Ukraine: military (Aug '14 to mid-June '15) closed

[Dayuhan]

The sentence tells me he thought he was going to win across the board on both the Crimea and eastern Ukraine and now he has no Plan B.

I don't think anyone here knows with any certainty what Putin thought or thinks, or what his plans are. Speculation on the subject may be entertaining, but it's still speculative.

The only thing and JMA will agree one can accuse the EU/NATO/US is they were asleep at the wheel in the Crimea nor do they have a plan now if Russian invades under the guise of "peacekeeping".

We don't know what plans the EU/NATO/US have. It's reasonable to assume that the fairly obvious possibility of invasion under the guise of peacekeeping has been discussed, but we have no way of knowing what the planned response would be. It's obviously not something that will be advertised.

Invasion under the guise of peacekeeping could of course be preempted if the Ukrainians isolate the remaining separatists, then offer them some sort of deal that will allow the Russians to go home and the bulk of the indigenous soldiery some kind of amnesty. That would not make the Ukrainians happy, but backing the separatists into a corner and trying to exterminate them would provide a strong pretext for intervention. Ultimately that's a decision that has to be made by the Ukrainians, not the US or the EU.

So if that happens will you finally stop and rethink everything you have previously stated and redefine your thinking concerning "rouge" states.

Rogue. Please.

By the way Russia is asking the UNSC today for an emergency meeting---here comes the "peacekeeping" invasion ---if the UN does not act then Russia will state that it will.

We'll see.