Not So Peaceful

From the BBC:
"Putin 'urges talks on statehood for east Ukraine'"

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for talks to discuss "statehood" for eastern Ukraine. He said the issue needed to be discussed to ensure the interests of local people "are definitely upheld".
His comments came after the EU gave Russia a one-week ultimatum to reverse course in Ukraine or face sanctions. Russia denies Western accusations that its forces illegally crossed into eastern Ukraine to support separatists there. "Russia cannot stand aside when people are being shot at almost at point blank," he added, describing the rebels' actions as "the natural reaction of people who are defending their rights". He dismissed the EU's threat of further sanctions, accusing the EU of "backing a coup d'etat" in Ukraine.  The West, Mr Putin said, should have foreseen Russia's reaction to the situation, adding it was impossible to predict how the crisis would end. Mr Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, later said the president's remarks on "statehood" should not be taken to mean an actual separate entity, and that the Ukrainian crisis was a "domestic" one. The BBC's Steve Rosenberg, in Moscow, says raising the concept of statehood in the east may be one way of Mr Putin increasing pressure on Kiev to halt its military operations. Also on Sunday, Russian media reported that 10 Russian paratroopers returned home in exchange for 63 captured Ukrainian soldiers held by Russia.  Federica Mogherini, named on Saturday as the EU's future foreign policy chief, said there could be no military solution to the crisis and that while sanctions were being worked on, the diplomatic process would need to continue.  Western and Ukrainian officials say this offensive has been substantially helped by Russian regular troops, opening a new front. Russia denies the accusation.
War in eastern Ukraine: The human cost

• At least 2,593 people killed since mid-April (not including 298 passengers and crew of Malaysian Airlines MH17, shot down in the area) - UN report on 29 August
• 951 civilians killed in Donetsk region alone, official regional authorities said - 20 August
• In some particularly dangerous places, such as Luhansk region, victims are said to have been buried informally, making accurate counts difficult
• Rebels (and some military sources) accuse the government of concealing true numbers
• 155,800 people have fled elsewhere in Ukraine while at least 188,000 have gone to Russia

 ^ This is all one big mess and the only thing that is clear is that it was started by the Russians (no matter how hard they try to deny everything.) They tried to pull the strings on a Ukrainian President who was then ousted and that's when the Russian military took over the Crimea and after that they pull the strings in eastern Ukraine before going after more of southern Ukraine. One thing is clear in the second decade of the 21st Century, with all of it's modern technology, is you can't tell the same lies to the world who can easily disprove them with intel reports, pictures, etc. Even without all the technological evidence: if it quacks like a duck and looks like a duck - - - it's a duck. ^

 

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29003116