Posted on 02/01/2014 11:44:25 AM PST by 1rudeboy
(Reuters) - The United States and Europe exchanged angry words with Russia on Saturday in a tug-of-war over Ukraine, with U.S., EU and NATO leaders saying Moscow must not strong-arm Kiev into an unpopular alliance.
At conference in Munich where Western diplomats met leaders of the Ukrainian opposition, United States Secreatary of State John Kerry said the protesters believe "their futures do not have to lie with one country alone, and certainly not coerced".
"Nowhere is the fight for a democratic, European future more important today than in Ukraine," he said. "The United States and EU stand with the people of Ukraine in that fight."
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, outnumbered in Munich by supporters of Ukraine's overtures to the European Union that were suddenly ditched by President Viktor Yanukovich last November, hit back with the same charge.
Lavrov said "political choice was preordained for Ukraine" when NATO offered Kiev potential membership of the western military alliance in 2008. Ukraine demurred but does cooperate with NATO on international peace missions such as Afghanistan.
"Here a choice is being imposed," said Lavrov, accusing some EU politicians of fomenting anti-Yanukovich protests by people who "seize and hold government buildings, attack the police and use racist and anti-Semitic and Nazi slogans".
They were trading barbs at the annual Munich Security Conference. Differences between Russia and the western allies on Ukraine and Syria, where Moscow backs President Bashar al-Assad, made for a chilly atmosphere on the podium there.
On the sidelines, boxer-turned-politician Vitaly Klitschko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk, an ally of jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, as well as lawmaker Petro Poroshenko and pop star Ruslana Lyzhychko lobbied for support for the opposition.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Will Obama speak out for the majority of Britons who don’t want to be members of the EU, but are forced to be by their corrupt government?
Gosh, I dunno . . . do they want to join France, or something?
Hopefully they will manage to continue their neutrality and benefit from playing the EU against the Russians...while siding strictly with only themselves.
No, they just want to be independent.
That should be your tagline.
Sorry that my pro-Soviet sentiments don’t meet with your approval.
Which is what Poland and all the former Captive Nations should have done.
Yeah, in the loving arms of Mother Russia, right?
A good number of the Captive Nations were neutral. How well did that work out, last time?
I was referring to the UK
So you admit the analogy is weak, at best . . . if not false.
No, the analogy is valid.
In both cases you have corrupt governments. In both cases you have large popular movements to disband political ties with countries that they don’t like.
So why will Obama not support UKIP?
Poland was neutral?
The Baltic Republics were. Funny how everyone forgets about them.
Please identify to me what political party in the UK wants to dissolve ties with one country over another. Thanks in advance.
As I’ve said before, my ultimate dream is the restoration of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. If only they had survived, how much better off Europe would have been.
That’s what I find so annoying about our neo-Bolsheviks here on FR. “Don’t be a pawn! Be a pawn of ours!” It’s friggin’ stupid.
UKIP wishes for the UK to break ties with the European Union, just as Svoboda in Ukraine wishes to break ties with Russia. Both have large popular support.
Why the double standard? Does he also support Catalonian independence?
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