Washington’s hypocritical and tendentious accusations against Russia’s reabsorption of Crimea imply that the dead hand of the Soviet presidium must be defended at all costs — as if the security of North Dakota depended upon it!
The allegedly “occupied” territory of Crimea, in fact, was actually purchased from the Ottomans by Catherine the Great in 1783, thereby satisfying the longstanding quest of the Russian czars for a warm-water port. Over the ages, Sevastopol then emerged as a great naval base at the strategic tip of the Crimean peninsula, where it became home to the mighty Black Sea Fleet of the czars and then the Soviet Union.
For the next 171 years Crimea was an integral part of Russia (until 1954). That span equals the 170 years that have elapsed since California was annexed by a similar thrust of “Manifest Destiny” on this continent, thereby providing, incidentally, the United States Navy with its own warm-water port in San Diego.
While no foreign forces subsequently invaded the California coasts, it was most definitely not Ukrainian rifles, artillery and blood that famously annihilated The Charge of the Light Brigade at the Crimean city of Balaclava in 1854; they were Russians defending the homeland from invading Turks, French and Brits.
At the end of the day, security of its historical port in Crimea is Russia’s Red Line, not Washington’s.
Unlike today’s feather-headed Washington pols, even the enfeebled Franklin Roosevelt at least knew that he was in Soviet Russia when he made port in the Crimean city of Yalta in February 1945.
Maneuvering to cement his control of the Kremlin in the intrigue-ridden struggle for succession after Stalin’s death a few years later, Nikita Khrushchev allegedly spent 15 minutes reviewing his “gift” of Crimea to his subalterns in Kiev.
As it happened, therefore, Crimea became part of the Ukraine only by writ of the former Soviet Union:
On April 26, 1954 The decree of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet transferring the Crimea Oblast from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR. Taking into account the integral character of the economy, the territorial proximity and the close economic and cultural ties between the Crimea Province and the Ukrainian SSR…. (emphasis ours)
In fact, the Kiev government’s current Washington-supported brouhaha about “returning” Crimea is a naked case of the hegemonic arrogance that has overtaken Imperial Washington since the 1991 Soviet demise.
After all, during the long decades of the Cold War, the West did nothing to liberate the “captive nation” of Ukraine — with or without the Crimean appendage bestowed upon it in 1954. Nor did it draw any red lines in the mid-1990s when a financially desperate Ukraine rented back Sevastopol and the strategic redoubts of the Crimea to an equally pauperized Russia.
In short, in the era before we got our Pacific port in 1848 and even during the 170-year interval since then, America’s national security has depended not one whit on the status of Russian-speaking Crimea and the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. The fact that the local population of the former in March 2014 chose fealty to the Grand Thief in Moscow over the ruffians and rabble that have seized Kiev amounts to a giant, “So what?”
Still, it was this final aggressive drive of Washington and NATO into the internal affairs of Russia’s historical neighbor and vassal, Ukraine, that largely accounts for the demonization of Putin. Likewise, it is virtually the entire source of the false claim that Russia has aggressive, expansionist designs on the former Warsaw Pact states in the Baltics, Poland and beyond.
The latter is a nonsensical fabrication. In fact, it was the neocon meddlers from Washington who crushed Ukraine’s last semblance of civil governance when they enabled ultra-nationalists and crypto-Nazis to gain government positions after the February 2014 coup.
So it may be fairly asked: What lame brains did not understand yet that Washington’s triggering of “regime change” in Kiev would reopen this entire bloody history of sectarian and political strife?
Moreover, once they had opened Pandora’s Box, why was it so hard to see that an outright partition of Ukraine with autonomy for the Donbas and Crimea, or even accession to the Russian state from which these communities had originated, would have been a perfectly reasonable resolution?
Certainly that would have been far preferable to dragging all of Europe into the lunacy of the current anti-Putin sanctions and embroiling the Ukrainian factions in a suicidal civil war.
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But, can the military industrial complex supply the weapons to all sides if this is resolved by peaceful diplomacy?? Then, no… it is NOT preferable.
If the weapons are not used, there is no need to replace them. Cha-ching.
Why is the US enforcing Soviet policy? Maybe because the people running US foreign policy are the same people who brought about the Soviet Union.
Henry Ford was right.
@ Iska,
Agreed.
The guy who left the excellent comment about the French supported British-Turkish-Russian Crimean war of 1853 (below) would also agree its the usual suspects too.
This fight is centuries old, and the US is just the “New Kid Rich Kid” on the block getting used by the older boys (this history goes back before the US even existed in fact) to bank role and logistically support this centuries old fight of empires.
>>>this centuries old fight of empires.
And tribes.
This seems to be appropriate, if we are picking a fight with Russia. Vanity is a real killer, Joe.
David, Thank you for reminding us of the more distant history of the Black sea area. Sometimes we Americans are woefully ignorant of events that happened more than two weeks ago. Russia bought and paid for the Crimea just like we bought and paid for Alaska and Louisiana purchase. But our military/industrial sponsored state department and media always say “this time it’s different–its about freedom” or some such shit. We never seem to learn.
It’s obvious they are trying to provoke a war. They probably already have an agreement with other western countries to send token trip wire troops in. This gives the US a fig leaf to send token trip wire troops in to support NATO.
Fun fact: Ukraine is ruled by a Jew.
http://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/world/europe/volodomyr-zelensky-ukraine-jewish-president.html
So, the question is actually – why do the Jews want a war between America and Russia?
As cover for the inevitable financial collapse of western fiat currencies.
I think the only country that has more of (((them))) infesting their government than Ukraine has people like Blinken, Sherman, and Nuland, so we know who that is. And you know it has to do with shekels. Every. fucking. time.
Doug,
You’re a pretty smart fellow, and I’m certain that You know today’s crisis with Ukraine has little to do with Crimea, even if Crimea does factor into the dynamic to some degree.
___
“When bad men combine, the good must associate, else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.” ~ Edmund Burke, ‘Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents’ (1770)
….. All of this stems from Putin’s anger at the United States and NATO for even remotely considering Ukraine as a member and sending armaments and financial support to enable Ukraine to better defend itself. In early 2007, Putin raged at the West during the Munich Security Conference and accused America and NATO of placing “frontline forces on our borders”, going on and even threatening nuclear war over Ukraine in 2008, 2014 and December of 2021. And while there is some truth to this, Ukraine and all other free nations have the absolute right to form alliances for defensive purposes as they see fit, with whomever they see fit, just as individuals do.
Putin wants Russia’s own security demands met, even though it is Russia that is acting in a threatening manner towards Ukraine, and Ukraine would be hard-pressed to defend itself in the face of a full on assault and invasion. He wants assurances that Ukraine will never be granted membership in NATO and American advisors will withdraw from Ukraine and America will stop sending arms.
America should not meet Putin’s demands, mainly because NATO and the security of the West and America isn’t something that should be held hostage by a tyrant and a man working contrary to the principles of freedom and liberty. Why in the world would anyone actually give serious consideration to Putin’s demands?
Basically, although Putin wants Ukraine back under Russia’s blanket, he also badly wants to reveal just how weak NATO has become and just how paralyzed Joe Biden and America really are, when it comes to acting in defense of freedom and their allies across the globe. The lid of this Pandora’s Box was opened in glaring terms with Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
….. However one views the current crisis over Ukraine, history reveals that Ukraine has always fought to remain free of Russia from its earliest days to the present, and even tho’ the Treaty of Eternal Peace, signed in 1686 placed Ukraine under Russian rule, it was a “treaty” whose terms were forced by the victor Russia. Please note, that upon the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 [totally dissolving. by 1991], a nuclear-armed Ukraine and its people immediately asserted themselves and took back their freedom and liberty and their nation, on January 21st 1990.
Upon Ukraine’s declaration of independence, the America and the world pressed Ukraine to relinquish its nuclear arms — some 1900 nuclear warheads — in exchange for the world’s guarantee that it’s sovereign territory and national integrity would always be safeguarded by the world. Even Russia signed on to the agreement that came through the Budapest Memorandum of 1994, an agreement that committed America, Russia and the United Kingdom to “respect the independence and sovereignty and existing borders of Ukraine” and to refrain from the threat of use of force” against Ukraine.
However, if history shows us anything, it is that no agreement stands for long, when one is dealing with corrupt, dishonorable and evil people whose word means nothing at all and often is tossed about as their primary Machiavellian plans are being set in motion.
….. So much for treaties. They’re only as good as the people upholding them.
https://thebluestateconservative.com/2022/01/22/joe-biden-greenlights-putins-invasion-of-ukraine/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=today-s-posts-from-the-blue-state-conservative_1
Some of the academics one finds across the board suggest the best real-world outcome for Ukraine that the world may hope to see is Ukraine following Finland’s example, refusing to take a pro-NATO, anti-Russia stance, in order to maintain a large level of its independence and freedom for its people.
I reject this outright. Ukraine should be able to determine its own course, with or without America and NATO, but most certainly without any coercion or threats of armed invasions from Vladimir Putin and Russia’s might.
Nobody wants to see a full-blown hot war flare up between America and Russia, or China for that matter, but at just what point must the so-called “Free World” — if such still exists — America and Her allies tell the tyrants “this is our line in the sand and it will not be crossed short of war”? Yes. The fact that all involved are nuclear armed is something that’s not to be taken lightly, but neither can the invasion of any nation seeking to only live free be taken lightly.
If the world stands by and lets Putin take Ukraine, just as he did with Crimea in 2014, can anyone doubt that he will keep pushing and advancing and taking more territory, such as Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Belarus [a willing partner] and all the other countries of the former USSR?
For that matter, what happens when China takes Taiwan? Xi already has taken the measure of Biden. What happens when China decides to take all of Southeast Asia?
Putin and Xi have both considered, calculated and believe that they can emerge victorious over the U.S., even in an all out nuclear war. If one side or the other gets too nervous over any given situation, a person can’t help but wonder whether our enemies might decide on a first strike; they’ve considered it and it’s well known to our Pentagon.
Most Americans can continue living, as they have for years, in good fashion, whether Ukraine is free or not — whether Taiwan is free or not.
And although a worse case scenario for the world may not manifest for a decade or two, maybe even three, America must look at the Big Picture too and find a fine line between isolationism and interventionism.
What is the cut-off? When a tenth of the world is under the control of one tyrannical government? a fourth? half? three quarters? Or are we to let the tyrants have a free rein to run rough-shod across all the freedom-loving people of the world until America is left standing all alone, all by Herself?
Trying to avert war shouldn’t lead to kissing a tyrant’s ass or allowing one’s country to be blackmailed into silence and inaction to the point of essentially being a vassal to that tyrant and his state, paying tribute ’til one bleeds again and again.
One must understand the Ukraine is but one small part in the greater war between Good and Evil and the desire of the globalists and communists and their Islamist allies to either draw America and as much as the globe under their control or destroy Her. And for me, fighting to the death or victory is preferable to life as a serf.
Handling America’s enemies in a manner that serves Her best interests and actually defends Her national sovereignty won’t happen, until a strong freedom-minded individual takes the helm of the country and guides us to live and let live and not be put upon to our harm and detriment, by nation’s leaders who envy us and seek to conquer or destroy America. Biden is sorely at a loss in this regard and we should all pray that America survives unscathed during these last three years of his continued incompetence and his continued betrayal of America to Her enemies.
Perhaps U.S. leaders should stop bending over backwards to avoid any conflict and they should take a more belligerent attitude towards Russia, even rapping the Bear’s knuckles a time or two, as they take a lesson from Akeksandr Lukashevich, Russia’s permanent representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). During the recent meeting of the OSCE in Vienna on January 13th 2022, Lukashevich stated:
“Russia is a peace-loving country. But we do not need peace at any cost. The need to obtain these legally formalized security guarantees for us is unconditional.”
The Free World must stop deluding itself and unite, and in the end, it must either act and stop tyrants as they rise or face the same fate as the conquered, when they are alone and the enemy comes for them. Pray it hasn’t become too feeble to do the right thing in the face of evil on the march.
~ Justin
You are 100% wrong. Let me make it easier for you.
The man that can conquer all of W. Europe in under a month does not want a child sniffing pants shitter arming NeoNazi’s on his border. If you don’t like it then you are welcome to fly over to Ukraine and enlist in their army as did Orwell and the Abraham Lincoln Brigade did when they had such thoughts about Franco in Spain.
Put up or shut up tough guy.
100 percent? Hmmm … I’m pretty certain that You are not working with all the facts.
Yes … Putin, in the short term, more than likely can run all across Europe, in the short term. That’s part of my overall premise. Putin needs Ukraine to start that process and rebuild Russian Empire along the lines of the Old Czars, not necessarily the old USSR. But make no mistake; it does and will effect America in both the short and long term views.
And so, I asked many questions that need to be answered by everyone leading what’s left of the so-called “Free World”:
“If the world stands by and lets Putin take Ukraine, just as he did with Crimea in 2014, can anyone doubt that he will keep pushing and advancing and taking more territory, such as Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Belarus [a willing partner] and all the other countries of the former USSR?
For that matter, what happens when China takes Taiwan? Xi already has taken the measure of Biden. What happens when China decides to take all of Southeast Asia?”
Please note that if China takes Taiwan, it will immediately start harassing U.S. commerce in international shipping lanes to some intense and large degree, as it already engages in minor instances of such harassment. And it too will head full steam ahead to take as much of Southeast Asia as it wants.
“What is the cut-off? When a tenth of the world is under the control of one tyrannical government? a fourth? half? three quarters? Or are we to let the tyrants have a free rein to run rough-shod across all the freedom-loving people of the world until America is left standing all alone, all by Herself?
Trying to avert war shouldn’t lead to kissing a tyrant’s ass or allowing one’s country to be blackmailed into silence and inaction to the point of essentially being a vassal to that tyrant and his state, paying tribute ’til one bleeds again and again.”
Answer any of those questions, if You can and will.
I suppose You are fine with America eventually being all alone, surrounded by enemy empires allied with one another, or have You forgotten that China and Russia have held joint military maneuvers since 2006 with America as the “enemy” in their battle plans?
“‘When will enough be enough for the West? When China, Russia and Iran have a lock on most of the nations of the world and two or three generations of indoctrination have built one massive mindless military might loyal to their tyrannical rulers? By then, America could well be standing alone, given the uncertain allies it has in NATO and across Europe.
It’s also good to recall the postwar words of Martin Niemoller, who opposed the Nazis in Germany:
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.'”
The world would do well to recall that Chamberlain’s appeasement of Hitler didn’t make him stop with Czechoslovakia, Austria or Poland.
Looking back, it was Chamberlain’s appeasement policy that set the stage for WWII. Not much different from what Biden is doing today, setting the stage for WWIII.
Biden has simply signaled to the world and all of America’s allies that the era of bold, assertive and principle leadership in the face of tyranny and evil has died under his feckless, spineless, cowardly “leadership”.
~ Justin
Nickelthrower …
I’m just a concerned American asking simple questions that demand honest, direct and simple and transparent answers from those in power, and the American people themselves.
I guess You missed the part where I stated:
“Nobody wants to see a full-blown hot war flare up between America and Russia, or China for that matter, but at just what point must the so-called “Free World” — if such still exists — America and Her allies tell the tyrants “this is our line in the sand and it will not be crossed short of war”? Yes. The fact that all involved are nuclear armed is something that’s not to be taken lightly, but neither can the invasion of any nation seeking to only live free be taken lightly.”
Why are You trying to make me Your focus? Are You incapable of discussing this on the merit of the facts?
I get the impression from Your demeanor that if You had Your way, the world would be speaking German right now and the global reserve currency would be the Deutschmark.
And so now, freedom-loving Ukrainians simply wanting to remain free and unrestrained by a tyrannical-minded Putin are somehow “Neo-Nazis” in Your bizarre twisted world view.
“However one views the current crisis over Ukraine, history reveals that Ukraine has always fought to remain free of Russia from its earliest days to the present, and even tho’ the Treaty of Eternal Peace, signed in 1686 placed Ukraine under Russian rule, it was a “treaty” whose terms were forced by the victor Russia. Please note, that upon the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 [totally dissolving. by 1991], a nuclear-armed Ukraine and its people immediately asserted themselves and took back their freedom and liberty and their nation, on January 21st 1990.
Upon Ukraine’s declaration of independence, the America and the world pressed Ukraine to relinquish its nuclear arms — some 1900 nuclear warheads — in exchange for the world’s guarantee that it’s sovereign territory and national integrity would always be safeguarded by the world. Even Russia signed on to the agreement that came through the Budapest Memorandum of 1994, an agreement that committed America, Russia and the United Kingdom to “respect the independence and sovereignty and existing borders of Ukraine” and to refrain from the threat of use of force” against Ukraine.
However, if history shows us anything, it is that no agreement stands for long, when one is dealing with corrupt, dishonorable and evil people whose word means nothing at all and often is tossed about as their primary Machiavellian plans are being set in motion.
At the moment, Putin appears to be under no compunction or have any inclination to uphold the Budapest Agreement or the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and he is doing just as he pleases, even to go so far as to wage cyber war against America.
To this day, Biden and his regime have not effectively countered or retaliated for Russia’s cyber warfare aimed at the U.S. and others, and now Russia has thousands of soldiers mere miles from the Ukrainian border. Biden is failing on every front, and although he assured Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, in September 2021, that the United States would stand between Ukraine and any Russian aggression, it is now more than apparent those were simply empty words spewed by an incompetent, ignorant talking-head empty of any original thought.
So much for treaties. They’re only as good as the people upholding them.”
~ Justin
I don’t care what a troll like you has to say about this. The last time I checked, the US had its ass handed to it by people living in the 7th Century. I do not need nor want to fight a war with someone that will hand us our ass as we are currently led by a pants shitter and a bunch of trannies.
If you think it is a great idea then you go over there and defend Ukraine.
Have fun.
You must be a real piece of work, a Neanderthal of some sort. I’m no troll.
I’ve tried to be reasonable with You and engage You in an honest discussion, but You seem intent on resorting to ad hominem attacks.
If You read my comments, You should readily see the fallacy and erroneous nature of this response You just made.
You’re sort of cowardice would see all the nations of the world serving the tyrants, despots and dictators of the world.
However, no one feels confident that Biden or our current woke military is up to the challenge, and that wasn’t even what I was stating. But at some point, someone will have to fully confront Russia and China both, in whatever form that may take.
In my recent article, ‘Joe Biden Greenlights Putin’s Invasion Of Ukraine’, I plainly and clearly write:
“Handling America’s enemies in a manner that serves Her best interests and actually defends Her national sovereignty won’t happen, until a strong freedom-minded individual takes the helm of the country and guides us to live and let live and not be put upon to our harm and detriment, by nation’s leaders who envy us and seek to conquer or destroy America. Biden is sorely at a loss in this regard and we should all pray that America survives unscathed during these last three years of his continued incompetence and his continued betrayal of America to Her enemies.”
Try pulling Your head from Your own ass, and just see if You can engage a person with an opposing view without all the self-important arrogance and abuse that reeks like something I stepped in this morning, as I fed the hogs.
~ Justin
Project much, do You, Nickel? I don’t claim to be any sort of a “tough guy”, but I can surely read the writing on the wall as well as the next guy.
I’d love to see all nations, cultures and people getting along as the Christian God would have us do, but such is not the world we live in today.
Machiavellian and tyrannical-minded people exist today only to expand their power and control over land and resources, which has become increasingly easy for them through the use of technology, globalization and the manipulation or utter disregard of international treaties. And as Biden spoke of any possible “minor incursion” into Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin, dripping with numerous idiocies, one very nearly expected to hear him say “freedom in our time … unless some tyrant wants to make a minor incursion into your country.”
I’m 65 and still man enough to do what needs to be done, should tyrants come my way, but nukes make it all a moot issue, and a man’s ability means nothing outside of conventional warfare.
No … I’d prefer to see Putin stay within the borders of modern day Russia, but it’s become more than apparent he won’t. And no, I’m not anxious to go fight overseas or even to send our fine young men and women. Truth of the matter, we have enough problems right here at home, and we’ll be damned lucky if we aren’t embroiled in a civil war in the not too distant future, so we certainly don’t need to waltz right into a foreign war.
Russia and China both are masters at using nuclear blackmail to make the U.S. back off, but none of the players really want to go there. And if the U.S. keeps being afraid to confront Putin and Russia’s aggression, one has to wonder how far into the future before we see foreign forces actually attempting to invade our land to hoist a foreign flag in DC. Far-fetched? Maybe. Maybe someone let’s the nukes fly, if it gets that bad.
But here again, it all comes back full circle to the problem and the question: How far do we let a tyrant go before finally standing up and against his aggressions and the invasion of a Free and SOVEREIGN Nation??? ___ whether we speak of Georgia or Ukraine and the many other nations that have suffered at the hands of Russia across the span of time.
~ Justin
Your cowardice-based logic tells me You would have been cowering behind the flowing skirts of the women, begging to be hidden, during the American colonies’ war for independence against the British Crown. I suppose that in the face of Britain’s superior military might, the Americans should have simply laid down and allowed themselves to be totally conquered and oppressed.
By your reasoning, Americans today should never exert their Second Amendment Right, in defense of themselves and their families, when all other alternatives have run out in the face of a tyrannical U.S. government.
What exactly would You fight for? Anybody? Anything? When would You fight? Ever? Or would You simply tuck tail and run underground to some dank, dark cave?
Askin’ for a friend ….. HAhaHahahahahaha …..
~ Justin
And, more direct and to the point, not once in anything I wrote did You see me suggest sending our Young American Men and Women of the U.S. Armed Forces. BUT — There absolutely MANY other avenues of action open to the U.S. and Europe, that would make Putin think three, and maybe four, times before actually invading.
Keep in mind that Ukraine does have approximately the third largest army in Europe, with much of it trained and already armed by America. And as we speak, many more armaments are headed its way, such as Javelin anti-armor missiles and Stinger ground to air missiles.
Rather than wait until the horse has escaped the barn and Putin actually invades, Biden should be acting pro-actively to dissuade Putin, but he won’t and he can’t. I seriously doubt he’d have much of Europe actually willing to do what is necessary, whether we speak of HARD Economic Sanctions or most certainly military action of any kind; they’re all too willing to sell their soul to the Russian Bear, and lay down and roll over … cowards, Cowards, COWARDS.
dangerous, Dangerous, DANGEROUS Times …
One can’t help but wonder when we’ll see nuclear mushroom clouds all across our country and Europe.
So far, the powers-that-be in all sides have had the good common sense to stay within the lines and confines of limited military engagements and proxy-wars, but one of these days, some fool is going to get carried away by his own anger and emotion [agenda?] and push the button. And then ………….. Nothing I can say from this point on will describe the destruction, death and chaos that will descend upon the entire world.
It’s really sad that people’s greed and always striving for more and more — more than they could ever use in a lifetime — drives them to be confrontational and violent, not only in their own nations as individuals but as entire societies, cultures and nations warring against other nations.
Too bad the people of the world don’t spend as much time seeking to love and help one another, as much as they spend on trying to control, subjugate and conquer one another — all in the name of acquiring more, More, MORE and ALWAYS MORE.
~ Justin
The Author skips over a very important piece of history which few Americans know about with just a cursory mention of “The Charge of the British Light Brigade”.
That piece of history is “The Crimean war of 1853-1856”.
During the Crimean war the British and Turks (then Ottomens) with support from France, defeated the Russian empire in the Black Sea and took Crimea and souhern Russia bordering the Ottamen empire (now Turkey)by force.
The Treaty of Paris 1856 was signed by the defeated Russians – in which they got Crimea back as long they never put warships in the Black sea or rebuilt the naval base at Sevastaspol.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Paris_(1856)
The British to this day have a historical interest in Crimea and the southern region of Ukraine and they are by far the most heavily involved NATO nation in Ukraine – going as far as to sign many military contracts with Ukraine, such as this:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-signs-agreement-to-support-enhancement-of-ukrainian-naval-capabilities
Whilst the US does the heavy lifting the Brits operate behind the scenes.
The British dont and never have recognised the Russian claim on Crimea (see Treaty of 1856) and regularly provoke the Russians:
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/41239/russia-claims-bombs-dropped-to-warn-off-british-warship-royal-navy-says-it-never-happened
NATO member Turkey is also heavily involved in Ukraine, moving some of its its pet “Headchopper army” into Ukraine and supplying Ukraine with the the very capable Bayractor (and the pilots to fly it):
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/42894/ukraine-strikes-russian-backed-forces-using-turkish-made-tb2-drones-for-the-first-time
The British and Turks are working in Ukraine at a level few are aware of – as they are in Syria with British MI6 created “White Helmets” working with Turkish backed moderate terrorists against Russian interests (the British bases in Cyprus opposite Syria also provide the cover and radar reach for Israeli attacks on Syria). The British and Turks worked recently in Kazakstan in the failed color revolution.
Boris johnsons reference to Ukraine being another “Chechyna” (Russias direct war aginst Turkish and British backed Muslim exteemists trying to build a Caliphate in Russia) is a clear reference / threat to British MI6 and Turkish created “headchoppers” being activated inside Ukraine against Russia – showing serious bad blood giving the previous history:
https://www.ruptly.tv/en/videos/20220124-039
Remember, whilst you are all watching what the US is doing you are missing what the British and Turks are doing.
It’s sad that Stockman is willfully obtuse on this matter. Russia recognized Crimea as part of Ukraine several times after Ukraine became independent. No one is enforcing the dead hand of the Soviet Presidium. Crimea is part of Ukraine. Russia agreed with this in the Budapest Memorandum.
Stockman is being truly stupid.