The articles can be found here and here.The articles are about Russia's decision to invade Ukraine. Putin obtained permission from his parliament to use military force to protect Russian citizens in Ukraine. What Russia is doing violates the principles of the U.N. charter. Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States condemned Russia's "clear violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine". Putin seems to have genuinely believed that his forces would be warmly welcomed by half of the country.
What a mess. Putin may believe that what he is doing is best for both Russia and the Russian citizens in Ukraine, but I believe it is the exact opposite. This choice will very negatively impact Russia's standing in the international community and it could also isolate them economically. Aside from consequences that directly impact Russia, this could be a bad turn for the entire world. Since it's too late to stop Russia from intervening, the next best thing would be for Russia to honor its international commitments, to send it military forces back to Russian bases, and to refrain from any further interference in Ukraine.
Putin definitely stepped on the wrong side of the fence on this one. It obviously violated the UN charter and would of course be met with intense international pressure. Even the Russian ambassador admits that they were wrong in invading Russia. Putin just had to put on a big hero show with tanks and armored cars to win the hearts of the Crimeans.
ReplyDeleteIf Putin had really wanted to protect the Russian citizens in the Ukraine, he could have had them all evacuated and brought back to Russia, why is there any need for military involvement?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure he was even being genuine in his concern for the Crimean people. I think we keep forgetting that Russia was vociferously trying to prevent Ukraine from joining the EU just prior to this invasion. Perhaps this is just an elaborate scheme to distract us all from the real issue here, or to prevent Ukraine from even being a potential candidate to join the EU.
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