[martin14]

ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:

Russian incursions into Poland would be a whole different ball game.

True, but he is testing for a reaction.

[BartSimpson]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Putin has Russian forces in Ukraine on alert. The Russians are also staging protests by ethnic Russians calling for the 'independence' of the Crimea from Ukraine.

I'm still expecting Russia to move to seize the eastern part of Ukraine this week.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/ ... OU20140226

F*cking Soviets are still just as predictable as ever.

Next up: Look for Ivan to agitate in the Baltic states to seize territory that has large ethnic populations of Russians. I'd also look for Ivan to bulk up his forces in the Oblast in order to threaten both Germany and Poland.

The Cold War is back on again, kids.

[DrCaleb]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

The Cold War is back on again, kids.

Sad, but true. Now that Russia keeps most of Europe from freezing in the dark, they are going to leverage that till the lever bends.

[Delwin]

Russia has given an ultimatum of 7pm Crimea time for Ukranian forces to surrender in Crimea or "face Storm" which is 12pm noon EST. So this could be bad.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/03/03 ... -pressure/

From what I have read, they gave an earlier deadline of 5AM Tuesday, so hopefully this is just a pressure tactic.

[BartSimpson]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

The Cold War is back on again, kids.

Sad, but true. Now that Russia keeps most of Europe from freezing in the dark, they are going to leverage that till the lever bends.

Watch for the West to amp up operations in Syria in order to get the new gas pipeline built from Saudi Arabia to Europe - which will marginalize Moscow and Putin PDQ.

[BartSimpson]

Delwin Delwin:

Russia has given an ultimatum of 7pm Crimea time for Ukranian forces to surrender in Crimea or "face Storm" which is 12pm noon EST. So this could be bad.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/03/03 ... -pressure/

From what I have read, they gave an earlier deadline of 5AM Tuesday, so hopefully this is just a pressure tactic.

If Ukraine is sitting on some nukes this could get to be all sparkly and stuff.

[ShepherdsDog]

Russia maintained control of all nukes.....that they didn`t sell on the black market, along with some bioweapons

[Delwin]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Delwin Delwin:

Russia has given an ultimatum of 7pm Crimea time for Ukranian forces to surrender in Crimea or "face Storm" which is 12pm noon EST. So this could be bad.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/03/03 ... -pressure/

From what I have read, they gave an earlier deadline of 5AM Tuesday, so hopefully this is just a pressure tactic.

If Ukraine is sitting on some nukes this could get to be all sparkly and stuff.

Yeah but one of the benefits of having the former president sitting on your sidelines is there aren't going to be many surprises.

[andyt]

Question for those who favor military response: during the height of the cold war, when NATO's raison d'etre was to prevent Russian aggression, it could do nothing about Hungary or Czechoslovakia. Why do you think it's different this time and military response would achieve anything?

[N_Fiddledog]

Actually if you really want to talk about Ron and Maggie and the cold war, it wasn't so much about actual war, but letting the opponent know you could handle war if you had to and offering him a credible superior threat to deal with. That worked.

The Neville Obama technique of cutting back the military and scrambling out from the shadows only long enough to shine your opponents shoes does not work.

[BartSimpson]

N_Fiddledog N_Fiddledog:

Actually if you really want to talk about Ron and Maggie and the cold war, it wasn't so much about actual war, but letting the opponent know you could handle war if you had to and offering him a credible superior threat to deal with. That worked.

The Neville Obama technique of cutting back the military and scrambling out from the shadows only long enough to shine your opponents shoes does not work.

What he said!

[N_Fiddledog]

[DrCaleb]

$1:

Russia demands 2 Ukrainian warships surrender
Russia seizes barracks, border posts, ferry terminal

Russia issued an ultimatum Monday, demanding that the crew of two Ukrainian warships in Crimea immediately surrender or be stormed and seized, a Ukrainian military spokesman said.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-dem ... -1.2557443

[Delwin]

On the plus side, some of the economic costs of the interference are already being realized:

Russian Stocks Plunge on Ukraine Crisis; Equity Index Sheds $58B

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2014 ... sheds-58b/
This on it's own could be incentive enough to stay Putin's hand.

[BartSimpson]

Delwin Delwin:

On the plus side, some of the economic costs of the interference are already being realized:

Russian Stocks Plunge on Ukraine Crisis; Equity Index Sheds $58B

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2014 ... sheds-58b/
This on it's own could be incentive enough to stay Putin's hand.

Short term losses in echange for long term gains. Putin factored this into the equation. He's also betting on the West to do nothing much as he seizes Crimea and he may be sizing up Western reaction and resolve for a complete takeover of the country. Look for that to take place right after the plebiscite on Crimean sovereignty later this month.