We're not talking about the "start" but about the "continuation" of
his operation. Had the world not been aroused by the Crimean invasion,
he could easily have repeated Hitler's feats of 1940-1941 west and
east. I basically agree with your comments, but am optimistic that at
the moment he has been stopped. What happens next will become clearer
after the Yatseniuk meeting with Obama.
Quoting Serbyn Roman <[email protected]>:
> Putin had a better base in Crimea for the start of his operations
> than in the north & east. Crimea had Russian forces legitimately
> stationed there which could easily be reinforced without
> transgressing the state boundary. North & east would have been
> blatant aggression. The second point is that Putin's was a
> "humanitarian" mission, bringing aid to the endangered and oppressed
> Russian population. In Crimea the Russian ethnic population is in
> the majority and so the argument for their defense can be more
> easily defended. Third, the 1954 transfer of Crimea to Ukraine, can
> be more easily argued for a return of that piece of property to the
> original owner. And finally, the trump card is the appeal of the
> democratic principle of the "will of the people": a referendum in an
> already autonomous republic, where 58% of the population is ethnic
> Russian with pro-Russian results (whatever the way in which they
> were obtained) is much more easily defended before the outside world
> than in any other region of Ukraine, all of which have an ethnically
> Ukrainian majority.
>
> Now whether Putin intends to stop with the acquisition of Crimea, or
> all of north& south Ukraine, or go for broke - all of Ukraine (his
> ultimate goal) will depend on the opportunities, as they present
> themselves.
>
> God (and the USA) defends those who defend themselves.
>
> This is the way I see these things, at this stage.
>
>
>
>
> On 3/11/14, [email protected] wrote:
>
>
>> Indeed. Were it not for the growing and unexpected western and
>> world support Putin would easily have invaded from the East and
>> North, and we would be fighting him somewhere west of the Dnipro
>> (with partisan hit and run elsewhere). At the moment he has had to
>> change his strategy:
>>
>> http://www.unian.ua/politics/895429-rf-mae-namir-napravlyati-v-donetsku-oblast-diversiyni-grupi-sbu.html
>>
>> Quoting Ivan Kravchenko <[email protected]>:
>>
>> >
>> >The siruation with the Ukrainian Army has all the signs of state
>> >treason. All the major Army Divisions stationed near Luhansk, Kharkiv,
>> >and Chernihiv in the Eastern Ukraine had been disbanded. What's left was
>> >stationed mostly in the West and in the Center, i.e. facing NATO
>> >countries, not the biggest threat which would be Russia. I already
>> >expressed my very strong opinion about so called "Kharkiv
>> >Accord": THREASON! All those who were extremally active in pushing through
>> >that treaty should be investigated and face state treason charges.
>> >
>> >
>> >On 11 Mar 2014 [email protected] wrote:
>> >
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>Dream on -- he will return but in handcuffs
>> >>
>> >>It is criminal to decimate the army so that Ukraine had only
>> 6,000 combat ready troops :O so Ukraine was not even in a position
>> to defend itself. This no doubt was part of the master plan of
>> Putins.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>Defiant Yanukovych Says He'll Return To Kyiv
>> >>http://www.rferl.org/content/yanukovych-ukraine-appearance-russia-rostov-crimea/25292472.html
>> >>By RFE/RL
>> >>March 11, 2014
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>http://www.rferl.org/media/video/25293029.html
>> >>
>> >>A defiant Viktor Yanukovych, ousted as Ukrainian president, has
>> reiterated from exile that he is still the country's leader and
>> remains commander of the country's armed forces.
>> >>
>> >>In a short statement delivered from the southern Russian city of
>> Rostov-on-Don, Yanukovych said he is sure the armed forces would
>> refuse to obey any "criminal orders" and that he intends to return
>> to Kyiv as "circumstances permit," saying, "I am sure it won't be
>> long."
>> >>
>> >>He added: "I want to remind everyone that I remain not only the
>> single legitimate president of Ukraine, but also the supreme
>> commander in chief [of the armed forces]. I did not discontinue my
>> duties before the end of my term. I am alive. I have not been
>> removed from my post by means defined in the constitution of
>> Ukraine."
>> >>
>> >>He denounced the West as "protectors of the dark forces"
>> currently in power, calling the current government "a band of
>> ultranationalists and neo-fascists." He said a presidential
>> election set for May is illegal.
>> >>
>> >>"In the U.S. and some other countries, they insist that I have
>> lost my legitimacy as the president because I have fled the
>> country. I repeat: I have not fled anywhere," Yanukovych said. "At
>> the moment when the government buildings and presidential
>> administration were seized by radicals, indeed, when they were
>> seizing power in an unconstitutional way, with arms in their hands,
>> I was, as you all know, in Ukraine, in Kharkiv, then in Donetsk,
>> and then in Crimea. Again, at the moment of the coup, I did not
>> leave the territory of Ukraine."
>> >>
>> >>RFE/RL LIVE BLOG on the Ukraine crisis
>> >>http://www.rferl.org/contentlive/live-blog-crisis-in-ukraine/25287590.html
>> >>
>> >>He lamented that Crimea is going to secede from Ukraine, blaming
>> the actions of the "extremists" in power. But he predicted the
>> country "will rise up and unify."
>> >>
>> >>It was Yanukovych's first appearance since February 28, when he
>> also spoke from Rostov-on-Don and claimed to still be Ukraine's
>> legitimate leader.
>> >>
>> >>Meanwhile, pro-Russia lawmakers in Crimea, occupied by Russian
>> forces, have approved a declaration on the republic's independence.
>> >>
>> >>http://www.rferl.org/content/crimea-independence-declaration-approval-parliament-ukraine-russia/25292918.html
>> >>
>> >>The lawmakers announced that the March 11 adoption of the
>> declaration is a technical step ahead of a March 16 referendum that
>> will ask voters whether Crimea should join Russia. Seventy-eight
>> out of 81 lawmakers present voted in favor.
>> >>
>> >>Ukraine's parliament meanwhile warned the parliament in Crimea
>> that it faces dissolution unless it cancels the referendum.
>> >>
>> >>ALSO READ: Journalists, Activists Reported Missing In Crimea
>> >>http://www.rferl.org/content/journalists-activists-reported-missing-in-crimea/25291690.html
>> >>
>> >>Western states and the post-Yanukovych government in Kyiv have
>> said they will not recognize the vote.
>> >>
>> >>French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius says European Union
>> sanctions could be imposed on Russia as early as this week.
>> >>
>> >>Speaking on French radio, Fabius said that if Russia responds
>> positively, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Moscow
>> and sanctions won't be imposed immediately. But, he warned, if
>> Moscow responds negatively, travel restrictions and sanctions
>> targeting the assets of individual Russians could be implemented.
>> >>
>> >>"The vote is illegal and the annexation of Crimea by Russia would
>> also be illegal," Fabius said. "So we cannot accept something that
>> is illegal and which will also have very serious consequences
>> because it means the destabilization of Ukraine. Ukraine is between
>> the European Union, and Russia and it is in the interests of Russia
>> and the European Union for Ukraine to remain stable. But Russia's
>> actions have upset everything."
>> >>
>> >>Separately, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, on a
>> visit to Estonia, has offered assurances that the Baltic states
>> will be protected from the crisis by their membership in NATO.
>> >>
>> >>State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that in a telephone
>> conversation on March 8 that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had
>> laid out a number of ideas to his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.
>> >>
>> >>She said Kerry is prepared to take part in further talks only if
>> Russia is ready to engage on these proposals.
>> >>
>> >>Washington reportedly wants Moscow to cease its military advances
>> in Ukraine, stop its drive to annex Crimea, and end "provocative
>> steps." The State Department said Kerry has yet to receive any
>> response.
>> >>
>> >>Earlier, Lavrov said that Kerry had asked to postpone a visit to
>> Moscow on March 10, after initially accepting the invitation. At a
>> meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Lavrov also
>> said that the proposals made by Kerry "did not really suit" Russia.
>> >>
>> >>The Security Council met again behind closed doors on March 10 to
>> discuss the Ukraine crisis, its fifth meeting on the issue in 10
>> days.
>> >>
>> >>Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, ITAR-TASS, dpa, Interfax, and RFE/RL
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Apr 01 2014 - 00:58:04 EST