Russia: We may move into eastern Ukraine to protect ethnic Russians there too

Hotair ^ | 03/14/2014 | Ed Morrissey

[SeekAndFind]

Will the “responsibility to protect” mandate backfire on the West, who used that claim of authority to depose Moammar Qaddafi in Libya? Russia warned the West this morning that it may have to intervene on behalf of ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine next, which has been roiled by demonstrations in Donetsk in particular, because Moscow “reserves the right to take people under its protection.” Sound familiar?

As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart met in London Friday in a last-ditch effort to find some common ground over theRussian invasion of Crimea, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a warning suggesting Moscow was willing to expand its military actions in Ukraine into another region.

The Foreign Ministry released a statement, according to the Reuters news agency, saying Moscow “reserves the right to take people under its protection” in light of clashes between pro-Moscow and pro-Western demonstrators in the city of Donetsk on Thursday.

One person was killed Thursday evening as the clashes — which have occurred almost daily in the majority-ethnic Russian region — became violent for the first time.

“Russia is aware of its responsibility for the lives of compatriots and fellow citizens in Ukraine,” said the statement obtained by Reuters.

Russian forces have massed along the eastern border of Ukraine, and acting president Oleksandr Turchynov — recognized by the West but not Russia — warned yesterday that Moscow was on the cusp of invading his country. He publicly held out hope that it could be prevented, but pleaded for support in forcing Russia to stand down:

Russian forces on the border with Ukraine were “ready to invade,” Ukraine’s acting president said Thursday, but he also believed that Moscow’s “aggression” could be stopped.

Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov made the statement to a Ukrainian television channel, the Reuters news agency reports, citing a statement posted to the presidential website.

“We are doing all we can to avoid war, whether in Crimea or in any other region of Ukraine,” Turchynov said, adding that the country’s forces were at full combat readiness. …

“All of civilized humanity supports our country,” said Turchynov. “All the leading countries of the world are on the side of Ukraine, and I am sure that this united effort in the international arena, bringing together all democratic countries, can still allow us to halt this aggression.”

So far, though, the US has stalled on offering anything but rhetorical support. Congress froze on an aid package after the White House and Senate Democrats insisted on adding unrelated IMF funding to the bill, and won’t take it up again until at least March 24th. Investors Business Daily argues that Barack Obama could have led an energy-supply offensive on Russian economics, but that he’s failing to learn from Ronald Reagan:

President Obama should have stunned Putin with a massive unleashing of fracking activity, both in the U.S. and Europe, as a way to undercut Russia’s energy cash stream. He should have pursued sales of U.S. natural gas to Europe to underscore his seriousness. But right now, those moves are not even on the table.

And that’s a shame because, historically, huge moves on energy have had real power to check Russia.

One of the most powerful factors in President Reagan’s breakup of the Soviet Union was then-CIA director Bill Casey’s personal persuasion of Saudi Arabia to slash the price of oil in 1982 to cut into Russia’s energy earnings and loosen its stranglehold on Europe.

That move bankrupted the Soviet Union.

We see no such leadership now from the Obama administration. From the stoat-like eyes of Vladimir Putin, the U.S. refusal to whip out its biggest trump cards immediately signals a flatfooted opponent not nimble enough or willing enough to act while the glow of history beckons.

Angela Merkel spoke out against Russian activity on Ukraine’s border, predicting a “catastrophe,” and warning of “massive” economic and political consequences for Moscow:

In an unusually robust and emotional speech, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned of “catastrophe” unless Russia changes course, while in Ukraine a man died in fighting between rival protesters in a mainly Russian-speaking city.

In Berlin, Merkel removed any suspicion that she might try to avoid a confrontation with Russian President Vladimir Putin,

“We would not only see it, also as neighbors of Russia, as a threat. And it would not only change the European Union’s relationship with Russia,” she told parliament. “No, this would also cause massive damage to Russia, economically and politically.”

We’ll see if that has any effect, although Russia did agree to international monitors in eastern Ukraine and Crimea yesterday. So far, though, the West has been all talk and very little real action.

Yesterday, Ukraine and Russia went toe-to-toe at the UN. What do you think the chances are of the UN doing anything significant about it? Er … yeah, me too:

CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO

[FreeReign]

Future maps may end up looking like this.

What a shame.

Enough to make Reagan turn in his grave.

[The_Reader_David]

The Soviet Union Russian Empire officially rises from the dead in five, four, three, two.........

(No dialectical materialism, free-ish markets with big companies cozy with the state, the Orthodox Church as a major influence on society, and cozy with the state. Putin is much more a replay of Nicholas I than of Stalin -- and yes, I picked the Tsar I meant.)

[austinaero]

UH,,we should buy stock in pink crayons,,,,,I sense Kerry will be fronting for tough-guy Obama and drawing some more lines soon.

[austinaero]

“Yep, I guess Pooty is scared to death about Sec. Slab Face’s threat about Monday being the deadline?????????????”

Just had a funny thought..

Isn’t it “Monday in Russia” before it’s “Monday in America?”...

Tick-tock John!

[FreeReign]

If Russia feels the need to expand, they’re welcome to do so in a southerly direction.

Nyet. Putin wouldn't do that to his friends.

[elcid1970]

Tsar Nicholas I - an excellent comparison. The wikipedia sez the Russian Empire reached its zenith during his reign. Other than the hiccup of the Decembrist revolt, Nicholas had a long & successful reign.

How long now before Marxism is denounced in Russia as a western import, and Lenin is derided as a non-Slavic Kalmyk from Central Asia? The old debate between Slavophiles & Westernizers is about to crank up again, IMO. The Orthodox Church will be prominent among the former.

Tsar Vladimir I - has a certain ring to it.

;^)

[gaslucas1]

A quick question, from someone writing from Brazil. Where in the Bible, or at least in Adam’s Will, does any of them give Americans the right to decide where the border of Ukraine lie?

Please, let me know under which rights do Americans think they can chose who rules Syria, a country that has been civilized for five thousand years?

And what exactly do you have in mind for teh Ukraine? G/ay rights, affirmative action and Goldman Sachs? Better to be under Putin, then

[Mike Darancette]

The Red area includes territory that is a majority Ukrainian.

[FreeReign]

A quick question, from someone writing from Brazil. Where in the Bible, or at least in Adam’s Will, does any of them give Americans the right to decide where the border of Ukraine lie? Please, let me know under which rights do Americans think they can chose who rules Syria, a country that has been civilized for five thousand years? And what exactly do you have in mind for teh Ukraine? G/ay rights, affirmative action and Goldman Sachs? Better to be under Putin, then

Your post is odd. No mention in it of what the people of Ukraine want.

I know you want to learn because you ask a lot of questions, so here's a lesson for you. When it comes to inalienable rights and self determination, it's not what Obama wants, it's not what Putin wants and it's not what you want.

It's about what the people of Ukraine want and it's about how the people of Ukraine self identify.

Here's a map that illustrates how the people of Ukraine self identify. It shows the plurality of ethnic groups by counties and municipalities in Ukraine as of the 2001 census. (Olahus via Wikimedia Commons)

[DuncanWaring]

The Won would encourage that.

[BarnacleCenturion]

So what’s your prescription? To declare war on Russia?

Are you ready to go to war for a free Ukraine? If not, then you and Ron Paul have more in common than you think.

[fabian]

Yes, that is what Reagan did, right? Helped arm and defend the NATO nations.

[Errant]

[SeekAndFind]

RE: So what’s your prescription? To declare war on Russia?

Do exactly the same thing Ronald Reagan did in the 80’s. Why reinvent the wheel when it worked then?

[Truth29]

"The relevant precedent, which NATO enthusiastically created for this, was Kosovo, where the “duty to protect” ethnic Albanians, some of whom had been Yugoslav citizens, some of whom were illegal immigrants, was propped up with breathless, false accounts of genocide. The nadir of false pretenses to justify military action has to have been the account of Pristina stadium being used as a concentration camp given in all seriousness at a NATO press briefing and promptly debunked by Agence France-Presse reporters walking around on the empty soccer field of said stadium later the same day."

Indeed, and Samartha Powers' R2P speil is coming home to roost; not that the US Left will admit any commonality, at all.

[Lion Den Dan]

Let Germany invade Ukrain to protect ethnic Germans living there. Katherine the Great invited Germans into the Ukrain, to include the Crimea to settle, farm and protect the place against the Turks from whom the Russins had taken the territories. Let America support the Germans. Damn a bunch of Russ.

[Great-Horned Owl]

I see this Ukraine thing as a way to restart the Cold War, which will hopefully encourage our country to be more internationally competitive. It’ll definitely do wonders when it comes to reviving our space and manufacturing industries.

The Cold War is a good thing. Gives us a purpose besides hedonism.

[Inwoodian]

Just re-publish some of Walter Duranty’s old articles in the Times.

[Inwoodian]

“You had a choice between War and dishonor. You chose dishonor. You will have War.”

[Jim Noble]

The importance of Austria 1938 and the Sudetenland 1939 lies in what followed.

If Hitler had stopped with Munich, the NSDAP would still be in power and Germany would be the most powerful country in the world.

The incorporation of majority German areas into the Reich was overwhelmingly popular at home and in the incorporated areas. The notion that some phony “international law” should have been upheld is absurd.

Now, in retrospect, the Anschluss and Munich empowered Hitler to embark on his insane campaign of genocide and Germanization of non-German areas. But that fact does not discredit the Anschluss or the incorporation of majority German areas that belonged to Austria until 1919.