user99

So if this poll doesn't say anything close to your ideological beliefs, it's worthless.

Objective people I hope are more open minded.

Also if it was so clear cut in the east other than Crimea, Russia would have already grabbed it.

This other part ... assuming they want to grab it (who knows Putin's heart ... I don't) is certainly taking much more time and already much more violence.

jingthing, I was in Kiev when the trouble started and as it got worse we moved down to her home town just east of Dnipropetrovsk

Her (my wife) worked for a law firm not far from the centre of the troubles. Me, an electrical engineer working for a company outside the city. We decided to move out of the city for the sake of our children not knowing how far this might go. I don't look to Russia for info nor do I look to the west, I get my info from my wife,her family,friends and colleagues and I can tell you (unless those people are lying to me) that the majority of the east and even a lot not in the east favour Russia or want to be independent (they don't like/trust kiev). Right now we are looking at our options whether to go back to my home country or look toward Thailand where we have a small interest in a company in the Krabi area, thinking that we could build/expand on that. But we're not sure if Thailand would be best for the kids (schooling,culture,food) ect.

I find it sad that you seem to think what the people of Ukraine want based on a CNN poll.

Like I said in my last post, I think we should agree to disagree

So predictable.

Look folks.

Crimea was different which is why it was so EASY.

The rest of Eastern Ukraine is much more diverse and that is a verifiable fact.

The vast majority of Ukrainians also do NOT want to become part of Russia. Also a fact.

So predictable because its true

Your right to say the vast majority don't want to be part of Russia,but this is in the western regions only,the east is totally

different and we'll just have to wait and see.

So for now I think its best to agree to disagree

Sorry,i don't agree with you jingthing..the majority of the east do.

...

Think again.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/12/world/europe/ukraine-cnn-poll/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Ukrainians are a lot less pro-Russian than separatists there would like the world to believe, even in regions along the border with Russia which are supposedly voting overwhelmingly to declare independence from Ukraine, a new poll for CNN suggests.

...

The CNN poll found that even in eastern Ukraine, a minority of people back an alliance with Russia.

Just over a third (37%) of Ukrainians in three eastern regions favor an alliance with Russia, while 14% of the region backs an alliance with the European Union and about half (49%) say Ukraine would be better off if it did not ally with either, the poll found.

Please don't bother with the it's CNN so it's western propaganda. No, it's not. CNN is a free press organization that makes an attempt to report news objectively. The report on the poll is from a scientific polling organization. Of course no polls are perfect. But compare to the Putin propaganda press. He controls the press in Russia so you'd be very foolish to go there to look for information.

Please don't be so naïve jingthing.... all (big) press organizations from west to east are biased government controlled/funded propaganda machines.

And what makes you think I look to Russia for info?

In a sign of Russia’s ability to use its economic clout to drive a wedge between its adversaries, France’s government said this week it will deliver Mistral helicopter carrier warships to Russia as planned, rejecting requests from its European and U.S. allies to cancel the sale.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-05-13/u-dot-s-dot-plays-down-russian-sectoral-sanctions-over-retaliation-risk

At least someone has a bit of sence, or they'd be E1.2b out of pocket.

Sanctions do nothing only hurt the people of that country

As a Scot and a passionate supporter of the Yes campaign, I fully support a people's right to self determination, however the Scottish referendum is taking place after years of careful planning and amid strict rules about campaigning. If the people of Crimea or East Ukraine have a majority desire to join Russia, then great for them, but a referendum can only be taken seriously when carried out in accordance with international norms. Gunboat diplomacy and farcical voting does their cause no good at all.

The voting in Crimea was a snap election, unlike Scotland they were under pressure to vote (not from Russia but from Kiev) because of the threatening

behaviour of the anti-Russian mobs and the muppet pm that threatened their language and way of life, and if I remember correctly there were

international observers there that reported no fixing/stuffing of boxes/forcing to vote, the people knew what they wanted and voted for it.

As for the east we will have to wait and see,but I expect the same.

The only gunboats pointing guns at the people was kiev

Also, surely not enough people of asked this question?

The real question is why the US government is involved in Ukraine in the first place. We are broke. We cannot even afford to fix our own economy. Yet we want to run Ukraine? Does it really matter who Ukrainians elect to represent them? Is it really a national security matter worth risking a nuclear war with Russia whether Ukraine votes for more regional autonomy and a weaker central government? Isn’t that how the United States was originally conceived?

http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2014/may/11/what-does-the-us-government-want-in-ukraine.aspx

Im not a US citizen , but I wish that man had got the job! I like his thinking on foreign policy and bringing the states back to what it used to be!

Hope the son is a chip of the old block!

I have no doubt that you are right in all your assertions, however the people of Ukraine are the losers, being fought over by Russia and the west.

You seem to think that only the West is at fault - meanwhile Putin has effectively clamped down on all media outlets that do not kowtow to him; he has fermented an armed rebellion in a sovereign country and encouraged an illegal referendum that saw voter turnout in excess of 100%!

It is all very well claiming that the west has intentions to absorb Ukraine into a western ideology, but do not turn your eyes from the efforts of Putin to destabilise the country.

Your right, sadly the people of Ukraine will be at a loss.

Have you seen any reports of armed groups of neo-Nazi thugs shouting things like death to Russian scum ?...when the vast majority of the

east Ukrainian people are of Russian decent, Russian speaking ,have relatives living and working in Russia.

A couple of months ago the so called care taker PM made a statement saying the Russian language will be banned , only to retract his statements later.

Possession of firearms to civilians is highly restricted and if Putin has sent people/arms in for these people to protect themselves....then good on him.

The west only wants Ukraine for their missile defence systems and Russian doesn't like this because its too close to their boarders so they will have

little time to react.

Remember Turkey, the west claimed it was for defence of attack from Iran, but Iran had nothing capable of reaching Europe.

They are just poking at Russia, but Russia is not a big threat.....maybe the US is pissed at the snowden thing or they need a new boogy man

to justify military spending now that they are pulling out of afgan/Iraq.......need a new cold war.

As for the referendum, Scotland, Venice , catalonia .....why not East Ukraine......

Crimea was part of Russian before soviet times and has just gone home

A very good summary of the current crisis in Ukraine.

Unfortunately there are very few western media outlets prepared to stand up to the propaganda emanating from the US and half-heartedly supported by some in the EU.

Maybe because most are government funded/controlled

Prince Charles has had an interest in the area for some time now........maybe he'll be the next owner.

...I thought Stoker was Irish......