... 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 ...
... to be an open invitation for the 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 ...
... 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 ...
... ‘regional referendum on Ukraine’s federalisation’, whatever that means — a nation-wide referendum on the matter has already been offered by Kiev. 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, in material terms — while 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 regional autonomy, perhaps in the context of the federalisation of the state. But no-one knows how, or when, these moves should take place or who should initiate them....
....com/opinions/henry-kissinger-to-settle-the-ukraine-crisis-start-at-the-end/2014/03/05/46dad868-a496-11e3-8466-d34c451760b9_story.html
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. American intelligence has anticipated that Russian forces could soon move toward three Ukrainian cities: Kharkiv, Luhansk, and Donetsk in order to establish land access to Crimea. Russian forces are currently positioned in and around Rostov, Kursk, and Belgorod. Barbara Starr, “U.S. intel assessment: greater likelihood Russia will enter eastern Ukraine” CNN (March 26, 2014) …
http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2014/03/26/u-s-intel-assessement-greater-likelihood-russia-will-enter-eastern-ukraine/
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... aggressive promotion of radical Islam as a weapon of war, the Pentagon envisioned a different approach. As history will have it the Crimean crisis would come to put a spanner in the work, playing directly into Saudi Arabia’s hands.
As noted by Chris ... ... rebels from the US, which has so far been reluctant to supply any heavy weapons, is Washington's way of getting back at Russia by hitting the Assad government.”
Now in possession of advanced US weapons – among which armour-piercing ...
... environment full of purpose and dire circumstances is that they won’t get the chance to beat Russia back or deliver a diplomatic defeat of the same intensity that they feel they just received themselves. Thus, this situation CANNOT be just about Crimea. Russia MUST NOT be satisfied with this as the end game. There simply MUST be another shoe to drop or chess piece to be moved. Because…well…just because: because Russians aren’t supposed to be diplomatically agile and astute. And they ...
... 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 ...
... was about one hundred thousand killed and more then two million refugees! Are we ready to wait till the situation in Ukraine becomes even more desperate and dramatic before we have the courage and the political will to act together one again?
As for Crimea and sanctions against Russia - I believe that to put these matters into the center of the discussion means to find excuses not to assist Ukraine in a practical way or to cover egotistic and short-sighted geopolitical interests. The future of Crimea has been decided. It might ...
Ankara
’s spotlight on Crimea events is defined by the numerous Tatar community on the peninsula and Black Sea interests
On March 25, RIAC hosted a roundtable on Russian-Turkish relations held in partnership with RAS Institute for Oriental Studies and Turkish Global Relations Forum.
The event was attended by RIAC President Igor Ivanov, RIAC Director General Andrey Kortunov, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov ...
