Putin declares Crimea is an inalienable part of Russia, while Moldova’s Trans-Dniester region pleads to join Russia

Vladimir Putin (www.kremlin.ru)

Russia’s President accepted the vote of the Crimeans and Ukraine’s Kiev President seems to wish to avoid conflict:

March 18, 2014

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Ukraine’s Crimea region has always been an “inalienable” part of Russia – yet another move likely to further escalate tensions with Ukraine and the West.

Putin was outlining Crimea’s importance to Russia Tuesday in a speech before the Russian parliament. On Monday, Putin endorsed a draft treaty to make Crimea part of the Russian Federation. To come into force, the treaty must go through several more procedures including approval by Russia’s parliament.

The Black Sea peninsula voted to secede from Ukraine in a referendum Sunday that the U.S. and the European Union declared “illegal.”

But President Putin said Tuesday that the referendum complied with democratic and international norms.

His comments come a day after he signed a decree recognizing the Crimean peninsula as “a sovereign and independent country.”

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is in Poland Tuesday for talks with regional allies concerned about Russia’s military incursion into Crimea. Biden is meeting with the leaders of Poland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.

Ukraine not seeking NATO membership

Ukraine’s new pro-Western leadership is not seeking membership of NATO, Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said on Tuesday, in comments intended to reassure Russia and Ukraine’s large number of Russian-speakers.

“Strictly with a view to maintaining Ukraine’s unity, the question of joining NATO is not on the agenda,” Yatseniuk, who normally speaks in Ukrainian, said in a 10-minute televised appeal delivered in Russian. “The country will be defended by a strong, modern Ukrainian army.”…

Gazprom makes offer

Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom has proposed to develop Crimea’s oil and gas sector, an official of the Ukrainian region was quoted by RIA news agency as saying on Tuesday.

“Of course, Gazprom was the first to approach us [with a proposal],” said Rustam Temirgaliev, Crimea’s first deputy prime minister.give it up for nothing. Vladimir Putin has never wanted Ukraine to join the European Union, and the current crisis exists primarily because of that. http://www.voanews.com/content/putin-backs-agreement-to-bring-crimea-into-russia/1873448.html

March 18, 2014

In Kiev, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk gave a nationally televised address on Tuesday in which — pointedly using the Russian language — he seemed to recognize the limits of the situation. He pledged Ukraine would not join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and sought to reassure ethnic Russians and the government in Moscow…

After Putin finished speaking and a treaty was signed, the crowd started dancing in the square and singing the Russian national anthem.

“We did it. We did it. We truly did it,” exclaimed Svetlana Kalinina, 53, as tears rolled down her cheeks from behind her sunglasses.

Another woman who said her first name was Natasha kept repeating “Thank you Putin.”

“I have waited so long for this,” she said, “We were given away, like a sack of potatoes. And finally we are coming back home.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/russias-putin-prepares-to-annex-crimea/2014/03/18/933183b2-654e-45ce-920e-4d18c0ffec73_story.html

How can Crimea be both a “a sovereign and independent country” and an “inalienable” part of Russia?

Apparently by either being part of the Russian Federation and/or eventually by becoming part of Vladimir Putin’s developing Eurasian Union. According to the Russian Constitution, the Russian Federation consists of republics, krais, oblasts, cities of federal importance, an autonomous oblast and autonomous okrugs – allegedly equal subjects of the Russian Federation. As a country, Crimea would likely be considered a republic member of the Russian Federation. As far as the developing Eurasian Union goes, Vladimir Putin wants more than Crimea. He really wants all of Ukraine, and despite current rhetoric, he may try to take some or all it if he feels that the long-term benefits sufficiently exceed the costs.

The position of Kiev’s Arsenly Yatsenyuk is an interesting one. He knows that his government cannot militarily win against Russia. Yet, instead of declaring that Ukraine will join NATO (the only immediate human option to get Ukraine a credible defense against Russia), he declares the opposite. Why might he do that?

A couple of reasons come to mind. The first is that despite all the rhetoric coming from the USA and European Union (which compose the bulk of NATO), the currently announced sanctions against Russia are so minor that he probably feels that his government simply cannot rely on the West militarily at this time.

He might also do that because he probably fears that if he took the opposite position, Russia may have decided to take more of or even all of Ukraine. Kiev’s Arsenly Yatsenyuk knows that Ukraine does not have a strong enough army to deal with its most likely real military enemy. This anti-NATO stance appears to be a type of appeasement. Vladimir Putin must be pleased by that. Apparently, enough so that Putin said later today that he was not going to try to take over Ukraine:

March 18, 2014

MOSCOW —Russia effectively absorbed Crimea Tuesday afternoon, moments after President Vladimir Putin declared that Russia has no designs on any other parts of Ukraine.

In a speech to a joint session of parliament, which he used to call for the “reunification” of Crimea with Russia, he said that the region has a special role in Russian history that makes it unique…

Even while declaring that Moscow will not seek to expand its holdings in Ukraine, Putin also promised that Russia will do what it must to protect the rights of Russians living abroad — which suggests that he intends to play a role in restive eastern Ukraine, with its large Russian population.

He said Moscow will always protect the rights of Russians using “political, diplomatic and legal means.”http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/russias-putin-prepares-to-annex-crimea/2014/03/18/933183b2-654e-45ce-920e-4d18c0ffec73_story.html

So, Russia is ending up with Crimea. Yet it may end up with more than that. Notice that a region in Moldova is now pleading to become part of Russia as well:

March 18, 2014

Moldova’s Trans-Dniester region pleads to join Russia

Pro-Russian politicians and activists in Moldova’s breakaway Trans-Dniester region have asked the Russian parliament to draft a law that would allow their territory to join Russia.

The Trans-Dniestrian appeal comes as Moscow moves towards absorbing Crimea into the Russian Federation. Ukraine, the EU and US say that move is illegal.

Ethnic Russians dominate Trans-Dniester, with support from Moscow.

The region split from Moldova in a war in 1991-92, as the USSR was collapsing.

Moldova’s President Nicolae Timofti said in a news briefing on Tuesday that any decision by Moscow to accept Trans-Dniester “would be a step in the wrong direction”…

Irina Kubanskikh, spokeswoman for the Trans-Dniester parliament, told Itar-Tass news agency that the region’s public bodies had “appealed to the Russian Federation leadership to examine the possibility of extending to Trans-Dniester the legislation, currently under discussion in the State Duma, on granting Russian citizenship and admitting new subjects into Russia”. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26627236

March 18, 2014

ROMANIA’S president has said Russia is creating a chain of conflicts around the Black Sea to further President Vladimir Putin’s goal of rebuilding the former Soviet Union along its former border with the West.

Romanian President Traian Basescu, who spoke to The Associated Press in an interview, said he fears that neighbouring Moldova is “in great danger.”

“If you look at the map, you will see this chain of frozen conflicts” around the Black Sea “that can be set off at any time,” he said, referring to conflicts in Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova…

Russia has 1,500 troops stationed in the separatist republic of Trans-Dniester since 1990, when it broke away from Moldova, fearing that country would reunite with Romania. Trans-Dniester is not internationally recognised but is supported by Russia. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/romanias-president-says-moldova-next-in-soviet-expansion/story-e6frg6so-1226857651757

March 12, 2014

“The tense situation in Crimea is a threat to the security of the whole region,” Iurie Leanca, Moldova’s prime minister, said Monday, as reported by Reuters. “The evolution of the situation will create new problems and threats, both direct and indirect, for Moldova.”

Bordering Ukraine to the west and Romania to the east, Moldova sits on the northeast part of the Black Sea and views Russia’s encroachment on Crimea as dangerously close to home.

Already the country shares a tumultuous relationship with Russia. In 1992 a conflict erupted between Moldova’s government and ethnic-Russian separatists living in a breakaway territory within Moldova’s borders known as Transnistria…

While the majority of Moldovans see themselves as culturally close to Romania, 200,000 people in Transnistria are ethnic Russians and have Russian citizenship, which could serve as a pretext for Russian action. http://www.ibtimes.com/moldova-another-former-soviet-republic-worried-over-russias-move-crimea-1560938

The fact that Vladimir Putin wanted Crimea and has got it at minimal cost is likely going to be a factor in Russia’s view of the situation in Moldova. While much of Moldova wants to be part of the European Union, not all of it does. As Russia wants more supporters and less in the European Union, Russia will seriously consider the pros and cons of the Trans-Dniester region, as well as other parts of Moldova.

As I have written before, Vladimir Putin will use military action, and not just the threat of it, if he feels this will further his agenda without excessive international cost. He remains willing to do so. Those in Ukraine and Moldova realize this.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

The Eurasian Union, the Kings of the East, and Bible Prophecy Is there a Eurasian union that will be formed? Is one being formed right now? Are any leaders working on that in the 21st century? Does the Bible teach that there will be a Eurasian union? If some type of Eurasian union is formed, who might it benefit and who will it destroy? A related video would be Is The Eurasian Union Rising?
Is Russia the King of the North? Some claim it is. But what does the Bible teach? Here is a link to a video, also titled Is Russia the King of the North?
Russia and Ukraine: Their Origins and Prophesied Future Where do the Russians come from? What about those in the Ukraine? What is prophesied for Russia and its allies? What will they do to the Europeans that supported the Beast in the end?
Ukraine in Prophecy? What is happening in Ukraine? What is known and what is unsure about its future? What is the origin of those who live in Ukraine? What does the Bible teach about the role of the Medes in the end times? Will Ukraine split? Why might part of Ukraine end up in the European Union? Why might part of Ukraine end up in the Eurasian Union? Is war in the prophesied future for Ukraine? What is the ultimate destiny for nearly all Ukrainians?
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe? Here is a link to a video titled: Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European?
European Technology and the Beast of Revelation Will the coming European Beast power would use and develop technology that will result in the taking over of the USA and its Anglo-Saxon allies? Is this possible? What does the Bible teach?
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2014, 2015, or 2016? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede comenzar la Gran Tribulación en 2013 o 2014? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? You can also see the English language video The Great Tribulation Will Not Begin Before 2017.
Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Edition for Second Obama Term This is a 160 page book for people truly interested in prophecies related to Barack Obama and the United States, including learning about many that have already been fulfilled (which the book documents in detail) and those that will be fulfilled in the future. It also has a chapter about a Republican choice. This book is available to order at www.barackobamaprophecy.com. The physical book can also be purchased at Amazon from the following link: Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States: Is Barack Obama Fulfilling Biblical, Islamic Catholic, Kenyan, and other America-Related Prophecies? What About Republican Leaders? Second Edition for Second Obama Term.
Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Term-Amazon Kindle edition. This electronic version is available for only US$2.99. And you do not need an actual Kindle device to read it. Why? Amazon will allow you to download it to almost any device: Please click HERE to download one of Amazon s Free Reader Apps. After you go to for your free Kindle reader and then go to Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Term-Amazon Kindle edition.