.... "noninterference" in their
neighbor's matters.
Surely God has punished all the
nations unfortunate enough
to border the land of the russkies
or - those that the russkies covet.
Best - - Henry
For educational purposes only:
From: The Moscow Times
Issue 3878. Page 02.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008.
Putin Hints At Splitting Up
President Vladimir Putin hinted at last week's NATO summit
in Romania that Russia would work to break up Ukraine,
should the former Soviet republic join the military alliance,
Kommersant re****ted Monday. Putin "lost his temper" at the
NATO-Russia Council in Bucharest during Friday's discussions of
Ukraine's bid to join NATO, Kommersant cited an unidentified
foreign delegate to the summit as saying.
"Do you understand, George, that Ukraine is not even a state!"
Putin told U.S. President George W. Bush at the closed meeting,
the diplomat told Kommersant.
After saying most of Ukraine's territory was "given away" by
Russia, Putin said that if Ukraine joined NATO it would cease to
exist as a state, the diplomat said.
Putin threatened to encourage the secession of the Black Sea
peninsula of Crimea and eastern Ukraine, where anti-NATO
and pro-Moscow sentiment is strong, the diplomat said, Kommersant
re****ted.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who accompanied Putin at the
summit, said Monday he did not hear Putin's pur****ted remarks
about Ukraine and could not confirm the re****t.
Putin also offered broader economic cooperation with Georgia's
separatist republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as Tbilisi sought
NATO approval for eventual member****p in the alliance.
In a letter sent to the leaders of the breakaway provinces Thursday
-- when NATO members were deciding whether to grant
Member****p Action Plans to Ukraine and Georgia -- Putin said
Russia would move beyond symbolic declarations and offer real
economic sup****t to Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the Foreign
Ministry said in a statement.
Just days before the summit, Moscow officially lifted long-standing
embargoes on trade, trans****tation and financial transactions with
Abkhazia.
France, Germany and several other NATO members opposed putting
Ukraine and Georgia on the path toward NATO to avoid provoking
Russia, and the alliance postponed consideration of their
eventual member****p.
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