Posted on 02/24/2014 8:12:05 AM PST by goldstategop
Mr Medvedev, quoted by Russian news agencies, suggested that Western countries that accepted Ukraine's new authorities were mistaken.
"Strictly speaking, there is no-one for us to communicate with there today," he said.
"The legitimacy of a whole number of organs of power that function there raises great doubts.
"Some of our foreign, Western partners think otherwise. This is some kind of aberration of perception when people call legitimate what is essentially the result of an armed mutiny."
He added: "We do not understand what is going on there. There is a real threat to our interests and to the lives of our citizens."
....
However, Russia's foreign ministry also issued a strongly worded statement saying a "forced change of power" was taking place in Ukraine and that interim authorities were using "terrorist methods" to pressure dissenters in regions including Crimea and eastern Ukraine.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Eff Russia— if she tries directly intervening, the bear will be biting off a lot more than it can chew.
Russia probably won’t intervene directly, but she will probably stoke unrest in Crimea and the South East to achieve an effective partition of Ukraine.
Basis my very limited understand of the factions involved in the Ukraine, it seems Putin has lost out, big-time, on his attempts to control Ukraine.
Russia can impose sanctions - closing the border, granting refuge to people from Crimea and the eastern Ukraine, raise the price of gas supplied to Ukraine and withdrawing the recent economic assistance package.
Russia’s leverage can bring the new regime in Kiev to its knees. The country is but a short step away from insolvency. Its new authorities have to work with Russia. Otherwise the consequences could be very unpleasant.
Given the continuing deterioration of the situation, its no one’s guess how things will turn out.
Maybe the new government in Kiev wants to drive the east and south of the country into Moscow’s embrace. That would suit it just fine.
Negotiating ploy.....They want Ukraine to cede the Crimea and the Donetsk region back to Russia in exchange for recognition.
Agreed. The Eurasian Union won’t work without Ukraine. I can imagine a partitioned Ukraine in which the eastern half would be free to join the Customs Union Of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. I see this as the most probable outcome to the current crisis.
Uh huh. And since western Ukrainians want their own country, I would think they don’t want to give Russia ANY pretext to intervene.
Be fair, the only reason Ukraine has the Crimea is Khrushchev gave it as a “gift” to win over the Ukrainians that he ruled over, when he was Stalin’s lackey there. Of course back in the Soviet Union, it really didn’t matter whether it belonged to the Russian SFSR or the Ukrainian SSR, Moscow still called the shots, regardless.
So, I gather you like the Eurocrats in Brussels with their politically correct agenda of unfettered immigration from Muslim lands, multiculturalism, denigration of Europe’s Christian heritage and Christian morals, pushing of the normalization of homosexuality, censorship of errant opinion by self-censorship in the newsroom and vilification, and continuation of the “social democrat” welfare state, better than Putin’s government with its 13% flat tax, support for Christian heritage and morals, and more overt censorship of opposing opinion.
I can see why folks in the Ukraine might not want to be under Russian control or too much Russian influence (well, leaving aide the Russians who live there because Lenin, Stalin and Khrushchev moved the border between the old Imperial provinces to put lots of Russians inside the Ukrainan Soviet Socialist Republic), but why they want to be associated with the EU is a mystery to me.
I have a thin on the meaning of the Ukraining unrest other than it seems the protesters want to be further removed from the Russian orbit.
I think you will see swift and firm action from Putnin almost the minute the Olympics end.
I agree Western Ukraians have the right to determine their own affairs and to run the country. That is a basic human right of a free people.
What they do NOT have the right to do is force their Russian-speaking compatriots to forfeit their historic ties to Russia.
If the family cannot agree on where to drive the car, a civilized divorce would be the best solution for all concerned.
Well they can move back to Ukraine proper and give Western Ukraine back to Poland. Lwów Jest Polski!
Who's going to stop Russia if they do roll in?
0bama? the EU? Ukrainian armed forces?
Where’s Marshall Pilsudski when we need him?
It was an armed rebellion. The EU signed on to a deal which has now been breached in the space of 48 hours.
Maybe they should consult with the Czechs and Slovaks.
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