Russia’s New offensive Tactic!

Nicolas Ramos

POLS 184: International Relations

January Current Event Analysis

                                 Russia’s new offensive tactic!

        On their article “Ukrain Crisis: Russian rebels encircle Ukraine army garrison in new offensive; Putin accuses NATO of fighting in conflict,” ABC news states that Pro-Russian rebels advanced to encircle a Ukrainian army in a new offensive that again, has unleashed war after a five-month ceasefire, bringing threats of new Western sanctions against Moscow. According to the article, The U.S. and the European Union are considering new measures after Russia’s action of supporting the latest rebel advancement with money, arms and troops. Ambassadors of NATO countries and Ukraine met in Brussels on Monday, January 26th, to discuss a plan and response to the fighting, the first emergency meeting since August. Moscow denies playing a military role and Vladimir Putin accused Kiev of prolonging the conflict by not talking to the rebels. Putin also says and accuses that the NATO legion was fighting alongside Ukraine forces. However, NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg dismissed this accusation as nonsense and adds “There is no NATO legion, the foreign forces in Ukraine are Russian.” (ABC News. Np. 2015) The government of Kiev ordered a state of emergency on Ukrainian territory on high alert. Kiev military spokesman Voldymyr Polyovy says “Rebels are constantly attacking Ukrainian government positions across the conflict zone with artillery, mortars, grenade launchers, tanks.” Violence in eastern Ukraine is at its worst since last September, and this action from Russia is seen as a restarting a war in which 5,000 have been killed.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine started a while ago. And whether the issue is soon to be resolved either through violence, meetings, or sanctions, The United States and The European Union have taken the initiative. This issue one of many problems that Ukraine and Russia have encountered through this long never-ending conflict. First off, Russia denied a resolution made by the European Union. Second, Russia realized that Crimea was an important territory since Crimea used to belong to Russia and Crime has a naval vase, mostly made up of Russian ships. Currently Russia and Ukraine have high tensions. Over the last few months, Russian troops continued to take control of cities, mostly in Eastern Ukraine. The recent events in Eastern Ukraine has caused NATO to build up their troop presence in the region. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said: “We will have more planes in the air, more ships on the water and more readiness on the land. We will start to implement these measures straight away” (Pessin 2014). Russia’s involvement has accumulated numerous sanctions from The United States and other European Nations; these sanctions, indeed have harmed the Russian economy. The Internal collision between Russia and Ukraine has now grown into a regional conflict involving many Western nations; the issue is far from being resolved.