Interesting as in being next to a volcano Foxy. Terrifying yes, but you don't want to turn your back on it. I think it pointless trying to profile personalities from a few comments. That is what Putin and his ilk is all about.

I agree that Putin won't be swayed by diplomacy.

diplomacy.
Fester,
Yep, diplomatic jargon is all Ukraine got from the great West & now look what happened !
And, the weapons industry of the West is in full swing supplying Ukraine till it's on its knees !
The moment a foreign soldier steps onto Ukrainian soil all hell could break loose.
Right or wrong, staying part of Russia & rebuild the Soviet Union would by now be seen as a better option I'm guessing !
Looking back over the decades idealism has cost many, many lives & all under the guile of "Democracy".

Some say that Putin invaded Ukraine because he believed that Nato would not engage with the Russian army. Some say that the entire Russian army would be required to occupy Ukraine. The Ukranian army is operating effectively. It may be able to reduce the Russian forces to a point where they will have to withdraw. We are spectators of this horrible event individual, and so much is not visible.

mhaze

The survey you linked to was conducted by the International Republican Institute, an American organization whose sole purpose is to promote US-style democracy abroad. It was funded by USAID, another American organization pushing American interests overseas. These groups work closely with the CIA and the National Endowment for Democracy. They’re all about imposing American democracy on the rest of the world and they frequently use unscrupulous and illegal methods to do so. I would treat anything published by them with a great deal of skepticism.

The people of Crimea, Donetsk and Lugansk weren’t included in the survey, so the results were obviously going to skew more towards the Ukrainian majority viewpoint than they might have otherwise.

Svoboda is only one small part of the neo-Nazi presence in Ukraine. I’ve explained this several times and posted good supporting evidence so I’m not repeating myself on that.

Russia has always supported Donetsk and Lugansk remaining in Ukraine. Russia, along with Ukraine, Germany and France, signed the Minsk agreements in 2014 and 2015. As such these regions were to remain part of Ukraine, while the people were to continue speaking Russian and to retain their cultural and economic ties to Russia. They were to operate very much like Quebec does in Canada. It is Ukraine, not Russia, which has broken the Minsk agreements.

The ABC article you linked to was written by someone who is so rabidly anti-Putin and whose work is so lacking in balance that I wouldn't consider it a credible source.

You and I will just have to agree to disagree!

You parrot the Russian line. A mouthpiece for war criminals, Bronwyn. I think the sanctions should remain until the perpetrators face justice. More should be done to pursue Putin's secret foreign assets, and his wife and kids should be expelled from Switzerland.

I would imagine that Patel will sign off on Assange's extradition now that it is well accepted that he has been funded by Russia as an agent of western destabilisation.

Bronwyn,

OK so it seems that no matter what evidence is offered, it will be rejected if it doesn't confirm prejudices.

It is true that the survey should be looked at with a sceptical eye, as should all such surveys. But this one is confirmed by the actual 2019 polls and that gives it added credence, or should. Equally, the way the Ukrainians are resisting the invasion, supports the results of the survey regarding their opposition to being incorporated into the neo-Russian empire.