... eastern Crimea, before 2014 was ushered in. In other words, even before Crimea held its secession declaration there was going to be a direct and highly functional transportation connection between Russia and the peninsula. Simply occupying land in Eastern Ukraine because it technically can connect to Crimea is horrifically flawed thinking, as anyone can tell you that has had personal experience trying to travel through Soviet-era roads in rural areas. So, which sounds more logical and powerful to you? Building a massive and modern super highway that ...
Latent tensions have loomed before civil strife actually irrupted in Ukraine amid deep-rooted political uncertainties. That claims upon the Crimean peninsula would be eventually raised by Putin’s Russia, concentrating troops at the borders and effecting what appeared to be a military invasion, followed by a political validation (i.e. the referendums in the Eastern provinces), were not ...
... Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine (May 28, 1997), the treaty on mutual settlements related with division and stay of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine (May 28, 1997) and the Kharkov agreement on stay of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on the territory of Ukraine signed on April 21, 2010 have been unilaterally cancelled by the Russian side[4]. As a result, the annexation of Crimea has widened Russia’s possibilities to enhance the Black Sea Fleet and to increase its military and strategic footprint in the region.
After March 18: the Modernization of the Black Sea Fleet ‘2.0’
Russia is likely to reconsider ...
... 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 ...
... something dangerously close to civil war.
Cementing Regional Divisions, A Death Blow to National Unity
Ukraine has struggled for 23 years with regional political divisions. The Heavenly Hundred and the soldiers who boldly defied the Russian military in Crimea had the potential to help unite Ukraine. After Luhansk and Donetsk, the project for national unity has been set back decades, if not generations.
The martyrs on the Maidan have been matched and surpassed by the casualties in eastern Ukraine. Conflicting reports and the variety of ...
... 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 ...
... all parties across the world would universally praise and support their removal of the president, they badly analyzed the situation on the ground in eastern Ukraine. In several media interviews I gave in the United States following the referendum in Crimea, I warned that the greatest possible danger in Ukraine would be civil groups in major eastern Ukrainian cities looking to Crimea as a model to emulate and at the Crimean referendum as a precedent to follow. The reason I said back then that this was the greatest danger was because it seemed to me that ...
... 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 be forced to keep dancing with the partner we ...
... coherent: some want to proclaim independence and join Russia, while others are looking at holding a ‘regional referendum on Ukraine’s federalisation’, whatever that means — a nation-wide referendum on the matter has already been offered ... ... 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 ...
... it should not be impossible to envision links between the Euro and the Ruble
[16]
. Evidently, these issues will require complex negotiations, but it should not be considered “unrealistic” or “utopian” to find a way for a new Ukraine (even without Crimea) to become a bridge between the EU and Russia – assuming that the country does not start to disintegrate.
After the Annexation of Crimea
The present tactical dilemma is that the EU may have boxed itself into a corner by threatening sanctions ...
