Well, I love this quote (from the russian spokesman, via BBC):

"Putin and Poroshenko did not agree a ceasefire in Ukraine because Russia is not party to the conflict, they only discussed how to settle the conflict"

Nice way to contradict oneself in one sentence.... if you you're not part of the conflict, how can you settle it? Perhaps by getting involved?

In reality I've started to be quite skeptical on these kind of announcements. Thing is, the politicians hardly admit on what they actually did discuss and if or ever agreed, and when they come out to the press, their versions differ wildly. Then the press puts their spin on it so what we actually get is worth next to nothing.

About Putin's Russia.

http://euromaidanpress.com/2014/09/0...-among-drunks/

Quote "France has suspended its delivery of warships to Russia amid continued escalation in Ukraine, The Associated Press and others are reporting, citing a statement from the office of French President Francois Hollande. "

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/franc...#ixzz3CGw0M8LF

Problem with the sanctions is they hurt us as much, or maybe more, than the Russians

Another quote "Vladimir Putin on Wednesday laid out a seven-point ceasefire plan for Ukraine, including proposals for an international monitoring force and the establishment of a humanitarian corridor."

This is the man who said a couple of days ago that the ceasefire was an internal Ukraine matter.

Problem with a ceasefire is that everybody involved has demonstrated that they do not keep their promises.

Russia announces today that their nuclear-responsible forces are holding a major drill this month. Of course, nobody should take this statement "out of context", it has "nothing to do with Ukraine", it was "planned months in advance", "everything is normal", "these are not the droids you are looking for", etc...

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/0...0GY0H620140903

This is claimed to be a video of Russian soldiers on holiday; no idea if it is genuine

There has been alot of talk about Putin's erratic behavior lately:
http://www.rferl.org/content/putins-.../26556263.html

http://euromaidanpress.com/2014/09/0...g-more-eratic/

I didn't think too much of it, but after seeing Putin hardly able to control himself yesterday, whimpering and crying during a public reception, it actually looks like he is not in his right mind. I mean everyone gets a little emotional during their national anthem, but he's sobbing like a little girl who just had her toy taken away. This guy should NOT be allowed anywhere near any red buttons that say "Launch" on them

http://youtu.be/Dg0Sy7NFyIM?t=50s

For those who speak or understand German quit well:

http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/beitr...neues-Russland

Just two days after Obama visits Estonia....

http://www.vox.com/2014/9/5/6110037/...icer-kidnapped

Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels in the east have signed a truce deal to end almost five months of fighting.
The two sides agreed to stop firing by 15:00 GMT and the truce appeared to be holding. But the rebels said the truce had not changed their policy of advocating splitting from Ukraine.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29082574

Vlad... (as probably most so-termed) "world" leaders and shakers are generally sociopaths.

Stalin, Hitler, Thatcher, Bush, Blair, Gadhaffi, Sadddam, Pol-Pot.....

The list is endless. They will sacrifice millions.....billions to achieve their objective.

Please feel free to add your nominations to this hall of fame.

I'm sure that everybody will have their favourites.

Hopefully the human race will eventually devise an infallible method to detect and destroy these monsters in the womb.

Sigh! Just what game is that tiresome little nit Putin playing?
Hours after Obama promised the Baltic states that NATO would defend them as if they where Berlin or Paris or London. Russians have "abducted" a high ranking Estonian officer and dragged him onto Russian territory.
This is after Russian jets "wandered" into Finnish airspace.
After stoking the so-called "greater Russian empire" could it be that runaway nationalism is gaining momentum or is Russia economically so against the wall and that the country is at breaking point that Putin sees no other option but aggression, even at the risk of war between Russia and the US?

__________________
Lummerland
Eine Insel mit zwei Bergen,
und im tiefen weiten Meer,
mit viel Tunnels und Geleisen
und dem Eisenbahnverkehr
nun wie mag die Insel heißen
ringsherum ist schöner Strand
jeder sollte einmal reisen
in das schöne Lummerland

..ah! Just seen the other posts.

The Russian and the Estonian sides of the story are different in several important ways
The Russians say that he was captured on the Russian side of the border, with spying cameras. Russian officials believe the operation was some sort of covert espionage operation carried out by Estonia’s Security Police on behalf of NATO.

Hours after Obama promised the Baltic states that NATO will bring more troops there and would defend them against the Russian agression, incidents on the Russian border have started. By the way, at least for now Ukraine has stopped the fighting. Seems like Estonia will be the next victim of "the Russian agression"...

Russia's side of the story is always different. Putin denied Russian troops were in Crimea (until after, then admitted it), Putin denies Russian troops are currently in Ukraine (despite dozens being captured and "hidden" funerals in Russia), Russia says McDonald's in Russia were closed for "health reasons" (and not sanctions), that Ukrainian pilot Savchenko held in a Russian jail "defected" to Russian soil (and not captured in Ukraine and sent there by DNR), etc... the list is very long. Like any "he said, she said" issue, I guess it comes down to who you believe. And right now I have a hard time believing anything coming out of Putin's mouth.




Yes, sounds like typical Putin "thuggery". Obama says to Estonia "don't worry I got your back" to give nervous Estonians a "warm fuzzy", then Putin quickly reminds them in a cold way that they should not to be feeling to "warm" or "fuzzy" as long as his mafia state is next door. I guess a severed hose head in Ilves' bed will be next...

What do you mean by typical Putin "thuggery"? When was the last incident before the recent one on the Russian-Estonian border?

With ethnic Russians being 25% of the Estonian population, Estonian economy feeling negative effect of the Russina sanctions, Estonian nationalism on the rise and the upcoming elections in 2015, it is easy to predict that Estonia is all set to become the second Ukraine -- but with the NATO troops stationed there..

Well, the cyber attacks on Estonia in 2007, then the war against Georgia in 2008, then Ukraine 2014. Putin likes to remind his neighbors who's the boss.


..."but with NATO troops stationed there..": then hopefully they will prevent any masked gunmen from suddenly appearing and claiming a "People's Republic", and hence stopping any kind of proxy war before it happens.

And it's not about "ethnic Russians" versus everyone else. There are plenty of ethnic Russians fighting in Ukraine's army and volunteer battalions, and plenty of ethnic Russians who are just fine living in Ukraine and Estonia (I personally know many). It's about Putin feeding his media a script about all Russia's neighbors being fascists who hate Russia, and then using that excuse to either invade those countries or beat them into line.

Almost all of the Russian neighbors belong to EU and/or NATO. How possibly Putin or anybody else could invade them? They are already invaded

Are you aware of Waffen SS veteran annual parades in Baltic states? I have no idea why they allow this.

I think Estonia democratically voted and applied for EU/NATO membership, how's that an "invasion"?

Are you aware of Estonia's history? In 1940 the Soviet Union annexed Estonia and deported tens of thousands of people to Siberia in cattle cars (then again in 1949). When the Germans arrived in Estonia later that year before the next wave of deportations could take place, they were actually greeted as "liberators".

I am aware of the few old-timers left who gather as veterans every year, and I am aware that this small group gets huge Russian media attention every year as well. What I don't understand is why Soviet war monuments are still standing in Estonia? Why should monuments to occupiers be left in place 23 years later?

Of course I am aware of this as well. The problem is how these horrible events and memories are shamelessly used today in politics -- and 25% of population being Russian makes the situation there extremely explosive. Just look what happened in Ukraine when the followers of Bandera came to power.

You mean the Bandera who was assassinated by the KGB?
Strange thing about the East Ukraine independence revolt was that the leaders were Russian citizens and mostly were the leaders of "independence revolts " in other countries; strange that they were the citizens of multiple countries?