"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. "
Nobody is going to convince the Russians to "give back" Crimea. It is a done deal. Ukraine needs to accept it and make the most of a bad situation.
The regime in Kiev right now is so rabidly anti-Russian that they are incapable of rational thought. If they were thinking rationally they would be pushing Russia and the international community to set up a framework to NEGOTIATE the terms under which Russia will take over Crimea. If they were to do so, they would have at least a chance of coming out of looking like something other than impotent fools (along with Our Beloved President).
The Ukrainians should prepare a manageable list of points of negotiation, and try to force, diplomatically, negotiations between the two regimes. Among the topics for negotiation might be:
They could come out of this just fine if they rely on diplomacy rather than sabre rattling, posturing, and threats (all of which are pointless).
Nobody is going to convince the Russians to "give back" Crimea. It is a done deal. Ukraine needs to accept it and make the most of a bad situation.
The regime in Kiev right now is so rabidly anti-Russian that they are incapable of rational thought. If they were thinking rationally they would be pushing Russia and the international community to set up a framework to NEGOTIATE the terms under which Russia will take over Crimea. If they were to do so, they would have at least a chance of coming out of looking like something other than impotent fools (along with Our Beloved President).
The Ukrainians should prepare a manageable list of points of negotiation, and try to force, diplomatically, negotiations between the two regimes. Among the topics for negotiation might be:
- Reparations for the land and natural resources of Crimea,
- Reparations for the lost tax revenues,
- Full and free access to the Black Sea ports for the Ukrainian navy.
- Free emigration of ethnic Ukrainians from Crimea to Ukraine proper, and vice versa.
- Retained ownership of the military assets of Ukraine, as granted to them when the USSR dissolved.
- Rational borders, rational border measures (passport required? visa required?)
Provisions to bring cash and tangible assets across the border for commerce or personal purposes.
They could come out of this just fine if they rely on diplomacy rather than sabre rattling, posturing, and threats (all of which are pointless).