Ukraine
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What are the Minsk agreements and what are their role in the Russia-Ukraine crisis?
Under pressure from ultra-nationalists and Russophobes, successive governments in Ukraine have failed to address the grievances of the Russian speaking majority in the Donbass region. Ukraine has also not implemented the provisions of the Minsk agreement signed in 2015 to end the conflict in the region Continue reading
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Disarming Ukraine – Day 2
Friday, 25 February 2022 — Moon of Alabama The Russian operations in the Ukraine continue at a moderate pace. Some more troops were committed today. In all the Russian military may have now introduced some 20-40% of its prepared forces. Continue reading
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Ukraine News Links 24-25 February 2022
Friday, 25 February 2022 • 19:30 — The New Dark Age There may be some duplication due to cross-posting and may be updated throughout the day, so please check back. If it gets updated, I usually insert the time on the line above. A lot of cross-posting usually indicates that the article is popular. Putin… Continue reading
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Watch: Lavrov gives news conference after talks with LPR, DPR officials in Moscow English
Friday, 25 February, 2022 — The Saker Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov gives a news conference after a meeting with the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republic (LPR, DPR) officials, LPR Foreign Minister Vladislav Deinego, and DPR First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Peresada, in Moscow, on Friday, February 25. Continue reading
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Ukraine’s hybrid war is mutating
The first signs of the dual track in Russia’s hybrid war in Ukraine have surfaced. By Thursday evening, the Kremlin held out an olive branch to the Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky. Succinctly put, President Vladimir Putin expressed his preparedness to engage in discussions with his Ukrainian counterpart with a focus on obtaining a guarantee of neutral… Continue reading
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Ukraine News Links 23-24 February 2022
Thursday, 24 February 2022 • 23:00 — The New Dark Age There may be some duplication due to cross-posting and may be updated throughout the day, so please check back. If it gets updated, I usually insert the time on the line above. A lot of cross-posting usually indicates that the article is popular. How… Continue reading
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Disarming Ukraine – Day 1
Like me and many other analysts Mearsheimer did not expect that a Russian move into the Ukraine would happen. Why the Russian government finally decided to take that step is not clear to me. I believe that Zelensky’s lose talk about acquiring nuclear weapons for the Ukraine was one of the decisive factors. Who told… Continue reading
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Twelve Thoughts On Ukraine
Putin has launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the goal of which he claims is not to occupy the country but to “demilitarize” and “de-Nazify” it. We’ve no reason to put blind faith in any of those claims. Only time will tell. Continue reading
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Eyewitness Reports Indicate Ukrainian Army Fired First Shots in War with Russia
Russian forces launched “special military operations” in Ukraine on Thursday morning, including cruise and ballistic missile attacks targeting infrastructure near major cities such as Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol and Dnipro, according to media reports. Continue reading
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Disarming Ukraine
The military of Russia has launched an operation to disarm, and possibly regime change, the Ukraine. I do understand why Russia is doing this – it is either attack now or defend itself later with way more casualties and the danger of total defeat. Continue reading
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Ukraine Shrinks Again
The dramatic declarations on Monday of independence by Donbass city-states Donetsk and Lugansk, and Russia’s accompanying military guarantee to protect them against further heavy artillery attack by Kiev forces, illustrate yet again Barbara Tuchman’s classic March of Folly thesis – how often intelligent governments can act foolishly and against their best interest: in this case, illustrated by… Continue reading
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Putin crosses the Rubicon. What next?
Russia’s recognition of the ‘people’s republics’ of Luhansk and Donetsk in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass on Monday is a watershed event. In a manner of speaking, by this decision President Vladimir Putin crossed the Rubicon. But a tumultuous period lies ahead. Continue reading
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Ukraine News Links 22-23 February 2022
Wednesday, 23 February 2022 • 17:00 — The New Dark Age There may be some duplication due to cross-posting and may be updated throughout the day, so please check back. If it gets updated, I usually insert the time on the line above. A lot of cross-posting usually indicates that the article is popular. NATO’s… Continue reading
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Ukraine: Putin turns the tables
Pending French mediation, Putin-Biden talks, German distancing, Italian fears, Spanish uncertainties and opposition from the former Eastern bloc, as well as the regularly discredited deadlines of the improbable Russian invasions, the war always announced but never started has had its first outcome. Continue reading
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Is It Too Late to Avert a War with Russia?
The United States and allied nations sought to isolate Russia on Monday at an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting over the Ukraine crisis, calling Moscow’s recognition of two separatist regions and the deployment of Russian troops to them a blunt defiance of international law that risks war. Continue reading
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Russia Breathes Down Middle Eastern Necks Over Ukraine
Europe is likely to shoulder the brunt of the fallout of a rapidly escalating crisis over Ukraine. Middle Eastern states could prove to be a close second. That is no truer than for Turkey and Israel, whose management of the Ukraine crisis could determine their ability to protect perceived core national interests. Continue reading
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Ukraine News Links 21-22 February 2022
Tuesday, 22 February 2022 • 22:00 — The New Dark Age There may be some duplication due to cross-posting and may be updated throughout the day, so please check back. If it gets updated, I usually insert the time on the line above. A lot of cross-posting usually indicates that the article is popular. Putin… Continue reading
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Russia Recognizes the Independence of Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics
The Russian Navy’s build-up in the Black Sea now appears largely complete. More warships may arrive in the next few days, but the core is already in place. Russia has deployed key naval assets, thousands of miles from their bases in the Arctic and Pacific, to positions near Ukraine. Outside the Black Sea, in the… Continue reading
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Washington sounds the alarm, while its allies withdraw
The Biden Administration is sounding the alarm, announcing the imminent attack and the certain defeat of Russia. However, one by one, its main allies are pouting. For its part, Russia recalls its demands of December 17, 2021 (the respect of international law by the United States) and demonstrates its military superiority. The veil is about… Continue reading
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India and the Donbass republics
India’s dilemma over humanitarian intervention is revisiting it, with Russia’s recognition of the two self-proclaimed Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent states. India is certainly not going to follow the Russian footfalls. The heart of the matter is that India has adopted a consistent position on issues involving genocide, human rights and self-determination. Continue reading
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