Putins Wette – The Trenchant Observer

Barack Obama, China, Crimea, Crimes Against Humanity, Deutschland, Dictatorship, European Union, France, freedom of speech, Germany, History, human rights, International Law, NATO, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, syria, U.N. Charter, U.S. Military, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Nations Secretary General, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin, war crimes September 24, 2014

REPRISE II — Putin’s wager: Russia’s rogue authoritarianism versus fundamental human rights and the existing international political and legal order

Russia and the Ukraine—The Big Picture Originally published April 24, 2014 In a fatal error, Putin challenges the modern postwar international political and legal order…

Barack Obama, Brazil, China, Crimea, Deutschland, European Union, France, Germany, International Law, Justice Department, NATO, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, South Africa, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, U.N. Charter, U.N. Security Council, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin, war crimes August 15, 2014

Ukraine attacks Russian armored column which entered Donbass Thursday night; August 8 (2014) Security Council meeting on Ukraine — Trancript (U.N. Doc. S/PV.7239) and links to webcast

Ukrainian military forces have engaged the Russian armored column which entered the Ukraine near Luhansk Thursday evening, and according to Kiev destroyed at least part…

Barack Obama, China, Crimea, European Union, Germany, History, International Law, NATO, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, U.N. Charter, U.N. Security Council, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin August 14, 2014

Russian military vehicles violate territorial integrity of Ukraine, crossing into Donbass near Luhansk; Whether invasion follows may depend on immediate response of the West

Developing A column of Russian miltary vehicles including Armored Personnel Carriers (APC’s) have crossed the border into the Donbass area of the Ukraine near Luhansk….

France, Germany, History, human rights, International Law, NATO, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, U.N. Charter, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin August 14, 2014

Could the Russian truck convoy be a feint? Watch carefully the rest of the border, and what is coming with the convoy. After Putin, when the Maidan comes to Red Square.

Developing What will remain of Putin’s current glory, built on the invasion and “annexation” of part of a key European country and rejection of the…

Barack Obama, Crimea, Deutschland, European Union, France, Germany, History, International Law, NATO, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, U.N. Charter, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin August 14, 2014

Commentary: Putin and Russia, the Ukraine, and Appeasement by the West

Boris Wischnewskij recalls, in an Op-Ed in the Süddeutscher Zeitung on August 14, Winston Churchill’s terse note to Neville Chamberlain upon the latter’s return from…

Barack Obama, Crimea, Deutschland, European Union, France, Germany, History, International Law, NATO, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, U.N. Charter, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin August 13, 2014

Russian truck convoy nears Ukraine, amid confusion; Igor Girkin (aka Igor Strelkov) reported as seriously wounded; Putin’s triumphant return to the Crimea — with link to maps of conflict zone

From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals…

Barack Obama, Crimea, Deutschland, European Union, France, Germany, History, International Law, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, U.N. Charter, Ukraine, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin August 12, 2014

What if Russian truck convoy enters into Ukraine without Kiev’s authorization?

For background, see “Putin’s Trojan Horse: Military aggressor sends military-style aid convoy to Ukraine as its irregular forces are encircled,” The Trenchant Observer, August 12,…

China, Crimea, European Union, History, International Law, NATO, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, U.N. Charter, U.N. Security Council, Ukraine, use of force, Vladimir Putin August 11, 2014

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen: Russian military intervention in Ukraine “a high probability”

Reuters reports, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday Russia is sending an aid convoy to eastern Ukraine despite urgent Western warnings against using humanitarian help…

Barack Obama, Crimea, Crimes Against Humanity, Dictatorship, European Union, freedom of speech, History, human rights, human rights reports, internal supporters of human rights, International Law, NATO, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, syria, U.N. Charter, U.N. Security Council, U.S Foreign Relations, Ukraine, United States, use of force, vision of peace, Vladimir Putin, war crimes August 9, 2014

REPRISE — Putin’s wager: Russia’s rogue authoritarianism versus fundamental human rights and the existing international political and legal order

Russia and the Ukraine—The Big Picture Originally published April 24, 2014 In a fatal error, Putin challenges the modern postwar international political and legal order…