apparently in his weird alternate world the Crimea is controlled by unknown gunmen, and he's not worried about it.
Sooo....no talk on Kiev's gradual descent into Mad Max beyond Thunderdome status??
- Thread starter 2Quik4UHoes
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Putin got a good point though...who were those snipers? Whats the proof that it was the government doing those shootings?
Really makes you wonder, them protesters were in the cops asses and even killed a few. How is out of the realm of possibility that provocateurs weren't behind that? Plus the violence displayed by the protesters was just as vicious as it was when the cops were still using rubber bullets, why the sudden switch knowing that killing protesters would effectively compromise his position as president. It's still a lot we don't know, but the leaked phone call with the infamous "fukk the EU" line between those high ranking US diplomats also revealed how the West is pulling strings behind the scenes. This shyt has been brilliant theater on both sides of the conflict.
Europe.view
Whataboutism
Come again, Comrade?
Jan 31st 2008
SOVIET propagandists during the cold war were trained in a tactic that their western interlocutors nicknamed “whataboutism”. Any criticism of the Soviet Union (Afghanistan, martial law in Poland, imprisonment of dissidents, censorship) was met with a “What about...” (apartheid South Africa, jailed trade-unionists, the Contras in Nicaragua, and so forth).
It is not a bad tactic. Every criticism needs to be put in a historical and geographical context. A country that has solved most of its horrible problems deserves praise, not to be lambasted for those that remain. Similarly, behaviour that may be imperfect by international standards can be quite good for a particular neighbourhood.
But it can be overdone—and in the case of Soviet propagandists, it was, and gave rise to subversive jokes For example: A caller to a radio program asks, “What is the average wage of an American manual worker?” A long pause ensues. Then the answer comes: “U nich negrov linchuyut” (“Over there they lynch Negroes”)—a phrase that, by the time of the Soviet collapse, had become a synecdoche for Soviet propaganda as a whole.
Whataboutism seemed to have died a natural death at the end of the cold war. But now it seems to be making a comeback. Your columnist took part in a live television conversation with some Russian colleagues last week, supposedly to discuss the bad image of Russia in the British press. It would be possible to make some quite reasonable points from the Russian side: is the media reaction to the Kremlin's treatment of the British Council selective or disproportionate? Are there angles to this story that nobody is exploring that might put Britain's stance in a different light?
Instead, the viewers were treated to a lively display of whataboutism. How could the West criticise Russia for sabre-rattling, asked the eloquent Aleksei Pushkov, when America and its allies had not just rattled sabres, but actually used them in Iraq. And so on and so forth.
It would help if Russia had a word for whataboutism. Literally, it could be kaknaschyotism. A crisp remark about lynching also raises a laugh and makes the point.
But the bigger problem is finding a way to discuss Russia's problems in a way that does not immediately lead to a sterile argument reminiscent of the ponderous tirades of the 1980s.
One solution is to use points made by Russian leaders themselves. Guess who said this: “Russia is a country of legal nihilism at the level...that no European country can boast of…Corruption in the official structures has a huge scale”. That sounds as though it came from some opposition politician such as Garry Kasparov—the sort of marginal (or marginalised) figure that Russians often say gains far too much western attention. But the speaker was Dmitri Medvedev (pictured above), successor-designate to Vladimir Putin.
Another is for outsiders to show a bit more self-criticism. It is worth noting early on in the discussion some outrageous flaws in American (or British, or German, or French) foreign policy, as well as recent scandals involving corruption and abuse of power.
The most powerful western asset during the last cold war was not bigger nukes or higher living standards, but self-criticism. However bad western governments may be, they risk trouble eventually—from the media, the courts or the voters. That is not something that one can say with much confidence about Russia now.
when they failed to push for the war in syria they said fuq it, dropped it from the media and went ahead with it. with attention in ukraine and russia busy they're israel, saudi, uk and us probably gang raping syria right now.
3.52pm GMT
Ukrainian prime minister Arseny Yatsenyuk confirmed his government has begun high-level contacts with the Russian government, Reuters reports:
“Consultations have started at the level of ministers,” he told reporters but gave no details.
Yatsenyuk reiterated that Russia should withdraw forces back to bases in the southern Ukrainian region of Crimea and halt actions which he said threatened to destabilise the region. President Vladimir Putin said in Moscow he would use force in Ukraine only as a last resort.
Putin in his news conference today said Russia has good relations with a number of figures within Ukraine but there could be “serious consequences” if some “unknown” person comes to power. “Yulia Tymoshenko is welcome to come to Moscow but she is not part of the government,” Putin said.
Updated at 3.54pm GMT
3.38pm GMT
Putin has spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the phone and their positions on the Ukraine crisis are “close”, the Kremlin said, according to Reuters:
The Kremlin said the presidents of the veto-wielding U.N. Security Council nation expressed hope that “the steps taken by the Russian leadership will allow for the reduction of ... tension and provide for the security of Russian-speaking citizens living in Crimea and the eastern regions of Ukraine.”
Writing last week in Foreign Policy, Timothy Snyder argued that Russia’s Ukraine play could have long-term negative consequences for the integrity of the long border it shares with China:
Ukrainian prime minister Arseny Yatsenyuk confirmed his government has begun high-level contacts with the Russian government, Reuters reports:
“Consultations have started at the level of ministers,” he told reporters but gave no details.
Yatsenyuk reiterated that Russia should withdraw forces back to bases in the southern Ukrainian region of Crimea and halt actions which he said threatened to destabilise the region. President Vladimir Putin said in Moscow he would use force in Ukraine only as a last resort.
Putin in his news conference today said Russia has good relations with a number of figures within Ukraine but there could be “serious consequences” if some “unknown” person comes to power. “Yulia Tymoshenko is welcome to come to Moscow but she is not part of the government,” Putin said.
Updated at 3.54pm GMT
3.38pm GMT
Putin has spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the phone and their positions on the Ukraine crisis are “close”, the Kremlin said, according to Reuters:
The Kremlin said the presidents of the veto-wielding U.N. Security Council nation expressed hope that “the steps taken by the Russian leadership will allow for the reduction of ... tension and provide for the security of Russian-speaking citizens living in Crimea and the eastern regions of Ukraine.”
Writing last week in Foreign Policy, Timothy Snyder argued that Russia’s Ukraine play could have long-term negative consequences for the integrity of the long border it shares with China:
If Russia excludes its own borders from the general international standard of inviolability, it might face some unwanted challenges down the road. If Russia’s external frontiers are flexible zones, to be pushed in various ways with appeals to the rights of ethnic brethren and passport holders, then what will happen, down the line, in Russia’s eastern Siberia? There, Russia holds major natural resources along its border with China, the world’s longest. Some 6 million Russian citizens in eastern Siberia face 90 million Chinese in China’s bordering provinces.
Read the full piece here.
3.30pm GMT
US Secretary of State John Kerry (C), Oleksandr Turchynov, Parliament Speaker and Ukraine's interim President (L) and Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk shake hands during their talks in Kiev on March 4, 2014. Photograph: YURY KIRNICHNY/AFP/Getty Images
Read the full piece here.
3.30pm GMT
US Secretary of State John Kerry (C), Oleksandr Turchynov, Parliament Speaker and Ukraine's interim President (L) and Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk shake hands during their talks in Kiev on March 4, 2014. Photograph: YURY KIRNICHNY/AFP/Getty Images
Botox Kerry press conference on right now.
Wowwwwwwwwwwww.....Frankenkerry got me like
So now Yanukovich didn't even sign the Feb 21st agreement?
So now Yanukovich didn't even sign the Feb 21st agreement?
Its a wrap for Ukraine
Putin basically had them boys come in and take your shyt over while you were asleep and has got the rest of the world doing nothing more than offering "good luck!"
Maybe they should have just let Yanny boy make ties with Russia. Clearly the EU ain't about that life
Putin basically had them boys come in and take your shyt over while you were asleep and has got the rest of the world doing nothing more than offering "good luck!"
Maybe they should have just let Yanny boy make ties with Russia. Clearly the EU ain't about that life
we been saying that though. This shyt just dont suddenly happen b/c some revolutionary figure decided it was time for changeReally makes you wonder, them protesters were in the cops asses and even killed a few. How is out of the realm of possibility that provocateurs weren't behind that? Plus the violence displayed by the protesters was just as vicious as it was when the cops were still using rubber bullets, why the sudden switch knowing that killing protesters would effectively compromise his position as president. It's still a lot we don't know, but the leaked phone call with the infamous "fukk the EU" line between those high ranking US diplomats also revealed how the West is pulling strings behind the scenes. This shyt has been brilliant theater on both sides of the conflict.
Its a wrap for Ukraine
Putin basically had them boys come in and take your shyt over while you were asleep and has got the rest of the world doing nothing more than offering "good luck!"
Maybe they should have just let Yanny boy make ties with Russia. Clearly the EU ain't about that life
lmfao, EU offered them a skimp deal now they offering half-hearted pats on the back. Ukrainians gettin fukkin played this shyt is fukkin hilarious, the West is some jerks you can't help but to laugh at the nerve they got.
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Aren't we broke ourselves? how the fukk we givin Ukraine money 
1 billion to help with Gazprom jacking up prices.lmfao, EU offered them a skimp deal now they offering half-hearted pats on the back. Ukrainians gettin fukkin played this shyt is fukkin hilarious, the West is some jerks you can't help but to laugh at the nerve they got.
Word?