I told you guys this. First Crimea, then the Lower Donets Basin, then Odessa. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/17/is-putin-s-next-move-to-take-over-odessa.html The good news is that this will probably be the end of territorial grabs from Ukraine. After nabbing Crimea, the Lower Donets Basin, and Odessa, Putin will have taken everything in Ukraine worth having. Hell leave a puppet in Kiev to preside over a helpless agrarian state. Then he can move on to Moldova and Latvia. Gotta restore Nicky's Imperial borders - at least.
First of all, Putin is not interested in annexing parts of Ukraine but in having the whole of Ukraine within his sphere of influence. Second, the idea that Russia would invade Latvia is nonsense.
Taxcutter says; Wrong! Russia will occupy and annex the Crimea, Lower Donets, and Odessa and make them Russian territory. As for the rest of Ukraine, I agree. More trouble than it is worth. There is plenty of precedent for Russia invading Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Moldova, and Finland. NATO cannot stop him because Hussein Obama took the US into isolationism. Europe is on its own and is woefully unprepared and unwilling to get prepared. Putin has an historic window of opportunity. He sees it. Now if he can just goad the torpid bear into moving...
You're a bit behind. Russia has already annexed the Crimea and Sebastopol (but that was really just correcting an anomaly). It is very much control of the whole of Ukraine that interests Putin, which is why he won't invade and annex parts.
Putin would have liked that originally, but realizes it's not possible. The former Polish and Austrian subjects in Western Ukraine hate Russia, and always will. What he wants now is a federal Ukraine where each area can trade with whoever it wants. The East benefits from its trade with Russia, while the West can trade or do whatever it wants with the E.U. The West opposes this since it sees it as a future break up of Ukraine, and a loss of revenue from the wealthy Eastern areas. Seems to me Ukraine was screwed big time by the U.S., and the U.S. in order to cover up what they did keeps trying to blame Russia. The West now decided that Crimea isn't the only gift they want to give back to Russia, so they're going to give it all of Eastern Ukraine by attacking the protesters while Russian troops are sitting outside the gates. Uhhh! Didn't Obama condemn Assad for attacking his own people? Hmmm! Seems like double standards to me?
Ukraine - shorn of Crimea, the Lower Donets Basin, and Odessa, is nothing but Kiev, Chernobyl, and a lot of farmland. Putin can manipulate his helpless hulk and keep his puppets in charge in Kiev. Russia gets the good parts and controls the rest with little effort. Next stop: Moldova.
