Ukraine pushing for return of Crimea

[webfact]

Ukraine pushing for return of Crimea



KIEV: -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says he is seeking help from the EU and the US in securing the return of Crimea to Ukrainian sovereignty.

The peninsula was annexed by Russia in March 2014 amidst conflict in eastern Ukraine.

One result of the ongoing unrest is that Crimea’s electricity infrastructure has been sabotaged and the region suffers regular power cuts.

Russia can’t yet provide enough power and Poroshenko is attaching conditions to Ukraine stepping in:

“We’ll immediately sign a new agreement and provide power to Crimea, but the contract must say that electricity will be supplied to Crimea as part of Ukraine.”

As far as the wider conflict over Ukraine is concerned Poroshenko made it clear he expects Russia to honour the commitments it’s made.

Ukraine is demanding a clear time line for Russia to fulfill its part of the Minsk agreements.


-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2016-01-15

[donnybay]

Unlikely to happen i would say

[craigt3365]

Unlikely to happen i would say

Not if the Russian economy continues to tank. Which is expected. They just announced they have to redo the budget for 2016. Saudi Arabia is going to continue to pump oil to punish the US and Russia. Crazy times for many countries if oil hits $20 a barrel. Anything can happen.

[hay2u2]

The vast majority of the Crimean population are Russian speaking, and Russian at heart. Why is it that if the majority of Scots wanted it, then they could have had an independent Scotland, but the result of a referendum held by the people of Crimea does not count?

This article also does not state that opinion is being canvassed in the Crimea as to whether to accept the 'Ukrainian deal' or take the pain of irregular electricity supplies over the short term of the next few months so that Russia can put in place a permanent infrastructure solution.

[mopar71]

The vast majority of the Crimean population are Russian speaking, and Russian at heart. Why is it that if the majority of Scots wanted it, then they could have had an independent Scotland, but the result of a referendum held by the people of Crimea does not count?

The Scottish referendum took years in the making, not two weeks.

In Scotland both sides of the issues were constantly and openly debated. Not even close in Crimea's case.

In the Crimean "referendum" the choices were to join Russia or become independent. Nothing about keeping things as they were.

In Crimea a foreign army occupied the country at gunpoint (as admitted by Putin himself weeks after the annexation), taking control of the transportation infrastructure, communications, gov't buildings, surrounding Ukrainian military bases and stopped any public protests or displays of support for Ukraine.

In Crimea, Russia took control of the TV & radio stations, blocked all Ukrainian broadcasts and piped in TV directly from Moscow spewing bullsh*t propaganda.

The list goes on but I hope you get the point.

Edited January 15, 2016 by mopar71

[craigt3365]

Couldn't have put it better....

[retarius]

A fool's errand. Let it go and move on.

[Briggsy]

Sounds like the Ukrainians want to keep their subsidised gas price.

[swissbie]

Russia will never give back the Crimea. Strategically the Black Sea Fleet is very important for Russia and after the turn around from the Ukraine to the west they had to be afraid of loosing their position. Economically Russia is still in a much better shape then Ukraine, the western countries had pushed their NATO-lines too near to Russia already, against earlier promises. And don't forget; the Crimea was a gift from Chruschtschow at a time nobody thaugt the Ukraine once will turn to the west.

[RuamRudy]

The vast majority of the Crimean population are Russian speaking, and Russian at heart. Why is it that if the majority of Scots wanted it, then they could have had an independent Scotland, but the result of a referendum held by the people of Crimea does not count?

This article also does not state that opinion is being canvassed in the Crimea as to whether to accept the 'Ukrainian deal' or take the pain of irregular electricity supplies over the short term of the next few months so that Russia can put in place a permanent infrastructure solution.

Please do not debase the Scottish referendum by comparing it to Russia's armed invasion and occupation of a sovereign country. The Scottish independence referendum took two full years of debate and discussion; Crimea saw masked thugs with kalashnikovs push for separation in a matter of weeks. If the residents of Crimea were genuinely in favour of withdrawing from Ukraine and joining Russia, there would have been no need for the little green men to bully the population into accepting it. The Crimea result doesn't count because it was a farcical travesty in the most typically Soviet of manners.

[Ulic]

Historically Crimea has been Russian. Combine that with the fact the population is 80% Russian

and the likelihood of it reverting to the Ukraine is small. I doubt that the Ukrainian sabotage of

power lines providing power and then saying we will fix it if you give a time tine to a Russian

withdrawal seems unlikely. Neither side has followed the Minsk agreement so asking Russia

to live up to its side of the agreements while Ukeraine does not live up to its side gets you

nowhere.

Edited January 15, 2016 by Ulic

[ggt]

The Ukraine does not push for anything without the approval of the US...

Pushing for the return of Crimea...is actually pushing against both Putin and Russia's Red button...not a good idea...

The people of Crimea have spoken...and they spoke Russia...

The US has enough problems without stirring the pot on Russia's border...

The present US administration seems to be eating cookies made in Colorado...spiked with local weed...

[mopar71]

Historically Crimea has been Russian. Combine that with the fact the population is 80% Russian

and the likelihood of it reverting to the Ukraine is small. I doubt that the Ukrainian sabotage of

power lines providing power and then saying we will fix it if you give a time tine to a Russian

withdrawal seems unlikely. Neither side has followed the Minsk agreement so asking Russia

to live up to its side of the agreements while Ukeraine does not live up to its side gets you

nowhere.

At the time of annexation ethnic Russians made up approx 57% of the population.

Historically, Crimea has been part of Ukraine since the 1950's and in 1994 Russia signed the Budapest Memorandum guaranteeing Ukraine's borders & security in exchange for giving up their nukes.

Kaliningrad (Koenigsberg) has only been part of Russia a few years longer. When will Russia return it to Germany? I bet if you held a referendum in Kaliningrad and gave people the choice to rejoin Germany or stay with Putin's Russia, over 98% of non-brainwashed pensioners would choose Germany.

Historically, Karelia belongs to Finland. When will Russia give it back? Again, let them hold a referendum.

Historically, the Kuril Islands belong to Japan. When will Russia give them back. Looks like another great place for a referendum.

Oh, I forgot, holding referendums for independence from Russia is ILLEGAL in Russia. Try it and you are welcoming death or imprisonment. But. hey. it's fine for Russian occupied areas of Ukraine to hold referendums backed by Russia.

It will be a long time until Ukraine gets Crimea returned - if ever. Even Putin's more liberal opposition leader who is still alive and not in exile, Alexei Navalny, has said that Crimea should stay part of Russia. Ukraine has every right to sue Russia in international court for the loss of property and territory. The few billion that Ukraine apparently owes Russia for fuel is a tiny drop in the bucket to the hundreds of billions (if not more) that Russia should have to pay.

[khundon]

Yeah Right.

Putin and his gang won't be giving it back as long as Poroshenko has a hole in his anus. That will be about 20 years after he is buried.

Edited January 15, 2016 by khundon

[craigt3365]

A fool's errand. Let it go and move on.

Not sure what country you are from, but you are saying it's OK for another country to invade yours, cut out a chunk, and keep it? I doubt you'd agree with that....and you'd fight till the land was returned.

[craigt3365]

The Ukraine does not push for anything without the approval of the US...

Pushing for the return of Crimea...is actually pushing against both Putin and Russia's Red button...not a good idea...

The people of Crimea have spoken...and they spoke Russia...

The US has enough problems without stirring the pot on Russia's border...

The present US administration seems to be eating cookies made in Colorado...spiked with local weed...

Actually, they are trying to get closer to Europe, and away from Russian influence. That's what started all this anyways, right??

P.S. the people of Crimea might indeed want to be part of Russia. But that has to be done in a proper way, as pointed out earlier. Not with a gun pointed at your head.

[mopar71]

A fool's errand. Let it go and move on.

Not sure what country you are from, but you are saying it's OK for another country to invade yours, cut out a chunk, and keep it? I doubt you'd agree with that....and you'd fight till the land was returned.

It is a fool's errand and it is a naive & dangerous position for people to take.

Since WWII we have for the most part refrained from invading neighbors and conquering territory. Putin has disrupted that and you have people saying it is OK because nothing can be done about it. It sends a bad signal to other countries around the world who would like to bite off the chunk of a neighbor.

Russia is a "permanent" member of the UN Security Council. In fact, membership was gifted to Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. People get confused thinking the Soviet Union and Russia were one and the same. They were not. Russia was just the largest of 15 Soviet republics. Russia has no special right to keep that seat and it should be taken away given their violation of one of the central purposes of the United Nations and the Security Council.

[mopar71]

Another thing...the majority of the people there are Russian. So what? Deport them back from where they came. After WWII, Stalin deported the entire local Crimean Tatar population that's why there are so many Russians there today. That isn't ancient history, it was just 72 years ago and there are plenty of people still alive from those days...probably more than a few on this forum.

[Gene1960]

Unlikely to happen i would say

Not if the Russian economy continues to tank. Which is expected. They just announced they have to redo the budget for 2016. Saudi Arabia is going to continue to pump oil to punish the US and Russia. Crazy times for many countries if oil hits $20 a barrel. Anything can happen.

How this anything can happen?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[OMGImInPattaya]

Good luck with that...Cuba has been trying to get back Guantanamo Bay from the United States for decades.

[mopar71]

Good luck with that...Cuba has been trying to get back Guantanamo Bay from the United States for decades.

That will probably be possible once they do away with their communist leadership. Communists should get nothing but jail time.