Comments by "Dale Crocker" (@dalecrocker3213) on "Ukraine update and summary" video.

The fact is that Russia has a very reasonable case, and its actions have been forced upon it by Western greed and intransigence. We are being led into the dreadful possibility of a European war by corrupt politicians and gung-ho generals. We are being lied to every day. Russia has no intention or even desire to recreate its empire. All it wants is to retain control of the mineral resources of Eastern Ukraine. All the West's leaders want is to take it away from them. This mess has nothing whatsoever to do with spreading freedom and democracy. The situation in Ukraine today has no resemblance to the situation in Germany in the 1930's and it would be difficult to think of a leader less like Hitler than Putin. Spurious similarities have been seized upon for propaganda purposes, and many of you have fallen for this. I urge everyone to do all they can to investigate thoroughly the background to this conflict before allowing yourselves to be led down the path to unimaginable horror and destruction.
1
@oliCRF I'm neither Russian nor a bot. I am British and very much concerned about the future of my children and grandchildren. Yes, the case is very reasonable. At the centre of the conflict are the vast mineral resources of Eastern Ukraine, estimated as being worth at least $13 trillion and possibly even more. These resources have been developed almost exclusively by Russian investment and Russian labour. Even after Ukrainian independence they have continued to be largely operated by Russian companies with their products and profits largely passing through Russian hands. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Western entities, both public and private, have sought access to these resources through various means. Matters came to a head with the likelihood of Ukraine joining the EU, which would effectively have prevented Russia continuing to enjoy the benefits of its mining operations in Eastern Ukraine. They would have passed onto Western control, probably through being nationalised and their immense assets being handled by investment managers, such as Blackrock. A compromise was agreed upon in 2015 whereby Ukraine agreed to find a way to grant regional autonomy to the two oblasts in Donbass thus excluding their resources from the restrictions of EU membership. Ukraine did not proceed with this plan, and instead accepted several billion dollars from the US and other NATO countries with which to train and re-equip its army. Russia, believing this army to have been created to attempt to-retake those parts of Donbass held by separatists, invaded Ukraine with the purpose of destroying this army and extending the areas of Eastern Ukraine under its control. The above is far from being a soundbite, I realise, but soundbites don't make for reasoned assessment of complex situations.
1
I think Putin will be more than content with Donbass and Crimea - both of which are pretty much Russian anyway.
1
@GraemeCampbellMusic He doesn't recognise Ukraine as a separate country - but he makes it very clear that it is impossible - and not even desirable - to include ALL of it in Russia. He says so in his essay on Russia/|Ukraine relations published shortly before the invasion. Ukraine can go ahead and join up with the West - but the Ukraine that does this cannot be the one created by the Bolsheviks. It has to be the Ukraine that existed before this, and this includes neither Crimea nor Donbass. As for Georgia and Chechnya, once again his tactic has been to try to retain Russian influence and control by any means necessary. This has involved setting up small buffer states or regions, and this was the solution originally put forward for Ukraine, with Donbass, fulfilling this role. But the West wasn't having it. They wanted all the lithium.
1
@GARDENER42 This is all very much in dispute. In census counts many Russians were reluctant to class themselves as such for fear of persecution by the Ukrainian authorities. What is not in dispute is that these areas were very much part of Russia or of the Ottoman empire until they were stuck on to the Soviet Socialist Republic of Ukraine - by the Russians. They were never part of any country called Ukraine.
1