Sergei Lavrov, foreign minister of the Russian Federation, as quoted in a B.B.C. report last updated this morning: "But Mr. Lavrov accused N.A.T.O. of exaggerating the importance of Russian troop movements on the borders of eastern Ukraine. He said Russia had the right to move troops within its territory…" (B.B.C.-link). Taken in isolation, Mr. Lavrov's comments are correct, Russia does have the right to move troops within its territory. The sticky wicket to this situation is that darned context, that as we have seen over the last several weeks the Russians arbitrarily & unilaterally expand their territory at the expense of other nations' sovereignty & in flagrant contravention of international "law" & the Russian Federation's own treaty obligations. Our concern here in the West, Comrade Lavrov, is that Russian troops by any other name—"Ukrainian self-defense forces" in the case of the Crimean invasion—will roll over the Ukrainian frontier, occupy eastern Ukraine (if not the whole blasted country), & then present Moscow with a fait accompli, another bit of "its territory" in which Russia will "have the right to move troops" to & fro.
Don't let the "Savage Wars of Peace" banner spook you; there will be no war between the the Russian Federation & the United States, not over Crimea, not even over the whole of Ukraine. "The Savage Wars of Peace" is simply the banner under which we here at The Secret Base discuss matters martial & more broadly geopolitical. There will be no war, but the Russian bear is lurking just over the frontier, poised to devour Ukraine on President Putin's whim, & N.A.T.O. is deploying warplanes in an insufficient bid to reassure the Baltic trio that their sovereignty will be defended & preserved.
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