Quote Originally Posted by UhOhXplode View Post
President Putin is trying to protect the Russian compatriots in Ukraine but don't forget, he also has to protect the Russians in Russia too. He had a 3 hour talk with the Swiss president of the OSCE and they were very agreeable towards Russia's position. I found that article in Komsomolskaya Pravda "Putin asked the southeast of Ukraine referendum move". Also there's a petition with 60,000 signatures in the European Parliament to classify the Right Sector as a terrorist organization. If it's approved by the EC then some of the Ukrainian parliament will be arrested and have their assets frozen. And that includes all the Right Sector activists in Ukraine. And Merkel wants to set up a "round table" conference with leaders from both West and East Ukraine to help resolve their differences.

The EU is obviously concerned about how much serious sanctions would damage Europe. If President Putin can resolve the issues with diplomacy it will save a lot of lives.
Btw, Donetsk and Luhansk voted to not postpone the referendum. That was also in Komsomolskaya Pravda "In Lugansk and Donetsk decided not to postpone a referendum on the status of the region".

You are really well informed on this! Hats off!
You're at uni, right? What's your major? I reckon you'd be perfect for Political Science.

I didn't even know about the 60,000 signatures list in the EU.
That's nothing though. The EU has, gosh can't remember, but something like 500,000,000 inhabitants. Should be no problem at all getting 1 mil signatures, just by showing people the pics of the Right Sector guys. (of course, they are not shown in mainstream EU media, but a lot of people are on to the fact that the covering is biaised.

Good to hear that Switzerland took a more pragmatic view. Switzerland is the most democratic country in Europe actually, but that's a different story. And its pragmatic.

Also interesting that some of the "pro-Russians" chose to ignore Putin's advice.

I'm not quite so much dyed-in-the-wool pro-Russia/Putin as you are but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate your posts, and the same goes for people like Basil77 and others. Everything that it-Ogo said made me think.

I just get an impression that the whole Donbass area simply doesn't HAVE a very clear national identity at all - it was "soviet" and now in the absence of that, it's both Russian and Ukrainian, or perhaps neither! Also, there is a class and age related divide with as to who identifies more with Russia vs Ukraine. So an older working class woman might feel quite different than a younger well educated male living next door to her.

From a Political Science perspective (I actually have a degree in that) it's wildly fascinating, but it's also incredibly upsetting.

My view is whatever will make the area more prosperous and allow the people there freedom and stability will be the best bet. I don't think that as an outsider I really should offer a strong view. But if I was to take a view I'd say that federalism ought to be win-win for all sides. I don't particularly condemn Russia though - Russia is just reacting to the coup d'etat and trying to look out for its interests on its borders, and for Russian speakers which I think is completely reasonable.

edit;

I read the Beeb's story on this and they seem as surprised as I was, about Putin's comments. They said it's either

1) RU genuinely fears sanctions
2) Putin is shocked at how events are developing and tries to prevent further escalation
3) It's a ploy with some ulterior motive