Russia And Ukraine On The Brink Of War
By Michael Snyder/Economic Collapse Blog November 27, 2018
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A respected foreign journalist living in Ukraine is warning that a war that most Americans cannot even imagine "teeters on the razor thin edge of becoming real". When Russia opened fire on Ukrainian Navy vessels and captured three of their ships, it made headlines all over the globe.
Now the Ukraine has imposed martial law for 30 days as President Petro Poroshenko warns of the "extremely serious" threat of a land invasion. Relations are still raw after Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and its backing for a pro-Moscow insurgency in eastern Ukraine, the crisis now risks pushing the two countries into open conflict.
"Russia has been waging a hybrid war against our country for a fifth year. But with an attack on Ukrainian military boats it moved to a new stage of aggression," Mr Poroshenko said.
In a phone call with Mr Poroshenko, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg offered the alliance's "full support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty."
Ukraine is not a NATO member though it aspires to membership.
The European Union, Britain, France, Poland, Denmark, and Canada all condemned what they called Russian aggression.
Washington's envoy to the United Nations said Russia's actions were an "outrageous violation of sovereign Ukrainian territory" and sanctions on Russia would remain in place.
Right now Moscow and Kiev are on the brink of war, and once a Russian invasion happens there will be no turning back. At that point the U.S. would have a major decision to make, and if we chose to defend Ukraine that could mean that we would suddenly find ourselves fighting World War 3.
Most people don't realize that this crisis has been simmering for over a week. The following is from a U.S. News & World Report article that was posted on November 19th...
A dispute over shipping lanes is threatening to reignite the 4-year-old simmering war between Ukraine and Russia following confrontations sparked by both sides in recent days.
Russian border guards on Monday detained Ukrainian fishing vessels in the Sea of Azov, a strategically important body of water contained to the north by Ukraine, to the west by the Crimean Peninsula and to the east and south by Russia.
Monday's incident came days after Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed Kiev for detaining Russian commercial ships also in the Azov in what he described as "a totally illegal move" and which Kremlin officials have warned may prompt retaliation.
When you realize what has already taken place, it puts the most recent events in an entirely different context.
The Russians blocked the Kerch Strait in retaliation for having had their own commercial vessels detained by the Ukrainian government.
And when the Ukrainians decided to test the Russians by sailing Ukrainian Navy vessels into the Kerch Strait, the Russians decided not to back down.
So the truth is that neither side is exactly "innocent" in this situation.
The Kerch Strait is absolutely critical, because it is the only way into and out of the Azov Sea...
The strait connects the Azov Sea with the Black Sea and runs between the Crimean Peninsula and Russia. It's a shallow, narrow stretch of water just two to three miles (3.2 to 4.8 kilometers) wide at one point near the Chuska landspit.
The strait is an important economic lifeline for Ukraine, as it allows ships leaving the port city of Mariupol to access the Black Sea.
It's also the the closest point of access for Russia to Crimea, a peninsula Moscow annexed in 2014. The international community has largely not recognized Russia's annexation of Crimea, but that did not stop Russia from building a bridge over the Kerch Strait connecting Crimea to mainland Russia. The Kerch Strait bridge was opened in May.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has also been gathering with his top military leaders. Poroshenko is pledging that Ukraine will not take any "offensive" military actions, but he also says that they are ready to defend against any attacks from Russia.
The Russians are accusing Poroshenko of manipulating this crisis in order to pump up his flagging approval ratings for the upcoming presidential elections. There is a very real possibility that Poroshenko could lose, and he is desperate to stay in office.
Of course the Ukrainians are blaming Russia for everything, and Poroshenko says that what happened on Sunday "was an act of war".
At this point, it is unclear what the Russians will do next.
Hopefully they will see that a full-blown invasion of Ukraine would not be wise.
But if they decide that such a war is inevitable, they will move with lightning speed as we have seen in other conflicts. For example, Russia had already annexed Crimea before the rest of the world even started talking about it. And we all remember what happened in Georgia.
If and when Russia finally pulls the trigger, their forces will be halfway to Kiev before the mainstream media in the western world even realizes what is happening.
And if Russia does invade, the Trump administration will be under tremendous pressure from Republicans, Democrats and other NATO members to intervene. Already, there has been some very tough talk from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo...
It's yet unclear how far the U.S. is willing to go in support for Ukraine. In a joint statement after Klimkin's meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week, both sides "condemned Russia's aggressive actions against international shipping transiting the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait to Ukrainian ports" and agreed that "Russia's aggressive activities in the Sea of Azov have brought new security, economic, social, and environmental threats to the entire Azov-Black Sea region."
But if we directly intervene in a military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, that could very easily trigger World War 3.
Most Americans are not concerned that a conflict between Russia and Ukraine could potentially affect the United States, but the threat is very real. In fact, according to foreign correspondent Nolan Peterson such a war "teeters on the razor thin edge of becoming real"...
This is the most dangerous moment I've seen in Ukraine in years. Tonight, a war that many people in America can only imagine thanks to Hollywood movies, teeters on the razor thin edge of becoming real. Tonight in Ukraine we go to sleep not knowing what tomorrow will bring.
Let us hope for peace, because right now the world is becoming a more chaotic place with each passing day...
