Is Russia Ukraine Conflict a Concern?

Posted on by

It is not surprising to hear anti-Russia sentiment being spouted in the Barbados space. Individuals will form opinions based on how they have been indoctrinated. In this part of the world our people are bombarded with western news streams particularly from USA and UK sources. Again, it is not surprising the anti-Eastern sentiment baked into our world view.

In previous blogs the relationship between superpower USA and Israel has been exhaustively discussed. It is no secret the conflict between Israel and Palestine has been going on for too long with no resolution in sight. It may surprise many under a Black President Barack Obama, US aid to Israel increased to compare with previous administrations. In this space we also discussed the perceived threat by the USA of a Russian presence in the Caribbean or South America. The point is: foreign policy positions of countries is based on geopolitical factors i.e. geographic, demographic, economic, political, defense-security, regional, global and scientific programs (study.com). Countries like the USA, UK, Russia, Germany, Iran including small countries pursue foreign policy positions in the narrow interest. What is being interpreted as Russia’s military aggression on Ukraine’s border must therefore be contextualized.

The Ukraine was part of the former Soviet Union and is strategically located in Europe if one factors that former Soviet republics Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and a few others became full members of the National Alliance Treaty Organization (NATO). A key concern for Russia’s President Putin is- if Ukraine were to become a full member of NATO it will represent a military threat to Russia because the USA via its alliance with NATO will be too close for comfort. There is also legacy concerns which Russia still harbors from the Cold War period of being one people; one language, heritage etc. 

Does Russia have valid concerns? NATO’s policy is that independent European states are eligible to join NATO. On the other side of the issue for Putin, it is in the geopolitical interest of Russia to block NATO’s expansion in Europe especially on its border. The NATO alliance of which USA is a member, guarantees that if any member is militarily attacked, NATO will be forced to respond. To complicate matters there is the Warsaw Pact created before the breakup of the Soviet Union intended to balance power in that region in response to NATO. The spirit of that agreement in the opinion of the blogmaster is alive and well in the Kremlin.

There is also a view President Biden is perceived as weak by world leaders. China has adopted an aggressive posture to Hong Kong and Taiwan, North Korea recently fired two ballistic missiles to force the USA back to the negotiating table. After years of military build up in Afghanistan and thousands of lifes loss that country has reverted to Taliban rule after Biden honoured a commitment to withdraw US troops. How can Biden justify deploying troops to the Russian border? How will Americans respond to Biden administration with midterm elections coming up?

There is also the economic considerations. One example is US threatening to prevent opening of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline which took years and billions to build with prominent players from the West. If sanctions were to be imposed by the US it will negatively impact Russia but also Western players. There is also evidence since the Crimean episode, Russia has developed alternative systems to buffer the imposition of sanctions.

The blogmaster is not taking sides, just asking for a fair representation of the issues at play which are complicated and should not be dismissed based on inflated rhetoric influenced by propaganda shaped by one sided geopolitical interest. Russia and Ukraine have been exchanging ‘fire’ since 2015. In simple a view Ukraine is at the centre of Putin’s ‘sphere of interest’, this matter will not go away anytime soon.

49 thoughts on “Is Russia Ukraine Conflict a Concern?”


  2. The “PROBLEM” is Putin and the games he wants to play. He is worried about NATO’s expansion? As far as I know NATO is an association of European states that countries are FREE to join. Putin wants to strong arm and influence former Soviet states that are now INDEPENDENT countries. Putin need to get his head out of the past where he is dreaming about the the Soviet Union.

    President Biden is perceived as weak by world leaders? As far as I can see he is no weaker than Obama under whose presidency allowed Russia to invade the Ukraine and annex the Crimea under the guise of supporting the Pro Russian forces. It isn’t NATO that have amassed a 100,000 strong force in the Ukraine to invade Russia. Putin wants a pro Russian \ anti – NATO leader in the Ukraine and wants to do so by aiding the pro-Russian forces again. In my opinion NATO would be a paper organization if it doesn’t respond to Russia’s aggression. My feeling is that Putin was caught with his pants down and will go no further at least not immediately.

    Reply ↓

  3. I am well aware of the influence of the western perspective on our reflex actions or thoughts. So here is my non-reflex action or second thought.

    “Power corrupts [but] absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

    Therefore it is less dangerous to have opposing powers than to have all power concentrated in one nation (The USA) or one alliance (NATO). Having opposing powers keeps a great power more in check than conscience ever would.

    ALL PARTIES are aware that nuclear war is final and therefore futile. And NONE of them really want a third world war which would be more devastating than all other wars combined.

    NOBODY would win such a war!

    My totally uneducated guess is that there will be some pushing and shoving and some poor souls will be sacrificed as the macho men fight to gain a liitle ground on each other.

    My educated conclusion is – there ain’t one RH we small fries can do but worry.

    Why waste time worrying when we have work to do?

    Reply ↓

    • Donna to quote Mia Mottley global is local and local is global. What do you imagine will happen if the Northern Stream 2 pipeline is sanctioned?


  4. Check 1 Check 2 Check 3
    Messaging System On
    Spiritual Being I AM says
    Ahimsa Non Violence is My Religion and I say this like a Jesus

    “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God”

    Preamble
    USA left Russia to War with Afghanistan but in the old days they went to Afghanistan to War with Russia where they became friends with the Taliban and CIA made a database of Assets called Al Qaeda but it all turned Pete Tong when their alleged Agents turned alleged terrorists and allegedly hijacked 2 planes which brought down 4 or 5 buildings like an alleged controlled demolition

    War Whores Money Scams In Outs Continues
    The West like to pick fights, but shy away from the stronger powers, and go round the houses with one sided biasedness like bitches new weapons are developed WMDs are everywhere including space, but fret not and don’t worry thyself, when this world ends in a bang some chosen will be frozen to go on a big ship journey to start a new colony on another planet to start another race in deeper space if you believe in the Hebrew Bible then it will like an Adam and his Eve all over again but Egyptian prophecies also foretell the full story in their mystery of their pyramid hieroglyphs

    Reply ↓

  5. please ignore “USA left Russia to War with Afghanistan” I got it twisted

    should read as “USA left Afghanistan to War with Russia”

    Reply ↓

  6. DavidJanuary 28, 2022 10:04 AM

    Donna to quote Mia Mottley global is local and local is global. What do you imagine will happen if the Northern Stream 2 pipeline is sanctioned?

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Buy the gas from the US or use the North Sea.

    Longer it goes on better for us because they will be freezing their asses of up that side.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-21/u-k-gas-project-list-grows-as-shell-neo-energy-fields-start

    Reply ↓

  8. A War between Russia and USA should be fought in Russia and/or USA not another country

    Down In Bosnia, Bosnia Dub, they need some marijuana

    Reply ↓

    • It is because of the volatility in the ME and in this case E Europe we must formulate strategies to to mitigate that uncertainty. We don’t have control over what happens over there but …


  11. Hi David et al,

    Perfect timing! I shared this post on LinkedIn a few days ago:

    Far away from the Caribbean, The Drums of War are beating on the #Ukranian border. #Cyberattacks are one weapon in a nation’s arsenal. So what does Ukraine, Russia and the USA have to do with the Caribbean?

    Plenty. Let’s say that #Russia invades (and it is likely based on recent media reports, either before month end, or during Feb.).

    The US and its allies then respond. First via economic measures, and the nuclear option being removing Russia from the SWIFT payment network (mind you Russia and China have their own, but there are nowhere as ubiquitous as SWIFT).

    Russia responds, via cyberattacks on the US (and possibly allies?). Not only attacks on critical infrastructure, but commercial infrastructure, i.e., major cloud service providers (AWS, Azure and Google Cloud), the telcos that provide connectivity, and other major entities that play a key role in US commercial Internet operations.

    Make no mistake, the US plays a dominant role in terms of Internet infrastructure. This is where we in the Caribbean are vulnerable. We in the region depend on the cloud providers directly and indirectly.

    To reduce the impact – we can never eliminate it -We need to invest heavily in regional capacity, connectivity (IXP’s for example) and our regional cloud service providers (Cloud Carib as an example).

    But for now, we wait and see.

    There’s an old African saying, When elephants fight, the grass gets trampled. We know who the elephants are (the global north featuring countries like the US, UK, etcetera, and the grass, the global south, i.e., the Caribbean and other nations).

    Reply ↓

  13. Russia berths a couple of nuclear subs in Cuba, nuclear powered aircraft carrier off Venezuela and some jungle training maneuvers in both countries with Chinese as training adversaries . Who ya gonna call? How will Barbados vote at the UN? With our conscience or with our debt portfolio?

    Reply ↓

  14. NATO, originally the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, should never have expanded into Eastern Europe. They my change the name, but as far as I am concerned, countries not abutting and abounding the NA have no business there. Let the white men fight their wars. They pulled out of Afghanistan and the arms manufacturers were threating layoffs, closing down factories, etc., so here comes something to fill the void. They can kill each other and leave two tails, I am not worrying. I am in the departure lounge at 75.

    Reply ↓

  15. @David, re “What do you imagine will happen if the Northern Stream 2 pipeline is sanctioned?”

    Unless the news reporting is abjectly inaccurate your statement above is totally impossible … CANT HAPPEN.

    Actually exactly the opposite is the case… “The Biden administration waived sanctions on the company behind Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany and its chief executive, […] A State Department report sent to Congress concluded that Nord Stream 2 AG and its CEO, Matthias Warnig, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, engaged in sanctionable activity. But Blinken immediately waived those sanctions, saying that it was in the U.S. national interest”

    @DLP your post was well stated until the final point … “My feeling is that Putin was caught with his pants down and will go no further at least not immediately.”

    Vlad Putin is a lot of things but he is not the person to get caught unawares …ever!

    How far he is willing to go should not be questioned overtly either …this is the man who shot down a commercial jetliner killing hundreds of innocents (he gave the insurgents the ‘indirect’ authority) under the pretext of air interference from the Ukraine air force!

    He is not a man who trembles or acts with much deference in the face of defiance to his will!

    Reply ↓

  16. Look like I said about covid, rich people get vaccinated because they dont want to chance getting separated from their wealth by death No different in Russia the rich dont want to get sanctioned and get parted from their frozen sanctioned wealth. Putin will rattle the saber but in the end once he makes a point gets a concession or two life will go on business as usual. The last thing Putin will want doing is putting himself between the rich and their money. Then you become expendable

    Reply ↓

  17. Bible prophecies

    round 1
    Russia Vs Ukraine

    round 2
    Russia V 30 Nato allies

    round 3
    Russia China Iraq Vs The Real Terrorists Military Industrial Complex

    ◄ Matthew 24:6 ►
    You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.

    the warmongers want you to feel pity for soldiers who commit suicide
    but they should not join stupid stupid army and deserve to breakdown

    Reply ↓

  18. These war scams happens in waves as one generation is employed to fight and then get thrown on the heap

    then another generation of youth grows gets sent to war and then fucked up and the cycle continues over again

    Reply ↓

  19. Received via Note to Blogmaster:

    ————————-

    Compare Russia’s stance with America’s adherence to the Monroe Doctrine, wherein America becomes very belligerent incases of “intrusion into their sphere of influence in the West.

    Reply ↓

  21. David,

    There is no clear right or wrong policy in international relations. We human beings fear each other for good reasons.

    There is only self-interest and self- preservation. Nations have to prepare to defend themselves against encroachment by others. Small nations like ours can only try to stay out of the fray or pick a side and hope for the best.

    Since I have come to understand this, life has become less vexing.

    It is what it is.

    But you have sent me to educate myself! I just read up on this Monroe Doctrine and a whole lot more.

    These things are rather complicated and will remain so for as long as human beings remain animals.

    Reply ↓

  22. Well mr president what are your thoughts about Putin massing soldiers at the border to inavade Ukraine ,
    ZZZZ nudge ..oh sorry, Well it reminds me of when Popcorn commented on my leg hair at the pool, and you know those are fighting words but I thought about it bought him a chocolate ripple ice cream cone I had vanilla and then that very night I shaved my legs for the first time….How’s that for diplomacy.

    Reply ↓

  23. @David, you spoke initially about sanctions on the pipeline … this headline (Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will not open if Russia invades Ukraine, says US) or what the German minister said are separate from that.

    Based on current news the pipeline will become operational withing it’s scheduled time frame or within some reasonable time of that…ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL.

    Initiating a war makes everything UNEQUAL.

    Reply ↓

  25. GAS HIKE CAUTION

    Symmonds warns of petrol price increase due to Russia, Ukraine tension

    By Colville Mounsey colvillemounsey@nationnews.com
    Barbadians should brace themselves for more increases in petroleum products as well as natural gas.
    Minister of Energy Kerrie Symmonds says this is possible in light of the geopolitical tensions heightening in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
    He told the Sunday Sun that the Mia Amor Mottley administration was being cautiously optimistic about being able to provide a proverbial stitch in time, by trying to build more efficiencies into the system to ensure prices can be held down for the short to medium term.
    “I will start by saying that when this crisis broke out, Stevie Wonder’s Song, Some Day At Christmas, came to mind: ‘One day at Christmas men will be boys, playing with bombs like kids play with toys’. I genuinely feel that the tension between those countries involved will have a negative effect on the stability of petroleum product prices globally.
    Monitoring
    “This is something that I have asked the National Oil Company to monitor closely. We are already seeing signs that the tensions have had some impact on the prices of oil, and I suspect that natural gas will be a natural consequence of that type of escalation of prices,” said Symmonds,
    though adding it was too early to speculate as to the extent of the impact on prices.
    He said Government would need to reassess its ability to continue shielding the public from fuel price hikes.
    “Government is going to have to reflect on the context of our ability to continue to shield the country from these types of escalations. You will recall that over the last year there was great concern over the rising prices in petroleum products, and even though a lot of people did not realise it, the ability of Government to protect the community from the full thrust of that was being deployed. So, our prices in Barbados were not in any way comparable with the types of increases that we were seeing in places such as continental United States,” the minister explained.
    Russia is one of the biggest energy suppliers in the world and provides around 30 per cent of the European Union’s natural gas, with its supplies playing a vital role in power generation and home heating across central and eastern Europe.
    Symmonds said that apart from making energy provision systems more cost-effective, Government was seeking to tap into current and old repositories of natural gas in Barbados to boost the supply.
    “We have been trying to revisit those wells which were previously in existence, so as to augment the production of natural gas from local sources as opposed to importing that gas. These are all limited in terms of the capacity over a long period of time. The first steps we are taking is looking at our internal efficiencies and to see how best we can cut cost domestically, and make oil production in the country more economically effective and efficient,” he said.
    “We have to try to augment what production we have with the local wells being further exploited. Even those which were close to full-diminished capacity, we are unplugging them and seeing what more we can get out of them. However, the reality is that these are all short to medium term measures.”
    As it relates to the current levies on fuel, Symmonds said that decision would ultimately lie with the Minister of Finance, but not as yet.
    “It is too early to speak on the question of levy on fuel, because the Minister of Finance would have to sit with us and let us look at the numbers holistically. We are not yet at that stage. The new Government has only just been sworn in, so I wouldn’t even want to begin to speculate on the question of what we can do with levies. I know that this is something that the Minister of Finance would be interested in having very serious discussions on,” he said.

    Source: Nation

    Reply ↓

  28. There won’t be a “hot” war between the US and Russia otherwise it would be “MAD” (Mutual Assured Destruction) for both countries. Despite the public postering, both countries communicate through other channels other than the highly publicised phone calls and other meetings. Russia has taken back Crimea from Ukraine; it already has parts of Eastern Ukraine where most of the residents are Russian speaking under its control. Putin is upset that Russia’s sphere of influence is diminishing as the Baltic States slipped out of Soviet control and are now members of NATO; other former Soviet Pact countries are joining other alliances e.g., EU, so he is trying to draw a line in the sand and restore some semblance of the USSR.

    After Russia annexed Crimea, it was thrown out of he G8, Putin is flexing its muscles and showing the world that it is still an important and powerful nation, perhaps as someone said, “Putin wants to be respected”, maybe the other countries will make a concession and let it back into the club.

    From all indications Russia will invade after the Winter Olympics; install a pro Russian Gov’t and the western nations will howl; impose sanctions on Russian oligarchs and some on the country itself but they won’t intervene militarily.

    Next hot spot for the US? China vs Taiwan

    Reply ↓

  31. Rumble in the jungle
    Let Us Pray
    The Eagle and the Bear and the Dragon

    The Dragon and the Woman (12:13–17) And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

    The Eagle Will Fall
    https://www.openbible.info/topics/the_eagle_will_fall

    Reply ↓

  33. @ David February 3, 2022 12:25 PM

    Such a deadly act can have very serious global repercussions especially with Russia chomping at bit for war in Eastern Europe to make himself into the 21st century Napoleon à la Old Soviet Union style.

    Let’s hope this does not lead to any terrorism aimed at soft targets in the West to impact seriously on Caribbean tourism; or even to face another virus made in some lab to wage war using biological terrorism.

    The world today just cannot deal with the reality of the blind Baba Vanga predictions for 2022 coming true.

    Reply ↓

  35. @ Blogmaster:
    “What Biden has predictably done has been the goto for many presidents of the USA.”
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Well you know what chroniclers of History have said:

    To get into their books- not as a mere footnote but to have a full chapter dedicated to your memory- you have to be a leader of a country who fought a major war especially one on the global level and involving the slaughtering of millions of members of humanity.

    Why do you think the likes of Napoleon, Hitler and Harry Truman will always have their own bookmark in World History?

    Do you think the lying bullshitter Boris Johnson- about to be hounded out of office by his own kith and kin- would receive a mention compared to the Teflon Tony Blair who allowed himself to be so easily screwed with a dick labelled WMD by another president of the falling empire called Uncle Sam?

    Reply ↓

  36. U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker said to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in February 1990, that “there would be no extension of NATO’s jurisdiction for forces of NATO one inch to the east.” Since then Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania in 2004, and Croatia and Albania in 2009, have joined NATO. No country would be happy about a military bloc to which it did not belong approaching its borders

    Reply ↓

  38. USA and UK are Bastard Hypocrites with Slanders Propaganda

    The Big Buildup
    Western War Talk
    “Russia does not like Homos..”
    “China does not like Muslims..”
    Russians and China spies
    are spying on US UK spies
    So Kill them all with drones

    Reply ↓

Leave a comment, join the discussion.