Originally Posted by
Hanna If he had closed the border he would have been criticized for doing that instead!
I.e. "Putin uses Soviet tactics and stops free travel" "Families split by Putin's blockade", "Putin confiscates passports" would be the headlines we'd see then! There is always a double standard when reporting about Russia.
If the West does Action A, it's for freedom, democracy and human rights.
If Russia also does Action A, then in that context it's a sign of "dictatorship", "infringement of human rights" and "aggression".
Nothing that Russia could have done would have been acceptable.
If Russia had tried to identify the people who wanted to go to Donbass and fight - by spying on citizens, then it would have been criticized for that instead. It would have also had to physically prevent people from travelling (i.e. human rights)
It seem some Chechens, some extreme Russian nationalists, and guys who simply like to fight did go to Donbass on their own initiative. But what can the modern Russian state do to prevent that?
It's always been the case in Europe, that volunteers sometimes join in wars in neighbouring countries, for family reasons, historical, religious or ideological reasons. It's nothing new about the fact that some Russians decided to do that.
Russia clearly didn't instigate or want this new cold war.
Whatever action Russia takes, it's always interpreted in the darkest possible light in Western media. This time Russia is being dragged into a cold war against its will and seems largely innocent if you take a step back and view both sides of the argument.
Finally, the proof is in the pudding: Every time Western countries interfere in foreign countries, it ends up worse than it was before, with suffering, refugees and hardship. Maidan would not have resulted in the overthrow of the government, unless Western powers had been pulling the strings. That's what started the problem.
Anyone who says they believe in democracy would have respected that Yanukovich was democratically elected and that there'd be an election the following year, i.e. now.
Russia doesn't, for instance, spur on the recent riots in American cities, or make demands that the US president needs to step down because some people are unhappy with his government.
Closing the UA/RU border as Eric proposes is simply not realistic. It's a very long border between to very large countries. It would have been cruel to people on both sides who have family across the border - there was no border there for 70 years, then relatively free movement for 20 years. Eric, apparently wants to build walls and close borders!