We deal with the Russia we have, not the Russia we’d like to have
A phrase taken from Sir John Sawers, the former head of MI6 (SIS), in his lecture @ Kings War Studies:http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...ers-mi6-europe
Quote:
Ukrainians look to us to help them have their chance to embrace the order and values we enjoy here in modern Europe. We and they may end up with a new debilitating frozen conflict in Ukraine, well into the future. That is a wretched outcome for Ukrainians. But it may be the least bad attainable outcome.”
Sawers said efforts by the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, to restore calm deserved the west’s full support. He added: “Once we have calm – if we have calm – we’ll need a new approach to co-existence with president Putin’s Russia.
The convergence between Russia and the west which we had hoped for after the cold war won’t happen while he is in charge. We now know that. Any foreseeable change of power in Russia may well be for the worse. Managing relations with Russia will be the defining problem in European security for years to come.
The full speech is available:http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/department...F-SECURITY.pdf
Life in Crimea: One year on from Russia's takeover
John Simpson, the BBC's senior foriegn reporter, has been in the Crimea and has a report. I expect a longer TV report will appear soon. Nothing startling:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-31869747