On every Russia-Ukraine issue you repeat every Russian talking point verbatim.
It's not my fault that you jumped in on the wrong side of this issue early on five years ago! As soon as I heard the recording of Victoria Nuland declaring that the US has already 5 billion in reforming and revitalizing Ukraine right at the beginning of the so called "Orange Revolution," that was a clear indicator that this was just one more CIA-managed color revolution as happened prior in Georgia, Tunisia and Libya.
That's a mystery to me. I've no use for Petro and the Ukrainian oligarchs, but no matter how corrupt he and they are, that doesn't make Putin look good. He's a murderous SOB. He's KGB.
Who isn't? Prior to the Orange Revolution, Ukraine was effectively ruled by 7 billionaire oligarchs who....as in Russia and every other former communist country, bought up state assets at firesale prices. Most of Ukraine's new oligarchs were western-oriented and wanted an independent Ukraine to pull away from Russia and join the E.U., BUT the richest of the filthy rich- Rinat Akhmetov essentially owned everything that was worth owning in the East, and so was motivated to keep the country together and as a go-between, rather than breaking away from Russia....the buyer of most of the steel and manufactured products from the factories he now owned and profited from. He liked things pretty much as they were and didn't want much to change.
So, when unrest broke out in Donetsk, and barricades were set up to prevent Kiev Government forces from entering and claiming the city, Akhmetov ordered his private security army to remove the barricades and force the demonstrators off the streets. His reasoning being that he and he alone could control and manage any eastern rebels, and he wanted to establish a new deal with the west, since his COR Party and his president- Yanukovitch was on the run. But, Kiev would have none of it! Akhmetov ended up going from most powerful man in Ukraine to being its biggest loser, as a Communist Party formed the provisional government in Donetsk and seized all of his former assets as state property....while he had to run to Mariupol and make an even more conciliatory deal with Kiev leaders to maintain what he had left in his last stronghold in Mariupol.
So, it's all a sordid history....as should be expected in any place where rule of law vanishes and a small band of kleptocrats are allowed to steal all of a nation's assets and control the economy. In every oligarchy, the term "corruption" becomes meaningless as every government official is on the take and can be accused of corruption. So, it shouldn't have been a surprise that Ukraine would end up no better and likely worse off five years after the coup than they were before. When a small cabal of extremely wealthy men run an impoverished nation, nothing will change to benefit the majority of people. So, judging from dismal polling numbers for Porky and the rest of the presidential candidates who all fall under 20% support, the majority of people have likely given up on the system and would take to the streets if nazi, murderous Azov paramilitaries weren't allowed to run rampant and kill anyone who offends them.
Likely the only true statement Trump has made since taking office was to a grilling by the press on why he would want good relations with Putin - "the murderer?"....to which he responded: "we've killed people too." Fact remains that Russia may have looked at the civil war as an opportunity to take Crimea back...which there may be a case for, since it was under contention as soon as the Soviet Union dissolved and Yeltsin took over Russia. BUT, that didn't mean that Russia wanted the Donbass...which they still don't want to take possession of today! All of the blathering about the Berkut and Russian support for Donbass rebels needs to take into consideration that at the height of the war for consolidation of territories...which occurred prior to Poroshenko becoming president, there were over 800,000 Donbass refugees who fled across the border into Russia! WHY? You only read the Kievan coup sources that detail anything and everything eastern rebels have done, without mentioning that the Ukes - led by Pravy Sektor and other nazi and neonazi fascists who eventually came together as the Azov Battalion, were following a path of ethnically cleansing Russians and Russian-speaking Orthodox settlers in those eastern provinces! Nothing was mentioned in our respectable media on this, so anyone who wasn't following Russian and independent- antiwar and anti-imperialist writers and journalists would miss the connections with the setup of this color revolution and the past ones, because MSM and a lot of supposedly honest and independent observers jumped on the bandwagon and refrained from asking hard questions! When I see reports and accounts (same with the Syrian debacle) that entirely omit the other side of any dispute, I put little trust in them!
Now why the "convoy?" How about, why had the Russians been harassing merchant ships traveling in and out or Mariupol for several weeks? Unannounced? Can you show me in the text of the Russia-Ukraine agreement to allow the other to have full access to Black Sea and Sea of Azov any "notice" requirement agreed to by both sides? As for being unflagged, just take a look at the ramming video, and you'll see a Ukrainian flag flying.
The first obvious question is: how did this tiny Ukraine flotilla expect to accomplish militarily what they claim to have not been able to do by other means? The closest thing I can find to an unbiased source is this piece
on Reuters:
Squabbles over control of the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait, which connects to the Black Sea to the south, are nothing new. Tensions flared in 2003 during Vladimir Putin's first term as Russian president.*
These were calmed with a 2003 bilateral treaty stipulating that both countries could use the Kerch Strait and Azov Sea freely for commercial shipping and must notify each other while sending military vessels.
WHAT HAS HAPPENED THIS YEAR?
Tensions have increased in the area this year, with Ukraine accusing Russia of persistently detaining ships sailing to and from its ports on the Azov Sea, especially Mariupol and Berdyansk, with a view to disrupting trade.
Russia in turn accuses Ukraine of harassing Russian ships, and says its own checks on Ukrainian vessels are lawful and necessary to ensure the security of the area.
Other interviewed sources I came across claimed that disputes over Sea of Azov shipping began almost as soon as the Soviet Union collapsed, and it was Putin himself who wanted a firm deal to regulate shipping and prevent hostilities.....no doubt an argument can be made that he had other fish to fry at the time, since an Islamist militia had taken control of Southern Caucasus territory of Chechnya and declaring it an Islamic republic.
Nevertheless, after that expensive bridge went across the strait, I fail to see what motive there would be for Russia to want to instigate a conflict here this year after years of relative quiet....even after the 2014 Coup. So, I'm back to Poroshenko and his upcoming election that he doesn't want and would end with his loss of power and possible convictions for fraud.
As well, the US...even under so called Russian stooge - Trump, is ramping up arms supplies to Ukraine (virtually the only economic aid offered), and if there's a story coming up in the news that Trump has authorized sales( gifts) of new ships, missiles and naval hardware for the Ukrainian Navy....that's where my suspicions will go!
