Ukraine Today

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Sevastopol' and Crimea is a bit of a sore topic though, isn't it? It has symbolic value at least. It's where the Russians have always kept their Black Sea Fleet. And to give that up could be seen as showing weakness. Russia doesn't take ports and fleets lightly, we've seen that before in Cyprus last year.
 
Jhessail said:
a wise Russian leadership would start construction of a new base in the Caucasus side of Black Sea
They already built one in Novorossiysk. But the thing is, if Ukraine wants to join NATO, it has to deal with Russian fleet in Sevastopol. The lease is a double-sided document which can be changed in any time (that's what me thinks). And I really think we need to join NATO.

Urgrevling said:
And to give that up could be seen as showing weakness. Russia doesn't take ports and fleets lightly, we've seen that before in Cyprus last year.
This. Russia will do it only under heavy pressure. Or, if when its' economy is in tatters.
 
trueten said:
And I really think we need to join NATO.
No we don't. We don't need to join any military blocks.
I can see no upsides for us in joining NATO right now. So Russian fleet in Crimea might even be somewhat convenient after all.

In other news, intelligentsia in Lviv show concern about regional language law being abolished. They say it will not benefit ethnic Ukrainians at all but might spark separatist moods in certain regions. To support us they decided to speak Russian in Lviv for a day. A decent move, I say. So we're having a Ukrainian speaking day to show our solidarity.
Tyagnibok already promised to start working on the new language law, which will benefit not only Russians but other minorities, like Bulgarians, Tartars, Moldavians, Greeks, etc.
 
Weaver said:
In other news, intelligentsia in Lviv show concern about regional language law being abolished. They say it will not benefit ethnic Ukrainians at all but might spark separatist moods in certain regions. To support us they decided to speak Russian in Lviv for a day. A decent move, I say. So we're having a Ukrainian speaking day to show our solidarity.
Tyagnibok already promised to start working on the new language law, which will benefit not only Russians but other minorities, like Bulgarians, Tartars, Moldavians, Greeks, etc.
As part of a linguistic minority myself, I support this. :3
 
Weaver said:
trueten said:
And I really think we need to join NATO.
No we don't. We don't need to join any military blocks.
I can see no upsides for us in joining NATO right now. So Russian fleet in Crimea might even be somewhat convenient after all.
Yeah, but Ukraine is relatively big and it requires a decent army. That's expensive so far and joining NATO would allow to reduce the size of army. Also it would remove the need of forced military service for young men. Hell, I've could be among the Interior Police forces fighting the Maidan if haven't avoid serving in the army last autumn.

Untitled. said:
As part of a linguistic minority myself, I support this. :3
Theoretically I support that too. But ukranian language is not in very comfortable conditions to do that now.
 
Weaver said:
The Bowman said:
To be honest, Crimea is an excellent strategical position which can be used by Russia.
Used for... what exactly?
It's obvious that occupation of Crimea will bring more problems than gains for Russia.
Several Russian officials already announced they will not intervene in Ukraine's internal events under any circumstances. They also said Yanukovich is not in Russia and they will not give him a political asylum. Their black sea fleet is most certainly safe in Crimea, this is a non-issue.
Moreover, Crimeans seem to finally get it too. Crimean Parliament and Council of Ministers both are issuing announcements right now how they never made any separatist statements and that it was hackers'/the other institution's provocation. Politicians do hilarious things when the ground start shaking under their feet.

Probably that's why the have recently dispatched some troops in Yalta for "taking care of tourists".
 
Every NATO country is, first and foremost, responsible for her own defence. In addition, NATO mandates that a certain percentage of GDP is devoted to defence annually. It's good to remember that NATO isn't a free-ride.

But yes, the bonuses can be nice. Access to strategic information, training and exercises, deals on military equipment, and so on and so forth.
 
Biggest bonus is collective self-defense, but yeah. 2% is what countries are supposed to devote to defense, although few do. Ukraine seems to have defense spending at 1%?
 
Whoa, Russia is coming!

Russian ships were simply returning from the Olympic games (yes, they had their own Olympics).



Oh, another nice vid from another angle:
 
Infowars tends to force the facts into a panicky conspiratorial Global war mold without looking at rational explanations.


Bluehawk said:
He's addressing the Rivne oblast council, and he does not have a seat in any assembly, local or national.

I guess that's how you address a council meeting... Yo ****ers! Why my bins not been collected?! And wtf with this years huge water bills??!?!

But yeah am glad he's out of any authoritative positions.
 
Because Bosnia is a small little plot of land in the middle of nowhere, while Ukraine is a massive country right next to Poland and Romania, and a lot of the natural gas EU uses goes through Ukraine. Plus, Russia.
 
That's all true gentlemen, Ukraine is a giant ****storm now, and I can't keep up with all the news - How likely is the separation to West & East Ukraine? Or a clash of US & Russian troops?
 
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