Russia's 'invasion and occupation' of Ukrainian territory.

[dr. d]

so they're re-building the union of soviet socialist republics???

[badkuk]

Hindi naman siguro. It's very hard and expensive to maintain a large country imho.

Ang style ng Russia ngayon is to install puppet governments in the former Soviet states -- more efficient imho:

Russia doesn't need to support the former Soviet state(at least not directly) so it's insulated economically;
it is, technically, a separate country, so Russia is insulated politically;
if there's any violent commotion, technically it's not in Russia

It's just that things got out of hand sa Ukraine -- i.e. Yanukovych got removed -- so he stepped in, big time. i guess you can argue that he did this to "protect" Russia, but he has no business invading an independent country. If he wanted to protect the naval base, he could have just deployed the troops there, then let Ukrainians play it out.

[uls]

sa Germany daw ito

US equipment to be sent to ukraine

[Athrunzala]

Western Weapons Manufacturers are so jubilant

[111prez]

The rasyans have landed .... in Santa Rosa City, Laguna -

"February 2| Welcome Moscow City Delegates🥰🥰🥰

Part 2 of Moscow City Delegation visit in the City of Santa Rosa was the visit in the Santa Rosa City Hall.
Welcomed by Vice Mayor Arnold Arcillas & by the Cityhall department heads & employees , with leis & drum beaters.

I welcomed them in my Office, Office of the City Mayor & we hosted lunch for them, Filipino cuisine w/ our popular lechon & kakanin buffet.

Tokens were exchanged, selfies ( lots of them ) were taken and more importantly, friendships were formed. 💕💕💕

Possible sisterhood between Moscow & Santa Rosa discussed.

From the Russian Embassy page:

"After the visit to the Laguna Technopark the Moscow delegation the most cordial welcome at the City Hall of Santa Rosa, where they presented a model of the Moscow electrobus to Hon. Arlene Arcillas.""
Thank you again for the visit & possible benchmarking!"

source: Log into Facebook | Facebook

[safeorigin]

^translated: sanctions are half-hearted and at the end of the day meaningless rhetoric if the US is alone in brandishing sanctions

[safeorigin]

In case you missed it:

Foreign Policy

[yebo]

Very happy ang CHINA, di na sila ang bad boy ulit. Postpone na din ang pivot to asia ng US nyan. The chinese must be jumping for joy. Sana lang huwag sabay-sabay pag jump nila at baka mawala sa orbit ang earth.

[monkeybone1k]

But beneath it all, what do China’s problems and Russia’s problems have to do with each other? Although they initially ended up on opposite sides of the conflict, Germany and the USSR went into World War II with a non-aggression pact, which lasted two years until Hitler ripped it up and sent Nazis onto Soviet ice.

With perhaps some similarities to that historic pact, China and Ukraine signed a nuclear security pact in December 2013. The conditions: China won’t use any nuclear weapons against Ukraine, and if Ukraine is ever attacked by a nuclear force—or “threatened by such aggression“—China will provide Ukraine with security guarantees.

Why would China want to create such a pact with a country 5,800 kilometers (3,600 mi) away? And more importantly, with which government is China going to honor the pact? The past two months have seen a see-saw of political parties in control of Ukraine, but it’s likely that China’s involvement will be dependent on Yanukovych’s politics, which are decidedly pro-Russian. He’s the one who signed the pact. China says its relationship with Russia is warmer than ever, with China’s People Daily describing it as “one of the most active power relationships [in the world].”

It’s been speculated that Russia is hoping to draw a Western attack onto Ukraine, so that China’s entry to back Ukraine will cement the alliance between China and Russia. That idea reeks of conspiracy theory. But with Russia’s recent agreement to supply $270 billion in oil supplies to China, and with the majority of Russia’s pipelines running through Ukraine, China would want to protect its own interests. Either way, the enemy of an enemy is always a friend, and US-Russian relations are on very shaky ground.

10 Signs We Are Headed Into World War III


Sent from whatever device I got my hands on via Tapatalk

[Monseratto]

The "under duress" autonomous Crimean Parliament has sent a request to join the Russian Federation, If approved by Putin, a referendum will be held on March 16. The interim Ukranian goverment composed of ultra-nationalist declares it unconstitutional since it would require a vote by the whole Ukranian population. The western powers back the ukranian position...

BBC News - Ukraine crisis: 'Illegal' Crimean referendum condemned

Ukraine crisis: 'Illegal' Crimean referendum condemned

The EU and US have joined Ukraine's government in condemning as "illegal" a move by the Crimea region to set up a referendum to endorse joining Russia.

The EU, meeting in Brussels, threatened "serious consequences" if Russia did not act to de-escalate the crisis.

Crimean MPs earlier set a date of 16 March for a vote on the referendum.

Russian troops took de facto control of Crimea, whose population is mostly ethnic Russian, in the wake of the fall of Ukraine's pro-Moscow president.

The EU and US have joined Ukraine's government in condemning as "illegal" a move by the Crimea region to set up a referendum to endorse joining Russia.

The EU, meeting in Brussels, threatened "serious consequences" if Russia did not act to de-escalate the crisis.

Crimean MPs earlier set a date of 16 March for a vote on the referendum.

Russian troops took de facto control of Crimea, whose population is mostly ethnic Russian, in the wake of the fall of Ukraine's pro-Moscow president.

The Crimean parliament on Thursday said it had decided "to enter into the Russian Federation with the rights of a subject of the Russian Federation".

It said it had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin "to start the procedure".

'Highly precarious'
Before the Brussels summit, some EU members - led by Germany - had indicated they preferred mediation with Russia to try to solve the crisis, rather than any stronger measures.

But correspondents say the Crimean MPs' move has clearly toughened the line taken by the EU.

In press conferences after the talks, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy both said the Crimean referendum was contrary to the Ukrainian constitution and therefore illegal.

The EU said it was suspending talks with Moscow on easing travel restrictions on Russians entering the EU.

It said that if Russia did not move to de-escalate the situation quickly, it would "decide on additional measures, such as travel bans, asset freezes and the cancellation of the EU-Russia summit".