No silver ballot: The problems with a Donbas referendum
The war in Donbas is Europe's worst active conflict - a referendum would not help
https://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_no_silver_ballot_problems_with_donbas_referendum

Italian media reporting six neo-fascists have been arrested in Italy. They are linked to fighting against Ukraine and recruiting mercenaries to fight with Russia-led, occupation forces. Hunt for accomplices continues.
http://www.lastampa.it/2018/08/01/italia/reclutavano-mercenari-per-la-guerra-in-ucraina-arrestati-sei-neofascisti-italiani-caccia-ai-complici-Hd0tgCsCszueiZKOFWFAXI/pagina.html

Yes I'm a victim of Kazakh propaganda.
This song is viral in Sweden right now:)
зың зың зың
Sin, Sin, Sin:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWx2Q7b2fpM
https://www.aftonbladet.se/kultur/a/J14yG6/lat-oss-satta-oss-pa-huk-och-fundera-pa-spotifys-makt

Whats more funny I went on a bus today and a family next to me spoke like the song.
"зың зың зың" it sounded like but the family was definitely from a *stan country.

Oh. Some call Sweden "Swedistan":)

In Macedonia, in 2001, when there was crisis, the military conflict between the Macedonian government and ethnic Albanian insurgents, US and NATO forced Macedonian government to negotiate with rebels and give them greater political power and cultural recognition. Not a problem.
In Ukraine, US and NATO don't want to force Ukrainian government to negotiate with insurgents.
Double standards.

That's true Igor.
Double standards in both the Balkan wars and now the ongoing war in Ukraine is filled by that.
That's why I think it's called wars.
Your statement "In Ukraine, US and NATO don't want to force Ukrainian government to negotiate with insurgents." is however not true.

Your statement "In Ukraine, US and NATO don't want to force Ukrainian government to negotiate with insurgents." is however not true.

moomin can't keep not to write something false. Ukrainian government declared many times they will not negotiates with insurgents. And USA and NATO really ignore that.

moomin can't keep not to write something false.

?
That is not an English sentence. Or should I say, it make no sense.
Rephrase that in Russian instead.
I have several friends that are fluent in Russian that can translate it to me.

Ukrainian government declared many times they will not negotiates with insurgents. And USA and NATO really ignore that.

As you know, Ukraine is not a NATO member. That the Ukrainian government doesn't want to negotiate with insurgents is quite obvious.
But what ever happened to the Minsk agreement?

Ukrainian government declared many times they will not negotiates with insurgents. And USA and NATO really ignore that.

As you know, Ukraine is not a NATO member. That the Ukrainian government doesn't want to negotiate with insurgents is quite obvious.
But what ever happened to the Minsk agreement?

You have no logic, as usually. Or you don't know what you write. Macedonia is not a NATO member also.
And Ukrainian representative in Minsk was ex-president of Ukraine, at that time he was not member of government or parliament. Semi-official peace talks with semi-official person from Kiev. And now Ukrainian president and other officials say strange things, that it was only the signing of some document in Minsk, without negotiations with insurgents, and Ukraine do not and will not negotiate with insurgents.
Also, Ukrainian president declared that Ukraine will follow the agreement only after official Ukrainian government take control on Eastern regions, i.e. after military victory.

typo

Semi-official peace talks with semi-official person from Kiev. And now Ukrainian president and other officials say strange things, that it was only the signing of some document in Minsk, without negotiations with insurgents, and Ukraine do not and will not negotiate with insurgents.

Semi-official? And isn't DPR and LPR insurgents?
Minsk II was attended by Russian president Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, German chancellor Angela Merkel, French president François Hollande, DPR leader Alexander Zakharchenko, and LPR leader Igor Plotnitsky.
The document was signed by:
Swiss diplomat and OSCE representative Heidi Tagliavini
Former president of Ukraine and Ukrainian representative Leonid Kuchma
Russian Ambassador to Ukraine and Russian representative Mikhail Zurabov
Separatist's leaders Alexander Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minsk_II

Another country that Russia is still land grabbing is of course Georgia.
Territories like Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region (South Ossetia).
A decade after war, Putin-backed 'borderization' costs Georgia land
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/decade-after-war-putin-backed-borderization-costs-georgia-land-n892321
No wonder that other countries bording Russia are becoming worried.
And in Georgia there are not even so many Russian ethnics.
So why Georgia? Because Stalin was born there?
No. Georgia want to be part of NATO to keep Russia out. Like Ukraine.

And today is 4 years since arrest and torture of Evangelical pastor Olexander Khomchenko in Russia-occupied Donetsk. Almost 6 months since he passed. His only fault was praying for Ukraine.

Russia's/Putin's longtime interests in eastern and south Ukraine.
The bufferzone "Belt of Security" that basicly cut off Ukraine from sea.
And as a bonus giving Russia some gas and oil fields.


If some pro-russians in Ukraine think that Russia are in Ukraine to "liberate" them...
Forget that. They are "urods" (losers)!

Why wasn't the flight corridors closed when MH17 was shot down?
Taking into account the technical details of the civilian MH17 as well as the route of the flight can not be missed and confused with another flight = above the BUK's location about 10 of civilian flights passed over there that day.
20 min before the MH17 deployment passed a Lufthansa flight from Munich - Delhi.
A few minutes later, Singapore Airlines passed by air from Copenhagen to Singapore full of Scandinavians on their way between Copenhagen and Singapore.

Before the firing of the BUK system, the plane was carefully selected.
Russia closed all (12) of its air corridors and thus forced the MH17 to fly in the air corridor L987. This corridor is above the village of Beregis, east of Donetsk, where MH17 was shot down.
With regard to the technical construction of the BUK system, it is impossible to even load them by mistake. Even less fire.

Some persons in the West countries draw strange maps and write fake theories about mythical aggressive plans of Russia... Other persons trust it and spread it. It's interesting, how much time they will need before understanding the Russia don't want territories of her neighbors? 5 years, 10 years, more? Or it's their lifelong hobby?

The authorities in Kiev could stop war long ago, but they don't very want peace. They need war which masks their otioseness. They don't rebuild country, they steal and corrupt.

It's interesting, how much time they will need before understanding the Russia don't want territories of her neighbors?

Are you saying Russia never wanted territories of her neighbors? Or just right now and for the next ten minutes?

...the Russia don't want territories of her neighbors...

Well, as long as we neighbors are very careful and don't upset the Russian Bear:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_GPVVUd6uw
Finnish version.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4mi5QXAeQE
Norwegian version.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtZ1R9_Lu-4

Because the West and NATO have been either: flatly denying there was ever an agreement with Gorbachev (about nato not expanding eastward); or saying that what was agreed was not legally binding and was more political "assurances" ... it's been difficult to ascertain with any real certainty how much truth there's been behind the oft-repeated claim from Putin that it was nato and the west reneging on that deal which resulted in Russia's military deployments being what they are today.

Now I don't know anything about the site the following article I'm linking to is being carried by, but I ran it through Media bias/fact check and it's ranked high on facts and slightly right of centre on bias, so I'll go with that for the moment, because I found it interesting.

De-classified documents

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was given a host of assurances that the NATO alliance would not expand past what was then the East German border in 1990 according to new declassified documents.

[...]

As the newly declassified documents show, the Russians might have had a point. While it was previously understood that Secretary of State James Baker’s assurance to Gorbachev that NATO would not expand “not one inch eastward” during a February 9, 1990, meeting was only in the context of German reunification, the new documents show that this was not the case.

Gorbachev only accepted German reunification—over which the Soviet Union had a legal right to veto under treaty—because he received assurances that NATO would not expand after he withdrew his forces from Eastern Europe from James Baker, President George H.W. Bush, West German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, the CIA Director Robert Gates, French President Francois Mitterrand, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, British foreign minister Douglas Hurd, British Prime Minister John Major, and NATO secretary-general Manfred Woerner.

Mind you... Looking at that list of names... perhaps he should have known he was being stitched up... erm... assuming of course he was.

I've said it already & it is still my personal view that the reunification of Germany was a big mistake.

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was given a host of assurances that the NATO alliance would not expand past what was then the East German border in 1990 according to new declassified documents.

But that was before Soviet collapsed and many of it's neighboring countries occupied by Soviet Union had no saying.
And after the collapse the reborn Russia joined Partnership for Peace in 1994 that is a NATO program.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partnership_for_Peace
However Russia left that in 2014.
https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_50090.htm
Still Russia are threatening non NATO members like Sweden and Finland.
And doing military campaigns in both Ukraine and Georgia.