"
Colonel Sergey Starozhenko walked out of the gates of the 36th border guards brigade base in Perevalnoye on Sunday afternoon, and trudged down a grassy slope toward a line of 20 huge green Volga trucks."
Backed by a mobile radio truck with a towering antennae, half a dozen armoured jeeps, a field ambulance and a handful of UAZik's – the Russian answer to the snatch range rover – this line of trucks was the command post of the Russian invasion force that has held his base under siege since morning.
But the Colonel was calm, despite the standoff.
"There will be no war," he said, after climbing back up the hill from a meeting with his counterpart.
"After negotiations with the Russian Federation, we have agreed not to point our weapons at one another, and that they will not enter the base."
Meanwhile,
president Obama wants everybody to know he is on his phone... minus his
pen.
- *OBAMA CALLING MERKEL AND CAMERON TODAY ON UKRAINE: OFFICIALS
- *MERKEL CALLED ON PUTIN TO RESPECT UKRAINE TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY
- *NATO CALLS ON RUSSIA TO DE-ESCALATE TENSIONS, RASMUSSEN SAYS
- *ITALY CALLS ON KIEV TO MAKE EVERY EFFORT FOR PEACE, STABILITY
- *ITALY CALLS ON RUSSIA TO AVOID AGGRAVATING UKRAINE SITUATION
- *AKHMETOV CALLS FOR UKRAINE TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY TO BE ENSURED
- *UKRAINE'S PM CALLS FOR PEACEFUL RESOLUTION TO CRISIS
- *UKRAINE'S PM CALLS ON PUTIN TO REFRAIN FROM STARTING WAR
- *OBAMA CALLS HEADS OF FRANCE, CANADA, TO DISCUSS UKRAINE CRISIS
- *OBAMA CALLS ON RUSSIA TO DE-ESCALATE TENSIONS IN UKRAINE
- *UN SECRETARY GENERAL CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE UKRAINE CALM: NESIRKY
- *U.K.'S HAGUE CALLS FOR `DE-ESCALATION OF TENSIONS' IN UKRAINE
- *TYMOSHENKO CALLS FOR ACCORD WITH EU TO BE SIGNED IN DAYS
- *KLITSCHKO CALLS FOR GENERAL MOBILIZATION IN UKRAINE
- *RUSSIA LAWMAKERS CALL ON PUTIN TO DEFEND CRIMEA POPULATION: RIA
- *CRIMEA'S PRIME MINISTER CALLS ON PUTIN TO ASSIST: INTERFAX
- *U.S. CALLS ON RUSSIA TO PULL BACK MILITARY FORCE IN REGION
- *MERKEL CALLS FOR RESTRAINT OVER CRIMEA
- *CAMERON CALLS PUTIN TO DISCUSS SITUATION IN UKRAINE
The Telegraph (video at the
link) | Zero Hedge
24 comments:
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany told Mr. Obama by telephone on Sunday that after speaking with Mr. Putin she was not sure he was in touch with reality, people briefed on the call said. “In another world,” she said.
Obama, the revenge seeking political obsessive dealing with an old communist psychopath. Too bad lives and freedom are at stake.
Hillary's re-set button is the type of diplomacy we need now.
"There will be no war."
Possibly. But only if Ukraine "gifts" Crimea to Putin.
"Lots of "Calls"
Woo boy, the NSA must be busy (unless they're still looking through private webcam images)
"Not in touch with reality" is EXACTLY the image Putin wants to cast. Who wants to deal with a dictator with a big military and who is "not in touch with reality."
We'll see who has a firm grasp of reality if Putin ever shuts off the gas supply to Germany.
I would not be surprised that she was misquoted, or the comment taken from what she considered an off-the-record convo.
Clamor vincit omnia.
Me llaman el pollo
"Meanwhile, president Obama wants everybody to know he is on his phone... minus his pen."
He lost his pen a long time ago.
Hey! Wendy Davis pops up between posts now.
That's capitalism.
If I was Argentina, I'd make my move on the Malvinas now.
Hey! Wendy Davis pops up between posts now.
Not a real blond :(
Leland, I was thinking the same thing about China and the East China Sea. Or, heaven forfend, Taiwan.
From the Guardian:
"While Washington is threatening to kick Russia out of the G8 group of leading world economies, Berlin is opposed to this move. The EU foreign ministers are unlikely to get very far in agreeing on economic sanctions against Russia, while John Kerry, the US secretary of state, has spoken of a punitive package aimed at Russia's economic isolation."
More and more this sounds like the pre-1914 world.
Mitch, I had a draft that originally mentioned Senkaku Islands, but it got wordy. I'm glad others caught the reference.
I also thought it interesting that Insty (Glenn Reynolds) mentioned that Lithuania should be concerned, but I think he's missing that Russia never returned Königsberg to Germany. I expect it will be the blueprint on how they will manage Crimea.
All of these territories were ethnically cleansed to within an inch of their lives. Kaliningrad is *not* Königsberg, not in any real demographic sense - the oblast is 86% ethnically Russian. It wouldn't make any sense to "return" Kaliningrad to Germany after the fall of the Wall, any more than it would make sense to return Silesia.
Best case right now is to pour in support for Ukraine to keep the Russians from extending their invasion beyond the Crimea. The Crimea is a fait accompli; NATO could recoup some face by backstopping the balance of Ukraine's sovereignty. Although if they could get the Russians to take Donetsk and the rest of the Donets Basin, it would probably be a long-term aid to the rest of Ukraine's viability.
We have almost no troops in Europe that could be committed to supporting Ukraine, even if we wanted to do so. Look it up, by my count we have about four maneuver brigades even nominally in Europe, and I doubt they're prepared to go charging into a non-NATO country with no preparation or logistical support. Let alone what happens to the tens of thousands of troops in Afghanistan logistically dependent on Russian-dominated supply lines.
Let alone what happens to the tens of thousands of troops in Afghanistan logistically dependent on Russian-dominated supply lines.
The Pakistan supply lines were closed in 2011 but then reopened in 2012. So they're not totally dependent on Russia. In fact, I think most supplies go through Pakistan because it's the shortest and cheapest route.
Lydia notes: More and more this sounds like the pre-1914 world.
That casts Obama in a Woodrow Wilson role.
Mitch, my point about Königsberg is that it provides the port Russia wants on the Baltic Sea. Other towns could provide a port for Russia on the Black Sea, but not in the likes of Sevastopol. In both cases, the territories are not land bridge connected directly to Russian territory, but I'm sure Russia makes offers (nonrefutable) for allowing railroads and pipelines across "friendly" countries back to mother Russia.
No doubt, we can't support Ukraine militarily. I don't think anyone is suggesting otherwise. I think most people question the wisdom of playing chess so lousy that this checkmate was so easy. I agree, Crimea is now fait accompli. Heck, Russia's always held de jure claim to Crimea. Now, it is essentially a de facto claim.
I think the question now is how many more de jure claims worldwide are about to become de facto, and is there anything that can or should be done about them.
Alas, any discussion would side track Obama fundraising to raise the unemployment... I mean minimum wage. Which is itself a side track from discussing the rollout and catastrophy that is Obamacare.
Putin is very much in touch with reality.
The greatest danger in all of this is that the disinterested poseur in the White House will get himself boxed into too tight a corner and his adolescent ego will lead him to do something very, very stupid.
Wish fulfillment is not statecraft.
Coming soon to an MFM outlet near you: "We were always at war with eastasia."
Pooter's in touch with reality.
It's just not the same reality as Barry and his Merry Band of Barely Bright Political Hacks.
I did some refresher reading on the first Crimean War today as my military history of the era and Tennyson poetry was rusty. This little quotation via Wiki still seems apt: "[The War] was not the result of a calculated plan, nor even of hasty last-minute decisions made under stress. It was the consequence of ... fatal blundering in slow-motion by inept statesmen". Shepard Clough, professor of history at Columbia University
I sense we may see history repeating itself.
Haz, I think that's just the beans.
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