the Ukrainian government (even with its pro-Russian leanings) would accept such a scenario. It is more likely that these developments will only strengthen pro-Western sentiments among Ukrainians. The Russian-Georgian ...
... all, it will not help Ukraine.
The reality is that Ukraine is not in a position to resolve the crisis without an assistance from the outside. Only coordinated actions by Russia and the European Union, together with other committed partners, can rescue Ukraine. It means that we should put aside our disagreements on Crimea and put together a Contact Group at the level of Foreign Ministers of Russia, major European powers and the United States. The Group should be convened urgently with no preconditions; its sole goal should be decide how to assist Ukraine in the very nearest future. We need a plan for immediate economic, social, political ...
... events in Crimea, regretting they are not able to, in turn, shoot people in the head, fire nuclear weapons on them, and march down to Crimea themselves and start an armed retaliation campaign against all those who were for the referendum to secede from Ukraine and rejoin Russia. Tymoshenko is especially intense in her bravado, claiming that if she had been able to get down to Crimea the people would have been eating (expletive deleted) instead of succeeding in holding the referendum.
I am not able to say at this early time that there can be no doubt whatsoever about the recording. Reliable sources in both Ukraine and Russia ...
