The Uncertainty of Spanish Reaction to Barcelona Revealed 

"Who knows what will happen if the Guardia Civil comes?"
"If they tell me I can't be in a public school to exercise my democratic rights, they will have to take me out of here. I won't resist, but they will have to carry me out."
Quim Roy, activist, Barcelona

Riot police shoot rubber bullets. People form a line in protest in an attempt to cast their ballots in Barcelona. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

"[The use of rubber bullets by Spanish police against crowds of unarmed voters was shocking.] We did expect a normal democratic process."
"We knew that a lot of police were here but still, you know, there should be a respect for the will of the people to vote regardless of what you think of the referendum."
Ksenia Svetlova, member Israeli parliament, part of a delegation of 33 invited by Catalan officials to observe the voting process

"[The violence, while] unfortunate [and] unpleasant [was] proportionate."
"If people insist in disregarding the law and doing something that has been consistently declared illegal and unconstitutional, law enforcement officers need to uphold the law."
Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis

Police move back to their vans followed by members of the public after storming into polling station to confiscate ballot boxes and ballots in Sant Julia de Ramis, Spain, Sunday. - David Ramos,Getty Images

A deadline had been set; six in the morning on Sunday, police warning activists along with parents and their children in the Catalan schools they took to occupying to prevent the police from shutting them down from polling place activities three hours later. In Madrid there were protest marches against separation; balancing the thousands who marched in Barcelona to remain united with Spain. The Spanish parliament warned that the referendum should not, and would not take place, characterizing it as 'anti-democratic'; a rather surprising interpretation of democracy.

But the nation's constitutional court three weeks earlier had suspended the independence vote supporting the government's identifying it as illegal. Making it entirely expected that the police would be dispatched to stop the process to intervene by whatever means seen to be necessary to stop ballots being cast. They began by confiscating millions of ballots and posters. And the following, predictable course of action was indeed to haul people away from their intended vote.

Armed for business with truncheons and rubber bullets police from other regions were sent to put a stop to the voting, to confiscate ballots and in their zeal some were shot on video dragging people away from polling stations by their hair, others being pushed down stairways, being kicked and shoved to the ground. The physical violence was emphasized by peoples' frightened screams. One voter's amateur footage was of police attacking unarmed people and other locations revealed similar rough tactics, people being kicked, punched, thrown about, including the elderly with dogs, young girls and all manner of other people attempting to protect their heads from truncheon blows.

 An estimated eight hundred people were injured, some aeriously. They may have been peaceful protesters, unarmed civilians who felt it was their human right to cast ballots, but they came against well-armed and -instructed police who felt otherwise. Of the 2.26 million Catalans who managed to vote, 90 percent significantly voted "yes", to favour independence. Close to eight percent, a negligible number, rejected independence, while the other ballots were either voided or simply blank.

The region's 5.3 million registered voters made the most of their difficult opportunities to express themselves in the only way they could. The government of Spain penalized them with an amazing reaction, a violence that would make a tyranny proud of its capacity to quell rebellion. Of the ballots accounted for, there were others, confiscated by Spanish police during the violent raids planned to put a halt to the vote process.


The leaders of other nations in the European Union were undoubtedly dismayed and gap-mouthed at this undemocratic, violent display of raw anger and power to dissuade a significant proportion of a population that their opinion and their wishes in a purportedly democratic nation were of no value whatever; enforcing their loyalty and citizenship to a regime and a national process they no longer want any part of. There will be an appeal by the Catalan government to the European Union to focus on this abuse of human rights.

The Canada-Ukraine Link

"The Canadian military contribution being announced today will help Ukrainian forces personnel to better defend their country's sovereignty and territorial integrity."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper

"Let there be no doubt that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's aggression in Ukraine is not an isolated concern."
"This is why we believe, with our allies, that a message of resolve and deterrence is the best way to prevent a miscalculation with Mr. Putin."
Jason Kenney, Canadian Minister of Defence

Ukrainian servicemen take part in a military drill in the Zhytomyr region, some 150 kms from Kiev, on April 9, 2015 (AFP Photo/Anatolii Stepanov)

The Government of Canada has committed newly to a two-year placement of 200 Canadian military personnel in Ukraine to help train Ukrainian military in ways to head off any future conflict with Russia. The defence of Ukraine's borders is an issue that Canada recognizes as vital to east European stability, particularly in view of Moscow's treatment of those borders as porous, and parts of eastern Ukraine ripe for the plucking for the Russian federation.

The support in equipment and military personnel that Russia has provided to the separatist ethnic-Russian Ukrainian forces, while denied by Moscow, are a verifiable fact. The annexation of Crimea is yet another fact; taken by force of arms and a triumphant entitlement, undenied by Moscow since it too is verifiable as a fait accompli, one that is unlikely to be reversed, despite Kyiv's statements to the contrary.

The issue now is to ensure that no additional parts of Ukraine's geography migrate to Russian possession, that the border remain immovable at this juncture.

Canada's Minister of Defence has emphasized that Canadian soldiers will be present in Ukraine in a non-combat role. Their task is to be strictly confined to tutelage, and they are to be based on the border with Poland, 1,300 kilometres from the front lines. Should the situation in Ukraine deteriorate and revert back to outright combat the Canadian soldiers can be readily evacuated to safety.

The deployment breaks down as:

• 150 Canadian troops at main training centre in western Ukraine;
• 25-30 Canadian soldiers involved in counter-explosive training in southwest Ukraine;
• 5 Canadians assisting in medical training;
• 15 Canadian military police trainers;
• 5 - 10 Flight safety personnel for training;
• 5 Canadian personnel involved in logistical training.

In August, Vladimir Putin made a point of reminding the West that Russia possesses nuclear weapons. "This is a reality, not just words", he said to a Russian audience. In a recent television documentary Mr. Putin stated he had been prepared to place Russian nuclear forces on alert while his troops took possession of Crimea from Ukraine.

The Canadian training is set to take place at a NATO centre in Yavoriv, western Ukraine, close to the border with Poland. Some training will take place at the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence Demining Centre, Kamyanets-Podilsky, in western Ukraine. The Canadian Forces members to be deployed "on both a sustained and periodic basis", depending on the type of training undertaken.

Activities are to include: explosive ordnance disposal and improvised-explosive-device disposal training; military police training; medical training; flight safety training; and logistics system modernization training. The Canadian troops will work alongside American military personnel providing "individual and unit tactics training" to the Ukrainian National Guard.

"We perfectly understand that western countries are not ready to provide us lethal assistance. "We perfectly understand that it's our war, that it's the war for our independence, not the war of western countries", said Marko Shevchenko, charge d'affaires at the Embassy of Ukraine in Canada, stating the deep gratitude of his government to Canada.

And emphasizing that the ceasefire is not working as well as his government might wish it to. A good an indication of further conflict on the very near horizon as any.

All-Out War ... Opening Another Front

"Ukraine has not made prepayment for gas on time."
"[Given the time required for Kyiv to make payment it] will result in a total end to supplies of Russian gas to Ukraine in just two days, which poses serious risks for gas transit to Europe."
Aleksei Miller, head, Gazprom, Moscow

"The four of us [Britain, France, Ukraine, Russia; ceasefire negotiators] are calling for strict implementation of all the provisions in the Minsk agreements, starting with a total ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of heavy weapons."
Laurent Fabius, French foreign minister

Ukrainian soldiers unload bodies of Ukrainian soldiers killed in Debaltsevo on February 24, 2015 at a checkpoint near Gorlivka. (ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP/Getty Images)

"Russia is engaged in a rather remarkable period of the most overt and extensive propaganda exercise that I've seen since the very height of the Cold War."
"And they have been persisting in their misrepresentations -- lies -- whatever you want to call them about their activities there to my face, to the face of others on many different occasions."
John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of State

Europe, however, should be accustomed to it. It's certainly not the first time a European winter has been disturbed by Russia's squabbles with Ukraine over gas pipeline transmission. Ukraine has even been accused in the past of siphoning off gas for its own use that was meant for Europe. And Moscow has cut gas shipments in the past, throwing its weight around, short-changing Ukraine and the European Union countries in bullying braggadocio.

Ukraine is to be made abysmally miserable by all and any means possible for its flagrant disregard of Russia's wishes. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is not to regard himself as an equal of President Vladimir Putin, not in executive governance, not in military matters, not in the oblivious belief in international respect of sovereignty issues, not in matters of trade, and certainly not in the game of one-upsmanship. The vulpine Putin reigns supreme.

Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, looking on in horrified trepidation for their own sovereign integrity and future with Russia, take the example being made of Ukraine seriously indeed. Leading Lithuania to restore compulsory military service for young men beginning September. The military plans to enlist three thousand men aged 19 to 27 for nine months of service to increase its troop strength over a five-year period. Before joining NATO it had 39,000 troops to its current 15,000.

Ukraine has protested it has paid for all the gas it requested for this year, along with an additional 287 million cubic metres not yet having been ordered. Accusing Russia of violating an agreement under which Ukraine paid $3.1-billion in past gas bills leading Gazprom to resume supplies on a prepaid basis. That was Ukraine's reasonable understanding of the agreement signed in October. Ukraine expected it would be fully supplied through the winter.

Expectations don't always match reality, and the reality of the situation is that Russia has delivered gas to the regions in eastern Ukraine now under rebel control. And it is counting those deliveries toward the total that Kyiv purchased in advance. Moreover, Gazprom stated it plans to supply natural gas directly to the Donetsk region and Luhansk since the Ukrainian government had shut off supplies.

Who ever heard of a country charitably supplying energy to its territorial violators?

Ukraine, just as well, had already taken steps to reduce its Russian gas dependence. Signing a deal with Slovakia for gas already bought in Europe through a reverse piping of gas to Ukraine. And Ukraine has also bought gas from Norway as an alternative source. Europe as well has reduced its dependence on Russian gas through other suppliers, building up reserves in anticipation of just such contingencies.

As for the battlefield of violent conflict; Ukrainian military spokesman Lt. Col. Anatoliy Stelmakh stated that the rebels had shelled the town of Popasna seven times, launching one barrage on the village of Luhanske, and had also attempted to storm Ukrainian positions near the southern village of Shrokyne, close by the strategic Azov Sea port of Mariupol. The separatists claim they have moved some heavy weapons back from the front line. Who're you going to believe?

Pro-Russian separatists drive tank on road from Donetsk to Novoazovsk, Eastern Ukraine on Tuesday.

Memorial Sunday in Ukraine

"Today is memorial Sunday, but on this day terrorist scum revealed its predatory nature."
"This is a brazen attempt to expand the territory of terrorism."
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko

"We don’t have a ceasefire, because a ceasefire means that no one shoots."
Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukrainian prime minister

"They [Detained suspects in Kharkiv bombing] are Ukrainian citizens who underwent instruction and received weapons in the Russian Federation, in Belgorod [a city across the nearby Russian border from Kharkiv]."
Markian Lubkivskyi, aide, Ukraine SBU security service

Petr David Josek / Associated Press  Ukrainian government troops sit in the back of pick-up trucks as they pass a checkpoint near the town of Mariupol, Ukraine last week.

The residents of Mariupol know that the nightmare has not passed them by. A series of booms inform the port town residents that the conflict is continuing and they will suffer the same burden that citizens of Debaltseve experienced, those that hadn't fled the onslaught, living a miserable time of uncertainty, fear and risk of injury and loss of life. "It's very loud, we can hear it perfectly, and every time we hear it we remember what happened here", said Natasha Gugliya.


In Shryokyne, a coastal village of cottages and holiday resorts ten kilometres from Mariupol, one of the nastiest confrontations since the fall of Debaltseve is ongoing. Ample reason to anticipate that the strategically and economically valuable city of Mariupol is next on the agenda for an offensive by the Russian-incited-and-backed rebel forces. Ukrainian authorities warned of a fresh buildup of separatist forces there.


According to Col. Andriy Lysenko, speaking for the Ukrainian military, 20 tanks, ten mobile rocket systems and about fifteen trucks had crossed the Russian border into Novoazovsky, on Friday, the main rebel-held town in the area, 40 kilometres east of Mariupol. The town was delivered to the rebels in September through an offensive NATO believes spearheaded by regular Russian forces. The ambition to "liberate" Mariupol is no secret.

"There is a buildup, but I am confident we have sufficient forces to defend the city. If the entire Russian army shows up, that is another question", he commented.


Separatists forces are known to have moved into the area close to the port city of Mariupol, fuelling fears that it could come under attack. Seizure of the city by the rebels would guarantee a direct land route between Russia and the Crimean peninsula, annexed after the fall of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Moscow's chosen candidate to lead Ukraine closer to Russia's interests. Many Crimeans justify their new allegiance, feeling his overthrow represented a coup.

Ukrainian forces initiated an offensive to move the front lines from Mariupol before the Minsk peace talks last weekend. The deputy commander of Ukrainian forces defending Mariupol, Col. Viktor Shidlyukh, stated that the rebels had made use of mortars, tanks and heavy firearms attempting to dislodge the Ukrainians. Russian aircraft have flown reconnaissance flights along the coastal strip between Novoazovsk and Shryokyne.

Rumours of Russian warships and a heavy rocket system buildup on the separatist side of the lines were dismissed by Col. Shidlyukh as "enemy attempts to spread panic". Should a concerted attempt be made now to take Mariupol the waning hopes of reviving the compromised peace agreement would be effectively buried. Rebel leaders had stated they saw Debaltseve as an 'exception' to the ceasefire.

For Vladimir Putin's long-range plans, however, everything is an exception, and nothing can be guaranteed to be honoured as stated in his sanctimonious statements on the need for the conflict to be put to an end. Unspoken is the conclusion, that the conflict will end only when he deems it timely; when his aspirational gains have become reality, and Ukraine, broken and humiliated, will crawl at his imperious feet and beg for mercy.

When a bomb hit Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv, it was no mystery who was behind it. Four suspects had been arrested; armed and instructed in their duty while in Russia. The attack took place during the rally of the anniversary of the death of protesters at demonstrations against pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych, killing a policeman and another person.

While Mariupol is in east Ukraine where Mr. Putin's ambitions to sweep the area into Novorossiya prevail, Kharkiv is over 120 miles from the front lines.

Take Your Pick: a)A Better Chess Player; b)Face-Saving Bullshit

"Of course, losing is never nice, of course, it's always tough on the loser, especially when you're losing to erstwhile miners or tractor drivers. But life is life, it will definitely go on. I wouldn't get hung up about it."
"Our common goal is to save the lives of people who found themselves encircled. Then we can carry out the full plan agreed in Minsk. I am sure that can be done."
Russian President Vladimir Putin

"[Putin's goal at Debaltseve was the humiliation of Ukraine, a forced surrender and political disgrace] to cause a political reaction in Ukraine: anger and subsequent destabilization. Moscow is dreaming of a Kyiv coup d'etat."
Pavel Felgengauer, Russian military expert

"There was no encirclement, and our troops left the area in a planned and organized manner with all the heavy weaponry: tanks, APCs, self-propelled artillery and vehicles."
"We were asserting and proved: Debaltseve was under our control."
"I would like to say that Russia, which  yesterday required the Ukrainian warriors to lay down arms, raise the white flag and surrender, was put to shame by the given actions."
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko

Servicemen ride on a tank as they leave Debaltseve. Photograph: Reuters

The truth goes something like this: Vladimir Putin planned stealthily and well, infiltrating Ukraine with Russian servicemen, their identifying badges removed, so they were merely volunteers on vacation from the military; ardent supporters of the rebel cause doing their bit to rectify the oppression by Kyiv of Russian-speakers who happen to live in Ukraine as underdogs, loyal to Moscow.
As loyalists they would deliver to Moscow Ukraine's crown jewels of the Crimea, Mariupol, and the Dombass region, including the country's industrial heartland -- and three million citizens, for good measure.

Thus far, all has gone according to plan. All the right moves made, from supplying up-to-date technical hardware, large and small, militia training to make of those miners and tractor drivers formidable Kalashnikov-wielding soldiers of Novorossiya, proud pioneers of a brave new land melded with the Russian federation under the pretense of aiming for protection of the Russian language, and political autonomy as the threshold to the moveable home.

Contrary to Mr. Poroshenko's desperate attempt at face-saving the stark reality was reported by Anastasia Stanko, from Kyiv's Hromadske TV that Ukrainian forces were walking calmly along otherwise clear roads, or riding departing military vehicles in an organized  retreat. They were exhausted, demoralized, hungry and thirsty, relieved to be able to depart a situation they were convinced would destroy them.

The retreat honourable and heavy-hearted, some of their equipment left behind, destroyed by the relentless rebel assault.

The surrender of Debaltseve to Moscow's proxy militias was a triumph for the rebels. The Ukrainians timed their retreat to the shelling their columns were treated to by the separatists. The retreating military was not pursued, it was simply given a shelling of a send-off. The issue was Debaltseve itself, leaving Ukraine "holding the new defence lines", consonant with the rebel understanding of the ceasefire agreement.

So is Vladimir Putin with his debased version of honour and veracity suffering greatly in any manner by his obvious actions leading to Ukraine's defeat on the field of conflict but its victory in the area of international relations? Debatable, that most certainly is. Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban is happy with a major nuclear power plant expansion courtesy of Russian know-how. And Cypriot President Nicos Anasiades, is set to visit friendly Moscow.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has accepted an invitation to visit Mr. Putin in Moscow following Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias earlier visit. Egypt is reconciled with Moscow and buying arms there once again along with four nuclear reactors and natural gas. Israel is supplying Russia with drones. Trade with China has picked up substantially, and India has 20 agreements signed with Russia valued at $100-billion for nuclear reactor sales along with oil and gas shipments.

Moreover, India has an Indo-Crimean Partnership fostering trade with Crimea, a Republic now in the Russian Federation. Egypt, Israel and India have plans to join the Moscow-promoted Eurasian Economic Union. If Russia is suffering overmuch from the sanctions imposed on it by Europe and North America and the excruciating financial blow of collapsed oil prices, it's hard to see. Russian counter-sanctions have cost Germany an estimated 8 billion euros last year.

Rumour Has It....

"Shryokyne has been bombed practically round the clock."
"There is no attempt to seize our positions so far. The rebels are bringing up reserves."
Anatoliy Stelmakh, spokesman, Ukraine military

"[The Ukrainian president's call on the UN for peacekeeping] raises suspicions that he wants to destroy the Minsk accords."
Vitaly Churkin, Russian ambassador to the United Nations

"The Ukrainian security council's appeal to the United Nations to introduce peacekeepers on the Russian-Ukrainian border is a violation of the agreement of February 12."
Denis Pushilin, senior authority, Donetsk People's Republic

Fatigue in retreat: Ukrainian servicemen sit on top of a tank near Artemivsk, as they withdraw from Debaltseve following a fierce offensive by Russian-backed separatists. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters

Well, isn't that just like the Ukrainians? Deceitful and nasty in doing all they can to foil the plans of Russia-obsessed Ukrainian separatists to separate Kyiv from a major portion of its sovereign territory. What self-respecting government wouldn't just hand over a significant part of its geography to disgruntled, disaffected, violent rebels, after all? Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is such a spoiler.

We have it on the authority of Russia's UN ambassador that Ukraine is dead set on destroying the second Minsk accord on the pathway to peace, transforming it into the roadblock to peace, just because Kyiv has the unmitigated gall to insist on its sovereign right to have inviolable borders. Protesting that the three million people living in the Donetsk region and the industrial heartland of Ukraine remain Ukrainian; the nerve.

Little wonder that authorities of the Donetsk People's Republic are outraged that Ukraine, in insisting on its sovereign rights has violated the Minsk-two ceasefire agreement. Forcing the Russian-speaking rebels to little other option but to forge on to their dedicated conflict to "liberate" Mariupol. Just to treat Kyiv to an object lesson in humility. Who do they think they're dealing with, after all? This is Russia, standing tall and obdurate, aligned with the rebels.

But there we are, Ukrainian officials claiming the Azov sea resort village of Shrokyne, a few kilometres from the key port of Mariupol, has become another epicentre of regional fighting. Debaltseve was a success, wrested away from a debilitated, demoralized Ukrainian military, no match for the sly deceit of Vladimir Putin's plans to humble and cannibalize an ungrateful Ukraine. Now it's time for another objective; the capture of Mariupol.

These seizures are heady potions of powerful ambition realized. They become addictive; once one has fallen -- take Crimea, for example -- others lure the jackals on to further ambitious looting of the geography of Ukraine. After all, if they were really intent on saving themselves, they could have fought a little harder, right? As for the ceasefire; what ceasefire, not the one that Ukraine has defaulted on, twice now, isn't it?

Of course Russia's opponents side with Ukraine in criticizing Vladimir Putin for his vulpine appetite. They are so wrong; he is a responsible and gracious world leader of a powerful nation whose concern is peace above all, and the sanctity of lives lost to a needless conflict. If only Ukraine would just stand down, or roll over nicely, then none of this would be necessary ....


The peace road map with its ceasefire and heavy weapons withdrawal was, after all, signed by Mr. Putin, was it not? There! ample evidence of his goodwill and intent. The artillery and rocket fire near Donetsk can be laid at the feet of Ukraine; the same for the grad rockets launched from the city centre. Ukraine not honouring the truce it signed of its own accord...! And the bloody nerve of President Poroshenko to invite a UN peacekeeping force to monitor and police the peace agreement!

How can Russia and the rebels trust anyone who doesn't in fact trust them? By urging the UN to assent in this matter, the Ukrainian president is effectively making an effort to "destroy" peace efforts. Mr. Poroshenko must bear in mind that full control of Ukraine's border with Russia will return only  once a full political settlement with the rebels is achieved.

Now, let's hear it again; who is winning the conflict that Ukraine has inflicted upon itself? And then excusing its failures by claiming that Moscow is conspiring against it?

Ukraine in Tatters

"We will cease fire with the exclusion of internal areas, that is to say Debaltseve."
"There is not a single word about Debaltseve in the Minsk agreement. Kyiv has betrayed thousands of soldiers there."
Alexander Zakharchenko, leader, Donetsk People's Republic

"We've opened a road parallel to the main highway, which they've cut at Logvinovo. Now they will try to take that route too."
Semen Semenchenko, commander, Donbass volunteer battalion

"Those are our positions being hit. A ceasefire is when no one is firing. But compared with yesterday, which was bloody awful, and the day before that, which was also bloody awful, this is all right."
Ukrainian Berkut special police unit soldier

"The issue [request from Ukraine for UN peacekeepers to be deployed to eastern Ukraine to enforce a ceasefire] was discussed and a decision has been taken to appeal to the UN and the EU concerning the setting up in Ukraine of a peacekeeping and security operation."
Olexander Turchynov, Ukraine's national security and defence council

President Poroshenko said about 2,500 troops withdrew from Debaltseve on Wednesday

Well, "all right" didn't last, nor did the soldier who mouthed those words expect that it would. Anatoliy Stelmakh, speaking for the Ukrainian military, stated that the pro-Russian insurgents had used "every kind of weapon, including Grad rockets" in Debaltyseve. "The rebels tried to storm our positions three times", he noted. Perhaps the thousands of Ukrainian soldiers who had been hemmed in by the rebels might have managed to retain their positions, but they were not being re-supplied and simply ran out of ammunition. Leading them to voluntarily retire.

Having declared unequivocally that Debaltseve was not part of the ceasefire agreement, and with malice aforethought ignoring the very assurances they signed, the militants, backed by a Russian presence and Russian hardware, simply overwhelmed the embattled Ukrainian forces. And though observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation were to have been given monitoring access to Debaltseve and surrounding areas, they were denied access, and for obvious reasons.

All Wednesday, the road out of Debaltseve into government-held territory thundered to the sound of retreating armour - tanks and troop carriers full of exhausted, sometimes defiant soldiers.

The declaration of a ceasefire, like its predecessor, was a sham, a ploy to gain time and advantage, and led by Vladimir Putin who played all the aces; Petro Poroshenko, urged to accept unacceptable conditions by Chancellor Merkel and President Hollande was left with no option but to hope against hope that the courage of his convictions would lead fate to convince Mr. Putin to honour his own signature, a hope that simply denied the reality of the man's despicable ambition.

Russia and its proxy Ukrainian militia conspired to deceive a desperate, but not quite trusting Kyiv to sign the ceasefire, and their worst fears were realized. Debaltseve, a direct link between Luhansk and Donetsk, with the retreat of the embattled 2,500 Ukrainian troops has now fallen into rebel possession. The ceasefire was not violated, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, since it was a rebel-held city at the time the agreement was signed. The map below says otherwise, of course.

"The hopes of the world for peace are being destroyed. Russia and the DNR [self-styled Donetsk People's Republic] are not abiding by the agreement. [The situation is leading to] further escalation."
Valeriy Chaly, deputy head, Ukraine presidential administration, Kyiv

"We have to respond to fire, to work on destroying the enemy's fighting positions. We do not have the right [to stop]. It is a moral thing."
Denis Pushlin, senior separatist representative

Now that's a use of language that George Orwell would glow with pride in. A "moral" thing, no less.

Internationally Sanctioned Humiliation : Look Back in Despair

"Like Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia, a large area of Donetsk and Luhansk [in Ukraine] now dwells in an unrecognized post-Soviet twilight zone. But those other enclaves are marginal compared with the new black hole in Eastern Ukraine, which has a large population of about three million (although many have fled), and the backbone of the national economy."
David Blair, London Daily Telegraph

Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and France's President François Hollande attend a meeting on resolving the Ukrainian crisis in Minsk, Feb. 11, 2015.  Reuters/Mykola Lazarenko/Ukrainian Presidential Press Service

Quite the photograph; the two facilitators, Francois Hollande and Angela Merkel look none too pleased with the proceedings, but not quite as embarrassed as they should be. While Vladimir Putin who has played his game to the consternation of world powers, unsettling the order of the international community's faith in the inviolability of national borders, unleashes his satisfied smirk of accomplishments, while Petro Poroshenko appears shaken, his faith in the world community's support of Ukraine in shatters.

On occasion a picture does take the place of a thousand words.

One man whose despicable ambition to replay the past and return Russia to its former state of rigid authoritarianism, where Russian power and the threat of Russian military action has its near-abroad neighbours trembling in trepidation, fascinatingly witnessing the plight of Ukraine, an unwilling and near-helpless pawn for Putin's despicable machinations using his country as a warning to the others that they too can be eviscerated should the world's current Machiavelli unleash his powerful military completely.

This time around it was no one-on-one meeting of equals, Mr. Putin and Mr. Poroshenko; this time there were witnesses to the confident bullying and quietly implied threats that threaded their way across the room from the antagonist to the victim. Ukraine's obligations to the demands of Moscow by way of the separatist rebels confidently spelled out in "Minsk Twice-Over". The original signed agreement was swiftly abrogated, and what confidence can there be that its successor will not also be contemptibly set aside? Even if it's more to the liking of Putin?

There are no rules to this game other than those imposed by the one man who believes he has the upper hand. And why wouldn't he subscribe to that confident belief, since clearly, he has. President Poroshenko was allotted 30 generous days to initiate legal autonomy to the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk and rewrite Ukraine's constitution legalizing the "special status" of the Donbass by year's end. Russia, on the other hand, is obligated to withdraw its troops and battalions with their artillery and tanks, but no time-schedule imposed by the agreement.

Why such a document is termed an "agreement" is itself a bit of a mystery, since one side, that of the aggressor, has set down all the conditions which must be met by the victim before the aggressor will deign to put a halt to the violence. The victim, to whom the aggressor assigns the role of oppressor, has little option but to grimly bear his loss for no other avenue is open to him. That part of the agreement mentioning "foreign armed formations" and "military equipment", and the withdrawal thereof, speak of no timetable other than when Moscow which denies the existence of them, decides to withdraw.

As for firming up the border once again and leaving Ukraine in control of its own geographic space, that too is most certainly contingent on how Moscow feels on any given day before laconically withdrawing. The contingency is, of course, the firm reality of Kyiv delivering full legal autonomy as per demand to Donetsk and Luhansk, no ifs, ands, or hesitation.

Angela Merkel walks with Petro Poroshenko as he looks back, followed by Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin after a meeting in Minsk, Feb. 11, 2015.  Reuters/Grigory Dukor

Signing On For Peace (Temporarily)

"They don't think it's something funny. They take it very seriously. You need only look around to understand why."
"They were very scared. Many of them were crying. I tried to calm them down. I said, 'No, it's not real, it's just a game'."
"But they said, no, they did not believe me. They said it was not a game. They knew. You see, it was not their first shelling."
Elena Klemanchuk, Fourth-grade teacher, Public School 68, Mariupol

Students at Public School 68 in Mariupol during their morning shelling drill on Friday. Credit Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times

"Before it happened [salvo of Grad rockets], everybody told us we had three lines of defence and we were perfectly safe."
"But then we were shown that we were not as well protected as we believed."
Victor Perkov, head, Public School 68

"In September, Mariupol was very weak and poorly defended. There was a kind of panic in the city. In September, we managed to stop them [rebel army] only by luck."
"I feel confident that we have enough troops and enough weaponry in place to successfully protect the city now."
Andrey Dzyndzya, fighter, Azov Battalion

A sign stenciled on an apartment house wall offered directions to a bomb shelter in Mariupol. Credit Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times

The violence in the battle for the critical railroad town of Debatseve is just the appetizer leading the focus to swerve toward Mariupol in the south, the industrial port city yet in government hands, while rebel forces mass around it. On Tuesday, Ukrainian military authorities stated that national guard units had launched an offensive against rebel positions closing in on Mariupol. Someone speaking for the Azov Battalion announced it had captured Shirokino and Pavlopol, small towns just outside the city.
For their part, rebels laid claim to having surrounded the city of Debaltseve even as the Ukrainian Army insisted the battle was continuing. Kramatorsk saw artillery shells landing 50 miles to its northern edge where Kyiv has a good-sized military base. The critical city of Mariupol is the ultimate goal. Capturing it would result in the realization of the Russian and rebel goal to open a land route between Russia and Crimea, and controlling the Sea of Azov along with its industrial infrastructure.

Ukrainian recruits by the Sea of Azov train to defend Mariupol if, as expected, the pro-Russian rebels attack there next. Credit Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times

Local military and government leaders see the situation in Mariupol different, defended by the Azov Battalion, a complete ring of defensive lines. The St.Mary's Battalion, another volunteer group, is situated just east of the city centre, holding training exercises, teaching new recruits how to move in crisp group formation. Wearing combat gear, the recruits are void of rifles, but practising pantomime fashion; as though holding weapons as they move through military exercises.

Rebels are surrounding Ukrainian government troops in the flashpoint town of Debaltseve

Grigory Logvinenko, commander of the checkpoint to the east of the city where the rebel positions can be seen four miles' distance, spoke of material he hopes will be given to Ukraine by the United States; updated equipment, more accurate artillery, anti-tank weapons. Ideally, shoulder-fired antiarmour missiles, and the Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System, along with Counter-battery radar. "And we would not mind a couple of drones", he said wistfully.

A hiatus is in the offing, however. Yet another ceasefire agreement, signed by Kyiv, Moscow and the Rebels, brought into a concord of seeming intention by the frantic intervention of Germany and France, satisfied that they have succeeded in reaching an agreement to honour a ceasefire to begin on February 15. In the meanwhile, both sides can continue to push their lines forward to extract the best possible outcome before the ceasefire takes effect.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Reminiscent of the last ceasefire signed in Minsk in September that faltered and collapsed with neither side honouring its terms. Why should a country surrender its legitimate borders to a rebel group planning its evisceration, after all? And how likely will it be in the longer term given Russian aspirations with the obvious plan to achieve that land corridor to the Crimean Peninsula that it will be shelved indefinitely?


Skeptical or not, here are the broad outlines; reading between the lines is not strictly obligatory:

• Ceasefire to begin at 00:01 local time on 15 February
• Heavy weapons to be withdrawn, beginning on 16 February and completed in two weeks
• All prisoners to be released; amnesty for those involved in fighting
• Withdrawal of all foreign troops and weapons from Ukrainian territory. Disarmament of all illegal groups
• Ukraine to allow resumption of normal life in rebel areas, by lifting restrictions
• Constitutional reform to enable decentralisation for rebel regions by the end of 2015
• Ukraine to control border with Russia if conditions met by the end of 2015

Persuading Putin to Bow Out of Ukraine

"The possibility of lethal defensive weapons is one of those options that's being examined. But I have not made a decision about that yet."
"There is not going to be any specific point at which I say, ah, clearly lethal defence weapons would be appropriate here. It's an ongoing analysis on how to persuade Russia from encroaching further and further on Ukrainian territory."
U.S. President Barack Obama

"If we give up this principle of territorial integrity of our countries, we will not be able to maintain the peaceful order of Europe that we have been able to achieve. This is not just any point. It's the crucial point."
"I myself would not be able to live with not having made this attempt. If in a certain point of time one has to say that a success is not possible even if one puts every effort into it, then the United States and Europe have to sit together and try and explore further possibilities."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel

"We all hope that this situation will be resolved by diplomatic means. Unfortunately, to this point in time, as you know, Putin has rejected diplomatic means. He seeks to move his agenda through military violence, which is unfortunate." 
Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Europe, led by Germany and France, prefers to wait a little longer. In fact, they're prepared to wait it out a lot longer. And the longer they wait, it is obvious enough, the more stridently Moscow will intervene in Ukraine aiding the Ukrainian-Russian rebels in their goal of extracting eastern Ukraine from Kyiv and joining the Russian federation as Novorossiya. Russia, of course, is only responding to the need of its oppressed Russian-speaking Ukrainian brethren, for all its denials.

Leaving former Soviet satellite countries feeling themselves vulnerable to similar Russian armed interventions in their sovereignty, in support of "oppressed" Russian speakers, leftovers from the Soviet Union's dispersal of Russians into the geographic territory of the federated states. In Ukraine, however, the Russian-armed and -backed and -trained separatists in the eastern provinces sees Ukrainian troops contained by rebel bombardments.

Europe would far prefer calm to prevail. That their volatile neighbour be appeased somehow without in doing so, encouraging Moscow to continue its predations elsewhere in Europe. In continuing to exert pallid sanctions to deter Mr. Putin from further infringing on other nations' sovereignty it is obvious enough that Ukraine will remain a sacrificial lamb to peace. The alternative, surely, is war. That is, an extended war, not merely the one now raging in Ukraine.

No one among the European nations with vested interests in the outcome of this disagreement between a newly-assertive Russian bear and the trembling lambs situated in the nearby geography, is prepared, singly or collectively to militarily counter Russia's moves, and Russia is fully aware of that. Neither Russia nor any of its near or far neighbours would think positively of an engulfing war. It would be too costly, disrupting even the wobbling equilibrium that prevails.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande to discuss emergency negotiations for a halt to the hostilities, they left the meeting with its inconclusively vague promise to continue talks in several days' time. Republications and some Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. have called upon their government to send offensive weapons on to Ukraine to enable the military to confront and successfully counter the onslaught by the separatists.

If and when, however, President Obama does assent to providing weapons for the Ukrainian military, he stresses they will be defensive in nature, not offensive. Russia, in providing the rebels with technically updated weapons has also, over time, trained the rebels in their use. The training had gone somewhat awry when a civilian Malaysian jetliner was shot down in error, mistaking it for a Ukrainian military jet; recognition of targets have since then appeared to have been improved.

Even should Mr. Obama relent, and Mrs. Merkel recognize that all attempts at diplomacy and reconciliation have failed, deciding to send in technologically advanced weapons for the Ukrainian military, without training, and that takes time and effort, those weapons would be useless. In the interim, the out-weaponized Ukrainian military in their thousands have been encircled and further loss of life is a given.

Even while President Obama speaks of diplomacy in agreeing with Chancellor Merkel's insistence that all diplomatic means must be exhausted before lethal weapons are handed over to Ukraine, his vice-president  at a security conference in Munich on Saturday spoke of the lies Mr. Putin engaged in respecting his annexation of Crimea and the invasion of his troops across the border to Ukraine, let alone the truckloads of provisions and weapons that a "humanitarian" brigade gifted the rebels with.

The only certainty in this situation is that of uncertainty.

To Defuse Ukrainian Separatists' Advance

"The West needs to bolster deterrence in Ukraine by raising the risks and costs to Russia of any renewed major offensive. That requires providing direct military assistance — in far larger amounts than provided to date and including lethal defensive arms."
Independent U.S. report urging billions in defences to Ukraine

"Although our focus remains on pursuing a solution through diplomatic means, we are always evaluating other options that will help create space for a negotiated solution to the crisis."
Bernadette Meehan, spokeswoman, National Security Council

"A comprehensive approach is warranted, and we agree that defensive equipment and weapons should be part of that discussion."
Pentagon official

"One of the best ways to deter Russia from supporting the rebels in taking more territory and stepping up the conflict is to increase the cost that the Russians or their surrogates would incur."

"Providing the Ukrainians with something that can stop an armored assault and that puts at risk Russia or Russian-backed forces that are in armored vehicles, I think, is the most important aspect of this [report]."
Michèle A. Flournoy, former senior Pentagon official

Ukrainian soldiers in the Donetsk region. In an independent report to be issued Monday, eight former senior American officials urge that the United States send defensive arms and equipment to Ukraine.    Credit Manu Brabo/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The report, issued by a coalition comprised of the Atlantic Council, the Brookings Institution and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, was prepared along with Strobe Talbott, Clinton administration deputy secretary of State; Charles F. Wald, retired Air Force general, one-time deputy commander of the U.S. European Command; Jan M. Lodal, former Pentagon official; two former U.S. ambassadors to Ukraine, John Herbst and Steven Piper.

The recommendation runs counter to the White House caution leading to limits on American assistance to Ukraine, providing "non-lethal" items, such as body armour, night-vision goggles, first-aid kits and engineering equipment. The report, however, is based on the seeming failure of the imposed economic sanctions to provide sufficient bite to the Kremlin to dissuade Russia from providing heavy weapons and military assistance to the secessionists in eastern Ukraine.

The independent report now urges the U.S. to commit to sending $3-billion-worth of defensive arms and equipment, including anti-armour missiles, reconnaissance drones, armoured Humvees and radar able to determine enemy rocket location and artillery fire. Others who helped in the report preparation include James G. Stravridis, retired general who once served as top NATO military commander and Ivo Daalder, the U.S. ambassador to NATO in Mr. Obama's first term in office.

Russia has chosen to ship heavy weapons in support of the separatist agenda in eastern Ukraine; T-80 and T-72 tanks, multiple-launch rocket systems, artillery and armored personnel carriers, out-weaponizing the Ukrainian military. NATO estimates that around a thousand Russian military and intelligence personnel now support the separatist offensive, though Ukrainian officials put that estimate much higher. Without that Russian involvement the rebels would never have been able to capture the Donetsk airport and to forge on to Debaltseve.

In the last four months alone, the separatists have taken about 193 square miles of added territory, according to NATO. The Minsk agreement has been effectively nullified at the choice of Moscow.

"General Breedlove has repeatedly stated that he supports the pursuit of a diplomatic solution as well as considering practical means of support to the government of Ukraine in its struggle against Russian-backed separatists", spokesman Capt. Gregory Hicks of the Navy noted.

The report pointed out that enemy rocket and artillery attacks represent the causality of 70 percent of the Ukrainian military's casualties, making the point that radars capable of pinpointing rocket and artillery fire locations would be critical to halting those casualties. At the same time, it was suggested that Russian military casualties be highlighted, to inform the Russian population that their soldiers are covertly engaged in an undeclared war, despite Moscow's protests to the contrary.

Because of the separatists' use of antiaircraft missiles, thanks again to Russian military generosity, the Ukrainian military has been forced to halt flights over eastern Ukraine; the supply of reconnaissance drones by the U.S. would be of added inestimable value to the Ukrainian military. Military communications equipment of a kind that Russian intelligence could not intercept, and the transfer of armoured Humvees and field hospitals were also urged upon the Obama administration for consideration.


Should the United States take the initiative, based on the report's recommendations, it seems highly probable that Poland, the Baltic States, Canada and Britain would step up their practical commitment to Ukraine's defence and begin to provide similar defensive weapons to turn the tide toward ensuring Ukraine's sovereign integrity.

Escalating Tensions in Russia/Ukraine

"I'm uneasy about beginning a process of military engagement without knowing where it will lead us and what we'll do to sustain it."
"But I believe we should avoid taking incremental steps before we know how far we are willing to go. This is a territory 300 miles from Moscow, and therefore has special security implications."
Henry Kissinger, former U.S. foreign policy adviser

"I can no longer say that this Cold War will not lead to a 'Hot War'. I fear that they could risk it."
"The statements and propaganda on both sides make me fear the worst. If anyone loses their nerve in this charged atmosphere, we will not survive the next few years."
"I do not say such things lightly...I am a man with a conscience. But that's how it is. I'm really extremely worried."
Mikhail Gorbachev, former Russian President

Ukrainian servicemen train with weapons at their position near Lysychansk, in Luhansk region January 29, 2015.     Credit: REUTERS/Maksim Levin

Both men are seasoned veterans of politics and foreign affairs representing their countries' interests. Each is reviled in their own countries; Mr. Kissinger, as a relic of American policies of interference in Indochina, Bangladesh, Chile, Cyprus and East Timor, considered a criminal through pursuing a right-wing agenda, and Mr. Gorbachev, considered a traitor to his own country whose policies of glasnost were held to have led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union

Both, from their individual perspectives and vantage points, are concerned at what they see unravelling in the world order, with the Russian Federation standing in opposition to the West, through its burgeoning heavy-handed threats toward the sovereignty of eastern European countries, former Soviet satellites. Mr. Gorbachev feels his country has become a target of unfair Western complaints, though he doesn't support the annexation of Crimea entirely.

And while Mr. Kissinger states his belief that Ukraine should remain an independent state and Russian troops should be withdrawn, he is leery at best, and fearful at most of what he sees as the security implications for Russia, with NATO appearing on its geographical doorstep. Mr. Gorbachev speaks of the West having "dragged" Russia into a new Cold War risking outright confrontation.

A confrontation that he hints could conceivably include a serious enough escalation as to involve a nuclear option. Matters are swiftly deteriorating in Ukraine with Russia throwing its troops and military equipment along with encouragement to proceed, to the Ukrainian secessionists. Ukraine's military has conceded its forces were overrun by rebel forces in yet another town while the regime is struggling to hold its place in a strategically valuable railway hub.

The world is witness to the Russian bear ravaging a not-yet-cowering Ukraine, willing to fight back, and imploring the West to provide it with the advanced weaponry it requires to defend itself. Should the United States bend to that plea and provide weapons, the die will be cast and the fears that both these elder statesmen have expressed may well indeed come to pass in some measure.

Should the West and NATO in particular stand back as Russia aids the rebel factions in Ukraine to dismember the country still further, then what exactly will prevail of the world order and the convention between nations to respect each other's territorial integrity?

A woman surveys damage done to a house, which according to locals was recently damaged by shelling, in the suburbs of Donetsk January 30, 2015. Credit: Reuters/Alexander Ermochenko

Reimagining NATO

"I hear people saying that what happened, and is still happening in Ukraine, was completely unexpected and unpredictable, that it was a kind of wake up call."
"It actually was a wake-up call for many, but not the countries of our region. For years, Lithuania, Poland and other Baltic States [were called] Russophobes, unable to wake up from the dreams of old Soviet times and face new reality. The reality was that threats had no boundaries and were difficult to predict."
"NATO in its essence is about the empathy, about sacrifice for the sake of your ally. Lithuania always took its share. We were in the Balkans, we were in Iraq, we led PRT in Afghanistan and stayed with our forces as a part of [Operation] Resolute Support. We are in Mali and we contributed to the French efforts in Central African Republic. We do support current efforts against ISIS and we will do our share in the future as well."
"[At the summit in] Wales, we stated that NATO remains an essential source of stability in this unpredictable world. It is very important that the gap between acknowledging that fact and mobilizing our national and collective resources and political will to project that stability [doesn't] widen."
Juozas Olekas, Lithuanian Defence Minister

Fighting in eastern Ukraine has worsened in recent days, despite the ceasefire plan agreed last September

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has stated once again, this time at Davos, that his country has been invaded by Russian troops. Five thousand Russian troops, he stated, and 300 Russian tanks, shoring up the fighting ability of the rebels who, minus Moscow's interference in Ukraine's affairs, would long since have surrendered their mission to shift Ukrainian territory into the grasp of Russia's turning back the present into the past, recreating the USSR.

The American ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, spoke of the new peace proposal put forward by President Vladimir Putin as little more than advancing his plans at military occupation. "The plan would seek to legitimize territorial gains made by separatists in September as well as Russian personnel and equipment on the territory of Ukraine", she said at a special meeting of the UN Security Council. "Let us pull the veil away from Putin's peace plan and call it for what it is; a Russian occupation plan."


The countries bordering Ukraine know very well what Russia's intense interest in acquiring new territory signifies for them. The Baltic states dread the implacable will of Moscow and Mr. Putin to renew old bonds and strengthen the Russian federation, creeping inexorably toward the union that collapsed with the fall of the USSR. They were indeed 'Russophobes' in recognition of their status under the old union, and have no wish whatever to repeat the experiment that failed so dramatically.

Lithuanian Defence Minister Juozas Olekas emphasized that countries like his own have acknowledged that the presumed and relied-upon world order based on territorial sovereignty can no longer be relied upon; something like aligning Russia with honour and respect for the nations that Moscow terms the 'near abroad', and fair game for once again pillaging. "Therefore we must re-evaluate our own assumptions about our security."

And ideally, he and the other nations that have become part of NATO, would most appreciate it were NATO to recognize those changes and alter their responsibilities to their member-nations accordingly. During the Russia-Georgia war in 2008 Mr Olekas recalls calling on fellow NATO colleagues to consider changing the manner in which they regarded the protection of territories of each member state singly. He recommended considering protecting NATO-member borders in their entirety.

"I still believe this is an idea worth consideration. We need to rethink NATO's posture and command structure as it reflects the realities of the Cold War and economic downturn, rather than the new alliance after expanding and re-emerging threats we are facing."

Stepping Up The Resources Pledge

"We have been asking for Canada to provide lethal, defensive military support to Ukraine. Canada's been a leader all along. If the U.S. and NATO allies are moving towards a position, I expect that Canada would be co-ordinatd with them in that regard."
"But if we have long-range sniper rifles so that half-a-dozen boys aren't getting killed by the Russian terrorists' snipers every day at the Donetsk airport, that would be useful."
Taras Zalusky, executive director, Ukrainian Canadian Congress

Donetsk’s Federative Republic                                                                    Lugansk’s Republic

The Canadian government has steadfastly held the position that its sympathies lie completely with Ukraine over Russia's aggression, and it has condemned without any reservations the illegal act of annexing Crimea, Moscow's and President Vladimir Putin's astonishing act of militaristic intervention in a neighbouring country, inciting a Ukrainian pro-Russian faction to believe their violent movement of secession is legal and worthy of support.

The violence that ensued led to a number of atrocities, not the least was the July downing of the passenger jet Malaysian airlines Flight 17 over Donetsk with the loss of life of 283 passengers and 15 crew. Shot down by Ukrainian-Russian rebels in the belief that they were shooting at a Ukrainian military plane, a number of which they had already brought down. Eastern Ukraine is under siege by the rebels supported by Russian military in green uniforms missing insignia.

When Petro Poroshenko visited Ottawa in the fall he specifically asked for additional materiel assistance, and the government was swift to agree more would be added to the already-considerable aid Canada was committed to. But the government was also quick to respond that no lethal military aid would be forthcoming, as a matter of principle. Canada has also initiated sanctions against Russian officials, banks, energy and arms companies and Ukrainian separatist leaders.

Russia's foreign ministry has issued a warning of "retaliatory measures" it was geared to take against Canada and the United States, over and above its sanctions against a number of Members of Parliament and the restrictions it imposed on Canadian agriculture exports. Canada has now come under criticism from within for its deliberate exceptions to the sanctions of three significant cronies of Vladimir Putin, whom he made head of three important Russian state-owned businesses, because they have signed mutually profitable contracts with Canadian businesses.

Doesn't that make Canada appear rather hypocritical? Last week President Obama signed a law authorizing providing up to $350 million in military hardware and munitions to Ukraine, overturning his country's initial refusal to provide lethal weaponry to Ukraine's military. Included in the U.S. military provisions to Ukraine now will be anti-tank weapons, heavy machine guns, drones, counter-artillery radar and allied equipment. To counter weapons provided by Russia to the rebels.

The rebel Ukrainian-Russians are in possession of heavy and sophisticated weapons; theirs were derived from Russia which has bent over backward, laughingly denying accusations of that very thing, while continuing to ship along weapons to the rebels. "Along with our military contributions to NATO's assurance measures, this is yet another positive action that Canada is taking to help Ukraine respond to Vladimir Putin's military aggression", stated a spokeswoman for the Defence Ministry.

Making note that President Poroshenko had credited Canada's non-lethal aid with saving lives. But it's time to step up the sanctions to include a few losses for select Canadian businesses who had the misfortune to court Russian corporations, and to step up to the plate in the provisioning of military weapons to a country that needs all the help it can get from its friends.