Dear Foxy,

Thanks for the link. It is the official position explaining away the Nuland coup of 22.2.2014 - the “kidnapping” of the genuinely popular Maidan uprising to serve foreign geopolitical purposes - and what followed. I think J. Kornblum, the former US Ambassador to Germany, summarised succinctly these views at a German talk show at that time: “Our (American and apparently also British) mistake was that we thought we had Russia under control”.

Putin wrote in a NYT article (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/opinion/putin-plea-for-caution-from-russia-on-syria.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0) as if in anticipation of these positions, well before Maidan:

“I would rather disagree with a case (Obama) made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States’ policy is ‘what makes America different. It’s what makes us exceptional.’ It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation. There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy.”

As for Ukraine, in http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-03-03/bush-s-chicken-kiev-comes-home-to-roost one reads:

“History buffs may recall that (“Chicken Kiev”) was how New York Times columnist William Safire characterized a speech that President George H.W. Bush gave to the Ukrainian parliament on Aug. 1, 1991, when, as Safire put it, “he lectured Ukrainians against self-determination.” [The author seems to be referring to this part of the speech: ‘Americans will not support those who seek independence in order to replace a far-off tyranny with a local despotism. They will not aid those who promote a suicidal nationalism based upon ethnic hatred.’]

Indeed, Bush senior seems to have been more reasonable and realistic (about laying fire on Russia’s doorstep) than Obama - more precisely, those who pushed him into an anti-Russian (implicitly also anti-European) position. And - comparing the two Iraq wars and their consequences - also than his son.

Thanks everybody for your interesting comments.
I agree with much of what is said here, and I have to give Hasbeen a an award for bringing climate change into it, but it is valid point that the gas issue is a factor. At the moment fossil fuel prices have have plummeted so much that it is having a severe impact on the Russian economy. Now what was that other country that relied so heavily on resources that they found them selves with a major shortfall of revenue ?

It is clear that since the break up of the Soviet Union the Russians have been losing influence rapidly, when combined with a corrupt system, and what is virtually a dictator ship under Putin the outlook in that part of the world looks quite scary.
http://amymantravadi.com/2014/03/06/ukraine-crisis-explained-series-maps/

Interestingly Margaret Thatcher was not at all keen on East and West Germany to reuniting as she felt it might be a bit much for the Russians to accept. Things have certainly moved on a long way since then.

Dear George,

Thank You for your input.

As always - well reasoned and greatly
appreciated.

I keep on learning from you.

Dear Foxy,

Thanks, but I also keep on learning from you.

Top Ukrainian General Admits: Russian Forces Not in His Nation

Top Ukrainian General Viktor Muzhenko admitted on Ukrainian television that the Ukrainian army is not fighting Russian troops in Ukraine, thereby proving that the reason given by the Obama administration for imposing sanctions against Russia is a complete lie.

During a January 29 briefing for foreign military attaches aired on Ukraine’s Channel 5 television, Muzhenko, the chief of the armed forces of Ukraine, officially acknowledged, “the Ukrainian army is not engaged in combat operations against Russian units.”

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov pointed out in a news conference that Muzhenko directly supervises military operations in the southeast and that “his statement is a legal fact, which thwarts numerous accusations made by NATO and Western states” concerning Russia’s alleged “military invasion” in Ukraine. Muzhenko’s statement carries even more weight considering Ukraine’s Channel 5 television is ironically owned by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

Muzhenko added that he had information about Russian individuals fighting in the country’s east, but that has nothing to do with the Russian military being involved. The vast majority of eastern Ukraine is Russian speaking and volunteers have come to support the ethnic Russian Ukrainian rebels not only from Russia but also from other countries, bringing humanitarian aid as well as fighting alongside them. American mercenaries have already been identified fighting on the Ukrainian government’s side.

http://americanfreepress.net/?p=22777

Foxy wrote: “Russian has been stealing land for centuries. It originally started off as a small Principality of Moscow and expanded
from there. To the East, to the South, to the West. A large region of Eastern Finland was stolen by the Russians in the previous century. The Russians have always taken what they wanted with no considerations for international consequences.”

Quite true. That is the way most countries have operated. That is also true for Lithuania.

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=borders+of+lithuania&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=LB3sVNeRGorp8gXChICIAw&ved=0CB4QsAQ&biw=1048&bih=544 shows the borders of Lithuania at its greatest extent. Lithuania has also expanded and contracted throughout its history. My grandmother’s hometown, Ejsjyszki, has been part of Lithuania, Poland and Russia as the borders shifted. As you can see from the maps Lithuania once reached to the Black Sea.

Irredentism is the nationalist belief that a territory belonging to another country should be annexed for ethnic or historical reasons. Irredentism has led to war as a country seeks to expand to previous borders.

My reading of history is that Lithuania was once a multicultural paradise compared to many countries during the Christian Dark Ages. It was a stronghold of a pagan ruled kingdom in a largely Christian Europe. Richard Fletcher’s “ The Conversion of Europe from Paganism to Christianity: 371-1386” tells how Europe was converted to Christianity, largely by violence, from the adoption of Christianity by the Roman Empire until the ruling house of Lithuania became Christian.

Frequent attacks from Livonian and Teutonic knights united the Lithuanian tribes. The attacks were crusades to get Lithuania to become Christian. In Lithuania people were free to practice whatever religion they wished. Catholics, Russian Orthodox, Muslims and Jews lived within the borders of Lithuania and appreciated the freedom they found there. Jews from Bohemia, Crimea, France, Germany, Italy and Spain fled or were expelled and came to Lithuania. Followers of the Czech Christian reformer Jan Hus (1369-1415) also found a haven under Grand Duke Witold after years of German persecution.