Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Were in it and we dont have control of our own territory

Are symbols more important than the rule of law? Because fast tracking Ukraine into the EU without the proper approvals and safeguards put in place in their country would be an affront to the rule of law. It would make a mockery of EU citizenship.

No it isn't. Please don't transfer your savings into a foreign bank account. There is just no way your money won't get stolen by middle-men.

I always say that Irish people/boardsies are naive and it always gets taken as an insult, which it isn't intended to be, but I hope people listen to me just this once.

Pray for the Ukrainian forces. Stage morale-boosting gestures, like protests and photos with flags. Don't transfer money into a void.

Indeed, the Russian central bank is almost fully blocked in that regard, it also covers millions in currencies like CNY they receive from redemptions and so on

Unfortunately NI is not officially recognised as Irish sovereign territory.

Donbas in Ukraine (and now much more of it than that) are Ukrainian territories they have lost control of.

I've already told you what I think the endgame is, and you conveniently ignore it because it doesnt suit your narrow view of the world.

Putin will besiege Kiev and the rest of Ukraine if need be, until the current Ukrainian government agree to his terms which will be something like "No NATO, No EU, Demilitarisation, No discrimination against russian language, recognition of Donbas and Crimea".

I think current round of talks will fail, and maybe in another week or two they will come to an agreement similar to the above. Putin will withdraw mostly as being a hostile occupying force is a bad and costly move.

Assuming they can still negotiate and not just surrender, Ukraine will have some tough choices ahead. I can't see Russia just packing up and leaving the entire territory.

Either a neutral, somewhat hobbled by a federal structure Ukraine for the entire territory.

Or, a Ukraine ceding chunks of its territory in the south east but that Western rump is free to plot its own course.

The size of that chunk will be determined by soldiers on the ground when the fighting stops.

I don't see all of Ukraine as claimed by their government getting into the EU.

Maybe check that again and roll the old eyes elsewhere.

Are you defending Russia? Frankly I've no idea whether you are or not.

What you seem to believe is that Russia has some type of valid hold over Ukraine as it dares to look towards EU membership and where there are some cultural and historical ties - then Ukraines sovereignty is somehow negotiable. Both ideas variously touted by Putin oddly enough.

As for the EU and membership. Ukraine's desire to join the European Union dates back to 1993 when the government declared that integration to the EU is the main foreign policy objective.

The political dialogue between the EU and Ukraine started shortly afterwards when the partnership and Cooperation Agreement was signed

According to a poll conducted in February 2015 in all regions of Ukraine except Crimea, 66.4% would have voted in favor of joining the EU and 33.6% against with a turnout of 76.4%.

Ukraine has shared borders with four EU member state: Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Romania - all with cultural and historical ties to Ukraine

As for a EU membership referendum, afaik they hadn't got to that stage yet. However Putins most recent tantrum has now catapulted EU membership to a much a greater possibility, that is presuming that Putin doesn't succeed in going full metal jacket as part of his latest tantrum.

May I ask where was the referendum which asked the opinion of the people of Ukraine on the invasion of the Russian "peacekeeping" forces?

Yeah because a fictious brawl on the street is akin to all out nuclear world war that will affect billions.

You got me. Totally the same.

The massive extent of it, especially the exclusion from SWIFT would have taken them aback. You'd also expect that there are preparations underway to address their only non-nuclear threat of cutting off energy supplies. Without income from that source Russia is economically destitute. And it's not stolen, it's resting just out of reach for now! If they stop this adventure it all goes away.

He may not have been a lunatic during his rise to power or afterwards, but he is certainly acting like one now. This might be all Nixon's "mad man" theory, of course, or just a dramatic miscalculation on Putin's part; but it cannot be denied that he has made a huge mistake.

No doubt Putin has made some very clever moves in the past, particularly with regard to information warfare, but it is time to stop thinking of him as some sort of all-knowing genius.