Ukraine

[niemeyjt]

Are flights still avoiding Belarus?

If so that is a big no-fly area in the centre of Europe.

[niemeyjt]

An interesting analysis of the last 20 years - watch the first 25 minutes if nothing else . . .

[Bayleaf]

I have more questions than answers after all that - but it seems the West (or leaders of certain Western countries) caused this. What does Ukraine actually want - being the pawns in the middle?

Interesting that Turkey supplied drones to Ukraine, which was obviously going to be seen as inflammatory to Putin, and I thought Erdogan and Putin were buddies?

What a bloody mess, and this morning I read this:

"Following clashes, Russian forces have seized control of the former Chernobyl nuclear complex in northernmost Ukraine, close to the Belarusian border and just 93 kilometres from Kyiv. The US says Ukrainian soldiers are being held hostage there"

[niemeyjt]

Indeed - it is thought-provoking - although nothing in there is new it is good to see it being brought together to present the background which is not coming through the MSM.

As for what does Ukraine want - I guess it depends on which part of Ukraine you ask. But then what did Cuba want in 1962? What does Syria want now?

[Blaze]

An interesting and fair analysis (I didn't listen to the whole thing). Russia was happy to have Ukraine as a buffer state between Russia and the West (NATO) and now the west is arming Ukraine, it is seen as an aggressive move by Russia.
You could be forgiven for thinking that the analysis is propaganda, but it does look as if NATO, particularly the US, has provoked Russia. Russia's always been obsessed and afraid of invasion by the West .....
Ukraine is caught in the middle and according to Prof M is being used by NATO, knowing that this would enrage Russia.

[Char]

If you keep poking a bear with a stick it will eventually lose it's temper.

[tagh]

What a fraudulent analysis. Do the Ukrainians have no rights to make their own decisions or are they always to be condemned to be simply a ‘buffer’? They made democratic choices, chose a President who was pro Western and not pro Putain and got invaded by the megalonaniac. Oh, is destroying Democracy only ok for the Russians?

[Char]

The Russians have no democracy Putain's made sure of that, to my mind the rest of the world should have put sanctions in place against Russia a long time ago to try and keep the megalomaniac under control. But the problem with that I suppose is that the ordinary Russian people would have suffered more.
China seems to get away with invading and taking over other countries without anyone doing anything about it - the world's a mess and it's difficult to believe sometimes that we're living in the 21st century.

[tagh]

The Russians have been about the expansion business for quite a while; they were involved in the Balkan flare up, have been sniffing around in Africa, initially Libya where they have a base in Tobruk and now south of the Sahara in Mali, they are involved in Syria, held joint naval operations with the Iranians and have even flown their nuclear bombers as far as Australia. Oh, and they are very matey with the Chinese, joint naval operations etc. So, they are not the victims that the Professor suggests they might be.

[niemeyjt]

Do the Ukrainians have no rights to make their own decisions or are they always to be condemned to be simply a ‘buffer'?

Which Ukrainians? The ones who elected Viktor Yanukovych in 2010? I don't think they were asked what they wanted.

Once Yanukovych made overtures towards Russia he was unceremoniously overthrown in the CIA fomented Maiden Coup. Then followed the civil war and separation of Crimea.

So unsurprisingly the western rump of Ukraine may want to join NATO etc - but that is not all Ukrainians - and from the last elections that covered the whole of Ukraine, I would suggest it may not even be a majority of Ukrainians.

And I also refer you back to my comments on Syria - when it is the USA doing the invading then that is just fine it seems in the hypocritical west.

And when it is the State of Israel doing pre-emptive strikes on Iran and their proxies in Lebanon - that is OK but Russia cannot do similar self-defence?

Or the west can recognise Kosovo and bomb sh1t out of Serbia but Russia cannot recognise Donbas?

As for Syria - the Russians were invited in there - unlike the USA who are in there illegally.

Sorry, we no longer live in a world where the good guys all wear white hats and the bad guys all wear black hats - everyone has a shade of grey.

And China is the biggest threat not Russia - we ought to be keeping them apart not pushing Russia towards China.