Russians are coming

 

(Yalta conference in Crimea between Churchil, Rooswelt and Stalin 1945)

There are so many Russians and Eastern Europeans living in the Walthamstow area that they have their own shops. It's good for me because I like to eat pelmeni, Chebureki (that's Georgian by the way) , beef stroganoff   and all that. In fact, we went last Saturday to Walthamstow market and had some food from one of the Lithuanian cafés there.

I have a lot of friends from former the Soviet bloc countries. Russians, Ukrainians, Georgians, Polish, Romanians and many others. Which side am I on this worrying discussion about a war in Europe? I really can't take a side. I may antagonise someone somewhere. But my problem is I can't really keep quiet either.

As we can see clearly, western powers armed the Ukrainian army during the covid period. It is obvious. Ukranian army was awfully inadequate with training and weapons when the country was divided and the  Donbass region claimed independence from Ukraine. Now the situation has changed, and the much improved Ukrainian army is ready to take on the separatists. Quite rightly so. After all it is their country, and they have every right to unite it. 

But is it that simple? Russia vehemently opposes to Ukraine joining the NATO. And it is dangerous to them. Remember, it was the Western powers and NATO who broke the promise not to expand the NATO eastwards when Soviet Union collapsed. They cheated on Gorbachev and Yeltsin. But Putin was in for a different game. Don't forget that NATO immediately went into Balkan republics and then tried to go to Georgia too. The result was Georgia being broken into two pieces.  I am not saying what Russia did was correct.  I am just saying NATO expanding eastwards did not bring desired results. Instead, it created more chaos.

What about Crimea? I have a different opinion here. We know that Crimea belonged to the Russian empire for about 300 years. They took Crimea from the Turkish Ottoman empire around 1774. Before that it was occupied by Mongols. Before that it belonged to Kievan Russ and even before that to the Roman empire.  Then in 1921 it became the Crimean Soviet Socialist Republic. Afterwards it became just a province under the Russian Soviet Republic. Do you remember Nikita Kruchsev, Former Soviet president who nearly started a war with the USA because of Cuba? Krushev, who worked more time in Ukraine in his early years, somewhat illegally gave the province to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist republic, up until a couple of years ago Russia annexed it again,  under President Putin's command.

I am really not against that, perhaps because the majority of Russians living there have allegiance to Russia anyway. In recent history it was under Russia as well.

But Russia or Putin should not mess with the Donbass region. If Ukrainians want to take it back by defeating separatists, that's their right. President Putin should not mess with that. At the same time, NATO should stop here. They should not encircle Russia with Ukraine. Who likes their enemy in their backyard? Certainly, NATO is behaving more like an enemy rather than a friend or partner. Russia can easily be a partner if old warmonger generals of NATO take a step back.

They don't. Hence the problem. Both Putin and NATO generals do not want to give an inch. Now are we facing a long and painful war in Europe? Perhaps. 

Then there is this big elephant in the room. Russian gas.

- Ajith Dharmakeerthi