Pres. Donald J. Trump was critical of the certain alliances, saying that a small, aggressive country such as Montenegro could spark World War III. It seems fundamentally unfair that American sons and daughters should risk their lives due to internal European conflicts. But growing tensions between the Ukraine and Russia could very well draw the U.S. into another bloody global confrontation.
Russia recently seized a pair of Ukrainian naval vessels that were conducting counterintelligence operations. The ships were reportedly crewed by Ukrainian spy operatives who entered Russian waters. In all, 24 sailors were taken into custody, and 12 were presented in a Crimea court on formal charges.
Crimea has been an international sore point as Russia effectively annexed the province while NATO allies and ex-Pres. Obama failed to defend it in 2014. Ukraine had scrapped its application to NATO in 2010 because the country was divided over its allegiance to Russia.
Ukraine broke away from the former Soviet Union in 1991, but a large population has closer ties with Russia than the current state. The long-standing bond is primarily based on a common form of Orthodox Christianity grounded in Russia. Many Ukrainians also personally identify with Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin, who practiced the Orthodox brand of Christianity in secret under the atheist Soviet regime. With a portion of the population yearning to be reunited with the Russian people and church, tensions have never stopped simmering.
In 2014, pro-Russian factions clashed with Ukrainian nationals in what has been called the War in Donbass. The result was an invasion by masked Russia soldiers who seized the Crimea region and evicted Ukraine forces. Despite the creation of a Russian-aligned Republic of Crimea, tensions continue to boil in the region. A large faction of separatists has continued to work through political channels with the goal of realigning Ukraine with Russia. Following the seizure of the two spy vessels, Ukrainian Pres. Petro Poroshenko has imposed martial law and rattled his nation’s sword.
“Intelligence data speak of an extremely serious threat,” Pres. Poroshenko reportedly said, claiming Russia forces were gathering near the border. “Ukraine is facing a threat of a full-scale war with the Russian Federation.”
This marks the first-ever imposition of martial law in Ukraine, and it has effectively ramped up emotions on both sides.
According to reports, members of the NATO alliance strongly advised against imposing martial law as it could result in the countries taking another step toward war. Critics in the region have gone on the record saying that the move was made so that Pres. Poroshenko could usurp and retain power over pro-Russia residents.
Putin, well known as a Russian strongman, has let it be known through international channels that the move served to ramp up hostilities.
“The imposition of martial law in some regions may pose a risk of escalating tensions in the conflict-hit region, namely the southeast,” Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov reportedly said.
In the U.S., the Trump Administration continues to monitor the situation. Some reports have indicated that the Ukrainian naval vessel had strayed into Russia waters. That point continues to be disputed by Ukraine officials. However, officials such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo see the stand-off as a potential spark that could quickly light the fire of all-out war.
“The United States condemns this aggressive Russian action. We call on Russia to return to Ukraine its vessels and detained crew members, and to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, extending to its territorial waters,” Pompeo said. “Reports that Russian vessels rammed and fired on the Ukrainian ships, injuring Ukrainian crewmen, before seizing three vessels, represent a dangerous escalation and a violation of international law.”
While Pres. Trump has also denounced the incident, it remains to be seen if the U.S. and NATO countries would intercede should the crisis escalate. Keep in mind that Obama failed to lift a finger while Russia troops stormed Crimea.
Although Pres. Trump has advocated an America First policy that seems to indicate U.S. soldiers would not put their boots on the ground in a foreign war between other countries, Russia has been a long-standing adversary. Unless Russia-Ukraine hostilities cease, it is likely the U.S. will be drawn into another horrific European fight.
~ Conservative Zone
A conventional war with Russia could last for 100 years. A nuclear war 1/2 hour. No winner.
Russia and the Ukraine are not the only danger in Europe.
Come on folks, Europe could never fight a serious war nor could the Ukraine oppose Russia for long. A ptoper correlation in American politics is burning buildings and terrorizing the public for Open Borders and commentaries such as “Republicans should be killed”. Sadly all will come to fruition sooner than later and those who promote it will escape any retribution, just like the Hillary Clinton conspiracy.
A war with Russia is to commit suicide. The Ukraine government knows it can nor win any war with Russia or any other country. And to go to war for any stinking European country which is full of Muslims is stupid. We should of never gone to war in the Arb stated. Look at the mess that those counties are in. No we should never go to war for any of those counties.
Wow . . .a little more than 100 years away from the “World War I” and we’re looking at the possibility of WWIII?!? Well, if we check biblical prophecy, the last world war will start from northern aggression! Some believe that means north of Israel is where the war will break out from, namely from the Bear (…or Russia…) ! This very well may be the beginning of the end!!!
Everyone talks about Russia, Russia and never mention anything about China. Read Revelation 9: 13-19 it says 1/3 of mankind will be killed when they are unleashed.
The centuries of ethnicity issues and redrawing the map the way it is on European continent. Addressing these ethnicity issues and forcing border changes to accommodate them is embedded in European cultural geography. In other words, there will be another conflict. Seems unavoidable based on people not willing to overcome their cultural emotions.
I live through the great Depression WW11 Korea Vietnam @ all the other conflicts that we were involved in @ the Peace keeping all over the world @ their is no greater threat than the Islam @ Muslim laws to the world as a whole @ they are in this for the long run to control the world sign 40 yards
Look at a map folks. Russia needs a warm water port. Their neighbor to their South is Georgia with shoreline to the Black Sea. Russia needs to go through the Strait of Crimea to reach the Black Sea. They do not want a small country taking pot shots at their vessels from Crimea and their SE shoreline. Once Russian vessels get through the Black Sea, they have to pass between Western and Eastern Turkey to reach the Mediterranean Sea and the World oceans. They do not want ISIL taking control of Turkey and blocking Russias only access to the Mediterranean Sea.
Russia also needs a place to maintain and re-provision their vessels in the world sea lanes without sending them all the way into the Black Sea. That is why they need the Russian sea base on the Syrian shoreline. If Assad goes, that sea base goes too. That is what the fuss is all about.
No, no war in this day and time because this conflict does not call for troops in Crimea, Ukraine.
Trump and Putin will deal and negotiate an agreement to deal with this international incident.
The present Ukraine government and its iiklegal president are the ones causing the problems and agression with Russia, they lost CRIMEA because of their intention to join the corrupt EU which was not what the people of Crimea wanted and thus they sided with Russia. Russian troops did not invade Crimea that was all propaganda spewed out by their corrupt prime minister and illegal president. The people of UKRAINE need to remove and replace these imbeciles because it is they who are amking life in Ukraine unbearable and it is the trouble throughout the world where meddling corrupt assholes running countries do not care about their people just their corrupt greedy selves. Trump was on friendly terms with Putin but thgat suddenly changed thanks to the corrupt democrat ” top brass ” who are still running a ” cold war ” against Russia . Trump should replace them and make peace with Russia instead of making threats, OBUMMER put sanctions in place against Russia which were totally wrong, again because of false propaganda by the democrat assholes. Leave the ” BEAR ” alone unless you want to be exterminated both the country and the people are by far better people than most.
Russia needs to back off and give Crimea back to Ukraine.Russia needs to build or rebuild Russia and not get involved with taking other countries land.
The US and NATO needs to sent Navy vessels and personal to the region ASAP as a show of strength and support
to the Ukraine. NATO also needs to sent troops and military equipment to the region to protect Ukraine and there citizens.
It appears the next “conflict” will be right here in the USA, between those who want to live in a Free country and those who wish to be “controlled” like cattle, ( socialists, Communists, Democrats, etc. ) No Guns, No Free Speech, No, No, No,…………………
let europe fall on their own , they are very good at surrendering
A couple of comments. First, it should have been noted in the article (and this is meant as no approbation of Russia whatsoever) that: when the new government in Ukraine came to power they signaled immediately that they would end the treaty w/ Russia to not continue the lease of the huge (and vital) Russian naval port in Crimea; this historically Russian port facility had been retained by lease when was USSR dissolved. (Think U.S. Guantanamo Bay lease, and how we would react if Cuba unilaterally decided to break the lease est. 1899). This is what prompted Putin to take action to insure their continued maritime capacity from that port which had been strategic to Russia as the Soviet Union, and going all the way back to the time of its former empire under the czars. Again, not justifying nor siding with Russia’s aggression, just mentioning that the article should have at the very least alluded to this history, both of the naval significance to Russia of the port and of its more recent leasing from Ukraine since 1991.
Second, the article mentions at the end that ‘it is likely’ the U.S. could get drawn into such, should it erupt into a full-blown war between Russia and the Ukraine: nonsense. There is no way the U.S. is going to get involved with ‘boots on the ground’ in a land war in east Ukraine, only hundreds of miles away from Moscow. To do so would a) be futile, we couldn’t beat Russia, not there on their ‘home turf’, with conventional weapons; and b) would risk an intercontinental nuclear missile exchange in which we would be exposing the United States to the potential of a nuclear holocaust. Not happening. Not for Ukraine. Only if Russia’s aggression would extend to attacking our NATO allies in Eastern Europe, such as Poland, Romania, or the Baltic States, would we go to war against Russia – and, yes, it would be WWIII and, as such, most likely a nuclear war.
Again, this last line of the article, “Unless Russia-Ukraine hostilities cease, it is likely the U.S. will be drawn into another horrific European fight”. is utterly naive(!) . . .
Who wrote this thing??? I’ll bet he or she wasn’t even alive during the Cold War. Come on Conservative Zone, get some serious geopolitical analysts on your writing staff!