Russia officially

[MrKrabs]

I think Russia wants to get whacked...

Either that or they want to get stabbed in the back by China...

[Someguy63]

I knew it was gonna happen.

Made a thread on it and it got locked so I just stfu'ed

[mbailey]

I'm moving in with Zack....he makes a hell of a lot more sence than the nature of international diplomacy now-a days

 .

[Delirium]

I don't see it snowballing into a world war or even a large regional conflict. The reason is simple, as no country is going to intercede on Ukraine's behalf and Ukraine will be left to manage on their own. 

[BuckShot]

It will be handled with a "phone and a pen" by a talking head from a Martha's Vineyard golf course.

[Scherf]

As I understand it, the Russians are still denying they have troops on the ground, apart from the 10 who were there "accidentally".

[Yankee67]

Delirium is right.  Nobody has treaties with Ukraine.  We also have to remember that the Ruskies are looking at this from the perspective that the current government in Ukraine was installed after a coup that they insist we funded.

Ultimately, Ukraine is going to lose its Russian speaking provinces, just it like it lost Crimea.

[Nefarious]

In my opinion it's a lot like the posturing of the Axis powers before WW2. Before the Second World War officially started, the Axis countries of Germany, Italy and Japan were fighting far off conquests in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. The Germans occupied some of their neighbors, the Sudetenland and then Czechoslovakia. The Invasion of Poland is what started WW2 in Europe. It took two more years for the Japanese to drag the US into it.

The US and it's allies have been on a campaign in the middle east and central asia, dabbling in North Africa and Egypt and now eying Syria. Russia has revisited it's old neighbor Ukraine. What will be the occupation or annexation that officially starts WW3?

[cattb]

I really doubt ww3 is going to start over Ukraine.
ISIS I doubt would start WW3, but I think is a much bigger problem. DO some research on them and where they came from and other countries and special interest groups which may possibly be involved.
I am stopping here. Saying anymore or in detail would be against rules.
I am not asking for a reply either.
I did some research and there is some interesting reading.

[Delirium]

The Germans occupied some of their neighbors, the Sudetenland and then Czechoslovakia.

I had written something like that but deleted it in this thread previously. The difference is Putin may be narcissistic and egotistical but he will know when to stop territory when the world powers decide to do something more than economic sanctions. Right now, economic sanctions are the only thing on the table and even that is close to impossible to enforce (much less have a vote on it) with Russia supplying Europe with so much energy.

Peace in our time...

[Oldman731]

Right now, economic sanctions are the only thing on the table and even that is close to impossible to enforce (much less have a vote on it) with Russia supplying Europe with so much energy.

Yup.  Putin has sized up the West, and calculated that the West isn't going to discomfort itself over "a quarrel in a far-away country between people of whom we know nothing."  He'll take what he requires, which is a land route to the Crimea and a buffer zone between Russia and NATO, and then will say (in Russian) "what are you going to do about it?"

- oldman

[Chalenge]

Putin will not stop until he meets an unbeatable opposition. The Ukraine is just a warm up.

[Someguy63]

Putin will not stop until he meets an unbeatable opposition. The Ukraine is just a warm up.

I agree.

[Bodhi]

... Nobody has treaties with Ukraine...

That is incorrect.  The US, China, and Russia signed the Budapest Memorandum along with somewhat different promises from the UK and France.  This memorandum promised protection of the borders of the Ukraine in exchange for the Ukrainians turning over their nuclear arsenal to the Russians.  It also promised similar protections for Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Russia completely violated the treaty.  The US and China stood idly by, and the UK and France did nothing.

As a US citizen, I am ashamed of my government's handling of this matter.

[Saxman]

As a US citizen, I am ashamed of my government's handling of this matter.

Agreed. If the West stands by and allows Russia to violate Ukrainian sovereignty in this manner it's going to set a bad example for other ex-Soviet Bloc countries that might be eying closer ties to the EU and United States.

It will be a diplomatic embarrassment that's going to really hurt the credibility of the West if Ukraine is hung out to dry.