Quote from: Paya on April 23, 2014, 12:27:08 AM

Quote from: zoran on April 22, 2014, 04:38:36 PM

It is a great pity, that people of this cities do not understand that Russia would never accept them as it happened with Crimea.
Many people will die under Ukrainian battletanks, fighting for their blundering beliefs.
Russia could stop this all long ago, just by saying "we will not accept you, we will not protect you". But they're just watching this upcoming massacre. Cry

I think that the plans for annexation of Donbas (if there were such plans whatsoever) are scrapped, it's the peaceful federalization which Moscow is trying to push through in near future. But I do agree that this message, perhaps, hasn't been made loud and clear enough to Russian ethnic minority in the east Ukraine, where many are still dreaming about joining Russia. This is indeed a potentially hazardous situation: Russia cannot afford the price of absorbing these regions but if Ukrainians do something stupid, like launching massive attack on rebels, most likely followed by dozens or hundreds of dead, Putin will have no choice but to react and use army to protect his people. It's the worst case scenario for everyone there and I truly hope that all sides are going to be smart enough to avoid it at all costs.

I agree with your assessment there, Paya, taking it even one step further. Lavrov was very outspoken right from the moment it became obvious that a state coup has taken place in Ukraine, that Ukraine should move en-route to federalisation if it is to remain a single state. Each such initiative was talked down by US/EU, or ignored outright. At times it bordered on absurdity.

Russia is not interested in split Ukraine. It does not need a fringe lawless state with conflicting ragtag bands, as it was in 1918. What Russia needs is an independent neutral (with possibly a slight bias towards Russia) stable Ukraine, which can act as a trading partner and a buffer zone with regard to cancerous NATO expansion.

And to that end, an interesting article on RT outlining Churkin's (Russia's envoy to UN) speech:
Churkin: US behind Ukraine crisis after investing $5bn in 'regime change'
http://rt.com/news/154112-churkin-ukraine-eu-us/