The situation in Ukraine appears to have deteriorated rather precipitously. The Ukrainian government has accused the Russians of sending in an armored column into the eastern part of the country. If true, the action represents a significant escalation of Russian support for the separatists and a sharp break from the uneasy cease-fire that had been observed for the last few weeks. The Russians have denied that they have sent tanks into the country. More than 4,000 people have died in the conflict so far.
China and Japan have agreed to begin negotiations over the status of the disputed islands known as the Diaoyu by the Chinese and the Senkaku by the Japanese. Both sides claim ownership over the islands and have made serious military moves to buttress their claims, raising the danger of some form of military action. The decision to negotiate is a big step forward, and one hopes that the talks can be fruitful.
In a very strange admission, Russian President Vladimir Putin defended the Molotov-Ribbentrop Treaty of 1939, a pact between Nazi Germany and Communist Soviet Union. The secret treaty is widely regarded by most as a treacherous act of betrayal in which Stalin broke his defense commitments to France in exchange for control of the Baltic States and huge chunks of Poland. The Treaty exemplifies the egregious cynicism of realpolitik, but also shares the title of a huge diplomatic blunder by Stalin since the Treaty only slightly delayed Hitler from ultimately attacking the Soviet Union. If Putin’s endorsement of the Treaty is a window into his diplomatic mind, then there is nothing we should not expect from Russian foreign policy.
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