Posted on 06/20/2022 7:18:32 AM PDT by Mariner
LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) - Russia warned NATO member Lithuania on Monday that unless the transit of goods to Russia's Kaliningrad exclave on the Baltic Sea was swiftly restored then Moscow would take undisclosed measures to defend its national interests.
With east-west relations at a half-century low over Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, Vilnius banned the transit of goods sanctioned by the European Union through Lithuanian territory to and from the exclave, citing EU sanction rules.
Russia's foreign ministry summoned Lithuania's top envoy in Moscow to deliver a protest while the Kremlin said the situation was beyond serious.
"The situation is more than serious," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "This decision is really unprecedented. It's a violation of everything."
Russia's foreign ministry demanded Vilnius reverse what it cast as an "openly hostile" move immediately.
"If cargo transit between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of the Russian Federation via Lithuania is not fully restored in the near future, then Russia reserves the right to take actions to protect its national interests," it said.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
“The US has a vital interest in seeing that Europe’s wealth and tech are not pushed under Russia’s (or China’s) sway.”
Please edify us on the particulars.
I agree, to an extent.
For instance, if commerce does not get affected and cultural connections remain intact, I cannot see a vital interest.
If commerce is shut down, travel and other cultural connectivity impeded, I see a strategic interest.
But JUST for western Europe...from Germany further west.
I do not see any strategic, much less existential interest for the US in Eastern Europe.
But I stand ready to be edified.
“What goes on in Ukraine is none of their business.”
Sure it is.
Ukraine is theirs. And it is likely to remain so.
It’s ludicrous to characterize Ukraine as an actual, independent and sovereign country...something it has never been.
Escalating the conflict is stupid. The globalist war mongers should not be able to use “treaty obligations” as an excuse to force their long desired WWIII on the world to further their agenda and cover their crimes. The ploy of having little Lithuania poke the bear by blocking of Russian territory in order to force a response and then involve NATO is totally inhumane and immoral and is not the intent of defense agreements. But you knew that.
So, in 1776 you would have fought against the patriots and shown your loyalty to King George because those 13 colonies had never been independent. Actually, Ukraine was and is very much a great people and a great nation. Russia can’t handle the eleven time zones it already has yet it is intent on making land grabs from the Republic of Georgia and Ukraine and threatening other neighbors. Putin is an evil pedophile boy-kisser and has gone back to his KGB roots.
Sure, only a "neocon" would support Ukraine against a Russia invasion. I guess those that opposed German and Japanese invasions in WWII were also "neocons."
No not be so naive as to believe Russian propaganda justifying their invasion. Putin has made it quite clear the the real reason is that he does not recognize Ukraine as a legitimate country and wishes to return it to Russian control where he thinks it belongs. All the rest are just rationalizations for pure naked aggression. Look up Russkiy Mir.
You can also see post 182 as an example of this thinking here on Free Republic.
“We hanged men at Nuremberg for doing this.”
That is ahistorical.
We hanged men at Nuremberg for perverse medical experiments and loading Jews into ovens.
NOT for starting and pursuing war.
Foolishness. Why do they hate Russia so much? Why do they love war so much? Is it all just to be used as a means to escape culpability for the implosion of the Western sovereign debt bubble? Seems like it.
“as if you stopped giving me permission to use a short-cut through your yard”
Adverse possession.
“No, I would venture to say that it is the, ahem, morally compromised FReepers who are siding with Russia.”
Because stupid 12 year old children think it’s a moral issue.
“Except that Russia is blocking passage of grain ships through international waters. They have imposed an effective blockade of the port of Odessa.”
That’s just not true.
Ukraine has mined the access.
Russia and Turkey have jointly agreed to protect and secure shipment of commodities out of Odessa.
” And Russia isn’t going nuke, nor are they going to use military force against Lithuania. 100% typical Russian bluster.”
******
They may militarize the trains and force passage.
“Why brought the Budapest is so? It was a non-proliferation memorandum in the first place.”
It wasn’t ONLY about non-proliferation.
It was an agreement initiated between Russia and Ukraine, co-signed by the United States and Britain, and then translated into English, Russian, Ukrainian, and French. The purpose was to establish the quid pro quo, in return for Ukraine returning the nukes to Russia.
It committed all parties to
1. Respect Ukrainian independence and sovereignty in the existing 1990s borders.
2. Refrain from the threat of (or use of) force against Ukraine.
3. Refrain from using economic pressure Ukraine to influence its politics.
4. Seek immediate Security Council action to provide assistance if Ukraine became a victim of an act of aggression or an object of a threat of aggression.
5. Refrain from the use of nuclear arms against Belarus, Kazakhstan or Ukraine.
6. Consult with one another if questions arise regarding those commitments
That was the quid pro quo, for Russia acquiring the arsenal inside Ukraine.
Russia broke #1 when it annexed Crimea in 2014.
Russia broke #2 with the Special Military Operation, but broke it also in 2014 when it sent Wagner in on the side of the DPR separatists.
Russia broke #3 long before the Special Military Operation - when it
- sponsored Yanukovych for political office
- poisoned his electoral rival
- bribed him to sign a highly unfavorable (to Ukraine) bailout deal in Moscow, in December 2013.
And Russia clearly is doing the opposite of #4 by threatening to use Nukes, although note it’s been careful not to say it would nuke Ukraine.
If Russia had any legitimate concerns over those clauses, it ignored #6 completely.
So Russia has both materially and explicitly violated four out of the six signed statements in the Memorandum, five if you count its nuclear threats.
At a push one can say the USA violated two (#3, and #4 by not doing enough following the annexation of Crimea).
Trains are easy to stop.
“So, in 1776 you would have fought against the patriots and shown your loyalty to King George because those 13 colonies had never been independent.”
Ukraine is free to fight and win their independence.
To the extent they will.
“You can also see post 182 as an example of this thinking here on Free Republic.”
You have issue with my thinking?
“You have no idea what the Berlin Airlift even was, do you?”
Hilarious.
Effin’ hilarious.
“No not be so naive as to believe Russian propaganda”
It isn’t me who is naïve, it is you who is brainwashed by neocon propaganda. Or maybe you’re just another idiot Pole hoping to acquire Galicia and parts of western Ukraine while giving Russia a sound spanking. Well what is actually going to happen is all European economies will start collapsing in 6 months, and the welfare the Poles have been collecting will begin to dry up, with the dissolution of the EU and NATO on deck. Poland is a neocon puppet second only to Ukraine, and in the end will suffer for accepting that role just as the Ukrainians will by the time this is over. That’s what happens to puppet states when their usefulness ends.
Why yes, I do. Ukrainians are not Russians and Ukraine is not a part of Russia. This is true no matter how much Russians would wish it to be otherwise. Russians need to stop thinking of the glory of the old days and live in peace within their own borders.
Oh, is it just neocon propaganda that Ukraine is a sovereign country? Is it neocon propaganda that in his February 21 address Putin himself expressed his belief that Ukraine was not a legitimate country and was rightly part of Russia?
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