Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Russia and Ukraine Part 2

Hours before President Putin of Russia met with the President of Ukraine in Belarus, Ukraine released videos of captured Russian soldiers which challenges Putin's claim that Russia had nothing to do with the conflict in East Ukraine. This puts new pressure on Putin to halt the "accelerating flow of military personnel and hardware" into East Ukraine. This is part of Russia's offensive against Ukrainian forces and in support of the rebels.

Despite being hypocritical, Putin continues to advocate for a cease-fire between the rebels and Ukrainian forces as perhaps a way to alleviate the stringent sanctions placed by the US and Europe on Russia's ability to tap into it's oil reserves after the annexation of Crimea 

What do you guys think? Is this another move by Putin to gain leverage like he did with the Crimea? Should the United States and other Western powers take a more forceful stance this time?


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