[Livia]

Originally Posted by MTVN

The Ukraine crisis has been heavily reported on overall and I think people are well aware of it, it was all over the news when Yanukovych was first ousted, when Crimea was annexed and when East Ukraine descended into civil war particularly with the shooting down of MH17. It's slipped out of the public eye somewhat in recent months because the conflict reached a bit of a stalemate, neither side making any major advances and with several peace proposals attempted but never lasting. And in those months of stalemate its fair to say it has been overshadowed by the rise of IS and attacks in the Western world. As recent events have shown though the Ukraine crisis was never lurking too far in the background.

I don't agree with DemolitionRed I'm afraid. Putin is belligerent, he is a proud man, he will not be dictated to, but he does not want a war and I don't believe he wants to take over the whole of Ukraine. Russia is weak right now, they could ill afford it and I really don't buy the notion of Russia as this red menace still desperate to swallow up Eastern Europe. If Putin preys on vulnerable nations then what has the West done ever since the Cold War with NATO taking more and more ex-Soviet countries under its wing while maintaining a hostile position against Russia? This is what Paddy Ashdown wrote on the situation today, I actually disagree with much of his article but do agree with this:



Truth is that Ukraine has always been pretty fertile for tensions like these and both the West and Russia have played a part in their explosion. Making out that Russia's involvement is the cause of all ill in the country ignores the legitimate grievances of a lot of eastern Ukraine, it ignores the questionable way in which Yanukovych was first toppled, and it ignores that the Ukraine government has thought nothing of shelling civilian areas without even a peep of condemnation from the West. In basically every other country in the world governments in power are urged to enter into dialogue with opposition groups, in Ukraine its just been a case of crush them by any means possible, and we'll even give you the weapons to do it.

Post of the week for me.