[BobL]

Personally, I RESPECT Russia looking out for the interests of its people (i.e., ethnic Russians) in the Ukraine.

Maybe other countries abandon their friends at the first time of trouble (Benghazi, ‘Arab Spring’, now Israel, soon Japan and Taiwan), but once you are friends with Russia, they WILL stand by you.

[elhombrelibre]

Yeah, lots of people were impressed with how the Germans in Austria, the Sudetenland, and Danzig were looked out for too. Pan-russian chauvinism couldn’t evolve to anything the world would need to worry about as Putin interjects himself into the affairs of other nations to help the poor mistreated Russians.

[rbmillerjr]

“Personally, I RESPECT Russia looking out for the interests of its people (i.e., ethnic Russians) in the Ukraine.

Yes. Just ask the Georgians and Ukrainians how great Russian friendship is. Might as well as the Poles, Hungarians, Czechs, Finns, Estonians, Lithuanians, and Latvians as well.

[yldstrk]

Are you daft? What a ridiculous comment. Ukraine is being robbed.

[HereInTheHeartland]

“but once you are friends with Russia, they WILL stand by you.”

Just like the Mafia will stand by you; if they don’t kill you first!
The Russians are a bunch of thugs; the evil empire as Reagan said. There is ZERO to admire in them.

[Sam Gamgee]

It's a ploy and an old one at that. Russia did the same thing when it came to the rescue of Serbia in WWI. They didn't give a damn about fellow serbs then, and are using ethnic russians now as a ploy to land grab.