Putin Warns of Consequences as Ukraine Steps Up Offensive

[Purveyor]

Source: Bloomberg

By Daryna Krasnolutska and Ilya Arkhipov Apr 24, 2014 10:00 AM ET

President Vladimir Putin warned Ukraine against continuing its anti-separatist offensive after government troops killed five rebels and prompted Russia’s military to begin new drills on the two nations’ border.

“If it’s true that the current regime in Kiev sent the army against citizens inside its country, then it is a very serious crime against its own nation,” Putin said today in St. Petersburg. “It will have consequences for the people who make such decisions, including relations between our countries. We’ll see how the situation develops and we’ll make conclusions based on the reality on the ground.”

Ukrainian Interior Ministry and army troops destroyed three road blocks as they fought pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk region city of Slovyansk, the ministry said today on its website. Russia’s latest drills are a response to events in eastern Ukraine and involve warplanes near the border, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said, according to Interfax.

An agreement to disarm rebels signed last week in Geneva by Ukraine, Russia, the European Union and the U.S. is on the brink of collapse. President Barack Obama said today the U.S. and its allies have additional sanctions against Russia ready to go because Putin’s government has yet to abide by the accord.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-24/obama-says-u-s-ready-to-move-on-russia-sanctions.html

[Adrahil]

1. Putin intends to take Eastern Ukraine...

Either covertly with his "protesters" or overtly with his army.

Once he does, he'll wait for the rest of Ukraine to collapse, and likely sweep it up too, or just let it wallow in ruin.

What a guy!

[TwilightGardener]

2. No word on Putin's opinion of what Assad has been doing to the citizens

of Syria, though, right? Bombing and starving...NOT a "serious crime against its own nation". But killing five Russian separatists (probably masked cowards, like Russia now prefers) = atrocity? LOL.

[geek tragedy]

3. Putin: if you continue to resist our conquest, we will be forced to

conquer you.

He's worse than Bush.

[Adrahil]

4. I wonder what Putin thinks of the approximately 200,000 civilian deaths in Chechnya? NT

[geek tragedy]

6. Same thing Stalin thought about every person he murdered. nt

[christx30]

7. "A Single Death is a Tragedy;

A Million Deaths is a Statistic." is I believe the quote you are referring to. And I don't think Putin has a problem with it.

[Renew Deal]

5. Putin had no problem with slaughter in Syria

[Comrade Grumpy]

9. I wonder why Obama wants to increase it?

http://time.com/68336/syria-obama-anti-aircraft-missiles/

White House Debates ‘Game Changer’ Weapon for Syria
Michael Crowley @CrowleyTIME April 21, 2014
White House officials are weighing whether to send surface-to-air missiles to opposition factions at the risk of a possible terrorist "nightmare"

A former CIA director has called them “our worst nightmare.” A 2005 study found that just one could blow a $15 billion hole in the world economy. And the Obama Administration is thinking about sending them to Syria.

“The introduction of manpads could be a game changer in Syria, like it was in Afghanistan in the 1980s with Stinger missiles,” an Arab official tells TIME, adding that he believes the Obama Administration has begun discussing the idea more seriously. Other sources say the issue is being debated at the White House but that strong doubts remain about the wisdom of providing missiles to the rebels.

The issue is newly relevant amid recent reports that Syrian fighters are now using U.S.-made antitank weapons against Assad’s forces. Experts say it’s unlikely those weapons could have wound up in Syria without U.S. approval. Nor are they likely to shift the military balance in the conflict.

Antiaircraft missiles might. For a President unwilling to intervene directly in a conflict that has claimed upwards of 100,000 lives, they might seem an easy and inexpensive way to force out Assad. The Syrian dictator has employed his air supremacy to bomb rebel outposts, resupply isolated forces and force civilians to evacuate pro-rebel areas through terrorizing bombardments.

[Renew Deal]

10. Let me know what you find out

[Benton D Struckcheon]

8. The far right in Europe is in love with him,

as is our own right. The same right wing parties from Europe staffed the "observers" of the Crimea referendum, even as the OSCE stayed out. They are invited to a "national forum" in Russia, and most are planning to attend.
But somehow Ukraine is full of fascists. If they are, their PR with the rest of their fascist brethren in Europe sucks.