From NYT
More nuance on the Russia / France diplomatic attempt...
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02...macron-ukraine
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From NYT
More nuance on the Russia / France diplomatic attempt...
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02...macron-ukraine
Joining NATO but with major caveats in this item:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...on-in-his-rule
"Putin told Frost he would not rule out joining Nato “if and when Russia’s views are taken into account as those of an equal partner”.He told Frost it was hard for him to visualise Nato as an enemy. “Russia is part of the European culture. And I cannot imagine my own country in isolation from Europe and what we often call the civilised world.”
Thank you very much mcdongle! Don't think I ever read this...
Imagine if Putin had retained this worldview thru the preceding 20 years instead of hardening his stance since NATO expansion...:)
(Assuming he was being at all sincere in the first place of course! Remember he is a Russian spymaster trying to convince the Western population at large via this very article).
NATO wouldn't have allowed him in in any event, sharing strategies and plans with an authoritarian regime...
Guardian
17m ago 16:00
Boris Johnson says Putin must step back from threats and withdraw troops
UK prime minister Boris Johnson and French president Emmanuel Macron agreed during a phone call on Sunday that the next week will be “crucial for diplomacy” as the west looks to avert war between Russia and Ukraine.
“The prime minister spoke to French president Macron tonight about the situation in Ukraine. They updated one another on their respective diplomatic efforts, including President Macron’s call with president Putin today,” a Downing Street spokeswoman said, according to PA.
“The prime minister noted that president Putin’s commitments to President Macron were a welcome sign that he might still be willing to engage in finding a diplomatic solution. The Prime Minister stressed that Ukraine’s voice must be central in any discussions.
“The leaders agreed on the need for both Russia and Ukraine to meet their commitments under the Minsk Agreements in full. They also underscored the need for President Putin to step back from his current threats and withdraw troops from Ukraine’s border.
“The Prime Minister and President Macron agreed next week would be crucial for diplomacy and resolved to stay in close contact.”
Guardian
5m ago 21:32
US president Joe Biden spoke with French president Emmanuel Macron on Sunday, the White House said, amid western fears that Russia is planning to invade Ukraine.
The call came after Macron’s calls with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy and UK prime minister Boris Johnson.
Johnson hailed “welcome signs” that diplomacy could still bear fruit on Sunday evening – referring to Putin’s engagement with Macron – and appeared to buck Biden’s rhetoric, which in recent days has said Putin has already made the call to invade.
Wasn't it nice of Macron & Putin to avert the Geo-political Risk, just in time for our NZX / ASX market openings?
Many thanks to Alokdhir for being onto-it this morning too!
Sigh's of relief all around for now, but I'm still "riding my vents" with regards to hedging staying in place for now...
10 mins ago
Reuters is reporting that a blast was heard early on Monday in the centre of the city of Donetsk, which is held by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, a Reuters witness said. The origin of the blast was unclear.
But, keep a wary eye...
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...ar-2022-02-20/
Interesting logic. Nato continued to expand rather than explore the idea of resetting Europes relationship with Russia, yet you couch the mess that ensued as being somehow as a result of Putin "hardening his stance since NATO expansion." It seems to me that it is NATO's expansionism that led to Putins hardening attitude not the other way round.
I think Macron is the only leader who suspects Europe is, yet again, being led by the US into another war, this time in Europe itself. Europe has followed the US into wars in the Middle East that were based on spurious information (remember the fictitious weapons of mass destruction?) and recently the US pulled out of Afghanistan and left it's allies high and dry. I don't think Putin wants this war - it will incredibly damage Russia and cause huge loss of life on both sides. Europe needs to take Putins security concerns seriously and perhaps the Ukraine can be more like neutral Finland (also bordering Russia) which is western in outlook, but not allied militarily. Unfortunately NATO is dominated by the US - and the US has never ever been able to compromise with those it see's as it enemies.
This would be the best outcome perhaps for everyone, but we need to remember who put the 190,000 men around Ukraine in the first place.
As a negotiation strategy, it's a very costly one for Russia, without going ahead and changing the facts on the ground once & for all...
It's clearly a negotiate or else scenario...
Guardian,
Putin / Biden summit agreed in principle as long as Russia doesn't invade...
It's a chicken and egg situation. If NATO puts troops in countries near to Russia, it's seen as defensive. If Russia reacts to that by putting its own troops on its own borders it's seen as provocative. It's too simplistic - given the history of the US in manipulating events that lead to war - to paint this situation is purely down to Russian aggression. Both sides need to negotiate a middle ground. You say it's a negotiate or else threat from Russia. Well then - negotiate. Macron has said that the West can't have security unless Russia also feels secure. That's the route out of this mess - a negotiated settlement that respects both sides need for security.
And if it was someone else's dog?
Let's remember here who escalated this situation in the first place, Russia's 190,000 men around Ukraine, THEN the West responds...
With the longer term situation, why shouldn't newly sovereign countries freely join up to NATO to escape the Russian sphere of influence, and join a group of peaceful / advanced economies and a better future. Do you expect they all should have been permanently blocked from NATO for the sake of Russia's security too?
There's an ideological battle going on here and has been for the last 70 years. Are you seriously suggesting that both Russia and the US are suddenly going to play nice with each other?
I don't think that's going to happen in the real world sadly...except possibly for Ukraine...along the lines of Finland...
Great post on another forum:
"Putin is doing this in fear that if Ukraine is a happy civilised democracy, can Russians desiring the same be far behind."
Market responses to Ukraine...
https://www.smh.com.au/business/mark...=p53d1r#p53d1r
A mate reckons Putin is going to annex some of Ukraine to have a bigger buffer zone and takeover some valuable resources and industries.Attacking Kiev, taking over the whole country, well think about Germany attacking Stalingrad and the huge cost in lives etc. Makes sense.
The only thing I agree with here is that the US and Russia are still locked in a Cold War mentality. Which is why Europe has to start looking after it's own interests and redesign a security alliance that brings Russia into a mutually beneficial alliance with each other. Europe has a long connected history with Russia - I believe that without the interference of the US they could still yet find a compromise. I think that even the Ukraine wants to compromise, but there are too many hardline ultra-nationalists running round in Kiev.
Russia has said for many many years for the West to stop Expanding NATO and stop putting troops and missile bases ever closer to it's territory. It has said that Ukraine is it's line in the sand - no country, including the US - would countenance an enemy establishing a military presence right on its border. Remember Cuba? The US was prepared to go to a nuclear war with Russia at the prospect of a Russian base 80km from it's shore. Well the Ukraine is Russia's Cuba.
If you establish a principle that any country can go into a military alliance that destabilises a region and raises the prospect of war, then don't go crying when Russia or China respond in kind. Would you defend the sovereignty of say, Venuezla, if it decided to allow a Russian or Chinese military presence there to deter a US led invasion?
I agree. If there is action, it will be done in stages. I think Putin will move into Eastern Ukraine - his troops will largely be welcomed there, because they have been under attack from Kiev since the civil war broke out. His commanders will then gauge the strength of the Ukrainian / West response. Perhaps peace talks will be called. If not I think Putin will cut off supplies to Kiev, establish a no-fly zone and wait it out. No way will he bomb Kiev or major cities - the civilian deaths will provoke outrage.
Liz Truss is part of a British government that dropped the ball with Covid, is embroiled with a scandal concerning Covid lockdown parties, tried to illegally suspend its own parliament, and sold one of its provinces down the river to the EU and is now trying to get it back. However no doubt this British Minister is spot on with respect to another government’s intentions:p
I wonder if they are using the same intel gathering techniques that brought us the infamous stockpiles of Saddam’s WMD
The problem with your argument is that you see equivalence where there is none. There is a fundamental difference between Western democratic states and Eastern despot states. I've seen a lot of Eastern Europe and Soviet Russia back in the day, travelling with Finns and Hungarians in their back yard. I have a fair idea what it was like for those who were caught up in that dismal system. That's where Putin comes from. That's what Putin is. He is an authoritarian in the same mold as all the other authoritarians who have blighted the history of the world.
Duplicate message
Guardian.
Russia on the move, closer to Ukraine borders.
The infamous gulags to be back in operation soon .
https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...-human-rights/Quote:
The United States has informed the United Nations it has credible information showing that Moscow is compiling lists of Ukrainians “to be killed or sent to camps following a military occupation,” according to a letter to the U.N. human rights chief obtained by The Washington Post on Sunday night.
I have also travelled through Eastern Europe and Russia and I don't see the back and white picture that you do. The Russian people I spoke to don't take kindly to Gorbachev who presided over the Soviet breakup and precipitated the collapse of the economy, the pillaging of Soviet assets by oligarchs and the rise of the Russian mafia. Putin - although an authoritarian leader - came in at a time when there was anarchy and he restored the State, stabilised the economy and brought law and order. As a result of that he is actually pretty popular in Russia with those who remember that time, but how much so is not tested fully at the polls. And because of the shared history with the Ukraine he is also pretty popular with a fair slice of the Ukrainian people. Don't assume that Ukraine are united in fighting Russia. They are fighting amongst themselves remember.
Regardless, you shouldn't be presenting this conflict in such basic good v evil terms. The Ukraine and the world is more complicated than that. Whenever people like yourself have believed the reductive arguments of the US, the conflicts that have ensued have never brought the results they thought. And quite often the reasons for going to war have proved to be false. If we don't learn from the mistakes of history we are doomed to repeat them. But this time there are nukes involved.
The question was would I defend Venezuela's sovereignty. Answer No I wouldn't, not with Maduro in charge.
You're very skilled at twisting people's opinions to suit you ends, but you seem to have no convictions about anything, except saying the situation is complex.
Sure, I get it that you don't trust America (who does?), but it is not the USA that is pushing for war here. It is not the USA that is pushing to "expand NATO". Being cynical about America and credulous about Putin is not the sophisticated perspective you think it is.
Sorry, you are just wrong. NATO is essentially a tool for the US to continue the Cold War with Russia. You will know that after the breakup of the USSR there was an opportunity to end NATO and bring Russia into a new security alliance. The US would not agree. it still does not agree, although as I say some European nations eg France and perhaps Germany see this as a route out of the perpetual tension with Russia.
I have already written that Russia and the US are not listening to each other and both are playing geo-political games. I am certainly cynical about both, but credulous about neither.
My conviction is that there is still a diplomatic solution to avoiding a terrible war, but that it will involve compromise - including on the part of NATO. I think that is better than dogmatically believing that one side is completely in the right and the other completely wrong. We have been down this road before - the demonising of certain nations so that we can see them as being "the other" and whip up hatred of them (usually as a prelude to war). At the end of the day, where is the harm for the West to at least explore other options about the status of Ukraine. Why not a neutral Ukraine, like Finland, western in outlook, but not part of a military alliance?
That might be the ideal solution for Russia and the West as discussed previously, but you are effectively saying that Ukraine has no sovereign rights in this matter, that somehow Russia and NATO / US has to convince Ukraine that this is the solution and they cannot have what they want, which is to ultimately join NATO.
Guardian
12m ago 20:25
https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-...ormat&fit=max& Daniel Boffey
Reaction to Putin’s recognition of independence in two Ukrainian territories continues to pour in from European leaders.
In a joint statement, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, the presidents of the European Commisson and European Council said: “The recognition of the two separatist territories in Ukraine is a blatant violation of international law, the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the Minsk agreements.
“The EU and its partners will react with unity, firmness and determination in solidarity with Ukraine”.
Alar Karis, the president of Estonia, said: “Estonia will never accept the illegal decision by Russia to recognise Donetsk and Luhansk regions.They are an internationally recognised part of Ukraine, like Crimea. Clearly, Moscow is not serious about diplomacy but is looking for casus belli.”
Latvian prime minister Arturs Krisjanis Karins said: “The decision taken by the President of the Russian Federation to recognise the independence of Luhansk and Donetsk, the Ukrainian territories outside the government’s control, is a continuation of the attack on Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity that began in 2014 by unlawfully changing borders in Europe.
In a gross violation of international law, under a fabricated pretext, and by spreading false information, Russia seeks to induce a change in Ukraine’s political leadership and foreign policy course by violent means.”
While utterly condemning Russia’s actions, Latvia urges the international community to take the strongest possible measures to stop Russia’s aggression and offer assistance to Ukraine.
“We call on the international community to action through putting in place robust economic sanctions against the Russian Federation and persons responsible for encroachment on Ukraine’s statehood.”
Updated at 8.27pm GMT
Guardian
3m ago 21:04
NATO secretary Jens Stoltenberg released a statement condemning Russia, specifically saying that Russia has violated the Minsk agreements, “to which Russia is a party”, referring to the peace deal made in 2015 following the annexation of Crimea. Russian has denied it is responsible for carrying out the peace deal.
“Moscow continues to fuel the conflict in eastern Ukraine by providing financial and military support to the separatists. It is also trying to stage a pretext to invade Ukraine once again,” Stoltenberg said in his statement.
“NATO supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders. Allies urge Russia, in the strongest possible terms, to choose the path of diplomacy, and to immediately reverse its massive military build-up in and around Ukraine, and withdraw its forces from Ukraine in accordance with its international obligations and commitments.”
And so it has come to pass. It is as I have said - that Russia did not want a full scale war, it wanted to preserve it's security by not having NATO bases in the Ukraine. Russia will now, behind the scenes, build up it's military capability in these regions and the West will know that if it does move it's troops into the Ukraine it will come into direct conflict with Russia. And it has already said it won't do that. So Russia will get what it said it wanted - a non-aligned Ukraine. And in the meantime the divisions in Ukraine society and regions that were opened after the coup, will get formalised by the new arrangement.
And let's be clear - these regions are inhabited mainly by Russian speaking people, people who predominantly see themselves as Russian and did not welcome the coup by Ukrainian hardliners who have persecuted them for years. This whole mess could have been avoided if the West hadn't encouraged the coup and allowed the Ukraine to develop at its own pace.
Guardian
Replying to @maxseddon
Putin has ordered Russian troops into Ukraine. The decrees on recognizing the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics order the Russian armed forces to go into separatist territory on "peacekeeping missions..."
Putins desire to occupy Ukraine is caused by nothing more than phantom imperial pain.
Not my words but of a concerned observer in Germany.
https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...021_bigger.png
max seddon
@maxseddon
moscow bureau chief @FT
. in soviet russia, news reports you: max.seddon@ft.com
They cut to the signing ceremony so fast I didn't have time to tweet Putin's final message – that Ukraine was behind the violence in the Donbas and would be held responsible for "ensuing bloodshed." This is only the beginning. The speech made it clear: war's on the table.
SMH
Vladimir Putin orders Russian forces to ‘maintain peace’ in eastern Ukraine’s two breakaway regions
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/...22-p59ygl.html
NYT
Live Updates: Moscow Orders Troops to Ukraine’s Breakaway Regions
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02...ping-functions
that hysterical western intelligence looking a bit less hysterical now
When Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal, Russia, the UK and the USA guaranteed Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty. I guess that is binned now. Let's hope Russia sticks its grab to those regions with a Russian ethnic majority or plurality...and that appeasement works this time...
invasion under way
It won't roll that way. Putin wants all of Ukraine - he said as much this morning. He is going into Eastern Ukraine which he can more easily "justify" with his propaganda. Ukraine now either gives up its territory to Russia or is openly at war with Russia. This is going to escalate rapidly.
Guardian
14m ago 22:34
https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/201...ormat&fit=max& Luke Harding
KYIV — Ukrainian officials say Russian troops may have already entered separatist territory this evening as part of what Vladimir Putin claims is a “peace-keeping mission” to the Luhansk and Donetsk people’s republics.
The officials say local people in the town of Makiivka, 15kms west of rebel-held Donetsk, have seen what appear to be Russian armoured vehicles on the move.
One source - who declined to be named - said “a huge convoy of Russian armoured personnel carriers and other equipment has been travelling for one and a half hours”. It was spotted heading north towards the city of Yasynuvata, also in the Donestk region.
Video released by Ukraine tonight appears to show a column of military vehicles with their headlights on moving in convoy along a road. The officials said it was not possible to tell if the troops belonged to the regular Russian army, or were from Russian-controlled separatist units.
An excellent explainer by the FT (Financial Times) via NZ Herald - paywalled
Explainer: Why Putin has Donetsk and Luhansk in his sights
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/exp...WG7U3DJI67S5E/
Guardian (Busy 10 minutes)
1m ago 23:30
Australia’s prime minster Scott Morrison says the suggestion that Russian troops in Ukraine’s breakaway regions are peacekeeping is “nonsense”, according to a Reuters report.
Facebook Twitter
4m ago 23:27
The UN security council is set to meet publicly on Ukraine in a matter of hours with a meeting scheduled for 9pm EST on Monday, Reuters reports citing a Russian diplomat.
Updated at 11.28pm GMT
Facebook Twitter
8m ago 23:24
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says he is was “urgently” preparing an address in the early hours of Tuesday on Russia’s recognition of Russian-backed separatist regions as independent, Reuters reports.
Updated at 11.24pm GMT
Facebook Twitter
9m ago 23:23
Canada has condemned Russia’s decision to recognise two eastern Ukrainian regions controlled by separatists as independent and will impose sanctions in response, foreign minister Melanie Joly said on Monday, according to a Reuters report.
Facebook Twitter
10m ago 23:22
Ukraine calls for emergency security council meeting
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has asked the UN security council for an urgent meeting.
“Ukraine has requested an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council due to Russia’s illegal actions. We have already sent the request to the Council,” Kuleba tweeted in the early hours of Tuesday morning local time.
Jacinda should phone Putin and tell him to be kind - that should fix the situation immediately.
Trouble with that is that the West was involved in promoting the coup that toppled the democratically elected leader. It didn't respect the "sovereignty" pf Ukraine then. As I have said, all the issues we see now are as a result of Ukraine descending into civil war. We have seen this time and time again in South America and the Middle East - when the US cannot bomb a country to force regime change, it promotes division from within. Europe and the rest of NATO were so naive when they celebrated the Ukraine "revolution". No-one is celebrating now.
Guardian
5m ago 00:36
Here’s a quick recap of Zelenskiy’s televised address to the nation, held during the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Ukraine’s president accused Russia of wrecking peace talks and has ruled out making any territorial concessions, Reuters reports.
Zelenskiy added Ukraine was committed to peace and diplomacy after Russia formally recognised two Russian-backed separatist regions as independent on Monday evening.
The president said Ukraine was expecting “clear and effective” steps from its allies to act against Russia and called for an emergency summit of the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France.
In further news, the upcoming UN Security Council meeting is going to be an open session...9pm NY EST (3pm NZDT)
Try this: https://media.un.org/en/asset/k19/k19a78ycjo
Guardian
9m ago 00:59
Russia acquires the right to build military bases in eastern Ukraine (Of course they do!)...
Russia has acquired the right to build military bases in Ukraine’s two breakaway regions under treaties signed by President Vladimir Putin with their separatist leaders, Reuters is reporting.
Putin on Monday officially recognised the two breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine. He later announced he was ordering troops to the region on a “peacekeeping mission”, defying western warnings that such a step would be illegal and kill peace negotiations.
Under the two identical friendship treaties, submitted by Putin for ratification by parliament, Russia has the right to build bases in the separatist regions and they, on paper, can do the same in Russia.
The parties commit to defend each other and sign separate agreements on military cooperation and on recognition of each other’s borders. The 31-point treaties also say Russia and the breakaway statelets will work to integrate their economies.
Send in a peacekeeping force to two russian regions which dont like Putin and then do a referendum.
The Donbas region is principally inhabited by people who see themselves as Russian first, Ukrainian second. This region has been under attack by Ukrainian forces since the the civil war broke out. We describe the people of this region as being "Russian Backed Separatists" but in fact they are just people - people that were afraid when the coup took place and the tanks and military rolled towards them and began shelling. They tried to block the advancement of the Ukrainian tanks by parking their tractors in the roads. Since then, approximately 15,000 civilians been killed since the civil war broke out, and the people have organised themselves into a resistance movement, backed by Russia. They are not separatists - they are just trying to defend themselves after the Government they elected was removed in a bloody coup. Which is why, not only will there be no resistance by these people to Russian soldiers move in, they will more than likely be welcomed. I doubt we will see the celebrations on our screens, just as we did not see the celebrations in the streets of Crimea when Russian troops moved in there as well. There are those who still want to deny the complex and intermixed society that is modern day Ukraine. When the West invades countries in the Middle East we see ourselves as liberators not as invaders. As loathsome as Putin, this is how he sees himself. Considering how the the people of Donbas have suffered over the last 8 years, they more than likely will agree.
Meeting itself is live on https://media.un.org/en/webtv
UN Security Council meeting Press Conference afterwards
Try this: https://media.un.org/en/asset/k19/k19a78ycjo
The West won't do that because they know that the vast majority of the people in this region will want to re-unite with Russia. It's an uncomfortable truth but that's the way it is. After Russia annexed Crimea, they actually did hold a referendum asking people whether they wanted to be part of Russia or the Ukraine. 90% said Russia. I know we can be rightly suspicious of these sort of referendum figures, but no one doubts that the vast majority of Crimeans are happy to be part of Russia. The Crimean economy is now doing much better than the Ukraine economy especially after the Crimean bridge was built and trade and tourism from Russia accelerated. Also, Russia isn't a rich country by any stretch, but the Russian pension is nearly 50% higher than the Ukrainian one. Because the East of Ukraine is more of an older demographic, they are going to be far better off economically than the average Ukrainian. All of this plays into Putins hands. People will vote with their wallets.
And we are expected to believe that a referendum conducted after Russia had already annexed Crimea is legitimate.Give me a break.
Are we expected to believe that the Government installed in the Ukraine is legitimate after it forcibly removed a democratically appointed one?
I think you are aware - or should be - that if a UN observer run ballot was run in Crimea right, now asking it's citizens whether they wanted to be part of the Ukraine again, the answer would be a resounding no. That's the thing about self-determination. Sometimes you find that the actual people don't fit your geo-political view of the world. Kiev won't allow it but if you held a similar referendum in the Donbas region they would vote to be part of Russia. An inconvenient truth, but the truth nonetheless.
Oh no :ohmy::p. I was hoping nobody noticed my comment from the other day. LOL
Ive been reading a couple of comments above and technically its not really Ukraine or something like that? Like Russians live in these places?
Where is my buddy nztx? He was going to join me in this feast
Here we go. Presi chatting at the fire side.
Blocking on the Russian banks ect...
The Bear's gone complete Honey mad..
Presi laying it down.
There goes the pipe line.
Nada..The Pipe Line.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnPnQzAcr4g
The Oli boy's will soon find they cant even get a Taxi Ride.
The Bear has moola in the piggy bank but that wont last long.
Let Putin keep East Ukraine it looks a hell of a place to vacation..Let Putin spend billions to fix it.
The way Russia / Putin is thinking / claiming...(via NYT - subs reqd)
MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia demanded Ukraine recognize Russia’s claim to Crimea and relinquish its advanced weapons, declaring what sounded like an ultimatum minutes after Russian state television showed Parliament authorizing the use of military force abroad.
The cascade of developments in Moscow on Tuesday evening offered the clearest signs yet that Mr. Putin was moving toward mounting a military operation against Ukraine. The goals of such an operation remained uncertain. But in setting out his demands on Tuesday, Mr. Putin made it clear that he was seeking to force a drastic political shift in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, as well as to win control of a large area of the country’s east.
Mr. Putin added that he had not decided to send troops into Ukraine “right at this moment.” But asked whether one could resolve issues by force and “remain on the side of the good,” Mr. Putin made it clear he saw military action as a morally defensible course.
“Why do you think that the good must always be powerless?” Mr. Putin said. “I don’t believe so. I think that the good implies the ability to protect oneself. We will proceed based on this.”
Mr. Putin further laid the foundation for military conflict by declaring that Russia would recognize the sovereignty of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics over the full territory that they claim. That includes a large area of eastern Ukraine that is currently controlled by the Ukrainian government, and includes several cities like Mariupol and Kramatorsk.
“We expect — and I want to emphasize this — that all contentious issues will be resolved in negotiations between today’s Kyiv authorities and the leadership of these republics,” Mr. Putin said. “Unfortunately, at this point in time, we understand that this is impossible because the hostilities there are still ongoing and, moreover, are tending to escalate.”
Mr. Putin signed decrees on Monday recognizing the separatist republics. But until Mr. Putin’s remarks Tuesday evening, it was not clear over what territory he would recognize their sovereignty.
Kyiv has refused to recognize or negotiate directly with the separatist authorities, characterizing them as Kremlin puppets.
In his news conference, Mr. Putin laid out a series of additional demands to Kyiv that, he said, the government must fulfill to resolve the situation “in a long-term, historical perspective.” He said Ukraine must recognize the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, as Russian territory; declare that it will never join the NATO alliance and maintain “neutrality”; and give up all the weaponry that the United States and other Western countries have delivered to it in recent years.
“The most important point is a known degree of demilitarization of Ukraine today,” Mr. Putin said. “This is the only objectively controllable factor that can be observed and reacted to.”
Just before state television aired Mr. Putin’s news conference, it showed Russia’s upper house of Parliament approving a request from Mr. Putin to use military force abroad that had been made public only minutes earlier. A deputy defense minister, Nikolai Pankov, told the assembly that Ukraine had gathered 60,000 troops to attack the Russia-backed separatist enclaves in the country’s east — a step that Ukraine denies having any plans to take.
“Negotiations have reached a dead end,” Mr. Pankov said in a televised speech. “The Ukrainian leadership has taken the path of violence and bloodshed.”
Just after showing the vote, state television cut to the Kremlin, where Mr. Putin was shown holding an unscheduled news conference. He repeated his past, unfounded claims that Ukraine was carrying out a “genocide” of Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine. Asked about the potential use of force, Mr. Putin responded, “I didn’t say that the troops will go there right at this moment.”
Two European officials have said that Russia has already sent troops into the area, but Russia has denied having done so.
Mr. Putin signed a decree on Monday ordering Russia’s military to perform “peacekeeping functions” in the separatist territories, the same day that he recognized them as independent nations. But as of Monday evening in Moscow, the Russian Defense Ministry had not said it was deploying troops to the territories.
Valentina Matviyenko, the chairwoman of the upper house house of Parliament, said the use of military force was being approved to “stop this bloody civil war,” according to the Interfax news agency.
Your not alone. I have to unwind my position there as well, Putin strolled in like he was coming home for dinner.
Having owned a few pets and seen hairballs out of both ends I suggest a long soak at room temperature preferably with copious red wine or balsamic (it's a sour dish) then into the blender with one large onion (or two) and add peri peri mayo to taste.
Better living :t_up:
Navalny not very impressed about Mother Russia...
https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...rmY_bigger.jpgAlexey Navalny
@navalny
1/16 Yesterday I watched the “session of the Security Council”, this gathering of dotards and thieves (it seems to me that our Anti-Corruption Foundation has done investigations into the corruption of every single one of them).
2/16 And I thought about the same gathering of nomenklatura dotards from the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU, who, quite similarly, on their own whim , imagining themselves as geopoliticians at the “grand chessboard”, decided to send Soviet troops into Afghanistan.
3/16 The result was hundreds of thousands of victims, injuries to entire nations, the consequences of which both we and Afghanistan still cannot overcome, and the emergence of one of the key reasons for the collapse of the USSR.
4/16 Those morons from the Politburo covered themselves with a two-faced ideology. These Putin's dotards do not even have an ideology - only constant and undisguised lies. They don't even bother to give their casus belli the slightest credibility.
5/16 Both of them need one thing: to divert the attention of the people of Russia from real problems - the development of the economy, rising prices, reigning lawlessness - and switching it to the format of "imperial hysteria."
6/16 How long has it been since you last watched the news on federal channels? It's the only thing I watch now, and I can assure you, there is NO news about Russia there AT ALL. Literally. From the first to the last piece, it's Ukraine - USA - Europe.
7/16 Bare propaganda is no longer enough for the senile thieves. They want blood. They want to move around tank figurines on a map of hostilities.
8/16 And so, the head of the 21st century Politburo makes a truly insane speech. Twitter gave the most accurate metaphor for it: “It's just like my grandfather getting drunk at a family celebration and annoying everyone with his stories about how world politics actually works.”
9/16 It would be funny if the drunk grandfather was not a man of 69 who holds power in a country with nuclear weapons.
10/16 Replace "Ukraine" in his speech with "Kazakhstan", "Belarus", "Baltic countries", "Azerbaijan", "Uzbekistan" and so on, even including "Finland". And think about where the train of geopolitical thought of this senile grandfather may take him next.
11/16 All this ended very badly for everyone in 1979. And it will end just as badly now. Afghanistan was destroyed, but the USSR also received a mortal wound.
12/16 Thanks to Putin, hundreds of Ukrainians and Russian citizens may die now, and in the future, this number may reach tens of thousands. Yes, he will not allow Ukraine to develop, he will drag it into the swamp, but Russia will pay the same price.
13/16 We have everything for powerful development in the 21st century, from oil to educated citizens, but we will lose money again and squander the historical chance for a normal rich life for the sake of war, dirt, lies and the palace with golden eagles in Gelendzhik.
14/16 Putin and his senile thieves from the Security Council and United Russia are the enemies of Russia and its main threat, not Ukraine and not the West. Putin kills and wants to kill more.
15/16 The Kremlin is making you poorer, not Washington. It is not in London that economic policy is being conducted in such a way that a pensioner's "borscht set" has doubled in price, but in Moscow.
16/16 To fight for Russia, to save it, means to fight for the removal of Putin and his kleptocrats from power. But now it also means the banal “to fight for peace”.
Russia / Ukraine conflict updates on SMH
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/...31-p59snl.html
You demand and I supply.
The point is not that the Ukraine isn't a country, but that it is not a united country. It never really has been, but the coup opened the divisions that were already there and there has been civil war since. The US never took the trouble to think how the coup would break the country into two - Russian aligned and western aligned - and has provided Putin with the justification, in his eyes, to move into the Russian aligned East, on the pretext of protecting civilian life.
The tragedy of this situation is that it was completely avoidable. It just required compromise. Europe might have been prepared to do that, but not with the US calling the shots. It would have been so easy - and strategically sensible - to say that there will be a moratorium, say 10 years, on further NATO expansion. The Ukraine would probably not have been able to meet NATO requirements on governance (the Ukraine is and always was, corrupt) in that period anyway.
My final thoughts - some will be happy about that! - is that those who keep repeating the US mantra that a sovereign nation has the right to enter into any military alliance, regardless of the security implications on it's neigbours and region, might one day come to regret that principle being established over the Ukraine. Going forward, it is China, not Russia, that is the threat, particularly in our neck of the woods. China see's the Asia-Pacific region as being it's sphere of influence, and there will come a time when it approaches some heavily in debt island - perhaps close to AUS/NZ - and offers to write off some or all of that debt in exchange for establishing a military port/base. It will be ironic - and entirely predictable - that the US will respond by using the same language that Russia has used over the Ukraine ie. military expansionism is provocative/destabilising and upsets the security balance of the region. Such protests will fall on deaf ears as China will play the "sovereignty" card just as we have. Be careful of what you wish for...
Dramatic updates from Rupert Murdock news.com.au on Granny Herald (subs reqd - I assume everyone has one by now?)
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/tan...BI5NCHUAN2Q6A/
Ukraines' President has just called up his Reserves, urging Ukrainians' to fight for their country... (NYT)
NYT
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said on Tuesday that he had canceled a planned meeting with his Russian counterpart, but that the United States would continue to pursue diplomacy if Russia takes steps to de-escalate its aggression against Ukraine.
Mr. Blinken had been scheduled to depart Wednesday morning to meet with Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov. Speaking to reporters at the State Department alongside Ukraine’s visiting foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, Mr. Blinken said he had sent Mr. Lavrov a letter calling off the meeting.
Analysis: Putin moves on Donbass but signals deeper designs on Ukraine
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...ne-2022-02-22/
Further details of recent Laser harassment of Aussi P8
https://news.usni.org/2022/02/21/aus...eid=cc0f71bf89
NYT
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018...mbLarge-v2.pngFeb. 22, 2022, 7:36 p.m. ET16 minutes ago
16 minutes ago Christoph Koettl
New satellite images show military deployments continuing along the Ukrainian border.
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2022...isable=upscale
Image
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2022...isable=upscale
A satellite image taken on Tuesday shows recently arrived military vehicles and tents at an airfield in Belarus.Credit...Maxar Technologies
One week after President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia announced a partial withdrawal of troops from the border with Ukraine, newly released satellite images show a different reality. In addition to redeployments in the Belgorod-Valuyki area in western Russia, where there has been a lot of military activity over recent days, new military activities continue to emerge in Belarus.
A satellite image collected by Maxar Technologies on Tuesday morning shows a new deployment, most likely Russian, at an airfield in the village of Velikii Bokov in Belarus. The site is 25 miles from the Ukrainian border, and about 110 miles north of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.
A Times analysis of prior satellite imagery from that location found that it had been active only since mid-Feburary; a video posted on Feb. 14 showed military fuel tanks heading toward the airfield. Tuesday’s imagery shows that more than 100 vehicles and dozens of tents have arrived.
Some of the locations in Belarus and western Russia are possibly intended as support sites for combat units in case of a Russian attack on Ukraine. In Belgorod, a new field hospital has been set up over the last week at a military garrison 25 miles from the border.