... Crimea, and also in the context of conflict between the central authorities of Ukraine and the non-recognised Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.
In the winter of 2014-2014 and spring 2014 it was difficult to notice any significant efforts by Russia in Crimea and in eastern Ukraine in the economic, social and information areas. Ruslan Pukhov, for example, Director of the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, says: “Russia’s propaganda support for its actions in Crimea was generally quite sluggish…
Moscow ...
... ranked first in the regional structure of Ukrainian exports to Russia: in 2012 it accounted for 18% of it
[11]
. The Luhansk and Zaporozhye regions ranked third in this respect: at 10% of the country’s total merchandise exports. The share of Crimean goods in Ukraine’s total exports to Russia was minimal, amounting to about 1%
[12]
. Aside from Russia’s share in the country’s total exports, Russia’s share in the regions’ exports is also worth noting. In 2012, 43% of the Luhansk region’s exports went to ...
... political decisions.
***
Although Russian and Ukrainian leaders use the same historical facts surrounding the Kievan Rus, their motivations differ. While Russia wants to add additional legitimacy to its political decision over the voluntary entry of Crimea into the Russian Federation, Ukraine is trying to restore the shattering legitimacy of its state borders and the national identity of its population.
The use of historical facts is a long applied instrument for fueling an entire political context, usually with quite material consequences....
... opportunities for creating new dialogues. This is especially prominent in explaining the poor relationship at the moment with Russia. There seems to be an element of purposeful animosity in the way Russia is viewed, analyzed, and engaged, especially at ... ... “thugocrat” engaged in “dangerous alliances.
Keep in mind all of the above statements were uttered before the 2014 crisis in Ukraine even broke out. So before the U.S. Congress received what has been portrayed as undeniable and irrefutable proof of Russian ...
... Empire by Catherin the Great. The thorny question of the potential opening of the Kerch Strait to the international shipping, and the subsequent internationalization of the Azov Sea’s waters, featured among the long list of issues which strained Russia-Ukraine relations after 1991.
Through the annexation of Crimea, Russia recovers the full sovereignty over the best coasts and the best port, Sevastopol, of the Black Sea basin. In absorbing the peninsula, Moscow retrieves nearly 1 000 km of additional coasts, including ports such as Feodossia and Kerch, which ...
... international law it is possible to find contradictions in the question of how the citizens of Crimea expressed their will, but from the point of view of the essence of the popular will, of the risk that the same situation that is being observed in South-East Ukraine might arise in Crimea, and the military-strategic risks for Russia, the incorporation of Crimea into Russia that has taken place is beyond doubt and is underpinned by a decision of the Crimean people. Europe has already seen similar precedents. The situation in Kosovo, when the unilateral actions of the USA and ...
... welcomed in the Kremlin as a return to normal Russian-Ukrainian relations. Less than two months after being sworn in, Yanukovych signed the so-called Kharkiv Pact with then President Dmitry Medvedev resolving the issue of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation’s continued presence in Crimea and Ukraine receiving favourable conditions for obtaining gas. In February 2012, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law “On the Principles of the State Language Policy” establishing the conditions for the use of regional languages. This ...
... 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 directly connects Russia to Crimea or trying to forcefully occupy several regions of Eastern Ukraine so you could possibly build down the road new avenues to Crimea? Putin and Lavrov rightly see this as a question not befitting a five year old while almost every media conglomerate in the West, fed by NATO declarations, is pushing the Eastern-Ukraine-Land-Bridge ...
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 unfathomable. Yet, in its mitigation attempts the West has ...
... 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 ...
