Putin Calls For Talks On 'Statehood' For Eastern Ukraine -- Business Insider/AFP
Moscow (AFP) - President Vladimir Putin on Sunday dramatically raised the stakes in the Ukraine conflict by calling for the first time for statehood to be considered for the restive east of the former Soviet state.
"We need to immediately begin substantive talks ... on questions of the political organisation of society and statehood for southeastern Ukraine with the goal of protecting the lawful interests of the people who live there," Putin was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies on a TV show broadcast in the far east of the country.
Read more ....
More News On Putin Urging Ukraine To Accommodate Separatist Aspirations
Putin to Ukraine: Begin Immediate Talks on East -- AP
Putin: Russia can't stand aside if people being shot at in Ukraine - agencies -- Reuters
Events in Donetsk, Luhansk Result of Ukraine’s Political Situation – Putin -- RIA Novosti
Putin Urges Kiev Cease Hostilities, Start Restoring Infrastructure in East Ukraine -- RIA Novosti
My Comment: Everyone knows that Putin is pushing for statehood for the eastern Ukrainian provinces .... and everyone also knows that Kiev will decline such a proposition. But still .... Putin is offering an olive branch to Ukrainian Poroshenko for a possible face-saving way out of this mess. My advice to the Ukrainian President is that unless he wants to be fighting a war for the rest of his term in office .... he should take it.
Update: I guess Ukrainian President Poroshenko has declined Putin's advice .... Ukraine president warns Europe nearing 'point of no return' (The Guardian).
I said a long time ago that Putin had the measure of Obama and the West. He's on a roll now and thinks he can get these demands and make them work. I doubt seriously he envisioned being this successful at this moment, but I think he is one who will seize the oppotunity offered.
ReplyDeleteWe must not forget that when the crisis in Ukraine blew up ... Putin was more concerned about satisfying his girlfriend's need to carry the Olympic torch into the main stadium during the Sochi Olympics than caring at all about Ukraine.
ReplyDeleteYup .... he (and everyone else) never expected any of this .... but he showed leadership and vision and he seized the moment .... and I doubt that he is going to back down now.
"...he showed leadership and vision..
Delete", he is a f***ing dictator that rapes Ukraine. Nothing more, nothing less.
Sebastien .... of course Putin is an authoritarian figure .... but you are missing the point that I am making .... the Ukrainians screwed up by not being able to reconcile their differences and he took advantage of their divisions. This mess would never have have occurred if the Ukrainian nationalists who took power after Yanukovych fled the country had not imposed their anti-Russian language laws or had not purged Russians from government/media/etc. positions. This is why this situation is so tragic .... this situation should never have happened .... but the old hatreds came out .... and everyone else ... Putin, the U.S., etc. .... they are all trying to take advantage of it. It is just that Putin has been smarted at getting what he wants.
ReplyDelete