Putin Announces Pullback from Ukraine Border

Post #389,245 by Ashton 5/7/14 5:08:48 PM Reply	Putin Announces Pullback from Ukraine Border http://www.nytimes.c...ssia-Ukraine.html MOSCOW Â In an apparent attempt to halt the escalating violence in southeastern Ukraine, President Vladimir V. Putin said on Wednesday that Russia was pulling troops back from the border, and he urged Ukrainian separatists to call off a referendum on sovereignty they had hoped to hold on Sunday. Speaking at the Kremlin after talks with the president of Switzerland, who is acting as the chief mediator for Europe in the crisis, Mr. Putin said that Russia wanted to give diplomacy a chance. ÂWe were told constantly about concerns over our troops near the Ukrainian border,Â Mr. Putin said. ÂWe have pulled them back. Today they are not at the Ukrainian border but in places of regular exercises, at training grounds.Â [. . .] Guess everyone'll be glued to satellite pix for a while.. {"..and it would have been such a glorious battle"--unknown Klingon}
Post #389,246 by a6l6e6x 5/7/14 5:18:48 PM Reply	The man has no credibility and needs to be watched! Words are cheap and his are worthless. What he does is what counts. Alex ÂThere is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.Â -- Isaac Asimov
Post #389,257 by Another Scott 5/8/14 8:10:49 AM Reply	BBC: Sepratists say vote will go ahead. http://www.bbc.com/n...d-europe-27320806 Pro-Russian activists in eastern Ukraine have said they will not postpone a referendum on autonomy planned for Sunday. The decision comes one day after Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the vote to be postponed to create the conditions necessary for dialogue. Ukrainian authorities say they will disregard the results and that "anti-terror" operations will continue. Millions of ballot papers have been prepared for the vote. Separatists in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk are adamant the referendums will go ahead. [...] The European Union weighed in on Thursday, warning of the dangers of pressing ahead with the vote. "Such a vote could have no democratic legitimacy and would only further worsen the situation," a spokesperson for the EU foreign policy chief told reporters. The separatists' resolution to hold the referendum comes as a Pew Research Center poll released on Thursday shows that a strong majority of Ukrainians want their country to remain unified, even in the largely Russian-speaking east. On Wednesday, the White House said the "illegitimate, illegal" plebiscite should be cancelled rather than postponed. [...] It's good that Putin is feeling the need to respond to criticism from the US and EU, but it still looks like this bloody trainwreck is going to get worse. :-( Cheers, Scott.
Post #389,265 by a6l6e6x 5/8/14 12:09:10 PM Reply	And, trust me, pro-Russian activists are folowing Putin instructions via a separate channel. Alex ÂThere is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.Â -- Isaac Asimov
Post #389,267 by Another Scott 5/8/14 12:26:23 PM Reply	I would expect as much. AFAIK, he hasn't talked about rescinding his power granted by the Federation Council on March 1 to use force in Ukraine. http://www.rferl.org...ian/25281291.html Russia's upper house of parliament has voted unanimously to approve President Vladimir Putin's request for authorization to use Russian armed forces in Ukraine. The Kremlin said Putin sought authorization to deploy troops in order to protect the lives of ethnic Russians in Ukraine and Russian armed forces based in Ukraine's Crimea region, until the "normalization" of the political situation there. [...] There's no sign at all that this is winding down. Cheers, Scott.
Post #389,285 by Ashton 5/9/14 4:29:08 AM Reply	Seems here that, the real Question re Putin is (for us to grok-to-fullness) To what extent is he a megalomaniac/thus not unaware.. but Disinterested in Anyone's opinions of his actions? Or: simply a good Poker-player, determined to push until.. met with a peer who pushes-back. 'Enough,' (and yes,W.T.F. knows Putin's 'Enough' ??) Helluva way to run a world already fraught with Problems caused by the same species as are preparing to make More explosive-CO(2) detritus etc. etc.
Post #389,286 by Another Scott 5/9/14 6:54:42 AM Reply	Yup. The perennial military leadership question...

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