tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36227136.post4781323287086835280..comments2024-01-16T08:40:53.682+00:00Comments on <a href="http://www.openeurope.org.uk">Open Europe</a>: EU states struggle to find common ground for sanctions on RussiaOEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556463374230498875noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36227136.post-70944714328974514602014-05-14T12:32:55.080+01:002014-05-14T12:32:55.080+01:00If Putin succeeds with his lies, armed thuggery an...If Putin succeeds with his lies, armed thuggery and subversion in the Ukraine, then the Baltic States will be next. It seems extraordinary that so much of the UK media, especially the BBC, are so naive in their reporting of this conflict.<br /><br />The evidence from on-the-spot reporters confirm that Putin has supplied modern weapons to pro-Russian protesters. You can't shoot down 3 helicopters with an air-gun. He has sent in special forces and paid agitators to occupy public buildings - all in an attempt to provoke an asymmetric armed response from Kiev, and hence a pretext for invasion. The UN found no evidence at all that the ethnic Russians in Ukraine were under any threat from Kiev. The entire crisis is predicated on a lie propagated by Russian state-controlled media. Putin knows that with his annexation of Crimea, there are now insufficient ethnic Russians in the rest of Ukraine to return a pro-Russian and compliant president like Yanukovych. Putin may have won Crimea but he has lost the Ukraine. He will do all he can to prevent a free and fair election on 25 May.<br /><br />The tactics of "attack from within" worked in the Crimea. When will the West and the EU wake up? If Putin is not stopped now, he will have to be stopped later, and the resulting conflict will be an order of magnitude worst, if not catastrophic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36227136.post-24065609890124927912014-05-13T21:14:23.657+01:002014-05-13T21:14:23.657+01:00& Biden's Son Joins Board of Ukraine Gas P...& Biden's Son Joins Board of Ukraine Gas Producer:<br />http://washingtonexaminer.com/joe-bidens-son-gets-job-with-major-ukrainian-natural-gas-company/article/2548371?custom_click=rss<br /><br />It is said that to do business in Russia it is needed to have strong connections, otherwise customers will not pay. Ukraine isn't much better. Will this Ukrainian company get paid?Jespernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36227136.post-17030968509738926462014-05-12T13:40:11.683+01:002014-05-12T13:40:11.683+01:00And another take on the soft power:
http://www.the...And another take on the soft power:<br />http://www.the-american-interest.com/articles/2014/05/08/how-offshore-finance-sunk-western-soft-power/Jespernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36227136.post-37748697493014320382014-05-12T12:36:45.082+01:002014-05-12T12:36:45.082+01:00Civil war is when a country's military moves a...Civil war is when a country's military moves against its civilian population. There seems to be a civil war going on.<br /><br />Maybe a no-fly zone is to be established to protect the civilian population?<br /><br />Maybe bombing of military vehicles approaching civilians can be done?<br /><br />Maybe the leader who ordered military to be used against the civilian population could be charged with crimes against humanity?<br /><br />Or maybe, just maybe the situation could benefit from some cooling down?<br /><br />Let the people of Ukraine sort this one out. The territorial integrity was set aside not long ago when it came to Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia was split and both new nations joined the EU. Is the non-joining of the EU the difference that makes territorial integrity sacrosanct?Jespernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36227136.post-67262193279261882802014-05-12T12:05:01.783+01:002014-05-12T12:05:01.783+01:00This cannot be mismanagement on the EU's part....This cannot be mismanagement on the EU's part. Nobody could be that stupid. This must be deliberate. There is no balanced reporting from the western mainstream media. The fact that a Ukranian politician told a crowd of Ukranians at a memorial service last week that 'Hitler was a liberator'. The fact that there are 400 Blackwater mercenaries on operation supporting the Kiev interim far right government. The fact that the EU has said that they want to control all countries left of the Russian flank and that if the 'people don't want it, we do it anyway'.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36227136.post-49245925411001037362014-05-12T11:10:45.540+01:002014-05-12T11:10:45.540+01:00The EU has now waisted 2 good chances to get out o...The EU has now waisted 2 good chances to get out of this with little egg on their faces because of a completely mismanaged advanture.<br />This looks to be a third one that will be waisted. You donot keep lucky.Riknoreply@blogger.com