Russia to review 1991 decision to recognise independence of Baltic states

Ukraine Today ^ | JUN. 30, 2015

[annalex]

Russia to review 1991 decision to recognise independence of Baltic states

Estonia, Latvia and Lithunia were occupied by the Soviet Union for decades

Russia is examining the legality of the decision to recognise the independence of the Baltic republics in 1991 by the State Council of the USSR - according to Russia's state news service Interfax.

The decision to review recognition of the independence of EU-member Baltic nations follows the Russian Prosecutor General's Office ruling last year that Crimea was illegally handed to Ukraine in 1954; and is certain to alarm the small Baltic NATO-member nations of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

In recent months Nato has held as series of meetings about how to address the threat from Russia and reassure Baltic countries that NATO is prepared to defend them. In June Poland and Lithuania confirmed that discussions were underway for the US to base heavy military weapons in warehouses across the Baltic states.

Speaking during a trip to Lithuania in June Europe NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Phillip M. Breedlove said Russia's next steps were unpredictable and dangerous.

"We cannot fully be certain what Russia will do next, and we cannot fully grasp Putin's intent but what we can and are doing is learning from his actions. In addition what we see suggests growing Russian capabilities, significant military modernisation and ambitious strategic intent."

"In the east, Russia is blatantly attempting to change the rules and principles that have been the foundation of European security for decades. This challenge that's posed by resurgent Russia is global, not regional, and is enduring, not temporary."

The US has led a series of major NATO military drills in eastern Europe over the course of 2015 involving thousands of British, American and other allied forces.

Also in June Pentagon officials revealed a plan to base hundreds of battle tanks, high-caliber weapons and as many as 5,000 troops in the region - as a reposte to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and threat to NATO member states in eastern Europe.

The move would be the first time Washington has stationed heavy military equipment in the newer NATO member states that were once under Moscow's control.

[annalex]

Putin is likely to hold on to Crimea and give up the rebel controlled territories. These are an economic disaster, they don't produce anything and now are filled with angry people with guns. No one should want them, and it would serve a greater purpose for Putin is they remain a cancerous tumor inside Ukraine.

I think much of what is going on is saber-rattling: Putin wants to elevate the temperature to get off with Crimea in exchange for re-admission into the Western economic and political structures. But that can change if a more war-like faction inside the Kremlin prevails. See my 36

[COBOL2Java]

Obama has no choice due to Article 5 of the NATO treaty. If Russia attacks any of the Baltic states, all of whom are member states, all members must come to their aid.

Ah, but those treaties were written by white crackas.

[jimwatx]

Ukraine is currently an economic disaster and I feel terrible for its long suffering people who have had to put up with corrupt leaders. But in my view the underlying geopolitics and economics here is what is driving things, Ukraine has the third largest shale gas reserves in Europe, some off the coast of Crimea, but one in the rebel area of the Donetsk and Kharkiv oblasts. Take a look:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/16/ukraine-gas-shale-idUSL5E8GGAJY20120516

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/04/russia-is-crushing-ukraines-hopes-for-energy-independence/360281/

Just like in Syria this is all about pipelines and energy reserves, trying to keep Europe from becoming dependent on Russian gas.

[annalex]

Kharkiv is not rebel area.

Yes, Putin’s central objective is to prevent post-Maidan Ukraine from prospering. But good news is that the great anti-soviet revolution has taken hold in Ukraine and there is no chance in hell they would go back to the soviet ways of doing things. Precisely because the Russian aggression taught them to think of themselves as a separate nation that has to rely on itself.

[Wallace T.]

Muslim, Asian Turkey is a NATO country, Not quite white cracka country.

If Obama let the Baltic states or Poland be overrun, he may be the subject of a real life "Seven Days in May" event. I think Putin may have some leverage over him, possibly sexual in nature, as the Mafia had on J. Edgar Hoover, but for the American military to stand down if the Russian strongman tries to repeat what Stalin did in 1940 could lead to Obama sharing the fate of Salvador Allende in Chile.