The Knight's Gate in Kiev

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

I think he did everything he had to do already, now the question is if the heads in Kiev take the bait. Putin never strikes without a excuse, if the guys in Kiev decide to hurt Russians in the east -or even more stupid- try to take Crimea by force, Putin would strike quickly and mercilessly.

In Georgia he prepared the stage for months and then he waited for Saakashvili to screw up (and behave like a complete idiot).

The funny thing is that as much as Putin is a chess player in these events, I suspect that he is being played as a fiddle by western oil & gas interests.

[Swatopluk]

Why Western?  It's not as if the oligarchs in his own country are not in a symbiontic relationship with him and them.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Because whomever is pumping that gas from his end is the long term loser.

[Griffin NoName]

They are all fiddling with each other.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Today's news make Mr. Putin as the complete winner (if the deal is actually signed): China would purchase the gas that Europe would stop buying. I imagine that western oil must be happy as well as that makes the prospect of fracking in the EU far more palatable.

At this point it would seem that the biggest loser (after Ukraine obviously) would be Germany, plus Hungary, the Czech Republic and every other EU country using Russian gas.

Once more the "F*&% the EU" sounds incredibly appropriate. 

[Aggie]

Time for Canada to scrap plans for LNG shipping facilities on the BC coastline, and to start building gas pipelines east for shipments to Europe.

That's pure NIMBYism, and takes a lot more infrastructure, but I'm not happy with moving oil and gas via the West Coast.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

I'm sure once the pole melts making a pipeline from Canada to Norway/Finland would be a breeze, besides, who cares if off shore wind is cheaper...

[Swatopluk]

Norway has its own gas and will replace at least a third of what is now not coming out of Russia anymore.

[Griffin NoName]

Today's news make Mr. Putin as the complete winner

What news? Did I nod off during BBC News at 10?

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

I'm reviving this thread because...
---
I have to say that:

1. I thought Putin was both smart and rational, I was soooo wrong. and
2. The military being incompetent isn't news. That incompetent.. well, what a clever way to fully undermine your country in one fell swoop.

[Griffin]

I thought he was rational, was being the operative word here. Now, he isn't.

I've just discovered I have a fourth cousin (once removed) fighting with the Ukranian army in Ukraine. His mother just told me and she is so worried about him. Well, you would be. I just hope he survives it.

[Aggie]

My father's family fled the Ukraine shortly before the Holodomor, which is why I am Canadian. I caught up on my Ukrainian history (especially of that period) last fall before the latest invasion. This war sickens me. I will be there with my tools to help rebuild when Ukraine wins.

[Griffin]

I'm reviving this thread because...
---
I have to say that:

"That incompetent.. well, what a clever way to fully undermine your country in one fell swoop."

Not quite as clever as our new PM and Chancellor perhaps. We are almost a failed state.

It was interesting rereading through the 2014 posts in this thread. Did Putin really think he could just repeat what he did in Crimea, in the Ukraine? **

** why do we say "the" Ukraine?

[Aggie]

I'm reviving this thread because...
---
I have to say that:

"That incompetent.. well, what a clever way to fully undermine your country in one fell swoop."

Not quite as clever as our new PM and Chancellor perhaps. We are almost a failed state.

** why do we say "the" Ukraine?

Well, really we should be calling it Ukraïna, I suppose.  My guess is the 'the' is a reflection of not historically recognizing it as an independent state. It's always a little weird how the English world (and many other language scapes, I assume) insists on sticking to its own names for countries that bear little resemblance to the name these places call themselves (think Japan, Korea, Germany).

As for the UK, popular culture has been suggesting you're not quite a failed salad.

[Swatopluk]

THE Netherlands are long established as are THE United States. On the other hand lot of states that were parts of other countries for very long periods go without an article.
I see no logic there. In Germany it's for example normal to add 'the' to Senegal, Ivory Coast or Tchad but not to Ghana or Sierra Leone. If part of the name is a common word (like 'land' or 'coast') an article would seem logical but it is NOT applied consistently (e.g. we do not add 'das' to DeutschLAND or ÖsterREICH*) but to leave out 'die' in front of Türkei (Turkey) is wrong (-kei/chei is the suffix that turns a people into a state). In most cases the article is used only, if it's less about the state but it's state (unanticipated pun): "The Germany of to-day" [as compared to last century]. "To-days's Germany" does not work in German. It would be "heute's Deutschland" but 'heute' (to-day) has no second case and one has to use 'heutig' in the first case instead. But this requires the use of the article ("das heutige Deutschland")
Where the definite article is mandatory, is, if a state is referred to by its form of state since in those cases the name is used in its adjective form and the type of state is a normal noun requiring the definite article: 'Korea' but 'the Korean republic'.
States ending in -an (but not -stan) also seem to require the definite article in Germany: der Sudan, der Iran (also der Irak).
No real logic there.

So, personally, as a German, I find the article in front of 'Ukraine' completely insignificant.
Where we had a problem was, when Chechoslovakia ("die Tschchoslowakei") broke apart. The old established term for the land of the Chechs was "die Tschechei" but this term has a bad taste since the nazis. It still feels weird to use "TschechIEN" instead. I have no idea why we kept "die Slowakei" despite it being as tainted by nazi language use as "die Tschechei"). In the case of Yougoslavia and the states that came out out the separaration there was never an alternative to the ending "-ien" with the exception of Kosovo (das...).

*or HolLAND for that matter, which is how most Germans refer to the Netherlands. Btw, we usually use "England" (and just occasionally "Großbritannien"), when we mean the UK.