A new day in Ukraine: Political uncertainty sweeps divided nation

[Ulysses G.]

Both Iran and Syria present more of a threat to world peace and US interests than the Russian occupation of the Crimea.

Unfortunately, Russia is not doing the right thing in any of those situations.

[Asiantravel]

Lucky it not winter

Ukraine's gas stocks can meet four months of demand

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/03/ukraine-crisis-gas-demand-idUSL6N0M02L020140303

[StasD]

now Ukraine is almost as Germany in 1933. Yanukovich is stupid greedy thief but he had power only from 2010. Ukraine has been robbing since 1991 and now we can see names like Yazenyk, Turchinov in goverment who had power before Yanukovich but really Nazi controls them because actually police has no power and cannot defend anybody.

[Asiantravel]

its started............. this can have a profound effect on an already fragile EU economy

Gazprom says disruptions of gas supplies to Europe possible

http://en.itar-tass.com/economy/721798

[Steely Dan]

I want to support the Ukrainians. I really do. Unfortunately, the involvement of neo Nazis and extremist right wing groups in the recent protests cause me to hesitate. The Ukraine has been a corrupt dysfunctional state for some time. The former leader who was imprisoned for corruption, was corrupt, and she didn't have much respect for the concept of democracy when she was in power. She lost an election. The deposed leader, was the legally elected PM and it appears was legally removed by the legislature. It's a mess.

The Russians are concerned with the push against its borders. For Russians, land is a buffer. It helped slow down the French and it did the same to the Germans when there were invasions. Would the USA be willing to accept a Mexico that allied itself with Russia, or a Canada that suddenly went Chinese? This isn't the USA's fight, and there is nothing to be gained for the USA. On the contrary, there can only be losses. Russia is needed to help rein in Iran and to ensure that the chemical weapons in Syria are removed. Both Iran and Syria present more of a threat to world peace and US interests than the Russian occupation of the Crimea.

This is a European problem. I doubt the UK will do anything to hurt its London financial markets. The Russians have billions of investments and the British (and Swiss) investment community need that money. That Russian money has provided the fat bonuses for the bankers of Switzerland and the UK. I also doubt that Germany will do anything that would imperil 40% of its gas supply. Despite all talk to the contrary, I honestly think many western Europeans had a sigh of relief when the Russians moved in. Now they may not have to fund a bail out of the Ukraine. I can understand why former soviet dominated states such as Poland are alarmed. However, the EU and the USA, would be well served by following the counsel of the Poles, Hungarians, Romanians and Czechs. These are countries that know the Russians and have shown prudence and sober thought when considering this issue.

You make a good point regarding the Russians wanting a buffer zone, this has echoes of the Cuban missile crisis, when the U.S. did not fancy hostile missiles in it's own backyard. The Russian decision to intervene was predictable, given that the E.U is a military pygmy, which invariably relies on the U.S. to do any heavy lifting, who are in turn lead by a weak leftist straw man.

http://www.thecommentator.com/article/4772/the_west_is_led_by_the_weaklings_the_left_wanted

[Basil B]

A lot of hot air...

Big falls on the stock markets, yesterday the FTSE 100 lost 102 points, today within minutes of opening it was already up 80 points.

Thinking of investing, my tip, any of the companies listed here (*deleted*)

The only people that will be hurt here is the Russians.

[whoisyourdaddy]

You really need to face the reality and stop making up facts and history, it's becoming boring.

Please read up some history and not written by mighty US

Russia failed? At one stage ruble was worth US$2

Please enough with the nonsense

Russia is not the one with trillion dollars of debt

Russia is so weak that your president does nothing but talk

No. Russia really is weak. But they are still dangerous. That Putin character is turning out even worse than was already obvious. Sorry for Russians to be stuck with such a dictator, but heck, they like him, that's even sadder:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/david-ignatius-putins-error-in-ukraine-is-the-kind-that-leads-to-catastrophe/2014/03/02/d376603e-a249-11e3-a5fa-55f0c77bf39c_story.html

The Russian leader’s nostalgia for the past was on display at the Sochi Olympics. AsDavid Remnick wrote last week in the New Yorker, Putin regards the fall of the Soviet Union as a “tragic error,” and the Olympics celebrated his vision that a strong Russia is back. That attitude led Putin to whatSecretary of State John Kerry described on Sunday as a “brazen act of aggression” and a “violation of international obligations.”

Kerry called on Putin to “undo this act of invasion.” The Russian leader would save himself immense grief by following Kerry’s advice, but that seems unlikely. His mistake in Sevastopol may lead to others elsewhere, though hopefully Putin will avoid reckless actions. But the more Putin seeks to assert Russia’s strength, he will actually underline its weakness.

The authorities in Crimea requested Moscow’s assistance after the new self-proclaimed government in Kiev introduced a law abolishing the use of languages other than Ukrainian in official circumstances in the country.

Crimean authorities denounced the self-proclaimed government in Kiev and declared that all Ukrainian law enforcement and military deployed in the peninsula must take orders from them. The majority of troops in Crimea switched sides in favor of the local authorities.

Feeling a threat from the new central government of questionable legitimacy, a number of regionsstood up against it. Thousands of people across eastern and southern Ukraine are flooding the streets of major cities, urging local authorities to disobey Kiev’s orders. The local population is calling the government in Kiev illegitimate and demanding that their local governments refuse to take orders from it. http://rt.com/news/russia-dismiss-ultimatum-ukraine-644/

Facts you need to know about Crimea and why it is in turmoil

http://rt.com/news/crimea-facts-protests-politics-945/

[Scott]

One post deleted and others have been edited.

Please stay on topic.

[simple1]

Facts you need to know about Crimea and why it is in turmoil http://rt.com/news/crimea-facts-protests-politics-945/

What the article coveniently does not mention, even though it does refer to the Kiev International Institute of Sociology as a source for data is:

The residents of Donetsk, Luhansk and Odessa, together with Crimea, have the highest pro-Russian aspirations of any of the Ukrainian regions. A poll by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the Kiev International Institute of Sociology presented on Monday found that when asked if they wanted Ukraine to reunify with Russia, 33% from Donetsk approved, as did 24% in Luhansk and Odessa and 41% in Crimea.

"But in Ukraine as a whole, the number of people who would like to have one state with Russia is no more than 13%," said Volodymyr Paniotto, head of the Kiev International Institute of Sociology. He added that only 16% of Russians wanted unification.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/03/pro-russia-groups-government-buildings-ukraine

[whoisyourdaddy]

Facts you need to know about Crimea and why it is in turmoil http://rt.com/news/crimea-facts-protests-politics-945/

What the article coveniently does not mention, even though it does refer to the Kiev International Institute of Sociology as a source for data is:

The residents of Donetsk, Luhansk and Odessa, together with Crimea, have the highest pro-Russian aspirations of any of the Ukrainian regions. A poll by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the Kiev International Institute of Sociology presented on Monday found that when asked if they wanted Ukraine to reunify with Russia, 33% from Donetsk approved, as did 24% in Luhansk and Odessa and 41% in Crimea.

"But in Ukraine as a whole, the number of people who would like to have one state with Russia is no more than 13%," said Volodymyr Paniotto, head of the Kiev International Institute of Sociology. He added that only 16% of Russians wanted unification.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/03/pro-russia-groups-government-buildings-ukraine

Would appear for your source to he little off, when population of Crimea is 58.5 % Russian, I seriously doubt that 41% in Crimea as per your source to be correct figure.

[folium]

Facts you need to know about Crimea and why it is in turmoil http://rt.com/news/crimea-facts-protests-politics-945/

What the article coveniently does not mention, even though it does refer to the Kiev International Institute of Sociology as a source for data is:

The residents of Donetsk, Luhansk and Odessa, together with Crimea, have the highest pro-Russian aspirations of any of the Ukrainian regions. A poll by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the Kiev International Institute of Sociology presented on Monday found that when asked if they wanted Ukraine to reunify with Russia, 33% from Donetsk approved, as did 24% in Luhansk and Odessa and 41% in Crimea.

"But in Ukraine as a whole, the number of people who would like to have one state with Russia is no more than 13%," said Volodymyr Paniotto, head of the Kiev International Institute of Sociology. He added that only 16% of Russians wanted unification.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/03/pro-russia-groups-government-buildings-ukraine

Would appear for your source to he little off, when population of Crimea is 58.5 % Russian, I seriously doubt that 41% in Crimea as per your source to be correct figure.

Given that 54% of the Crimean population voted for independence from the Soviet Union in the 1991 referedum the figure of only 41% wanting to reunify with Russia is quite feasible.

Also given the fact that the Crimean Tatars, deported en masse in 1944 and banned from returning until the late 1980's, have increased their numbers in the Crimea since 1991 as more have returned (and they certainly will not be opting to rejoin Russia for obvious reasons), it would sem that voting intentions today are failry similar to those in 1991, as inconvenient as that maybe for some people.

If you have better data/numbers it would be interesting to see them so they could back up your "doubts".

[jayboy]

I feel a little background briefing is required and I am indebted to Freddie Gray of THe Spectator for supplying it.

Here are ten handy phrases for bluffing your way through a conversation about the situation in Ukraine:

1. ‘It’s simplistic to think in terms of east versus west in today’s global, multi-polar world.’ A classic this: the phrase can be adapted and used in just about any serious conversation about anything. Say it early in the discussion, before anyone else can.
2. ‘Sevastopol is of great strategic importance for Putin, especially given the ongoing situation in Syria.’ A useful ploy, this remark establishes you as a bigger-picture guy, who grasps the geopolitics of both eastern Europe and the Middle East — and that global, multi-polar world you were just talking about.
3. ‘What we are seeing here is the return of geography.’Similar to the last, this one neatly lifts you away from the intricacies of Eastern European diplomacy and has the advantage of being almost completely meaningless.
4. ‘The similarities with Hitler and the Sudetenland/Anschluss/Peter the Great/ Stalin and the Tartars/Genghis Khan are striking.’ Historical analogies are invaluable to the experienced bluffer, but the amateur must tread carefully. It is terribly easy to become unstuck in the past. When in doubt, hedge: ‘I am not saying that Putin is Hitler, but …’ or ‘it’s easy to get away with these comparisons, but …’ Try to look pained, as if contemplating both the complexity and the imminent possibility of human suffering.
5. ‘Ukraine literally means “borderland”, of course’ — easy one to remember, but a sentence that hints at real wisdom. It has the added benefit of not requiring any follow-up knowledge. Use in the context of ‘statelets’, ‘the great game’ and ‘annexation’.
6. ‘Yes, but Putin is in danger of over-playing his hand.’ Especially effective as a foil: if the clever bloke at the other end of the table is discussing an article he’s read in Foreign Affairs, just wait for him to say anything about ‘the limits of western power’ and pounce. Replace the word ‘Putin’ with ‘Nato’ if he is going the other way.
7. ‘One must always be wary about unleashing ethno-nationalist forces.’ This one sets you up to make quite racist generalisations without seeming explicitly racist. ‘The Slavs are at their most dangerous when national borders are in flux,’ you can add, having already dropped your ethnic sensitivity card.
8. ‘The Orthodox have a different way of looking at these things.’ Religion never fails when you need to generalise; refer noddingly to the ‘Moscow Patriarchate’ as if you expected all your companions to know the various traditions within Eastern Christianity.
9. ‘It all comes down to the energy markets.’ No one will dare contradict you here. Link the crisis to the ‘shale gas revolution’. Refer obliquely to deals between the oligarchs, the Kremlin and Gazprom, and throw in the words ‘Glasnost’ and ‘Perestroika’, ideally in an ironically proficient Russian accent, for good measure.
10. ‘I am not sure we should be making light of the situation — we are talking about a potential World War III here.’ The Puritan’s gambit; this establishes you as a serious dude who cares and silences those who might have been enjoying themselves too much. Send it as a reply to anyone who shares this post with you online.

[Jingthing]

Putin: Hands off Ukraine! (Including Crimea!)

Russian propaganda is endless and clever. Some Russians in Russia may buy it. Some extremists in Ukraine may buy it. The rest of the world smells it for what it is. (Stinky poo.)

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/04/world/europe/ukraine-divided-opinion-irpt/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Over our 22 years of Ukrainian independence, fears of language or ethnic persecution have never come true. But they were kept alive by Russian propaganda. We understand that Putin is trying to escalate tension and provoke civil war in Ukraine right now. He can't afford for a free Ukraine to succeed: His own people might get an idea that it's possible to overthrow a tyrant and build a prosperous country.

[whoisyourdaddy]

Putin: Hands off Ukraine! (Including Crimea!)

Russian propaganda is endless and clever. Some Russians in Russia may buy it. Some extremists in Ukraine may buy it. The rest of the world smells it for what it is. (Stinky poo.)

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/04/world/europe/ukraine-divided-opinion-irpt/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Over our 22 years of Ukrainian independence, fears of language or ethnic persecution have never come true. But they were kept alive by Russian propaganda. We understand that Putin is trying to escalate tension and provoke civil war in Ukraine right now. He can't afford for a free Ukraine to succeed: His own people might get an idea that it's possible to overthrow a tyrant and build a prosperous country.

Because US knows better?

Same as US knew better few weeks ago when appointing who is going to run Ukraine?

[Jingthing]

Because the Ukrainian people know better, comrade.

Would you like your country to be invaded by a foreign dictator?

[whoisyourdaddy]

Because the Ukrainian people know better, comrade.

Would you like your country to be invaded by a foreign dictator?

Crimea has been independent and had its own president.

Almost 60% are Russian.

Ukrainian people really do not get to voice their opinion on Crimea, even though they have been trying to control it for years

Also if Ukrainian people did care a little about anyone or anything else, perhaps they would not be passing law to outlaw a language of large portion of its population

And if it was indeed a foreign dictator, perhaps the dictator would occupy the capital to start with, do not you think?

[Jingthing]

You're objectively wrong.

Crimea is part of Ukraine.
Russian propaganda must be really good if Russians actually believe that Crimea is part of Russia.

Shocking really.

By that logic, San Francisco is the property of China.

There's also a Sebatopol in the Russian River region of Northern California. I suppose that's property of Russia too, eh?

Yes we know dictator Putin isn't happy what happened with the change of the UKRAINE government recently, away from his puppet.

But that's not his business to interfere, not legally anyway.

[whoisyourdaddy]

You're objectively wrong.

Crimea is part of Ukraine.

Russian propaganda must be really good if Russians actually believe that Crimea is part of Russia.

Shocking really.

By that logic, San Francisco is the property of China.

There's also a Sebatopol in the Russian River region of Northern California. I suppose that's property of Russia too, eh?

map.jpg

Yes we know dictator Putin isn't happy what happened with the change of the UKRAINE government recently, away from his puppet.

But that's not his business to interfere, not legally anyway.

This is getting tiresome,

Crimea was given to Ukraine, Crimea never wanted to be part of Ukraine

Crimea voted to be independent and to have close ties with Russia instead of Ukraine, Kiev

If you do not know, please at least read some history posted, instead of relying on US media propaganda machine that would have you think US is just an angel with wings sent by god here, to save the world. and defend helpless .

[Jingthing]

Oy vey. Face facts:

You invade Crimea. You invade Ukraine.

[Scott]

Off-topic posts, posts without links and inflammatory posts and replies have been deleted.

[Asiantravel]

Face facts, you threaten Russian population, you face reaction.

Unlike the US, where citizens burn alive and US government does nothing.

The world does not believe the Putin propaganda that the invasion of Ukraine was about protecting the Russian population. I get it you believe it. You can parrot Putin's lies a million times and most of the world just won't believe that. They have access to objective sources that say differently. I get it, it must be tiresome to realize that. Sorry for your anguish.

By world do you mean US and UK?

I can just as well as you, repeat the nonsense endlessly.

Bottom line, this matter has nothing to do with US, UK or anyone else for that matter. but Russia and Ukraine.

It is irrelevant what US media spouts out, because Russia will do what is in its best interests as it has done for centuries., just as US did and does, by invading or bombing other sovereign countries.

The only difference is, Russia does not dictate to US or the world how and what should be.and that my friend is something US media will never tell you.

PS. The world also did not believe Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and yet it did not stop US, did it?!

US a full partner in Ukraine debacle

From the moment the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the United States has relentlessly pursued a strategy of encircling Russia, just as it has with other perceived enemies like China and Iran . It has brought 12 countries in central Europe, all of them formerly allied with Moscow, into the NATO alliance. US military power is now directly on Russia’s borders.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/columns/2014/03/03/cold-war-over-russia-isn-zero-sum/Df9VSHeJFpKUz3tRKDjUXJ/story.html

[Jingthing]

Putin really is that bad. Don't kid yourself. It pains me to say it, but credit where credit is due, Romney was right about Putin's Russia.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/zbigniew-brzezinski-after-putins-aggression-in-ukraine-the-west-must-be-ready-to-respond/2014/03/03/25b3f928-a2f5-11e3-84d4-e59b1709222c_story.html

His initial success may tempt him to repeat that performance more directly in the far eastern provinces of Ukraine proper. If successful, the conclusive third phase could then be directed, through a combination of political unrest and increasingly overt use of Russian forces, to overthrow the government in Kiev. The result would thus be similar to the two phases of Hitler’s seizure of the Sudetenland after Munich in 1938 and the final occupation of Prague and Czechoslovakia in early 1939.

Much depends on how clearly the West conveys to the dictator in the Kremlin — a partially comical imitation of Mussolini and a more menacing reminder of Hitler — that NATO cannot be passive if war erupts in Europe. If Ukraine is crushed while the West is simply watching, the new freedom and security in bordering Romania, Poland and the three Baltic republics would also be threatened.

Zbigniew Brzezinski

[folium]

I want to support the Ukrainians. I really do. Unfortunately, the involvement of neo Nazis and extremist right wing groups in the recent protests cause me to hesitate. The Ukraine has been a corrupt dysfunctional state for some time. The former leader who was imprisoned for corruption, was corrupt, and she didn't have much respect for the concept of democracy when she was in power. She lost an election. The deposed leader, was the legally elected PM and it appears was legally removed by the legislature. It's a mess.

The Russians are concerned with the push against its borders. For Russians, land is a buffer. It helped slow down the French and it did the same to the Germans when there were invasions. Would the USA be willing to accept a Mexico that allied itself with Russia, or a Canada that suddenly went Chinese? This isn't the USA's fight, and there is nothing to be gained for the USA. On the contrary, there can only be losses. Russia is needed to help rein in Iran and to ensure that the chemical weapons in Syria are removed. Both Iran and Syria present more of a threat to world peace and US interests than the Russian occupation of the Crimea.

This is a European problem. I doubt the UK will do anything to hurt its London financial markets. The Russians have billions of investments and the British (and Swiss) investment community need that money. That Russian money has provided the fat bonuses for the bankers of Switzerland and the UK. I also doubt that Germany will do anything that would imperil 40% of its gas supply. Despite all talk to the contrary, I honestly think many western Europeans had a sigh of relief when the Russians moved in. Now they may not have to fund a bail out of the Ukraine. I can understand why former soviet dominated states such as Poland are alarmed. However, the EU and the USA, would be well served by following the counsel of the Poles, Hungarians, Romanians and Czechs. These are countries that know the Russians and have shown prudence and sober thought when considering this issue.

You make a good point regarding the Russians wanting a buffer zone, this has echoes of the Cuban missile crisis, when the U.S. did not fancy hostile missiles in it's own backyard. The Russian decision to intervene was predictable, given that the E.U is a military pygmy, which invariably relies on the U.S. to do any heavy lifting, who are in turn lead by a weak leftist straw man.

http://www.thecommentator.com/article/4772/the_west_is_led_by_the_weaklings_the_left_wanted

Buffer zone? Gone the way of the Maginot Line old boy. Warfare is a tad more airborne and asymmetric than it was in 1810 or even 1941. Who would they need a "buffer zone" as defence against anyway?

Cuban Missile Crisis was triggered by the location of US Jupiter missiles in Turkey which Kruschchev did not appreciate from his summer palace in Sochi.

If the invasion of Crimea was so predictable, what is going to happen next?

[folium]

Because the Ukrainian people know better, comrade.

Would you like your country to be invaded by a foreign dictator?

Crimea has been independent and had its own president.

Almost 60% are Russian.

Ukrainian people really do not get to voice their opinion on Crimea, even though they have been trying to control it for years

Also if Ukrainian people did care a little about anyone or anything else, perhaps they would not be passing law to outlaw a language of large portion of its population

And if it was indeed a foreign dictator, perhaps the dictator would occupy the capital to start with, do not you think?

Crimea was last truly independent in 1475 when the Crimean Tatars came under Ottoman control. Are you suggesting that Crimea returns to the Tatars as they were the last independent rulers of the peninsula?

Would you like to remind us why the majority of today's population are Russian? Whatever happened to all those Tatars and other ethnic groups such as the Armenians, Bulgarians and Greeks?

You seem to confuse autonomy and independence. Crimea is an autonomous Republic within Ukraine and has been since 1954. Crimea is thus no different from other autonomous regions such as Sicily or Sardinia within Italy, or the Azores and Madeira within Portugal.

re the Russian language suppression canard here's a suitably Kremlin oriented media outlet (another one in English no less):

http://en.ria.ru/world/20140303/188063675/Ukraines-2012-Language-Law-to-Stay-Until-New-Bill-Ready--Turchynov.html

So there's another piece of after the event justification that holds no water.

The dictator Putin has started with invading the one place in Ukraine where he already had troops on the ground. If there is a next step it will be pushing into the area around Donetsk and Kharkiv to "relieve the suffering of brother Russians threatened by advancing fascist elements". Why should Putin need to take out Kiev now that his puppet Yuschenko has been chased out of there? It's also a long way from the nearest entry point from Russia.

A different question. Does Putin have the right to invade Kazakhstan , Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia given their sizeable Russian minorities?

[NeverSure]

Well, an interesting twist. Russia's stock market tanked as did the value of its currency. Russia raised its interest rates by 1.5% to try to defend its currency.

It looks like maybe Putin is having second thoughts. He has softened his rhetoric and the Russian stock market was back up somewhat.

The US made noises about the possibility of cutting Russia off from dollars, and I think the world was afraid of what would happen to Russia's economy, as was Putin, I imagine.

So I don't know if his backing off is temporary until he sees a better time, or if he realizes that he doesn't live in a vacuum.

He got hit hard, fast, and continuously on several financial fronts.

[folium]

Well, an interesting twist. Russia's stock market tanked as did the value of its currency. Russia raised its interest rates by 1.5% to try to defend its currency.

It looks like maybe Putin is having second thoughts. He has softened his rhetoric and the Russian stock market was back up somewhat.

The US made noises about the possibility of cutting Russia off from dollars, and I think the world was afraid of what would happen to Russia's economy, as was Putin, I imagine.

So I don't know if his backing off is temporary until he sees a better time, or if he realizes that he doesn't live in a vacuum.

He got hit hard, fast, and continuously on several financial fronts.

To put Monday's dive in the Russian markets in context, the equivalent of the ludicrously padded and well skimmed costs of the Sochi Olympics was wiped off the paper value of Russian stocks in a single trading day. A complete pullout of foreign investors would put a sizeable dent in Russia's pocket and pride.

[Jingthing]

Albright: "Putin is ... delusional."

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2014/03/04/russia-ukraine-madeleine-albright-newday.cnn

[jamhar]

Stupid comment

Aide To Putin Makes The Stupidest Threat Imaginable To The US

REUTERS/Alexander Natruskin

Here's a good laugh.

Sergei Glazyev — a Kremlin aide who's known for voicing extremist lines on policy — is out with some of the sillier threats imaginable to the US.

From Reuters:

A Kremlin aide said on Tuesday that if the United States were to impose sanctions on Russia over Ukraine, Moscow might be forced to drop the dollar as a reserve currency and refuse to pay off any loans to U.S. banks.

Catch that? Glazyev is literally threatening to put his own companies into default. That's the opposite of a threat.

AFP has more:

"We would find a way not just to reduce our dependency on the United States to zero but to emerge from those sanctions with great benefits for ourselves," said Kremlin economic aide Sergei Glazyev, noting that Russia could stop using dollars for international transactions.

"An attempt to announce sanctions would end in a crash for the financial system of the United States, which would cause the end of the domination of the United States in the global financial system," he added.

Again, all you can do is laugh at the notion that Russia has the ability to induce a crash of the US financial system by getting away from the dollar. Sure, if Russia wants, it can conduct transactions in any currency it likes, but that won't stop Russian counterparties from then exchanging whatever currencies they trade in for the dollar.

Meanwhile, perhaps Glazyev needs a reminder of the declining state of the Russian economy (even before the latest turmoil).

Here's Matthew Klein:

Real gross domestic product growth has already slowed from 5.1 percent in 2011 to just over 1 percent in 2013. Car sales fell by 5.5 percent in 2013, despite the Russian government's introduction of subsidized auto loans.

If that weren't bad enough, European demand for natural gas -- about30 percent of which comes from Russia -- has been steadily falling since 2010. Additional supply could come on line in the coming years from the U.S. and Israel at the same time as Russia expands its own production capacity. The net effect could be a glut that would lower prices and further reduce Russia's access to hard currency.

Meanwhile, world oil prices have been flat for years, while Russian production costs have rapidly increased. Some analysts think Putin's recent adventurism in Ukraine has been an attempt to distract his domestic constituents from these unpleasant economic prospects.

http://www.businessinsider.com/putin-aide-threats-2014-3

[simple1]

An different take on Putin's motivations. From the URL below.

the Kremlin recently assigned three philosophic books to regional governors: Berdyaev’s “The Philosophy of Inequality,” Solovyov’s “Justification of the Good” and Ilyin’s “Our Tasks.” To enter into the world of Putin’s favorite philosophers is to enter a world full of melodrama, mysticism and grandiose eschatological visions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/04/opinion/brooks-putin-cant-stop.html?ref=davidbrooks&_r=0

[whoisyourdaddy]

Because the Ukrainian people know better, comrade.

Would you like your country to be invaded by a foreign dictator?

Crimea has been independent and had its own president.

Almost 60% are Russian.

Ukrainian people really do not get to voice their opinion on Crimea, even though they have been trying to control it for years

Also if Ukrainian people did care a little about anyone or anything else, perhaps they would not be passing law to outlaw a language of large portion of its population

And if it was indeed a foreign dictator, perhaps the dictator would occupy the capital to start with, do not you think?

Crimea was last truly independent in 1475 when the Crimean Tatars came under Ottoman control. Are you suggesting that Crimea returns to the Tatars as they were the last independent rulers of the peninsula?

Would you like to remind us why the majority of today's population are Russian? Whatever happened to all those Tatars and other ethnic groups such as the Armenians, Bulgarians and Greeks?

You seem to confuse autonomy and independence. Crimea is an autonomous Republic within Ukraine and has been since 1954. Crimea is thus no different from other autonomous regions such as Sicily or Sardinia within Italy, or the Azores and Madeira within Portugal.

re the Russian language suppression canard here's a suitably Kremlin oriented media outlet (another one in English no less):

http://en.ria.ru/world/20140303/188063675/Ukraines-2012-Language-Law-to-Stay-Until-New-Bill-Ready--Turchynov.html

So there's another piece of after the event justification that holds no water.

The dictator Putin has started with invading the one place in Ukraine where he already had troops on the ground. If there is a next step it will be pushing into the area around Donetsk and Kharkiv to "relieve the suffering of brother Russians threatened by advancing fascist elements". Why should Putin need to take out Kiev now that his puppet Yuschenko has been chased out of there? It's also a long way from the nearest entry point from Russia.

A different question. Does Putin have the right to invade Kazakhstan , Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia given their sizeable Russian minorities?

You asking questions because you do not know? Or because you once again planning to make up history and facts?

Are you also confused between minority and majority ?

Crimea has 60% Russian population as already posted too many times, that makes them majority.

Estonia and all other states mentioned by you, Russians are in minority ie half of 60% if not less.

So you really going to pose a question Russia would invade them???

A vast majority in Kazakh and Uzbekistan and so on can hardly speak Russian , because they never did prior to Soviet Union , while Crimea has been Russian speaking for centuries.

I love your hypocritical American way if thinking. It's ok to invade countries across the other side of continent under pretext to protect Americans , yet it is not ok for another country to do the same.

Christ America invaded and bombed an entire country for a decade under pretext of trying to find/kill 1 person.

But yet Putin is evil .

I have no doubt in my mind at all , if this was US instead of Russia , drones would have been bombing Kiev already .