Posted on 04/17/2014 11:53:35 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
Sanctions imposed against Russia are working as a deterrent, President Barack Obama and other White House senior administration officials said Wednesday in a detailed defense and explanation of the U.S. response to the escalating crisis in Ukraine.
And new sanctions could be imposed as early as Friday, with key Putin allies, institutions and top oligarchs among the targets, other senior administration officials said.
(Excerpt) Read more at politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com ...
Interesting article. Just based on what I’ve read, it looks like Putin is getting most of what he wants without paying too dear a price. That’s just a first take, though, based on what little time I’ve spent following the situation. I could well be wrong.
According to the CIA World Factbook, Ukraine produced 25% of all agricultural output in the former Soviet Union. Today, Ukraine exports substantial amounts of grain, vegetables, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, milk and meat.
Exports (including non-food exports) go to Russia, 20%; the countries of the European Union, 17%; China, 7%; Turkey, 6%; and the U.S. 4%.
In addition, food processing, especially sugar processing, is an important industrial segment. Nearly one out of four workers in Ukraine is employed in agriculture or forestry related endeavors.
Ukraine: Divvying Up The Breadbasket Of Europe
Though pro-Russian movements in this Donbass region have started to dissipate since the call for a referendum similar to Crimea, Russia looks ready to expand farther, aiming to right the perceived historical injustice when it lost these lands decades prior. If Russia sweeps across eastern Ukraine to occupy the Dnepropetrovsk oblast, it is somewhat likely China will be more keen to offer support and negotiate a settlement with Russia on their various investments. As witnessed many times before, Ukraine is once again at a flashpoint for foreign powers to divvy up the “Breadbasket of Europe.”
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
Its population (as of 2004) is 3,493,062 constitutes 5.3% of the overall Ukrainian population.
As of the 2001 census, the ethnic groups within the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast are:
Ukrainians – 79.3%,
Russians – 17.6%,
Belarusians – 0.8%,
Jews – 0.4%,
Armenians – 0.3%,
Azeris – 0.2%,
Moldavians – 0.12%,
Gypsies – 0.11%,
Tatars – 0.11%,
Germans – 0.11%,
Other – 0.95%;
That was before the deal so the sanctions will be stayed for now.
That said, the Administration is delusional if it really thinks they have or will deter Russia.
Putin had all of the Ukraine in his pocket. Now he is forced to settle for the welfare leeches of drunkards, criminally insane and homos.
Only the takers will vote to join Russia, if it comes to that.
The reason Russia doesn’t want to annex eastern Ukraine is because its population expects benefits from Russia.
Crimea on the other hand has a ship-building industry, oil and natural gas and has a strategic warm water port. In the future, Crimea could even boost the Russian GDP.
No sane Russian politician will want eastern Ukraine with its heavy smokestack industries and lack of exploitable resources.
That is why Russia is happy with the present deal concluded Thursday with the West.
~Putin had all of the Ukraine in his pocket. Now he is forced to settle for the welfare leeches of drunkards, criminally insane and homos.
Only the takers will vote to join Russia, if it comes to that~
I don’t know. Western Ukraine is an ox and a cart, all the industries are situated in the East and they are working for Russian market.
Closer ties with Russia is actually good for working people but it is not clear would they keep a cost advantage in Russia being part of it or not.
It is a major difference in labor cost that makes Ukrainian manufacturing goods marketable in Russia in the first place.
Thanks Berlin_Freeper.
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