Ukraine:more than 750 Ukrainian soldiers killed. Poroshenko invites NATO officia

[jaichind]

It seems the rebels are shelling the port of Mariupol.  Not clear if they are trying to push to take that over or it is an distraction from other objectives like pushing the Kiev regime forces further back from Donetsk airport from which they just withdrew.

[jaichind]

Tsipras already making his views known in a public way on the Russian-Ukraine issue.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/world/europe/greece-syriza-government-names-anti-austerity-economist-as-finance-minister.html

*Mr. Tsipras quickly demonstrated that Europe must not treat Greece as a weak junior partner. His government on Tuesday denounced a European Council statement in which European leaders blamed Russia for the escalating violence in Ukraine and raised the prospect of new economic sanctions.

* Mr. Tsipras has been a sharp critic of European sanctions against Moscow, and has also displayed past good will toward Russia, a sentiment common among many Greeks

*President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia sent Mr. Tsipras a congratulatory telegram on Monday, the day he was sworn into office, while that same day Mr. Tsipras met the Russian ambassador in Athens.

[jaichind]

I tend to think that Putin is making his move now is somewhat related to the emerging Greek crisis.  I feel Putin and Tsipras are, to some extent, trying to take advantage of the adventures of the other to try to get maximum negotiation leverage over EU in their respective conflicts with EU.  While each have their own domestic reason to push ahead, the timing of the each others push makes the timing that much better.

[jaichind]

http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/2015/01/what-did-he-actually-say-a-puzzle-from-berlin.html

Ukraine PM Yatsenyuk said in an interview in Germany that

"We can remember very well the Soviet invasion of Ukraine and Germany.
We have to make sure that this doesn`t happen again. No one has the right to redraw the post war map of Europe."

There is also a separate battle of who liberated Auschwitz.  Yatsenyuk making the comical, in my view,  claim that it was the Ukrainians since it was the USSR 60th Amry of the 1st Ukrainian Front that did this without regard for that fact it was a 1st Ukrainian Front was merely a designation based on geography when the front was formed.   

[jaichind]

Ukraine has to make a deal with Putin.  UAH has already dropped to 25 and Ukraine itself is basically broke.  Since Russia is its biggest trader partner, sanctions on Russia as well as falling oil prices also hurts Ukraine.  Ukraine has to realize there could only be two outcomes in this conflict since Ukraine is much weaker than Russia.  Either EU or USA visits the stronger side, Russia in this case, work out a deal and then impose it on Ukraine as fait accompli (a la Munich 1938) or EU/USA joins the conflict and even the odds making Ukraine not the weaker side.  Since there is no chance of the second outcome, it is either a deal being imposed on Ukraine or Ukraine just continues to bleed to death from a military and economic point of view.  It seems now that Germany and France is making such a deal with Putin right now.  We will have the see this deal looks like.  In my view unless it has enough concessions to Russia Putin will not stop.  I suggest Ukraine make a deal as fast as possible with significant concessions to Putin before more economic damage is done.